When it's not fun anymore, when it brings you pain.
When you've turned into that someone that you barely know, and despise.
Maybe it's time to step back and ask yourself;
Do you really wanna stay on?
Showing posts with label Workplace Rants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Workplace Rants. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 07, 2014
Thursday, September 03, 2009
心好痛。。。
被冤枉真的很难受。
如果是被可恶的人冤枉也就算了，至少还能肆无忌惮的咒骂他，但冤枉我的人竟然是个好人，除了要骂他骂不出口之外，就算跟别人说，应该也没人会信我。
为什么我每次不管怎么努力，都没人看见呢？
反而我要是出一点什么差错，就被别人逮个正着。
坐在jumpseat准备降落的时候，才发现整整六个半小时的航班，我连一口水都没喝到，一次厕所也没上过。
这么努力的工作着，还要被人冤枉我做事没交代，没有团体精神。
真不明白为什么这么好的一个人竟然会这样冤枉我，就不能体谅一点吗？
被冤枉的时候，我知道对方已经有了先入为主的想法，我再多作解释也没用，反而可能会越描越黑，所以就只有道歉。
稍后有试着和对方解释一点点，让对方了解我的处境，但他根本就不想听，只是一眛的觉得是我的错就对了。
降落后，我只是说话的时候用字不慎，又被他训了一下。
我已经不想再多说什么了，他喜欢怎么想就怎么想吧，反正再说什么也没用。
真的很难过我付出的所有努力就这样被人否定掉。
我真的很想把眼泪往肚里吞，但眼泪好像太久没出来溜了，一直不停的流，害我一直要把眼泪鼻涕清一清。
还好没被别人发现，要不然又要把我冠上太过情绪化、无法控制情绪、不专业等的罪名。
不知道为什么我只要免税商品销量一多，就会有一些坏事发生。
希望这个魔咒快点解除吧！
神啊，救救我吧！
如果是被可恶的人冤枉也就算了，至少还能肆无忌惮的咒骂他，但冤枉我的人竟然是个好人，除了要骂他骂不出口之外，就算跟别人说，应该也没人会信我。
为什么我每次不管怎么努力，都没人看见呢？
反而我要是出一点什么差错，就被别人逮个正着。
坐在jumpseat准备降落的时候，才发现整整六个半小时的航班，我连一口水都没喝到，一次厕所也没上过。
这么努力的工作着，还要被人冤枉我做事没交代，没有团体精神。
真不明白为什么这么好的一个人竟然会这样冤枉我，就不能体谅一点吗？
被冤枉的时候，我知道对方已经有了先入为主的想法，我再多作解释也没用，反而可能会越描越黑，所以就只有道歉。
稍后有试着和对方解释一点点，让对方了解我的处境，但他根本就不想听，只是一眛的觉得是我的错就对了。
降落后，我只是说话的时候用字不慎，又被他训了一下。
我已经不想再多说什么了，他喜欢怎么想就怎么想吧，反正再说什么也没用。
真的很难过我付出的所有努力就这样被人否定掉。
我真的很想把眼泪往肚里吞，但眼泪好像太久没出来溜了，一直不停的流，害我一直要把眼泪鼻涕清一清。
还好没被别人发现，要不然又要把我冠上太过情绪化、无法控制情绪、不专业等的罪名。
不知道为什么我只要免税商品销量一多，就会有一些坏事发生。
希望这个魔咒快点解除吧！
神啊，救救我吧！
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
非人生活
今天被pull out去做一趟伊斯坦堡的航班。
就像我上一篇所说的一样，家里电话一响，还在睡梦中的我就睡眼惺忪的飚了脏话。
但也没办法，就只好认命了。
飞过去的时候还好，飞回来的时候我还真恨不得有人可以把我给杀了，或者我把机上的乘客统统都杀了也不错，长痛不如短痛。
从开始登机那一刻，他们就开始折腾我们了。
耳朵不断的听到excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me。。。。。
现在如果有人在我面前说出这句话，我马上就给他揍下去！
这个乘客要袜子啦。
隔两分钟，另一位也是要袜子，明明我们起飞后就会发眼罩袜子的，但我还是给了他们。
发热毛巾时，偏偏就有那么一位仁兄就是要和别人不一样，硬是要冷的。
最让我受不了的是连看起来不到七岁的小孩都能够把我使唤来、使唤去，
若你认为这真是没有尊严到极点，
那我接下来要说的会让你崩溃吧，
就是，不止一个是 三个！！！
手脚长在他们身上好像稍嫌多余了点，
因为即使是要拿脚边的耳机，
他们也没能力拿，
要劳驾我去帮他们拿，
而且还不止一次，
然后送餐点的时候就一直叫我帮他们做这做那的。
还有接连而来的免税商品订单把我压得差点变人干煎饼，
从来没卖东西卖到这么想死过，
而且眼看就快要降落了，
这些人还在慢慢的选，
我又还有几个人没招呼到呢，
简直就快被逼疯了，
他们好像以为整架飞机上就只有他们一个人似的，
别人不用买喔！
跟他们说有些商品没了也没用，
他们就好像钱多到没地方花似的，
买不到这个就问要另一个，
我又不是只招待一个人，
还有很多订单都还没做呢！
我也不是不想卖呀，
卖多的话我还能抽佣，
但时间不允许我能怎样嘛！
难道要为了他们的免税购物，
而搞到班机误点吗？
还有更夸张的，
商品卖了给他，
还要我帮他拆开包装，
到底是有多没用啊？！
连扯开塑胶袋也不会吗？
我看他四肢倒是蛮健全的嘛。
都已经没时间了，
还要帮这种鸟人做这种鸟事，
好手好脚的不好好用是怎样啊！
降落后，
还被Purser催着做别的事情，
我也不是偷懒不做呀，
没看到我正在核对售出的商品吗？
要是出了什么错，
赔钱的可是我耶！
如果我没赶快把免税的东西弄好的话，
我们一整组工作人员可以准时下班吗？
应该还要耗上一阵子等我吧！
回家的时候想说，
再辛苦也熬过了，
明天理应让我休息的，
因为我昨天也有standby，
只是没被pull out而已。
若scheduling明天又让我standby的话，
简直就是没人性。
谁知道，
他们完完全全的就比我想像的还要没人性，
我彻彻底底的低估他们了，
他们竟然给我一个airport standby，
而且还是六个小时的！
平时airport standby都只有三小时而以，
今天给了我这么长的turnaround，
来回八小时，
还要我明天化了妆，
到机场干等六个钟头！
这些人是吃大便长大的吗？
气的我真的很想请病假耶！
就像我上一篇所说的一样，家里电话一响，还在睡梦中的我就睡眼惺忪的飚了脏话。
但也没办法，就只好认命了。
飞过去的时候还好，飞回来的时候我还真恨不得有人可以把我给杀了，或者我把机上的乘客统统都杀了也不错，长痛不如短痛。
从开始登机那一刻，他们就开始折腾我们了。
耳朵不断的听到excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me。。。。。
现在如果有人在我面前说出这句话，我马上就给他揍下去！
这个乘客要袜子啦。
隔两分钟，另一位也是要袜子，明明我们起飞后就会发眼罩袜子的，但我还是给了他们。
发热毛巾时，偏偏就有那么一位仁兄就是要和别人不一样，硬是要冷的。
最让我受不了的是连看起来不到七岁的小孩都能够把我使唤来、使唤去，
若你认为这真是没有尊严到极点，
那我接下来要说的会让你崩溃吧，
就是，不止一个是 三个！！！
手脚长在他们身上好像稍嫌多余了点，
因为即使是要拿脚边的耳机，
他们也没能力拿，
要劳驾我去帮他们拿，
而且还不止一次，
然后送餐点的时候就一直叫我帮他们做这做那的。
还有接连而来的免税商品订单把我压得差点变人干煎饼，
从来没卖东西卖到这么想死过，
而且眼看就快要降落了，
这些人还在慢慢的选，
我又还有几个人没招呼到呢，
简直就快被逼疯了，
他们好像以为整架飞机上就只有他们一个人似的，
别人不用买喔！
跟他们说有些商品没了也没用，
他们就好像钱多到没地方花似的，
买不到这个就问要另一个，
我又不是只招待一个人，
还有很多订单都还没做呢！
我也不是不想卖呀，
卖多的话我还能抽佣，
但时间不允许我能怎样嘛！
难道要为了他们的免税购物，
而搞到班机误点吗？
还有更夸张的，
商品卖了给他，
还要我帮他拆开包装，
到底是有多没用啊？！
连扯开塑胶袋也不会吗？
我看他四肢倒是蛮健全的嘛。
都已经没时间了，
还要帮这种鸟人做这种鸟事，
好手好脚的不好好用是怎样啊！
降落后，
还被Purser催着做别的事情，
我也不是偷懒不做呀，
没看到我正在核对售出的商品吗？
要是出了什么错，
赔钱的可是我耶！
如果我没赶快把免税的东西弄好的话，
我们一整组工作人员可以准时下班吗？
应该还要耗上一阵子等我吧！
回家的时候想说，
再辛苦也熬过了，
明天理应让我休息的，
因为我昨天也有standby，
只是没被pull out而已。
若scheduling明天又让我standby的话，
简直就是没人性。
谁知道，
他们完完全全的就比我想像的还要没人性，
我彻彻底底的低估他们了，
他们竟然给我一个airport standby，
而且还是六个小时的！
平时airport standby都只有三小时而以，
今天给了我这么长的turnaround，
来回八小时，
还要我明天化了妆，
到机场干等六个钟头！
这些人是吃大便长大的吗？
气的我真的很想请病假耶！
Monday, August 10, 2009
得以幸存的感言
刚从三小时的airport standby安然回来。
出门时真的有种决心战死杀场的感觉，
因为这一脚踏出门，
不知道能不能同一天回来，
也不晓得会被叫去做什么样的烂航班。
而且这三小时就是干等，
每次standby室的电话响起时，
每个人都会突然精神紧绷，
停下手边在做的事，
然后准备收到最坏的消息，
直到听到被叫的名字跟员工编号不是自己的，
才松了一口气，
电话的下一声响起时，
大家的心臟又开始纠结了。
心臟衰弱者还是敬而远之的好。
若是home standby，
只要家里的电话一响，
马上就会开始飚脏话，
然后才认命的接电话。
但今天还好跟我一起standby的，
有几位我都蛮熟的，
所以至少还能聊聊天打发时间，
这平时最难熬的三小时也就过的轻松多了。
然后现在就是舒舒服服的坐在房间里上网，
猛看五月天的视频。
真的很舒服哦，
要不你看一下我上网的地方。。。。。
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
A little something to share
For those of you who don't know, the most preposterous things happen onboard an aircraft.
Perhaps because you are breathing recycled air at 35000 feet, you are stuck, have nowhere to go and can't really think straight (for some people anyway).
All you can do is eat, sleep and if the airline you are travelling with has an extensive selection of in-flight entertainment, engage yourself in an exciting movie or listen to some (hopefully soothing) music to calm your nerves.
Oh and observe the trolly-dollies while they are running around, hoping to find some faults with them.
I was operating a flight to Kuala Lumpur from Dubai a few days ago.
Departure was delayed for 1.5 hours. Some paxs were wondering about the reason, some getting impatient, and crew of course were even more frustrated, because we wanted to get to the destination ASAP so that we can SLEEEEEEEEEEP!!!
Despite everything, we still tried our best to make paxs happy because if they are not, then they will make our lives hell during the flight. Believe me.
And of course for the reputation of our lovely company *smile coyly*
By the way, the flight was delayed because of a breakdown in the baggage system.
I was doing the bar after take-off and Pax A suddenly complained to me about the delay.
"Why is the flight delayed for one and a half hours? This is very bad. I'm gonna miss my connecting flight to Melbourne and have to stay overnight in Kuala Lumpur like you!"
I could understand the reason for his anger and frustration so I apologized,"I'm very sorry about that, sir. It was delayed because of a breakdown in the baggage system. So sorry about that, sir. Would you like to have any drinks?"
"No, I don't want anything."
"Then would you like any canapes (finger food) or mixed nuts?"
"Huh?"
"Any canapes or mixed nuts for you?"
"Mmmm.....anything."
Dissatisfied with the answer, I tried again. How would I know what "anything" is? Some pax tell you anything is okay but the minute they see someone else eating a different thing, they're gonna ask why didn't you offer that to them. And seeing that he was already irritated, I certainly didn't wanna set him off.
A lot of people don't know what canapes is as well, I didn't know before I was promoted to Business Class. Really don't understand why they give it such a fancy name, can't we just use English here?
