Team Building with a Pinch of Salt

We headed out to our city office for an afternoon of team building. Our task:

• Partner up and learn as much as you can about the other person
• Spend the next 20 minutes painting a picture that tells a story about your partner.
• Give a speech to explain what you have painted and why.
• Allow our paintings and speeches to be judged by a team of staff in HR.

This is the painting that my partner John painted about me.

This my painting about John - I won best painting!

This was understandable - see below

Later that afternoon we caught the ferry to Manly to have a round of drinks at the Manly Wharf Hotel, where we spotted the very handsome ‘Tom’ from the show The Great Outdoors and more recently Dancing with the Stars. When it was established that no one would have the guts to ask him for a photo we headed across the road to dine at the restaurant Pink Salt as featured in channel 7’s My Restaurant Rules.

Having cameras film you whilst you sit, drink and eat is an interesting experience but not one where you are left feeling uncomfortable. As we get settled in, there is a little lack of atmosphere which is usually created by surrounding music. But as Evan explained, they are not able to play music due to the constant filming by the camera crew.

For the entrée we began with the Pink Salt Sample Platter where you had the opportunity to try a little bit of all the entrées listed plus more. The platter is good if you are brave enough to try new things and have a liking for seafood. The Zucchini flower and corn fritters with tomato & fennel ragout was by far the best entrée dish – be sure to eat it while it’s hot!

For the main meal I ordered the Wagyu beef rump with roasted eschalots, baby spinach & béarnaise which was fabulous! I would go as far as to say that this would be their best main dish. The salmon was also very nice and I would recommend it over the swordfish. The corn fed chicken is very well presented but tasted rather ordinary and my colleagues felt that the risotto tasted quite bland.

The service is exceptional and is probably due to the fact that their every move is being filmed. Evan and Bella are very friendly and make every effort to mingle with customers. Bella is indeed very beautiful and even more so in person, to our delight they posed for a few happy snaps.

The mocktails were quite nice I had the Mango Suite (i.e. Fresh mango and passionfruit shaken with peach syrup and ice cream) which I found to be rather sweet. After having a sip of everyone else’s mocktail we all came to the consensus that the Apply Mojito (i.e. Fresh green apple, mint, lime, palm sugar shaken with apple juice and topped with soda) was by far the best.

The overall price of the dishes is rather expensive for what it is, the side dishes such as chips or mash pumpkin is ordered separately with an extra $7 charged per side, this is on top of the $33 for the mains. Our bill for 14 people was just under $1000 (not including alcohol as it was B.Y.O) thank goodness our company footed part of the bill.

Overall the night was good, so support Pink Salt by dining or voting for them!

Engrish

*edit - 16/01/2007* I took my last name off this post because my name kept coming up in google searches which then linked to my blog. I'm still trying to keep a level of anonymity =P

--------------------------------------

Today was one of those days… it was already 5:55pm and I was ready to call it a day. As I was about to log off a candidate with a heavy Asian accent calls through in relation to this job.

The conversation went something like this:

Mai Ling: “Hello? Can I please speak to Emily Cong? It’s Mai Ling calling.”

Me: “Hello Mai Ling, it’s Emily speaking how can I help you there?”

Mai Ling: “I calling for role, I called before. Emily Cong where is he??”

Me: “It’s actually Emily Ch**g and yes, I did get your message but I was in a meeting and didn't have the chance to return calls yet”

Mai Ling: “Emily Ch**g?!? Where is he?? When does he come out of meeting?!?!”

Me: “ No no, I’m Emily Ch**g you’re speaking to her”

Mai Ling: “But I need to speak to Emily Ch**g!! Is he out of meeting yet?!?!”

Me: “Emily Ch**g is a ladies name and you are speaking to her…”

Mai Ling: “EMILY CH**G!! Oh Emily is a WOMAN!?!?....hi Emily, I’m applying for your job...”

The conversation was very painful and went from bad to worse, needless to say that the candidate wasn’t successful.

*For the record I have not used original names to protect the candidates identities.

Warning!

To those Currently working at Macquarie Bank Beware, my friend Betty joins tomorrow! What she lacks in height she makes up for in volume and personality. Her voice was once described by our english teacher as 'penetrating'.

Macquarie Bank...you won't know what hit ya!

Busy Weekend

I had intended on writing a long post about the weekend but I'm too tired...so here are some pics for now.

Dinner @ Dolcissimo Haberfield - Sunday Night

After all the talk of going to Dolcissimo to try their chocolate pizza we finally went...chocolate pizza is very rich and I recommend the mini as opposed to the larger size.

Larissa's B'day @ Piar Crows Nest - Saturday Night

Really good night! Made some new friends and caught up with the old. The food was really different, I could bearly walk by the end of the night

Drinks @ Mint Bar Friday Night

Met up with the usual bunch of girls to celebrate Katina's 23rd...getting old Kat...getting old

Pink Salt

We recently had a reshuffle of office seating and I now sit right in between two managers (lucky me...not). On the bright side I do get to hear all the latest office goss and I think that my manager is trying to organise a team dinner at Pink Salt. This won’t mean anything to anyone unless you are a fan of ‘My Restaurant Rules’.

