I Miss Those Uni Days!!!

As I mentioned in the last 2 entries about how tired I am about my work, the environment that I am working in, the people I work with and the job... I was so sick to the point that I try not to think about work when I am alone but make use of my travelling time to think about other happy memories!

My daily routine while travelling home from Suntec will be to listen to my iPod shuffle playing most of Jolin's songs and some other songs which I have downloaded during my skool days. These songs somehow always bring back those good old memories of the past, especially those times which I spent with Dear and the rest of the gang from SIM.

Remembering those tok kok and gossip sessions while sitting outside lectures, lecture tea-breaks and lunch breaks, the after-skool shopping and movie outings, tennis sessions and beach outings - the times we spent at Palawan and Sunset Bay and of coz not forgetting the fun and laughters we had in Melbourne/Sydney (especially when I hear the song 'Tong Hua') and also our Bangkok trip... I really miss those days alot!!

On one of the days last week while I was travelling home on a double decker bus, came this young couple in JC uniform who sat in front of me. The gal then fell asleep on the guy's shoulder... I dunno why but I could feel my eyes becoming more and more watery as the scene sort of reminded me of one of those days when Dear sent me home from skool after lecture. I suddenly became emotionally sad bcoz I know that it is impossible now to bring me back to those days when life was so free and easy without worries about work, yet time could be spent with my Dear and friends almost everyday... Then again, I think these memories made me feel really sweet and warm inside, especially after an entire day of stress and unhappiness faced at work.

However, the sad thing is that most of us have already started working, with each leading a different lifestyle, we hardly have the time to meet up with one another now... Life has become ultimately boring!! Although the phase of transiting from a student to a working adult lifestyle is something that everyone needs to go through... For me, I am still struggling very hard to settle on my working life...

Seeing and knowing many people of my age have already settled down and have a stable career by now. Sometimes I wish that I am already in that phase bcoz I think I am getting old and lagging behind as I have yet to even get settled down on my job, not to mention that this is just a contract job. Sigh... I guessed this is the so-called peer pressure bah. =S

Anyway, our graduation ceremony is on this coming Friday! Hehee... I am looking forward to see all of us reunite again!!! =D

P/S: The following peeps, please keep this Saturday free k... you are invited for a treat!!

1) Shufang
2) Tammie
3) Eileen
4) Kelvin
5) Kevin
6) Gena
7) Damone
8) Mark Leong
9) Christine
10) Peter
11) Meiye

My Hates and Worries about Work...

Just when I thought bank training is fun, here comes the sad part of it... The management has once again showed their stun by shortening our training by 1 day, ending it on this Thursday, without giving us prior notice!! This also means that I have to go back to the platform to answer calls again... worst still, not just credit cards but INCLUDING bank related calls this time!!! Arrrgh!!! Stress...!!!

We have recently touched on topics on some bank loans... As usual, I am very slow in catching what the trainer was explaining... and I meant real slow, probably due to my lack of general banking knowledge. Thus I am always 1 to 2 points behind time of what the trainer explained. Sometimes, I hate myself for being so slow in everything... slow in hearing, slow in copying, slow in learning, slow in practically everything... I cannot imagine how slow I will be again when handling bank calls from this Friday onwards.

Actually I have been brooding over a couple of things which happened during these 2 weeks... mostly caused by hidden doubts. Well, probably I can only blame it on myself for not being sociable enough at mingling with others. Was kind of disappointed with myself over certain issues. This is where I realized that 'guan xi' plays an important role in the working life.

Apart from the above, many more things have also caused me to feel damn de-motivated to go to work now. There's too many reasons that I can think of... I can simply list down 10 reasons:

1) I hate waking up in the morning - no matter how early I went to bed the previous night, I will still feel tired in the next morning as long as I know that my itinerary for the day = work

2) I hate taking a cab that costs me approx. $20 (including the $7 for ERP) each morning just to prevent me from being late for work

3) I am so irritated bcoz they are going to close the roads near Suntec area due to IMF which directly affects how I travel to work from 10-20 September

4) I hate to commit myself to work, simply bcoz I draw a line very clearly between my work and personal time, so I hate staying back after office hours to clear up emails and do follow-ups!!

5) I hate that this job eventually needs me to go into shift work

6) I hate putting on a mask, meaning having to pretend to be so damn humble in front of those old birds with bloody attitude problems and stuck up superiors just to seek their help or advice on certain handling procedures, despite them giving us the "what the fcuk you want from me??" attitude!!

7) I hate to clear my email inbox that is always bombarded with mails and notices which 1/2 the time I do not understand what it is talking about and furthermore, we do not even have the time to read them!!

8) I hate to do those stupid online compliance tests/quizzes which is such a waste of my time!!

9) I hate doing follow-ups of dispute cases, especially for irritating, unreasonable, lazy and dumbass customers!!!

10) I hate it when the supervisors bark at us to go on ready to wait for calls to come in when we are still stuck at trying to figure out the right procedures to handle or follow-up on the last customer's request

Finally On Bank Training Now

After our long awaited days on the platform, Charmaine and I have finally started our bank training yesterday!!

In fact, we were previously told that the training will start from 14th to 25th August. To our disappointment, only when we arrived at work on Monday (14th August), one of our superiors then told Charmaine that there is no training on that day, instead it will only start on Tuesday. Well, she conveniently forgot about informing us about the change in training dates!! What the ....?!!

