morons 'R' us

Thank god my day is over. Its been a dreadful 14 hours at work and every minute is nothing but hell.

Now, you must be wondering "why 14 hours????". Well, the thing about the molasses is my office, is that....everything comes with a price. I requested for an exceptional off day a few weeks back, and now I'm paying back for it. Double. Not that I have not repaid the favor in doing OT, but now I'm condemned in doin every single OT that is requested.

Normally, whenever I phrase a title like this posting as such, usually I'm referring to the idiotic customers that I get. HOWEVER, as much as I really hate to say this.....this time I'm referring to the management in my company.

Seriously, sometimes they are worse than the customers.

Its been a complicated week and the more I think about whats going on in office; the more compelled I am to write about it.

I'm not too sure if ever I will land in hot soup, but things are getting.....out of hand.

For starters, as customer service officers in the call center, there aren't many occasions that we really look forward to as fellow colleagues. Hence, the sense of pride and unity is of course heightened whenever we celebrate the Customer Service Bash. A Dinner and Dance....solely for the brothers-in-arms of Customer Service.

You share the night partying with your peers that, understands the most what you have to go through day after day.

So as you can see, I hadn't put any thought into it as I am off on the joyful night and I am definately looking forward to it.

Suddenly, the management sent out a memorandum that specifically says that no swapping of shifts is allowed for the month of December and January.

Of course, initially I didnt put too much thought into it. THEN.....I started to think about my other colleagues that have to work during the CS Bash. What choice do they have? Previously, we were always able to swap shifts and allowed officers that wanted to go attend the Bash.

I mean, what kind of message is the management trying to send out? Its like they are telling you, "Well, you are part of the customer service department. However, we decide to schedule you to work on that night and......just too bad. Way to go Customer Service! Err....By the way, you're still part of the team!".

With their Gestapo tactics, they have now turned the ever so-joyous occasion into a living hell. Not only they are specifically telling people that they can't look forward to the Bash, but even if you are off on that day.....you have to give and excuse if you decide not to go!

Seriously. Look at the big picture. What's happening to the department? And with high MC rates in the office, and with the looming Xmas and CNY celebrations, they are going to "force" staff to take more MCs with the "no-swapping" shift rule; and MCs are already a big unsolvable problem for the management these days.

What's wrong with 2 officers mutually agreeing to swap their shifts? Some people prefer to work during holidays and some don't. No matter how you look at it, it doesn't matter who's working....but as long as you have people working! The head-count is what is more important.

Till now, I still fail to see the management's rational of disallowing officer's to swap shift. There is NO WAY that there is any positive effects to this rule.

And another thing. Recently I heard a news going around that management has realised that once the year end appraisals are done, MC rates have shot up and staff performance is on the decline.

So, God knows who's moronic-faeces-filled-rectum they pulled this idea from....but now the management is considering to re-do everyone's Appraisal. Whether legal or not in the eyes of the law, I cant say.

But what I can say is.....IF I was the management, the proper action this.

If you have one staff whose performance is dropping; you coach that staff. But if the ENTIRE Call Center's performance is dropping....I think its time for some self reflection and start asking questions. Try to find the root of the problem and solve it.

Now, I might not be experienced enough or I might not fully understand the contraints and limitations that the management have at hand; but correct me if I'm wrong.....But I have always thought that one of the main objectives of managers are to motivate their staff. Not to DEMOTIVATE them. Currently, with the changes the management has made for the past few months, their main objective MUST be to demotivate staff morale.

Still, I believe in every managerial dillemma, there has to the a solution that mutually benefits staff and management. An equilibrium that makes everyone happy.

Bottomline, cure the disease, not the symptoms. Get it in your thick craniums........STAFF SATISFACTION IS AT A ALL TIME LOW!!!!

In my office, the management is just comprise of a bunch of sadist. Their sole purpose is to make life a living hell for the staff.

Once they see that you have it easy? Don't worry. They will think of some way to make your life miserable. And trust me, most of the time they think not from their heads, but from their asses.

My "Wife"

Ladies and Gentlemen......

Let me introduce you all to.........my "wife".

So I guess, there's no wonder why I have not been blogging for the pasr few days. Have spent every waking minute fine tuning and "tweaking" her.

Just look at her. Isn't she a beauty. Here are some of her figures......

AMD Sempron 64-2800 1.8 Ghz
1 Gig RAM
80 Gig RAM
Leadtek 256 MB PX6200 TC Graphic Card
16X Philips DVD-RW
Wireless Logitech LX300 Mouse and Keyboard
ViewSonic 19-inch LCD Panel







And now.......I'm thoroughly satisfied. Still, there's one or 2 glitches here and there. But I'm confident that I'll get them sorted out pretty soon. She might not be the fastest and most powerful PC there is, but I guess its a big leap from my old Pentium 4 laptop. And the best part.......19-inch LCD!!!!!!!!!

Talk about the real-estate!!!!!!~

Anyway, enough about my "wife". I would like to blog about my recent trip back to Penang. Everytime I come back from a holiday I would like to pen down a few things as I like to read about them and remind myself of home......

