On hiding and packing

I took the week off an told everyone that I would be in Singapore settling cat stuff. Wait a minute, what's that you said , " But I just saw you today". Yup. I did a bad thing. I lied.

The deception was necessary. Despite me leaving work in about 3 weeks or so, I'm expected to develop and work on new projects that I won't be able to see through. Oh. and my boss seems under the delusion that I will work till the day my flight leaves Beijing for good.

I have tried to set him and the many bosses right - I leave work on 14 Jan and that's as far as it goes. There is no chance of me saying, "oh, maybe I'll stay another week.". I've given over 2 months notice. That's ample time to find my replacement and to give me "me-time", a luxury that I can't afford if I work there longer.

I need plenty of "me-time" before we leave on 27Jan. I have 5 years to pack away - and I'm packing for 4 ( Dan, 2 cats and me) - we have a lot of stuff. 5 years of stuff don't magically pack themselves and frankly, I don't want to take junk home. If it needs to go into the bin, that's where I'm putting it.

So I had to "lie" to be left in peace this week. Some of my team members know I'm here and I try to look through proposals and respond to emails. Rest of the time, I go to supermarkets or hide out in places I'm pretty sure my colleagues and clients wouldn't be. All I want on my week off is to pack and purchase items that I intend to bring home ( e.g. a new set of chairs for my dining table) .

Limited success so far - I only managed to pack some towels and bedsheets and identified those sheets, pillow and blankets that will be left behind; sent all our wool coats to the dry cleaners; got a new laundry basket (yay) and ordered more cat litter to bring home ( that stuff is expensive in SG)

Tomorrow, I'll have to take a conference call (ugh. client called - no respect of personal time). After which I hope to be more productive at Ikea. Fingers crossed that I don't run into anyone familiar and that I get more stuff done tomorrow.

my 2nd other job: tour guide

Yup.. that was essentially what I did during a media trip to Shangri-la county. Made sure everyone had enough oxygen bottles, water, kleenex, meals...

What I enjoyed most about this media trip:

1. Getting to know some journalists & my client better.

I really seldom do media work. This was a great chance to talk to the top beauty editorial directors and get to know them on a more personal level. Ditto with the client. Take them out of the office and they're different people. I think the natural beauty and high altitude played a part!

2. Staying at Banyan Tree Ringha

Room can get creepy cos it's so very very BIG. But the place is really so beautiful and peaceful. Staff were also very warm and friendly.

3. Hanging out with my fantastic team

We've gone to 3 different cities in 2 months - dalian, qingdao and now Shangri-la. Each time, we work super hard, then play super hard. In Shangri-la, thanks to the "experiential journey" that we'd designed for media, our team members also got to enjoy the spectacular scenery and some of the best food Shangri-la's old town had to offer. It was nice to be able to have fun as a team for once!

4. Retracing my steps to the places I visited 2 years ago.

It's different seeing this place in summer.. It was already gorgeous when I last saw it in winter. Summer dished up lush greenery interspersed with wild highland flowers in vibrant hues, a dazzling blue sky with clouds handing so low you could imagine touching them..I loved going back up Shika mountain and feeling as if I'm in the clouds.

the event that kept me up for days...

Only got to sleep ONE hour on Thurs and the night before, 4 hrs... So darn tired. And this entire week, including the weekend, some dumb asses were doing construction work downstairs. I complained on Monday,Tues, Wed when they started at 8am. Complained on Sat when they began at 9am and this morning, I went ballistics and screamed at the stupid estate management for not being proactive. I didn't want to be woken at 9am on Sunday and have to complain before they stopped the knocking. Already in a foul mood. How to go back to sleep????? So I'm still tired today and I foresee being even more so this coming week. Great. Just great.

Meet Weber Shandwick Beijing's 2010 Best Dressed Pair

That's yours truly and the boss who really knew how to tickle everyone's funny bone with Lady Gaga- inspired- hello kitty dress. Some people tried to steal kitty off the dress... Had a great laugh!

10 min phone encounter with Sienna Miller

I had to serve as an English translator for a phone interview today.. basically to ask some questions for a Chinese journalist. The interviewee was Sienna Miller... that's why I got to talk to her. well.. not really talk. Just ask questions. She seems like a really nice down-to-earth star :)

The boss shows some "skin"

That's the boss in a tee that one colleague bought for another as a gag X'mas gift. The recipient was away when the tee was draped across her PC. The boss came around, saw it and found it decidedly cheeky and funny. He decided to give it a try and borrow it for an X'mas party.

Judging from the peels of hysterical laughter that travelled across the office when the boss did his rounds in this outfit, the tee was a hit. I'm not so sure the original recipient wants it back anymore...

