Swimming and pisang goreng

I went swimming today.

Hubby goes to his adult swimming class every Saturday. So today I decided to join him. Not for the class, but just to swim a few laps on my own in the pool while he had his class.

It was good to feel pumped after doing a few hard laps... followed by some slow steady strokes in between. I was in the pool for about an hour. After that went I got out, there was still that familiar whoosh heavy feeling when I stepped out of the water back to the world of gravity.

After showering as we were walking back to the car...

"Why are you walking so slowly?" -hubby, slightly annoyed

"Oooh, I'm just enjoying that feeling of gravity... and the soft feeling in my muscles"

"Yeah, I think my leg muscles feel kinda wobbly too" -hubby

"I'm not wobbly, I'm just schmooshy" -said I contentedly

"What do you feel like doing now?"

"I feel like eating pisang goreng!"

"Huh? Why?" -hubby, curiously

"I dunno, just a familiar feeling... when we were kids, every week after swimming at the club, mum will always buy us pisang goreng to eat"

"Aaaahhhh... I see" -hubby, bracing himself for a reminiscent moment from me

"Yaaaaaa... it was a very comfortable feeling to sit by the beach, freshly showered, munching our hot goreng pisang with our pruny fingers... sniffing the seabreeze, mingled with the smell of chlorine and fried bananas... that is one of the nicest memories... and the pisang was so cheap - 30 sen only!"

"I don't think we can get any pisang goreng around here. Well, not for 30 sen at least" -hubby, matter of factly

"I know" -me, sadly

I think I will forever always connect swimming with the smell of pisang goreng.

Pork crisis

CRISIS!!!!

To be more specific... I just found that we are facing a crisis of a shortage of...

THIS!!!

I'm sure many of you have a can or two of Mai Ling pork luncheon meat in your larder. It can be such a lifesaver... if I need something to jazz up my fried rice or fried beehoon, I just chop up some of this and throw in in the pan... or if I need an extra dish at the table, I just slice up a bit of this and fry it up... so many uses!!!

And now today during my regular visit to my neighbourhood asian grocery, I noticed that the entire section on the shelf where the Mai Ling pork luncheon meat usually sat was completely empty. So I asked the lao ban about it. He then told me that there was currently a shortage of pork from China, so supplies of ANY imported pork from China would be scarce.

UNBELIEVEABLE!!!

(Perhaps this has something to do with the recent earthquake in Sichuan? *shrug* haaaaai... so sad!)

So if you still have some Mai Ling luncheon meat in stock, take note and use sparingly until this crisis is over.

Sly

Some things never change.

I just found out that I was sort of ‘tricked’ into running this new project. I’m already managing 3 projects (2 of which effectively comprise of 10 models in total!) and supporting on 2 other projects. So far I’m just trying to keep a steady-steady-pom-pit-pit attitude and handle each task systematically chunk by chunk (I wanted to say bit by bit, but that’s no longer the case now).

Then a new project just came in, so one of the consultants walks over to my desk, and here’s roughly the conversation we had last Friday:

Consultant X: Hey Serene, how you going? We just received the verbal go ahead from the client to kick off this new project.

Me: That’s great! What’s the project scope about? [trying to show some team interest]

Consultant X: [proceeds to outline overview of project...] now the reason I’m approaching you is because we need to start work on it next week, but I will out of the office from Thursday onwards for the rest of the week. But as we’re running on a very tight schedule, I’d like to get your help to pull together a very rough framework for the research.

Me: Oh... well.... errrr.... [mentally running through all the many other outstanding items on my plate]

Consultant X: I just had a chat with BB and M just now [i.e. big boss and my manager] and we agreed that you were the person best placed to turn it around quickly, with your excellent excel skills of course! [do I detect some lame attempt at flattery here?]. I’ve already sent you the proposal for you to look through.

Me: Yeah, I saw that. So what’s this framework about?

Consultant X: [proceeds to explain framework...] It’s just something very short and sharp, should take more than 20 or 30 minutes to pull together.

Me: [wondering why he can’t pull together this very short and sharp thing then] So when do you need this by?

