busy busy

For the strangest reason, research is picking up again at this period! It's crazy. There is just so much things to do and handle that I feel like I'm hitting the wall soon. Quite tired ... I guess to the extend that I feel like holing up in some weird places where people can't find me! BUT, how can I do that when I'm handling so many things....

Was just talking to two friends last night as both ask me to be careful and not break down anytime soon. I do hope so, but it's something that I don't have an answer to. All in good hands I guess. All the more I gotta submit to God's precious arms.

Sigh... crazy work period again.. will it end?

Dear Lord, u know what's going on in my life right now and there isn't any words for me to describe much of it. Please Oh Lord, pray for u to pull me thru...

Amen

Dreading

It came to a point where I dread work again. I dread the things that I need to do. I dread the communication that I need to make. I dread the things that I need to complete.

I guess it's high time for me to seek again? I've been doing that on and off, but never with a full intention. I myself do not know what is making me ponder about moving and etc. Maybe God wants me to say, maybe it's just me, getting used to the craziness and resigning myself to it (high probable it's not though). I still do not know why. Both my colleague and I are considering the move and are praying about it. Yet we sense a need to stay on for the moment. I've thought of giving myself six months (from September... meaning already 2 months have passed!) before moving on. I guess for now, I'll pull myself through till December... and then I'll reconsider my move. Hope I can tahan till then......

Troubles after problems

Probably in a deep shit situation right now. A junior staff was directed with a nasty email and what I meant as help in my reply email... it was sent instead to the owner of the nasty email. My boss found out about it and he is not happy. I didn't realise until my boss called me, and being the cause of it, he said this is one thing i need to settle myself.

Oh well, called another supplier who got involved and ta, he is "selamba aje". Even told me not to worry and that he will talk to the owner of the nasty email.

My boss? I smsed him saying I've spoken to the nice supplier and he is alright with things. He replied asking me to be careful with the direction of my emails.

Like very simple hor? Monday still have to face the nasty email owner .... what can I do? Pray....

p/s: my life has been very dramatic ever since I worked here. Never knew I can:
-do so many things at one time
-resolve so many problems that arise i.e. how? i need a dvd player (boss)..(me) ok, I go home and get it now (group starts in less than 45 minutes).
-manage such crazy bunch of people in a go
-too many to list..

Part 1 of Hong Kong trip

Been wanting to blog about my travel in Hong Kong, but have not been having the chance to do so. Right now I'm in the airport waiting for my flight departure.. and there's another story to tell... maybe in the later part of this posting.

Scheduled my flight so that I would be in Hong Kong from 15th till 19th August 2007. Reached here just in time for my meeting, thankfully I requested to check in a bit later (11pm). As usual, there is flight delay and I was rushing like crazy even from the morning itself. You see, I had to do a transit in Singapore to come to Hong Kong due to certain reasons, and I only managed to reach Singapore with less than half an hour (or was it 15 minutes) to catch my flight to Hong Kong. I practically had to run/dash to the gate! And all the while I was like.. WHY THE HECK IS IT SO FAR???? Breathlessly, I made it on time and got comfortable in the flight.

On flight, a grandmother was sitting next to me. She's Singaporean but she's a cantonese, so ended up chatting with. Such a dear old lady, helped her with things and all, and I'm cool about it. I'd like helping them, because they have gone through so much and have so much experience and life-story to share. She shared about her children, one of which was in the flight with us, sitting on the next row on our left with her two children. Think she's grateful that I'm lending a helping hand. Realised as I was talking to her, that parents do have amazing influence in our lives. She shared that because her parents suffered so much to raise them up, that she felt she does not have the right to actually enjoy herself. Indeed, I am grateful for all the love and enjoyment that my parents have given to me… grateful indeed. Likewise for my grandma, I would love for her to enjoy herself. Not everyone can live to be 90 eh? Well, she is one of the lucky ones then :)

After the flight ended, I was pretty stunned by some of the elderly people in the plane who pushed their way through to get off the plane. Went blur for a moment and I was like, ooookayyyy... but realised they were hurrying to catch the connecting flight, so it's cool. I myself had to rush like mad to be able to meet my client at 430pm at Causeway Bay. It was 330pm already and would definitely take me an hour from Hong Kong Airport! Tried calling my client of my impending lateness, but was unreachable. So I called the facility to alert them to welcome the client. With that, I'd managed to reach there like probably 5-10 minutes later. So work starts and I was working till almost 11pm. Exhausted, i took my time to get to my hostel.

