Elman Lum’s blog

My last posting was around mid April and I know that I have lot to catch up on posting. There is tonnes of news and updates that I want to put up but I don't have the time. On the hind sight that I don't have a PC to begin with and the internet connection to do so. The news that is I am married now and I have moved in with my wife. The best surprise would be with my mom's blessing too. I know! I am surprised too and that part would have to be told in another posting soon. I hope that I can get the PC and internet ready by months end, surely difficult for me but I will try.

I have many bills to pay and with no income for the past month only makes it harder. Recently got a job and hope to keep it, so I will be off now. I will be back with more goodies next time around.

Looking for work again and this time I really hope and I do really hope it stays. I can wait to get something new to do and move out from the outlet. It is really sad to leave the guys behind but what can I do. I just can stand working there anymore since nothing is going out right for me. The sad thing is with just less than a month away, I will be getting married. I think I need to do my own thing since I cannot work with anybody without getting into a fight.

It's been sometime since I have returned here to blog and it's been a roller coaster ride until now. I am pleased to receive good news from the bank that 1 of my loans have approved. I am still about 4k short of the amount that I need but it is still better then nothing. I have a few more things to complete before the submission of the forms to Lynn. I also need to prepare somethings for here for the wedding. For once I have one less thing to think about and that is about the money. Thank GOD for bank loans and personal loans in particular, but it was not an easy offering I must say. I had to pay all the outstanding car installments and it was an all lost for me it the loan didn't approve.

Luckily it did and I am really grateful and thankful for the power that be (GOD) and everyone that has made it happen. Work is going on smooth and not as rough as it used too and I am getting less anxious and crazy. I hope that I could get it all settled quickly and I can focus and the task at hand, my job. The only shortcoming for me having all this things done means that I am leaving home soon. I will be leaving behind my car, my room, my siblings and most importantly my parents. They do not approve of my union with Lynn and I am saddened by the course of action that I need to take.

Hoping until now that they will accept my chosing of partner in my life but till now still insistant that my choice is wrong. I guess I have to prove them wrong and everything is fine with me being a Muslim and all. I don't find Islam being intrusive and hardend like everyone say. I think Islam is a good religion and if people take the time to understand they will. I do not wish to severe relations with my family but it will a good idea to leave the house, since my mother will go all out war in this matter if she finds out. Keeping myself alive during my marriage and in the course of the marriage would be a good plan.

Just need to focus more at work and get more things done, stop day dreaming and worrying about anything else during the 10 hours I am there. I am no singing joy at work but I have to gind my teeth since it pays the bill and all. I just need to diversify some of my resources, my time to get more income. Maybe even my own business and then I can have the luxury of doing things at my own pace. I will work towards that goal and make it happen. The outlet is like a baby, you just cannot look away and hope that nothing happens. It is the complete opposite and once I have my back turned, she will be choking on the pacifier.

A lot of things to do and so little time and money. I will have to find both and quickly too, wish me luck and if everything goes better this time. I might be able to blog more often too!!

 

Things didn't go as I have planned for the WEEK and now it a matter of few hours I will be going on my religious class. Well not exactly class but some sort of induction by the state religious department on "how to be a Muslim", a 5 day condensed version. It's like a practical idiot's guide on being a Muslim, no offense but most newbies like me do need a lesson or 2. I don't know what to expect there and I am unsure about the number of participants too. I guess it will be an eye opening experience for me tomorrow.

The loans didn't get approve and I am at my wits end on how to get the sum that Lynn's mom want. I am thinking about pawning my Shirt's! Will that work? Most probably not! I am getting more applications and sending them like crazy, well not that quick but quick enough I guess. I still have to gather some documents and that would take time. Most probably I can do any work done when I am bad from the classes or induction, whatever you call it.

One thing that went well was the meeting with Fer's brother about the on line program. Even though when JN and JC didn't show up. One was sick from her trip and the other was too busy with loose ends. The meeting went well I got what I wanted and he knew what we want from him. On the plus side he is charging us quite a reasonable price for the program, with added freebies too. I guess we could push him up a notch and see where it will bring us.

Maybe if I have some free time there I could coordinate some work with Lynn. I think however that would not be plausible because she is quite difficult to work with on the phone. I need to draw out exact and specific instructions if not she will jam up. I guess nobody is perfect and for me to be a perfectionist is completely laughable. I can be demanding at times and this can make people angry. Sometimes I just surrender to the fact the most people are complete idiots and I don't demand anything from them. Then on some occasion when they do perform well, I can cherish the moment of glory which comes so often.

Next week would be a really important week for me and Lynn too. I am awaiting for the answer for the loan from the bank. I am waiting for the answer from JN about the client from Bangkok. I am waiting for the meeting with Ferlicious brothers on the software for the clients. A lot of pretty much waiting and of course the religious course that I have to attend this 23rd for 5 days. I thought that the management would no approve the leave but to my surprise they did. I guess they could mess with anyone except GOD. I think it would be a good time to catch my breath and working all of the time.

I hope that everything I wish for and hope for will come thru next week and then it will be a great relieve to me and Lynn. We have been at each other for sometime now because of the loan and I really hope we could get it. Which include the other thing that I have mentioned above. The things that we have planned would finally take place and we can move from there. Just one week of waiting and waiting for the good things to come to place. I really hope it does! CNY would be ending soon and it feels a bit lack lustre this year and I think it is because everyone is working on a tight budget. I know that I do and most of the population here in the country is about the same I guess.

