Celebrating RedRibbon Days' 2nd Year Anniversary

Here's the delayed posting on how we celebrate RedRibbon Days' 2nd birthday ! My apologies for the delay as I was busy with so many projects and juggling it between a rather extensive travelling schedule..

Since we missed our 1st year birthday/anniversary, we thought it was necessary to celebrate RedRibbon Days' 2nd year birthday as much as we can this year. The morning started out perfect - weather was beautiful; it was a Friday - so everyone was clad in our RedRibbon Day's official Friday uniform.

We kicked start the day with an early lunch - with our favourite duck rice from 'sunrise'. It was perfect. The duck rice was extremely delicious and everyone enjoyed it including our new addition to the team, Shiva and Theing. It has become a custom to eat rice at every RedRibbon Days' birthday as this was the very same food that was served to us an hour prior to our official launch back in 2008. Somehow, this very 'duck rice' reminds us of that very day when RedRibbon Days was born, inaugurated and how happy and excited we all were back then.



We then introduced the girls to our launch song - Mercy by Duffy. Don't ask me why that song - all I remembered was I had to pick a song for our photo collage, and I do not have much choices then. Besides, it was the year when Sex and the City (the movie) was launched, and I thought it was a good/nice song?

For cake, we have chosen Tiramisu from Alexis - accompanied by a bottle of Pink Champagne of course!


The Three Musketeers : Nik, me and Ming Ne


The RedRibbon Days Team

We sang a birthday song, cut the cake, and eagerly devoured the bottle of champagne. Claudine our "temp" was knocked out within second, joined in by Nik. (and she only had a glass!)


Claudine & Nik - smashed and drunk at 3pm !

Nah ! No one got drunk !! It was a picture we took just for fun to commemorate the day ! Since it was a Friday, and it is RedRibbon Days' birthday, everyone was in their joyous and in the mood to celebrate. We headed next to dinner at our favourite joint at Vincenzo.










The food at Vincenzo is always good ! Remy diligently served us and attended to all our needs. It was a very joyous moment for me to see the whole team sitting together, enjoying each other companionship and most important - the spirit of RedRibbon Days.










We were honoured to have DK to join us for our dinner - and the night couldn't get any better! Remy even arranged a small chocolate cake for us with the message " Happy 2nd Anniversary"

Happy Birthday, RedRibbon Days !!

We are officially two (okay, because today is a Friday, and RedRibbon Days birthday happens to fall on a weekend- we decided to make today the celebration day) Yipppey ! So what is different about today and any other day in the office ? First we celebrated today with our favourite duck rice for lunch ! Yes, you read me right. Duck rice. Two years ago, we had duck rice for lunch as well, 4 hours prior to our official launch/inauguration. But we were too busy and nervous about the launch that the duck rice was left sitting there, untouched. So we decided to eat duck rice today in conjunction with RRD'S Bday !!

Well, work still goes on in the office, but we do have a cake and a bottle of champagne chilling in the office (as I'm writing this blog) - ready to be popped ! And also the after work drinks and dinner tonight at our favourite joint, Vincenzo.

Next year today, we will be celebrating our birthday in a new environment, with a bigger team. That is my birthday wish for this year :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY my baby!

sick and bed-ridden

Once again, I'm attacked by the flu bug and this time it has got me good. This bug is simply persistent; my nose has been running non-stop consecutively for 4 days and today, I'm down with sore throat. Great! I hate to be sick when work is piling and I simply do not have the luxury to sleep in the bed and recuperate.

I've downed a whole bottle of manuka honey, 5-6 packets of lemsip (only to discover today that they are expired) and countless glasses of vitamin C. And nothing works. I'm still feeling sluggish, sick and weak. Maybe the expired Lemsip is making it worse.
I'm so prone to flu that I'm really contemplating to start wearing a mask every time I go out. This is also the very reason why our office has a very strict policy - if you are sick even with the mildest flu, stay away - IF I'm in the office. Because the bug simply loves to attach itself to me, and share the love.

When I was working for other people, I never hesitate to call in sick - and will take at least 2-3 days of MC (exaggerating the severeness of my condition). Now that I run my own business, falling sick is the last thing in my mind - and taking a day off work is totally impossible.

I tried to reply a business email earlier today, but my mind was in such mess that I could not even construct a proper email without making spelling/ grammatical mistakes. So here I am, stuck to the bed, unable to do work! Good riddance! I wonder when this horrible bug will go away and find new love.

In the meantime, I guess I just have to make full use of this moment to rest, sleep and perhaps read a book.

