Service with a Smile

Service is very important. It really makes you decide whether to do your business with them or not. Seriously speaking, I've come across some sales people who really give really good and wonderful services and who are always smiling, which makes you want to spend more money on their products. On the other hand, there are those sales people who really turn you off.

Last week, my hubby and I decided to get a car. We went to quite a lot of car showrooms. It was really interesting, seeing all those brand new cars waiting for us to buy! :P But gee ... the sales people at Toyota and Honda really made me feel like screaming. They were oh so dao. Treat us both like glass and were practically looking down their noses at us. Oh so high and mighty salesman ... especially the one at Toyota ... wah, the more I think of it, the more I wish they will plaster their faces in the toilet bowl so that the rest of humanity can have a better day. I mean, you don't show potential customers your black face or treat them like they're invisible or like they are only wasting your time or what right? Really vomit blood. Ha ... so we brought our money to some other company, and I must really commend the sales person at the Renault showroom. Gosh, he was so patient, and witty, and friendly and so eager to help us. Showed us around, catered to every whims and wishes of my hubby and had a rather impressive knowledge of the vehicle we were looking at. The car was rather expensive compared to the Japanese version of the same cc, but we were totally sold by the idea by the sales person. He was really good! Not only in selling his product but was one of the nicest sales person I've come across. Toyota and Honda are no big deal. So what if everyone buys your car? You just lost a potential customer! So Renault, here we come!

That's the problem with the sales in Singapore. Most of the time nowadays the sales people are rather friendly and they really made you feel good and want to buy things from them. Then again, there're always a small minority who are totally inflexible and unfriendly. If everyone in this country would boycott such sales people, I wonder what will happen to them? haha :P Okie, I know sometimes the customers can be very unreasonable. I've seen some very unreasonable customers demanding this and that, yet the very patient sales person still serve with a smile. I think those sales people are really impressive! At the end of the day, even the unreasonable customers became quite reasonable. We're not talking about those hard-core loud mouthed unreasonable customers. Those kind really no hope lah! :P

Untitled (for now)

The earliest memory I had was of this room. It was dark and gloomy with little light coming through the small window. The window was shut and the air was full of burning incense. The smell was smothering, and in the haze I could see a shaft of light passing through the dirty glass and lighting up a corner of the room – very dimly. In my memory, the walls of the room looked rather washed out. Were they painted red or was it just the gloom which caused it to look dark? There was a sound of someone sobbing which was being muffled by the continuous chanting of the priests in the background.

I could always see this picture very well in my mind’s eye. I remembered feeling annoyed that my dolls were taken away from me. Auntie whispered, “hush, no more playing” and quickly took my dolls away, dressed me up and shunted me into the gloomy room. I didn’t want to be there. The smoke hurt my eyes and there were many shadows in the room. There was a strong feeling of fear and anger surrounding me and everything in the room. Shadows shuffled in and out all the time. The sound of chanting left a buzzing sound in my ears and gave me a headache. I was very tired and there was no one to talk to. Was that my brother crying?

Whispers, whispers …. “poor child” ….. “does she know …. dying …. long and painful journey”. Footsteps on the wooden floor, long robes swishing around the door corner, and the monotonous chanting which went on and on and on …. I went to the dimly lighted corner and hid there. The dim light fell on my hands and I played with making shadows with my fingers. No one could see me. No one wanted to see me.

***

I haven't been thinking much lately, nowadays I'm just living in the present. Rushing from one place to another, at work when there's free time, I'll be preparing more work, and then doing another thing, followed by another or simply reading. Even doing yoga - especially the mediation part - one simply stops thinking and just be ... but mediation is good, it stills one and gives one a sense of peace and thoughts lay quiet.

Honestly speaking, there isn't much to think about nowadays! Am being very complacent and contented. Perhaps people who keeps thinking are still looking for something? I have found my peace and I don't seem to think so much about life.

But even if I do start thinking, what do I think about?

Bad blog ... last week I updated my blog with the things I always wanted to do, and guess what ... the bloody buggy bad blog bloody bleh on me. And I didn't save my work. Why should one save one's work when the whole idea is to simply type and post? Just like what a diary should be. Sigh ... guess I still have to save my work somewhere. troublesome. *bleah* Lazy moi. :P

Okie, let me see if I still remember what were the things I had wanted to do. I'll be 28 this year and there're so many things I really want to do before I get old. 28 is old. If one doesn't give oneself time to do the things one wants, then what would be the meaning of life?

