Small little Christmas tree

Yeah! Finally a small little Christmas tree on our table. :)

Thank you... :D

Technology Team Building

Was asked to go Team Building at the very last minute. And they managed to confirm and arranged everything by 3pm on Tuesday. Wow... and so, i went home to pack since I have nothing here at USJ.

So, I went home after work on Tuesday (nice drive) and pack again (thought just back from mission trip) to Team Building @ Lumut (so far away).

After 4 hours bus ride, we arrived. Had lunch and started activities. I was late for the exercise thingy (phew) as apparently there were some Capex thingy that I needa settle. And was told to have a meeting at 2pm the next day. Uh?! pengsan... I am supposed to have team building ler....

I think 75 of us altogether and only 14 females. Technology wor...


Anyway, Pirate of the Carribean, went around to do some treasure hunt + activities, didn't take pictures as we were against time and wanted to have fun. oh... boy!!! The co-ordinator told us that men get really excited to dress like female. I didn't really believe that, until when they get the bra. I can see their faces glowing.... gee... what's happening.... They were to dress like Hot Mama.... and the rest of us just do face painting and stickers. hahaha..

Then, rest and relax. For me, it meant back to work lar... Dinner at 7.30pm was a tortured as I was already hungry at 6pm.vNight activity was fun too.... Had some guessing game and dancing thingy.... really pengsan....

Then, next day was quite relax too where we as a whole big team was to carry a basket ball with strings from one point to another. We did it in 2.52 minutes which was really impressived. :)

Departed back to KL after lunch and I had my meeting in the bus, laptop on lap and Karim was with me too....

Overall, I have no complaint (maybe also just back from mission trip, very appreciative on what I have now).

Good!!

Sherine's Farewell

It's always hard to say good-bye especially to someone whom you are close to. Sherine and I were quite close as we used to sit next to each other, so, we talked, we laughed, we cried, we complaint, we grumbled, we understand each other, we encouraged, we care for each other, etc....

And now, she is leaving for India. It must be a hard decision for her. She will be back, just that we gonna miss one another....

Then, we wanted to had a dinner with her since all were closed with her. We went to lobsterman. I must say that it's a good time for all of us. They headed for durian after that where I hid myself in my friend's shop and had manggo instead. hahaha.... So, all have fruits still.

Take care Sherine.... :)

Shake it, move it @ DiGi

All were told to block 26 June as it's gonna be a great party on that day.

Later, we received quite a number of teasers in the mail and we were guessing that we need to change floor/ seating areas... hmm..... (I still don't know where am I going to sit, gotta find out tomorrow morning from the LCD TV)... And we also heard that it's gonna be new branding, new value, etc..... We were also told to pack our lockers, pack our things, and the most interesting thing was to Work @ on Friday morning. All to only go back to office at 2pm.

Work @ simply means you can work at any where you like, just be contactable on office matter.

By about 2pm, we were not allow to go into the office, those who were in there earlier were asked to come out. Then, we went to look for our group. The event started with all to go through tunnels, where we will get changed into XL t-shirt (like pajamas for me... ) and make commitment to stay as a group to complete the event.

Each team was given a 'passport' where we need to go to all the floors, had some games, get passwords, etc. Games were fun and challenging... most important, it's not about competition against each group (yet some still treated as it was), the most important thing (for me, at least), is to stay as a team to work as a team, and we could also help other teams too.

The new values: Be respecful, Be inspiring, Make it easy, Keep promises

And new value proposition: Made for me, Best deal, Make it easy

At the end, we all got rewarded by ice cream and gathered at Townhall for some short slides presentation on the value proposition by DMT and proceed to have food at open car park. Then, followed by some entertainments.

It's tiring........ I actually fall asleep a few times (with my eyes open) while driving back home...

Portable fan

For those who knew me in the office would have known that I always complaint hot at where I am sitting at the moment. That area is really hot. I even had a name for it - 'hell' where the other side of the office is 'heaven' which is much cooler and nicer. A lot of times, I will fan myself literally. Strangely, others feel cold at 'hell'... :S

One day, Boon Hwa said, why not get a USB fan. I was like arh-uh? Where to? How? And I don't shop in KL, not KL fan at all...

