And so the roadshow ends

By the middle of the 2nd roadshow, the number of consultants in the period between shift changes can swell to roughly 25, including managers.



Now now, imagine 25 jokers, lined up in near straight rows of whites and blacks.



Hey Macarena!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



I've been so exhausted from my work, with about 10hrs of work daily.

Including weekends.



Including Xmas, New Year's Eve. New Year's Day.



I'm awfully glad for reopening of school semester.

~~~~~~~~~~



Speaking of Xmas, guess what I got for my xmas gifts?



On the twelfth day of Christmas,



My sugar mummy fairy godmother sent to me....



12 bags of money

11 diamond rings

10 clients knocking

9 blondes stripping (Paris, Nicky, Britney, Christina, Jessica Simpson, Maria Carey, Alicia Silverstone, Cameron Diaz, Leonardo Dicaprio Pamela Anderson)

8 Pink Dollars

7 Rainbow Colours

6 more lives (does tat make me a pussy...cat?)

5 Porsche

4 computers (yes yes, I'm a nerd)

3 A's (2 modules and 1 thesis)

2 mistress (1 ang moh, 1 asian. muahaha)



And a Fish in the big big sea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



There is a Christmas Price Index, which tracks the cost of all the gifts in the classic holiday song "The 12 Days of Christmas". By the PNC advisors.



On the 13th day of christmas, my true love sent to me....



one big bill.



2005 Christmas Price Index - the 12 classic gifts will cost a whooping USD $17,296.91!!

The Christmas Index

	2004	chg 03-04
One Partridge in a Pear Tree	$93	20.0%
Partridge	15.00	0.0%
Pear Tree	78.00	24.8%
Two Turtle Doves	40.00	-31.0%
Three French Hens	45.00	200.0%
Four Calling Birds	396.00	-1.0%
Five Gold Rings	255.00	-29.4%
Six Geese-a-Laying	210.00	40.0%
Seven Swans-a-Swimming	3,500.00	0.0%
Eight Maids-a-Milking	41.20	0.0%
Nine Ladies Dancing	4,400.13	4.0%
10 Lords-a-Leaping	4,039.08	3.0%
11 Pipers Piping	2,053.20	3.6%
12 Drummers Drumming	2,224.30	3.6%
Total Christmas Price Index	17,296.91	2.4%
True cost of Christmas in song	66,334.46	1.6%
"Core" index, excluding swans	13,796.91	3.1%

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



I just realised in one of the fund raising activities of Ren Chi Charity show, many artists did lots of push ups to induce phone calls.



Oh boy, still remember the time during the early army days.

entire company of soldiers, doing 120 push-ups in 1 shot.

"I want u guys to remember this magic number forever. 120!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was wondering abt the presence of huge concrete blocks around my company's office buildings.

To deter illegal parking? They could have use simple plastic barriers.



It had only occurred to me today.

anti-terrorism measure.



ah, the bonus of working for a well-loved company.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



One of those days.....



as I was preparing paper work to provide CPF health insurance for this, ahem, auntie, I let her know that this policy can be extended to immediate family members.

so she requested that I help her to apply the coverage for her son.



1st Warning Sign.



Wah, you got a son ah, can't tell leh.

*her hand on my arm* I'm a SINGLE mum.



2nd Warning Sign



So I will do a proper policy review for you. You bring all your policies, investment statements and reports, I will conduct a financial review for you.

Alright, this saturday?

What time is appropriate for you?

Anytime. I am off the whole day. Whats your handphone number?



*note: usually its not that easy to get a confirmed appointment, somemore a "anytime". And usually its agent that ask first for the contact number. Not client.*



3rd Warning Sign



Beside policy review, you can call me anything to date me out ah.





And so the day ends with a sms

"What time you working till today? And are you still single?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



yes! finalli a date...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



I'm kidding & I'm spooked. I'm selling policies, not my body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



And so 2004 left. And 2005 came.

2004: Good to see you Cherub.

cherub: Yeh. It was nice having you around, but I can't say I am sadden by ur departure.

2004: *gash* how can u say tat! I tried my best for you.

cherub: best? best my ass lah.

2004: u got ur car! u woke up and smelled the rose. U got a lovely high-paying job! wat more do u want?

cherub: george bush won. enough said.

2004: aiyah, sorry for tat lah. I tried.

2005: harlow cherub! harlow 2004!

cherub *cheerily* : harlow!

2004 *sulks* : yeh

2005: good job 2004! u did a great job! thanks for passing me a much neater world.

2004: yeh yeh watever.

