What Carene Means....

What Carene Means

You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

decisions..

i know i've probably set some people worried about the prospects of me not going home, but i've decided to go home after all.. i'll turn down the job and be on the flight back on 17th november.. =)

so i'll see you all soon..

in the meantime i'm super duper uber stressed with my thesis!!!!!

torn between two...

well the interview went well, i heard that i'll be getting the job... now the arrival of this piece of news (although i haven't received the official offer yet) has left me unsure as to how i should be reacting to it.. well a part of me is like yesh! it was a success!! but another part of me is like errrr so how now brown cow.. do i come back and work here or go back home.. sigh...

background of the company:
small locally established consulting firm, revenue increasing by 60% annually, customer base spans domestically and internationally, looking to expand office into sydney and singapore in near future.. enthusiastic about grooming good talent due to short-staffed and australia's labour shortage.. they reckon with my ambitions and if i work hard, i can make consultant in abt 3-4 years time..

during the interview, i asked for salary range of A$3.5 to 4K. but the thing is with the pay here, there's income tax almost 20% i think, and i will have to pay rent etc.. so after all that, i'll prob be gettin abt the same as singapore.. just that i get the differential of having the overseas work experience. the work experience when i go back will increase my market value and the higher starting pay will give me leverage in negotiating for higher pay back home..

but how much really is that worth??? is it worth me stayin here another 3-4 years workin my way up to consultant before going back? is it worth not seeing frenz and family for that long? les is going back end of next year for his navy, so i won' get to see him too.. then i'll have to stay here alone.. sigh..

but if go back, what if i can't get a higher paying job?? they say the average grad gets about S$2.5 to 2.8 K starting pay.. my fren says accenture pays about 3.5 but what if i dun get a good job with prospects in singapore.. manz,. i'll be kickin myself in the balls for not takin this job up..

i just talk myself into a circle, round and round and i can't arrive at a decision.. how?!?!

updates..

haven't updated for quite some time...

so here's a brief update, will have photos up shortly..
1. new norcia.. day trip..
2. during the one week break we went on a caravan road trip up coral bay up to monkey mia..
3. fishing at narrows bridge..

upcoming:
spring fest this thurs..

and i was applyin for jobs here for fun and one of them called me in for an interview.. so it's this comin fri 1pm.. *fingers crossed*

now busy busy busy with thesis (due for submission in a month!!!! omggggg) and this coming wed i have a presentation to make for my advanced management class.. we gotta "conduct" a lecture to the class on a topic.. mine's culture.. lolz..

and to top it up, i've rekindled my interest for the game scrabble.. on facebook.. love it!

dilemmas...

i need a bridge over troubled waters... haha.. sorry that song happens to be playing right now.. kinda timely considering the topic of this post.. i dunno how lah.. i dunno wat industry i should apply for jobs for and which country... conflicting stories and advice from various parties.. but at the end of the day, it's really my decision and in a way, i don't dare to call the shots.. i think i'm worried that my choice may not be the best choice.. and sigh...

i've been saying i want to get a job here and gain experience as well as PR here.. however, to find a job here without the PR is quite difficult apparently.. and along with that, comes the problem of not being sure what industry i should enter into.. i thought i settled on consulting but then recently, i've been thinking of an old favourite.. hospitality.. i know hospitality industry back home, there's a stigma about it... but here, it's different.. better welfare and all..

but apparently.. there's a labour shortage in australia.. and if i was hardworking enough, i can work my way thru and up within 5-7 yrs.. but at the end of the day, do i really wanna do hospitality? or should i search for something else? sigh... i like hospitality and i'll have loads of fun in it.. but should i go down that path?

Business Icon..

last weekend saw me taking part in a competition called business icon (http://wa.australianbusinessidol.com). it's modelled after Donald Trump's the apprentice.. lorraine saw the posters around uni and wanted to join, so she got me to join together with her.. i applied for fun, scored an interview and made it in... i went in apprehensive but i came out loving it.. haha.. the entire thing lasted 5 days, where i was waking up at an (almost) unprecedented 6am in the morning and arriving home almost 12midnight.. i had 2 meals a day (breakfast n supper) if i was lucky.. by the 3rd day, i was having gastric probs.. hahaa..

it started with wed evening, a pre-launch talk where we were randomly placed into our first teams, and told our first tasks.. it was to organise a charity fundraising event within 48 hours, to be held on Friday at 5.30pm. venue and catering were sponsored by Duxton Hotel but everything else, we had to organise it ourselves.. it was a challenge, and it started me on sleepless nights.. haha. i literally spent the first night worryin about the event rather than about winning it.. lolz... it was a hectic mess, a lot of rushing around, following up and worrying, etc.. the 4 teams raised a total of $27,000 for Cystic Fibrosis WA and Advantage Foundation. WAY COOL! i made it into the next round.. those of us who made it into the 2nd tasks were randomly placed into 4 teams of 6 each.. this time our task, we only had less than 24 hours to come up with an innovative product for the lucrative pet industry.. we had sat to work on it and present it to a panel of venture capitalists at 5pm.. i made it into the next round again.. hee.. for the 3rd task, we were randomly placed into 4 teams of 3 each and to design a PR and marketing campaign for the karijini eco-retreat.. once again, we do this on sunday and present at 5pm.. this time we weren't told the results till next morning at a networking breakfast at hilton.. the final 4 didn't include me, sadly.. the final task was to be presented at the formal dinner that very night, contestant plays the role of the CEO of a shipping company who's ship had just crashed and caused an oil spill at a very ecologically sensitive coastline, and has to face the media with press statement.. that would have been way so fun!!!!

