Dinner & Dance 2008

This year's Dinner & Dance was on 23 January and as usual, it was held in the hotel. This being my last D&D with the hotel, I was glad they managed to get Justin. At least we had a good time cos he was damn good. He never failed to entertain us. We've had him for several years and he is still as good as before. Best emcee? My vote goes to him anytime!

This was the day that most of us are looking forward to cos GM will announce our bonus and shortly after that, the money will be in our pocket. But this year's announcement made us all pissed. When GM announced that it's 2 months, the whole ballroom went silent. Cos we got near to 2 months the previous year and considering how much we slogged in 2007, we should be getting more than that. Then he went on to say that on top of that, 0.5 will be paid out in May, this got me pissed. What right do they have to withhold the bonus that I worked my ass off for? If this is a ploy to retain staff, then it's so not working. It only made us angry and frankly, I was disgusted with the hotel. Being a hotel of its status and standing, this is real under-handed and sly. I lost my respect for the hotel right after the announcement. I felt like leaving immediately. Yet I know it's not the correct thing to do. I should at least enjoy what Justin has in store for us. Afterall, I worked hard to pay for him too. Other than the fact that he's the emcee, I think the rest of the dinner sucks. The beer sucks cos they are trying a new beer from APB and the food didn't make me hungry. Service was bad and the food worse. I was glad I decided not to hold my wedding there.

Mr Cheong's attempt at break

dancing which turned out all wrong.

But nice try...

TC just HAD to take a pic with her fave 'god-daughter'...

Anyhow, after the announcement, I sms the GM's secretary (i.e. Irene) and told her this is pathetic. If she wanna tell the GM that, then be my guest. One of the ex-colleague told me to throw the 0.5 at them and spit in their face. Which I totally agree. I told Irene the hotel can keep the change. I wish the owning company will collapse and the family thrown into bankruptcy. For someone as petty as them, I dun think they deserve great riches. As for the owner's rep, you are just an employee like us. You dun belong to the family. So stop strutting around with your nose in the air pretending you're the dowager. You're just the maid. Wake up!

After the announcement, I was so angry I left the ballroom to go for a smoke. Then Alicia called and said I won a microwave at the lucky draw. Big fucking deal.

Since Irene's birthday is 26 Jan and she's not gonna be around cos she'll be in Hong Kong having a good time, we had a special segment for her and she was so touched she cried on stage. God bless her heart. She's always so kind to us and without airs. Happy birthday, Irene!

The day of the D&D happened to be Joey's birthday and I sabo-ed her and got Banquet to tell Justin about it. So after Irene's little 'celebration', she was called on stage and Justin serenaded her with a song. Haha...that was nice. And Justin sings well too. And Joey was a good sport.

Throughout the whole night I was just feeling sore that I won't get my 0.5 bonus. But if the hotel think that can make me stay, they have another think coming. My dignity and pride will not allow me to do that. Enough is enough and it's time to move on.

Wanted to take pictures with the gals but I was so affected by the announcement that I ended up not taking any pictures with them at all. Sickening!

Guilt-less, Conscience-less, Use-less

I was on MC at home after my hard knock on the head on Saturday and subsequent headache. And Chum stayed back in the office to finish up some work and told me that she has to clear the shit for one of our colleagues again. It's really amazing how a person can be so irresponsible, so clueless, so useless and really, so guilt-less.

Ever since he joined our team, he hasn't done anything to contribute to the company and all he produces are hot air and a lot of crap. It really enrages me that he can be so free of emotions and that he can live with his conscience when everybody else has to clear his shit for him. To be frank, I feel he has contributed more problems for the team than any benefits. Don't you ever feel bad that you have not done anything properly and that your colleague has to do YOUR share of the work on top of the already heavy workload she has?

You can't decide on rates, you dun do sales call, you dun answer your phones, you dun do your proposals, you dun reply emails, you dun deliver calendars and your ang pow allocation is still untouched. State ONE thing you have done well. Dun you feel shy and embarrassed that you have been so useless? For all the 'big theories' you have, you certainly are very useless. And that is already an understatement. If I am your wife, I'll be very disappointed in having married such a useless person. I'll be shy to even admit I am your wife. How can a man be so ridiculously irresponsible?

Because of you, TC got a major thrashing from GM. Do you not see that you are dragging everybody down? Do you not see that you are sooooooo not performing? How can a man stomach this kind of unaccomplishment? How can you just walk around the whole day and do nothing and think that your acting is so damn good that nobody can see through you? It's very obvious lor. Dun you feel bad about bringing the whole department and hotel down? Do you not see that you are dragging the hotel down and that there are domino effect from your actions? What are you doing here if you are not gonna do anything? Can you really get pass your conscience of not doing anything and putting the burden on your colleagues? Or do you even have a conscience at all.

