My friend had "pre-booked" me months in advance, so it was a one day outing with him as promised.
We had 2 decades of void in between to catch up ever since we met up by chance through mutual friends again. We talked about everything under the sun, from our high school days to presently, his parenthood journey.
We were both from the Art Elective programme previously and it was good talking about those arty farty days, and how we both agreed that being in the elective course had positively did most of us much good. Apart from cultivating our creativity, the art history lessons and appreciation definitely expanded our horizons and thought process. It isnt just about having art museum trips more enjoyable but rather, the course trained us to see things in multiple perspective and "layers". Just as an engineering course trained its students to think in a systematic and logical process, the art course liberated us from our personal limitations and self imposed thought restrictions. Everything is possible, from creation from dreams to painstaking disciplined techniques, the art programme had certainly changed the way we perceived things.
Interestingly, while not everyone of us went on to pursue higher art and moving on to become architecture or designer, yet most of us that I know of still enjoyed appreciating art pieces or new building designs and we laughed as we shared our common habit of poining out structures to critic, sharing views with our partners (or whoever was unfortunate enough to be bored by us :P )
As the topic moved on to others, my friend commented that even though we had 5 convent schools, and yet all the characteristics from the different schools were different. He said the singular good thing that we all shared in common was the opinated and vocal nature. In his experience, most (not all) IJ girls he had the honor of encountering never deviate too far in traits, from outspoken and out going nature to the quiet self confidence, not to mention the way we insult people. I told him it's prob his luck that he met the so many "true blue" IJ girl.
Sending your kids to school isnt just about receiving an education. Aparting from the "brand", it's a life-changing experience because the environment will mould you to be a person that somehow personify the characteristic/ culture of the school due to its heritage that is passed down from batches to batches. This is especially evident in single gender school in Singapore. My friend told me that he can never in his wildest imagination imagined me to be from Nanyang girls. He isnt the first to tell me. In fact, I dont know why but it is almost always certain that I would be identified as an IJ girl on first try. Not St. Nics or KC, just IJ TP. I wonder how my life would have turn out if I had ended up in TKGS or Dunman High... I shudder to think of that possibility. As for him, there is no way he could have been SJI nor ACS dude. I think VS suit him pretty well too :)
After lunch and much reminiscing of the past, we went to kino and I ended up with another load of books. He hasnt read Kite runner and so I got that for him and hoped he liked it. At the same time, he laughed and said I am prob the only IJ girl he will ever know who never read a single romance book such as sidney sheldon etc, and instead choose to immerse herself with Dungeon and Dragons. It was funnier when I shared that I hated Romeo and Juliet and he said for guys, that was the best thing to ever have read since it was a great book for courting girls! I didnt know how william shakespeare could have possibly helped but he swore it did. I will take his words for it:)
The day ended with me lugging home boxes of bangawan solo cakes and raw cashew nuts from the takashimaya basement. My goodness, how much the foodcourt area has changed! A new facelift with new seatings and more stores, its a full fledged food court now! I didnt know where to start looking! I didnt try any food there primarily the greasy overused cooking oil smell put me off. Yeah, for some reason, the smelll of re-used frying oil really turns me off and kill my appetite. It use to be barely tolerable when I was in uni but now it has attained the unbearable stage. Doesnt help with my hound's scent sense...
I had to dash off before the crushing eve train crowd trample all over me and deprive me of proper breathing air. Someone need to redesign the stupid station sign board within the train. I didnt even know where the circle lines go to. Why would they not show all the stops borders on silliness to me. Oh well...
However all in all, a truly lovely day. It's always the company that counts!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Family Time
Back to the smothering heat of HK. Fortunately, the humidity wasnt as bad as I feared, still compared to Singapore, it's still much hotter and unbearable.
Thankfully for me, the weather was perfect the whole week I was there. While it rained during wee hours of the morning, the rest of the day were always pleasantly nice and cool indoors without A/c. It's nice to breathe in fresh air for a change.
I didnt do much this trip. Seriously, I really did nothing except to vegetate at home. Apart from taking my mum out for a wonderful massage at estheva spa @ Orchard Ion, and dining in at Thai Thai @ Mandarin Gallery, most of the week was spent indoor (in front of my MIO Tv) or by the pool.
I always said its nice to have elder brothers for silblings:) Because being the youngest sister, you always get doted on. Heee heee heee. *proud smirk* My eldest brother knowing my dependency on internet loan me his laptop and internet sim card so that I keep myself occupied and connected at all times, while my second brother has finally equipped his place with cable TV (after much bemoaning from his "spolit" little sister about how lame the local programmes were...) I thought it was really funny when my second brother was jokingly complaining to me that the laptop and internet connection was only for me and wasnt offered to him by my eldest brother. I love being indulged. haaaa haaa
Believe it or not, I did a TV marathon with my mum and bro. Apart from Fringe 2, Within 4 days, I covered 50 episodes of a Dialect Taiwanese family drama - 天下父母心。As typical long winded Taiwanese drama, the plot has its obvious flaws and ridiculous scene but it has a good story line. Of course I fast fwded most of the boring conversations (much to my mum's dismay since she didnt catch on as fast! haaa haaa) otherwise I would not be able to reach my 100 episodes! But Mio didnt have all the episodes so I'm still left dangling. It's good to watch the drama in hokkien dialect for a change just to refresh my own mother tongue. Some of the dry sacarstic verses were really good!! It was the first time I heard it and it simply was refreshing to hear new insults said in such "elegant manner"!
Other than that, went out with my friend who specially took the day off work to catch up with me. Went to eat Loy Kee chicken rice at balestier and frankly, another overpriced franchise with mediocre food. I should know better but personally, it still taste better than Boon Tong Kee Chicken rice. I think my foodcourt chicken rice at $6 was way much better than the one at Loy Kee with the miserly few pieces of chicken stacked on top of a pile of sliced cucumbers. Sneaky bastards.
On sat, I dated my whole family and headed to Carlton hotel for dim sum brunch at their chinese restaurant Wah Lok . Had originally booked min jiang at Goodwood park hotel but I was told by my food buddy that Wah Lok's dim sum was much better. Plus the dim sum buffet at Min Jiang was only available between 3-5pm.
The variety at wah lok wasnt wide but it was sufficient. The birdnest looing taro pieces were nicely done without coming off greasy and all the ingredients used were fresh and generous, esp the prawn dumplings and roll. We had the peking duck as well and I wished I rem to told the lady to slice some meat with it. The service were also warm and friendly, making the experience plesant. For people who drove, you could even redeem the parking coupons for the table which saves diner the hassle in terms of transportation parking.
The dessert borders on average for the mango-pomelo (楊枝金露）。It just cannot compare to the HK version no matter how they do it, simply because most fruits in Singapore sucks big time. Unlike Hk where seasonal fruits are always sweet, the fruits esp pomelo in this case is sour and tough instead of being succulent. In fact, I thought the mango pudding that my sister in law made for us was so much better. I told my elder brother that if she had added the coco de nato cubes, it would taste exactly like those pudding sold in a cup in NTUC supermarket. Of course my brother jokingly said it was too much "effort" for this "special order" but haaa haaaa, I am positive my doting sister in law would try it the next time. Hiak hiak hiak....
I had a good lot of lychee in Hk so I craved for some back in SG, but I didnt expect the ones in Singapore to taste so bland in comparison. Even the texture of the flesh was tougher and thicker for those sold in Singapore. My mum said it is because it was of different species but still, I cannot imagine why on earth for similar price, the taste can differ so vastly and more importantly, why couldnt singapore import the same ones as sold in HK? Immediately upon my return, I headed straight to the wet market today and grab myself two pounds of lychee to gorge myself silly.
Come to think of it, I ate quite a bit of junk food back home which I dont normally wolf down. I just had a craving for doughnuts since I am so deprived in HK, so I stuffed myself silly too with the Almond doughnuts from JCo.
All my friends in HK were more excited than me about my sg trip and they were mildly surprised that I did absolutely nothing. I just wanted to take a break from everything and idle back at home in the comfort of my brother's shelter. No stupid noisy neighbors upstairs (since we are already on the top floor), No drilling, No construction. Life was simple and good. With the Mio Tv thrown in, I was in my little own paradise!