Anyway, I tried to show him the bowl of canapes. You know when you are showing something to someone, you aren't sure whether or not they will take it so you don't just shove it into their face, out of courtesy.
"Sir, would you like some canapes or...." I was gonna show him the mixed nuts next.
But he said, "Okay, this one."
I passed it to him.
"Why are you scared to give it to me? The plane is delayed because all of you are doing this!" He was hinting that I was too slow, I guess.
And his expression didn't look like he was joking.
Initially, I was too bewildered to response because what he said was simply too ridiculous for words. Just because he couldn't do anything about the delay, he tried to pick something - anything, to make it our fault.
He couldn't scold the person in charge of the baggage system so he tried to take it out on us, the only face that he can see representing the company.
After pausing for like 2 seconds, I replied calmly, "Sir, I'm very sorry about what happened but the baggage system breakdown is beyond our control. And I didn't give you the canapes right away because I didn't know if you'd want it. I was trying to show it to you. And I'm sorry for the delay."
That seemed to embarass him and he shut up.
I certainly wasn't trying to embarass him or start an argument, I was just trying to make him see what really happened. He has a right to know as a paying passenger (and they pay a hefty sum to travel with us in Business Class).
I didn't want the flight to be delayed any more than he did.
Delays mean longer working hours and possible pax complaints and so long as the aircraft is still parked at the gate, we are not paid a single cent for it (uh-uh, no OT if the chock is still on). So why would we want it to be delayed? We would really sing Hallelujah!! if embarkation is done on time and the aircraft can just take off ASAP!
I gave extra attention to him and always checked on him for the remainder of the flight. But I think it was his unlucky day as well.
He wanted to buy 4 duty free items amounting to around AED3000 but NONE of them were available. I dunno whether it was the catering's fault or not as I wasn't the duty free operator that day. But the catering for that flight really didn't do their job well.
They didn't load enough 1.5 litre bottled water for us and didn't prepare the aircraft as they normally should. Not enough tumbler glasses either. We had to serve everything in wine glasses for the second half of the flight! And no more ice in Business Class as well for that same period of time.
Anyway, you can imagine how black was Pax A's face. I don't blame him. It was too much for a 6.5 hour flight. Gotta be extra careful now, anything could trigger an outburst. And he began to complain about the seats after a while.
Throughout everything, Pax B sitting next to him was fine.
He got the meal choice that he wanted. He was drinking red wine and I kept on replenishing it without being asked. He seemed happy with the service.
Towards the end of the flight, he pressed the attendant callbell so I went to answer it.
He wanted another small bottle of water. I promptly went back to the galley to get it but was told it had ran out.
So I went back to him with a glass of water and apologized for it. Telling him that just let me know if he needed anything else. He requested for a double shot of Baileys with ice.
I went back to the galley and remembered that we have closed all bars in Business. So I went down to the 2 galleys in Economy only to discover that all bars were closed.
Returned to Business Class galley and we had to open 1 bar. There was only 1 miniature Baileys inside. Dang. Went to the Economy galley again to get ice and finally back to the pax.
"I am very sorry, sir. There is only one Baileys left."
"It's ok."
He didn't seem to be mad or anything. If he had shown the slightest sign of being unhappy or dissatisfied, I would have opened other bars to get Baileys for him no matter what.
Approaching the top of descent, my colleague, Amanda was distributing hot towels. Pax B got hold of her and started going on about his list of complaints.
We eventually gave him a big bottle (1.5L) of water.
He also asked for a feedback form, which is, like, the most serious thing a pax can do if they wanna file a complaint.
The pax then proceeded to speak to the Purser. He told the Purser that he asked for a bottle of water and waited for 2 hours before anyone gave it to him.
As you can see, it was a big fat lie.
I answered his call as soon as I heard it and although I went to the wrong pax at first, I still went to him in less than 3 minutes.
Throughout the flight, Pax B got basically everything he wanted except for the small bottled water (of which I replaced with a glass of water) and double shots of Baileys (but he still got a single shot).
And still all our efforts didn't work and he had to complain.
I also think it's because Pax A was negative from the start and kept brain-washing Pax B.
I'm telling you that working onboard an aircraft is hard work although some people might think otherwise.
If you are working at any regular restaurants on ground, you can get almost anything a customer wants at the snap of your fingers. I mean, they normally only order from the menu and restaurants normally are capable of delivering what is stated there.
But let's say you see black pepper beef, chicken curry and omelette on an aircraft menu, chances are, the flight is only catered for 60% beef, 30% chicken and 10% omelette. And we the "glamorous" trolly-dollies have to break our skulls on how to tell paxs that the meals they order are sometimes not available (which is also stated in a disclaimer in the menu).
Or worse yet, the pax ask for a fish or seafood meal when they haven't even ordered a special meal beforehand. We are 35000 feet in the air, tell me how am I gonna go fishing for that meal?
If there is beef, sometimes they ask us to make it medium-rare. I'm sorry but we heat all the meals together for the same duration. And we do not have a chef onboard so I can't tailor the food to your needs. They are all mass-produced, in case you wanna know.
Some pax order special meals but suddenly feel that they wanna have the regular meal instead. And the moment you apologize and say you have to double-check whether we have enough meals first, their face turn as black as coals. Well excuse me, is it my fault that you ordered something and don't like it?
There are also paxs who still wanna stuff their faces with food even though they have already had 2 hot meals. So we are only left with offering them alternatives such as crew meals or sandwiches. If all the pax meals are finished, we can only eat crew meals. And if the pax wants it, then we have to go hungry. If it's a 7-hour flight, then so be it, let us be hungry and still have to answer pax requests and say goodbye to them with a smile.
If you are a regular waiter in a regular restaurant, you are not expected to do anything except calling the ambulance should a customer choke.
But we are supposed to do a Heimlich Maneuver to help him get the foreign object out so that he can continue breathing. If he faints, we have to administer oxygen. If he stops breathing, we have to perform CPR on him.
If a pregnant lady suddenly goes into labour, we have to deliver the baby.
If *touch wood* anyone dies onboard, we need to get the mortality kit out and take care of the body until we land. In addition, deal with the trauma (for those directly involved) for having someone dying before your eyes and all your efforts still doesn't help.
We are expected to remain perfectly calm and composed in all kinds of situations. Sometimes we make mistakes as well, simply because we are ordinary human beings.
Each of us are server, first aid responder, cleaner, security officers, all rolled into one.
Of course there are black sheeps among us, if any of us are discourteous to you, then I won't blame you for complaining about it.
But most of us are just trying to do our job and trying hard to keep you happy in the process.
Next time you see one of us, and if you feel that we've done a good job, we'd be ecstatic if you tell us that you really appreciate what we have done for you.
Perhaps because you are breathing recycled air at 35000 feet, you are stuck, have nowhere to go and can't really think straight (for some people anyway).
All you can do is eat, sleep and if the airline you are travelling with has an extensive selection of in-flight entertainment, engage yourself in an exciting movie or listen to some (hopefully soothing) music to calm your nerves.
Oh and observe the trolly-dollies while they are running around, hoping to find some faults with them.
I was operating a flight to Kuala Lumpur from Dubai a few days ago.
Departure was delayed for 1.5 hours. Some paxs were wondering about the reason, some getting impatient, and crew of course were even more frustrated, because we wanted to get to the destination ASAP so that we can SLEEEEEEEEEEP!!!
Despite everything, we still tried our best to make paxs happy because if they are not, then they will make our lives hell during the flight. Believe me.
And of course for the reputation of our lovely company *smile coyly*
By the way, the flight was delayed because of a breakdown in the baggage system.
I was doing the bar after take-off and Pax A suddenly complained to me about the delay.
"Why is the flight delayed for one and a half hours? This is very bad. I'm gonna miss my connecting flight to Melbourne and have to stay overnight in Kuala Lumpur like you!"
I could understand the reason for his anger and frustration so I apologized,"I'm very sorry about that, sir. It was delayed because of a breakdown in the baggage system. So sorry about that, sir. Would you like to have any drinks?"
"No, I don't want anything."
"Then would you like any canapes (finger food) or mixed nuts?"
"Huh?"
"Any canapes or mixed nuts for you?"
"Mmmm.....anything."
Dissatisfied with the answer, I tried again. How would I know what "anything" is? Some pax tell you anything is okay but the minute they see someone else eating a different thing, they're gonna ask why didn't you offer that to them. And seeing that he was already irritated, I certainly didn't wanna set him off.
A lot of people don't know what canapes is as well, I didn't know before I was promoted to Business Class. Really don't understand why they give it such a fancy name, can't we just use English here?
Anyway, I tried to show him the bowl of canapes. You know when you are showing something to someone, you aren't sure whether or not they will take it so you don't just shove it into their face, out of courtesy.
"Sir, would you like some canapes or...." I was gonna show him the mixed nuts next.
But he said, "Okay, this one."
I passed it to him.
"Why are you scared to give it to me? The plane is delayed because all of you are doing this!" He was hinting that I was too slow, I guess.
And his expression didn't look like he was joking.
Initially, I was too bewildered to response because what he said was simply too ridiculous for words. Just because he couldn't do anything about the delay, he tried to pick something - anything, to make it our fault.
He couldn't scold the person in charge of the baggage system so he tried to take it out on us, the only face that he can see representing the company.
After pausing for like 2 seconds, I replied calmly, "Sir, I'm very sorry about what happened but the baggage system breakdown is beyond our control. And I didn't give you the canapes right away because I didn't know if you'd want it. I was trying to show it to you. And I'm sorry for the delay."
That seemed to embarass him and he shut up.
I certainly wasn't trying to embarass him or start an argument, I was just trying to make him see what really happened. He has a right to know as a paying passenger (and they pay a hefty sum to travel with us in Business Class).
I didn't want the flight to be delayed any more than he did.
Delays mean longer working hours and possible pax complaints and so long as the aircraft is still parked at the gate, we are not paid a single cent for it (uh-uh, no OT if the chock is still on). So why would we want it to be delayed? We would really sing Hallelujah!! if embarkation is done on time and the aircraft can just take off ASAP!
I gave extra attention to him and always checked on him for the remainder of the flight. But I think it was his unlucky day as well.
He wanted to buy 4 duty free items amounting to around AED3000 but NONE of them were available. I dunno whether it was the catering's fault or not as I wasn't the duty free operator that day. But the catering for that flight really didn't do their job well.
They didn't load enough 1.5 litre bottled water for us and didn't prepare the aircraft as they normally should. Not enough tumbler glasses either. We had to serve everything in wine glasses for the second half of the flight! And no more ice in Business Class as well for that same period of time.
Anyway, you can imagine how black was Pax A's face. I don't blame him. It was too much for a 6.5 hour flight. Gotta be extra careful now, anything could trigger an outburst. And he began to complain about the seats after a while.
Throughout everything, Pax B sitting next to him was fine.
He got the meal choice that he wanted. He was drinking red wine and I kept on replenishing it without being asked. He seemed happy with the service.
Towards the end of the flight, he pressed the attendant callbell so I went to answer it.
He wanted another small bottle of water. I promptly went back to the galley to get it but was told it had ran out.
So I went back to him with a glass of water and apologized for it. Telling him that just let me know if he needed anything else. He requested for a double shot of Baileys with ice.
I went back to the galley and remembered that we have closed all bars in Business. So I went down to the 2 galleys in Economy only to discover that all bars were closed.
Returned to Business Class galley and we had to open 1 bar. There was only 1 miniature Baileys inside. Dang. Went to the Economy galley again to get ice and finally back to the pax.
"I am very sorry, sir. There is only one Baileys left."
"It's ok."
He didn't seem to be mad or anything. If he had shown the slightest sign of being unhappy or dissatisfied, I would have opened other bars to get Baileys for him no matter what.
Approaching the top of descent, my colleague, Amanda was distributing hot towels. Pax B got hold of her and started going on about his list of complaints.
We eventually gave him a big bottle (1.5L) of water.
He also asked for a feedback form, which is, like, the most serious thing a pax can do if they wanna file a complaint.
The pax then proceeded to speak to the Purser. He told the Purser that he asked for a bottle of water and waited for 2 hours before anyone gave it to him.
As you can see, it was a big fat lie.
I answered his call as soon as I heard it and although I went to the wrong pax at first, I still went to him in less than 3 minutes.
Throughout the flight, Pax B got basically everything he wanted except for the small bottled water (of which I replaced with a glass of water) and double shots of Baileys (but he still got a single shot).
And still all our efforts didn't work and he had to complain.
I also think it's because Pax A was negative from the start and kept brain-washing Pax B.
