the perks of being a wallflower

i just finished reading “the perks of being a wallflower” by stephen chbosky.

i absolutely loved it.

the deadpan tone of the book made me laugh out loud. the book was funny, poignant, sad, touching and surprising at the same time. i love the insights charlie provided on life, love and friendship in the book because it is very honest and not offensive. it was just really endearing.

i love how stepehn chbosky tells you something without actually telling it. subtlety is always nice.

i love bill, charlie’s english teacher, who always gave him books to read. in page 26, bill said to charlie: -

“do you always think this much, charlie?”

“is that bad?” charlie responded.

“not necessarily. t’s just that sometimes people use thoughts to not participate in life.

that struck a chord with me because i used to live life thinking about living life.

and when charlie shared with bill about the bizarre relationship situation his sister has gotten herself into, bill said: -

“charlie, we accept the love we think we deserve.”

and i couldn’t help but wonder just what kind of love i thought i deserve since i’m always attracted to the wrong things. perhaps, all the wrong kind of things?

charlie also spoke about a novel which bill asked him to read “the fountainhead” by ayn rand. he quoted one of the lines in the book which wowed me.

“i would die for you. but i would not live for you.”

lots of great books and music were mentioned in the book and i feel like taking time out to read all of them, especially “catcher in the rye” because i have heard a lot about the book.

reading the book got me trying to remember the highlights of my schooling days. there was no drugs, no cigarettes, no alcohol, no sex, no stories of boys masturbating in toilets, no stories of losing a close friend to suicide, or stories of parents divorces, or slashing tyres, or gays, or weekly school plays…etc.

what were the highlights of my secondary school days?

i heard of a classmate attempting to jump off the school building, i heard of the same classmate locking herself in the toilet because she wanted to slash her wrist all in the name of love, or a school mate who jumped off one of the hdb flats near school because of love, i personally had to protect my friend from her boyfriend stalker-ish ex-girlfriend, me helping a group of friends to cheat in a geography test, me being asked to stand in front of the whole school because of my fringe, me being the english/history teacher’s favourite, me being the math’s teacher least favourite, me being slapped by gangsters, me telling lies to escape dance classes, me being chauffeured home by my discipline master, me losing my wallet, me quitting as school prefect because every wanted to boycott the discipline mistress by quitting, watching other kids smoke and drink and listening to their stories on taking drugs, meeting one strange lecturer, having fall outs with friends that got me crying and hiding in the toilet…

i guess my days at school wasn’t that dull afterall. i just wished i had more school related events to remember – there was no graduation nor prom nor memorable speeches – my most vivid memories were the dance performances for speech day but i don’t remember what speech day is all about.

can’t believe it has been 13 years since i was 13.

OH MY GOD!

i just realised my graduation studio shoot package will expire tomorrow!!!!

it’s all coming back to haunt me now.

i suddenly remembered them calling me to collect my stage photo last month. i also have not submitted my certificate for the acrylic plaque.

damn.

i need to call and paint sad story again.

sighs.

what is it about graduation ceremony that makes me forget them perpetually?

i forgot about my poly graduation.

i almost forgot about my acca graduation.

then when i finally made it to the graduation, i could’t be bothered to collect the stage photos i personally ordered; didn’t have time to get the family together for the shoot or send the certificate for them to do the plaque.

sighs.

and delta house was so near my old office….

i guess deep down school was always something i want to rid from my life. i can’t find any other reason to explain my severe lack of interest in my graduation.

23-05-2009 aka graduation day

i have finally graduated!

my parents looked really proud and that made me feel a bit better about having to go through the whole boring graduation ceremony.

i found the speeches by mr. icpas and the prize winner very inspiring and moving. i felt like crying when they talk about the struggles of juggling school and stressful full time work. i think most part time students can relate to that.

off to send in application to be a CPA!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

i couldn’t find my parents when the graduation ceremony was over. i tried calling them but their phones were off. i i tried searching for them at the reception area but there were so many people hanging around it was almost impossible to spot them. i returned back to the graduation hall and sat alone while everyone returned to their families. i couldn’t take off on my own either because my belongings were with mum. after 30 minutes, i decided to try my luck at the reception area again.

suddenly, i heard my mum calling out my name. ah, there they were – tuck in a corner helping themselves with the refreshments.

