Rumors, Rumors, How They Turn to Tumors!

Being neighbours with a high ranking employee in the company has its advantages. Having reached a certain trust level - we are both extremely discrete and know how to keep confidentiality on information passed between the 2 of us. As such, we have become each others' "sharing" partners when we have been upset by decisions in the organisation made for political reasons rather than profit or benefit. Of course, he being a global employee who has access to top level news, and having been with our company for almost a decade, he has the experience to weigh the rumors flying around and know what decisions will be made by management.

Well, one piece of information he shared with me has not sat well with me. Due to some internal movements in our head office, a global brand position has become open, and apparently my boss is a strong candidate for that position. I made some mental chess moves in my head, and with horror realized that if that were to happen, the person who could end up taking over her position was someone who was very much a political creature who worked with her mouth rather than with her hands. Of course, all these were just possible chess moves, but they were enough for me after a long year of being loaded with more and more projects, dealing with people with their own brand of attitudes, and frustration at red tape - to seriously consider if this was the right job for me.

I no longer enjoy my job - spending most of my time unraveling red tape, fighting battles that were not worth the time or energy, and working with a head office that did not care how their decisions affected other regions. I wouldn't say I am very unhappy as there is still growth opportunities, but the cons are starting to outweigh the pros.

I miss the days when I could roll up my sleeves and revamp a website in a week. There was even once we did it overnight on a high. I miss being in control of all the elements of web publishing - I set the design standards, took care of the framework, crafted the text for optimized searches on major search engines, plonked in enhancements to heighten customer experience, was involved in all the technicalities of managing a web server, linking it to other communications devices such as fax and SMS, having the opportunity to experiment with new software and technological advancements on the company site without having to go through procurement, legal, IT, head office, etc. I simply did a review of competing tools, took their various features and costs and presented my recommendation to my boss. Upon approval, I was given charge to run and set up the entire project by myself, and all colleagues from various departments were happy resources, and we would be able to get all our required tasks completed by the day.

As I was the person who set up the metrics, I had access to all the information I needed to analyze what customers were reading and subscribing to, tailored the next issue of the newsletter for even better response and hits, etc. And that was how I got our website from receiving 200 hits a day to over a million hits a day in 6 months. I miss the mental clarity with which I worked with, and knew exactly which direction I should be heading and what I wanted to happen based on clear objectives.

I'm tired of complexity for no good reason other than to create opportunities and jobs for people, with the intent to impress. I'm tired of the political games and tantrums exhibited by people who prefer not to do the work. I'm tired of the incessant meetings leading to a whole host of action items, many of which could have been avoided if there had been clearer directions and guidelines given from management and better planning by the project owner. I'm tired of battling with lagging deadlines as demands increase with diminishing resources.

I'm waiting to see if this is a phase I'll be able to plough through, or if I decided this mode of working conflicts with my philosophy of how work should be conducted and what working life should be all about. It could be that its the year end melancholia at looking back and noticing that I have achieved so little over this past year...

Hula-ing Away

Tonight is our company's annual Dinner and Dance in Singapore, with the Tropical Paradise theme. Personally, I think they are talking about Hawaii, but I guess there are others with different ideas of what a tropical paradise is.

However, I won't be going though my boss is really excited about it. Horror stories of how boring it is have deterred me from signing up though the lucky draw prize is attractive - a pair of travel vouchers to the island of Hawaii. I made an arrangement with my global colleague sitting behind me. His boss from San Ramon is here in town and he has to bring him out tonight and over the weekend. So I suggested that the best way for his boss to get to know folks over here in AP is to attend the dinner. I handed him my D&D ticket with the deal that should it win the lucky draw prize, it would be mine. He sportingly agreed and promised to give me the tickets when he next saw me. We shook hands on that deal, and he left to pick up his boss, with my ticket.

I DO have a valid reason for not going. Our small group will be disbanded next year, and tonight will be our last meeting together. So while I had my heartaches with some members in my small group, I thought it would be good to attend the last "closing" meeting. Its akin to going to the funeral of someone who you really were not that close to, but feel obligated because you have known him for some time, and he led such a miserable life that you can't decide if it was a tragedy or blessing that he had to go earlier than expected. Yes, that's the way I feel about our small group, sadly.

