Friday, December 05, 2008

Last Saturday, I left for KL together with Abby, Ben and Kang Wei. The initial flight was supposed to be to Bangkok and stay at Bai Yoke Hotel, Bangkok's tallest hotel. However due to the political unrest there, all flights to Bangkok was cancelled and we had to change our plans to KL instead. The bummer part was that AirAsia has a policy in which they do not refund money but creditted the amount into an account instead. It's an unreasonable policy given that it was an unforeseen circumstance and that our flight was scheduled only a couple of days away. As a result, we had to top up another $138 for our flight. Super frustrating!

The time spent at KL was relaxing though and it was time away from work and from reality. Our hotel was Dorsett Hotel and beside ours was Ritz Carlton, and at the back, it was Mariott Hotel. We did our shopping at Pavilion, Lot 10 and BP which was located near our hotel. Other than these places, we visited KLCC, Twin Towers, KL Tower and one other place which I have forgotten the name of the centre. Unfortunately, we didn't carry enough money to eat at the revolving restuarant but Secret Recipe and Ichiban there are really to die for. No kidding. It is so much cheaper than Singapore. Though I didn't do much shopping, I guess I'm quite satisified with what I bought back. One point to note though. The train travelling within KL was a total waste of time. We had to wait for 20-30 minutes for one to come which was totally packed and one broke down along the way.

And now, it's back to the real world and to work. Before I left for KL, I was frustrated, pissed and angry that left me in a daze even when I was heading home in the train. It was the first time after so long that I felt ever so angry. Since I came back, work has been a drag and I'm having no mood to work. The feeling of lostness is also starting to appear all over again.

Sigh. I'm so looking forward to Christmas! A time of love, joy and peace. :D

Dre@my JeSs Life Written @ 1:41 PM

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Lost. Confused. Demoralized. Words describing how I feel at work.

The MarComm colleague is about to leave in 2 days time and reality seems to be sinking in deeper and deeper. Not so much about her not being around, but the handover of portfolio and workload. For the first time I've got to admit, I'm not in the mood to work.

The increased workload, challenges, deadlines, intensity, strain on my brain and stress . Not that I'm complaining because I sort of like being busy. But somehow this week, it just feel different and I guess it's because I'm starting to be in the "real world".

Initially when I was notified that I will be taking over the portfolio, I was half-surprised because I know that I'm not qualified nor experience enough. I wanted to ask why but decided not to. On the other hand, I was looking forward to the work challenges that lie ahead and I thought to myself, I can do it! But now, I am doubting myself. I am doubting myself whether I have the capabilities to handle all these. I feel inadequate. I feel lost. I don't have the confidence anymore. I feel scared!!!

When I first started out in this company, I told myself to give my best, add value and prove myself. At the same time, to be myself and treat the people (colleagues) around me as I would treat my friends. And looking back, I believe I have accomplished all!

But then, why do I feel that I'm not being appreciated? Why don't I feel valued? Why do I feel that everything I do is not worthwhile anymore? I don't like this feeling and it is making me feel confuse and miserable. Workload is getting heavier, stress is increasing and I'm feeling more dejected. No matter how much work I put in, it doesn't make a difference. There's no balance. Salary, title and respect just do not tally.

Now that MSN has been banned from use at work, I feel even more disheartened. At times when I feel the stress (or sad), I would be able to release some of it by chatting with my friends but that has not and definitely not affect my productivity. Work still gets done. Now it's a whole new different story. One thing though, I am really thankful for my colleague, Jacqueline, who brings cheer and laughter everyday. Thanks Jacq! You rock! :)

It did occurred to me to quit since my contract has not been renewed and it ends this year. But it is not until now that I should look into this option. A friend has told me to quit and said that I'm still young and have a long way to go. Probably I should consider full-time studies instead of part-time. In that way, it will be less stressful and tedious for me as well.

However being a down-to-earth person, I know that it is not the right time to quit as we are entering a recession period. I don't want to trouble and burden my parents with my expenses because I still have two brothers who are in Secondary school. It's time for me to grow up, be sensible and take responsibility. And I guess it is a plus that the corporate culture in this current company is nice and I get to learn, grow and be challenged. But I know that actually the true reason for my staying is because my boss is pregnant. I don't want her to get stress up or overwork for that matters.