And right now, i'm back to the life of housewife, doing what my mum was busy pampering me with....cooking and grocery shopping.... awwww....it's always nicer to be a daughter than wife! haaaa
Thankfully for me, the weather was perfect the whole week I was there. While it rained during wee hours of the morning, the rest of the day were always pleasantly nice and cool indoors without A/c. It's nice to breathe in fresh air for a change.
I didnt do much this trip. Seriously, I really did nothing except to vegetate at home. Apart from taking my mum out for a wonderful massage at estheva spa @ Orchard Ion, and dining in at Thai Thai @ Mandarin Gallery, most of the week was spent indoor (in front of my MIO Tv) or by the pool.
I always said its nice to have elder brothers for silblings:) Because being the youngest sister, you always get doted on. Heee heee heee. *proud smirk* My eldest brother knowing my dependency on internet loan me his laptop and internet sim card so that I keep myself occupied and connected at all times, while my second brother has finally equipped his place with cable TV (after much bemoaning from his "spolit" little sister about how lame the local programmes were...) I thought it was really funny when my second brother was jokingly complaining to me that the laptop and internet connection was only for me and wasnt offered to him by my eldest brother. I love being indulged. haaaa haaa
Believe it or not, I did a TV marathon with my mum and bro. Apart from Fringe 2, Within 4 days, I covered 50 episodes of a Dialect Taiwanese family drama - 天下父母心。As typical long winded Taiwanese drama, the plot has its obvious flaws and ridiculous scene but it has a good story line. Of course I fast fwded most of the boring conversations (much to my mum's dismay since she didnt catch on as fast! haaa haaa) otherwise I would not be able to reach my 100 episodes! But Mio didnt have all the episodes so I'm still left dangling. It's good to watch the drama in hokkien dialect for a change just to refresh my own mother tongue. Some of the dry sacarstic verses were really good!! It was the first time I heard it and it simply was refreshing to hear new insults said in such "elegant manner"!
Other than that, went out with my friend who specially took the day off work to catch up with me. Went to eat Loy Kee chicken rice at balestier and frankly, another overpriced franchise with mediocre food. I should know better but personally, it still taste better than Boon Tong Kee Chicken rice. I think my foodcourt chicken rice at $6 was way much better than the one at Loy Kee with the miserly few pieces of chicken stacked on top of a pile of sliced cucumbers. Sneaky bastards.
On sat, I dated my whole family and headed to Carlton hotel for dim sum brunch at their chinese restaurant Wah Lok . Had originally booked min jiang at Goodwood park hotel but I was told by my food buddy that Wah Lok's dim sum was much better. Plus the dim sum buffet at Min Jiang was only available between 3-5pm.
The variety at wah lok wasnt wide but it was sufficient. The birdnest looing taro pieces were nicely done without coming off greasy and all the ingredients used were fresh and generous, esp the prawn dumplings and roll. We had the peking duck as well and I wished I rem to told the lady to slice some meat with it. The service were also warm and friendly, making the experience plesant. For people who drove, you could even redeem the parking coupons for the table which saves diner the hassle in terms of transportation parking.
The dessert borders on average for the mango-pomelo (楊枝金露）。It just cannot compare to the HK version no matter how they do it, simply because most fruits in Singapore sucks big time. Unlike Hk where seasonal fruits are always sweet, the fruits esp pomelo in this case is sour and tough instead of being succulent. In fact, I thought the mango pudding that my sister in law made for us was so much better. I told my elder brother that if she had added the coco de nato cubes, it would taste exactly like those pudding sold in a cup in NTUC supermarket. Of course my brother jokingly said it was too much "effort" for this "special order" but haaa haaaa, I am positive my doting sister in law would try it the next time. Hiak hiak hiak....
I had a good lot of lychee in Hk so I craved for some back in SG, but I didnt expect the ones in Singapore to taste so bland in comparison. Even the texture of the flesh was tougher and thicker for those sold in Singapore. My mum said it is because it was of different species but still, I cannot imagine why on earth for similar price, the taste can differ so vastly and more importantly, why couldnt singapore import the same ones as sold in HK? Immediately upon my return, I headed straight to the wet market today and grab myself two pounds of lychee to gorge myself silly.
Come to think of it, I ate quite a bit of junk food back home which I dont normally wolf down. I just had a craving for doughnuts since I am so deprived in HK, so I stuffed myself silly too with the Almond doughnuts from JCo.
All my friends in HK were more excited than me about my sg trip and they were mildly surprised that I did absolutely nothing. I just wanted to take a break from everything and idle back at home in the comfort of my brother's shelter. No stupid noisy neighbors upstairs (since we are already on the top floor), No drilling, No construction. Life was simple and good. With the Mio Tv thrown in, I was in my little own paradise!
And right now, i'm back to the life of housewife, doing what my mum was busy pampering me with....cooking and grocery shopping.... awwww....it's always nicer to be a daughter than wife! haaaa
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
FREE at LAST
I am free! I am free! I am free!
As 6pm struck, I am officially free from the hell hole!
Today is an easy day. It was company family day and we had lunch at JW marriott. I dunno why they call it buffet when it is not. It's more like unlimited specific main course meal, where you choose curry station, noodle station or salad station. Honestly, it was worth the money but I aint paying, so I dun care.
Lunch went on for 1.5hr and I was stuffed from dessert rather than main.
We went back for handover meeting, together with my vendor.
Before my vendor left after the meeting, they shook my hands and said "Thanks for your hard work and CONGRATS" haaaaaa haaaa. Everyone was envying me for leaving!
My boss asked me if I feel sad. What a dumb question. My colleagues then asked him and he said "Oh yes, its like parting with my baby" Yeah like real....
More story to come but it will have to wait since I have to pack tonite for my trip back to sg tomorrow. Gone for a week for my well deserved rest! YippppppEEEEE!
As 6pm struck, I am officially free from the hell hole!
Today is an easy day. It was company family day and we had lunch at JW marriott. I dunno why they call it buffet when it is not. It's more like unlimited specific main course meal, where you choose curry station, noodle station or salad station. Honestly, it was worth the money but I aint paying, so I dun care.
Lunch went on for 1.5hr and I was stuffed from dessert rather than main.
We went back for handover meeting, together with my vendor.
Before my vendor left after the meeting, they shook my hands and said "Thanks for your hard work and CONGRATS" haaaaaa haaaa. Everyone was envying me for leaving!
My boss asked me if I feel sad. What a dumb question. My colleagues then asked him and he said "Oh yes, its like parting with my baby" Yeah like real....
More story to come but it will have to wait since I have to pack tonite for my trip back to sg tomorrow. Gone for a week for my well deserved rest! YippppppEEEEE!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The mystery of the thumping and chair dragging noise saga..
Sometimes I wonder if my life is a drama set in itself. As my colleagues put it, whatever sort of colourful events and incident seem to always find a way to me...
As shared previously about my noisy neghbours upstairs, their efforts to keep their sons from playing ball inside the house (and disregard the noise they generate from the ball-wooden floor impact) was noted but another new source of problem popped up.
In the middle of the night, we would still hear chair dragging sound. I dont mean intermittent sort of once in a while sound. I mean regular thumping, heavy pounding footsteps and chair, that bloody fucking chair creating a din through the floor boards.
I tried to cast it aside and stuff my ear with ear plugs but it was near impossible. On fri nite, my head was exploding from headache and I went to bed early at 11pm.
To my horror, the thumping noise persisted from 11pm, 12am, 1 am, 2am and christ sake till 3.30am!! Then every morning like clockwork, at 7am, the thumping will begin and 7.30am the chair dragging will start. It was nitemarish!
So at 3.30am, I was soooo fedup that I almost wanted to hound and pound on their door to ask them what the fuck is going on. I have been sleep deprived for a week and enough is enough. In the end, I didnt ring their bell in consideration they have 2 kids, and didnt wanted to scare their wits off. I am still civilised to a degree. So instead, I sms my management office officer on his mobile which he had the unfortunate to share with me previously over the flooding incident.
