Back to Blogging, Jamming and Complaining

Phuh~ It's been so bloody long since I posted anything. Been so busy the past month, I hardly had time or desire to blog. In fact, although busy with work and work-related stuff, I actually had quite a few things to blog about, for example, my juicy trip to Singapore a week or so ago, recent book purchases.... ermm.... that's about the only things I can remember now ah... getting old and forgetful liao. And also, lazy liao.... so I'm just gonna postpone my Singapore trip blog to this weekend, hopefully.

I've also missed gym a lot, I mean, A LOT... it's Oct 31 liao.... and I've only been to the gym like 7 times! On average leh, I used to go gym at least 20 times/month. Luckily, didn't upgrade to passport this month! Haiye, should have been more kiasu to use the hot showers longer la, use the toilet to pangsai la, should have spent more time in the steam room la, and should have used the hairdryer (me love the hairdryer!) longer too .... just long enough before my hair gets burnt! But no, even the gym sessions were hurried. I was either too tired to hang around, or have to go back home to me parents, who also demand my undivided attention.

I've only done some light weights yesterday, and yes, it got very hard indeed after almost 1 month hiatus. Muscles got flabby liao, and I'm losing the tone quite a bit. And I felt malas to lift anything more than 20 kg. Haiye! Anyway, of the 7 times to the gym, I only went to BodyJam for 5 times! Other jammer buddies noticed my absence, and have been asking about my disappearance. Haiyu, so terharu!! But I also got spies one.... have been getting updates from the gang on what tracks they were doing.



But frankly, I think it was quite timely that I've been missing the Jam classes. I've gotten quite sick of the few tracks that they were playing. Perhaps I've had an overdose of Jam liao, and perhaps, the instructors were all choosing the same few easy tracks to do. I know it is hard work to be an instructor, but just exactly how many times can you listen to and do "Canned Heat", "Buttons", "Hips Don't Lie", "Boom Boom", "Escapade", "R & B Junkie", "Ran Kan Kan", "Bongo", "Adrenalina", "California Dreaming", "Scandalous", "Self Control" block, and "I Don't Feel Like Dancing" without getting sick of it? Yes, i don't feel like dancing anymore if week in, week out, despite different instructors, it's the same few songs. There are over 120 songs from the past 2 years of releases to choose from (not counting the older releases), but it's always the same few ones selected. But really, most of the usually repeated tracks are kinda unchallenging to do after a few times, and they hardly give you a good workout. But why is it the instructor's favourite (and perhaps to most people?)? My guess is that these are easy to instruct and easy to follow.

My question now is, will upgrading to passport and attending the other Jam classes at the other outlets be worth it? Must start to do detailed survey of what the instructors of the other classes are doing before I upgrade. Imagine the horror of paying extra and travelling all the way to the other clubs to do "Canned Heat", "Buttons", "Boom Boom" and "Ran Kan Kan". ~Phuh~

Forgive me God, for I have sinned... for I have bitched about my favourite gym class and instructors.

Double Combo Control Freaks

Dear God, please forgive me for I have bitched about my bosses.


Today, for almost the entire day, my colleagues and I bitched and bitched and bitched about our two immediate lady bosses. Yup, we could not take it any more. It was the only thing we could do to get it off our chest.

Well, I don't know why, but lady bosses really have authority issues. They just have to show that they are in a powerful position and that you are supposed to acknowledge this fact everyday. No matter how small a decision is to be made, you have to 'check' with them first. Before you send out an e-mail, you must show them first. (Sometimes I wonder if they get offended if I go to the toilet without asking them for permission first: Boss, can I go to the toilet now? I really have to shee shee...). Everything they must know and you have to get their approval because they are the office manager or project manager. Yes, every now and then, they remind you who they are, just to make sure that you know your rightful place, which is below them. Under normal circumstances, when you do things without having to be told to do it, most bosses would praise you that you have shown initiative and/or able to work independently and/or able to handle difficult situations on your own. It didn't matter how you do it (of course within reasonable limits), as long as the work gets done or the problem gets solved. But when it comes to these two bosses, it matters very much to them that no matter how you do it, no matter how insignificant the impact will be, you must absolutely inform them and check with them. Otherwise, they will accuse you that you didn't ask their permission. Why didn't you check with them first?

I really don't understand what goes on in their head. Did they really feel so insecure and threatened that they have to control everything you do? As long as you check with them or get their approval on everything that you do, then they'll be happy. As long as you listen to what they tell you to do, then they won't find issues with you. If you didn't do it their way, then you've done it the wrong way. But during performance appraisal, they will turn back and accuse you of being unable to make decisions. They will judge you that you lack initiative, that you lack ability to handle situations on your own. Either way, you lose, because they are the bosses and what they say or do are always right.

I have worked with two other female bosses in the past, and they're all also the same. But for now, in my current office, it's double combo micromanagers. In a small office of only 6 people, with the top two people being female control freaks (that's already 33% of the office population), how do you deal with this? How do you spend 40 hours (or more) a week having to face all this nonsensical micromanagement? Phuh!

Where Do I Go From Here?

I opened my eyes and there you were; your face just an inch away from mine. I extricated myself from your warm embrace, from your strong arms. I sat up and watched you sleep like a baby, my baby. And I asked myself: Where do I go from here?

