following mommy to work

i hardly work late or required to work late. recently, we were rushing for a tender so i have to come back to work even on my leave. so i have no choice but to bring the 2 along with me to work. armed with 2 dvds, new thomas capsules toys and off we go.

 

i brought them to collect our taobao stuff from aileen, then headed to soo kee to pass andrina's her stuff and headed back to office. we had our lunch at mac before we go up. so at mac, i bought them happy meal and so they have another toy each.

 

i'm so glad that they manage to self entertain themselves for a good 5 hours without having to take out the tablet for them to play. darling is suppose to pick them up around 3pm+ after work. however, he had forgotten about them till i called him at 5pm+. he reached at 6pm+ to pick them up to go back to his school for a while before heading home.

 

on the way home, the 2 cried cos papa never bring them to come and fetch mommy. hahaha..... yu ze didn't sleep when i reached home at around 10pm. he told me he don't want to go to school. he wants to follow me to work. is it enjoying himself with me or he chao keng, wants to skip school.

 

which is a better route?

i take over the car and started sending them to school and myself to work. from yio chu kang road to marine parade can be a long distance. which way is cheap and good? 

 

route a - 26 km (25 mins)
yio chu kang road => cte (sle) => tpe => kpe => ecp => marine parade

route b - 17 km + $2 erp (18 mins)
yio chu kang road => cte (town) => pie => eunos => still road => marine parade

route c - 15.6 km + $2 erp (23 mins)
yio chu kang road => cte (town) => pie => kpe => ecp => marine parade

have discuss with darling, my boss and shared with friends. we had come to a conclusion that route a should be a better option. with route a, i would have travel on all the expressway daily. 

 

there is only 1 way to go to fetch them, kpe, pie, cte, yio chu kang road.

tendered

my boss is not in today, she got dental appointment. i had left my resignation letter on her table. since she is not in, she won't be able to see it but i did something very mean. i had email her to inform her about it. i'm very mean hoh to tender the first day of work of 2009. but i don't have a choice leh, if i don't tender today i won't be able to leave by 1 feb. 

hopefully on mon when she is back, the idea of me leaving has already sink in her. don't know if this is a good way to start the year.

decided

actually i wrote a blog on to stay or leave last weekend but there is something wrong with the site so it didn't get posted. anyway, now i have decided to leave. 

not long after i quit from my previous company, they had asked me to consider going back again. i rejected their offer then cos i was pregnant. going back means giving up my maternity benefits as i will not work for more than 180 days to entitle to them. so it was a clear cut, no. 

however, they had not stop asking me to consider going back after i delivered. i told my ex-colleague who was talking to me on this issue to give me their terms then i consider. even then, i won't consider going back till next year. i'm not going to forgo my 13th month bonus. thus, will only tender next year so the earliest to go back is in feb 09. to my surprise, they are actually willing to wait for me till then and get a temp staff for the time being. 

 

i'm not sure if this is a good news to me or not. i'm indeed quite happy that they want me back but at the same time worried that i will disappoint them if i didn't do a good job. the position offer to me is a new thing for me. my ex-boss who i had worked with for 8 years guarantee that i can do the new job well and i don't have to worry at all.

 

offer given by them

• near 27% increment from current pay
• retain my 18 days annual leave instead of starting fresh from 14
• 6 month probation (as this is a new portfolio for me)
• other benefits remains
• free transport in the morning (given by ex-boss on a personal basis, hahah.... this is not counted)

to me from now till next year feb, there are 5 more months to go, anything can happen. making such a decision is indeed not easy. after discussing with darling and weighing the pros and cons, going back seems like the best option now. since i have the intention to tender next year no matter what instead of getting a new job, going into a new environment why not go back to a place where i'm familiar with. with any new company, the pay might not match with what my ex-company offer and i won't have the flexibility of taking leave as and when i need. 

 

although i'm not sure if i'm making the right decision now but i have already inform them that i will be going back next year. currently, they are working on the letter of offer for me to sign.

rotting in office

i'm rotting in office again. boss went out for meeting so no work for me, at least with her around, i can get her to give me some work to do. 

