coo_coos_nest

One of my duties of being a SME is to allocate tasks back to my team members whenever appropriate. Under the new system, we write down non-urgent tasks that will take a considerable of time to do and complete them later. When I went up this this girl (who had applied to be a step-up team leader and has been quite upset ever since I got my new role.) on Thursday and gave her back something she wrote down earlier, she refused to do it. She said because she had case managed it, I would have to complete it. I explained to her that it would be the case if it's busy; normally I would need to complete them on behalf of the consultants. But it wasn't, in fact everyone was waiting for calls to come through. She ignored me and still refused to do it. As this was the second time, I went to my team leader for intervention.

My team leader was very supportive, even though they are pretty good friends socially. My TL spoke to that girl but she still didn't think she was wrong. It got escalated to the project manager... I was told to go home as it had nothing to do with me anymore. I only heard what happened afterwards. Apparently the project manager yelled at that girl and she now has to decide whether or not she wants to stay....

I never wanted it to go this far but what was I supposed to do? I also heard from the grapevine that a few people have been bitching about me since I got this role... from my own team. People from other teams have totally excepted me as someone to seek help from... Here I was thinking I would get support from my team... Bloody office politics, eh.

Oh well, the important thing is that I love my new role and I do a good job of it. I am getting somewhere and they can get fucked.

Thanks Grant for tagging me.

Wow, seven things people don't know about me....

1. I was the proud winner of the "Best Butt Competition" of 2001 in Auckland. I was $200.00 NZD richer that night.

2. My English is actually better than my Chinese.... it's my second first language.

3. I applied to be a police officer when I first came to Melbourne. I passed the entrance exam with flying colours but was rejected because I am not a Australian citizen/permanent resident.

4. I lived in four countries and my favourite one is the UK.

5. I can remember all my friends' birthdays but I can't remember my parents'.

6. I have been secretly in love with one of my friends for the last 5 years or so and recently went to his wedding with his boyfriend... heart broken and very poor afterwards.

7. I don't have seven buddies to tag..

I got an invite to ANZ star award night last week. They have an award night every six months to recognise any outstanding employee(s). we got nominated for the roles we hold in the project. There are about 20 in the project team and my role being the SME (Subject Matter Expert) for Retail devision.

It was held at the ANZ Gothic building on Queen St, where Jonny works. He wasn't there but it was amazing. The inside of the building looks like a castle. The security was very tight, they checked our ID at the ground floor. The lift only took us to the 32nd floor. You then have to go through another security check to get into a special lift to get on to the 34th floor.... I thought I was going to a meeting at the HQ of MI5. We got to the 34th floor (the top floor) and my breath was taken away. It was just a function room.... with 270 degree view of Melbourne skyline. All the big guns were there. Food and drinks just kept coming through out the entire night but I didn't drink too much... not a good idea when you want to make an impression, knowing what I am like after a few.... I thought we were just nominated, like those people in the Oscar award, you know you haven't won but you go anyway. But when my name was called I was very surprised and pleased. Obviously not just me from the project team but we went on stage individually. We received a crystal star for the team and $200.00 Myer voucher each.... naturally I went shopping the very next day, just by chance Myer was having their biggest stocktake sale.

It's a lovely feeling knowing your hard work has been recognised, it's even a better feeling knowing that you are going places. I love my new role! So far the pilot is going really well so I think it will be rolled out to business as usual, which means my role should be permanent, too. With the possibility of a pay increase, YAY!!!!

My old manager is leaving, he has got a new job downstairs. He organised a wine tasting tour as his farewell..... I was very excited when I heard it.

We were picked up at Fed square at 8:00am and arrived at Oakridge at 9:30am and off we went. On the way to the first one, everyone was very anxious, it was early so everyone was pretty quiet. It all changed after the first winery. We tasted about 7 different wine, about 3.5mm for each. We asked them to be more generous but they wouldn't budge. At the end we decided to get a few bottles so we could drink on the bus.... Buying the wine was easy but no one brought any glasses. One girl decided to ask for a five finger discount. The first glass was acquired without any drama. When she went back for a second one, she got busted.... she ended up paying for the glass and bought three bottles...

