Office politics

It's time for me to rant and rave again.
People are always out for personal gains, don't you think?

I've had these 2 ladies (efficient team-mates) whom I had much care and concern for. They've done good jobs in my team all these while. Somehow, of late, a fellow colleague had crossed-division and started to draw close.

In a way, I realised now that I play a part in that. I've allowed this person to come into the group. To enter my realm and draw close. Now, it may be realisation too late.

To explain why there's the politics in place, the whole thing goes back a whole year. I've lost 2 good staffs, all eventually reappeared cross-division. Was that a coincidence of opportunity, or so well planned that I had been blinded all along? Right now, I fear losing another. One so young and fresh with us. One uncertain yet of the dangerous game that she got herself in.

I'm not a player in these games. I do not like the corporate tricks that so often goes hand in hand with climbing the corporate ladders. Here's the truth of climbing corporate ladders... It's not a matter of how good you are at your job, but how well you manipulate situations to your advantage... sigh.

First Singles.....

No.... it's not the real thing.
It's a self-recording of the song made famous by Josh Groban. The five of us got together to play and sang the track for a colleague's retirement. Quite a good effort, if I do say so myself.

Blinded, dazed & foolish..

It's been awhile. What had been happening these past 4 weeks?
I was dazed. Yeah, not knowing what I'm living everyday for... I hardly get any work done, and yet I've been as busy as ever. It's not my work!

At times, it really pays to learn and see who we can really trust. The friend that stood by our side, always lending a helping hand, ever so concerned, may just turn out to be the wolf in disguise. Had I thought too much then? Or been too sensitive to man's changing nature. What started out as innocent getogethers now seem to be like a usurping of confidence, planting influence...

I do not play such games, in part because I do not like it, and because I am not capable of it. It is not me to wish to exert influence on others. After all, I'm doing my job, and so are they. Wouldn't it be good if they're focussed on that and show a sincerity of loyalty to what they're doing? I fear the worst. That I'll lose good people again. That they'll get influenced to take drastic actions again.

The dirty weasel!

I've had too much to drink of late. Almost every week. It's getting from bad to worse... At times, I often wake up with a pounding headache, with insufficient rest. I don't want to drink. I'm doing this to accompany friends. Again, my foolishness, and I'm paying for it. How do I put a stop to it? How do I stop a bully? Does this mean I'm calling a bully a friend? No, he just wants attention. Correction, he wants to be the centre of attention. I have to stop giving him that. I'm a person of my own.

There's been much changes in the Company. In short time, I will have to change my work habits. For the better, I'm hoping. How to lead the team to greater heights next year? How to mend the damages and build again? How to keep it from falling backwards?

Perhaps time has come for me to seek greener pastures. I doubt it'll be there in plain sight. It has always been fate, and opportunity. Next year, I want to go back to studies. Back to books and expand my horizons. I need to learn more, know more, see more.

Loneliness had crept back in... Good thing JD is still giving me his undivided love and attention. None more faithful than man's best friend.

Beasts!

Got this from a local daily.
It says that a certain dog owner shifted home, and had tied Sheena the German Shepherd to the old house for 6 months, neglecting to feed and water her.
His neighbour had been caring for her, only to find that the owner threw away the food and water each time he comes back to check on the house.

When caught by the authorities, he was fined RM100 (USD26) only! Damn! Given a choice, I'd love to tie him to that house and let him suffer instead. Poor Sheena was put to sleep, as her conditions were beyond medical care.

Who's the beast? Man, or animals?

A slow and warm Sunday

What a warm day outside. I was planning to pay a visit to the IT centre and shop a little for softwares and see what's on the shelves. Sigh, had to scrap the plan. It's simply too hot to go driving across town.

Instead, I've been scouring the net for accessories for my phone. Guess what I found. My O2 is also known as i-mate?! How'd that happened? Anybody can tell me?



Nice, ain't it? I love the phone. Am having a hard time getting some accessories for it, though. Like a good pouch for it, or a SDIO wifi card. Maybe I gotto make a trip to Singapore and search a little.

Bz Tuesday

Phew, what an exhausting day. I've been running around trying to clear the sudden avalanche of paperwork coming down on me...



That's me from the recent Penang training. My graduation... and certificate presentation session with my M.D.

Malaysia Budget 2006

This, is the nation's sentiment at this moment. Everyone's feeling the pinch from the rising oil price. Everywhere we turn, it's always talk about stretching the ringgit.

No doubt, the Govt can't keep up giving the same subsidy over so many years, when everything else is going up. Smart choice to hit on gasoline. That's afterall, the very thing this Earth relies on. Everything else ties up to it.

Perhaps with this sudden change in lifestyle, a real wakeup call will be heard on the many careless spenders. I've seen too many people living their life with debts dogging their every footstep. Can a person really sleep well this way? I've had my share of burnt wallet too. Been trying to clear the credit debt that's been piling up. I really gotta start bugging the Company to reimburse my expenses faster, sigh...

