Well, another good weekend had just flew by. On Saturday (26th Sept 09), me and me gf went to the house of one of her previous university mate in Bandar Seri Putra for kinda of a Hari Raya visit. This gentleman, lets call him Dr. F, is a now working in a local university as the Head of Aerospace Engineering.
During the drive there, we have discovered lots of new roads and highways. Upon arrival at his house, we were served with nice home cooked chicken "rendang" and peanut sauce to go with "nasi impit" and "Laksa". Nice Malay dishes. We sat and talk for about 2 hours before venturing a drive to show my gf the way to the LCC terminal. She is flying off to Sabah on Tuesday.
I can see from the conversation that Dr. F is one of the "outstanding" lecturers in the local university. I can see some hope of the local university to progress further in future. Perhaps he is educated oversea, he have seen the proper way of managing a university from his experiences abroad that put priority on research and funding and now his hands are tied as he is not "powerful" enough to extend his arm to practice it. Hopefully our local universities have more of this lecturer which have this vision.
Then, in the evening, we drop by to our new house to view the progress of the house. It was 99% completed and we (my gf and me) have some discussion on how we want the house to be renovated. This is the home we are building together. I will want to put all her inputs on the interior decoration / renovations to make her feel most comfortable living in it.
After the discussion, we went to my house where she rested and I went to collect my glasses which I have taken to have the lenses replaced. I have opted for a Carl Zeiss lenses but alas, upon collection, the left side of the lens, the optician found a flaw and they are going to have it replaced with another new lens this coming weekend.
For dinner, I took my mom together with us to a chicken rice shop where they also serve "Ipoh Hor Fun" soup and after dinner I send my gf back to her home as my mom also tagged along to enjoy the ride.
There is nothing much happenings on Sunday, just groceries shopping with my mom and there goes the Sunday. Also, watched the latest season of House M.D. which was downloaded by my gf's younger brother. Thanks YT for the movie. Looking forward for more episodes.
Well, nowadays, weekend have not been so routine. We have tried new activities to spend more time together and explore new things that we can do. For this weekend, I think I will get some violin performance from my gf as she need to practise her violin and I had offered my house for her to practice. I am really looking forward for the "performance".
So others out there, what had you done / plan for your weekend?
The coming week, I will be travelling to the Maldives to attend a meeting with a customer and will only be back by Thursday morning.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Dishonest day work
As this week's working day only begin on Wednesday, most of the people took the week off. In my office, the whole floor, only 5 of us are in the office as compared to the usual dozen. Some took official annual leave, but there is one particular person in my office who only comes in the morning and goes missing after lunch.
To me this is not the way to work. If you want to work, stay on the whole day. If you want to take a rest at home, you are allocated annual leave that you can take at your convenience. You must be fair to everyone.
While thinking about this topic, another example came to my mind that was told to me by my gf. One of this colleague is also this type of person. He told the whole team that he will be going to a site at a specific time, but ended up not appearing at site. He just used it as a reason to go do some of his personal things and never thought of others. I also heard that a team of people at the site waited for his arrival but he fail to turn up and did not inform them until like 5 something pm.
This is not something new to me when I heard that. I have seen many times with reputable consultants informing the "whole world" about a meeting at a specific date and time and he himself did not come for the meeting.
I understand sometimes we have to handle some of our personal things during office hours as some official dealings with the banks, government agencies etc is not available after office hours and on they are close on weekends.
However, upon we finish with all these, we must get back to work soonest possible. We must cover our own tracks. When we "sneak" out to do our personal things under a specific name / work related destination that we need to go, we must make sure we will also end up there meeting the people we are suppose to meet for work also.
If you just leave the office and informing your fellow colleagues that you are going to a specific site but instead you just went off somewhere and did not turn up at the site, the news will spread like bush fire. It will leave marks on your personal records with your boss if he finds out. Is it worth risking?
When we work, we must be fair to everyone in the office too. Not many of us get the chance to leave the office during office hours officially. Only people that is in direct contact with customers e.g. sales teams, site teams, project teams etc. can leave the office and be on the road during office hours. There were many other people in our company that do not have the 'privileges' to leave the desk. The only time they leave the office is either they are going out for lunch or the are heading home after work. Rest of the time, they need to have the rear glued to their seat during office hours.
