Interesting Bites

Yes - I’ve gone missing for about a week now.  I stayed at the Pyramid Suites for the last 5 days because of my on-going event at the Sunway Convention Centre.  And I can tell you that it felt like prison!  The place is fantastic, no doubt about that but I did not even step out of the place for the last 6 days!  Can you imagine that?  I practically did not see the sun at all - waking up at 6am daily and only returning home after 9pm or at times as late as 2am.

Anyway, I took a few pics of the lovely Pyramid Suite that I lived in (alone!).  This place cost RM400++ per night and the view from the 19th floor is fantastic, really.  I got a corner unit, so it came with a cool balcony and everything I needed.

The Kitchen - it came equipped with everything you need to cook - from pots and pans to knifes, toaster, rice cooker, a variety of wine glasses (not that i know how to differentiate them) - name it you have it.

This couch is so lovely because beside it is the floor to ceiling window that looks out to KL view.  I’d not use it to watch tv because the bed seems more comfy to lie down at.  Hahaha..

The bed - I know, its super messy.  I just finished watching some movie, and like I said.. I watched it lying down.  Just so very me. 

The washroom.  Its super huge, and it had the toilet bowl at the other corner (not in the pic).

Bird eye view of everything in a combination.  There is a dining table on the left, and beside it is a door to the balcony.

Oh yes, and there was a group of Hong Kong celebrities when we stayed there.  I kept on bumping into them - going to meet up with my colleagues, returning to room, walking around… and I think they would also think that I’m following them!  I’m not, coz I don’t know any of them except Eric Tsang.  I’m not a fan anyway.

P/S :  Hubby took some amazing shots of the Pyramid Hotel at his blog.  Taken with a Sony DSLR, it looks much better than mine above

The weather has been bad.. raining close to the evenings, causing massive traffic congestion even as late as 8PM. I usually leave office between 7:30PM to 8:00PM as the traffic will usually slow down after the peak hours. However, for these few days, traffic has been surprisingly heavy.

The LDP today (nearing Damansara Perdana) was also congested, then when only to realise that a brand new Perodua Myvi, with registration plate WRV, stalled right in the middle of the highway. It caused curious drivers to slow down and see what happened. It seemed like an accident, but when I got nearer then I notice that its the only car with flickering lights with the driver inside. Such a new car and stalled? Hmmm…

The tol is ok, with about 5 cars ahead of me in the TouchNGo lane. Sigh, I have to remind myself to buy the SmartTag. I’m getting impatient waiting at the lines at times. If they have a FlyTag that allows me to fly pass, I will get one. Hahaha.. I think as I grow older, I get more impatient at queues. Nevertheless, no matter how impatient I am, I never cut queue - its just against my principles. I see a lot of people cut queue in the mornings, but I never ever do that. Its just in me.

Caught a glimpse of the super cute SmartForTwo today also. Damn… I’m so in love with the car. But at the price tag of RM90K++, I’d put the money into some capital appreciating asset. However, if someone is going to give me the car as a gift, I will not say no… hahaha… (I can carry on dreaming about it!)

Tired day… sleepy and just want to hit the lumber… zzzzzz

I’ve had this personal blog for some time now. It started off with purchasing a domain name (which I can’t even recall the real reason behind it) and then it spinned off with creating several other subdomains for blogs and other stuff. There is a lot of nonsense in it - from my thoughts, to my spur moments, my feelings and my wishes… all but my professional expertise and skills!

So, that’s why I am considering to start a professional blog. This blog will cover all my experience, skills and expertise on marketing, internet technologies, blogging, online expertise. I’ll use it as a platform for me to showcase my skills, and an opportunity for me to gather interested parties who might want to use my skills for a fee. I have some ideas in mind, and will probably make use of one of the domain names that I have, or probably use a totally different name or a subdomain…. hmm.. I’ve yet to decide.

There is a lot to cover in my professional blog - and these include ideas which I have that could never materialise in my current career, because of different market segment, approach and non-suitability to the product. On top of that, I also like to talk about digital media, which today is so hot but a lot of times not used effectively to reap the effects that it could bring. On top of it all, not many organizations in Malaysia utilize the blog as an effective marketing tool.. I’m not sure why.. but a corporate blog (even better if its written by the CEO!) is one of the best marketing tool for an organization. I want to talk all about this - things that I could never express in my current job.

Come to think of it, my job is really getting boring and becoming a drag - because when I talk about all these cool things that could be done out there, I just know one thing - it will not be accepted in my organization, and I will be asked to focus on other things. I’ll be patient for now, and someday someone will realise my potential to let me shine at areas that I’m truly passionate about.

