Making the Wall of Fame...

From Work

They were my fellow ex-comrades in a place that used to be my prayplayground... a place i used to toil tirelessly day & night to earn a humble living, making ends meet. There were tough times though, ironically those were the good times as well... despite all the rants & bitching about the sucky jobs we've had to put up with, & how we've wished for the day when we're finally able to get the hell outta here ~ to move on to greener pastures; those times will always be the defining moment in my career... all through the hardships & trying times we've come a long way and bonded well, almost family-like. I've made wonderful friends through work who've left profound imprints in my life; some have long left, some longing to go & some happily staying put. I will always reflect upon this little chapter in my life with fondness. =)
What does not kill you will make you stronger... it's an honour to be nominated on this Wall of Fame * thanks to loi for the picha, maybe you'll make the wall in due time too, hehe =p *
~ to my fellow colleagues back there, i miss y'all & all the best for the ones venturing into new pastures...

From Work

In response to my beloved ex-boss farewell, as updated by my avid shutterbug ex-colleague, CT ~ Master Yet, my ex-uber-cool boss *neh, the baldy fella with blue target mark on the forehead!*; he's one of a kind, kind of boss... just look at the farewell card intended for him ~ it speaks volume about the person he is.... wish you all the best! =D

Defensive Driving

One of the many mandatory safety trainings i had to undergo in my course of work is the defensive driving course. Well, as interesting as the name may sound, it actually does not involve any exciting adrenaline pumping advance driving techniques *yawn*; as it is geared more to raising awareness & adopting a safety-first approach in driving. The one-day course was held at a safety training facility which, is an interesting place to be, especially for a 1st-timer like yours truly. Most of the safety training required by the petroleum industry in particular, are conducted in-house here; including the sea survival training ~ pre-requisite for those required to work in off-shore platforms.

From Work

Some of the interesting highlights i witnessed ~ chopper capsize emergency drill; strapped in a heli-deck simulator that gets dunked into water & rotated 180 degree, then having to unstrap to escape from the structure & swim to safety... should be quite an experience to be had!

From Work

There's also the 8m plunge into deep water with simulated waves that swells up to 2 metres!
I shall be looking forward to get my offshore safety passport soon, someday =p

From Work

The fire emergency rescue facility *notice the charred heli-deck & surrounding structures*

From Work

The facility also overlooks a nice view of the seas, with some of the platforms barely visible in the far horizon
After half-a-day of classroom lecture & briefing, we took turns to take out the safety car for a driving assessment; well sort of...

From Work

From Work

The ride? An odd looking Persona with auto transmission with multiple cameras mounted on & inside it. 2 on the outside, for the front & rear to record the safety distance maintained of hazards in front or the rear when driving; 2 more inside to capture eye, head & hand movement of the driver to ensure one does all the necessary visual checks on the rear & side mirror & blind corner checks before making lane changes, or braking... Driving behaviour & pattern date is also logged & monitored real-time by a plugged-in laptop ~ all g-force registered during acceleration, braking & swing during cornering, distance maintained between hazards at the front & rear will be recorded and the systems will generate & summarize the driving behaviour & classify accordingly based on the data logged. I think i managed a 'Low-Risk Driver' with a little bit of extra effort... hehe =D
* that wraps up an interesting day away from office*

1st Day in Miri

*intending to post this 2 nights ago when i just arrived but i hadn't brought along my LAN cable... it's good to be back online after a 48-hour hiatus... from the internet! gosh, i don't recall the last time i was disconnected for this long.... =p

Finally after almost 3 weeks of break, i’ll be reporting for duty at my new place of work tomorrow. The last 19 days since my last day of work at my previous company; my so-called career break was activitiy filled ~ farewell dinner sessions with colleagues, lim teh catch-up sessions with many friends, core-strength classes, rock climbing outings, Gunpla group build, dates & spending quality time with family & loved one. It has been an eventful break for me, hectic at times but always fun. I guess i wouldn’t be having a break like this anymore for a long, long time. Being occupied with dates & appointments, i barely had the fact that i’ll probably be leaving home for good really sink in... Only now that i’m here already, i’m beginning to think about the wonderful company of loved ones & friends, & kuching food that i’ll be missing. Ha, i can get quite sentimental at times =p

This shall be my place of dwelling for the next 30 days or so...

I shall be looking for more permanent place to stay/rent after that. Just had some wantan noodles at one for the surrounding hawker centres; it’s not too bad compared to that of kuching, but food prices here tend to be slightly pricier in comparison. It can get unbelievably hot here, even at night! So i’d prefer to stay in the comfort of my airconditioned hotel room, and workout at the nice fitness center below sometimes...

Will be knocking off soon... got to wake up early to report for duty tomorrow. Boy, i’m so excited to get back to work again! =)

*may not be updating as often as i may need to make some adjustments in this transition period, but i’ll try to not let my blog grow too much cobwebs =p I’ll probably be back in kuching again 2 weeks from now, so til then take care & cya guys! =)

Last day at work ~

*Warning ~ word-ful post ahead, maybe filled with jargons unknown to non-industry viewers

Dear Friends,
This day has come ~ my last working day with XXXXX. It has been a good 4-years since I first set foot into here, then known as XXXXX as a fresh graduate. Through the years, this journey has taken me through much ups & downs ~ i.e. from the good times of tasting immense satisfaction of succesfully finding closure to specific PSMs after much effort and time put into it; to the hard, frustrating times of having to deal with seemingly endless occurances of 'x-file' inhibitions and surviving Fab SPC (Cpk & OOC) reviews from month to month. Through it all, I have worked, argued, quarelled, laughed and learnt with the best of you. To everyone, THANK YOU for playing such a big part in this very important chapter of my life, especially in terms of my personal and professional growth.
It is time for me to move on and continue on my journey ~ to explore the new and more challenging horizons ahead. So before my outlook mail account gets terminated soon, thanks again for the support, guidance and encouragement, I really appreciate that! My sincere apologies for my mistakes and misbehaviours, if any =p
All the best to you guys, take care & keep in touch!