Like Abba sings, Money.. Money.. Money....

Friday....friday.... Ho Ho Ho!!!

Thank God It's Friday!

Heck! What am I complaining about anyway... I've had a good week. Boss out of the Country, work all cleared, salary paid. Must be the lull... ah well, it always the calm before the storm.

October's budget month. That's where I'm gonna start scrutinizing the long list of costs and profits for the past 4 years, and forecast 2006. Snap of finger, like looking at a crystal ball (As if crystal balls are real, sigh). Would be nice to have Trelawney around at this very moment. Or what's that half man half horse's name? Fire sumthing...

That's right, folks. Harry Potter's back. Am I a fan? Kinda, I suppose. For a guy who grew up reading British literature, HP's certainly a nice relaxing book to lay back and spend the weekend on. One of my staff's totally crazy about that show. Think I'll give her an challenge. Movie pass would be nice...

That's me.

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

Heya!
What a weekend I had... I had a marathon plethora of shows these past 2 days.

First up was FlightPlan. True to form, Jodie Foster did her panicky-mother-out-to-protect-her-daughter role to amazing finese again. This movie reminded me of Panic Room, one of the movies that Jodie made quite an impression on me. No doubt, FlightPlan had it's dull moment, which at times really made us believing that Jodie's mad. The growth of the Air Marshall character was shallow to me, though I supposed it's intended to be, as some sort of subplot to showcase her acting talent.

Today, it's Stomp, the stage performance of everyday-things' percussion. With a cast of 8, the whole hall was filled by rhythmic tempos of varying speed and loudness. It's interactive, and keeps the hearting beating harder and faster every moment. I especially enjoyed the notes made by the black rubber hoses, which had a certain sweet hollow sounds to it. Of course, I must also mention that main highlight was very engaging and captivating. Trash cans, water drums, oil drums, wash basins.... the lists go on and on...

Thanks, Hsin Yee, Terence and Siew Keng for a really good day.

Dinner tonight...

I'm attending Mavin and Amii's wedding tonight. That's the wedding gift I'm giving them. Sometimes, I still believe the best gift in any wedding should be personalized.

It's going to be an exhausting night. Drunken, even.

Walk.. walk.. walk..

Amazing, simply amazing!
I spent my day window shopping @ 4 major shopping centres today. Well, some of shopping centre.

The day started with dropping JD off for a groom. He's gonna enjoy a "blissful" 2 hours of snipping scissors vibrating shavers. Boy, did he bark his tail off when I walked out of the shop. I know he'll thank me later, after the weight were taken off his back.

Breakfast. Ah... my favourite part of the day. My sis and I had dinner at a place called "Pat Kin Pat San" (Never leave, till we meet). It's a HK concept eatery, serving many beverages and food with names that are common in the former British colony. I must say the dishes were good, even if it's only toasts and sandwiches.





With the stomach well filled, we headed to Ikea. Found my desktop pad, finally. Been looking high and low for a wallet-friendly piece. There's simply so much interesting furnitures and knick-knacks there. Pity they don't really last. Some DIY with raw materials would have gotten me the same.

Ikano's next. I must say, the ladies around this part of town is real pleasing to the eyes. Nope, I ain't roaming and seeking. Just appreciating beauty when I see one. Best part of Ikano, the pet training centre. The maltese is soooo adorable.

Dinner was with my parents at Kim Gary, Sunway Pyramid. Yeap, another Hong Kong concept store. Heard they had a new menu, something about sizzling meat. The recommendation's good! Must try the lamb with herbs, in garlic sauce. Lip smacking!

Me dad got him a new phone tonight. A nice little Nokia, with Bluetooth, MMS and colour screen. He didn't want a camera phone, so no talking him into a higher end unit. Still, it's a good buy. Nifty little unit. No match for my O2, hehehe...

Took mum to Carrefour after that. There's this raffle going on, where lots and lots of people were in queue every night, trying their luck for the week's grand prize. Up for grabs this week is a RM10k cash voucher. No luck, but we got ourselves some mystery gift (laundry washing powders).

That's there. 4 major shopping outlets, all in a day. No wonder my sis's upstairs, massaging her sore feet now... hehehe.



There's JD asleep. See, told ya he'll appreciate the snips. So much neater now...

Camp @ Berkelah Waterfall

It's been 4 days since I got back from the waterfall in Pahang. How'd I got into that? Thanks to some really good friends, and getting better friends, of course. It was quite an adventure for us.

The day started around 5am. I had to make the rounds to pick up 4 yound lasses from their homes, and met up with the others (known, and strangers) along a highway. There's going to be 20 of us.

