Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!!!!!!

Work is f**ked up big time. It's not so much the work itself but the people I have to deal with. The incompetent dumbo's that I have to manage. F**k! I have a bunch of clients who are so f**ked up this time around. Some background....I was involved actively in a portion of the project and so naturally I was asked to train the client reps so that they could run this the next time around. Sorta like a transfer of knowledge from us to them. Me....being someone who is very low in 'control' according to my Facet5 profile meaning I don't like structures, details, processes and all the nitty gritty that comes with any piece of work took the trouble to ensure smooth delivery of the project as part of my personal development. I had decided last year to pay attention to more of this just to increase efficiency at work and so far I've been doing okay. I have not become too rigid to lose my flexibility but at least it makes working in a team much easier.

So back to the training story...I put all the necessary processes in place, even went to the trouble of being proactive and set things straight BEFORE it was required. Then the client sends in 2 young gals who i was supposed to train. What is the best training to provide newbies, who actually need to learn on-the-job in a very short time? Definitely hands-on, experiential learning with guidance. So, that's what I did...I did all the work for the first 2 days, then on the 3rd day I asked them to tend the calls and guided them on responding to the email queries. On the 4th day, their people requested for more information from them and we had to re-arrange all the data before sending it over to the people at the other end. It was not part of the agreement as we had previously agreed upon a set format for data delivery between my org and theirs. But since these newbies were asked to do it and it was part of the THEIR scope of work, I stayed back to HELP them complete the extra work. Not my work but theirs....

Then, at the end of that week, these girls' manager, surprises us with a visit, or at least surprises my colleagues and I with a surprise visit. Then she interrogated me, questioning my capability and what we were doing. I swallowed my anger and spoke to her as calmly as possible, all the while feeling like I was going to explode with rage at her audacity to question my ability. The whole reason that act pissed me off so much was because HER expectations/misunderstanding of the whole roles and responsibilities of both ends were screwed. BIG time.

Her idea of training was to get her girls to sit and observe everything. That would make sense if they were just gonna learn and not do anything. But the whole idea of knowledge transfer was that the girls would be running the whole thing by THEMSELVES by the 3rd week. So tell me, how much can one learn by sitting and watching other people do the work. And she wanted those girls to run the whole thing independently by the 3rd week. honestly even during the 2nd week i didn't think they were capable enough to handle everything. The turnaround response rate was too slow, they were not following the protocols of the damn project and were procrastinating everything because they were focusing on the minute unimportant details that did not impact the project at all. Idiots! So anyways I explain my part and she seems dissatisfied. So I told her fine, I will do all the work from then on and she seemed to calm down a bit. I was still pissed as hell though. It also doesn't help that my vendors screwed up big time - sent out multiple reminders to those who have completed the feedback. So had to manage the angry customers. Then I have a team member who was giving the rest of us attitude. Jerk just joined us and was pulling his weight. Kissed bosses ass big time but could not put money where his mouth was. Sigh* feel like stabbing them sometimes. But all in the name of sanity and so as to avoid a lawsuit or prison i keep my sanity intact by furiously typing away at the keyboard. Psst...they think I'm so engrossed in my work...heheheh

Interesting thing about life is....

