It feels great to have my bosses and colleagues, and GM, coming up to me, congratulating me, telling me they think I deserve it.

I can only be a rookie once, so yes, I truly value this recognition.
And yes, I will continue putting in my 101%.

Finally, the second installment of the THC x FirstStop Barbershop Series!  For those of you who are just joining us, check out the first part of this series here.

If you've already read "A Cut Above" v.1 then you're familiar with my 9-5.  Here's more of my creative/artistic side comin' out during these tedious hours.  If your interested in learning more about my day job or want a cut, check out the FirstStop myspace.

FYI:  Yes.  He does work for LG.  He was competing in a company volleyball tournament and wanted to represent for his teamates.  Did they come out as winners?  Nope.  But he was definitely the walking photo-op of the day.

- Rob "Lefty" Capili

From the early days of getting to understand the culture, the acronyms and of course, my beeeeloved JB, to reaching this one-year mark, I just want to say, wow.

Frustrating moments (for example, when the project scope changed for the 267th time) and occassional late nights and weekends spent working aside, I have never stopped feeling fortunate for the opportunity and experience working for this company/brand.

A few of my colleagues have asked me, why didn't you join the marketing function? you get to make the decisions.
But really, I see more joy and challenge in being able to persuade, and make people value your opinion, rather than making the decisions per se.

I am not a genius in Maths, and I still cannot really do mental sums properly (though at least I know that 3 x 7 gives me 21, not 28. Hehe.. *Winks at yenew*).
Forecast is a word I now love and hate at the same time.
It's excruciating when people (like the Finance team, or my TW boss) ask you questions you either can't answer, or require between 3 days to a lifetime to get an answer.
I typically arrive at the answer at the weirdest moments - like when I am showering, or when I am just about to fall asleep. It bugs me a little, how I did not think of the answer earlier, or at least at a less weird moment.

I sometimes wonder how I managed to get into this company.
To me, someone who seldom bothers to chase after buses does not seem to fit into the profile or type of people this company employs. You know, the go-getters who cheong all the way?
But I have come to realise that while I am not aggressive (like some of my colleagues), I do have a competitive streak in me.
While I do not strive to out-wit, out-play or out-last others, I need to out-do myself each time I work on something new.
It is really tiring, but it seems that over here, the only way to go is up, definitely not down, and certainly not nowhere.

There are times when this company makes me feel like I am still in school.
Your boss and colleagues write your report card their feedback about you, and then there is a rating system where you get a rating from your boss, and the rating goes for global callibration before you get your final grade.
And your final grade gets reflected in the form of a salary increase notification.
There are lectures and tutorials regular trainings you have to attend, and the annual prom night award dinners organized for you to have fun.
And I found myself opening email attachments of consumer study results with the same queasy feeling I had when I was still in NTU, waiting for my results to finish loading on the Internet.

And JB. I think I have said enough, and yet will never say enough, about him.
I sometimes wonder if I can get through a day without his suaning me.
I have gotten so used to his mean, sarcastic, idiotic, yet sometimes clever remarks that if one day, he stops being mean, I might just go to him and say, Oh JB-san, please abuse me, give me more! more!
Like I said in one of my previous posts, please give my words a 30% discount whenever I complain about him. He most probably is a kind person, but tries to toughen his image by being evil. 
Because, really, he is one of the best managers I have ever had in my entire 4-year career.

It is nice knowing that my colleagues appreciate what I have done so far, and think I have the potential to go far.
It is nice to be in an environment that motivates you through encouragement and support, rather than via threats and pressure. 
Though it is not a written rule, we refrain from using the word 'weak' or 'weakness' in any of our work/analysis, because to the company, it should be seen as an opportunity, not a disadvantage.

So, happy 1-year anniversary to myself, and I hope there are more good years to come.