Ah Teck & Ah Fei, our 2 guides, who're very familiar with the terrain; Ravi & Mai; Az & Jane; "Hero" and friend; 3 young lasses known to us as Siu Wan, Siu Kat and Ann; big guy Heng; Gwen, Bernice, Lina, Wai Mun, Joyce, David, Alvin and myself. The time spent together were so short that we didn't even really got to know each other well enough.

It was to be a 3 hours drive, eastwards. Upon arrival, Ah Teck went off to get us a truck (1 ton lorry, to be precise).


Took 2 trips to get the lot of us in. Once all got to the foot hill, we began our 3 hours trek upwards. The initial stage of the journey was idyllic enough. Cooling shades, river by the side. A little past an hour into the trek, the terrain turned rocky (boulders) and we were practically roasted on those rocks. Needless to say, there's much bruises, scratches, and curses that day.

The waterfall was excellent. It comes with 3 pools, each a little above the other.


We spent a night there. Me, I slept in the open, snug in my sleeping bag. Partly, the tent was too small for 3 guys. Also, the night view was simply too lovely to miss. My sleep was accompanied by a constant rush of cascading water, about 10 metres away.

We spent a better part of the time in the water. For the courageous, it's diving, exploring and what have you.

Needless to say too, parting was difficult. We closed the event with a full course Chinese dinner, and made promises of more climbs to come.

Right now, I'm in the office, reliving the memory, while the skin peels off my back around the sun-burnt patches.

This is me, and the happy furry bundle that greeted me at the front door

4 hours straight and still on the go..

I'm back. 4 hours of flashing lights and highspeed cruising on the North-South expressway. As usual, the drive was a tranquil experience, spoilt by the occasional road hogs that drive at elderly speeds on the fast lanes. Can't they see the bright lights from behind? Must they hog the fast lane when there's no one on the slower ones? Maybe, just maybe I'm the selfish one, wanting the fast lane all to myself. The selfish one, who believes everyone's slow and should make way. I think road courtesy has a long way to go in this country. For the devil drivers, and lambs going somewhere...

The Grand Plaza Parkroyal in Penang was quite a pleasant resort to stay in. Good food. They only serves buffet breakfast, while the rest are ala carte. This ensures food freshness and the best of quality. I especially liked Tiffin. Excellent tomato soup. The view's great (I'm not referring to the beach only). Those lovely ladies sunbathing, wow! I love it!

It was great catching up with old friend from Indonesia. I only wished that we had more time to spend with each other. I really wanted to take them out and catch the local views a little. I think I'll send them something to thank them for their visit. A way of saying I'm sorry too, for not taking them around town.

One more rest day, and it's back to the daily grind. I've got some best practises in my belt. I sure hope it'll make a good difference.

Anniversary dinner...

Happy National Day yesterday! Yeap, it's this Country's 48th celebration of independance. After 48 years, the excitement somehow had wane considerably. Understandably, everyone's feeling the effects of inflation. Mana ada mood?

On the other hand, I had a private celebration of sorts. It's a belated birthday cum "anniversary". I splurged a little here. Bought her a lovely diamond pendant and necklace. I think she likes it, though she was expecting more of a ring? Sigh, wouldn't be right, isn't it? After all, we've said our goodbyes and had our share of flowing tears. Still, I miss her. Took her to a fine dining Italian restaurant. She had a seafood soup, and goose pate with fillet steak. I had lamb racks. Excellent dinner. Boy, I think that's the most expensive dinner I've ever spent on anyone. She's worth it. The smile on her face says it all.

Sending her home was the hardest part though. I held her as long as I could. Wouldn't even want to let go, until we reached the doorstep. Wished I could hold on to her the whole night. Last night, I had the sweetest dream of her, in my arms, like before. Think this dream will not be visitting me anytime soon again. Wishes...

Monday Morning Blues...

I'm on a loooong break....

Muah hahaha.... this is getting fun. I'm on two days' break from work. Coupled with the weekend and coming National Day, it'll be 4 days away from the office. Boy, now this is the kinda life I'm starting to enjoy. No work. No jam. No headache.

I'm gonna be celebrating 4 friends' birthday tonight. Got them the Moist Chocolate Cake, yummy. This'll be fun.

Actually, I splurged heavily today. Got a lovely necklace and locket for her. Belated birthday gift. Well, better that than to shop for handbags. I just can't make head or tail on those stuffs. Blew half K at one go. From what we shared, I'd say she's worth it. Hope she likes it, though.

I'm getting more and more attached to my O2. Got a new pouch for it, one that flips. Makes it easier not to have to pull the phone out every time I need to use it. Even saw the SDIO WiFi card that I've been looking around for. RM360 for a WiFi-b. That's a little on the costly side. No harm. Am gonna save up for it. Might get it cheaper from Spore, if KH actually called them for the price.