I ended up sleeping at 4 something in the morning, after refreshing myself and did some work. Mainly chatted with a friend about nothing… haha.. but it was good to crap sometimes. Neways, woke up the next day at about 1050am, cause received a call from my boss enquiring on the group the night before. I think I’ve quite mastered my voice to sound awake although I just woke up… haha, too many experiences whereby my boss’ call woke me up in the morning. Anyhow, his call woke me up and I’ve gotten myself up and did some work in the morning. Showered at about 12 plus and went out for lunch. The minute I reached downstairs, I was stunned. Because it was raining quite heavily and I left my umbrella upstairs. Feeling lazy, I decided to brave the rain and went about to purchase some water and necessities for the trip. Once done, I went to eat some porridge at a nearby shop. It was really weird though, for their porridge’s very sweet. I couldn’t finish it and left it as that.

As it was still pouring I decided to back to the hostel and laze about. Feeling lazy… haha. Neways, ended reading a book that was lying around at the hostel. Quite interesting, I would say Sidney Sheldon is quite good for he really keeps you in suspense throughout the book. Interestingly, the story revolves around multiple personality disorder, and the story ended amazingly well. During the course of it, I was chatting with a friend, and because he was studying for his exam and me with my book, we missed each other’s messages quite a lot. We ended up being a parrot, with the numerous “hello, are you there?” on the msn. Haha…. By the way, it was still pouring outside, making it amazingly nice to stay in-house.

At 4 plus, I went to shower and prepared myself to go to Causeway Bay for work again. Today’s event ended quite well, it numerous good take-out from the group. However, like the day before, the group ended late again. The client was so amused that he turned and asks me if it’s normal. I told him that it does, because the respondents were the ones talking a whole heap of their feedback. I guess the interesting part about my work is the things that the people would say and share with us. It’s amazing the things that they would share, sometimes unpredictably un-assumptious.

Likewise, the group ended late again, at about 945pm. Supposed to have dinner with my friend, and because she was held up at work, and vice versa, she thought I had finished dinner (told her I would finish about 8plus) and thus she went home straight. As for me, I was still in the observation room and did not dare to sms since the client was sitting next to me. So after the whole thing ended, I rang her and she was giving some exclamations about me not contacting her earlier. Assured her it’s alright and told her to recommend what’s nice at the area. She told me to visit this place called Yee Shun Milk Company, which is a few shops away from Causeway Bay Plaza 1, towards Sogo. When I reached there, I realised that I’ve passed by this little old shop the last time round and had wanted to go in to try (but I didn’t though). So my friend recommended me the Pork Chop burger and “Dang Dan” (Steam white egg ….. or something like that). I’m impressed by the Dang Dan, because it was so smooth and soft. It literally slides in your mouth and the texture’s light and easy. Not only that, it was quite a big portion too, as least compared to those in Kuala Lumpur.

However, the burger was not really interesting, for it is just a plain baguette with a piece of pork chop in between. However, I would give it credit for the pork chop was not too, what’s that word… kenyil in Malay. Can’t think of the English word at the moment.

All in all, it is one of the cheapest meal I’ve taken in Hong K0ng, with a total cost of HKD37 (RM17.50).

Went home right after that…. And oh, did I mention it was still raining after the groups and after dinner?

But really do praise God for the weather because I shared with my Hong Kong friends about my need to work on 15th and 16th August and that I would not be able to go with them. And viola, weather does not permit it either.

Just a pause to share that I really do thank God for His blessings in my life. He blessed me with a bunch of friends who are willing to drop their things and take me around I am truly grateful for that.

That's all for now :)

Bad day to begin with

Today started off badly... wasn't in a good mood to begin with. Boss flew in from Singapore as we have a meeting with client today. So yea, my boss asked me questions which I answer mono-syllabic style. At 1020am, I walked towards my car, intending to wait for my boss at the office downstairs. Walked towards my car, saw my tyre.. it was flat. I guess I was feeling very flat, coz when I saw my car condition, lagi no mood.. but no mood to care. Called office, spoke to the admin, told her tyre punctured, my boss asked at the other side, so how? I said, call cab.. we're going times square.. and headed back to my office.

When in the office, my boss was like.. "what happened?"
I said, "tyre punctured".

While we're waiting for cab, again my boss asked, "so what we're waiting?"
I said, "cab."

While in the cab, he was asking me about some of the ongoing projects as well as potential ones, awaiting confirmation. Again, I only said what's needed. No mood to talk much to him.

Suddenly he asked, "has it been raining?"
I was like "huh?"
Again, "has it been raining? It's quite hot here."
I had to think for a while whether it was raining anot.. then I was like, "Got. Yday and Sunday also rained"
"Was it heavy?", he asked.
"Yea, very heavy, sunday afternoon"....

then it was quiet again...

