Home Delivery Service???

We were playing MJ over the weekend and normally when we play MJ, we will order dinner through home delivery so we dun have to waste time going out to eat and all that. So that’s what we did on Saturday. Since we always have the usual stuff like M*c, Pi&&a Hut and K%C, we decided to go for something different. Few days back we received a pamphlet through the mail from S@kae S^shi and thought we should give that a try. It’s food that we are familiar and enjoy. So why not? So we happily looked through the pamphlet and decided what to have. Then we dialed the hotline. After placing all the orders, the person on the other side informed that the order will arrive at 8.45pm. And guess what? It was only 6.30pm when we placed the order. Due to the ridiculously long waiting time, we decided to cancel the order and go for something else. So we ordered Pi&&a Hut.

The next say, Ah Beng and Ah Lian wanna play MJ. So we started yet another game of MJ. As usual, we wanted to place an order for home delivery for dinner. We decided to give S@kae S^shi another try. This time round, there was no ETA. We decided to ask pointblank how long the waiting time is. Lo and behold! They said the waiting time was 4 hours! 4 freaking hours!!!! What the hell takes them so long for ONE order? The night before it was 2 hours. And we still gave them the benefit of the doubt. We thought it could be due to the heavy traffic during dinner time.

On Sunday, we called in to place the order at 4.30pm. And we had to wait 4 hours! I simply could not believe this. But kudos to their service (pls sense my sarcasm). They offered us an alternative. And that is to place the order first and then go down and collect the food. What the heck is the meaning of ‘HOME DELIVERY’? Isn’t that obvious? To deliver to the home! And they are asking us to go down and collect???!!!!

Dun start something you cannot deliver. Why the hell do they wanna promote something that they cannot even do? Wouldn’t this spoil their image more? No need to talk about marketing strategy and the likes. This is bad marketing! Not only do they lose their credibility, they have made us lose whatever good feelings we have for their establishment. Now whenever we see S@kae S^shi, we will be reminded of these negative experiences we have with them.

I simply dun understand why they have to do this. Do they just wanna jump onto the bandwagon and join the trend of ‘Home Deliver’ without thinking of the procedures and consequences? Dun they have a concrete plan before they launch a new service? What kind of strategy is that?!

Oh well, we’ll just stay away from S@kae S^shi home delivery.

Disclaimer: The above is a true narration of my experience. No specific name(s) have been mentioned and I shall not be held responsible for any loss of business and/or income suffered by the establishment(s). Any resemblance of the name in whole or part thereof is purely based on your intelligence. The above does not constitute charges for libel or scandal.

I'm Royally Pissed

I was playing mahjong just now when chummy called and told me about her family gathering. I actually forgot about it till she called cos she was supposed to fish information about what's going on between her cousin and Gab. What she told me pissed me off big time!

Her cousin was rolling her eyes and looking disgusted whenever she mentions me. Which can only prove that he has been badmouthing me! That bastard! The nerve of his! After what he put me through, he is still doing me injustice. F&%king bastard! Every dog has its day. What comes around goes around. He'll get his just dessert.

Went to Paulaner (or what we affectionately call 'Paul's) last night with chummy and Ling. Chummy #1 joined us much later. Because of the fact that it's opposite the hotel, we go there quite often. Cos if we wanna venture out, it'll be pretty late when we reach other drinking joints cos we can't leave office early. But Paul's really need to do something about the singer. The new ones CANNOT MAKE IT! Their singing sucks and one of them likes to act cute all the time. Like machiam it's her personal concert. Gimme a break! Shan't name names cos it's not very nice but she really made me feel so disgusted last night. I was almost puking, not cos of the consumption of beer but cos of her! *faint*

Wala is much better. But it's far from the office and they dun serve Hoe from the tap anymore. What do we drink then?! Chummy says the bottled ones taste funny. Shall try it the next time we're there. Those we buy from supermarkets taste fine. So maybe it's just chummy being picky with her beer.

