Of wearing a different hat....

I have a confession to make....

I never really worked my ass off as hard as I've worked since last Monday till Wednesday.

For the past 5 years, I have been lucky where I didn't need to put in a 100% in order to accomplish a task. Even working under the Beast was not as challenging and demanding as my current task.

What happened was that my boss and I are currently working on a mega project for the company. This project is really huge that they had made us signed a confidentiality undertaking agreement that is governed by the OSA.

The highlight of the project was suppose to be this week, where the supplier of the equipment for the project is visiting us all the way from the European country. Due to the complexity of the project, we had been anticipating the suppliers' visit and had arranged for all our consultants to meet in order to address all our major concerns and any other grey areas that we had encountered after going through the legal agreement. Hence, we have been brainstorming and had organised our thoughts in order to ensure that the suppliers' visit will enable us to proceed to the next stage of the project.

However, I had received a very troubled sms at 3 a.m. on Tuesday morning from my boss (the project director) saying that her mom had been admitted to the ICU due to cardiac arrest. Tuesday was suppose to be the big meeting day. And she was suppose to chair the meeting!!

That particular sms was the starting point of a series of hectic couple of days for me. I went from being the project team member to the deputy project director in a split second. I had to actually handle my own task PLUS my boss's tasks concurrently. And I can tell you that it is definitely not fun when you are being pulled in every single direction all at the same time.

On the bright side, I had managed to brushed up on my communication skill, especially when they made me chaired the meeting, where I was the only female (not to mention the youngest) in a room of 14 gentlemen. I would have never dreamed to be able to chair a meeting (for a multi-million ringgit project) at this stage of my life. So, pardon me if I am actually feeling a wee bit proud of myself right now... hehehe...

The only time when I got a little bit worried was when I had to take the guests out for dinner and lunch the next day. Being the only representative from the company meant that I was going to have to pay for the meals. It's not that I can't swipe my card in order to pay for the meals. It's just that I don't think that my card can sustain the huge damage that it is going to cause to cover the dinner @ Wasabi, Mandarin Oriental for 8 pax and the lunch @ Tamarind Springs for 12 pax. Luckily, I had managed to convinced Uncle Singh to join us on behalf of my boss and he had paid for everything. If not, I would not be able to go on my Bandung/Jakarta shopping spree soon.

I really hope that my boss's mom will recover soon. I don't think I can handle the pressure, where everyone is actually asking me for the green light to proceed with to the next stage. I don't think that I am ready to make such HUGE decision on my own without her guidance.



Belated Gong Xi Fa Chai to all my Chinese friends out there!




binx: i don't wanna grow up!

To get any service, please press 1....

I was unable to make any banking transactions at the Tiger Bank since last November. Every time I go to the ATM to withdraw some cash, my transaction will be aborted half way with an error message that reads "This transaction is prohibited. Please call the customer service line 1-800-xxxx".

What the **** laa kan... It's not like I don't have any cash in the account. Luckily the account was not my main bank account.

When I had to transfer some cash to a friend last Thursday, I tried to log on to the bank's internet banking site. And guess what? The same error message had popped up!

This time it really gets to me because I had just deposited a large sum of money into the account earlier during the day. Why can't I log on to the website? *@&&%^$%!#@!$)*&%%%$@@!!!

I resorted to calling the customer service helpline in order to sort out the mess. However, my call was put on hold for 15 minutes...! Well, it could have been longer, but I just didn't have the patient to listen to their long winded tele-promo any longer. So I hung up.

The next day, I went back to the ATM machine to check the status of my card. It was still blocked! So I called the helpline again...

"Hi, welcome to Tiger Bank Customer Service Helpline" "Untuk Bahasa Melayu, sila tekan 1" "For English, please press 2"
Me: *2*

"Sorry, all our executives are busy, please hold" *que the CNY drum sound and the long tele-promo*
After 1 minute:
"Sorry, all our executives are still busy, they will attend to you shortly, please hold"
After 10 minutes:
"Sorry, all our executives are still busy, they will attend to you shortly, please hold"
After 20 minutes:
"Sorry, all our executives are still busy, they will attend to you shortly, please hold"

I hung up after 25 minutes....

Since I was so frustrated with the situation, I decided to try again.

"Hi, welcome to Tiger Bank Customer Service Helpline" "Untuk Bahasa Melayu, sila tekan 1" "For English, please press 2"
Me: *1*

After 1 second

"Hello Selamat Malam. Saya Aida sedia membantu"



*My boss told me that you will face a similar situation when calling most Government Agencies Helpline as well.


This is why I prefer to bank with the foreign banks!




binx: busy busy busy

Hot tea...

Besides being a coffee addict, I am also a tea lover (yeah... I know.. I contradict myself.. :) ).

I just love a hot cup of tea over a plate of crispy, yummy pisang goreng (banana fritters). Even a cup of teh o'panas with few pieces of creme crackers will turn me on. Very ummpphh.. i tell you...