WHERE WERE YOU GUYS??!!

i didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when they replied…

“sorry, we were too hungry so we dashed out before the ceremony ended…”

hahahaha….

graduation. oh! graduation!

i totally forgot about my graduation ceremony on 23 may.

was lying in bed 2 nights ago when i suddenly realised my graduation ceremony is 2 weeks away. that thought made me realised i have not received anything regarding the gown collection -  in truth, i found the letter of notifcation from acca while cleaning the desk the next day.

i decided to file the letter under “to action” and come back to it when i have recovered from hives and diarrhea.

as usual, i forgot about it again until 15 minutes ago. i took out the letter and decided to place it on the desk (a prominent area) and look at it tomorrow. (i know, i’m quite the procrastinator.)

but a voice told me to take the letter out from the envelope and read it now.

i decided to listen to the voice.

GASPS.

i was supposed to send in my reply by 8 may and that’s last friday!

gosh.

i’m going to call them first thing tomorrow morning and tell my 4 day mc sad story….

graduation celebration

so i cleared my acca.

first thing i did was to treat my family to dinner.

dinner was quiet and simple.

my 5th uncle told me he couldn’t see the relation in me clearing my exams and me treating them for dinner.

-_-”’

second thing i did was to treat my friends to dinner.

sk was the first to finish acca, followed  by nikko 3 semesters later and me 4 semester later. jenice will be the next! we are all waiting for her treat. hee.

it is our tradition to treat each other when good things happen – promotion, bonus, finish exams, clear exams or a new job – and we offer or ask for treats rather generously or shamelessly.

now we have 3 people cheering jenice on!

so jia you, our dear friend!

not cheap to graduate

graduation ceremony fee : $220

gown deposit fee : $150

provisional membership application fee : $107

provisional membership annual fee : $96.30

5 day pre-admission course to be CPA : $535.00

non practising member application fee : $428

non practicising member annual fee : $149.80

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.

.

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feeling of being called a CPA? priceless.

practical experience requirement

i shall spend this weekend reading up on PER and submitting details of my practical experience online.

i shall also read up on the pre-requisites of getting myself certified as a public accountant.

ALL BY THIS WEEKEND.

hopefully, i’ll understand everything so well i can skip the PER brief on wednesday and spend time with mother as it is her birthday.

hee.

i’m done with school!

i’ve cleared my last 2 papers! i’m done with accounting school!  i am finally an acca affiliate after 4 long gruelling years.

yay! i hope that equate to a pay raise though?!

i want to thank everyone who has encouraged me in one way or another during my study break - thanks to xiaobai who gave me a motivating speech over msn when i was feeling disheartened; nikko and sk who met up with me and cheered me on over ben and jerry ice cream; jenice whom i whined weekly to; kenneth who spurs me on every other day and my dear mum who buys me breakfast every morning, makes me tea every afternoon and cooks me dinner in the evenings to keep my studying spirits going!

special thanks to Syaiful, whose encouragment, went on and on and on like a pleasant broken record from 20 Nov to 12 Dec, who prayed for me to pass and who made me watch a horror movie in the middle of study week!

i i s a h a p p y g i r l.

exams ended yesterday!

i is a happy girl but i couldn’t blog about my joy last night because the modem died.

the last time it died was after i completed p7. then when i was done with p3 it died again. how timely. it only says one thing  and that is watching gossip girl after my exam is my destiny.