The weather was generally wet at this time of year in Penang. Raining almost everyday, I was kinda glad I had my old PBU 6682 Nissan Sunny to drive. Though I am contemplating of getting a new car soon.

Driving to and fro from the Penang bridge visiting my friends seems like a small task to me now. I used to complain to my friends living on the mainland that its so far away. But now, whenever I'm back.....the further the drive. The better it is. Still, the traffic jams is still as bad as ever.




This is one my my favourite makan places back home. Northam coffeeshop. Yeah...you heard me. Coffeeshop. The place is simply a great place to eat and hangout. With the your back overlooking the sea and in front of you are the metropolitan buildings lighthing the sky. Trust me, for those of you that have not been to Penang, this little unknown obscure coffeeshop is a must go.

And after dinner, where do me and my brother's hang out? A place called Sega Fredo's. I have to admit that the place definately changed quite abit. At Western Road, there use to be one of the best clubbing scenes in Penang. Just in one location, you can find Slippery Sinoritas, Shamrock, Lush, Glow. However, one thing that struck me is that Penangnites don't club anymore. People are more into pub-bing and coffee houses lately; like Sega's.

Most of these places are WiFi enabled as well. Here's John with his tablet-laptop hybrid. Its really cool when you can use MSN with a light pen. Its faster than friggin typing!!! Of course, John being a Head of Department for Tele-Dynamics (sub-con of Toshiba); he gets to play with "toys" like this all the time.

Well, thats about what me and my brothers did most of the nights. Sipping coffee, catching up with each other's lives. Just like the good old times. And the best part is......there's not pretenciousness, no pleasing, no fake smiles. We're just a couple of "brothers"........

And in a blink of an eye, I'm back in Singapore. And whats the first thing I caught my attention?

WooOoOOoOOoOoHOoOOOooooOOooOO! BIG BOYZ TOYZ!!!!!!!!!

I think I just found heaven of Earth!

Can I kansel my "ling tung"??

Yeap......I'm back at work.

And this is the crap I come back to.

Sigh.

Received a call today. It was a girl who wanted to cancel one of her caller ring tones services. And there she was.....the 2 words that made my day.

Can I kansel my "ling tung"?

I was laughing my balls off when I ended the call.

Its been a 6 days hiatus from work. And whenever I come back from a long break, I usually feel refreshed and rarring to go. However, this time is different. I still feel stale from the job and its a chore just to wake up everyday to go to work.

Seems like something's trying to tell me something.

Anyway, I really enjoyed myself tremendously when I was back in Penang. Starting to really feel how GREAT friends I have.

Average sleeping time per day turned out to be about 4 hours a day. No doubt that many of my "brothers" had work the next day.....but night after night, they accompanied me till 4am. Catching up, chatting, sipping coffee at Sega Fredo's (a real fantastic place - will post up pics pretty soon).

Other than that, I left Penang with a heavy heart. With so much to miss and loved ones to leave behind, I find it so difficult to say my goodbyes again.

But one thing I am seriously happy about is that.....I didn't come back alone........haha...

I came back with a new "wife". I shall be introducing her to the world pretty soon. Wahahahahahahahahah.

Anyway, being back in Penang gave me an opportunity to really catch up with the Alternative Music scene.

I used to be a serious fan of Alternative music. But ever since I came to Singapore, I kinda lost touch as Singapore seemed to commercialise Mando-pop more.

So ladies and gentlemen, if your asking me what music am I listening to these days? I simply cant get enough of these 5 tracks!!!!!~

Collective Soul - Run

Fort Minor - Believe Me

James Blunt - You're Beautiful

Low Millions - Eleanor

Switchfoot - You

Guess where am I?

*whew* finally I have time to update my blog.

Its been a seriously busy past 4 days for me. You can say I'm trying to sqeeze every single second and minute I have trying to fulfill appointments.

Still, I have much to update and it has been............an "unusual" holiday this time around. I will of course update more when I have the time.

Guess where am I?

I'm..........(use your mouse pointer to highlight the empty space below)

HOME. Home sweet home, in a little island called Penang.

Blissfully Bliss Cafe

Well, she's done it again.....

Went to Kovan today after work to buy some stuff and met up with Rena for dinner. As usual, I always regard Rena as a master of the culinary arts as she always knows the best places to eat with fantastic atmosphere. And I tell you, the place she took me to tonight had an ambience that it simply.......jaw dropping.

Rena intro-ed me to a place called Bliss Cafe around the Hougang area. I have to admit, the al fresco dining area over looking the Punggol Lake is one of the best I have seen in Singapore.

Even though I have to admit the place is quite ulu, but I really like the feeling of serenity where its away from it all. I will definately patronise this place again.

As for the food, its not all that bad either. We started off with mash potatoes for the apettizer and Rena had the Spagetti, while I had the Chicken Gratin. Though the price can be considered pricey for some, the portion I guess is quite generous. One thing that impresses me whenever I go to an eatery is the speed of the service. I hate it when you have to literally wait for hours after making your order. For Bliss Cafe, the speed was impeccable. About 10 minutes after we made our orders, the first dish arrived.

