It's my handphone charger this time

Argghhh....!

Someone stole my handphone charger from my cubicle!

Must this happen to me everytime? The last time it was my chair, and the time before it was my dustbin and now my handphone charger.

This is a rotten way to start a working day, and I am upset!

I am going to label everything I have on my desk, and warning people not to touch nor REMOVE my stuff!

Is There Anything I Can Do For You?

Does that sentence sound familiar?

This is what I often hear when I call for service, be it telecommunications, IT helpdesk, banks etc..

I have no issue with that statement, but I find it insulting when it is used as a standard text or closing statement with your customers. More often than not, my problem would not be solved before they happily ask me " Is there anything else, Miss?" I really want to tell them "No, don't offer to help on other issues, please fix my current issue FIRST."

How can companies train their employees to say this line when they have obviously not helped to customers' current problem? What makes them think that they can solve my next problem if they cannot solve my first problem? I give up... this was the conversation that took place this morning.

"Hello, how can I help you?"

After explaining the problem with my laptop, this was the reply: "Oh, it appears that this can be a problem with your laptop configuration. You need to call back the SAME number and press 1 instead of 2".

Alright, I didn't want to argue and said "OK."

Then it came " Is there anything else I can help you with, Miss?"

Feeling naughty, I said this: "Yes, can you transfer the line?"
"No I cannot, you need to call back the same number and press 1"

Duh......... if you cannot help then don't ask to help. Such standard text should be used sparringly, and used only in the right context, not as a acceptable closing statement!

Sigh, don't they ever learn?

As promised..

As promised.. I went to scout for items to snap in my office, and I saw my collection of souvenirs/ food from my colleagues which I have found too cute to be eaten..


So I snap photos of them and will post them here!

Mickey Mouse cookie, courtesy of Bryan

Maple syrup candy, courtesy of Geraldine

Pepper sweet, courtesy of Ee Laine

Guess now that I have the photos, I can start to eat them.. haha..

Presenting... my new camera!

Tada.......!!

This is my camera... yeh yeh! I don't have to share camera with others anymore.. I can carry it wherever I go and snap all the photos I like. I even got a 4GB memory card so I can snap more than 2,000 photos before having to delete any!

Let's see.. must find something to snap today... ok, will snap interesting things in my office and post it later. For now, just admire my camera... hehe..

Erm...

Got this from somewhere, and really like what it says!

Oh yes, I got my own camera finally! It's courtesy of hubby, as my birthday present..! Thank you, *muach*!

I got the same camera as hubby.. haha.. maybe because I am too used to his camera and its features. It's of the same colour too! So we's have to tag our cameras to differentiate them.

But funnily though, I haven't had the urge to take photos like I used to (when I hogged his camera)..

Spoilt for choices

Over the weekend, I went to MATTA fair, twice.

My other half went everyday of MATTA fair, all because: we couldn't decide where to go.

My initial destination of choice were either Hokkaido or Athens. While at MATTA fair, destinations like Australia, Eastern Europe, South Africa and Turkey swayed my path. The more brochures I took, the more confused I got; the more travel agencies I talk to, the less decided I became of my destination.

I thought we were doing fantastic when we finalised Eastern Europe, Turkey and South Africa as our top 3 finalist, and even better when we decided on South Africa as our destination. We had all the costing and questions worked out for final visit to MATTA, when something someone said during the fair made me changed my mind.

All of a sudden, we were without a destination anymore! I was almost in panic, and totally confused how a task as easy as finding a holiday destination could end up so complicated.

To cut the long story short, we have finally decided on Turkey. Phew....!

Unbelievable..

My mum was on board an airplane last night on her way back from Newark to Kuala Lumpur.

She said the aircraft was a little noisy thus she requested for ear plugs. This is the funny part, the stewardess told her that the airline does not carry the item anymore, and gave her 02 cotton balls instead. I am not joking, and this is both amusing and unbelivable as well as shocking!

This is the cotton ball..

Giotto and Hanuta

I am sitting in my office now, and enjoying Giotto and Hanuta.



In case you do not know, Giotto is sphere shaped, with chocolate filling inside and hazelnuts rolled over each sphere on the outside while Hanuta is better known as Hazelnut Sandwich. A thick layer of rich, luscious hazelnut chocolate with bits of hazelnut throughout, sandwiched between two crisp, chocolate wafers.



My colleague says Giotto taste a little like Ferrero Rocher, but I disagree. I think Giotto taste so much better, maybe because it is not available in Malaysia hence I treasure it more.

Anyway, I must really thank Hayashi for buying this back and sharing it. She is a real angel. Thanks!

My LAN cable is missing... again!

In my current cubicle at the workplace, I am always missing something.

Due to the nature of my job, I am not always in my sitting area. And almost everytime when I return after being away for a week, something goes missing.

The first time it was the LAN cable, which we recovered. Next time it was my dustbin, and thereafter it was my chair!

