I have been a little stressed out… more like I’m irritated by a certain company and especially her IT manager who has been pestering us and dumping loads of work on us that was out of our contract scope with them. The initial contact was a trial one, which was supposed to be reviewed and then amended. But that company was so sly that we literally worked for peanuts for them for the past 5 months. Besides not receiving what was due to us, we were getting a lot of complains and negative comments from the users.
I was really pissed because I have been negotiating with the Thailand-based Belgium manager for like eternity to increase the price of the contract. He doesn’t get straight to the point with us on what is stopping him from signing the new contract with us, even though he agrees himself that we need to expand the contract. My colleagues have also been telling me to hold back my comments and not be so straight-forward on my thoughts towards the issue.
There were times I was told to amend my email because it was too straight-forward... grrrr
Initially, we suggested the best and obviously most expensive plan of 2 full-time engineers onsite. This is actually 6 times the price of what the company is paying us now.
However, it was kinda rejected. (They couldn’t swallow their pride to say it was too expensive) and they requested we give their alternatives = cheaper but less efficient plans.
In anyway, even the cheapest plan is like 4 times the price of what they are paying now.
That is also how much they are over-taxing us.
So finally, the regional ( belgium guy )IT manager made time to come to Japan last Friday. Before that, I was really praying hard that this issue will be settled once and for all. That was no way we could continue this life of getting “told off” by customers and not being able to defend ourselves. We really needed a break and move on! In fact we were prepared to already tell the IT manager, if we cannot come to a compromise, we have to call off the deal totally because we are making a loss.
BUT!!!!!
Within half an hour into our meeting, he announced that he actually had a meeting with the management and they have decided to go with plan 1.
Wooh hoh!!! Really praise be to God… Indeed He answers prayers!!
We were all so taken back actually that now we have a slight problem of manpower… because my manager didn’t believe that the 2 person full-time plan will actually work.
The meeting went on for another 2.5 hours but after he left, everyone exchanged high-fives and even the president was beaming from ear to ear.
Despite all the excitement… I quietly creeped back to my seat because I had to catch up on my work in my 2.5 hours absence *sobz* but in my heart, there was really peace and comfort. There was also the motivation to continue my work for that night….
And when I came to my realization, I have been working in the office for the last 12 hours…
Time to go home!
8.30.2010
A weekend to myself
Finally I had a lazy weekend in which I could wake up and just lie on the couch without having to rush to go out.
When was the last time I had the chance to do that?...
I'm definitely not complaining about the activities that I am involved in. But it just made me remember once again how it is such a luxury to be able to wake up at the time I want to.
So anyway, I'm going to take a half day leave this friday to join my friends for round 2 of Arashi's concert!!
Decisions were made over the weekend over.
I have decided to hold all my remaining leave till Decemeber and this is what I plan to do:
1. Fly in to Shanghai on the 8th to sight-see for 2 days with my cousin. Then together with her, join the rest of the family going for the wedding on the 10th.
2. Fly out from Kunming to Shanghai on the 12th and then back to Tokyo.
3. Work for a week and then take 2 days off when ML comes to go for a winter hotspring trip!
ML has been to Japan 3 times but never out of Tokyo! ( except like maybe disneyland in Chiba??) ML: we seriously need to plan something this time round. I'll show you what winter is really about ( hee hee....)
So now.... I have to "dong" 3 months of no leave... hmm not that it is that difficult because we have a few holidays here and there to look forward to anyway.
Now have to check out all the air tix plans~~
When was the last time I had the chance to do that?...
I'm definitely not complaining about the activities that I am involved in. But it just made me remember once again how it is such a luxury to be able to wake up at the time I want to.
So anyway, I'm going to take a half day leave this friday to join my friends for round 2 of Arashi's concert!!
Decisions were made over the weekend over.
