I'm leaving for Tahiti tomorrow to conduct a training seminar in public relations, media relations, writing, design, branding and toilet cleaning (ok, maybe not the last one).

Will be gone for a week or so, but in the meantime, enjoy some of my pics taken when I was on holiday in Adelaide!

Did I mention I got a further follow-up from Woolworths?

No, of course not. That's because I disappeared for almost a month didn't I?

Been travelling around the country for work and I leave for Tahiti (it's a work trip, really) on Friday morning for a week again.

So between all that running around, and taking up a part-time class in writing, and trying to sort out my life, no wonder I've failed to update.

Anyway, Woolworths.

I got a phonecall from the manager of the Thornleigh Woolworths, who basically apologised profusely and mentioned how "deeply disturbed" she was by the whole incident.

She promised she would talk to the shouting lady and asked that I do continue to shop at Woolworths. I haven't been back since though, not deliberately, I just haven't been home to go there.

But she said I should drop in, ask for her and say hi one day. Maybe that's when she'll offer me a lifetime supply of Nutolene...

A reply regarding the Woolworths incident

Dear Ms Tan

Thank you for contacting the Woolworths website, Feedback such as yours plays a major role with the improvements which we are able to provide to our customers.

I would like to confirm that your complaint regarding service encountered at our Thornleigh Supermarket has been acknowledged and referred to the appropriate Regional Office for their attention and response to you.

Customer service and satisfaction are of paramount importance to us.

Regards

Bev Wright
Website Feedback Co-ordinator
Woolworths Limited

A letter to the manager of Woolworths supermarket sent today:

Re: Unpleasant treatment by Woolworths employee

Dear Sir/Madam

This letter is to inform you of a highly unpleasant episode that my partner and I experienced with an employee while shopping at the Woolworths supermarket at Thornleigh.

On the evening of August 22, 2007 at about 7.30pm, we visited the branch to shop for groceries as we have been doing since it was opened. We were also there to collect and purchase some items that we had previously put on a raincheck.

We were referred to Lisa, the checkout supervisor, regarding the redemption of the raincheck. When we presented the raincheck voucher, it was established that there was a misunderstanding regarding our raincheck - as we were under the impression that we had made a raincheck for 20 tins of Sanitarium Nutolene, however, Lisa said it was only for one.

The reason why we had made a raincheck was because the store had run out of Nutolene at that time (three weeks ago), and there was a very good special going on. We had bought 20 tins of a different variety of Sanitarium products at the special price, and decided to get a raincheck for 20 tins of Sanitarium Nutolene as well.

From our point of view, we would not have bothered to get a raincheck if it were simply for just one tin.

Unfortunately, Lisa was certain our raincheck was only for one tin. The conversation that followed was one of the most unpleasant and humiliating one that I have experienced.

Although we tried to be polite and explained to Lisa our situation, she raised her voice and adamantly refused to listen to our side of the story. She repeatedly interrupted us and cut us off, and made us feel as if we were being extremely difficult even though all we were trying to do was understand and explain the situation.

She kept telling us, in a very aggravated manner that "I've been doing this for 6 years and I know what I'm doing and I was the one to write it out and I remember when it happened and that if it was for 20 that I would have written 20 - see it doesn't say twenty - so it's for one."

We were very calm and tried to explain ourselves. However, Lisa never tried to listen to us. Instead, she consistently reprimanded us in a very harsh and stern manner, in a loud voice. She also frequently in various ways told us that we had done the wrong thing and gave us the impression that we really should not be shopping at Woolworths at all.

After consultation with someone on the phone - presumably the store manager – Lisa did allow us to get the remaining nine tins of Sanitarium Nutolene from the shelf at the special price.

My partner and I understood that there was a misunderstanding regarding the quantity, but what we fail to understand is why we should be treated in such a rude, uncivil and hostile manner.

After her tirade regarding the raincheck that we did not feel like shopping any further - either on that night or into the foreseeable future. It was an extremely unpleasant situation that left a very bad taste in our mouth.

We would like to hear Woolworths’ side of the story and would certainly appreciate appropriate action.

Thank you for your time.

Melody Tan

Yes, I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a Bruce Willis/Die Hard fan.

