First Day of Orientation =D

As usual, orientation is as boring as ever. But the orientation indeed make me look very forward to working for UOB. They have 4 core values: Teamwork, Trust and Respect, Integrity, Performance Excellence. The one which have the most impact on me is the way the company work towards providing quality service and going the very extra mile for their customer. This has always been my principle when working in the service sector. But my previous jobs tends to discourage employees to go the extra mile for our customers. My extra mile really mean the very extra mile. I was impressed by how the UOB staffs really achieve it. One example they gave was about this Singaporean guy who lost his bag containing his wallet, including some credit cards, in some country. He managed to get hold of UOB customer service hotline. He called and managed to deactivate his UOB credit card. That's the usual service any service provider would provide. But that's not all, the call centre customer service personnel actually helped him to look up the hotlines for the other banks. On top of that, she actually made a conference call to the ICA so that the man could report the loss of his IC. Wow! This is the kind of customer service which anyone would love to receive and that's what I'm working towards to.

The orientation also created a very good first impression for me. I feel the warm welcome that the company is trying to show to us, the new employees. From the activities and events that the company held before, I can see that the staffs really bond together and work towards the well being of the company.

It was also an eyeopener to me; meeting, or rather, observing people from different sectors of the bank. They are also new employees but have worked for other banks before. Most are uni graduate holding the post of PBA, which I guess is some sales related sector. I was the only PT Clerk there I guess, so I'm the lowest rank there and probably the only with A level cert only. I'm not saying that I was being looked down on, but I feel very small there, I believe I'm the youngest there too. But it was really a good exposure for me. The intellectual skills they possess are really very impressive. We had this small activity to make something using the limited resources given which symbolises the 4 core values. The final products were, totally, completely, without any doubts, unimpressive at all. But the way they present their products really make their products stand out. I was really marveled by their presentation skills and how immediate they can think on their feet. Impressive.

I'm not too sure about the training programme that I'll be going through for the rest of the week but hopefully it'll be a fruitful week for me. =D

By the way, my boy will be confined for 3 weeks. THREE WEEKS!!! Hope I won't be too love sick.

Our KL Trip! =D

Ben and I went for our planned KL trip from 16th to 18th June during his block leave. It's definitely a memorable trip for us and we really enjoyed our "honeymoon". =D

1st Day:
We took the First Coach at 7.45am. Two way trip cost S$55.

One of the shots taken on the bus =D

We reached our hotel, Holliday Villas Subang, at around 2pm plus. Siva had helped us to make a reservation but it still took quite some time for the hotel personnels to process our room. Siva made a reservation for the deluxe double room but when we reached there, they told us that all the deluxe room were occupied, only the standard rooms are available but they're the same price. Not wanting to stir up any troubles for the first day, we took the standard room. RM280/night with complimentary breakfast.

I liked the view from our room =D

Snap snap =D

Ben trying to act cool! Haha! =D

We rested in our room until 5pm plus. We missed the shuttle service so we took the transport offered by the hotel for RM 15 to Sunway Pyramid. Along the way, we asked the driver where to look for vegetarian food. He was very friendly and shared with us that some non-vege restaurants do sell vege food but we have to be mindful if they use separate pots and pans for the vege food. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to try any of the vege place he had recommended. When we reached our destination, Ben tipped the driver RM5. It was the first time I was exposed to the tipping culture. We were really hungry so we approached the customer service at the Sunway Pyramid to ask for directions of vege eating place. I think the person who attended to us was the manager. He is a trans, I think. He had make-up, girlish hairstyle and had nail polish. While he was directing us to the vege place, I feel that he keeps staring at my top. Felt quite uncomfortable, but can't deny he's really helpful and kind to tell us where the vege place is.

Forgotten what is this called,
it's a really huge sculpture outside Sunway Pyramid

Entrance of Sunway Pyramid (Taken after or Lagoon Trip)

The food there was AWESOME! Think it's called Evergreen or something like that. We ordered their Homemade style noodles, BBQ Braised Ribs, Sambal Kang Kong and Salad Tofu with Ham. Damn nice, even Ben the ultimate meat eater praise their food. It's definitely better tasting and worthy than restaurant food. Our meal there cost RM44 but the serving was in fact too much for us. We were extremely bloated after the meal.

After the meal, we walked around Sunway Pyramid. Didn't really have the mood to shop around there cos it was too big for me. So we went to some toy shops looking at the robots figurines. Spot this small arcade at near the ice rink area so played some kiddy games there. Had a really fun time there. =D Before we left, we went to the Giant there to shop for some tidbits and went to J.Co to purchase some donuts. Ben liked the durian donut, it doesn't suit my taste though.