I have decided to hold all my remaining leave till Decemeber and this is what I plan to do:
1. Fly in to Shanghai on the 8th to sight-see for 2 days with my cousin. Then together with her, join the rest of the family going for the wedding on the 10th.
2. Fly out from Kunming to Shanghai on the 12th and then back to Tokyo.
3. Work for a week and then take 2 days off when ML comes to go for a winter hotspring trip!
ML has been to Japan 3 times but never out of Tokyo! ( except like maybe disneyland in Chiba??) ML: we seriously need to plan something this time round. I'll show you what winter is really about ( hee hee....)
So now.... I have to "dong" 3 months of no leave... hmm not that it is that difficult because we have a few holidays here and there to look forward to anyway.
Now have to check out all the air tix plans~~
8.19.2010
Interesting phenomenon
Recently, there has been a rising concern which sparked from Japan and is said to be an increasingly glaring phenomenon in the other parts of Asia.
They call it the 干物女 in Japanese, Hi-mono-onna. It describes a lady in her twenties-thirties who has “dried up” and is like that of a dried-fish. Think 魚干.
What qualifies one to be a Himono-onna? Check off the list below. It is not exhaustive.
1. No bra or make-up on weekends
2. Wear jerseys at home ( or in Singapore context, big and baggy t-shirts with food stains, holes, pockets hanging out of shorts)
3. Not interested in romantic relationships
4. Rather then to socialize in her free time, stay at home and watch TV or read mangas
5. Reply to mails in short replies or simply too lazy to reply
6. Drink beer out from the can or juices out of the bottles (too lazy to pour in cups)
7. Eat instant noodles out of the pot itself or sometimes, stand at the sink to eat
8. “Troublesome lah” or “ ma-fan” is one of your favourite phrase.
9. You only remove your hair from unwanted areas in summer ( hmm not very applicable in Singapore)
10. When you forget something after you put on your shoes, you will crawl back into the house to take it on your knees
11. You talk to the TV when you are home alone
12. You wear your clothes straight from the clothes dryer or even before you can fold them
13. You have not had a conversation with a man ( other than your colleague or family-related people) for more than 10 minutes in the past 1 month
14. You think it is troublesome to read through this list.
15. You realized it yourself too that you find it troublesome to read this list.
And it goes on….
And… I think I see myself it in. opps…
Actually this term “came to live” after a drama called Hotaru no Hikari. It is really interesting…. It is about a young lady in her twenties who is well-dressed and capable at work but when she goes home, she is a total changed person because her house is untidy, she hangs and throws her things all over the place… and too lazy to fall in love…
The reason why they used the term dried up to describe such a person is because, the image of a young and vital lady is one who is full of “water”, moisturized from head to toe.
I was talking to a Japanese guy friend last week and when I asked him if he can accept his wife wearing jerseys at home, he was like no… then I asked him, what does he expect her to wear, he said jeans.
Jeans at home??! Was the reaction of most of the ladies…
What a gap… I have to say to Men in generally. Especially Men who are thinking of marrying Japanese girls. The pretty, sweet, all dolled-up even at home ones are non-exsistence anymore. Please wake up! Don’t expect us to be all made up and be at your beck and call! We need to relax and be at our most comfortable state at home!
And…. We don’t want to be perspiring in summer in our jeans too.
They call it the 干物女 in Japanese, Hi-mono-onna. It describes a lady in her twenties-thirties who has “dried up” and is like that of a dried-fish. Think 魚干.
What qualifies one to be a Himono-onna? Check off the list below. It is not exhaustive.
1. No bra or make-up on weekends
2. Wear jerseys at home ( or in Singapore context, big and baggy t-shirts with food stains, holes, pockets hanging out of shorts)
3. Not interested in romantic relationships
4. Rather then to socialize in her free time, stay at home and watch TV or read mangas
5. Reply to mails in short replies or simply too lazy to reply
6. Drink beer out from the can or juices out of the bottles (too lazy to pour in cups)
7. Eat instant noodles out of the pot itself or sometimes, stand at the sink to eat
8. “Troublesome lah” or “ ma-fan” is one of your favourite phrase.
