Symphony of Heels, Symphony of Lights

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Lunchtime Symphony of Heels
Found myelf back in Shenton Way today. Was there today to attend a meeting with a company which was keen to have their staff come on board to volunteer and just as I was waiting for my colleague to come, I was once again treated the the symphony of heels... the lunchtime crowd zooming past me with their heel clittering-clattering.

Life of a Fund-Raising Volunteer
There I was, quietly sitting by the parapet by the side and waiting and at the corner of my eye, i saw a teenager boy "struggling". With a file in his hand and a worried look, he was hoping to stop someone in their path so that he could talk to them. Over the span of the 20 minutes I was there, he must have been rejected by some 50 people; some just walking past him. This further made me realize what volunteers sometimes have to go through... Several a times, I had seen volunteers with tin cans in their hands and it seems like natural instinct to avoid them etc but guess it takes a lot of courage to be there and making that difference... And I should know how hard it is since I have done flag days before as a volunteer and seen how difficult it was. Maybe, being someone who has "been there, done that" and now an observer helps further reinforce this point. Indeed something important for me to take home for my work with volunteers.

Cheat Tics?
On one hand, I sympathized with him for what he was going through but on the other hand, I was wondering if he is selling on of those fund-raising tickets for some unheard of social service agencies. I had once been approached by them who claimed they are selling the tickets to help raise funds for needy students and they even showed me their police license. I am still having my doubts till this day and if these tickets are really fake, then I condemn the people who came out with this STUPID idea to cheat the public and the kind-hearted volunteers who thinks that they are helping for a good cause. If so, something needs to be done before people get further disillusioned with the social services in Singapore.

Something Different
Went to Tanjong Pagar Plaza Food Centre for lunch and decided to try something special. But the lunchtime crowd there sometimes just turns you away from some stalls (even though those stalls with queue should be good). Don't really know how those who work in the CBD actually cope... lunchtime can be such a stressful time there, trying to find seat, queueing for food, struggling to bring your food back to the table and avoid treating someone elses' hair or clothes with your food. Eventually settled for Shark's meat Lor Mee... had seen it on TV before but have not had the chance to try it. Ordered a $3 bowl (with extra ingredients). Not bad but somehow not as fantastic as I would have thought.

My Shark Meat Lor Mee
with a Cuppa Cool Sugar Cane Drink

"I Do Not Wish to Talk to You"
The afternoon meeting went well and I was so glad to bring along a rep from the centre; I would not have been able to answer many of the questions about the centre if I would have gone alone. Somemore, with the cheerful disposition of my colleague it also did help lighten things up a bit.

What shocked me was when I arrived, the rep from the organization told me that they had initially wanted to work with the centre, not knowing that it is under the umbrella of my organization. Apparently, it seemed that they have recently had a bad experience with our organization. Throughout the meeting I felt that she didn't want to talk me and was, for the majority of the time, engaging in a conversation with my centre rep. In a way I felt horrible but then I kept telling myself: "you shouldn't be too bothered la, maybe she is talking to your centre rep most of the time because most of the questions can only be answered by him? Even if she was indeed angry with my organization, it is the organization that she is angry with and not me."

Anyway, some damage control was needed and both me and my rep had the opporutnity to find out what this bad experience was later in the meeting. One thing I am glad is that their rep was frank enough to share this with us. It turned out that it was a customer service problem with another centre and we both apologized for our organization.

This reminded me of the time I was scolded by a patient's family during the Chinese New Year period because of a doctors' fault. I remembered that my supervisor told me that the family is not keen who is at fault but sees the organization at fault, so being part of the organization we need to apologize. This lesson stayed with me and today, I encountered the same problem but this time, handled it with more peace in mind, reconciling that indeed it was a bad experience for their organization and we should apologize for it regardless whose fault it was.

Popcorn and Toys Galore!
Met my friend and his girlfriend again (the couple who I met yesterday) and we went to Orchard. Wanted to catch King Kong but in the end the tickets were sold out. Interestingly, we bought popcorn and sat in front of the big TV screen near the ticketing counters, watching movie trailers... We watched so many movies and ate so much popcorn that by the time it came for dinner, we were full with popcorn. :)

We eventually made our way to "Pepper Lunch" in Takashimaya to have our dinner (superfull!) and then went to this Christmas toy fair in Taka and shopped around. It felt like you were in Santa's workshop with so many toys around. Have been a long long time since I last walked around so many toys... had even wanted to buy a few :)

We then walked down the streets of Orchard, admiring the street lights (though not as spectacular nowadays) and visited the street-side "aerial photography" exhibition which showcased wonderful, colourful and nice aerial photography of different places on earth before settling down in Starbucks for a cuppa.

So much for a day...