cherub: hey, can u do a better job for me? My thesis, for god's sake. my love life? (or lack therefore of) My job? my money? my investment!!!

2005: er....I'm only 1 year.

cherub: 2004 did a great job for me.

2004: that wasn't wat u said to me just now!

cherub: no point patronising u now tat u're history.



2004 sulks and leave the room



cherub: so 2005, make my investments make money. upgrade my job status. make my europe backpacking exciting and smooth. enhance my love life, my sex life, my academic life, my social life.

2005: !!!!!!

cherub: you can do it.

2005: u know. from 2004 records, u hv an awful high chance of car collusion, thesis failure. love life? wat love life?

cherub: err.

2005: investment? except for a few miserable dollars in ur policy, wat investments??

cherub: i was referring to my 4Ds and totos.

2005: oh.



cherub: so how?

2005: start "saka-ing" 2006.

and so the Pink Dollar speaks....

I take back everything nasty i said about the roadshow....



Yes, the macarena was embarassing.

And yes, I LED the dance. Twice.



I can't believe they made the mistake of asking forcing me to lead the dance twice. What with all my verbal instructions wrong, and my movements not unlike a stick insect freaking out.





A stick insect walking into a glass surface. Sounds damn familiar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Not only is the roadshow, very profiting in terms of monetary gains, but you get to see many many different people.



First and for most, I love malays!!!



In general, Malays are quite polite and nice. They will listen to what you have to offer. And even if they are geniunely busy or not interested, they will smile and tell u politely.



Chinese?



Some of them don't even bother to listen to what you're gonna do.

not even a reply to "Happy New Year".

wei, I'm working my ass on new year day, I also need love leh.



*aiyah, cherub, when u're not working, u do the same also lah!*

haha. Ok lah, I'm a chinese, wad. :D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



the nicest comment I heard...from this chinese

"I always tell my mum, not to brush off these pple on the street. They are just working for their livelihoods, how will you feel if pple shoo me off in my job"

Wahliew, I am damn touched by him lah, almost offered him my soul.

of course, my managers insisted that I already sold, ahem, him, ahem, my body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Scoldings from my manager.

"Cherub, You Stamford Raffles ah?"

Stamford Raffles: Stand there like a statue, looking at all the passerbys, and not doing anything.

"You still doing fortune-telling, is it..."

Fortune-telling: Looking at pple and judging them whether its worth your effort to approach them.



Before the roadshow, the managers warned us not to be fortune teller. You can't judge a book by its cover. Or rather, a person's wealth and needs by his dressings/looks.

Oh boy, no theory can teach you what a practical lesson can show you.



A colleague of mine approached this fat horizontally challenged guy for a shield insurance coverage and in the end the guy did a hefty sum of investment.

the customer told her frankly, right from the beginning, he knows he got a lump sum and he already want to do an investment. He was just going to give the business to the first consultant that approached him.



He walked one round around our booth, no one approached.

He walked 100m to a rival's booth and patrolled around it for 2 rounds, no one approached.

He walked back to our booth.



The deal was sealed on the spot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



One client I approached, had a very long discussion about his financial status and investment preferences with my manager and me.



At the end of the day, my manager told me that he had said some of the things in dicussion VERY LOUDLY so that my colleagues will be able to hear.

"Actually I saw your booth long time ago, everytime I walked past, i was thinking..ALL THESE PEOPLE WHO NEVER APPROACHED ME are idiots.....i would have made them very rich if they had approached me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



now all my managers labelled mr K's client base specialising in "young girls" and Cherub as unorthodox in his specialised client base.



the Pink Dollar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



I have no idea why.

Maybe its the numerous chat with Yamato.

Maybe its the frustration with the irritating and annoying motivation sessions.

maybe its some songs.

Maybe its the tears.



Sometimes you erect a layer of hard concrete around you, an impenetrable fortress, to hide the soft and vulnerable tissues.

sometimes you just get sick of tears and emotions.

sometimes u don't care if 150,000 pple died.



sometimes u just don't want pple to know how you feel.