SiMpLY MEEE!!!

(kept in draft for ages!! forgot to upload so just try to imagine la huh)

As usual, late in updating my post again…been back from Japan almost two weeks now. Reason for this late post…sigh..what else, preparing for exams (havent even start yet)!!! okok, back to the important topic - my trip

I reached Japan in the early morning on the 24th Apr. It has a pretty nice airport (Narita), you experience immediately the hospitaility and politeness of the japanese (from the airport staff) but also their rigidity in getting things done (as experience from my local ground operator). BUT, because they are sooo polite, its hard to get angry with them when they take their time in getting things done. The ride from airport to hotel takes about 1.5hrs. Our event is held at the beautiful new Conrad Tokyo, this hotel screams nothing but CLASS!! Clean cut interior design, excellent hotel room (we got a suite, 3 gals shared) and all the staffs are dressed in suit from door man, cleaner to GM, just different category of suit.

The first night we managed to go outside for meal. The location of the hotel is not bad, within walking distance of two shopping malls and many streetside eateries. First we went to 7-Eleven. Unlike Singapore, Japan’s 7-Eleven opens only from 7-11 (no bluff) but being in japan, the store definitely carry more interesting food items like their snacks, microwave meals and what I liked best was their cream puff!! Its really yummy, the smooth custard and the puff pastry is heavenly…a must try if you go Japan!! (abt 105 yen = S$1.50) For dinner, as language is a problem for us, we settled our dinner at a chinese restaurant where the waitress was a chinese national. Food was alright, a little too oily for my liking.

The event as usual went very smoothly. The highlight of the program was guest star Wang Lee Hom, for those who doesnt know who is he, he is a very talented singer and composes songs very well too!! And very good looking, tall and very good complexion for a guy!! Listening to him see live is to die for. Really very touching (got "gan dong du"). And he was just staying opposite my suite but I never once had the chance to bump into him..sad sad!! This is the true meaning to "So near yet so far" I got to go to disneyland as I had to accompany a group of participant who selected this activity. Its like a huge playground with alot of life-size game station with rides and gift shops. As tired as I am, at least I managed to walk one round and tried one ride. You can wait for ages for one ride!! When I was there, I lost my ticket to enjoy the rides, it was a funny sight to see me gesturing to the staff to explain that I lost my ticket and how I could get a replacement!! And I managed to get it ^_^

Finally after we send off all the participants, it shopping time!! My colleagues and I went to Ronponggi in the evening. Kinda a bit of red light district cum pub disco area. Interesting to see Toyko night life. Nothing to buy except bought loads of junk food like crackers etc..tibits stuff. The next day is departure day for crew. We are due to leave for the airport from hotel at 2pm giving us some time in the morning to do more shopping. I was determined to buy my digicam today!! First off to a place called pastel town (i think), but went there at 9am, nothing is opened yet…So we too the train and headed to Harachiggu where it is a street of shops selling all sort of stuff. I bought a nice pump bag to hold the 65 items I bought from 100 yen shop (dont ask me what I bought from there that end up 65 pieces…) We only could afford 45mins there as time was spent travelling from the whatever town and we had to go to ginza to buy digicam. We only had time to go straight to the sony building at ginza. Spent a considerable time trying to choose a suitable model and bargaining for the price of course. This is by far the most expansive thing I bought for myself!!…Think I deserve it anyway for all the hard work after the years of working…anyway also time to upgrade from my previous 2megapixels cybershot.

Japan japan….one place I would love to visit again when I have more money perhaps…sayonnara

Next stop - the land of sands DUBAI

Immediately when AA ended on 26Feb(Sun), I finish my job around 7pm, went to suntec to shop for a pair of black working pants (coz not enough to change for the next job), quickly went home to pack my luggage for a morning flight to Phuket the next day. Duno why, maybe coz its sooo last min, everything just seem to go wrong for me, took ages to pack my luggage, somehow have no clue what I am suppose to bring or wear for the event. Also plus I had to do a report on all the transfers that was assigned throughout the AA for my boss by that very night, only managed to finish the report by 1am. My flight to phuket was at 7.15am, so by normal check-in standards, have to be there 2hrs before which means 5am right? but my dear friend cum colleague, katherine, told me its ok to check-in only an hr before, latest 6.15am coz its Tiger Airways as they dont open their counter at 5am. I had this super uneasy feeling before I sleep, even my younger sis also asked me if im sure I only want to check-in an hr before, I replied yes since Kat has taken the same flight before a month back for site-inspection, so cannot be wrong lor. And yes, she was not wrong, but its meeeee…i overslept!!! damn tired and didnt hear the alarm and how I woke up? I dreamt that I was late (you know how some times the dreams are so reel real!?!). I woke on only at 5.45am and I didnt booked the taxi the night before, scramble like mad trying to change my clothes, dump whatever I think I need into my luggage while trying to call for a cab. At 5.55am, I was really desperate, on the phone, its still telling me "Please hold while cablink is trying to despatch your order!!!!"…last resort..woke my mum, told her to get into the car, I drive to airport and she will drive back. I was driving at 140km/h on TPE, reached airport at 6.12am..phew counter still open. It was one mad rush, this certainly  remind me, doesnt matter budget or normal airline, just be good and be there 2hrs before regardless the counter open or not!!