Once got back on the bus, we got straight into it. And naturally, the rest of the wine tour was very hazy.... there were four stops all together but I could only remember two..... the rest was just snap-shots of events. I remember some girl from work gave me a lap dance, some guy from work was trying to give me a love bite on my stomach, I was playing with the chest of some guy from work..... It was very messy but it was declared at the earliest moment possible; whatever happens on the wine tour, stays on the wine tour.



She didn't have a glass.


I didn't have a glass, either.


Must be the third or fourth winery as I can't remember taking this photo.

My aim is to get a tattoo every birthday. I was two behind so I decided it was time for another one. It's been on my mind for ages but I never got around to it, didn't know where to go. I initially booked an appointment at somewhere in St Kilda, went down there on the day and got turned away, siting it was too difficult.... even though I told her what I wanted before I booked it.

Feeling disappointed, I went into another one on St Kilda rd. The guy told me he could do it in half of the time with half of the price from the previous place. I was a bit skeptical to start with but was proven wrong afterwards. And now I have my fourth tattoo, yay!



Need to go back once it heals up a bit more to get touched up but over all a very good one.

Finally, months of hard work has been recognised. Work gave me a ticket to the game last night between Richmond and Essenden.... in the corporate box as an appreciation. I was very excited. Though I have been in Mel for almost two years now, I still haven't been to a game yet. And first ever game will be in the VIP area, YAY.

It was cool, while most people were downstairs, we had to take a lift to go up. Even our pass-out is different to those of the commoners'. We had a waiter in there serving drinks, you didn't even have to get up and walk to the bar. The food was a bit disappointing, they only had mini pies and sausage rolls..... but I wasn't there to eat. Towards the end, I was very trollied... with all the big managers. I was hoping to climb the corporate ladder, the opportunity didn't present itself... just as well I think.

I was cheering for Richmond but Essenden won. I did win $30.00 from guessing how many people there were in the statium though!!

I saw the movie "Closer" a while back, it's a pretty cool movie. Only a few days ago though I remembered the theme song from it. It's called "Can't take my eyes off you". I find myself playing it over and over again. Such a beautiful song, I just can't get enough of it.

I went and checked out Trough last night, never been there before so didn't what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised. The venue was great, the music was good most of the time (it was alternating between cool electro house to weird rock music...) and lots and lots of hot guys. I even pumped into some guy from work whom I didn't know that he is gay, can't wait to see him on Monday. Still didn't come up with the courage to talk to anyone else in the club though... next time, next time.

After a while, we thought we might go to the Peel for a change. I then saw a guy who I have been chatting to a few times on Gaydar. We were talking for a bit, he is hot, can dance, has a great body and lovely facial hair, even an amazing kisser.... Things were going really well and so I proceeded to close the deal.... and that's when he dropped the bombshell..... I asked him whether or not he wanted to come back to mine, and his reply was "I can't, I have to go see my boy..........!!!!!!!"

Great, typical. Why do people do that?!

How much would you pay for this painting?

I got up today fully expecting a cold and wet day, it was completely the opposite of that. Had two bananas and went down to Ikea to get things for my soon-to-be new and improved version bedroom. The traffic was awful on the way there, it was even busier inside. I went to the last section of it, where all the decorative shit is. I got a big black vase and two smaller red ones. I thought they would have a lot more than that but they didn't. Not feeling satisfied, I quickly went down to a local furniture shop after I got home. I got another lovely thin black vase and some stuff you put in the vase. The big black one is sitting on the coffee table in the lounge, with some red flowers in it, it looks great. The rest of the vases are on my bedside table with something else sticking out, looking equally amazing.

The room still lacked something, so I went out again to Prahran market and saw some mini bamboos. They are gorgeous so I had to get them. They are sitting at one corner of my room as I speak.

Finally, this place has started to feel like a home after 9 months.... there is no excuse. We have decided everyone should contribute bit by bit to make our flat a home. Now we just need a few paintings on the wall. Affordable nice paintings.... where would one find those in Melbourne.....










Yay!!

Why do guys who would go out with you always live in a different country?????

Feeling creative today, I rearranged my bedroom. I has been the way it is since I moved in 9 months ago, there have been a few additions but I never bothered to move things around so it looks more like a storage space than a bedroom. I moved the desk so it faces the big window and the bed to the middle of of the room. It's not as spacious as it was but looks a lot better. I just need a bit of colour now. There are a few paintings in Tusk I really like, but the price tags are very scary... hopefully I will be able to pick a few imitations from a market somewhere. I also want to buy a plant so it doesn't look as if I just moved to Melbourne last week and haven't got time to make any effort.