It amazes me what people will do to try get seats, name dropping, exaggeration - Neil can talk the socks off anyone! and if anyone is going to get us on TV it’ll be him!

Easter

Only 3 weeks till the Easter Long weekend - I'm counting down the days!

Did anyone notice how cold it was this morning??

My sister turned 18 today....Happy Birthday!

Egged!

Went to Teppan-Yaki tonight, didn't do so great. Left with a wet Boob and egg all down my jeans. Had a great night and will have more pics soon.

The Great Debate

On the drive home I asked Jacky why we never debated on more intellectual issues. Jacky gave me the O_o look and ask me ‘what brought this on?!?!’ I mentioned that I read Matty’s blog and that he and Vivien had recently debated over sports liability; the last thing we debated about was whether I should upgrade to a 19” LCD. (Being on the school debating team for 7 years I like a good debate).

Jacky then proceeded to give me the *Emily should really stop reading Matty’s blog* look. He pointed out that we did debate on intellectual issues quiet frequently and reminded me that the reason we stopped was because I always had to be right! When he didn’t agree I would sulk for the next few hours…

Ok he has a point.

That Special Feeling

What Girl wouldn't swoon when 18 long stem red Roses gets delivered to her work! I guess the ‘We don’t celebrate Valentine’s day’ rule was broken this year…but he’s forgiven.

Valentines 2005

To My Single Girls, Happy Valentines! Just letting you know that you are never alone and that there's always someone out there who loves you.

To My Special guy… Here is to celebrating our 7th Valentine's day together

'Cheers Big Ears!’

Week In Review

Mondays are always hectic at work and by around 5:30pm I had a need for a real sugar fix. So I put 2 chocolate Turkish delight bars in the freezer to chill quickly so I could eat it on the way home. At 6:00pm I went to get them, they were gone… I see the 2 wrappers in the bin; SOMEONE ATE MY CHOCOLATE!

I wasn't too pleased that afternoon; people at work are generally pretty good about not eating other people’s food. The next day in conversation, I mentioned to my manager how strange it was that someone would eat my chocolate. When she found out the story she totally over reacted (as she does with most things) and called the office manager up to report what happened. I begged her to just leave it!

I get along with everyone in the office and the last thing that I wanted to do was make a mountain out of a mole hill and get some one in trouble. She said that eating other people’s food was not acceptable! And something should be done!

The next thing you see is a warning email being sent around to the office about staff stealing food and labelling food items to prevent this from happening again. As with all offices, gossip usually follows after such an email and the story went from a few chocolate bars to some one’s bottle of champagne?!?

I later found out who the chocolate thieves were…one of them must have been feeling pretty guilty because they secretly left this on my desk.

------------------------------------------

Kyle & Jackie O and the Auzzie Fab Five recently did a show near my work. At 8:00am in the Morning I managed to score myself a free sausage sizzle, a Nudie smoothie and a choc top ice cream. 2dayFM were also doing the whirlwind competition where you got the chance to win 1 million dollars. The first girl won $50,000 and the audience were each given a raffle ticket for their chance to step in the box.

My heart stopped for a second when they called out …Green….D….8! And the guy right next to me Jumped up and yelled ‘Me! Me!’….so close but so far…..*sigh* (I had the Green, had the D but number 40)

Kyle & Jackie O and the ticket that never was

-----------------------------------------

The picture below has been put here to prove that it is in fact possible for Sarah to get a tan! For those who don't know Sarah, her blinding whiteness has beared the brunt of many jokes. Her newly acquired tan (thanks to a holiday at Club Med) is a first in 23 years!

I was asked to take a photo to document this once off phenomenon!

-----------------------------------------------

Going to watch Nessa Morgan play tonight at The Basement. Should be good.

Over Indulging

Gluttony – one of the seven deadly sins.

Jacky cooked for me last night, probably the first time in 4 years? The meal was quite big: 2 pieces of sirloin steaks, 3 corn cobbetts, a side serving of corn & onion and 2 grilled tomatoes. When I had finished I was understandably quite full; a normal person would have stopped there…not I….

A half hour later I found myself at a café in Beverly Hills having chocolate Fondue with the girls. Instead of being sensible and ordering a peppermint tea, I ordered a hot chocolate.

By the end of the night I was sooo ridiculously full that I could easily be mistaken for being pregnant…not a good look.

I really have to start eating more healthily.

More Thank yous

Left to right: From the Girls, Hudson, Mum's work

Thank you everyone for all the flowers! makes the house feel a bit like a florist and brings a bit of cheer to a rather gloomy bunch of people. I'm overwhelmed by all the support.

The funeral is tomorrow.

