Friends or Colleagues

It's 11:06 pm now. And I'm thinking about recent happenings regarding my friends / Colleagues. Why couldn't I decide whether they are friends or colleagues ?

One of them has a 5 year old son and a less than a year old daughter, similar to me. I used to think we have common topics to talk about, until recently I'm became wary of her. She began to aggresively look for school for her son and began to tell me how well her son does. She asked me lots of questions regarding HHK and affliations, and when she knew that I am not hoping for CHS anymore because of certain reasons, she began to ask me questions which makes me rethink my decision. She went for family photoshoot and emailed her beautiful pictures to everyone she knows.

The other colleague, has a 1 year old son and she engaged a babysitter (my cousin-in-law)from my recommendation. However, my colleague would feedback to me when she or her husband thinks that the babysitter shouldn't have said. Now that this colleague is preggie, she goes around asking for 2nd hand maternity clothes (even though she has some). I took my maternity clothes to her house, and on Tuesday, she told me over the phone that most of the clothes are too big for her.

I think I'm a bit oversensitive, but I couldn't help thinking the following:
1) I'm being made use of by colleague #1, to join the HHK and also to buy a reader set for her son (until last minute she changed her mind)
2) I'm also being made use of by colleague #2. Shouldn't have passed her the clothes, as I could've sold them

For colleague #2, whatever my CIL told her is not unfounded. My CIL warnings are from her years of experience of being a mother. However, my colleague #2's husband just brushed off her warnings as untactful and superstitious comments.

Why are there such people in the world ? Don't they feel embarassed asking for help from people ?

Maybe I'm just too sensitive. Maybe I should change to become like them, anyway 在家靠父母， 出外靠朋友. But it's really not my nature to be like that. I would rather spend a little money to buy the things I need, than to owe people a favour.

Congratulations to my Bro and SIL!

My nephew managed to enrol into Ai Tong Primary School without balloting !

How to grow a social website?

I'm now the admin of a social portal. Today, I just had a discussion with my boss on the strategy of the social portal. Maybe because we just took over, he is very kan cheong about the pageview rates of the portal, especially it dropped in May and only increased 100K in June.

I showed him other competing websites, plus my plan, however he was still not satisfied, citing no breakthrough as a reason.

Until I threw him this question. How do you measure the success of the portal ? Is it only pageviews ? Is that a narrow view ?

I believe the portal has a higher calling, and I shall persist to convince him!

Hello after a long break !

Today is 22 July 2009. I've left the blog for about 1.75 years.

Now I'm back to pick up blogging again. Partly for my work and partly for self expression I guess.

Hope I can sustain this time round. Also hope to put in some important backdated entries, like our Beijing and Perth trips in 2007, the new addition to our family last year etc etc.

Stay tune..