Save the day

Ok folks! Its finally over!. I'm out! *claps*

Man, its been a long run. Finally yours truly is out of the cluster's Buddy System and sad to say, I'm not "moulding" young minds to be competent CSOs anymore.

In a way, from what was expected to only last for 2 months, streched on to almost a year. Still, I'm glad to see that all the new recruits that was under me and my buddies' tutelage have grown to be able and efficient CSOs.

As for me, on a personal level....its been satisfying and rewarding. From their very first days, looks of moronic expressions and stares of blurness haunts me whenever I go to work. But now...its all good, baby. Its all good.

Cluster B.R.A.V.O Buddy System 2005

On another note, I finally got my BONUS!!!!

WOoOOoOoOHoOoOOoOoO!!!!~~~ $$$ come to papa! Initially, I had sOOoOoOOo many plans for my bonus this year. Thoughts of holidays, shopping sprees and food fiestas filled my mind. I know, I know.....those of you who know me is probably thinking....."What other gadget is this freak going to buy this time?"

But....... fortunately the cash was in my bank account for less than 24 hours.

Hehe...you see, ever heard of the phrase, "A fool and his money will soon be parted"? Well, this fool aint taking chances.

I have made a commitment to myself that I will be making something out of this year's bonus. Maybe buy a house in Penang or something like that. But however, I also know that the longer the money stays in Singapore, the higher the chances that I'm gonna do something stupid with it. So, 'nuff said....I transferred it back to Penang.

Thank God for creating Internet Fund transfers.

But seriously, to be honest my mood has been kinda rotten for the past few days. And basically, customers calling in these days with an IQ of a 9 year old isn't helping. From assholes to morons and idiots, it gets worse each day. EVERYONE wants a free phone.

If I'd know it better, I'm working for the Welfare Department of the Rich and Ignorant. I truly believe there's a medical term of how stupid these people can get. Look it up in the medical dictionary....its under moronis ignoramus.

Also, recently there have been a few people that have been getting on my nerves as well. I know some of them have good intentions, but they're execution seriously needs re-consideration.

Still, the funny thing is; no matter how bad my mood has been for the past few days, something always turns out for the better. I guess these days I'm more......positive and optimistic. I find myself looking things differently these days.

Something always seems to save the day. Something that makes it a little bit more...bearable.

KING Kong RaWkS!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess all of us has been very good this year. Cos, Peter Jackson has given the world the perfect Christmas gift.

What better way to spend your Christmas watching a big hairy monkey dragging a damsel in distress, wrecking havoc in New York.

I just saw King Kong and I.........SIMPLY LOVE IT!!!

Spectacular, jaw-dropping, fantastic, awesome...these are the few words that I can describe the movie.

But wait a minute....should I be calling King Kong a movie? Its much much more than that. Kong brought back the old Hollywood magic that mesmerised us for decades. It was pure popcorn-loving fun and every minute of it was great. All 3 hours of it. It kinda felt like I was a kid again; watching movies in a cinema. Just look at the picture above. The fonts, the banners. Looks like one of those old Hollywood classics.

King Kong didnt need to be rational, realistic or practical. Every single minute of it was pure movie nostalgia.

And who do we owe it to? One man.

Peter Jackson.

Peter Jackson is a genius.

Peter Jackson should have directed Jurasic Park.

Peter Jackson should have directed the 3 Stooges.

Peter Jackson should run for Presidency.

Peter Jackson is King!!!!!

All hail Peter Jackson!!!!

Never dissapointing. Always awe-insprising. This man made this B-grade movie classic into a masterpiece. Check out the scene from the minute the bronchiosaurus stampede to the T-Rex showdown with Kong. Pure excellence.

The whole movie is actually quite cliched. You have the strapping and dashing hero. The brute beast. The Damsel in distress. The over ambitious villian. And the pompous rich brat. The movie is so cliched that everyone has their specific role to play. Take for instance; the cook (acted by the talented Andy Serkis).......he enters his first scene wearing an apron. Typical of any ship's cook. BUT, even when he ventures into the depths of Skull Island, he's STILL wearing his apron!! And even till his death, he has his apron on.