I wanna join her at Wala tonight but hubby dun let me out. But he's sleeping cos he’s taking part in the marathon tomorrow. So I have nothing to do and I can’t join chummy. Sigh. He didn’t allow me to drive there and when I say I’ll take a cab, he didn’t allow too cos it’s gonna be late. Oh well, can’t debate with him on the time. And I’m so bored now cos it’s a Saturday and I dun wanna turn in early. Weekends are precious! I’m trying all I can to prolong it.

Oh well, shall surf the net and see what’s up…. Cheerios!

And I Did It - 1st Attempt!

And this is the sequel to my fear.

When I woke up, I saw that the floor outside was wet and the weather looked gloomy. I was thinking what a ‘good’ sign this was for my driving test. The previous night I was already jittery. Ad when I woke up to scenarios as such, all the more worry and fear started to set in and I was really a nervous wreck.

We arrived early at the driving centre, which was good. That allowed me time to calm my nerves and steady myself. So I went to register myself for the test and not long after, an instructor called my name and we went for the warm-up session. Everything went well and that sort of restored my confidence. I finally calmed down some. The only area I needed to improve was to do my safety checks earlier. Other than that, I was ready for my test.

Thereafter I went for the test briefing. During the balloting, my name was the first to be called. Another ‘good’ sign. When I saw that my test route was Route 6 (for those who know, Route 6 is Teck Whye’s famous slope), I was feeling damned. I’ve been assigned one of the two routes that were the worst! I always told my instructors that if I got either of these 2 routes, I will most probably fail my test. And there you have it, all the ‘signs’ were bad. I was feeling this bad omen. Then I took a closer look and realised that it was actually Route 2, which was the exact same route that the instructor took me for our warm-up round. I felt instantly better. And so I was the first to go down and the tester said to start as and when I was ready. So I put the car to first gear, release the handbrake and stepped on the accelerator. Barely 20m on I realised I didn’t have my seatbelt on. I was so nervous that I forgot to put on my seatbelt!!!! Can you beat that! So before I even started any of the courses, I already got 2 demerit points.

And on to the courses we went. Everything went well during the warm-up session. But things went wrong in the actual test! My slope was done perfectly during the warm-up session. But I actually missed the biting point and rolled back during the test. Sigh! And when the tester told me to turn right, I did my safety checks and checked my blind-spot and everything was clear. But just when I was starting to turn, a motorbike appeared out of nowhere and we nearly collided. Stupid MATT!!!! Can’t he see I was doing my test! How can he just dash out like that?! And then for my vertical parking, I was too close to the pole on my right and had to do corrective actions! In all my lessons, I never had to do any corrective actions. It was always one way in and everything is fine and we move out. But I actually had to do correction on the single time when it mattered the most. And then the tester didn’t do the E-brake at the usual place. He told me to change lane to the right and we will go out to the roads. So that’s what I did and just before the zebra crossing, he tapped the dashboard and I did an E-brake there. I was just thinking why he didn’t test me on E-brake and wham! The knock came. And because I wasn’t ready for it, my left leg got stuck under the clutch pedal (cos I was resting it on the floor since I was on gear 2)! But I managed to get it free in time to depress the clutch so as to prevent the car from stalling.

