Category: Life

The people in the office are very friendly. The one who is guiding me is a very nice lady. The one sitting next to me is a Sabahan too. She graduated from the same high school as me in Sandakan. Two years my senior but now happily married to a Penang guy with two kids.

She’s the kind of person whom you would like in an instant when you meet her. Very soft-spoken and very nice. You won’t believe that she’s married with two kids.

One customer really tested me when she was speaking in Hokkien. I didn’t want to tell her I can only understand the dialect and speak a word or two. I tried to speak to her in my broken Hokkien, as far as it could take me. It wasn’t so bad because I completely understood what she was saying and she understood what I was trying to say to.

What’s new is the word “zun” which means a ship in Hokkien.

Two of my colleagues in KL missed me I guess because they called to disturb me today.

“Who’s this on the line?”

“Grace.”

“WHO’S GRACE?!! WHO’S GRACE??”

I was wondering to myself, who this psycho is. The voice was so familiar, I guessed I knew who it was.

I mentioned her name and she laughed.

“Can you pass me to Ms.E?”

“Can!”

A few hours after that, I received another call.

“Who’s this on the line?”

“Grace.”

“GRACE???? WHAT KIND OF A NAME IS THAT?!!”

Another psycho but I could recognise her voice as well.

I called out her name and she laughed out loud.

“Eh, actually I wanted to continue some more you know? But when you said my name, I cannot tahan already.”

Jahat! All like to kacau me!

5pm sharp. I left the office as soon as the taxi driver called up on my mobile. “I’m down here waiting for you already.”

This taxi driver is a very nice guy. See how many times the word “nice” has appeared in this entry?

We talked a little and he dropped me off at the gate nearest to the check in counter. He gave me a receipt which says “Forty Ringgit” but told me that he’s charging me “Thirty only”.

I’ve never met any taxi driver like that. Giving me a forty ringgit receipt so that I can claim it from my company but charging me ten ringgit less.

“If I happen to come to Penang again, I’ll call you!”

“Thank you for your support. It’s nice meeting you.”

“Nice meeting you too.”

I pulled my luggage out from the taxi and as I closed the door, he waved at me. I waved back.

Do you know what this is called? Excellent customer service.

I love Penang but I can’t wait to get back to KL, in which in KLIA the lady who was cleaning the toilet was singing to the tune of a Chinese oldies ???????? 🙂 . She sang very lovely.

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The difference between answering the calls in the office in KL and the one in Penang is that the calls volume is lower.

In KL, there’s only one hotline that gets pick up by us. Here, the hotline goes to every department. Everyone helps to pick up the phone when they are free.

The customers here are nicer than the ones in KL. At least, there were no screaming ones when I was here for two days.

The office is smaller here as compared to the one in KL. Small and cosy. Peaceful and quiet. Simple and uncomplicated. Sometimes it gets so quiet that you get to hear the sound of the music playing in the background, some easy listening songs. Very nice! Whereas in KL, all you hear is noise. No music allowed.

What I did in the office today was to conquer as much calls that I can because in the morning, everyone except for me was called in for a meeting. So I had to attend to the calls and served a customer over at the counter.

The bulk of call were mostly regarding export shipments which left me with a miserable 3 import calls in a total of one day. Unbelievable but true. So, most of the time, I had to help out with the export calls because the customer are complaining that they can’t get through the hotline that has been centralised to KL.

What’s left now is for me to learn about import shipment inside out and then I can answer just any calls that come my way. I kind of like the idea.

Since the hotline is shared among all departments and anyone can just answer the calls, there are times when it becomes like a “Siapa cepat dia dapat” phone answering competition. Judging from the scene in the morning, I knew I had to be a little more quicker than the rest or I’ll never get to answer any import calls. So, there were times when two or more people will be answering the phone but only one gets the line, the fastest one. The others would then hear an engage tone and to put down the phone again. At times, it can get pretty frustrated to pick up the phone a few times but to discover someone else is quicker than you. But it was fun!

After office, I took a cab back to the hotel and dressed down before I took a stroll along Gurney Drive. Took me about 20 minutes to reach Gurney Plaza, walk around for about 10 minutes before I walked back to the opposite direction for food.

Had prawn mee and iced herbal tea. Yummy!

But I wasn’t feeling that satisfied yet so I ‘ta pao’ 4 chicken wings back to the hotel to enjoy them while I catch up on Buletin Utama and a Korean drama.

Tomorrow’s my final day in Penang.

I left the office at 5pm sharp to get on to a taxi that would bring me to the airport.

The taxi driver’s name is Khalid, who speaks very good English and seems to be a very kind person too.

I was feeling a little afraid at first about this whole Penang trip because it’s my first trip being away on my own, to some place that I’m not familiar with. But as I left the office, all I felt was excitement. I can’t wait to reach Penang.

Reached KLIA in 40 minutes. Checked in. They gave me the first row of economy class. 5F. Next to the window. Cool!

Went makan in the airport even though I wasn’t hungry because I know I would be very hungry once I get to Penang if I don’t eat now.

Boarded the plane and guess what? I have the right Row 5- 5D, 5E and 5F all to myself.

Zoomed out of the plane since I was seated at the first row and then zoomed out to get a taxi.

Reached Gurney Hotel and checked into a Studio Suite. 🙂

The bed was so big. I could have brought someone else or more along.

Went down to get some food. It was dark already and I didn’t dare to venture out alone in the dark for some cheap and nice food so what I did was settled at Coffeebean just next to the hotel . Then I was back to the hotel again to have a long hot bath and then reported to everyone that I’ve arrived safely and it’s time for bed.

Writer is leaving for Penang after work tomorrow. She’s sent by the company to answer calls in the Penang office for two days.

She has not been to Penang for the last 10 years and this is the first time she’s going alone. Adventure time. Adventure!