Crazy Beginning

A lot had happened recently but I was a bit laid back about putting it all up in my blog. With my latest post due sometime a month ago, you could already guess the number of chill pills I have been consuming. So, I’m here to haul it all up the ocean before everything sinks deeper and fades away.

If you are someone who keeps track of my barren blog, you definitely know that I had been working part time jobs on and off throughout the previous semester break, which had earned me quite an amount of pocket money. I was coerced into putting a halt to my sudden urge of working when college reopened, which was something I actually looked forward to.

On seeing the miserable ADP timetable, I was gravely disappointed at the number of subjects offered this fall semester. However, when I gave it a slight thought, I couldn’t help but empathize HELP, as dedicated lecturers as Ms. Yap and co. had turned or are turning their backs on the institute. Leaving behind a pillar-less crumbling tower, which is not only facing a shattering end but also an imminent danger of bankruptcy, sadly to say.

4 days of waking up early and attending a full 10 hours of class each day, gave me more doubt of what not to take than a comforting assurance of what subjects to take. As an ending outcome of shopping around and choosing subjects, what I got was exhaustion instead of a decision. I sought help from Ms. Mamoorian, who is the admin of Drake University via E-mail and later found out that the only subject I could take was Accounting 2. Ridiculous ain’t it? How can someone take only one subject in a long semester? Unless that someone is as jobless as Riz.

Political Science wasn’t that bad, especially when Mr. Ho the Head of Department was the one conducting the class. A retired lawyer Mr. Ho shared many of his first-hand experience in class, which I found amusing despite the exaggeration of having to make friends with the ministers of the Malaysian government and even some former president of the United States. Frankly speaking, I was this close to registering the subject as I was pretty convinced that it would be an interesting class. I didn’t in the end after I got a reply re-confirming that it was absolutely unnecessary for me to take it even as an elective. So Accounting 2 it is.

I really couldn’t imagine me wounding up being a couch potato at the end of this semester since last semester had already made me a lot lazier than my first year in college. So I gave myself a little motivation and continued my job hunting stint! Having ample time to spare, once again I was spending time trawling through forums, searching for “lucrative” part time jobs. =)

After sending out about 10 resumes to 10 different agents, I received notifications about interviews via phone calls and sms pretty soon enough. Without further hesitation, I accepted a promoter position at the DiGi specialized store at the Tropicana City Mall outlet due to the reasonable pay and the simple job scope. Never did I know that I was being lured into a Trap of Boredom.

There was literally nothing I could do in the shop. Allow me to enlighten you. My job scope was to promote DiGi postpaid lines and that I would receive a commission of as high as RM 20 after successfully selling 4 lines in a day, the subsequent lines sold would earn me as much as RM 5 per line. Since Tropicana City Mall is a new mall and is nothing compared to any other shopping complexes in the Petaling Jaya district, the number of shoppers were pathetically low each day, even during weekends. I ended up helping DiGi users, mostly foreign workers reloading credits into their accounts.

I felt like a retarded freak who had never embraced any from of education, doing something that only required the least amount of brain work. It was so boring and a complete waste of time that when my friend invited me to a gathering the other night, I smsed and lied to my agent about a family emergency as soon as I hung up the line, ditched my supervisor who was happily playing bejeweled back at the shop, and left work an hour earlier for the gathering. God blessed the night, it was awesome.

The following morning was Fawesome when I was told that some client decided to put the store on hold temporarily, which in English means I do not have to work in that hellish place for some time. But even if I was asked to go back later on, I would reject it anyway.

So, I’m unemployed again! =)

Yuka Revisits

I was awaken from my dream to the techno rhythm of “Untouchable.” As I fluttered my eyes open, I saw the black phone, neatly covered up and protected by a layer of silicone, flickering as the deafening ringtone filled the room mercilessly.

It was August 23rd, a dazzling Sunday morning as birds gracefully flew over rooftops, chirping away. About a year ago today, I hosted a Japanese girl with the name Yuka, who came to Malaysia under the Lions Club Youth Exchange program. Hosting her was a wonderful experience and a crazy adventure as together, we explored the confusing corners of Kuala Lumpur in sweltering afternoons on foot, taking silly pictures and laughing at the jokes we made.

