today was definitely a better day, though it was probably because i hid away from the hustle and bustle and distractions of the main store and worked at my own sane pace at our smaller branch in bras basah... manage to work out more details of the staff training programme ... there's just so much that needs to be done in terms of training... like how to provide superb customer service that truly "delights our customers" (in my own little way, i'm hoping to transform "customer service quality" in Singapore - i think customer service in Singapore really sucks! - though it is still better than in HK, i heard.. apparently, the sales people there actually ignore customers even when they are being scolded, even in big departmental stores..wow..), selling skills (cos sometimes, while providing "superb" customer service to our customers, i hear my staff saying - much to my astonishment - "you can get it cheaper in xxx place" durrhhh????), getting things right the first time (which means they must really know their stuff - like having good product knowledge, being alert etc), phone etiquette, dressing, etc etc etc... and on top of that, we have to think about motivating them... very hard indeed...

brought my damaged slr camera to this wonderful camera repair shop in Adelphi near City Hall MRT (P&G - in the basement) and the friendly uncle - this Mr David Phan fixed it in a flat 1 minute.. though all he did was open up the battery compartment, slide the battery out and then popping it back in again... :p.. why haven't i ever thought of doing that?? anyway, he was astounded at how badly maintained it was (i'm really bad at taking care of my camera). he advises taking off the camera strap before putting the camera in the dry box cos otherwise you put in all the dead skin and sweat and fungus - which defeats the purpose of putting it into a dry box then.... umm..good point... and i found out (quite unexpectedly but happily) that this old lens i borrowed from a friend for long-term use - Tokina AF235 II 20-35mm f/3.5-4.5 is actually a really really superb lens! Just a little dirty and needing a little cleaning up but wow, check out the rave reviews! .. so i suddenly have another little treasure to play around with... :)