After dinner, Rena and me spent some time chatting away sipping on ice cold camomile tea. Its the first time I tried the tea and I like it alot! Its kinda like jasmine tea....but sweeter.

Hehehehehe.... gee, I'm starting to sound like a village kid. Like I never had tea before.

But still, I guess its another fun outing with Rena. Always nice to talk to and always considerate. A definate great companion to hang out with.....especially when eating!!! If there's ever a book called Singapore's Best Kept Secrets (Food Edition).....she should be the author!

After dinner, I then proceeded to River Valley to meet up with Franklin and Donald at Spicez!!!!! The SLUT brothers!!! Laughing and joking non-stop, its always fun being around these 2. Most of the time we talk about x-rated jokes......and err.....errr......

Sheesh.....seems like when we're together thats all we ever talk about. Heee.......

Fast car, food and.....errr, sparkling juice?

I havent had so much fun in office for a long, long time.

Its been a whilce since Cluster BRAVO had a celebration of this magnitude. After failing to hit the quaterly targets, this time around, the we REALLY had a reason to celebrate.

For the past 2 consecutive quaters, we're finally back at it again and what's the first thing on everyone's mind again?

BBQ!!!!~~~

I started work about 9am yesterday. Eargerly anticipating to prepare for the BBQ, the bloody SL started to crash and everything else have to take a back seat.

Fortunately, around 1pm, the SL recovered and the managers allowed me and Ho to be logged out to go to Giant for grocery shoppin. And to my surprise........Boss allowed me to use his car to get the goods!!!!!

WoooOOOOoohOOoOOoO!!! Boss is the best! Its been a while since I have driven and Boss was nice enough to let me drive his Alfa Romeo 156!!!!! Its a damn solid high performance vehicle with really fantastic handling. I really love the steptronic gear system that allows the driver to toggle between manual and auto. Immediately I suddenly have the urge to make up my mind and buy a car back in Penang; something that I have longed been contemplating.

Anyway, when me and Ho finally came back with the foodstuff......let the party begin!!!!!!

It was really fun this time around. We really had TONNES of food and we couldnt finish all of it.

We had fried noodles, curry, satay, beef kebab, prawns, crabs, crab stick, fish balls, chicken wings, hotdogs, BBQ-ed garlic bread, otah and loads of other things. And of course, not fogetting Cluster BRAVO's BBQ Must have tradition......BBQ-ed marshmallos!!!!!!! I tell you, these things are FANTASTIC!!! If you havent tried before, take my word for it....its really GOOD!!!

I realy missed having these Cluster BBQs. Like Miki said, time really flies. It just seemed like yesterday when the old Rec-Com team was organising another BBQ. Me, Rena, Alvin, Aimee and few others were rushing here and there getting things done. But I have to admit, after organising 3 BBQs in the past, we're much more experienced this time. We could start the fire going in no time and from there on it was a blast. Colleagues joking, chatting, having fun and as usual, Cheah is still over zealous about his BBQ skills with chicken wings. Somethings never change.

Though, one thing I really wanted to add is that after this event, I realised how blessed I am to have great managers. The 2 in mind is Mei Ling and Alzari. They have been really understanding and allowed me and the other Rec-Comm members to make this event a success. They are the most supportive managers any staff could ever wished for. And one day, when I leave this job, I would sorely missed having managers like them...cos I know I will never find any other managers like those 2.

At the end of the day........I was exhausted from the whole event. I was so tired that I couldnt feel my legs anymore. I was just simply numb from head to toe. Still, a few of us Rec-Com members and managers stayed back to have one final celebratory toast before we call it a day.

And Alvin being himself, I have no idea if he was drunk from the sparkling juice, he started his nonsense and left everyone in stiches..... from his famous words......

Hou chow!!!! Yat sang, yat sai, hou heng tai!!!!!!

LOST

Oh man, oh man.

I really have to pen this down. Call me a hopeless romantic.

I just saw the 23rd episode of Lost on TV. After this particular episode, I REALLY admit that Lost deserved to WIN all those Emmy Awards.

One of Lost's side stories that I love the most is the love/hate relationship between Jin and Sun. The Korean couple. You can really see that both of them loves each other alot but they just find it so difficult to be truthful to each other with their feelings.

Its been a long, long, long time since I saw anything so.......touching. Heck, its one of the MOST touching moment on TV that I have ever seen! I tell you.....those Koreans!!!! Really can get your eyes tearin up in no time.

Haven't seen this episode? Here's how it went......

All this happened after Jin has decided not to really talk to Sun as she kinda kept her ability to speak English a secret from her husband. Then on the eve of Jin's departure to leave the forsaken Island to seek for help......

Sun: (handing Jin some papers) This is for you.....

Jin: (reading the papers) Star......starboard.

Sun: Starboard. Its a list of English words spelled out phonetically. I though this would help you, so I made it for you.

Jin: ..........I'm sorry.

Sun: I am too. You don't have to go.

Jin: (sobs) You....you don't understand, Sun. I'm in this place because I'm being punished. I made you suffer......you don't deserve any of this.

Sun: (sobs) Jin.....