Anyway, since training started yesterday... I would say that I am very glad to be in this training group!! A reason being that one of the trainees is actually my ex-classmates from my primary school - Debbie. Thus, I feel quite comfortable to be training together with her! Furthermore, this batch of CPOs clique better with Charmaine and I as they are also Chinese-speaking and of the same frequency as us. All siao siao one!! Hahaa!! Not to mention the CPOs... even our trainer (who is one of the shift-team supervisors) also clique with all of us very well!! Hehee... I think the way that she chit-chats with us, be it during training, lunch or just tea/toilet breaks, she really makes me feel so at ease as if she is just like one of us!!

Frankly speaking, I am starting to wake up later and later each morning to go to work these days... Feeling very sianz of work now!! But one thing I know for sure is that I am starting to appreciate my UM for putting Charmaine and me into this training batch. Besides that, I definitely find this trainer more patient and willing to train us compared to our previous trainer on credit card products. This time, I will not hold back to ask questions even when I am in doubt.

Sometimes I thought to myself during training: We seems to be spending more time talking about other interesting topics rather than on our training topics. Hahaa!! And I think it seems that we are taking alot of breaks in between our training... Apart from toilet and tea breaks, I think very often we also tend to sidetrack to some gossips or other common topics and then spend about 15-20mins chit-chatting on them, which most of the time eats into our training time!! By right, I seriously think that this should not be happening!! But... by left, I think this is why I am enjoying training now!!! Kekekeke.... =P

Well, I failed my first test on banking today... As usual lah! Sigh... I am always one of the lousier ones... Fortunately our trainer is nice and smart enough to give us a re-test on the spot by instantly coming up with another 2 questions for those who failed, while those who passed treated the 2 questions as practice exercises! I think my trainer also wants to let everyone pass so as to get it over and done with bah...

I got 77% for the test (only 80% or more then considered as pass), while my re-test scored 95%!! But I think the re-test is much easier as there's only 2 questions to do, while the actual test has got 10 questions in total.

I pray that I can get one-time pass for all my tests. Please please please!!... Please grant me luck, intelligence and knowledge to do the upcoming tests well!!... =D

Visiting Places Where We Less Frequent...

It's been a very relaxing weekend for me this week spending quality time with my Deardear. Yesterday after work, Dear came over to my place to accompany me since we had no idea of what to do and where to go...

We had home-cooked porridge for lunch and I spent the rest of my time sleeping while Dear surfed the net. Soon he also joined me in lala-land and we slept till about 6pm!!

We then had intentions to go out for dinner but we really did not know where to dine... Actually, both of us has been thinking to go to Corduroy & Finch at Bukit Timah but we did not know the exact location.

Good thing that my dad lent us his car since he was not going to use it last night. Kekeke... Since we managed to borrow the car, Dear decided to go check out Corduroy & Finch.

Well, we drove along the same route as though we were previously driving to skool... and when we reached Sixth Ave, we also saw Corduroy & Finch located at one of the 2-storeys building along the road. It was so easy to find it and we thought that it would be located in some ulu pandan lane. Hahaa...

Anyway, we turn into Sixth Ave and realized that there was actually a small shopping centre inside. So we turned in to park our car in the basement carpark and went to explore the area. The shopping centre is indeed very small bcoz it only has a Cold Storage supermarket, a Coffee Bean Cafe and a Venezia Ice Cream shop inside.

While walking to Corduroy & Finch, we saw quite a lot of cafes and restaurants along that stretch. Think they cater to most ang-mohs and rich people staying in that area!! And few of them seems quite crowded. When we arrived outside Corduroy & Finch, we were quite fascinated by the decor of the restaurant!! Though our 1st intention was only to go and see see look look, we felt very tempted to eat there as the desserts placed on the other customers' table look really unique!!! And so... we stepped in and asked for a table for two! Hehehee...

Too bad that the tables on the 2nd storey were fully taken up, so they showed us to a high table for two!! Although the waiter thought that we would prefer the normal type of table, I think the high table is fine coz it's something different and that I have a platform beside me to place my bag.

We took quite long to go thru the menu... many dishes seem interesting but there were quite a few dishes with names that I do not understand too!! It's the language they used in the menu... too ang-moh already!! Anyway, there is this waiter called James who took our orders and served us. He is very friendly as he kept making conversations with us and also made it a point to ask us for our comments on the food we ate. He even gave Dear his contact number. Kekeke... But I don't think he is gay bah... In fact, I find that he looks very much like my cousin Roy.

Apart from the service, we had a very filling and satisfying meal there! Everything we ordered was yum yum, especially the dessert sampler platter!! The apple crumpler is very very good, the chocolate carre/royal is chocolaty rich and sinful, and the strawberry tiramisu was a surprise from the waiter!! All these made the cheesecake tasted so ordinary... Love the drink called strawberry nektar too!! We are sure to go back there again to try their other drinks and desserts!! =D

After dinner, Dear then drove me to Rochester Park to take a look at One Rochester. There are many other cafes and restaurants there too!! But they all look very high-class and expensive! Maybe we should go there some day when we feel rich! Hahaa!!

Then Dear also drove to the new golf course at Tanjong Rhu. It looked like it's still open at 12 midnight but there was not a single person inside... seems quite scary though as it was very quiet.

And after that, we also proceed to Changi Airport Budget Terminal to take a look. When we reached the car park, it was those kind that still needs us to insert the cashcard into the machine type. The terminal looks very foreign to me, unlike Terminal 1 and 2... coz I felt as if I have arrived at some airport in Bangkok. Furthermore, it only has 1 or 2 storeys... one side for arrival and the other for departure. Dear said that it looks like some army camp. Hehee...

