A lesson to learn - Lies & Confrontation

Something happened yesterday evening, which I thought would worth recording down.

This event involves my colleague - S and me.

Since I joined the bank 1½ years ago, S has been a buddy to me, she has been teaching and coaching me how to handle customers, how to handle objections, how to do research for investment, how to use some of the software... and many more. I deeply appreciated S for being there all the time to give a helping hand. No doubt, she smoothened my career path in the earlier days.

But 6 months into my career with the bank, something happened that makes me started to wonder the genuineness of S for helping me through all these difficulties and why she always 'bitch' about our other colleagues in front of me? After some long and deep observations over the months, I have came to a conclusion that, S is in fact not a 'real helper', she helped me all this while is just to proved to our boss that she's 'concerned', 'love sharing' and 'care for' her colleagues but as reality always has it... It doesn't take too long till I and others see her true colors.

A minor case happened in the office yesterday, it all spurred up because of a decent joke we have in the office. S was so upset that she refused to talk to me and even look at me. The whole yesterday afternoon, she has been showing her long face to me. As a straight forward person, I couldn't take this kind of cold shoulder for too long. Before the end of the day, I told S that, we need to talk!

We were in a meeting room, deep in my heart, I have got several things that need clarification from S so I opened up the topic by asking her to tell me what's going on with her? She was caught off-guard by my frankness and bluntness, she was shocked and I could see that she was shivering. She kept insisting that it wasn't me that she was mad about, but another of our male colleague has humiliated her during our joke and she really hates this male colleague, and she couldn't say anything because she felt so hurt of the joke he put her through. Then I asked her, if she was mad about our male colleague, then why am I feeling the hatred and sorrow coming towards me? And I even saw her talking to this male colleague like usual, like nothing has ever happened? She said she was too upset to even want to shout at him or even scold him... Then I think to myself, so you express all your anger on me instead??

After we settled this incident, just to clear the air once and for all, I confronted her few lies which I picked from her along the way, of which I never disclosed to her that I knew the fact. When I asked her about the lies, she diverted my attention to other colleagues, including our boss and one of the senior staff in the company (Ms O), and asked me not to trust anyone in the company! She even invited me to shake-hand and make peace with her, but I rejected her by simply telling her that, I have lost all trust in her, a hand-shake to make peace is a no-no for now. Then she wanted us to start building the trust again... I told her... She must show me how to trust her? And help me to see that she is genuinely sincere in building a team with me here, otherwise it is very difficult for us to work together again!

I never like to back-stab anyone. If anyone disagrees with me, please, come out to the light and tell me straight off! I am pretty sure that I taught her a valuable lesson yesterday, because she promised me that, even if she is being unfair to others, she would never be unfair to me - To this, I am only trusting her for 10%, because I told her that I need time to build back that trust that she has ruined. And in order for me to befriend her again like the old days, she really got to 'behave' and work hard to earn a trusty friendship with me. Someone like her can be quite pathetic in times, I couldn't figure out why is she doing all these and plotting all kinds of lies just to put others down? Maybe she is trying to protect herself... or maybe due to some historical incident; she has lost confidence in handling a genuine friendship... I have no idea. But anyhow, she could mess with anyone with her chronic attitude problem and lying habits, but she never tries to mess with me again!

Call me an activist or a fighter; I am as blunt as I could be, I have nothing to hide! This is one of benefits of being honest and open...

I am always the louder one when it comes to arguments, because I don't lie!!!

Outserve with Passion

Too much coffee during the day today, no matter how I tried to close my eyes and sleep, I just couldn't. Since I am so wide awake, I might as well write a post for my blog.

Today, I attended a 2-day training for 'Outserve with Passion' at Orchid Garden Hotel. This is one of the bank's initiatives to drive all the staff to - Service Excellence. 'Outserve' our clients, simply means, to go the extra-mile for our customers. As a Relationship Manager and a front-liner, this is indeed a valuable lesson not to be missed.

