MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

I took today off work because it's Christmas. Although it's not widely celebrated in Thailand, but I like to keep that tradition alive. No christmas presents under the tree this year. Living alone does that to you. No santa down the chimney either... that's because I dont have a damn chimney!!! haha

Anyway, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

is it REALLY christmas??

Since it's almost Christmas, I thought that I should start spreading the joy. So.. I'll start that by showing pictures of Christmas trees on display in Thailand. Well.. I'll be showing only 3 or 4 trees cuz I didnt get around to the other ones.

The following trees are displayed in the shopping center area. And I only chose to take pictures of the weird trees. And I took the liberty of naming the trees myself. So here goes....

Title: The Angel That Got Killed By Credit Cards

Can you see the credit cards stuck to the angel's body at the bottom??? This tree is located in front of a high class department store, I'm thinking it's a sign. Shop there during this time and you'll be killed by credit cards just like that angel! And what's with the shape of the angel tree?? Looks more like a dude on stilts about to topple over.

Title: Caged Pink Army Man

Ok, so this picture is tilted... that's because I couldn't fit the tree in the viewfinder and I can't move backwards anymore. haha. I wonder if this tree has anything to do with the new military school movie that just came out. But either way it looks bad.

Title: In The Mind Of A Teenager

This tree is in a shopping center popular amongst teenagers. See how complicated the graphics on the tree is? And that girl with black hair on the tree? I swear my face was permanently like that when I was a teenager. Maybe my face is still like that now. One day I'll move beyond that phrase in life.

Title: Reused Crystals

Last year there was a big buzz about the cost and the design of this tree. It's located next to one of the biggest department store that house LOTS of brand name products. It was rumored that this tree was over 10 million baht (or maybe less... i forget things like that after a year. but it was in the millions)!!!! I guess they want to get their money's worth by using the same tree again this year. I wouldn't be surprised if they use it again next year. And HEY, if they can reuse the tree, I can reuse the picture. (this picture was taken last year, by the way)

Anyway, that's it.

These trees are located in shopping areas. I wonder why the trees in front of hotels are so pretty and perfect. But I guess they wouldn't want to drive away people, or scare them when they come back to the hotel during the night. Trees in Thailand are not all bad. There are many beautiful trees. There's this one tree that was supposed to be a big buzz this year. It's located in front of the newly renovated department store. It's rumored to be the biggest tree in South East Asia!!! Although, I think it would look better if the background wasn't construction workers and debris.

"It Started When My Wife Cooks"

I am no man. And I definitely do not have a wife. The blog title is the unofficial title that I gave to the story my brother wrote for creative writing class. He had his own title but I refuse to use it. So... I was lying in bed last night debating with myself whether I should include an excerpt from his story, or shorten it so that the ending can be read.

I decided to include an excerpt instead... just to be mean.