Of course, again, I understand working outside the office is not as nice as working inside an fully air conditioned office. Those in direct contact with customers need to face all sorts of characters the customer can put up. Travel long distances by land, sea and air to get their jobs done. Work under the hot sun and wet rains.
When we travel out of office to do some of our personal things, we must also patch up with completing the official duties. Make sure when we go back end of the day, we have work enough to call it an honest day work!!
Therefore, to all of you out there, please consider all the factors and learn to cover up tracks of the dishonest day work. As there is a Chinese saying, "Stealing food to eat, we must know how to wipe out mouth".
To me this is not the way to work. If you want to work, stay on the whole day. If you want to take a rest at home, you are allocated annual leave that you can take at your convenience. You must be fair to everyone.
While thinking about this topic, another example came to my mind that was told to me by my gf. One of this colleague is also this type of person. He told the whole team that he will be going to a site at a specific time, but ended up not appearing at site. He just used it as a reason to go do some of his personal things and never thought of others. I also heard that a team of people at the site waited for his arrival but he fail to turn up and did not inform them until like 5 something pm.
This is not something new to me when I heard that. I have seen many times with reputable consultants informing the "whole world" about a meeting at a specific date and time and he himself did not come for the meeting.
I understand sometimes we have to handle some of our personal things during office hours as some official dealings with the banks, government agencies etc is not available after office hours and on they are close on weekends.
However, upon we finish with all these, we must get back to work soonest possible. We must cover our own tracks. When we "sneak" out to do our personal things under a specific name / work related destination that we need to go, we must make sure we will also end up there meeting the people we are suppose to meet for work also.
If you just leave the office and informing your fellow colleagues that you are going to a specific site but instead you just went off somewhere and did not turn up at the site, the news will spread like bush fire. It will leave marks on your personal records with your boss if he finds out. Is it worth risking?
When we work, we must be fair to everyone in the office too. Not many of us get the chance to leave the office during office hours officially. Only people that is in direct contact with customers e.g. sales teams, site teams, project teams etc. can leave the office and be on the road during office hours. There were many other people in our company that do not have the 'privileges' to leave the desk. The only time they leave the office is either they are going out for lunch or the are heading home after work. Rest of the time, they need to have the rear glued to their seat during office hours.
Of course, again, I understand working outside the office is not as nice as working inside an fully air conditioned office. Those in direct contact with customers need to face all sorts of characters the customer can put up. Travel long distances by land, sea and air to get their jobs done. Work under the hot sun and wet rains.
When we travel out of office to do some of our personal things, we must also patch up with completing the official duties. Make sure when we go back end of the day, we have work enough to call it an honest day work!!
Therefore, to all of you out there, please consider all the factors and learn to cover up tracks of the dishonest day work. As there is a Chinese saying, "Stealing food to eat, we must know how to wipe out mouth".
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Time Flies
So fast, 4 days of weekend & holidays have passed. Today it is Wednesday and I am back to work. The day started with me downloading and reading 60 e-mails, then started to book a ticket for a meeting in the Maldives.
Actually, my work started yesterday at 1500 hrs with a call from my site team member at the Maldives. Then at 1630 hours, I received another call from the Project Manager from Hong Kong requesting me to attend a meeting on the 29th Sept 2009.
The weekend was great. On Saturday, me and me gf went for a movie. We watched "The Ugly Truth". It was really an entertaining show. To my surprise, when we went to the cinema, there was no queue. The barrier lines was so empty, we only stood there for about 3 minutes or so, its our turn at the counter already. We did not make any reservations and hope to just buy any tickets that was booked and not collected, but it will only be released 30 minutes before show time. Hence, we waited for another 15 minutes and went to queue again and got our tickets. Good seats too!!
After the movie, we went for dinner, then pack some dinner back for my mom. Then, I send my gf back with my mom sitting behind enjoying the scene. Upon arriving at my gf's house, she realized that she had forgotten to bring her house key out, so she called her mom to open the gate for her. Then as her mom came out, I think it is the 2nd time both our parents meet each other, they chated as I went into her house to collect some stuffs from her.