I'm telling you that working onboard an aircraft is hard work although some people might think otherwise.
If you are working at any regular restaurants on ground, you can get almost anything a customer wants at the snap of your fingers. I mean, they normally only order from the menu and restaurants normally are capable of delivering what is stated there.
But let's say you see black pepper beef, chicken curry and omelette on an aircraft menu, chances are, the flight is only catered for 60% beef, 30% chicken and 10% omelette. And we the "glamorous" trolly-dollies have to break our skulls on how to tell paxs that the meals they order are sometimes not available (which is also stated in a disclaimer in the menu).
Or worse yet, the pax ask for a fish or seafood meal when they haven't even ordered a special meal beforehand. We are 35000 feet in the air, tell me how am I gonna go fishing for that meal?
If there is beef, sometimes they ask us to make it medium-rare. I'm sorry but we heat all the meals together for the same duration. And we do not have a chef onboard so I can't tailor the food to your needs. They are all mass-produced, in case you wanna know.
Some pax order special meals but suddenly feel that they wanna have the regular meal instead. And the moment you apologize and say you have to double-check whether we have enough meals first, their face turn as black as coals. Well excuse me, is it my fault that you ordered something and don't like it?
There are also paxs who still wanna stuff their faces with food even though they have already had 2 hot meals. So we are only left with offering them alternatives such as crew meals or sandwiches. If all the pax meals are finished, we can only eat crew meals. And if the pax wants it, then we have to go hungry. If it's a 7-hour flight, then so be it, let us be hungry and still have to answer pax requests and say goodbye to them with a smile.
If you are a regular waiter in a regular restaurant, you are not expected to do anything except calling the ambulance should a customer choke.
But we are supposed to do a Heimlich Maneuver to help him get the foreign object out so that he can continue breathing. If he faints, we have to administer oxygen. If he stops breathing, we have to perform CPR on him.
If a pregnant lady suddenly goes into labour, we have to deliver the baby.
If *touch wood* anyone dies onboard, we need to get the mortality kit out and take care of the body until we land. In addition, deal with the trauma (for those directly involved) for having someone dying before your eyes and all your efforts still doesn't help.
We are expected to remain perfectly calm and composed in all kinds of situations. Sometimes we make mistakes as well, simply because we are ordinary human beings.
Each of us are server, first aid responder, cleaner, security officers, all rolled into one.
Of course there are black sheeps among us, if any of us are discourteous to you, then I won't blame you for complaining about it.
But most of us are just trying to do our job and trying hard to keep you happy in the process.
Next time you see one of us, and if you feel that we've done a good job, we'd be ecstatic if you tell us that you really appreciate what we have done for you.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
娘喂！
又是没被 PULL OUT 的3个半小时。
又是被浪费掉的3个半小时。
我这整个月都是 STANDBY。
都十几号了，才只做了一个 FLIGHT。
而且还是短程的，来回只有9个多钟头。
要怎么过年啊我？！
难道我这个月就真的只能吃沙（没关系，楼下多的是），还有喝冬天的冷风吗？
所以各位乡亲父老，现在这种情况，有工作就好好做，有大夜班就好好加，有什么牢骚只能往肚里吞了吧！
又是被浪费掉的3个半小时。
我这整个月都是 STANDBY。
都十几号了，才只做了一个 FLIGHT。
而且还是短程的，来回只有9个多钟头。
要怎么过年啊我？！
难道我这个月就真的只能吃沙（没关系，楼下多的是），还有喝冬天的冷风吗？
所以各位乡亲父老，现在这种情况，有工作就好好做，有大夜班就好好加，有什么牢骚只能往肚里吞了吧！
Friday, September 26, 2008
A bit of today's flight...
Was in the back galley resting between services.
Mink spotted a hole in the left leg of my stockings and made some naughty remarks which I didn't catch.
Some moments later, I dug at the hole with my index finger.
Mink : Don't put your finger into your hole! (+ultra naughty smile)
Laughter all 'round.
Me : It's MY finger and it's MY hole! I can do whatever I like with it!
Everyone : GROANNN!!!
Mink spotted a hole in the left leg of my stockings and made some naughty remarks which I didn't catch.
Some moments later, I dug at the hole with my index finger.
Mink : Don't put your finger into your hole! (+ultra naughty smile)
Laughter all 'round.
Me : It's MY finger and it's MY hole! I can do whatever I like with it!
Everyone : GROANNN!!!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Most Miserable Layover
Some inhuman guys changed my Frankfurt flight to a double sector Dubai-Addis Ababa-Entebbe flight.
Geez!!! I was even planning to buy some huge, fresh grapes and eating some Thai food in Frankfurt!
At first I thought,"Oh well, at least I had another Frankfurt right before this one," so I didn't think about it that much.
But when everyone started saying how I shouldn't have agreed to do that in the briefing room, I was having second thoughts. But it wasn't like I could really do anything.
Those guys at scheduling will only give shit to you or you can either absorb everything or give shit to them and end up being marked absent for your duty and have your manager send you a warning letter and basically have everything messed up for you in the company.
So, see, I'm just a poor little lamb.
In case you didn't know, Addis Ababa is in Ethiopia and Entebbe is in Uganda. Both are in the African region.
The names of places in Africa are all pretty funky, huh? Like, Mombasa. Every time I hear that name, I just feel like some black lady in a colourful tribal African dress is gonna dance with a cabasa in her hand or something.
Anyway, I thought that well, I'd just have to accept that.
But I regretted...BIG time when I reached the hotel.
The hotel looked up-to-standard though. Nothing wrong with it at first glance.
I dropped all my bags and checked out the hotel room first thing I got inside.
Bathroom was a bit too small but otherwise, everything was okay.
But then the shower cap was missing...
My hair turns into a big frizzy nightmare if it comes into contact with dampness or water, which is why I never wash it during normal 24-hour layovers.
If I have to wash it during long trips, then I'd have to bring along my hair straightening iron.
Thus, you could say that I can't live without shower caps.
I called housekeeping and horrors of horrors, the guy told me their shower caps were out of stock!
OH. MY. GOD.
Which self-reputable hotel in this world will allow its shower caps to be out of stock?!!
It's like, THE most basic of all necessities! And also the one that a lot of people don't use! So since so many people aren't using them, how can you still have the cheek to let them be depleted to zero? This is simply ridiculous!
The guy said that his colleague will find one for me and being the good guest that I always am, I thanked him and just asked them to try their best without making any fuss about it. I did ask them to try their best and send one to me as soon as they find one, though.
And as anticipated, no shower caps showed up.
I was starving and dead tired so I ordered room service. The menu choice onboard was pretty bad for that flight so I didn't really ate anything. As you can imagine, I was looking forward to some mouth-watering food.
But another crew told me earlier that the hotel food sucked. So she brought her own food.
But I had no choice and I thought, given the level of hunger I was in at that point, I was pretty confident that any mediocre food would taste like heaven to me.
The food arrived and I simply couldn't wait to dig in.
The room service menu didn't offer much variety either.
So I ordered Classic French Onion Soup and Penne Pasta in Tomato and Meat Sauce.
The soup was okay, but a bit too salty.
The penne pasta looked like a mountain, literally. It was in such a humongous quantity that I wished that it had better be good.
One mouthful and I felt like dumping the whole thing into the toilet bowl.
It was bland and the only taste was the minced beef.
I was telling myself that things couldn't get worse and was ready to submit to my poor fate that day.
So I thought I would just watch TV while I ate to take my mind off the less-than-sumptuous meal.
At first I thought maybe the battery of the remote control was out. And some of the wording printed on the remote's button were used so frequently that they were so worn out that I couldn't really know what I was pressing.
But as I found out, there was something wrong with the remote, but nothing to do with the battery.
I had to press the damn channel buttons so fucking hard that my thumb hurt. I felt like my nails were gonna snap or fall out. And I'm tellin' ya, my nails were quite short.
I actually had to use my left and right thumbs alternatively because it became too much for each thumb to handle. And I had to rest in between just to switch channels.
How miserable is that?
Geez!!! I was even planning to buy some huge, fresh grapes and eating some Thai food in Frankfurt!
At first I thought,"Oh well, at least I had another Frankfurt right before this one," so I didn't think about it that much.
But when everyone started saying how I shouldn't have agreed to do that in the briefing room, I was having second thoughts. But it wasn't like I could really do anything.
Those guys at scheduling will only give shit to you or you can either absorb everything or give shit to them and end up being marked absent for your duty and have your manager send you a warning letter and basically have everything messed up for you in the company.
So, see, I'm just a poor little lamb.
In case you didn't know, Addis Ababa is in Ethiopia and Entebbe is in Uganda. Both are in the African region.
The names of places in Africa are all pretty funky, huh? Like, Mombasa. Every time I hear that name, I just feel like some black lady in a colourful tribal African dress is gonna dance with a cabasa in her hand or something.
Anyway, I thought that well, I'd just have to accept that.
But I regretted...BIG time when I reached the hotel.
The hotel looked up-to-standard though. Nothing wrong with it at first glance.
I dropped all my bags and checked out the hotel room first thing I got inside.
Bathroom was a bit too small but otherwise, everything was okay.
But then the shower cap was missing...
My hair turns into a big frizzy nightmare if it comes into contact with dampness or water, which is why I never wash it during normal 24-hour layovers.
If I have to wash it during long trips, then I'd have to bring along my hair straightening iron.
Thus, you could say that I can't live without shower caps.
I called housekeeping and horrors of horrors, the guy told me their shower caps were out of stock!
OH. MY. GOD.
Which self-reputable hotel in this world will allow its shower caps to be out of stock?!!
It's like, THE most basic of all necessities! And also the one that a lot of people don't use! So since so many people aren't using them, how can you still have the cheek to let them be depleted to zero? This is simply ridiculous!
The guy said that his colleague will find one for me and being the good guest that I always am, I thanked him and just asked them to try their best without making any fuss about it. I did ask them to try their best and send one to me as soon as they find one, though.
And as anticipated, no shower caps showed up.
I was starving and dead tired so I ordered room service. The menu choice onboard was pretty bad for that flight so I didn't really ate anything. As you can imagine, I was looking forward to some mouth-watering food.
But another crew told me earlier that the hotel food sucked. So she brought her own food.
But I had no choice and I thought, given the level of hunger I was in at that point, I was pretty confident that any mediocre food would taste like heaven to me.
The food arrived and I simply couldn't wait to dig in.
The room service menu didn't offer much variety either.
So I ordered Classic French Onion Soup and Penne Pasta in Tomato and Meat Sauce.
The soup was okay, but a bit too salty.
The penne pasta looked like a mountain, literally. It was in such a humongous quantity that I wished that it had better be good.
One mouthful and I felt like dumping the whole thing into the toilet bowl.
It was bland and the only taste was the minced beef.
I was telling myself that things couldn't get worse and was ready to submit to my poor fate that day.
So I thought I would just watch TV while I ate to take my mind off the less-than-sumptuous meal.
At first I thought maybe the battery of the remote control was out. And some of the wording printed on the remote's button were used so frequently that they were so worn out that I couldn't really know what I was pressing.
But as I found out, there was something wrong with the remote, but nothing to do with the battery.
I had to press the damn channel buttons so fucking hard that my thumb hurt. I felt like my nails were gonna snap or fall out. And I'm tellin' ya, my nails were quite short.
I actually had to use my left and right thumbs alternatively because it became too much for each thumb to handle. And I had to rest in between just to switch channels.
How miserable is that?
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Can you believe this?
Just came back from a Kolkata flight yesterday. Yeah it was formerly known as Calcutta.
I checked the flight info after I was pulled out. It was only a 4.5-hour flight. So I thought it would be easy, although I was definitely gonna face in du ren on this flight. And I heard the hotel there is amazing. The only catch was the layover was only a friggin' 13 hours.
I guess I was too naive, or I wasn't very lucky that day.
As usual, those fuckin' in du ren kept making me running back and forth to get them stuff. When I was busy, I just replied I would get back to them and forgot all about it. And when I finally got back to them, someone else had already got them what they wanted cos I think they just ask every crew who passed by. So I just didn't get back to them anymore cos it was just a waste of my time, seriously! I mean, I went back to a pax to give her the meal after she asked me to get rid of the chicken nuggets for her cos she was vegetarian only to find that another crew had already given it to her. And I returned to give a mother the baby food that she asked for but she too was already given one. What the fuck! So I was actually runnin' up and down the aisle for nothin'!
The most infuriating thing on this flight was the brats. I'm referring to their kids here. I tell you, most in du ren's kids are about the most un-adorable and horrible things I have ever encountered in my life. Think I'm biased here? Well then, have a listen.
