office like a war zone...

there are some changes going on in the office, with some reshuffling going on. resulting from that, i need to move from my "bestest cubicle in the world" to another work station (a not so best one *sob*sob*). but the moving is taking longer than expected coz some ppl who will be moving out are still here and some ppl who are moving in are already here, earlier than they should be.

anyway, to make a long story short, i'm currently 'cubicleless', coz i need to clear my cubicle for the move, but can't move to my new work station yet! so now my stuff is all over the place in the bossboss's room, making it look a war zone...

i dare say abt 75% of the things in here are mine!

earth hour 2009

happened to be at ikea last saturday with N and her cousin, and managed to catch the earth hour 2009 event they had at their cafe. they got the mixFm team in, and there were some games and stuff going on.

needless to say, the place was packed and we had some trouble looking for a place to sit. many ppl were just sitting around at the tables even after finishing their meals. then we thought, maybe these people were just curious as to what's going to happen for the countdown and after that, they will leave. so we did not worry too much abt getting a seat, but proceeded to join the long queue to buy our dinner.

even before 8.30pm, they have toned down their lights
at the eating area. only the food counters were lighted up

after the count down, all the lights at the dining area were switched off and a few ikea staff came out bearing trays of 'pirate lanterns' (my fav kinda lanterns!) with lighted candles inside, to be placed on the tables.

pirate lanterns for a new dining experience...

true enough, after the countdown to earth hour 2009 at 8.30pm, most of the tables became empty.

just an hour without lights and already we felt the inconvenience.
we had difficulties polishing up our fried chicken wings
nicely to the bones, coz we couldn't really see!

read N's account of the event as well here!

read also:
1) vote earth!
2) earth hour malaysia - it's as simple as a flick of the switch!

let's go minum!

of all the different cultures in the companies i've worked for up until now, there's one glaring thing that sets my present company apart from the rest... and that is their minum culture!

i've never drank with any of my colleagues before i joined this company, but it's a norm now. but i'm not a heavy drinker... just a social one. if i need to drive back after our minum session, i'll just have one glass of beer. if i'm at the resort/hotel and have only need to walk back to my room, i'll have 2 glasses!

from a session at quattro recently...

but one thing's for sure, i've become a heavy 2nd hand smoker! :S

vote earth!

wah... suddenly my blog is filled with the earth hour banners and logos! haha, just taking my cue from auntyjo!

anyway, i placed an order for the earth hour 2009 t-shirt last week, and it arrived yesterday! i was supposed to get it last week, but the organisers received so many orders that they just couldn't make it on time. and the wwf ppl were bothered to call me up to explain abt the delay... so nice and considerate of them!

front view...

back view... "see your world in a whole new light"

well, it's a good thing that they're getting so many orders, coz it means more ppl are supporting the cause! i think this year's earth hour malaysia will be a much a successful campaign compared to last year's. i think it really was due to ignorance rather than indifference, as the writer had hoped, coz i've not heard abt this thing last year. but this year, nearly everyone has some inkling of what it's all abt.

the other day in a meeting, the bossbossboss was even talking abt pledging to switched off at our hotels and resort. but sadly in the end, it was deemed undoable, because we talked abt it too late. these kinda things need to be planned way in advance... things like informing our guests, planning an activity for guests so that they would not feel bored sitting in their darkened room without tv, lights and air-cond for one whole hour, making sure no one gets trapped in the lifts, making sure there're enough food, safety measures, etc etc... hopefully we'll be more prepared for earth hour 2010!

neeways, here are my personal efforts in minimising my carbon footprints on this earth:

1) my housemates probably think me a miser, because whenever someone accidentally left the lights on throughout the whole night or forgot to switch off their lights when they go out, i'd sure to be the one to point it out to them! then they'll try to placate me by promising to foot a bigger share of the electricity bill... but even though i'll talk abt the skyrocketing electric bill, IT'S NOT ENTIRELY ABOUT THE MONEY! there's also the wasting unnecessarily and the effects on global warming...

2) i'm paying more attention to all my switches... to make sure whatever i switch on are switched off after use.

