Meetings Meetings Meetings... Life of a Vendor

This morning at 9:30am, I had received a phone call from a pengarah at the Maps Department requesting for a meeting with me.  He had mentioned over the phone in a very nice way that there is a problem with our High Definition Scanner and the problem is now escalated to him.  Though we are sharing the works on this contract with our sister company, my immediate reaction was to ask him what time would I be able to come and see him.  He told me at 11:00am.  

I got out of bed, called my Technical Manager and asked him to call the Engineer in charge of the scanner to ascertain what are we doing about this issue.  Then I had gone to the toilet and sat on the "throne" to figure out what I needed to say to the Pengarah to solve the issues.  I realized that this was an exercise of managing expectations.  Though the sister company is providing very little commitment and the issues are all part of their areas of responsibility, the contract was still under our company which means we are responsible for it.  After coming up with a solution on how to manage the flow of the meeting I was out of the door of the bathroom.  Really, this throne thing works. 

I was out of the door at 10am sharp, and the driver was there waiting for me and ready to go.  Tried to call my counterpart at the sister company but he was in a meeting, so I had sent him an sms.  Talked to my Technical Manager and he briefed me and said that he and the Lead Engineer for the scanner would be there.  Arriving at the Maps Department at about 10:45am, I went to the canteen and waited for everyone to arrive.  I had received a phone call at 10:50am and the sub-pengarah requested for a postponement to 11:30am.  Upon the arrival of the Lead Engineer we discussed and came up with a Plan of Action as well as a timeline for us to present to the Pengarah.  This is all part of managing the expectations. 

The meeting went OK, there was a lot of sarcastic remarks about the scanner and we as the vendors just kept quiet and presented what we needed to say.  After the meeting, several other meetings were set for the next week.  What a week it's going to be.  At least there is a plan to implement certain things, and I hope it will go through. 

Upon returning to the house, I fell asleep for about 1 hour and left for office.  The total travel time from the house to the office is about 2 minutes and then I was told that there is progress on our Military Submission.  Now it seems that there is a meeting called for Monday, 8th of April for a presentation of our products.  I am now in a quandary whether I should attend to this meeting.  Well decisions must be made. 

what...... no wifi !!!!

today i had confirmed a meeting with some people that supposedly wants to help us in venturing into different business areas. i know 1 of the person but not the other.

so we are meeting in subang jaya at pelita and i cant believe there is no wifi available in a shop that is so overpriced. but what to do it is the place they want to meet to convince that they can help. so lets hear what they want to say.

PRU - 13... General Election 13

What an auspicious number, with the number 4 being the most prevalent number for this General Election.  The announcement was made today, 3.4.2013, which is the 4th anniversary of our PM being in power.  At the same time, being that it is the 13th General Election, with 1+3 = 4, and it was done on the 4th month of the year.  Wow lots of 4.  

Now that the announcement is finally made the country will begin its countdown till polling day.  In what is expected to be a bloody and intense battle for Malaysia.  It is time for the population to make their voices heard.  Also it would be time for me to stop being a hypocrite and vote this year.  It would be something interesting.  

Now we just sit back and look at the circus, flag wars and speeches that will start and begin almost immediately.  Have fun and be safe to everyone that is involved. 

tender or direct award???

for the friendly skies projects, i believe we should be grateful for what we have gotten and pursue the projects as a responsible vendor. even though the other players in the game are spewing out lies and statements which are detrimental to our pursuit, that had to be expected because its business.

even when confronted with such blatant lies we would not stoop to their level. always talk about the positives on your solution and never bad mouth the competitors as others had done. ofcourse we feel the frustration because we have put on the table the most economical and low risk solution, but i believe if it is meant for us it will be given to us. try our very best.

maps, maps and more maps

i am sitting in the parking lot of jupem having a smoke whilst waiting for our monthly project meeting. the meeting is envisioned to be the same as every other month and hopefully we would be done within the time frame.

i hate to be in kl after 4pm due to the notorious traffic and weather. at the same time i received news that there are still more complications on a project that we are currently pursuing. the only thing we can do is to sit back and see.

P.Tioman Family Dive Trip....