Hubby and myself went to the post office today to renew the car insurance and road tax, only to be told that we cannot do so on Saturdays. And best part of it all, we waited over 30 minutes to be told so. Why can’t they just put a signage to explain the services that they offer for which days & time? That’s so very Malaysian of Pos Malaysia, really… an easy thing made difficult.

I went home very dissapointed but I went online, and found that I could just renew my car insurance and road tax online. Yes - all at my home. No need to step out of my home, no need to park the car and no need to wait 30 minutes and to be asked to go home. Where? Its all at www.myeg.com.my You can choose which insurance company you want to renew with, and where you want to send it to be sent to. Best of it all, the fuel rebate can also be claimed via this channel. All you need to do is to include your Bank Account information and they will bank it in. So, renew your car insurance, renew your road tax and claim your fuel rebate (at RM600++ for each individual car) all in 10 minutes via this service. No need to go line up at the post office!

I just renewed my car insurance as well, as I bought my car last year on 31 October. I did it via the company that I initially bought my car for. But from next year onwards, I’m going to get it done online.

Its been a real roller coaster in office - major ups and downs. I tell myself that I must not give up so easily and try to put up with it all despite my superior being very unreasonable.

I used to be very vulnerable, going into sobs quietly in the toilet whenever I cannot take the pressure and high expectations that my superior has on me. Now that I am a senior manager and having matured tremendously in the last 6 months, I no longer go into sobs whenever I feel stressed or pressured. Instead, I try to focus on the job on hand and ignore all emotion feelings until it goes away. Nevertheless, I also am no longer the “yes” person I used to be. For that reason, my superior whom I’ve worked with for the past 1 1/2 years is no longer satisfied with me.

Though he doesn’t say it in my face, I can sense and feel it. He used to be very friendly and nice, but nowadays he’s cold and unfriendly towards me. Even a simple thing, he will ask very rudely. I don’t see a reason why I should be a “yes” person especially when I have my own opinions and thoughts. Having grown into a senior position, I have a responsibility to ensure that things goes well in my department, therefore I am always on the lookout on issues and problems. He doesn’t really like it, probably felt threatened by the speed that I’ve grown and the possibility of me taking over his portfolio? I’ve once thought of telling this to the boss , which is also the owner of the company, but I held back. These days, he tries to get back at me whenever he can. He also never bothers to answer my MSN messages when I ask him questions. Well, I am ok with that. If he choose to not be able to separate between work and personal feelings, its purely his problem and not mine.

Putting up with all these nonsense and making sure that I excel despite all odds means just one thing. I think I am really ready to advance further in my career. I’ll stay on for as long as I can, learn how to get along with difficult superior and handle tough situations. I get very mad at times, but I think I still can take it. I try not to get emotional about it, and think of it as work and I’ll be ok. And while I’m at that, I will also try my level best to motivate the 3 staff I have under me to ignore the negatives and focus on getting the job done well. I pray and hope all will go smoothly.

It has been a superbly busy week for me - rushing to get all my event preparation up - and its more taxing that anyone could imagine. First thing first, there are 7 foreign speakers that I have to liase with to make sure that their flight arrangements, accomodation, slides are prepared prior to the day, which is less than 1 month from now. And with everyone still so relaxed, I am getting very worried. Called for an emergency meeting, but seemed like other than voicing out my concerns, everything else is still status quo. I am trying my level best to get all the event preps up.

At the same time, I have a new staff to manage the APAC support. Boss still wants me to manage most of the work, even with a new staff. Sigh. I try to get him to do the letter writing (with samples given) and reporting - but boss maintains that its me to do it. I can’t agree with him, and got into very nasty squabble. Delegating the task to him helps me to concentrate on the other important task I have in hand, and that’s the purpose of employing him anyway. Sigh.

For the other company which the my very capable marketing exec is managing, boss is complaining that we are redoing a lot of things. After a relook, then I understand that she’s a bit lost because of the tons of work that she has. I have to try to help her realign her priorities.

As for the graphic designer, he is also very taxed with endless request to get artworks done, and also the updates to the website (after our web developer left in just 3 weeks of work!). There is just too many ad-hoc things that he needs to do, that naturally slows down his work.

We are all working at maximum capacity and someday, one of us is just going to break loose and give up. As the manager of the department, I’m worried and at the same time, I’m also in the same boat as they are. Taxed with work that never seem to end and trying my best to be prepared for whatever is ahead of us. I know that work is never ending, but if we can’t even sit down to plan our timing properly, then failing plan equals planning to fail.

I just hope boss understands that we need to stick to our planning as much as possible. 90% of ad-hoc work stresses everyone, creates unnecessary pressure & disruption and increases mistakes and blunders. I can see all these because I’m on the ground with my team to get the work done - but will the boss see all these?