Hopefully this will shift the Feng-Shui in my bedroom and better my chance in the romantic aspect..... only time will tell.

Here is my new favourite guy for the moment, Gerard Butler. I didn't know he has been in so many movies, including Tomb raider. But he looks the best in 300, the movie itself is ok but you really go there to see all the buffed Greeks walking around with what we call G-string in modern day. And clearly the ancient Greek perfected the skill of waxing as well as other things, none of them have any hair on their chest.







If I could marry him..

I don't think I am having much luck with my telecommunication devices lately, the internet connection was down for a week last week, now I lost my mobile phone.

I never bring my mobile to any dance parties for this exact reason and I didn't know why I made an exception on Saturday night. After living in London, I have developed a habit of padding my back pocket every so often, hence I haven't lost a wallet for years. I did so on Saturday night as well, whenever I went to the bar, or on the dance floor, I always check both my pockets regularly to make sure everything is still there..... till I briefly visited the darker section of the venue.... I realised that I lost it before I left the club but I knew there was no point of doing anything, there were people who wouldn't even recognise their muns given the chance, and areas you wouldn't be able to see anything with a night vision goggles.

I called my phone the next day, it went straight to voice mail, I know there is no need to check with lost and stolen, that bastard had taken my SIM card out. I called Optus and barred my card and IMEI blocked the phone. If I can't use it, no one can. Luckily I have got insurance on the phone, all I need to do is to report it to the cop shop and make a claim. I will lose all the numbers in the phone, but at least I don't have incriminating photos saved in it.

Lesson learned, never to bring my mobile out again, if on the odd occasion that someone offers you their phone number, write it down like the good old days.

Finally, after 8 days of internetless, our connection has come back on.

The phone is under Callum's name so naturally we have to change it over before he moves out. Who knew a simple procedure like this has such a destructive repercussion. We called Telstra and got it done and thought nothing of it. The very next day, our connection to the outside world was cut. Originally I thought it was TPG as the connection does dropped off from time to time. However when it persists for the second day, I knew something more sinister is going on. After spending about 2 hours on the phone to TPG (about 3 mins actually talking to someone.), we discovered that when Telstra changed the name over, the ADSL code dropped off...... TPG immediately contacted Telstra to put it back on..... it was another 4 days before that was done.

I didn't realise how much I relied on my internet connection till it was taken away from me. I couldn't check my account balances, couldn't pay bills and put money into other people's accounts. Couldn't check out a movie time, couldn't find TPG's phone number to call as we don't have the yellowpages at home. Couldn't update my blog and read my friends' blog, couldn't check my email, which I only realise today that one of my credit card purchases made before it went down was declined. Couldn't do MSN and keep in touch with friends...... the lists goes on....

It just highlighted just how much we rely on technology these days, I don't know how people coped before mobile and internet was invented. Imagine sending a gaydar message through a message pigeon....

I am quite happy just to stay at home tonight, I have much to catch up with my MAC.

Finally it's happening, Callum has decided to move in with his boyfriend. They are looking for a flat at the moment and had given his notice, he will be out on Good Friday...... A bit sad, it is the end of an era. We have been flatting on and off for about 2 and half years and know each other so well. It will be VERY difficult to replace him. However, I do think it's time for us to stop being flatmates and start being the good friends we are. We live together and it works out so well, but we don't really do things we used to do anymore. I can't recall the last time we went to a movie together, or went out and had dinner. You do kind of take people you live with for granted. I look forward to the crazy shit we used to get up to together.

On the other hand, we have to find someone to replace him.... it's proving to be a pain in the ass. So far we have only seen two people, one from Christchurch, nice person but not the one. We just saw the second one tonight, he is just back from Perth, from his profile, he sounded pretty down to earth.... till we saw him. He is very good looking but arrogance and self-centreness just oozes out of him whenever he opened his month. Needless to say, it's a no. Because of the hours we do, we have to cram 5 people between 6:00pm to 8:00pm tomorrow night.... a bit like speed dating really. I hadn't needed to look for a flatmate for so long, I forgot how painful it is. And I really hope we find someone nice as I really don't want to kick out another one and turn the whole building against us again.