Rest In Peace

RIP

Ying Man Lam

1916 -2005

A Thank you

I Just wanted to thank everyone for their well wishes and support during this very difficult time. It’s very hard to watch some one you love slowly die, you feel helpless and you battle with the pain of hearing them suffer and the guilt of wishing that it will just be all over for them.

I have begun putting up some pictures of my trip so please my travel blog if you get the chance.

Lisa bought me a pink Sachi bag for X'mas and I finally bought shoes to match...yay.

I really like doing things like scrap booking or making stuff, to help me take my mind off things I've started making earrings for my friends. My first attempts have been ordinary but I will hopefully get better with time.

Home Again

I arrived back in Australia yesterday morning and rushed out to the hospital in Crows Nest, my Grandfather is dying. I found out one week into my holiday, about the same time as the Tsunami diaster so this hasn’t been much of a holiday for me. Before I left my grandfather was fine, then he stopped eating for 3 days and collapsed we found out he had bronchitis; he was in pretty bad shape. After further testing, the doctor found cancer cells in his lungs and due to his age (90) and his current condition treatment such a chemo would cause him too much pain and suffering. So they have taken everything away and will let nature take its course.

My relatives in Hong Kong have all flown into Australia now; it’s a really tough time for the family at the moment. It’s the hardest thing to see someone you care about become so helpless. I fight back the tears and put on a brave face because if I start crying everyone else will. The doctors have given him a week possibly 2, depending on how much my grandfather fights and how much longer his body will hold up. Despite the heavy morphine his mind is clear; he’s trapped in a body that will no longer work.

I’m just about to leave for the hospital now; I haven’t been sleeping too well. Mum’s been out there since yesterday morning and hasn’t come home. I think I wrote this entry to help prepare me for what will happen in coming days. When it happens, I know that he will no longer be in pain.

Update

Instead of posting about the rest of my trip I'll just write a quick update in light of recent events. On the day that we first heard about the earth quake, we couldn't believe that it had happened. It either failed to set in or we just didn't want to believe that our dream holiday would be over.

It's now a few days later and the death toll from the Tsunami and quake has risen to 22,000. CNN reports of the loss and devastation and shows graphic pictures of bodies floating in the water yet to be collected. The Chinese newspapers are just as graphic posting faces of the dead.

We are very grateful that we weren't in Phuket when it happened but can't help feeling disappointed. We are planning to cancel the rest of the trip to Bangkok, Malaysia and Phuket but will need to confirm that our travel insurance will cover all the costs. The staff at STA travel have been absolute dickheads – basically telling us it's not their problem when we went to try change our flights. For each enquiry we wanted them to make on our behalf would cost us $100.00 AUD and take 4 days.

It's not the best time for us right now, but our relatives are keeping our spirits up.

Emily & Jacky in Tokyo

The post about Japan has been moved to my Travel Blog.

http://pickostravels.blogspot.com/

Up, Up and Away...

Hi all I'm at work right now, I stayed back till 8:00pm last night and feel like I haven't been home. I haven't had time to pack and have to be at the airport by 7:30 -8:00pm tonight my stress levels are through the roof and I'm still trying to close deals with my clients.

I doubt that I will be blogging over the next 4 weeks so a big thanks to all who visit my blog. Have a very Merry Christmas and a even better new year!

Japan, Hong kong, China, Bangkok, Malaysia, Phuket here I comeeee!

Hudson Christmas 2004

The 2004 Hudson Christmas Party was held at Cruise Bar Circular Quay. The Theme this year was Carnivale`!! Last year we had a cabret show, this year we had Brazilian Dancers in skimpy costumes and a capoeira dance performance.

The Costumes were excellent!! the alcohol was free and unlimited and the location was fantastic! I had the best night!! those who know me will also know that I rarely drink but when you work so hard you also play a bit harder.

I apologise to those who received weird phone calls from me late at night….I assure you that I wasn’t drunk (ok maybe I was)….but from what I gather I gave everyone a good laugh, and most of you won’t let me forget it any time soon. Fortunately there were no major dramas and I made it home safely in one piece (thanks for the lift Dazza).

I paid for it the next morning when I woke up with the worse hang over – I hadn’t experienced anything like this since back in the ‘Schoolies’ days. The light hurt my eyes and the room kept spinning even as I stood still. As a result I had to cancel my 10:30am appointment as there was no way that I could have driven myself there. I also became aware of the blisters on my feet, some had popped and it hurt. I hadn't noticed or felt them the night before, and had managed to dance the night away all in a brand new pair of high heels....yes...alcohol is an evil substance.

My head was still throbbing when I hobbled to work at the Sass and Bide warehouse sale later that afternoon. Despite the aching legs and arms, it was a great deal. For 5 and a half hours of folding, cleaning up and moving things around; I got 100 bucks and any 2 items of Sass and Bide clothing, cans of red bull and pizza for dinner.