Passion

The word I encountered frequently in the past few weeks. Why? In life we must have passion in what we do. Otherwise, what we do will be meaningless. Without passion, there can be no action. Productivity will be low, and there will be no innovation.

I know of people who are so passionate about their work. There are those who gets paid poorly, or have to work under constant pressure, or have to work in an non-conducive environments, but have so much passion in what they do that they didn't mind slogging it out. There are others who gets paid well, but because of passion, they didn't mind travelling country to country week after week, or check their emails at unearthly hours at night, or work for long hours and giving up on their family time/social time.

It is perhaps okay to have no passion in what you do, but gets paid well for it. But what if you don't really have the passion and don't get paid well either?

Is passion something that we can inculcate? Or is it something that you either have it or don't?

What do you do if you think you do not have the passion in the job/occupation that you do? What do you do if you do not know of any job/occupation that you may be passionate about?

What if it is not so much the lack of passion in the nature or type of the job that you do, but more of the lack of passion in any kind of job?

Passion... yes, passion...

Take the Chance

I am most impressed with people who seize every opportunity they have to get what they want. At a local joint, a guy came up to me to introduce himself and asked if he could have my telephone number as he was interested to be "friends". I blushed instantly. I haven't experienced any of such directness before. I've only seen it in western movies and from stories related by my more outgoing friends. For example, Genie made small talk with someone from the gym and got his number. And Kelly got Tricia/Lisa's number in less than 2 hours of karaoke.

I think I should learn to be more thick skin too. I should learn to walk up to a guy I am interested in, cook up some stories to talk about and/or just ask for his number. A friend once described me as a person who wants to be romanced by another person (ie. i am more of a pursuee than a pursuer).

But I'm shy, shy, shy.... and afraid of the awkwardness.... perhaps also afraid of rejection.

Spam Sms

Anonymous Sms message: Hey... Are you PLU?

What the f*#@? How did this person get my number? Someone playing prank?

Chemical Brothers

Well, there are quite a number of nice songs that you can dance to at BodyJam. For a mak diva like moi, it is expected that disco tunes are mak diva's favourites. But I've also noticed that there's a certain kind of music that catches my attention too, to my surprise. When I listen to the music I get an overwhelming feeling.... the dazy beat.... i don't really know how to describe la. When I did a search on the internet and listened to it, I realized they're from the same artist: The Chemical Brothers. Apparently, the genre is big beat electronic dance. Wow! Very cheem! And all the time I was just only enjoying bubble gum pop dance ala Kylie! There's more to discover!

Click on my Imeem player and see if you like these songs from The Chemical Brothers. Comments please!

I'm so excited about this! WIll definitely do more search and sampling of this kind of music. Apparently Fatboy Slim and The Prodigy under this category too!

WPJ 3865

I have been much too lazy to post anything the past couple of weeks even though I had quite a bit of random thoughts and sinful acts to share on this blog. But my parents were around, so I had to spend quite a bit of time with them, like taking them out on weekends. Yes, I've been quite good lately.


But something happened as I was driving back home just now that spurred me to post this blog entry for the month. I was bullied on the road. Yep! I was on a two-lane road with a speed limit of 70km/hr, but I was already driving at a 80km/hr on the rightmost lane trying to overtake several cars which are on the left lane. Then along came the impatient WPJ 3865 out of nowhere behind me honking and switching on his headlamps to shoo me away from his path. Apparently, he is the King of the roads and nothing else mattered except that everyone must absolutely get out of his way. He needs to be the first: the fastest to reach his destination, and at that speed he was coming from behind me, I would think that his destination is probably death.


Yes, in that split second, I would have simply just moved to the left lane where all the unimportant people drive to give way to the King. But I couldn't. There were other cars, three to be exact, on the left lane. They were all driving just slightly slower than I did probably 60 km/hr, and I couldn't just squeeze into the left lane at that high speed. It would be dangerous. So it would take me at least another couple of hundred meters to overtake the frontmost car and safely manoeuver into the left lane. But of course, as a law-abiding driver, I shouldn't accelerate way above 80 km/hr at a 70km/hr zone just to accommodate the King. So I stayed on course at a constant speed of 80km/hr. I knew that within a couple of hundred meters, I would have gone past the frontmost car on the left lane. Simple mechanics!


But the King chose drive dangerously close to me from behind in his attempt to shoo me away. The moment I drove past the frontmost car on the left, the King squeezed in between and overtook me from the left. I was still on the right lane as the King is on the left now. I thought that was the end of it, but the King chose to punish me for not getting out of his way. Sudddenly, reaching his destination at bullet speed was no longer important. He overtook me, proceeded to drive in front of me and decelerated to 30 km/hr. I had to slam my brakes to avoid hitting him. He continued to drive at irregular speeds in front of me. When I wanted to change lanes, he refused to let me. There were already other cars and motorcycles closing in on us from behind. I was very alert and cautious of his next moves and I maintained a very slow speed just in case. I guess this is what they call defensive driving. But it was getting dangerous for the other drivers from behind as they probably had no idea that the King was driving dangerously to punish me. They could get involved in an accident if they weren't careful.

I was powerless against the King and the situation. I could have met with an accident. I could have died.

Dear God, I have sinned once again.... for having vengeful thoughts about WPJ 3865.... for secretly wishing that WPJ 3865 be duly punished for bullying me and putting my life in danger.... for cursing the worst about WPJ 3865. Dear God, forgive me....