She had never cooked for him – not once - in their four years of marriage.
"Um…what are you doing?" Stan asked, confused.
"What does it look like, darl? I'm making you breakfast."
Stan stood there at the doorway. Was this the same person he'd been living with for the past four years?
He remembered her telling him once, how she'd rather divorce him than to become a housewife. And although the idea of divorcing seemed tempting at times, he didn't think putting 'does not cook' would look good on official forms. Plus, it didn't matter to him at the end of the day – when night fell. She was a master of the arts.
"There you go. A meal made from love." She placed the array of dishes in front of him, eagerly waiting for his response.
Did she just say…'love'? Recently, it seemed as if the matter was a taboo in normal conversations, and was to be immediately replaced by such topic as 'tax returns' and 'retirement funds'. They both agreed sweet words were to be used sparingly and definitely not during the day - it wouldn't be special during the night. And although he didn't like the idea, there wasn't much room to accommodate for his thoughts. He stared at her.
"What?"
"Nothing. Just that…I love you." He smiled.
"You haven't even tasted the food yet, darling."
He looked down at the food. "What's that?"
"Madeleines."
"You can cook…um…"
"It's French."
"I was going to say 'since when?'."
"You're thinking too much. And I'm still waiting for you to taste it. Maybe you could pack some for work."
He took a bite from the golden pastry. "Oh my god. It's delicious!"
"You think so?" She grinned.
"Yeah! You should cook more often!"
"Well, if you like it this much now, can't wait to see how much fun we can have with them tonight." She gave a suggestive wink.
He took another glorious bite. It was as if his marriage had become more meaningful all of a sudden. As much as he wanted to know how it came to be, experience had told him not to interfere with his wife's train of thought. Especially now that everything was almost perfect.
She turned to him, smiling.
Almost.
Stan knew he wasn't depressive or antisocial, but when people smiled constantly at him, it was just annoying – to the point he would have convulsions. All the doctors he visited concluded that it was nothing out of the ordinary, and he never took it more seriously than just that. Nothing bad ever came from it.
Maybe that was the reason he was attracted to her in the first place. It was true their mutual craving for sexual pleasure also made them compatible, but he knew there were other solutions - three hundred dollars wasn't a bad price for a night with one of the Swedish girls down at the red light district.
But her smile – or to be more precise – the lack of it.
When he was dating her, she would only occasionally slip a discrete smile after their wild night. It made him feel special. And even though she never smiled during the day, the look on her face at nightfall reassured his ego.
She was still smiling.
Stan tried to divert his attention away, but every time he caught a glimpse of her, she would be looking at him with that grin on her face. He started feeling suffocated. He looked at the clock.
Only 7 minutes left.
He closed his eyes. The thoughts of his dead-end job and incompetent co-workers came to mind. He could already see himself at his office, slaving away in his tiny cubicle until he retired. He chuckled at how ridiculously miserable he was. It calmed him down a bit.
He opened his eyes. She was now sitting across from him – her face unchanged.
"What's wrong, hun?" she asked.
He turned to the clock.
6 minutes left.
He stared at the second hand crawling around the white platter. Looking from the corner of his eyes, she was like a wax model – unmoving, unchanging, just smiling. He was no longer sure whether she was looking at him or not, not that it mattered. He started feeling his neck pulsating.
20 seconds passed.
He started fidgeting with his tie. His palms, moist from his sweat, took out the car keys, holding them intently. His muscles became tense.
"What's wrong, hun?" she repeated herself.
He walked out of the house.

Driving to work with Michael Bublé on the radio, he regained control of his head. He laughed at himself, at how he almost lost his head to his wife, someone who he never thought could provoke him in that way. 'Maybe I'm imagining things.'

The END!!! NOT!!! but that's it for now. If anyone wants to read more then leave me a msg or smth and I'll email and whatnot. I gotta ask the writer first (aka. my brother).

Elephant's Foot

Every morning when I'm getting dressed, I will turn on the TV to have the news broadcast in the background. Today, the newscaster picked up an article from the newspaper that sounds very interesting.

In Thailand, there's a saying that goes "ผู้ชายเป็นช้างเท้าหน้า ผู้หญิงเป็นช้างเท้าหลัง" which means men are like an elephant's front legs while women are like an elephant's hind legs. Normally the interpretation would be - men are the leaders and women are followers -, correcto??
WRONG!!!! Apparently, this saying started during erm.... long time ago... and according to the laws at that time, women have more power than men... BUT i'm not gonna get into the laws and rules and stuff. boring.
This is what's interesting. In reality, when an elephant walks, their hind leg moves before their front leg! True story! The person who wrote this article actually consulted with an official from the ... erm... animal reserves(?), and a researcher, and they actually spent days looking at the way elephants walk and observed that the hind legs actually lead the front legs. (i used the word 'actually' alot haven't i??)

So you see, not everything is as it seems!! This just goes to show that no matter how wrongly you interpret something, in the end, the truth always prevails. WOMEN RULES!

Pretty Girls on Lonely Beaches

i stole the concept of this blog title from jupperz, who STILL hasn't finish her own blog.

so anyway, last weekend (Nov 25-26, 2006) me and a bunch of my friends went to pattaya. it's very rare for us to get together, especially for a trip like this. a couple of our friends came back during university break so we had to take this opportunity to get together. erm... what can i say.. imagine 9 noisy girls deciding on something... like lunch, or whether to take the ferry or the speed boat to the island... noisy... very noisy.

in the end we decided to take the speed boat. but before we go to the resort, we stopped by at a beach. it was supposed to be one of the best beaches that tourists would go to, but it was so deserted! or maybe cuz most of the tourists were on the diving boats... haha. anyhow, picture this... 9 noisy girls landed on deserted beach, not many people around except boat people and very few tourist... oh.. maybe i forgot to mention the highlight... all girls were in bikinis.... 9 bikini clad girls.... such treat for the eyes.

then we went to the resort, which came as a bit of a surprise. the resort was supposed to have a balcony that extends to the beach. when we got there....there were no beaches... however, the balcony did extend out to the water... so it wasn't all bad. the room is ok, and the atmosphere was nice. we left again for another beach, and just like the first beach, all eyes stray to the bikini clad girls. haha. anyway, for dinner, we had seafood bbq... and a bottle of liquor.

the trip was really fun. although it would have been better if we could stay for a few more days.