Consultant X: Well my last day of the office next week will be on Wednesday.

Me: Okay, so you will need it by Wednesday so you look through it before you go then.

Consultant X: Yup! I really appreciate this Serene. By the way, I’m trying to book in a kick-off call with the client early next week. So it will be good if you can join in just to get a better understanding of the project.

Me: Oh, okay. Once you pin down the time, just forward me the meeting request and I’ll see how it fits into my calendar.

Consultant X: Great! I’ll aim to book the kick-off call for Monday. Oh, and as this call will be about getting some input from the client on the methodology, it will be good if we can forward them a draft of the framework... you know, just something rough to give them an idea so we can get their input. Doesn’t have to be the final version, just something you can pull together so far.

Me: Oh [perceiving what he really wants] so you will actually need the framework by Monday then.

Consultant X: Ideally, yes... would that be okay?

Me: Hmmmm... okay, I’ll aim to pull a draft together at least. But if you can confirm the timing for the call and let me know, that would be good.

Consultant X: Definitely. Hey thanks Serene, really appreciate it.


The following week, prior to the kick-off call:

Consultant X: Hey Serene, I’ve sent through an agenda for the call. Could you have a look and let me know if there’s anything else we should add or if I’ve missed anything out?

Me: Sure.


I open the document and scan through the contents and was surprised to see the following text:

Project communication:

Serene Lee - Primary Contact

Consultant X - Secondary Contact

This is beginning to look sneaky. So I approached the consultant to ask:

Me: Hey X, I’ve had a look at the agenda. Everything looks okay, except that I saw under ‘project communication’ that I was listed as the primary contact for the client.

Consultant X: Oh, yeah... don’t worry too much about it. Really, there won’t be much for you to do. Most of the work will be done by the new graduate that will be starting work next week. You’ll just need to oversee everything and make sure everything runs on track.

Me: So I’ll be actually managing this project? This will be one of the projects I’m supposed to be working on? I’m sorry, it’s just that I wasn’t aware of it before. I thought I was just supporting you to pull together this framework and just oversee it this week while you’re away.

Consultant X: Oh, I’m sorry... I thought you knew about it... but yes, you will be overseeing this project.... but let me stress that most of the work will be done by the graduate. But if there are any issues, I’ll still be there as a key contact for the client to refer to.


Later on, during a meeting with my manager, I casually raised this incident:

Me: Hey, were you aware that I have been assigned to work on this new project?

Manager: Yeah, I know you are supporting Consultant X on it to pull together the framework and get the project started while he’s away this week.

Me: Well apparently I’m the main person managing it and am the primary contact for the client.

Manager: Really? That’s not right. This was not what our understanding was... I’ll need to have a chat with him when he gets back... because I know you’re already loaded with 5 other projects.... [continues to try and show concern for my case...]


Can you say ‘SLY’? The nerve! I can’t believe how sneaky some people can be. Well actually I can. Anyway, my manager will have a chat to Consultant X when he gets back from his leave. In the meantime, it’s still up to me to hold the fort.

So... Jia Yu!

Glimpse into the future

Have you recently been to an expo or convention? Or even if it wasn't recently, I'm sure you would still remember the crowds, the noise, the different reps harrassing you as you walk by, the heavy load of brochures, tracts, cards you had to lug around everywhere...




Well, I learnt something new recently. Have you ever been to an online expo? I don't mean an expo about the internet... but visiting an actual expo VIA the internet... That's right! Hubby recently signed up to visit a financial expo hosted by Forbes which was hosted live in real time over the internet.

You first step into virtual hall like this... and then you can navigate around through your browser to see the different exhibits.



Then you can zoom closer into a particular exhibit where you can click on website links, download brochures and even start a live chat with a rep.... all online!



There is also a conference room where you can listen to live talks, join a live videoconference or participate in a live forum.



The amazing thing is that this whole expo is in real time from the US, accessible globally by anyone around the world.

Note: I'm not promoting Forbes or this conference in any commercial way. But thought it was quite an interesting thing to share... possibly a glimpse into what the future could be like!