Baku was really hectic today, the store was busy and the air con was pumping out warm air. Some of the customers smelt a bit funny and we ran out of packaging! I can’t believe that tomorrow is Monday; I haven’t even recovered from last week! Enough blogging I think I’ll go have a lie down now and catch up on the episodes of the Apprentice. Enjoy the photos!!

Ready to Drop

Hi Everyone,

I know it’s been ages since my last post but I’ve just been flat out! Work has really picked up and instead of a quiet wind down to 2004 I’ll be working right till I fly out. So here is what I have been up to/scheduled to do.

26/11/04 - Business Women’s Breakfast (Crown Plaza)
26/11/04 - Jacky’s mums birthday dinner
27/11/04 – Paula’s surprise party (engagement)
29/11/04 – KK Christmas dinner with the girls at Wildfire

3/12/04 Hudson X'mas Party 2004 @ Cruise Bar
04/12/04 – Working at the Sass and Bide warehouse sale
05/12/04 - Sarah’s farewell dinner
10/12/04 – Team X’mas lunch

12/12/04 - Dinner with Alex?
17/12/04 – Office X’mas lunch at Putney Park
17/12/04 – Fly out to Japan

Some of my recent highlights have included our Annual Kris Kringle Dinner at Wildfire in Circular Quay. We each had a budget of $100 -$150 but it was pretty obvious that everyone spent a lot more than that. There were some great gifts that were exchanged, handbags, swimsuits, shoes, jewellery and beautiful underwear sets. The location was lovely and it was great to finally try out such a famous restaurant. So what did I get? Well Lisa was my KK and I received a Hot Pink Sachi fold over clutch bag, a pink top and ceramic and teflon curling iron (which I later put to great use).

Also a Big Congratulations to Paula (who some of you may remember as my former assistant). Her Boyfriend Darren proposed in a Hot Air Balloon just over the Hunter Valley *how sweeet*.

2004

I worked a shift at Baku with a girl who I hadn’t seen for many months. When she saw me on Sunday she said that in 1 year I had ‘matured a lot’ and that I was different. I’d have to agree. Reading Matty’s recount of 2004 provoked a lot of thought about my own year.

I’d have to say this has probably been one of the toughest years to date. While I was still at uni, my biggest worry was finding a good job with decent pay. I’d whinge about life at Baku and watch TV all day long…..in retrospect life was pretty good.

2004 saw me propelled into the corporate world working for a large company, where deals are made quickly and you either succeed or fall flat on your face; there’s no in between and there’s no second chances. After a lot of hard work June proved to be a great month as I managed to bring in over $40k for the company. The managers were my best friend and the general manager congratulated me on a ‘sterling effort’. But when you do well, the bar is raised and higher expectations follow. How quickly managers change.

In the months that followed, I had to deal with clients that were racist, sexist, obnoxious and just plain rude. In the worst case scenario I had a client tell me that he ‘didn't want an Asian woman working for him’, his excuse? He didn’t want to offend their traditional Chinese values… funny, when the candidate wasn’t even Chinese.

Just when you think clients are bad you meet candidates who have quite possibly escaped from the mental asylum. Not showing up for interviews, pretending to have cancer and calling me at 2am in the morning to see if I received their resume. After telling one candidate to wear her best suit when meeting my client she turned up to the interview wearing pink ugg boots…go figure.

And just because you work your arse off to find jobs for people, doesn’t mean they appreciate it. Candidates use me to get pay rises off their boss and pull out on my role at the last minute; but hey, that’s all in a days work.

I am different. I don’t tolerate incompetence and I don’t trust people as easily. When I look in the mirror I feel like I have aged 40 years, I feel sad that I’m not as naive as I used to be. Ignorance is bliss.

I hit budget again last month and December is looking good. To be honest I’m over it! I’m tired, I really need a break. I need to find myself again and have a bit of fun.

Thank you for listening.

Happy Birthday to me...again

Got a nice suprise from the girls tonight, a big thank you for my birthday present! I love it!! I know it's a bit belated (seeing that my b'days in August) but you sure made up for it.

To the person who is my KK don't worry about buying me the bikini as i've ordered one in for myself. And to my KK a nice suprise will be coming your way soon....

Destiny's Child

The First time that they came I was in Hong Kong so I couldn't go. This time I'll be in Melbourne, and no I can't watch the show there because they fly into Melbourne the day I leave......spewin.

Idol Mania

TICKET CONFIRMATION

"Congratulations, your request for tickets to 'The McDonalds Unforgettable Outdoor Concert' to be held on the steps of the Sydney Opera House on 21st November 2004 has been successful.

Tickets and all relevant information will be forwarded to you today via Australia Post to the address you nominated on your application"

Won tickets to idol, not sure if I can go....