True friends help themselves from your fridge
Just friends never go over the edge
True friends argue a lot with you
Just friends go along your ideas few

True friends lend you a shoulder to lean on
Just friends tumble with you to the bottom
True friends are your supporters and comforters more
Just friends never see you cry before

True friends are always there when you need them
Just friends are somewhere else having a good time
True friends are just practically family
Just friends are just friends, nothing else...

created by,
aGaPE LovE
19.6.08
6.13 p.m.
inspired by an e-mail i had had received, forgotten which...

watching the silly but funny Kungfu Panda in the Gold Class theatre (courtesy of the bf's company), with blanket provided and complete with a main course;

going for spa/massage, courtesy of the bf;

taking silly but artistic (haha) pictures at Labrodor Park;

returning to office with JB very nicely offering to reschedule our meeting to the later part of the day because he knew I had work to rush in the morning, yet asking for one minute of my time just so he could pass me what they call the "Salary Increase Notification" letter and tell me, "SW, you did very well..";

frantically pressing the calculator, working backwards to find out the per-month pay I'd be getting, come 1st July, and seeing rather nice numbers..

JB was so sweet.
He also said to me,"Since it is good news, I thought I should share it with you first thing in the morning."

:)

TAKEN FROM LA TAHZAN

(click to view the full techical specifications)

Win more than S$5000 worth of prizes from LG (including the LG KF700 seen above) at the event!

On June 7, 2008 (this Sat), LG will be holding the LG KF700 Spinz Championships using its slick, brand new LG KF700 touch screen phone.

The Championships will consist of preliminaries, semi-finals, and a final round. Participants keen to take part in the contest* are encouraged to register early via http://www.lgkf700blog.com.sg. Do not wait till June 7 to register as there are only limited places available.

Participants of the LG KF700 Spinz Championships will also get opportunities to buy limited discounted handsets of the LG KF700.

If you are free this Saturday, do go down and take a look. :) There's a total of more than S$5,000 worth of prizes to be given away to the top 10 winners of the Championships.

Details:
Date : June 7, 2008
Time : 2.30 pm – 7.00 pm
Venue : The Cathay (Atrium – Level 1)
2 Handy Road
Singapore 229233

Technorati Tags: LG KF700, spinz championships, free handphone, free mobile phone, mobile phone contest, handphone contest, LG phone, Life's Good, The Cathay, Handy Road, LG roadshow

]]> http://weeirdism.wordpress.com/?p=276 Sun, 01 Jun 2008 13:53:46 +0000 wee http://weeirdism.wordpress.com/?p=276 Pretty much sums up the Annual (well, almost) Bloggies Getaway.

Once again, I think we have outdone ourselves.

My first time doing couple, ahem, massage with ash.
The massage was, on the whole, OK.
But what made it really worth it was probably being able to laugh and whine with someone who was going through the exact same thing as you. Haha.

Never thought I'd have the stamina to stay up till 2am (or was it 3am?), drinking, talking nonsense, playing Taboo (the very fun game where lawyers bring "BRIEFCASE!!" to court, where people require 3 tries before getting the word "Appendix" out, where m****** eat pork, cows eat manure, and many more), playing the murderer game and getting bored, and re-living my JC days of playing the animal game.

Never knew that I could laugh so much, eat so many doughnuts, be totally crazy, take silly pictures and be engaged in some sex talk.
All in the course of a 2D1N stress-free, fun-filled Batam trip. :P

I must say, I really love you gals.

After spending almost two hours watching re-runs of old mediacorpse drama serials, I (actually) started cleaning up the room a bit.

I doubt anyone would not believe me if I told them the luggage I brought to Japan/Korea in March was still lying on the floor of my room - until two hours ago, when I cleared it away. Haha. That's how much of a slob I am.

Got permission from the bf to throw away the bouquets of (dried) flowers he gave me over the past four years. I've learnt to be nice, and to ask before I do anything drastic.
In order not to sound unappreciative, I told him it is to 'make way for new ones'.
In response he said, "Ok permission granted. But can't guarantee there will be new ones. Haha." and "Next time give you cactus. Won't die one.". :P

Anyway I cleared the junk in the room, mopped the floor (!!) and even washed two bags that have turned dirty. What an accomplishment. Hehe.