I received a MMS from him on Sunday night which I thought was a box of medicine (he is uncle mar...) but, written there, something interesting to show me... I was thinking fan?!

And I saw him using the fan when I got into the office. hahaah... Quite cool... He spent RM13.50 for that and it works, not that strong wind, better than the hot-cond (opposite of air-cond.. hahhahah... :D). And he gave it to me?! Wow... so generous of him. But, I decided to share rather to own it.

Arh.. I can make the thing turn too, manually, use hand.. hahaha.. pengsan...

It's like a new toy. Another new toy after the gun thingy.. hahaha... :D Not sure how long it can last though, Boon Hwa actually asked me to do a stress test... ha...

NASA migration

Finally, the day was here. NASA is on migration. NASA is a prepaid system where it will be moved to a faster and more robust system. The team has been working on the project for more than 2 years and the actual migration has delayed for 1 year. And finally, this is the moment.

The team actually started the migration at 10pm on 22nd. A lot of them were involved and all were split into 2 shifts (running for 24 hours) namely day and night shift. I have told Boon Hwa that I will accompany him for breakfast for the 2 days where he will be in office since 4am.

The 1st day, where I actually also dreamt about the go or no-go decision at 3++am that everything went smoothly which the end result was alright (I also stress.. aiks... ). Chee Kong rang me at 7.15am if I were in office and would like to go for b/fast. I knew it was ok. Then, we went to Puchong for dim sum and back to office at 9am. Wow.... We packed some for some of those who were still working from night shift.

The townhall actually turned into a migration hall where we had all the DiGi team, vendors working. Wow... Felt like in a war zone (at least for me). Everyone worked towards one goal - to make NASA a success. I am really impressed and touched.

I knew many worked for more than 24 hours non-stop for this project. And I really salute them for their commitment. And the Steering Committee/ Decision making team were really calm and cool even though there were a few issues...

Free Doughnut

Michelle took back a box of doughnut early in the morning... She told us to share and eat. Doughnut in the morning? hmm.... Well, they didn't look so appetizing, but, well, I like doughnut, the basic/ original. I took one. The texture was so nice... so soft.. so yummy.... Just that it's too sweet. It's actually coated with sugar, thin layer. Those things melt fast in the hand...

Krispy Kreme is opening soon at Berjaya Time Square. And we get to eat first. hahaha..

Thanks for sharing.... :)

Happy Birthday Sherine

Celebrated Sherine's birthday (a day earlier) for her. We had it very early in the morning (before 9am) as many are having back to back meeting the whole day.. yeah.. Back-to-back meeting on Friday.....

Happy Birthday, Sherine. May you be blessed.. :)

Strategy Meeting

We started meeting from 8.30am till 6pm. Then, we drove all the way back to KL. It's really tiring. If I were tired, what more the 'drivers'.... Hey, thanks so much for driving.....

And there's so much to be done, uh.......

Strategy Meeting - Penang

Finally, the Penang trip actually happened. 2 cars were driven up north. It was quite a long journey.

I rang Lerk Shih when we were about at Juru just to check if we could meet up. I have not seen her for 7 - 8 years, I think. It was a loonnggg time. Seems like we can't make it and though I was sad, well, perhaps next trip. But, to my surprise, I was then told to call my friend so, we could meet up. Hurray!!!! Thanks to my 'driver' who was so kind to drop me off. Really appreciate that. And sorry (again) for the blunt language from Lerk Shih. (Yupe, I excused myself for the dinner with the team)..... :)

After dropping Kathy for swimming practise, we went up to a hill. The hill where there's a dam and where I could have a really nice view of Penang. We walked, we stopped, we took our time and we talked. There's so much to catch up and yet so little time. Then, we went back down, we had really nice Penang Laksa. Yummmm......

