27/2/2009 8PM Danell [Sharing] Musical Showcase 李桀漢《分享》拉闊音樂會

Oh...I just can't wait. The President of DFC has been keeping all of us in suspense. And everyday he posts something new. Like allowing you to take a peep into what the showcase is all about and yet you get only half a glimpse.

Tomorrow's The Day and I bet we will all have a great time. So far, Danell has never failed to amaze me with his multi talent. I wonder what he is up to this time.

Photo taken from Idolhunter Production

PLUS......I have not seen the rest of the gang for some time. I missed them so. I know I will have some good laugh tomorrow. I just missed their jokes and laughter. More updates right after tomorrow.

Yahoooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

Hyperrrrrrrr market

Hypermarket!!! Good at hiking up the price while deceiving us with "everyday low price"or whatever tagline that they can think of.

Just a few days ago, someone wrote a full page, or was it two full page about hypermarkets - on how the express lane can become a depressing lane because consumers do not care if they have items less than 10 or more, on how trolleys get hijacked especially those time when we all needed to insert a RM1 coin to utilise the trolleys and so on. And not to forget the pricing which may not seemed as competitive as how they term it and also the billing which doesn't seemed to tally.

Well, I had one good experience last night. I went to Tesco. Edrik wanted to treat us ice-creams and he told us his budget is RM6. So we needed to chose ice-creams within that budget. Fine, that is understandable.

3 of us were at the freezer looking into the ice-creams and checking on the prices making sure we do not choose something which is too expensive. In the end, we pick these 3:

Kit Kat Drumstick - RM2.16
Smarties Cup - RM0.96
Apple Sour - RM0.96

So total = RM4.08.

When we were paying the bill, the cashier said total RM5.10. I asked her how she derive with that amount. She showed me the small monitor in front of her.

Kit Kat Drumstick - RM2.70
Smarties Cup - RM1.20
Apple Sour - RM1.20

So I explained that wasn't the price displayed outside the freezer. Instead of being apologetic, she asked me if I am sure??!! She even insist that her prices are correct because that was what appeared on her screen. Well....I can't be that blind, can I? Maybe I made a mistake on 1 of the ice-creams but for all 3?? Her prices maybe correct because all she had to do was scan the barcode and tadaa...the price appeared. But someone has to key in the barcode and the prices first in order to get that to happen, isn't it. Someone needs to do the data entry.

Anyway, when she insisted in that manner, I wasn't happy anymore. I was giving her a very angry look already. I insisted that she checked the prices. So her supervisor came and I followed her to the freezer, identified my selected ice-creams and showed her the price labels. Grrrrr....

Finally, the supervisor revised the prices for me. Had I not complained, poor Edrik would be blindly paying an additional RM1 (there goes his pocket money for 1 day).

Now.....how many people actually check the receipts after paying? Last night, I bought 3 ice-creams. So it was easy for me to monitor. On top of that, we had to work within a RM6 budget, so whatever discrepancy there is, it is easily identified.

I'm sure some of us do our monthly groceries with heaps of items filled in the trolley. Total bill amount is probably over a hundred ringgit. Do we all check the receipts which entail endless list of items? Can we all remember the prices displayed on the racks? I doubt so.

I think we are all too taken in by some really good offers that these hypermarkets are promoting, thus we overlook on the rest of the items. There may be 1 or 2 really good buy, but it doesn't mean all the items sold by the hypermarket is particularly cheap. They lose some from here and make a lot from there.

In fact I found out some mini markets even offer better prices than these big players. It's about time we shop wisely. Do some comparisons. Be shopping smart!

Real decision

What is making real decision? Have you ever wonder?

I attended a seminar last night. It is actually a 3 day seminar but I only went for one - the 1st session of the 3 days. I made up excuses for not being able to attend for the next 2 days. Hmmphh....frankly, I regretted not attending. Because last night was just the beginning. The best part has yet to come.