Jin: I have to go because I'm going to save you. Stay with Jack. He'll keep you safe.

[This is where my heart literally breaks]

Sun: (sobs) Who will keep you safe?

They hugged and cry

Sun: I love you.

Jin: I'm so sorry.

Sun: Its okay.

They kissed.

Kaoz!!!! By the end of this scene....I was......sigh. Man oh, man. Great scene huh? Classic. Simply classic. And the best part? This whole scene was in Korean!!!!!!!

Its just something about the Korean language. It just sounds so cool in these shows.

Crap....now I have to go rehearse this scene. Never know when I'll need to use it on my future girlfriend. Wahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Doom with Bread & Eggs

Finally recovering. Seems like the leak in my nose has been plugged.

Been doing nothing but watch TV today. A small hint of morning cartoons and an overdosed amount of ChannelNewsAsia. By far, I think CNA is the best news channel I have come accrossed. With engaging news-casting and interesting/touchy topics being discussed, I really enjoy every minute of it......told you I was a nerd.

Later in the afternoon, I was watching Fantastic Four. Must admit its quite an entertaining movie. Have been watching alot of movies lately. Even the much anticipated Doom.

All FPS (First-person-shooter) and old school gamers around the world rejoice when it was annouced that this Father of all FPS will be made into a movie.

And after watching it, what do I think of it? Sadly, 110 minutes of rubbish, and 10 minutes of FRAGGIN GOOD FUN.

I know, I know, you must be asking what I am talking about. Well, watch it and you will know. There is the final 10 minutes of the movie where the screen shifts to exactly first-person view! I have heard rumors about this scene and I thought initially its going to be crappy. But in the end I think its what saved the movie! Its insanely COOL!!!! Watching Imps, Barons and Hell Knights getting their heads blown off in first person perspective is outta this world!!!

As for the rest of the movie? It was really dissapointing. It strikes me as if I'm watching a B-Grade horror flick. Predictable, crappy, cliched and toy-ish looking props and guns. Even one of my favourite actor, The Rock was a dissapointment. I don't know why, but he always ends up getting crappy roles. So far the only movie I enjoyed thoroughly is The RunDown. Still, one satisfaction is getting to see The Rock using the lagendary BFG 3000!!!!!!! The BFG is one of the coolest weapons in Doom....it doesnt stand for anything fancy but.....Big Fucking Gun!!!!!!

After watching all these movies, I started to feel hungry. As I went to the kitchen, suddenly I realised something. How do you know that you have been eating too much tar pau food?

When you can accumulate THIS much rubberbands in just one week. Shit.

After that, I made up my mind and enough is enough. So no more tar pau food. And so what can a single bachelor living alone resort to?

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This.

I know it looks pathetic, but with some salt and eggs, this is the best I can whipped up! Voila! French toast with Ice Milk Tea!

It might not be anything fancy, but to me.....its home cooked food.

Another day, another rant

Here I am again.

This blog of mine is becoming more useful than I would have expected.

I was just talking to a friend today whom just started reading my blog. And immediately his first comment was...."You're very lonely".

I was like, "What the!?!?!!??".

Does my blog give people that impression? Still, he mentioned that not because I update it regularly, but from the entries I write.

In someways, I think he's right. Coming home to an empty house day after day is something I have grown accustomed to. In restrospect, its really different from my life back in Penang. I remember that whenever I go home, there's always someone there.

Be it, mum, dad or my brother....its nice to feel at home. Somewhere you belong. I also remember, whenever I got home, I have to go to my dad's room to wish him; to let him know I'm home. Its a respect sorta thing.

I miss that life. I miss havin a life every morning where I drive to college. I meet up with friends. I run errands or go catch a movie with friends after class. After that, I would go home and take a late afternoon nap and just to wake up in time to have dinner my mum and dad had bought back. Come to think of it, my dad's a real stand up guy. After all this years, he still picks my mum up after work. Then both of them would go have dinner and buy back dinner for me and my brother.

I haven't been feeling well for the past couple of days. My nose is running on the thread mill.....on steroids. Have been chunking down Panadols and Piritons like mad and the recovery is slow. I was so dizzy at work the other day I nearly took a half day MC. But still, I push on. And the worse part? I had 3 hours of additional friggin OT. Initially I thought they would cancel the OT, but assholes were calling in non-stop that I had to actually EXTEND my OT for another half hour!!!!!

Sigh.......

When I came home. My whole body was aching from head to toe. I felt like jello and crashed on my bed. I woke up about 2 hours later only to take a bath and some medicine and continued my slumber. However, throughout the night things got worse. My nose was stuffed and I was choking on my own phlegm! I know this might sound gross.....but I was nearly drowned in my own phlegm ok????

I guess thats the bad part about staying alone. As the saying goes, "Die also nobody knows". Atleast I am off today and tomorrow. Give myself some time to recover.

These days I seriously have no mood to work. I go to work dreading every minute of it and I rejoice whenever its my off day. I also use to think that being attached to the Buddy System is fun........but that pleasure is slowly deminishing. The quality of the new recruits coming in are down right LOW. I'm going to say this. The interviewer and the staff hiring these new recruits should be SHOT. TWICE. IN THE HEAD. And I mean it!