9. You only remove your hair from unwanted areas in summer ( hmm not very applicable in Singapore)
10. When you forget something after you put on your shoes, you will crawl back into the house to take it on your knees
11. You talk to the TV when you are home alone
12. You wear your clothes straight from the clothes dryer or even before you can fold them
13. You have not had a conversation with a man ( other than your colleague or family-related people) for more than 10 minutes in the past 1 month
14. You think it is troublesome to read through this list.
15. You realized it yourself too that you find it troublesome to read this list.
And it goes on….
And… I think I see myself it in. opps…
Actually this term “came to live” after a drama called Hotaru no Hikari. It is really interesting…. It is about a young lady in her twenties who is well-dressed and capable at work but when she goes home, she is a total changed person because her house is untidy, she hangs and throws her things all over the place… and too lazy to fall in love…
The reason why they used the term dried up to describe such a person is because, the image of a young and vital lady is one who is full of “water”, moisturized from head to toe.
I was talking to a Japanese guy friend last week and when I asked him if he can accept his wife wearing jerseys at home, he was like no… then I asked him, what does he expect her to wear, he said jeans.
Jeans at home??! Was the reaction of most of the ladies…
What a gap… I have to say to Men in generally. Especially Men who are thinking of marrying Japanese girls. The pretty, sweet, all dolled-up even at home ones are non-exsistence anymore. Please wake up! Don’t expect us to be all made up and be at your beck and call! We need to relax and be at our most comfortable state at home!
And…. We don’t want to be perspiring in summer in our jeans too.
The time of the year
So....
the "time" of the year has come again. Not for fireworks, for just for sunflower fields nor bbqs at the river-side...
Arashi annual concert kick-starts this weekend!!
Only that I have a sore throat ( already much better) and a stuffy nose... Actually I am not having a blocked nose anymore.. But I still sound like my nose is stuffed so I sound more sick than I really am. It's good though, everyone thinks I am so working so hard despite not feeling week when I am actually furiously typing away on the keyboard for the blog.
Heck lah... we need a break at work at times.
And..
No one from work ever reads this too.
They didn't, will not, will never.
But...
Actually I think I'm only say 70% geared up for it.
I attribute it to my not tip-top health condition, the no-so-nice new songs they have on the album. I have listening and trying to get my ears used to the songs before the concert starts...
but then again, just go with a light-hearted manner is the best.
Especially when Arashi concerts usually involves complicated issues revolving different people over tickets.
I missed the good old days when the "four" of us went for the Time con together in 2007... Things are so different now...
Everyone is guessing what other people are thinking, lamenting their "poor" luck, making sure everyone's happy...
Ok but anyway, at least my friend gets to go this weekend together. A relief for me.
the "time" of the year has come again. Not for fireworks, for just for sunflower fields nor bbqs at the river-side...
Arashi annual concert kick-starts this weekend!!
Only that I have a sore throat ( already much better) and a stuffy nose... Actually I am not having a blocked nose anymore.. But I still sound like my nose is stuffed so I sound more sick than I really am. It's good though, everyone thinks I am so working so hard despite not feeling week when I am actually furiously typing away on the keyboard for the blog.
Heck lah... we need a break at work at times.
And..
No one from work ever reads this too.
They didn't, will not, will never.
But...
Actually I think I'm only say 70% geared up for it.
I attribute it to my not tip-top health condition, the no-so-nice new songs they have on the album. I have listening and trying to get my ears used to the songs before the concert starts...
but then again, just go with a light-hearted manner is the best.
Especially when Arashi concerts usually involves complicated issues revolving different people over tickets.
I missed the good old days when the "four" of us went for the Time con together in 2007... Things are so different now...
Everyone is guessing what other people are thinking, lamenting their "poor" luck, making sure everyone's happy...