Overall it was an excellent time that we all had while on the island.  We saw how helpful everyone was and how concious everyone is towards the preservation of the environment.  And after seeing the underwater for the first time, I am certainly looking forward to dive again with the family and friends.  Thank you Nizam Dive Team for a wonderful time.  Thank you Datin Ju, Datuk Roy, Uncle Chot, Lan (for taking care of my baby daughter) and Faiz for all your preparation and planning for this trip. 

My wife told me that she has booked Nizam for our baby's OWD certification in 9 years time.  So happy diving to all.   Thanks baby in getting us involved in this activity.  Love you. 

Sunset on 1st day

The beautiful beach of Salang Village, P. Tioman

Our wonderful chalets at Salang Pusaka (Highly Recommended)

My view from the Chalet every day

Can't beat this life... 

There is a nice wreck at the tip of that outcrop.. (I was told)

Serving in Paradise

My Dive Story

Little Mermaid we are... P. Tioman Day 3

After a great night sleep, Day 3 is upon us, and we knew that it was time for the boat dive.  The anxiety that was felt during the preparation and the walk to the jetty to board our dive boat was scary.  I hadn't felt as nervous as I did that day since about 15 years ago, on the 4.9.1998, when I had my akad nikah ceremony with my wife.  

1st Dive..... Open Water.... 

As we loaded all the equipment and ourselves on the boat, my sayang had said that how remarkable all these divers were in their spirit to help everyone.  It was kinda like a gotong royong getting all the equipment in and how they were pumping everyone up for the dive.  After taking off our dive master provided an excellent briefing and remarked that the visibility and the sea is so calm and it would be to our advantage.  He mentioned to us that we are heading to Pulau Labas.  So off we went and headed straight for Pulau Labas and upon our arrival everyone was excited with the visibility (or viz) of the area.  We prepped all the equipment and it was time to put into use the skills that we had practiced.  Again, with the giant stride off the boat and we were again underwater.  It was great.   

I had to constantly equalize throughout the dive but upon arriving to the bottom about (11m) deep, it was simply breathtaking.  Again, we did our exercises and after about 15 or so minutes we were guided through the site and the leisure dive begins.   Awesome.  It is certainly difficult to describe, the only thing I can say is go and dive.  

The seabed ... unreal

A nudie branch... another variation

Another nudie branch

peek a boo.. I see you

Little Nemo, we found you....

After the dive, I was dreading the climb up the boat since the ladder looked a little flimsy, but no problem and we were up and ready for our break.  The dive was about 1.5 hours and we were so ecstatic describing the things that we saw underwater.  I had my daughter's hand (buddy) in my hands throughout the dive, and I was very proud of the whole family in making this dive.  It was a great feeling. 

We had a lunch break at Coral Island, and where we saw the water was like glass.  It was absolutely clear and also rubbish free.  We were joined by several large iguanas which made me nervous but otherwise it was awesome. 

2nd Dive... Batu Malang

I was concerned that we were diving at Batu Malang, why would anyone want to dive at a place that is unlucky.  Upon arriving at the Dive Site, there were lots of people there snorkeling, and we readied ourselves for the dive.  This time, the divemaster in his infinite wisdom decided that my son and I was to roll backwards into the water from the dive boat.  So I sat on the side of the boat and rolled myself off and created a massive splash.... it was fun.  

For this dive, it was pure leisure.  We had done all the exercises and we were told to just enjoy.  I decided to carry the underwater camera and take some shots whilst we are diving.  It took some getting used to carrying the camera but after much equalizing I was able to descend and enjoy the environment down below.  Another site, and another adventure.  It was great with lots to look at.  

This was the dive that I truly lost myself in the dive, I did not realize the morrey eel that was in the hole within the corals as I was diving above it.  It was the 2nd divemaster that pointed the eel out to me.  Thank you Faiz for that.  But overall it was great.  

What a beautiful creature... 

The forest underwater

Same guy, escaping I think

Nemo's Daddy

A Blue Spotted Stingray...

Almost got me

After about 1.5 hours, we were again up on the boat and went back to the Dive Centre in Salang Village.  Upon arrival we cleaned all our equipment and as usual our conversation was all about the dive and how great it was.  Then we saw our Divemaster take out his folder and a bunch of envelopes.  After a de-brief of the dive and what we had accomplished he proudly took out all our certificate and gave us a dive card.  WE HAD PASSED....  Awesome and thank you to all that participated in our adventure.  Lets do it again. 

