the end & the begining

Merry Christmas y'all

May your coming year be filled with magic & dreams and good madness too. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you are wonderful and don't forget to make some art - write or draw or build or sing and most importantly live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself :)

Green Wave

Bicycle Fair (my final column press ad & the 18th for the year) - RM21K.

Nego 2010 - I need to balance the creative direction with commercial appeal. I need to be more mindful of the budgets and the financial quantity & sales forecasts. Being more strategic with returns on investments of money & time. Assured & secured of the front margin and the back margin. At the end of the day, it's all about making money. We're a business after all. And I know I will have a very hard time bargaining with my suppliers. It's going to be an uphill battle - a fight between David & Goliath. Sometimes, Iron Butterfly & Rufus are being very unfair to me as well, with less purchase & mailer participation - yet I have to deliver higher fees than this year. So sucky :(

I will be going on leave next week Wednesday & Thursday for Christmas...leaving the office in the most critical times...it's end of the year - I have closing & landing to do...but I have to let go...I have a life...I need to spend quality time with my family. I need to focus more on what's tangible than the intangible and not concrete ideals that I want to acheive. Sometimes, I forget as I let myself get caught up in the drama of work and the company.

I feel like next year is THE year - the year for me to be the best that I can be. I'm turning 28 and I haven't acheived half the things that I've wanted to do in my life yet. And the truth is, it's possible to do whatever I want to do, it just takes a lot of hard work, focus, discipline and determination. Hopefully, next year will be the year where all my dreams will come true. Next year, I've set myself up to learn more, to gain more wisdom and to improve in all areas that I've always lagged in.

The Color Purple

Cannot...I must excercise more. Focus, determination & discipline. I am very flabby everywhere; all over the place. I've gotten way out of shape and have probably neglected my health & fitness more than I should as a girl...no; as a woman in her late 20's! This is when I should be looking my best no? *sigh* I thought to myself...if this is my best, than...I better be fixing myself up a little bit while I still can!

I often choose to debate in my head that my working hours & my hectic merchandising job gives me all the excercise that I need; but it isn't long before that I have to admit to myself that it's a different form of activity altogether. It's taken me a while and many low times to bring me back to realization that priorities - just like life; is ever changing...and I suppose I didn't get the memo to have mine updated in the past few years *tsk tsk* Maybe there was a reminder - but i was being ignorant and in denial :)

I hadn't actually make a physical list of all the things which I should be re-adjusting (and they've naturally fallen into place after a fair number of harsh lessons that I had learnt along the way) - right now; it really should be about ME, adventure and a good understanding of strong basics in life. That would mean - good physical health (mentally, emotionally & spiritually as well), happy relationships with family + friends, opportunities and lots of new & exciting explorations.

I had misunderstood all of that for W.O.R.K. My job has become my life. Well, work and career...are two words which are often interwined and incorrectly assumed. I've learnt that in order to acheive your dream career - work is inevitable, but by no means does that equate to: by merely doing the work, a dream career will lay itself on my doorstep. I often have so much to do; it's easy to forget to dream. I dream a lot. I used to. It fed my passion.

never a failure, always a lesson

Atticus has completed the Sports Department revamp. I can't help but to be so proud of myself :) The implantations were awful, the family assortments does not gel in, there is no complete sku range...but I know that I cannot (and never ever) underestimate Atticus. Probably this outcome is just to keep the fast-moving & profitable lines. Which I agree that this is the correct thing to do. I admire Atticus's intelligence and courage. Atticus is back on track again! Atticus is the brain behind the very sucessful Stationary Department who ranks number 1 for 2 - 3 years in a row in terms of sales, voulme and profit; beating big-value departments like Appliance, Furniture & Household. Therefore, Atticus is certainly very capable in repeating the same feat again and will swat me over very easily next year. The pressure is on me now! :)

2010 will still remain an Anticipation, Association & Representation Strategies plus a Fun & Lively Elements throw in. Hypermakets Assortments that covers a certain extent of breadth & depth (plus a little bit of upgrading & the primary role of colors) while maintaining a Hypermarket Competitive Pricing Strategy with a Sports Specialist Shop Implantation & Planograming in mind. Different categories will have different customer segmentation and concept. I want the customers and consumers to have this impression imprinted in their mind - if they need Sports, Bicycles, Nautism, Camping, Fitness - they come to us. They don't go elsewhere. That is why I will continue to emphasize a lot on Press Ad & Mailer activities with a point of Differentiation to prompt the customers, to create the brand exposure, to sell the lifestyle, to present the whole concept range, the product and myself :) I want The English to recognize my humble master pieces and to take notice that I am still around. In case, I lost my job with The French, hopefully The English will offer me a job :) This year, I have created many first & milestones in the industry, changing the way people perceive the categories and consumer education - laying down the foundations in moving things forward, for better things to come. I commit and put my plans in GOD's mighty hands. So hopefully that GOD is with me all the way. I'm going to be stumbling all the way (for sure); baby steps...it's just the begining.

"When you look back and wonder...did I do enough, but in fact, so long as you have taken the business a little further and left it better then when you first arrive; if you can be sure that you have started a few things that will have legs into the future, that's as much as you can expect" - Irene Dorner, HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd Deputy Chairman & CEO.