I am so glad to be selected as one of the 30 staff to attend this class, the theme for 'Outserve' is ALOHA - it is simply defined as: -

A - Attend to customer
L - Listen to customer's needs
O - Offering solution
H - Handling recovery
A - Appreciate. Close with passion

We were made to wear straw-skirts throughout the class and there were games and activities which stimulated our minds and get us thinking out of the box. We got out of our working environment, in a comfort zone where everyone is dressed-down and relaxed for the whole day for this course.

Despite the course being exciting and fun, I am still quite stressed out - partly due to the up-coming ChFC exam for Module 08, which we were told to create a presentation by using the 9 topics that have been discussed, our exam is just few days away, I need to get the whole presentation up and running at least by this weekend, exam date is 13th & 14th August. And another matter which pressuring me is the lack of time for my SOP completion this month, when I return to office on Friday, I have exactly another 14 working days to make it possible. I am quite worried, I won't be able to achieve this month. So much work, so little time... 1 day 24 hours seems never enough for me...

Whatever and however it goes, I shall strive my best and fight till the end!

The only place for human race...

Finished work at about 6pm plus today then hubby brought me to a private clinic.

I am having a kind of irritating itchiness on my arms & legs which caused rashes because of allergy. Doctor said I must've 'contaminated' some polluted rain water and dust in the air to get this allergy. I have been having this allergy for about 4 - 5 days already... The itchiness is so intense that I scratched my arms and legs till it turned all red... but the funny thing is that, there isn’t any scratch mark.

I am a cleanliness-obsessed woman, I have high level of hygienic practice and take 2 showers a day (at least!), and one must be very suspicion about my cleanliness when I have rashes like this... But as the matter of fact, according to my doctor, it doesn't matter how clean you are, as long you have very sensitive skin, highly polluted rain water and dust can caused this kind of allergy. And don't worry... This is not contagious.

I have always told people, love the planet! Be environmental friendly! Our planet is sick now and it is getting weaker and weaker, even the rain water and air now can be so polluted that one will get allergy like mine simply by being existing on the planet! How scary could this be? Planet has life, I always believe that. So much damage has been done by the human beings on this planet, now it is 'returning the favors' to us... Extreme climate changes, melting of North & South Pole icebergs, sand storms, increasing sea level, flood... Planet is kicking off a series of 'revenge' now, people! Do not ignore these obvious warnings!

Out of the 8 planets on our galaxy - Mercury, Venus, Mars, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune & Uranus (Pluto has been demoted by The International Astronomical Union (IAU) on August 2006), Planet Earth is by far, the ONE AND ONLY planet that suitable for human race to reside. Not until one fine day when astronauts could find another better place for us to 'migrate'.

People, please... LOVE OUR PLANET; IT IS THE ONLY PLACE FOR HUMAN RACE.

Exam is over + 'Flash Point'

Finally, the exam is over!

I couldn't get up this morning, I slept until hubby awake me... and when I opened my eyes, it was 7.15am!!! My God, we're going to be late today! Well, not exactly we... But my hubby would be late. My working hour starts at 8.30am but his at 8.00am... I am going to make him late! And true enough, because of I... took my sweet time in shower, did my hair, make up and changed, hubby was late for almost 15 mins to work today... *blush* sorry....

Exam started at 4pm, I was in the examination hall as early as 3.30pm... exam was divided in 2 sessions, 1st the theory test from 4pm to 6pm and 2nd multiple choice, from 7.00pm to 9.00pm, but we requested to finish early. My theory part was a disaster, I wrote a lot on the test paper, but at the end, even I couldn't figure out how close or how far I went out of the topic! Whatever I've learned from the course notes seemed so irrelevant during that time! Nothing I memorized come to my mind, so I just wrote whatever I could, based on my common-sense and my best knowledge... *fingers-crossed!* let's pray the marker will at least like my hand-writing and let me pass! Second session, the multiple choice, it was OK, I found it a lot easier than the theory part, let's pray again... this multiple choice session could help me score some good points and push me pass!