I'm really struggling with the new recruits and they are seriously testing my patience. If you make a mistake once, twice or even thrice....its forgivable. But 5 friggin times?!?!?!?! And the same mistake?!?!?! How on earth did these people pass the interview??????

Don't get me wrong. These new "kids" are realli nice people. Sincere and earnest. But they are just not cut out for the job. I do not see an ounce of customer service in them.

All I can say is this. If this continues and we continue to employ CUSTOMER SERVICE staff like this. God be with us. And God especially have to be with my company. Cos when the seniors are gone (rumors are running wild that the really good and capable seniors are leaving).............thats the end of it.

Better than your average Sunday

And here I thought it was going to be a boring day......

Well, I'm glad to report it aint all that bad!

Was suppose to be working today, but apparently I had to clear my National Day OIL. So I guess, I had not much choice but take leave today. Personally, given a choice, I'd rather use the OIL on some other day.

Anyway, like I've mentioned, I thought it was mostly going to be another boring Sunday at home. But then....I decided to take on a small little project that I have been putting off for quite some time now. I cant actually disclose what I was up to, but it dealt with some tech stuff and I spent the entire day trouble shooting it! It was fun. The moment I got it to work, i felt DAMN SATISFIED.

So far, it has been quite an interesting week for me. Time really passed by quite fast and I finally had my year-end appraisal done! I was dreading it all this while as it supposedly will determined my bonus!!~ I really have to admit, the bonus given out by my company is one of the best in Singapore. Hence, tensions ran high and thats why you can see how important this appraisal is to me.

Still, I guess it went well. The only thing that I wasn't really comfortable is that this year's appraisal was actually done by a new manager that just joined us about 2 to 3 mths back. In a way, this manager couldnt have known the work I have done thruout the past year and how could he give an accurate appraisal? Though, I guess the consolation was that I was informed the bottom line of the appraisal was done thru a collective consideration of ALL the managers.

Guess I can't argue with that.

In the end, I am quite satisfied with the review. But read me right. QUITE satisfied, not satisfied.

As usual, I was having my TV dinner again. On air was DareDevil. Its been a while since I saw this movie and I guess its just another one of those pop-corn movies that defies logic. However, what came to mind was the controversy that this movie caused years back when it was released. I remember the Malaysian government banned this movie as it had the word "Devil" in the title. Being a Muslim country, it cant be helped. I still think its a ridiculous idea to ban the movie, but its funny to see the movie being shown here....on TV!

You gotta love Singapore. And you know whats even more hilarious? I bought the original DareDevil VCD in Singapore but sadly the only one allowed to be sale is the censored version. But now the one airing on TV is the un-censored version!!!! What the?!?!!?!?!?!

HAhahahahahhaaha.....talk about ironic!

Lastly, I would like to say a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to 2 very special gals in my life!!!!!

Joanne & Cassie!!!!!!

:) I have a strange feeling that I have an affinity with people who are born on the 6th of November. The latter is a sister I never had and the former is one of the closest and special person I have come to known in this world. Too bad I can't celebrate her birthday with her. She's in Shanghai now for training.

Anyhoo....Happy Birthday GIRLS!

Happy Birthday......Idiot! Haha!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRIAN!!!!

Well, its that time of the year again. 5th November. I guess this is the start of many birthday wishes in my blog.

And the first here is one of the few close friends that I made while I was in college.

Brian Alexander Baptist.

Thats a mouthful huh?

I was browsing thru my old college photos and this is the only one I could really find that had a decent photo of me and Brian. Man....look at me. Look at that hair. Sheesh.....i'm an embarassment.

The 2 poster boys for Nerds-R-Us

Looking back, I guess the both of us were really some oddballs back then. We weren't exactly popular. We weren't exactly good-looking. And we weren't exactly studious. But we were friends.

All I remembered of college society is there was really alot of pretentious people. People who only want to hang out with the popular kids. Some would go to great lenghts and suck up to those who were popular. I'm thinking all of you that are reading this right now, know what I'm talking about. Pretentious ASSes that speaks in an accent even when none of them have even been abroad.

Still, I guess me and Brian didnt cared much about popularity. We were true to ourselves and just had fun during college. Call us nerds, call us dweebs, and we're proud of it!

Haha....but mind you. Brian really have a sharp tougue. I remembered the first time when I got to know him. He was kind of an introvert. Really kept to himself. But when you start to get to know him?

I said this to him before and I'll say it again. When you really get to know this guy; the problem is not getting him to talk.....but its getting him to shut up!!!!!!!

Anyway....again. Brian, if you're reading this.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY.....Idiot (his favourite word)!

Mad Teen-Singapore RUSH

The word's out.

Zouk have just been renovated and the timing's pefect. Its a Wednesday night which means its Ladies Night and its the eve of a public holiday.

And what do you get? Pandemonium.

For me and a few of my ex-colleagues, we were actually just planning for a simply night out. A small reunion of sorts. Then oblivious to us, we decided why not kill 2 birds with one stone. Have a night out clubbing and at the same time have ourselves a small reunion.

