.: Work Performance :.

.: (Do) You Wanna Make A Memory? :.

Mention Jon Bon Jovi, and one would think rock-and-roll. Living On A Prayer. It's My Life. Wanted Dead or Alive.

I love those songs. I am a big fan!

But there is something about the softer, less popular song of his that I enjoy even more. I'm All About Loving You. Thank You For Loving Me. 

Rekindled my love for his song recently, esp this You Want To (Make A Memory). There is just something about this song.

I plugged in my earphones and was tuned up my (mute) volume and played my Spotify, when my colleague next to me looked and me and laughed, and said "You're earphones are not plugged in properly!" 

Which means, here I was happily sitting with my earphones plugged into my ear and she and prolly those within close proximity as we are sitting in open cubicle area have heard You Want To (Make A Memory) blast from my speakers, while I am wondering why is the music not already playing. Gosh. I was (and still am) mortified.

"County-ish love song?" she asked, still laughing

"Jon Bon Jovi" I replied. "Oh, just kill me now, I am beyond mortified."

It was a good laugh, but I am still slightly embarrassed.

Hello again, it's you and me

Kinda always like it used to be

Sippin' wine, killing time

Trying to solve life's mysteries

How's your life, it's been a while?

God it's good to see you smile

I see you reaching for your keys

Looking for a reason not to leave

If you don't know if you should stay

If you don't say what's on your mind

Baby just breathe

There's nowhere else tonight we should be

You wanna make a memory

I dug up this old photograph

Look at all that hair we had

It's bitter sweet to hear you laugh

Your phone is ringin' I don't wanna ask

If you go now I'll understand

If you stay, hey, I've gotta plan

You wanna make a memory?

You wanna steal a piece of time?

You can sing the melody to me

And I can write a couple lines

You wanna make a memory

If you don't know if you should stay

And you don't say what's on your mind

Baby just breathe

There's nowhere else tonight we should be (We should be)

(We should be)

You wanna make a memory?

You wanna steal a piece of time?

You can sing the melody to me

And I can write a couple lines

You wanna make a memory

You wanna make a memory

.: Financial Goals :.

Having financial goals scares me (ironically), not because it's relatively easier to achieve them - as compared to my fitness goals, but it's because of the ok-so-I've-made-it-what's-next moment.

I told myself that I was going to achieve a certain level of income (salary) before I hit the big 3-0, but with God's blessing, I achieved that goal when I was a few months short from turning 27. Then, I just don't know what I should push myself to achieve next.

I look at the consolidated net worth of The Husband and I, and sometimes I wonder if we push ourselves too much, or is it possible for us to achieve even more than that?

So, I guess, what I'm really about to say is that I am to commit to one financial goal for the time being, which is to achieve a million ringgit in net worth (all my assets, less out all my liabilities) - solo i.e. without the Husband's numbers. And because all goals should be SMART, the T being time-bound, I hope that achieve this state by 30. A million ringgit is no biggie - people half my age have already raked in millions and millions of dollars anyways. But it only translates to two years of me working hard and making the capital work hard for me as well.

Let's just see if it's even remotely possible.

.: Leadership :.

.: These Shoes Are Made For Walking :.

A colleague was trying to explain to me about oil well capacity. Knowing that I am new to this industry and know like next to nothing about oil wells, he tried to illustrate it using an example:

He typed this in our Microsoft Lync “It’s like a car engine.”

Before he could finish typing, I replied “Erm… I know nuts about car except that it gets me from point A to point B”

He replied “……”

And then continues to type “In that case, it’s like shoes….”

Now we’re talking the same language. Haha! :)

.: Overcoming Stage Fright :.

I must admit, I’m pretty proud of myself of this personal achievement.

From someone who gets anxiety having to do a presentation or public speaking or speech in front of a crowd, I must say, I have come a long way since.

I was “compulsorily volunteered” to take part in a singing and dancing competition ala American Idol style early December last year. The theme was “Movie Night” and after a couple of brainstorming sessions with the rest of the colleagues, we came out with a medley of Double Trouble (soundtrack of Harry Potter) and I Put A Spell On You (soundtrack of Hocus Pocus).