Well, there wasn't much to explore at the Budget Terminal, so we drove to T1 instead. Then we went to the Changi Kopitiam to mumm mumm again. I had 2 half-boiled eggs and tea with milk while Dear only ordered the tea. After supper, we then went to take our ride on the new skytrain to T2 and back to T1, then back to T2 and back to T1! AHAHAHAAA!! WE ARE VERY BO LIAO HOR?? But it was fun, all for the sick of taking pictures and videos of ourselves!!! =P

Soon fun ended and it was time to go home.

My Unlucky Day!!!

Was damn suay at work today... only answered up to 19 calls today!!! That's soo sooo soooo damn few calls lah!!! This amount of calls was the record I made during my first week on the platform... By now, I am supposed to be able to answer almost 30 calls or more. Not to imagine that our call centre target is to meet 12 calls per hour!! Duhh...

It's all those stupid customers' fault!!! You guys ought to believe that the calls I took todays were 70% complain calls. First time having to handle all complaint calls continuously in a row... wasting my time and my supervisor's time! Almost all the calls I had to seek my supervisor help in order to solve the problems. Felt so bad for having to disturb her all day long... she was even scolded by a few of the customers when she took over my calls. =(

Today was the first time I was so angry and irritated after 3 consecutive difficult customers that I scolded "FUCK YOU LAH!!!" after the call. How I wished that I could scold those bloody customers upfront during the call, especially those who posed to be so damn fcuking difficult to me and my supervisor!! Just bcoz they keep their money in our bank or they uses our credit cards then they thought that they are so damn rich... and just bcoz they thought that they are so damn rich so we must service to their requests as if they are the king/queen to us!! Fcuk fcuk fcuk!!! In actual fact, they are just a bunch of fcuking ignorant and brainless idi-ots!! Well, these customers can scold me or complain about me all they want... Go ahead... I'm not scared... The most I lost my job... But God knows who is in the wrong.

The reason that I was so irritated just now is bcoz I really hate customers who ask for my name (worst would be asking for my surname as well) when they do not get their request granted... One specific case was that there's this chinese-speaking customer who was referred to me from one of the branch to enquire about his daughter's credit card statement. One thing for sure is that we are not allowed to review any info to a non-cardholder of the account. Thus, I tried to help by asking if I could call his daughter to go through the standard verification procedures first. And he told me that his daughter is now in the States... but he went on to tell me to go ahead and call her if I insist bcoz in any way, his daughter will be sleeping at that time (considering the time difference between both countries). Then he told me to call her at night around 10-11pm if I really need to call her. At the same time, he kept making noise about me making things so complicated when I could just tell him the information he wanted to check straightaway. But in actual fact, of coz I still cannot review anything. Here I am already abit pissed by his attitude.

So this time, I tried to answer his query by telling him to provide me with the details of what he sees on the statement (in this case I will not be disclosing any details from the cardholder's account since the info is provided by the caller instead). Then... he started to tell me that he saw this 'opening maiden' on the statement which he does not understand why our bank is charging his daughter. HMMMMM... WHAT DO YOU THINK IS AN 'OPENING MAIDEN' HUH??? I did not get what he meant as I did not see any transaction called 'opening maiden' in the statement that I saw on screen... So I repeatedly prompted him for more details but he just kept telling me that it's an 'opening maiden' which I didn't understand!!! So I told him that I do not understand what is an 'opening maiden'... And he got agitated that I kept asking him so many things yet I still din understand... So he started scolding me that I have been wasting his time for not answering his question to the point... The next few phrases got me all heated up manz!!!!!!

The conversation went something like this...



Stupid sickening idiot spoilt my day!!! Hope he gets his retribution!!! If he's gonna complain about me... Hahaa... May the force be with me then!! =( Anyway, I later realised that the 'opening maiden' he was talking about is actually referring to the opening balance on the statement! Duhh!!!!

Another difficult customer called in saying that she and her husband would like to apply for one of the credit cards but they do not want to go thru the hassle to fill up the application forms!! Come on lor! Fill 2 forms will die meh??? Just to save the hassle for them, it took me about an hour to explain to the customers, to consult my supervisor as well as to follow-up with the respective people from the other departments, just to save customers' trouble in filling up 2 simple forms which can be completed within 5mins. Fcuk up!!!

Another customer called in and started to kao bei kao bu about the previous customer service officer, saying that he did not follow-up with him as promised previously. Then he just went on and on repeating that our service is bad as he was being "ding dong around" (these 3 words were used by the customer... find it quite funny though!! Kekeke!!) but nobody get back to him on the matter. And he started flaring up not giving me a chance to talk or ask him what happened. To me, I just entered the picture without knowing the head and tail of the customer's dispute, yet the customer did not want to explain the story to me but kept asking me to check the records... Then again, I only saw a few lines stated in the system which doesn't tell me in detail what the customer's dispute was about.

So I tried to prompt him for what actually happened previously coz now I will be handling his case but needs to know the details of his previous dispute, he then started repeating that he is very dissatisfied with the previous customer service officer's attitude for not following-up with him... blah blah blah!!! So when I had to chance to interrupt, I told him that I will be able to check for him on the outcome of his dispute but I need to know the details of the dispute and will need to call him back later or put him on hold while I check. But the thing now is that he does not even want to give me time to check... and demanded for me to tell him the outcome immediately!! Siao!!

Eventually I was able to convince him that I will call him back after checking and will give him a reply by 4.30pm. And found out that his dispute was actually over some card insurance which he signed up for but claimed that he did not know the insurance policy that he actually signed up for yet he signed it up blindly, thus he has previously requested for a cancellation of the insurance policy and a refund but has no update on the status. After the call ended with customer, I immediately consulted my supervisor for help. She then helped me to call the insurance company... she sort of helped me handled the case by calling the customer too... And the customer also scolded her... =( Luckily, the insurance company said that they will try to settle the matter with the customer over their end.