Sleep... It's Important. P.Tioman Day 2

Starting the 2nd day I was worried but decided that I will push through anything that is handed to me.  I sought out the seasickness pills that was given to me by Dr. Ravi (our family physician), and took the pills with a little bit of bread.  I was determined not to be the provider of food for the fish around tioman again today.  

Everybody was up and ready at 9am and off we went to the Dive Centre where as usual our fearless leader was there and getting ready for his brief.  I have a lot of respect for Nizam, he never mentioned once of the incidents that happened yesterday and told us all to expect an awesome dive today.  We had 2 shores dives planned for today and lots of exercises that we are planning to do.  He also stated that not to worry about the dive and instead enjoy yourselves during the dive. 

1st Dive....

So we did the exact same thing, we prepared all our equipment and got ready.  We had our normal buddy check.  My buddy for all the dives is my 10 year old daughter, while my 14 year old son was my wife's buddy.  After the per-requisite buddy check we were in the water.  I felt so much better, I had at least 8 hours of sleep and my body was feeling good at this point.  It really translated to the dive, it was awesome.  I never thought that I would be able to experience this type of environment, it was great and the whole family was so having a grand old time throughout the 1st dive.  I would recommend this activity for any family it really brought us all together doing an activity that we never thought we would ever be doing.  

This was the pair of sotongs that we saw swimming around.

Little Fish, I thought it was ikan bilis but there was no pizza hut in tioman

Told my daughter that it was vegetables

breathtaking.. we were underwater... yeahhh

I can't believe that they bury themselves in a hole

the 2nd Dive... 

After about 3 hours doing all the different exercises, we headed back in with renewed vigor and excitement for the 2nd Dive.  By the time we arrived at the Dive Centre our friends had arrived and we were chatting about the awesome sights that we had seen whilst underwater, and they told us that we are in for more amazing scenery as we go deeper and further.  I couldn't wait for the 2nd dive.  This was certainly a flip to what I was feeling on Day 1.  We had a simple but great lunch and I have to remark that when you are with friends it makes the whole experience more exciting.  

After about 2 hours, we were ready and rearing to go again.  Did the whole buddy check again, but this time, they decided that it was time for us to dive from the jetty where we would be able to practice our giant step / stride.  That was exciting and after clearing the jetty, we were also asked to do a CESA, which is a Control Emergency Surface Ascent... hopefully I got the acronym right, but with that bit of exercise done, we were allowed to take a leisure dive exploring the area.  Even though I had felt a lot better, but I had caught my daughter's fever and felt my sinuses being pressed in my head, so my descend was a lot of slower and I had to constantly equalize, but I wasn't going to miss this adventure. 

 

A nudie... awesome little creature.. lots of variation

Triangle Fish (Bawal I think).. creating a vortex under the salang jetty

Another fish vortex.. Great

Another view of a school of fish under the salang jetty

That's me... not a whale shark as some had said

The 2nd dive ended with the whole family wanting more and after cleaning our equipment, we were given a briefing by our divemaster.  He told us that we would be going to Pulau Labas and Batu Malang, and it would be our 1st boat dives in the middle of South China Sea.... Wow.

 

OWD or OMG Get me out of here.... Day 1 P.Tioman

Upon our arrival in P. Tioman, the head, sifu and guru of our band of diving warriors announced that it is time for us to unpack and at 3pm we are to go to the Dive Centre for our 1st dive.  I was horrified thinking upon arrival I would be given a chance to take a much needed nap and relax and have the dive begin the next day.  But being the macho man that I like to think I am, I just kept quiet and agreed reluctantly. 

After having a nice lunch we all went to the Dive Centre (Marine Monkies) and started with the installation of equipment.  I was already feeling extremely tired and a little bit sea sick but after seeing my 2 children excited about the dive I just continued installation of the equipment under the supervision of our divemaster.... Nizam Mansor of the Nizam Dive Team.  

 

Nizam Mansor, our fearless Leader/DiveMaster

Nizam of Nizam Dive Team

 Within minutes in the hot sun and the bouncing waves I felt sea sick and I was ready to hurl.  Informing this bit of information to our fearless leader, he told me go ahead and puke.  So I did what I was told and I believe my whole lunch and dinner came out.  I told him that I was done and ready to get out.  He continued with the rest of the family as they were doing well, and I had left the ocean for the shore and carried my self with the damn scuba tank on my back all the way to the dive centre.  Our friends as well as Nizam kept giving us lots of encouragement and all I was thinking about was the fact that the fish had lots to eat due to my vomit and I was extremely hungry.  I had almost given up but my lovely sayang kept saying that it was OK and lets continue tomorrow. 

