As I am sitting here, blissfully typing on my computer, it has come to my attention that my colleagues are a rather amusing bunch of people.

First of all, my supervisor, B, loves slow jazz music. In fact, he often sits in the cubicle next to mine with a pair of headphones on. Sometimes though, he plays his music out loud, whereupon my ears are bombarded with a lot of husky singing, the sensuous sounds of a saxophone and the pings of a piano.

All well and good, except that it errr... puts me to sleep.

The music is great cos its relaxing. But to me, it gets too soothing sometimes. I find my eyelids getting heavy as a singer breathily croons in the background.

"Looooooooooorrrrddd I'mmmmm oneeeee... Looooooorrrrddd I'mmmmm twooooo... Looooorrrd I'mmmm threeeee... Looooorrrdddd I'mmmm foooour... Loooorrrddd I'mmmm fiiiiveeee hundreeeeed mmiiiiillleees awaaaaay froooom hoooooommmeee..."

At this point, I usually feel like I'm 500 miles away from bed, which I desperately need. I usually counteract this effect by blasting rock or pop music on my earphones. Its even worse in the afternoons after lunch, a time when I tend to get dozy.

Then there's another colleague who has a tendency to talk very loudly. He's ang mor (aussie, to be exact) so I guess that's probably normal for him. However, it can get a little strange at times.

A few days back, he had just returned from what appeared to be annual leave, followed by a work trip to Shanghai. As he spoke on the phone, I could clearly hear what he said.

"Thanks for the champagne in Shanghai... That was very naughty of you."

Oh please do elaborate.

I listened with rapt attention, but he didn't say much to reveal more.

Oooh... I wonder what happened after the champagne...

Then there's this group of female colleagues that always seem to be huddled in a bunch, gossiping. These ladies usually do it in the printing room, well out of earshot of all work areas. Their excited whispering is usually accompanied by sneaky laughter and mischievious grins. They're even in action in the toilet, providing me with plenty of entertainment as I sit on the throne.

The fun part is guessing who they're talking about. They go about it carefully, and use code names to talk about said person. I'm still trying to find out who mei nu is. Heh. I think I should be going to the ladies more often from now on.

Last but not least, a senior executive here, who is another aussie lady, has an interesting sense of humour. Its really bizarre to see one of the top people in the company putting on a bush hat (it's this floppy fisherman's hat they wear in Australia) from a recent environmental campaign and crying out.

"I look like Steve Irwin!"

Crikey.