My story of 3 nasty customers can already make 1 of my blog entries so long... I think if I were to type in all the nasty phonecall scenarios that happened today, u guys reading will fall asleep... Hehee... Or maybe some of you has already fell asleep... Keke!

Happy National Day, Singapore!!

Wishing Singapore, my island home, a Happy Belated 41st Birthday!!!

Deardear and I met up with Kevin, Gena and Mark Leong to watch 'My Super Ex-Girlfriend' yesterday... Not very nice though... Think it's not worth watching!

And guessed what? After movie, Dear, Kevin, Gena and I actually stood outside Wheelock for 45 mins to view the NDP live telecast on the big TV screen outside Shaw Centre. Then we even saw how the traffic polices cleared the whole road along Orchard for a very important vehicle to drive thru. There we were seeing the vehicle drove pass us and in less than 5 mins, that very important person has already arrived at the national stadium (just within the duration of one song performance). That was SOOOOOO FAST!!!

Dear then said that probably the driver in the vehicle was Jay Chou who has quitted his toufu delivery job in Initial D to work as a chauffeur now! Kekeke!!

Okie, we did not get to see the fireworks yesterday... coz after Mark Leong went to pick Christine, we went to the hawker centre at Alexandra Village to eat zi cha for dinner. Ordered sweet and sour pork ribs, samba BBQ squids, deep fried baby squids, cereal prawns, gai lan and BBQ stingray. Then we went to Villa Bali to chill-out for awhile.

Fang, you missed it!! We saw Adam Chen leh!!!!!! Kekekeke!!! Wasted man!! Christine and I actually wanted to take a photo with him but he seems quite unapproachable with many friends beside him. So in the end we decided not to.

Anyway, learnt alot on financial planning from Mark Leong at Villa Bali but still, I am not very comfortable to spend on life protection yet... probably wait till I have more cash and savings... coz I also want to build up a strong base for my financial pyramid! Haaa!

The Fast and The Furious - Tokyo Drift vs. Initial D

Went to catch 'The Fast and The Furious - Tokyo Drift' on last Saturday night... It was so exciting to watch the drifting actions in the movie!! But I think the storyline was somehow modified from the previous car-racing movie 'Initial D'...

Despite the similarity, I still like it... especially the songs that goes with the various scenes... and I think that the lead actor in this movie looks like Edison Chen (as in the eyes that portion and his style)... or maybe it's just me... Hehee...

Here's one of the songs from the movie soundtrack... I find it quite cute... Enjoy!!~

Happy 26th Birthday, My Dear!!

Ok, I did not have the time to blog on this on 3rd August 2006. But I just wanna say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dearest bf by announcing it on my blog!!! Kekeke... =P

Of coz not forgetting about the birthday present...

Actually I was hoping to see the shock expression on his face when he opens the present, unfortunately he only wanted to open it after he reached home. Sigh...

Anyway, I think he really likes it bcoz it has just became his new baby!! Hee!! =D

Dancing Diva In The House

Hehee... I went to catch a glimpse of Jolin at her autograph session held in Marina Square on last Thursday after my work. This is my second time seeing her. The last time was at Funan. Too bad, I did not bring her CD album with me that day, so I did not have the chance to go on stage to get a closer look at her. Furthermore, Dear and I were standing somewhere at the back of the stage, so most of the time we only got to see her butt. Hahaa...

She sung 2 songs that day... Wu Niang and Ma De Li Bu Si Yi. One of her dancers looked disgusting!! Abit like ah gua!! =P Anyway, I managed to film her singing the second song using my digital cam but she only turned to face the back once. And all my photos turned out to be blurred. =S

Well, here is the video... (I know it sucks, but mai hiam ok... I already said that we were standing at the back of the stage, so what more do you expect??! Kekeke!!) =P

On MC Today...

I have been too tired to come online to blog these days... Finally have time for some entries today coz I am on sick leave... Hehee...

Went to see a doc just now and told him that I was down with serious migraine yesterday and today, but last nite was worst becoz I vomitted some foamy stuff... Not sure if it's becoz I ate too little during lunch yesterday. After telling the doc my problem, he said that i must be too tired and did not rest enough, which I think it is quite true... kekeke...

I have been getting neck and shoulder aches these days, especially after work. Furthermore, I guessed I have not enough sleep over the last one week, partly due to the stress from work and also due to too much play over the weekend. But it was satisfying bcoz I got to see Deardear on Friday, Saturday and Sunday!!! =D

Well, we went to watch 'Nacho Libre' on last Friday night. It was a super lame show though... but I like that skinny guy who always screams at a high pitch of his voice!! And there's also a part on "OoXxOXoXXx" written in a love letter... Now then I know that "O" means big hug, "X" means big kiss, "o" means small hug and "x" means small kiss... After the movie, we went to Starbucks at Suntec Convention to eat our favourite Strawberry Indulgence and Tiramisu cake.

Then on Saturday, Dear and I actually planned to go to Sunset Bay for a tan... Unfortunately, the weather sucks!! So we met up with Bernard, Andrew, Kevin and Gena for dinner and to go watch a movie. We watched another weird show... 'How Much Do You Love Me?"... It's a RA show in French. Hmm... I do not really understand some of the scenes... but certain parts were quite funny too. After movie, we then drove to Siglap and ordered some finger food at Liquid Kitchen. It was freaking cold inside but I like the ambience there except for the smell of cigarettes!!! And after chilling, Dear then sent Kevin and Gena home and the both of us then went to East Coast Park to have a short walk alone... so romantic huh!! Kekeke... =P

Ok, so the plan on Sunday was to play tennis. Good thing that it did not rain. So Dear and I had lunch at the KPT near my house and then off we went to meet Fang and Kevin at St. Wilfrid Sports Complex around 1 plus. Finally I had the chance to wear my new tennis attire!! Hehee... But still my tennis sucks!! Hahaaa!! Well, like Dear always says..."It's the style that matters!!" Hee...