We had a professional choreographer who helped us with the dance moves, and after countless of after-working hours practices and back to work after that for me (bad timing, tight deadlines), we were off to perform. To sing and dance! On stage! In front of all my colleagues of Kuala Lumpur office! Competing against others (more experienced)!

We won second place. I was especially overjoyed, but even more that it was over (finally). I must admit, I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be. I was worried that I will be loomed with sleepless nights and butterflies in the stomach, but it wasn’t really that bad. So when it was over, I thought “phew, over and done with”.

Little did I know, just short of two months after, we had to do the same number again for the same competition but at Asean level. With last minute notice, our participant of 8 was cut to 4 people. We had 3 days to prepare and make necessary arrangements for costume and make-up. It was pretty stressful, so we decided to keep the same moves.

When it was all over and done with for the second time, we couldn’t believe it when they announced us as the 3rd place team, beating the 1st place contender.

The fun and the participating cash vouchers were great, but what’s even better for me was the fact that I have overcome my fear of performing on stage.

.: A Tour Of My Workplace :.

.: It Is But, Just A Number :.

.: Unplugged :.

Strange.

Strange indeed.

There was a time in my life where it was all about the music. I only could study with two conditions - ONE, it has to be past midnight and TWO, with the music on. One element without the other, I somehow find my absorption rates ineffective. Perhaps psychological.

Then, when I started working, I started to mellow down. Prolly due to the fact that I find it difficult if a colleague is talking to me while I have earplugs in both my ears. Also, I used to listen to my Ipod shuffle in the train to and from work, but I find it abit dangerous as I will be less aware of my surroundings. I tried to mitigate both concerns by using earplug on one side, and unplugged (pun intended) on the other side. But eventually, I gave up altogether.

Today, seeing that most of my colleagues are plugged on to the computer with earphones and what-not, I decided to try and see if it still works for me. But it's definitely perking my mood this morning listening to Christmas songs to get into the Christmas mood (no, it can never be too early!) :)

.: Singin' The Blues :.

Yesterday was feelin a lil bit down.

Was walking back to the carpark from a friendly archery tourney held at Berjaya Times Square organised by my dept.

The skies were grey, holding threat to rain anytime soon. It's been like that the past few days, an indication that we are heading in to a slightly earlier monsoon this year. As I walked alone, I feel miniscule droplets of water on my skin. I looked up, and the sky has indeed turned to a darker shade of grey, covering whatever lil sunrays we had just minutes ago. I contemplate increasing my leisure pace to my car, which is about another three minutes walk from where I was.

Nah, I said to myself. I rather enjoy my slow, leisure walk. And if it rains, so much the better.

I recalled a time when I was still in Form 5 (that was about a decade ago). The dad usually sends me to school, and I would walk back. That day, it was raining. Of course, I could have stayed in the canteen, have some fried wontan soaked in watered down chilly sauce which sells for RM1 for 3 huge pieces. Or I could stay in the library and catch up on some reading. But I thought to myself, I needed this.

So, the rationale part of me (thank goodness there was) made sure I took care of the books in my non waterproof bag. I left my text & work book at the desk of my favourite teacher (forget about the homework, I can always do it the next day; Somehow. Somewhat). And then I did it. I walked. Under the rain. It was liberating. It was exhilarating. It was just.so.ugh! As I walked, the rain soaked my uniform. My shoes & socks were filled with water from puddles that I walked on. As I wiped the mixture of rainwater and tears from my eyes, I felt so relieved. There's no need to put on that mask and just be who I really am inside.

I felt I needed that so much yesterday.

Unfortunately, like that to the promises made by politician, the promise of rain by the nimbostratus clouds didn't crystalise and I left that carpark still feelin the blues.

.: The Prelude Of My Adventures :.