[ps. girls! i'm using pics from your cams, hope you dont mind. AND i'm not showing the bikini pics so.. leave it to your own imaginations....haha]

A Week in Aussieland

The first thing I noticed about Aussieland when I arrived was the weather. I expected it to be warm since it's spring and the beginning of summer and all. But it was all a lie!!!! The temperature is not 20 smth... it's 15!!!! Even Aussielanders said that it's unusual for the weather to be cool during November. So throughout the trip I had to rely on my trusty thin jacket... ~_~ but it was all good. I like the weather. Nice change from Bangkok temperature.

So.. the first morning, my dad's friend took us to the Sydney Opera House followed by a ferry ride around the harbour. It was beautiful, although the weather that day wasnt great because of the clouds but the view was magnificent nonetheless. In the afternoon, me and my mom were left to venture the city while my dad went to a meeting. Our hotel (actually, not a hotel... we stayed at YWCA on Hyde Park) is located in the city center, so it was very convenient to travel around. And the people are so nice. Everyone we asked for directions were eagered to help us out.


ok.. I'm not gonna give you guys a chronicle of what I did when I was there cuz it'll be too long and I'm too lazy to type.

Anyway, I did get a chance to visit UNSW. I will be going there next year, so it was nice to take a look at it. It's also nice to know that it's really close to the beach!!! Bondi Beach. And I tell you, the beach is beautiful. It's clean and the sand is white against the sea-green background. It was such a perfect day to go to the beach too because that day, the sun came out!! LOVELY!!!

There are little cafes and restaurants along the beach. The atmosphere is good, the food is good. So refreshing~ And there are so many selection of food. There's Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Italian... you name it. But the thing is, we were trying to find authentic Australian food but there was none. I mean we even asked an Aussielander which food is 'Australian' and he couldn't really answer it. The only thing that is distinctive for me is the vegemite. ick~ But anyway, throughout the trip, I've probably eaten about a month's supply of chips. haha...

Another beach I went to is Manly Beach. One of my dad's friend owns a beach front house there so we went there for lunch. Manly Beach is as beautiful as Bondi Beach. There are noticeably more surfers in Manly than in Bondi. The waves are much higher. It was so relaxing to sit on the balcony and watch the waves and the surfers having a go at it. hur~ didn't want to leave~


Honestly, this is the first vacation that I went and didn't feel like leaving the place. I mean I guess it's because it resembles Hong Kong in a way. The transportation is easy to access and I can understand the language. Besides, I guess I didn't want to come back and have to say goodbye again when the time comes. But I gotta say, this vacation was really good for me. It's been so long since I enjoyed a nice relaxing atmosphere.

Moral Dilemma for the Homeless

I've been toying with this idea in my head for a while now. It's about being charitable to a homeless person. You see, everyday when I go to work, I see a bunch of homeless people begging for money. So I start to wonder what they would do if they were presented with the following situations:

Scenario 1.
Imagine a mother and a child begging for money. (it has to be a female and a child cuz that's who i saw when i thought about this situation) What do you think they would do if I offer them one night accommodation in a hotel where they can eat anything they want, and do whatever they want regarding the hotel facilities and services?

Scenario 2.
Imagine a homeless dude. He's not handicapped, he's just homeless. What do you think he would do if I gave him my wallet? Not an empty wallet of course. Would he

• take all the money and hand me back the wallet?
• take some of the money and hand me back the wallet?
• take everything and run?
• return the wallet without taking anything?
  

----------------------------------

For scenario 1, I predict that they wouldn't accept my offer cuz... well... you never know right? I mean they could think that I'm gonna hurt them by luring them into the hotel first, right?

For scenario 2, I guess it depends on the person. Some people might take everything and run. Or some people might be overwhelm with the generosity and only take some money or none at all.

But even so, when someone offered something to you so blatantly, is there still some doubt that it was a trick? That it's a scam to harm you afterwards? hmmm...