And oh boy, don't get me started with the action scenes! They were so intense that they leave you gripping at the edge of your seats. Don't even blink. Its so fast and furious you'll only manage to catch your breath at the end. Look out for a scene where this guy is running amongst the veloceraptors and the other dinasaurs. In the midst of the running, the dude just jumped over the fallen veloceraptor and gave the dinosaur an overhead kick!!!!!~ What the?!?!!? Even seen anything like that before???

Though, one thing I have to mention is that the love chemistry between Adrian Brody and Naomi Watts is a tad weak. I felt that even King Kong had more chemistry with her. Especially the scene where Naomi Watts looks into Kong's eyes in the final moments together...before he plunge to his doom. That monkey's big brown eyes nearly made me shed a tear.

Alot of people are implying that Noami's role in the whole movie was just to act pretty and scream on cue. However, I beg to differ. True enough her screams and shouts can put the Scream movies to shame, but she played it like a true veteran. Its something about this actress that makes her so endearing.

Also, not to mention kudos to Andy Serkis aka Gollum that brought life to King Kong.

Perfect damsel in distress. Perfect monkey.

Simply brilliant.

Have yourself......a merry christmas....

♪Jingle balls, jingle balls....♪

♪Hanging on the wall....♪

♪One is big, one is small...♪

♪Just like........(I'll leave the ending to your imagination)♪

Anyway, MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!!!!

I know I haven't been updating my blog as often these days, but I have been seriously busy and of course the mid-afternoon shift doesnt help my poor time management at all.

Well, where do I begin? Its been a real wild week and of course, there has been alot of ups and downs.

For starters, I managed to catch Choronicals of Narnia! I guess what I can say is what everyone is saying....it sure damn hell has alot of similarities to Lord of the Rings. Though, this movie is the goodie-goodie-two-shoes version. To sum it up, this is what I think of it....

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Moving on, another thing that I went thru this week was my apparent denial of being the Chief Editor for my company's newsletter for next year. I won't go into details, but basically there was alot of politics involved. Though, to me of course; is one less headache to worry about.

And then there's the Christmas Celabrations in my office just a few hours ago!

I had a hand in organising this year's Christmas celebrations. So, being the glutton I am, we ordered lamb, chicken, beef and turkey! And to top it all off, we also ordered some log cakes just to get into the mood of things.

Later on, the "Jedi" and the "Sith Lord" of the department had a little argument on who would get the last piece of lamb. In many ways, it was inevitable and the Light and Dark side of the force clashed.

Ladies and gentlemen, the epic duel between Darth Ho and Obi-Al-Vin!!!

After hours of fierce battle, the Light side prevailed and Obi-Al-Vin overpowered the dark powers of Darth Ho....granting him to the last piece of Lamb.

So there you have it folks. My past week that has lead me up to this merry old Chritsmas Day.

On a side note, I was working until 9pm on Christmas Eve. And everywhere I go, I see people having plans to celebrate the countdown. And as for me, even as I am not working on Christmas (which is already a blessing)...have no where to go. Especially during Christmas, its the time that you spend it with your loved ones.....just one of those special times of the year.

And of course, I have no one to spend it with. Sigh. Even one of my close colleagues just asked me today.

"Sonny, why don't you have a girlfriend? I see you come to work, go home and come to work again the next day"

I was really amazed she asked me this question. This colleague of mine is really a nice lady with 2 children. And she asked me the above question.

I had no idea how to answer her.

Back to the point, I was talking to alot of people and as they have it, alot of people are attending parties, clubbing and all sorts of activities. Though, maybe I might be getting old, but even as lonely as I feel, but I'm kinda glad I'm not part of the masses, crowding in town, squeezing among human traffic, suffocating my balls in clubs.