Ok but anyway, at least my friend gets to go this weekend together. A relief for me.
8.18.2010
The downs at work
A sales guy, a leader from another team and my boss (a little) really pissed me off today..
We were supposed to submit a proposal and some documents to accept the invitation to tender to a certain company by 1300 today. (8/18)
This invitation was sent to us like somewhere the last week of July so we had a good 3 weeks at least to complete it. Since this is not a new customer too, we didn't have to work from scratch and just had to brush up the current contract and to include some new ideas.
The contract was divided in 2 parts, the helpdesk part and the full-time onsite outsourcing part.
I did my part in checking all the helpdesk details, raising questions, holding meetings with my boss and then clarifying doubts with the procurement manager whenever needed.
Throughout the whole time of checking and raising possible questions, the leader of the other team and the sales guys kept complete silence. No contribution at all on their part.
Fine.
So anyway, since many of them were going away for holiday from last week, I specifially reminded my boss who is going on a holiday too and only coming back TODAY ( day of submission) to get to it done asap. But... he didn't even till the day he was due to leave.
Fine again.
He told me he was going to write up the proposal in Japanese over his 1 week holiday and I told him to send the complete parts even in bits and pieces whenever possible because I had to re-write everything in English!! I foresee it is impossible to finish everything if he is going to give them all to me in one shot.
But he didn't obviously...
He finally emailed me at like 11:30pm yesterday night and expected me to finish everything by 1pm today. Of course he didn't command me to do it... He said just do your best and if you cannot finish, just send in Japanese.
C'mon... the other party can't even read Japanese! If I really did that, then the contract is gone for sure.
But somehow, by God's grace.... really really by grace and favor with my other colleagues who knew I had to finish this up with no disturbance, I managed to finish writing everything in English somewhere before the due time.
Then to my horror, I realised there is a need to let my president sign all the documents, fill in all the prices which I have not received instructions for...
But guess what? None of them were to be found that moment. No one who had the power to make the decision was around.
So... I got really pissed... I dug up some past information and emailed to all of them that I am going to put this certain price, in which if nobody emails me back, that is going to be the final one.
They emailed me back of course.. each giving a different quote.
SEE! None of you sat down to discuss when you had so much time to!
Anyway... in the end, with the help of another director, we managed to get the President to sign the documents. ( he was really being very gracious... he signed not even having to read the contents. Very dangerous Mr President. )
Once again, with lots of sigh, a bit of anger but much grace and supernatural strength, we gathered and finally could submit all the necessary stuff on time.
Seriously speaking.... I don't think the Sales guy deserved a single cent of the commission. I wanted to write an email to "scold" them and warn them never again to give me such last-min work...
But somehow I withheld. I am not afraid of them thinking badly about me.... I just didn't want to add fuel to the fire. What's the point of making my boss feel worst...
Yup... I think I withheld because of him. He is a nice guy, he works hard... but well well... forgiveness and tolerance I guess.
My boss emailed me later to apologised though...
We were supposed to submit a proposal and some documents to accept the invitation to tender to a certain company by 1300 today. (8/18)
This invitation was sent to us like somewhere the last week of July so we had a good 3 weeks at least to complete it. Since this is not a new customer too, we didn't have to work from scratch and just had to brush up the current contract and to include some new ideas.
The contract was divided in 2 parts, the helpdesk part and the full-time onsite outsourcing part.
I did my part in checking all the helpdesk details, raising questions, holding meetings with my boss and then clarifying doubts with the procurement manager whenever needed.
Throughout the whole time of checking and raising possible questions, the leader of the other team and the sales guys kept complete silence. No contribution at all on their part.
Fine.
So anyway, since many of them were going away for holiday from last week, I specifially reminded my boss who is going on a holiday too and only coming back TODAY ( day of submission) to get to it done asap. But... he didn't even till the day he was due to leave.
Fine again.