Is customer always right ?

It's Saturday. I received a call from Nik and she sounded agitated and upset. Nothing really upsets Nik unless it is matters relating to our customers. Nik teared a little - and I could hear her frustration over the phone on how irate she was at a customer who was being unreasonable and painfully rude. In our industry, we try our best (in fact, we go beyond the call of duty) to make sure every experience with RedRibbon Days is as pleasant as it can be. Most important of all, we want all our customers to feel happy whenever they experience a RedRibbon Days experience.

But when we already committed so much and yet customers insist on demanding more - that is when we could tolerate no more. Prior to this, I always think yes, customer is King. And being a customer myself, I demand a lot of a product or even a service. But when customers starts demanding for more than what they pay for, then I would beg to differ. Customers are not always right, but they are always insisting that they are right and we are (the service/product provider) wrong.

I am starting to wonder, perhaps I used to be like that too, until I was an owner of a business myself - and I liaised with customers from all walk of life. Some customers are really nice, and some customers are preposterously unreasonable and will say all nasty things to us to make sure they get what they want. The latter group are the ones who pays you for your service and expect a 101% percent return. They simply do not have the simple business acumen - i.e. in a business world, there are invitation to treat (Fisher v Bell) ,exaggerated marketing and of course - every word you say will be used against you.

So I came to a conclusion, not until these people own their own business, they will never fully comprehend this. They are always the group of people who always talk about customer is king and customer is always right. And they are also the group of customers that will always give you problems when they buy from you.

And sad to say, I hate to be bothered by customers like that, and sometimes I rather not have them as customers at all. If you buying from me not only gives me more headache and problems, but tears and heartache (not to mention - a loss), then I'd rather not have your business. There is no one that owns a business and not wish to keep their customers happy - but if all their customers are like the group of unreasonable customers - I'm sure everyone that owns their own business would agree with me.

Customers are not always right, but we always have to give in to them because they always think they are right.

my love-hate relationship with dentist

yes, we all have our fears and things that we are scared of - but nothing can beat my fear for dentist. I am terrified of cockroaches, but I do not cringe with fear when they are around. I do have a very sensitive sense of smell for these horrible little creatures though. Back to my dentist fear - it all began when I was a little school girl. Having studied in a local, government (or kebangsaan) school, we do get these annual privilege of dental check-up. Sounds good isn't it? Truth is, my first confrontation with the dentist was horrifying and those memories are still vivid in my mind.

The sound of the drills and sharp objects, metal cups, and the horrible reclining chair (that made me feel absolutely helpless when I'm lying there!) - all made me cringe with fear, and sometimes, sleepless nights. The fear was instilled and etched in me deeply like a buried treasure till today. From my first brutal confrontation with those "f*&K&^s" (a term I dearly called them) - I've never want to get close to one. And that yearly school dental check-up ? On few occasions, I forged my dad's signature to forbid them to check on mine. And of course, my dad was furious when he found out cos now he has to pay money to send me to private dentist ! (which are equally as bad and horrible as the school ones!!!)

I delayed the 6 months dental appointment to a year, 2 years and longer if I can tolerate it. But when you were much younger and in your teens, you tend to eat a lot of sugary stuff- hence those dental visits are simply unavoidable. My worse experience ever was when I was 17 year old. I had to take out my wisdom tooth as they were giving me so much problems and pain. So my best friend pushed me to one (whom she claimed was really gentle and good). I would surely not go to one if the pain wasn't so unbearable. So my best friend drove me to the dentist on this ordeal. She promised me it will be over before I knew it and the pain will soon be gone.

Facing my fear, I was crossing my fingers so hard that this experience is going to be different from the others, because I so badly need the tooth to come out. The dentist ( I'm always very cautious of dentist - the more they smile, the more I see a line of evil grin in them). I can almost see them laughing and drilling my cavities away while I'm drowning in fear ! So this particular dentist told me its going to be almost painless once they jab me. OK.

I closed my eyes, open my mouth (and I hate it when they asked me to open bigger - i will if I can! duh!) The first jab came stinging on my right gums - and I can so feel it. Then the second, then the third. Then the doctor tried to take out the tooth, but I was feeling everything that I gave him my infamous cock-eye. He said "Oh, I'm sorry , can you still feel that?" He then jabbed again, (mind you , this is the 4th jab and my neck was already wet with my tears and yes, saliva). He then told the nurse "Eh, we are not injecting the right roots (WTF!) and they had to inject another 4 (2 on my inner cheek and another two some-where near the gums). Seriously, at that point of time, I felt so vulnerable and I really felt like running out of there and never never ever come back! But I can't ... see, those 4 jabs was numbing my other parts of my mouth that I could literally feel a jello effect on my lips.