Have been musing lately over life and what it really means. I only usually think about heavy stuff like this when I'm either drunk or stoned and it kinda surprised my friends hehehe and me when I brought up this topic 'clean'. So what IS life? We all go through this journey with some kind of perception or expectation of it. There is no manual which tells you how to get through it. Some may turn to the holy books - Bible, Koran or The Veda's for some inspiration. Why would someone turn to centuries old references to live out this life? How could anyone living thousands of years ago possibly have any idea what we "modern" humans were going through? And yet the fundamentals of human existence is based on one common thing - survival. Then and now! We are always fighting for survival, our ancestors lived through survival of the fittest. If you were not fit enough to get your own food, you were a goner, if by some disorder of the genes you did not fully evolve physically (or mentally) to survive the cold, you were out. All that's left were the strongest, fittest men and women. We descended from this pool of people, but life for us has evolved oh so conveniently to what it is today in comparison with our ancestors'. That's the Darwinian theory perspective. From a theological perspective, let's use the folks from the Holy Bible (only because I'm familiar with it), they had to survive! I guess to them surviving also meant living. The Israelites who were slaves in Egypt -survived! they went on to becoming one of the greatest people of ancient times. The Egyptians survived the plagues of the Lord. Survival! Coming back to the present - modern times with its sophisticated technology should be offering us convenience; the luxury of not having to hunt for our supper or growing bodily hair (some of us are not too lucky) just to keep ourselves warm. And yet, it is still survival, let's look at the average middle class person. Scenario: Middle class male, with wife and family, living in a metropolitan city. Earning a salary which is just about enough to feed his family of 3. Being part of the rat race - he has but to survive! If he's not good enough, some punk fresh out of college will uproot him from his 15 year job (he had kids late ;)) cos he's not 'with it'. Survival! The change that takes place throughout the different phases of his life. From bachelor to husband - survival!. From husband to husband AND father - survival! From adored father to father who embarrasses his teenage kids - survival! etc. etc. etc. Life goes on. What would happen to Mr. X if he does not move up the corporate ladder amidst the dogs who eat other dogs? He would not survive! Of course I'm looking at one perspective here, it's not that the world would end here but just the fact that you still need to survive! It may not be as dramatic as our ancestors' survival but it's survival nonetheless. What happens to the non-survivors then? Hmm...

Pail vs bucket...

So here's how the story goes....I had an argument with a certain someone over the meaning of 3 words - pail, bucket, dipper. Which is which? This whole damn thing started off when he was in the bathroom and asked me to get the pail from the other bathroom. So I went and got the pail to which he said -

He: "Nolah K, the pail, pail!"

Moi: " Fuck you this is a pail."

He: "No, the small one you use to bathelah."

Moi: "You mean the dipper?"

He: "Whicheverlah, just bring it, I'm cold, the draft is killing me."

Moi: I laugh till I can't breathe as I hand him the dipper.

I tried to educate him on the difference between the pail and dipper. He malu cos he always tends to act like a smart alec with me. Then I dropped the subject. A few days ago, he happened to mention the word 'pail' again - (refering to the dipper) as he was complaining about his filthy housemate. So I corrected him,

He: "The fucker is so filthy K that I can't bear to go near his room. The other day I saw the "pail" was filled with dirty water in the bathroom...

Moi: "You mean dipper? And thang God we don't have to use that bathroom anymore."

He: "Uhm..mmm..."

And the subject was dropped again.

The next day, Mr. Tak-puas-hati sends me an sms -

He:"Definitions from dictionary.com...pail is a water-tight cylindrical vessel open at the top and filled with a handle...dipper is a cuplike container with a long handle...so the moral of the story is I've only used a pail and not a cuplike container...hahahaha"

Moi: "It's arguable, A pail as I know it is more cylindrical than a dipper and is a vessel used to contain water (or anything elselah)."

He: "What rubbish, go to the bathroom and see if there is anything that looks like a cup there?"

Previously he asked me about bucket and I told him that it was the synonym of pail. Both refer to the same thing. He sends me another sms:

He: "A pail is normally used with a bucket....this is the definition of a bucket...a deep cylindrical vessel usually of metal or plastic with a flat bottom and a semicircular bail used for collecting or holding water...u told me this was the pail and the pail is a dipper...hahaha"

Moi: "Oklah, if you want to continue believing you're rite, what can I say..."

He: "Eh you made a mistake just admit itlah, why can't you just admit it?"

I didn't bother to reply after that. Huh! Some people just can't admit defeat.

Then again, arguing over pails and buckets and dippers...I seriously need to make new friends....sigh*

Muay Thai anyone????