So much so that I have labeled my dustbin although it belongs to the company.. think I will have to do the same with my chair and my LAN cable now. A colleague suggested that I should keep my LAN cable whenever I am away from my desk for more than a day or two.. but it is annoying to do this..

The people who normally take these things are the ones who want to use the meeting room or conference room. I don't mind them borrowing my stuff (since I sit closest to the conference room), but PLEASE RETURN the items after you use it. It is frustrating chasing and hunting for basic work items everytime you step into the office.

So, please be considerate, whoever you are.

Flexible Employment Program

Hmm... this flexible employment program has just been launched, and I am considering taking it.

Previously I didn't think I would have much difficulty deciding which option I want to take, but now I am in a dilemma all over again.

I know I want a validity of 3 months, whether it's the voluntary leave program (VLP) or part time leave. But knowing that I am project based, I will never be able to commit to the part time program. I will be at the losing end unless I put my foot down and said I can't do certain things as I am on leave. But then again it is not as easy when you are project based, you are bound to have ad hoc meetings, last minute changes.. the entire strucutre of project management is very fluid to begin with!

The other problem is there is no 3 months VLP program, I am just trying my luck to ask for it. The normal VLP offered is for 6 months or 12 months. If I am away from my job for 6 months I probably wouldn't want to come back after that.. so that option is out. Assuming that I am able to sustain financially for 3 months AND I get the green light for 3 months VLP, there is still another obstacle. I was just made to understand that the you can either choose the travel benefits or the medical benefits.. sigh.. how to choose?

Hot Hot Hot

Weather for the past few days has been dreadful, with temperature easily rising above the normal 32C.

It is so hot that I can't feel my air con even after turning it on for an hour. Am if I attempt to walk out to the living room, I will sweat within minutes. It is simply too hot. Good time for an ice cream.. hmm..the ice cream parlours/ chains/ sellers must be doing well this week.

Help help, we need rain to cool the temperature down..

Durian Feast.. Oh too much of it..

I have simply been indulging in too much of durian eating of late.

It's all mum's fault. She "dragged" us to eat durians. First it was her friend who recommended her some durians and she brought us to her friend's durian stall in Taman Danau Desa, we ate there and tapau some home.

Then she "tumpang" her friend to buy 10 more durians from a durian orchard in some kampung. We had durian phobia after that, and we told mum that we do not want to eat durians anymore this season. That was a little more than a week ago.

Tonight, she asked us if we want to go seksyen 17 pasar malam to eat durian, I couldn't resist the temptation and said yes (the mind is weak...). So we ended up in seksyen 17 night market, and ate some durians (this was right after our dinner mind you, so you can imagine how full we were before, and after we ate the durians). Discovered something funny though, that abi is not used to eating durians by the "roadside". I am not the least bit concerned about eating durians by the roadside because I'm kinda used to it. Haha.. at least this is one thing he is new to, now he cannot laugh at me for being ulu and not knowing about eating durians and rice as meals during dinner.

Batman vs Hellboy

I went to watch 2 superhero movies back to back last night, Batman (The Dark Knight and Hellboy 2).

We watched Hellboy first, and thought it was pretty entertaining, nothing too complicated, just simple storyline that keeps the spirits high after watching the movie. Then we watched The Dark Knight, and it is kinda depressing.

Almost the entire movie is based on the dark scenes so you have to really concentrate to know what is going on. And there is just too much of fighting, and irritating that the Joker is always gaining the upper hand. Makes Batman look really bad and weak. Then there is Harvey Dent, the supposedly "White Light of Gotham" who turned into "Two Faced" eventually. The message sent across is really wrong because it's saying that the bad will always win, and the good superheroes have to make sacrifices, and they cannot have loved ones and families.

I don't think people will walk out of the cinema feeling "happy". I didn't, neither did my companion. So tell me did you enjoy the movie? And if you watched both The Dark Knight and Hellboy, let me know which one you prefer.

Making the soup based for steamboat

We are going to have steamboat for dinner tonight, and because we wanted to avoid using clear water as soup based for the steamboat, so we bought some chicken "shell" (??) to brew the soup based.

All along, I just assume that you can just throw everything in the cookpot and let it brew for 1-2 hours and voila, your soup will be ready. Little did I know that there are procedures to be followed even for this seemingly easy step.

You have to fry the anchovies first with some oil, cook it a little to get rid of the "sengit" smell, then add water, put to boil, THEN only add the chicken in. Sigh... so much effort for the soup. Then we left it to boil for 1.5 hours. Abi's mum also added corn and carrot to further add taste to the soup.

I am guessing that the soup will be tasty because it smelled great.
But I was ridiculed for not knowing how to do this, not knowing the proper "procedure".. blah blah blah... sigh.. what to do?

Next time, I will leave it to all to him to cook lah, or choose clear water soup as based. Choose!