Hubby fetched me from down-town at about 7.30pm, we went for dinner and I complained to hubby how difficult the questions were throughout the journey... Hubby just smiled and said, 'the worse is to re-take the test if you fail. Just relax! It’s over now!'... hehe... How could you be so cool at all times? I was panic to death for the test, but hubby's magic words soothed me down! :)

Our dinner lasted about an hour, and then we went to The Mall, Gadong for a HK movie - Flash Point, starring Donnie Yan, Louis Koo, and some 'older' handsome guys... Another great film from HK movie industry, Donnie Yan performed a very unique kind of 'kung fu fighting' called MMA (Mixed Martial Art) in this film, definitely another HK movie that worth my time and money. Louis Koo has a lighter character compared to Donnie Yan in this movie, he was not as 'super' in 'kung fu', but he is a good and determined cop as well, like Donnie Yan. Some of the older stars appeared in this film, like... Collin Chou (the main bad guy named Tony), Ray Lui Leong Wai (Tony's elder brother), Lin Guo Bin (Brother San in the movie)... just to named a few.


I can assure you that, not only will men appreciate this movie; tonight surprisingly a lot of ladies were in the cinema as well... of cos, one of the main reason for us, ladies, to watch this movie is Louis Koo... hehe... He's as cool and handsome as ever. In this movie, he was partnered with one China lady named Fan Bing Bing... Not sure if it is jealousy, I just couldn't find them matching, the lady seems too mature for Louis Koo... In some ways. Well, this is only my personal view, others might see differently.

Time to bed... It is 2.30am now... *yawn* - till tomorrow... Good night!

Official website for the movie: http://www.flashpointthemovie.com/

1st day back in office

I am so tired now.

My eyes are so heavy and dry.

Screened through about 400 emails in the office today, and attended not less than 5 customers. 1st day returned to the office after a long leave of 3 weeks... Tons of work piling up awaiting for my attention, the scariest part was when I logon to my email all the highlighted subjects of each emails indicate many work is waiting for me... (Hello! Reality!!)

Today, 2nd August returned to the office with a light peach shirt and a pair of new shoes... kicking off my long battles with the SOP (Standard of Performance) again. After those 3 weeks, I have enough rest and fully re-charged, I was all ready to face the new challenges infront of me! Or so I thought?! Sadly, just the end of 1st day... I am totally exhausted and drained out! Our new acting department head briefed me with the new market updates, Forex updates, new promotions of the bank, new upcoming events, trainings.... I counted, this month I only left 16 working days to achieve my SOP, 3-fullday trainings, 2-fullday ChFC 08 classes, 1-half-a-day meeting are lining up, I have diarise these days... Kinda worried if I could achieve my SOP this month... Maybe I should postpone one of the trainings... Let's talk to the Acting head tomorrow!

After a long day at work, I am still awake to finish up my final revision on ChFC 07, the exam is tomorrow - the moment of truth! Hubby keeps encourage me that after tomorrow, I shall be relief a bit and can truly rest for the weekend before heading for another busy week... Hmm... Hubby is always so sweet and supportive... How I love thee!

Better cut the long story short and back to my revision now. Last chapter to go - Trust and Offshore Planning, after this I shall zzz peacefully... Zzz... Zzz...

*So damn sleepy*

'My Wife Is A Gangster 3'

Hubby and I went for movie last night in Empire Hotel Cinema.

We watched 'My Wife Is A Gangster 3', it is a Korean film, starring Shu Qi, Hong Kong actoress and Lee Beom-Soo, Korean actor.

Shu Qi is the daughter of Master Lim, the head of Hong Kong triad. During an event Shu Qi was humiliated by some 'uncles' of another triad group, to ease her anger, she killed that 'uncle' the very next day. The story started off with Shu Qi running away from Hong Kong to seek asylum in Korea with one Korean Mafia Head who is her father's friend.

In Korea she met her 'tour guide' Lee Beom-Soo, who is an unpopular member of the Korean Mafia Group, he was asked to protect her during her stay. Somehow, her enemies from Hong Kong found her in Korea and stir off a series of assassinations on her. Through the several times of assassinations, we get to see the softer side of Mafia, and this movie gauranteed brings a lot of smile and laughter based on the hilarious intervals.

A good movie not to be missed! Shu Qi looks fantastic in it!!! She's always my Asian heroine!!!

Official website: http://www.showbox.co.kr/gangsterwife3/main.htm