Then, we went back to her place. There, I met Russell, he was on con-call, and I met Adam and Frank too. All of them were so adorable. We warm-up pretty fast and soon the kids were concern where I am staying and wish I could put up a night. Well, I wish too. So, I continue to spend time at her place while waiting for my 'driver' to pick me up. So nice..... I was really lepaking at their place. Remind me of lepaking at their place in NZ where we just laid on the floor and read books (very anti-social bunch of ppl).... hahah.....

Then, my driver came, went to meet the niece. And catch up with the others at Gurney Drive. It's past midnight by the time we got back to hotel and we have meeting at 8.30am the next morning.....

Well, I am truly glad that I met up with Russell, Lerk Shih and family.... :) Sweet as.....

1st TMM in 2009

The event was organised/ hosted by NE. It's the 1st TMM in 2009 since our last TMM.

Personally, I found all the topics were very informative, however, somehow heavy for non-network ppl. Of all topics, most responses when it came to the topic on coverage, quality... arh.... NE guys, did u get the message? The experiences were not as good as the benchmark result..... Strange uh?!

Invited Finance to talked about D'CoRE. And SOD to continue the unfinished story of Change Management which was cool.....

How could we know if the audience take back the message? I guess that remains the challenge for all meetings especially so much effort and good work put in for the slides.... I always think a successful event/ function would be something where ppl will remember the message for awhile (2 - 3 months).... Well........

Eve of Valentine's Day

Unusual and unexpected things do happened....

It's 'Black Friday' actually and it's also eve of Valentine's Day. My office provided florist service this year. Ppl could pre-ordered the flowers and picked them up at a certain time on Friday.

And my boss got a stalk of flower. Was teasing him that given by a secret admirer.. (Actually, I roughly knew where it came from)...


In the evening, he gave me the pink rose. Being I have been working too much... hahah... That's so nice of him.... My CTO gave me flower... :D

It's quite funny that one who don't appreciate flower and encourage ppl to give flower received one..... Ya.. I know.. a lot of ppl said, I am so materialistic... Well, I think, I am just being practical and rational. Don't u reckon??? What about you?

oh..... Went out for dinner with a friend as well..... hahah... Not as you thought....

CNY Lunch

An arranged CNY lunch. We wanted to 捞生。It's my first one for this CNY. Apparently, one can only find this tradition/ food in Malaysia & Singapore. It just sympolise many many good things in the coming year. haha.. It's fun.. We did it in English and saying good things/ wishes in the coming years.

Yupe. A nice lunch though some of us gotta rush back to office for meetings. :(

Technology Townhall

1st time Technology Townhall meeting in 2009. Communicate on achievement of 2008, Challenges and Focus in 2009. Only 1 hour. I think about 500 ppl turned out.

Took me few days to prepare slides with the help from TMT. I was more anxious than the TMT.. haha...

Well, I hope it's a good start for 2009 though it's a challenging year.

Working @ KLCC

It was just another normal working day where I had so much to do. Was rushing some works in the morning. And it was 1++pm where I haven't had lunch. Sherine hasn't had hers too. Since Karim was having offsite meeting in the meeting, I asked if he could fetch us out and back for a quick lunch. Well, he was in a rush and no hope.

In fact, he suggested us to follow him to KL where we can have lunch and work offsite. Surprisingly, Sherine agreed and started to pack. I was shocked. And well, since there's no meeting in the afternoon and I think I could afford to do that. And we started to pack and go KL with Karim. Ya.. This was crazy.

I had lunch with Sherine while Karim went to his meeting. Then, we went to Starbucks to work. It's really work. Just change of environment. Comments?? hmm... I think I prefer to work in office. Why? The air-cond and it's more comfortable. hehe....

Karim supposed to finish his meeting at about 5.30pm and I was not done with my work. So, I told Sherine to text him not to hurry. Walk really slowly if possible. Then, he rang at 6-ish pm that he just done with meeting. By the time he met up with us, we were still working. Aiks... what were we doing? Not fully utilising the chance to work outside. We shouldn't have gone shopping, right? But, well, there were so much to do and no time for shop.

We went for dinner. Yummy dinner. But, the late lunch was not fully digested. So, I had little only.

