Maldives

I guez most pp have heard of how beautiful Maldives is and long to go there; me was no exception!!! There was a good deal during the last NATAS fair for Club Med Kani & me decided to go w HL. Yep, many pp were surprised that Dar was not goin w me as Maldives is like a honeymoon destination but instead w 3 other babes. & here are the 4 pretty babes: Me, the 2 HLs & SP :) Pity that it was a nite flight so when we reached there, it was in total darkness & we cldn't appreciate the beauty of the island. Nonetheless, we were welcomed warmly by the staff (aka GOs) w a drink & shown to our rooms. & these were the sights that greeted us the next day:

The Sand, the Sea & the Sky!!! & as HL added... the SEAWEED hahaha!

A view of the jetty

On the 1st day, we had a briefing in the AM & was shown ard the island by 1 of the GOs which really wasn't v big. Having nothing to do till lunch, we went to take some pics near the water bungalows. HL's lumix was really gd; it is wide-angled so we cld take many pics ourselves (like e one above)... m gona get the Lumix too if we eva get dwn to buying our own cam hee. Aft lunch, we decided to go snorkelling; which turned out to be a rather bad idea as the sea was v choppy in the pm & many pp on the boat were seasick. & no matter how hard we paddelled in the water, we cldn't seem to go far... it was really v tiring. :*(

Above: HL & I @ the jetty whilst waiting for the boat. Forgot to mention that we had to take a swimming test first before they let us go snorkelling!

Rite: Us happily taking pics b4 plunging into the choppy sea

So we decided to try again the next morning (& e morning after) when the seas were not so choppy. & indeed they were fulfilling trips as we saw dolphin (umm actually i only saw the fin or was it e tail) on e 2nd day & turtles on the 3rd day!!! & the fishes swam really close to me, but i wasn't able to touch them. I esp liked this flourescent blue one :) The only bad thng was that I witnessed this chinese guy breaking off some of the corals when he kicked his flippers. The GO was really angree as apparantly it wasn't the first time he did it. Some of the other chinese also stood on the corals when they have been briefed not to do so. Just some incidents why the GOs there didn't seem to like the chinese much! (& Club Med was teaming w them whilst we were there!!!)

Above: The site where we snorkelled on the 2nd day. See the lighter shade of green, that is where the corals are

Rite: Us on the smaller boat where we cld sit on the deck & took many many pics :)

Proof that we went snorkelling. Don't we look like puffer fishes?? hee hee... guess which is me?

We also went sailing :) We cld actually learn or the GOs could bring us out. We chose for the GOs to bring us out & they taught us a little along the way. It was q ez as they used this "stick" to control the direction of the boat.Tis the boat we went sailing on... it is called the Hobbie Cat =)

It was v choppy the first time we went out; I was actually splashed all over w water & was all drenched by the time we reached back the shore. e 2nd time we went out, it was beta & so HL was able to take q alot of pics including 1 with a super wierd expression on my face coz the GO changed direction of the sail & the sai hit my head!!! Rather the hook hooked my hair so it felt like my hair was gona be hooked off! & she took this change 2 take a photo of me so there was pic of a v pained expression of me holding on 2 my hair!!! I refuse to put e pic up here :P We also went for stretching & a specially arranged Hip-Hop class hee hee. I didn't really dance lah... but the place where they held the classes was v dark & there were no fans which resulted us being feasted by mosquitoes. I thnk that is also where I got my sandfly bites :(

The meals were all inclusive & they were usually held @ the Velhi restaurant. There were also snacks in between the meals @ Iru & Sunset Bar. However the food wasn't all that delicious; perhaps we weren't used to their cooking bahs and the 1 thng we all complained about was that the drinks were all super duper diluted!!! We were wondering if it was coz there were so many chinese there during that period as the chef told us that @ least 10 pp have complained about the drinks!!! In e end, we had to keep telling the bartender GOs that we wanted our drinks CONCENTRATED & asked them to pour the juice straight from the carton itself. The snacks were q yummz though especially the Nuggets & e Samosas.

Having the yummy Samosas @ Iru Bar on the rite before Dinner @ Velhi Restaurant on the left. The 2 HLs actually saw a rat 1 nite @ Velhi Rest, SP & I jumped up in fright haha!

We usually chose the 4 seaters in the rest so that the GOs will not come "disturb" us whilst we eat. It was the job of the GOs to talk to guests even during meal times.

The night life was not boring either; no wonder Lonely Planet sez that Club Med Kani has the best night entertainment on the island. The GOs put up shows everynite with a different theme, e.g. 80 shows, Latino Dance, Cabaret... after which there was the Sign Dance where everyone followed to specific moves to the songs. It was rather fun, esp on the last nite where they played chinese/korean/jap songs. This chinese guy actually went to sing the chinese song on the little stage!!! I almost died of luffter!!! Aft that there was disco (but hardly anyone danced!!!) or guests could sit around for drinks. On our 2nd last nite there, we did stay to talk with the GOs till late; some of the GOs were really q cheeky & bo liao heh. Some pics w the GOs:

Above: Marhavilla the Chereographer for the Nite shows w his Afro Hair. In 1 of the shows, he actually tied his hair up like a poodle!!! I wanted 2 take a pic w him in that hairstyle but I thnk he was embarassed!