So onto the road we went and throughout the whole journey, the tester kept berating me and telling me that the way I drove is making him scared. That the way I drove is wrong. And he cut short the journey and told me to return to school. So I thought, well, that’s it. I already failed. So no point in continuing the journey. And so I turned to go back to school. And when I was just outside the school, I got sabotaged! One car was trying to exit the school and his vehicle like covered half my lane! I saw that and was trying to change lane so I can bypass him. But a taxi was already coming up and so I off my signal and slowed down. Just as I was reaching the car and the taxi was already beside me, I saw that there is enough space to squeeze through. And squeeze through I did. That got me another round of scolding. Oh well. We are already on our way back to school. So I dun really bother. And I was already pissed with that man whose car covered half my lane. So I did a fast swerve into school. Think the tester knew I was affected. So he didn’t say anything. Then he told me to park the car and follow him to the briefing room again. I saw Des on the way back and mouthed to him that I fail. Then the tester sat me down and asked me why I squeezed through the vehicles. He was demanding and waiting for my answer, which I have none. But since he was so insistent, I gave a lame: "I was nervous and scared." To which he replied: "Like that you scared. You get into accident you will be even more scared." So I knew I blew my chance. Then I saw him go through the marking criteria form and cancelled one of the fault which he marked me for. That was 4 points. And then he said: "Your driving is not bad. I will just let you pass." I thought I heard him wrongly, cos he was talking very softly (maybe he didn’t want his colleague to hear him). Cos when he was questioning me I could hear him loud and clear! Then I saw him cross out the ‘FAIL’ part and tick the ‘PASS’ part. I couldn’t believe my eyes! Until he handed me the document and I saw it clearly did I believe it and thank him!!! So off I went to buy my ‘P’ plate which is now pasted on the top 2 corners of the car windscreen. Des said it made his car look ugly. I think it looked just wonderful!!! Haha…Went to watch the graduating video and thereafter to make my license and collect my temporary license.

And vroom! Off we went for lunch. And I was behind the wheels!

Through It All

Through it all I know that God is in control
Like the sun after the storm His love comes shining through
And I know His love for me is greater than all my troubles
Like the sun after the storm His love comes shining through

Driving Test Looms Ahead

In about 12 hours' time I'm gonna take my driving test. All along I dun feel anything about it. But now that it is just round the corner, I'm beginning to feel jittery in the stomach. The confidence that I once held has slowly diminished to nothingness. I begin to realise that it's damn easy to FAIL the test. In all my practices, my instructors always say I am the 'passing material'. Even those instructors that are not in my fixed group said that. Except for once when Gary pissed me off so badly I contemplated not going for my next lesson. But since I already paid for it and it was already quite close to my test date, I went for it anyway.

I really do wish I can pass the test tomorrow. It's really tiring and inconvenient to keep having to go for lesson. It sorta breaks the schedule and disrupt the programme that Des and I have for our weekends. Not to mention the amount of money I have to spend on lessons and a re-test. OMG! The fear is really beginning to set in.

We'll see how it goes tomorrow. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

We'll Miss You Dearly

In Loving Memory Of

Mitsubishi Lancer

Departed 18 August 2007

Leaving behind Ng Desmond & Yvonne Lee

You were once such a big part of our lives. Be it sunshine or rain, you're always there for us. You'll always be in our fondest memory.

Mourning the Departure of......

We collected our new car, the Suzuki Grand Vitara, yesterday and I am now mourning the departure of the Mitsubishi Lancer. The Lancer was the first car I drove in my entiiiiiiire life and also the first car I got into an accident in. And now it's gone! We dunno where it's gonna end up and who's gonna own it. How will the next owner treat it?! OMG! I'm really beginning to miss the Lancer. It's served us well and brought us to places. It was with us when we started our lives together and now it's gone. The car holds some memories and it's now gone with the wind. In place of it comes unfamiliarity and coldness. I no longer feel the same warmth when I step into the car. It feels like I am travelling in a taxi or somebody else's car. Everything about the Vitara is so distant. I have absolutely no connection with the car and it doesn't feel like a part of us. It's just so different. I dunno how to describe it. With the Lancer, it really just feels like a part of us. Oh well, R.I.P, my dear.....

What a Discovery! The World is Round!!!

So exciting! I returned to my blog earlier than I expected. Today we made an interesting discovery.