He told me he was going to write up the proposal in Japanese over his 1 week holiday and I told him to send the complete parts even in bits and pieces whenever possible because I had to re-write everything in English!! I foresee it is impossible to finish everything if he is going to give them all to me in one shot.
But he didn't obviously...
He finally emailed me at like 11:30pm yesterday night and expected me to finish everything by 1pm today. Of course he didn't command me to do it... He said just do your best and if you cannot finish, just send in Japanese.
C'mon... the other party can't even read Japanese! If I really did that, then the contract is gone for sure.
But somehow, by God's grace.... really really by grace and favor with my other colleagues who knew I had to finish this up with no disturbance, I managed to finish writing everything in English somewhere before the due time.
Then to my horror, I realised there is a need to let my president sign all the documents, fill in all the prices which I have not received instructions for...
But guess what? None of them were to be found that moment. No one who had the power to make the decision was around.
So... I got really pissed... I dug up some past information and emailed to all of them that I am going to put this certain price, in which if nobody emails me back, that is going to be the final one.
They emailed me back of course.. each giving a different quote.
SEE! None of you sat down to discuss when you had so much time to!
Anyway... in the end, with the help of another director, we managed to get the President to sign the documents. ( he was really being very gracious... he signed not even having to read the contents. Very dangerous Mr President. )
Once again, with lots of sigh, a bit of anger but much grace and supernatural strength, we gathered and finally could submit all the necessary stuff on time.
Seriously speaking.... I don't think the Sales guy deserved a single cent of the commission. I wanted to write an email to "scold" them and warn them never again to give me such last-min work...
But somehow I withheld. I am not afraid of them thinking badly about me.... I just didn't want to add fuel to the fire. What's the point of making my boss feel worst...
Yup... I think I withheld because of him. He is a nice guy, he works hard... but well well... forgiveness and tolerance I guess.
My boss emailed me later to apologised though...
Running nose and a sore throat...
Been battling with these 2 symptoms for the past 2 days. I don't where the sore throat came but I think the runnning nose was due to the fact I have been blasting my air-con for the past 2 days.
I was really afraid of getting heat-stroke when it was reported on the news that some elderly died in his home because he was too poor to pay for electricity hence unable to on the aircon. Quite a sad story... because his son was out apparently at the point of time buying some ice for him.
I have been seeking comfort from the vicks inhaler my friend sent me ages ago!
Good thing I saved it till now...
Now with all the flu symptoms, I am really craving for a cup of sour plum soup suddenly! How to make?
I was really afraid of getting heat-stroke when it was reported on the news that some elderly died in his home because he was too poor to pay for electricity hence unable to on the aircon. Quite a sad story... because his son was out apparently at the point of time buying some ice for him.
I have been seeking comfort from the vicks inhaler my friend sent me ages ago!
Good thing I saved it till now...
Now with all the flu symptoms, I am really craving for a cup of sour plum soup suddenly! How to make?
8.11.2010
Boring week at work...
I think I have been really neglecting this blog so think I should put in more effort to update.
Since the beginning of last week, I have been working the "Morning shift" which starts from 8:00~17:00 ( Can leave earliest a 16:30) But then again, who leaves early at work in Japan offices....
Even when there is nothing much.. really nothing much to do, people still stay on because they are afraid of going against the norms.
I am somewhere in between I guess... I can't say it doesn't take me courage to stand up and announce I'm going home ( so far 5pm is the earliest I've tried) and every step till the door is still a little heavy and stressful.
But heck! I just have to get used to it. They also have to get used to me leaving early too.
Actually I do quite like the arrangement because the first hour in the morning is very quiet. It is just for standby but usually there are no calls from users nor disturbances from colleagues. I can sit around and do my own stuff peacefully or like what you see now, update my blog filled with cobwebs~~*cough* *cough*
The last week, except for Monday which I had a meeting after work that lasted till 10pm in the night,was pretty relax because most people (meaning clients) are off from work because of Obon.(something like Qing Ming) Which gives me time at time to clear up some mundane work that has been shelved away from the light for centuries. Also... gave me some time to think about how I should spend my remaining leave for the year because I kent bring them forward to the next anymore.
