My personal X'mas greetings creation

Putting the true meaning of X'mas:




A closer shot of above:

New 2nd nest

October 2010 new office move - Let's take a quick peep into the interior:


greeted by the lovely views as you look out of the windows.  






Finally, this is yours truly pretending to look busy (yah sure - very 'convincing' - when even the seat is still in its wrapper!!)

An employee (yours truly) documenting her joy and excitement on her new office move.  She has even described her office as her second nest.  Without going into the review of data to demonstrate how workplace strategy (ie, the design and use of workplace environment) is able to enhance employee experience and improve employees' performance and productivity, I could already feel the positive vibes in the work environment.      

Open space of workstations lined with low cabinets encourages collaboration, meaningful work discussions and ready "counters" for us to put loads of snacks, doughnuts and cookies for sharing.  (Sharing of calories as well!).  No more cluttered and messy work station.  Spacious desk with two computer monitors (HR data analytics and having to work on huge Microsoft excel spreadsheets) just the right storage space, ergonomic office seat.  What more can an employee ask for?      

Open terrace roof top garden, office cafeteria within the building and one that comes with shower facilities 

Did I say that the office pantry (apart from the usual beverages such as coffee and tea), milk is also made available?

Speaking for myself, I am elated and eager to report for work and feeling at home in this brand new office.  A high employee engagement score indeed. 

Do effective team bonding activities have to be extravagant?

Reflections from an HR Perspective:

Team building — or team bonding — has become a buzzword in today’s workplace, often associated with escape rooms, trust falls, or after-hours socials. But does it have to be extravagant?

"That's xx for this year's team building budget."  In order to foster trust, collaboration, communication and morale among the workplace, it's mandatory for every function or department to organise an annual team building activity.  

"Not again?!!  I am really not keen to attend another "almost break my back and being fed alive by mosquitoes" offsite hiking at some deserted island!!"  exclaimed by my colleague who prided herself to report for work daily with pristine makeup and elegant dresses paired with sophisticated heels.  Are you secretly willing yourself to fall sick on that dreaded team building day as well?

The truth be told, what good does it make to the team by merely attending an one-off annual team bonding outing?  This is especially so if some staff felt that the management have twisted their arms into attending the activity.  Perhaps the only incentive that comes with it is the chosen location where the team activity will be held.  How about organizing it at the beach resort or perhaps an overseas trip to Korea?  

Sorry guys, I am afraid we are mindful of the corporate budget and keeping it simple this time so no Escape Room Challenge, Scavenger Hunt or any Overseas Company Retreat.

Fundamentally, the selected activity need to align with the team's goals and objectives.  While one can never please all, it's important to engage the team by doing a poll on a few alternative team building venue and activity that is within the company's budget and makes sense logistically, taking into consideration any feedbacks from past organised team building activities.   

The key is to ensure a relaxed non-work environment where everyone can let their hair down to have fun and not think about work.   

Presenting the champion team of the Christmas baking competition.

This is the standard of baking to aim for! These are baked by my colleague. All on this plate is edible. BTW - there were more on that silver plate but the photo taking couldn't beat those greedy fingers! That in itself is a great testimonials that my colleagues are having fun and enjoying the fruit of their labour.  It's very yummy bakes indeed! 



Look too good to be eaten, right? That gingerbread house even have a 'glass' window.. Err...I still cannot resist and ate one peanut and chocolate piece. Mmmmmm..yummy ... and that was after my very sumptuous team Christmas lunch I just had at The Vintry, Abchurch Yard... :)

Ok...back to the subject matter. Anyone want to make a guess what ingredients were used to make those edible Christmas wreaths?? :P

So back to the subject of Team Building.  Do Team Building Activities have to be extravagant for it to be effective?  What do you think?  Share your thoughts with us.

Company cafe is opened finally!

A X'mas seasonal meal - complimentary from our company cafe which officially cut their red ribbon on 17 December!

Glutton with a roasted new potato - yummmmmm yummmmmy!



I had my contingency plan (more food stored in the fridge). but apparently this free lunch comes in quite generous portion (surprise - see photo for close up shot) so can ditch contingency plan...

I am feeling very satisfised with the Turkey and winter seasonal vegetables topped with bread sauce and cranberry sauce. Even more satisfying to savour lunch against a white backdrop with good company.