In a crazy spur of the moment moment, I decided to take up Thai kick-boxing or Muay Thai. It was Sl's idea to start up this class (I think). So my usual gang - J, L and moi decided to join. I was interested in kick-boxing way before I even started going to the gym but the nearest class was inconvenient for me. This class is in Bangsar, practically down the road so it was good for me. The 1st class was last Tuesday. The instructor walks in and we look in awe. It's this tiny guy with a tight, tight, tight body. Damn! Plus he had a nice ass! hehehe The first class was torturous. It was more strenuous than my gym sessions. By the end of the class we were all shaking with fatigue and exhaustion. Then we get news that a friend's father passed away in Penang. So J, L and R had to leave. I met D & Sb at Devi's. They were laughing at my fatigue...sheesh. With frens like them, no one needs enemies. =) Took 3 days for the muscle ache to subside. But it was good. I like muscle soreness, it feels good and bad at the same time.

Second class was fun! We had a blast punching and kicking. We really enjoyed that one. Thought that this week, the muscle soreness would not be too bad, but no.....it hurt like hell the next day. Went for a massage cos I was struggling to walk without feeling pain. The massage was really painful as well. This Balinese masseuse (did i spell this correctly? - oh f**k it) kneaded and pinpointed the sore points. I was in real pain. After the torture, I felt pretty ok. Slept like a baby that night. Sigh* Why do people put themselves through this kind of torture? =) But, I'm all excited about next week's class.....haiiiiiiiii yaaaaaakkkkk!!!!!

Can't wait for buka pusa with S & Y tomorrow....Yay!!!

Me & U...

Met up with my cousin R yesterday. She and I grew up together. Even as kids we stuck to each other. She's a year older to me and I used to look up to her. We have an unexplainable bond, something like what sisters would share. But for a long time, both of us did not have sisters and so we were drawn to each other. We used to fight like hell also, both she and my brother would gang up on me. But her mum used to take my side. We fought, squabbled, cried and laughed together. We use to have these crazy dreams and plans of what we would like to do when we grew up. Some of our fantasies were so crazy, we still laugh about it. We planned that we would go to college together and stay together and work at the same place. hahaha. Dreams of the innocent! We obviously did not think we'd meet other people along the way. It was always just the 2 of us. After a while, when I moved to the East Coast, we kinda drifted apart. But it was not a rift that could not be patched. Whenever we met up it was as if we were not separated at all. There was no awkwardness which you usually feel when you don't meet someone for a while.
Anyway. We had a great time last night. We went for dinner, then went back to her place. WE were up for most of the night, talking and talking and talking, trying out outfits and stuff. sigh* missed the good ol' days. Missed her company a lot. It was all too familiar and comforting. Maybe that was just what I needed....

In good times and in bad!

A close friend of mine is going through a divorce right now. S is a beautiful, intelligent person with a great personality. And yet, her husband has issues with her and decides to walk out. They knew each other since they were 12. They were together for 4 years. They were married for 2 years. 2 years! Why? It's so frustrating that something that should take up the rest of your life (marriage) can only last 2 years. D and I tried helping S realise the issues behind his decision. She blames herself for having security issues. She felt insecure with him. I'd like to think his actions caused her to feel that way. She defends him saying that I can't blame him for the way she feels! I only agree to a certain extent, but his behaviour drives her to feel that way. He's manipulative, sneaky and a flirt. Sigh* he even used to flirt with me and I told him numerous times that he should not be talking that way especially when his wife is my friend.

S on the other hand has good days and bad days. She would still give him a chance if he came back. From an outsider's perspective, "how could she be so stupid to want him back after all he's done to her?" But it's easier said than done. I totally understand how she feels. I myself still have an attachment to a certain bastard! Thang God I have good frens who support me no matter what. D is the reality check, she says it as it, she tells you you're dumb to your face. If I need to cry, J is there to support me. She's always had my back. I don't know how I would survive if I didn't have frens like these. So here's to good frens who are there for better or worse....Luv ya guys.

If tomorrow never comes....

If tomorrow never comes

Will they know how much I loved them

Did I try in every way to show them every day

That they are mine alone

And if my time on earth were through

And they must face this world without me

Is the love I gave them in the past

Gonna be enough to last

If tomorrow never comes

Feeling a little melancholic these few days.....and this song kinda touched me. Of course I changed the lyrics a bit....

Road to NAM...

Last month we had an office offsite meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam. So a couple of us decided to go a few days earlier and check out the place. We left on a Friday morning, the flight was pretty uneventful except that the flight attendant who was making the announcements sounded like she was working something in her mouth ;) if you know what i mean.