It took all my decency to not spit in your face. You are ok as a friend. But as a colleague, you suck big time. You're not worthy of any respect at all. You are already in luck that your boss is covering up for you so much. But you are not worthy of that. You are not worthy of having such a boss. You are just a useless loser.

I'm Pisssssssssssssed

I have the misfortune to meet one of the most hated type of people in my dictionary - ungracious man.

I was in a lift leaving Hong Leong Building when the lift stopped at one of the floors to let a man in. Beside me stood another lady and without thinking about it, that idiot walked to the end of the lift and left either of us to press the button to shut the lift. I gave him the benfit of the doubt and thought it may just be a habit issue rather than an attitude issue. But when the door opened again, he zipped right out like he's the emperor of Japan and it's only right that the 2 ladies should wait for him to get out before we leave ourselves. That got me riled. Who the f%#k do you think you are! Waltzing into our country with that undesirable attitude of yours. You're short and ugly with no dress sense and doesn't look like you're good in bed. So what the hell are you obnoxious about?!

At least our local men are generally either a gentleman or they are ignorant about the works of being one. That, at least, still can be taught. But attitude is something that nobody can do anything about except oneself. So here's what that idiot should do: Stick that obnoxiousness up his ass and go back to where he belongs.

That archaic notion that a woman should always walk behind a man does not hold ground anymore. If you're good-looking, I'll give it to you. It's your rights. But if you're not, then you are not FIT to be that way. Get lost and do not pollute our nation with your bad manners!

A Different Perspective

So here am I, at home on medical leave and getting bored. So I rewatched Sex And The City and started feeling sad for myself again (we'll come back to this later). Then it started to get dark and I looked out the window and what I saw was one of the most beautiful scene I've seen from my window. The sky was overcast and it's gonna start pouring but the grey clouds added a magical feel to the view I see from my window. I realised that it's been a while since I did nothing and just looked out that window and enjoy the view.

I remember being esctatic about the view when I first bought the apartment. But things got busy and I sorta push that away and never took advantage of that view again. It became a norm and totally forgot that I bought an apartment with a great view. So I stood watching it and realised that to most, the sky looked like it threatens a heavy downpour. But to me, it looks beautiful. So, there's always 2 sides to a coin and people look at the same thing in different perspective. That's part of what makes us all different. And also the reason why there are conflicts in the world and why it is so difficult to maintain a relationship.

Putting that aside, this reminds me once again that there is much more to this world than the minute window I have in my mind's eye. There are so much more out there to be explored and tried but most of us are so stuck in our daily routine and trying to survive that we totally forgot about lives/worlds out of our own.

I realised that our views are really so minute that we are leading a totally boring life. Besides work, home and friends, how much of the world have we seen?

Compare our lives to those of the gals in Sex And The City. How do yours fare? I think they are leading much more interesting lives than ours. And look at our dressing. I think most of us look pathetic! Yours truly included. I really have to do something about myself. I need to be a little louder, a lot slimmer and much sexier.

That is the part that I'm coming back to. Watching Sex And The City always pulls me in 2 directions. It makes me feel motivated to be like them. But it also makes me feel sad about myself. I wish for lives like theirs but it will take a lot of $$$ to be like them. Which at the moment, I dun have the luxury of having. Much as we all wanna indulge, most of us dun have that kinda luxury. Oh well, we have to live with our lot and I think Providence has been good enough to me in the recent coupla years (a great hubby, really close frens and a not-too-bad family) and I really should stop lamenting and start doing something about my body.

Out with Shane

Brought Shane out today and it was so nice. Though he was crying quite badly when we took him away from Elaine, he stopped crying after a while. He was quite ok when we reached the studio where hubby was supposed to do some video segment for a friend's wedding.

Then we headed to Tampines Mall for dinner and in the car, Shane fell asleep and didn't wake up till an hour and a half later. Thereafter he was less cranky and we fed him at a Mac outlet. Didn't do much with him really. Wanted to bring him shopping to get some stuff for him but didn't have enuff time to do that. Had to bring him back after he had his dinner.

Then Elaine told me he had nappy rash and now I feel so bad. I swear I checked and he was dry. Even checked with hubby and he didn't feel that Shane was wet. Sorry Elaine! Hope you didn't quarrel with Shawn cos of this. Sigh... Think I'd better not do this again.

I've Really Had It

Was on mc yesterday and spent the whole day rotting at home. Boy, was I bored! There was nothing much to do except clean the house which I wasn't too keen on. Just wasn't in the mood. Hubby wanted to take half day off but ended up working OT cos he had to finish up something before Monday.