So, Rena and Siew Chi were there early cos the were already there with some friends. Basically Me and Marcel went there after work which was almost around 10pm.

But when we got there.........Siau eh!!!! Almost every 20 something Singaporean was there!!!! It was as if Zouk had free drinks and cover that night! There was easily hundreds of people. People were seen lining up from hundreds of meters away. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought Disneyland Singapore just opened.

Instantly, me and Marcel changed our minds about clubbing. Since Rena and Siew Chi was already in queue.......Me and Marcel had to make some minor changes to our plans.

So from this..................

Apparently someone said there was a free all-you-can-eat buffet at Zouk. All hell broke loose
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to this. Sians........ No Zouk...then Zorro la!!

Attack of the Monsters!!!!!!!!!!

Run for your lives!!!!!!!!

The call center is attacked by monsters!!!!

1 day after Holloween, the undead has been spotted terrorising the call center staff! And oddly enough, some of these monsters were also seen distributing sweets, chocolates and candy.

Still, I was lucky enough to survive the attack and bring you these exclusive photos. Many has not survive and live another day to tell this story.....

Seen here, I manage to get up close and personal with these 2 ghastly creatures.....the sesat (lost) Alien, Sadako and another one.....which what I can only describe as the Grim Reaper. And regardless, nobody was spared from the wrath of Sadako!!!!!

But then again......thats my call center. One never knows what lurks in the halls of the call center. Some CSO's are simply mutated from the freak radio-active headsets that were provided to us.

Ladies and Gentlemen...this is what you will look like after working 5 years in a call center attending to screaming and shouting morons and idiots. Even the sesat Alien needs to destress himself and have himself a cig....

At the end of the day, though, after having close brushes with these ghastly creatures.....they suddenly stopped and posed for the camera!!!

Happy Holloween and Deepavalli!!!!~

Part & Parcel of the JOB

Just came back from work when I should be home much much earlier.

Aparrently I was the only senior that was around tonight and even though it was my short day and I could have left half hour earlier; I stayed back.

Some would say thats just plain dumb, and some would say its just doing charity. But from my point of view is that its not much of a big deal to me as its only 30 mins. And in many ways I am responsible for the new recruits.

For the past few days, I found that these new recruits needs alot of guidance and coaching. And I start to really think the trainers in the training center are not doing their jobs. Product knowledge is poor and call handling procedures are all over the place. The new recruits seemed lost as they aimlessly figure out core procedures and infomation.

So far, my patience is still holding as I try to coach them one day at a time. I'm sure the other seniors feel the stress as well.

I must admit that so far, the cluster's buddy system is really performing well. I was just thinking the other day, we are fortunate to have understanding and patient seniors. We've manage to really make nothing into something. I'm sure without the buddy system, many of the new recruits would have extended their probation periods and it would be quite a while till they are confirmed.

Looking back, I'm really glad as our efforts really paid off as many were all confirmed under the guidance of the seniors.

On another note......been having problems sleeping again these days. Been really struggling with this week's schedule. Sleeping everynight around 3am and subconciously waking up every morning around 9am is taking its toll on me.

Thankfully, its only another day left before I end this un-godly shift. To be honest, I don't mind working late at this hour, but the vigorously flucntuating shift makes it difficult to adjust and adapt to the timing.

Atleast in some way, time is passing by quite speedily. Day after day after day, time passes us by in an instant. Still, whenever this happens, I cant help but to feel time is really precious and its passing by so quickly.....

Then I ask myself. Am I suppose to be doing something else? Time's a wastin'.

Butterfly Wings

It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world.

- Chaos Theory

These very words speaks a hundred meanings when it was first conceptualised in the 1960s. Though, in recent days I am starting to understand the truth behind the theory.

For most of the part, I do admit that sometimes something as small as a butterfly's fluttering wings can cause a massive tornado. So to speak.

Lately, I have been in the eye of the storm and I find myself in a......less-than comfortable position. Though some of you might not know what I am referring to....but all I want to illustrate is that even sometimes, things get blown out of proportion meaninglessly.

Don't you agree? Take for example, as CSOs who handle customers every single day; all it takes is one single wrong choice of word, the customer can literally flare up and starts to scream and shout to the top of their lungs. Whats even more worse is that there was nothing to be screaming and shouting for in the first place.

So, I guess the Choas Theory in many ways implicates our daily lives and rings true to our words and our actions.

Ultimately, whats more important is.... I now better understand the consequences of one's actions and how it will affect others. Knowing that, we have to be more concious of what we say or do. No matter how small it might appear to be.

Though, atleast we can try and remind ourselves; never let the flutter of butterfly wings cause devastiation halfway around the world.

Stormy Night in Singapore

Jeez.....its really getting rough out there.

In my 2 years in Singapore, not too sure why, but I think tonight's storm is one of the worse I've seen. And I mind you....its not heavy rain okay??? Its a storm!