Temperature Dropping

HEY.. so the temperature in bangkok dropped by about 0.5 celcius this morning~
i walked out of the house and i can feel the drop in the temperature!!! amazing isn't it??? when you live in a hot country for a while your skin can detect the slightest drop in temperature.

anyway, i'll be off on my vacation to Aussieland this monday. i'm not really excited... yet. i will be, when it's time to fly.

hmmm... i was thinkin... now that the temperature started to drop in Thailand, i'm off on a vacation in Aussieland, where the temperature starts to rise... hmmm... this is sad. what if i came back and Thailand's hot again. that means i missed Thailand's "winter". yes ppl.... Thailand's "winter" is that short~

Sending My Love with Tiramisu

I just found something interesting... lookit~

Tiramisu is an Italian dessert typically made from Lady fingers, espresso coffee, mascarpone cheese, eggs, cream, sugar, marsalawine, cocoa and rum. The name tiramisù means "pick-me-up" (metaphorically --> Cheer me up), referring to the two caffeine-containing ingredients, espresso and cocoa.

There is some debate regarding the history of tiramisu. Some believe it was first created during the First World War. Women in northern Italy made these desserts for their men to take with them as they were being sent off to war, presumably to remind them of their love together, as the bitter-sweet taste of the dessert alludes to the perplexing feeling of love itself. (didnt know that... the bitter-sweet feeling of love... i like~) Or more practically, they might have believed the high caffeine and energy content of these desserts give their men more energy to fight (luckily they didn't use their energy on something else...HAHA.. you know... lotsa guys living together 24/7...HAHAHA) and help bring them home safely.

Another story regarding tiramisu dates back even further. It is said that during the Renaissance periods, Venetian women made these to be shared with their men during the late hours because they believed it would give them the energy to make more vigorous love later. (wow~ tiramisu as aphodisiac... opens up a whole other world huh?) A different take on this story is that Venetian prostitutes, living above cafés, would order this as a late night pick-me-up. (erm.... ... ok.)

Well... i thought the information above was interesting. I guess there's more to it than a delicious piece of cake.

So... people in Thailand, if you wanna get your hands on some tiramisu *wink*wink*, try Mango Tango at Siam Square. I don't know if it's good but their other cakes are good so i'm assuming that the tiramisu would be too. Another place you can try is Basilico, an italian restaurant on Sukhumvit road. Enjoy~

(thanks to wikipedia.org for enlightening me and making me realise that tiramisu is NOT a japanese dessert...)

SHATIN COLLEGE: memories from yesteryear ~

3 days ago i was looking through my high school year book and today i just spent about an hour on the net looking at photos of people i went to high school with. it brought back so many memories.

it was kind of surreal when i thought back and remembered that i was the only Thai girl in the school (except after the year my brother entered). i remember one time during assembly, i think it was the end of year assemble or something, but the principle was saying out all the nationalities that existed within the fences of Shatin College. when it came to 'Thailand' he said 'One'. -_- all eyes were on me!!! (well ... not all.. but all eyes that belong to those who knows me... haha)

it was weird seeing all those people i used to attend classes with. it's been so long. i missed all my Drake house class members. i miss lilian, who forever pushed me to study hard for mandarin class. i miss tessa with her hyperactive and sporty energy. i miss winifred with her bohemian ideology. i miss louise and her bounciness. i miss pip, the first girl who befriended me on my first day of class. i miss boorer, my MTV buddy. hur~

i lose touch with lots of people i want to stay in touch with. sad.

oh oh, i almost forgot. my memories of high school would not be complete without the mention of my biggest crush. i dont wanna say his name cuz i'm still shy about it.. haha. but my high school friends will know...haha. one of the most nerve wrecking incident in my life concerns this guy. it was christmas, and i gave him an angel card with a detachable heart. i wanted to give him the heart but i was really shy and i made up some lame excuse that the angel looks stupid without the heart *blush*blush*

ok... i gotta go... my cheeks are burning...

i am free to live in a box

so... are we really free to do whatever we want?

i was lying in bed last night thinking that the notion of being free is so ironic. you know how parents always tell you that you are free to do whatever you want once you graduate? that's not true~ i'm not talking about the freedom of choice, i'm talking about the constraints that still restricts us after we received our promised 'freedom'.