So that was how I spent my last weekend... Sigh... Need to work on this coming Saturday again... Sianz!!! =(

My First Week On-The-Job

Today, I have gone solo onto the call centre platform to answer inbound calls already. In fact, we have started to go solo on last Saturday... DAMN STRESS!!!!!! Each and every call is a new challenge from different customers with difficult scenarios to resolve.

I hate the following types of calls...

Unreasonable customers!! Especially those who are demanding yet calling in to request for waivers... Hate those people who talk loudly to us and say that we provide bad service when they are unable to get the waiver charge from us or what they requested from us!! Well, sometimes I really feel like slapping these people to wake them up!! And I wonder why... if customers don't have the $$$, then why spend so much??!! If they have spent so much, why ask for a waiver?? And since they have thought of spending by charging the transactions to their credit cards, don't they know that there bound to be an interest charge for all transactions made??!! So... if you are the type of person I am talking about, you must be a CHEAPO NEH NEH!! Another thing... if customers want to request for a waiver, talk to us or any customer service officer nicely ok!!! Anyway, it's just a request... we are not obliged to give you the waivers you know!!!!!! They are just given based on our discretion and out of goodwill, so SAY PLEASE OK!!!!

Another type of call which I dislike will be those that involves lots of calculation based on their statements and unbilled transactions. Customers are the one that spend the money and make purchases, so they should be the one keeping track of all those transactions, NOT THE BANK OK!!! If we are responsible to help customers keep track of all their daily spendings, why not we help customers to spend their money too!! Like this, it is easier for us to remember the transactions better!!! Hahaaa!!

Also hate those calls when customers enquire and request for so many things within a call! You think we are very free is it?!! We need to fill up so many different application and referral forms for each different request that customers ask for, yet on our side we have to meet our call handling time of 196secs (approximately 3-4 mins) for each call and 12 calls per hour!!

For example, giving a general scenario... if customer has 2 accounts in total and he requests for waiver on both accounts, want to change his billing cycle for both accounts and request for credit transfer from one account to the other account. I will need to raise 1 form for his waiver due to waiver amount exceeding our empowerment. I also need to fill up 2 forms for change of billing cycle and 1 form for the credit transfer. Apart from that, I need to carry out the waiver in our systems and leave memos individually under each account. All in all, do you think all these things plus talking to the customer on the phone and checking what are the correct procedures to handle the query could let us meet the handling time of 196secs per call??!!

Enough said... and there's more to come... It's only my 1st week on the job and I could complain so much!! Hahaa!!

During today's debrief session, C and I got to know that we were not included in the first round of banking training, while the rest (all 8 of them) were chosen by our supervisor to attend the training during these 2 weeks. In a way, I think it's good bcoz we are able to learn more on CC enquiries before learning somemore product knowledge. However, on the other hand, I can't help but to think that our supervisor thinks that we are slow in learning (coz both of us failed 2 tests previously) compared to the rest and that may be why she prefers to let us take calls first so as to build up our basis credit card knowledge before overwhelming us with the banking products.

Sigh... but answering calls on the platform means trouble, trouble and trouble... Gonna face lots of trouble from customers!! And sometimes even from internal colleagues and supervisors!! Sometimes I really fear to approach some of the internal colleagues and supervisors for their guidance, as some of them seems really impatient and unfriendly. Some other customer service officers will blame the previous CSO for doing something wrong. I overheard one of them scolding another CSO behind his/her back for advising the customer wrongly... She asked the previous CSO who handled that customer's case to go and die!!! Damn fierce!! Can't they have some integrity?? =S

What Does CBR Means??

After our training has ended, we were put on the job to take inbound calls as well as to do call-backs to customers since Tuesday. I was paired up with C as buddies to take turns in handling the incoming calls and calling customers back in regards to their earlier called-in queries.

When we were doing our call-back tasks, we came across this word "CBR" several times but all of us did not know what it stands for... After asking our mentor, we then found out that CBR simply means Call Back Required. Duhh!!

However, C and I came up with another meaning for "CBR" (apart from the sports bike called CBR or "Chee Bye Rider" Hehee...). We actually changed the meaning to "Chee Bye Rang"!! It's supposed to be said as "chee bye lang" lah but we changed the "lang" to "rang", so that it doesn't sounds too obvious. So now this is the term used by us to describe or scold unreasonable demanding customers after our call ends! Kekeke... =P

So don't be a CBR I tell you huh!!!

*P/S: Sorry about the vulgarity used here. Just that some customers are really so unreasonable that they ought to be catagorized as CBR by us since we as customer service officers are not allowed to scold them back directly when we are scolded by them on the line.

Sickening!!! Why Me???!!!

My colleagues and I had a phototaking session after work today in our training room and we were told that these photos would be used to make into posters in our call centre platform area. Since it was past 6pm, our knock-off time, C and I initially wanted to make a move first as we were not even enthusiastic about the photo shoot at all... Well, from what we thought about the main intention of this photo shoot was to take pictures of one of our guy colleagues, who is the only guy from my training batch and also a model. In other words, the rest of us are just acting as extras!!