I guess I will just have to press on, endure and see how it goes. Still, I am thankful to God for this job, my boss and colleagues. :)

Dre@my JeSs Life Written @ 10:12 PM

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Today was a frenzy and funny Friday and one which I don't think I will forget. :) It all started when I received a call from my BD colleague...

Together with my boss, they had a meeting at 2pm after which, boss would return back to the office while my BD colleague head to another meeting at 4.30pm. When my BD colleague called around 5 plus pm looking for our boss, I told her that boss wasn't in and that I thought that boss could have gone home as it was rather late already. And that's when I found out that a taxi was booked to send my boss back to Shaw Centre. When we checked with the taxi company, it was confirmed and affirmed that the taxi driver had indeed send her back at 4.30pm.

That's the point where everything started. Both my BD colleagues and I got worried and we started calling and SMS-ing our boss, hoping that she would reply soon. Between 5 plus to around 6.15pm, my BD colleague called about three times to check if boss was back and she wasn't. This made me even more worried. As there were things that had to be packed due to the renovation being carried out over the weekends, my BD colleague was on her way back to the office. Everyone in the office left by the time she came back, leaving my big boss, her and me (excluding the people doing the reno). By this time, both my BD colleague and I were really really worried. Why?

1. It was unlike our boss to not contact anyone of us should she be away during office hour.
2. Her laptop was still on and she always keep her laptop before she leaves.
3. We have not heard from her for the past hour and she is pregnant with the fact that she can actually give birth anytime soon! (Even if she wasn't pregnant, it would be less worrying but still worried.)
4. We care and are concerned about her safety.

Hence, we decided to wait for our big boss to come back and see if she has our boss's hubby number. While waiting, I decided to keep boss's laptop and clear her desk. Finally arpund 6.30pm, big boss appeared and my BD colleague told her what has happened. Initially big boss didn't appear worried and even commented that she was pregnant before. But as we shared on stating that it was so unlike our boss, she started getting concerned. As she also didn't have the hubby's number, she contacted two of our colleagues who are currently overseas for the number. She got the number and contacted my boss's hubby who started freaking out too!

That's not all. The three of us (big boss, BD colleague and me) then went to big boss's room to start calling the hospitals to see if any pregnant woman had been admitted for the past three hours. By then, it was past 7pm already. Even more worried! So we called 995 first, followed by Gleneagles and Mount Elizabeth hospitals. We also double checked with the taxi company and even requested to speak with the taxi driver. As I was about to call KK Hospital, big boss received a call and the first word I heard was my boss name!!!

It was such a relieved to hear that she was fine and the moment we came out of the room, my boss had walked to the front of the room. I wanted to like hug my boss but didn't. Hee. Anyway, she was shocked because she received 19 calls in total with don't know how many SMSes. The whole thing then seemed super funny that we all started laughing. I was like SMS-ing the good news to those who knew about it and laughing at the same time. Even on the way back in the train, I was laughing to myself. Hahahahahaha :p I wonder how she is going to explain to her hubby and especially to the two colleagues overseas.

But seriously, thank God my boss is safe and sound! :) One thing I realised is that we don't have each other "emergency contact" in case of unforeseen circumstances. Probably we should especially from my boss as she is pregnant. Heh :)

I have some other things I want to talk about but I shall end off here for now. Nitez!

Lord, thank you for watching over my boss and keeping her safe and sound. Thank you for the good laughter we had to start off the weekend on a happy note. Thank you for the realisations I have made yesterday and today. I pray for your blessings to be on each S&M team member and watch over them and keep them safe from any harm. Be with them Lord. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.

Dre@my JeSs Life Written @ 1:43 AM

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Okay...I realise that I have updated my blog for a super duper long time. I wanted to change my skin before uploading a new post, but have not been able to find the time to do it. So I shall just update.