Oh, I did have good times and there are a couple of friendships I made that have been rewarding. But over the 2 years that I have been with them, everyone was extremely considerate, polite, and christianly - to the point where you would never know what was REALLY going on in their lives, their true struggles, their real feelings and thoughts, and who they really were. But - they did provide the fellowship, support and occasional listening ear, transport home, etc. which is a lot in today's age of individualism and overwhelming rat race that has overtaken our lives. Its just that they would not be the people I would think of calling should I ever encounter a real life crisis.

So, that is how I will spend my Dinner and Dance. While others will be having relatively good fun at the Tropical Ballroom with hopes of winning the grand lucky draw prize, I will be attending a funeral of sorts and saying goodbye to a confusing part of my life. Sayonara, adieu and au revoir. On another note - what should I say "Hello" to for 2007? *ponders cynically*

Communication Breakdown

Did I ever tell you that I have psychic moments? I try to block out this ability as much as possible as there have been a couple of times they foretold of events that were traumatically unpleasant, and which came true. I prefer to be blissfully ignorant as to know beforehand is to assume the responsibility before it happens(even though you can't do anything about it!!) and deal with the guilt after (like I said, even if it had absolutely nothing to do with you)...

However, there are times when I do get flashes about things that I worry or concern myself about, and that's ok. Well, I was having my dunch (dinner+lunch) when I suddenly knew that my laptop was being lost. My hotel wouldn't allow me a late checkout as they were fully booked, so I had to leave all my luggage with the concierge, including my work laptop. That wasn't an easy decision for me as my work laptop could be equated to my life (spending 8-10 hours on it everyday and it gives me access to all the work and emails that I've used those hours in creating and refining) so I walked off with a finger on my mental alarm bell.

As I left my room at about 10 am and since I was on the executive floor, I checked out via the executive reception and got them to carry my bags and laptop down to the storeroom instead. I made the lady call the concierge and inform them that I had 2 bags AND a laptop so that they wouldn't miss it. I emphasized that my laptop was a top priority and left the hotel.

Five hours later, I was biting into my sandwich in Bondi mall, and suddenly knew that my laptop was lost. I asked God, my subconscious, or intuition even, if this was serious (a stupid question as it obviously was!), and was told that it would be no problem. These 2 facts were conflicting, but surprisingly I was relatively comforted by the assurance that it would not be a big deal. No point to worry too before I was confronted with the actual loss.

I made my way back to the bus station, but decided that I may need extra time for unexpected situations and hailed a cab instead. The cabbie found out I was on my way to the airport and was passing through the hotel to pick up my bags and offered to take me all the way. I thought it was a good idea and happily told him to wait outside my hotel while I picked up my bags.

The concierge had all of my 2 bags for me almost immediately, and no laptop. They invited me into the storeroom where there were 2 laptops - both tagged with a different room number and not mine. I spent a good 20 minutes there searching for it with no result, while they sent someone up to the room I had been staying in (which was now occupied with new guests) but still no laptop. They communicated via walkie talkie, and I heard the feedback before the concierge came and told me. I was worried BIG TIME now. I should have lugged my laptop with me to Bondi beach and Borders and the shopping mall even if it would have killed me... I resigned to my fate, went out and told the cabbie I wouldn't be able to let him take me to the airport as I had to locate my laptop, or file a complaint or declaration of loss with the hotel. He was concerned, flabbergasted that Swissotel could have blundered so badly, and a little disappointed that he had lost a longer fare.