After meeting, had lunch with my colleague who met us at the client site. Superbly hungry...
Then took a cab back to the office. Walked to the auto repair shop that's around the corner (THANK GOD for it) and waited for the guy to help me fix my tyre.

The repairman also super selamba, taking his own sweet time to get his tools. Probably stood there for like 10 minutes waiting for him. Lucky I'm in my no feel mood. Else I think siao liao...

Neways, got it fixed for like RM10. BUt need to send the flat tyre to another shop to check. Haven't told my dad though. Sian.

By the time I got into the office it was already 3pm. What a day... after settling some matters with other clients... I only managed to start doing my report at about 430/5pm. My day just started...

Work - crunch time

Yeap, it's that time of my work again, where things are extremely stressful and I'm cracking my brain to write a report. Seriously, I realise that if you have to stress yourself so much just for an hour's report, then I guess there must be something wrong. Guess I'm not blessed with an analytical brain that would allow my thoughts to flow easily.

Am seriously considering of changing job... anyone can recommend anything? Aih, gotta keep praying and seeking God in this I guess...

Father, please remove the spirit of complaining in me and rather, to turn to You in all aspects Lord. I know it's tough, but I do thank You for the opportunity to work here and to learn what I'm good at. Please Lord, continue to direct my future and my path...

Saturday and I'm thinking about work

How boring can my life be? It's Saturday morning and I'm thinking about work already! ARGHHH... ain't good ain't good. Sigh, and early in the morning my boss sms me asking the status of one of the project. Still contemplating of replying him.. haha.. sigh... I dread this. I don't like to write report. Am I cut out for this job? Again, a time of questioning for myself. If I'm not cut out for this, what should I be looking for?

Sigh, another day of sitting in front of the computer and do up my report I guess. Am slowly having a better grasp of what I need to write, I think.... well... I'll just do it and see how things turn out. Can I finish it by Tuesday? Am not sure, but will try to at least finish 10 slides today. That's a rather achievable aim :P Well, doing up 10 slides ain't as easy as it seems. Never thought it would be so tough! Proven tough as I was helping my boss with his presentation and also in the last report that I did too. 68 slides on telling the client the end result of the study. Phew... can't believe it myself! Haha... sigh!!! This report should end up being about that many slides too... tensionnyaaaaaaa...

OKOKOKOKOK..... no more talking about work eh. Should just kick my ass and get things working! Till now!

Sicko day

Been sick since last Thursday. Started off with a sore throat. Went to see doctor on Thursday itself as I'm trying to avoid it being full blown since I have to make a trip to Singapore during the weekend for a friend's wedding (will update on that later). So when I came back, things were still fine. But I guess the lack of sleep and the freezing cold in church on Sunday afternoon itself caused me to get worse.

So Monday, went to work as usual... face flushed and all.. colleague saw me and asked, "are u ok? Ur face is so red... why don't u go home and rest?" I did after spending half a day at work going to the loo and drinking water. Doesn't help that the office is under renovation... super dusty n smells of paint! Went home and rested. Thought a night's rest would be enough, but have some premonition about it though, coz my body was aching as I got on the bed. Next day came, I couldn't get up at all! Went back to sleep till 10 plus. Woke up and went to see the doctor. Apparently body ache was due to my body fighting those nasty bugs in my body! So yeaps, MC for the day and was told to rest. Came home, ate some light lunch and took medicine. Very effective medicine I would say, coz I totally knockout after that. Slept till 5pm. That means whole afternoon was gone.

Today, still nursing myself. Did not go to work with the same reason, sick, but am working from home. Productive?? Not very sure as well, so see how things go then... still have a report to write, another brief to prepare and another questionnaire to set. All in due time I guess....

Friday = Holiday

Man, I'm so looking forward to Friday! I'll be again going down to Singapore. But this time it's for a joyous occasion... my friend, Wileen would be getting married this coming Saturday and we're invited. It would be sort of like a reunion as well for those of us from Monash Gippy.

She is like the second person I know from Monash Gippy who is getting married. Granted, they are a couple of years older than me, but we're all still in our twenties! Gosh.... haha, nah, my wedding bells ain't ringing yet... but it does magnify the fact that I'm getting older.... But I do thank God that I'm not as sensitive to my age as my peers. Some of my friends do ask me if I'm worried as we are getting older, and this year, being the quarter of the century year for me... I coolly n smilingly say no. Why? Because for me, age is just a number. It's weird, I'm always a logical person, and I guess my reasoning is that age is just a number. It's really how you live your life that counts, rather that the number of years you've lived this life. Again, granted the years are passing on by us very quickly... it's already mid-year right now... but I guess that's all the reason more that we should make the best out of it. Carpe diem! Seize the day.... I don't always do that, but I'm learning to... hence the need to step back and re-evaluate how my life have been. I wana do a retreat soon, but need to see how to go about it.

