Birthday Wishes

A lot of Birthdays this weekend.

A Big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to:

Roula
Deana (Sorry for missing the Lunch!)
Mey
Joel
Simba

Saturday Night Drinks - The Golden Sheaf @ Double Bay to watch Brown Sugar play.

*Roula I didn't get pics of all the other people so I'll have to grab them off you.

*Betty & Lisa how much are you going to pay me for the pic with Rob?

* Yay! I'm off to Melbourne in 3 Days!!

*Matty did you like Viv's suprise?

End Of Quarter Celebrations

Something horrible happened at work yesterday; it drained everything out of me and left me in tears. When I woke up this morning I was still feeling pretty lousy and I turned on the computer to vent. I’m really glad that I didn't press publish …I would have regretted it.

The funny thing is, my assistant decided to Google my name at work today and found my blog. I guess I have to be more careful incase one day someone who I don't want to see my site finds it. (Don't worry Em you're welcome to visit anytime, you know I couldn't live without you!) *waves* and says a big Hi to Emma.

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Last quarter our team blew the budget and did really well, there were whispers of go-carting, lawn bowls, laser skirmish and mini golf as rewards. In the end we all headed off for lunch at Grappa Ristorante E Bar with work providing plenty of alcohol for a boozy afternoon.

Guys, this restaurant is FANTASTIC! If you are ever in Leichhardt go try it out. The prices aren’t cheap, but the service, food and setting is well worth it!

Our Team - minus Nicola, Natalie & John who were down with the flu.

Everyone got presents...

the card reads 'Thank you for all your hard work and efforts in Quarter 1'

I recommend the fish...

There were also prizes given out for bloopers and funny moments that occurred during this quarter. I won 2 prizes for the 2 scenarios below.

Scenario 1

I often have talks with my manager about creating strategies to reach my clients on a more personal level. After one particular visit I made a note on the database to ask my client about her cat the next time I spoke to her. After some general chit chat the conversation went something like this:

Me: “So Marge* how is that cat of yours?”

Client: “Oh it died.”

Me: *freezes and doesn’t know what to say next*
“Oh…it’s for the best”

Client: *Silence*

Me: *Silence*

Oh it’s for the best!??!! What a dumb thing to say…….!!

Scenario 2

Imagine my client, the General Manager of a large multinational organisation. In person he is very conservative and very serious. After a long conversation I had meant to say “lovely touching base with you Robert” but instead I said “lovely touching you Robert”.

Me: *Silence*

Client: *More Silence*

So I won a toy kitten which is self explanatory, the rubber gloves was in case I wanted to go ‘touch’ any more clients.

* Names have been changed.

Happy Birthday Rodna!

I’m at Baku now and I’ve been walking around like a zombie. Had a really big night last night, went on a Wild Boys Afloat cruise for Rodna’s 24th. Happy Birthday Rodna!! Despite my initial reservations it turned out to be a great night with plenty of laughs. Yes I really did go...you can all stop grinning now!

So 21 of us all got dressed up ready to have a bit of fun (Sorry for the picture quality I was too lazy to scan it).

The 'buffet' reminded me of the food that you get served at camp and we drank wine out of plastic cups.....classy!

The guy on the left was Keanu's body double in the Matrix...and the guy on the right was errr...showing us how athletic he was =P ehhehe

There were 5 performances and the last 'performer' looked really scary and randomly picked girls from the audience, he came up near us and I quickly put my head down to avoid eye contact secretly praying that he wouldn't pick me.

Poor Sophie got picked ....I won't put the picture up...

Here is to a great night and many cheesy jokes!!

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In something totally unrelated, I was watching the Charles and Camilla wedding as I was getting ready for work. Is Charles and Camilla proof of the age old saying “If you’re meant to be together you will be…”?

It's the Weekend

Today...no, This week was a tough one. I'm glad it's over.

A big sorry to Hoi who probably emailed me at a bad time and had to bear the brunt of my frustrations brought on by Candidates who SCREW ME AROUND AND WASTE MY FREAKING TIME!!!

I'm fine now and I'll live to fight another day.

Powerful stuff...

Found the site below via Ken's Blog...it's a must visit.

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Came into work this morning to be greeted by this email and just wanted to share it with everyone (with Christina's permission of course).

From: Christina Ioannou

Sent: Thursday, 31 March 2005 1:07

Subject: Hello Girlies

Just wanted to say a quick hello and let you know I got back safely, sorry for not having my phone on!!

Hope you are all well and your fantastic selves!!

Had a beautiful time!!! On the Tuesday last week, arrived at Whitsunday Coast and spent the day looking around the coast, which is populated with sugar cane plantations. You can't swim in the water at Airlie beach because it is full of sting rays, but they have a lagoon for the local residents. I was very worried at this point because I thought we were going to spend 8 days here, and I wanted to swim in the unswimable water!

Anyhow, I eventually found out that we were headed for somewhere else on the Wednesday.... we boarded the ferry in the afternoon and only half an hour later arrived at the beautiful Hamilton Island resort! We stayed in a cute little palm bungalow!

You will all be very proud of me.... I participated in activities including kayaking (okay for half an hour, before I had a heart attack in fear of the deep blue sea), I also sunbaked alot and managed not to get burnt thanks to my trusty 30+ Le Tan sunscreen- which makes you brown without the red sting! (my new discovery!!). Stephen was a very good boy he kayaked everyday!

We visited, the Great Barrier Reef yesterday, a two hour ferry trip away on rough waters. Let me say, that it is beautiful!!!!! The reef is a strip of coral (actually multiple strips of coral) located in the middle of the pacific ocean. They have built a floating plank there called reefworld, which is where you disembark from the ferry and can either use the plank to sunbake or to snorkel/scuba dive in the water. We went in a semi-submersible submarine and had a look at the reef- it was amazing! Stephen was so cute, he got so carried away snorkelling and looking at the beautiful blue angel fish, that he went floating off course.... eventually the speed boat came to get him!

And the highlight of my trip, would have to be on March 26 (the Saturday, which is was our 3 year anniversary day!). We got up and Stephen had hired a helicopter for us, it took us to Whitehaven beach, which has the whitest and softest sand in the world, it was amazing. We set up our sunshade tent, and lay there just the two of us (as it is an unoccupied island). Stephen then gave me our anniversary present which was a book which he had made - he had painted pictures using watercolour paints of all the things we had done together and things he would like for us in the future- it was so special that I started crying.

And before I knew it he took out a beautiful ring and proposed to me! I said YES! So there you go ladies, I am finally engaged! I found out later that he had asked mum and dad for permission like 3 weeks ago or something!!!! SO they all knew but me!!! Everyone is happy, and apparently the whole of Cyprus/Syria/Adelaide know!!

Love you lots!!

C.

I shall post a picture of the happy couple once I am home. All the girls let me hear you say 'awww....'

For She's a Jolly Good Fellow..

Wishing Mrs Westwood a very Happy 50th Birthday!

You've known me since I was 5, thank you for being a 2nd Mum to me.

Lots of Love xoxx

Em

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Also Big Happy Birthday to Nat! Hope that you had a fantastic night, can't wait to see the rest of the pics.

Drinks @ The Loft 24/03/05

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

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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.

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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

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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!

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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*.