Mum's coming home tonight. I think we'll wait for her to take dinner together. I'm in no rush anyway. A little hungry though. Can hear my tummy growling now.

I've been browsing the websites, and noticed that I've really not have much interesting stuffs to look at. I really need to look for something to spend my time on. Love taking pictures. Maybe I should post my pictures online. That ought to be fun. Anyone can tell me where I can find a suitable hosting page for photographs?

I'm Sick!!!

Finally, I'm back after a long hiatus to goodness knows where.

Well, to be exact, much had been happening in the past 2 weeks. I walked out of a not-too-long, not-too-short relationship (that hurts till now). It really makes me wonder what I'm hoping for in my past relationships? I thot settling down would be the next logical step, but hey! There's nothing logical in any male-female relationship. Expectations, maybe...

Took my boys and girls for the Annual Sports meet too. Quite a miserable show for us, coming back with only a silver medal for one event, of the many that we got into. Serves us right, yeh? Half-hearted in doing anything always amount to nothing. Let's see if they're gonna keep up this lousy attitude.

I've been ill the past 2 weeks. Longest I've suffered in many years. Cough..cough... sniff...sniff... what other misery do I need to go thru before life gets back to some form of normalcy for me?

What am I looking forward towards nowadays? A little bit of action here and there, I'd say. Nothing of the unhealthy sort, I've not walk that path, yet. Maybe some time off would do me some good. Wonder if the coming training course by the beach would suit the purpose well? I'm looking forward to the time away from the office. Then again, I'm still at work, aren't I? Sheesh.... If my boss reads this... hmmm....

I can feel my personal life quite hollow of late. Aimless. I need to do something, fast. Get some interest up and put the energy into it. I'm getting good at the table, but it's no fun to play alone. Practise buddy's only free on certain days, for certain hours only. What else am I gonna do with the rest of the time anyway?

Oh, was just flipping thru my notes and found a meaningful statement. The Definition of Madness, is to do the same thing and expects different results everytime. Cool!

Misery hits the heart

I bummed out today. Gave up on a relationship that I had strived to gain and held onto for so long. She was indeed unique in my life. We clicked. Everyone said so too. What happened then? Why did it all went downhill so quickly? Why did the talking and telling stop?

It's really hard to understand what a woman really thinks. I've done my utmost to go along, to learn, to adapt. Now I'm back to living my days and weekends alone. I will not drown myself in sorrow. I do hope that she'll be able to pick herself up after this disaster. I'm to be blamed, of course. If only I understood her better...

Gonna head back out to work again tomorrow morning. Can't say I look forward to it, but I guess it's better than time to think. Least it'll be a short week. Night everyone...

WiFi day!

Finally it's here! After months and months of longing and forlorn wishes, I finally got the house wirelessly onto the World Wide Web. Some help received, of course.

To go back to the harrowing experience of getting that. My sis, her bf and I decided to go bargain hunting at the Country's largest computer fair. Our hopes were high, knowing what we need, how much we're gonna spend.

First surprise comes from the "Full" signage at the KLCC basement carpark. Boy, people everywhere must be earning well, despite the so-called economic slowdown. The rates alone would have been equivalent to a 5* Hotel.

Second shocker, the whole shopping arcade felt as if the air-conditioning had been turn ed up high. Waaaay up high!

Thirdly, I believe all the IT-literate citizens and denizens of this Country had decided to turn up for the fair today. From the point of entry, we were shoulder to shoulder, riding with the tide. And I meant riding with the tide. We didn't get to decide where we wanted to go. Neither did the crowd. Basically everyone were being pushed and jostled along, bypassing interesting and loud booths without a chance of a glance.

In the end, we did get what we came for. That's after a couple of gallons of lost sweat and swollen toes. Next big thing that comes along, I'm gonna plonk in a little extra and buy it off the shelf. Sheesh!

Wet day, wet day....

Ho! It's Saturday, the one great day of the week where everything looks amazingly great, even if the weather outside sits gloomily dark and cold. Well, nothing's gonna take away this great feeling so soon.

What am I looking forward to then, eh? Dinner with family, of course. A good Chinese buffet steamboat, yum! All ths eating is definitely going to mess up my 40 day fast. I'll have to make up for it then.

Started Frozen Throne campaigns yesterday. Roy's right. It's an interesting game, far different from the usual stuffs that I've tried. This should keep me occupied for awhile. Afterall, I'm one and half book away from finishing the Harry Potter series. Another year's wait.

Gotta start the meeting now. Hope I can wrap it up by 10am, and I"m headed home. Yesh!

It's Friday!

Yeap, that's another week gone by. I'm dazed as usual, probably cos of the new airconditioning, chilling my left brain. Am looking forward to the weekend. I have one major issue to resolve this weekend. Hope it'll turn out well. 'Else, it's back to singlehood for me.