Thanks again baby girl..

Pulau Tioman .... WOW....

We started the trip at about 5am on the 19.03.2013.  We had to drive to Tg. Gemuk to take a 11:30am ferry to Pulau Tioman.  The children were excited because they didn't have to go to school for that week but also it was really the 1st time in a couple of weeks that all of us are all together.  The trip started with a call that told us the other party in our group was having car trouble.  Specifically a flat on the highway.  So off we went and formed a sleepy but effective rescue party.  It was lucky a 2nd car was available and we sped off because we were already late.  Having to go through internal kampung roads, this early and at this speed was something that we were not looking forward to.  And as usual i did not sleep the night before worried that I might miss the wake up early in the morning. 

The trip was uneventful with exception that I found how powerful the navara was when compared to the Hilux.  I have had a Hilux before and thought that it was a great pickup but the navara really showed its worth during the drive.  There was a 3 car convoy and it was great fun going through Senawang, Kuala Pilah, Muadzam Shah and then Kuala Rompin and more specifically Tg. Gemuk. 

Upon our arrival we unloaded all the pickups and saw the amount of stuff that each family had brought along when compared to 3 single guys that was accompanying us on this trip.  They had 2 bags, whilst the other 2 families had a whole pickup of stuff.  But that is the price that we pay when we have a family.  I had already started to feel nausea due to the lack of sleep, food, drink and the constant smoking that was required for me to stay awake.  So off we went on the ferry for our boat ride to P. Tioman.  Awesome and really excited when we started seeing the paradise they call Tioman.

Looking at the wonderful scenery and the extremely laid back environment, I can understand why people want to keep going back again and again.  It was extremely relaxing and especially after the challenges of the week before it was certainly a welcoming respite away from everything and together with the people that you love the most.  Those are my wife and 3 awesome children.  Thank you sayang for pushing us to do this together.  I love you.

 

Keep Writing.... 11.3 - 14.3.2013

After getting the car, procrastination set in as usual.  We had a very strategic tender that we were participating and I was the tender chief for the submission.  I had assigned everyone for the work that needed to be done which was a lot, and suddenly on the 11th of March I realized that we only had 3 days to go before submission.  Though a lot of the work had been done, and we have had the specifications of the tender for about 3 weeks, I have to admit it was on this day that I finally looked at the tender.  What a procrastinator !!!  This was a habit that I have not been able to beat out of me.  I don't why but I keep telling myself that I create my best work when I am pressured and at the last minute.  It had taken all my life to realize that it is just a statement to justify me not doing anything till the end.  For this tender it was exactly the same.  

11.03.2013

After the service was done with the Navara I had decided since it took till 12pm to finish the service and since the day is half gone it would be more beneficial if I took the navara to have its sport lid to be installed.  (see the justification and excuses for procrastination).   I took the truck to Batu Caves and installed the sport lid knowing that I had work to do and also knowing that the install would take at least 2 - 3 hours.  As I had waited at the shop and sure enough exactly at 4:30pm the sport lid was installed.  At this time, I rushed back to the office to begin the critical meeting that was to discuss the progress of the tender.  I have to say, I was proud of all the Engineers and staff members that was involved in the meeting, they were all ready and the pricing information was about 80% done.  But as usual my component was not ready.  

At the end of the meeting, I had decided that I have to start the proposal writing and hopefully it would be done.  There were several documents that I had to write which were:- 

1.  Project Management Proposal

2.  Maintenance Methodology

3.  Technology Retention Proposal 

4.  Quality Assurance / Quality Control Proposal. 

These are standard documents that had to be submitted within all tenders, and over the years our company had never had one that was done and written in a way that it could be slotted within any proposal with minimal changes.  That was my challenge and it started at about 8:30pm on the 11.3.2013.  