One love undivided... here in my home...

For more info, visit www.malaysianartistesforunity.info

Tragedy... (continued)

Remember the tragedy of hubby’s stolen wallet?

Very traumatic experience for us - especially for hubby.

Here is a list of some of the items in the wallet that was stolen:
1. Australian driving license
2. Singapore driving license
3. Malaysian driving license
4. Credit cards - Australia, Singapore, Malaysia (super yikes!)
5. Singapore bank ATM cards
6. Cash - approx SG$150 + RM50
7. Photo of his darling wife (also v. important!)

Perhaps that will help you understand why it was very distressing to lose the wallet.

So to resume my story...

After lodging the police report. Hubby returned home dejectedly. There was nothing else to do but hope and pray that the thief tosses the wallet aside after pocketing the cash, and some kind honest person picks it up and reports the wallet found.

But until the last day of our stay in Singapore, we heard nothing. We were forced to board the plane back to Perth and be resigned to the fact that the wallet was gone, and start mentally preparing ourselves for the loads of administrative things we had to do to sort things out when we got back (getting new driving license, ATM cards, taking new photo of wife and all that).

So was that the end?

What do you think?

(*exciting drum roll*)

And the answer is.....

Nooooo... ?

Oops, I mean YES!

Yes, that’s right. There is light at the end of the tunnel.... because two days after we got back to Perth, Mabel, our biz partner back in Singapore rang to tell us that she received a phonecall from a lady who had found hubby’s wallet! The lady had called the number on the back of hubby’s Singapore credit card and explained what happened and read out the name on the card. From there they arranged to get in touch with our local contact in Singapore, which was Mabel of course. Mabel then arranged to meet the lady to collect the wallet from her. We were so amazed and thankful when we heard this!

Our other partner, Robin recently passed the wallet over to hubby when he was in Perth to attend the usher king’s wedding. I can tell you hubby was so happy to be able to hold the wallet in his own hands. He wouldn’t let me finish the story until now after he got back his wallet. Everything was there, except the cash of course. But it was the driving licenses and other ID cards which were the important thing to recover after all.

So just to show you again that this is real and not a dream... here it is:

What you think?

New blog skin.

Cool kan?

What do you think?

P.S. I've added a new mystery link on top of the page called 'NUGGET'. I'll update this link every week with something cool, new and surprising. So feel free to check out at your own leisure.

Manja time

Guess who came to visit today?

Well hello there!


*Puuuuurrrrrrrr*


You want someone to manja you kah?


*Miaow*


Super manja man this creature. I bet she goes from house to house seeking out cuddles and hugs from random people.

Here's a paw wave from fluffy to Sam. She sends her condolences over your loss of Zumthor. Meeeoooowwwrrrr!

For the mothers

Had a lot of trouble uploading this video of our O2 Youth's practice session for this year's Mothers Day song item. Finally managed to sort it out today.

Presenting, our O2 Youth with this song dedicated to ALL mothers... especially MY VERY OWN dearest mum.



You're just to good to be true
Sucking in all your fat rolls
But mummy I think you look fine
Perfect as you age in time
You may not be Miss Universe
But Michael Jackson is far worse
You have that Ah Lian kind of look
Which literally means you're our cook

I love you mummy more than you'll ever know
You fill my tummy and wash my dirty clothes
And make my school lunch
That makes all my best friends jealous
You always nag and make sure I get A+
Force me to practice violin and piano
But still we love you mummy
Yes we love you mummy

Lyrics: Composed by Sam (O2 Youth)
Tune: Adapted from 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You'

A 'wee' little issue

We had an interesting 'episode' earlier this evening. The nature of this episode caused me to reflect on a memorable entry by my brother on a 'wee' little issue he had with a housemate back when he was studying in Melbourne. Very funny little entry... here is an extract:

"...Anyway, not to be mean... but i am a lil annoyed. i think Bian has a problem with the loo. he has a very bad dick eye coordination when it comes to pissing into the bowl. every morning since the day he arrived, when i go for my morning wee... there is always a spot of urine on the floor, and the worse part is that he never cleans it up..." more

I was probably doubled over with laughter as I read it. Very funny to read about. Not so funny to experience it yourself... not very funny at all in fact. Anyway after the small outburst and some scrambling of tissues, I hunted up this old entry to bring a smile to my face again... you know, get some perspective. There is always a funny side to most unpleasant experiences... even if it is not immediately apparent to the person experiencing it.