The restaurant that just wasn't to be

Went to this restaurant called Restaurant Hee Lai Ton in Kajang to have dinner tonight, but it is also the last time. Not coming back ever again.

We ordered a set dinner, all the dishes were ok except for this fish dish. It was overcooked, and tasted really rough. It felt like the fish was not defrosted properly and cooked for a tee wee bit too long. So the texture was not fresh, and tasted lousy. We all took one bite and left the rest untouched.

We complained to the captain, she took a sample of the fish and went to talk to the chef, BUT she never came back. We asked for the bill, and noted that the fish was still counted in the bill. So we called the captain again and ask her about her follow up to the fish dish.

Know what her answer was? The chef said that this 7 Star Fish from Sabah is supposed to be cooked this way and the texture is just as it was supposed to be. We could not believe it! These people are taking us for a ride! It's as if they think that we have not eaten this type of this fish before, this is such an insult to our intelligence!But wait, this is not the best part, then she made the excuse that she was waiting to check with her lady boss how and where did she buy the fish blah blah blah.. and that was why she did not come back to us. The lady boss so happened to have gone out couple of minutes ago and that is why she was waiting for the lady boss to come back in 5 minutes. Sigh.. such lame excuse.

When we try to reason it out with her, she was still trying to use the same lame excuses on us. The captain still did not understand where she went wrong.. she continued with her defense that we are not allowing her time to solve the problem, that she was waiting for her lady boss to come back, that the fish was supposed to cook that way.. We ultimately left without arguing further, but we have emphasised that we will not be returning to this restaurant ever again.

But I plan to go one step further and publish it on my blog so that more people can read about this "wonderful" experience which we encountered today.

Oh, and to make sure that you don't mistaken this outlet with the rest, I have taken a photo of it to ensure no mistaken identity.. Remember, it's the one at Wisma Metro Kajang, Kajang.

After effects of gym... muscle cramp...

Remember I went to gym over the weekend?
Well, I was very gung ho and I went for Body Pump class. Anyone who has ever been to Body Pump class would know that it is a combination of weights with repeated movements to target your major muscle groups. Good stuff if you want to tone up quick, terrible stuff to suffer the after effect of this class.

Which is what I am feeling, right now.

My entire leg is painful, and I cannot sleep properly at night. My leg muscles are tensed and it pains me to walk up and down the stairs especially.

And you know the best part? I am supposed to have a meeting today, at the office which is at 2nd floor, with no lifts. How wonderful is that experience going to be..............? sigh...

Gym again...

After giving up gy,m for almost a year, I decided to go back to it, after a series of heavy eating for the past few months.

I was there around 4pm the other day, and was surprised at the amount of people at the gym, and most of them are all guys! I secretly thought that perhaps half of them are gay, otherwise why would they be at the gym at 4pm on a weekday?

Ah well... I don't know the answer to that, but I do know mybody is still aching from the gym exercise... Ouch ouch ouch...!

Battle of the Digital Cameras

I have been eyeing the following cameras, Canon Ixus 860IS, Fujifilm f100d and f47. I feel that they are all good cameras but I am still deliberating if I should purchase a new one.

If you have been following my blog, you would know that I normally like to include photos of what I take on a daily basis, to add some zest to my blog. I have not been able to do so after my other half took back the camera. So I have sorta decided that I should get one on my own, but then he asked if having this camera is really necessary, which made me have second thoughts..

Sigh... which one should I choose? Should I buy at all?

Canon Ixus 860IS

Fujifilm f100d

Fujifilm f47

Craving for Donuts

Argghhh.. I cannot get images of donuts out of my mind...

It all started with my colleague Geraldine who asked if I like donuts and we discussed about the different brands of donuts available in Malaysia currently. Apparently Krispy Kreme is about to make an appearance at 1Utama soon. Ooooo... can't wait for that one.

All that talk about donut made me think of donuts and their assorted flavours..

To make matters worse, another colleague Phillip just came back from Australis and we were teasing him about not buying us Krispy Kreme. He gave excuses of why he didn't buy e.g. not enough time and all.. but later admitted that he did have enough time if he wanted to buy..

But all that talking really made me want to eat a donut. I am seriously thinking of heading down to Subang Parade for lunch and buy meself a couple of donuts for lunch... mmmmm...

Should I.......?

Gosh.. I shouldn't have tried to search for pics of donuts to include on my blog, cos it only made me want to have donuts more than before..

So sleepy..

Gosh.. I am so sleepy today, don't know why.. but couldn't get up in the morning.

Last night I fell asleep on the bed with the laptop still on my lap. I must have been drained of my energy when I went on leave 2 days ago. When people go on leave these days, they end up being more tired and drained than if they have not taken leave at all. Weird how annual leave has transform into something that will actually drain more of your energy than working huh..?

Alright, gotta go..

p/s: am still deliberating whether I should get the Fujifilm f100d camera.. argghhh.. it's driving me crazy not having a camera in hand..