I remembered feeling pumped and ready for the challenge, and in my head I had lots and lots of ideas on how to write all 4 proposals at the sametime.  BIG MISTAKE.  At about 1:30am on the 12th of March 2013, I felt like such a failure, my Maintenance Methodology did have an introduction of 1/2 a page and that was it.  It was so difficult to get the words to transfer from my mind to my fingers to type.  I said that it wasn't like before when I had set up these documents for the companies that I use to work for and it is still being used today.  I had written those documents in its entirety within 4 - 6 hours.  And imagine for my own company, after 5 hours I only had 1/2 a page.  

I decided to go home and rest and knowing that there were meetings and other engagements that was on my plate from the 11th - 14th.  

12.03.2013

Had to attend to a meeting that was called by the customer and after siting there with my project manager I rushed back to the office to again tackle the documents that was still pending.  On this day, I was nervous because we had not received pricing from 1 OEM which forms the bulk of the pricing for our tender.  The OEM decided that they are unable to provide a quotation due to their agreement with the existing contractor and it has to be exclusive to them. 

Imagine after hearing this, I was actually a little bit ecstatic thinking that I don't have to do this anymore.  What a moron.  I continued with the proposals but with less enthusiasm as I knew that I would have the time to prepare the document.  With those thoughts in my head I slowed down.  From the progress i had on the previous day, I was able to complete 2 additional pages.  I couldn't believe it because I had done only 2 1/2 pages in 2 days.  Ridiculous.  Again, I knocked off at about midnight and went home. 

13.03.2013

D-Day.  This was to be the day that all proposals are to be finalized and our tender response was to be compiled and packed for submission.  In the morning, the flow was a lot better, I had finished my Maintenance Methodology (at last count 63 pages worth of writing), and started on the Project Management Proposal.  At 4pm I still have not received the pricing from the OEM and had a serious discussion with my engineering and finance teams.  It was decided that if we didn't receive any indication of price before midnight, we will abandon this submission.  I had sent everyone home and went to work on my other documents.  At about 7pm I had received a phone call that confirmed the pricing after much negotiations and back & forth over the phone.  I had called everyone to come back to the office and at 10pm we should see what we have.  

Again, as usual all the other components of our submission was done, and with the price received from the OEM it was complete.  The only portions that were not complete at this time was the Project Management Proposal as well as the tender response.  Could you believe that the tender response was still not done.  Before getting upset I realized that it was my task and I had overlooked and failed.  I told my team, give me till 8am on the 14.3.2013, and it will be done.  

14.03.2013

I went through all the work and it was certainly draining, doing 2 weeks worth of work in about 10 hours, but finally we were done and we were now confronted with the actual price to submit.  After finalizing our cost, I went home at 7am and did my normal activity to shower and use the toilet.  (By the way all my brilliance comes from when I am on the toilet), and lo and behold the final price came to my while taking a puff and sitting on the "throne".  

I was back in the office and gave the final price for us to submit.  At that point everyone was exhausted and we closed the office.  Our final price in hand and we hope that we had made the right decisions.  Later in the afternoon after crashing at home, I was back in the office and was receiving calls after calls telling us that we are the lowest in our submission.  It was already listed in the eperolehan, and I couldn't believe it.  I was feeling a mixture of fear and happiness at the sametime.  Happiness because I was the lowest but scared thinking did I screw up on the price.  So we shall see.  

But what a week, at least I had a week long Pulau Tioman break for my OWD to look forward to. 

 

 

It's been a long time

I had set out to do this blog as a daily reminder of the tribulations that I may encounter in handling my daily life.  And also more importantly to begin writing again.  I had found that my interest or capability of writing comprehensible words had left me.  Throughout the last 3 - 4 years it had been a real chore when it comes to various proposals, business plans and market research.  Sadly even after several postings the desire and joy to write is still not with me.  But as my business professor once said in college.. "Keep Trying, the plug in your head might dislodge one day".  So here I go again.  

It had been a wonderful 3 or so weeks after the last submission.  I had gotten the car that we had just bought and immediately decided to clock the 1000km as quickly as I possibly can.  I had conspired with our driver to use the navara exclusively and even taken the bold step to make an appointment at the Nissan Balakong Service Centre to do the 1st service for the vehicle.  

The progress was going well from the day that we had received the vehicle till the 8th of March 2013.  On Friday, the 8th of March, the mileage counter showed that we had driven the Navara for 745km.  The plan was to have several activities happening during the weekend that will enable us to get the required 255km but as in any well laid plans, it kinda went kaput due to inactivity on my part.  We had gone to the Nissan Service Centre with about 875km at 10am on Monday, 11th of March 2013 and luckily they had said that it was enough.  

