Work
The last week of work was pretty much heads down, bums up to try to power through the material we hadn't been able to cover while systems were down. The 3 days behind on training ballooned into 6 days when IT took until Wednesday (3 days before training ended) to give us a working version of our client's CRM. I think my training group's brains almost exploded with all the information I packed into them in such a short space of time. But they put in a stellar effort, and I began to believe they just might be ready.
The phones were a different story. Firstly, they had to be sent here from Sydney. I don't know why, but that was the way they did it. International mail = customs = stuck. The phones were finally released around Thursday arvo, just in time to try to configure them. FAIL. The software that operated the phones didn't connect, and when it did it was all wrong. After hours and hours of testing we got a workaround solution that would allow the agents to take calls, but they'd have to jump through all kinds of hoops to do so. For one, the application that saves calls so we can report on them was sized incorrectly, and the "save" button was invisible. To fix this, the agents had to end the call, press Ctrl+Alt and the right arrow to flip the screen on its side and make the button visible again. Then save, and flip it back up again. That's a really cool fuckup to make when you have a client onsite overseeing your big day.
The last Friday of training was a graduation ceremony. Yup. They gave out certificates, and even did performances!! The trainees performed a rather amusing rendition of the song "G'day g'day" that they'd learnt in language and culture training, plus their team song, "Lean on Me". Here they are, dancing around the work cafeteria:
It was kinda cool that they put so much effort into showing their employees that they're important. The site director said a little speech, and they had a full on awards ceremony
with handshaking and photos, and a GIANT CAKE. 
You'd never see that in Australia. Certainly never at MY company in Australia.The good news is that, despite all the fuckups and delays, Go Live was a success!! We spent the Saturday arvo beforehand getting the office appropriately decorated.
Everyone was ready to go on Monday, 
And they pretty well killed it. There's still the odd grammatical error that we need to beat out of them, like learning to say "transfer TO" instead of "transfer IN which seems to be their preposition of choice. And there's the one agent that, no matter how much time I spend with her, does not seem to improve. AT ALL. Not sure whether its the english skills, or if she's just really stupid. But comprehension is not a strong point. But I guess there's one in every group. However, I still stand by my statement that these guys are the best group I've ever trained. And now I have proof :)Shopping
God...shopping here is INTENSE. Because there's city all around, there doesn't seem to be much else to do. I may have explained this before, but the hotel I'm staying at is on top of a giant mall. Think Parramatta Westfield-like proportions. If you walk through to the other side of that mall, there's another mall. And one behind that. Directly opposite my hotel is another mall. Around the corner is one more, and another one behind. And I have a sneaking suspicion that the giant hole in the ground that I can see from my window is going to be yet another one. Then there are the malls, markets and bazaars that you have to get to by cab...
Glorietta 1, 2, 3, 4, 5: Yup. There's five of them. The hotel is on top of number 4. Inside are the brand name stores like Mossimo, Guess, Gap, Marks and Spencer blah blah blah. Similar prices to back home.
Landmark and SM: Two malls, each a giant 4 level department store. When I say giant, I mean a department store the size of Broadway Shopping centre. Bit cheaper than brand names, and the shoe collection is to die for. Well, it would be if I weren't a giant with flippers for feet.
Greenbelt 1, 2, 3...?: I have no idea how many there are. All the fancy expensive stores are there - Hermes, Prada...I've never been inside, but there are some nice bars with good happy hour deals. The whole place is beautifully landscaped, with huge trees and man-made waterfalls creating a foresty kind of feel.
Market-Market: CHEAP place to shop. There's stores with decently priced clothes, and also a fashion market where you can try your luck at haggling with the stallholders. I also managed to get myself a rad haircut for about $12 Aussie dollars. And I'd have to say it was on a par with some of the nicer expensive haircuts I've had at home.
Greenhills: Market central. This is where all your knockoff products lie in wait. Bags, wallets, shoes, clothing, pearls...all packed into a dark cave-like shed. Stallholders call out to you as you wander past, with "yes ma'am" and "you buy". Haggling is a hot and heavy business here - you need to be quick to ask for 'best price', then take half off that again as your asking price, then be prepared to walk away and let the seller chase after you until you get the price you want. I fail at haggling, so I've had to enlist the services of the others to help me. And I've not done too badly. For someone who isn't into brand names I've managed to end up with both a Gucci and Christian Dior bag, and 2 pairs of Converse. And there's still a few weeks of shopping left :p The below is a testament to my rampant shopaholism:
SpasThe other popular pasttime here is beauty treatments. Not something I'd ever do at home, Its been a case of "everyone else is doing it, so I might as well". I've had a full body massage (NOM), my first ever pedicure, and a rad haircut. Considering having other things waxed, tweaked, cleaned etc. Who knows, I may come back from Manila acting like a real girl. As rather frightening evidence of this budding girlism, I cite purchases of liquid eyeliner, foundation, exfoliating scrub, and a loofah. All of which I've never owned before *shudder*
Bars and Clubbing
Nights out have been an interesting experience. Rnb and hip hop are the genres of choice in Manila...and its threatening to break my brain. Bars and clubs here range from shanty-style drinking dens, to luxurious dance clubs bursting with beautiful people. I think I've sampled the spectrum.
Our post graduation party drinks were held at a teeny little bar somewhere in the backstreets of Manila. I don't know that "bar" was the correct term...possibly "drinking hole" might be more apt (emphasis on the hole). We had the place to ourselves, drinking $2 cocktails and shots, taking over the sound system and dancing to silly song after silly song on someone's iPod. We also discovered just how much the Filipinos love to take and pose for pictures. My camera was out of my hands and being manned by anyone and everyone within 5 minutes. Every shot had a theme - we posed as models, rockstars, sleeping people, angry monsters...and the poses became more and more bizarre as the alcohol flowed faster,
And faster,
And faster
We all had a lot of rather drunken fun.
This was in deep contrast to the swanky clubs I visited last weekend. In our first stop, Fiama, beautifully manicured girls teetered around on scarily high heels, and slick-looking young guys scoped out their prey and headed in for the kill. Overly friendly club promoters plied us white girls with free drinks and tried to tell us about all the other clubs they worked for and wanted us to visit. I nodded agreement, and enjoyed my complimentary shots :) When beautiful got boring, we headed down the road to Encore, a club that a couple of sleazy Americans had raved to me about late one night. It was worth our while. Picture a huge hall with luxurious velvet draperies, brass railings and shiny mirrors. Picture that same hall, packed with writhing, dancing young bodies drinking hard and having the time of their lives. While the music wasn't really my taste (I loathe rnb with a passion that will never die), I enjoyed the vibe of the place. And when we got selected to leave the throng and enter the coveted VIP area, I enjoyed it even more. It was a decent night.
I'm still more a fan of the pub than the club. Anywhere I can sit down with a beer and laugh myself silly with friends, get my groove on to terrible music on a dirty dancefloor, and wear whatever the hell daggy clothing I want.
On other fronts, I'm starting to feel like I'm drowning in overwhelming estrogen here. Whose good idea was it to send four women overseas together? Especially two who have been working together for two years and still haven't managed to find a decent reason to like each other? I'm so desperate I'm starting to check out the American military guys in the hotel, for the simple reason that I'm dying for some non-female company. I want to go out and do something besides purchasing, primping or pampering. Hell, I'd even like to do something besides drinking.
Time to start doing what I want to do I think. Back to my Lonely Planet I go.
No comments:
Post a Comment