This is what I wrote "I have to text you now at 3,30am because the unit above have been making so much noise that it keep waking me up and its now impossible for me to sleep. Can u please deal with it and speak to them? "
I figure no sane person will deliberately send a complain sms in the wee hours of the morning, so the guy got to work on sat. While we were out catching a movie, the guy spoke to the family about our plight.
When we got back on sat nite, we got a message that our neighbors upstairs wanted to have a chat to find out what was the issue since she insisted that she was dead asleep in the master room and no way there is sound, and there are no chair in her room.
So she swung by, (as I anticipated since I can hear her walking to the main door), and we started talking. She just didnt get it. Alot of things, alot of excuses. I gather she really was asleep. However, I told her the footsteps thumping is distinctly male (coz of the weight impact) and i can hear toilet flushing, and definitely the god damn freaking chair.
She went on to say because it was exam period, she even banned her teo sons from watching TV. Woman, I didnt even complain about TV???
The funniest thing was this.
In the end, she invited us to her place. I had bought some stickers for her chair actually and I brought it with me. The min we entered her house, her sons were sprawled right in the living room, watching TV!! I wanted to laugh....then she was eager to show and tell us that all her chairs had anti-slip/ sound sticker attached to her legs. I did a gentle push and the chair went "eeeeeeeeeeee.." I went "THERE! That is the noise! She looked abit unconvinced and she lifted her chair and said "but they all have stickers"
Unfortunately for her, when she lifted the chair, all the stickers were either fallen off, or were disintergrated. She was still unconvinced and well, reluntant to admit the problem. We moved on to her room.
There I was really puzzled because there really were no chair and a solid cabinet was there which couldnt be moved easily. As she was about to indicate her victory, my partner pointed out, "could it be from her son's room" since it was the room closest to the master room and closest to where I am sleeping.
We peeked into her son's room and THERE IT WAS! The horrible disgusting source of culprit!
And we also discovered the source of the other thumping sound which came from the 3 freaking electric guitar in the room. There! All evidence right before us. Again, she tried to say all the legs had stickers but when lifted, all had none.
I immediately offered my stickers but she declined, saying she had a "special" sort of stickers she need for the chair. I offered to pay for it to stick it on ALLL her chairs but she declined saying she will get it herself. Fine by me so long as she get it.
Maybe she was flustered or as many typical Hk woman, they cannot lose. They cannot afford to admit their mistake when confronted. So she went on saying that they cannot help but make noise since 7am is normal hours, and her kids have to go to school. I almost rolled my eyes but seeing she was so agitated and detracted from the root problem, I had to calm her down with my 100watts mega smile, saying "relax. we are not talking about 7am. We are talking about the 3am problem." She kept saying her son was only using computer and wont make ANY noise. What the fuck. She didnt even know what her son is up to....
So i told her, it doesnt matter. Since we alreayd identify the source of problem, let's see how the stickers help and dont worry too much about it. As explained then, I am not saying they cannot make a squeak, but imagine if I cannot sleep till 4am and get awaken by 7am, what kind of sleep do i get?
I think a smile, and a gentle touch on her arm calm her down a little. Her guilty noisy sons kept quiet.
After we went back, in half hour, she rang my bell informing me she had gotten the stickers and stuck on all her chairs. Wow! Talk about efficiency! haaaa
The good news, the horrible dragging noise has stopped!! And she must have told her son to stop keeping such unearthly hours because the footsteps seem to have ceased reasonably earlier. Thank god!!!!!
I must admit, no matter how reluntant and denial she was when talking to us, at least this HK neighbor, she was willing to find a common solution to solve the problem. Unlike the stinking chain shanghai people next door who wont even try to talk and just say "sue us" when they flooded our unit.
So moral of the story, if u canx stay on the top floor, at least find out who lives above you...
As shared previously about my noisy neghbours upstairs, their efforts to keep their sons from playing ball inside the house (and disregard the noise they generate from the ball-wooden floor impact) was noted but another new source of problem popped up.
In the middle of the night, we would still hear chair dragging sound. I dont mean intermittent sort of once in a while sound. I mean regular thumping, heavy pounding footsteps and chair, that bloody fucking chair creating a din through the floor boards.
I tried to cast it aside and stuff my ear with ear plugs but it was near impossible. On fri nite, my head was exploding from headache and I went to bed early at 11pm.
To my horror, the thumping noise persisted from 11pm, 12am, 1 am, 2am and christ sake till 3.30am!! Then every morning like clockwork, at 7am, the thumping will begin and 7.30am the chair dragging will start. It was nitemarish!
So at 3.30am, I was soooo fedup that I almost wanted to hound and pound on their door to ask them what the fuck is going on. I have been sleep deprived for a week and enough is enough. In the end, I didnt ring their bell in consideration they have 2 kids, and didnt wanted to scare their wits off. I am still civilised to a degree. So instead, I sms my management office officer on his mobile which he had the unfortunate to share with me previously over the flooding incident.
This is what I wrote "I have to text you now at 3,30am because the unit above have been making so much noise that it keep waking me up and its now impossible for me to sleep. Can u please deal with it and speak to them? "
I figure no sane person will deliberately send a complain sms in the wee hours of the morning, so the guy got to work on sat. While we were out catching a movie, the guy spoke to the family about our plight.
When we got back on sat nite, we got a message that our neighbors upstairs wanted to have a chat to find out what was the issue since she insisted that she was dead asleep in the master room and no way there is sound, and there are no chair in her room.
So she swung by, (as I anticipated since I can hear her walking to the main door), and we started talking. She just didnt get it. Alot of things, alot of excuses. I gather she really was asleep. However, I told her the footsteps thumping is distinctly male (coz of the weight impact) and i can hear toilet flushing, and definitely the god damn freaking chair.
She went on to say because it was exam period, she even banned her teo sons from watching TV. Woman, I didnt even complain about TV???
The funniest thing was this.
In the end, she invited us to her place. I had bought some stickers for her chair actually and I brought it with me. The min we entered her house, her sons were sprawled right in the living room, watching TV!! I wanted to laugh....then she was eager to show and tell us that all her chairs had anti-slip/ sound sticker attached to her legs. I did a gentle push and the chair went "eeeeeeeeeeee.." I went "THERE! That is the noise! She looked abit unconvinced and she lifted her chair and said "but they all have stickers"
Unfortunately for her, when she lifted the chair, all the stickers were either fallen off, or were disintergrated. She was still unconvinced and well, reluntant to admit the problem. We moved on to her room.
There I was really puzzled because there really were no chair and a solid cabinet was there which couldnt be moved easily. As she was about to indicate her victory, my partner pointed out, "could it be from her son's room" since it was the room closest to the master room and closest to where I am sleeping.
We peeked into her son's room and THERE IT WAS! The horrible disgusting source of culprit!
And we also discovered the source of the other thumping sound which came from the 3 freaking electric guitar in the room. There! All evidence right before us. Again, she tried to say all the legs had stickers but when lifted, all had none.
I immediately offered my stickers but she declined, saying she had a "special" sort of stickers she need for the chair. I offered to pay for it to stick it on ALLL her chairs but she declined saying she will get it herself. Fine by me so long as she get it.
Maybe she was flustered or as many typical Hk woman, they cannot lose. They cannot afford to admit their mistake when confronted. So she went on saying that they cannot help but make noise since 7am is normal hours, and her kids have to go to school. I almost rolled my eyes but seeing she was so agitated and detracted from the root problem, I had to calm her down with my 100watts mega smile, saying "relax. we are not talking about 7am. We are talking about the 3am problem." She kept saying her son was only using computer and wont make ANY noise. What the fuck. She didnt even know what her son is up to....
So i told her, it doesnt matter. Since we alreayd identify the source of problem, let's see how the stickers help and dont worry too much about it. As explained then, I am not saying they cannot make a squeak, but imagine if I cannot sleep till 4am and get awaken by 7am, what kind of sleep do i get?
I think a smile, and a gentle touch on her arm calm her down a little. Her guilty noisy sons kept quiet.