The Day After

The corporate challenge went really well yesterday, I made an effort to enjoy myself and power walked the 5.6km race in just under 55 minutes. Not bad considering that I’m a self confessed lazy ass. After the race I went to check out Patrick Rafter and hunt for food. My friend Betty took an extra wrist band from work and got me into the JP Morgan Marquee which was way better than ours. It didn't matter that I didn't know anyone because I kept myself busy by scoffing down their sandwiches, sushi, pizza and spring rolls.

There was an awkward moment when Betty pulled some big Aussie guy over and said ‘Hey Emily remember Doug from uni??’ I looked at him blankly and it was obvious that neither of us had a clue who the other was despite spending 3 years in the same classes.

Jacky being the Prince Charming that he is, picked us all up and gave us a lift home leaving us to live happily ever after ….. That was until I woke up this morning … it hurt to roll over in bed and I experienced pain and aches in places I didn't know I had muscles. I wish I brought my camera but my company might release some pics at a later date.

My Hi Fi broke. This is Jacky’s attempt to fix it, it’s been sitting on my desk for 2 weeks.

My latest ebay purchase -More Lancome Juicy Tubes, I love this stuff!

Congrats to Luke who bought his first property last night!!

Don't stop till you drop

I’m doing the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge today, a 5km run (or slow jog in my case) with all the proceeds going to Patrick Rafter’s Cherish the Children Foundation. Why I signed up I’m not too sure… I never exercise and I’m rather lazy. It may have been the incentive to get off work early, doing a good deed for charity, or Betty’s threats to inflict great pain on me if I didn’t do it.

While I’m running my thoughts will definitely be with my work buddy Luke, who is going to an auction to buy his first property. He’s only 23 and has travelled all over Europe, lived in Norway for a year, has nearly completed his degree and has managed to save enough to buy his own place. The auction starts at 7pm - fingers crossed.

In other exciting news my Assistant Emma has gotten engaged to her long term boyfriend Darren, Congratulations Emma!!

I know this post is all over the place, but i'll fix it up when I get home.

Vote!

Hi peoples need a new bikini for Thailand and came across this Paul Frank one, help me decide between the dark pink or the blue? Vote in the comments below.

Shall we dance?

After work yesterday a few of the girls and myself met up at Betty & Lisa’s house to Brain storm for a certain some ones farewell gift. Roula dropped by looking stunning as usual making me aware of how frumpy I was looking these days (note to self - must do something about that).

I was some how later dragged to the cinemas to watch Shall we Dance? starring Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez and Susan Sarandon. I found the movie to be really cheesy and cringed when Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon started making out. The other girls seemed to enjoy it, but I wouldn’t recommend paying $14.50 to see it – just wait for the DVD.

------------------------------

So who’s the woman/man of your dreams? – I got Brad Pitt!

http://www.magnum7sins.com/theSun/ddate.html

------------------------------

An interesting breakdown of the results of the US election, note the IQ levels. http://img125.exs.cx/img125/6640/2004election_by_iq.jpg

Getting to know me

I was reading back on some old emails and came across a survey that my friend had sent to me ages ago. I'm sure that you have all filled one out one time or another, here goes...

1. What time is it? Thursday 8:30pm

2. Name as it appears on your birth certificate? It’s actually all written in Chinese.

3. Nicknames: in primary school it was ‘M&Ms’, high school ‘EmChong’ and these days I seem to be known around the office as ‘Chongie’. On the net I tend to go by the nick of PiCkLeS or Pickos it all started off as a bit of a joke but stuck.

4. Parent's names: Daisy and Phillip

5. Number of candles that appeared on your last Birthday cake? Actually I think that everyone forgot to buy candles so I had like 1? But to answer the question I’m 23 this year.

6. Date that you regularly blow them out: 28th August

7. Pets: I don’t currently have any due to the hours I spend at work, but I have been seriously thinking about buying a goldfish! I’m a big animal lover and in my life time I’ve had 6 guniea pigs. If I ever move to a house I’ll but a dog.

8. Height: I haven’t actually measured myself in years, but from memory I’m just under 170cm.

9. Eye colour: dark brown

10. Hair colour: black

11. National Heritage: Born in Hong Kong and came to Australia when I was about 2.

12. Tattoos: I’ve actually always wanted one but mum would get really upset.

13. How much do you love your job?

Hudson – it’s a tough job and I’ve really had to step out of my comfort zone and grow balls. Despite the hard times I really like what I do, but I wish the hours weren’t so long.

Baku - I get to design jewellery and get nice discounts, my boss pretty much lets me do what I want.

14. Birthplace: Ngau Tau Kok (HK)

15. Hometown: Sydney, Australia

16. Current Residence: ditto

17. where would you like to live? New York or Canada

18. Where have you visited?

Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Vegas, LA, New York, Toronto, Ottawa, Niagara Falls, London, Paris, Bangkok, Pattaya. This year I’ll be adding Tokyo, Malaysia and Phuket to my list.