Well, I got back there in the store room and started scouring every nook and cranny just in case my laptop had shrunk and hidden itself in between some cracks in the wall. When my quest was unfruitful, I ended up standing in front of the store room entrance, lost and trying to rack my head for action steps to take in the event of a lost laptop (all the emails I deleted about what to do should you lose your laptop came back to haunt me) and drew a blank. I must have looked bad, and a tall, cute blond who had just taken his shift at the concierge desk came up to me looking concerned and asked if there was anything wrong. Before I could answer, the head concierge shouted across that they were helping me look for my lost laptop. Immediately after he said that, the walkie talkie came alive again and the person at the other end reported that they had finally found my laptop in Lost and Found, brought there by housekeeping.

Apparently, whomever it was that took the call that I had 2 bags and 1 laptop to be carried down to the concierge didn't pass on the message and they only took down my 2 bags. While preparing the room for the next guests, housekeeping had seen my laptop and put it in the Lost and Found department. So much for a 5 star service hotel. The tall blonde sympathised with what I had to go through while they brought the laptop down and got a cab for me. To top off the adventure, the cabbie that took me to the airport took AUD30 from me for a AUD27 cab ride and drove off. It was also then that I found out you had to pay AUD4 just to get a trolley to help you push your luggage into check in. Oh well. At least I still had my intuition and psychic moments to guide me through this life. *frowls and grins*

So Much For Tax Free Savings

After getting away with nude shooting, I made my way down to Bondi mall. Big mistake. I ended up shopping close to AUD 100 in body shampoos and rose water for Christmas gifts. They had a decent Borders there and Jeffrey Archer's new book "A Cat with Nine Tales" had been beckoning me for a while. The deterent was of course as with all new releases - the hard cover and steep price. Having worked in publishing before, I was well aware of the fact that hard cover books don't take that much more to bind - in fact, they are cheaper because not many people like hard cover books.

Since I knew that I could easily get a copy of it back here in Singapore (and probably at a better price), I contented myself with browsing. It served me well as I would later realise that all books in the airports were at least AUD 10 more expensive. The said Jeffrey Archer book cost AUD 29.95 at Bondi mall borders, and AUD 40 at the airport. I made a mental note that for all the savings tax free goods gave you, the marked up price factored in by rental probably jacks it up more than what you save.

Risking Exposure at Bondi

So I had a full day on Saturday to walk around Sydney as my flight was only at 8.40 pm at night. Blue mountains was on fire and I didn't fancy being barbecued so I decided to go where there would be no danger of fire - the sea. I took a cab down to Bondi beach and walked around for a bit, taking a few photogenic shots before ducking into MacDonald's for lunch. A lot of the cafe by the beach had tables outside and all those in the shade were already occupied. I didn't fancy being baked either, so MacDonald's did just fine with me.

It was only today when I was showing a colleague my photos that she gasped at my audacity in taking photos of a nude beach. "NUDE beach?" I had no idea. "But there weren't any nude bodies there."

"Doesn't matter!" She says. "You were SO lucky!"

Apparently, she had a friend who toured with 3 colleagus on a trip to another nude beach in the States - 2 gals and 2 guys. Apparently, one of the girls took a photo of the nudies on the beach completely ignorant that she wasn't supposed to do that, and they got caught. The nudies made them strip right there and then before they would let them go. As if it weren't embarrassing enough that her friend had to strip naked in front of her colleagus, she had to face them every day after in the office... Hmmm... I wonder how that works. Would you still be able to work with each other after you have seen the most intimate details of the other's body, how much cellulite he / she has, the mole here and there, birth defects, how long it was or how round they were, etc etc etc...

PS. Nope, no nude bodies out there on that chilly day... sorry gals!

Seoul.Ria Restaurant

As promised, this is the signboard and entrance to the Seoul.Ria restaurant. If you like Korean food and am looking for a culinary adventure in Sydney, they have a number that you can dial to ask for directions.

Jack the King?

I was in Sydney the week of Nov 20, and while looking for the Korean restaurant (see previous post), I saw "Hungry Jack", a burger joint. Thing is, we have an exact looking outlet here in Singapore except that it's called "Burger King". Then I remembered all Australian companies must have 51% of shares owned by the public. Obviously, "King" does not seem to mean a lot to Australians - especially since they're also debating if the queen means anything to them - so it seems Jack is the more likeable guy than king OR queen...