I really hope that I made the right choice to venture into business now since everything seems to be slowing down. I reallly hope that it is not and the market is just having a cold. I have been tied down by the work that I have all week which include last week, no thanks to those guys who stood in for me. I was on leave just for 2 days and I have been at it for almost a week. Most of the things have settled down and I am just hoping that nothing else pops up. A lot of things to be done and only 2 more months to go before the big day. I guess Lynn and I are just not the only ones busy, even Qiesh my wedding planner seems to be unavailable most of the time.

I should get in touch with him by the of the week because 2 months is not far off since we are planning such a big event in our life. I am also planning on the website for both I and Lynn too, I guess I really need to hire a Personal Assistant soon. Once I start getting contracts and Lynn going for the events, we will really need one to help us. Anyone interested?

I wanted to put this here for a long time now and since I have the time might as well I do. It is nice to have a day off and forget about work. I cannot stand being in the outlet for too long nowdays and with the short that I have incurred yesterday, I feel that even more. I am paying again for the money thing and I am broke before the months end. Maybe I should starting selling deep fried bananas to maintain this output of income. I should post the blog before I start going astray from the intended posting.

 

Well I am supposed to be doing the blog for my Hong Kong trip instead of this. I guess I have to do this first because I am afraid I will forget most of the details of the trip. I am so sorry to B because I did promise her that I will do that first instead. Well the news is that I am back and I glad that our work in Dubai went very well. I guess that Jenny getting all worked up and worried about this trip is uncalled for. However I must note that there were a few hiccups on our system on the first day. It’s been so long since I wanted to post this blog and only after so long only now did I post it.

 

I have left the company now for 9 days now and it seems to feel like an eternity. I really do miss the girls very much and yes that includes Jee Nee too. Well for Leonard I am not that sure but I am sure that I do miss the working environment over there. It is more relaxed and being with them surely makes work more worth while. While adjusting to the new working place with new colleagues is even more difficult now. It was easier few years ago when I was more accepting of new environments and people and not so tough nut to crack. This time however has proven that a week to assimilate myself to this new company will be a daunting task.

 

I am now posting this blog to serve as a reminder to me on what has transpired during my days at MSCi. It will be nice to read on it when I have nothing to do and to remind me the good old times with the girls and the challenges that we have doing registration for exhibitions. For myself this would be a really memorable post for me since I have left the company. I still find myself thinking about what things would have been if I have stayed on and was it a right choice. However I need to remind myself that I cannot stay put while waiting for things to happen, I have to make the changes myself. In which this was a hardest thing to do for me and to move ahead to suit the ever changes in my life.

 

February 13th – The day I am gearing up to leave Malaysia and heading out to Dubai. My mind is racing with the thought, “How will that country look like?” There is so much stuff going in my head I couldn’t nap well. The plane I am taking was bound to Dubai on the 14th of February at 12.45am. Just 5 hours to do my last preparations and get my ass off from bed. My girl friend Lynn came and sees me about 6 in the evening to see me off. She would love to send me to the airport but the team and I are taking the airport limo at the office. We had dinner and a short talk and she was sad that I was leaving the country for so long. By the time we are done and I headed back to my house for shower, it was time for me to leave. I have received a message from Jenny that the limo is there at the office early.

 

There goes my plan for having a drink, (I mean Tea) with my brother. We rushed to the scene and I was going thru the checklist in my head. Passport – Checked, Baggage – Checked, Myself – Checked, Cigarettes – Checked. I guess everything was fine and we were at the office about 15 minutes after nine. No sooner Kelly and Jenny was one the scene and we got into the office and got our stuff down and packed into the cab. I and Kah Mun (Jenny’s Boy Friend) took the heavy stuff down. In the process we have broken the new bag’s wheel and the handle too. It was so heavy; the bag needed 3 people to lift it up. I told myself that Crocodile the bag manufacturer will surely love us because we have purchased 2 bags in a period of 2 months and have broken them both. The best thing was we have successful destroyed the first bag even before we leave the country. The first one of course was not our fault and was damaged by the airport crew. We just have to think of a reason to claim our warranty on the second one, does excessive heavy load counts as a valid reason?

 

We thought everything will be fine but something went amidst. The cabbie told us that we have too much baggage’s and that he cannot take all of us there. Another problem which crop up was my boss Leonard was not to be seen close to 10 and we are supposed to be there already for check in. Thus Jenny had no choice but to call Jee Nee and make her come over to the office with her transport to send the rest of them there. With some much load in the cab and the driver wanted to leave as soon as possible, I and Kelly then went ahead first.

 

The journey to the airport took about 40 minutes and we when we got there, I quickly took a look at the check in counter. There were a lot of people heading to Dubai, well I guess because it was a favorite place for the airlines to use it as a transit. We took all the baggage’s down and waited for them to arrive. The rest took another 15 minutes to reach the airport and we have major problems dealing with our baggages too. We were over the limit for stuff permitted for check in too. It was due to the extra equipment and consumables for the registration. We have to pay another head count just to get the stuff onboard, by the time we settle the problem. It was high time for us to get on the plane and head to Dubai. We cannot miss the flight if not we will surely get into a lot of trouble. We cleared our hand carry items in the immigrations and customs and straight to the departure hall. No time for me to have another smoke, I guess I can stand until I get to Dubai.