It's coming to the 4th quarter of the year already which means I have already worked for 6 months. Working life is really different from school life. My eyes and ears have been opened to new insights and experiences. Although I start work at 9am, I will reach office hopefully by 8.30am. It's something I sort of like because the office is quiet and peaceful.

Working for this long has affected some of my decisions I thought I have decided upon. Things like furthering my studies. I know I want to get a Degree (you can't survive without one in Singapore) but whether full-time or part-time, I am now in a state of confusion. Also, I don't know whether I want to stay on in my current company. I like the corporate culture here, my colleagues are nice and I get to listen to music and msn. That's quite a huge deal to be honest.

With all these positive factors, you must wonder why I want to change job. Firstly, I feel that I'm not given the recognition. My current designation is "Marketing Communications Administrator", but I am supporting both the Marketing Communications and Corporate Communications side of things, and given projects to do. Here's the dilemma, when my friends ask me what I do or what my position is, I am lost for words. Sometimes I am just tempted to say, "Like what my designation states, I am doing administrative duties." This is true because that's how I am feeling. So stop telling me, "No la!"

Secondly, it is the pay. I thought when my contract was extended to the end of this year, I would get an increment. It didn't happen. I feel underpaid while my friends are earning $2K. Everytime when I hear people say about pay, I feel sad inside. Thirdly, I have become more introvert at work, which I am not. Sigh..school has its own headaches and so does work.

Currently, I have not decided whether to stay on but I'm looking at evening/weekend job to earn extra income and substaniate my salary. It's going to be tough but I hope I will be able to cope.

Oh well..I shall stop here. I am feeling unhappy already.

Dre@my JeSs Life Written @ 1:11 PM

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Ok..I have not updated my blog for a super long while.

This time my Christmas was spent overseas with my mum as we visited different parts of Europe for 12 days before returning back to sunny wet Singapore. It was freezing cold there and the lowest temperature it hit was -10 degrees celsius. Brrr..cold! The trip was more of sightseeing than anything else and besides, it was too cold (esp.when the wind blows) to do anything. But as usual, I bought clothes, a Swatch watch in Switzerland and boxes and boxes of chocolates from Switzerland and Belgium. Too bad I'm not working if not, I have bought Louis Vuitton and Gucci stuff when I was in Paris. LV stuff there is at least $500 cheaper than the ones sold in Singapore. Ahhhh...probably next time when I have worked for a while.

Some of the highlights are as follows:
1. The cost of beer and wine there are cheaper than water and food was salty, super salty. Sausages there are good though.
2. Places I visited include Wind Mill, Cheese & Clog Factory, Cuckoo Clock Workshop, Summer Palace, Eiffel Tower, Mozart's Museum, Diamond shops and many more.
3. I had 3 different types of fondue for one of my dinners: Cheese, Meat and Chocolate Fondues Which was the best? Chocolate because the cheese one had wine taste and steamboat is much better than meat fondue.
4. I had blackforest cake at BlackForest which had wine in it and tasted Ice Wine for the first time and it was sweet but good. A must try!
5. Houses in Switzerland has 22 windows or more. If I am a maid there, I will die of exhaustion due to work.
6. I boarded the world's only revolving cable car and did tubing on one of the mountains in Switzerland. The view at the top was breathe-taking.
7. The waffles in Belgium is a must try! I had mine with chocolate syrup and strawberries. Yum!
8. A visit to the red light district in Holland was erm..interesting. They had girls in bikini posing at the window and there was one which was a transexual.
9. Consumption of marijuna is legal in Holland.
10. I twisted my ankle on the day before I had to take the flight back to Singapore.

Yes! I twisted my ankle when I alighted the bus at night and missed a step on the ground. Initially the pain was bearable and as I landed back in Singapore, it felt alright and I thought it was just a usual sprain. Being me, I went home, put my stuff down, rested for a while before going down for META camp at Faith Methodist Church.

The camp was different than the ones I attended for the past two years. This time round, it was day camp. The speaker was Dave Park and he was a really good speaker plus a really good imitator. His imitation of people was so accurate and...real. As for the workshop I attended, it was 'Reaching Out to A Changing World'. It was on the use of Internet and films to reach out to people of this generation.