 

i have run out of ideas of what to do liao. enough of surfing net yet can't play games in the office. any suggestions of what i can do. the job scope here is hardly 20% of my previous job. don't know how long i can tahan here if this goes on. if no improvement, i think i will have to quit by end of the year. 

 

well, the only good thing is that i have not been feeling well, so i can always take a short rest in the office since not much work is given. 

 

anyone go lobang for part-time job like data entry to recommend?

don't understand

sometimes i just don't understand why people complain so much? if your job is to raise po, then no matter how many orders i send out in a day, you just simply have to go ahead and raise the po once approval is given. what is there to complain about? after complaining, you still need to do the job right? so what is the point?

my darling

i was helping my colleague in moving a few cartons of a4 paper today. we were trying to place them onto the trolley so that we can move it from the store to our office. after placing them on the trolley, i realised a slight pain in my stomach. i think i have pull one of the muscle while carrying the carton. the pain is not too bad but did lasted for more than an hour. lucky, the pain was gone before i knock off. if not, he will sure drag me to see doc. 

 

back in my seat, i decided to sms my darling to tell him about it. hoping that he will 'sayang' me with words. hehehe.... didn't expect darling to have such a major reaction from my sms. he called me immediately to check if i'm ok. ask where is the pain, is it very bad and he sounded very worried. keep telling me that i shouldn't carry such heavy things and should not strain myself. in future, get others to do it. 

 

i'm touched by him, didn't expect to get such big reaction from him. if i know, i wouldn't have told him. when he came to fetch me, the first time he said is, still got pain (touching my stomach)? even back home now, he still continue to check on me making sure that i'm not in pain. 

 

thanks darling, i'm really very 幸福 to have you with me.

3rd day at work

today is my 3rd day of work. generally, i still don't have a table and pc to myself cos the lady (z) that i'm taking over had not change her work station. she is supposed to take over another lady (y) who is leaving and this lady only leaves next fri. so i'm going to share seat with 'z' for the time being. maybe i'm still new, i still got nothing to do. 

 

i am joining them for the workplan seminar today and tomorrow. this is the first time, i attend such seminar. as much as i hate talking in front of a group presenting, this seminar is actually quite fun and set me thinking. 

 

who will ever sit here and think about:

• people/things that matters to you
• your values
• your goals
• how you celebrate your success
• what is your fears

this seminar let you understand yourself better and get you thinking of what happen this year, what had you learnt, what are you going to do in future. also through some activities, you get to know more about your colleagues. maybe this is the first time, i'm doing it so i do enjoy it so far. i guess if i have to do it every year, i might not enjoy this at all.

 

its indeed a total different experience.

messages

as yesterday was my last day of work, i sent out thank you messages to people that i had worked with cos didn't get to say goodbye to them (all involved in meeting). 

 

its just a simple and general thank you message. i got this reply from my coo, i'm actually touched by him. 

 

'you have grown much over the years celyn and entered into married life too. as you progress forward, may your joys be over many times your sadness. call on your coach meng kuan (my boss) to share both. you are a big part of her life. call us too if you miss your job here. be blessed. 

 

my eyes were wet when i saw this but i managed to hold back my tears. i forward this to my boss telling her that i'm touched by him and don't know how to reply this message.

 

my tears eventually drop when her reply was 'just appreciate us in your heart' and on the radio, it was playing 光良's song, 都是你. all the memories came back to me and i realised i do miss them and feel sad about leaving. i was crying all the way home. 

 

not only i play a big part in my boss's life, she too play a big part in my life. she had shared all my joy and sadness these 8 years, she is always there to support me and help me through all my difficult times. she did has a very special place in my heart.

last day

yeah, finally today is my last day of work. after 8 years and 2 months to be exact, i'm leaving everything here. i can still remembered my first day of work at hq. i was waiting for my immediate supervisor then at the reception when my boss came in and saw me. she showed me around and introduced me to everyone. back in my mind, i tried very hard to recall who is she and what is her name. hehehe..... i'm very bad at putting names to faces unless i see you very often. the days in hq are memorable and so are the days when our dept shifted out to the new site 2 years ago. we went through the renovation, the furnishing and cleaning up of this place. its just like a home we build for ourselves. 