1. I want to learn the violin.
2. I want to improve my piano.
3. I want to learn water colour painting.
4. I want to finish my knitting of the not-so-nice colour sweater which is actually for myself. Although everyone tells me the colour is nice, somehow I don't really like it very much. Do I change or simply stick with it till the end? ... I guess I'll just stick with it. Perhaps that's why I'm not too motivated to do it fast!
5. I want to learn Japanese.
6. I want to do more yoga. Basically I want to be able to do handstands properly by end of this year! :) I can do headstands now, but my arms and shoulders still lack the strength to do handstands on my own.
7. I want to go on a yoga retreat. *dream* :)
8. I want to improve my chess skills.

I'll add on to the list when I remember what else I want to do :)

Happy New Year!
It's a beautiful morning today. The sky is so blue, the trees look greener, the air smells fresher since there are few cars on the road today. What a great way to start a new year! Although I don't feel any different, nor any wiser, nor older ... :P But it's a good morning to carve my New Year resolutions in stone ... I mean, on virtual paper. :)

1. I will wake up early in the morning and do my yoga.
Hmmm. same as what I resolved to do last year but didn't manage to do so.

2. I will work harder and spend less money.

Okie, that's more than enough. :P And so much for waking up early to do yoga ... I feel like going back to sleep now .... *yawn* :P

I'm back! And I'm married!! .... and I'm the happiest person in this world!!! Well ... except perhaps for my hubby. :)

Gosh, it's been a long time since I blogged. Can't even remember where my blog is, but thanks to Hammie, a special friend who reminds me of cute little Hammie in Baby Blues, (though he looks nothing like that I'm sure (but come to think of it maybe he does - he has a baby face after all *grins*)) for his link to my page (and his page is found at amleth ), and his inspiration and reminder .... I'm back, once again .. haha.

Okie, I do have a lot of things to blog, it's been a long year, today being the last day, let me put down all that have happened ... slowly.

First, let me explain my absence (yeah right, excuses excuses) ... well, my monitor broke down and I bought a new LCD monitor! Way cool big 18th inch Sharp .... then my computer broke down, and that took me a reeeaaaally long time to get a new one fixed up. By then it was in Sept/Oct I think .... and I was really truely honestly (I swear) busy with work - exams and all that ... ya k'no .... okie okie ... so perhaps I was really hooked on Freelancer (great game btw) - got playing after watching now-hubby and bros playing and decided to push now-hubby off my computer to hog game myself. Won the whole game finally and got busy with work again, and shopping and trip to Aus and marriage prep .... and those are really my excuses. So now on the eve of the New Year, I'm finally free to sit down and blog. 2nd last day of my holiday! Time flies *whew*

Many things happened this year (2003). It had really been a busy year in terms of work. It's good to put that behind me and look forward to the new year, so I shan't blog that down, unless I have the time and feel like it. The best part of the year happened towards the end. By November, due to my best friend's nagging, I managed to buy a beautiful lime green dress for my rom. Got matching ear-rings and necklace - interestingly I actually bought them before I got the dress (I'm really fated to get the dress apparently), and after that most of the things are done. Shopping is always fun, period.

After which I went on a trip to Australia with my family and now-hubby. We visited Caines and Goldcoast. Here's a short account of the trip (whatever I can remember after two weeks):-

Day One
Was very ill on the whole flight cos' bro gave me flu before we flew. Touch down Caines 6am. Tour guide had a merry-go-round at airport cos' he has to settle domestic flight to brisbane and didn't know where to go. After that we went to visit the rainforest Kuranda. Mountaineous region, took a cable car up, beautiful scenery ... you really have to be there to see it. The dam, the waterfall, the river and the trees ... ahhhh :) Up there we met up with the Aboragines and got to know more of their culture - like their dances, boomberang and spear throwing. After which we visited the Noctarium where the koala bears and kangaroos and wallabies and crocodiles and wombats and komodo dragons or big monitor lizards reside. Koala bears are clingy and have a bushy butt. Wombats are oh-soooo-cute. with their short little piggy snort and they sleep with their four paws up in the air! Kangaroos and wallabies are too busy eating from the hands of visitors. Crocodiles are simply too lazy to blink at you. And the big monitor lizards ... well, the big monitor lizards ... are just big monitor lizards, or are they komodo dragons? I never know the difference.