For this camp, my group consisted of Joelle (CGL), Jeremy aka Jem (ACGL), Dyna, Klement, John, JiaLiang, Eric and myself. I was the only year 3 in the group but not the oldest. Opps. Haha :P. This time round, I felt that the CG time was different and better than last year's. The sharings we had really taught me a lot and it was an enjoyable time. (Joelle and Jem: If you are reading this, thanks for being the CGL and ACGL respectively. You two did a great job! :) )

Now, my ankle did not hurt until the following day. It started swelling and the pain was so bad that I teared. Every step was a torture but thankfully, I had Klement and Irene to send me home. Thank you so much!!!! :) My parents bought me to A & E and I had to be on crutches to help me move about. As a result, I was given medical leave for the whole week and the medication caused me to be drowsy and tired. But even with the medical leave, I had to return to school twice to submit reports. My ex-tutors saw me and they asked the same thing, "What happened to my leg? Went chasing after guys is it?" Dotz. ^_^"

Anyway, I attended life meeting on Wednesday evening and I-Ching came down to talk to us on worldviews. It was an eye-opener and I remembered one thing, "To deny something, you are in fact affirming that thing". How true!

Okie..shall end off here. I will post photos of my trip when I have the time. See ya! :)

Dre@my JeSs Life Written @ 12:43 AM

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Ahhh...I realised that I have not updated for a super duper long time. It has either been I have no mood to blog or I have been busy with my SIP.

Currently, I am doing my internship with Adecco under Sales and Marketing. Adecco is a world leader in HR solutions with the largest branch network in Singapore. It is a Global Fortune 500 company with 6,700 branches in 70 countries and territories. In Singapore itself, Adecco has 15 branches/specialty divisions. The reason I could remember this was because of the latest career fair by JobsCentral at Suntec City. Thankfully I had the basic information provided from the briefing notes memorized, if not I would not be able to answer the attendees' questions.

The career fair was an interesting experience to me as it was my first time. I had to attend to the people approaching our booth and ask if they would require assistance in anyway. During the career fair, I attended to different kinds of people and I realised that there would indeed be freebie hunters. Our main attraction was our bubble pens which I liked a lot as well. Haha. O yeah...neither of Adecco's competitors were present at the fair. I was looking for Kelly Services during my free time but could not find them.

The highlight for this week was the staff night, A Grand Affair, which took place yesterday at Chijmes Upper Club. Initially, I was not going as interns were not allowed to attend and in addition, the invitation would have to be extended to the other interns (about twenty of them) from both Temasek and Nanyang Polytechnic should I be going. However in the end, my supervisor, Glennis, told me I was cordially invited to the event as I was in the organising team and besides, she wanted to see me in action during the event itself.

Besides working on the e-invite, poster, food and lucky draw for the staff night, I spent an entire week working on a video which is a montage of Adecco's past events. The video turned out to be a huge success as everyone was so engrossed by it that they stopped eating and there was also requests from the staff for a copy of the video. Now because of the video, I am known as IT savvy but I know I am not as I just like to fiddle around with new things. I was also invited to attend a meeting with the vendors together with Glennis and Jay, Sales and Marketing colleague, at Upper Club. It was really interesting to see how details were communicated between the various parties. Apart from that meeting, I got to attend Sales and Marketing meeting every Monday and although the past two meetings lasted after 6 p.m., I have no regret but instead, I am thankful for the opportunity. Anyway, I have stayed back in the office way past 6 p.m. for a few times already and I have no complains about it. There were times in which I was given a lift back home by Glennis.

For the event, a photographer was hired as well and the photos were those kind that were instant and customised. I got a few shots taken with my colleagues as well. :) I looked rather different as I had make-up on which was done by my colleagues. As the dance floor was opened for dancing, the night extended past our initial closing time and I got roped on to the dance floor several times. It felt awkward and out of place for me as I did not know anyone other then the people from Orchard branch and Mangement Office. Also, I do not really know them as well as the others. Overall, the staff night was a success and everyone enjoyed themselves, including myself. I did not know Adecco's staff were super fun, wild and crazy. Haha.