So, what DID I do, now that I am a housewife? I went on a short impromptu trip to Phuket, I shopped (Malaysia Megasales *woots*), I spend quality time with my mother and my grandma, I went up on stage again in spite of my stage fright, I completed Project Masterpiece (finally!), I helped out the husband with Project Casa : Phase 2, I helped kickstart a project (secret at this stage) with some ICAEW students, and of course, what is a housewife if she doesn’t do a little bit of cooking & housework isn’t it? :)

Will detail my adventures in the next few post! :)

.: The End Of One Chapter :.

In case you guys have not already known, I have left my previous job of 5 years plus with the Group.

My facebook status of my employment was changed to “Full Time Housewife” on 4th July, marking my last day with the Group. It was purely coincidental that my last day falls on America’s Independence Day and we even joked that it marked me being “released” from the “clutches’ of the Group, but truth to be told, it was an emotional day for me. I have mentally prepared myself that I will feel sad on my last day of work, but I never knew that I’d feel this emotional to the point that I nearly broke into tears.

It has been, 5 wonderful years, and was definitely blessed with wonderful people & job scopes that were challenging so much so that my I have gained so much experience & exposure. As cliché as it may sound, it was really a tough decision to make, as there I was, with an almost close to perfect job; and I have to give that all up and take a chance with something else, starting out totally fresh & anew. But I remember my ex-boss/mentor quote me this years ago, to which I hold to “It is only by venturing out of one’s comfort zone in obedience that one can benefit most!” (paraphrased). And during my quiet time, He has made me feel at peace with this decision; hence, I know that it’s the correct decision to make.

“With a heavy heart, I will had say my goodbyes. Not to bosses, but to great mentors; not to colleagues, but to remarkable friends. It has been an amazing journey and wonderful experience for the past 5 years; but I am looking forward to the adventures that lies ahead” so quote my Facebook status.

Indeed, it’s goodbye to yesteryears, and hello to a new adventure ahead.

.: The First Step... Soon :.

If you are as hooked to Draw Something as I am, then here’s the story behind it.

Here's Charles. A month ago he was set to close his business. This week, he sold... it for $180 million. That's why he's smiling...

After six years trying to figure out how to make games on the iPhone, Charles Forman was about to give up, with his company, Omgpop, set to run out of money by this May. Things changes three days ago. He said in an interview with the New York Times on Monday “I had $1,700 in my bank account yesterday, and now I have a whole lot more.”

So what changed? After 35 attempts at making games that would be successful, the Omgpop team finally found a hit at the beginning of February. The game, called “Draw Something” is like Pictionary for the iPhone. Since it launched on Feb 6th, it has been downloaded 35 million times. It caught the attention of Zynga, the game company behind Farmville and other Facebook game hits. A month after the game launched, Zynga just bought Omgpop from Charles for $180 million.

Do you have the perseverance to try to create a success after 35 failures? Is it worth the six years of trying and failing to reach the runaway success? This is another example of hyper-growth that comes from getting your surf board back out there again and again.

Many have reposted this on my Facebook feed, a lot quoting on how Charles has been an inspiration for them to persevere; try harder and not giving up hope on hitting the proverbial jackpot.

But for me, when I read this post, I can’t help but feel a little bit disappointed at myself. In my whole 26 years (and counting) on planet Earth, I don’t think I have really taken any big risk, any big chances. I have not throw caution to the wind and say “heck this, I am gonna do it MY WAY”. Trust me, there are plenty of times where I would just like to walk away and take that chance, you know, to take the road less traveled and do something that nobody could imagine me doing. I sometimes feel that I am the cookie cutter variety and sometimes I just hate myself because of that.

I could have been the next Charles, the next Tony Fernandes, etc. But, sigh, I am just too big a coward to take that first step.

But again, I remember this quote that my great mentor once told me “It is only by venturing out of one’s comfort zone in obedience that one can benefit most!”

.: A Boss & A Friend :.

It’s been so long since I’ve penned my thoughts down. Been rather busy of late – with Project Spring & Project Masterpiece in the doing. Then at work, there’s also the departure of someone very dear to me.

For the past 2 ½ years, I have had the privilege of working with this lady boss. I have not really worked with her prior to me joining this company, but I did have some prior interactions (albeit very minimal) in a Group committee.

