A Pocket Full of Sunshine, 21 Sept 2009

Is Raya long weekend.
As busy as I am with all the craziness at work, I’m determined to spend my holiday as how a holiday should be spend – forget about work and relax.

I’ve already had an outing trip planned with some friends, we have been longing to go to Sekinchan, a small town north of Selangor near the border of Perak, famous for its vast padi fields and fresh seafood, often called the rice bowl of Selangor. Perfect getaway for city folks, people like me who lived all my life in the city and buried in endless paper pushing which we called work.

We started the journey early in hope of getting there before noon. After almost a 2 hours driving through small towns and holidays traffic jam, we finally saw lushous green padi fields on our left. We knew we are there. It was noon with the hottest sun right on top of our heads, but I was so excited that I didn’t care about the heat. I stepped right out with my camera, hat and sunny, and head straight to the padi fields. I was overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude! There’s nothing like seeing where our food came from and how fard the farmers work at putting them on the table for us.

After snapping tonnes of photos, we proceed to the other side of town for some fresh seafood lunch. It was crowded due to the holidays, we waited patiently for our food to be served. Though we were a little disappointed with the food quality, we enjoyed each other companies. Nothing like sharing a meal with people you enjoy being with.

Some walking were needed after the hefty meal, we walked down the small lane in search of fishing boats and fresh fish stocks. However, since it was the holiday, the fishermen were also having their rest days. Instead of seeing busy docks, we saw fishing boast lying still in the shallow water; empty boxes; ladies mending the nets and new boat being build. For me, the most interesting is the houses. Pretty bold to be pink and having the double happiness word as decoration, people who lived there must be real happy.

Last stop is the beach, to see the sun hanging over the waterline and waiting for the fishing boats to return home after a hard day’s work. When the first boat returns, it was time for us to head home. I’ve always enjoy road trip, this is definitely my idea of a relaxing getaway.

 

生命没有如果

听说以前的几位同事被派往在国外的总公司驻习一年，看来公司的高层有意让本地人接班管理这里的业务和运作。 听了心里有点可惜，若我没有决定跳剿，我是否也是其中一位有机会到国外驻习一年呢？必定是一个难能可贵的好经验， 特别是一直都渴望能在国外住的老公。

回家告诉老公，心里有点愧疚，未能让老公如愿以偿。 老公却一脸豁达的说，“天意如此，就认命吧！是你的，就是你的；不是你的，就不是你的.” 难得老公这么看得开。反而我却耿耿于怀，怀疑自己是否有这样的能力让公司高层看上。 若说是为了老公，可能为了自己的自尊心比较老实。

但是，既然已经决定了，又有什么好回头呢？人生没有回头路，只有吸取经验在选择。 再看看现在的公司，现有的机会，我还是认为我没有选错。虽然现在乃未看到曙光，但已经是不远了，三个月的建立期快过了，一切的起伏动荡将会很快的平息下来，以后的路将会是康庄大道了。

每天面对着一波又一波的考验，难免有点气馁，看着路上被牺牲掉的，有时也会问问自己这一切是否值得。老公常说，“哪有那么多如果，一路走下去就是了，走错了就换条路，牺牲难免。。”

真的，生命没有如果。

 

I’m a Middle Manager, Get Me Out of Here!

What happens when 2 bosses don’t talk to each other?
They get you to talk to each other on their behalf!
Having all that I have on my plate and yet having an additional role as a mind reader, this is too much!

I’m a Middle Manager, I don’t read mind. I think I fail this challenge, get my out of here!

 

4 cities in 2 months

It had been an extremely busy 2 months for me. I’ve moved office, had my new team reports to work and travel around the region visiting head office and outsourcing offices. *phew* Am I glad that i’m finally back in office and not going anywhere for a while.

It all started with a 3 weeks training trip to Brisbane with my new team. Training went well 50-50,though I was disappointed, it can’t be helped as it’s hard to lock down trainers. The most important being building human relationship between my team and those counterparts they will be working with. As for myself, I had almost 3 weeks of meetings.  Too much information!

Aside from work, I managed to visit a few places with my team and enjoy Brisbane, especially Eumundi Market and Lone Pine Koala Santuary. But we are more interested with the Kangaroo than the Koala.

Second stop Bali, Indonesia. Who would ever think of software out-sourcing in Bali? Surprising, there is a 300 strong software out-sourcing company in Bali. It is pretty weird to be waking up at a beautiful resort and have to spend the day in the office in meetings. I didn’t get to see Bali at all due to the short trip. All I sampled was the delicious food.

Third stop DaNang, Vietnam. DaNang is the 3rd largest city of Vietnam. A relax  coastal town in central Vietnam. I visited Ho Chi Minh City 10 years back and Vietnam has changed beyond recognization. They have stepped into the 21st century with gusto, moving full force ahead to join the global economy with lots of out-sourcing. I also didn’t see much of DaNang besides sampling some really delicious food.

Finally, the last stop is home. I’m glad to be home. :-*

 

New Office 新办公室

After a month long of renovation, the new office is finally ready! I’m so excited!
I’m even more excited with my new team reporting to work and occupying this brand new office. I can’t wait for all the great things that will happen here!

This is my first experience of setting up an office from scratch, literally from scratch; with cable dangling from the ceiling, marking on the floor, drilling here and there. The most exciting part is leaving to the imagination of the mind of how drawing will come to life. Although I was not involve from the very beginning, but being there when renovation just started and choosing furniture, that itself brought about so much anticipations.

The day for the new office to be unveiled is finally here. Moving into the a new office, is just like moving into a new house. Everything seemed so “unfinished”, even though everything IS where they should be. Just like a house, it doesn’t have a soul until someone live in it and make it into a home. The same with an office, it doesn’t have a soul until someone work in it, make a living culture of it.

At the eve of office opening, my boss came up to me looking all exhausted by excited and asked me, “Are you excited?” To which I answered without a second thought, “I am, VERY excited!” Absolutely looking forward to all the great things that will happen here.