Before I forget, I had to show our regional manager the video which she was afraid that it could not be played during the staff night as there was no internet access. At first, it was Glennis who told me about it and I tried to figure out a way for it to be played offline. After a way was found, I told her about it and she asked me to tell our regional manager about it. I was super hestitant and told her that I am afraid of telling our regional manager. If I am still a bit afraid of her, what more towards the regional manager?

Looking back, I thank God for placing me in Adecco for my SIP. The corporate culture in Adecco is nice and my colleagues are really nice people. I am also thankful to Glennis for all the opportunities she has given me to enhance my learning experience during my internship with them Adecco and I did learned a lot from her as well. O...and she was from Temasek Poly too. For the JobsCentral Career Fair and the staff night, I was the only intern taking part in both events and I am really grateful and glad to be part of both. There is nothing like hand-ons experiences to enhance one's learning journey and experiences.

Okie..That's all for now. My body feels hot and itchy after the event. Could it be allergy to the wine? Hmmm...

Dre@my JeSs Life Written @ 12:31 AM

Monday, September 10, 2007

One week of holidays just passed by like an aeroplane and I will be starting my SIP soon in a couple of days time. I have been posted to Adecco which I found out is a HR company and a competitor of Kelly Services. This is definitely not what I had selected as my interest for SIP and I don't care if I was highly recommended for this attachment or not. I just want what I had initially stated my interest in. I did some research and found out that there is an "Events and Exhibitions Division" at Shaw Centre where my orientation will be conducted. Hopefully (fingers cross) I will be placed into that division.

Apart from that, this week was super duper fun. I had class chalet from Monday to Wednesday and the turnout was quite good though I was hoping that the whole class could be there. The first night my class had a BBQ and there was a lot of food left over. And after the BBQ for those who stayed over, we had some pretty wacky and crazy games. It was fun as everyone was spontaneous and sporting. We played games such as "Handiplus" and "Big Fish Small Fish". After that, we decided to relax and played "True or Dare" but this time round, we only played the "True" part. It was an interesting and eye-opening time. However, I did not followed them for breakfast as I suddenly developed a swollen eye which subsided the following night. It was most probably due to the medicine I took for my migraine.

On Tuesday, I decided to give Theme Park a miss and rejoined them at night for dinner at Sakura. The theme for the dinner was "Black and White". However, my white bottom got dirtied along the way and I had to change into something else. Sad. I felt so weird. And I learned how to pronouce the word "Oteh" the right way. Haha. It was amusing after that as they used it in a game. After dinner, we went back to the chalet to rest for a while and catch the 9am chinese show and CSI before we drove to Cinneleisure for a time of KBox. At first, everyone was awake, jumping and singing but gradually, one by one got tired and we left after 3 hours. After packing up, we headed for MacDonalds to have breakfast before we went home.

After the chalet, I went home to sleep for about 4 hours before meeting up with Abby and JiaLiang to watch "HairSpray" at CS. When we went there, I was shocked to see so many kids outside waiting to watch "Ratatouille". Anyway, the show was good for someone like me who likes musical and I found out that my neighbour was sitting behind me. What a concidence. Then at night, I met up with Grace, Ben, Eric, Wen How, Jeremy and Chun Yong at Cathay to catch "Ratatouille". Yup. That is two movies in one day. The only seats left were the first row which we took but definitely worth it. It was really a hilarious show with an interesting story line. For those who are out there still deciding whether to watch this show, go and catch it. It is worth your money. And lastly, it was Mind Cafe with my small group on Friday and we had a ball of fun. Haha. :)

Up to date, I have caught a total of 3 movies within 2 weeks. The other show I have caught was "Evan Almighty" after my final paper last Friday together with Daphne, Mel, Hamizah and Abi. O yeah..I finally had the time to watch "Brave Heart". The show was a mix of love, betrayal and passion. It was gruesome but at the same time, touching.

Okie..that's all for now. Ciao.

Dre@my JeSs Life Written @ 2:05 AM