Day 1

Took us some time to get clearance to enter the country. There was a cab waiting for us to take us to our hotel. The journey from the airport was quite amusing. It kinda provided us with a taste of what was to come. I tried desperately to make conversation with the cabbie (a 27 year old small sized dude).

Me: What's your name?

Cabbie: Ah....Tam

Me: Oh Tam. I know someone called Tam too. *smiles*

Tam: Yes, yes. You...*point at me* how many old?

Me: Oh, i 25 years old. You?

Tam: Me. 2, 7.

Me: 27? Oh ok. you young ah. *smiles*
Silence.....

Me: So Tam, in Hanoi, what place nice to see?

SS: Good luck with that...hehehe

Me: Tam, what place nice to see in Hanoi?

Tam: Yes, Hanoi very nice place....

Me:Yes, which place, what name?

Tam: Yes, yes very nice, very nice....

SS: wahahahaha

Tam: hahaha
Me: *sulks* then *laugh*

That was my conversation with the guy.....

The Lake

Anyways we wanted to make the most of our trip so we decided to start the touring straight away. Got geared up with my backpack, essentials and comfy clothes. The weather was quite humid so it wasn't too comfortable to be walking around in jeans. We were starving so decided to grab lunch first. Checked with the hotel staff whose names were River and Spring (River's wife) i know, i know kinda makes you giggle eh. but they were nice people and i'm sure they were doing us a favor by coming up with easy to pronounce nicknames.... anyways SS and I walked around looking for food. We looked around and saw this little corner shop which apparently sold noodles (Pho-pronounced Fur (silent 'r'). when i say little i mean little ok. the chairs and tables were so cute. reminded me of kindie chairs.

The baby chairs and tables......


Anyways we wolfed down a hot bowl of rice porridge and steaming chicken noodles between the both of us. It wasn't too different from our local 'kuey teow sup' but the broth was the one which made the difference. The soup was both sour and salty and tasted so good with the chilli paste. We also ordered Vietnamese spring rolls which were crunchy and yummy and a bit sourish as well. With a full stomach we began our journey. First we took a walk around the lake just to familiarise ourselves with the surroundings. the lake was pretty crowded, there were people all around, families, kids and couples. Then SS and I saw a few couples making out in public. SS said it must be due to the French influence in the country. I was like whoa! felt a bit jakunlah. There were girls sitting on the guys laps, hugging and lots of lip-locking. all in broad daylight in front of so many others. im not saying its wrong, i just could not imagine seeing something like that back home. oh well...each to its own.

After walking around the lake, which was a pretty big lake, we headed back to the Hotel and just in time cos the weather suddenly changed. One minute it was blistering hot and the next brought strong winds, the sky turned dark and it began to drizzle...heavily. We sought refuge from the wind and rain in this little French Ice-cream parlour about 5 shops away from the Hotel entrance. Get this, the name of the Ice-cream parlour...Fanny. Yes, Fanny! SS and I had a laugh but we had to admit the ice-cream was good.

The walking made us tired and it was already quite dark. Hanoi was an hour ahead so it got dark quickly. We remembered seeing a foot massage sign next to our Hotel and we decided to check it out. It cost us USD 7 per person, SS brought it down to USD 5. Yes, you could bargain the price for almost anything here. I was so glad we decided to go for that massage. It was splendid! Felt so good after that, it was a well spent hour.

Waited for D and E (who were staying at another hotel) to have dinner. Since it was still raining, we decided against street food and ate at Little Hanoi. We had sandwiches for dinner. we were a bit disappointed cos we wanted to go all out on local food and the restaurant didn't have any local dishes. The sandwiches were ok, no different from what you could find back home. The baguette was a bit hard and big so I asked the waiter to cut mine in half. My conversation with waiter:

Me: Excuse me, can cut my sandwich in half please *with actions*

Waiter: *Looks at me, picks up butter knife and jabs the air in front of my face while saying* You cut, you cut!

Me: No, you take back there and cut for me.