An arabic mother came onboard with 3 kids (2 boys and 1 girl) and sat right on FOUR seats that didn't belong to her. The kids looked in du ren (IDR) though. Maybe she married an IDR-Muslim, I dunno. Okay, let's call them Family A.
Later, the original owners of the seats came. It was a lady with a baby and a little girl. We'll call them Family B. She was being quite understanding if you ask me. She was willing to wait for a while for them to sort out the seats when Family A refused to move.
After a while, Family B became indignant though. Cos well if you think about it, it was their seats after all. Why should they wait? She began to argue with the arabic lady. A few of us crew tried to talk Family A into moving but they just wouldn't budge. Even the senior stewardess came but it was still hard to get them to move.
Finally, the arabic lady asked her eldest son, who was around 7 or 8 years old, to move into their original seat. He was reluctant and was cursing in their own language the whole time. And he even raised his voice at his mom. The mom didn't say anything, which I think contributes to their kid's bad behaviour. Anyway, the little girl from Family B sat next to Family A in the end.
When I was giving out toys, the eldest son from Family A said,"Thank you, auntie. Give to my sister as well." Then as an afterthought, he said abruptly,"But don't give to the little sister!" I think he meant the little girl from the other family who kicked him outta the seat just now. True enough, he even went to the extent to pull out his sis into the aisle and told me,"Only this is my little sister."
You know, I don't mind if they call me auntie. IDR kids call every lady they see auntie. I know a lot of young ladies are offended when IDR kids call them that but I'm not one of them. I can only say that I've given up. I mean, why get stressed about something as stupid as that?
But I was uber-disgusted at the little boy's vindictive behaviour. He was only what, 7 or 8 years old? And already he was feeling vengeful toward others and showing it as well? The toys was for everyone and he actually asked me not to give it to them.
And they kept standing up when the aircraft was taking off. I had to turn around in my jumpseat and shout at them to sit down. They were even running around in the aisle when we were doing service with carts. Another crew told the kids firmly to sit down but it didn't work. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore and told their mom as assertively as I could,"M'am, you need to keep them in their seats cos we can't work like this!" She just nodded but I couldn't see any efforts from her to try and do anything.
Then when we were securing the cabins before landing, all the IDR passengers stood up like it was during boarding. Can you believe it? ALL of them stood up and opened the hatracks to get their bags out! And we were like, 37 000 feet up in the air with potential turbulence hitting soon.
When I was securing my area, the paxs had multiple big bags either on the floor or on the seats. I was thinking in disbelief,"What, they think they can keep those in their seats for landing?" So i told them to put it back into the hatracks because it wasn't safe like that. They acted a bit blank. I actually told them to their faces that,"Yeah you HAVE to put those bags up right now cos we are landing. I don't understand why you take them all out cos you're gonna have to put them back up again. So please put them back NOW."
And I actually went back 3 or 4 times to personally buckle the seatbelts of those confounding Family A kids. But hell they just couldn't stop getting up! When 2 of them were suffering from pain because of blocked ears, I was actually sneering inside, thinking,"Serves you right, you brats! I hope that can immobilize you till we land!" But no such luck, they were still alive and walking around during landing.
Anyway, I could go on forever talking about them. But I'm not gonna do that now cos I'm getting tired of talking about those fuckin' bastards. And it makes me depressed anyway. So guess I'll stop cursing them for now.
I checked the flight info after I was pulled out. It was only a 4.5-hour flight. So I thought it would be easy, although I was definitely gonna face in du ren on this flight. And I heard the hotel there is amazing. The only catch was the layover was only a friggin' 13 hours.
I guess I was too naive, or I wasn't very lucky that day.
As usual, those fuckin' in du ren kept making me running back and forth to get them stuff. When I was busy, I just replied I would get back to them and forgot all about it. And when I finally got back to them, someone else had already got them what they wanted cos I think they just ask every crew who passed by. So I just didn't get back to them anymore cos it was just a waste of my time, seriously! I mean, I went back to a pax to give her the meal after she asked me to get rid of the chicken nuggets for her cos she was vegetarian only to find that another crew had already given it to her. And I returned to give a mother the baby food that she asked for but she too was already given one. What the fuck! So I was actually runnin' up and down the aisle for nothin'!
The most infuriating thing on this flight was the brats. I'm referring to their kids here. I tell you, most in du ren's kids are about the most un-adorable and horrible things I have ever encountered in my life. Think I'm biased here? Well then, have a listen.
An arabic mother came onboard with 3 kids (2 boys and 1 girl) and sat right on FOUR seats that didn't belong to her. The kids looked in du ren (IDR) though. Maybe she married an IDR-Muslim, I dunno. Okay, let's call them Family A.
Later, the original owners of the seats came. It was a lady with a baby and a little girl. We'll call them Family B. She was being quite understanding if you ask me. She was willing to wait for a while for them to sort out the seats when Family A refused to move.
After a while, Family B became indignant though. Cos well if you think about it, it was their seats after all. Why should they wait? She began to argue with the arabic lady. A few of us crew tried to talk Family A into moving but they just wouldn't budge. Even the senior stewardess came but it was still hard to get them to move.
Finally, the arabic lady asked her eldest son, who was around 7 or 8 years old, to move into their original seat. He was reluctant and was cursing in their own language the whole time. And he even raised his voice at his mom. The mom didn't say anything, which I think contributes to their kid's bad behaviour. Anyway, the little girl from Family B sat next to Family A in the end.
When I was giving out toys, the eldest son from Family A said,"Thank you, auntie. Give to my sister as well." Then as an afterthought, he said abruptly,"But don't give to the little sister!" I think he meant the little girl from the other family who kicked him outta the seat just now. True enough, he even went to the extent to pull out his sis into the aisle and told me,"Only this is my little sister."
You know, I don't mind if they call me auntie. IDR kids call every lady they see auntie. I know a lot of young ladies are offended when IDR kids call them that but I'm not one of them. I can only say that I've given up. I mean, why get stressed about something as stupid as that?
But I was uber-disgusted at the little boy's vindictive behaviour. He was only what, 7 or 8 years old? And already he was feeling vengeful toward others and showing it as well? The toys was for everyone and he actually asked me not to give it to them.
And they kept standing up when the aircraft was taking off. I had to turn around in my jumpseat and shout at them to sit down. They were even running around in the aisle when we were doing service with carts. Another crew told the kids firmly to sit down but it didn't work. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore and told their mom as assertively as I could,"M'am, you need to keep them in their seats cos we can't work like this!" She just nodded but I couldn't see any efforts from her to try and do anything.
Then when we were securing the cabins before landing, all the IDR passengers stood up like it was during boarding. Can you believe it? ALL of them stood up and opened the hatracks to get their bags out! And we were like, 37 000 feet up in the air with potential turbulence hitting soon.
When I was securing my area, the paxs had multiple big bags either on the floor or on the seats. I was thinking in disbelief,"What, they think they can keep those in their seats for landing?" So i told them to put it back into the hatracks because it wasn't safe like that. They acted a bit blank. I actually told them to their faces that,"Yeah you HAVE to put those bags up right now cos we are landing. I don't understand why you take them all out cos you're gonna have to put them back up again. So please put them back NOW."
And I actually went back 3 or 4 times to personally buckle the seatbelts of those confounding Family A kids. But hell they just couldn't stop getting up! When 2 of them were suffering from pain because of blocked ears, I was actually sneering inside, thinking,"Serves you right, you brats! I hope that can immobilize you till we land!" But no such luck, they were still alive and walking around during landing.
Anyway, I could go on forever talking about them. But I'm not gonna do that now cos I'm getting tired of talking about those fuckin' bastards. And it makes me depressed anyway. So guess I'll stop cursing them for now.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
The day I lost my mind
On reserve this month.
First they pulled me out from home standby to do a Johannesburg flight. Then they gave me an airport standby that lasted for 6 hours the very next day I returned from the Jo'burg flight. This is rare. The longest airport standby I'd known only lasts for 4.5 hours.
Didn't think I was gonna get pulled out again. At least not for another layover. At least not for another Jo'burg flight.
But I was.
Couldn't believe my bad luck.
On the way there, I was still feeling okay. As usual, it was a 24-hour layover. But around 2 hours before landing on the way back, I became agitated and angry.
A lazy crew who was imbecile enough to open a hatrack in my area and didn't close it while the aircraft was cruising pissed me off. The same crew who actually wanted to brush her teeth while we were just about to start blanket collection pissed me off. My own mistake pissed me off - I zoned out and started collecting blankets in that confounding crew's area. How could I be so inattentive? I ended up having to collect blankets in both areas due to my own negligence. Another crew used a giant plastic bag instead of the blanket collection bag and left the whole mountain at my door pissed me off. The damn thing couldn't fit into the lavatory and I had to get help while we were rushing to land pissed me off the most.
See, I got extremely pissed during that flight.
Then the company transport supervisor began talking rude to me when I arrived. When the bus driver said something to me and I couldn't understand it and he just waved his hand without explaining further, it finally set me off! I yelled, "Why do you people have to be so rude?!"
In the end, I found out that the driver was merely asking me whether I needed to go to the uniform laundry shop. I felt really bad and ashamed for taking it out on him. Especially when he was really understading and wasn't angry about it at all. I felt so bad and touched that I cried. I think it was because I was too tired and felt really broken.
Luckily, they crew scheduling people are humane enough to give me 2 days off now. And it's probably a bit weird cos I mentioned to my friends that I really enjoy airport standbys since it's normally only 3 hours and if you are not pulled out, then you get the whole day to yourself. Surprisingly, I get a lot of airport standbys this month.
First they pulled me out from home standby to do a Johannesburg flight. Then they gave me an airport standby that lasted for 6 hours the very next day I returned from the Jo'burg flight. This is rare. The longest airport standby I'd known only lasts for 4.5 hours.
Didn't think I was gonna get pulled out again. At least not for another layover. At least not for another Jo'burg flight.
But I was.
Couldn't believe my bad luck.
On the way there, I was still feeling okay. As usual, it was a 24-hour layover. But around 2 hours before landing on the way back, I became agitated and angry.
A lazy crew who was imbecile enough to open a hatrack in my area and didn't close it while the aircraft was cruising pissed me off. The same crew who actually wanted to brush her teeth while we were just about to start blanket collection pissed me off. My own mistake pissed me off - I zoned out and started collecting blankets in that confounding crew's area. How could I be so inattentive? I ended up having to collect blankets in both areas due to my own negligence. Another crew used a giant plastic bag instead of the blanket collection bag and left the whole mountain at my door pissed me off. The damn thing couldn't fit into the lavatory and I had to get help while we were rushing to land pissed me off the most.
See, I got extremely pissed during that flight.
Then the company transport supervisor began talking rude to me when I arrived. When the bus driver said something to me and I couldn't understand it and he just waved his hand without explaining further, it finally set me off! I yelled, "Why do you people have to be so rude?!"
In the end, I found out that the driver was merely asking me whether I needed to go to the uniform laundry shop. I felt really bad and ashamed for taking it out on him. Especially when he was really understading and wasn't angry about it at all. I felt so bad and touched that I cried. I think it was because I was too tired and felt really broken.
Luckily, they crew scheduling people are humane enough to give me 2 days off now. And it's probably a bit weird cos I mentioned to my friends that I really enjoy airport standbys since it's normally only 3 hours and if you are not pulled out, then you get the whole day to yourself. Surprisingly, I get a lot of airport standbys this month.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
No fair
I'd wake up and stare up at the ceiling in a daze, or turn on my side and stare into space, wondering what exactly am I doing here.
That's what's been happening a lot lately.
I guess they gave me too much days off that cause my mind to wander.
After getting my laptop and plugged in to the Net, I've become kinda an anti-social creature. I would lie down on the bed in my darkened room and watch Taiwanese drama series I downloaded online. Or I'd sleep off an entire 24 hours and live a totally decadent life.
I begin to wonder what I'll be like after the contract ends in 3 years. Will I be tired and fed up of this job like many others and quit or will I stay on, feeling equally fucked up or loving every second of it?
Up till now, my schedule pretty much sucks. How was it that when my friends go on standby, they get pulled out every single time but I only get to sit at home and rot? And most of them get European destinations I yearn for so much while I only get destinations down under like Australia and places I'm familiar with, like Malaysia and Singapore?
I probably shouldn't complain so much. My roster isn't terrible or anything. I just wish I can get more of what I want. But life probably isn't about getting the cake every time eh?
I am certain about one thing however, if I don't start getting more flying hours, I'd earn considerably less than my peers. Now that is what's really bothering me.