Hoping that my boss would allow me a long trip so that I can take a step back from all the hassle of work and ease into God's presence thoroughly.. but it's a long short neways... more likely with the huge workload that I have to work doubly harder than right now. Seriously need to reconsider! Haha... but I guess one can see it as a time of testing for me, to see where my commitment is with God.

There is a nagging feeling that I might move on to something that's really unexpected in the near future, but that's uncertain right now.. still need to pray about and bring it up to surface slowly. Scared, but yea... need to really pray about it!

haha.. okok.. my postings are getting boring again with the updates on WORK! Gotta stop man.

More to come... hopefully not work k!

Sanctuary

Went to church's family prayer meeting today. I think it's my first after all these years. Never a fan of going to church during weekdays unless there's something on. But God is great. Again, never did I step in to the church's office if I don't have anything to do. Today, I went in on my own, tot of dropping my notebook bag in my youth pastor's room and go for dinner. He wasn't around though, and instead, I saw Pastor Irene...she is a pastor from Australia who pastored my church last year for 6 months. There is stirring in the whole family's heart to move over and take charge of the english congregation, but I guess the timing wasn't right, for God did not allow the move up to date. So yea, still seeking the Lord for the move. Meanwhile, they fly in and out to minister to our church... such faithful servants of God.

Haven't talked to Pastor Irene for a while, and I realised she knows the happenings in my life i.e. the busy work schedule and the flying in and out of the country... whole package I supposed... she was asking how I was and all... and I've shared with her my burden and what I'm going through. Shared with her the fact that I need to re-evaluate my life right now ... it was really a fruitful discussion and she can see where my heart lies and all.. after the sharing we commited my situation to the Lord and I feel very blessed.. because I know God is listening to me and knows what I'm facing and all.

I had a great time worshipping the Lord during the worship session... well, a bit of a problem with the fact that we had to sing in cantonese, mandaring n english in different songs.. but it was good. I love to worship!! hehe... but God is truly good today, for the assurance that He gave me and for the words of comfort that He showered upon me. Am very blessed....

I believe in time, things will be clearer to me, as to what I am to do and all in regards to my work. Serving is what I would love to do the most, but only He knows which is the best job for us eh....

Will continue to pray and commit it to the Lord... Be still and acknowledge that He is God....

A recap of life

Doing a recap here on my working life as a Consumer Insight Planner... wondering about certain things.

I've been here for almost six months after quitting ME. Basically as a market researcher, you do a lot of things and know a lot of things along the way. Things that may not be in the market right now, you know it, you've analysed it and you even played a part in further enhancing it. I've learnt:

1. that interviews are not as easy as it seems. Some people can talk, but they are also empty cans, if you know what I mean.

2. handling group discussion is even worse! It means there is this big group of people of which probably 1 or 2 are empty cans, yet they can sway the crowds! I'm not looking forward to doing groups... but I have a feeling it will be very soon.

3. It is not easy when you deal with an emotional supplier. Worse still if he blames you for HIS mistakes and divert all these negative emotions to you.

4. handling a project, be it in a group or on your own is never an easy task. So many things to check and to look into, I've yet to master it, but from a huge mistake, I guess I've learnt.

5. dealing with internal colleague as a senior is not easy. You cannot be too friendly nor too rigid. Too many a times I'm being ill-treated by colleague, and kinda peeved at it. Though she/he is older than me, but that does not mean I cannot give out tasks for them to do, yet it's overlooked and when I ask them to do task, they replied saying "wah, sounds like you're giving command". Not only that, they are just blatantly not helpful. Things are going crazy in the office, yet, their attitude is I don't care... sigh... still learning on how to deal with them right now.

6. working in a small firm is tougher than in a bigger firm. Here, you handle everything, from stage 1 to stage 10, with less assistance. It's awfully tiring when this happens, because it's NOT easy doing things on your own. Knowing myself, this is really forcing me to learn to do things on my own rather than in a group. Maybe God is doing something here, but who knows.

7. An eccentric boss really means an eccentric working environment.

8. to be flexible and adaptable. I guess this comes with the sms from an eccentric boss who just drop things on your lap and even tell you to fly within the week to certain destination.