Yuka’s strength is in mastering languages, which allowed us to communicate with her without much complication. That made jokes more sensible to her, which I fancy and it definitely spared us ample time for more outings rather than staying home trying to explain things to her with awkward body languages. Aside from her prowess in languages, she’s an amiable person who is very approachable and friendly. So it wouldn’t be much of a surprise that she had nested an enormous network of acquaintances during her 3 short weeks of stay over here.

After receiving the call, I heard this familiar voice propagating through the headset from the other side of the line. From that moment on, I knew that today was going to bring back nostalgic moments to me and relive those wonderful memories of Yuka previously etched in my mind. Yes, it was Yuka who had arrived a few days ago. She came over here along with her friends from Japan. After hanging out in Malaysia for about 6 days, Yuka decided to leave her gang and arrange a meet up with us on the second last day of her trip in Malaysia. So nice of her to remember us.

So all the excitement started all the way in Sunway Pyramid, where a guy whom Yuka had been staying with for the past few days, put her under our care. After ensuring that her belongings were safely placed in the trunk, we strolled around and traipsed from handbag shops to boutique aimlessly. Occasionally making fun of each other while trying on trendy shades and putting ugly polka dot dresses around Yuka’s neck.

There was a farewell party specially organized for those Japanese YEs that night in Sunway, but Yuka decided to fling it for a hearty meal with us in Italiannies at the Curve. It wasn’t entirely a regretful choice for her, in fact, it was a great decision to join us at the dinner despite the hard time she had when deciding on whether to join her Jap mates or us.

My dad ordered a plate of chicken lasagna along with some meatball pasta and a plate of steamed chicken with potatoes, seasoned with some Jalapeño slices and a spicy gravy. The expressions she made when relishing those delectable dishes while sipping at her bottomless iced lemon tea was priceless. When all the food were cleared up, she had to struggle to get up from the cozy chair she had been sitting on because she was too full. Had to pay a short visit to the toilet, I guess?

That’s not the right way to call it a day. Shortly after we reached home, we found ourselves heading out the door for supper! Of course, the best place to be was at Kayu in Ss 2. She loved the Roti Canai and the Teh Tarik, so a plate of Roti Canai and a glass of Teh Tarik it is.

After supper back home, we wanted to help her out in tidying her luggage bag as she’s leaving for the airport the following morning. Too bad, she lost the keys to her luggage. What carelessness. Thankfully, she later remembered that it was with one of her friends, so there wasn’t any luggage packing until the next morning. The best part – We called off the plan, donned our pajamas, settled down on a comfy sofa in the living room, and chatted half the morning away. What a day.

August 22nd Part 2

Half an hour after I received a call from Han Han, I drove down the highway while keeping my eyes locked on the roadside for signboards that could lead me to Felix’s house in Sri Hartamas. No trouble occurred when I searched for Felix’s house, putting aside that blocked junction that could have brought me straight to Felix’s house rather than having to travel around the whole housing area into the second entrance. 

So there I was 15 minutes later at the front gate of Felix’s house to find myself being greeted by friendly family members and friends of Felix’s. Soon, I found myself joining the grilling, putting fat pieces of chicken onto the wire gauze, right above those burning charcoals to be barbequed. Aaroni on the other hand, who we jokingly suggested that he could have majored in Culinary Engineering because he seemed to be very interested in culinary, obviously, was happily seasoning his potatoes with onions and seafood with tom yam pastes, and wrapping them up with aluminum foils before barbequing them.

Han Han was so occupied with seeing others BBQ stuff that she’s always seen near the “pit.” Maybe she has a thing for guys who barbeque because I suppose she thinks they’re hot? Wake up please, it’s because they’re smothered by the heat emitted from those burning charcoals. *Jokes* Anyways, she later found herself a new obsession, which was to barbeque sausages without actually leaving any burnt marks on them.