After we went back, in half hour, she rang my bell informing me she had gotten the stickers and stuck on all her chairs. Wow! Talk about efficiency! haaaa
The good news, the horrible dragging noise has stopped!! And she must have told her son to stop keeping such unearthly hours because the footsteps seem to have ceased reasonably earlier. Thank god!!!!!
I must admit, no matter how reluntant and denial she was when talking to us, at least this HK neighbor, she was willing to find a common solution to solve the problem. Unlike the stinking chain shanghai people next door who wont even try to talk and just say "sue us" when they flooded our unit.
So moral of the story, if u canx stay on the top floor, at least find out who lives above you...
A leopard never chage its spots, so do Arseholes
Some people like the fat canadian twat, are the kind of areseholes in this world, who think they are more superior than everyone else and expects everyone else to hold the same notion as they themselves do.
After the last episode we had, we never bother to speak to each other nor cross words even as we share the same space in the same 400m2 nett walkable floor space. I pretty much ignored his existence while he tries to inject some disgusied sacarsm in his speech within earshot, but to his disappointment which everyone else ignored as well.
Anycase the story for today, is another case study on this twerp, which I have singlehandedly nicknamed him as Fat "Ham" and it easily stuck (since its in "honor" in part of his real name) as his alias in office now whenever someone else bitched about him.
What happens is that Fat "Ham" (prob after much persuasion from my doubleface boss) has been trying to worm his fatty ways into my colleagues heart by talking soooo gently to them. As my Hk colleague put it in HK "trying to repair his tarnished image, pretending to be such a good guy before us." Unfortunately, a fat rude guy will always be a fat rude guy no matter how much effort he puts into disgusing his true hideous nature.
As in the destined fate of all "evil people" in fairy tales, ther ugly selves will often reveal themselves soon enuff and they become public enemies pretty soon. Fat "Ham" had the strangest problem inflicted upon his email account. Apparently, the office email account created for him just doesnt work after a month. He couldnt send email and neither could he receive. Even forwarding to his gmail fails. Yet no one else in the office faces the same problem.
Fat "Ham" waltz into office one fine day, and poke around our server, I had my earphones on so i didnt hear what he had to say but my colleagues shared with me that Fat "Ham after much "inspection" declared to my boss that he saw an system error message on our domain server and he deduced that must be the cause of that affected his mailbox. A reboot of the server is a must but because he didnt want to "lose" any data so he wont reboot it himself but will leave it to our outsourced tech guy .
When I heard his declaration I wanted to laugh, laugh at this so call IT person who declare to be know it all in IT. Please...even though I may not be proficient in IT, I can surely bet that no system error message can be that specific that will only affect HIS email account alone. If it had been a mail server error, then logically, all domain functions will be affected and so will all mailboxes tied to that server. You think what, Microsoft is so intelligent to just screw your mailbox alone and then display an error just for you?
Anycase, my boss who knows next to nothing believed him. My colleague was tasked to call our IT tech guy. While she was talking to him, Fat "Ham" decided he wanted a piece of the action and asked my colleague to pass the phone to him as HE would speak to the tech guy directly since FAT HAM says he can speak the lingo.
The conversation went on for about 20 - 30mins. According to my colleague who witness the whole conversation, she told us that Fat "Ham" was back to his haughty, arrogant, nasty demanding rude mannerism. See, a leopard can never change his spot and truth will always surface. So whatever effort he tried to construct a good image was instantly destroyed in that single phone call, by himself singlehandedly as well. Goodie... :P
As my colleague put it, Fat "Ham" was showing off again trying to talk the tech guy down by saying "Do u know I know everything about IT, I RUN 2 IT companies and so let me tell you what to do. You should listen to me because I can solve this problem easily! blah blah blah" As per the incident he had with me, he just needed to put other people down to elevate himself and always come off as showy in trying to flatter his own ego.
Our IT guy is a very nice and gentle guy and prob due to typical HK upbringing, unlike me, he didnt bother to have an open clash with him that conversation. He gave Fat Ham whatever info he didnt since Fat Ham said he can solve the problem himself that nite.
The funniest part? The tech guy shared with us that after Fat Ham went all the trouble to "showcase" himself and "Sell" his own professional qualities, that very night, Fat Ham had the fat cheek to email our tech guy that he couldnt solve the problem and ask the tech guy to help resolve the email account problem. The tech guy then shared with us because he was soo pissed with Fat "Ham" haughty and insulting manners, and yet Fat ham still is in his mercy to solve the problem, the tech guy said he will simply drag the problem and not solve it just to spite the Fat "Ham". That is to teach him a lesson. We all laughed and gave the tech guy our support. Let fat "ham" stew. It's his retribution for not treating people like people but talk down to them like slaves! Of course, another incident to reveal Fat Ham's incompetence made us laugh even harder!
The best part of the whole incident was about Fat "Ham" being stupid. It was just something to prove I was right and I wasnt simply biased against him. The tech guy has been working with them since 2003. The office knows the sort of nice guy he is. For Fat "Ham" to piss the tech guy off, was a further validation to my assessment of him, and alienate him further. It only reaffirm my stand about him and make me glitter like a bright star. I didnt gloat about his plight since he is of no significance to me. It only worsen his standing amongst my peer without me lifting a single finger or adding any fuel to it.
I love seeing how stupid people often walk into their own grave foolishly wihout even realising the "grave" mistake (no pun intended!). What an joke right!
My boss is trying to squeeze every penny out of my last week but I am not working any extra because it just aint worth it. It goes against my personal principle "to do my best in everything within my ability" but scums like that, my principles had to take a vacation!
After the last episode we had, we never bother to speak to each other nor cross words even as we share the same space in the same 400m2 nett walkable floor space. I pretty much ignored his existence while he tries to inject some disgusied sacarsm in his speech within earshot, but to his disappointment which everyone else ignored as well.
Anycase the story for today, is another case study on this twerp, which I have singlehandedly nicknamed him as Fat "Ham" and it easily stuck (since its in "honor" in part of his real name) as his alias in office now whenever someone else bitched about him.
What happens is that Fat "Ham" (prob after much persuasion from my doubleface boss) has been trying to worm his fatty ways into my colleagues heart by talking soooo gently to them. As my Hk colleague put it in HK "trying to repair his tarnished image, pretending to be such a good guy before us." Unfortunately, a fat rude guy will always be a fat rude guy no matter how much effort he puts into disgusing his true hideous nature.
As in the destined fate of all "evil people" in fairy tales, ther ugly selves will often reveal themselves soon enuff and they become public enemies pretty soon. Fat "Ham" had the strangest problem inflicted upon his email account. Apparently, the office email account created for him just doesnt work after a month. He couldnt send email and neither could he receive. Even forwarding to his gmail fails. Yet no one else in the office faces the same problem.
Fat "Ham" waltz into office one fine day, and poke around our server, I had my earphones on so i didnt hear what he had to say but my colleagues shared with me that Fat "Ham after much "inspection" declared to my boss that he saw an system error message on our domain server and he deduced that must be the cause of that affected his mailbox. A reboot of the server is a must but because he didnt want to "lose" any data so he wont reboot it himself but will leave it to our outsourced tech guy .
When I heard his declaration I wanted to laugh, laugh at this so call IT person who declare to be know it all in IT. Please...even though I may not be proficient in IT, I can surely bet that no system error message can be that specific that will only affect HIS email account alone. If it had been a mail server error, then logically, all domain functions will be affected and so will all mailboxes tied to that server. You think what, Microsoft is so intelligent to just screw your mailbox alone and then display an error just for you?
Anycase, my boss who knows next to nothing believed him. My colleague was tasked to call our IT tech guy. While she was talking to him, Fat "Ham" decided he wanted a piece of the action and asked my colleague to pass the phone to him as HE would speak to the tech guy directly since FAT HAM says he can speak the lingo.
The conversation went on for about 20 - 30mins. According to my colleague who witness the whole conversation, she told us that Fat "Ham" was back to his haughty, arrogant, nasty demanding rude mannerism. See, a leopard can never change his spot and truth will always surface. So whatever effort he tried to construct a good image was instantly destroyed in that single phone call, by himself singlehandedly as well. Goodie... :P
As my colleague put it, Fat "Ham" was showing off again trying to talk the tech guy down by saying "Do u know I know everything about IT, I RUN 2 IT companies and so let me tell you what to do. You should listen to me because I can solve this problem easily! blah blah blah" As per the incident he had with me, he just needed to put other people down to elevate himself and always come off as showy in trying to flatter his own ego.