Just when we were about to leave the room before the phototaking takes place, our other colleagues (those who are the very onz type) insisted that we should stay to get things done so that it will be easier for the person-in-charge. Thus, C and I agreed to stay on for awhile to get it over and done with... In fact, the reason I stayed was also to avoid the rest from saying that the 2 of us have no intergrity by leaving first.

But during the shoot, we were told to do stupid actions... such as to run from the back of the training room towards an ACD phone connected to a headset that was placed on a table at the front of the room, and then we are supposed to pretend that we are all pushing and squeezing to reach for that one headset!! Stupid lor!!! That made us look damn dumb in the pics la!!!

That's not all!!! The person-in-charge wanted people who were wearing colourful tops to be in the photos that she was going to take. Then I was unfortunately picked by her to take an individual pic by myself just bcoz I was wearing my green Nike jacket, which she claimed to be something colourful... Damn! Sibei suay lor!!! I really regretted not leaving earlier manz!!

When it was my turn to take the individual shot, I was told to look at the headset lovingly as if I'm in so love wif it (SIAO!!!) then she said that she will take a pic of me looking at the headset!! WTF!! I was already very du lan to be chosen to take the individual shot, now she still wants me to take this kind of stupid photo with such a idiotic face expression!!!

During my first 2 attempts, I kept giving a wrong expression when I looked at the headset. During my 1st attempt, she told me that I looked at the headset as if it's an alien (Of coz la! I was so du lan at that time, how to expect me to give a loving expression?! Furthermore, how can I fall in love with that stupid headset??! It's totally impossible!!!). As for my 2nd attempt, she told me that I look very unhappy to be in love with the headset, which is true... Then during the 3rd attempt, I tried again by giving a fake smile while looking at the headset (Think this time I looked like an idiot instead!). But she decided to take the 3rd shot as it is. I really hope that she does not use it for the poster!!! If not I will go crazy!!! I cannot imagine if she really uses it to be made into posters that will be put up everywhere in the call centre!!! I will need to dig a hole to hide my face lor!!!! ARRRRRRGH!!!

After my individual shot, I was even more du lan coz I think I look damn ugly and stupid in the photo!!!!!! I'M SOOOOOOOOOOOO IRRITATED now even when I think back about it!!! Damn!!! :S

Oops!! I Did It Again...

Think I said something wrong again which resulted in some misunderstanding between us... I really did not mean to stress him once again. What happened earlier was solely to voice out my views to him on why I think he should not always plan his work schedules on Fridays, without the intention to stress him to go out with me...

Yes, I admit that I certainly do not like him to work on Fridays and Saturdays, but I was just trying to convey the message to him that probably he could plan it in a way that he works on some Fridays instead of all Fridays, so that I could spent some time with him on those Fridays that he is not working too (especially during those weeks that I do not have to work on a Saturday)... I really really did not mean to say things that made him unhappy or that I strictly do not allow him to work on Fridays.

In fact, I was not even angry about him working on next Friday but was juz making a "fuss" due to my usual complain queen behaviour... Probably it was my tone of voice which made him think that I was unhappy over the matter... but truly, I was not angry at all though I sounded like I was very sianz (more of sianz of my job)...

Anyway, it was only when he walked in front me alone while we were walking to Wheelock then I realized that he seems to be angry with me for being unhappy about him working on next Friday...

When I asked, he indeed admitted that he is angry with me for not being understanding enough towards him, due to the fact that he needs to work in order to earn enough for us to spend when we go out. I dunno why but when I heard this, I started thinking alot... and eventually became quite vexed too... Maybe due to the way he perceived me as not being understanding enough, or maybe I was thinking of the way he perceived me as selfish, or maybe I worried on the fact that I am currently working full-time while he is working part-time may eventually become an issue for us. I began to think alot, which made me felt very confused and dunno what to say when we were in the cab on our way to my house ...

We remained silent all the way till he walked me to my door step. Then I even entered my house without giving him my usual goodbye kiss or even saying goodbye...

As I walked to my room, I immediately felt like crying but yet I managed to control my tears this time as my mum was in the living room... As usual, I then ran to the window in my bro's room to look at him while he walks to the bus-stop...

Till now, we have not talked... neither is there a phone call to each other... I dunno if I should call him now... I hate this feeling!!! Damn, I am supposed to sleep by now but my mind simply cannot... I do not want to go thru this cold war... If saying sorry would help... I hope he reads this.

I'm sorry, Dear... =(

The Feeling That No One Understands...

Here I am blogging when my mind is consistently being reminded of tomorrow's test and re-tests (having 3 tests altogether), yet I do not even feel like studying for any of them... Laziness?? Probably. Or maybe just due to low morale as I strongly sensed that I still won't be able to make it for all the 3 tests tomorrow even if I start studying now...

Well, life is so unfair!!! People who had copied during the last 2 tests could easily escape from the re-tests while the honest people like us have to struggle and suffer like hell in this company... a company with a big name but perhaps no integrity, humanities and staff welfare!

Most of the people there suxs!! And the person that I hate most would be that impatient and irresponsible trainer for sure! I think she trains just for the sick that training is part of her responsibility but she does not even care whether we could understand her or not. And when we cannot catch up with her, she makes it look as if it's our fault for being slow. Please lor, we are newbies... not some people who have worked in the banking industry for years!! How can she blame us? Furthermore, she is not showing her professionalism in being a trainer!!! I just cannot imagine that I have to work under her supervision in the near future.

All I feel like doing now is to run away from reality. No one else could understand how C and me feel about work now... even rattling about the daily irritating happenings to our family, friends and loved one would not help. They do not seems to understand... The stress that I am facing now is overwhelmed to the extent that I feel like tendering my resignation any time.