Spent yesterday afternoon walking around Wisma/Takashimaya area alone, before joining the bf to go to his place.
It's nice to walk around alone, trying on stupid clothes, looking funny and laughing at myself.
Didn't manage to get anything though.

It's the 2nd time this year I went to his place, the first time was Chinese New Year. Haha.
His dad very sarcastically said, "what's your name huh? you only come here a few times a year, I have forgotten your name."
I laughed.
But I think he doesn't know my name anyway lor. He always tells me, "Eh 那个谁啊，去吃饭了." Haha.
I turned to his grandma and said in mock embarassment that his dad doesn't know my name, half expecting her to come to my rescue. But she only laughed and said, actually I also don't remember your name sometimes. *flips"

My advice to my younger sisters? Find a bf who stays near you. :P

Anyway.. I love me-times!
Time to take a shower and try to do some work.
Things are getting crazy again.

It took me a while to recognize him, you know, without the winter wear and everything?
And I don't think he recognizes me at all, in the few minutes he spent in the [INSERT BRAND NAME] office.
He still has the Takuya eyes. Woohoo!

It seems that he has been posted to the Singapore office to work on the other much cheaper skincare brand.

Finally, HOPE has arrived. :P
It's like having the rain after a long drought, sunshine after the rain, rainbow in the middle of the sunshine. Wahahaha.

From the website (http://www.lge.com/products/model/detail/lg-ks20.jhtml) of LG and other gadget sites you will know that this phone has 3G and wi-fi (something the HTC Touch should have!)

The camera of this device is good (for a PPC), it can actually be compared to the camera of my Asus P525, and it also has auto focus and is capable of Macro shots. Since it has two cameras, you can switch to use the front camera with just a tap of the screen (note that the front camera does not have the focus capabilities of the main camera). The only problem I had with its camera is that when the memory in use is the memory card, it does not save the pictures in the My Documents nor the My Pictures folder.

LG also made its own UI on this device to make it "finger friendly" however; it could have been more fun if it came with the HTC Touch's UI.

Here are pictures of the phones Today Screen:

If you tap start then programs, you will then realize that this is still the same Windows PPC.

Playing with this device and comparing it with my Asus P525, you will only notice that it does not have a SIM Manager for everything else, it does the job done.

As expected, this phone not only looks good, even the packaging and the leather case (no belt clip) looks good with it. You can say that LG really made this device to look and feel good to use. The only problem you may have is that it attracts a lot of finger prints but you know that we are now able to live with that thanks to our Atom (XDA) experience.

For a guy like me, I’m going to stick with my P525 for now, but my wife really loves this new device from LG, she has been using a PPC for quite sometime (XDA mini then the Dopod 838 ) but she suddenly lost interest as she also needed something that not only works great but looks great as well. This new phone from LG really made an impact on her the first time she saw it.

For its price, when I bought my P525, I thought my phone was cheap for a PPC but when I saw the price of the KS20... I was thinking of getting one myself!

The only negative things I can say about this phone is that it uses a different USB cable, one from LG and the package came with only one stylus.

*****I have tried installing PocketCM Keyboard on this device and it worked perfectly well, I also installed some of ytsejam’s skins (http://www.airfagev.com/forum_view.asp?msg_id=187499).

*****UPDATE AS OF 22 MAY 2008*****

I forgot to tell you how good this new toy is for LEFT HANDED people as the stylus is located at the bottom left side.

Being able to spend more than 5 minutes with the unit, I will have to say that its quite slow and the screen is not responsive if you use a screen protector (had it removed already)

If you ask me now if I would want to use the device myself... I'm still sticking to my Asus P525... for now. Lets just hope LG comes up with a ROM upgrade for their KS-20.

La historia de LG Electronics siempre ha estado vinculada al deseo de la compañía por crear una vida mejor y más feliz.