In the end of it all, I ended up with an "activity". And it was a pleasant one at that. I cant reveal how I actually spent my Christmas countdown, but I can definately tell you I was in the company of really great friends. It wasnt lavish, it wasnt grand.....but we had fun.

What could have been a lonely countdown at home, turned out to be quite an enjoyable time. Really a pleasant surprise.

Temptations

No, I'm not referring to the 70s music band. But I'm talking about the root of all evil....well, not to me that is; money.

Its my off day today, after a horrendous 3 days at work. Sometimes, the days get so tough I can't imagine having to go thru it 5 days straight. Thats one good thing about working shifts I guess. If you were to ask me to work 5 days straight taking one arduos call after another, I would go insane.

But back to the point. As you can see from today's date. Its already the 16th of December. Which means, the mid-month's pay cheque is already in. And now its only the wait for the year end's bonus.

Still, this is where bad habits come into play.

Already on my shopping list is the all-magnificent PSP. I was planning to get this baby with my year end bonus , but not before; as I have to control my expenditure even when the mid-month's pay is in. You'll never know when you need emergency cash.

However.........today being my off day; thoughts ran wild and I have been contemplating to blow $500 and just buy the PSP asap. Thats the bad thing about some people I guess. Whole year round, we complain that we don't have money but still we could do without alot of things. But the moment you have money thrown your way......you start to think of ways to spend the money!

You'll start to contemplate on buying items that you'll never need and saving it is the furthest thing on your mind. Then again, you give yourself reasons why you need to buy that item; whether its true or not.

C'mon, I'm sure everyone has felt this way at one point in time right? A friend mentioned to me once, "All humans are like that. We earn $1, we spend $1. We earn $100, we spend $100". Which is true. Heard of paradox of thrift?

The moment your level of income increases, you would like to increase the standards of your living as well. When you earn $2000 a month, you live comfortably in a HDB. But when you earn $20,000 a month, you would want to stay in a nice house eventhough you were confortably living in a HDB previously.

I'm sure in a small way all of you would agree with me on this.

Still, today I'm happy to report I haven't blown my pay cheque yet; but I did spend $300 today. Went to the optician today and got myself a new pair of glasses. But this my friends, is something I can claim back as part of my flexi-benefits from my company. So, not so bad.

But.....come to think of it..........I think I'm gonna buy the Motorola V3 also.....

Errrrrrr.....

What??!?!?! I need a second phone for my Malaysian SIM what??!?!

SUPER CSO!!!

That's right. Work sucks.

I really have to say this. Why? Well, I can tell you one thing's for sure. The Csutomer Service Officers in my company are not normal people. They are super people.

In normal everyday life, the might seem to be normal citizens and lead normal public lives. But when they get to office, amazingly they suddenly transform to super employees.

Why again?

Because we have to work on friggin public holidays. Which makes us..........non-public citizens! Since we are working on public holidays, that means we're not a member of the public right?!?!

Now, you might also ask........why am I so pissed about it. Well, I'll tell you why. Because I'm friggin working this coming Chinese New Year!!!!!

WooOoOooHooooOOoO. I'm so excited. There goes generations of traditions and re-union dinners down the drain.

When people everywhere is having a good time re-uniting with their beloved families, we poor bastards will be stuck in office attending to morons.

And the big problem is.....I can't complain about it. Beacuse, everytime you make noise, the company takes out the employment papers that you signed and shove it up your ass. Just because it says "able to work on public holidays".

Well, its true, but still that doesnt mean I'm not pissed about it. I still haven't figure out how to tell my parents I won't be home on CNY.

Initially I was thinking that it wouldnt be fair for me to apply for leave during Xmas and New Year, and let the celebrants a chance to enjoy their festivities. Cos, I'd rather have leave on CNY. But now, seems like I have to work on Xmas, New Year and CNY!!!!! (it was mentioned that we can't have all. If we apply for leave on Xmas and New Year, our chances for leave approval for CNY will be very low)

But now.......... If I knew any better, I'd just rather be a prick and apply for ALL public holidays. Atleast I could have got something out of it.

