bad habit

i have a bad habit.

i have no mood to work. my mind wanders.

this happens if i am this close to getting an offer. from the company i long to join of course.

they have free flow chips, ice cream and soft drinks.

they have a big pantry.

they have singing sessions every month. with wine as part of the refreshments

but for now, i can only wait... and wander...

cant help feeling

anxious

eager

excited

anxious

anxious

so i tried my best to impress the senior person, via tel-con. (vc could not be set up properly)

he had some concerns, i addressed them.

i tried to market my skills, my personality, honestly and with integrity. i even tried to challenge his view with my own opinion.

thats what a progressive company want right?

to re-ignite old flame in me

tomorrow, i will go for the turning point meeting of my career (cos i'm reaching mid-30s liao).

and i is worried. why? bcos in the past 10 months in my company, i have become a conformist. i conformed to my company practices, though no matter how hard i tried to break down walls, the walls in front and beside me, are incredibly dense.

i worry the senior person i am meeting tomorrow will see me as a non-motivating person. i have to admit, i have lost some fighting spirit in the last 10 months.

i worry that i will give standard, conforming answers to his questions. i have lost my creativity in the recent days. (the most creative thing i am doing has to be this blog!)

for the sake of tomorrow, i am gathering strength, calling upon my mentor, ex-boss, hr expert, all from my previous company (which although i left due to compelling reasons, was very inspiring in terms of culture and ethics).

i will try, try to break away from these webs that tie me down.

i will break free!!

snow pics

snow is indeed pure and romantic... never mind that it will melt and become dirty when mixed with mud!

it's not easy to walk on snow, especially *melting* snow... very slippery lor...



this was taken when everyone on the street was trying to take shelter, and they probably think i was crazy!

sapporo tv tower

l feel good this day

for once in my working life, i made someone cry. and i feel good.

well, that dumb girl deserves it. i was trying to cover up a mistake made by the company, by explaning to the customer and minimizing the problem, she just went ahead to *blow it up*. why? so that she can cover her own ass and prove it was not her mistake.

dear customer

xxx logistics forwarded the letter after receipt from carrier to xxx sales, which I believe in good faith they would have forwarded to your office right away.
(this is the part she said i put the blame on her)
the letter attached herein is the carrier's explanation of the unfortunate event that took place, which according to them they have tried their best to resolve. On our part at that time, we have consistently followed with carrier on their corrective action and stressed the urgency and importance of our customer's cargo.
(this part i am trying to say we really tried our best)
as a preventive action on our company's part, we have stopped using this carrier and constantly monitor our existing carriers' service and performance.
(this part to say it already happened 2 months ago so stop harping on it, and of course, we're really sorry)
we trust your understanding in this unforeseen incident.

to my letter, she replied to everyone (including the customer)

dear (to me)

please be informed that I have only received the letter from xxx on 23RD FEBRUARY 2006 (yes, in caps) and xxx is aware of this as per my reply to the customer on 23rd February 2006 in response to his email.

kindly confirm with xxx when did she receive email from shipping company regarding this late notice.

thank you.

then, when i approached her and said i am trying minimize the problem and hope the customer forget about it, she said my first sentence is putting the blame on her!

and she started crying, in the office

later she wrote this email to me.

for your info, the first time I have seen the notification letter is by
cc.mail from xxx on 23rd february and even if I could have forwarded to the customer
RIGHTAWAY as stated in your email, it's still considered too late for
them.

since you claim that you get late notification from shipping company,
why don't you forward that same email from shipping company to the customer to explain that situation?

what did i do? i thrashed all her emails, cos i really cant be bothered to be as petty, or to rememebr what happened 2 months ago on 23 february.

moral of the story : never work with an eq low person, or one who has sales and marketing in his/her title!

桜

on the 1st weekend of april, we were lucky to catch a glimpse of sakura in full bloom. at first we thought the colour looked so pale that it was withering, but later, we found out that sakura in tokyo is of this paleness (different breed of the flower)
at 浅草雷門

the wind was blowing quite hard, thus the petal falling effect
at 隅田川 (sumida river)

at 上野公園　(damn crowded - people drinking sake and partying)

on the way back from sumida river to ueno park (yes, my dear travel partner insisted to walk 30 mins to save $2!), there was a 花祭り　on a small scale. what amused me the most are the men wearing short shorts.. hee..

land of neko part ii

this kitten looks so adorable and clean. contrary to our petshops, they do take better care of their cats and dogs. i have not yet met a dirty looking cat or dog there.


this is the cat from my previous post

this cat and the next, are a pair sitting in a fish produce shop in otaru.


yes, this pair is well fed with fish and dry kibbles!

land of neko

this is the entrance to cats' livin @odaiba



this scratching post is not expensive at all - ￥14,000 (maybe they already made very good margin from breeding, so accessories are sold at a lower price? hehe)

小樽

on the way to Otaru, it was snowing and temperature was -2 deg c.

this shop specialises in handmade wooden cat items.




pretty bronze cat monument

after a while, it's just overwhelming, so i didnt even go into this shop.

characters in japan

in odaiba, tokyo


namja town at sunshine city, ikebukuro



in hakodate (what's winne the pooh doing in japan?!)

pretty musical box, but damn ex!

tikam

this is main street at akihabara

in akihabara, there's many tikam shops


they even have x-rated tikam!

typical stay at hotspring

at the request of dbrane, i shall share what people usually do at a hotspring hotel.

first, take photo with brown bear (aka kuma) at 登別駅


and the jigokudani mascot (sorry yet to know his name)


after taking a shuttle bus driven by japan's grouchiest bus driver, drag your luggage up the slope (behind me is 第一滝本館）


after check-in, staff will show you to your room (just like in japan hour), and when you open the door, exclaim *wah, kirei!!*

like in japan hour, the staff will serve you tea and sweets.

by this time will be around 3pm. you may want to do some shopping at the shopping street, or go to jigokudani (to be posted later).

return to hotel at around 5pm, go for first soak.
entrance to the onsen

male

female


after soak, go for dinner. finish dinner at around 8pm. go back to room to rest and let stomach digest food.

at 9pm, go for second soak. (by this time, many taiwanese auntie tourists also go for their bath).

i saw many nenehs : big, small, lop-sided, full, saggy..

after soak, go back to room and sleep in comfy futon! trust me, you wont want to do anything else.


next morning, wake up at 8am, go for light breakfast. at 9am, go for last soak before check-out at 10am.

it was snowing when we left...

the highlight of 麻布十番

has to be the 馬刺し

the meat was light and tender and sweet, all at the same time. with a bit of chopped garlic and pepper, the sweetness of the sashimi was enhanced. heavenly!

goatie chef posing for my blog

note : 居酒屋　（izakaya）is not for cigarette smoke detesters. people go there to smoke, eat, drink, and generally have a merry good time!