A Nice Surprise?

Ok ... so today is my birthday ... on the eve I had a call from my folks who wished me which was nice ... and then started the number of SMS; emails; facebook postings ... which was of course nice and this continued the next morning with well over 100 wishes ... thank goodness for modern communications, right?

Better I was feeling out of sorts because I had no plans to celebrate except going out to McD for takeaway or something ... not much of a birthday plan ... the few people I know in Medan are either stuck in the mountains (thanks Volcano!) or not available (sick in Medan or gone home to Singapore/ Malaysia for holidays already) ... so it was going to be a dreary depressing kind of event ... unless I go hook up with a prostie or gigs ... whichever strikes my fancy, yes? HAHAHAHAHA!

Anyway in the office, our HR this week has started daily emails of anyone's birthday. So you can just imagine the number of emails and phone calls continuing ... at around noon, I had a meeting with my MD before her flight to Singapore ... I thought for sure she was going to be another well-wisher like everyone else ...

But to my surprise she didn't! Why? Because she doesn't carry a notebook and her BB had gone MIA. So that was a relief. As the meeting wore on until near 2pm, we covered a lot of issues which was great but since I was getting hungrier and thirstier by the minute ... I was starting to fidget ... (yes, I am like that, childish at times) ... and then the clincher!

She said she realized that I should be due for my 3rd month soon, right? I nodded pretending no-big-deal because HEY I am thinking of looking around for another job ... (thanks airport construction plans and Mr Volcano!) ... when to my surprise she said she had advised payroll to give me a little $$$ ... I acted non-plus and nodded ... then she pressed on with the amount and it was a WOW MOMENT!

Literally a WOW MOMENT!!!!!!

So now I have to wait and see if it materializes in end Sep or Oct yes? Fingers crossed and all that! Hehehehehe! I was not expecting this since they have a mixed reputation but to my surprise without me opening my mouth this came. I have only been here 2.5 mths and was not expecting even 1 cent until appraisal next year. Hehehehehe!

So what did I do last night? I overate of course! HAH!

I know. I have to lose weight. Sigh!

Damn those becaks ...

[This photo is from my holiday in Langkawi just before I actually ended up working in Langkawi ... coincidence? Think so ... anyway it has nothing to do with this particular posting]

I have been ill for the past few days ... as those who know me know ... and today the pain has somewhat subsided except for the left side of my head ... at the top and lower back ... so feeling like I wanted to go out and get some food without having to walk 30 min in darkness ... I hailed the local transport called becak ... it is different from Malaysia ... here it is an old carriage attached to a motorcycle ... I have no problems paying for a taxi but it is difficult to find one

Anyway, this chap was fairly nice n friendly ... didn't overcharge and I had no need to bargain with him ... the only thing was when we came across a small speedbump ... instead of slowing down, he just went over it at full speed ... I didn't see it as it was night ... and BANG my head hit the top of his carriage's roof that unfortunately had a wooden beam ... it was already low until I half bowed my head ... I didn't expect a BUMP ... and it hit where I was still feeling ill

DAMN THOSE BECAK ... I am right in that, no?

I am in pain

Physical pain, literally ... do you know what is worse than being ill? It's forgetting what it felt like when you were ill ... I mean, I know I have a regular record being ill ... but each time, it is like a complete nightmare

So what am I suffering from? Neck ache or whatever the right name is ... it started yesterday when I was in Brastagi ... weird ... it was late afternoon ... I was having a discussion with the General Manager ... then I was going over to the Human Resources Manager and this pain started creeping up on me ... by the time the night ended, I was in pain

I tried this oil they gave me that had the wintergreen smell ... but it had none of that burning sensation ...

But wait ... there's more ... I made the mistake of having 3 strong coffees ... and for the first time in a long time ... probably a few weeks only actually ... see how forgetful I am getting ... sign of age? Geeez sure hope not!

So anyway not only was I in pain but I couldn't sleep. And the weather was crappily cold ... I literally lay down straight like a log in pain from 1:00am to 6:00am ... salvation came in the form of panadols

The entire day of today was one of constant pain ... the worse part was the 2.5 hour drive home from the mountains ... every single turn n jolt in the road ... a stab of pain through my neck ... I felt like I was running a fever ...

So tonight, I have just popped another 2 panadols, rubbed some Swiss heating balm or other on it and put on two pieces of chinese koyo - sticky pieces of stuff that is even now burning on my lower neck ... and I wrapped a towel around my neck ...

I really am hoping and praying that I will be generally fine tomorrow ... pray for me too yes, please?

[The photo is of the street in my little "neighbourhood" here in Medan called Sarimas]

I remember now ...

Today is Sunday ... I shouldn't be griping because it is the sort of day I like ... a little overcast ... good for an outing ... however, as I sat in my room for the past hour ... it hit me ... why over the past years, whenever I work overseas ... I always chose a resort ... because though it is remote and far from cities etc (generally) ... the good thing is that you are always surrounded by a mass of human bodies ... I kid you not

This is because all the other expats are living in the same community ... so you always have people to hang out with ... in some places, even the locals are living there (example - Maldives) ... so there is definitely a sense of immediate belonging ... and friendship is up to us to decide how fast or slow we want to be part of the scene

Now that I am here in Medan, Indonesia ... a city teeming with well over 2 million people ... I find it sorely lacking of that human warmth ... in my office, I am the only one who is not a local ... everyone else is not only Indonesian but also from the city of Medan ... the clock strikes 5 and everyone buzzes off home ... nothing wrong with that ... if I am in my home town, I guess if I stay around long enough, I would do the same

But this is sort of an awakening for me ... to remember what life can be like ... and to decide ... do I get off my heavy butt and do something ... or do I stick around?

I will have to ponder that for a little bit longer ...

[The photo is taken from Anse Boileau in Seychelles. I was on my final outing with the Barrengers and Mrs was with me while Mr was with his big bro and the lads]

3rd weekend in Medan ...

Today's yet another one of those days ... I had a blast at my job ... tons of things to do ... but what can I say? I AM HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so happy not doing Finance. Crazy thing to say, isn't it? I will not deny that I am not making as much $$$ as I could be ... but what the heck ... I am not making as little as all that either ... at least I am happy even though the work is stressful ... so enjoy it while I can

After work, we went to shop for "oleh oleh" ... local term for gifts as my neighbour is going home to visit his wife and daughter and after he purchased 1 round ... the mrs said it was not the brand that is famous! He said that's women for you ... oooops ... sorry to all the ladies out there

So what did he get? What is famous here? Apparently sponge cake rolls ... called Bulu ... and another type of cake made from slightly fermented coconut milk/ juice ... not too sure about the explanation ... called Bika Ambon ... I tried a bit of both ... nothing spectacular there ... though the 2 shops were certainly crowded ... so the driver took us to the right place

At the Bulu shop ... they had a ton of other Medanese produce ... including fruit extracts like ... terung Belanda (reddish pinkish thingie) ... strawberries ... passion fruit ... etc and 2 Satpam! One young and cheery; and one old and lumpy ... hehehehe

Nothing else spectacular happened ... I started my exercise program today again ... 2 rounds of arms stretching ... and a 2 hour walk to the further mall and back ... then over-indulge in McDonald's ... HAH!

Okay ... time to go to bed ... nite all!

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]