Meeting Dewy and her effeminate younger brother ...

So ... after wasting time hanging around in the office and just getting f-ing annoyed ... because inspite of whatever stupid post they give me ... they didn't tell others ... so no one was quite sure where I was supposed to be seated, what I was supposed to do ... and I had no laptop and internet ...

I made a new friend ... a house mate who takes the same car as me ... except that he goes to a different office in the city ... he is from a banking background and engaged to work as an IT project manager for my wonderful boss' arrogant brother ... he asks me to call him Jo ... and he is a married gentleman with kids ... nice chap ... a bit tight on the budget but not surprising as he has kids ...

So after a day or two in the office but boss officially decided to show up and asked me to meet her at her brother's house ... her brother is a graduate from USA and supposedly screwing around there for umpteen years until she was asked to go and bring him home ... to keep him occupied she got him involved in the hotel in-charge of IT ... except the hotel is so small ... and he runs the hotel IT as if it is an MNC ... imagine for a 140 room hotel with theme park ... he needs 20 people in IT ... no wonder we run at a loss!

Anyway ... we arrived and waited and waited ... then boss shows up ... and she was asked to wait as he is getting ready ... I was shocked ... his house is his office and he lives in the whole house with all sorts of gadgetry to lock the actual house from the garage ... where he has converted the garage into office for his staff and the garage looks like a garage ... so much for a good boss ... ugh! I guess being Indonesians in Medan they tolerated this ... and anyway they cannot all have much to do ... seeing as there is 2 person for every single task and no one is the back-up for another task ...

When I first saw him ... he seemed like a decent enough guy ... he is certainly intelligent ... and honestly if he has a real job that keeps his brain occupied ... I think we could even be good time hanging out friends ... but since he is huddled away there with no future to speak off ... I cannot blame him for creating work for himself ... as otherwise he would go bonkers and slit his own wrists ... hahaha!

He has so much big plans ... he criticized all known software and instead prefers to work with untested software for other industry and customizing for the hospitality ... but why bother? Why re-invent the wheel? And waste tons of money? Just doesn't make good business sense ... and the obsession with SOPs and what-nots! And then telling me things like SBU and SMU ... they all read too much of these management books and jargons and just wanna use the latest buzzword! And they appointed me SMU head ... whatever that means in their minds ... all I know is I make things work. That's it. Plain and simple.

Weather has been fine ... will probably hang out with Jo for some take away dinner!

[This is typed based on memory on 8th Jan 2012]

Day One ... and the Pits feeling continues ...

Anyway, here is a continuation of yesterday's post ... so I woke up, showered and started SMS this girl Ratz wondering how I am going to get to office when I have no idea who I am supposed to meet, where I am supposed to go and which vehicle ... there are so many black gigantic Kijang's waiting for us this morning ... and surprisingly a fair number of people ...

I had 12 boxes of bloody biscuits that Dewy asked me to bring ... can you imagine that? I felt so foolish ... anyway, they told me to get into this car finally going to something like Muta (Buta) Tuli ... and I did ... and I met a guy who said his name was something like Jo or Ko ... when we arrived, there was a stockily built gentleman who came to greet us after they let us sit in the waiting room of some sales office for a fair bit of time ...

Then I was told I was in the wrong office as I was supposed to go to head office ... so I waited some more ... for a car to come and pick me up and go there ... and by the time I reached ... more than an hour has passed ...

And here I was greeted by someone named Ratz and then Lys and someone doing payroll ... which was fine ... then I met a man named Agus who said he was in-charge of HR but was formerly an Engineer or some such and he said he wasn't supposed to meet me today but I was lucky he was around ... wow talk about welcoming new staff, right?

Basically I did nothing except chat and was shuttled back to Buta place ... and then just hung around until 5:00pm and followed the car home ... only to be miserable yet again ... really felt like going home to Penang and slowly looked for another job ... ugh!!!

[This is typed from memory on 19.12.11 - 10:40pm]

NEW JOB NEW JOB NEW JOB AND THE PITS!!!

Okay I was going to post my first impressions but guess what? I couldn't because I could not log into the free wireless at my home ... and then in the office no laptop was available yet ... talk about inefficiencies ...

So this is a gathering of my first 2 days here in Medan ... I didn't know what to expect except that my memories were hazy from the 80s (if I am not mistaken) ... of a mall ... and some roads ... and Jln Sutomo ... where we came out of a restaurant and I saw this boy (teen?) in uniform and reddish brown shorts and I memorized the shoplot until today (46 Jln Sutomo) ... although I have no idea if he was buying something there or his dad owned the place ... is that a crush? Hahahahaha!

I am getting sidetracked

Okay let's get back to business ... I boarded the plane .. and within the hour landed in Medan ... had a bit of a nightmare clearing immigration as they took my form, then escorted me to a sideroom and another officer asked for the form ... and I said the officer at the counter had it ... he graciously said he would do me a favor and filled up one on my behalf ... I was confused ... why didn't he just take the damn form?

Anyway, after that, I went out and scanned the multitudes waiting for me to find a non-uniformed chap with a piece of paper with my name on it ... so I went with the guy and it started to pour ... and I arrived in a gated community ... not a hotel or apartment (???) and to my surprise in the rain the driver had an argument with the lady housekeepers on who would carry my bags as it appeared that they have assigned me the 3rd floor and the ladies didn't want to carry so high ... I said it is fine and I would do it myself ... and I did!

After that, I looked around and the bed was new but kinda cheap and bump, no proper wastebasket etc and the furniture looked really cheesy ... guess it is a huge jump from Sey to here ... and I thought I was going to be in a higher position?!?!?!?!?

After sneaking out, I had a look around and the house was quiet ... so I had a shower ... then decided to come down and explore the neighbourhood as the rain had dwindled down a wee bit ... I walked out ... to my right there was a petrol station and some buildings ... and decided to go left ... walked and walked and walked ... until I passed by Marriott and decided to have my meal in a Padang Resto ... first time, last time ... 1 piece of chicken, some veg and egg ... all cold ... and nearly RM20 a meal!

You know, that very first night? I almost decided to pack up and buy a ticket out the next day. It was such a miserable experience. I will continue this entry shortly as it is getting late ... cheers ...

Oh yeah ... to sum it up ... I accepted a job as Financial Advisor cum Business Development Manager for Mikie Holidays, Berastagi in Sumatera, Indonesia. Rock ON!!!!!!!!!!!

[This is typed on 19.12.11 ... 10:30pm based on memory]