The speaker, Basel, from South Africa & Australia ( born in SA, lived there for awhile, then moved to Aus & been traveling to and fro ever since) is really fantastic.

He started off his seminar by asking why are we there tonight. In fact, he said something about sharing the tickets. 3 persons sharing a ticket and each will attend will attend a session. By doing so, we split the cost. Hehe...funny...he seemed to have read some of our minds.

Basel spoke about his personal life. About how he was living. How he started smoking. He was challenged by a friend, either he takes a puff to proof that he is a man or else he must be a chicken. So being a man with his ego, he had his first smoke. Then he got hooked on it. He also started drinking and swearing. he was told it has to be this way. It's just part of his working life.

When he met his wife, he decided to quit drinking. So he did. He decided to stop swearing, so he did. He decided to quit smoking. But he didn't. He has made a decision to quit. So he went to a doctor who gave him some menthol sweets to suck. First 2 days was fine. No smoking. On the 3rd day, he had a stick. The next day he had 3 sticks. And the following day he had 30 sticks. So he was back to square one.

Then he heard about applying the patch on the arm and leg which will help to quit smoking and so he did. First 2 days was fine. No smoking. On the 3rd day, he had a stick. The next day he had 3 sticks. And the following day he had 30 sticks. So he was back to square one.

Then he heard meditation will help. First 2 days was fine. No smoking. On the 3rd day, he had a stick. The next day he had 3 sticks. And the following day he had 30 sticks. So he was back to square one.

And the story goes on and on. He has made a decision. A decision to quit smoking. Each time he failed, he was still very much decided that he wants to quit smoking.

One day, while playing tennis, he couldn't breathe. While gasping for breath, he told his wife that he wants to quit smoking. He then handed his pack of cigarettes to his wife and told her to keep it away from him. he said he didn't want to die. And that was the day, he REALLY quit smoking. He stopped smoking after 91/2 years of making his decision to quit smoking.

So, what is making real decision? have we been making decisions in our lives or have we been making real decisions in our lives?

Obsession

One fine day, as I was surfing an online shopping web on clothings, I stumble upon someone's blog on beading. That's when I came to know that there are so many people out there selling these beading jewelleries online. Some are doing it because of beading interest. Some take it as a part time business. What amazes me was these beaders are either university students or professionals by profession.

Well, I am a person who does not trust online shopping. A lot of times, what you see is not what you get. Then I remembered my trainer having told me that online shopping is pretty safe. And because there were a few items I was already eyeing, I decided to test on my first purchase.

Hence the result of my first purchase from a beader.

I actually bought 3 pairs of earrings. One of which is a 3D snowflake was a gift to a friend.

I also bought an angel wing necklace.
Then come 2nd purchase. This one is not from online shopping though. It was from one of the shopping malls. I couldn't resist as it was a 70% discount.
Next, my 3rd purchase.
My 4th purchase which I have just received on Monday.
A matching bracelet to go with.
My 5th purchase which I received yesterday.
Making visits to these blogs has become an addiction to me. I just could not stop swinging into their blog. That's how addicted I am.

These beaders will usually mail the order out. Occasionally some of them do arrange to meet at certain locations.

Whatever it is, I know I am in trouble. I cannot stop buying online because the prices are much cheaper than others.

A toast to my new found hobby! Yummmm sengggggg!!

Farewell

On her last day, my colleague gave each of us a message clipper as a token of friendship.

In the evening, we took some pics.

Before this group pic was taken, we had to wait for more than 15 minutes for one of our colleague who was in the toilet making his "investment". Just as we decided not to wait, he finished his "business". Can you guess which one of the 3 gentlemen is that?


We hugged each other, trying real hard not to drop a tear because once someone starts to cry, the rest will follow suit.

Back In Action

Chinese New Year is almost over.