On the way back, me and my mom drop by my uncle's steamboat restaurant. Surprisingly, another uncle of mine was also there and we all sat down and talked until like 1am before coming home.
As this is the 3rd Sunday, I woke up at 0700 to go for my volunteer work at Tzu Chi Free Clinic. Then, since Monday is also another holiday, me and my volunteer friend we for a cuppa tea and chit-chat until like 3pm at the mamak shop. After that, I went home and hit the bed as was tired from waking up early in the morning. That evening, my old classmates called for mamak again at our usual gathering spot and we spend time talking from 1030pm until 1230am before calling it a day.
Nothing unusal on Monday. Did not meet with my gf as she went out with her classmates for ladies day out. I did not leave home until like 3pm as my mom asked me to go to the gas shop to see if they are open to get a new gas regulator as the existing unit we have had became faulty. Since its 3pm, I went and bought some "Poh Piah" for tea time. It had been a while since I last have this food. Nyam nyam....
Then, on Tuesday, me and me gf went for another movie "G-Force", an animation movie talking about a group of specially trained spy guinea pigs + a mole. Entertaining!! We watched the 1pm show, so by the time the movie ended, its just nice tea time, we went to a very nice tea shop to have our tea and scones. I send my gf back to her house and me went back to have dinner with my mom.
That's how I spend my weekend and Hari Raya holidays. It was relaxing. That is what holiday is suppose to be isn't it?
Actually, my work started yesterday at 1500 hrs with a call from my site team member at the Maldives. Then at 1630 hours, I received another call from the Project Manager from Hong Kong requesting me to attend a meeting on the 29th Sept 2009.
The weekend was great. On Saturday, me and me gf went for a movie. We watched "The Ugly Truth". It was really an entertaining show. To my surprise, when we went to the cinema, there was no queue. The barrier lines was so empty, we only stood there for about 3 minutes or so, its our turn at the counter already. We did not make any reservations and hope to just buy any tickets that was booked and not collected, but it will only be released 30 minutes before show time. Hence, we waited for another 15 minutes and went to queue again and got our tickets. Good seats too!!
After the movie, we went for dinner, then pack some dinner back for my mom. Then, I send my gf back with my mom sitting behind enjoying the scene. Upon arriving at my gf's house, she realized that she had forgotten to bring her house key out, so she called her mom to open the gate for her. Then as her mom came out, I think it is the 2nd time both our parents meet each other, they chated as I went into her house to collect some stuffs from her.
On the way back, me and my mom drop by my uncle's steamboat restaurant. Surprisingly, another uncle of mine was also there and we all sat down and talked until like 1am before coming home.
As this is the 3rd Sunday, I woke up at 0700 to go for my volunteer work at Tzu Chi Free Clinic. Then, since Monday is also another holiday, me and my volunteer friend we for a cuppa tea and chit-chat until like 3pm at the mamak shop. After that, I went home and hit the bed as was tired from waking up early in the morning. That evening, my old classmates called for mamak again at our usual gathering spot and we spend time talking from 1030pm until 1230am before calling it a day.
Nothing unusal on Monday. Did not meet with my gf as she went out with her classmates for ladies day out. I did not leave home until like 3pm as my mom asked me to go to the gas shop to see if they are open to get a new gas regulator as the existing unit we have had became faulty. Since its 3pm, I went and bought some "Poh Piah" for tea time. It had been a while since I last have this food. Nyam nyam....
Then, on Tuesday, me and me gf went for another movie "G-Force", an animation movie talking about a group of specially trained spy guinea pigs + a mole. Entertaining!! We watched the 1pm show, so by the time the movie ended, its just nice tea time, we went to a very nice tea shop to have our tea and scones. I send my gf back to her house and me went back to have dinner with my mom.
That's how I spend my weekend and Hari Raya holidays. It was relaxing. That is what holiday is suppose to be isn't it?
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Long Weekend
This weekend will be a long weekend. It is the Muslim celebration of the Shawal month or commonly known as Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
The exact date is still yet to be fixed as it is based on a very traditional lunar sighting on the 19th of Sept to determine the moon indicating the new month. Prior to this celebration, the Muslim goes thru a one full month of Ramadan or Fasting Month. They are not allowed to drink or eat during the day time.
