Ambush

Is this nice restaurant at jurong point. Had dinner there last night n tried squid ink pasta for the 1st time! Ya, mountain tortoise I know. But the black ink has been putting me off. Yesterday I decided to give it a go. Since so many ppl are eating it, it can't be thaaaat bad right? Right!




The clam n mussel pot was heavenly when cooked with bacon! Din know I can eat mussels this way.



Mussels was served with fries. U have the option of choosing mashed potatoes too.



W's rosti n chicken n cheese sausage. I'm not a sausage person but nonetheless still yummy.



And my squid ink pasta with baby scallops and fish roe! Whoops!




Got sidetracked by this gal on the bus who kept lamenting over the phone to her friend. "today so suay. No seats. 罚站". N mind you, I've got my earpiece n trusty iPhone music on. Yet I can still hear her. Maybe I should get the Dr Beats headset. Anyway I dunno why ppl like to lament over these petty lil stuff. Life is too meaningful to spend useless time complaining abt useless things.

On my way to a beautiful Saturday. Having my monthly manicure n meeting my mum to shop for our new homes (she got a studio apartment at Clementi casa!).

Start of new chapter

We had our weekly team leader meeting today n the changes have been finalized (finally!). They will take effect from 30 jul.

One catch though. I'm still stuck with Tumor T. Sigh. Long story but well, I guess gotta take some n give some.

Anyway I've already embarked on some of my new responsibilities. Working with various parties to facilitate my new scope. Basically i was away the entire day in n out of meetings, testing out systems. Feeling more purposeful n happier now.

Act hero

W's hand got injured when 2 tyre rims squashed against his left palm. The flesh was literally coming off n I was literally freaking out when he showed me soooooo casually.

I insisted he see the dr.
He insisted he is ok.
I insisted we go to the pharmacist.
He insisted I'm kicking up a big fuss.
So we argued over what to buy to treat this old hero's hand.
Then we came home, he washed up n we dressed his wound.
ANDDDDD..... HE WINCED!

See! Act man! Act hero! Ask u see dr u dun want la. Dab iodine into the wound. Hard.

Moving on

Ppl mgmt has never been easy. I've been leading various teams for the last 4years. And the ppl come in all sorts. There are those who obviously can do more but choose to underperform, or maybe do the bare minimal. There are those who obviously are under qualified yet feel that they can take on more, n in letting them try it out, they fail. Even more miserably. There are those who are qualified but very lacking in confidence. Then there's attitude problem, ppl who are somewhat dense. N the list go on n on. Having said that, of cos there's an occasional excellent staff. But thats rare n hard to come by. Having lead a team for so long, I've somewhat grown used to it (that's why I have been hanging around for so long).
Now on the other hand, poor leadership skills from top mgmt is one thing that really gets on my nerves. N of late, things have snowballed til one day I finally burst (omg! After 6years!)
I sat my boss down n we had a good talk. Non confrontational but my honest opinion of her leadership skills. Come to think of it, it was very brave (nice word for ppl who just talk without planning. Sigh.). When one is on the verge of submitting her resignation letter anytime, I figured I've got nothing to lose. Ok, back to that conversation. So we talked n I pointed out some issues with her n guess what? She's taking concrete action, determined to change. All in a very positive manner, taking heed of my proposed changes.
Besides, I've requested for a change of role. I've been interested in process improvement, project works, cross department/division initiatives for the longest time. I like to take charge of my own work n see results, be responsible for nobody but myself. N yes. With effect from August (hopefully I dun jinxed it by saying out loud), I will be doing that. A very challenging job scope has been crafted out to me. And I gladly accept it. Can't wait!

Irritants

Some ppl just need to learn to stay out of other ppls lives and ears!
Sent pxb for grooming at the nearby mall. And left him there since its gonna take abt 2hrs. The irritating mil has to keep asking where's he, take so long one meh? Then she decided to arrange her dinner with her sister at the mall to check on pxb. And call me to report on him. Then I told her its ok just let him be n I'll bring him back shortly. As if that's not enough, she has to wait til the shop is done n get the owner to call me n insist I bring him back!
Fuck! No! Stop being an irritant n leave me to do my own planning!
I hate it when she chooses to interfere with every aspect! Angry!