(btw - that is our roof terrace garden..and it is now snowed under)

I guarantee Winter has officially arrived...

..because even my friend's doggie has a new coat!



Photo - Courtesy of the dog's owner of course! :)

work or food talk?

Have u ever wonder how you spend your time in the office? recently for my team - 50% work talk and a good 50% FOOD talk! LOL

See what I mean?

A colleague of mine is just obsessed with pie that he is thinking of forming a pie club!

So there you have it - our very own Institute of Pie



There are more examples of other food obsessions - chocolate caramel shortcake, Ben's cookies and more Ben's cookies

With X'mas round the corner, the office is just spotted with chocolates, cookies and treats everywhere. temptations too hard to resist.

I am not the only glutton around here.  Apparently - there seems to be house mice (I dun mean HOUSE mice) but some unethical people stealing our treats left on our table.  Imagine our horror the next morning when we discover empty chocolate and cookie boxes left! So beside work and food talk, we are now spending time logging 'missing' or 'stolen' belongings with Security!!

Woof woof

I cannot wait for this Saturday to come. It's so exciting..to be able to spend a day out with our flurry friends!

http://www.discoverdogs.org.uk/

cheers!

FML

"Just 4 fun :

Today, I was expecting to get my dog back after the town shelter found her when she ran away. When I got there, they told me she already got adopted. FML

(have you heard of FML ?)"

Such a random e-mail I received from a French col. And during offical working hours somemore.

Do I sound like I am really bored over the phone or I sound as if I do need some cheering up?? :) FML? How would I know what is that?

I 'bing' it! yes bing instead of google..

http://www.fmylife.com/

what a discovery! not that I advocate 1) swearing and 2) gloating over other's misfortunate but it does remind u a little to count your blessings! and for some light-hearted ones, (admit it) they just make u LOL!

cheers!

Dear Joop....luv, Jade

Dear Joop,

I meant to respond to your blog. But I've got a 'Must be at most 300 characters' when I try to post my comments! Call me naggy and long-winded Godma! :P

that is the meaning of my name in Chinese character :) Hmm...and because great mind not only think alike but have the same great taste too! Don't you simply love this lovely green and blue background? :P Life's not too bad with the usual ups and downs! Hope you and Hao's getting on well!!

Hmm..I lost count (just like I stop counting my age since the 30 mark!!) Isn't technology great? Doesn't really feel like ages since we last met.

What confession? that will make me an even greater sinner. Don't worry too much about confirmation..just go with your heart.

A wall tennis player? I never will doubt that with your huge fan base!! CHEERS and keep up with the fantastic blogging!

xx
Jade

Psychic octopus Paul

Psychic octopus Paul hit the nail on the head again. Too bad it didn't predict if that's going to happen during extra play time or not!!! Anyway, still glad that Spain's champion.

WC fever

Everywhere you go, it's just WC, WC and more WC and I am not talking about flush toilet hor!! I log into Facebook and 8 out of 10 friends comments are surrounding world cup. It isn't national day but all you see are flags hung at buildings, residences and even cars by supporting fans in the UK. The most extreme I ever seen is fans waving the national flag and screaming their heads off from their roofless car as it cruised along the high streets of London.

And in EMEA, I bet most organisations have set up some form of a league or WC predictor! At least this is so for those EMEA organisations whom I know of! Employees are even allowed to watch WC while they work!! But rather this then faced with high volume of leave of absence, right?

For someone who doesn't even watch soccer matches in the past, this WC thingy is starting to have this contagious effect on me. One thing for sure, I dun need to wake up at wee hours to catch WC so maybe that's an added incentive. But what's most motivational is that my hubby's £ is at stake here! Just hope that lady luck will come knocking at my hubby's door soon to savage the current damage done...HELP!!

Freaky climate or is it juz me?

It has been close to 2 years since I last set foot in Singapore and imagine my surprise to find myself barely just escape from the most freaky climate incident. I am talking about Orchard Road turning into a gaint swimming pool (for cars) from June 2010's flooding!

That reminds me of another freaky climate encounter - London's heaviest snowfall in 15 years and this I sat right through it!