Hence, if the 1st day falls on Sunday i.e. 20th of Sept 2009, then we will have a four days break from Saturday to Tuesday. No plans for now. Perhaps its just enjoying the break by staying at home or be with my gf roaming around the malls or shopping complexes or perhaps go catch a movie.
Anyway, if the 1st day of celebration falls on Sunday even, I am still going for the monthly volunteering work with Tzu Chi in Klang free clinic.
Don't know if it is because of the fact that too many people is travelling back to home town or perhaps is just a coincidence, I went to fill in my petrol this morning, to my surprise, 2 petrol stations I went to ran out of the RON97 fuel. So have to drive further to search for a third petrol station to fill up.
Well, I not a big fan of visiting places / going for holidays during the festive season as most of the tourist attraction areas will be packed. Everyone is taking opportunities to go for a short holiday. Furthermore, the roads will be jammed. Not going to be a pleasure drive at all.
I have to apologise to my gf for having such a boring bf. Not bringing her anywhere interesting for the holidays.
Anyway, will make the most out of this holidays.. Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to those who are celebrating, to those who are not, Happy Holidays!!
The exact date is still yet to be fixed as it is based on a very traditional lunar sighting on the 19th of Sept to determine the moon indicating the new month. Prior to this celebration, the Muslim goes thru a one full month of Ramadan or Fasting Month. They are not allowed to drink or eat during the day time.
Hence, if the 1st day falls on Sunday i.e. 20th of Sept 2009, then we will have a four days break from Saturday to Tuesday. No plans for now. Perhaps its just enjoying the break by staying at home or be with my gf roaming around the malls or shopping complexes or perhaps go catch a movie.
Anyway, if the 1st day of celebration falls on Sunday even, I am still going for the monthly volunteering work with Tzu Chi in Klang free clinic.
Don't know if it is because of the fact that too many people is travelling back to home town or perhaps is just a coincidence, I went to fill in my petrol this morning, to my surprise, 2 petrol stations I went to ran out of the RON97 fuel. So have to drive further to search for a third petrol station to fill up.
Well, I not a big fan of visiting places / going for holidays during the festive season as most of the tourist attraction areas will be packed. Everyone is taking opportunities to go for a short holiday. Furthermore, the roads will be jammed. Not going to be a pleasure drive at all.
I have to apologise to my gf for having such a boring bf. Not bringing her anywhere interesting for the holidays.
Anyway, will make the most out of this holidays.. Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to those who are celebrating, to those who are not, Happy Holidays!!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Memory Lane
As my previous posting, I mentioned that I went to Langkawi for a working trip. The hotel we stayed had pass by the hotel me and my gf stayed once.
It was one of our first trip together being a couple. Or more precisely it is one of our first trip taking a plane to the destination. I remembered that time she came back for holidays from her studies and we went to Langkawi for 3 days 2 nights.
As I passes thru the hotel we stayed, I can still remember the time we spend together. The beach the hotel have that is so nice and clean, the swimming pool. The nearby stalls for tasty food we had.
We went there in the year 2005 if my memory serves me right. So fast it was like 4 years ago already. Since then, we had been to lots of places together, Cameron Highland, Frazer's Hill, India, UK, Kuching just to name a few.
I am looking forward for more places to travel with her.
It was one of our first trip together being a couple. Or more precisely it is one of our first trip taking a plane to the destination. I remembered that time she came back for holidays from her studies and we went to Langkawi for 3 days 2 nights.
As I passes thru the hotel we stayed, I can still remember the time we spend together. The beach the hotel have that is so nice and clean, the swimming pool. The nearby stalls for tasty food we had.
We went there in the year 2005 if my memory serves me right. So fast it was like 4 years ago already. Since then, we had been to lots of places together, Cameron Highland, Frazer's Hill, India, UK, Kuching just to name a few.
I am looking forward for more places to travel with her.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Working Trip to Langkawi
I went for a one week seminar to Langkawi. We stayed in a "once a nice hotel". The cruise ships use to dock there with visitor from our neighboring country. However, the situation there is now the opposite.
