Shell Life (part 6: US Visa Application)

Woke up very early this morning to get myself ready for US Visa application. Heard that it would be difficult & tricky if you are born with 'terrorist' look :) Was told that different people will end up with different treatment and Visa validity dates. Just to make sure everything goes well, I have got all the necessary documents ready together with the very important application form.

Reached US Embassy at around 7 o'clock in the morning with my scheduled appointment at 7.40am. There were already early birds queuing up (I wonder what time they arrived, thought I might be the earliest :P), waiting to get the visitor pass to enter the big steel gate. Guess there are people who are really 'kiasu' that even they were one of the first to go to the gate counter for the pass, yet can't get any pass from the gatekeeper due to their late online appointment. Was lucky enough to book the earliest spot and managed to get the pass in.

Few stages to go through before I was interviewed. Firstly, full scan was done before entering the building. Then, another manual check by the guard in the building. Getting yourself a number then will determine when is your interview slot. With James Bond's number (007), I was interviewed by one of the officer and went through the shortest interview I even done. Benefited from Shell's renowned name, I was informed my VISA could be collected at the day after :)

Well, I didn't really go through the 'painful' process as told by some of my friends. It was a pleasant one for me, am so grateful with it! Now, I can see my next stop - Houston, US waiving the warm hand to welcome me~

Shell Life (part 5: D&I Week: 28Nov - 02Dec2005

Shell as a company that stress a lot on respect on diversity often come out with different campaign to reinforce their care. I had the opportunity to participate in the last D&I (Diversity & Inclusiveness) week in 2005 before I started my project. As usual, being the supportive colleague, I took part in two of the events - Win, Lose or Draw Games and Team performance competition.

Team up with 3 other grads, we 'proudly' represent our department even though we know very well that most of us can't draw. With the team spirit that we have, and the enthusiasm that posses by young people, we managed to win ourselves the 3rd place! It was out of our expectation, especially with the 'have fun' attitude that we had earlier. Great work team, let's try our luck + teamwork again next year! Gear up now~

The team performance, a 10 minutes cultural performance that should carry the message 'diversity & inclusiveness' was the most exciting performance I ever had. Everything came in rush, and with that few hours of practice (over few day's lunches), we were performing on the stage, enjoying the cheers from the crowd. With the support from our colleagues, we finally won ourselves the Friday's vouchers as 1st runner up. With that I have spent my very first Friday's lunch in 2006 at Friday, the restaurant at One Utama Shopping complex. (Never mention that the last Friday in 2005, I had my lunch at One Utama as well, with me never been to One Utama throughout my stay in KL these few years! Amazing facts huh.. ^_<) Click at the link below to share the fun!

http://tadpolecorner.multiply.com/photos/album/2

Time for New Mobile again ^_<

Was told that I changed my handphone quite frequently - did I anyway? I have been holding on to my current mobile for... almost a year (not really a year, but almost, 10 months, does that consider a year :P) haha... Anyway, playing around with mobile phones has been a passion for me, ever since my first job with Maxis, the leading mobile operator in Malaysia.

Have been surviving without a mobile phone through out my university life, until I was named as 'dinosaur' - an analogy that I always use when I was a student "Out of 10 people in MMU (Multimedia University), there will be only one without handphone, and that would be me :)". And I was holding on to my principal till the day I left my university - if you wanna look for me, let me know earlier; if I am reachable, means I'm free to entertain you. Else, I could be busy at lecture, or having fun, please DO NOT DISTURB, ha!

Left with no choice when I graduated, was asked to hold a mobile phone for the ease of my 'potential' employer to call me for interview. At that point of time, I have got myself the 'hottest' phone - Nokia 3310. Not very trendy, yet equipped with all the basic function (note: the basic function at that point in time is obviously different from now :P)

My 'fate' with mobile phone has changed after joining Maxis. Being the leading operator in town, we are accountable to deliver 'innovative' products to our customers and since then, I have built my passion toward the brand, and its supportive tool - the mobile phones. I have changed my mobile phone 4 months later - Nokia 6610, amongst the newest phone with 6100 3 years ago, had become my choice. Functionality has become my prior concern, with the outlook come later (hence didn't go with 6100 which looks much better). I was pretty satisfied with the phone until the launch of MMS where camera phones have become the hot topic of the town (or rather, we, the marketers making it 'hot').

Nokia 6230, my favorite phone, introduced by a friend of mine, who is also a handphone freak. I bought it when it is still hot at it's bench, ofcourse with the 'hottest' price too (you know how fast the phone depreciate in value, right...) I was happy with its function - camera, mp3, video, outlook, style, size, everything, name it if you can... until, it 'quietly' slipped out from my pocket when I was at Pudu! Which I realised much later that... I LOST MY PHONE!! Knowing Malaysian well, there will be 0% to get my mobile back, I cried with no tears... (but bleeding inside my heart)

Just so that I'm in par with the latest technology, I got myself the 1st generation of 3G phone by Nokia - 6630. It was considered part of the gift I got for my farewell (a RM500 handphone voucher*). It was my first regret where I learnt my lesson - never buy anything which is considered as 'first generation'.

(Note*: Maxis used to give away gift during their annual dinner, handphone voucher was the favorite one)

With much regret of the expensive 3G phone, I finally answer to my heart that always wanted a clamshell phone (or more often known as flip phone). A Samsung SGH-E600C was chosen due to it's comparative price, function, and outlook. And this is the first phone that marked the end of my 'Nokia journey' with mobile phones. Was comfortable with Nokia phones previously due to its 'user friendly' function. Which for long, I know that the 'user friendly' is just the term used by marketers ;) You will eventually get used to the phones that you bought, nothing to do with the brand.