I was on my bike to work, I saw this in Fawkner Park, I thought it was hilarious and had to take a photo of this. I bike through it everyday and never saw this, someone must have set this up over night. It looks rather cosy, who wouldn't stop and have a drink here. Nice work.

The entrance.


The exit.

I woke up early on Monday morning, went to the gym and got ready for the first day of my new role, all excited. I got to work and waited for my team leader to come as he was going to take me to that area. I arrived at 9:00am, I waited till about 10 passed. He wasn't there, since I knew where it is, I went there myself.

I got there, she looked as surprised as I was. She was pleased to see me but told me that they don't need me today, it all starts tomorrow. I was more than happy to have the day off as it is supposed to be my second day off. I went home happily and enjoyed what could be one of the last nice days left before winter flexes its muscle.

On the way home from Smith St, after having a huge but lovely meal, my phone was ringing. It was Christine, she said that I don't need to see her tomorrow, instead, I just go to where I normally go and do what I normally do... she must have detected the disappointment in my tone and told me that the project is still going ahead, they are just trying to figure out the timing.... I will be contacted again in due course..... what are these people doing, chop and change things so quickly I almost got a whiplash from it.

I am pretty sure it will still happen since this time they actually have promised it to my face, but I do have to say it sounds more and more like the interview I had a couple of months ago.

Thursday:
Finally, months of hard work and perhaps whine paid off. I was just getting ready for another exciting day on the phone the other day and the Sonia (call centre manager) came up to me and said "What are you doing?" I replied "As in this weekend?" Then she said "No, as in your future......."

The day before:
Brad, the person applied for the same position as me a few months ago and got fucked around, was leaving that day and we were talking about looking for jobs. I told him I have been applying internally but nothing came through. He said that I should be looking outside as well to see what's out there. I told him that I have but it's probably just gonna be another call centre job, and I don't want that. Sonia was at her desk, only a few metres away.

Thursday:
I told her that I have been applying for a few positions internally but heard nothing back, I like working for ANZ but I will be looking externally if nothing comes through soon. She said fair enough, and I thought that was that. Then she said "I have got something for you, a project, nothing is for certain yet but stick around for a little longer." I was very excited!!

The very same afternoon just as I was leaving work, she pulled me into an office with my team leader. That project has been confirmed. They had a few names there but apparently mine was on the top of the list. It will be a process improvement project, I will be reviewing current processes with a team of people to see if anything can be improved. If they are not sure of something, I will be the one doing the research for them and report back. The project will go on for 4 months, could be longer, could be shorter. It will start after Easter Monday......... you have no idea how happy I was, I have taken 10 pills in one night and was still not as high.

Friday:
Brad's leaving drinks downstairs. I was getting ready to get slaughtered and she pulled me aside again. I thought, shit, it's canceled...... instead of starting after Easter Monday, I will be starting next Monday!!! Without realising it, this could be the very last day I spent on the phone to the general public..... I thank God!!!!!

Just came back to Melbourne from Byron Bay and I miss it already. I went there with a few friends, we had a ball. I forgot how good it feels to go away with mates.

We hired a beach house there, it was great. I have stayed at enough places not to get too excited when I hear "beach house". And I wasn't expecting too much to be honest. However as soon as the bus dropped me off at the door, I knew this one was different. Just look at this, it gets better inside.




We had the top two floors, the ground floor was hired by 4 boys from Melbourne as well, whom we invited to ours on our first night there. That was cool.

We went to Wet and Wild the second day, it was awesome. We drove from Byron Bay to Gold coast first. I have never been there before so we thought we might as well have a look. It is amazing from afar, all the high rises but once you get close enough, you start to notice how ugly some of those buildings are. However the beach is AMAZING, I can see why people are attracted to it.

Another half an hour or so, and we are at Wet and Wild. I was so excited, I hadn't been on a water slide for more than 10 years now. We quickly got changed and headed for our first ride..... I enjoyed it immensely, the only thing was that we went on a Saturday and it was sooooo busy, we literally spent two thirds of our time queuing.... 40 mins of waiting and 10 seconds of joy. It's definitely a place to go during the week. Still, I loved it, especially the Tornado!!!

That night we went to a lovely restaurant called "Balcony", they do very nice tappas and cocktails, very reasonable prices as well. Naturally we had to try everything on the menu, and this is what happened after..



Making use of the household appliances.



Surfing with the iron board.



Dancing to really bad disco music.

Good times.... to be continued.