And if my memory never fails me, I recalled encountering the worst typoon with the typhoon signal number hitting a 10 since dunno how many years ago in Hong Kong..It's definitely another historical milestone.

Gee...Just hope I aren't the bearer of such freaky climate changes!

Well..u can't blame me being so obsessed with weather and climate nowadays when you are faced with the erratic weather changes in London almost every day. Thank goodness though - the weather is considered close to perfect these days. Sunny with blue sky and just the right degree of chill. What more can I ask for? Having said that, today's an exception. I'm praying for the perfect weather for this Saturday cos' I gotten hit the farm to do some strawberry, berries etc picking! :) Sooooo looking forward to it!

Ciao and look forward to some fotos in my next blog update.

English summer flower power

Who needs to buy flowers when i have these English summer beauties right at my doorsteps? Simply floral power updates!



Yo - btw, these aren't fake artificial flowers ... they are seriously very beautiful!




and sneaking one shot at a neighbour's botanic garden!! simply breathtaking...







And in contrast - the more commercialized look that you will see at Canary Wharf..still a beauty though..

Pole dancing of another kind

It wasn't the best kind of Fridays but thank goodness for these little bright spots that have kept me going.

A walk out in the sun. In the UK, sun (maybe for me - after food) is the best cure for melancholy. Definitely an assurance for me that summer has finally arrived.
 
Greeted by people relaxing on the greens. The chill out seems to have taken away the stress of the usual fast-paced business activities happening within those cool skyscrapers. A sight that did uplift my spirit.



Now, wait a minute. Seems like more than a usual summer chill out. They all seems to be watching something. Hmm...background music. So I c. It's a performance of some sort. Wow!

I need a camera. Ask and you shall receive. Thanks to my friend and his fanciful mobile that came with a super good camera. (in case you are wondering - nope it isn't i=phone but accordingly to him, his beats i-phone hands down). Anyway, these photos - courtesy of his mobile cam.



Let's take a closer look. We were just in time to catch the end of the performance. Snap a few photos of these flying dancers on pole before they descended back on the ground. Dunno what I had just caught (for that mere 2 minutes but my another friend cheekily described it as 'Pole dancing' of another kind.



And if you were expecting some other MORE exciting photos..err..sorry to disappoint you.

我尝试感觉伦敦的夏天

After a year of 'disappearance', I am not about to continue that uncompleted Cornwall journey! Sorry folks but who wanna hear stale news anyway!

Alright! Jade blogger is back to her business with a fresh uplift of her page of course! Hope u all like the new image. And to those of my friends (close to being extinct?? Yah..i m talking about those without any facebook account :P ), there's no more excuses for not knowing what I've been up to!

So what's up recently? Me turning on the heater still before retiring to bed? Bizarre at this time of the year??
Yah - it's the.........
不正常的伦敦夏天! 感觉夏天...我尝试感觉夏天...谁能够确定它已经到达了吗?

Translations???

Abnormal summer in London! Feel summer...I (seriously trying..still) to embrace this 2010 summer...but who can ascertain if summer is really here? Knock knock...??? I badly in need for summer and I mean REAL summer! Just a stimulated bee on a bright and cheery mug can juz provide that temporary relieve...



I detest the drastic one day up and another day super low weather. My poor sundresses are still buried right at the back of my wardrobe while my winter wear are undoubtedly indecisive about their next move - storage or not? Mind u - I am actually speaking during summer! It's SUMMER where Spring (which doesn't exactly feel like one - at least for me this 2010) seems to have quietly flighted.

Flowers did bloom and trees did get their new green coats (actually only some trees). The one outside my home is still quite bare. It's only recently that I noticed some leaves spouting. And strangely, those aren't in green.

The quiet flight of my 2010 Spring indeed. Before I can wipe out my camera to capture those flora & fauna, they also seems to have reached their end of their life span (OK - I kept on forgetting my camera too). Only 3 lonely flora fotos.





And another 2 more attempts of capturing cherry blossoms (blur and taken from a moving car). There were loads and lots of them...it's just me! I kept on forgetting to take any fotos!






Alright! Don't say I never try! Here's a delightful one capturing that very essence of Spring!



Ciao for now while I hunt for my coat. Don't need to dig that ears - Yes - coat it is! And I re-emphasise again - this is summer time in London.