Our IT guy is a very nice and gentle guy and prob due to typical HK upbringing, unlike me, he didnt bother to have an open clash with him that conversation. He gave Fat Ham whatever info he didnt since Fat Ham said he can solve the problem himself that nite.
The funniest part? The tech guy shared with us that after Fat Ham went all the trouble to "showcase" himself and "Sell" his own professional qualities, that very night, Fat Ham had the fat cheek to email our tech guy that he couldnt solve the problem and ask the tech guy to help resolve the email account problem. The tech guy then shared with us because he was soo pissed with Fat "Ham" haughty and insulting manners, and yet Fat ham still is in his mercy to solve the problem, the tech guy said he will simply drag the problem and not solve it just to spite the Fat "Ham". That is to teach him a lesson. We all laughed and gave the tech guy our support. Let fat "ham" stew. It's his retribution for not treating people like people but talk down to them like slaves! Of course, another incident to reveal Fat Ham's incompetence made us laugh even harder!
The best part of the whole incident was about Fat "Ham" being stupid. It was just something to prove I was right and I wasnt simply biased against him. The tech guy has been working with them since 2003. The office knows the sort of nice guy he is. For Fat "Ham" to piss the tech guy off, was a further validation to my assessment of him, and alienate him further. It only reaffirm my stand about him and make me glitter like a bright star. I didnt gloat about his plight since he is of no significance to me. It only worsen his standing amongst my peer without me lifting a single finger or adding any fuel to it.
I love seeing how stupid people often walk into their own grave foolishly wihout even realising the "grave" mistake (no pun intended!). What an joke right!
My boss is trying to squeeze every penny out of my last week but I am not working any extra because it just aint worth it. It goes against my personal principle "to do my best in everything within my ability" but scums like that, my principles had to take a vacation!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Orchard road...soaked up to knee level
The first news that surprised me today is the massive flash flood in Singapore Orchard road today that causes many stores to "go under" water literally. While flooding in Bukit Timah is often old news, seeing the prime district being submerged in water up to knee height watermark is another matter.
Accordingly to the news report, all the malls with basement stores such as Wheellock place & lucky plaza were not spared.
As per any unfortunate "incidents", forums are set abuzz with non constructive comments that sets finger pointing in one major direction and tongue wagging with all sort of remarks.
I have no idea if all the building construction around the area has direct cause and effect to today's headline, however would it be anyone guess that the blatant destruction of the nice pocket of orchard green park in exchange for the materialisation of the horrific orchard Ion has a definite role to play? I still reject that bulky ugly piece of architecture. Do we really need that mall, that house nothing but another repetition of luxury brands? Seriously....there is nothing appealing about that mall in term of looks and its functionality. They destroyed a perfectly nice spot and trade it off for commercial greed.
We all know what nature and greenery does apart from beautifying the area, it has a certain level of water catchment effect as the water seep into the soil. Not saying that this flood would have been eliminated but nothing would convince me that it wont have helped lessen the impact with all the layers and layers of absorbing soil now removed, but replaced with concrete.
Go on and build more condos and buildings along the orchard stretch. How appealing wont it be to see your million-dollars apartment go under water one day because the drainage system wasnt design or redesigned to consider the massive transformation in landscape.
A forward looking landscape transformation project while doing its consideration, really shouldnt continue to depend on past stats for the average highest downpour and fail to do a more realistic projection based on the unstable climate change, else, we will never catch up with the more agressive wreakage nature shall bring forth in the future.
Well. I just hope the torrential rain would take a break for the week I will be back.
Else it really wont be much fun at all to be stuck at home with no internet. Better bring my books along...
news source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1063622/1/.html
Accordingly to the news report, all the malls with basement stores such as Wheellock place & lucky plaza were not spared.
As per any unfortunate "incidents", forums are set abuzz with non constructive comments that sets finger pointing in one major direction and tongue wagging with all sort of remarks.
I have no idea if all the building construction around the area has direct cause and effect to today's headline, however would it be anyone guess that the blatant destruction of the nice pocket of orchard green park in exchange for the materialisation of the horrific orchard Ion has a definite role to play? I still reject that bulky ugly piece of architecture. Do we really need that mall, that house nothing but another repetition of luxury brands? Seriously....there is nothing appealing about that mall in term of looks and its functionality. They destroyed a perfectly nice spot and trade it off for commercial greed.
We all know what nature and greenery does apart from beautifying the area, it has a certain level of water catchment effect as the water seep into the soil. Not saying that this flood would have been eliminated but nothing would convince me that it wont have helped lessen the impact with all the layers and layers of absorbing soil now removed, but replaced with concrete.
Go on and build more condos and buildings along the orchard stretch. How appealing wont it be to see your million-dollars apartment go under water one day because the drainage system wasnt design or redesigned to consider the massive transformation in landscape.
A forward looking landscape transformation project while doing its consideration, really shouldnt continue to depend on past stats for the average highest downpour and fail to do a more realistic projection based on the unstable climate change, else, we will never catch up with the more agressive wreakage nature shall bring forth in the future.
Well. I just hope the torrential rain would take a break for the week I will be back.
Else it really wont be much fun at all to be stuck at home with no internet. Better bring my books along...
news source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1063622/1/.html
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Another uninspiring day at work
Counting down to my deliverance... and yet when uninspired, 4 days seemed like 4 long years...
Woke up with a dull mood. The thought of heading to office is such a damper to the mood, not to mention the grey stormy sky did absolutely nothing to uplift my spirit. The only thing worthy of lightening the gloomy thoughts is my nice colleagues...
Of course, the office is abuzz when my bosses are back from Belgium work trip. Last week was glorious when he wasnt in office.
There are many types of bosses and we cannot be all lucky to have good competent bosses all the time. I had been lucky with my perm job. All my past bosses had been wise, competent, reasonable, appreciative and are all men of calibre, with visions to boot.
Today, my lack of imaginative-vision-direction boss again send me reeling in concealed disgust with his lack of mental capbility and micro-managing. I think he has a very clear idea of my unhesitant and "unrestrained" ability to rebuke back, so I have a very good sense that he didnt dare to raise his voice at me or roll his eyes. It's good when you have a clear position and no one can exploit your character weakness. If it was my other colleagues, he wont try to pass it off as a joke but would have been outright blant and rude.
So the conversation come to the critical point where he was either acting stupidly forgetful, or he is really uselessly forgetful. So stupid questions begets "stupid" answers. I didnt know what he hope to achieve asking me such inane questions. I didnt know if he is expecting me to be "softhearted" and reconsider his request to ask me to extend, or to volunteer ensuring the project will completed before I leave. Either way, its not gonna happen buddy. You hire a Fat "Ham"to create this mess, that piece of lard dun seem to be eager to jump in and volunteer for assistance huh. Plus didnt you two always say "there is a ready pool of CHEAP Asian workers Hungry and DYing for a job anytime?"Well go ahead and hire one. Dont wait on my account. Get one in tomorrow if you like!
Part 1
Boss: So you are working till end of the month right?
Me: No. The last day is 22nd.
Boss: You mean it isnt end of the month?
Me: No. It has never been end of the month.
Boss: So what happens at the end of the month?
Me: I dunno. It's up to you I guess at the end of the month.
(This is when the contract is before him, I had notified him the exact departure date on email 3 weeks ago, and another email -rejecting his extension request email one week ago...)
Boss: So who will take over at end of the month?
Me: Whoever you decide to take over end of the month.
Boss: So. What do we have left?
Me: I had sent you the revised caldendar project scope last week. You can refer to that.
Boss: So can we finish before you leave?
Me: Depends on how much revisions u keep making, and how quick you approve. We wont start programming till you agree, else its double wasted work again.
Boss: Ok. So we have a meeting with vendor next tuesday and we see how much more we need to do. Looks alot incompleted.