some photos of me at the final dinner.. we each get a cert certifying our participation in the competition.. and the group photo is my initial team 3 for the first task! odd thing is no matter how we changed teammates thru the competition, i always got stuck with being in team number 3.. lolz..




oh well.. but it was an experience.. and it was absolutely exhilarating.. so fun!!! hahaa.. i love the whole challenge thing plus meeting new people and stuff... hee...

oh i later found out that one of the judges, whom won this very competition in 2005, currently runs his own company.. and *drumroll* he's only 21!!!! he hasn't completed his double degree at UWA too.. wah piang... i'm quite far behind him lah.. and i'm older... sianz.... damn jokes.. ok, i got to work harder!!! hahaaha...

for the love of food..

i started a new blog Carene's Kitchen (http://cyummilicious.blogspot.com) to share my favourite recipes.. i had so many recipes copied down in books and stuff.. so i decided to share them! be sure to check there! =)

melbourne: day 9 (last day)

today is the last day in melb.... we went for lunch at world restaurant & pub along southbank.. the food was not bad..we tried kangaroo steak and gumbo.. i won't try gumbo again, nothing fascinating.. paella and risotto is better.. but the kangaroo steak was quite nice..

after lunch, we went to the melbourne aquarium..

on the escalator down into the sea... ... (no not really.. )

do you dare to enter???

help!! someone save me from the snakes....

okay.. look closely at the 2 frogs in the middle.. they are.. mating.... discovery channel right here!

that's a japanese spider crab.. these weird things just have to be japanese.. foong likes.. hehee...

this is the horseshoe crab's underbelly.. it's the one of the few animals that has survived prehistoric times.. meaning they didn't go extinct and evolve etc... 'cos they are tough enough to protect themselves.. apparently, their exo-skeletal structure is more closely related to a spider (or is it scorpion?) rather than a crab.. cool..

and into the oceanarium.... *ta dum ta dum* jaws!!! no.. it's juz a grey nurse shark.. endangered species.. big and fat..

feeding time!! watch the giant stingrays practically wrap the feeders up.. *scary*

but something scary actually did happen during feeding time that we didn't manage to capture on camera.. the big fat shark got so enthralled by the smell of the food that it just simply took a bite and caught the feeder's head in her mouth!! thank god the feeder was wearing a helmet and all.. but there were a few heart-stopping moments, for us and the feeder.. so scary.. if the shark had opened her mouth bigger, she might have bit off at the neck rather than the helmet...

with the end of the melbourne aquarium, we took a walk to get chocolate churros and the guys went for more fries.. on the way, the guys saw this!! check it out.. liberated bookshop.. haha.. super dodgy...


the guys subsequently went off for soccer at uni of melb, leaving us to wander around and take photos in the uni.. those photos, i haven't received.. when i did will add it into this post..

then at 7pm, we went to the airport and arrived back in perth at 1040pm... i'm already missing melb.. maybe cos when we were there, it was so fun.. all the frenz and everyone hanging out together... now it's back to sch and sloggin again... which reminds me, for last semester's coursework.. i got both distinctions.. =D

melbourne: day 7 & 8

we brought them back to barista express for the breakfast! they were happy and satisfied.. we also got the news from les's fren who helped him check results that he got all distinctions, making it an even happier occasion! so all smiles!

after that, we went to DFO Spencer since the boys haven't been to dfo and of course we bought some more stuff.. demonstrated by sam, we each bought a kate hill bag.. i like. heee..

after dfo, we went to the royal melbourne hotel for dinner and drinks.. les saw happy hour, $5 pizzas and beer..
while waitin for food, we went to explore and take pictures!! the place used to be some sort of jail i think, and they kept the jail rooms as VIP dining rooms.. hahaha...


ky trying to pick the lock and break free.. but *ahem* with a fork?

food and booze! cheers!!

we continued the drinking with drinking games back in the room but with wine instead.. it was fun lah!! haha.. =x

the damage: wines carefully tasted and selected at mornington peninsula.. wat a waste.. lol..


next morning, there were reports of fog in the morning. it even caused airport flight delays... we could see it in the city too..

we went for dimsum in chinatown.. before heading onto smith st.. the boys found a funky lookin shop!


after smith st, we took a walk thru carlton gardens and the musuem for photos..



boys trying to be models for the day..


at brunetti, the boys had too much sugar i think.. les sugar high..

someone tried to eat kerk!!


then it's back to the hotel for more drinking games.. but not before a stop for more booze and some girls.. he ran out of money after buyin the booze to go club x and needed donations! wahahha...