The hotel was run down, the rooms are not in a good shape. When I first went in the room, just as I open the door, the rooms smells like as if 1,000 people had smoked inside. The smell of cigarettes was so strong that I have to open the glass door to ventilate it for the whole afternoon.
The food they offered was also nothing impressive. All the meals were covered under our seminar packages, all buffet meals, however, after the 2ND day I had enough. The menu seems the same everyday. Especially breakfast. Everyday is the same dish. As for lunch and dinner, the usual dishes are there everyday with only one or two dish that is different.
One this good about the place is the seminar rooms were big and the air conditioner is really freezing cold making everyone sleepy, especially after lunch.
In the seminar, my effort at work was recognised by the management. The company awarded me with Certification of Above and Beyond the Call of Duty (ABCD) for the work that I have done for the pass year. It was signed by our Group Vice President from the US which happens to be there for this seminar too.
All together we spend 4 days and 3 nights there, in which it was totally roaming in the hotel area only. Non of us left the hotel for the 4 days. Nights were spend by chatting up with colleagues with drinks on the unlimited tap.
During this trip, I manage to meet up with one of a manager which I worked with very closely when I first join this company. He is now based in Australia and he was so keen to see me helping him with his work there. During this time also, grounds were set for the coming year and what is the finale that the company wanted to see by December 2009.
Overall rating, the seminar was good. It manage to set clear the goals for this year and the coming year. Just the venue was not as desirable, but then again, during this slow economic times, at least our department manage to secure budget to organise such a seminar as compared to other departments which need to cancel their yearly seminars and meetings, there is nothing that I can complaint.
The hotel was run down, the rooms are not in a good shape. When I first went in the room, just as I open the door, the rooms smells like as if 1,000 people had smoked inside. The smell of cigarettes was so strong that I have to open the glass door to ventilate it for the whole afternoon.
The food they offered was also nothing impressive. All the meals were covered under our seminar packages, all buffet meals, however, after the 2ND day I had enough. The menu seems the same everyday. Especially breakfast. Everyday is the same dish. As for lunch and dinner, the usual dishes are there everyday with only one or two dish that is different.
One this good about the place is the seminar rooms were big and the air conditioner is really freezing cold making everyone sleepy, especially after lunch.
In the seminar, my effort at work was recognised by the management. The company awarded me with Certification of Above and Beyond the Call of Duty (ABCD) for the work that I have done for the pass year. It was signed by our Group Vice President from the US which happens to be there for this seminar too.
All together we spend 4 days and 3 nights there, in which it was totally roaming in the hotel area only. Non of us left the hotel for the 4 days. Nights were spend by chatting up with colleagues with drinks on the unlimited tap.
During this trip, I manage to meet up with one of a manager which I worked with very closely when I first join this company. He is now based in Australia and he was so keen to see me helping him with his work there. During this time also, grounds were set for the coming year and what is the finale that the company wanted to see by December 2009.
Overall rating, the seminar was good. It manage to set clear the goals for this year and the coming year. Just the venue was not as desirable, but then again, during this slow economic times, at least our department manage to secure budget to organise such a seminar as compared to other departments which need to cancel their yearly seminars and meetings, there is nothing that I can complaint.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Meeting day
Today is kinda interesting. Spend the whole day meeting, one meeting after another. Good thing that I came in the office early this morning, there was a meeting at 0900. The meeting was done by 1230 and after coming back from lunch, at 1430, there is another meeting again. This one is rather short, it finishes at 1545.
Then, at 1550, a contractor came and meet me to discuss some issues and also I had requested him to give me a quotation for a potential customer which we are bidding now.
Just manage to come up and sit down in my office to do some work. Just winding through for the day and only realize that there were so many meetings for today.
One question remains in my mind.... Is all the meeting the whole day fruitful? Is it going to contribute to the company growth in the coming months? Well, only time will tell.
Then, at 1550, a contractor came and meet me to discuss some issues and also I had requested him to give me a quotation for a potential customer which we are bidding now.
Just manage to come up and sit down in my office to do some work. Just winding through for the day and only realize that there were so many meetings for today.
One question remains in my mind.... Is all the meeting the whole day fruitful? Is it going to contribute to the company growth in the coming months? Well, only time will tell.
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