ok- so you're free to work in whatever company, eat whatever food, and pierce whatever body parts, but we're still restricted by one determining factor that makes all the difference... MONEY!!!!!

i used to believe that once i graduate, i'll be able to work for my own salary and do whatever i want with that money. but in reality, half of my salary goes to rent, the other bits and pieces goes to daily expenses. i haven't put any money in my savings account for almost half a year now.

is freedom associated with the amount of money you have? if that is so, do i have to live in a box and only drink tap water to be free?

resurfacing of the sensitive side

i think i'm WAY too sensitive. recently anyway. i just called the Australian embassy to check if my passport have been approved for a tourist visa yet, and the first time i called they said the passport haven't arrived yet. so i called my mom and told her and she told me to call again later, just in case. so i did. and it was another dude who picked up the phone. so i asked and while he was checking on his computer, i covered my mouthpiece and whispered to my friend saying that the first girl who answered my phone sits right next to this guy. and i think he heard it. cuz his tone of voice changed when he started talking on the phone again. and then... i started feeling bad that he sounded rude to me. ?_? dammit what is wrong with me?

i think the sensitivity resurfaced itself since last weekend when i had a little argument with my brother. we dont usually argue. or most the time it's not harsh argument that we can just suppress it when left alone for a while. but this time it's more than that. it's probably all the suppressed anger steaming up. or a big misunderstanding gone wrong, making the situation worse than it originally was. but anyway, that argument made me regret everything that i've done in the past that i thought was good for him. i guess i didnt stop to think about what he really wants instead of what i thought was good for him. so i felt bad that i let him down and let my parents down as well, for not able to make my brother happy.

so.. with the thought that i've disappointed my parents and my brother still lingering around in the air, and with this dude being rude to me, i've become overly sensitive about everything. which is definitely bad for my psychological health.

at needle point

i was sick for the past 3 days. i had food poisoning!!! (that should teach me not to cook, or make sure that the ingredients are clean) anyhow, i couldn't stand the stomache pain so i had to go to the hospital. it was torture!!!! actually the pain itself was more torture than the hospital part. but whatever the case, i hate hospital. it's a big building for people who are in pain, i dont know to let the world know that i am in pain.

so... i had to get 2 injections, one to relax my stomache muscles and the other to stop the nausea. during the injection, i didnt dare look at my arm, i hate seeing blood. i hate seeing things poked into my skin. yuck. but afterwards, i am strangely proud of the needle hole that was left on my arm..haha... and then i have to take 4 more types of medicine to take.

ok.. so now my stomache is cured from the food poisoning.. but wait! that's not enough!!! i got my womenly pain today!!! another type of stomache pain!!! damn!!! this will never end!!!!

I WANT TO BE WELL!!!!!!

diminishing work quality

it just occurred to me that the quality of my work and my presentation skill is diminishing day by day. i just had a presentation yesterday with clients and it starts to make me feel inadequate. i know i was a good employee before. i know the strengths of my skills and i'm confident that i am good at what i do. but recently i've been feeling that everything i've done is not up to standards, not even my own.

so last night i talked about it with one of my 'consultants' and he asked me "did you put any effort in doing the work?". it got me thinking that maybe my work is so bad because i haven't really put any effort into doing it. at the beginning i did, but now i just feel i'm doing the same things over and over again. it's a never ending cycle. i keep repeating the same presentations over and over and over and over.... hur~ it's just that it's going nowhere. and the reaction from clients is the same whether i give a good or a bad presentation. the reaction is the same.... there is no motivation in doing anything. no motivation in doing a better job.

and being here for almost 1 year and the boss can still find a way to put you down. just this morning he said that we dont have the capacity to be creative and we cant come up with catchy slogans like the copy writers. a' DUH! cuz we're NOT copy writers!!!! and he always compare us to japanese dudes, how is that even possible? i mean japanese are lunatics... we're not lunatics!!! i hate this working environment.

gosh! i'm depressed!!

worrisome sleeper

i couldn't sleep last night. i was lying around my bed trying to sleep .. and i ended up falling sleep at around 1:30 am.. and woke up half an hour after!!! hur~ then i fell asleep and woke up again at around 5 am... hur~ and then i try to sleep until my alarm clock goes off but that didn't happen. i'm still blurred.

it took me awhile to type this.. i keep typing wrong. i think my brain-hand coordination is off today. damn!

COUP COUP COUP!!!