 

i do feel happy that i'm leaving as i see many changes coming in and i don't see how these changes will help to make things better here. at the same time, i do feel sad that i'm leaving all my dear colleagues. after so many years, we do have a special bonding. i will definitely miss them especially my boss and some colleagues in hq. 

 

i had personally given the little thank you card that i made to my boss. i had avoid talking to her on a personal note cos i don't wish to cry. my boss had always say that i will be nice to the whole world except her. i will bully her and show her black face and throw temper at her. my answer for her is always, you are the one who selected me after the 2nd interview. hahah...

 

 i will miss you and all the memories that we shared. take care...

farewell dinner

i had my farewell dinner with colleagues at cafe cartel. it was a last minute arrangement decided at 4pm. jenny and i are leaving on wed, so its a farewell for both of us. 

 

since the dinner was at serangoon garden, i had arrange for my darling to pick us up and send us there. at the same time, he can bring my laptop back and helped me buy the ingredients to make the japanese jelly. i had promised my boss to make more for her since she didn't had enough (she already took 4 trays back with her in the morning). so i had started making the moment i reached home at 9pm. 

 

the servings for cafe cartel was quite big, i had the ribs and could only manage to finish half the portion. we were teasing li li all the while for the mistake that she made. she had requested for her desert to be served instead of dessert. the brownie with ice cream was tasty. although i'm not close with them, we did had an enjoyable evening and were laughing and joking throughout the dinner.

thank you

i wanted to get a gift for my boss to express my thanks for her. but i just had no idea what to get for her, she had all the things she needs. so i decided to make her a thank you card. although it may be a simple and worthless card but the thoughts are priceless. i think i will still get her something if i come across something nice these 2 days. 

 

now that i got this card, i don't know if i want to hand it to her personally or just leave it on the table for her. i guess it will be hard to face the moment if i do give it to her personally.

a lesson learnt

for the first time i know, offsetting my leave to leave earlier means no pay. i received my exit interview forms and letter on my resignation. 

 

on the letter, there is a sentence. "arrangement will be make to pay you your salary up to and including 17 oct." when i first got this, i didn't really pay attention to it. after a while, i read it carefully then i feel that something seems to be wrong with this sentence. this would means that i'm only paid for 1 - 17 oct, that's all. then what about my leave from 18 oct - 11 nov? not paid? i'm confuse. is my english so bad that i don't understand the sentence? 

 

i call hr to clarify, the executive confuse me further with her explanation. in the end, the hr manager call me to explain which is clearer and finally i understand. 

 

cos i wanted to leave earlier (17 days), i need to pay back company in cash for the days that i didn't serve notice. with my 17 annual leave, i can use these leave to offset the 17 days that i need to pay back. therefore, i'm not paid. i was actually quite shocked to hear that. but what she say is correct too, so i got nothing to say. then she told me, what i can do now is to get my boss to waive my notice then she will arrange to pay me for my leaves. 

 

so i went to talk to my boss and get him to waive my notice and he agreed. so now, i will be paid for my leave. with this resignation, i learnt something. offsetting leave with notice means no paid.

shopping

with me changing job in 2 weeks times, i told my darling i needed more office wear. got excuse to go shopping, hehe.... 

 

as my current office wear are quite causal cos i can go in spaghetti straps tops. so my wardrobe consists of mainly spaghetti straps tops, halter neck, some sleeveless and limited tops with sleeves (i think only 4 pieces). i don't think my new office will allow me to go in so causally. i need to get more tops with sleeves or at least sleeveless. 

 

i have been out shopping last week and today. i brought along my personal atm too (hahaha.... my darling to pay for my purchases). i had spent near $300 on a top, a pair of pants and 2 dresses. thank you, darling.

 

at the same time, my colleague who know that i'm out on a shopping sprees told me not to buy so much just in case, i get pregnant and all these will go to waste. hehe.... i told her where got so fast, not that you want, you get it. well, what she say is also quite true but nothing can stop me from shopping especially now i got excuse to shop. hahahah..............

so angry

i'm so super angry today. we have a group of people from various locations and hq coming to use our classroom for meeting. they had already book the rooms with me as i'm in charge of room booking.