Since the week I came back to work, many events had taken place. For instance, last week I met up with a candidate on a Saturday!!! Yep.....after a week's break, I had to actually work on a Saturday! Oh well, never mind.....after all with this current economic downturn, we have to be thankful if we still get to keep our jobs. Be even more thankful if there are candidates for us to meet cause that would mean there are still clients who need our assistance.

Come Monday, a new assignment landed on my desk. Wow! So happy. For the first time I was feeling so glad to receive a new assignment. Boss kept reminding us that we have to appreciate whatever assignments we have, be it small or big. Told us not to be so choosy anymore coz we cannot afford to lose any clients at this point of time. He also told us to work extremely hard to ensure that we close the assignments. Hmmm...I can never agree better. But then, usually he was the choosy and arrogant one...picking on what assignments we should accept and at what sort of rates. Low rates, don't do. But now....low rates also better do. Sigh..... is it really so crucial? Didn't I hear our DPM assuring us that it isn't really that bad and that Malaysia is not badly affected?

Oh well......our Government ministers are prone to not remembering what they say. Either that or their statements are usually being misunderstood by so many ears. What they say is not what we have interpreted. Make sense? Hmmphh.....

Workouts at the gym has been...err....interesting. I am trying to get back on my feet by working out on alternate days. At the same time, personal trainer gave me a cd. Told me to listen to it and then let him know my opinion. You know what? The cd was about Network 21.....AMWAY!!! Oh...I love listening to motivational talks. I listened to it for easily 5-6 times and then during our next session, I practically told him the entire content. He was amazed coz he didn't pick-up as many pointers as I did.

Anyway, early this week, I was given another cd again. This time he said he has not listened to it. Told me to listen and then brief him what it was all about. Hmm.......I suspected something amiss. Fishy....but I didn't mind. It's one of those MLM tactics. I was at one point very much involved with MLM so I said to myself...never mind...I have nothing to lose....I can always apply the motivations onto my current job. I don't need to become an Amway distributor. I'm interested with their products but not the business.

In between the days, I was busy preparing my candidates for interviews. I sent 2 yesterday and 2 more will be going in for a different position. In fact, I had to skip lunch to give way to one of the candidate and I finished late today as I had to meet up with another candidate. But again, I remind myself repeatedly be thankful that I have candidates to send for interview.s Now I need to pray real, real hard. I hope I am able to close these two positions.

Coming back to Network 21. And so I finished the 2nd cd and I briefed my personal trainer. Guess what? This time he gave me 3 cds and a ticket to attend a convention!!! And then told me he has the distributor application form in his hand...just waiting for me to sign up!! Alamak!!!

I was numbstrucked. Although I have anticipated that this day would come, I was somehow not quite prepared for it and didn't know how to respond. I just gave him my best smile possible.

Okay, on a positive note...this could be my one in a million chance of a lifetime to make it big during the downturn. I mean, honestly I have seen people making big successes during the crisis in 1997. The time when so many people were badly hit, some became better. So should I go for it? I have nothing to lose, right? Well, the most I would lose is my time but then again I will learn so many things along the way. Am I correct in thinking so? Or have I lost my mind from reading and hearing too much about positive thinking?

Today we had a farewell lunch for a colleague. Tomorrow shall be her last day with us. I know she will be reading this. I wish her all the best in her future undertakings. We have worked like a family, although we do not communicate among one another everyday. Seated too far away. If need to chat got to walk over to one's place. There had been good and bad times but it's never a heavy storm. We share a great bond and I shall miss her.

Came back from lunch and a candidate dropped me a bomb. Decided to withdraw from an interview. Fine. Great. Move on...Ignore the negative ones coz I do not want this type of people to affect me mentally.

Tomorrow is the last working day for the week. I am so anxious. The assignments are really critical and I really hope that I will be hearing good news, not just for myself but for the Company as well. Pray and hope.

Not really a turbulence for the past 2 weeks. Not really somewhat a great week that I would shout about either. What I do know is Monday is a PUBLIC HOLIDAY and that's what I'd like to shout about! Yabbadabbadooooooooooooo............................