My thoughts on the final conclusion to the matter? : Learning to aim should be the basic and most fundamental skill all (real) men should have. This I shall stand by.

Maybe hubby can offer some tutoring lessons for developing this aiming skill?

Brickwork in progress

Whoah!!! Take a look at this!!!



Yes people. Brick work has started. Which means in 6 months time, we should be seeing the transformation of this mess to what we intend to call 'Our Home'.


(front view of master bedroom from outside)

Interestingly, they use two different kinds of brick. The clay coloured ones are the walls that will be eventually plastered up and painted, while the cream coloured ones will be left as open face brick walls.


(rear view of house)

For those who are interested in some details, here is a picture showing how they mark out the areas for the different rooms.



And the picture below shows how they lay the double brick for the external walls.



So things seem to be humming along pretty nicely in this department.

Deja vu

This has been a pretty intense week for me.

Meetings after meetings and planning sessions. Yup folks, it's that time of the year again as my company approaches the end of its financial year (we run from a July to June FY).

What is it about work meetings (or almost any meetings for that matter) that always seem to run over time. We always seem to underestimate the time required for each item on the agenda... or is it just over-ambitiousness of the meeting organiser?

Some of the meetings are quite purposeful. Like presenting the annual revenue targets for the coming year. So at least we know what we're aiming for. As to whether we are able to or how we are going to achieve it... aaaahhh, that's another thing.

Sometimes I wonder the purpose of all these brainstorming sessions at all. Everyone seems to just throw out points and ideas which to me seem pretty obvious. Why are people leaving? Why do we still have high turnover rates? Uuuuhhhh... because the work is not what they expected? because the work is too intense? because they don't fit well into our culture?

One thing I noted was that it rarely seems to be about the money. Throwing money at people may delay people leaving. But in the end if they are unhappy, they will still leave eventually.

It seems like we were back where we started this time last year. All so deja vu.

Giving more benefits and perks like massages, free lunches, more training, flexible hours and even more money are all very well and good. Hey, who wouldn't mind getting a bit more of such things? But what if the problem lies with the personality and character of the key person himself?

(On a side note, how would you feel if you were told that a factor such as having outstanding 3 days of annual leave to carry over or utilising 80% of your sick leave would affect a potential pay rise?)

So now, I'm just bracing myself for all the numerous actions and follow ups each of us will have on our plate next week now that all this brainstorming and planning is over.

I love you mummy... more than you'll ever know...

Tomorrow is Mothers' Day.

So yesterday at O2 Youth, all of us were frantically putting together and practicing a special item for Sunday service.

One of the youths (Sam) composed his own lyrics for all the youths to sing to a familiar tune.



We had our own little band, complete with a cello some more... 'Geng' man!



As I watched them practice, I couldn't help feeling so proud of them. Quite a nice feeling! It made me feel happy to imagine how bursting with pride their own parents will feel when they watch them on Sunday.



Please cheer for them at church tomorrow, k?

Feeling powerful

I am feeling very powerful this morning.

Powerful in a sense of what I have managed to achieve this morning.

1. Called the stamp duty office and managed to settle an issue with our application. Our lodgement will be processed immediately and we should get our cheque for the stamp duty rebate early next week. Yeah!!! Money coming in!!!

2. Called 3mobile customer care about my handset problem. My phone is still under warranty. So I can go down to the service centre to get it fixed today.

3. Completed our company’s employee satisfaction online survey

4. Ate an apple for mid morning snack. Feeling very healthy about that.

5. Had an excellent call with a client in Hong Kong. Was able to point out some interesting revelations to him about the analytical model we were building for them.

6. Received confirmation that our company news will be included in the June edition of the Research News magazine. The editor also expressed keen interest in our company’s ‘Marketing Science’ concept... so that should put my MD in an excellent mood!