9. that I'm quite a workaholic. Is it because of the working environment. I'm not sure, but I do know that I've been working a lot since Leong left. It's much worse because I'm the only researcher in the Malaysia office and I have to handle everything. More work to do because there are still a lot that I do not know and it's tough trying to handle everything from A to Z.

10. that though I do like what I'm doing right now, I'm quite drained by it. Am feeling the pull in the sense... church needs to be put off because I'm not around. Can't totally commit to serving in fear that the boss would want me to go/fly somewhere. Can't go to prayer meeting at all because it's on a weekday and I'm usually working late in the office as I'm rushing projects.

Am I cut out for this job? I know that if I want to succeed in this field, I can. But am I willing to give up church and free time just to reach to the top? Sometimes people say, hey, you don't go church doesn't mean that you are not close to God. Church is just a building... etc... yes, I agree with that. But there is also a need for us to fellowship and all. And because I don't attend cell group, Sunday service is my time in fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ in church. Also, having to serve in both worship and youth ministry, how am I going to do that if I'm not physically present? Not only that, there is this innate need for me to be in church borne not out of myself but, I believe, from God.

I guess I really need to retreat and seek God for an answer to this. Again, I am willing to give up my job because I never believe that we live to work... well, except for God :) But this working is borne out of my free will and not enforce.

The world forces us to conform to it, but I don't want to. Some people may say, hey, you're changing job again! It's really bad for your resume. Well, that is true... but I hope that people would understand that there are reasons for my changes and I'm not job hopping for fun or giving up when things become tougher. Certain changes are required as we grow older. If I were to slave myself to work now, who's to say what my life would be later on. Working hard now may entail me to a good life in this world, but ... there's more to life than having a good life later on. My life is from God, and I don't think He demands any less from me from what I want to give Him. Why? Because my love for Him is greater than wanting to live a life of relaxation and happy-go lucky. I'm definitely not perfect, I have my flaws and I am still learning to walk in Christ. But borne out of me is this desire to do what He wants me to do. I'm sure a lot of us do, I'm not saying that those out there don't. This is me and my personal desire...

My job is not my life and I never want it to be. But as this job is forcing my life to conform, I need to set aside and step back to see the overall picture.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, I pray that you will keep me in prayer as I seek God in this. It is never easy to share with people the need to change job because some may not understand and offer very realistic advice and opinions. But I guess the opinion that I seek is only God's and I will continue to learn to turn to Him in this.

BZ as a BEE

Remembered the last time I was talking to a friend, whereby I told him, I'll only be tied up till mid-May. What an understatement! I'm still busy as a bee, rushing here and there, having a few projects at hand, and learning to juggle them.

This job really requires me to fly here and there... and although it is a blessing to travel, I do find it tiring.

Was in Singapore for some internal meetings end of May, and then again, at Singapore for the Emerge conference. A personal trip nonetheless, a good one, though still tiring and exhausting. God has been good, a time of refreshment in His presence. Open my eyes to see some things for myself. Some times that may not be visible to the church nowadays. Hopefully, things would be better... but that's a different story altogether.

I'm preparing to fly to Hong Kong this coming Sunday for another project. Thankfully, there isn't much that I need to do except to listen and write a report. But meeting clients and agency on my own for the first time. A little nervous perhaps... also need to portray myself to be mature, young professional. But be those that know her stuff and know what she's doing. Do I fit those criteria? I seriously have no idea, but will keep on praying.

Upside of this Hong Kong trip is that I'll be able to meet up with my Hong Kong friends whom I met in uni. I see this as GOd's blessing, for everywhere I've travelled up to date, I will be able to find existing friends there. I might not be able to meet some of them, but the mere thoughts that they are not far is a comfort to me.

Been working here for 6 months now, and things are going on a up-hill at the moment. How am I taking all these things in? I seriously have no idea. There are times where I'm so overwhelmed by so many things that I just felt that I can't take it. But at times, things are so slow that I feel so relaxed and all. Are things fine and dandy for me?

Not sure is the answer. I do like what I'm doing, but not all of it. I like the operational side of things, but not so much on the research side of things. This job opens my eyes to the different skills that I have. I'm not to say that I'm that bad in research, but it's just that....I don't know?? Shall seek God in this and see what His plans is for the future.

That aside, was chatting with a friend yesterday when he ask me about things re God. He asked, if God were to ask you to quit your job and serve Him full time, would you? Prior to this, was sharing with him about seeking God and see what God has to say about what to do next. My answer is this, the answer is yes. It may be a struggle in the beginning, but yea, I would do it.