It was then that I realised I can't not work and just stay at home. Maybe if I really am a tai tai with lots of money to spend then it will be different. But not now. I really need to have a job. But my idea of working hard is no longer for the hotel. I'm just so sick of the way things are now. It's so different from how it used to be. Staff no longer feel appreciated no matter how well a job is done. It used to be that there's a pat on the back, no matter how light. Now, no matter how hard we try, it never satisfies the bosses. The more we give in, the more they ask for. There's just no pleasing them. My boss is already trying her best. But she still gets blasting. Sometimes I feel sad for her. And I wonder how she can hold out for so long. She's not a bad boss. But her intentions are never well received. It makes things tough for her subordinates as well. Heard she got a major blasting from the boss during revenue meeting the other day. Sigh. Yet she has to put up a strong front. She's really something.

I'll rather be working for myself where I reap what I sow and I get to see the rewards. I suffer when things are bad. But when things are good, I get to see the results.

My only reservation is if Chum and I will quarrel over work. But I guess if we try consciously, we will be able to ride it through.

Chum is away in Bangkok for training and I'm really not looking forward to going to work without her next week. It's gonna be a long week with nobody to ride it through with. I've come to realise that I depend on her a lot. This always happen to me. I tend to be over-reliant on someone and when that someone is not around, I'll have a tough time.

Hubby is back in the office again. Since I didn't get any housework done yesterday, shall do it today so hubby won't have to do it when he's home. Tata...it's housework time.

The Old Has Gone, The New Has Come

We've embarked on the new year of 2008 and although we didn't usher it in in a big way, I was glad to have my loved ones with me. Went to Wala with hubby, chum and her friend S. Although there wasn't any big celebration and we just had a few drinks, the moment when the clock struck 12, people around us were in high spirits. It was noisy and there were sparklers and the likes. The 4 of us were a little quiet but I've enjoyed the company. Pity it wasn't everybody's idea of ushering in the new year. Otherwise we could have all been together. Some like it noisy and went on to jostle with the big crowd. But hubby and I had enuff 'noise' in our lives to contend with and can do without any big crowd.

Y2007 went past in a jiffie and before I could complete the things I wanted to accomplish, the year has gone by. I'm not big on resolutions cos if someone really wanted to do something, there's really no need to wait for a new year to do it. If you waited for a new year to do it, then the resolve is really questionable. I mean, if you're really enthusiastic about something, won't you wanna do it now instead of waiting? Another reason for not believing in resolutions is that only constant life - changes. Plans are always thwarted by changes and when things dun go accordingly, frustrations arise. There are already enough things in life to be frustrated with. There is no need to add on to it ourselves and make our own lives difficult.

The year went past really quickly. It was so filled with activities and so busy. Outta all the busy years, 2007 really takes home the crown. There wasn't much time for personal life. Everything was just about work. Everyday we reach home we'll be so tired and not feel like doing much. Not to mention the timing. Cos of my official hours, it's always very late by the time we reach home. Even when we were on holiday, half my mind was on work, wondering if the calendars were all delivered already. And when we came back, we're busy preparing for Christmas and New Year.

The one big event of our lives was our ROM. Yes, we got hitched and are planning for our big day next year. Although the main part of booking a venue has been settled, I know there are still many stuff to do before the big day. But at the moment I'm not worrying about them yet.

Since I'll be leaving my job in a coupla months' time, I'll leave the preparations till later part of this year. The more immediate plans will be for my job. Either to get another job or to start my own biz with Chum. I'm really quite interested in starting our own biz cos I'm quite sick of complying to others' rules and mood. I'll rather work hard and have the money come into my own pocket than to 'bia' and have the money go into others' pocket. Moreover, my ultimate aim is to start a café so we will have something to fall back on when hubby retire. If I start now or in a few years' time, by the time hubby retires, hopefully the café would have stabilize. Moreover, now with hubby still working, we'll at least still have one source of income if the biz dun work out. If we wait till his retirement, it'll be too late if the biz dun work out cos we'll be having our kids by then and the financial burden will be heavier. And I wanna have something to own with Chum. At least it's something we own together. I just hope we won't go into conflict cos of the biz.

It's amazing how our friendship has deepend and I really do cherish what we have shared. Thanks, Chums, for all the times when you have stood by me and supported me. And not forgetting all the times when you have listened to me grumble. Besides hubby, godma and my couple of 10-year-old friends, you are the one friend I hold dear and close to my heart. It's amazing how similar our thinkings are and yet it never causes any conflicts. I do hope it remains that way. I love you chum!

Oh, and I did manage to get my driving license in just one try and am proudly driving hubby's car around. Even though I may not be a very safe and slow driver, but I am steady leh!

Anyhow, 2008 will be a year of great changes and I'm looking forward to the challenges.