 

We boarded the plane with 15 minutes to spare, I and Jee Nee looked around to see if there is any free seats we could go too. I don’t want to be cramped all the way there in the middle seats. Lady Luck was on our side and we had a couple of seats next to us empty, we asked the stewardess if we could sit there and she said if by the time the plane is ready to taxi and no one has claimed it we could have that seats. We prayed that the seats will not be taken until take off and we waited patiently. When the Captain announced that it was time to taxi and take off we were so happy and we quickly claim those seats. A nice start to a beautiful trip, it was so exciting for me too. I have not traveled to the Middle East before and I will be the first in my family to do so.

 

The flight will take about 7 hours to reach Dubai International Airport and the time difference between Kuala Lumpur is – 4 hours. I was so uncomfortable in the plane, I love the take off and landings but the long flight drives me crazy. It reminded me of the flight I took to Adelaide. The seating and I just cannot get myself to sleep in planes, I just don’t know why? I am not afraid of flying; it must be the cramp condition in the plane I guess. If I was sitting in business class or first class maybe with the fully extendable seats maybe I could get some shut eyes.

 

The flight had 2 meals served, one right about an hour after take off. A savory snack mainly sandwiches, some fresh fruits and drinks. The other one, breakfast will be served just 2 hours before landing. If you don’t eat in the plane I don’t know what you can do. Games and Movies I guess will be the next option and I don’t remember what I watched onboard. Wait I remember now, I watched House the series and Frasier. Mostly repeats but what do you expect, satellite TV?

 

I was getting really impatient and my craving for my smokes was really taxing. Soon enough the Captain said that we are just moment away from the airport and will be landing soon. It was music to my ears and it is not just about the smoking but the sitting down for 7 hours doing nothing. We landed in Dubai around 3.45 on February 14th; it was drizzling a bit when we got there. It was reliving that we have reached Dubai and looking forward to see Dubai in person.

 

It took an hour to clear the customs and immigration at Dubai International Airport. We have all our stuff ready and they keeping asking what we are bringing. The reason is because is mainly “Why in the Hell, we are carrying 25k plastic cards around”, and it is not light, believe ME! We had the same trouble in Kuala Lumpur International Airport and I guess here in Dubai the response would be the same. We cleared out of the terminal and my bosses Jee Nee and Leonard each went and purchase the local Mobile Packs. Etisalat’s Ahlan sim packs which only costs 90 Dirham and it only lasts 90 days after activation. These packs are used by the travelers here so they could keep in touch and yet not spend a bomb in making calls.

 

February 14th – We got a cab from the airport and headed straight to the hotel apartments at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The ride to the apartments took about 15 minutes and most probably it was so early in the morning or I got the time wrong. The cab parked in front of Block C and my boss, Jee Nee went in first to check in. The first thing I did was light a smoke and totally forgot the luggages. That was until my Jenny hurried me to help her with the bags because it was so damn heavy. We took the elevators up in 2’s because it was so small and couldn’t take us and the entire luggage at the same time.

 

We got to our room 1403 and took a tour after placing all the bags in the room. The apartment came with a kitchen, a washing machine with dryer, living room that comes together with a dining table which was quite spacious. An extra bed was placed there and I guess it was mine because I snore so I think spare them the trouble and I would just sleep there instead. It had 2 rooms and 3 beds placed in each room, so the arrangement would be the 3 girls in one room and the rest in the other, so someone would have to sleep in the living room with me. Well I think it would be either Leonard my boss or it would be Terence.

 

Then my boss headed down with the trolleys that we used to haul the bags with to the reception counter. The next thing he asked the concierge was some change to get some soda and he was kind enough to comp some for us. A total of 4 cans were given to us and we headed out for some smokes outside the front entrance. Only to find out there was a balcony in the apartment, we only needed to open the glass door and voila smoking area. Should have notice it earlier and that would have spare us from the drizzle outside.

 

We could not sleep when we got there because we needed to unwind and get the excitement out of us. For me I just started to explore around and make a video of the surrounding area. I was thinking about making tea and relax. The fridge had some juices and milk in it, not to forget about the counter with your usual coffee and tea, there was some biscuits there too. Jee Nee went straight to bed after a shower and the rest of us just hang loose around the living room. The most important thing for my boss and Jenny was getting online and they did. All thanks to Mogrash unsecured wireless connection in the building. Don’t be so happy yet because it takes forever just to log in and you cannot move around once you did if not you will be disconnected from the internet.

 

I really got sleepy after a while and Jee Nee woke up because of my commotion around the apartment. She woke up and I got tired from all the filming I decided to get some shut eyes before we headed out to the Trade Centre. We have an appointment with them after lunch to finalize on some matters on the registrations. Then we have to take a look on how we are going to coordinate the setup of our equipments. Then we must take a tour around the halls too and you all must visit this place if you are in Dubai. It is freaking huge and it will take at least a good 20 minute’s work from the main entrance to the last hall. Imagine that they will build another Exhibition hall at Jebel Ali and it will be 1.2 kilometers from end to end. You will need a motorcycle just to commute within halls.

 

After my short nap I when to get my shower and dress up, well actually not dress up but get a change of clothes before we headed to the site. Boss told us to go for lunch and all of us when to the Club which was just less then 10 minutes by walk. We were there and we ordered lunch and waited for a good 30 minutes before our food came. We were really hungry and the best thing of all was there was nothing local for us to order. It was mostly Chinese, Indian and Western; the closest thing to the local food was Lebanese.