It was such a big night for Thailand on tuesday (Sept 19th). I was freaked out!!!

At first I didnt know anything about it. I was blatantly being depressed at the dorm and then *ring*ring* I got a phone call that tells me there are military tanks rolling around in Bangkok. And then I turned on the tv and saw nothing but the special documentary about the King, and I was so confused and scared. Later I found out that there was a Coup D'etat!!! So I tried calling my family members and couldnt get through. Tried calling my dad, but he was at the airport and his phone was off. Tried calling my brother, but his phone was busted and he wasnt at the dorm. Then I called my mom, and thank God the phone wasnt jammed.

Anyhow, I guess everything is back to normal now. Normal being traffic jams and people walking on the streets with no fear... except that there are military men guarding the streets incase of violence. Although the news insisted that this is the end, but of course there are still doubts in the people's mind. Wait til the former PM comes back... we'll see what happens then.

alone again~

I'm feeling kinda confused. I'll be off to Australia for masters at the beginning of next year and I kinda wanna go, but not really... I mean i know it would be really fun and it is a welcome change to my mundane life. At least I wont be working aimlessly. But there are many things that worries me still.

I'm gonna be all alone!!! I was also alone when I came back to Thailand for my bachelor, but in Thailand, at least I am familiar with the language and the people. But going to Australia will be a whole new start for me. The big things like university and money issue doesnt bother me as much. It's the little things, like where I'm gonna stay, or where I can visit to do the laundry, or where I'm gonna find food to eat. It's gonna be all new. And I'm scared that I have to venture through it on my own. Mind you, it's also kinda exciting. HUr~ so I still really dont know how I feel about going. I guess I'll figure it out along the way.

Conversations with Japanese II

Since my last blog about talking to Japanese people was so popular (....like 3 ppl read it...haha), I wanted to write a couple more incidents with Japanese people.

ps. again, typos are on purpose!!

FIRST

During a discussion on eating habits of male university students with clients, we were all trying to think of the kind of food that Thai male university students like to eat. The client said "Does Thai mayl shatudengs like da-me-noo-da?". What I heard the client said was "Does Thai male students like Dominoes?". I though I was so smart in cracking his secret language, but then again... Thailand doesn't have Dominoes (to some of you Dominoes is a pizza chain). So that can't be right. As I turned to my left, ready to ask Nun what she heard, she was also turning towards me. She asked me what I heard, and I told her, then I asked what she heard. What she heard was "Does Thai male students like Dummy women?" (HAHA) That's worst than me!!! The 2 of us can't make out what the client was saying, so we turned to P'Toy and asked her. What the client really said was "Does Thai male students like RAMEN NOODLE?" (!!!!!!!!)

LAST

So the whole team was at a meeting with clients. They were explaining some scientific background. It was not very amusing. Teaching scientific backgrounds to marketing students.... should NOT be done. Anyway, we were all half asleep and pretending to look at the powerpoint slide on the board. Then the client showed a powerpoint slide of skin layers. And my eyes immediately point to one skin layer.. why? Because in the presentation there is a small arrow pointing to it, naming it 'HORNY CELL'. I cant stop smiling to myself. I can't laugh, so the only thing I can do is smile. I had to turn my head towards the board and hide from the boss incase he saw a glimpse of my smile. But that's not enough! The client continued explaining that "Horny Cells are cells that get hard easily"!!!!!!!!!! It was like torture! It's like you're being tickled when your hands are tied behind your back..... while sitting in an exam room..... being monitored by armed soldiers!!!! I'm glad I wasn't facing any of my colleagues cuz I know I will burst out laughing .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Sunday, August 27, 2006

I'm old!!!! =(

Well.... so I've chosen today to tell some of my friends about this blog. I know it's nothing much but it's just a good day. OOH... and apparently, today will be the day that Mars to closest to Earth and apparently you can see it with your naked eyes.

So, anyway, JUPPERZ was the the first person to say Happy Birthday to me!!! Followed by Mr.Ammarius...huhu. So in order to thank her, I would like to introduce everyone to her very sumptious food blog~ Jup's Pintoh www.jupslunchbox.blogspot.com. HAHA. Go read it.. It's fun and delicious...huhu.