Then there’s this guy whom Felix knew from Frisbee pick-ups, named Terrence was hyperidrosis-ing while he bit into his chicken with relish. Apparently, he found it amusing to bang every single sentence Han Han said and that peeved her alright. Although Han was always thought to be offensive in a way, especially when she’s talking, she appeared to be rather vulnerable that night, revealing much flaw in her speech that were subsequently being corrected by the one and only Terrence. I see a Yin and Yang balance there. Maybe they should get together so that Han would be tamed.

I was at this table for a short moment with this bunch of funny people before I decided to join Han who was barbequing her sausages. They were chatting and laughing away like there’s no tomorrow while I sat speechless at a corner as I did not see any humor in what they said. That’s what happened when you’re in a place of strangers and could not blend in well – Awkwardness it was.

And of course, we had Felix’s darling – Hershey joining us as she wandered around the porch, leaving nothing behind but sets of footprints. Poor Han who couldn’t rear dogs in her apartment found herself calling out for the dog and happily caressing and stroking its shaved fur whenever she got the chance. I’m certain that Han had a whale of time then.

Then gambling time came and all gamblers registered themselves at the dining table, putting in a minimum of RM15 or was it RM10 for some chips in order to get started with. It was poker they were playing. I couldn’t bear watching them play for more than 5 minutes because it was so darn boring, so I got out of the house to the porch where Han was kindly giving Felix’s parents a helping hand in wrapping up the mess we all made.

When the cleaning was done, Han, Terrence and I sat around the little round table and had a small chat with Felix’s parents. Riz, the jobless guy joined in after he got tired of watching the ongoing football match alone, bringing along the leftovers which he had been gnawing on since God knows when. Few minutes after the clock stroke 12, the gambling ended and they all swarmed out of the house, getting ready to head back home.

After a brief camwhoring session, we bade our goodbyes and parted our ways.  

August 22nd Part 1

So much have happened lately that I couldn’t spare some time to blog. Even if I have the time, I would kindly donate it to my movies. At least 2 movies a day would do just fine. Anyways, before I embark on another movie adventure, let me finish what I’ve started here. (I don’t have to go to college tomorrow)

It was a fine Saturday morning where most people wake up to a perfectly normal day, and perform their daily routines. I was the absolute opposite.  The moment I opened my sleepy eyes, I already knew that August 22nd, today, was going to be the most happening day.

About 2 weeks before today, I was invited to Felix’s farewell BBQ party via Facebook, the site where most people hang out online, spending endless time nosing around, browsing through people’s albums, playing games and quizzes that are IQ lowering, and other unproductive activities. Then, exactly 1 week from today when I was working with the worst company ever in history Ape Ideas, I was invited to a birthday celebration by one of my “colleague.” Just when I was torn between those 2, I had another one slapping at me the night before today.

CLASHING! How am I supposed to attend all 3 at one go? I wondered. I was desperately in need of 3 Seans. The plan was to attend Felix’s one and ditch the other 2 since I’ve promised him to turn up today. The birthday party was out of the story after I knew there was going to be a clubbing session right after and besides, I would have to hitch a ride from a friend because the venue was somewhere in Kepong, sorry. So I was lazy to find myself transport and I would be a killjoy eventually because my curfew’s at 1.

The thought of attending Tze-En’s farewell never flashed through my mind until I got a call from Han Han telling me that Cock had something on, so they would be going to Felix’s crib later. So yay enough, I drove to Chow Yang and to my surprise, 13 people showed up. It took minutes for all of us to settle down around that huge circular table, squeezing ourselves like sardines to fit into that inadequate space. It felt like Chinese New Year’s Eve when one big family is having a reunion dinner.

While waiting for the food to be served, we bumped into Mrs. Lee, our former teacher back in Taman Sea High School, who happened to be dining there as well. She came over and had some chit-chats with us before heading back to her table.

It has been awhile since we met, so we were busy catching up with each other. Whoever organized this farewell was smart enough to choose a Chinese restaurant, where making loud noises would never get ourselves into trouble. Great job done there.

I left at around 9 while everybody was planning to head to somewhere else after the dinner.

