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.