Why I say it's a struggle? To move from working in a corporate world with a steady income to working for God and all... the struggle is the adaptation to things around me. But one thing I see is the advantage is that I would learn to depend on God more too. My friend, again ask me, if God wants you to go to Africa, would you go? I told him that if that's God's plan for me, for my life, I am sure He will provide for me and all. He would definitely not give me anything or put me in circumstances that I cannot handle. It again, may be a struggle in the beginning, but GOd is with us.

My friend shared that he might not have the strength to do that. God does not demand us to use our own strength to do things for Him. But rather, God seeks one who has a willing heart. Look at David, a small boy, one that people will not choose. But God chose him because of his willingness, because of his heart for God. Look at Moses, one who can't really speak well, stutters when he speaks, an old man... but God chose him to bring the Israelites out of Eygpt.

I'm not saying that I am a saint or that I would not struggle if God calls me to serve Him. Maybe I would, in the sense that I'm worried about finances, I'm worried about my parents and how they would accept that fact, for they've worked hard to put me through university and I turn around and say I wana serve God full time. Them being non-christian might not be able to understand or accept it. But I believe that if that's what's God's plan is for my life, we just need to hold on to Him and trust Him on it.

I pray and hope that those who are reading this... don't think you're a weak person or that you are just not capable of doing what God calls or asks you to do. God will not demand from us something that we are totally not capable of. It may just be that you have yet to discover this capability of yours :) Have faith and continue to trust that God will bring you through whatever He has planned for you.

May God bless you abundantly my friends.

Sue = workaholic

I've been talking and updating a friend of mine about what's going on in my life... and she commented, "eh, you're turning into a workaholic lei. You know arh, your email and your conversations are all about work, so boring lar you.."

And I guess I am as well. What to do, work is playing a major role in my life these days and I seemed to be allowing it to occupy my time too. But I've also been playing hard... is that a balance for me? Sigh... I'm trying to hold on to the thought that it's a learning curve for me right now, a steep one, hence much of my time is taken to do what I'm doing right now.

Even my youth pastor commented on how busy I am these days. Can't help it I guess at the moment. But fleeting thoughts such as quitting if work is taking me and my time away from God does cross my head. And I do think that right now, work does occupy a big chunk of my time. But a friend also shared that maybe it's due to my planning or the lack of it that things seems to be overflowing and all.

Seriously have no idea right now. I can't wait for Thursday to come, so that I can get to rest a bit and all. Presentation is this Thursday and the decks are due tomorrow morning. I'm still a long way from completing it. Guess it'll be a sleepless night for me again.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

Mind Bogging day to begin with

Woke up at 4am to catch the 655am flight. Reach airport at 5 plus and had to queue for ticket... when I got to the counters ages later, I was told that I cannot board that flight as it's too late. Tried justifying the fact that I've been queuing for ages for it, but failed.

Had to call MAS airlines to check on their flight. Was told that the 915am was fully booked. Can only board the 1045. Proceeded to purchase the ticket and have them put me on standby. Now waiting for the standby to be confirmed. Sigh, what a crazy way to start the day. Almost wanted to cry while in the cab from LCCT to KLIA. Already had a stressful night, and now the day starts stressfully for me.

Father in heaven, please do lend me your strength for the day. I'm already tired enough from all the planning and scheduling that I had to do. Please Father... allow me peace and ease.

My business trip up to North on 7 April 07

Made some jottings while I was at the airport. Enjoy...

Location: Penang Airport
Reason: Waiting for my flight back to Kuala Lumpur
Reason for being in Penang: Work purpose - conducting interviews at Alor Setar and Butterworth
In Penang since: 8am in the morning
Flight back: 1030pm
Time now: 840pm
Time wake up: 4am
Time slept the night before: 2am
Hours of sleep: 2 hours
Winks in between: half an hour in the taxi to Alor Setar, 1 hour in the ride back to Penang Airport

Incidents that's amusing/eye opener:

Incident 1:
it was pouring on the way back to Penang Airport. I saw 3 different accidents within the stretch of 1km (maybe less!).... it's kinda bad, in the sen that it involves 3 cars at the very least, and the front and rear of the cars are pretty smashed up. Yet to see such accidents in a vast of 1km before.... quite stunned

Incident 2:
the taxi to Penang airport was super old. There's a mini fan inside the taxi! How quaint can it be??!! Likewise, the taxi driver is an old man who speaks mandarin to me. At least he understood my feeble attempts of conversation with him (my mandarin sounds funny! haha... I can't really speak it)...haha.. it's porbably the reason why he doesn't seem to want to talk to me much.. oh well... i've tried :P By the way, the journey, which was supposed to be 2 hours or less became more because the taxi uncle was driving very slowly. I felt my butt getting sore from sitting in the car for so long. And nope! Not hoping for F1 speed.. at the very least, not 60km per hour... still thankful I got to the airport in one piece.

