Everything happens for a purpose and it serves us

A spate of bad luck in a short two weeks... mostly bike related.

First of all two parking tickets within days of each other, in the same carpark where I had parked for almost 4-5 months without buying season parking and having only one $8 parking ticket to show for it. Think the Aunties must have set new year resolutions to be more on the ball and conduct more vigilant checks, or their bosses must have given them new quotas to meet! Hehe... the silver lining... 3 X $8 fine = $24 which is still less than what I would have paid for season parking for the given period(approx. $17.50 per month?). Still don't see a point in buying season parking cos I'm usually not home most of the time, or is it worth spending an extra $17.50 per month for that extra peace of mind?

Just had a minor accident on the PIE yesterday near the BKE exit. The damage: abrasions on left elbow and knee, small abrasion near the right ankle, a sore right kneecap, approx. $160(about $150 for a new IU unit and $9 for minor repairs on the bike) poorer on my wallet, and big ugly scratches on my beloved bike. Yeah, thank goodness no major injuries. True , I was going a tad fast on a wet drizzling night, and I'm in the van's blind spot, but the van should had signalled before it cut into my lane, and not signal and turn at the same time! Gut reaction was to jam the brakes hard to avoid the van, and before I could blink, the bike was wobbling and I skidded onto the road. Luckily the two bus coaches behind were travelling slowly and could stop in time... I can't imagine what would have happen if I was run over by those giant coaches(those that you take to go Malaysia). Luckily bike could still start after that, and I managed to make my way home. Thanks dearie for looking me up and bringing dinner after I called you, you're the best! Hope I didn't give you a big scare.

Am i still going to ride after this incident? Yes, no doubt about it. This is just a timely reminder for me to be more careful on the roads, afterall, riding a bike is like protecting metal with bare flesh. But I can't imagine what life would be like without my bike, travelling between work, EB, home, and KW's place would be so much more inconvenient and time consuming. Haha, unless I have the cash to afford a car, but thats like pretty far into the future.

Oh well, now for some good news. Yeah, finally got notified of my bonus for year 2006, but not as much as I thought it would be but nevertheless its some extra cash that might come in handy. And of course, I also got an increment for this year of approximately 8%. I'll say its not too bad, but as a salaried employee, your pay scale can only rise in such small increments on a yearly revision basis. Don't see any way I can become financially free depending on monthly paychecks. I must think of other ideas!

Hehe, was thinking of trying to repaint some of EB's badly scratched tables today so poppped over to the shops near Holland V to get some paint to try out. Happened to walk by the betting shop and it struck me that I should try my luck at 4D just for the fun of it. Bought my bike license plate number for Saturday and Sunday, and keeping my fingers crossed now. Apparently, the last time I got a spate of bad luck with my bike, the number came out for 4D. I thought of buying then I didn't buy in the end, so disappointing! Call me superstitious but I'm not letting this chance get away this time.

Reminder for myself. Think positive! There is a silver lining behind every cloud! Everything happens for a reason and purpose and it serves us!

Setting Goals

Its the time of the year when we look back over our achievements for the past year and set new objectives for the new year. So what have i achieved over the past year? I wouldn't say that I have done anything commendable as it was by far a rather uninspiring year. Reached the milestone of having clocked one year of proper work experience after graduation... but I'll just rate myself as just having performed what is required of me satisfactorily and nothing more to exceed what is expected of my role. I don't forsee myself staying in the rat race and climbing up the corporate ladder in the long run as its just not my cup of tea. Still seeking out inspirations and opportunities that will eventually be able to replace my current income and enable me to exit the drudgery of holding on to a 9 to 5 job(or rather a 9 to X time job depending on the amount of work on hand). The reason why many people can never achieve financial freedom is that they spend beyond heir means and are stuck working for money in order to sustain their level of lifestyle. Conversely, the smart ones who are on their way to achieve or have already achieved financial freedom put their money to work rather than work for money. I will be thinking of ways to make my money work harder!
Discovered the wonders of podcasts recently and the wealth of information that it holds. Basically, you are able to find a large variety of podcasts on various topics of interests you have, kind of like talkshows on radio. Best of all, most of it are FREE! I've listened to podcasts that talks about business success, personal finance, travel etc and truely it is really a goldmine of knowledge! I'm gonna make it a point to download a motivational podcast listen to it on the way to work everyday.
I'm also In the process of coming out with an assessment and objective setting system for EB staff. The rationale is to make the year-end staff evaluation a more structured process that is based on their level of competencies attained as well as whether they have met the objectives that they set at the beginning of the year. The main bulk of it is adapted from the process at where I work.. haha, it makes coming out with the policy so much easier. Why reinvent the wheel when you can learn from the success of others? If we want to be successful, the quickest way is to model those that are already successful.

