International Award of CCAS Best Contact Center 2008

The competition was held in Singapore from August 11 – 29, 2008 and my turn was on August 20, 2008, at 7.00 pm GST+8.

Day 1, August 19, 08 : Depart to Singapore

Few days before, I’ve made some of my preparation going to Singapore, including buying new clothes, and all that I’m going to need there. Luckily, there were 3 public holidays beforehand, giving me enough time to grab everything.

Early in the morning, I got an sms from my sister telling me that there was one bad traffic jam so I need to leave in a hurry. At first, I intended to get exercise but then I cancelled it. It was 9.00 am and my flight was on 11.20 am. Normally, it took approx 1 hr to get to Cengkareng Airport. I took a cab that I usually don’t, it was Koperasi Taksi, the one with green and orange color. I actually wanted to take a better one, at least the one with better look, but then again, don’t want to be late, I decided to wave at it.

I asked him to stop by the nearest ATM to withdraw some money, I have no money left, but hey you know what happened? It was broke, there were 2 ATMs there from different bank, and all are off. Yaa pasrah aja deh, :D leave it to God, hope for the best, paling2 kalopun ga bisa, driver taksinya suruh nunggu bentaran di airport :D

It was fine, until we reached Pintu Tol Cawang. It’s famous to its worst traffic jam and I got it as well. I was pretty confidence that I’m not gonna be late since you know, I usually take this route and yes, I always got stuck here and another one near Kelapa Gading (don’t know the name) but still I made it on time to the airport. And you know what happen, the car suddenly broke down, DAMN!!! Then there was one guy who tried to help, it’s back on again but then broke down again. It happened 3 times. Thanks God I’m not panic, but the driver was :D. I thought I’m going to call Blue Bird to come over, and at the same time calculating money I got left :D.

Alhamdulillahnya, setelah 3 kali break down, no more traffic jam, taksinya lancar jaya, cuma ya gitu deh, tiap kali ketemu macet dikit deg – degan, tiap kali mo bayar tol deg – degan. Sampe di pintu tol Ir. Soedyatmo, taksi drivernya diomelin sama mas mas penjaga tol, disangkanya mo ngabur ngga bayar taksi, padahal he tried to maintain the machine to keep it on hahahhaha, makanya bang, lain kali kalo mo jadi supir taksi, cari yang mobilnya bagusan. Whew, PELAJARAN PERTAMA, JANGAN NAEK TAKSI YANG GA RELIABLE (BACA: BUKAN BLUEBIRD) UNTUK PERJALANAN YANG TIME-SENSITIVE.
Right at the gate, Pak Nanan called me and told me that Bank Mandiri team has just been robbed, all data that was supposedly brought to the competition, all gone. Gosh ….

So I got to the airport, thanks god I got there on time, and I tipped the taxi driver, I knew it wasn’t his fault and he’s tried hard to get me to the airport. Met Pak Nanan there, check in, pay fiscal, going thru immigration, going in to the gate, and met Bu Tiwi and team.

Not a long wait, we board into Garuda aircraft, I’m seated side by side with Pak Nanan. As always, seating side by side with Pak Nanan has never been bored, since he always has something to talk about :D.

We landed in Changi Airport at 14.00 pm, went directly into immigration. Tried my hotspot service from IM2, turned out unusable.

Funny story at the immigration, the officer asked Pak Nanan to smile because he felts suspicious to Pak Nanan :D. He said the picture was different, so he asked Pak Nanan to smile, then he let Pak Nanan go.

Finish with immigration, getting our luggage, then exchange money. Yesterday the rate was 1 USD = 1.3 SGD. I also got myself one prepaid card from M1, SGD 38, and I got SGD 40 credits.

Ternyata penderitaanku tidak berhenti sampai disini. Sudah antri taksi, oh iya, I split with Pak Nanan since we’re going to stay in different hotel, so Pak Nanan left with Mandiri team and I took a cab. I queue for a cab, there were like 3 passengers ahead of me. I heard the officer told the passenger to take cab no.2 and he told me to take cab on lane 6. But those 2 women going into the same direction with me, kinda suspicious for me, so when they’re trying to open the door,
I said, “I’m sorry, I think this is my cab”
They said, “No, this is not”
“But that man over there told me that I got number six, did he tell u that?”
“Yes, he did”
Three of us looked ridiculous and she was trying to get that officer’s attention. But then I said, “That’s alright, I’ll take another cab”.
I stepped aside and confuse, then another officer came and asked me to line up if I wanted to get a taxi. I was trying to explain my experience before, but he kept asking me to line up, there were 2 lanes there. Alright, I’ll move, I don’t want start any conflicts here, for my own good, I want to keep my mood stayed like this until competition’s over. PELAJARAN KEDUA, SALAH KOMUNIKASI, JANGAN BILANG "DID HE TELL YOU THAT?" TAPI BILANG "WHAT LANE NUMBER DOES THAT MAN TELL YOU TO TAKE?"
I went to another lane, and the officer said, “queue”. I explained what I had experienced. Instead of getting me another cab, that guy shouted to his partner “Hey, …”. I thought, it’s gonna take forever. So I decided to line up. Well, at least I told everyone what was wrong. There was one bule there, looking at me in funny look, yeah I know I look ridiculuous.