 

i went to get a new modem today. it used to be $130 and for some unknown reason, it only cost $99.51 today.

i i s a h a p p y g i r l.

moment of truth

so results for december 2008  exams will be out on 16 feb 2009.

that translates to 2 months worth of happiness before the truth sets in.

hopefully, the truth on that day is me clearing ACCA for good!

paper p7

dear ms lisa weaver,

i hope my best efforts yesterday is good enough for you.

please let me pass my paper because it’s my 4th attempt already! i don’t know what else i have to do to clear this paper. you recommended joining an audit firm to gain some valuable audit experience but that is not part of my agenda.

i only have 30 marks of uncertainty this time round, out of which includes a 10 mark question that i have no idea how to answer so i wrote to my best imagination. it was not a difficult paper but i just know that you won’t let us off easy.

i knew forensic accounting will come out in question 2 but was surprised that you asked us to do forensic investigation on payroll fraud when you have already listed all the findings in the question. that caught me off guard.

my instincts told me shared based payment and deferred tax assets would come out but i was praying against it because these are the 2 standards i’m horribly weak at and i found them in question 1. i also knew something about social and enviromental factors will appear in the paper but was surprised to see you asking us for 8 KPIs for social and environmental factors and the nature of audit evidence that we would gather for the 8 KPIs.

your article mentioned that FRS will be tested extensively but i thought there were less FRS involved this time round. even the usual “matters to consider” question was not tested! the whole of section B focused largely on ethics, practice mgmt and audit opinion.

i don’t ask for much - just a 50 mark, just a pass!

PLEASE LET ME PASS!

merry christmas.

xoxo.

grin and bear it, cry and burn it.

this is my first semester preparing for my papers at home and i must say my self discipline is exemplary. the reason why i am studying at home this time round is because my studying buddies have cleared their ACCA.

one of the reasons i didn’t like studying at home back then was because there were too many distractions around. there’s my seductive bed. there’s the tv. there’s the lure of going online to waste my day away.

i don’t know what is it about this semester – is it the mounting pressure or the burning frustrations – i didn’t even lie on my bed in between breaks. i didn’t watch tv either -  i chose to read newspaper and magazines instead. i only come online between 6.30 – 8pm to clear office emails and zone out with my blog for a while and then it’s back to the notes. of course, i play with my iphone when the notes are driving me crazy but i limit those iphone moments to a short 10 minutes.

i get bored, of course i do and that is why i’m heading out to study on friday. i need to give my eyes something else to see and my mind a break from the pressures that suddenly came from nowhere. i am so frustrated and stressed i don’t even feel like talking with my mouth anymore.

i miss the days of studying outside because i could indulge in my cravings as and when i want it -  i could walk across the bridge that connects my school to centrepoint and grab chocolates, fast food or sweets. now, i feed on whatever is available at home – biscuits, papayas, oranges and bananas. i also miss the company that i have when i was studying because nikko always have something hilarious to say about the sad state we’re in. on top of that, we would always plan the countless things we want to do after exams and such planning fills me with anticipation and motivation.

now, my mind is blank except for audit notes, the coming business analysis notes and well, you. i don’t even want to anticipate – i just want to survive these torturous 3 weeks!

xiaobai texted me yesterday “don’t burn out!” i’ll try, mr white!

to burn or not to burn?

i was looking at the study plan i have nonchalently drafted out in my head and it doesn’t look pretty! now that the studying engine is pretty much alive, i’m feeling the stress!!!

part of me feels like burning midnight oil. another part of me wanna make sure i am mentally alert because what happened last semester is a painful reminder of how i should go to bed on time and wake up fresh!

after finishing the first paper last semester, i had difficulty falling asleep. for 2 nights, i slept at 4am and woke up all tired and confused. by the time i went for my 2nd paper, my mind was in such a groggy state, i didn’t know what i was writing in the paper. i spent the better half of the paper trying to focus. even in this giddy state of mind, i managed to get 42/50. argh!!!! imagine if i was mentally awake.

so, yes, no midnight oil burning this time round!