Since the second day of my job, true happiness disappeared from my face. Even when I am spending my least time with Dear, I ought to be happy... but I always have so much to complain about my unhappiness at work during every meet-ups till he becomes so bored of listening to them. Everytime the thoughts of unhappiness come to my mind, I would automatically have a very sian look on my face... even to the extent that others may think that I am unhappy with them... to the extent that I become easily provoked by the slightest mistake made or said by others.

I don't know why but I just cannot seem to enjoy myself and have a peace of mind even when I ought to be happy spending my time with him over the weekends... This job is really stressing me out!! Even on weekends, I begin to feel sleepy at around 10 to 11pm and I hate that!!! Coz I am not able to stay out late at night to utilize the only free time I have over the weekends.

Another issue that I have about this job is the rotational shifts work. Majority of the shifts are scheduled so late (most shifts starting from 2-6pm to midnight 1-2am, or even overnight shifts from 11pm to 8.30am next morning). I am starting to worry on how I would have the time to meet up with Dear. Now that I am still on day shifts (office hours), I already think that meeting him on 3 times per week is very little. I wonder what would happen when the rotational shift work kicks in. Sigh...

I somehow think that this job requires me to give up ALL my time to the company, yet I am not a person who can fully commit my life to a job. To me, my personal life comes first!!

Well, attending training here is like fighting a war to me, although we are always reminded that our training period now is actually our honeymoon period at work. Why do I say that training is like fighting a war?? It's bcoz we have to start copying notes for non-stop once the trainer starts rattling on and on till the end, without even making sure if we were able to catch up with her or understand what she is talking about. Then after work, we still need to spend time to go thru the things that were taught during the day. This is why I do not have enough time for myself.

Even so when I get to meet Dear after work, we cannot stay out too late... coz I need to come home to sleep by 11 or 12plus. Sometimes even when I want to go thru my notes, my eyes will automatically feel like closing by 11plus... So where the hell would I have the time to go thru my notes and digest the things that were taught during training.

That's not all... I can't even sleep late on Saturdays!!! Only after we started training then we were told that day shift would be on a 5.5 days work week with alternate Saturdays off. When I heard about it, I felt cheated coz they did not mention this earlier. Now that I have to even go back to work on alternate Saturdays, I am left with only one Sunday during those alternate working weeks to replenish my sleep.

Yesterday which is a Saturday that I do not need to work, yet I still have to wake up early bcoz the HR executive insistedly that I have to go for my pre-employment medical check-up this week by hook or by crook. Well, I am left with no choice and no other days to go for the check-up since the clinic is opened only from 8.30am to 12.30pm on Saturdays and is closed on Sundays, while I have to work on all other days. At the end of the day, I felt really really tired after 11pm (when we were still at Cineleisure with Dear's friends)... Then again, I hate myself for becoming so sleepy so early coz Dear have to send me home to sleep.

To sum up, I hate working life. There's plenty of things that I can complain about and I can go on and on if you ask me...

My training group photo above!! (The trainer in this pic is not that impatient and irresponsible trainer which I mentioned earlier.)

Superman, My Favourite Superhero!!!

After watching "Superman Returns" on last Saturday... it once again brought back my childhood memories of watching the old Superman movies acted by Christopher Reeves. But the feeling is different this time... bcoz I fell in love instantly with this new Superman character casted by Brandon Routh in the movie theatre... Hahaa!!

Although he doesn't look that handsome in some of the movie photos and posters, I think he looks appealing to me in the movie itself! Maybe it's due to the blue contact lenses that he was wearing in the movie, plus the Superman suit and hairstyle which made him looks soooooo handsome!!! =D

Information Overloaded!!!

After one week of training at work, I already feel like quitting my job. In fact, I have the feeling of giving up since my second day of work coz I had to sit for a test on my third day of work. And that I only had the night before to study for it!! Passing weightage = 80%!!! If we cannot pass this percentage, we would have to sit for a re-test.

Well, I thought I would probably get only 10-20%... but I scored 67%! Still, I have to re-test coz it is lesser than 80%! Sianz...

Tomorrow, we are going to have another test, not the re-test though... but another test on somemore product knowledge!! I have already read through the notes juz now, but seems like nothing went into my head. I guess I would not be able to survive long in this company! I am very stress on these few days... stressed by all the calculations and product informations that I have to learn within a short time frame and also in a very fast-paced learning environment, partly due to the pple that are in my training class (as majority of them are fast learners, while I am a slow learner and I hate Maths!!!)

Furthermore, like I have mentioned in my previous entry, I am not a very sociable person. If not that I have got to know a slightly like-minded colleague, Charmaine, who is also from RMIT Uni/SIM (same course, same specialization but graduated one batch after me), I think I might have simply gave up and not even go for training on my second day.

The rest of my colleagues from my training class are all ang moh speaking people!! And some of them even speak with an accent. Therefore I cannot really click with them coz I feel inferior speaking to them with my broken english or singlish... which makes me feel quite outcasted in the class.

Another thing I cannot tolerate is that the people working there are mostly so cocky. They all have that stuck up look on their face and enjoy looking at us from head to toes!! When I was introduced to one of the supervisors... she actually diao me in the face after giving me a fake smile!!

Sigh... the things I mentioned above are making me very stress over this job... Maybe that's the working environment of people who earns a higher salary than others... Then again, maybe this only happens to me due to my pessimistic character... Probably most of my friends think that my current job pays very well... but wait till you get in here then you will find out that the working life here is not as easy as we all thought.