Arrived at the hotel, hammm, it doesn’t look like what I expected :D, there were no line for the car to park on since it was located right at the front of bus stop. I opened the door and found no reception desk, quite confused, and I saw a signage, saying Hotel Lobby ahead. Oh, there it is.
“Hello, good afternoon, I made my reservation already”
“Miss Yuvi, this is the rate for one night, and this is for two nights”
“Yes” and I saw number 304 shown.
“So, do you want to pay for 2 nights or one night and one night?”
“2 nights upfront, cash OK?”
“Yes, of course”
“Miss Yuvi, your room is 315, this is the key, the lift is over there, in your right hand side”
“Thank you”

So, this is the room, small, that’s the first impression. Floor is not carpeted, but all are OK, for that price, and uhmmm the view was another wall :D.

Hammm, okey, first thing first, get your stuff out, not much though, get some water, there is a 7-11 store located just right in the front of the hotel. Grab something to eat, it’s also near.

Back to hotel, prepare the presentation. Writing everything, brainstorming, while watching HBO, the subtitle is in Chinese, so no good for me. Waktu ini, coklat GuyLian oleh2 Iks waktu dari Sing kemarin yang setia menemaniku ... halah lebai. And when the clock showed 12.00 pm, I decided to go to sleep.

Day 2, August 20, 2008

Wake up in the morning, shalat subuh, mmmm langsung keingetan materi presentasi belum selesai, duh belum latian juga. LETS GOOOOOOOOOOO …. Langsung tancap gas.

Waduh, mau mandi, air panasnya ga nyala, whew, mandi sekenanya deh. Balik lagi ke meja. Alhamdulillah selesai juga :D. Hmmm skrg latian, whew, the hardest part now. Nyoba 3 kali kok susah ya :D oke break sebentar, cek email, chatting chatting dan semua aktifitas yang terkait dengan internet.

Oke, mulai lagi sekarang pake timing. Wah, first attempt, 25 menit. Okeh, kurangin dulu yang ngga penting. Hummm, second attempt, 20 menit. Waduh, masih lebih. Ayo coba lagi. Third attempt, 19 menit, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah tolong, gimana dong. Baru mau nyoba lagi, eh dapet sms dari Pak Nanan.

“Bu, udah ketemu gedungnya?”
“Hehehe, belum Pak, ini baru mau kesana, saya masih sibuk prepare dari kemarin”
Few minutes later …
“Saya sudah didepan gedung”
“Oke pak”
“Di jalan high street, ada gedung yang belum jadi, disebelahnya itu tempatnya”

Waduh, ternyata kaos yang gw bawa kegedean nih :D, humm putar otak, pake baju yang mana ya … pake kerudung kemarin ajah, sama pake kaos yang ini. Yang ini buat besok ajah.

Jalan sambil bawa sebotol aqua, kamera fully packed, bawa materi presentasi sekalian diapalin, bawa google maps, okeh let’s go.

Pas lagi di jalan, karena kebanyakan konsentrasi sama materi presentasi, yah gw kelewat kayaknya :D. Mo buka google maps kok kayaknya pulsa gw abis ya :D. rate inetnya M1, per kilobyte itu 0.5 cent. Oh iya lupa cerita, semalem karena excited banyak pulsa, tlp pipin lah, sama tlp nyoka, wah ternyata dari 34 dollar sisanya tinggal 4 dollar huahuahuahuahuaha. Balik lagi ke perjalanan menuju High Street Center, pas sampe di tikungan Excelsior, gw ikut turn right. Trus sampe di north bridge road, gw bingung, kalo ke kiri ke City Hall, ke kanan ke Funan. Wah, gw kemana ya, akhirnya gw jalan ke City Hall, wah kayaknya bukan hahhaha.

Sms Pak Nanan,
“Pak, ngelewatin Funan ngga?”.
“Iya, sampe Funan. Ibu dimana?”
”Oooo, itu high street dah keliatan”
“Wah, saya malah di Funan, tungguin ya”
“Saya tungguin di perempatan aja Pak”

Eh taunya, Pak Nanan dah di ujung jalan hahahaha.

Masuk ke High Street, naik ke lantai 6. Oooo disini tempatnya, oke deh asal tau aja. Keluar, ternyata didepan udah river walk dan diseberangnya pas ada gedung SingTel. Foto – foto bentar trus balik lagi ke arah Funan. Masuk Funan, ternyata masih pada tutup, baru jam 10 pagi hehhee. Ngeliat di papannya Nokia, wah E71 cuma dijual SGD 388, waaa sama kayak 2.4 juta. Jadi ngiler, langsung SMS pippin nanya contactnya Dimas, temennya yang kerja di Sing.