Its my second time in phuket, this time doing a meeting for J&J AsiaPacific at JW marriott. It is certainly a beautiful resort and a ideal one to host a meeting coz its only 15mins away from airport but 1hr away from everything else, so I am stranded in the resort, namely the conference centre. As with all my other events held in resorts, I never had a chance to see the sea or feel the soft sand under my feet (thats the down side about event mgmt), only can watch with envy at the other resort guests clad in bikinis and surf shorts going for a nice tan when they walk pass the conference centre…sob sob…

I really quite pity the delegates coz their meetings were so packed till the very last day of their departures. Some had to check out in the morning before breakfast, pull their luggages to the conference centre to attend the meeting and leave halfway to catch their flight. At least I still got one night at the resort when all the delegates have left for home. But becoz town is soooo far away, we had our dinner at a nearby hut. Though it looked a little run-down, can tell its a temporary shelter after the tsunami but their food is excellent, very fresh and tasty. We had fresh oysters, prawns, tom-yum soup and many other delicious dishes at very affordable price ^_^ . Pretty happy on this trip.

Now I back mugging on my books, preparing for exams in May, but thank goodness I have one more trip to look forward to in April before Im condemn only to the walls of my home and at the mercy of my books….japan japan…here i come…Ohiyo!!!

Signing off…..

Cheers, Junli 19 March 14:25

Ok, I was supposed to rest for two weeks, but in fact I only rested for a week. I was engaged by one of the event company I am working for to work at AA’06. Of course I wouldnt turn down the job…one for the money (of course), two, coz its the last year that AA will be held in Singapore, it is moving to HongKong as its next venue. The last time I participated in AA was in 2002, this year, no difference, still working for Boeing, same client - nice lady and I had 3 other colleagues working with me - Vincent, Gerald and Haliza and not forgetting 15 drivers (its a transfer job). Its really fun working with this bunch of people coz they are full of crap (with some truth in them) and keeps me entertained and helped to pass the slow long hours. You see, basically my job was to be at the hotel at 7am in the morning to see to their transfer, making sure all the vehicles are there on time blah blah blah…after we sent the guest away, we will all go for nice long breakfast nearby and after slowly make our way to Changi Airbase. When we reach there, we just have to go to the boeing booth, stand around and wait to see who would need a transfer back or to anywhere. Because one of us has to be around the booth,so we took turns to view the exhibitions however, like the previous one I did, I didnt have the chance to look at the displays, which explains why all my pics are only boeing’s miniture aircarft…Oh, and I got to see SM Goh up close and personal!!…He have quite a number of bodyguard, and they look all alike..wearing that batik shirt and always having a earpiece in one ear lor

Apart from a nice tip from the client, I gained quite a few insights about myself, the job and my colleagues. Comparing to 4yrs ago when I did AA’02, its was really my very first event with my previous company after finishing my diploma, then, still quite young and green in this industry, everything also blur blur, but today, I have this secret sense of confidence that I can do my job, carry myself better in front of the client and wouldnt take it too personal when I get reprimanded on the job, hence wouldnt affect my performance. I’ve got a nice bunch of colleagues this round, and its important to communicate well and build rapport so as to help cover each other’s "arse" at work in event of screw-ups which is very very important in the event industry. As for the job, my conclusion is, I like definitely like it free & easy, no hassle of the pre-and post event management, just go on-site and execute. I am more operational than administrative when comes to events, really enjoy interacting with the customers…maybe if there are events to keep my busy, I dont have to find a job??? LOL

Signing off…

Cheers, Junli 19 March 2006 13:35

Ok I am going to cheat a little here and "update" things that happened a few weeks ago…reason being I simply have NO time to write any blogs for the past month!!! You will know the reason why in just a sec….

Its almost a month ago now, my elder sister was back from melbourne, transit in singapore just for a week. She was on her way to Paris for her next posting. I was happy that she was back…havent seen her for almost a year now, and the good thing is, we’re still very close maybe coz she is away, we talk more "rubbish" when we met online, so when she was back, it seem like she never left us.