If you ask me now, I would rather choose a job that pays a basic salary of $1800 with a 5-days work week than this current job. Yes, most people are attracted to the Vitamin M, so do I (and that's why I took up this job for a try). But if I cannot even pass the training or cannot perform well while the rest could do it, then I guessed this job is really not suitable for me... or rather, the banking industry is not my cup of tea even though their salary offered is high. If I am able to stay on, then it will be good for me... if not, I think they may ask me to leave... Hahaa... Anyway, I am leaving it to fate now. =P

Am I Suffering From Social Anxiety Disorder??

All along I suspect that I actually suffer from social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia... which explains the reason that I am always so self-conscious!!

Social phobia is the intense fear of social situations where the sufferer feels he or she might be watched, judged, embarrassed, or criticized. Example social situations include public speaking, being interviewed by a stranger, speaking with strangers, talking with important people or authority figures and doing any sort of activity where the person might be watched. This irrational fear is signified by physical symptoms such as sweating, rapid heart beat, muscle tension, shaky voice, upset stomach, confusion, blushing and shaking. These combined symptoms are also known as anxiety attacks. Anxiety sufferers usually develop depression as a result of social anxiety disorder. This is commonly called a spill-over effect. Social phobia develops in women twice as frequently as men.

Well... For my case, of coz I am not those very serious sufferer but I would say that I am extremely afraid of totally new environments, be it before or during the first few days of school or in a new job. I am writing this entry bcoz I realized a pattern in my life.

When I attended kindergarten, I cried immediately after my mother and grandma left me with my classmates after sending me to the PAP classroom. And this happened almost everyday until I got to know more friends from my class. Similarly, this same situation also happened when my grandma helped my mother to send me to the nearby childcare centre at the community centre located just next to my grandma's flat (coz my mother had to work then). Then it happened again when I first went to school in primary 1. The reason for crying was bcoz I din want to stay at those unfamiliar places any longer but to go back home to be with people whom I know.

As I grew up, crying became not the only method I use to express how I want to avoid the new environment. In addition to that, I have also become a cynical person. I eventually began to see things negatively (therefore I'm a pessimistic person) and that anyone from a new school or working environment cannot be easily trusted. Thus, I tend to be wary of each person's motive, especially when they get too close to me... causing me to become overly-sensitive and even to the extent of imagining or saying bad things about the person. =S This started eversince when I went to secondary school.

Anyway, I think this whole thingy is affecting my life now, especially when I am currently in the stage of building a career. In fact, I came across this online article that talked about the behavior of a person that has social phobia at work and what they personally go through and it states...

"People with social anxiety disoorder usually have sporatic work history which takes the form of 'bouncing' from job to job; they usually have trouble finding jobs to begin with. The social anxiety disorder sufferer may take a job where they can avoid social situations they fear, as a result they may underachieve by taking a job that is lower than their personal standards. Social phobia sufferers will avoid job positions where their performance is examined frequently or where there is a lot of interaction between people."

Probably this explains why I often do not stay long in a job... Furthermore, I am always so afraid of work commencement until plenty of negative thoughts start to haunt me even from 5 days before the actual commencement date. I think this is the dark side of my personality which most people do not know while only very close people like my parents and bf will know... I believe Dear has experienced enough of my "depression" (spill-over effect)... I know it's irritating of me to be like this during every new job offer, but I just cannot control or overcome my thoughts. No matter what, I am glad that Dear is always here for me... =P

Then again, wish me luck in meeting nice colleagues from my new work environment on this coming Monday.

My Strawberry Heart

Was washing some strawberries to eat just now and I saw this special one in the shape of a heart...

Then an idea came to my mind... I suddenly thought of the tiramisu "birthday" cake which Dear designed for me at Starbucks in year 2004. Hehee!! And this was it...

So... I actually took a pic of the heart-shaped strawberry and edited it into something just like the pic of the tiramisu cake above!...

Presenting my heart especially for you Deardear!! Ta Da...

Ahahaaa!! Ok, I'm just plain bored... =D

Finally... A Satisfying Job Offer!

Hehee... Went to one of the prestigious banks' (guess guess? hahaa!) call centre for an interview as their Customer Service Officer on Monday and was being offered the position last night!! Yes, they offered me a very much higher salary rate than what all the other companies had offered me previously. And I have accepted the offer. Hehee!!

But a bad thing about this position is that it has got rotational shifts and is on a 6 months contract (upon renewal if performance is good)... meaning my weekends and public holidays are going to be burnt once I finish their training. Training is for 2 weeks, starting from next Monday (26 June), which is also the date of work commencement.

Actually I am feeling slightly insecured about the offer now bcoz the interviewer who called me up to offer me the job did not ask me to go down to sign the employment appointment letter... instead she just told me to report to work on Monday at 9am sharp. And when I asked her about the appointment letter, she told me that she isn't sure if their HR department could make it in time before Monday to get my appointment letter ready. Thus, I have to wait for their call again. Well, I've got no choice but to wait then...

Meanwhile, I hope that I can go to Sunset Bay with Dear during this week... I must make use of my time for play now before I start work... And I also feel like rollerblading too... if not I think I might not have alot of chance to use my newly bought protective gears once work commences... Hahaa... Oh yah, and my new tennis outfit, I have not even worn it for once! (Oh no!! All those negative thoughts and memories of working shift-work are coming back to haunt me! =S) I think I will have very little time for leisure, as well as meeting up with Dear and friends next time due the irregular shift hours... (Hey, you people don't meet up when I cannot make it ok!! Ahahaa!! Just joking la! =P)