Rite: Another 2 GOs who sat dwn 2 entertain dwn with their tricks

Our 2 snorkelling GOs, Vaea from Taihiti above & Yuki from Japan on the rite! Vaea was always lookin for us during meal times & Yuki was simply the cutest GO there!

Left: Emmanuel the Land Sports Instructor who was also the Hip-Hop Instructor.

Rite: Pascine (i thnk) the restaurant manager who was super frenly. HL & I were making noise that all the snacks were finished 1 afternoon and she actually came out to entertain us! :P

Oh & 1 of the GOs brought us to view the water bungalows @ our request. It was q kewl as it had a private staircase from the room into the ocean (see pic) but it didn't have a glass bottom floor which I thot was q disappointing. But we took many pics alg e way :)

The waters there were actually q clear & there were fishes there, we did some couples snorkellling near the water bungalows. Club Med has also thotfully left life vests in the rooms for this purpose :) Oh & I managed to get q near the bb sharks. We saw them in the water but only 2-3 of them were swimming about... luckily HL spotted many of them under the walkway (I thnk it was too hot!!! haha) n I went near them to take some pics. Wanted to touch them but they didn't swim q near enuff for me. We were wondering where e mummy shark was!!!

The weather was really hot but I didn't really mind coz I got my tan! hee hee. Did put sunblock on the first day; didn't put any on the 2nd day n only put on my shoulders on the 3rd day... luckily the tan came out rather even. Altohugh I was a little disappointed w Maldives (coz 1) the beaches were not really v pristine clean & 2) after e 3rd day, we felt like prisoners on the island as it was getting borin coz we dun dive!) I really enjoyed myself this trip! :))) It's actually my 1st trip wout Dar & w my gfs so I was actually a little apprehensive @ first but it turned out to be a lot of fun!!! Perhaps we'll go Greece or States next year bah! Thanks for e fun time babes! :)

Bad Bad Service

I seriously thnk that I have bad karma w the service provider SH; after the incident in March wrt to the HP mini Dar bought & his $200 contract, I was @ the brunt end of their horrid service again. Tis e email that I sent to them:

Issue 1
18th May: My husband called 1633 @ about 9pm to enquire about his billing for hp 9382 3840. He was told that starhub was undergoing a "system upgrade" and hence the officer would not be able to check for him. Just wondering, doesnt Starhub has any backup system??? He requested for a call back the following day, 19th May before 11am.
19th May: No one called my husband back. He thus had to call 1633 again in the afternoon. He was served by a guy named "Suren" who told him that it would take 3 days for him to check and get back to him. My husband then requested Suren to call him back before Fri, 22nd May as he was going overseas.
22nd May: I called 1633 and around 11.30am, and asked whether my husband was getting a call back that day. Ivan, who picked up my call told me that Suren would call my husband back that day. He told me that he would drop an email to Suren so that Suren would call my husband once he receive the email. I told Ivan that my husband would like Suren to call before 1pm that day.
TILL TODAY, NO ONE HAS CALLED MY HUSBAND!!!
Qn:
1) Doesn't Starhub have a backup system for the billing (or any other kinds of system?)
2) Why wasn't there a callback on 19th May when my husband has requested for one? It is always a time-consuming process to call 1633 as we always have to wait for no less than 10 min which is why cx request for a call-back.
3) Why didn't Suren call my husband back yesterday when Ivan told me that he would be calling him back? In any case, it has been more than 3 days and he told my husband that it would take him 3 days to check on the billing!
4) Don't you have a better system rather than just emailing the staff to call the customer back? What if the staff is on urgent leave/MC and cx is requesting an urgent call back? Shouldn't a manager be on hand to call cx back?

Issue 2
15th May: My husband went down to your shop at Plaza Singapura to renew his contract. As he didn't bring down his corporate pass, he was advised to go down personally to hand in a copy of his pass.
22nd May: I called to enquire whether we could fax in the pass instead (as is possible with other mobile providers). I was advised by Suren that it was not possible. However when I called your business hotline @ 1800-888-8888, I was told that I could fax in the pass, together with a letter. This is the 2nd time that I've encountered differing answers from your cx care.
23rd May: As I have left the number in the office, I called 1633 to ask for the number for corporate customers and was given the number 6725 9797. "Nora" who picked up the phone told me that as they have just shifted into the new office @ Ubi, she did not have any access to any system and also that I would have to fax in the request to the shop @ Plaza Singapura as the contract was resigned down that and to call 1633 for the fax number. This was not what was told to me the day before and she told me that it was a miscommunication. I told her then that i was quite sure that 1633 would NOT be able to provide me with the fax number and asked her then what should I do? She kept insisting that she did not have the system and irritated, I told her to ask the manager to call me as I did not want to keep calling 1633 as I always have to hold for almost 10 min. She said "ok" but HUNG UP THE PHONE ON ME before she could even get my details!!! What kind of cx service is this?!?!?!!?
Left with no choice, I had to call 1633 AGAIN, was given the business hotline number and FINALLY got the fax number!
Qn:
1) Why is it that there are always differing answers from your cx service staff? Isn't there some SOP or some general Q&A that the staff can follow? Failing which, shouldn't staff seek help from their supervisors if they are unsure of the answer?
2) I am extremely appalled by Nora's lack of service enthusiasm, especially for hanging up the phone on me! It looks like almost every department in Starhub has bad customer service, is this the image that you wish to project to your customer?