Ever since I got here, the company always seems to miss me out for many things. Why is it that my friends don't need to fight for what they want but I have to?
It's sickening.
Fingers crossed for my next roster.
That's what's been happening a lot lately.
I guess they gave me too much days off that cause my mind to wander.
After getting my laptop and plugged in to the Net, I've become kinda an anti-social creature. I would lie down on the bed in my darkened room and watch Taiwanese drama series I downloaded online. Or I'd sleep off an entire 24 hours and live a totally decadent life.
I begin to wonder what I'll be like after the contract ends in 3 years. Will I be tired and fed up of this job like many others and quit or will I stay on, feeling equally fucked up or loving every second of it?
Up till now, my schedule pretty much sucks. How was it that when my friends go on standby, they get pulled out every single time but I only get to sit at home and rot? And most of them get European destinations I yearn for so much while I only get destinations down under like Australia and places I'm familiar with, like Malaysia and Singapore?
I probably shouldn't complain so much. My roster isn't terrible or anything. I just wish I can get more of what I want. But life probably isn't about getting the cake every time eh?
I am certain about one thing however, if I don't start getting more flying hours, I'd earn considerably less than my peers. Now that is what's really bothering me.
Ever since I got here, the company always seems to miss me out for many things. Why is it that my friends don't need to fight for what they want but I have to?
It's sickening.
Fingers crossed for my next roster.
Monday, October 29, 2007
6 weeks of tears & laughters...
That's right.
I finally graduated from the Emirates Aviation College on Thursday, 25 October 2007. Being a cabin crew isn't just about coffee, tea (or me). It's about being able to take care of your passengers from take-off to landing and ensuring they are comfortable throughout the flight.
When they have diarrhoea, what medication should be administered; how to treat asthma, angina, heart attack; even how to deliver a baby (yeah, cutting the placenta and all); first aid - bandages and all. Cabin crew are actually authorized to give more medications than a nurse! But of course we have medical backups on the ground to back us up, so don't worry about us killing you by accicent (doesn't sound very assuring, does it? hahaha).
And there's General Safety. Even opening the fucking aircraft door has a 4-step procedure! When to open a door and when not to...procedures of opening doors during an evacuation...safety features on the door. GOD...I never knew there are sooooooooo many ways to open a damn door! And emergency drills, there are 8 cabin doors on an Airbus and we gotta know the drill and the equipment to take during an emergency for each door by heart.
Training wasn't hard but there was definitely a lot of things to memorize and I think I killed a considerable amount of cells in my little brain. But thank God I'm still quite good at memorizing things haha.
Ooooh, and we also have to restrain pax if they behave strangely. How's that for the stereotyped airhead softie cabin crew image?
And even though we have graduated, it doesn't mean the end. Before every flight, there'll be a briefing and the Purser (senior cabin crew in charge of the whole aircraft) will ask each crew member on duty either a safety, first aid, security or service question. If you fail to answer it correctly, it's in the Purser's discretion on whether or not to give you a second chance. If you fail again, then you'll be offloaded from the flight and it's a big deal. It delays your promotion and everything else, bad record for your file too.
Batchmates
By the way, I didn't shed much tears during training. I feel so inhuman. Most of us cried either because of stress, homesick or things like that. The only times I felt like crying were when I was so frustrated because the stupid taxi drivers couldn't understand my bloody directions or the management didn't process my documents right. See, I'm a weirdo who cries for the tiniest and silliest things but major things just don't seem to bother me...I dunno why. Sometimes I feel so stupid about the things that get my eyes and nose sore.
Oh and the culture shock I experienced was tremendous! In a good way, though. I enjoy observing the antics of others during parties. Believe me you, there's so much to see and I do feel like a psychotic stalker. It's not something you get to see very often among Asian cultures *wink wink*. I feel extremely fortunate to be among this group of people. As one of my trainers said, we are a privileged lot living in our own bubble. However, I hope I won't get too carried away cos I still need to go back to the real world someday.
I was lucky cos my classmates (I didn't say batchmates cos I think batch means all 3 groups and I only wanna focus on my group) were a fun bunch and all the trainers for our group were nice and kind. Which is why most of us didn't repeat and we were the biggest Abinitio group at the graduation, I suppose ^_^
Following the graduation, most of us will be on our own. Cabin crew is a lonely job because of the vastly different schedules you might have from your friends. Moreover, we are in a foreign country and not all (if not none) of our close friends are here.
I'd be expecting to see less of my batchmates, which is really sad cos I miss their company so much. I might not even see or fly with them at all in the future, what with over 8000 crew (and still counting) in Emirates. There are a few of them whom I'm really fond of but I'm not sure if we'll see each other again.
Anyway, check out my pix on http://www.friendster.com/tallibeth
I finally graduated from the Emirates Aviation College on Thursday, 25 October 2007. Being a cabin crew isn't just about coffee, tea (or me). It's about being able to take care of your passengers from take-off to landing and ensuring they are comfortable throughout the flight.
When they have diarrhoea, what medication should be administered; how to treat asthma, angina, heart attack; even how to deliver a baby (yeah, cutting the placenta and all); first aid - bandages and all. Cabin crew are actually authorized to give more medications than a nurse! But of course we have medical backups on the ground to back us up, so don't worry about us killing you by accicent (doesn't sound very assuring, does it? hahaha).
And there's General Safety. Even opening the fucking aircraft door has a 4-step procedure! When to open a door and when not to...procedures of opening doors during an evacuation...safety features on the door. GOD...I never knew there are sooooooooo many ways to open a damn door! And emergency drills, there are 8 cabin doors on an Airbus and we gotta know the drill and the equipment to take during an emergency for each door by heart.
Training wasn't hard but there was definitely a lot of things to memorize and I think I killed a considerable amount of cells in my little brain. But thank God I'm still quite good at memorizing things haha.
Ooooh, and we also have to restrain pax if they behave strangely. How's that for the stereotyped airhead softie cabin crew image?
And even though we have graduated, it doesn't mean the end. Before every flight, there'll be a briefing and the Purser (senior cabin crew in charge of the whole aircraft) will ask each crew member on duty either a safety, first aid, security or service question. If you fail to answer it correctly, it's in the Purser's discretion on whether or not to give you a second chance. If you fail again, then you'll be offloaded from the flight and it's a big deal. It delays your promotion and everything else, bad record for your file too.
Batchmates
By the way, I didn't shed much tears during training. I feel so inhuman. Most of us cried either because of stress, homesick or things like that. The only times I felt like crying were when I was so frustrated because the stupid taxi drivers couldn't understand my bloody directions or the management didn't process my documents right. See, I'm a weirdo who cries for the tiniest and silliest things but major things just don't seem to bother me...I dunno why. Sometimes I feel so stupid about the things that get my eyes and nose sore.
Oh and the culture shock I experienced was tremendous! In a good way, though. I enjoy observing the antics of others during parties. Believe me you, there's so much to see and I do feel like a psychotic stalker. It's not something you get to see very often among Asian cultures *wink wink*. I feel extremely fortunate to be among this group of people. As one of my trainers said, we are a privileged lot living in our own bubble. However, I hope I won't get too carried away cos I still need to go back to the real world someday.
I was lucky cos my classmates (I didn't say batchmates cos I think batch means all 3 groups and I only wanna focus on my group) were a fun bunch and all the trainers for our group were nice and kind. Which is why most of us didn't repeat and we were the biggest Abinitio group at the graduation, I suppose ^_^
Following the graduation, most of us will be on our own. Cabin crew is a lonely job because of the vastly different schedules you might have from your friends. Moreover, we are in a foreign country and not all (if not none) of our close friends are here.
I'd be expecting to see less of my batchmates, which is really sad cos I miss their company so much. I might not even see or fly with them at all in the future, what with over 8000 crew (and still counting) in Emirates. There are a few of them whom I'm really fond of but I'm not sure if we'll see each other again.
Anyway, check out my pix on http://www.friendster.com/tallibeth
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Sweet Valentine
It was Valentine's Day yesterday. I'm never interested in this overly commercialized festival. In fact, me and Shyan have never celebrated it ever since we went steady. Sure, if it doesn't fall on weekdays, we'd probably go somewhere nice and have dinner but it always falls on weekdays.
Hence, every Valentine's Day in my life came and went just like any other day. Well, I'm a lazy bum who doesn't care to be romantic. If my other half makes an effort to make it special, of course I'd be more than happy. Don't misunderstand, we love each other to bits. But we just can't find in our souls the romaticism in us. Moreover, as cliche as it sounds, it's Valentine's every single day for us. Hah!
I wouldn't mind if my V-day is lukewarm, but my bosses just spoilt it for me last nite. It's got to do with the pitch job that they wanted us to work on even on Sunday last week. It's a huge campaign stretching across billboard and press ads, brochures, and such. I better not disclose so much in the company's interest.
I try not to mind having to do overtime on V-day. I thought,"Oh well, I probably can knock off around 9pm." But last night, LAST NIGHT a.k.a. Valentine's Nite, I went back only at MIDNIGHT! Sweet, huh? Thought so.
Anyone who's gone for pitching would know for a huge project like this, the designing agency is already set up by the client beforehand. They just open it for pitching because they are going by the procedure. Anyway, I don't think we can get this job and they briefed us at the eleventh hour, how're we gonna come up with work to impress? We were only wasting all our time and holidays doing something that'll be flushed down the drain. I certainly hope the company won't get the job because if we do, there'll be a damn lotta work and we the staff will get nothing in return. No bonus, no raise, no company trips, NO NOTHING!
We're not just talking about bonus from last year's profit, but 4 entire years! According to my senior colleagues, they haven't receive bonus or a salary raise for 4 years. Where had all the money gone? Okay, you can stop having pity on my bosses because they really don't deserve it. Trust me. They only deserve the bitter fruits of my wrath (whoa, sounds literary back there!). Stop all the talks about how the company might not be earning any money.
As I said, they got a brand new car and laptop for themselves last year, within a period of 3 months. Their office is located in a prestigious business address near KLCC and they'd been there for close to a decade. Surely you'll know how expensive the monthly overhead cost will be? Jobs kept coming in and for each, they charge astronomical figures that's comparable to 4As companies. They never give any of their clients any hampers during CNY either.
Think I should leave?
Thought so.
Hence, every Valentine's Day in my life came and went just like any other day. Well, I'm a lazy bum who doesn't care to be romantic. If my other half makes an effort to make it special, of course I'd be more than happy. Don't misunderstand, we love each other to bits. But we just can't find in our souls the romaticism in us. Moreover, as cliche as it sounds, it's Valentine's every single day for us. Hah!
I wouldn't mind if my V-day is lukewarm, but my bosses just spoilt it for me last nite. It's got to do with the pitch job that they wanted us to work on even on Sunday last week. It's a huge campaign stretching across billboard and press ads, brochures, and such. I better not disclose so much in the company's interest.
I try not to mind having to do overtime on V-day. I thought,"Oh well, I probably can knock off around 9pm." But last night, LAST NIGHT a.k.a. Valentine's Nite, I went back only at MIDNIGHT! Sweet, huh? Thought so.
Anyone who's gone for pitching would know for a huge project like this, the designing agency is already set up by the client beforehand. They just open it for pitching because they are going by the procedure. Anyway, I don't think we can get this job and they briefed us at the eleventh hour, how're we gonna come up with work to impress? We were only wasting all our time and holidays doing something that'll be flushed down the drain. I certainly hope the company won't get the job because if we do, there'll be a damn lotta work and we the staff will get nothing in return. No bonus, no raise, no company trips, NO NOTHING!
We're not just talking about bonus from last year's profit, but 4 entire years! According to my senior colleagues, they haven't receive bonus or a salary raise for 4 years. Where had all the money gone? Okay, you can stop having pity on my bosses because they really don't deserve it. Trust me. They only deserve the bitter fruits of my wrath (whoa, sounds literary back there!). Stop all the talks about how the company might not be earning any money.
As I said, they got a brand new car and laptop for themselves last year, within a period of 3 months. Their office is located in a prestigious business address near KLCC and they'd been there for close to a decade. Surely you'll know how expensive the monthly overhead cost will be? Jobs kept coming in and for each, they charge astronomical figures that's comparable to 4As companies. They never give any of their clients any hampers during CNY either.
Think I should leave?
Thought so.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Have A Taste of My Wrath
Here's a quick update...
Subsequent to the previous entry, I began my little gesture of cursing my bosses silently almost daily. Well, it seems that my work paid off and after 2 days of cursing, something happened. My friend actually suggested me to curse them to have cancer. But that was too evil for a sweet little thing like me to do so I settled for something else.