 

After lunch we headed to the Exhibition Centre and proceeded to the meeting at 2pm. We discuss a ranged of matters pertaining to the event and the registration system placements as well. After that we headed to the Coffee Convention and had some Ice Cream compliments of our beloved boss Leonard. The ice cream was thick and rich and it was really nice to have Haagen Dazs after a long meeting. I think it should be made a perquisite for every after meeting snack.

 

We headed back and got ready for dinner and these time Leonard won’t be with us because he had some prior arrangements with the organizers. I and the girls will be heading for Mercato a shopping mall to the direction of Jumeirah about 25 minutes drive from our apartment. We got there and started shopping first because the girls were really not that hungry because of the ice cream. We bought some groceries for breakfast for the next few days and spaghetti dinner too. It will surely save us some money from eating outside for breakfasts. The funny thing was when I got there the Jenny asked me to get some eggs. She told me that we needed half a dozen eggs; I looked around and found some white eggs. Thinking that it is not the eggs I was looking for I picked a tray of 20 brown eggs.

 

When I reached her and I told her about the white eggs, she said I was silly to think it was chicken eggs. She told me that it was duck eggs and only later she was wrong about the white chicken eggs when she saw it herself. There was a wide assortment of stuff you could get there but no stuff to make steamboat. Hot pot ingredients are no where to be found and I guess because no one likes steamboat in Dubai, perhaps I should introduce that dish there but it will surely cost a lot because the lack of fish ball in Dubai.

 

February 15th – Day 2 in Dubai woke up early and took my bath and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast for the girls and boss. I woke up early because I had nothing to do the previous day and I slept early. Back home I will find it very difficult to wake up because I like my own bed very much. It is not that I am complaining that the bed in the apartment was not nice but it was rather springy. I made a rather ugly sunny side up eggs and boss wanted to have some rather ugly scrambled eggs. Don’t mind the condition of the eggs but what is more important is the taste.

 

Well not bad for an amateur cooking breakfast 3000 plus miles away from home. In my house all the males are not allowed in the kitchen. I guess my mom is rather paranoia when it comes to us cooking in her kitchen. She thinks that we will create a mess or worst destroy it. Toast some bread and boss was very quick in making his own cup of coffee.

 

The 2 blokes from Singapore arrived early in the morning around 5.00am. My boss waited for them and opened up the door for them. They headed straight to bed after they come and from their looks I know they were really tired from all the flying.

 

Our friend here Mr. Andrew was so kind enough to finish up the little strawberry jam on 2 slices of toast. The review on my cooking was great and it made my day, to find out that I have some little talent in cooking. I should have ventured into these perhaps I would have been a wonderful cook. We now have no more strawberry jam and more people coming to the fort. I guess we should be heading to the mall again to get more stuff to cook tomorrow.

 

Then we and the rest of the team after breakfast headed to the hall and took a look again. The guys get to survey the area and have a mental plan on how things are going to look like once we start our setup. Later in the afternoon, Leonard told us to go shopping at the largest mall around the Mall of The Emirates and take a look at Ski Dubai. The ski centre was conveniently located at the same mall and we headed there in 2 cabs. I with the girls took in a cab and the rest of the Singapore Guys and boss took another.

 

We got there and we were amazed at the size of the mall and we were looking forward at the things it had to offer. Actually we wanted to wait for the guys but we were really hungry and decided to go ahead first. Our first stop was a ski Dubai and it was really amazing. The size of the thing was incredible and to have snow in a land filled with sand. People playing in the snow and getting up on the lifts heading up to the peak and slide your way down. I wish we have one in Malaysia and this would be a great place to escape the heat, or you could just practice your skiing here before you choose to actually sky at the Alps.

 

We took shots of the place which I will show you guys later and no later the rest of the guys showed up. They were actually waiting for us at the food court for some time now and we didn’t notice until our boss showed up looking for us. Thinking that we should wait for them but instead they were waiting for us. The food court had ensemble of food to offer from Western, Asian and some local cuisines. There were the usual fast food around too from subs, McDonalds and KFC. I don’t think we would like to have KFC or any fast food when we are there. We have to at least try the local food at least once but it is not that local as we thought. It is Lebanese food and for the whole time we were there I guess we only had some local bread. I guess that would suffice and we were not there to eat but to work.

 

After lunch we started to look around the mall and to see if there is anything interesting. I saw a very large giant mammoth soft toy and wanted to take a picture of it. However the rest of them were not interested as the guys were bored as usual and the ladies wanted to do their shopping. We walked around and before long we headed to the water fountain which was quite exciting. Music and smoke coupled with the water spray coordinate to perform a show. It was like the orchestra but without the musicians and the show didn’t last very long because we were there half way thru it. We did some more window shopping and Jee Nee as usual was able to shop but this time for her sister.

 

Just as we were at the end of our looking around and wanted to shop for more groceries, Leonard had a call from the organizers and headed back first. Then it was left us, the ladies and Andrew doing the shopping at Carrefour. I took a quick glance at hypermarket and it was like the ones we have in Malaysia. No matter where you are in the world all malls and hypermarkets will surely look alike.

 

Globalization has truly spread around the world and the major different it would be is the products they have to offer. Coca Cola will still be there unless you are in the middle of the dessert or the tundra but if you are in a developed country surely you will those things. Another observation that I have notice it would be the packaging of these products as the ones we have in Malaysia are plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Here in Dubai the soft drinks are in glass bottles which I must say I have not seen those for a very long time.