Day Two
Great Barrier Reef! The sea, the sun, and the sea-sickness! I had fine sea-legs but I really felt sick after looking at some fellow passangers going green and literally throwing up in front of you! uurgh. We reached the floating platfrom in the middle of nowhere and did all touristy things possible. Snockel, swam, helicopter ride, glass-boat ride, semi-sub ride etc. Fun, hot and I'm burnt after that ... Aaahhhhh ... my rom!! :P

Day Three
This is the day we went free and easy and had really wonderful delicious mouth-watering food! Had crabs and lobsters and big prawns and shark fin and beef steaks. Before that compliments from the tour - first dish: boiled lettuce in abalone sauce. Verdict: salty. second dish: salt water ... erm, I mean soup. Verdict: salty :P We certainly didn't spent the whole day idling. We went horse-riding! My first time, so please be patient and imagine how exciting it was for me. Also the first time for all my family! My mom actually had the courage to ride a horse!

Her horse was called Noddy and she's really a naughty little horse.
All went up and down the mountain 'cept she who prefers to be boss.
Ate grass and weeds and refused to move,
till my mom whacks and cajoles her to move her hoofs!

I honestly think my mom over-reacted. haha.

And some things you never see on TV when heros ride into battles or the knight in shining armour on his white horse:-
1. The horse shits whenever he feels like it.
2. You are on the horse when he stops suddenly and big blobs of shit come out from his big asshole.
3. Your horse will sometimes step on the shit - do not let said horse then kick you.
4. Horse pee is dark yellow and forthy, and they pee as often as they shit.

Day Four
We had to wake up at 3am in the morning for our domestic flight to Brisbane. As usual at the airport, our dear tour-guide screwed up the terminals and a whole bunch of us had to drag our luggages to another terminal. Imagine 30 world-weary grey strangers stumbling in the dark dragging along their heavy burdens. We are so tired, we just want to rest ... oh my precious.... Damn the bloody tour guide.

So off we went to Brisbane and to Goldcoast and straight to Dreamworld. Oh ... dreamworld, where all your dream rides come true. Tower of Terror, Vortex, Cyclone, Wipeout ... names of rides which sends tingles down your spine. I've never ever went up anything before, and was going around with open-eyed wonder with hubby. Oh look, my little cousin is all alone queuing up for a ride, let's go let's go and keep him company! So round and round we go, higher and higher, and round and round, higher and higher, round and round .... and round and round. Why is the world still spinning even when I'm now on the ground? Oh my head! Round and round it goes, Aarrgh my tummy, round and round it goes. Will the world ever stop spinning? Does the Earth spins round the Sun or is it me on Earth spinning round the Sun? R O U N D and R O U N D ... and I really need to lie down till my world stop spinning. And never, never, NEVER, will I take a ride which goes round and round (famous last words) ... and never, never, NEVER, will I ever take a ride anymore.

A whole afternoon in the sick bay with medciene will be how I'll remember this day. :P

Day Five
Too sleepy to write ...

Do you ever feel kinda like 'brain-dead'? I'm a graduate, I got my degree which shows that I'm not that dumb, I did pretty okie in school, played some intellectual games, yet sometimes when I'm so busy at work, rushing from one place to another, I suddenly feel that I'm not 'thinking' anymore! My brains stopped exploring the mysterious world of creativity, where beautiful and wonderous things happen. Imagination - the breath of fresh air for our soul is buried in the midst of fog and haze of the real world. There is no time to pause and smell the sweet jasmine flowers - when you breathe, there's only the sour sewage tang of the blocked river. Do you admire the old wizened tree, so crooked yet so upright with bark so rough yet looked smooth - or did you only see the cars on the road flashing their headlights at you as you try to cross not at the traffic lights? Is that the sound of birds singing sweet piccolo-shrill notes, or just the squeeky electronic beep from your handphone screaming to wake you up at 5 in the morning? What is the world like now where all you see on tv is something dying or simply more bad news? Or should you be watching that in the first place when you can read a book and see the ancient castles and explore the strange pyramids with amazing characters? Sometimes I feel guilty seeing my friends continuing their studies. They are working hard and studying at night for some Masters. I'd rather not study but yet I want to learn new things and do more things. Is there a difference? But when am I going to start? That, my friend ... perhaps this little loft can give me some discipline and inspiration. :)

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Finally, I managed to get this bloody blop err ... blog to work. There was a little trouble in the beginning, when I have to load and reload and alternate, control, delete. Whew ... all that's behind me now. Thanks to my dear friend Hammie ... I'm now set up and running. Dinner first, and I'll be back to my little loft where I can write just about anything and so there. :)

This is my first post.
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