Saturday Again

Another week has passed.... Saturdays at EB again. I guess my life is rather routine: day job of course during the weekdays 9am to approximately 7-8 pm. Tues, thursday nights have to come down to take over EB after work, and Saturdays at EB too from morning to 2am. Therefore, Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights plus whole of Sundays are the free days. Think next week onwards, I shall designate Monday nights as exercise day with KW, and Friday nights(since KW has lessons at night anyway)I shall go gym! Need to keep fit otherwise always feel so sluggish! Wednesday and Sundays shall be kept free for impromptu plans!
Just received HSBC 1 for 1 voucher for tickets to BKK for Jetstarasia. Considering whether to go sometime in March to relax and chill. Maybe go there to get some inspiration for new business ideas.
The plan is to keep the day job while building secondary income from outside of work. Eventually, hope to build enough income to quit the day job and work full time in where my interest lies. Its a vicious cycle in the rat race. You start from the bottom up and have to work hard in order to climb up the corporate ladder, making sacrifices on work-life balance along the way. But eventually when you get to the top, won't you end up having less personal time cos you get saddled with even more work and responsibilities on your shoulders? Strange huh? Whats the point of earning so much money if you have no time to enjoy it? If your passion is your work, wouldn't that be so much better? Of course, its not possible to chase after your passion when passion can't feed you. Compromises must be made. That's why I'm keeping my job. Although its not something I totally enjoy doing, at least it pays me well enough to keep my personal finances afloat while I chase after my passion outside of work.
Plan for 2007: Keep the job, work on side income. Anyway, finally gonna switch role on monday. Hopefully its something more interesting.

Staff Meeting

Had our inaugural staff meeting of the year for 2007 on Sunday. Turnout wasn't too good, but I guess it was a good start. Had some training, updated staff about new policies and of course gave out the pay! The staff seems excited about the new perks that we're giving: 20% off for staff dine-in with friends, 10% off for friends, $20 voucher monthly to spend, plus birthday month voucher of $50 to celebrate! Also the new staff board is up, injecting a lively and fun factor to the otherwise plain restaurant. Hope these changes will make EB a better place to work.
Work seems to be back to normal already, no more holiday low volumes. Have not switched roles yet.. wondering when will I ever cos everyday now seems to be busy. But busy is good, cos it makes the day pass by quickly.

Neat and Tidy

Spent the whole morning bringing down the Christmas stuff at EB. Now's everything's back to normal. Its amazing how the holidays pass by so quickly. Christmas is over, New year's over, even Hari Raya's over. Now we're into the new year, with new beginnings. Junked a lot of acccumulated stuff collected over the past year. Think this is some sort of yearly ritual... haha, I remembered doing the exact same thing one year ago.Hopefully this time is for the better. As the chinese saying goes "Jiu de bu qu, xing de bu lai".

New year, new plans for EB. I would say if we were to start EB all over again, we would have done things in a more structured and organised way. The way I see it, we've just been moving along haphazardly. I guess its time to put things back into proper perspective, and of course the first focus would be to up the service standards. Have read one too many comments on the poor standard of service. Desserts good, ambience good but if customer gets turned off with bad service, they still won't come back. Food standards would be another key focus area. We're more cafe than restaurant now, and that's a perception we like to change among our customers.

Over at work, looks like trade volumes going back to normal. That means more work in the coming months.
Sigh...