~ excerpts from my farewell mail which i took a great deal of time just to patch up together. Being in an industry where the staff turnover rate is relatively high, i've amassed a great collection of sometimes inspiring, sometimes funny aside from the usual solemn-formal-like farewell mails from many work comrades who have left before. I can't get any more original than this; i've longed for this day, when it finally came, i was just lost for words. That day was yesterday.

From Miscellaneous

When i returned my cleanroom gown & booties, and surrendered my badge ID after logging out for the one last time, i knew that i'll never set foot into another yellow room again...
It's not the place that i'll miss, but the great company of friends that i've met, which makes my memories here meaningful & worthwhile.

From Miscellaneous

One to be remembered for a long time ~ just one out of the many shots i'll remember my 1st job by... the rest may be too provocative or controversial to post here =p

~buat kerja sendiri.. ~

~ is what i loved to hear from my teacher during my days as a school kid; it means we’d get to do our own stuffs in class without having to put up with dreaded boring lessons ~ a call usually made when the teacher is a) absent, b) preoccupied with other matters, or c) just plain lazy to teach; which, we welcomed with hoorays without fail each time.

It’s what I’ve been doing for the past few workdays… after all today is the eve of my last day at work. Time at work feels so hard to kill, to the extent that surfing the net is beginning to bore me as well; can’t help it since almost all my task ownerships have been passed-down *to my poor soon-to-be-overloaded trusty workmates… =p *

No reminiscing of the fond times I’ve had at this workplace, I’ve been wanting to leave so much, for so long… the work, I wouldn’t miss one bit, but I’ll definitely be missing the wonderful company of the amazing bunch of people I call colleagues ~ bradas & sistas I’ve grown close to, over these few years I’m here. We’ve had fun & spent tons of great time bonding together, despite the stressful & volatile nature of the sucky work we’re in; that only an insider would fully understand… Thank you for the memories! =D

I kept myself occupied today by cleaning up my cubicle & clearing up the mess; the next tenant can move in with ease. Also spent a great deal of the afternoon penning up my farewell e-mail which, I will be sending out just before I log out for one final time tomorrow…

Reason?
The much-anticipated announcement of regulated OT reinstatement, justified salary adjustment, & opportunities for promotion, plus a bright projection on potential bonuses to be bagged is a welcome sound of music to most, especially after enduring the anxiety-stricken recent months in eerie silence & with little motivation. Good times, bad times come & go. An organization's effort to better treat its people has always been a motivation driving factor & should be well appreciated & applauded. It's has come as a sigh of relief, more understandably so for settled-down people with families & commitments. I sincerely share the joys of my fellow colleagues, though i have been less thrilled or perhaps jaded; I'm probably on a different page than most. Do i stay put in my comfort zone, wait to chance upon the company's reasonably positive prospect projections in the foreseeable future ~ in short, playing 'safe'?
Or do i let my instincts decide; step out into the unknown, set out on a self-discovery journey & challenge myself to scale greater heights, with aspirations live a more exciting & fulfilling life. Perhaps it would have been easier if my mind is structured like most ppls', whose main priority being $$. To me, things that money can't buy in life matters just as much, sometimes, more.
A reason to find, a decision to make & to stick to...

Will be back to work on normal shift tomorrow, after a 10-day break & 2 months of night shift. Will be assuming new role & tasks too, so it'll be like a fresh start. Hopefully the changes will be a motivation booster; after all i just came back from a vacation. Nothing's certain, but one thing i know for sure is i'm gonna have a hard time hauling my lazy ass out of bed at 6:30am tomorrow morning...

Morale Hits Rock Bottom

Entering the 6th week of night shift - reluctantly dragging my feet back to work, sunken eyes & blur.... With motivation level of the general masses at workplace taking a rollercoaster ride downsouth, trying times like these are probably the worst of times to be doing shift. Commitment dwindles, and passdown is like an endless game of baton passing (nothing gets done), but who's to blame when you show up for work, unsure if it might be your last day. Hard to keep a steady head at work to see many familiar faces leaving at the moment's notice. No fancy farewell gatherings, no parting speeches or bid-goodbye e-mails; just pack up, surrender your ID badge & leave peacefully. Security has also been stepped up for obvious reasons, to maintain order & prevent any acts of sabotage. The first batch of VSS guys left during the middle of last night. The fab's been quieter than usual for the later part of the night. WIPs low, movement slow and no major issues in the line, there isn't much to do.... except engage in Pocket Tank battles with my technicians. 3 more weeks to go, peaceful nights are nice, but boredom kills. Having to stay awake thru the night sucks. We're all nocturnal creatures when it comes to clubbing, gaming, gambling or any other leisure activities.... but when it comes to work, it's a different story all together.
Well, it's pruning season & it ain't pretty. Life goes on, work still needs to get done as situation starts to recover gradually. It's a survival game in the corporate world. Do what you must to ride out the stormy days, to reap the fruits of labor in due time.
Not preaching, just grasping with the realities of life.

Uncertainty looms...

VSS(Voluntary-Separation-Scheme) - a threat or an opportunity?


... in response to the recent policy changes.
sensible?