Iron Butterfly said this to me on Tuesday (after the Coleman Regional Meeting) - "Good job, J____" - priceless :)

EOVL

Torres >> hmm, I don't know. It seems like a complex thing. Liking someone is complex enough already. What it boils down to is that I keep on thinking that the other person deserves someone better than me :(

Grey's Anatomy. Ally McBeal. Neurotic, attractive, professional woman having problems staying in a proper relationships. I'm like them...
Relationships should be easy, but these stupid chick flicks are brainwashing the lot of us. Long ago, life was meant to be live it, meet a guy, then marry him and bears him kids & take care of them. Now with the invasion of Sex In The City & other powerful women-theme-shows-culture; we're doomed to considering every single nostril hair that he sheds before we can even consider saying yes to a date in the first place. And then, even in the process of courtship, we'll spend over four years carefully checking every other suspicions that we have about the possible Mr. Right before gleefully tossing him to the big rubbish dump of Mr. Wrongs that I used to date.
Choosy!

from glory to glory

Trouble he will find you no matter where you go, oh oh
No matter if you're fast, no matter if you're slow, oh oh
The eye of the storm or the cry in the mourn, oh oh
You're fine for a while but you start to lose control

He's there in the dark, he's there in my heart
He waits in the wings, he's gotta play a part
Trouble is a friend, yeah trouble is a friend of mine, oh oh

Trouble is a friend but trouble is a foe, oh oh
And no matter what I feed him he always seems to grow, oh oh
He sees what I see and he knows what I know, oh oh
So don't forget as you ease on down the road

So don't be alarmed if he takes you by the arm
I won't let him win, but I'm a sucker for his charm
Trouble is a friend, yeah trouble is a friend of mine, oh oh

Oh how I hate the way he makes me feel
And how I try to make hime leave, I try
Oh Oh I try.

Work Tales:
Take A Step Outside With Coleman = RM21K
School Holiday Fair = RM79K
Oh dear...I'm slipping away. It's like I've lost it completely...averagely, I'm contributing 35% - 40% but now it's like 19% - 25%! It's alarming. Maybe it's the raining season, or Christmas or Back To School...I don't know anymore. This job has created this new emotional level of stress/sorrows which I've been so lucky to have never come across in the past :) It makes you feel like that you are not contributing enough, not doing enough. Iron Butterfly has sarcastically commented: "it's a good effort, but the sales are not justified, instead you went and make additional purchases which cause high stock days". I would love to say: "@#$% !^&...at least there is additional sales; no matter how minimal it is because the figures could have been even much more worst and the advertising will give my department (and indirectly myself) the extra exposure and branding purposes.

But fret not! Yingze knows how to pick up herself again. No matter what these people say or do, no matter how they put me down, no matter how bad the results are...I am very grateful that GOD is with me all these while and have blessed me very richly in every way possible. I will be focus. I've got my favorite music plug in to my ears, I'm running; err...running to no where but my mind is running to bigger things, to bigger dreams and to the many places my passion for life brings me :)

reconnecting with old friends

M13 Alumni Gathering, Melting Pot Cafe, Concord Hotel Shah Alam - you guys rock! :)

Even though, it was not a large crowd but the numbers is just good enough for a starter. Damian, Trix, Torres, Amadeo, Chihiro, Pietro, Alex, Charis, Mel Jag, Miss Klein and many more was in da'house. We talked, giggled, teased, ate, talked some more, laughed, joked, took loads of photos, gossiped, ranted, raved, drove each other a bit insane, and yes...talked even more :) Thanks to Trix & Mel Jag (the Organizers) and also the Connectors. Connectors are people who don't only know a lot of people - they love introducing who they know to each other, one way or another. They take joy in the whole process of making a difference by connecting people. That's why if you have a connector in your life, you will defnitely find yourself blessed with all sorts of things. If you don't have a connector just yet, go and find one - you'll see how great it is to have one (or more) in your life. And, if you're a connector yourself - good on 'ya. You're a rare breed who can bring a lot of interesting things into the lives of people you come across.

Memory is a funny thing. I have mental snapshots of people, faces, rooms, corridors, laughter, voices, documents and endless beautiful M13 moments & magic; all frozen and hazy whilst embedded in 2 years of grey matter; and all about to be transformed by the reality of time.

Although this whole thing is very exciting, I feel as though a part of me - they're still my friends but I can't help but feel that we've grown apart in some ways and have got settled into our own lives. I've said many times that a good relationship is like a duck. Everything may look smooth but underneath it all, you've got to paddle like hell :) This should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever been in a serious long-term relationship. As everyone knows, good relationships takes work. So, I've been pondering about what makes people click as friends...what makes friendship last...how do friendships work...can men & women be really "just friends"...how do you develop friendships...what makes a friend a real friend...well, you get the picture.

So, my M13 reunion didn't change my life. It didn't shake the foundation of my youth. And I don't really feel like a transformed person because of it.

So yes, my friends; thanks again for a gorgeous, memorable weekend. I'm already looking forward to the next get-together :)