Oh yeah, but the I was told that as a consolation, I will given 1 day leava either on the first day or second day of CNY. But what for if you give me one day off??? I can't rush back to Penang for 1 day! What for your give me one day??? Fly kite at home ah!?!!? I might as well work the entire CNY period and not waste my leave!

However, to be "fair", the company conducted a ballot to see who is lucky enough to get leave on CNY. Bear in mind, that I already sacrficed to work on Xmas and New Year....and I still have to ballot.

And guess what. When I drew my ballot, this is what I got.....and they were damn polite about it.

FUGGING HELL!!!!!

Reflections of Time

Hmmmm...seems like its been ages since I have blogged at this un-Godly hour.

I have no idea why, but I just feel like jotting down some of my thoughts. I started to noticed that my few recent posts were all about what I have done and what I have did; rather than "how" life have been.

Time for some.....reflection.

Recently, I've started to notice alot about the things around me. And in a way, I have started to understand myself better as well. How long has it been? 2 years? No....I guess longer than that.

19th June 2003

Thats the date I entered into Singapore and started my life here. Almost 2 and a half years ago. And since then....I've grown so much.

Things were a little different back then. Fresh out of college and enjoying a young relationship. Naive. Innocent. Childish. Ignorant. These are the many words that can describe me at that time and place.

I've learnt alot. But one of the things I've learnt is also how important and precious time can be. 2 things. Time can heal all wounds; and time.....shows you who are your true friends. And with that, I'm happy to say for all that I've endured, I have great friends that stuck with me thru thick and thin.

These days, I look in the mirror and I don't see the person whom I used to be. Good or bad, I don't know. But I'm still here and taking one day at a time.

Also, I have submitted my PR applications last week. In some ways, I am really excited about it. Because with it, comes the possibilities of applying for new jobs. Jobs that I have always wanted to try out. And jobs which are much more fulfilling that the current one. Its the hope of something prospectful I guess. I want so much more out of life.

To be honest......looking back, when I first came to Singapore...I thought all of this would only be temporary. I have always loved Penang and never thought of leaving home......and soon, one day I will be home again. But now I find myself having been here for so long and also applying for PR. And now....I start to doubt will I ever be able to adjust myself back to Penang life if I ever to go back.

Will I miss Singapore if I ever go back? Will things be the same the way I left them back in Penang? In many ways, I do not wish to know the answers to those questions.

The other day, my uncle came to Singapore for a short visit with his family. When I brought ,y uncle back to my place, he asked me, "Aren't you lonely staying alone?". My answer was of course in jest and I told him I have already grown used to it. I told him when I broke off with my ex 2 years ago, I have already adapted and got use to the fact I am.....alone in Singapore. Still, we have to do what we do in order to survive. And to a certain degree, I am....happy.

Then my uncle told me he can never live a life like mine. As he says that its important for one to come home to a warm house with someone to greet you....someone to make your life more colorful. Its true what he said. But for me, it isnt much of a choice.

But what he said next.....truly broke my heart.

According to him, he says that my parents are really worried about me. My mother especially...... mentioned that she knows I'm all alone in Singapore. And I do have alot of sadness in my heart but I'm not telling them anything at all. She's worried whether I have anyone that I can find consolation in....and who's going to take care of me.

I feel really down when I know my parents are worried about me. All I want for them is to be happy and not to worry about me.

If I ever have the courage to tell them....this is what I will tell my parents, "Mom, dad.....don't worry about me. I'm a big boy. I will live my life to the best of my ability and I hope that I will never dissapoint you all."

Its been one unforgettable journey this past 2 and a half years. I've learned and growned. Who knows what will come for the next 2 years.

All things Nippon

Its been a relaxin past few days....and its been a long long time since I really given myself the luxury of relaxin at home and doing things I love to do.