Curse #1
Their Ford Escape is brand new. I wish a drunk Indian will smash their car with a parang til it looks nothing like a car anymore.
Reality: Pauline's (female boss) car got a summon ticket this morning.
Curse #2
Pauline's laptop is also new. I curse that it will be infected with a formidable hardware virus so that it's reduced to useless steel.
Reality: Steven's (male boss) computer had a downtime today. I dunno what was wrong with it but according to my colleague,"His computer's down."
Curse #3
May they get sick during Chinese New Year.
Reality: Yet to be realized.
Verdict
Although reality isn't so cruel to them, I'll be waiting to see if I can have the sweet taste of my third curse. Yeah I know it's bad to curse people during Chinese New Year. But well, they deserve it.
Subsequent to the previous entry, I began my little gesture of cursing my bosses silently almost daily. Well, it seems that my work paid off and after 2 days of cursing, something happened. My friend actually suggested me to curse them to have cancer. But that was too evil for a sweet little thing like me to do so I settled for something else.
Curse #1
Their Ford Escape is brand new. I wish a drunk Indian will smash their car with a parang til it looks nothing like a car anymore.
Reality: Pauline's (female boss) car got a summon ticket this morning.
Curse #2
Pauline's laptop is also new. I curse that it will be infected with a formidable hardware virus so that it's reduced to useless steel.
Reality: Steven's (male boss) computer had a downtime today. I dunno what was wrong with it but according to my colleague,"His computer's down."
Curse #3
May they get sick during Chinese New Year.
Reality: Yet to be realized.
Verdict
Although reality isn't so cruel to them, I'll be waiting to see if I can have the sweet taste of my third curse. Yeah I know it's bad to curse people during Chinese New Year. But well, they deserve it.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
SCREW My Boss!!!
Fuckin' tired of this! It's supposed to be an idyllic Sunday and I'm stuck in the damn office doing Goddamn work for the fuckin' bosses! Screw them for all I care! No bonus, no raise and still wanna squeeze us dry! I'm leavin' this year and that's it!
May you have a day in hell soon, Pauline & Steven!
May you have a day in hell soon, Pauline & Steven!
Friday, February 02, 2007
Venting My Frustrations Nowhere
It's Feb 2 and yours truly's salary is still pending. Unbelievable? You better believe it! I've got pretty darn good bosses! I won't give a damn if it's other months but this month is CNY ok? Where am I gonna get the money to shop? And I don't think there'd be a bonus for all of us in the office either. Before you jump into conclusions, this has got absolutely NOTHING to do with company's profits...because our company's been quite a big earner for the past year and while the bosses' pockets are swelling with $$$, we employees are starved and wretched. Jobs kept coming in and we are heavily understaffed in the studio department. And the fees they charge can be even heftier than 4As companies! How's that for a no-bonus company? In fact, one of my bosses just made the switch from his coupla years old Ford Focus to a spanking new Ford Escape. No business? I honestly don't believe lor.
I just had a glimmer of the the tiniest hope when I heard the sound of perforated paper-tearing coming from my lady boss' room. Good, probably can get the cheque today. But guess what? I ain't see no cheques. Before she went back, she told the admin she was too busy to get our salaries done. Admin thinks she's probably gonna do it on Monday.
HELLO! Monday is already the 5th! By the time I bank in the cheque and wait till it's cleared, it'd be 7th or 8th!
GR8!
I just had a glimmer of the the tiniest hope when I heard the sound of perforated paper-tearing coming from my lady boss' room. Good, probably can get the cheque today. But guess what? I ain't see no cheques. Before she went back, she told the admin she was too busy to get our salaries done. Admin thinks she's probably gonna do it on Monday.
HELLO! Monday is already the 5th! By the time I bank in the cheque and wait till it's cleared, it'd be 7th or 8th!
GR8!
Friday, January 12, 2007
Travelling? Ooooooooh....
Words have been circulating around our small & homely office that a company trip might be well in the pipeline.
It all happened one morning when I sauntered airily (and slightly late too) into the studio one boring morning and found Steven, Mala and Nazha talking excitedly about something on The Star. Turned out it was the hotter than hot deal from Air Asia - the 1 million free air tickets giveaway.
Initially the first choice falls on Bangkok. However, Pauline (the lady boss) suggested to go somewhere cool and not so tropical. Thus, another two options came up: Perth & Korea. Well, those two are definitely not my cup of tea on the financial front. The calculation goes something like this; for Bangkok, it'll be around RM500 per pax including accommodation. The company will probably absorb all that and all I need 2 bring will basically be myself, 2 big bags (for shopping goodies) and some pocket money. Well, I can at least fork out RM400 as expense since the trip will probably be in April.
However, for Perth or Korea, we'd most definitely have to top up half of the cost PLUS pocket money! For those 2 options, it'll cost around 1k per pax so I'd have to squeeze like 500-600 bucks and also the spending money. God, where am I gonna get that kinda $$$??!?
It all happened one morning when I sauntered airily (and slightly late too) into the studio one boring morning and found Steven, Mala and Nazha talking excitedly about something on The Star. Turned out it was the hotter than hot deal from Air Asia - the 1 million free air tickets giveaway.
Initially the first choice falls on Bangkok. However, Pauline (the lady boss) suggested to go somewhere cool and not so tropical. Thus, another two options came up: Perth & Korea. Well, those two are definitely not my cup of tea on the financial front. The calculation goes something like this; for Bangkok, it'll be around RM500 per pax including accommodation. The company will probably absorb all that and all I need 2 bring will basically be myself, 2 big bags (for shopping goodies) and some pocket money. Well, I can at least fork out RM400 as expense since the trip will probably be in April.
However, for Perth or Korea, we'd most definitely have to top up half of the cost PLUS pocket money! For those 2 options, it'll cost around 1k per pax so I'd have to squeeze like 500-600 bucks and also the spending money. God, where am I gonna get that kinda $$$??!?
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
A sack + 2 concerts + Multiple disappointments
It's amazing how my sixth sense works. The last entry was about my problematic new colleague, Fung, and he was given the sack yesterday. Everyone saw it coming, including himself I guess. Cos he didn't look very surprised after he came out from Steven's room.
Well, last Friday he was supposed to stay back to finish an urgent press ad. Apparently, he didn't. Not even after Steven told him to. Kenny already warned him about it but nah, he was not a heeder of good advice. Right after Fung went back, Kenny was called into Pauline's room and I foresaw what would happen to Fung this week.
Before he left, Kenny gave him some honest advice on his attitude. Hope he'll take heed this time and have better luck with his next company. No one can help him except himself.
When Pauline came in and saw Fung still in the office, she asked, "Eh, why're you still here? Better pack your things..." Wow, they really want people to leave instantly! But she didn't say it in an unfriendly tone, just normal.
By the way, hope it's not too late to relate on my experience at LeeHom's Heroes of the Earth Concert in Singapore on October 21.
Shyan and me began our journey to JB, my hometown, at 8.45am that day, a Saturday, Deepavali too. We were carried by Konsortium and arrived JB an hour earlier than expected. Love that bus company I tell ya, I would recommend it to anyone taking a long distance bus journey in Malaysia. What's more, as it was a public holiday, the company used a double decker to carry its passengers. My first time on a double, man! Haha call me suaku, I've never been on one before.
Huai came to fetch us once we reached JB. After washing up and grabbing some grubs, Mom took us downtown to Larkin to take a Singapore-bound bus. We took the yellow smiling bus CW2 to the customs. We resumed our journey on the same bus after emerging from the ever-packed Singapore custom to Queen Street. Whoa, CW2 is definitely a lot faster than 170, thanks to Grace's advice!
Subsequently, we took the MRT from Bugis to Kallang. We crossed the road to the other side of th car park in front of Kallang MRT station and waited for bus number 11. There were signs everywhere giving directions on how to get to the indoor stadium. At the sight of "Bus No. 11" on the signs, I was thinking; is it really a bus or they want us to walk there? Stupid, I know.
There were a lot of girls at the bus stop and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the majority of them are going to LeeHom's concert. In fact, I even spotted a coupla girls at the customs who were going too. Well, they were wearing the tee with the Chinese character 盖 on it, that was how I knew.
Seemed like we reached everywhere early that day. Rare for a habitual latecomer like me. It was only around 7pm when we alighted in front of the stadium. Unfamiliar with the venue, we walked around a bit since time was more than enough. We went up to the entrance floor to find a coupla other concert-goers hanging around the parameter.
As we came closer to the glass doors which were covered with opaque papers, we heard LeeHom's voice clearly coming from the other side. I pressed my ear against the barrier to make sure it's a live version. Yeah, he was probably doing a sound-check run-through. What a steal!
After listening for a while, Shyan and me leant against the rail to find more and more people filling up the space at the square below. There was a beautiful bridge so we while away our time by taking some pictures there. When it was about time, Shyan went back to Queen Street to hang out and waited for me to finish watching the concert.
And now, the real concert experience begins...
Found my seat - Block 16, Row 6, Seat 1. I was super-delighted to find it so close to the stage. However, it was at the side since the premier seat area was located smack in the middle. Girls from LeeHom's Singapore Fanclub had all changed into their blue club gear, armed with matching blue lightsticks. Their spirits must have dampened because their call for other concert-goers to bear the same blue theme on their official website was in vain. Good try though.
Attendees began filing into the hall and I caught sight of a few celebrities such as A-Do, a behind-the-scene music producer who was employed as one of the judges in the previous Malaysia Project Superstar and a female model whose name is unknown to me but whose face still appears in many of the TVCs here.
We were bombarded with all kinds of advertisements appearing on the big screen from Sony Ericsson to Sistic events. There were fans from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and probably other countries (not to mention Singapore) everywhere I looked. In fact, I think the 2 guys sitting beside me were from KL.
The concert kicked off at 8.30pm sharp, just as I expected, with Chinese opera and martial arts experts putting on a remarkable performance behind an illuminated screen. The rest of the concert was more or less the same as the DVD, which I'm too lazy to elaborate here.
Somewhere during the show, a clip compiled by the Singapore Fanclub members of LeeHom during his stays and promotional activities in Singapore throughout the years was played. His face really is ageless if you ask me.
And no, I didn't take a whole load of pix cos the digi cam I borrowed from my dad wasn't a good one and it was really hard to get a decent picture with all those uber-brite mega spotlight shining against the camera lens. My initial attempts mostly turned out over- or under-exposed. Damn.
I blamed it all on the camera but turned out the 2 guys next to me, who used better cameras were having a hard time too. So I guess it just couldn't be helped. However, towards the end of the show, they succeeded in shooting better pix, blur nonetheless. As for me, I'd long given up on taking pictures. What the heck! The best things always only exist in one's memory. So I just decided to take mental pictures of LeeHom and the show.
Sad thing is, my mental memory card probably doesn't have much storage space. Cause when I think back on it, there wasn't anything about the concert which really stuck to my mind. Reason is simple, the concert wasn't impressive enough. Nothing really stood out so as usual, my mind just chooses not to waste memory space.
I'm not saying LeeHom didn't give his best that night. He probably did. But sometimes the best just isn't enough. One person's best may not be another man's perfect, if you get what I mean.
Well, I guess he couldn't help it. He must be dead beat from the filming of "Lust, Caution", directed by Ang Lee. He admitted he wasn't very up to it so he hoped the fans could sing more. But I thought I paid to hear him sing and perform, not singing it myself eh? I sing everyday, there's really no need to pay RM416 to go all the way across the strait to Singapore to sing to myself.
I have a hell lotta things to complain about. Like how I think I've wasted my moolah to watch a less-than-satisfying performance. How I thought it was gonna be a blast but it really wasn't but I guess I really can't blame it all on him.
To be fair, he was overworking himself. He jetted back to HK to continue filming right after the show. Apparently, spreading yourself too thin isn't a good thing. He's right in labelling himself a "tortured soul".
When you're not at your best, the audience's gonna sense it. Believe me, I experienced it first-hand. It's almost supernatural how that can happen. Throughout the entire concert, I was assuring myself that he was performing the best he could with what little energy he had left but there was this empty feeling that keeps sighing at the back of my mind.
Another possibility could be that it's similar to the DVD so I had little to surprise me. It was so bad to the extent that I didn't keep my eyes and heart 100% on the stage. I genuinely didn't really care what he did onstage either. The audience watched the entire show glued to their seats didn't help either. Finally during the final 2 songs, I couldn't bear it anymore and since more people were doing it too, I shot up from my seat and continued swaying to the beats.