The 5th- 8th jab somehow did the trick, and now they are grinning ear to ear to take out my wisdom tooth. And the dentist was perspiring. He told the nurse to hold my shoulder now, and he stood up holding a plier looking tool on his right hand and charged towards my tooth. He was using so much energy that I could see his facial expression - twitching every now and then. And the nurse, trying her best to hold me down. I almost feel like he was trying to pull a nail (that was deeply hammered into a piece of wood) out. Then he took out something. I felt something came out. I thought the whole thing was finally over. Then he said, "Oh, it broke into half. Now we may need to cut up a bit. At the edges and sew it up later"

GAAAAHHHHHH !!!

I tried to mumble something but nothing was coming out - see by then, my mouth was filled with 8 jabs of anaesthetic - so you can imagine how numb I felt.

Anyways, the whole ordeal went for another 10-15 minutes, including the sewing up.

I was as sore as a _ _ _. My lips was sore and was so jello- I could feel it going side-ways.

The next few days, was totally insane. I was popping painkillers (non-stop) and changed a dozen zillion gauzes!

Well, the best part of all, the pain that was caused by the wisdom tooth disappeared after a week. The numbness went on for almost 24 hours. (okay, I exaggerated a bit, but definitely more than 12 hours)

So, I do have a love hate relationship with dentist. I hate them to the core for the pain and fear they implanted on me and I love them because they can take the pain away. Now that I'm in a much better position to take care of myself and afford a better and decent dentist, the fear is slowing going away - but it still creeps up to you like a boogeyman.

My advise to parents ? Always let your kid have a wonderful, first experience with the dentist. And once they lose their milk teeth, show them dental care and bring them to the dentist. And don't ever allow let those government dentist touch your kid's teeth. They will be scarred for life - well, at least I can speak for myself.

we are 2 soon !

Come this 18th June 2010, RedRibbon Days will be officially 2 year old. To celebrate this joyous occasion, I've something planned for everyone in RedRibbon Days. This 'plan' however will not be disclosed anytime soon. I'm however, eagerly waiting for the day to come.

I am thinking about what to say to my staff and business partners on the day. I'm thinking of a promotion. So many things going through my mind as I'm looking at my to-do's check list. 2 years ago, when RedRibbon Days was still in its infancy stage - there were so many uncertainties; so many setbacks; and so many negative influences in the office. But now things has changed. So much has changed in one year - we added two new staff to the team; and the focus was completely on the business and nothing else.

We have brought joy, happiness and wonderful memories to the lives of many - and we will continue to do so. We pledge to deliver the most amazing experiences to our customers and we will always deliver happiness and memorable gifts to your loved ones. Many has said to me that the process is going to be excruciating and slow - some even said it is not viable to do this business in Malaysia. But whenever we get a very positive feedback from our customers, it always push me to strive even harder and make this business work - and for Malaysians to embrace the concept of experiential gifting.

Theing recently blogged about one of the event we organised and planned for a customer ; and her entry ascertained my love, passion and confidence for RedRibbon Days further. She said in her entry that RedRibbon Days is not just another gifting company, but we deal with "events of the heart". I am now more convinced that RedRibbon Days will continue to bring pleasure, happiness - and most importantly - a gift of memory to many for many years to come.

Job Relationship vs Love Relationship

I'm extremely compelled to elaborate further on my earlier posting today. I was talking to another friend who was down in the slump in his relationship (well, I suspect the gf is cheating on him with another while still stringing him along). Anyways, it just suddenly occur to me the similarity of how if one is going seeking for employment (while still under the employment of another) is the same as someone being in a relationship, but seeking a potential new relationship at the same time). In both situation, it is called cheating or some people like to call it - stepping on two boats.

I can't help but to wonder if that is the case for most people. When someone is not happy in a relationship or not happy in their job, they tend to look for greener pasture (i.e. better partner to date, better job ; so it seems) - but in the meantime, they will not let go of their current attachment. They will string it along until the better someone or better job comes along. Then they will kiss the old partner or old job - adios! Without the slightest feeling of remorse.

So will you cheat on your partner ? If you won't cheat on your partner, so why would you cheat on your employer ? Don't forget employers can cheat on you too - employers will string employee along until they find a better employee and then they just kiss off. Because a wise man once told me, "no one is indispensable". And I had to agree.