 

instead of using the rooms that i had allocated for them which is room 2, 4, 7 and meeting room. they change to the big room (room 5 & 6, there is a partition wall that can be open to be a big room) without asking me. they asked someone who is not in charge, she didn't even check the room booking chart that is outside the room and simply says nobody use in the morning cos its empty and they shifted out of meeting room into room 5. . i start to boil when i know about this. not because they didn't ask me but we have exam for over 50 students in the afternoon in room 5 & 6. 

 

with them using room 5, i will have to spilt the group into 2 rooms to hold the exam. it will also means that i will need 2 invigilators instead of 1. so i scolded a ops manager and a senior manager saying that why they allow this to happen. they should tell our big boss that we need the room for exam in the afternoon. i believe she will understand if they tell her so. they say never mind, since she is already in there, don't get her out. then ask me to help do invigilation. 

 

with them messing up my room booking this morning, i end up with no rooms for exam. then i walked into room 2 with a super smelly face and tell the people in there to shift to room 6 so that i can use room 1 and 2 for exam. 

 

this is so ridiculous, if they are not going to use that is allocated for them in the first place, then why bother to book rooms. this is a school and not a meeting place. the classrooms are meant for classes and not meeting. isn't the students our priority? what if we are having classes in the afternoon instead of exam? does it means that we need to engage another lecturer? 

 

sigh.... i think i have said enough. it may seem very confusing but i just need to let it out. after what happen, i'm actually glad that i will be out soon.

sms from boss

today my boss came back with a guest. i didn't get to talk to her, just saw her walking around. she left with the guest after a short while. i just received her sms and i cried after reading it. 

 

boss: 'when i see you, then i realised how much i miss you'. 

me: 'hehe.... i know. i told darling that i feel so lost on sun. yesterday when i came in, i really feel lost. you are so bad, make me cry.  

 

my tears just keep rolling down, i can't stop it. i do miss her too. i know this is part of life, i guess we need time to get over it.

lost

as usual, i left a document on my boss's table for her to sign. but suddenly, my action feel so wrong. she is transfer to hq liao, she won't be coming back.

 

i feel so lost. in the past, when she is away for long overseas trip. i also never had this kind of feeling maybe i know she will be back. today is the first day that she is away and i already feel so lost. coming in to the office knowing that she won't be around liao just feel so odd. suddenly i don't know 

• who am i reporting to
• who do i go to when i need help
• who to sign all the documents

this is the first time i feel so lost in this company. there is no instruction from the top. everything is just left hanging in the air.

farewell lunch

i was shocked to receive an email this morning title as 'farewell lunch for our 3 angels (me, my boss and another colleague from another dept)'. i'm shocked cos my last day of service is mid oct and is not finalised. the farewell lunch is scheduled for tomorrow, so i guess she (from another dept) can't wait to see me go. i'm not really close to her but still i didn't expect this from her. maybe she really can't wait to get rid of me and my boss but didn't expect her to include her dept colleague. i think i need to 检讨一下, what have i done to deserve this... 

 

i really don't feel like joining them for lunch. if they are doing a farewell lunch nearer to my last day of service, maybe i will still entertain them but definitely not tomorrow. i feel so .... arghhh..... can i reply the email saying that i'm not going?

black pepper crab

i met up with my colleague from head office and ex-colleague (aka as lover) for our favourite black pepper crab at koon seng road. its a little coffee shop beside malacca hotel along still road. their pepper crab is superb. we will usually called to make reservations for the crabs. making reservation for the crab is to make sure that you get to eat when you reach and not get a disappointing answer of crabs are SOLD OUT. 

 

there is no reservations for tables only for crabs. even though you have reserve the crabs, you will still need to queue for table if its full house. 

 

on weekends, you might have to wait for 30 mins to an hour for table and another 30 mins or more for the crab to be serve. their business is so good that by 6pm, there is already a long queue outside the coffee shop and crabs will be gone by 8 or 9pm. for their crabs, i will queue and wait. yummy!!!!

tendered

i had tender my resignation today. its kind of a mix feelings when i hand it in to my boss. although we had know that this day will come but its still hard to face it. don't know how to describe my feelings.

 

i had requested for early release. hopefully with my boss's help, hr will release me earlier rather than serving the 2 months notice.