Saturday, December 22, 2007
Because my name isn't like those oh-so-common variations like, for example, 'weiliang' (no offence to all weiliangs of the world), it has been quite a challenge for people to either get my name right or remember it.
And so, I coined 'chyork' a few years back and started off as a short-form of my name.
Now it has also become my business name.
Throughout the past week, I've met so many new people at stb. And I used 'chyork' during introductions.
Instead of making it easier for people, it actually puzzled them more.
But in the process, it makes a good pick-up line for conversations. Just that it gets boring, having to repeat 5 times a day.
人生是黑白的.
11:11 PM <3
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Wednesday, December 19, 2007
I don't celebrate Christmas, so last night's Christmas Dinner was one of the rare few that I had been to.
It was great! The feast was a sumptuous spread of turkey, ham, spaghetti, shepherd's pie, yoghurt, etc. There was also log cake and chocolates.
It was celebrated with my Anergy colleagues, at Boss's house. I really appreciated how close-knitted the whole company is. We are all like a family. And it's really fun to be with them, cos they are all fun-loving people. Though I've only worked with them in 3 sentosa events to date, it feels as if I've long been part of them.
And oh, I've finally got a taste of Wii too! And the gift exchange game was fun, and we played 3 rounds before accepting the gifts in our hands!
The fun ended after 1am. And since my new-found-job is permanently night-shift, I'm going to continue working at Anergy in the day. After all, such a fun job comes by extremely rarely.
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Ok i mentioned about my new-found-job. It's starting next week, 2 nights work, followed by 2 nights off. I'll be taking tourists' calls from the stb office.
As part of the training, I was attached to the Orchard's visitor centre yesterday and today. And really, I enjoyed it SO MUCH that I am even thinking of transferring here, after my call-centre contract expires in March.
Although ultimately, the job at the call centre and the job at the visitors' centre are the same--to answer the tourists' queries, I can tell how much better it is to be able to speak to them face-to-face, compared to just speaking over the phone. Being able to speak to them in person, it is much more inter-personal and I feel that I can convey the messages in a clearer way. Furthermore, I enjoy walking around and fishing for the various brochures that suit better to their needs.
Every tourist who stepped in wants a most pleasant stay here, and bearing that in mind, I would always try my best to serve them well and answer their questions. But, there are cases whereby I gave slightly wrong information too. In any case, when they appreciatively smiled at me and told me a grateful "Thank you, you've been so helpful!", my heart would smile. Every satisfied tourist gave me the motivation to make the next one better.
The 2-day attachment at the visitor's centre seemed so short. I would love it to be much longer. I guess it would be much boring after I'm back at the call centre. Especially when i'll be ALONE during my permanent midnight shift. There'll be no more tourists' smiles to keep up the motivation..
But still, I think I'll like the job. And I dare say, my knowledge of anything to do with Singapore's Tourism, from hotels to attractions to tours to anything, has multiplied since 3 days ago. And I'll definitely be more and more conversant, with every out-of-the-world question that every tourist ask.
人生是黑白的.
10:31 PM <3
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Sunday, December 16, 2007
I'm sure everyone hates to be stopped in the middle of the street, either by promoters or donation solicitors.
So, if I have the foresight, I'll avoid by making sure that there's a distance in between us, when I pass them. But I never shun them.
At Orchard today, there wasn't enough distance to keep, so I walked straight into a person's trap.
Half of me attempted to keep walking and preparing my ear-piece, the other half of me stopped for the person, as always.
I am prepared to say NO to all products. Donations-wise, I'm prepared to throw in my standard golden coin.
"Hi, we're celebrating the New Year at Marina Bay. Would you like to write something on the balloon, which will be released at the Bay after countdown?"
Still suspicious of any possible gimmicks, I agreed, reluctantly.
I took over the marker, and thought of what to write. Deep inside me, I have this exploding urge to reveal my Singaporean side--asking if this is FREE. It was of such pain to combat that overpowering urge, and I tried to appear nonchalant.
Still, I was expecting things like, "Every square centimetre will cost 10 cents." or "A palm-sized message costs 2 bucks."
And so, not to take chances, I stemmed all creativity inside me, and settled for a tiny "Happy new year S'pore". I didn't even want to sign off, until the person encouraged me to.
I still wanted to ask if I need to pay. Luckily I didn't. I am so NOT going to be like a typical Singaporean.
After getting a brochure of the programme on new year's eve, I was freed, feeling glad that the person wasn't a promoter nor a donation-solicitor.
By the way, in case I've set you thinking, the standard golden coin that I usually throw into donation tins, ISN'T the 5-cent coins that you think. I'm so not the typical Singaporean.
人生是黑白的.
10:49 PM <3
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