The top reason for me to get the Navara to the 1000km mark and its 1st service was because of the dive trip that we had planned in Pulau Tioman for the 18.3.2013.  The navara was bought specifically to be the dive vehicle so that it can carry all the required equipment such as the BCD's (4 sets), luggage (clothes), baby food and others.  You can see that it was fully packed up, but still had lots of space.  

This packing was done at 10pm on the 18.3.2013 and i decided to take a small memory picture of our 1st dive trip to P. Tioman for our Open Water Diver Certification.  But I digress, there was certainly lots that happened on the days before our awesome trip. 

That will be done with my next post.  

It's a Tuesday

After a long wait for the car, it had finally arrived.  It was picked up at 11:57am and it drives really powerful.  It has been a long time since I have driven a "stick-shift" (manual), and it was a lot fun.  I can't wait to take the care out for a real spin, it has 6 speeds and a powerful engine for a pick up truck. 

It is going to be fun to really put the truck through its paces and see whether it lives up to its billing.  Looking forward to that, but only after the 14th of March. 

Now for today, back to work, a proposal is due tomorrow.  Tonight is going to be a long night. 

Just as a thought, the other day when the family was together I was feeling that my life is complete, with my wife, my son and my 2 daughters.  I am truly blessed for having such a wonderful family.  And it all starts with my beautiful wife.  Thank you my love. 

Buying a Car.....

I remembered the 1st car I had ever bought, it was a Nissan Terrano and it was in 1995.  Till today I still remember my experience which was less than positive.  Since 1995, I have bought a KIA Carens, Proton Perdana V6, 2 x Toyota Hilux, Ssanyong Rexton, Toyota LandCruiser, MYVi 1.3, MYVi 1.5, Mercedes Benz C230, Volvo 940 and just last month it was a Nissan Navara.  With exception to the Volvo 940, which was bought from a Customer, the Perdana and the Hilux, my experience with the salesman had always been the same.  Disappointing. 

Over those years, I have had to scream, shout and threaten the sales people in order to get the vehicle delivered on the date that THEY promised.  I still can't over the fact that it seems so easy for these folks to promise the dates that they can deliver.  Even after I had explained to them my previous experience and tell them please don't promise a date that they can't make it, they still do the same damn thing.  

They keep saying that there is no problem and yet at the end of the day, there are always excuses and issues that does not allow them to deliver.  And the excuses gets to be the same thing every time.  It is extremely tiring and annoying.  

In my case for the Nissan Navara, I had ordered the car sight unseen and told the sales person to please give me a date that they can deliver.  Imagine that, I did not ask for a certain date, but I asked him to propose the date of delivery.  Again, he told me that it was definitely after Chinese New Year, and it will be before the 28th of February.  

Initially the problem was that they were unable to get the registration number that I wanted and I said OK, we will wait for the number.  That stopped till this pass Saturday, 2nd of March whereby I had met a friend that said that the number should not be a problem.  He will call me on Monday to tell me the price.  On Monday, 4th of March at 11am he called and told me that the number is booked and ready to be registered.  Imagine that the sales person had about 1 month to sort the number and he couldn't do it.  My friend did it within 3 hours.  I thought the sales person did this for a living, but again, something else that I need to solve.  

After solving this challenge I expected that the rest of the process was easy, but again, the salesperson took their time in picking up the number ticket and then assumed that the system was going to be OK, then lo and behold the system went offline, so again, the excuse came out that they are unable to register.  The worst part was that during the whole process, they just don't like to keep us informed.  Only when we call they provide an update, and that really pisses me off.  As a proper sales person, we should keep the customers updated at all times, but each of these sales people just doesn't do that.  I am really disappointed and have no real hope with these car salesmen.  