Disappointed yet again

Saw a unit yesterday n arranged for viewing today. However owner is unable to make it n originally scheduled it for wed instead. Today the buyer agent tried to reach me to inform of someone having made an offer and whether I'm interested to bid. As I was busy with work, by the time I checked my phone, it was too late. Sold. For 2k below what we had wanted to offer. Sigh. Disappointed yet again. Why is it so diff to locate that dream house?

Property hunting

Been really busy (excuse for lazy) recently. My bro's a property agent but he's very busy (genuinely making a living) nowadays. So I took it upon myself to property hunt. So other than work hours, I've been spending all my travelling time and sacrificing sleep time to lookup. Very very very busy (really tedious and double hard work for someone who know nuts abt property) researching.
Went for a viewing last Sunday. A maisonette. 157sqm. Huge and spacious and well renovated. Move in condition with minimal touchup. Located within 10min waking distance of train station. Established estate with more than 10coffeeshops, wet market, 2 supermarkets within 5min waking distance. Corner unit. High floor. Unblocked. Greenery view. 3bedroom+1study. Valuation 620k. PERFECT RIGHT?! Cov asking for min 100k!!!!!!!!!!!!! Faint! With 100k, I can easily afford a condo. The last offer was 80k and the owner turned it down. Sigh! Major disappointment!

What a Thursday.

Fell down. Duper ouch. It was rainy n slippery n I slipped downslope. Landed on my butt with a loud thud. Ended up with a bruised butt, elbow and ego.
Stayed late in office for filming. We are preparing for company retreat next weekend. And the prework requires each team to prepare a short film (3minutes).
There were initial complaints and grouches but we had a good time. The filming was hilarious n colleagues were really game.
Can't wait to see the end product.

IT meetings

Are super unproductive.
We: we want this field in front of the subject header.
IT: in front? What do you mean.
Me: @_@

Time mgmt

I have this staff H who just started on her part time degree. Whilst I understand it's not easy to juggle both work n part time studies, having signed up for the degree should prep her that she must be committed n plan her time wisely.
Just recd a SMS from her. It read: "Morning ... I'm still doing my assignment due noon. I need another 2 hour to reach to office . Can I request for urgent 2 hour off at least. Cause S insist not to give me"
Honestly, what is she expecting? This SMS came at 7.40am. If I tell her no, do u think she is still in time for work? (she lives in woodlands n is expected to report for work at 8.30am).
So bird.

Appraisal

The whole appraisal thing gives me mixed feelings. It is supposed to sum up one's performance for the entire year. Yet I've seen some assessors who do not put much effort into reviewing their staff's performance for the last year. Hence the appraisal has not been accurately n fairly written. This assessor K in particular spent half an hour to sum up one whole year of performance by her staff. N it was not based on K's observation but based on the staff's input to her. So the appraisal went pretty much like, "you have not met your kpi 5times this year so pls work to
Improve on your performance.". Huh? Appraisal is not abt looking at one aspect but the overall performance of your staff. So a 3rd party looking at this year will not have a full picture reading K's assessment of her staff. I pity her staff.

I've seen some ppl, who no matter how hard they try, will fail due to some reasons. The mgmt may be biased, misunderstand or have past "grudges" agst a staff. So no matter what he does, it's simply not good enough.

I had mine today. It was pretty fair though. N I'm fairly pleased with the ratings and reviews given. But then again, I consider myself lucky to be reporting to a fair unbiased manager who puts effort into reviewing my work.
Luck or life? Dunno.

Hilarious quarrel

A young teen was fooling ard with his frens n almost knocked into me. W raised his voice in shock n that donkey challenged back, wanting to fight W.

In the heat of the moment, that donkey shouted, "EH UNCLE!".

My man shouted "WHAT UNCLE? YOU SEE PROPERLY!"

Hahahahaha. I almost rolled on the floor.

So bird.