Me: Meeting ok. Actually its not true. In terms of layout, we have only the option event registration, media, latest news section left.
So I left him to his thoughts while I rushed off to work freaking overtime for 2 hours today to mail out his changes.
Part 2:
In between, my boss sent me an email.
(Background Info:
We had been discussin about the text layout on website. he wanted full justified but vendor and I are not for it. In fact, it is almost an anomaly to do that. Most major websites are left aligned. Anycase, we showed him a sample of full justifed (both left and right aligned). He said he will think about it.)
Boss text: I now know the terminology. It's call Fully justified.
My reply: Yes. We know what you mean. We are asking you for your decision to proceed with full justified, or left justified.
Boss: There are 4 types of terminology. Left justified, right justified, center justified, full justified.
My reply: Yes, without teh terminology, we already know what you are talking about. Didnt you see the mockup sample that we were discussiin half hour ago? (Insert the screen capture in email to remind him of his blatant stupidity). That is already full justified as you requested. What we are asking you is WHETHER that is your preference for the whole site so that we can start programming.
(In my head - you stupid idiot. We are not asking you what is it you want. After spending one hour discussion, with a visual before u, you still didn get it? You daft nitwit...)
End of text communication.
See the kind of dumbskull I have to deal with? Sometimes I really dont know what is in his head....
At times he flashes a moment of brillance, but most other times...he is as dim as a 1watt bulb.
Woke up with a dull mood. The thought of heading to office is such a damper to the mood, not to mention the grey stormy sky did absolutely nothing to uplift my spirit. The only thing worthy of lightening the gloomy thoughts is my nice colleagues...
Of course, the office is abuzz when my bosses are back from Belgium work trip. Last week was glorious when he wasnt in office.
There are many types of bosses and we cannot be all lucky to have good competent bosses all the time. I had been lucky with my perm job. All my past bosses had been wise, competent, reasonable, appreciative and are all men of calibre, with visions to boot.
Today, my lack of imaginative-vision-direction boss again send me reeling in concealed disgust with his lack of mental capbility and micro-managing. I think he has a very clear idea of my unhesitant and "unrestrained" ability to rebuke back, so I have a very good sense that he didnt dare to raise his voice at me or roll his eyes. It's good when you have a clear position and no one can exploit your character weakness. If it was my other colleagues, he wont try to pass it off as a joke but would have been outright blant and rude.
So the conversation come to the critical point where he was either acting stupidly forgetful, or he is really uselessly forgetful. So stupid questions begets "stupid" answers. I didnt know what he hope to achieve asking me such inane questions. I didnt know if he is expecting me to be "softhearted" and reconsider his request to ask me to extend, or to volunteer ensuring the project will completed before I leave. Either way, its not gonna happen buddy. You hire a Fat "Ham"to create this mess, that piece of lard dun seem to be eager to jump in and volunteer for assistance huh. Plus didnt you two always say "there is a ready pool of CHEAP Asian workers Hungry and DYing for a job anytime?"Well go ahead and hire one. Dont wait on my account. Get one in tomorrow if you like!Part 1
Boss: So you are working till end of the month right?
Me: No. The last day is 22nd.
Boss: You mean it isnt end of the month?
Me: No. It has never been end of the month.
Boss: So what happens at the end of the month?
Me: I dunno. It's up to you I guess at the end of the month.
(This is when the contract is before him, I had notified him the exact departure date on email 3 weeks ago, and another email -rejecting his extension request email one week ago...)
Boss: So who will take over at end of the month?
Me: Whoever you decide to take over end of the month.
Boss: So. What do we have left?
Me: I had sent you the revised caldendar project scope last week. You can refer to that.
Boss: So can we finish before you leave?
Me: Depends on how much revisions u keep making, and how quick you approve. We wont start programming till you agree, else its double wasted work again.
Boss: Ok. So we have a meeting with vendor next tuesday and we see how much more we need to do. Looks alot incompleted.
Me: Meeting ok. Actually its not true. In terms of layout, we have only the option event registration, media, latest news section left.
So I left him to his thoughts while I rushed off to work freaking overtime for 2 hours today to mail out his changes.
Part 2:
In between, my boss sent me an email.
(Background Info:
We had been discussin about the text layout on website. he wanted full justified but vendor and I are not for it. In fact, it is almost an anomaly to do that. Most major websites are left aligned. Anycase, we showed him a sample of full justifed (both left and right aligned). He said he will think about it.)
Boss text: I now know the terminology. It's call Fully justified.
My reply: Yes. We know what you mean. We are asking you for your decision to proceed with full justified, or left justified.
Boss: There are 4 types of terminology. Left justified, right justified, center justified, full justified.
My reply: Yes, without teh terminology, we already know what you are talking about. Didnt you see the mockup sample that we were discussiin half hour ago? (Insert the screen capture in email to remind him of his blatant stupidity). That is already full justified as you requested. What we are asking you is WHETHER that is your preference for the whole site so that we can start programming.
(In my head - you stupid idiot. We are not asking you what is it you want. After spending one hour discussion, with a visual before u, you still didn get it? You daft nitwit...)
End of text communication.
See the kind of dumbskull I have to deal with? Sometimes I really dont know what is in his head....
At times he flashes a moment of brillance, but most other times...he is as dim as a 1watt bulb.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Paying through my nose for ironing board cover!
I didnt realise how good I had it in Singapore to be able to get everything from the supermarket or departmental stores, or just little mom & pop stores around the neighbourhood area..
Perhaps it is attributed to my "foreign-ness" that makes my hunting for stuff difficult. After 4 good years, the underlying sponge material for my ironing board finally distintegrated. I tried using a towel as a subsitute abeit a poor one since the ironing cover refused to cover over it snugly.
I walked all over CWB for 2 hours. It sounds impossible but I really had problem hunting down a suitable replacement. Finding a new ironing board is easy, but the material parts is hard work. Either they didnt have my ironing board size spanning 124cm long, or they have the really ugly cheap and nasty think sponge...
I was getting annoyed and half the verge of getting multiple cheap layers until it hit me how stupid I was. I should have checked out Sogo but it slipped my mind cleanly as I tend to steer clear of Sogo's crowded mob during weeekend.
Imagine my utter delight when I spotted some ironing board there and covers. Good on you Sogo! They have both the cheap and expensive version. Since I didnt want to make so many trips incase i got it wrong, I decided to get one of each. Would you believe it if I say 2 ironing cover with sponge ( 4mm and 2mm thickness respectively) came up to a whopping HK$700+ big bucks? As I pay for it in half disbelief....another half of me who is tired of walking around paid for the items gladly!!!
I would have thought stores like Japan Home would stock decent stuff but I guess not. Sogo, the always dependable last resort, please dont ever close down on me!!!
Perhaps it is attributed to my "foreign-ness" that makes my hunting for stuff difficult. After 4 good years, the underlying sponge material for my ironing board finally distintegrated. I tried using a towel as a subsitute abeit a poor one since the ironing cover refused to cover over it snugly.
I walked all over CWB for 2 hours. It sounds impossible but I really had problem hunting down a suitable replacement. Finding a new ironing board is easy, but the material parts is hard work. Either they didnt have my ironing board size spanning 124cm long, or they have the really ugly cheap and nasty think sponge...
I was getting annoyed and half the verge of getting multiple cheap layers until it hit me how stupid I was. I should have checked out Sogo but it slipped my mind cleanly as I tend to steer clear of Sogo's crowded mob during weeekend.
Imagine my utter delight when I spotted some ironing board there and covers. Good on you Sogo! They have both the cheap and expensive version. Since I didnt want to make so many trips incase i got it wrong, I decided to get one of each. Would you believe it if I say 2 ironing cover with sponge ( 4mm and 2mm thickness respectively) came up to a whopping HK$700+ big bucks? As I pay for it in half disbelief....another half of me who is tired of walking around paid for the items gladly!!!
I would have thought stores like Japan Home would stock decent stuff but I guess not. Sogo, the always dependable last resort, please dont ever close down on me!!!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
new stores round the block
Having moved to Causeway bay, I have only just noticed 2 new stores I had not seen previously. One is the Yogo Frozen Yoghurt and another "Awlfully Chocolate."
