After the Storm

Whew! The big E's finally over! Wow, I feel so energized now, unlike a few days ago: I was studying for my last paper (I had only 2 days to cover a whole semester's work cause I had previously not revised it and I've not paid much attention in class but I know that the questions in the exams are gonna be vastly different from what is taught in class judging from the type of questions the lecturer set for the midterm *breathes* so it's really not that big of a deal not really studying for it though there do lingers this fear that he might actually come up with questions from the notes and also to rid myself the guilt of not studying better for the exam if questions similar to what can be found in the notes do actually appear in the paper *breathes*) and I felt like life was draining from me. I had kept myself in my room for the whole 2 days, with the exam on the morning of the third day, and my cousin from down under arrived on the second day, so I felt quite bad for neglecting him then.

The paper turned out easier than expected (or was I too pissed tired to realise its difficulty??) and after lunch at home, I accompanied my cousin to Vivo and Orchard to do some shopping. I hate shopping in Singapore cause it's so expensive, well maybe I can discount the 'so' and go with just 'expensive', but hanging out with my cousin gives me a good excuse to visit Orchard and Vivo. Otherwise I would just avoid those places.

Met a JC friend Weiye at Topshop Wisma, and he told me that some of the JC classmates are thinking of having a gathering. Nice! Time to meet up with some great friends. I don't know why, but friends for me come and go...they don't really stay, so each period of my life is spent with different groups of people. I hope to meet with upper secondary classmates too. Good times those were.

Alright, done with the nice stuff, time to do some complaining.

First, though exam's over, there is still that shitty FYP report to be done. My experiments are more or less completed, less some characterisation. I really don't know how to go about starting it; the lack of knowledge and drive to do it is really great, so I have no idea when I'll start for real.

Second, it's about customer service. I recently (abt 2weeks ago) bought a new canon camera (really love this camera, smaller than the previous one I had, has all the features of its predecessor plus more, and costs less). But the purchasing experience really sucked, like, big time yall! It was at this camera store in Holland V. I shall not name it, but if there's only one electronics store in Holland V, that is it. The salespeople there, if they are even qualified to be called that, are damn unprofessional and seriously makes me wanna just set fire to their pants. It's like, I wanted to take a look at a camera, and alrite, he took it out from the box and showed it to me. Then I saw another one that looks quite like the one I'm holding, and requested that I see that one too. He then just took the one that I was holding and placed it back in the box, and placed the box back on the shelf, before bringing out the other one. I was quite surprised he did that because I did not say I am done with that model that I was holding, hmmm...strike one.

I was really impressed with the first camera that I was looking at (the model I eventually bought) because it had a wide range of functions and it's small! I didn't know it can get this small. All hail technology! (Incidentally my last paper is processing of microelectronics and so I shouldn't be this surprised but I rarely apply what I learn in class =P) Anywayz, the next camera that he showed me turned out to be really huge so I was like, "I'm sorry can I see that one again because this one is really bulky". Like, hah! make trouble for yourself only! So he did the same routine of switching the cameras. Then I wanted to test the camera (it uses 2 AA batteries). And he told me I can't be doing that. The reason? "Oh I don't have any test kit for this camera ah sir" and I was like, "doesn't this camera uses only AA batteries?" "Oh sorry I don't have any opened batteries" hmmm...and I do see them selling AA batteries. So, how hard is it to open a pack to let me test the camera functions? Strike two...

So seeing that he was reluctant to let me test, I thought I'd just ask him the capability of the camera. And you would think that he would know the camera functions right?

I asked him if the camera would auto adjust the exposure during the recording of a video (cause my older camera couldn't do that, so I can't record from the dark place to a bright place, and vice versa as it will result in overexposure and underex, respectively) but he just shot a straight, "let me tell you, digital camera like these, video recording is rubbish ok? So no need to talk about exposure or anything like that. Camera like these good for only photos". I was thinking like, f*ck man, I asked you a specific question CCB, don't be telling me what I didn't ask you for! So it was like, ok fine, you are a smart ass right? I'll ask you some questions about the still photo-taking capabilities then. "How long can the shutter open for?" He starts to fumble frantically, looking around the box, looking around the camera for an answer (this is just the essence of an open book exam: you can have all the printed materials you want to bring, but you can never find the answers to the questions asked) and sheepishly said "I don't know man, this one I don't know man" Not quite the smart ass you were huh? Strike three...(strike 3 means fail liao)

I was bent on testing that camera, so I asked him again for the batteries, and he started fumbling through the stuff in his store, while mumbling "I don't have opened batteries la" Then my dad came up with a great line to play him in his own game, "You just open a pack of batteries la, and I'll buy it from you" Yeah that's right, make him feel guilty for such stinginess. He finally opened a two battery pack and let me test the camera. He didn't charge us for the batteries in the end.

The camera was really inexpensive, about 70bucks off the prices of major distribution outlets. That is why my dad brought us there. Seriously, my parents are thrifty, so they don't mind that idiot's shit; as for me, I'd rather let people who gives good customer service earn my money, and I don't mind paying more because I think these people should be rewarded. If it wasn't for parent's presence in the store I would've just walked out. I should also add that my sis bought a Lumix from them too, and the combined cost of both cams cost only about 500+ bucks.

I noticed though, they were all smiles and really patient when it comes to the blond haired foreigners. I have no comments on this.