I really Rado not go back there

Was in Shenyang doing a Rado event on Monday & Tues. The watches were beautiful but I can't say the same of the city. Service at Trader's Hotel was almost non-existent. Asking the staff to help us tidy up was such a pain. One elderly old lady said, no one wanted to clean cos it's lunch time. She essentially hinted that, if we slipped them some $$, people would clean. We were already paying a lot to the hotel!! 

team mini meeting inside our room

We got to eat one decent meal out of 4 meals. That was at a fancy looking shopping mall next door, in a HK style restaurant. The food was quite nice but it seemed more "dong bei" than HK, serving spicy dishes like 水煮鱼 . Service here was not only non-existent, it was downright rude and to some extent, terrifying. My local colleagues, one of whom tends to pick on service, didn't dare to pick on service nor argue. We were kind of worried we'll get whacked especially given the Dong Bei reputation to fight first, talk later.  Conversation went like this: 

Taiwanese colleague: Can we have another menu please? There are 7 of us here.

Wait staff (fierce and very loudly): I gave you 2 menus and that's very good already. What do you expect? 7 menus? 

Taiwanese colleague ( stunned)

BJ colleague: Er... we're just asking for one more so that we can order faster

Wait staff: Look through the menu faster

BJ colleague: Er.. fine.. let us look through and we'll order

Wait staff stands beside me & BJ girl at the table and taps pen

BJ colleague: I would like a HK milk tea

Me: me too

Wait staff: So how many is that? 

Me: 2

BJ girl: Sorry. Make that 1, I want a juice instead

Wait staff ( very aggressively): So what exactly do all of you want to drink? Can you decide faster? 

All 7 of us looked at the waitress, a bit stunned... 

Order finally done. Waitress repeats our order  ( almost shouting) and goes off. We discover we are short of 3 plates and 3 pair of chopsticks.

Taiwanese colleague: Excuse me, can we have plates and chopsticks

Wait staff makes a sound of annoyance frowns and walks away with no response and comes back with the required utensils.  She kinda plonks them down.

Another BJ colleague: Least she gave us 7 pairs and not 7 chopsticks and says I gave you each one stick, that's very good already.  

Food is served, drinks are served but we're one tea short and also lacking napkins.

BJ girl: 服务员, can we have napkins?

Wait staff rolls her eyes at us and walk away

BJ girl ( adds quickly): bring 7 please! ( whispers to the table) what if she comes back with only one and tells us, I gave you one, that's very good already.  ( Snigger)

Wait staff comes back with 4 miserly pieces of paper...

We try asking again, she sounds annoyed and come back with a giant stack enough for 20 people and just drops its wordlessly on the table. She held it over the table for a second then dropped it as if saying " NAH. So mah fan"

Me: Er.. we're short of one hot tea. 

Wait staff: There's a cup in front of you. Can't you see it's tea?!? 

Me: I mean, we ordered 2 hot teas.  You haven't served the other

Wait staff: No you did not.

Me: Yes I did

Wait staff is annoyed. Checks order form and walks off.

I was worried she would come back and pour the tea on me!! 

this is the new office

mini common Pantry that we share with our sister companies on the same floor

our boardroom! 

my desk and Liz who sits across from me and is subjected to my rambling/ ranting. Dude in purple just walked over for a discussion. 

the view from my spanking new window seat. Finally! I can see daylight.

New office is nice but...

The ladies room is a bit freaky. I thought it was just me but turns out, some other people think so to. Only discovered it this morning when we were talking about getting a fright when people appear around the bend in the office late at night. 

The new office is big and fairly well lit. I even have a window seat now! But the public spaces like the lift landing, lift and toilets are dimly lit. I have to stay pretty late these couple of days and thankfully I leave the office with a colleague. At 10pm, the lift landing is DARK and inside the dim lift there are several mirrors...I feel goosebumps.

Back to the main freaky. The toilet. There are 2 ladies toilets on the floor and once is inside our office. the other is used by another company sharing the floor. The ladies toilet inside our office is far nicer than the old one at Soho. I didn't like it much the first time I went in. I guess it was cos of the dim lights. After a few times I literally wanted to hurry out of the loo.. today I realised why...

The toilet emits strange noises. One of it sounds like a woman sighing. Really. I kid you not. Raises the hair on the back of my neck. My colleague and I have figured its because of the water pressure and piping. You hear the noise if someone on another floor turns on the tap. There's a logical explanation but that still doesn't make it any less scary. Especially in a very quiet office in the middle of the night.  Doesn't help that there are 2 locked doors in the loo that leads to goodness-knows-where. Ugh!!  Creepy.

I wonder what's the new office like

Tomorrow's the company move to a new office space. I'm kinda sad because now I can't walk to work... Have to fight with everyone else for cabs in the morning and evening! 