 

After shopping is done and we have our groceries we headed back before we took some shots of some really expensive cars in the mall. Ferrari’s and major sports cars are parked in the mall and we could see that the people there sure make a lot of money. I know there is some middle class citizen but I guess most local with have a couple of grand stashed some where. One thing I notice though is that I have not seen a beggar lying around town or maybe they have hid them somewhere not like the scene in Hong Kong where there is people living on the streets

 

February 16th – day 3 and we are waiting for the arrival of the last member of our time and with him completing the group we will commence setup of the systems. He will arrive like the most of us arriving in Dubai wee hours in the morning. Terence arrives in Dubai around 5 am and didn’t sleep when he got there and just went ahead and did his work. I don’t know what he was doing but he was doing something when I woke up around 7am or was it 8am.

 

I cannot recall if I made breakfast or he did but someone did I guess wait a minute I made breakfast. I made my tuna and egg scramble with toast, well most will wonder if it will taste ok. Don’t worry it taste fine and everyone like it I guess everyone like it. There was not left over and Andrew was nodding with agreement when I ask if the dish was nice. I will learn more recipes and hope that my cooking will not kill anyone in the process. After breakfast we proceeded to the hall and brought most of our stuff with us and went ahead with the setup.

 

By noon we had most of the computers at stations and just waiting for the tweaking and setting of the networks. I and Kelly had the liberty of getting us lunch 50 miles away, ok kidding but it was not near. We had to journey across the highway and buy KFC for the team. The walk took about 15 – 25 minutes and by the time we reached there we decided that we will take the cab back to the exhibition centre. I bought a meal set for the guys and got one additional dish called Riza. It was saffron rice with fried chicken and this dish reminded me of Briyani. It was like Malaysia but not served in the Indian Muslim restaurant but the fast food joint in Dubai. Lunch was fantastic and soon we return to our job and time sure goes by very slowly when you doing something you are not fond of.

 

Later in the evening we headed back to the apartment and it is again my turn to make dinner for everyone. Actually not me but the spaghetti sauce do need some stirring and the sausages need some cutting too. I have to do some work with the dish before I served it so I guess it qualifies as me cooking the dish. I wanted to do the original way but with a tight schedule like that, you just use the ready made ones. The sauce didn’t come out as it was suppose to and we ended up having noodle soup. My colleague here Jenny was to overzealous and ended up putting to much water.

 

My calculations were as bad as here and we had a soup in our hand. I tried to thicken it with ketchup and parmesan cheese but to no avail. I guess I was so hungry and tired I decided to serve it anyway. The rest of them didn’t complain but Jee Nee was not so fond of my soup dish. The rest must be starving and just chow down on it and put more sauce oops soup to their plates and dip it with bread. Well 7 out 8 are not bad when it comes to cooking for the masses. I now know that too much cook spoil the broth and I will keep an eye out on my dish and I will use the measurement cups too.

 

February 17th – day 4, I was awaken by the smell of meat on the frying pan. It was a nice change that I didn’t have to cook today. Terence woke up early and started to make sausages and ham and of course French toast too. I notice that Kelly was there too and most of the girls helping him out. I don’t know who was the head chef today but I glad someone offered to help out in making breakfast for a change. I got ready and took my bath and change of clothes and had breakfast. The best thing was I had a little surprise in my hand that the milk I supposedly bought was not milk it was YOGURT.

 

The rest of them don’t drink yogurt and I have consume it myself and believe me that this drink is a really good laxative. I have to remind myself to get milk for breakfast tomorrow or they will be having cornflakes with yogurt. I guess that won’t taste very nice though and I don’t know how to finish 2 liters of yogurt. Well I guess it had to be done anyway and so I took it down with some juice. I just reminded myself that I have a week here and I can finish it before I return to Malaysia.

 

Today I guess will be a nice day to work and I hope that we could finish up early for our Reunion Dinner. This day marks the day before Chinese New Year and certainly I hope that it will end with a good note and tomorrow will be a better day for all of us and perhaps a better year. Last year I could not celebrate the New Year because of the passing of my Grandfather and this year I am so far away from home. It will truly be different from spending time with family and not celebrating it back home, but I’ve got a job to do so no time for me to get reminiscent.

 

We were finalizing our setup and we hurried to finish it before 2pm as we have a briefing schedule with the temp’s staff and the supervisors. Our timing was on the dot, well actually quite close but it was close to 2 when we could really say we were finished. The team then proceeded back to the main office; oh I forgot to mention this exciting news. For the first time in our company’s history for Malaysia office of course, we have our own show office. This is news to celebrate and we didn’t because we were just too busy.

 

The seniors than decided that we should have lunch first later go to the briefing. At least we would have covered the temp staff first and give them the pointers in using the software. Sadly we didn’t know what to have for lunch and we when ahead with KFC again. Most of us voiced our concern about having chicken again and if we had to take it again tomorrow, we are afraid we will turn into one.

 

We were disturbed the whole time when we tried to have our lunch. They were there early and awaited for us to start the briefing. We could not believe when the organizers were waiting for us too, and I thought to myself, good god everyone’s punctual here. I am sorry that I am used to Malaysian time and if I say 1pm I will be there at 2pm. In Malaysia we have the "couldn’t" care less attitude and for our neighbor I guess they will be there at 11.30am. They have the can not lose attitude and we just couldn’t be bothered enough to worry about it. I cannot say that it applies to our principal office in Singapore but everyone knows too well here in Malaysia that it does happen there.

 

February 18th – day 5 Chinese New Year and guess what we are at work, sadly today we will not have any hot meal prepared for us for breakfast. We had cornflakes this morning and we should because we are rushing in the morning to get to the hall. We expect a heavy crowd and we need to be there early to make sure everything is prep and ready for our visitors.