Another year gone by. Maybe this year I'll learn to be more mature. HAHA

Conversations with Japanese

Now that you've already heard of my colleagues (GO READ 'IF I WERE FOOD, THESE ARE MY SEASONINGS'), I'll tell you more about the hardship in my working life. Working in an international firm, of course, you will always have miscommunications. Even if you're speaking the same language, there will always be mistakes now and then. I work in a Japanese firm, having to speak english to my Japanese boss. Ok, I'm not criticizing Japanese about their english but it's so damn hard to understand. I'm not the best in english either, so it adds to the higher risks of misunderstandings. I've become adept at interpreting Japanese accent but sometimes along the way there are mistakes. Here's a few. (I have to use my colleagues as examples cuz these are a few of the more funny ones)

ps. wrong spellings in the conversations are on purpose

1.)
Jap: Amy-san, can I have a blug?
Amy: <looks a bit confused, but says> Yes, wait. I will get you a new one.
<Amy runs off, while the rest of us stare after her with question marks in our eyes.>
Amy: Here <hands over an extension cord>
Jap: No, I mean a blug
Amy: <stares back in confusion> You want a bigger one?
Jap: No, a blug. To put things in.
(the Jap meant A BAG!! what Amy heard was A PLUG)

2.)
<here's the scene: we're in a really big meeting with clients discussing about an upcoming research>
Client: We would like to alalyze product benefits as well ne. So we should includes de arandee people in the questionnaire.
Another Client: Yes, we can ask conshumas if they like the product and arandee can improve it
Client: So we need help from arandee na.
Nun: Who's arandee?
Me: It's R&D!
The Boss: Nun-san, please write down that we will get questionnaires from arandee.

3.)
The Boss: Toy-san, are you visy?
P'Toy: <stares at the boss>
The Boss: Are you visy? VISY?
P'Toy: Am I visit? Visit where?
The Boss: No, VISY! <points at the computer>
P'Toy: OH, no, I'm not busy.

4.)
The Boss: Please try to write the concepts. But please do not use matafa, and please do not esagare.
Amy, Nun & Me: <looks at each other in confusion>
The Boss: You know matafa? Please do not use.
(it turns out matafa = metaphor, and esagare = exaggerate~)

So you see.... it's not easy working in a Japanese firm.

If I were food, these are my seasonings.

Throughout my life (well... for 23 years anyway) I have met a fair amount of people. I got to study in the Philippines, when i was still young and innocent, and Hong Kong, where I have one hair style throughout my 2 years at my first school.

Anyway... for this article, the "spice" in my life would be the people at my first work place.

After finishing all my courses for bachelor degree, it was time for me to venture into the real world, and to see if what i've learnt (or heard) in class would really help me in real life. I applied for a position in an advertising firm. The day of my interview was exhilarating. It wasn't exactly my first time interviewing for a job but I was really hoping I would get into this one. I had high hopes on where this company can take me in the business world. As soon as I met my future boss, I had a feeling I was fooled by the job advertisement. A few minutes into the interview, my boss called a member of his team to come in to answer my questions. This was where it all begins.......

(ps. if you see 'P' infront of a name, it's a symbol for someone who is more senior)

Gig (aka. Gigi) : The first member of the team that I met. She was energetic, cute, and friendly. She knows how to work well and how to please 'the boss'. I only work with her for a few days and later found out that the position that I applied for was to replace her. She found her way out.

P'Kate : She was also new, just started in this team a few days before I arrive. She is very smart about IT, and she has a lot of experience to share. But again, my working with her was short-lived. 2 days after I joined, she left the company in search of a better life.

P'Oil : She joined the company the same day as me. I also remember that I've seen her on the day that I came for the interview. She seems very confident, and composed, very mature compared to me. But after getting to know her, she was not like that at all. She is very funny and friendly and SO much fun to talk to. And i'm not the only one who thinks so, she constantly get phone calls every 5 seconds. No kidding! Very popular lady.