Right now I have a few plans:
1. Attend my cousin's wedding in Kunming in Dec.
2. Visit my cousin in Shanghai
3. Leave a couple of days off with ML who is coming end of year.
4. Take 1 or 2 days off to rest after the retreat for fellowship, and after the Life-change seminar retreat
5. Go to Seoul with my cousin
.......
They are in terms of priority... and it should have been the answer to how I plan my leave but.. here is the problem.
1. I checked various airlines and I realised it takes me like 12 hours ( fly to beijing, wait for transit) just to get to Kunming itself! which means, a 2-way trip takes me a good 24 hours, not yet accounting for the transit to airport, check-in time... with the very few days of leave I am planning to take, I am not sure if I will still have fun there.. despite really wanting to attend the wedding. But I never know.... I pretty work on impulse. I might just go ahead with it.
2. Shanghai. It looks so pretty from my cousin's photos! Maybe I can pop over to the expo as well... I am not excited about visiting the expo tho... more of my cousin's svc apt.
3. Since ML's coming for a week and she has never stepped out of Tokyo though this will be her 3rd trip here, I think I'll take a day or two to bring her to the outskirts for some real snow and hotspring.
4 &5... can wait!
Ok.... now I just need to check my colleagues leave schedule too!
Since the beginning of last week, I have been working the "Morning shift" which starts from 8:00~17:00 ( Can leave earliest a 16:30) But then again, who leaves early at work in Japan offices....
Even when there is nothing much.. really nothing much to do, people still stay on because they are afraid of going against the norms.
I am somewhere in between I guess... I can't say it doesn't take me courage to stand up and announce I'm going home ( so far 5pm is the earliest I've tried) and every step till the door is still a little heavy and stressful.
But heck! I just have to get used to it. They also have to get used to me leaving early too.
Actually I do quite like the arrangement because the first hour in the morning is very quiet. It is just for standby but usually there are no calls from users nor disturbances from colleagues. I can sit around and do my own stuff peacefully or like what you see now, update my blog filled with cobwebs~~*cough* *cough*
The last week, except for Monday which I had a meeting after work that lasted till 10pm in the night,was pretty relax because most people (meaning clients) are off from work because of Obon.(something like Qing Ming) Which gives me time at time to clear up some mundane work that has been shelved away from the light for centuries. Also... gave me some time to think about how I should spend my remaining leave for the year because I kent bring them forward to the next anymore.
Right now I have a few plans:
1. Attend my cousin's wedding in Kunming in Dec.
2. Visit my cousin in Shanghai
3. Leave a couple of days off with ML who is coming end of year.
4. Take 1 or 2 days off to rest after the retreat for fellowship, and after the Life-change seminar retreat
5. Go to Seoul with my cousin
.......
They are in terms of priority... and it should have been the answer to how I plan my leave but.. here is the problem.
1. I checked various airlines and I realised it takes me like 12 hours ( fly to beijing, wait for transit) just to get to Kunming itself! which means, a 2-way trip takes me a good 24 hours, not yet accounting for the transit to airport, check-in time... with the very few days of leave I am planning to take, I am not sure if I will still have fun there.. despite really wanting to attend the wedding. But I never know.... I pretty work on impulse. I might just go ahead with it.
2. Shanghai. It looks so pretty from my cousin's photos! Maybe I can pop over to the expo as well... I am not excited about visiting the expo tho... more of my cousin's svc apt.
3. Since ML's coming for a week and she has never stepped out of Tokyo though this will be her 3rd trip here, I think I'll take a day or two to bring her to the outskirts for some real snow and hotspring.
4 &5... can wait!
Ok.... now I just need to check my colleagues leave schedule too!
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