Incident 3:
me! why? Coz I'm now sitting outside the office of MAS airlines, and in front of me is the check out counter entrance.....okok.. specifically, i'm sitting on the FLOOR! Reason? My phone's battery's dying and because I still need to make contact with the world down central, I need it alive and well. Oh, did I mention that the power plug is outside the office. Why phone battery is dying? Erm, I'ven been on the phone the whole day coordinating and ensuring that the interview will go smoothly. Been sitting here for probably about half an hour now... people are just staring at me whenever they walk pass and even one lady wanted to approach me to get a credit card.. weird. I guess I am attracting attention as I'm wearing a bright green jacket! A present from Din Din! But it's fun to see people's head turning to see what I'm doing. One MAS guy actually ask me wat's up... i just smiled and say, charging phone! kekek

Incident 4:
My taxi drivers in KL are really nice. The morning guy who fetched me gave me a morning call at 4am in the morning! My alarm rang the same time as the call came in! Literally made me jump out of the bed to answer the call n turn my alarm off... then, half an hour later... the taxi driver was talking non-stop to me in the car. I've made attempts to answer him, but in my half drowsy mode... haha... I guess I dropped off after a while, coz the next thing I know he was like, Sue ah, we've arrived.

He called me a couple of times reminding me to call the other taxi driver who's going to fetch me home! Scared I'll left alone and all I guess. keke... or maybe he think i'm a cute girl and will be kidnapped?!! Keke.... but am thankful for people who takes care of me ;)

The one fetching me home was more happening! He was chatting in cantonese with me. So happily we chatted for over an hour, from the airport all the way home! Haha.. i was already sleepy but it was kinda fun talking to him. Shared so many amusing incidents with me! He's almost turning 60 but yet looking so healthy and hyper... haha... man, as compared to him, I figured I'm pretty much flat that night.

Happenings during the interviews:

Schedule for the day:
4 interviews in Alor Setar
2 interviews in Butterworth
Coordinator: SUE and only SUE
management of the interviews: SUE
interviewers: Sue and another guy (can't split myself into 6 can i!??)

Incident 1:
One of the respondent's dad passed away in the morning! Was quite stunned when she shared it with me....as I called herto confirm on the interview and all... may he rest in peace. Had to call my boss and let him know of the matter.

Incident 2:
Spoke to 2 more respondents from Butterworth. Had to cancel both of them because they never did the work we asked them to prepare properly. Oh well, things can be quite unpredictive. I had to make the decision to cancel it as it's not going to work.

Incident 3:
One respondent simply did the homework and we had to waste money paying for his shoddy work. Lesson learnt. Need to check more thoroughly on the homework that respondents did!

To sum up, it's been a long and hectic day for me, one that started out as being stressful, but ended with peace. I'm thankful to Him who gave me peace! Amen

Erratic Week

What an erratic week last week. There's just so many minor things that arises all throughout, literally keeping me on my toes! I am thankful that it's over now... don't really want to dwell in it. Hopefully things won't be like this crazy again for this coming week. Don't think I can take it if it does happen.

Went out with some new friends yday.. we went to this eatery called Marmalade in Bangsar Village 2. It's such a cosy place! Totally reminds me of Geri's room in Gippyland with the numerous bean bags around. I totally plunked myself on one and couldn't get up! hahah... so fun and funny at the same time.... with the next one, a friend offer to pull me up, but decided not to take up his offer, lest i pull him down instead....

Here's some of the pictures of the food we ate there... yummylicious!!


Here's the group pictures :)

Monday Morning

It's Monday morning and I'm all alone in the office. Am not even sure if anyone is coming in later. But it's also a good thing that I'm all alone. I like being alone at times because you get to settle down and think about things.

Things have been hectic the past week, trying to juggle handling customers as well as trying to get things done for my boss. But praise God most of it is already settled. Next week will be another whirlwind for me I guess, with heaps of groups happening and rushing things again. Yeap, the timeline for this job can sometimes be quite tough. But I guess as one learns when to be focused and when to juggle things, one gets more familiar with it. Will learn in time.

Slow and steady win the race eh, be it in the rat race or even in our race towards to finish line.

Work Work Work

It's 1.25am right now and I'm still AwAKE! What am I doing? Well, as the title says, I'm working still at this hour and I'm taking a short break for it (been taking heaps of breaks tho.. kaka) I need to rush one part of a report to my boss as he needs to send it to the client and thus me sitting here trying to crack my limited brain juice over what needs to be presented to the client. It's tough man... seriously never thought that things can be this tough. Nonetheless, it is good to try to get my stagnant brain to work again after so many years.