So naturally, I had to go catch Die Hard 4.0 on a cheapo Tuesday evening.

Firstly, it's a rather action-packed but ridiculous movie. Maybe it's just nostalgia, but I'm sure at least the first Die Hard was exciting and failed to incite any snide comments from me. But this? This? I liked the action, I won't deny that, but I was laughing every few minutes and going "what?!" every other.

The biggest burning question that I've got:

The whole show starts with hackers helping the bad guys hack into something or other. And then the bad guys start killing the hackers by hacking into the hackers' computers which then explodes (in a really magnificent way) when the hackers press the delete button.

And nowhere in the movie did it imply that the bad guys actually got into the hackers' homes and planted a bomb. It was all supposed to be done remotely etc.

What I would like to know is if this means that one fine day, my computer may suddenly decide to explode because oh, maybe I failed to pay my credit card bills and the bank's hacked into my computer?

Do I really have a walking timebomb?

Maybe that's why the lead hacker guy who eventually saves the day is the same Mac guy in the famous Mac/PC ads.

Maybe it's just a big ad for Mac - buy Macs! They won't randomly explode!

Spending four days or so working with indigenous women as been one of the most eye-opening experience I've ever had.

It has been one of the most insightful moments I've had into learning about their culture and perhaps realising what is fundamentally wrong with the current white-black tensions.

It may be simplistic in nature, and I could even be completely wrong, but I can't help but deduce that the tensions are based mainly on a big gigantic culture clash.

The thing is, the indigenous/Aboriginal culture is perhaps one of the more distinctive ones in the world.

I'm not an expert on cultures, but I have had my fair exposure to a variety of cultures from my travels through Australia, Europe and Asia. Although these cultures are vastly different, they are also contradictorily similar. Not so for the indigenous culture.

These people move as their feelings demand of them. They have no regard for consequences and no interest in schedules (even if one was kind of plannned). And it is completely different to what I've grown up with and what I'm used to.

As someone I was talking to said, "they don't think in a linear fashion." But a vast majority of the world, including myself, does.

In all honesty, from my pedantic point of view, the conference I attended hosted by them was one of the poorest organised one I've ever attended.

There was no program, and when there was finally one by the second day, it was never actually followed anyway.

One of the speakers was even asked to present a workshop when she were on her way to the conference as a delegate.

None of the scheduled items started or ended on time.

People wandered in and out of the conference as and when they pleased. This meant that there was one evening when nobody actually turned up.

What went on during the conference had nothing to do in achieving the aims that was outlined to me months ago. In fact, the conference actually turned out to be the complete opposite of what I was expecting.

But the funny thing was, it worked. The conference was actually a success. The organisers were pleased. The delegates called for another conference soon.

Although nothing went the way I would have wanted it to, this wasn't about me, or my culture or my upbringing. This was about them. And it worked for them.

Which makes me think of the way the government is trying to address various Aboriginal issues over the years. Have Aboriginal people been consulted? And if they have, are we simply too impatient, or too blinded by our own coloured and tinted lenses to realise that the plans are actually going according to their culture, their plans, and their way?

Maybe there aren't any results yet because we want results served to us according to our culture, and not theirs?

I had wanted to post about something else today but finding out about Today Tonight's feature on "Asians taking over Australia, oh what a bad thing" through the ABC's Media Watch, I just have a burning desire to change my post topic instead.

Firstly, I just can't believe how much some parts of Australia are still racist. And the worst thing is that they've got hold of the media, and a program that is watched by a substantial number of people.

Granted, Today Tonight is usually regarded as the tabloid version of current affairs shows and most of my peers don't even take it seriously. However, Today Tonight is also watched by a particular group of people that are, for lack of a better way to put it, more prone to being influenced by TV than others.

These are the bunch of people who will believe what Today Tonight says. And not only that, they will exhibit racist behaviour based on the show. After all, this isn't the first time such racist and sensationalised segments have been shown on the show.

And Australia prides itself on being multicultural?

Multiculturalism is the acceptance of ALL cultures, not just cultures that happen to fit into the Anglo-Saxon mould. Multiculturalism is not allowing shows like Today Tonight to continue to incite such racist thoughts.

Why can't we all just live happily together in harmony?