*Grinning happily*

So bring on the afternoon!!!

The wedding of the usher king and his queen

Las Saturday, I had the privilege to witness one of the most romantic events we get to experience in life.



It was a very touching ceremony which began with the groom serenading his bride as she walked down the aisle to meet him. Later on as I watched them exchange their vows and rings, I reached out to grab hold of hubby's hand, remembering my own special day just over 3 years ago.

"...To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse. For richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as we both shall live..."


We also had a lovely time later that evening at the dinner reception.



There was a slide show on the photos taken earlier that day by photographer Louis Pang who is coincidentally also from Sabah. The photos were amazing! Looking at them made me feel like getting married all over again just so I was able to have this guy take our photos. Well, there is talk of organising a mass wedding vows renewal just so that can pakat to get our photos done by this guy... hmmm... *rubbing chin thoughtfully*

The photos are worth checking out at louispang.com. I would give a special mention to photo #4 because I like the angle and portrayal of the couple worshiping together here, and also to photo #6 featuring the handsome young man from Oxygen Youth, a promising musician on the violin.

Thanks for sharing your special day with us, Mr and Mrs TY... Wishing you much joy and blessing in your new life together!

Learning about the Tabernacle

At O2 Youth last Friday, the topic of the evening was on 'The Tabernacle'. Quite a chim topic, and guess who was the faciliator that night? None other but my dear hubby.

He put quite a bit of thought and preparation into the lesson. We are always cracking our heads how to get the youths engaged in the lesson... especially boys! And an activity-based method seems to work well.

So the task for the night was for us to build a model of the Tabernacle. We had heaps of fun and I could tell that the youths really learnt a lot!



The youths were split into three teams and each team was tasked to build a specific section of the tabernacle and become subject experts of their section to present to the rest of the group.

Group 1: Outer Court


Group 2: Inner Court


Group 3: Holy of Holies


The final result... putting it all together


Hope you guys found it fun and educational!

"This Journey is my own" by Sara Groves

When I stand before the Lord,
I’ll be standing alone
This journey is my own
Still I want man’s advice,
and I need man’s approval
This journey is my own

Why would I want to live for man,
and pay the highest price
What does it mean to gain a whole world,
only to lose my life

So much of what I do
is to make a good impression
This journey is my own
And so much of what I say
is to make myself look better
But this journey is my own

And why would I want to live for man,
and pay the highest price
And what does it mean to gain a whole world,
only to lose my life

And I have never felt relief like I feel it right now
This journey is my own
Cuz trying to please the world,
it was breaking me down
It was breaking me down

And now I live and I breathe for an audience of one
Now I live and I breathe for an audience of one
Now I live and I breathe for an audience of one
Cuz I know this journey is my own

And you can live for someone else,
and it will only bring you pain
I can’t even judge myself,
only the Lord can say, ‘Well done.’
Oh, this journey is my own

Sample track available at http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?sku=CD61212#curr

I do not believe in racism

A white woman, about 50 years old, was seated next to a Black man. Obviously disturbed by this, she called the air Hostess.

'Madam, what is the matter,' the Hostess asked.

'You obviously do not see it then?' she responded. 'You placed me next to a Black man. I do not agree to sit next to someone from such a repugnant group. Give me an alternative seat.'

'Be calm please, the Hostess replied. 'Almost all the seats on this flight are taken. I will go to see if another seat is available.' The Hostess went away and came back a few minutes later.

'Madam, just as I thought, there are no other available seats in Economy class. I spoke to the Captain and he informed me that there are also no seats in the Business class. All the same, we still have one seat in First class.' Before the woman could reply, the Hostess continued: 'It is unusual for our company to permit someone from Economy class to sit in First class.

However, given the circumstances, the Captain feels that it would be scandalous to make someone sit next to someone so disgusting.'

She turned to the Black man and said, 'Therefore, Sir, if you would like to, please collect your hand luggage, a seat awaits you in First class.' At that moment, the other passengers who were shocked by what they had just witnessed stood up and applauded.