And now... even I have lesser phone calls, and very seldom I'll play around with my phones, I am still very 'alert' with the new function and technology coming up by the telcos. And because of that, I still wish to have a phone that could support the necessary functions. Time to think and to consider which phone to buy now... what do you think? ^_<

Shell Life (part 4: Driving to work...)

Driving in town has not been a topic to me ever since I started my working life in KL 3 years ago. I was working at KLCC, so convenience that I could easily travel with the Mercedes' drivers that will pick passengers frequently with their well-known transport, BUS lah~ No interchange, and almost every single bus will drop me right in front of KLCC (and also the place I stay). Obviously, traveling in KL will give you no runaway path from being stuck in traffic jam, but guess what, I could still sleep for the whole journey (even though I was standing, pro ler...), observing at others frustrated drivers under us (bus is higher than normal cars) without having any worries, and oftenly, the 'pro' bus driver will send me to the office right in time. I bet you know how's the driving skill of our bus driver in KL ;) The only thing that brought up my alert was the squeezy crowd inside the bus - always beware of pickpocket or any wacky hands!

Anyway, with Shell being my new employer, I have to bid goodbye to my previous 'busing' experience and say hello to the unpleasant 'driving' culture in city. Nobody likes the traffic in KL, given the choices, noone would choose to stuck in the jam for hours - for whatever reasons, raining, peak hours, accident, police block, etc. You just can't predict the traffic, for some reasons, it will be congested. What more with now, the monsoon season which brings raindrop everyday - especially during off-office hours!

Let say, per day, my time spent on the road is approximated at 2 hours per day - depending on the traffic. Per week, 10 hours; Per year, 21.7 days - excluding weekend or any public holidays that I travel home using the North-South highway (you know what I mean -_-). It could go up to 1 month or more! Can't imagine? My entire year with 12 months has been 'quietly' reduced to 11 month, and nothing I could do about it... Heard that government has dumped billions to 'improve' our road system, 'enhance' the public transport route, and guess what... we still lost the precious time worth 1 month on the road! Talking about plan your journey? How early you could get up and bit the traffic - as early as 6 or 7 something with all the schoolgoers?

The only thing that I could pray right now is that I don't have to drive to work everyday - work from home, may be. Do you know any alternative that could help to save my time, my energy on the road?

闷。闲 Boring...

从未想过我有一天也会无所事事地待在办公室里，不知该做什么。想起之前的工作，从早忙到晚都没时间好好地坐下喘息，与现在的情况形成很大的对比。有点难以适从，却有种‘享受’的感觉。不知道我会不会因此被宠坏，也不知道会不会因此头脑变得迟钝，更不知道会不会因此变得懒散，只知道我只想好好地宠爱自己，让自己好好地享受人生，那怕是那一下下也好，谁知道好日子会不会过得特别快呢！你说呢？

Shell Life (part 3: Stories from Wellington)

Let the photos tell you my wonderful trip to Wellington...
http://tadpolecorner.multiply.com/photos

Shell Life (part 2: New Zealand, here I come~)

I have been in 'idles state' for some while after my previous project, the moment I got into the new project, I was asked to fly to New Zealand to pick up some knowledge.

Everything comes out of sudden (even I was so desperate in traveling previously) with no company charged card being issued (in time), last minute booking of flight & accommodation. Yet, I have gotten all the green lights to proceed with my traveling, ofcourse with reimbursement being done after 'good receipt'. Gosh, my credit card bill! What if the team is 'residing' in UK, with that high exchange rate... phew~

Anyway, this would be my first business trip to New Zealand, have not been in this part of the world before. Though will be tied up with works, hopefully, it would be one of the delightful trip. New Zealand... here I come~

周杰伦出专辑了 - 《十一月的萧邦》 Jay Chou with His New Album - November's Chopin

配合主打歌[夜曲]及专辑推出的月份而命名的第六张最新国语专辑，同样的选择与最佳拍党方文山合作大部分歌曲，维持着‘周董似’的创作演唱风格。虽然少了些许的新鲜感及突破，却以多元化的音乐格调及词曲的功力满足了周董迷的音乐瘾。

第一波主打歌[夜曲]除了延续了[以父之名]般的曲风，周董第一次以逝去的爱情为主题，贯穿偶像萧邦同名曲子[夜曲]，再配上周董一贯的唱法﹑幽幽的旋律，颇为脍炙人口。[蓝色风暴]﹑[逆鳞]则略带着[双截棍]﹑[龙拳]﹑[半兽人]的影子，强而有劲的节奏唱出歌词中激昂的气势。[东风破]的番外篇幅 - [发如雪]更幽更美，如果说这张专辑具有古典味道，这首歌必是其一。

喜欢过去周董磁性地唱出[你听得到]﹑[借口]﹑[搁浅]的粉丝可从[黑色毛衣]﹑[浪漫手机]中找回类似的感觉。从没写过挖苦狗仔之类的歌的周董终于以[四面楚歌] 绘出了他过去被狗仔激怒的复杂心情。歌词惟妙惟肖，别有一番意味。与南拳妈妈的弹头合作的[枫]，属于较为凄美的抒情小品。

[麦芽糖]的轻快曲调则甚似[爷爷泡的茶]所描写的意境，让人有置身于红尘外的感觉。与Landy温岚合作[屋顶]后另一首合唱歌曲 - [珊瑚海]，与南拳妈妈的Lara携手唱出海鸟跟鱼相爱的无奈。头文字 D的主题曲[飘移]及插曲[一路向北]也以Bonus Track 的方式一并收入在此专辑当中。

周董放弃了暑假黄金档而选择了有浓浓秋意的十一月延迟发行这张专辑，说希望音乐在制作上能够更加精细，却也保持了一向歌曲风格及味道。今年迟了一点，希望感觉也会多了一点！