Media Watch's assessment of the Today Tonight segment here. (There is no way I'm going to link to that racist show.)

I'm currently on a plane flying over the desert on my way back to Sydney after a work trip to Uluru/Ayers Rock. Of course, this is going to be published after I am actually home, but well...

It has been an extremely fascinating experience, certainly unlike any other place that I've visited. It is, after all, stuck right in the middle of a desert.

As I speak, I'm looking out the plane window and it's just red red sand, dirt roads and a surprisingly large sprinkling of greenery. But other than that, it's nothing. Which is pretty much what it was like being at Uluru.

I stayed at a resort, well, the one and only resort, situated about 20kms away from the big red rock itself. It is one of the most intriguing places that I've ever stayed in.

I had expected a town like any other town I've visited around the world. Maybe a little smaller, but not what I arrived to.

The town of Yulara, where the resort was, is without a doubt the epitome of commercialisation.

It is, I suppose, a town like any other. However, everything about the town basically revolves around tourism. There are five hotels of different "stars" there, ranging from a plush five star one to a campground.

There is also a town centre, with a restaurant and takeaway that sells exorbitantly priced meals (and only one vegetarian option which nearly drove me nuts), a news agents, a post office, a supermarket, a tour agency, a hair and beauty salon and a couple of other shops selling a range of touristy stuff.

Everything is within walking distance of each other and where there is no pavement, everything is red sand.

And besides Uluru and Kata-Tjuta (the less famous sister) looming in the distance, there is nothing else. Seriously, nothing.

The nearest town, Alice Springs, is about five hours drive away. Nothing else! Just...sand!

Oh, there is a fire station, a police station and while on the free shuttle bus that takes you around the town (which I take simply because it's just too hot to walk around even if it is in the middle of winter) one day, it took me to the staff living areas, and revealed also a child care centre, a primary school and the Yulara campus of James Cook University.

This place fascinates me.

1. What are the lives of the staff like? Where do they shop - surely they don't buy the souvenir T-shirts and moisterisers and stuff for their daily usage? Do they really raise a family there? What do they do when they're bored? Drive five hours to Alice Springs to catch a movie and drive back? How do they live? Just how? Perhaps it baffles me because I'm such a city girl, and have no idea how can anyone live so isolated from civilisation, but really. I really wanted to grab a random staff and just ask them - how do you live????
   
   
2. Why are both Uluru and Kata-Tjuta there? I mean, there's miles and miles of sand and flatness, as far as the eye can see, and suddenly, viola! There's Uluru, and about 40kms away, Kata-Tjuta. Fascinating enough that there's one big gigantic rock, but two in such close proximity? Why? How? Was God chuckling when he planted them there?
   
   
3. Where are the Mutijulu people and how do they live? I went into the national park where the two gigantic, and I mean, GIGANTIC, rocks are and nowhere can I see any signs of life. Besides the hordes of tourists milling around of course. Where are the indigenous people? How do they live?
   
   
4. Why in the world would people spend at least a thousand dollars to come see a big rock or two? Ok, it's big, but that is really all that you get to do. Ok, maybe you can sit by the pool for a while. Shop for a few minutes (that's all the shopping there is). After that, what? Count sand? But people still come. I'm not bagging Uluru. It's awesome and I'm glad I came, but I'm not sure if I would pay the expenses from out of my own pocket...
   
   
5. Why is Uluru more famous?
   

All these mysteries that will cling to me for the rest of my life...and so will these photos.

Over the last 2.5 years as a public relations practitioner and a news reporter for the church (don't ask me how I reconcile that), I've come across a breed of people who completely amaze and exasperate me.

These are the ones who read, or rather glance through, a news article and immediately believe that our facts are wrong or that we are talking about something else entirely.

They would write irate letters to us, stating that we were wrong about something and that we really should check our sources. Or something along the lines.

Thing is, if they had actually read the "errant" sentence carefully, they would not have needed to write any such irate letter to us.

Instead, we end up having to write calm and polite letters telling them that, actually, as stated in the first paragraph, our stories mean "A-B-C", and not "D-E-F" as they had assumed.

If they had only taken the time to properly read the article before sending us a letter saying we were wrong.