Well as usual customers suffer and these idiots keeps selling.  I hope that 1 day these guys gets their act together and understand what a sales person's responsibilities actually are.  Here to the dude in Nissan Bangi, choke on your commission bro.  We will never use you again.  

telekom bills

coming to tm point before 12pm on a weekday allows us all to escape the crowds. instead waiting for an hour to check the bills and make payment, it becomes only 10 mins... thank u tm

bills.... bills.... bills

after the payment @ mpkj... now i am in syabas to settle the water bill. not to many people so it is a comfortable wait.

waiting till the last minute....

i think it is the same for all malaysians, we love to wait till the last minute to pay our bills and we end up waiting in queues which are so long that we regret waiting. but i know for a fact, next year when the same bill is due we will still take our time and again we visit the same queues.

at mpkj... wow look at the humanity.

another week .....

time is now calculated by the tasks which gets done on a daily basis. as an owner of a business i would have to accept the fact that is not all fun and games. together with team we have been hard at work to finish the specifications for our extension request. i had worked on the proposal till 130am after which my brain needed to sleep.

I have to say it was extremely satisfying when i typed the final figure in the proposal. so off goes another proposal with the hope that we embark on the next phase of this project.

From Monday to Friday....

What a week !!!  From Monday to Friday, there was non-stop activity and we have more to look forward to in the next 4 - 6 weeks.  As usual, for the last 4 years or so, there are massive amounts of preparations being done for the upcoming works that we is being envisioned for us for the next 2 years.  All the preparations would be done, and after that there is only hope and doa for us to get the projects that we need. 

As mentioned in the previous post, on Monday I had gone to the land in Damansara to settle some hopefully minor issues.  The contractor was supposed to have sent out a quotation, but till today we have not received it.  I am sure that he is looking and sourcing for the cheapest material to meet the budget that was given.  Hopefully he would be able to achieve what is needed. 

There are still no news or advancement for the permits that we had applied for the new office construction, and the contractor is running out of things to do and keep busy.  Now the inside of the office is starting to take shape but the large roof slab that is planned for the rear of the factory is still not done.  That is the key to make sure that we get the office ready for this year.  But as usual when one depends on the application and approval of governing bodies, it does take time, since these bodies has "SO MUCH WORK TO DO". 

On Tuesday, 19.2.2013, we had received news that the simulator project that we have been waiting for is now out on tender.  We had quickly registered and picked up the tender to see what is the work scope.  On paper it seems quite complicated with lots of equipment and systems to maintain but we will learn a lot more during the site visit which was done on Thursday 21.2.2013.  Surprisingly after the site visit, the technical teams told me that it is quite an easy job to maintain the system and we are now fully committed to produce the best tender that we can produce.  My goal is if we were to lose this project, it should not be due to the lack of trying.  

On Wednesday, 20.2.2013, we had gone ahead to separate the tender into chewable parts so that each person is able to process the information and start getting the proposal ready.  Monday, 25th of February would be the day that we get together for the official allocation of work.  

Whilst all this is going on, we are in the midst of preparing the extension proposal for our main system, so hopefully this would go without a hitch. 

Today, was a disappointing day, today I learned that letting go of someone from our company was the best decision made in a long time.  I had received an email from a customer requesting for a quotation, and after responding to the customer who usually deals with the recently departed sales guy from our office, he mentioned to me that there is an outstanding issue with the servers that he had bought from us in 2009.  

I was completely taken aback and shocked to hear that mostly because we had allowed the customer to struggle and correspond with IBM.  This is not the policy of this company, any issues would be tackled by our sales guy and it would be solved by us.  Finding out about this, really took me for a loop.  I can't believe it was not told to our technical team since 2009 till now.  So now, we are going to solve this for the customer.  It is very lucky that they still allow for us to be of service to them.  Un bloody believable.  Good Riddance for the garbage that we had for so many years.  

I wonder if there are any other accounts that might have issues? 

Now I am in the preparation mode for my daughter's 1st birthday party.  So hopefully it would be nice and I am actually looking forward to it.  Happy Birthday Soon Little Girlie.   

What a Monday....

Imagine coming into Monday, the plate is so full that I am already feeling tired.  Had to go settle some land matters for my wife and a full day in the office.  My day started at 6:30am waking up the children for school, then it was on to Damansara to look at the cost to fence in about 7,800 sq feet of land that belongs to my wife.  It is part of a 39,000 sq feet of land that is shared amongst five different family members.  In trying to do this project, I have learned that we have to develop only in the area that is allocated to us and not encroach in other people's areas.  

But as in any culture, religion, race or country; when it comes to land and money usually common sense flies out of the window.  The excuses and justification given with people's actions on these 2 issues are just crazy and most of the time ridiculous.  I guess it would be up to us who are sane and thinking clearly to look at the situation and do what is correct in the eyes of the law.  At times it would be against what others think, but at the end of the day, we only have the law to fall back on.  So today starts this extremely challenging process with the hope that everyone remains calm, cool and reasonable.