There's a thunder clap every few seconds and the sky seems to be flashing non-stop with lightning before the thunder. If I was a paranoid sceince geek, I'd think that the Martians have landed!! Err...then again...I am a geek.....so......*ponders*

Still, from my house I can hardly see whats beyond 200 to 300 meters in front of me. The constant rumble of the thunder is so loud that I can hardly hear myself think. In many ways....back in Penang, if any storm like this occurs; definately there are some parts that will be flooded. But I guess it does bring back memories.

I used stay at this particular area in Penang that floods occasionally occurs whenever there's a heavy rain. I remember seeing some kids bringing out some barrels playing around with it in the flood. They would run on it on the floating barrels and have themselves one hell of a time.

Anyway, must admit that today has been a productive day. Got alot of things done considering I only slept around 5 hours.

Last night, I came home around 4am after having another yummi-licious supper with Cassie after work. I was woken up this morning by a call from office. Apparently, the Service Level has crashed badly and they need people to go back for some OT. And with only 5 hours of sleep, I don't think going back to answer frustrating and idiotic calls is a good idea.

Reluctantly, I "regrettably" rejected the OT.

Anyway, I spent the whole day running errands for my new baby...hehehehe.... Got myself a new 3G phone (more on this phone in my next post....after I'm done playing around with it)!!!!!! Went to one of my favourite places in Singapore. SIM LIM aka TECH HEAVEN!!!!!!!

Wahahahahahahahahaahah!!!! I have no idea why, but the place always turns me on. I was there on "official" business as I needed to get an RS-MMC card for my new baby (if you have no idea whats that.....shoot yourse......oh wait. I'm being mean. HAhahaha...it just means more memory).

After hunting around for almost an hour, I finally found what I wanted and damn.....I had a smile so wide that will put Aerosmith to shame. Hehe...what did I tell you about boys with toys?

Well, by the time I was done with things, I was so caught up in Sim Lim that I only had my lunch at 4pm!!!!

But its nice to be among society again. Normally for me, it would be routine to just laze around at home on my off days. Its nice to see people going about their business and realli see the culture of Singaporeans. Seems like in Singapore, my life only revolves around work. My social life is practically non-existent.

Howeveeeeerrr.....I really have to say this. I didnt realize Singapore had so many PRETTY gals!!!!!!!!! As I don't come out much, my eyes were really wide open today!!!! I was like, "Fuah!!!!! where did all these gals come from?????" - EH....dun roll your eyes when you're reading this k??? I'm still a swingin' bachelor, right? Errr...though I haven't been doing any swingin' these days....*ahem* not that I have before anyway...Heeeee......

Anyway, its really..."refreshing". But then again? Its only pleasant to the eyes; we'll never know there's genuine substance behind their looks.....still...

ShEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeeet......I have to get out more.

The Birthday Conspiracy

*choke* *choke*.....*heavy breathing* Ugggghhhh.....

I'm so broke I can't breathe!!!!! Seriously, this is one of the dri-est seasons I have ever come across!!! Trying to make ends meet, I'm sqeezing out every penny out of my pocket. Sigh.....have to start eating bread and butter for my meals.

Eerrrr....ok la! Its not that bad. Hehehehehe.

To be honest, my pay for this month just came in and of course, it does offer some temporary relieve. But still, the month of November is what I call, "Dead-Broke Month". And you know why? Almost everybody's freakin birthday falls in November!!!!!

Trust me....my birthday present list is getting longer by the minute! Its really tough when not only you have remember all the friend's birthdays, but you also have to think of what to get them. And for me, I'm one of those people who really sucks when it comes to choosing birthday presents. Nevertheless, with this on going trend of high birthday trafic in November, I start to ponder why is this so....

I sat down. Thought about it. While calculating my budget, then.....

Suddenly it hit me like a Malaysian hit and run driver! Just calculate, 9 months before November is February!!! And thats just it!!!

February = Valentine's Day = Busy busy busy couples!!!

So, you see my point? No wonder that I have so many friends that are having their birthday in November. Its a bloody conspiracy!!! Sheesh.....

Though.....I can't complain much. Even my dad's and brother's birthday are in November. And on the same day too! Hehhehee....really have to give it to my dad for careful planning. Kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

Anyway, I guess birthdays are a good thing. Always a reason for celebration.

But for now.....I cant wait for DECEMBER!!!!~

BONUS BONUS BONUS BONUS BONUS...........sigh

Korea? Love the Music

Okay, Okay!!! I'm in the mood!!!

As a tribute to all things Kimchi, this whole month I will be belting out some of my favourite songs from Korea. The one you are listening to right now is a song by The Promise. Its called Fly To The Sky. Pretty sappy title huh?? But what the heck I like it.

I guess the Korean phenomenon really took the world by storm. Everyone's mad about them. Though, I have to confess that I've never really finised one single Korean drama. Errr....nobody kill me okie?

But still, I have to admit, whats not to like? Great looking babes, dashing guys (hehe....some are better looking/prettier than their female counterparts) and fastastic music. Just what the doctor ordered for a good time for the whole family.