2nd Day:
We woke up at around 9am and had the complimentary breakfast buffet at the hotel. They didn't really prepare vegetarian food so all I could eat was their bread and egg. The variety of bread they had was enough to satisfy my appetite. It was interesting to see that they had an egg counter where there's a chef stationed there to prepare the different types of eggs the customers ordered. They had omelette, sunny side up, poach egg(egg w/o yolk), hard boiled and soft boiled egg.

We rested awhile before catching the shuttle service to Sunway Lagoon.

Sunway Lagoon Map

Sad to say, the rides there were not extremely exciting but exciting enough to make us scream like mad. Regret not buying the candid shot taken when we took the roller coaster ride, our facial expressions were so natural. What a pity.

The roller coaster track

Anyway, their water theme park was not too bad. Strangely, we enjoyed being splashed by the water that poured down at the wave pool rather then the slides.

Our last ride: Mini Ferris Wheel =D

We left the theme park at around 5pm and head down to Petaling Street. Was rather tired to shop cos the cab journey was quite long, around 45 mins. The street is like Bugis Street but they have more variety of goods, to be specific water goods. Was hoping to look for some local tidbits there to bring back to sg but there wasn't any so we decided to explore our way to the KL Tower. After very much efforts, we found our way by foot there. When we reached there, I was shocked by the price we had to pay to go up the Tower. Was RM38 per pax, if I remembered correctly. In the end, we changed our plan, we decided to cab down to the nearby Petronas Tower. Maybe we were really unlucky, when we reached there, we found out that the visiting hours to the Petronas Tower was from 7.30am to 7.30pm, but the tickets would usually be "sold out" by morning. The tickets are free actually. The tower was very impressive.
We ate at a food court at the KLCC shopping centre. They didn't have vegetarian eating places there so we made do with some waffles and tasty brownies. After that, we went to check out the movie times and decided to catch The Night At the Museum.

After the movie, it was already midnight. We caught a cab. Without negotiating, the driver agreed to use the meter to calculate the cost of our trip. But we sense something fishy, the meter was running so damn fast. When we reached our hotel, the reading was RM155. RM155!!! Ridiculous! For a 45mins ride it cost around S$75?!! We didn't have enough cash so I went up to our hotel room to get more cash while Ben stayed in the cab. Of cos we would not pay that sum. I called for the Bell Boy's help. When I came down and approached the cab with the Bell Boy, Ben told us that the driver wanted us to pay RM230 as there was a 50% midnight charge. Bullshit man! No wonder he asked where we were from cos sg has midnight charge. I understood from the Beel Boy that they actually only charge RM50 for a trip from the hotel to KLCC. Damn him man! Had a tough time negotiating with that driver and finally made him settle with RM100. Yes, we were still being conned. It's a good lesson for us. We'll do more homework before traveling around by cab if we go to m'sia again.

3rd Day, Last day:
Breakfast in the hotel again. Requested for omelette with lots of mushrooms. =D Was still feeling very tired cos we reached our hotel at on 2am the previous night. So after our meal, we went back to our room to rest for awhile before packing our stuff.

Check out our room:

Our King Size Bed. Beside, there is a spacious area, believe it's for prayers.
Can actually fit another king size bed withing the space.

Our TV. Don't really have any nice channels to watch.

The so called mini bar

Our big wardrobe! =DThe small safe

After packing our stuff, it was time for some snapshots again!

Happy Shot! =D

Our Honeymoon Shot <3>

While waiting for our coach, we wanted to walk to the lake but didn't have enough time. But at least we managed to take a shot by the lake at the swimming pool area. =D
We reached back sg at around 8pm plus and cab back home. I miss our "honeymoon" trip!

KL trip tmr! =D

Setting off to KL tmr at 7.45am, coming back on Thursday afternoon. Done some research le. Hope I have sufficient knowledge to not get lost in KL. Anyway, thanks to Hui Yin, we got back up hotline. If really get lost, can contact her friend, Siva for help. Owe him a meal, man. CF is bringing a luggage not for our clothes and necessities, but for tidbits!!! We're going to grow really fat man! Haha! =D Hope the trip will be a safe and smooth one. =D

201'08 Class BBQ on 13th June '09 =D

Big thanks to all who had turned up! Was really afraid that the BBQ would be dampened by the ominous clouds, but we were really lucky cos eventually, it did not rain. Yeah! Our BBQ could go on smoothly! =D Enjoyed myself really much, catching up with the girls. All are doing well. =D Glad to see that the guys were enjoying themselves, sharing their NS experience with each other. =D It's really entertaining to see a group of botak guys gathering together. Haha! =D Some couldn't make it for the gathering but believe they're doing well too. The girls will be going to Uni soon, the guys will be tied down by NS, so looks like the next gathering will not be so soon. Maybe end of the year? Hope by then, all will be able to turn up! =D

Pictures taken that night:
Makaning
Our messy, dirty table
Working out
Girls
Guys
All