 

We were there early and rested at the main office whilst waiting for the time to go to the counters. Andrew and Kelly headed to their respective counters and I think I should join them and move with them too. I, Andrew and Kelly was station at Hall 1, 2 & 3 but it was a couple of minutes walk from each stations. I got there and the crew was not there yet and I guess they will be punctual and decided to walk about and talk to the security crews.

 

I then headed to Andrew’s hall and asked him if he wanted to take some coffee with me and so coincidence which Coffee Bean was situated right between our halls. I told him that we were close by if we had coffee there but he declined and said that he wanted to make some test on the badge printers before the crew come. I was not worried about my system, I guess because if anything did go wrong I still needed their help to troubleshoot. The easy stuff I can take care of them like replacing the ribbons and refill of the consumables but anything more than that I still need Andrew and Kelly’s help.

 

I took coffee for myself there at Dubai World Exhibition Centre at 16 dirham which I must say cheaper than the Malaysia outlets. I sip my coffee and enjoyed a cigarette before they came and I guess I should do it now before the show started and then I will have no time to indulge in my smoking sessions. The team started to arrive about 10 minutes before show and long before I know it, we have started registrations for the visitors. It was hectic and confusing for the first day but we nip it in the butt and everything was fine at the end of the day.

 

We were tired and hungry from the ordeal and it is always like this for the 1st day of the event. We hope that the 2nd day would not be as hectic and busy like the first but we still expect the show to pull in the crowds. We are really picky about the crowds and all that we hope that they will come slowly flowing into the day and not coming into the shows in large groups. It is difficult to maintain the registration counter if you have a market in front of us. Dinner was on my mind and we needed to buy more stuff for tomorrow breakfast and milk was on the top of my list.

 

We waited for a while for the others but they were preoccupied with some work and the rest of us didn’t want to wait for them. We went ahead back to the apartments and took a cab to Spinners and I have no idea where the place was. The only thing I knew was that I told the cab driver where we wanted to go and he took us there. It was like hypermarket and there were some restaurants and eateries there. It took us a few minutes to choose but then we have decided, quickly we seated down and ordered.

 

I ordered the spicy beef on a hotplate, Kelly ordered chicken, Jee Nee called for fish and Jenny ordered pasta. The meal was served in large portions, which was good for me and it was really nice. We really missed our Malaysian dishes now and it is starting to get really boring eating fast food and Western all the time. However we were grateful that the meal was delicious and with our stomach filled, we could do our grocery shopping now. We had a quick dash into the mart and I have confirmed with the others that I have gotten the milk carton this time. Everything was in order and we gotten the things that we wanted and we then proceeded back to the apartments. Tired and sore from walking that enormous hall around all day, get some sleep and brace for tomorrow.

 

February 19th – the 2nd day for the show and I was expecting a large crowd and it was the complete opposite. I guess mainly it was due to the fact that most of the visitors would have come to register on the first day. I have plenty of time to walk around and make friends. Which I did and started conversation with Jaffna, she was working as a temp at the show magazine counter. All she does is pass the complimentary show magazine to the visitors and act as an information counter. This was really nice because I cannot go around disturbing my own team and I head out and disturb other people.

 

I was looking forward to lunch time as there was nothing much to do. I had pizza on the first day and it as not filling and I have to snack. Today would be different as the rest of them wanted to have Chinese food. I went for the Indian rice dish briyani and it was truly wonderful. It came with some mutton curry and chicken kurma, added with some papadam (like crackers). They gave a large portion and I was really full and find it difficult to stay away after a heavy lunch, thus I had to walk more just to walk it off.

 

 After show we started to head out of the hall and took pictures around the banner which was placed in front of the main exhibition entrance at Hall 5. We spend some time there and no sooner later came one of the organizers and invited us to attend a party which was held not far from our apartment. The party was meant for the exhibitors and the party had music and food. It was nice to be there but I didn’t have much to eat and I didn’t have the mood too. I guess that I was not in the mood for the food and it rain for a while and fatigue was in the way.

 

February 20th – All the other days were quite the same with some differences with what we have for lunch and dinner. I am getting very blur on the details about the day but I can remember clearly on what we guys and girls did for the night. We guys wanted to have something different for today and we have made plans to go to the Heritage Village. They well I mean was the most of the team told us that there are a lot of things to see. The have even mentioned to us that there is a boat ride on the river and there is a couple of restaurant that we can have our food. I am really looking forward in getting there and see how it like was for people in Dubai in the past have lived. The people didn’t have the complication of modern living, no modems, no internet and even other influences. Life was simpler than or was it simpler now, all I know that in the past you have to do a lot of work just to wear your clothes. I am very thankful that the fridge, TV and the washing machine was invented. The best invention I would like to put aside and honor personally would be the TOILET. Imagine the world without toilets, scary right!

 

February 21st – day 8 this day would be one to remember as we have the chance to meet up with a client in Dubai. Well not client exactly but a staff from the same organization. She came to Dubai and had a look on the exhibition which was going on Gulfood 2007. The main purpose she was there was too selling her own upcoming show the Food & Hotel Malaysia 2007. Meet up with the clients and potential ones to see if they will be interested to have a booth in the event. She appeared at our counter and was very happy to see us. A familiar face is really a welcome site when you are away on another country I guess. I saw her when I was on my way to the Zabeel Hall and she was there having some sugar cane juice.