Have to try out these 2 stores one of these days for those sugar fix.
Have to try out these 2 stores one of these days for those sugar fix.
Browse through the website for the choc cake and the one with 2 layers of fresh banana looks tempting.. Too bad they dun sell in slices but at least they sell scoops of icecream... I didnt even know they were in HK until i saw someone carrying their boxed cake with their logo on the plastic bag. So I got a little excited... has anyone else tried it before? Love to know your buds' review. (http://www.awfullychocolate.com/hongkong/storelocations.php)
As for yoghurt, my current fav remains as BerryGood in central near my workplace. Unfortunately there are limited fresh fruit toppings. I could only stick to strawberries since they do not have peach toppings.
There was another new outlet known as Smooch near the escalator opposite the old Central police station. Quite frankly, that one taste horrible. One would think its only yoghurt, how bad can it be? But trust me, the thing just taste funny. I have tried both the choc and natural flavour, nothing would make me buy another yoghurt from there anymore.
A new yoghurt store YoMama also just opened in Times Square basement inside city super. Havent tried that either.
It seemed to be another craze on the rise, this frozen yoghurt thingie. I have always loved frozen yoghurt since I was in highschool. Back in Singapore, they have this brand "I canx believe its yoghurt" and I love the peach and natural taste. They used to run a booming business but somehow over the last 2 decades, the stores seemed to have dwindled down to the only one I know of in Suntec city. Frankly, they still have the best frozen yoghurt I have tasted for the last 2 decades.
Getting rid of unsolicited spam faxes!
Have always hated the spam calls on my land lines, esp those fax spams. For the whole past 18months, I had suffered from getting spam advertisment calls through my land lines, waking us up in the middle of the night. Mental torture. I had called up my PCCW account guy and he gave me a few options which wasnt of any help, so I stuck to good old hanging up the phone method.
I was kinda surprised that this time round, my line was perfectly quiet.
Then all of sudden, the spam fax calls came through again, after my husband subscribed to the IDD 0060 service. I couldnt understand till a letter came through today and I looked at the service details.
Apparently, my line came with a free fax service. Damn that is why!
So I called up the hotline to try to terminate the fax service since I have no use for it.
Apparently I cannot get it unbundled but I was offered an even better piece of news.
I could actually subscribe my number with the govt to get it registered as a "DO NO CALL" for unsolicited callers!
OMG! Finally something is looking right and up for a change!
So I went to the govt OFTA website (http://www.ofta.gov.hk/en/uem/instruction.html) , and registered my number for all the 2 offenders - spam pre-recorded messages and spam faxes.
Hopefully this will drive my nightmares away!
I was kinda surprised that this time round, my line was perfectly quiet.
Then all of sudden, the spam fax calls came through again, after my husband subscribed to the IDD 0060 service. I couldnt understand till a letter came through today and I looked at the service details.
Apparently, my line came with a free fax service. Damn that is why!
So I called up the hotline to try to terminate the fax service since I have no use for it.
Apparently I cannot get it unbundled but I was offered an even better piece of news.
I could actually subscribe my number with the govt to get it registered as a "DO NO CALL" for unsolicited callers!
OMG! Finally something is looking right and up for a change!
So I went to the govt OFTA website (http://www.ofta.gov.hk/en/uem/instruction.html) , and registered my number for all the 2 offenders - spam pre-recorded messages and spam faxes.
Hopefully this will drive my nightmares away!
I finally went up...
Last night, my partner and I finally had enough of the din created by people living upstars. So we went down to the lobby staff and invited them to be "witness" of the noise. Thankfully, the kids upstairs were making such noises that the guy had no choice but to go upstairs with me to have a chat with our neighbour.
As typical Hk people, she wanted to deny saying it was only for a "short few mins". I told her it isnt just today, and it certainly wasnt just few mins. Otherwise, the lobby guy would not have the opportunity to hear it. Then she tried to change her tune saying that her kids are both boys and she had also repeatedly told them not to make so much noise.
I felt like slapping her. Her kids are aged between 10-14yrs old, not little undeveloped toddlers that cannot listen to logic. If she had pulled her weight as a mother, rather than some proud motherhen blind to her kids' misbehaviour, I am certain things would not be so bad.
What made it worse was that (as I suspected) they had those cheap wooden floors. That made the whole sound coming through even worse because they are NOT solid wood so the insulation is crap with these chip nasty chipwood materials. HK should BAR people from installing cheap wooden floors because they have no sense of community spirit and could never learn to stay quiet.
I asked her if she had carpet and she said she cannot because her elder son has nose allergy. I felt like telling her that her son is thus doomed never to travel overseas or work in office, or stay in hotel then since everywhere of these places are all carpeted. Funny how their nose problem will magically disappear when they are having fun travelling overseas. Again, I hate parents who have 1000 "reasons" to valid their inconsideration.
Anycase, I wasnt up there to quarrel. I just wanted to reinforce the point that they were making noises. The first round, they denied making any noise. Now with a witness and no way out, she decided to admit "partial" guilt and tried to say all sort of excuses. She said the previous owner didnt complain but I shot back at her that the previous owners had 2 kids herself and she prob was use to the noise her kids made, plus her kids went overseas to study and no one was ever living in the 2 guest rooms under her boys. So how would they hear the noise?
Seriously, if people feedback to you about your noise, stop claiming ignorance. This is a very very very BAD TRAIT in HK people. One of the worst offenders - to deny all obligations and responsibilities because NOTHING is ever their fault. They never are willing to sit down and try to work a way out together, but first to jump to conclusions that people are finding fault with them. How stupid. Like I have nothing better to do than find problems with neighbours upstairs.
Anycase, she said she will try and for that one night only, she did. I didnt hear much noise after that. This morn is another matter but I shall leave the fight for another day.
As typical Hk people, she wanted to deny saying it was only for a "short few mins". I told her it isnt just today, and it certainly wasnt just few mins. Otherwise, the lobby guy would not have the opportunity to hear it. Then she tried to change her tune saying that her kids are both boys and she had also repeatedly told them not to make so much noise.
I felt like slapping her. Her kids are aged between 10-14yrs old, not little undeveloped toddlers that cannot listen to logic. If she had pulled her weight as a mother, rather than some proud motherhen blind to her kids' misbehaviour, I am certain things would not be so bad.
What made it worse was that (as I suspected) they had those cheap wooden floors. That made the whole sound coming through even worse because they are NOT solid wood so the insulation is crap with these chip nasty chipwood materials. HK should BAR people from installing cheap wooden floors because they have no sense of community spirit and could never learn to stay quiet.
I asked her if she had carpet and she said she cannot because her elder son has nose allergy. I felt like telling her that her son is thus doomed never to travel overseas or work in office, or stay in hotel then since everywhere of these places are all carpeted. Funny how their nose problem will magically disappear when they are having fun travelling overseas. Again, I hate parents who have 1000 "reasons" to valid their inconsideration.
Anycase, I wasnt up there to quarrel. I just wanted to reinforce the point that they were making noises. The first round, they denied making any noise. Now with a witness and no way out, she decided to admit "partial" guilt and tried to say all sort of excuses. She said the previous owner didnt complain but I shot back at her that the previous owners had 2 kids herself and she prob was use to the noise her kids made, plus her kids went overseas to study and no one was ever living in the 2 guest rooms under her boys. So how would they hear the noise?
Seriously, if people feedback to you about your noise, stop claiming ignorance. This is a very very very BAD TRAIT in HK people. One of the worst offenders - to deny all obligations and responsibilities because NOTHING is ever their fault. They never are willing to sit down and try to work a way out together, but first to jump to conclusions that people are finding fault with them. How stupid. Like I have nothing better to do than find problems with neighbours upstairs.
Anycase, she said she will try and for that one night only, she did. I didnt hear much noise after that. This morn is another matter but I shall leave the fight for another day.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
My Fav Starbucks has closed
Mood: Still Grumpy
As the saying goes, it never rains but it pours...