19. Where would you really like to go? Other parts of Europe

20. Been drunk? Twice

21. What’s something that we don’t know about you?

I’m very good at scrap booking! But it’s very time consuming so I don’t get the chance to do it much these days. It’s been over a year since graduation and I still haven’t done the album.

22. Been in a car crash? Yes

23. Croutons or Bacon bits: Croutons I guess

24. Coke or Pepsi? Coke

25. 2 doors or 4 (on a car): my car has 2 but I don’t really care.

26. Coffee or Coffee Ice cream: coffee gives me a good caffeine fix in the mornings.

27. Blanket or Stuffed Animal: My old dressing gown

28. Dumper or Dumped: neither

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE....

29. Salad Dressing: Paul Newman’s Balsamic Vinegar

30. Colour: Blue!

31. Number: 8 – not because it’s the Asian thing but I was Born on the 28/08/81 and it seems to pop up in my life a lot.

32. Movie: gosh that’s a hard one, I can’t possibly choose.

33. Quote: it's stuck on my desk at work - I don't know it off by heart.

34. Favourite Holiday: Christmas – although any time off is a bonus

35. Foods: anything that isn't low fat or diet!

36. Day of the week: Saturdays!!

37. TV show: I love all the Crime shows! CSI, Law and Order, The real world and Sex in the City.

38. Word or phrase: A really high pitched “Brilliant”

39. Toothpaste: I really I don’t care

40. Restaurant: depends on the weather and my mood

41. Least Favourite Subject: I didn't really like maths in highschool

42. Alcoholic Drink: Cocktails or Baileys and milk

43. Sport to watch: Basketball and Swimming

44. Type of Ice: frozen's always good

45. Zoo Exhibit: I love the zoo - I don't like the snakes

46. Sesame Street Character: Ernie

47. Fast Food Restaurant: KFC

RANDOM QUESTIONS

48. When was your last hospital visit? Don’t recall

49. Favourite drink? Lemon lime bitters (if non alcoholic)

50. What colour is your bedroom's carpet? Grey

51. What do you think of Ouija boards? Hehhehe we had our fun

52. Where do you see yourself in 10 yrs? I would like to get really good at what I do, have a house and most probably married with great abs.

53. Obsessions: ebay

54. What time is it now? 10:00pm

Melbourne Cup

I just lost all my money!
Placed a bet for Vinnie Roe to win due to the wet weather - lost my money there.
Placed a bet for Distinction to win (no idea why) - lost my money there.
Got Roman Arch in the office sweepstake (lucky draw) - didn't turn out to be very lucky.

Oh well, got to be in it to win it!

Almustafa

I found myself back at Almustafa's last night and had an even better night than the first time. It turned out that we knew the son of the owner of the Restaurant and didn't have to pay for any of the drinks - bonus!

I'm still waiting for my 3 purchases off ebay to arrive - the waiting makes me nervous, I hope it arrives this week.

Chinese Whispers Gone Wrong

It’s amazing what a bit of positive thinking can do; I can either keep feeling sorry for myself or make the best out of a bad situation. The weather has played a big part in my turn around - summer is well and truly here and in 2 months time Jacky and I will be flying out for our second adventure.

I can honestly say that I am bursting with excitement and anticipation. Unlike last time I know exactly what to expect and the nerves and anxiousness that I felt leading up to my first world trip is non-existent. This time round the Australian dollar is a lot stronger and unlike last time we are going to live it up a little. At Phuket we have decided to stay at a 5 star day spa resort, it’s costing an arm and leg but a nice reward after working so hard. The itinerary is now:

Japan (Tokyo)--> Hong Kong -->China --> Bangkok --> Malaysia --> Phuket

Depending on Jacky’s work situation next year we might go to the States and Canada again or possibly visit other parts of Europe.

In other news, I had the strangest conversation with my friend today. My very excited friend congratulated me on my recent engagement! This was a big surprise, as I didn’t even know that I was engaged. I took another look at my finger and sure enough my wedding finger was still pretty empty looking – with no big rock in sight.

I questioned my friend on where she had heard this bizarre news and apparently ‘everyone knows!’ – the gossip had originated from a friend of mine who had heard it from a friend of a friend of Jacky’s? I assured my friend that NO I was not engaged, and that there were NO wedding bells in sight! if there were any, she would be one of the first people to know.

She then proceeded to panic thinking that she had spoilt a surprise that Jacky may have planned, I then had to reassure her that Jacky could hardly pay for the trip not to mention an engagement ring; to which she responded ‘What if he won lotto!?!’ Now if Jacky had won lotto, he wouldn’t still be working 2 jobs and waking up at 4am to go to work.

So for the record – NO I am not engaged, I have never been engaged and to those people who were offended that I didn’t inform them of my engagement – Don’t be!

How good was Anthony on idol tonight!!

Deana's Farewell

Dee's parents own an apartment at the toaster right on the water over looking the Bridge the view is amazing! It's empty most of the time, it's there in case anyone has to stay out late in the city or have drunken too much to drive home.