 

I then when and say hello to her and we talked for about an hour before I told her that I have to be excused. I cannot be sitting down there and chatting while my team is running the counter. I said that Jee Nee would be pleased to see her and have some time with her later in the evening maybe even dinner. Time sure flies fast when you are doing nothing and then came the time for dinner. All of us waited for the rest of them to finish up with some reports for the show. We then headed out of the hall and got 2 cabs to Saj Express, which was just the opposite from the apartments we were staying. I and the girls have the most frightening experience when we were on the cab. He was traveling at 110km/h making a sharp turn and I was thinking to myself I am too young to die. When we arrived I was really glad that we reached the restaurant in one piece.

 

We ordered all kinds of kebabs and starters and some I don’t know how to pronounce. There is one dish which we found really amusing which was the Tabbouleh and I don’t know what was inside too but it was ok. The reason we found this dish amusing was because in Malay is sounded like Tak Boleh which means “CANNOT”. When we finish dinner our boss told us that we should be heading out to Jumeirah for some sight seeing. There we would be able to see the Burj Al Arab, the sail looking hotel in the middle of the sea. It will cost most of us couple of years salary just to stay one night there but it should be worth it because they said that the services is amazing.

 

We headed out to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel and I might say that it was a really cool looking hotel. The main place that we wanted to visit would be the club located about 15 minutes walk from the main hotel. It was nice to see but the place was packed and we had not choice but to venture to another spot to drink. Well for me drinking means having some non alcoholic cocktails. Well after like spending about almost an hour taking pictures and posing around the beach and boats. Finally we went up to the 14th floor for some sight seeing from the balcony of the club. That was a really cool scene and you should look at the photos and you will be amazed at the view. Which I might say that my trustee K800i cannot take night landscape pictures because you cannot see anything though.

 

The next time if I am going to spend anything on would be new camera, not the ones like being used by Terence. I need the easy ones like Cyber Shot Canon Camera with 7.2 mega pixels would do fine. However I will need to do some research and find out what camera has the best night shots and day one too. Best of both worlds if not something in the middle would be fine. I am not selling my phone short but it just cannot take any landscape shot because it focuses on taking photo for people. I know it sounds weird that why am I not taking pictures of people but places. Well it is because after 2 shots of taking people you would like to take the scenery’s too, right. 

 

February 23rd – day 10 the last day that we will be here and we should be finishing about 4pm today. The day started as usual with breakfast and this time I remember very clearly because I had to finish the reminder of the milk. I have never been so full and bloated in my life, well a few times but never away from my country. I am awfully happy that we are going to finish the show and all the time I waited for the time to pass, it was time for me to close the counter. I had a mixture of bittersweet feeling that I am starting to enjoy where I was and yet my heart wanted to go home to my family and Lynn. It has been the most unusual way for me to go thru the Chinese New Year without the company of my family and close friends. I guess it was because I was really looking forward to spend time with them and last year I didn’t because I was mourning for the passing of my grandfather. This year my mind had some idea what was installed for me and then come this working trip which in a major way changed some of my plans.

 

You may notice that I day is missing in this blog and I am truly sorry about it. I just cannot remember the events that have happened on this day. I had to dig my mind and remember those details. It had been such a long time since I have write in this entry that I totally forgot about day 9 February 22nd. This would make a good reminder for me to make time to write down the details of the day when a computer is not accessible at all times.

 

I will miss my team I guess, very much because I have great time working with them and it was a joy to be in the company of such capable people. It is a nice time to learn about other people living in other countries instead of their own. The team placed with me is Maha Gedeon, Joe Rancor, Adel Kobissi, Mary Beth Cate, Emam Daad, Aayesha Malick, and Maxine. All of them from different background and from different birth place and cultures living in a country so vastly different. The knowledge that I have gained about cultures, people and the tolerance of religion, customs and believes even from my own working team has truly open up my eyes and even my heart.

 

February 24th – day 11 Alas we have arrived home to Malaysia and not sleeping in the plane made me very tired. We arrived around 2.30 in the afternoon and the baggage took an hour and a half for us to collect it. When we got hold of our stuff we started moving out from the airport, I was thinking if I need to fly again please make it another month. I just cannot take it, the traveling I mean, I don’t mind seeing places but flying is another. The team split up as Jee Nee will be taking her own cab back to her house, and for the rest of us we will be taking the airport limo back to the office. I called my dad that I will be in the office around 4pm but the luggage took so long, I guess he will be waiting for me at least a good hour before I arrive. When we got there we were complaining about the weather and it was nice and cool at Dubai. It started to rain as soon we moved our stuff back upstairs and the driver forgot to drop of jenny’s bag. I have to call them and after some troubleshooting with the limo company, Jenny got her luggage back.

 

She wanted to call a cab back to her house and my mom offered to send her back and we did. After sending her back I got home and unpacked my stuff and quickly took a bath. It was really hot and I just cannot stand being hot and sticky. All of the 10 days I was in Dubai and in my head it was just like a very long dream. I must admit it was a really nice and long dream. I hope that I can another dream soon and with my love Lynn too, it would be very nice to travel around the world with her. Well after my bath I rested on the bed and fell asleep I guess because I woke up the next day.

 

I am back, Malaysia! I am looking forward to my next trip; I wonder where I will be going this time.