Thinking I can cast work aside and just enjoy a good day today, to my horror...my fav starbucks next to my place closed down!!!! What the hell?! It was still open yesterday and gave no sign of closing down with its brisk business in the location! I was motified and didnt have an approperiate reaction staring at the closed shutters, and furniture hacked to pieces strewed within the unit. I felt a loss, a loss of comfort.
Suddenly, I felt like I was thrust into bright light, blinking away, desperately trying to think of a million reasons why. In its place, it shall be another new store, another H&M. Isnt there enough shopping places in causeway bay? Why remove a perfectly good resting spot where I can just grab a choc to go. No one makes hot choc like starbucks, well maybe Toms & Toms from Seoul. I headed reluntantly to Pacific coffee. My first hot cho was too rich and the second cup was too bland, after telling them to cut down on sweetness. I never, ever have to tell starbucks to moderate my hot choc.... Plus the service is so vastly difference.
Stepping into Starbucks is a delight most of the time. The staff are mostly chirpy, and friendly. Sometimes, their happiness even rubs off unknowingly. Stepping into Pacific coffee was a completely depressing experience. The staff doesnt smile, looks like she is in perpetual sleeping state, or just not in the mood to serve a smile. Their only concern was that it was job, and their job was only serve the beverages.
It's only Starbucks I know. However, the loss of a famililar anchor point depresses me. As if things havent suck enough already. To think the other day I was just telling my partner that I am contented just to have starbucks around our place. Now I have to walk that extra mile to Times Square...Did I curse it?
Sigh.....
As the saying goes, it never rains but it pours...
Thinking I can cast work aside and just enjoy a good day today, to my horror...my fav starbucks next to my place closed down!!!! What the hell?! It was still open yesterday and gave no sign of closing down with its brisk business in the location! I was motified and didnt have an approperiate reaction staring at the closed shutters, and furniture hacked to pieces strewed within the unit. I felt a loss, a loss of comfort.
Suddenly, I felt like I was thrust into bright light, blinking away, desperately trying to think of a million reasons why. In its place, it shall be another new store, another H&M. Isnt there enough shopping places in causeway bay? Why remove a perfectly good resting spot where I can just grab a choc to go. No one makes hot choc like starbucks, well maybe Toms & Toms from Seoul. I headed reluntantly to Pacific coffee. My first hot cho was too rich and the second cup was too bland, after telling them to cut down on sweetness. I never, ever have to tell starbucks to moderate my hot choc.... Plus the service is so vastly difference.
Stepping into Starbucks is a delight most of the time. The staff are mostly chirpy, and friendly. Sometimes, their happiness even rubs off unknowingly. Stepping into Pacific coffee was a completely depressing experience. The staff doesnt smile, looks like she is in perpetual sleeping state, or just not in the mood to serve a smile. Their only concern was that it was job, and their job was only serve the beverages.
It's only Starbucks I know. However, the loss of a famililar anchor point depresses me. As if things havent suck enough already. To think the other day I was just telling my partner that I am contented just to have starbucks around our place. Now I have to walk that extra mile to Times Square...Did I curse it?
Sigh.....
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Looking forward to my "release"
After the clash of the titans with the canadian pr*ck, I threw in my letter of resignation. No reason to stick around to be insulted by some arrogant arsehole who has a sweat shop mentality and think all asians should be submissive to him.
Of course, since all my colleagues were present in the background during the last "confrontation" between him and I, my boss was eager to do damage control by calling a staff meeting to assure everyone that Mt Twat was actually a very nice guy. No one believed him of course but no one bothered to say a word either. I mean, if the boss hired this twat, he's not gonna admit he made a terrible mistake would he esp when my boss himself is not exactly a great person - one who suffers from chronic PMS-like behaviour and likes to have his fair share of raising his voice at my Indonesia colleague (who happened to be the only one there who didnt have a uni degree)
Anycase, In between and now, the jacka*s still comes into the office once in a while, and I just heard him made a snide remark. How childish but I pretended to have my earphones stuck to my ears and ignored him. I am just counting down till end of June for me to get out of the hell hole.
My "boss" of course thought that by saying nothing after a week, all is well and now trying to get me to extend my stay and not leave. Did you hear me say "Fk u?"
I like being responsible but I cannot work with people I have no respect for, esp westerners who behave cheaply, tell lies and have a superior esteem...
Unknown to him, 2 of his other capable perm staff are already planning to resign once he goes on his long hols next month. What they told me was how he the cheap bastard have been depriving them of their "deserved" bonus. He was supposed to give them bonus payment every quarter if the business makes profit.
The last half year, business have been booming and even a nitwit can tell we are reaping in loads of money. However, he told my colleagues that the business didnt make any profit and so he cannot pay them the 2 bonus payment. We didnt buy it of course. No money but he has money to hire a twat director, relocated to bigger office and expand a sales team? When my colleague asked the finance guy privately if the company made money, the answer was an absolute yes even though he couldnt tell her exactlty how much. My colleague asked her question in another manner. "Say theoretically, If we want to hire a perm staff of a monthly salary say at $20k, do we have any problem at all and how much in advance can we spare to pay him?" The finance guy said, absolutely no problem. And the company can afford to pay the new guy at least 1 year in advance." That was enough to piss the girls off.
What's more, they had so much work to do that they had to stay back till 11pm to prepare for new jobs and guess what? Instead of showing any appreciation, the boss yelled at them and reprimanded them for working so late and it was unacceptable. Have you ever encountered such a crazy fellow? Of course he rubs people off the wrong way with that sort of attitude.
When he is in a good mood, he will smile and everything is airy fairy. When he is stress, he will see everything negatively and be rather rude. He gives Brits a bad name.
Right now, I am just counting down to glorious end of June to my freedom. Feeling like an inmate now, awaiting eagerly for my release!
Of course, since all my colleagues were present in the background during the last "confrontation" between him and I, my boss was eager to do damage control by calling a staff meeting to assure everyone that Mt Twat was actually a very nice guy. No one believed him of course but no one bothered to say a word either. I mean, if the boss hired this twat, he's not gonna admit he made a terrible mistake would he esp when my boss himself is not exactly a great person - one who suffers from chronic PMS-like behaviour and likes to have his fair share of raising his voice at my Indonesia colleague (who happened to be the only one there who didnt have a uni degree)
Anycase, In between and now, the jacka*s still comes into the office once in a while, and I just heard him made a snide remark. How childish but I pretended to have my earphones stuck to my ears and ignored him. I am just counting down till end of June for me to get out of the hell hole.
My "boss" of course thought that by saying nothing after a week, all is well and now trying to get me to extend my stay and not leave. Did you hear me say "Fk u?"
I like being responsible but I cannot work with people I have no respect for, esp westerners who behave cheaply, tell lies and have a superior esteem...
Unknown to him, 2 of his other capable perm staff are already planning to resign once he goes on his long hols next month. What they told me was how he the cheap bastard have been depriving them of their "deserved" bonus. He was supposed to give them bonus payment every quarter if the business makes profit.
The last half year, business have been booming and even a nitwit can tell we are reaping in loads of money. However, he told my colleagues that the business didnt make any profit and so he cannot pay them the 2 bonus payment. We didnt buy it of course. No money but he has money to hire a twat director, relocated to bigger office and expand a sales team? When my colleague asked the finance guy privately if the company made money, the answer was an absolute yes even though he couldnt tell her exactlty how much. My colleague asked her question in another manner. "Say theoretically, If we want to hire a perm staff of a monthly salary say at $20k, do we have any problem at all and how much in advance can we spare to pay him?" The finance guy said, absolutely no problem. And the company can afford to pay the new guy at least 1 year in advance." That was enough to piss the girls off.
What's more, they had so much work to do that they had to stay back till 11pm to prepare for new jobs and guess what? Instead of showing any appreciation, the boss yelled at them and reprimanded them for working so late and it was unacceptable. Have you ever encountered such a crazy fellow? Of course he rubs people off the wrong way with that sort of attitude.
When he is in a good mood, he will smile and everything is airy fairy. When he is stress, he will see everything negatively and be rather rude. He gives Brits a bad name.
Right now, I am just counting down to glorious end of June to my freedom. Feeling like an inmate now, awaiting eagerly for my release!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)