& to add oil to fire, they didn't reply me aft I sent this email. Luckily the gal who was following with me on the "Nora" case was nice & professional & when I told her that I have not received any reply (not even a confirmation email!), she gave me the email of the Head of Cx Svc. Which really worked coz I got a call back (although not by the head) b4 noon on Monday after sending the email on Sun.

The matter has more or less been settled on my part (Dar is still asking about his phone charges) & I got another year of free Auto-Roaming & Caller ID for Dar; so that makes it 2 years coz I already got 1 year free from the previous complaint. Which is good coz I was v against Dar signing on with Starhub again; wanted him to finish his contract & switch to my corporate plan coz I get free Auto-Roaming & Caller ID so this works out to be the same. The guy only offered me a 50% discount off the subscription @ first, which later changed to either Auto-Roaming or Caller ID & now we get both! ha... persistence pays man! I wonder what else I can ask for should I have to call them in again... kekekeke

Footnote: The guy called Dar back & cleared his queries on his billing. & he gave Dar 50% off his subscription for 2 months!!! (he only offered me 1... not fair! :P) means Dar will be saving over $200 in his bills for these 2 years!! I thnk i shd take e credit haha!

Long Absence

WAH... it's been 2 months since I have last posted something... no excuses except that I have been lazeee but more because there's been nothing much interesting goin on in my life lately haha! It's the usual routine of waking up; goin to work; coming home; play my fb games; sleep and the whole cycle repeats itself :P guess it's e same for almost everyone coz i see most pp haf been abandoning their blogs recently :P

The mega project finally ended in early April... Yipee!!! Out goes the mundane job of checking and opening of accounts for clients and forever churning numbers for my boss to minimise the number of accounts that are not opened. Well... sometimes still gota churn numbers but it is definitely not as bad. Took on the imager role in office which is also another mundane role, just gota be careful of the timings which I missed the other day & resulted in me being complained by 1 of the ViXens in the off. I was damn pissed coz it was e 1st time I made a mistake & I have been keeping close watch of the timing except that day coz there were so many txn. What's more, I felt she was instigated by the mother ViXen & aft that, they did not tok to me about it but instead acted normally w me. Me being me, just cldn't be bothered w them n only toked to them when req. Geez... it's been like 9 months but yet I still cannot get used to all the OP in the office. Luckily I have a few colleagues whom I am closer to so we can bitch about all the others haha. In fact, my boss called me & my buddy colleague in to chide us for toking too much hahaha!!! It's funny how thngs turned out; i didn't used to like my buddy colleague so much n preferred mother ViXen but now I can't stand mother ViXen n m closer to my buddy colleague, taught me to really get to know a person b4 putting my judgement on them.

& I was actually looking to change my job coz I feel my present job scope is not value-adding; tempted to go back to gvt sector coz if lucky can be q zuo bo & also the pay is higher. Was waiting to see if I got accepted to the Higher Diploma in Private Banking and just got news couple of days ago that I was selected! Mixed feelings coz do wana learn more and dun mind goin "back to school" again but don't really know the other colleagues that are selected well; esp so since mother ViXen is selected as well... sigh... & worse thing is, there's lessons on my bday!!! Gosh, I like haven't studied on my bday in @ least 12 years!!! Mite skip dat lesson though... still thnking abt it. Wanted to go away that week but looks like that won't b possible coz haf assessment that week also... guess gota celebrate either b4 or aft dat wk bah...

Went GZ/Macau/ZH w Dar & his family in late March. 2nd "family" trip after the Melbourne trip in 07... bought q a lot of stuff although Dar wasn't too impressed that most of the shopping catered to gals. Dar & I made a side trip to GZ ourselves; it has really changed a lot since I was there like almost 20 years ago!!! & it was ez to find the places we wanted to go to too. Thnk we might make another trip there again... Dar's sis & SIL were amazed @ how long Dar could walk; the buildings were like 6 storeys high and he wasn't a least bit tired even after walking all the floors! Me? I was complaining that i was tired even b4 reaching the 5th floor haha! & I juz came back fr Maldives w a good tan!!! But save that for the next entry :P

So wat's everyone been up to? :)