Nowadays, I will always opt for hot cup of Tazo Passion Tea whenever we hang out at Starbucks after midnight. Coffee will only make me extra-hyper at nite, hence, it has been forbidden from my midnight menu.




Whenever I am sick, a hot cup of lemon tea will do the trick, especially when I have a sore throat. That was what I have been consuming over the past few days - hot lemon tea (I've been having the flu).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A scene during lunch @ The Loaf, Pavillion:

4 diners were busy chatting during a business lunch when the waiter approached their table with their drinks...

Waiter: Excuse me, apple juice?
Guy 1: Here (pointing to his side of the table)
Waiter: Watermelon?
Lady 1: Here!
Waiter: Iced Lemon Tea, cold?
Guy 2: Here...
Waiter: Iced Lemon Tea, hot?
Me: Ermmm... you mean hot lemon tea?
Waiter: No... Iced Lemon Tea, HOT...
Me: If it's iced, how can it be hot then?
Waiter: Uh... yeah... hehehe.. Sorry...
Waiter: So, Iced Lemon Tea, hot? you?
Me: *hits forehead* Yes... yes... ICED Lemon Tea, HOT here....

*Dr M needs to sent the workers for training lar.... hehehe...

That incident reminds me of the old lawaks...




binx: i hate being sick!

So whatelse is new?

1. I've finally bought myself a new PDA phone (after talking bout it for YEARS now) end of last year. Got my hands on the HTC Touch and I am loving it!!! I know how everyone is eying for the iPhone, but I really don't give a hoot bout it. And the purchase was just in time as now I am fully utilising it to manage my busy schedule.




2. One of my best friend had left for the States last week. It was really sad when we first heard the news that her husband had finally got his overseas assignment that he had always dreamed of coz that means that she'll be away for the next 3 to 5 years or so. Even though it's sad to see her go, I know that the distance won't matter. Plus, I made her promise to come back in time for the wedding, or else..... hehehe... (I miss ya, babe!)


3. We are moving house again! Yeah, AGAIN! This time, we have bought a house just 2 rows behind this house that we are currently renting. Finally we can take out the stuffs that we have stored for the past years out of the box. However, I foresee a lot of major remodeling to be done to the house before we can finally call it home.


4. I am currently into the digital scrapbooking craze. I stumbled upon it while I was figuring out the design for the Starbucks tumbler cover for Nai's farewell gift. And now I am hooked! You can get free scrapbook kits at ShabbyPrincess.com

(this may seem corny to you... but she loved it!)

5. Heath Ledger is dead!

So, what's new with you?




binx: back to packing!

Mari bermain teka-teki

J and H is getting hitched.

J's parents told J to get a house and start fresh with H. H's parents, on the other hand, wants J and H to stay with them, as it is considered as a 'family tradition'.

J wants to find a place close to J's parents' house, D. However, H wants to find a place close to H's parents' house, L.

They both work at the opposite end of the city. Currently, J and H both travels 15km to get to their workplace. If J were to move and stay at L, J will have to face the monstrous morning traffic to get to work. And if H were to move and stay at D, H will have to go through 3 tolls to get to work.



Help them solve this puzzle please......




binx: confuse.....

Bubbly goodie...

Colbie Caillat Lyrics

This song just makes you feel all bubbly inside... I like...




binx: now i can't stop singing... help!

2008 - the new beginning...

5 days have past and I haven't updated the blog... gosh!

- New year celebration

We celebrated new year at the park behind my house, where we watched the fireworks from One Utama, The Curve, KLCC and Dataran Merdeka over a tub of haagen dazs each (i like...). Nuthing fancy... Just perfect.


- New job

I'm back in my old turf as of the 2nd of Jan. It is going to be a challenging year for me as the new job is an entirely new playing field that demands an extensive knowledge of the industry. I really have a lot to catch up within the next few weeks, with all the mega projects going on at the same time. Just hope that I will have time to organize my personal life in the midst of all the hecticness.


- House hunting

We are currently looking for a place to call home. If you ask me, I will definitely prefer to stay close to my family. Plus, I just can't tear myself away from this area, where everything is just 5 minutes away. However, we have to compromise and try to find a place that will be somewhere in between our workplace. Susah nya la nak carik rumah... For one, properties are expensive nowadays! I can't imagine paying RM450,000 for a 2-storey terrace house. That's just too expensive. However, if nak murah, then we have to look for a house jauh-jauh. OH TIDAK!!!

Am planning to check out an apartment later in the afternoon. I fell in love with the place when I was browsing through iproperty.com.my. Hope that it will be 'THE' place so that we can stop house hunting for now and start to furnish the place bit by bit. Will update soon.


- Everything else

Wedding preparation is going on smoothly. So far, the only glitch was the 'D' factor. It is so hard to orgnize a wedding when your parents are divorced. You have to try and jaga hati semua orang so that no one will terasa. However, alhamdulillah the problem is settled (I hope!). Now it is time to concentrate on the bigger picture. The dress, the kain, the hantaran. I still have 6 months to plan it all out. Any advice?




binx: i wanna shop!! need $$$...