I'd probably need to do about 10 slides and I've drafted out 2 already. Hopefully the ones that I'm doing works right now. Else I think I will again go bonkers trying to crack my brain. Actually did some out but it doesn't seem to portray what needs to be brought out and thus I need to redo it. Sigh, oh well.. lesson learnt. Must always remember what I need to do I guess.

How is work thus far? To be honest, I really am not entirely sure. There are some upheaval happening in the office and I do think that my colleagues are a bit worried about me being affected by it. This I think they are worrying to much because:

1. Though work is tough at times, I'm actually enjoying it (can you believe it?? I'm still trying to gauge this as well)
2. Working late is fine for me, because then I don't have to wake up so early the next day to work
3. Not having a boss in the office at all times helps me to ease up the tension
4. I'm getting adapted to the workplace after so long
5. Music is my accompaniment at all times in the office

Haha.. okay okay, getting a bit off from the topic. Neways, things might (hopefully) be a little slower for me next week, so when I finish this I'm quite free already! Of course, there are certain things that I need to do for my boss and I need to prepare for them too. Slowly lar.

But once this report is done, my next step is to transfer everything out from this little laptop of mine and reformat it! Best is to get ride of whatever junk that is not necessary. So crazily overloaded with things that I have no idea belongs to who. Sigh....

OKay now, back to work lar!

Aja aja FIGHTING!!!

Praise God

I really want to praise God for today. I woke up with a prayer to God, praying and asking Him to bless me this day (after a while since I've last prayed such a prayer, i mean pray in the morning). Little did I know He has a surprise for me!

My boss came in early as we have a few groups on for the day. He told me that I am to sit down with him to discuss on a brief that I've prepared and he also passed me something to read and go through. So I did what I needed to do and waited for him to settle his before we do our discussion.

The minute we sat down, he told me he's not going to be next week and started to review me there and then. The ill-prepared me just sat there listening like a blur girl.. wondering what triggered this conversation. Okay, a little brief info for those who don't know. I have started this job back on December 15, 2006 and is (should I use was?) on a 3 months probation. When I took this job, the pay cut was huge and I thought I wouldn't survive it (that's another blessing story altogether). So I made a pact with my boss that we are to review my salary package earlier if possible to at least the amount of my previous salary. I never pursue it as I was literally bumming around in the office for the first two months, with nothing to do...

Tada, God's surprise and blessing to me is that He blessed me with an almost 40% pay rise! Truly, it was unexpected and brought so much joy to me. God has truly blessed me for the past 3 months and taught me heaps re my job, that money is not everything. He's shown me that we can still survive with less money, so long as we continue to walk with God daily.

Maybe some of us are actually going through some financial matters right now, the best thing to do is really to commit the matter to God and tell Him what is happening and all. I am sure God hears your prayers and petition and will, in His own timing, seek to reveal more of Himself even as He help you out in life.

Father, truly, I thank You for such blessings that you've poured into my life for the past few months. I know, certain things I really don't think I'm even worth receiving it, yet You still give and pour out to me in abundance. I truly am speechless by Your grace and Your love that You've shown to me. I pray that You too will help those around me who are in dire need financially. I pray that You will bless them as You've done for me. Thank You Lord, in Jesus' name, AMEN

Funny Incident

Had an incident which I funny! Guess who the star is! haha..

Okay, today I had to go to client's site and it's been quite a while since I drove to that place. As the appointment is early, I've decided to go there earlier... slept late yday so this morning was a blur rush for me as I was just throwing things into my bag and flew out the door.

As I need to account for toll and all, I nicely went to get a ticket at the toll. As I was half, I started looking for my wallet and viola! I realised that I didn't bring my wallet! (rest assured, I parked at the side of the road while digging through my big bagpack) In a near state of panic, I started looking around if there's any cash in my car and even contemplated to driving into the toll's office to check with them what I can do. Whilst thinking still, I saw my COIN BAG! Happily I started digging through it. Mind you, that bag contains mainly one cents and five cents.

As I was digging, I managed to find the following:
two 10 cents coins
thirteen 5 cents coins
that totals up to 85 cents

I'm sure you've guessed what I did.. i gave the rest of 15 cents in 1 cent coins!

The lady at the toll was practically showing me black face and probably cursing me already. I was kinda embarrassed by it as well and had no choice still. That is all I can do :P

It was quite a funny incident that really woke me up.

Anyhow, I'm thankful for my kind GM that lent me RM50 for my usage for today.