Not in any of the pictures: Wei Hoong! Haha. Sorry~

To be continued…

Sunsilk – The Best Brand for Shampoo in Malaysia

An innocent-looking ID at Lowyat forum deceived the best of us and lured us into taking the bait. 4 runners and an army of female ambassadors were all they needed to ensure the roadshow was a success.

It was Wednesday morning when we marched anxiously down the grave-silent hallway, thinking that this job could we tackle and handle with ease. All we had in mind was that simple job scope that had been briefed to us back in Dataran Prima and we could not help but smirk. Not knowing that we were about to be enslaved and tormented with stern and gay supervisors, ridiculously short break times, hours of standing, work that was beyond our responsibilities, and not forgetting a low payment and the longest pay term on earth.

The first day wasn’t as bad as you think it is. Personalities were still being left in dark corners while fancy masks were donned. However, some preferred to give people a bad impression about them and that’s just so idiotic. Like this guy I know, he’s too clever and smart in a way that he was coercing me mentally and physically into doing all the filthy and labor work while he did those sissy ones. It peeved me alright but I swallowed all my anger in in order to avoid unnecessary commotions and chaos. Such noble of me. Sometimes, it could be quite hard to work with assertive people.

The day went on with me realizing that I was going to work with 2 people I’ve met prior to this roadshow, and from that moment, I know I’ve got company! I didn’t really know Clement back in HELP although we once attended the same LAN class during the first semester of 2009 but now it’s an utterly different story. He came to know me as Chloe’s friend. Heh~! The second person was Kheng Loong, a guy I work with in the Cadbury Event. I couldn’t recall the whereabouts I met him until the 3rd day when he told me that he was working at the Cadbury Event as a mini-game marshal that it finally disentangled my twisted memory.

A little while after I arrived, hairstylist, make-up professionals, and those in charge of the hair wash started swarming in. All dressed up in black and armed with their respective tools, they laid everything on the dressing table with efficiency and aided fellow female ambassadors in a partial makeover. I must say that some were truly professionals while others were just fraud but nobody gave a damn as long as the customers looked extremely gorgeous in the cover photo shoot.

Not many knew about the roadshow on Wednesday, which accounted for the low number of customers at the end of the day. Us runners who were in charge of the water for hair wash had so much time to spare that we were forced to fill up the gaps between ambassadors and start pushing sales. Absurd! Of course, nobody was happy with that and we rebelled by lazing around and chatting with the ambassadors. Negative comments about our performance bombarded at us during the briefing which was held right after the roadshow ended at 10. I bet no one kept those words in their heart because I myself didn’t get a word as I don’t hear wind. Heh!

The second day had gotten better as the pages began to fill up with names of customers. Which in English means that there were more hair wash and runners had something to do to bust boredom and attention. Us runners were keeping our fingers crossed at all times for more hair wash so that we didn’t have to perform duty like promoting Sunsilk products that’s out of a runner’s job scope.

As the weekend drawn closer, the number of customers kept increasing. Runners had to make more rounds to the toilet to fetch sufficient water supply for the tank and of course pour the dirt water away into the cleaner’s room in the male’s lavatory. Our schedules were getting more hectic by day and soon 4 runners seemed to not suffice to accomplish the piling workload. Our job had definitely gone from relaxing to exhausting and torturing.

How hard we wished the queue to be shorter and the traffic to be lighter but the wishes were never granted. We grumbled as we refilled the tank and rumbled as we scooped out the dirty water. I  ranted more when one guy chickened out at the beginning of the hectic weekend and failed to find himself a replacement. Irresponsible is the only word that could describe him. So the remaining 3 of us worked our asses off and prayed hard for it to stop soon. If you notice, our prayers contradicted with that of the first day. =)

At last, 5 consecutive days of  Sunsilk roadshow came to an end at 10.30pm on Sunday. Although the total sales may not be as high as those in Mid-Valley and Sungai Wang, but it was a great achievement by all of us as we strived hard for it. Not really actually. I’m glad that the sales weren’t that high. Hence, a treat by our supervisors in Ss 2’s Pelita.

-End-

Wait.. Here’s a lovely pic of a slacking supervisor.