It's also a great place for parties! Seeing that Dee is taking a career break to travel around Europe and Chris and Nat are being sent to the States (paid for by the Uni for their PhD research) we all got together to have a big girls night in. This comprised of many Jelly shots, fairy bread, chips, pizza, lollies and DVDs.

Here's to a great night!

Bells are in the air

I haven’t posted in a while; there’s always so much I want to tell but after sitting in front of a computer at work all day the last thing that I want to do when I get home is to sit at the computer some more. I’ve also been feeling a bit embarrassed, it’s probably really silly but it was brought on when I noticed people commenting on my blogs – people that I didn't know. I started worrying that people would laugh at what a boring life I lead or at the ‘childish’ manner in which I write. But at the same time I do feel flattered that people would even bother visiting this site and taking time to read what I have to say.

On a totally different note it would seem that everyone is getting married! In my office 3 people have tied the knot in the past few weeks and my cousin is getting married in a week and a half. I'm so disappointed that I'll miss out on going- I LOVE weddings! he lives & works in HK but with my trip at the end of the year I don't have annual leave to spare. It’s such an exciting time, but the stress that you watch them go through makes you wonder at times. One girl had 600 people at her reception….600 people at $100 per head - over half the people she didn't know.

time for CSI gotta run!

And then!??!

So what did I end up doing?

Well I felt pretty lousy for the rest of the day so I sent over an email apologising – it had sounded worse than I had intended. and never meant to hurt her feelings. Due to my outlook tracking function, I knew that she read my email at 11:45am but did not reply and pretty much ignored me for the rest of the day.

I felt horrible! Guilty, and was distracted for the rest of the day. The people from my team said I've never said a bad word about anyone and that really the other manager should just get over it, after all I was just being honest. They were totally against me approaching her to apologise any further. But I was genuinely sorry; if I were in her shoes I’d be very hurt with what I said and I didn’t want things to be awkward.

After work I waited till most people left and went up to apologise in person. As expected she put on a big (possibly fake) smile and said that it was perfectly alright and that she had forgotten already. She said that she saw my email and had meant to reply but forgot.

To get an idea of what she is like, she can be described as the eccentric type. She’s Australian with bright orange hair and married to a Malaysian. She speaks fluent Hindi and is convinced that she was Indian in her past life, thus regular trips back to India to be in touch with her 'heritage'. She really looks out for her team and is not as nice to those that aren’t in her team. but hey I’m just glad things are sorted…so I hope.

*Choke* *Choke*

You know those moments where you wished you could dig a hole and jump in and die! Well if I could right now I would!

One of the girls came by and said – “someone’s painted the office toilets pink and green over the weekend and it looks really bad, go have a look”. I went to have a look and yes it was really bad.

So I came back out and I said to my friend, “Omg it looks so tacky that I could have done a better job!” thinking that we had paid professional people to do this.

As I sat back down at my desk I get emails from the office support team telling me that their manager who sat next to my friend had come in on the weekend and painted the toilets herself (who does that!). I feel so terrible; I’m trying to work out what to do now because I know she heard me, and that she’s upset (as you would be). I quickly rang my manager for advice who tells me to go say sorry in person. Whilst people from office support said that confronting her in person is a definite no no. They said it would be much better to write an email of apology so as to not blow things up unnecessarily. Not sure what to do yet.

Digging Holes

I was discussing an issue with my manager Reena when my work phone rings – on the end of the other line was my Head Manager Neil who whispers to me ‘when are you going to get the cake and flowers??’ I had a moment where I panicked a bit, thinking that I had forgotten to organise cake and flowers for someone.

I looked over to Neil’s desk and said ‘sorry I don’t know what you are talking about’ …long pause...Neil then replies ‘Sorry I was meant to call Emma’ (Emma is my secretary).

It finally hit me that Neil had called Emma to organise cake and flowers for me for my birthday but had called the wrong ‘Em’ and ruined the surprise! Boy did my team members give it to him!

Hip Hip Hoorayyyy

I must say Birthdays are always fun especially when it’s your own. Whilst my actual birth day was yesterday the celebrations had begun a few days before. On Thursday my team took me to lunch at La Bella Vista where a man with the biggest harp I’ve ever seen serenaded me with ‘A song for lovers’ – what this had to do with my birthday I’m not too sure, but it was very nice all the same.

Later that night I met up with Caroline, Jill and Rodna for some fresh Italian Pizza. Caroline and Jill just came back from a 2 week ski trip to New Zealand and had some great stories to share. Rodna on the other hand is about to leave for Europe and we all wished that we were going with her too.

I just wanted to give a big thank you to everyone that sent me sms messages, emails and well wishes. You all made my day great and I’m just really lucky to have such a supportive and loyal bunch of friends. To those that were at Signatures last night, don’t forget to check out the pics.

Things could be worse..