Waiter: *Continues jabbing air in front of my face* No! you cut, you cut. and he turns and walks away.

WTF?

Momentary silence at the table before the rest laugh so hard, they almost fall off the chair. Basket! I asked another waiter (who did not witness the commotion) to do it for me. After dinner, we took a stroll through the night market and headed back to The Ritz. We tried drinking but were too tired to enjoy.

Day 2

Woke up quite early to start with the sight seeing. S and I decided to walk over to where D & E were staying cos apparently it was quite near. We got lost! cos we missed one turning. Damn! we took a trishaw along the way and felt real pity for the guy whose leg muscles had to work overtime. S & I being quite bootylicious squeezed ourselves into the small seat of the trishaw. Intially we bargained the price with him and he agreed, but wen we reached our destination we felt so bad for the poor dude that we decided to pay him the initial price hehehe. The Vietnamese gals are so small sized that we saw clothes on standard sized mannequins could not be zipped or fastened. We stayed clear of those shops.

After finally reaching their hotel, we had lunch by the roadside.....a mega feast which was quite affordable....check out the pics.

Literally by the roadside

Almost done!

After lunch we walked to the Prison Museum. We were busy camera-whoring as usual.

After that depressing journey, we headed for the Temple of Literature and Fine Arts.

From the outside

It was quite a walk to the Temple but it gave us the opportunity to really 'feel' Hanoi.

Entering the main courtyard

Another courtyard


Apparently the Temple used to be a University for scholars and was even visited by Confucious himself. It was quite interestinglah. We saw the attire of the scholars then. It's quite sad that a country once so rich with knowledge was almost wiped out and left with barely anything. But i guess, the country survived and has been able to sustain itself. Just the basic human survival instinct.

After that we took a cab back to The Ritz for some shopping around the area. We bought stuff and was later joined by some of our other colleagues who decided to hang out with us cos we were there a day earlier. We had dinner at some fancy restaurant cos our boss was among the folks who wanted to hang out with us. So we did and headed back to the Ritz to pick up our things. S and I were checking into the Melia. D & E joined us later for drinks in our room. We laughed so much that night. Lots of nonsense.

Some other colleagues headed to the night market that night but the excitement was pretty short-lived. One of them was robbed of her passport and purse. Apparently someone slit her handbag and took out a pouch which contained the aforementioned items. So S as HR manager had to take her the next day to get her things sorted out.

Day 3

I wake up to an sms from a senior colleague who wanted to discuss some slides i was to present during the meeting. I had plans to meet with D & E to visit Uncle Ho. So I told my colleague that I would see him later. Took a cab to their hotel and crashed their buffet breakie. On a full stomach we headed over to visit The Mausoleum.

Here lies Uncle Ho Chi Minh

The line was miles long. It was a moving line though so it didn't really seem as if it was ages. We just walked slowly and passed the different check points where they first took your camera and some were asked to hand over their phones. We were in line for about half an hour and it took us half a second to circle Mr. Ho.

Don't know if it was worth it or not. Then we just jalan-jalan around Hanoi, did some shopping and was really bushed by 6pm. The 3 of us visited the Opera House and the Museum. Could only snap pics from the outside of the Opera House cos we needed to pay to go in. The Museum was pretty disappointing. We expected it to be more like the Prison Museum but it was really boring. We went back to the Ritz area although we were staying there and did a bit of shopping. Oh yeah, D & I went for a foot massage. Second time for me. It was as good as I remember it to be.

S met up with us later. We had dinner then headed back to the Hotel to continue drinking. This time E was really pissed. We had a good time laughing at him and he laughing at himself. Hehehe. Went to bed or more like crashed into bed.