But you really have to sit down and think about it. How did the Korean phenomenon get so big? The asnwer? Those friggin sappy love story script writers!!!! Without them, nobody would have heard of Bae Yong Joon and I'm sure nobody would have uttered the words sarang hae before. Korean should really put these guys on the padestial. I'm sure if you mesured it, these script writers have caused tonnes and litres of tears jerking out of love torn/sappy teenage girls all around the world. And thats not counting the tears shed by the Auntie Killer Bae Yong Joon. The amount of tears shed combined would put Hurricane Wilma to shame.

Still, I'm not complaining. As long as they can produce music like that, I'm all for Koreans!

Hmmm, with Koreans aside, today was really a relaxing day. I'd even manage to get a hair cut. Hmmmm, though until now I never seem to find a hair cut that really suits me. How nice if I can look as good as those Korean actors....one of them being my all time favourite, Jang Dong Gun. That fella really have class. I would likened him to the Korean James Bond. Super suave!

Thats me I guess. I really like the stereo-typical suave good guy. How I wish I can be like that. Look suave and good in a coat.

"Mum, when I grow up.....I wanna be like him!!!"

But I know, before that.....I need to lose all these KILOS!!!!! Ummmmm.....though my growing beer belly isn't helping *grins* Oh well.....till then...I'll just be Sonny Yong. =)

Formula for a good time

[Great company X (Tasty food)²] + Nice location = Good time

I love spontaneity. Just like the time me and Rena went for the foot massage and just like the late night supper I had with Cassie last night!

It was just one of those weeks where I am working morning and I was off on a Sunday. As usual, I mope around the idea of going home at 7pm on a Saturday night knowing I had nowhere to go and I was even off the next day! Sheesh!

I'm a young, working, single and financially stable guy spending his Saturday nights doing laundry and watching TV!!!!~ Errr....though....pay day isn't here yet and there isn't going to be alot of spending. hehehehe

Anyway, to my much distress, as I got off work, suddenly Cassie just casually asked if I wanna have supper, cos she might be cancelling her appointments with her friends. So I thought to myself, "what the heck, why not?"

So, I went home first, had myself a short nap, and later Cassie called me and we decided to meet up at Holland V. And from there on........my Saturday night was saved!!!!

I must say that eventhough it was just a simple supper without alot of fanfare, but I really did enjoy myself. We didn't need to go clubbing, we didn't need to spend riduculous amounts of money and we didn't need to have alot of people around......though too bad Jeo (Cassie's bf) couldnt join us, or else it would have been nice to have the usual gang.

However, halfway thru someone unexpected showed up right in front of us. It was JUSTIN!!!!!! Our former boss. He's now transferred to another Cluster in our department....but I really have to say this. Justin's one of the BEST managers anyone could EVER have. Serious. He's really one guy who has the perfect balance between play and work and is of course, nice to his staff. Justin was actually there at the same coffee shop having a birthday supper with his friends.

Later on, Justin was even nice enough to come over to join me and Cassie for a while. We chatted for almost a good 10 to 15 minutes before he left to join his friends again. After that, my respect for him grew even more. Really down to earth guy.

Not many managers would come over to spend some time with their staff; especially when you're out of office. I see it alot of managers wouldn't even be caught dead having drinks with their junior officers. In my office, the some managers are like that. They rarely spend time with staff at the ground level and only mingle among themselves. Talk about building rapport and ego!

After that, me and Cassie continued on with our food and drinks. I find that I really find it easy to talk to Cassie. We talked about work, life, relationships and office gossips!!! And before we knew it....it was already 3:15am!!

After the supper, finally I got home about 4am. I was kinda happy about it cos, in the past when I was back in Penang, I used to go home this late on Saturday nights. Me and my buddies would hang out at mamak stalls after playing countless hours of Counter-Strike at the cybercafe. Sometimes we would even strecth the night chit-chatting at the mamak stall until 5am.

Looking back, sometimes I think to myself...we really had alot of things to chat about! Every week without fail all of us would hang around until 4am or 5 am at the mamak stall. We never grew tired of it....we just basically enjoy each other's company.

Sigh,.......I kinda miss those days =) But hey.....having supper with a good friend like Cassie; is equally as enjoyable!

Noma Numa Yei!!!!!

Quite some time ago, I came across this really funky trailer of Chicken Little while catching a movie in the cinema.

My very first impression I got was, it was damn HILARIOUS!!!!!

With the facial expression like that and dancing to a song like that, it was simply unbearable.

Anyway, as for all of you that have read my previous blog entry, I know things seemed kinda down for a period of time. And I really took the time to reflect what I was truly feeling deep down inside and now I realize.....I was truly foolish.

I have been talking to a few friends for the past few days and I realized there are more things to life than what that was growing thru my mind. Important things.

Career, family, financial stability, my future and ALOT more things.

Also, when the setting and the tone of things are so low, its really kinda difficult to pick things up and start at a lighter note. From a sad entry posting, the negativity really affects everyone....even the readers.

I really didn't know what came over me that night. Hmmmm....maybe its the side effects of wearing a pink shirt!!!

Still, I think I have overcomed what I went thru that thing except for a few things that I guess I'll be able to sort out soon enough.

So I guess for the time being........mai-ia-hee, mai-ia-huu, mai-iahoo, mai-ia-HaHa!!!!