So, with Gig and P'Kate gone, me and P'Oil are left to learn things by ourselves. Whatever we didn't know, we can always consult the many folders that are piled on shelves over our heads on the verge of collapsing. 'The boss' started throwing more and more work at us. This is when we realised... "can't do it anymore!!! need more people!!! >.<"

Nun : Me and her go WAYYYYY back. We were in the same university and in the same club. It wasn't hard to trick her into coming to work with us, she was unemployed at the moment MUAHAHAHAHHAHA. I told her about 'the boss' and how his mannerisms are, well.. not at first, I told her after she came for the interview (which made it harder for her to refuse the job). I like to believe that what I said to her was the reason she decided to join us in the end. I said "Come on! I need your eyes!! If 'the boss' becomes irritating, I need you to stare at him while I argue my point. You don't have to say anything, just stare." et voila! She joined us. Needless to say, with this arrangement we were able to protect P'Oil and fight 'the boss'. As a working pair, we were unseparable, buy one get one free! (after I left the company when my contract ends, she left too... and we were both called back to accept another position afterwards... but that's another story)

Patty : Patty has a grande social life. Her weekend parties include those with all sorts of hi-society people. She was our link to the life under the spotlight. Knowing her had increased me and Nun's circle of friends from 2 to 20. She always have something fun and exciting to do, and her love life is more interesting than prime time soap opera. She worked with us for about a month.

So, in 3 months I've worked with 5 people. The team was supposed to consist of 4 people at a time but as you can tell, that never happened. I left the company after my 3 months contract to try my luck with another company. That didn't work out too well, and I return to the company 5 months afterwards. During the 5 months I've heard that people have come and gone countless times. Nun left the company after I left, but then we returned again (as mentioned before, buy one get one free).

Pat : She is very lady like, very mild mannered. She looks so innocent against evil (aka 'the boss'). I did not realy get to know her. For the few months that I worked with her, we didn't get to talk much. That's because in the first month of my return 'the boss' wasn't at the office much and therefore lead me to sleep at the office most the time. HAHA

Ae (aka. Amy) : Amy is cool. She's a hard worker who knows how to have fun at the same time. When i said 'hard-worker' that means when she is assigned something she has to do it right away, or else she tends to forget about it...haha. Working with her was really fun. She is also lively. There were many times that we had to work really late at the office and everyone would be all blurred and sleepy, but Amy will be the most blurred. And it's so funny to watch her when she's blurred. I'm not mocking her, really, it's very endearing. She left us a few months back. We really missed her laughter.

Woon : Me and her goWAYYYY back too, in fact, even further back than with Nun. We lived in the same dorm in college and hang out almost every night. Woon is gullible, that added with the fact that she looks cute in a chinese sort of way makes her seem overall innocent. But she's not!!! She's a vixen deep down, deep deep down. She didn't stay with us for very long either. She decided that she can't be rooted to earth. She now flies with Emirates, living the dream (of making lots of money).

Pum : Before Pum decided to join our team, she also interviewed for another team at the same company. 'The boss' made a BIG deal about pulling her into our team. We had to do a mini presentation and lured her in, and it worked. But she didn't stay with us for long. She finally realised that she was fooled by the show, like I was fooled by the advertisement. The difference being, she left 1 week after she entered. Unlike me... still stuck here...

Ngee : Ngee is pretty. She was a dream come true for the guys in the creative department. That is why we always send her to deal with the creatives. HAHA. My first impression of her is that she is a party person. Maybe it's because of her make-up and her hair style. But it turns out, she's anything but a party person. She's very attached to her family and is very maternal towards all of us. On her last day at the company, we had a celebratory dinner. We were all envious of her for finally getting a chance to fly away from here.

P'Toy : She came to us from a research agency, which works to our advantage because most of the work we did was research. She is very mature, the most mature from all the people I've met. She is also very tall. When I went to Indonesia with her on a work thing, I bet everyone thought we were mother and daughter. P'Toy also likes to drink. Our trip to Indonesia also include one night stay at the Singapore airport. Since we have free time, we walked around the terminal searching for things to buy. The first place we stop was the liquor stand. There was a new flavour to Absolute Vodka called 'Ruby Red', so we tried it.... and 'Peach' flavour... and 2 more of another vodka brand. We turned the liquor store into our very own mini-bar. It was great fun. She is still with us til this day.

Yam : The newest addition to the team. Yam is very lively and her laughter is very contagious. She could be our lucky star. Since she joined us, 'the boss' had to go to another country almost every week. We are still waiting to see if she really is our lucky star or not.

So that's it. In the time frame of 1 1/2 years (excluding the months that I was away exploring another company), I've worked with 12 people. It's no wonder why people in the other teams don't invite us to parties, they're probably tired of getting to know new people over and over again. At this moment P'Toy, Yam, Nun, and I have to stick together to fight 'the boss' (aka. Crazy Monkey). And one day we will be able to fly away like all those people that circulated into our team.