It all started as a normal lunch time when Ah Fun, Ah Wong and I went out for lunch. Gab was waiting for a letter from AIA and I was bringing it to him after we completed lunch. So the 3 of us walked to Millenia Walk and when Gab saw us, he indicated a hello to Ah Fun and treated Ah Wong as transparent. I find this weird cos he met Ah Wong before and never met Ah Fun. But lo and behold! He actually met Ah Fun before, and on a more personal level than I thought! He actually turned out to be Ah Fun’s cousin’s boyfriend!!!! OMG! What a small world this can be. This is such an exciting discovery. I wonder how he was feeling when he saw that Ah Fun and me actually knew each other. Sigh…but what a tragedy for Ah Fun’s cousin. Not that Gab is a bad man or anything. But a leopard never changes its spots. And certain things are so deep-rooted that it’s difficult to remove or change. And moreover, she will have a field day with Gab’s family. His father alone is enough to make life difficult for her. If they were to continue the relationship, she will soon find out that there can be no peace when father and son meet. I’ve said hello to fights and blows. But Gab has presented these to her on a silver platter.

Well, we’ll have to see how it goes and hopefully things will turn out well. For all we know, they have already broken up. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

A New Beginning

July 2007 saw me starting another chapter of my life. The old has gone; the new has come. So well, I thought I should leave my old blog behind and start a new one.

July was a month of change for me. Not only did Des and me tie the knot, I also transferred to Proactive Sales and leave Reactive Sales. So I shifted out of my office to a small, pathetic desk that is to be my work-station. Not only is the desk so small that I have to put some of my files on the floor, I also lost all privacy at work. My desk is situated next to the corridor where everyone walks past. It’s so irritating and distracting! I can’t even chat on MSN without worrying someone might just catch me in the act. Bummer!!!!

Well, I had more than I bargained for. The whole Reactive Sales team is new and thus unstable. So I had to shoulder the responsibilities and workload of both sides “till the team settles down”. I dunno how many times I have heard that phrase. Wait till they settle down? Then who’s gonna wait till I settle down? Will my clients wait for me while I try to juggle both sides and neglect them by staying in the office handling groups and not going out for sales calls? Somehow I still prefer doing Reactive sales and I start to wonder if my decision to move on is right. I thought of going back to my old portfolio and continue doing groups instead of doing corporate accounts. Guess it’s just part of the transition phase. Doing groups is afterall, my forte. Now I am moving on to a new challenge and starting all over again. But the good thing is I have the support of some of my clients and my predecessor is encouraging me even though we haven’t met up for a long time. Though far away, I can tell he’s concerned and is trying his best to help me.

There are many times when I just wanna throw in the towel and call it a day. I mean, it mustn’t be too difficult to find another job in this active economy of today. I think I’ve had enough of unreasonable and demanding clients who think the world of themselves when they are really, just peanuts. 20 room nights a year and they say they are our big clients?? Go fly a kite and eat some shit. 20 room nights is the minimum number of room nights we get from some accounts in a week! Piece of crap!

And I really hate it when the boss is taking it for granted that just cos I am around, she can take her time about the account distribution. There is only so much I can do and I CANNOT hold onto both sides indefinitely. I was supposed to have officially transferred since July and it’s already August! Before long, we’ll be saying hello to September. Sigh…

On a personal front, things are going well and I am enjoying my life with Des. I wish I didn’t have to work such long hours everyday and can leave work early so we can spend some time together after work. Everyday he’ll pick me up from work and then we go to bed. The next time we open our eyes, we’re rushing to get to work. The only time we have together is the weekends.

Last weekend we started a membership with Video Ezy and rented some VCDs to watch at home. There were just the 2 of us in each others’ arms, watching the show. It’s a quiet evening, but I had a good time. I just wanna spend a quiet evening at home, away from the crowd. I’ve had enough of ‘people’ during the weekday. I want none of that during the weekend.

I’m feeling fortunate being married to Des. He’s been taking very good care of me, making me happy, putting up with my temper and accommodating my needs. Thanks, dear!

Till my next blog (wonder when that will be!), tata!!!