After the land visit, I was back in the office and surprisingly I had found a 9.1mb word document that was received from our partner.  Imagine that a 9.1mb document which had no pictures, just words.  I saw that it was 1300 pages.  I have to read this today and have it ready for discussion with our teams tomorrow at 10am.  What a day and what a monday !!!

I guess it is just another day which happens to set your whole week.  Have fun everyone. 

 

The Passing of the Pool Test

The whole family (with exception to the baby) had passed our pool tests for our scuba license.  Now with the theory section passed and now the pool section passed, we are heading towards our next step which is the open water section.  And for this, we are going to Tioman in mid March for the test. 

The family is extremely excited and we are really looking forward to looking at the underwater creatures that we will see.  Ohh this would be great.  I just hope that it would go without a hitch.  So lets scuba on.....

Work vs Personal

As usual these are the issues that we always have to confront and deal with.  For me this year, the 1st challenge would be my daughter's birthday vs. the training that is to be done for JUPEM.  I have just been told that the customers would like to have the training to start the day after my daughter's birthday.  If I am to attend to the training, I have to begin the travel on the day of the birthday.  

So without thinking any further, I will be concentrating on my daughter's birthday and maybe show up at the training a couple of days late.  It is not even a choice.  I know that this is the right choice because we can't repeat this birthday.  

These types of questions had been presented to me before, and surprisingly I had taken the work option most of the time, and I know that it is time for me to stop making those types of decisions.  As my wife always says, No matter how tough our life is, we can only really count on family and ourselves and nobody else. 

Thank you baby. 

2 days without a post....

It has been 2 days without a post.  There are lots to do and lots happening.  I love a mini vacation just like the one that we just had over the Chinese New Year's holidays but after coming back from these extended breaks my desk is usually swamped with various requests and things that needs to be looked at.  

The Good news that we had today was the confirmation of 2 separate Purchase Order from both MUFTI and LKIM.  These are 2 great start for the year.  But as far as business goes, we are still waiting till March before any news of the other works that we are chasing.  These works are the multi-year contracts that will allow for company survivability. 

I was actually feeling very tired, that I had gone to sleep at 9pm even before having food.  Finally my wonderful wife woke me up with some satay.  It was great.  Thank you babe for thinking of me always.  

man bags

it was certainly a sight years ago when the men folks were jealous that women had nice bags to carry. i believe throughout the eighties these bags were common sights on the streets of kl, i remembered that even my father had one. it was certainly the age of man-bags and bush jackets.

these bags took a tumble in the nineties when the fanny packs were introduced and another man fashion accessory was born.

now you would still see a spattering of these bags usually being carried by business men and political aspirants. a friend related a story once when he said that his friend carried a bag because had one, though the usage of his bag was different; while others carried firearms and cash, he carried receipts. ha ha ha.

my wonderful wife had gifted me with such a bag one year, so here it is and also i hope that this particular stays dead forever. thank u honey...

harley

the discussion of the long weekend was about harley davidson. i had learned about fat boy, the 48, iron and other harley related terms.

my friends and i talked at length about the possibility of riding on a boneshaker, causing dead legs and having a 1 minute salam greeting to signify that we are part of a special club... the club of wanting a harley but unable to get one because our wives haven't given the approval. i know they are all coming around. so there is still hope.

bald is sexy

the bald is back. i keep trying to convince my wife that bald is sexy. i keep telling her this until she grudgingly says yes. i hope because she believes it and not just to shut me up. she is awesome that way.

when i started balding about 15 years ago (come to think that was about the time i got married to my wonderful wife, maybe that is the reason...hmmm), i said to myself that once the bald spots shows i will completely shave the head. so for the last 12 years or so, this was the sexy look.

passing a test

the feeling hasn't changed. it is the same feeling and euphoria that i had felt when i was in standard 1 and throughout high school and college.

passing an exam at any level always gave me the feeling of accomplishment. yesterday the while family had a test and we passed the theory portion with flying colors.

now in to the practical portion and as a friend said .... on to the fun. yeah!

pos laju

another attempt at getting my parcel. i was told in the afternoon to come here in the evening after 7pm.

so here i am at 730pm and the crowd is the same.