Slumdog millionaire

Today is my aunty's birthday!
(and yesterday was my mum's)

We went to watch "Slumdog millionaire" just now....and I HIGHLY recommend it!!!

A great movie. Unique, funny and just a lovely movie.

and those kids running through the slums in India....they will move your heart!

Another car.

Not me.

My aunty put down a deposit for a car today. We were just going to go to different dealerships and check out some cars and test drive them but in the end...see what happened!

The 1st dealership was ...not so good...he really seriously needs to learn some sales skills.

The 2nd one was so good, we ended up staying there for like 4 hours...!!! Every single person we were passed on to (salesman --> finance --> girl who talked about anti-rust protection etc etc --> guy who talked about the insurance partnership available) must have all been trained very well in smooth talking and image and how to treat customers.. The sales person just practically answered our questions without us having to ask them sometimes and at least didn't treat both of us like women-who-don't-know-anything-abt-cars asking dumb questions. Even offered to get us something to drink. Even though his English wasn't that great, but he knew his stuff so well and had an answer to everything, and he just knows how to please a customer's needs.

The finance person was different. He's just contracted twice a week and our visit to him shld have taken like 3 minutes. But he started chit-chatting about whether this was my aunty's first car and it led on to other stuff (like Darwin and beaches there) and he'd go online to google images and see what the picture is. And then we found out he was raised on a farm..in Zimbabwe..or was it Zambia? And then he googled it and showed us where it was in Africa and then my aunt asked about some famous waterfall there, and he googled that too. It was really interesting - suddenly remembered my childhood dreams of travelling here and there, which hasn't really been alive for the past few years. The chat about Africa was inspiring enough. I even saw he had a webpage open - Sydney Children's hospital - can't remember on what it was exactly. I wonder what this guy is on about and what drives him. I didn't ask him. He asked me some questions about myself and if i enjoyed my job. I said it was okay, and he agreed likewise for himself. It's just a job.

And then the lady who talked about different car protection schemes was super friendly but she talked about the schemes most of the time instead of other things. But she also reveals to us that the boss at the end office is like 23?! And then, she told us our next stop would be the insurance guy but since he was busy with another customer, she asked us if we wanted anything to drink, made us tea and showed us to some leather chairs in front of a tv and switched the channel to tennis.

And then, the insurance guy who's 57 but looks more grandfatherly like, comes and apologises that he's late and shows us to his office. And he's also very nice and explains the insurance policy quite well. We find out he came out of retirement after being bored, and now works 70 hrs a week and drives 2 hours one way to/from work. He works hard because he has to send money to his nieces/nephews (not sure if he means real nieces and nephews) in the Philippines. He's Caucasian but he said he was raised by Asians and was in the national karate team till he was 26. And his surname is really linked to that international tyre company.

Oh my gosh, we were really blown away by the professionalism of the whole team. Just one person to the next was memorable in their own way. My father would have been impressed. He gets ticked off easily by ppl who give bad service. Maybe it was the sheer "manipulation" of keeping us longer there and making us happy.

Wouldn't it be great if the whole world was like that, service to the core, but driven by sincere motivations and the importance on the things that matter?

Also, ever looked at professional people like that, who earn big bucks, and even look the part, and wonder....do all that matter? Easy to say no, but if surrounded by such ppl, such thinking, such "power"...what would you say? Or maybe, some ppl say ,with validity, there's nothing wrong being rich and making money, if indeed you're a money-making machine but amidst the realities of the world, it's the heart and where your deepest desire really lie. But sometimes, you wish, till the point of frustration, that some ppl would stop talking about such stuff, as if such things really matter but maybe they're influential weeds that can grow strong enough to choke you if you're not rooted and grounded in the good soil of divine truth and watered daily.

I think I'm thankful I don't have such a high-paying job which increases my daily stress levels.

Back in Sydney )= =)

Arrived back early afternoon - wow, it's been a month.

Mixed feelings. Adjustment is easy, it's like I was just here and I was just there. Just going to different places and spending the night here and there.

Just the other day I was watching "twilight" with my sis at the cinema and we played badminton twice at that RM16/hr court. A bit $$ rite....but i think i've improved somewhat after a long spell of not playing and becoming extremely rusty..

Just the other day we both went to Sunway Lagoon - I learned somewhat how to stay calm and not scream like a madwoman when I watched my sister. I was doing just that all the way through.

Just the other day I was in Singapore - being there has always been enjoyable for me because of truly great singaporean friends

Just the other day, was out walking the dogs with my sis. Boe Boe and Noni - they just want to be play and be loved.

Just the other day was with my grandma...She is so skinny and frail, I just see loose skin wrapping her thin thigh bone

Just the other day, was talking to my mum and dad. Followed my mum to see this nice aunty.

Just the other day was at FWC - with brothers and sisters in Christ who enocurage me in my walk with God. What can I do without them?

and just last night, as I was leaving and went to say bye to my bro...he was sleeping but I caught the book I gave him and my other bro on the floor by his bed...
Nice to know when ppl actually read what you give them =)

and so on and so on....

So, it's now back to work tmr =( Not really looking forward to it. It's going to be different. Coz I won't see this workmate again at work - her contract wasn't renewed when it finished at the end of 2008. What a shocker.. I don't know how I'm going to feel tmr..
Sometimes I think I should be the one to go...she can have my place
and I will go do something different with my life. Something drastic, I don't know..