Then again, maybe there'll be plenty of cabs given that I go to work at 10 and knock off at... let's see... never??!?!  Ah well, at least never during peak traffic hours. I hear the traffic around the new office is horrendous. Thankfully there's no lack of cabs at night  since the new office is near a popular KTV place. I've heard some people say we should book a KTV room at lunch so get some sleep and of course, it helps there's free flow of food. hahahaha

Off to Guangzhou... again

Off to GZ tomorrow for a day's meeting. Hopefully this time I get to eat a proper meal. I still can't get over  my first impressions. 

On the bright side, we get to stay at a nice hotel! 

Calm

It's occurred to me that I haven't actually lost my temper in a long long while. That's a good thing I guess. I get irritated, annoyed but not angry.  The thought struck me earlier today just as I was informed of a last min meeting. I was mildly irritated. This client seems to take it for granted that we're at their beck and call. Doubly annoying because they aren't paying to have us work full time on the account but expect us to. My other account then suffers a little. Thank goodness I have a great team working on that other account. 

Anyway, back to anger. Obviously I can't get angry and scream at a client :P. Now that would be the day! I think the last time I was truly angry was over 5 yrs ago and i can't even remember what I was angry about. I used to snap at the smallest things, like my siblings moving things in my room, talking loudly in the morning, misaligned press releases, rescheduled meetings, no coffee in the morning... anything would set me off. I would get snippy, bang things around, yell at someone, give bad attitude. These days, I've learnt to relax. Think its thanks to Dan who's always calm and logical.  

Workwise, its inevitable that some clients try to "abuse" you. Instead of getting angry and stewing inside, Dan has taught me to think " Heck it. I don't need this shit. if you're being unreasonable, then don't expect me to put up with it.". i have to agree with Dan. heck it. 

Patience is a virtue

That's what I keep reminding myself at work. Just 1.5 mths back to work and someone mentioned on Friday how irritable I've become. I don't shout or lose my temper. That's just not professional. But apparently, I get get rather "bitchy" and impatient about everything - the heat, the client, the translator and even to innocent bystanders like poor Dan. 

I'm making a conscious effort not to be mean. So bear with me if I snap at the most inconsequential things or appear to be in a world of my own. My mind's rather pre-occupied with meeting deadlines , even on weekends. It's awful. 

I have a hate- love relationship with work. I put hate first because that's how it often feels  these days. Love... well.. I get brain stimulation,  a degree of satisfaction and a weird sort of social support in a country where I have few friends. 

For the past 2 years, I've wondered how other people working in PR feel, people in other agencies, covering different industries. It appears that many of my colleagues are afflicted by some sort of gastro-intestinal problem, exhaustion, menstrual problem or in my case, occasion heart palpitations and black spots.  Has there been any study of what medical problems afflict people in different industries?  I read addy's blog  about how "working with idiots can kill you". I'm beginning to think it's true, especially in client servicing positions where you deal with all sorts of people.

This makes me smile when I get annoyed at work

I was annoyed today at work. It was trivial, but it irritated me nonetheless. Whenever I get annoyed at work I always recall this Dilbert comic that I saw years ago.  Last frame never fails to cheer me up. 

I only wish there was a Dogbert to help me perform this "exorcism" in real life.  

Being a gatecrasher

My old office had its annual party last night and some ex-colleagues were kind enough to invite me over for a night of fun and entertainment. Unlike most dull affairs, my ex-colleagues certainly know how to organise a big party. I've experienced 2 parties in my tenure at the company and both were unfailingly hilarious events. People really make the effort to dress up according to theme and the song & dance performances crack me up. This year's party was no different. The theme was Retro night and everyone had their own definition - from red army hats, to victorian style gowns, cheong sams and flapper dresses. The highlight though, and the winner of "best dressed male", had to be Marilyn Monroe. He even had the wind effect to blow his skirt up! It was super funny. Below are some photo highlights. more pictures can be viewed here 

Good food good life

Caught up with my ex-colleagues at Nestle today. Meeting old kakis, old bosses was a really quite nice after 2 years. It made me miss the fun days I had at Nestle where the marketing team was really a TEAM. We not only worked together, we played together. I think back nostalgically of the times we stayed back late just to decorate our work areas to reflect the festive seasons, or to "welcome" people back from their annual leave. It created a pretty tight bond between co-workers and it helped that we were all around the same age, same "pattern" as we like to call it in Singapore.

My favourite memory of our decorating session was the night we decided to plaster a colleague's office room with blank lottery tickets ( she's a lottery fanatic) . even the ceiling was plastered! That was truly hilarious!

Another was the time we pooled cash and bought materials for X'mas DIY decor. It started a trend! Our Christmas-y area inspired the sales team to put up their own stuff and created some friendly rivalry between the departments. Of course, with bigger budgets, they managed to get a lot more stuff but I like to think we had more creativity - stretching our budgets and doing loads of DIY.

While sight-seeing in the new office today, I realised that there were so many new faces and the atmosphere felt different. Nothing wrong with different. Just not the same as I remember it. And we all know... memory sometimes erves us false. Things always seem better when you look back on them...