I had a bit of a whinge session with my colleague about this in the morning and the quote he gave me was absolutely priceless -

Conclusion jumping should be an Olympic sport - we might have a chance of a gold!

Early last week, an issue arose at work that needed a statement written.

I wrote the statement, hoping for it to come across as uncontroversial as possible. Things were toned down, while the facts remained. All I did was try to make it as un-sensational as possible, while maintaining the integrity of the issue. Basically, what any public relations practitioner would do.

The statement went to the appropriate approval levels - upon which it was promptly knocked down. After two drafts of the statement with similar uncontroversial tones and a phonecall that basically said "Melody just does not get it!", I finally succumbed and wrote the statement the way it was wanted.

No bridges could possibly be built or mended in the final statement I wrote. But it was what they wanted, so what could I do?

Today, the statement has come back to bite us. People of the highest levels are upset. Too controversial. Too sensational. Too wrong.

If only I can wag a finger at someone and say "I told you so"...

But it also made me realise that I really should have been more forceful with what I thought would be the right way to approach the issue. After all, that was what I was hired to do right? To watch out for the organisation's best interests as a professional, and not simply to be a pen.

They are actually sending UN troops into Darfur to help combat the genocide!

How fantastic is this?

One part of me had tears welling up when I heard the decision announced on the news this evening. It really is about time something is done.

Unfortunately, another part of me is wondering how effective it will be in ending the genocide. UN troops were in Rwanda when the genocide happened and that did nothing. Granted it's a different situation since governments were actually denying genocide back then, but the UN has been widely criticised as being powerless.

Will the genocide in Darfur end? We'll just have to wait and see.

In the meantime, let's just celebrate the fact that the world has finally decided to do something.

Rodney has just started this new initiative that I cannot help but highlight.

We seem to be surrounded everyday by negativity - things going wrong, people saying things they shouldn't be...

My experience yesterday also made me realise that while you may get ten positive affirmation, it only take one negative one to pull you right down into the gutter.

Besides, you really can never get too much positivity.

An excerpt of what the Thumbs Up project is about.

Do you want to be a part of the positive? You can post a thank you to someone, a list of reasons you're thankful this week, or highlight people doing something worthwhile in your community. You don't have to post every week but it'd be wonderful if you're prepared to make the effort to write a positive post most weeks.

More at his site.

My many thanks to the wonderful people who have managed to make me feel somewhat better after my previous post.

I suppose I should realise that my articles may offend people. After all, I am writing materials that will be read by people, which means I will get reactions, and not all of them will be nice.

I guess I just never seen myself as...I don't know, opinionated?

Maybe it has something to do with an occupational hazard. Working in public relations make me want to please everybody, make everybody feel good and most certainly not offend anybody. I'm meant to be a bridge-builder aren't I? So to be told that I come off as a bit too strong by somebody in my work environment really took me aback.

It made me feel that I'm just not doing my work well enough.

But I'm also just a girl with a voice. And with thoughts. And as much as I think myself rational and fair, I suppose my thoughts don't always come off as such to others.

The main affront I've had with being told that I come off as a bit too strong is the fact that I feel like I'm being seen as some radical. Like as if I need to run down the corridor and shout "jihad!!!!!!" or something like that.

I don't know, maybe I still will. If it's on a topic I'm passionate enough about, something that I believe in, I may. Well, not shout jihad, but certainly shout something relevant.

But the incident this morning has certainly got me thinking. And perhaps I may just be that much more careful with what I write in future.

I feel like I'm being confronted about my life as a writer lately.

To cut a long story short, I overheard a conversation about my writings between two people.

Person A was advised against getting me to ghost write something because it seems like I "come out a bit too strong" in my articles.

I feel like a left wing radical extremist now.

The comment would not have been a personal attack if being a writer isn't who I am.

And I feel the need to sit down and rethink the way I write, or even if I should continue writing.

This is absolutely hilarious, and a great excuse for me to write a post but not actually write a post.

Anyone remembers those ads from classmates.com (left) on the internet about this couple?

Read about one man's obsession and his determination to find the truth.

Public relations is a profession that is notoriously hard to measure.

Sales and marketing can be measured by revenue.

Production can be measured by the number of things produced.

But how do you actually measure public perception, opinions and general feel towards an organisation?

It's something that I've struggled with.