I got sick last Friday and I had to skip work. I felt like a 18 wheeler just ran over me and I had aches everywhere, I guess that is a sign that my body had enough. I cannot say that I like working 14 hours a day and only have so little time for myself. A little sleep, entertainment, having meals and seeing my Lynn are now really limited. All work and no play makes me a dull Manager. I cannot pay attention as sharp as I want to, I can even feel sleepy and tired during work. My mood is bad because I don't have a life and with me always paying for the differences, it makes it worst.

I went back to work the following day and to my surprise, Danny Boy said that I cannot claim my medical. What a load of bull, he said that all sick staff must go to work and get a Medical Claim Chit. How do a sick person goes to work and get that chit. Might as well he just go to work and pass out there, foaming at the mouth maybe puke some blood. They cannot just do a policy like that without putting consideration into it, they are so simplistic in their decision to make silly rules.

No wonder everyone is leaving as soon they get some offer elsewhere. I have even heard that lousy offers are taken just to give the staff an opportunity to leave. They should monitor the Medical Leaves and the Claims, don't go and make silly rules like those. A sick person should be in bed and not parading himself to the District Manager for show. If you cannot trust the staff and then don't give any medical benefits. What a load of balloney from the rules and policy that they have made. It really pisses me off and no me alone but some of the other full time staff as well.

I am really hoping some good will turn up so because they are driving me nuts....

This is the worst time for me to be sick and today is my off day. I have all the time to be feeling down but today I have to be in the blue. Sniffles and the cold is not to have during one's off day, plus I pissed off Lynn today for not being with her to get her car for service. I for one is not thrilled to be sick during my off and I don't have money to spend during this time too. I guess that is why I am resting at home instead of being out on the shopping mall and maybe catch a movie too. Lynn is like 50km away and I feel to tired to ride out today, the weather don't look too good either because it has just stop raining.

Tomorrow I will have to go to the office and settle the discrepancies on the cash in for the daily sales. I hope that I could see Lynn even for a little while. It's been a while since I last saw her but not too long though. About a week. Feeling so blur and I think I need to lie down and rest even my eyes feel heavy. Too much late nights plus with the crap that I have been taking the whole week, I guess I need 3 days to feel energized again.

I am really afraid of handling the cashier nowadays, since I have been paying those short differences for the past one and half months now. Those short is differences are not a couple of ringgit but sometimes reaches thirty and a record high of eighty ringgit. Imagine paying an average of twenty ringgit a day and you will get an idea. It will be half of a crew's pay and in one month that person will quit. I have that strong feeling to do so too, if I am a crew those deductions will really kill me. I cannot imagine anybody besides the Manager and he or she Assistant doing the cashering.

I have one error today and it cost me thirty ringgit. I feel empty like my soul has been taken out and I feel powerless. Well I guess that is how rape feels like when somebody takes something from us with permission. I am not saying that one should not own up to one mistake. The problem is that once that this mistake is done too often, it can really demoralize a person. That is how I feel today and I guess that would be how I will be feeling for tomorrow too. On top of the deductions that I have to go thru will be the long hours being at the outlet. Adding Danny and the pressure of handling a crew of misfits plus a large outlet is a feat to tackle.

I guess I will have to take Irene's advice on taking one step at a time and watch it thru. She has mention that I have gone thru the most difficult stage of the process. I really hope it is true and soon that I will be able to run the store my way. First I wanted it so badly to run the store and manage the way I deem fit but nowadays I just feel like I could just stop whatever I am doing, and leave. Throw in the towel and call it a day, put the guns on safety and stop fighting the overwhelming enemy.

3 am now and it's another night out of the window and less time for me to sleep. A choice of my own to stay late today at the outlet, since I wanted to know that they are doing with it. Renovation going on and it would be a nice to time to see the outlet go thru a change. A different matter yesterday but too lazy to mention it now. I have a lot of things to catch up tomorrow and Lynn to apologize to. I could not talk to her the entire day because of my tight schedule.

Time to sleep and get some rest, maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

I remembered something that I needed to blog about this afternoon and before you know it. The shift is over and I have no idea what I wanted to post about in the first place. I used to have so much free time at work, I can do all that. I have trouble getting to take a piss at work now since I am the only one qualified and authorized to cashier the Pos machine. Nothing fancy and taken from the KFC next door, I guess. A very ancient piece of machinery and nothing fancy but basically a big calculator. I have been looking forward for the new E Pos but it seems to be more distant then before.

Maybe tomorrow when I wake up I can remember the post I needed to do. The best thing is to blog it immediately but there is a problem doing that at work. For one the computer at the outlet would be riddled with viruses and trojan, plus other stuff in there as well. I cannot use it during my shift, there is no privacy and it encourages the staff to use it as well. I cannot allow that since it is not encourage and to put it strictly not allowed too. However since Danny have not been making any noise about the PC, I am not going to be the bad person and voice it out to the crew.

I should think of getting maybe a PDA or sorts, even maybe a trade with Colin. We will see and I am interested in claiming all those Digi points to get a new phone for Lynn. The phone of hers has gone bonkers and I am not sure mine is still sane. I hope that it will last till after the wedding because from now until May when I tie the knot. I am going to be spending a lot of $$$. Since the company has deducted a large portion of my pay for Miscalculations, breakages and AWOL. I am going to need to tie the belt a little more this month until I get my next pay cheque, and hopefully no more deductions. One thing though I have completed the Engagement and that took a big chunk too. If I didn't do that advance I might have a little more to move around. It sucks being poor and owing a lot, pressure from the credit companies to pay.

It is 3.43 am now and it is time for me to call it a day before I pass out from exhaustion. Maybe something more cheerful to post for tomorrow.