Continuing on Marilyn Monroe’s birthday, a search at Trending Topics on Twitter yesterday revealed some quotes from her. Here are my favourites:

“Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world.”

“It’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”

“A wise girl kisses but doesn’t love, listens but doesn’t believe, and leaves before she is left.”

“If you can’t handle me at my worst, you don’t deserve me at my best.”

“The real lover is the man who can thrill you by touching your head, or smiling into your eyes, or just staring into space.”

“We should all start to live before we get too old. Fear is stupid. So are regrets.”

Marilyn Monroe is many things to many people. For me, one thing’s for sure: she’s pretty. I don’t know much about her, having been born after her death and never watched her movies. But today is her birthday, and I think everyone deserves a good HAPPY BIRTHDAY! cheer.

So here’s to one of the most iconic, legendary, famous stars of all times.

friends

There are times in life when your friend is no longer your friend.

When you can’t count on them to give you support.

When you can’t guarantee that they will be there.

When you can’t call them in your time of need.

At first you hate it. You’re disappointed at your friend, frustrated with yourself, and blame the situation. You try so hard to understand it, to “fix it”, believing that friends are forever.

Then their ego changes things.

And your ego gets in the way.

Your anger escalates… dying down… until it is, truly, dead.

That’s when you finally understand what you didn’t before.

That there are times in life when your friend is no longer your friend.

You just gotta stick to your principles and move on.

And keep the hope that your friends will always be your friends,

but realize there are times when they’re no longer that way.

"Tapanuli Selatan marganya apa?"

• Hari ini gw menerima telepon dari sebuah perusahaan penyedia jasa catering & dekorasi. Gw memang mengontak dia beberapa hari lalu, menanyakan soal catering.
• Me: "Halo?"
• Caterer/decorator: "Mbak, Tapanuli Selatannya marganya apa ya?
• Me: "Ini dengan siapa ya?"
• Caterer/decorator: "XX mbak, dari YYY [catering/decor company name]."
• Me: "Oh iya mbak, gimana?" :D
• Caterer/decorator: "Iya mbak, Tapanuli Selatannya marganya apa?"
• * I'm starting to think whether this is a prank, or a radio quiz *
• Me: "Hah? Tapanuli Selatan.. maksudnya?"
• Caterer/decorator: "Ini dengan mbak A kan, yang mau bikin acara di B?"
• Me: "Iya mbak, tapi aku gak pernah pesen Tapanuli Selatan. Kaya'nya salah deh.."
• Caterer/decorator: "Oh gitu ya.. Kalo mbak kemarin apa, nasional ya?"
• Me: "Er.. ini yang mana mbak, menu ya?"
• Caterer/decorator: "Bukan, ini yang dekor."
• Me: "Oh.. bukan aku mbak. Kemarin ini aku cuma nanya tentang catering, bukan dekornya."
• Caterer/decorator: "..."

It’s that time of the year again…

Here’s wishing that this year’s Eid will be full of blessings for everyone :)

If your heart’s not in it for real,

please don’t try to change what you don’t feel

…

‘Cause I would give the whole world for you,

anything you ask of me, I’d do.

But I won’t ask you to stay,

I’d rather walk away.

…

- If You Heart’s Not in It by Westlife

Am just feeling melancholic right now.

Apple may be a snob, but not here

Servicing business doesn’t get a great rep in this world, and that’s probably one of the reasons why many of the people working in the business don’t put a lot of passion into it. Or maybe they’re just not the right for the job. So I absolutely love it when customer service people go out of their way, or give excellent personalised service.

Like the one I received from Apple recently.

I’m not a fan of the company. Sure their products are awesome - I have an iPod, but frankly most of them are too expensive me. And Apple comes across as obnoxious at times (but you know that of course). So I didn’t expect much when I filled in a customer feedback form on their website, seeking help to my problem.

Immediately I received an automated email notifying that they’ve received my submission and that a personnel would get back to me generally in 48 hours. This is standard practice nowadays, so it didn’t get my hopes up. Although I did check my inbox everyday onwards, looking if they’ve really responded on time as they’d promised.

Yes, a staff did get back to me on time (plus point). But What blew me away was the response e-mail I got afterwards. Below is an excerpt:

… My name is Jason. I understand you are concerned… I certainly can understand how frustrating this would be for you, and will be happy to assist you in resolving this issue… I hope you find this information helpful.. 

Sincerely,

Jason

… Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you.

Never in a million years would I imagine to see a service as personalised as this. By putting a name, instead of simply “customer support” made you feel as if he’s a friend who’s trying to help you. Added with the polite words like these, conveying his empathy by understanding my concern, and thanking me for “the opportunity to assist” me? This is something you don’t get to experience often.

I was suddenly in love with Apple!

Then, as if that wasn’t enough, today Jason e-mailed me again to follow-up on the matter (!!!) I didn’t reply his first e-mail, because the address was a general corporate address. And you know how many customer service e-mails usually ask you not to reply, so I didn’t. Anyway, here’s an excerpt of his follow-up e-mail:

… I’m sorry to bother you again, this is Jason from iTunes Customer Support. I just wanted to touch base, as I haven’t heard from you and wanted to make sure that you received my previous email… I don’t want to leave you without a full resolution. I look forward to hearing from you, and I hope that you have a wonderful day!

Now how many companies do that?? I don’t care if these are actually machine-generated or every customer receives an e-mail from Jason or if “Jason” is an acronym for some kind of customer support system. The response feels personal, the concern genuine, and the answer satisfactory.

This should be a note to all companies out there, that customer service is an extremely important part of the business that you do with your customers. It is as vital, perhaps more vital, than a great business/marketing strategy because CS people are the ones whom your customers are in contact with firsthand and as such are in the position to help shape your customers’ opinion of your company. A brand can make great products, but if its service is disappointing customers may just leave.

Apple has just carved itself a place in my heart.

I wonder how many people fall for the “sugar-free” claim on food packaging?

If they look closely at the ingredients list, chances are the food contains artificial SWEETENER - which, as far as I’m concerned is more dangerous than simply sugar.

Besides, part of the problem is the calories. Even if your food is made with natural, alternative sweetener (honey, for example) it’s still not free from calories.

If we want to avoid the unnecessary consumption of calories, why even buy or eat something that has a sweetening agent in the first place?

Diet sugar is lying - how can sugar help you lose weight? Isn’t it the whole point of dieting?

*Image owned by the lovely people at Gettyimages