When I went for Jay Chou's concert in 2002, I was absolutely swept off my feet. Naw, his performance wasn't great, even went off-key a coupla times. Strangely enough, I had a BLAST! Everyone was standing and swaying and singing to the music literally right from the start. My mood wasn't dampen even though Jay was just a speckle onstage.
But this time, although I could see everything clearly, the overwhelming feeling that soars me into the sky is gone. Nowhere to be found. I heard from my friend that standing during a concert is disallowed in Singapore. I seemed to have heard it too somewhere else. But that just robs away 80% of the fun!
I'm not attending any concerts held in Malaysia anymore if it's held in Bukit Jalil. Sound disperses in the outdoor stadium and all I can see of the artist resembles a humanized version of an ant. The sound in Singapore Indoor Stadium is obviously the winner but the atmosphere wasn't there.
I should probably try Genting next time. If it still can't satisfy me, I guess I should just pack my bags for Taipei or HK.
Well, last Friday he was supposed to stay back to finish an urgent press ad. Apparently, he didn't. Not even after Steven told him to. Kenny already warned him about it but nah, he was not a heeder of good advice. Right after Fung went back, Kenny was called into Pauline's room and I foresaw what would happen to Fung this week.
Before he left, Kenny gave him some honest advice on his attitude. Hope he'll take heed this time and have better luck with his next company. No one can help him except himself.
When Pauline came in and saw Fung still in the office, she asked, "Eh, why're you still here? Better pack your things..." Wow, they really want people to leave instantly! But she didn't say it in an unfriendly tone, just normal.
By the way, hope it's not too late to relate on my experience at LeeHom's Heroes of the Earth Concert in Singapore on October 21.
Shyan and me began our journey to JB, my hometown, at 8.45am that day, a Saturday, Deepavali too. We were carried by Konsortium and arrived JB an hour earlier than expected. Love that bus company I tell ya, I would recommend it to anyone taking a long distance bus journey in Malaysia. What's more, as it was a public holiday, the company used a double decker to carry its passengers. My first time on a double, man! Haha call me suaku, I've never been on one before.
Huai came to fetch us once we reached JB. After washing up and grabbing some grubs, Mom took us downtown to Larkin to take a Singapore-bound bus. We took the yellow smiling bus CW2 to the customs. We resumed our journey on the same bus after emerging from the ever-packed Singapore custom to Queen Street. Whoa, CW2 is definitely a lot faster than 170, thanks to Grace's advice!
Subsequently, we took the MRT from Bugis to Kallang. We crossed the road to the other side of th car park in front of Kallang MRT station and waited for bus number 11. There were signs everywhere giving directions on how to get to the indoor stadium. At the sight of "Bus No. 11" on the signs, I was thinking; is it really a bus or they want us to walk there? Stupid, I know.
There were a lot of girls at the bus stop and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the majority of them are going to LeeHom's concert. In fact, I even spotted a coupla girls at the customs who were going too. Well, they were wearing the tee with the Chinese character 盖 on it, that was how I knew.
Seemed like we reached everywhere early that day. Rare for a habitual latecomer like me. It was only around 7pm when we alighted in front of the stadium. Unfamiliar with the venue, we walked around a bit since time was more than enough. We went up to the entrance floor to find a coupla other concert-goers hanging around the parameter.
As we came closer to the glass doors which were covered with opaque papers, we heard LeeHom's voice clearly coming from the other side. I pressed my ear against the barrier to make sure it's a live version. Yeah, he was probably doing a sound-check run-through. What a steal!
After listening for a while, Shyan and me leant against the rail to find more and more people filling up the space at the square below. There was a beautiful bridge so we while away our time by taking some pictures there. When it was about time, Shyan went back to Queen Street to hang out and waited for me to finish watching the concert.
And now, the real concert experience begins...
Found my seat - Block 16, Row 6, Seat 1. I was super-delighted to find it so close to the stage. However, it was at the side since the premier seat area was located smack in the middle. Girls from LeeHom's Singapore Fanclub had all changed into their blue club gear, armed with matching blue lightsticks. Their spirits must have dampened because their call for other concert-goers to bear the same blue theme on their official website was in vain. Good try though.
Attendees began filing into the hall and I caught sight of a few celebrities such as A-Do, a behind-the-scene music producer who was employed as one of the judges in the previous Malaysia Project Superstar and a female model whose name is unknown to me but whose face still appears in many of the TVCs here.
We were bombarded with all kinds of advertisements appearing on the big screen from Sony Ericsson to Sistic events. There were fans from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and probably other countries (not to mention Singapore) everywhere I looked. In fact, I think the 2 guys sitting beside me were from KL.
The concert kicked off at 8.30pm sharp, just as I expected, with Chinese opera and martial arts experts putting on a remarkable performance behind an illuminated screen. The rest of the concert was more or less the same as the DVD, which I'm too lazy to elaborate here.
Somewhere during the show, a clip compiled by the Singapore Fanclub members of LeeHom during his stays and promotional activities in Singapore throughout the years was played. His face really is ageless if you ask me.
And no, I didn't take a whole load of pix cos the digi cam I borrowed from my dad wasn't a good one and it was really hard to get a decent picture with all those uber-brite mega spotlight shining against the camera lens. My initial attempts mostly turned out over- or under-exposed. Damn.
I blamed it all on the camera but turned out the 2 guys next to me, who used better cameras were having a hard time too. So I guess it just couldn't be helped. However, towards the end of the show, they succeeded in shooting better pix, blur nonetheless. As for me, I'd long given up on taking pictures. What the heck! The best things always only exist in one's memory. So I just decided to take mental pictures of LeeHom and the show.
Sad thing is, my mental memory card probably doesn't have much storage space. Cause when I think back on it, there wasn't anything about the concert which really stuck to my mind. Reason is simple, the concert wasn't impressive enough. Nothing really stood out so as usual, my mind just chooses not to waste memory space.
I'm not saying LeeHom didn't give his best that night. He probably did. But sometimes the best just isn't enough. One person's best may not be another man's perfect, if you get what I mean.
Well, I guess he couldn't help it. He must be dead beat from the filming of "Lust, Caution", directed by Ang Lee. He admitted he wasn't very up to it so he hoped the fans could sing more. But I thought I paid to hear him sing and perform, not singing it myself eh? I sing everyday, there's really no need to pay RM416 to go all the way across the strait to Singapore to sing to myself.
I have a hell lotta things to complain about. Like how I think I've wasted my moolah to watch a less-than-satisfying performance. How I thought it was gonna be a blast but it really wasn't but I guess I really can't blame it all on him.
To be fair, he was overworking himself. He jetted back to HK to continue filming right after the show. Apparently, spreading yourself too thin isn't a good thing. He's right in labelling himself a "tortured soul".
When you're not at your best, the audience's gonna sense it. Believe me, I experienced it first-hand. It's almost supernatural how that can happen. Throughout the entire concert, I was assuring myself that he was performing the best he could with what little energy he had left but there was this empty feeling that keeps sighing at the back of my mind.
Another possibility could be that it's similar to the DVD so I had little to surprise me. It was so bad to the extent that I didn't keep my eyes and heart 100% on the stage. I genuinely didn't really care what he did onstage either. The audience watched the entire show glued to their seats didn't help either. Finally during the final 2 songs, I couldn't bear it anymore and since more people were doing it too, I shot up from my seat and continued swaying to the beats.
When I went for Jay Chou's concert in 2002, I was absolutely swept off my feet. Naw, his performance wasn't great, even went off-key a coupla times. Strangely enough, I had a BLAST! Everyone was standing and swaying and singing to the music literally right from the start. My mood wasn't dampen even though Jay was just a speckle onstage.
But this time, although I could see everything clearly, the overwhelming feeling that soars me into the sky is gone. Nowhere to be found. I heard from my friend that standing during a concert is disallowed in Singapore. I seemed to have heard it too somewhere else. But that just robs away 80% of the fun!
I'm not attending any concerts held in Malaysia anymore if it's held in Bukit Jalil. Sound disperses in the outdoor stadium and all I can see of the artist resembles a humanized version of an ant. The sound in Singapore Indoor Stadium is obviously the winner but the atmosphere wasn't there.
I should probably try Genting next time. If it still can't satisfy me, I guess I should just pack my bags for Taipei or HK.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Baffling
Seriously, there's an attitude problem with my new colleague.
Remember Fung, the new guy who left me and my other colleagues during lunch time but never came back? Yeah, he's the one I'm talking about.
He comes to work early, which is good (the rest of us often come late, haha). Think that's about the only good thing about him. He goes back at 5.30pm if boss is not around, our actual knock-off time is 5.45pm. He's very punctual. So punctual that sometimes he leaves 5 minutes early or right on the dot...even when boss is still in the office.
He flips and reads through newspapers even if boss is standing right behind or in front of him. After he finishes up something, he never asks the seniors to check for any mistakes and simply go on temporary holiday in the office, yeah reading papers. Then when the Art Director enquires him about the status of the project, he replies it's done. After checking it through, the AD can normally find more than a couple of mistakes. When confronted about it, Fung will get defensive and even tries to point the arrow back at the AD. But my AD simply seethes quietly inside without ever confronting him straight up.
Stupid.
Should at least respect your senior colleagues right? You still have to depend on them to show you the ways of the office. Can understand if your superior is a total asshole but my AD actually looks like he's being bullied by the newcomer all the time.
We have tried talking to him about the office culture here. Boss doesn't like people leaving early and of course they like us to stay back if we have things to do. But thoughout the 3 months here, Fung never once did OT even when he has to submit something urgently the next day. And it's not because he has finished it. He simply wants to go home. When asked about why he wants to go home so early each day, he just ignores my colleague.
There's an unwritten rule here among the staff requiring newcomers to give a treat to the existing staff. And the whole office only has a total of 5 staff, including Fung. It's not like we wanna suck him dry. We even made it clear that if it's too expensive, we'll top up the remainder ourselves. If he really can't do it due to financial constraints, we would not force him. Rather, it's his way of handling it that irks us.
Every time we bring up the matter, he'll just keep quiet. Didn't give any response. Hello! Are we talking to a doll here? C'mon lah, everyone of us here had given others this treat when we first came here ok? If he doesn't wanna belanja us, can at least say so? Ok, so we thought probably he is tight financially.
Weird thing is, he frequently asks me and my AD where to get good food. Where can get nice dim sum, Japanese food, etc. Then when my admin asked him about where to belanja us, he claims that he seldoms dine out. ?? What's happening? He just told us he often goes out to eat with his Mom, like, 2 days ago! And it's not even cheap cheap places you know - Victoria Station, seafood restaurants, Sakai; he'd been to lotsa fancy restaurants. I don't even know how the inside of Victoria Station looks like ok?
He also asked me and my AD which brand of watches is good. He said his budget is around 300 bucks. And when he knew I am going to Singapore this month, he asked me to buy a pair of Puma limited edition trainers for him cos the colours available in Malaysia are not his preferences. Of course, those cost a few hundred bucks too. Some more buy in Singapore leh! But I would have no time to buy for him cos I'd be rushing from KL to JB to Singapore on that day.
Do you believe this guy can't treat us to even McD because he is poor?
Don't think so.
By the way, he never lunches with us, except the first day he was here. And that didn't count cos he ran away. But that's besides the point.
He's definitely a one-of-a-kind weirdo. When it was Mala's, my admin, birthday, he gave her a birthday card, which was perfectly normal at the time. Then when it was Pauline, my female boss' birthday, we presented her with a box of Ferrero Rocher. Each of us only had to pay around RM7. We told him beforehand, as usual, he just keeps quiet. When Nazha, our AE, wanted to collect the money from him, he keeps quiet also. If he didn't wanna share, at least have the courtesy to let us know la! It's been 3 weeks, he still hadn't paid back the money to Nazha.
Then I remembered a few days before, we had talked about something which would makes it beneficial for him to be on better terms with Mala (that's probably what he thinks la). But he should be on good terms with everybody, our office don't have any politics between the staff. Everyone is nice. We all unite to stand against the boss, rather, to acquire our benefits.
Anyway, if he wasn't trying to lick Mala's shoes, tell me why he would rather give another staff a card instead of sharing with the other colleagues for a present for boss?
By now you'd definitely think, "Aiya, he's probably a shy and quiet person. Don't be so hard on him la."
WRONG! And I'd even give you a gigantic X for that!
Sometimes I cringe at how he talks to the seniors.
Example, there was a period when the AD assigned lotsa mock-up jobs to him. But actually, he'd only did it for 2 days and he had the audacity to tell Kenny, the AD this when Kenny wanted to assign another job to him : "What's the new job? Not mock-ups again! My hands hurt already!"