Hai, at first thought can spend some quality time with her and "pig" out at the buffets…but, alas…I sprained my ankle pretty bad. Thanks to the "well-maintence" of whichever govt body, never bloody patch the grass pavement properly, ok..some of you might think now I never watch where I walk, but seriously, trust me, you cant see this bloody hole yourself coz its all covered up by the grass growing covering the hole!!! The hole was rather deep, when I fell, I was on my fours (literally) for a good 5 mins before some kind souls stopped their car and helped me up. I was on my way to officiate a primary school tournament at Hougang sports hall when it happened. The kind man offered to send me to the polyclinic next door for a check, but I cant take it lying down that I have to forfiet my umpire allowance to go check up…so I decided to earn my medical fees first. I hopped to the sports hall, thank goodness my fellow umpires and the school teachers were very understanding, they let me officiate at the court closest to the official desk, and I was allowed to sit with my swollen ankle lifted on another chair. After everything, took a cab back then mum brought me to sinseh which I was "awarded" 6 nasty needles + electric current for that ankle. For that treatment, my allowance from the umpiring wasnt enough to cover, but at least its still something…I was told to rest for a good two weeks. Its definitely not a good experience to bathe sitting on a chair, ankle wrapped in plastic bag for a few days….what to do..cant stand…felt so handicapped. However, the returns I gained from this is I was able to "order" my two beloved brothers around, from getting me water, food and washing my plates too…haha

Aiya, never take picture of my "pig" ankle which gone all purple when I removed the medicated plaster. Thank god it wasnt fractured when I went for X-ray, coz the swell just wont go. Now can still feel a slight bump when I sit crossed-legged on the floor…hai…it means I have to pay "attribute" to the sinseh again soon!!!

Signing off…..

Cheers, Junli 19 March 2006 12:15

After my south africa trip in June, this time my work took me to macau…las vagas of the east. The purpose of the trip was to bring a group of chinese delegates who are on an incentive program to watch the macau grand prix (formula 3). Wasnt quite prepared for the trip as I was informed really last minute like 3 days before I fly off…and my so very "smart" manager told me the weather is same like singapore..but oh boy how wrong was she!!! Its actually almost winter in macau now!!..so I’ve got an excuse to burn some of my body fat this time.

This trip was an eye opener for me especially the number of casinos on the island, and seems like gambling is their favourite past time as there are free shuttle buses 24/7 to the various casinos. I felt like a "sua gu" when I stepped into the Sand casino..its really huge and guess what, the min bet is HKD300!!! I didnt even bring that much to do my shopping!!! And bet many of you didnt know, macau is one-third the size of singapore, and you can probably tell from the number of mcdonald and KFC outlet on the island (12 Mcdonald and only 1 KFC!!!)

On grand prix, sadly I dunno how to appreciate cars just going round and round, just like I dun understand the game of 22 men after 1 ball. Its super noisy and its really deafening to the ear. Eventhough we got pretty good seats (just at the starting point), to me, there wasnt really much to watch. But what is most interesting abt the race is that the track that used is the normal expressways and road in macau unlike F1 races that are conducted in a circuit.

The program we have lined up for the delegates were pretty good, at least I got to places like the macau tower, their go-kart track, experience portuguese culture (like their music, dance and food). Made friends with some delegates who graciously offered to show me around their province if I ever go visiting. ^_^

Overall, its a good experince…wonder where will my next job bring me to???

Hiya everybody…hmm seem like the "in" thing to write blogs now and there is even competition for it!! geez…think im really quite behind time…but as the saying goes, "better late than never"…so im going to try my hand at this.

Uni has just officially started last week for me after all the waiting for the long-waited results. For those I havent been in touch with for a while, Im doing my final year degree from University of London at Stansfield college. This year I have to clear 5 subjects…starting to feel the stress….urgggghhhhhh..but thats school.

Otherwise, same old same old, working part time here and there, picking up different experiences, knowing and meeting new people whilst juggling school (not that I am faithfully doing my tutorials, but just process of "going" to school). Lately I have picked up a new hobby, that is jewellery making. Signed up for the course at a community centre, learning the basics like threading, wire bending etc. Very interesting. Hopefully the passion can hold out for a while until I land myself in a cosy job coz the materials are freaking expensive!!!….

Alright, think this is not bad for a start ^_^. To those I havent speak to for a while,a big "HI" and those that are still struggling in school like me "Jia You"!!!

Speak soon everyone….signing off…

Cheers, Junli 18 Sep 2005 20:45