3) i've been having this habit of pressing the fridge door with my fingers everytime i walk pass it (to make sure it is shut properly) since i found it to be slightly ajar sometime last year. i think it's safe to say that most people, after they've taken out/put something into the fridge, would just push the door shut and walk away, without really checking to see if it has shut properly. maybe the fridge was too full and the door has bounced back out by something in there. so even though the fridge door may look closed, if the side rubber (is that what it's called?) did not stick, air can and will escape and that will cause higher energy consumption.

4) i try not to accept plastic bags whenever possible... but this really needs a big conscious effort because it's just so natural to receive something you've bought in a plastic bag! and i kept forgetting abt my 'yellow foldable bag' given to me by M in my backpack, put in there for the purpose of carrying my shopping in.

5) i try to separate out the recycleables from my rubbish bin. i rinse out aluminium cans and plastic water bottles at home and i reuse the A4 papers when printing in the office. i also have a special tray for papers that has been used both sides, so that i can pass it to the cleaning kakak when it's full (coz i know they sell them for extra income).

6) i always save up all the used envelopes (paper and plastic ones alike) i receive, and reuse them whenever possible, especially when the document is to be passed on by hand.

well, these are just a few of the things i can think of for now. but while i'm consciously trying to minimise my role in damaging ole mother earth, i know what i've done and am doing are nothing to shout about. more effort should be put in! i'll try harder, i promise! :)

read also:
1) earth hour malaysia - it's as simple as a flick of the switch!

pet peeve #104607: people who don't know the difference between formal and casual communications

i don't know... but friends who use "corporate language" in casual settings really get on my nerves! this is especially true in written comm. here are some classic examples, and tell me if i'm the only weird one who feels this way.

1) sms from a bf/gf
"Please advice the best time to come and pick you up"

2) e-mail reply from a good friend, when informing him/her of something
"Noted with thanks"

3) sms in reply to an invitation from a close friend
"Sorry, I am unable to attend due to work commitments"


i mean, hello?!? don't we get enough of "corporate talk" in the office? i even switch to casual comm when typing out an e-mail to some of my better acquainted vendors, for crying out loud!

maybe the reason some ppl write this way is becoz the only time they speak english is in the office and that's the only way they know how to communicate in the language? or maybe they do not want to use bahasa pasar (bm for "street language"). but there are many ways of communicating casually without having to resort to bahasa pasar wat!

for the examples above, won't it be more intimate and not so starchyly-stiff if its written a bit differently?

1) "what time shall i pick u up?"

2) "ok, thanks!"

3) "oh, sorry i can't make it. i have work to do"


but personally, this is how i'll write it:

1) "pick u up at wat time?"

2) "okie! :)"

3) "kenot lar! need to work!"


so to friends and acquaintances out there, please ar! don't use corporate language with me hor!!

"3 drops of sweat" conversations...

stargal: *grumble*grumble* company making money, and yet force us to take unpaid leave...
bossboss: must think positively. this way, u can go home more often mar
boss: yeah, must spend more time with ur parents...

a few days later...

bossboss: wah, u're taking so many days off for cny?
boss: yeah lar. how can take such a long stretch?
stargal: must spend more time with the parents...
bossboss & boss: *sweat*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

KL: hello, i won't be going for practice tonight ok?
stargal: har? then how?
KL: so u all just do ur own sectional lar
stargal: sien lor. why u can't come???
KL: my car broke down lar. u wanna buy me a new car?
stargal: ok, so u dun have to come lar! bye-bye!
KL: *sweat*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

aunty: why u keep carrying your backpack like that? put it down lar...
stargal: hehe... it's ok. i'm used to it
aunty: don't you feel very "san-fu" (canto: difficult) carrying your bag like that while eating?
stargal: no lar, i'm always doing this. besides, i'll be the first to go if we need to "jao-lou" (run away)
aunty: *sweat*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

stargal: KL, those extra cake, u bring home for your Tiger lar
KL: har? who is Tiger?
stargal: ur dog's name is not Tiger meh?
KL: since when? no lar...
stargal: eh?? then Tiger is whose dog?
KL: how i know ar?
stargal: i dun care! ur dog is Tiger!
KL: *sweat*