HELLO! First few days, or even weeks I was here, I kept doing mock-ups after another ok! And that was the peak period too!
And when there was a mistake in one of his artworks, he actually accused Kenny of tampering with his files! But Kenny was busy doing his own jobs and what fool would bother about his files when they have a deadline to meet?
Yesterday, he said that he knew Pauline is a conservative person in terms of design from the day he was interviewed. I raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, since he was talking to Kenny. In my opinion, Pauline is quite receptive and open when it comes to design. The guidance and advice she gave me really helped. I'm not saying this just because she's my boss ok. But her designs and concepts are meticulous. It didn't surprise me to learn that she was a fine art student. I have grown a lot design-wise since my last job.
Today, he argued a little with Pauline about his design. He's the kinda person who finds it hard to accept the opinions of others. Everything done by him is right and others are all wrong. He doesn't admit it when he's in the wrong and when he realizes he really was wrong, he just keeps quiet but never apologize.
Ok, anyway, I could see Pauline was a little pissed off but she continued to explain to Fung why he should and shouldn't do this and that.
It really baffles me to witness people like Fung in action. Disgust is the feeling. I'm normally impatient with these people. Let's just say I'm glad that I don't need to work with him so much. Since he's a newcomer, his jobs are more attached to Kenny. That's why me and Mala advised Kenny to let Pauline know about this when she asks for Fung's appraisal. Because working with him won't be easy, Kenny will probably get a heart attack in the process.
It's not like we didn't give Fung the benefit of the doubt. We've told him about what the boss like and dislike. We've advised him on the office culture. We try to be nice to him. But seems like he's too "individualistic" for our liking.
Remember Fung, the new guy who left me and my other colleagues during lunch time but never came back? Yeah, he's the one I'm talking about.
He comes to work early, which is good (the rest of us often come late, haha). Think that's about the only good thing about him. He goes back at 5.30pm if boss is not around, our actual knock-off time is 5.45pm. He's very punctual. So punctual that sometimes he leaves 5 minutes early or right on the dot...even when boss is still in the office.
He flips and reads through newspapers even if boss is standing right behind or in front of him. After he finishes up something, he never asks the seniors to check for any mistakes and simply go on temporary holiday in the office, yeah reading papers. Then when the Art Director enquires him about the status of the project, he replies it's done. After checking it through, the AD can normally find more than a couple of mistakes. When confronted about it, Fung will get defensive and even tries to point the arrow back at the AD. But my AD simply seethes quietly inside without ever confronting him straight up.
Stupid.
Should at least respect your senior colleagues right? You still have to depend on them to show you the ways of the office. Can understand if your superior is a total asshole but my AD actually looks like he's being bullied by the newcomer all the time.
We have tried talking to him about the office culture here. Boss doesn't like people leaving early and of course they like us to stay back if we have things to do. But thoughout the 3 months here, Fung never once did OT even when he has to submit something urgently the next day. And it's not because he has finished it. He simply wants to go home. When asked about why he wants to go home so early each day, he just ignores my colleague.
There's an unwritten rule here among the staff requiring newcomers to give a treat to the existing staff. And the whole office only has a total of 5 staff, including Fung. It's not like we wanna suck him dry. We even made it clear that if it's too expensive, we'll top up the remainder ourselves. If he really can't do it due to financial constraints, we would not force him. Rather, it's his way of handling it that irks us.
Every time we bring up the matter, he'll just keep quiet. Didn't give any response. Hello! Are we talking to a doll here? C'mon lah, everyone of us here had given others this treat when we first came here ok? If he doesn't wanna belanja us, can at least say so? Ok, so we thought probably he is tight financially.
Weird thing is, he frequently asks me and my AD where to get good food. Where can get nice dim sum, Japanese food, etc. Then when my admin asked him about where to belanja us, he claims that he seldoms dine out. ?? What's happening? He just told us he often goes out to eat with his Mom, like, 2 days ago! And it's not even cheap cheap places you know - Victoria Station, seafood restaurants, Sakai; he'd been to lotsa fancy restaurants. I don't even know how the inside of Victoria Station looks like ok?
He also asked me and my AD which brand of watches is good. He said his budget is around 300 bucks. And when he knew I am going to Singapore this month, he asked me to buy a pair of Puma limited edition trainers for him cos the colours available in Malaysia are not his preferences. Of course, those cost a few hundred bucks too. Some more buy in Singapore leh! But I would have no time to buy for him cos I'd be rushing from KL to JB to Singapore on that day.
Do you believe this guy can't treat us to even McD because he is poor?
Don't think so.
By the way, he never lunches with us, except the first day he was here. And that didn't count cos he ran away. But that's besides the point.
He's definitely a one-of-a-kind weirdo. When it was Mala's, my admin, birthday, he gave her a birthday card, which was perfectly normal at the time. Then when it was Pauline, my female boss' birthday, we presented her with a box of Ferrero Rocher. Each of us only had to pay around RM7. We told him beforehand, as usual, he just keeps quiet. When Nazha, our AE, wanted to collect the money from him, he keeps quiet also. If he didn't wanna share, at least have the courtesy to let us know la! It's been 3 weeks, he still hadn't paid back the money to Nazha.
Then I remembered a few days before, we had talked about something which would makes it beneficial for him to be on better terms with Mala (that's probably what he thinks la). But he should be on good terms with everybody, our office don't have any politics between the staff. Everyone is nice. We all unite to stand against the boss, rather, to acquire our benefits.
Anyway, if he wasn't trying to lick Mala's shoes, tell me why he would rather give another staff a card instead of sharing with the other colleagues for a present for boss?
By now you'd definitely think, "Aiya, he's probably a shy and quiet person. Don't be so hard on him la."
WRONG! And I'd even give you a gigantic X for that!
Sometimes I cringe at how he talks to the seniors.
Example, there was a period when the AD assigned lotsa mock-up jobs to him. But actually, he'd only did it for 2 days and he had the audacity to tell Kenny, the AD this when Kenny wanted to assign another job to him : "What's the new job? Not mock-ups again! My hands hurt already!"
HELLO! First few days, or even weeks I was here, I kept doing mock-ups after another ok! And that was the peak period too!
And when there was a mistake in one of his artworks, he actually accused Kenny of tampering with his files! But Kenny was busy doing his own jobs and what fool would bother about his files when they have a deadline to meet?
Yesterday, he said that he knew Pauline is a conservative person in terms of design from the day he was interviewed. I raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, since he was talking to Kenny. In my opinion, Pauline is quite receptive and open when it comes to design. The guidance and advice she gave me really helped. I'm not saying this just because she's my boss ok. But her designs and concepts are meticulous. It didn't surprise me to learn that she was a fine art student. I have grown a lot design-wise since my last job.
Today, he argued a little with Pauline about his design. He's the kinda person who finds it hard to accept the opinions of others. Everything done by him is right and others are all wrong. He doesn't admit it when he's in the wrong and when he realizes he really was wrong, he just keeps quiet but never apologize.
Ok, anyway, I could see Pauline was a little pissed off but she continued to explain to Fung why he should and shouldn't do this and that.
It really baffles me to witness people like Fung in action. Disgust is the feeling. I'm normally impatient with these people. Let's just say I'm glad that I don't need to work with him so much. Since he's a newcomer, his jobs are more attached to Kenny. That's why me and Mala advised Kenny to let Pauline know about this when she asks for Fung's appraisal. Because working with him won't be easy, Kenny will probably get a heart attack in the process.
It's not like we didn't give Fung the benefit of the doubt. We've told him about what the boss like and dislike. We've advised him on the office culture. We try to be nice to him. But seems like he's too "individualistic" for our liking.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Hmmm...
I'm so rajin today. Last night, I made a couple of egg and chilli tuna sandwiches and kept them in the fridge. This morning, I have one of the healthiest and most fulfilling breakfasts in the world! Believe me, I couldn't finish my mee hoon soup at lunch because I was still too full. But then again, I had breakfast at around 10.30am in the office, might as well call it brunch.
A new guy came to work today at our office, since Eric left, like, 2 months ago. He's very skinny, has a clear complexion, KLite. Lives in Jln Ipoh. Hey, stop, I'm not trying to dupe you into thinking he's good looking, coz he's not.
I'm not sure whether I like this new co-worker of mine. But I have a feeling he won't stay long. Let's wait and see if my sixth sense is right.
Well, during lunch today, me, Kenny, Nazha and the new guy, named Foong, went to 21 Carrots. Foong said he's going to buy something. So off he went and came back 15 minutes later with a white plastic bag. Nazha asked him what he'd bought. He replied that he went to buy some fruits. And he didn't order any food, he said fruits are enough, since he'd eaten in the morning already.
Moreover, food here are really expensive, I tell ya! From my conversation with him, I have the vague feeling that he was realizing this company wasn't really what he wants. After chatting for a while, Foong got up again and said he was gonna buy something else. It was 10 minutes to two. So the rest of us continued chatting until 2 o'clock but Foong still wasn't back. Then we thought we had better return to the office first. I picked up the white plastic bag.
"Apa kat dalam tu?" Nazha asked.
"Tak tahu la," I replied while taking a look into the bag.
A half-eaten green mango (the extremely sour kind, I don't know what you call it in English), a bent-up polystyrene tray and a small pack of plum powder.
"Sampah ke?" Nazha asked again.
"Ya lah," I answered, a bit disgusted.
Well, maybe I was just being a busybody. But why the hell did he bring a bag of rubbish back there just to put it on the table? Weird.
After paying for our meals at the counter, we still didn't see him anywhere. On the way back, I was thinking quietly to myself, could he possibly have gone back to the office, packed his bag and left already, finally deciding this isn't for him after all?
We pushed open the office door and Mala was looking at us weird.
"Mala, we had lost the new guy!" Nazha told her.
"Right you are! He's inside now. How did you lose him?" Mala said.
We all looked at each other. Nazha and Kenny proceeded to the studio but I stayed behind and related the whole incident to Mala.
"So, you see, we didn't lose him. He lost himself!" I explained.
"Hmmm...maybe we should give him more time to blend in with us," Mala advised in a motherly manner, trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Sounds okay with me. I haven't discovered anything else wrong with him so far, aside from his strange gesture during lunch. I certainly hope he isn't as weird as I thought him to be.
A new guy came to work today at our office, since Eric left, like, 2 months ago. He's very skinny, has a clear complexion, KLite. Lives in Jln Ipoh. Hey, stop, I'm not trying to dupe you into thinking he's good looking, coz he's not.
I'm not sure whether I like this new co-worker of mine. But I have a feeling he won't stay long. Let's wait and see if my sixth sense is right.
Well, during lunch today, me, Kenny, Nazha and the new guy, named Foong, went to 21 Carrots. Foong said he's going to buy something. So off he went and came back 15 minutes later with a white plastic bag. Nazha asked him what he'd bought. He replied that he went to buy some fruits. And he didn't order any food, he said fruits are enough, since he'd eaten in the morning already.
Moreover, food here are really expensive, I tell ya! From my conversation with him, I have the vague feeling that he was realizing this company wasn't really what he wants. After chatting for a while, Foong got up again and said he was gonna buy something else. It was 10 minutes to two. So the rest of us continued chatting until 2 o'clock but Foong still wasn't back. Then we thought we had better return to the office first. I picked up the white plastic bag.
"Apa kat dalam tu?" Nazha asked.
"Tak tahu la," I replied while taking a look into the bag.
A half-eaten green mango (the extremely sour kind, I don't know what you call it in English), a bent-up polystyrene tray and a small pack of plum powder.
"Sampah ke?" Nazha asked again.
"Ya lah," I answered, a bit disgusted.
Well, maybe I was just being a busybody. But why the hell did he bring a bag of rubbish back there just to put it on the table? Weird.
After paying for our meals at the counter, we still didn't see him anywhere. On the way back, I was thinking quietly to myself, could he possibly have gone back to the office, packed his bag and left already, finally deciding this isn't for him after all?
We pushed open the office door and Mala was looking at us weird.
"Mala, we had lost the new guy!" Nazha told her.
"Right you are! He's inside now. How did you lose him?" Mala said.
We all looked at each other. Nazha and Kenny proceeded to the studio but I stayed behind and related the whole incident to Mala.
"So, you see, we didn't lose him. He lost himself!" I explained.
"Hmmm...maybe we should give him more time to blend in with us," Mala advised in a motherly manner, trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Sounds okay with me. I haven't discovered anything else wrong with him so far, aside from his strange gesture during lunch. I certainly hope he isn't as weird as I thought him to be.
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