Just when things get tough you hear about something horrible happening and you realise how lucky you are. I received an email from my friend who wanted to let me know that my friend B* was very upset. She explained:

‘B* was on a work cruise with the social committee at JP Morgan. She was with a group from work which included this guy from Pakistan. Anyhow just b4 the boat docked the people working on the boat opened the door at the side and the boat was all rocky....B* and her group were standing near the door and the Paki guy fell out. They couldn't find his body for 1 hr....he drowned...B* had to give statements and stuff. She was freaked all weekend because she watched as he fell and he was looking right at her trying to grab on to something......he was 26 and his family are back in Pakistan!!’

How horrible…………..

_____________________________________________________

Some one broke into our offices last night, they stole all the petty cash, the money from the poor box and went through everyones draws. I came into work this morning and my desk was all messy (but then again that’s how it always looks =P). I think they may have taken my movie vouchers but I forgot about them till now. You feel so invaded.

Thinking the worst

In order to save $12 each day I meet up with two of my work buddies at a free car park and we walk together to work. I generally get there first and I’ll sit there listening to the radio until everyone else arrives.

This morning this guy parks opposite me and kept staring at me for ages, making me feel really uncomfortable. I just assumed he was another weirdo and must have given him the biggest dirties. Not knowing where to look, I pretended to play with my digital camera and was scared half to death when he came right up to my car and started knocking on my window.

Turns out that he wanted to let me know that I had left my headlights on; I thanked him for telling me and wished him a good day. It was such a nice thing for a total stranger to do, and I felt so horrible for thinking the worst of him.

Oldie but a Goodie

A man takes his Rottweiler to the vet and says, "My dog's cross-eyed,

is there anything you can do for him? "

"Well," says the vet, "let's have a look at him"

So he picks the dog up and examines his eyes, then checks his teeth.

Finally, he says "I'm going to have to put him down."

"What? Because he's cross-eyed?"

"No, because he's really heavy"

Bliss

I was really really spoilt today! For my birthday last year Alex bought me a voucher for a 1 hour full body massage and pedicure at Escape Day Spa in Bondi. It was just fantastic! I’ve never been so pampered and I now have the cutest looking toes in ‘Moulin Rouge Pink’.

I was a bit nervous at first because you have to remove all clothing except your undies. You are put in this really nice room where the lights are dimmed lavender oil is burning and relaxation music is playing in the background. Once they lifted the towel off my back I felt extremely exposed – but slowly the masseuse worked her magic.

Big thanks to Alex for such a great present! Also to Jacky for taking me there and sitting in the car outside and waiting for me for 2 hours.

I am a lucky girl...

Idol Mania

I’m a very big fan of idol Australian Idol, American Idol, I even download all the episodes of Canadian Idol. Last nights episode was fantastic! And it’s a pity that some of them will have to go. My pick for the night Courtney, Chanel and then a toss up between Prinnie and Anthony.

Queer Eye for Emily Would be Nice

This is only one section all my dolls, I have so many I don't know what to do with them all. I can't bear to part with them but I don't think that my room reflects how I feel at this point in time. Jacky is band from buying me any dolls/toys, I'm in need of a room make over!

Too many toys

Quote of the Week

'My mother drew a distinction between achievement and success. She said that achievement is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you. Success is being praised by others. That is nice but not as important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement and forget about success'.

- Helen Hayes -

Beer for lunch

I’ve just returned from the farewell lunch – had a few drinks and I feel a bit light headed and happy. I hope no one notices me for the rest of the afternoon.

Sheer Vanity

It’s only Tuesday and I am just really over this week, it must be the gloomy weather. Everyone has returned from the weekend with a new and crazy haircut, one lady’s hair went from dark brown to fire engine red.

On another note, for those who watched big brother recently you may have noticed Monica’s fluoro teeth. She had mentioned that she achieved this result by using the White strips you stick on your teeth. So, out or boredom or sheer insanity Jacky and I went out to buy a box each.  It’s a 2-week program where you leave the strips on twice a day for half an hour. After the two weeks your teeth may be lightened by up to 5 shades!
 It’s my second day today – it tastes horrible and I leave it on while I drive to work. I have yet to see any dramatic difference but it is still early days. I will keep you posted.

-=BoOst=-

It was 'Emily' day at Boost Juice today, I got my free smoothie and I am a happy girl!

Travel Blog

Hello Everyone!

 

I was deleting a lot of my old emails over the weekend and noticed that I had sent out alot of emails detailing my trip while I was away. In addition I would often just write diary entries in my email and save them as drafts. It seemed like such a pity to have them sit in my inbox all this time with no one to share them with.

 

So if anyone is interested, feel free to take a look at my travel blog (I think that I originally got this idea from Christine - thanks Christine) . I've also incuded some recent emails sent to me by my friends while they are overseas.

 

Be warned that I have posted the entries exactly as they were written so please excuse the childish language from the earlier posts.

 

http://pickostravels.blogspot.com

 

Happy Reading

 

Em