LG Electronics fue fundada en el año 1958 y, desde entonces, ha progresado hasta convertirse en una de las principales empresas de la era digital, gracias a su experiencia tecnológica adquirida en la fabricación de multitud de electrodomésticos, desde radios a televisores. LG Electronics ha lanzado una amplia variedad de nuevos productos, aplicando nuevas tecnologías para el desarrollo de telefonía móvil y televisores digitales en el Siglo XXI, reforzando así su categoría como compañía global.

Of course, things have changed.
The company has changed - Instead of my 5 dear bloggies, my only companion was the bf.
Things are definitely more expensive now. A simple meal costs at least S$18 per person. Jet ski-ing for 30 minutes now costs S$85, instead of the S$50 four years ago. The table tennis table is now near the pool instead of the reception area, and now you have to pay S$5 per hour to play.

Nonetheless it was great.

I had fun telling the bf, hey this was where we stole took the bread, so that we could save on lunch. And this was how ~y~ skilfully put the bread into the Gardenia plastic bag. And hey, this was where we were thrown off the banana boat.

Oh, and the jacuzzi in the pool is still there. :)
I'm now 2 shades darker, well-rested, happier.

Though I'm not too sure what JB would say about my sunburnt and peeling skin. Haha. (Now this is what I really call 'sunburnt'.)
Before I left the office last Thursday, JB approached me and said, "Can I ask you a question before you go?"
I said sure, even though I was rushing to go off.
His question was, "Can you please make sure you enjoy the break? And please, don't bring your PC to Bintan."
LOL.

Yeah. I did not bring my PC and did not think about work. How good is that. Hehe.

No pictures, 'coz I refused to bring the camera along. Haha. Silly me, I told the bf "It's just Bintan, don't need to take pictures lah." Didn't want to have too many things to take care of.

The only thing to complain about holidays is that they always have to come to an end.
So, it's now back to reality.

I am so glad I found time to attend the training on Friday, despite the crazy work schedule for the past few weeks.

It was a talk by one of the countries' GM on career perspectives.
He was funny, insightful, warm, compassionate, all at the same time.

On looking for other jobs when you are still with the company:
"It is ok, it doesn't mean you are not loyal.
Just because I am on a diet doesn't mean I can't look at the menu.
And guys would know this - just because we are married doesn't mean we can't look at beautiful women. I love my wife, but I look at God's beautiful creations too."

On leaving the company before it is the right time to leave:
"If you are leaving now, you are STUPID. In fact, you are so stupid you should probably just leave."

On leaving because of your boss:
"If you are leaving because of your boss, that's stupid. I mean, you can work with assholes anywhere else too. There's a bigger universe of assholism out there than in here. If you think it is bad enough here, it can get worse."
The most important thing is to remember that over here, assignments always change. You won't be under the same boss forever.  

On the importance of work-life balance:
"There are people here who view work as more important than anything else. These people are screwed. Come on, we are only selling soap and shampoo, not finding cures for cancer. Those who think that work is more important than their families have rocks in their heads."

On people who gossiped about his fight with a fellow GM in a meeting:
"It is normal to fight in meetings; we fight all the time, we kiss and make up after that. I think people who gossip about it have no life. They need to get a life and do some Internet dating."

When asked how he deals with bad days, he said he always thinks of the worst day of his life.
He even shared with us what happened on the worst day of his life; it was so sad that I nearly teared. :(
He said nothing can be compared to that worst day of his life; a bad day at work really isn't that bad.

I hope he has inspired you too.

As I worked late into the nights for the whole of last week, there wasn't a moment when I felt bitter or unhappy - simply because I would think of the worst days in my life with the ex-company, and I would remember that nothing would be as bad.
At least I know things would get better in a few weeks' time.
No one would die if I am 0.5049273% off the forecast. No one would suffer if the rich taitais stop buying that expensive cream/water/whatever.

Sometimes you have to take a few steps back in order to move forward.

In other thoughts, I hope I would get to work for such a manager in future. :)