When I joined the present company that I’m currently working in, I didn’t know of her “reputation”. First impression during the Group committee meets, she seems like a very nice, jovial lady. So, when I was offered a chance to be placed in this company, I said “Why not!”

Brutal lady boss (Devil Wears Prada)

There is this side of her which reflects the true dragon lady nature (she is afterall born in the year of a Dragon). She is a no-nonsense person and is not a pushover (one of the more critical skills needed in a position such as hers). She can be quite harsh when things are not done properly, but her way of doing things are pretty reasonable, in my opinion (at least for most of it). Hence, if I were to have asked around about of people's opinion of her, I prolly would have said “thanks, but no thanks” to the offer. Hence, her "reputation". However after getting to know her, what I have observed is that she is a great coach. Although she is very efficient in the way she does her work, she is completely patience with me and guide me step by step in the first few months I joined. And because the industry that I am in is something new to me, she doesn’t bark when I ask her loads and loads of question even though she has piles of work waiting on her end waiting to be completed.

There are also times where she shares with me her thought process and underlying reasons behind decisions made (which is mirroring what her immediate boss practices) which is where I could learn further, even tho I have no hands on experience in handling those things. She indirectly teaches me the soft skills in dealing with people. When to be soft and when to put your foot down and be stern. This is where I learn a lot on managerial skills which I hope I could put to good use someday soon when I’m in that position.

What I like about her is that she works hard, doesn’t butter or suck up to her immediate boss in order to gain favor and she acknowledges and appreciate her subordinates work. Even if I stay back to do something that is within my job scope, she will say “thank you” for it. She also stands firm on what is the right thing to do, and doesn’t bend easily, even to those who are senior management of the company. It does help that her immediate boss is a person of great ethics as well, which is why I love to work with this team. She doesn’t push the blame for mistakes made, and I have seen a couple of time where she took responsibility of mistakes that wasn’t really made by her, which really makes her a good superior. And again, because her immediate boss is also not one who points finger to blame, but rather to find a solution, a reason why I find enjoyable working with this team. There is no such thing as zero politics in the office, but what I also like about it is that she tries not to get involved, take sides or start one.

At times, after office hours, she takes off her "boss" hat and puts on her "friend" hat. I suppose what I am going to miss now that she’s left is not only great boss but also a great friend. She shares her life with me as I do the same. And sometimes I feel that she is indeed like an older sister I never had. Her wisdom and experiences she shared in many things helps me make a lot of decisions in my own life. I suppose it’s also chemistry that we can click so well. And in fact, we share the same sense of humour (albeit a slightly lame one) which can make us have the same thoughts over an incident and laugh about it even without saying a word. I would definitely miss the time where we poke fun of our own stupidity and mistakes at work or personal stuff.

For her farewell, instead of getting her a card, I came out with the idea of getting her a mini scrapbook with spontaneous polariod photos of the colleagues of the company. I also took a pic of her desk (albeit a cleaned one, but it was messy the whole tenure she was here) and tagged on the things that used to be here & there. Hopefully, she will still have a good laugh flipping thru the scrapbook while sipping mojitos and sun-tanning in a beach in Melb. Or at least that’s what I visualize her to be doing!

Anyways, I do hope that she has all the fun being a housewife in the land down under….

She is indeed a great loss to the company and on a personal note, to me….

.: A Frillion? :.

Oh no, it isn't?
Looks like I may need to *coff*restate*coff* my earnings too!

Bah humbug, can't wait for my year end to end!

.: Day One of Year End :.

Murphy pulled a fast one on me.

My boss had a bad slip disk & is now instructed by the doctor to stay in bed for a long time.

Sigh.....

I need not say more.

.: My Eyes, My Photos, My Work :.

Both my eyes are red & teary again, I reckon it’s (another) infection i.e. conjunctivitis. Sigh, I have no eye deer why it happens so frequently!