Trus kita sarapan di McD, abis itu muter2 aja di Funan, keluar, pulang deh.

Balik ke hotel, oh iya, dr City Hall, gw beli air mineral 1 liter, waaaaa, dibawa ke hotel, 1 liter cukup membuat punggungku berantakan.

Sampe hotel, practice lagi. Siiip, dapet 16 menit. Tinggal tuning dikit lagi. Mandi ah, gerah. Abis mandi, kok ngantuk ya, tidur ah, ketiduran setengah jam taunya dah jam 4. Sholat Ashar, practice sekali lagi trus berangkat deh. Secara juga, Pak Nanan dah sms bolak balik, dia kecepatan naek taksi dari Orchard ke High Street Center cuma SGD 6.00. Dikasih SGD 10.00, and the driver said thanks, tapi celakanya diminta balik kembaliannya sama Pak Nanan hahahha. Aku bilang sama dia, ya dia kan ngeliat tampilan Pak, Pak Nanan kan rapi jali kemarin huehuheuhue, jas, tie wah kayak Direktur deh kkkekkeke.

Pas jalan menuju high street, i dont know why gw diliatin banyak orang hahaha, mungkin karena gw pake sendal sedangkan atasan rapih huehuheu, cuek amat. Pas mo nyebrang ke High Street ternyata sebrangannya sudah gw liatin waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, terpaksa deh nyebrang dulu ke Clarke Quay, trus nyebrang lagi ke High Street hiks, gempor kaki.

Sampe sana, pas mau masuk, pake intercon, mm lupa unitnya, pas liat henpon mo cek unit, eh ada cowok lewat, untungnya dia baik dan sepertinya mengenali kalo gw clientnya ehehhehe.
”Dari Indosat ya Mba?”
”Iya Mas” ... btw kok dia tau ya

Sampe ke Touchbase office, tempat lombanya, ternyata Pak Nanan lagi nungguin sama Bu Wulan, supervisor call centenrya BCA.
”Diundur Bu, delayed”
Waduh, sepertinya gw bakalan dapet giliran jam 8.00

Long story short, gw anxious banget menunggu giliran. SMS kemana mana untuk menghilangkan rasa nervous. Ternyata pas giliranku whewwww ... beneran nervous bow.
Me : ”Good evening Ms. Anne-Marie, good evening Ms. Munirah”
Me : “I’m so nervous”
Ms. Munirah : “We’re nice, don’t worry”
Me: “Yeah I know, but still”
Explain all the materials with you know … it clearly shows that I’m being nervous.
But then I said to Sihombing
Me : “Thanks God I don’t need you”
And they’re laugh together.

Sihombing is the translator for us. He looks like Sultan Djorghi, but probably in younger and mmmm can I say simpler to him? :D. He’s quite smart I guess. He studied electrical engineering, so he’s a consultant to it and also a translation consultant. He usually help Indonesian during Microsoft Competition event. Looks cool aye? But unfortunately I don’t keep his name card :D, yeah just like Iks said, no TP TP at all hahhaha

I don’t seem like unable to answer all the questions, but yet they’re also not impressed by my questions even if I’ve tried my best. Well, lets hope for the best.

After the judging process, I was trying to get some souvenirs by going to Bugis Village. It was 8.35 pm. But I don’t think Bugis Village is the right place for me, I went in for just 5 minutes then I’m out of there. Moving around in Bugis Junction also doesn’t help me much since there are only food there.

Oww I forgot, I dropped by Funan to check on the E71, but then you know, it was a contract with M1, one month will cost you SGD 25. So, in the end of the day, it’ll be more costly than the original price. So, I sent an SMS to Dimas, saying that I cancelled my intention to buy E71 due to the contract.

Back to that night, I mean to go to Mustafa, but it’s already late, I’m all alone, so I don’t think it’s good for me to go out alone. Besides, I can still shop at Changi. So I decided to go back to hotel.

So, I dont think there's much left to tell on the 3rd day, besides going back to Changi, get some chocolates for everyone and back to my home sweet home.

So, that's it all.

O ia, lupa mo ngasih tau, tambahan :D, pas beli beli kemarin di Sing, sempet dikasih kembalian dalam bentuk koin. Koinnya gede sih, disitu ada angka 1 nya, jadi gw pikir nilainya cuma 1 cent. Trus ada lagi yang nilainya 10 cent karena ada angka 10nya. Yang ada angka 1nya ada 5 dan gede - gede, jadi heran, kok 1 cent koinannnya lebih gede dari 10 cent ya ... Sengaja sih ga nukerin, bukan untuk disimpen, tapi kemarin baca di counter money changernya UOB, mereka ngga menerima penukaran koin.
Sampe rumah, baru nyadar ternyata yang koin angka 1 itu nilainya 1 dollar sing, hahaha nyesek deh ... pantes Mba Mba penjaga sweet treat di Changi bilang, itu 1 dollar ada, gw bilang, ngga cukup mba :D, maap ya mba :D