And for those who didn't know.....I was on MC on Friday and Saturday. And co-incidentally, Sunday and Monday is off days. So, inadvertantly I had 4 days away from office.

So, trust me....so far for the 3 days that have passed, it was well spent.

Of course, the first 2 days was really a torture as I was sick and I struggled day and night with my flu and fever. Thankfully, Donald was nice enough to visit me and took me out for porridge. If it wasn't for him, I would have been eating bread for the past few days.

Still, given so much time at home....what do you think I have been doing?

I've been watching nothing but........ANIME!!!!! Currently, I'm watchin Bleach and must admit that its pretty addictive and I watched it till 5am last night.

And as for today, I had myself a pleasant surprise. Received a call from Carmen! Apparently this dear ex-colleague of mine came down to Singapore for a short visit....and guess where did we end up having dinner?

KUSHIN-BO!!!!!! Another Japanese Restaurant!!!!!!!!

Must really admit that the food there is really good with a wide selection of sushi, sashimi, teppanyaki and other japanese delicacies....Again, it was introduced by Rena!!!!!

It was a realli nice re-union as it was nice to see the old gang again. I was reminded of the good old days when me, Rena, Carmen, Siew Chi and Marcel use to skiv away at work. Really missed those times....times when I looked forward to go to work. In many ways, it is because of them that gave me the drive to go to work day after day. But unfortunately, Marcel couldnt make it tonight and missed on the re-union. Perhaps, maybe another time.

Hmmmmm.......seems like I have been having alot of Japanese food recently, huh?

Well, I guess Korean was the flavour of the month last month....and this month its Japan!!!

UDD

I'm impressed....

Singapore has taken public sanitation to a whole new level.

I was at a friend's place in Bukit Batok the other day. And on my way back, as I was taking the lift down, I saw this sign in the lift that caught my eye...

People.......let me introduce you to Singapore's best defence against Weak-Bladdered Lift Passengers. The UDD!!!! Urine Detection Device!

I was at awed when I saw the sign and first question that came to mind......How does it work?!!?!
Issit that if anyone who started to pee in the lift sudden is stuck by a bolt of electricity? Cos it says its "armed"...so it must have some kinda weapon right???

Though I was tempted to try, I was about to unzip my pants but at the last minute I changed my mind. I didn't wanna risk being struck by a bolt of electricity that will render my "little brother" useless and the "crown jewels" fried.

Its amazing to see that the government has taken such drastic measures to put a stop to lift-peeing atrocities.

This is definately public sanitation at its best.

H5N1?

One thing I learned over the past few days.

Don't be a hero.

Been having a mild case of flu and sorethroat for the past few days and regardless of that, I've been ignoring it and have been sleeping late and not getting enough of rest.

So, what do you get? Well, definately not the H5N1 Avian flu......but my condition did worsened, especially when I forced myself to go to work yesterday.

Partly because of the Senior's Buddy Dinner we had yesterday; I forced myself to be at work and decided not to take an MC as I didn't want to be accuse of being sick but still being able to attend a social function. Though, I noticed that whenever I'm in office, my nose gets blocked and somehow recovers when I leave office. Someone should do something about the working conditions there....

In the end; I am down and out today. As my flu worsened, I couldn't breathe properly as I had to breathe thru my mouth and talked to customers at the same time. And to make matters worse, I had a splitting headache that was so painful that made my eyes teary! If I didn't know better, customers might have thought they have called the Star Wars Hotline and they were talking to Darth Vader. Or better yet....they might have thought they have called a porn hotline.

Boy, did wanted to try......."Lukke.....wa si....*chokes* lim lau peh...*chokes*........faster pay your....*coughs*....handphone bills. *heavy breathing*."

So here I am.....resting at home. Times like this I wish I had someone to take care of me. Not that I'm complaining, but you get pretty much self-reliant after staying alone for the past 2 years. With a waterry nose and a coarse voice that can make grown men run for their lives; I still had to drag myself out of bed and go see the doctor and prepare my own meals.