Anyways, I was struggling to learn how to use an online photo album tool to create my own wedding album. The thing is, Tammie was suppose to help me over her holidays back in May, but somehow, things were dragged and before you know it, her semester started. Now, loaded with assignment & project deadlines, she passed the baton to me.

Now, if you known me a lil better, I have absolutely zero artistic sense. Yes, zero! Nada! Zilch! I phail-ed my arts back in primary and secondary school when it comes to practical weekly submission of artwork and my only saving grace was the theory bit of it.

So, there I was, struggling to use (quite simplified) photo book tool, while trying to squeeze whatever creative juices I have (if any) to arrange the pics in a 11” x 8.5” forty pager photo album which I got it for a discount btw! Only RM64 instead for a package valued at RM 256, that’s like a 75% off! Anyways, I reckon I will exceed the 40 minimum pages, but its ok, coz it’s like only a RM 3.20 per additional page, so I reckon that this is quite a deal! :)

I digress.

Anyways, I was frustrated and all stressed out over the whole thing last night, as I tried to arrange & play with the tools. I tried to look at some wedding photo albums for some ideas on how to arrange the pictures. I don’t want it to be too sparse that it’s a waste of page, but neither do I want to cram everything in rows of 3 or 4 looking like a production line of old fashion photo album. Sigh.

To make things even more frustrating, my year end peak is near *gasp*. I really can’t breathe because I am just so worried that something big explodes right before year end (don’t you just hate when the management just love to ‘cramp’ all those fancy smancy derivatives/instruments or mergers/demergers right before year end! Management, Y U NO wait until after year end? Yerrrrrrrrrrr………!). A few major transaction already took place, thank god the clock stop ticking midnight of June 30th (that's like two hours ago!)

Sigh, I don’t like to rant bout work, but I just need at outlet to release some frustration!

Anyways, that’s all bout my eyes, my photos & my work!

.: Two More Weekends Before... :.

Two more weekends before I head into the gallows called “Year End”

It is such a dreadful thought that I feel like throwing my resignation letter everytime I think about it.

*breaths in, breaths out*

Well, I’ve sinked myself too deep to get out now, so might as well suck it in and endure this for perhaps the last time?

*breaths in, breaths out*

.: We'll Be Alright (Really?) :.

OH.JUST.THROW.A.GRANADE.AT.ME!

Now that the finalized year end timelines is out, I am absolutely terrified with the tight deadlines that I am gonna face. Due to the fact that there was a big merger in one of my subs (but thank goodness that we can just do a provisional goodwill for the year end and then complete the purchase price allocation in the next financial year) , as well as a few corporate exercise along the way, plus the fact that we have more FRS 7 disclosures (FRS 7 is an extension of FRS 139 & FRS 132, if you really want to know), plus additional reports required from the local authority, I am practically at my neck. Dread the fact that I will highly likely skip Church Camp this year (coz I most likely have to camp in office during weekends as well). There goes my life for the next few months, until at least the after my AGM and finishing up my 1st quarter announcement reports somewhere in October.

I know, may be gibberish or Elvish to some, but I just wanna rant.

Sigh, I wish I don't have to work - so that I can have my lazy days just singin' my lazy song! JC, why oh why did I marry you instead of a billionaire?

.: You've Got Email! :.

Person A was suppose to email Person B who was suppose to fwd the email to Person C on certain set of instructions.

After much waiting, Person B, who recalled not receiving email from Person A, send a gentle reminder to the latter to do so. Person A replied that the email was sent earlier (and re-fwd the earlier sent email). After a quick check, Person B realized that not only has Person A sent it, but that it was also on-fwd to Person C already for further action. Upon sending a reminder to Person C on said set of instructions in the said email, Person C claims that such email was not received and asked to re-fwd it.

And worse of it all, Person D i.e. ME was CC-ed in this whole chain of email. Had a good laugh with Person B over the matter!

How blur we all can be when we are busy at work! :)

P/s: To make matters even worse, Person B’s & Person D’s BIG BOSS walked in when the end of the conversation took place, where both of them were laughing out loud uncontrollably. BIG BOSS must have thought that the two are too free!