I suppose my results can be measured by doing a pre and post survey with a random group in the population, but even that's a little hit and miss. Not to mention really costly.

Traditionally, public relations is measured by the number of media clips that a practitioner manages to get published in the newspapers. But just because it's in the papers doesn't mean it does anything to the reader.

Just because you read something doesn't necessarily change your perception of an organisation.

Perhaps a good way to measure results is by the reaction you get from readers who have read an article. But how can you ever be there to properly measure reaction?

I have no idea.

But just this week, I received a really heartwarming result that enabled me to sort of measure the results of what I have done.

The Adventist Church in Toowoomba has been involved in packing "bags of love" for children who have been taken into foster care because their parents were manufacturing drugs illegally.

They rely on donations to make up bags that contain items like homemade quilts, toiletries and toys.

After a few phonecalls, I actually managed to get their story published in their local paper.

But it wasn't the published article that warmed my heart, it was an email that I received from the folks at the church:

"We have had more interest (after the article was published) with people offering to make quilts and giving donations."

People read the article! It stirred them into action! Yay!

New article published!

Ok, it was published about two months ago now, but I had to figure out a free file storage system that wasn't temperamental and actually allowed people to download the articles.

And I finally found it!

At least I hope I did. Let me know if the links are broken. Again.

Do you check the stats to your blog very often?

I do so occasionally and it's interesting to find out where my readers come from, how they found my site and where they go after.

However, I nearly passed out today when I received an email from a friend.

One of the joys of checking statistics on a blog is musing over the search terms people evidently use to find it. Lots of interesting stuff shows up. But today i saw one on mine that stood out. Someone has found my blog by searching for "melody tan" nude pictures. I can assure you that they were probably disappointed.

All I can say is that I hope they were looking for a different Melody Tan...

To celebrate our first year anniversary as well as my birthday, Daniel and I did the most romantic thing ever.

We went to a flying trapeze workshop.


It was honestly one of the most fun things I've done in a long time. Ok, it was also terrifying, but certainly fun.

When we first signed up for it, the only thing I thought of was "this is fun!" Thoughts of that soon disappeared when we actually turned up at the venue. That was when I was reminded that firstly, I had no upper body strength whatsoever, and secondly that I was absolutely insane to have agreed to go flying through the air.

We had all of one practice run on the training bar before the guy went "alright, you can go up the ladder now." I just kept thinking, "I'm going to die, I'm going to die..."

Then came the point where I had to climb the ladder which I thought would never end.


At the platform at the top, the only two things that I could think of was that I was a very long way up and how embarrassing it would be to wet my pants as I jumped off the platform clinging on to the trapeze bar.


Thankfully, that did not happen. What did happen was that I thoroughly enjoyed myself, especially the part where I was swinging in the air.

That did not happen for too long however, because we had to do all these flips and hanging from our legs and stuff and it all happened in a matter of seconds.

We were also given the opportunity to be caught by another person, but by then I was so tired, I could no longer grip on to the trapeze bar with my legs long enough to be caught before falling off on to the nets.

Daniel did much better however, and when he was caught, his yells of delight could be heard miles away and he could not stop grinning when he was on ground.

The showoff.

All photos here.

I live in an apartment block of six units. Behind our block, there is a row of garages for all six units, and in front of them are some car ports, for visitors, or for the extra person who may be living in our flats.

About two months ago, a dark Mercedes turned up in our car ports. Because we had two new people move in the block not too long ago, I simply assumed it belonged to either of them.

I've seen the driver of the Mercedes before and had no idea who he was. Talking to two ladies who lived in the apartment, they've also mentioned that they've seen him cleaning his car in our car ports on Sundays, looking quite at home. They've both thought he was new in the block.

About a week ago, a white pick-up appeared as well. By now, our car ports are getting rather full. Backing into my garage is no longer a two move manoeuvre. It's now a twenty point one because the pick-up is oh so conveniently sprawled across two parking lots right in front of my garage.

I finally got around to asking all six residents if they knew who the two cars belonged too. All had no idea and had thought it belonged to the other.

So the fact of the matter is, we have two cars parked on our property, and we have no idea who they belong to, or where they came from.

Curious and I have to admit, somewhat annoying.