Anyway, I guess the Senior Buddy's Dinner after work was worth the torturous 9 hours of work. We went to Hoshi Japanese Restaurant at IMM and we had a feast!

Despite the mildly rude waiters, we didn't cared much for what was around us but it was all about having ourselves a good time.

Miraculously, when the food arrived, my flu and sorethroat just suddenly dissapeared and I started "attacking" delectable sashimi!!!! I simply love Japanese food! Definately one of my favourite cuisines of all time.

All in all, it was a really nice outing with all the seniors and the managers.

J-Jeo, Cassie, Alan, Miki, Sharon and Dewi

BC, Mei Ling, Alzari, Alvin and his adorable little Aiden

Past week's round-up

Finally......manage to find some time for myself.

For the past week, I was under the assumption that normally morning shifts I'll have more time to myself compared to afternoon shifts. Wrong.

Seems like no matter how early I finish from work, I have some function to attend or some appointment to keep.

Avarage sleeping time for the past week is around......5 hours per day.

So I guess you can imagine I've been gargling coffee everyday at work just to keep my eyes open.

Still, in terms of work.....not everything is going as smoothly as it used to as before. I have no idea why, but I'm not performing up to par and I even start to feel that I'm overstayed my tenure in the cluster's buddy system.

Do you ever get the feeling that you have worn out your usefulness? Well, there will be a Senior's dinner this coming week. Though, I can't help but to feel like its a farewell dinner for me.

Also, I got into a small tiff with another colleague during one of the briefings we had the other day. It was primarily a briefing regarding the cluster's performance regarding the Sales Thru Service campaign. Apparently, the cluster is not performing as well as the other cluster.....and now, the managers are trying to get feedback from the floor to see if there are any way to improve on the current situation.

I dont know....but for me...looking at a statistical point of view, I feel that the root of the problem is the difference in methodology between the 2 clusters. That's why the disparity is there. However, when I try to put my views across, I was immeadiately shot down by another officer that I was just making excuses for the poor cluster performance.

But the thing is, if we continue to do what we do, and just barge in head-strong with out current methodology....we're never going to catch up on the other cluster.

There is a procedure and solution to every problem. You see a problem. You think of a solution. You formulate a plan. And you see it thru. If there is any problems along the way; you fine tune your procedure to perfection.

But the solution to these people? Simply whack everything until you get it right. Sadly, I must admit....this is the Malaysian way.

To be honest, the colleague that went against me the other day is REALLY starting to piss me off. The way he handled the situation looked to me like it was......personal.

Anyway, enough about work.

I attended the infamous CS Bash the other day. What was expected to be a mediocre department dinner turned out to be one of the most entertaining nights I ever had.

All because of my slut-bro, Franklin.

You see, he was nominate for the CS Mr. Personality pageant. Initially, I was quite worried about the dude as I didnt know how he is going to handle the stage fright. Boy, I was worried for nothing.

On stage, when he was asked, "Why do you think we should choose you as CS Mr. Personality?"

Here are his exact words.......

[He took the mike]
[Stepped up to the crowd....and said]
Why?
Is there any girl in this ballroom I haven't talked to before?
Is there any girl in this ballroom I haven't flirted with?

[There were about 100+ girls in the ballroom]
Now, if you don't know me, I'm sure you know my reputation.
Why?
It's because......I have sex appeal.

After that.......he literally brought down the house!!!! He has every man's respect in the ballroom and everyone was cheering for him. Some were even shouting, "We're not worthy!!!!!"

Seriously, it was something I have never seen anyone do....ON STAGE! For those few brief moments......Franklin was God among men. And the best part.....what he said about his reputation......is TRUE!!!!!!! HE HAS flirted with EVERY single one of them!

Here are some of the pics I took with some of the 'gorgeous' babes that night.....

Here's me and the ever-so-lovely Hayati

Here I am with Ellie the Tech-Girl (also from Penang!)

And here are the rest of the CS Rec-Comm members.....

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.