The next few days were office related. On the last nite, we had our performance nite. That was an absolute nerve-wrecking incident. Our office was going to do the "dikir barat" and yours truly was the singer...cough*cough*. Was a nervous wreck before the performance. Had to piss like 4 times in an hour. My boss kept encouraging me and saying i was gonna be fine. I wanted to run away and hide in the toilet. But finally as we walked up the stage, I worked the crowd, and all fear flew away. It used to be like this in Uni also, I'd get so nervous and feel like puking, but wen I start, there's no end to it. Even wen I had to speak in BM and my spoken BM kinda sucked at that point in time, I would speak with so much confidence it was embarassing! =)

3 days later we left the land of "minimoys" and headed back to reality. Was a good trip, the first 3 days at least. The food sucked on the way back. Again! So we maximised the value of our ticket, by getting sloshed! hehehe. and you know 1 drink in air is equivalent to 3 on ground or something like that. Don't know, don't care! hehehe

Blah! Blah!

Ok. I'm not going to make any excuses for my absence. Neither am I going to explain....malaslah. Let me just get on with what I have to say. I'm absolutely bored at work. It's not that I don't have anything to do. I have a million and one things to do. I'm just too lazy to get it done. You know how older people tend to long for their retirement age.....a time when they have time for themselves and they get to do ALL the things they wanted to do before, but could not due to work engagements. But when they finally retire they bore themselves to an early death or mental deficiency (Y if you do not change jobs soon, u don't have to wait for retirement for the latter to happen hehe). Well I kinda feel that way now. When I was swamped with work, I wished for a break so that I could do ALL the things I wanted to do but could not. Now that business is a tad slow and I have time to breathe I have become absolutely lazy and bored. You can now see my motivation to start blogging again =) I'm bored. It's going to be almost 2 years since I first joined. And I need a change...it's becoming a little too routine for melah. Most interesting project I'm working on is writing an article for The Edge. Not an easy task.....business writing. It sometimes seems as if i have kinda dug my own grave. Oklah im being dramatic again. but that is the only interesting thing going on here at the moment. Will update more later.....

Cheerz and out!

Returned to Sender...

I haven't posted anything in a while as usual. But I just had to use the office hours to post this. This is a tribute to a dearly departed friend of mine. She was taken away from us on the 6th of January 2008 at around 5am. She was hit by a speeding car which after hitting her dragged her for about 100m before hitting the brakes. At which juncture she fell off the car and hit her head on the road. That was the COD. My dear friend whom I have known since the age of 11 was a gorgeous, beautiful person. She had a heart made of pure gold and was always quick to lend a hand. One of the most popular girl both in primary and secondary school, SZ never looked down on anyone from a material perspective. Her humbleness won her many hearts and she was never in need of friends. Her parents are the same and it broke my heart to have to see them suffer that much. We shared quite a few ups and downs together. I left my frens, SZ included quite soon wen i moved to another state. But my dear frenz including SZ never let me go. They travelled across states to see me, they kept in touch via phone and letters (before the popularity of emails), cards and pictures. SZ was also very diligent at keeping the friendship alive. My greatest regret is not reciprocating as much. I always found it less hurtful to stay away till the friendship died down than to keep in touch and lose the people i love. That didn't help for although our friendship never died down completely, it never was the same as it was before. YET it still hurt so bad when i received the news. I was at work and did not want to tell anyone at first but just kept running to the washroom to cry. My boss saw my face wen i went for a ciggie break and asked what happened. I told her and she immediately sent me home. I went to a mutual friend's home. A gal whom i know since the age of 12. We comforted each other and went to SZ's house. I could not bring myself to look at her. I wanted to remember her the way she was before, not the way she was that day. I could not even say her 'body' i could not. I never lost a friend like this. Not one who was so close. We all practically grew up together, our parents were friends, we were really like sisters. We never had any qualms about telling each other how we felt. We shared information about our boyfriends, we teased each others boyfriends but we knew we would stand up for each other if it came down to it. We laughed, we cried and today we cry for her. She was always the best dressed among us and yesterday we were laughing thinking about how she was probably looking down at us and cursing her for not dressing up to come see her. =) But knowing her, it wouldn't have mattered. She will be missed dearly by all who knew her. Me included. Rest in Peace my dear....and don't you be raising hell in heaven!

SZ's passing on has taught me one thing, a few things actually. Life is too short to be taken for granted. We need to appreciate the people we love; family and friends and not leave enemies behind. Do at least one good deed a day. Forgive your enemies, heck love them if you can. It will only irritate them further. =)

Love ya SZ....