Hey.. it's a totally different experience. It was a surprised, impromtu thing. Don't get a wrong picture that this is the way we work in my organization. Sometimes, I like this. Someone just drag/ 'kidnap' me for something not harmful... (Reminded me of my Wellington-Auckland-Wellington weekend getaway thingy....)

Side line: KLCC was decorated for Chinese New Year. Nice.... Yeah.. Time flies....

NE Target Setting

Part of the target setting was also to align the Sectional targets within the Department.

Was invited to join the session with NE. It was encouraging to see all to be engaged and challenging/ commenting each others' target for better.

Well, somehow I need to split myself into half today. Was in the workshop in the morning. Then, rushed back to office to meet-up with Biz Manager (Telenor), and back to the workshop again. Gosh..... It was challenging, getting a car park was challenging. I was begging the guard since I was only back to office for 1 hour.

It was a tiring and fruitful day.

NE: Thanks for inviting and really glad to see you guys were so involved. The process itself was great!!

Target Workshop

Long before Kjersti left, she has been sharing her experiences of doing the Target Workshop with her management team and the effectiveness. Since then, I started to have discussion and planning for it. Then, she left and so, I tossed some ideas with Ole.

Well, Technology has not done this (not as a division) before. Hence, I was quite conscious about it. I always had a picture of how it will be in my mind, and was afraid it may not turn out to be as good or even much lower than what I imagined.

I reckoned it was quite hard to start at the beginning as everyone was new to this process. So, we had TMT to assist in explaining, facilitating. We did not want the TMT to participate so much so we could have the managers to discuss and suggest the targets.

Then, it went pretty well. So, I shall not worry. :)

The next day started quite alright as well. We saw each department trying to address the comments given earlier days and people were engaged in discussion.

Thank God that the workshop went well. In fact, a lot have said that this has given opportunities to discuss targets of other departments and understand each other. Some even suggested to have this on quarterly basis. I guessed all my hard works were worth it in a way or another. It's not easy to get things done and prepared for a meeting with about 45 people. Gosh.... Really thank God.

Well, I kinda felt really exhausted after the whole woskshop was over. (I always felt exhausted whenever there's an offsite meeting. Like the Roller Coaster also the same.) But, the work was not done yet. They need to go back refine and retune those targets and send to me again for discussion in the upcoming strategy meeting.. That also means, I pengsan (fainted...).....

Parking at Lot 30

I went for my annual health screening today knowing that I will not be able to get a parking when I get back at about 10am.

hmm... True enough Lot 10 was full. Lot 43 has the 'Parking Full' board hang at the gate, Lot 42: I went in for 1 round and it's none. :( Then, I went to the Open car park, also nope. Lastly, I went to Lot 30 (I passed by earlier and I think the guard nodded). By the time, I turned back, no guard at the gate, so, I waited awhile. The guard came and told me no. I kinda begged and asked him to help check with his other colleagues. The guard asked me to wait and after checking, he asked me to go in for there's ONE. wow.. Thank God..

Low and behold, the parking lot seems quite tight for me (with my parking skill.. errhh... ) Well, a guard helped me. It was perfect. There's this DiGi truck behind me and a MyVi infront, wow...

So, by the time, I went to collect the car about 8++pm, all cars were gone, only left my lonely Wira with all the blowers....

It's been ages since I parked at Lot 30. I kinda missed the fun of getting in early and choose a good spot for parking. Especially, passing underneath the tower.

Tag

Change tag (again!?)

This is my 3rd tag after working 3 years and 5 months (exactly) in the same company. Wow!!! 3 times!! Yes.. 1st, newly joined the company (of course lar.. ). 2nd, changed office location, from Lot 30 to Lot 10. 3rd (now), do away the security system. So, this tag is just a tag to let others know who you are.

I forgot to snap a picture of my old tag before they dismantled it and took out the transponder. Well, smaller tag...

Wonder: How much does it cost to change the tag? How much did it cost on the security system invested (now, abandon)? How sure are we that vendors will not simply walk around? How sure are we that we will be safe working till late night in the office? I hope someone has considered all these? Yes to efficient and simplicity, well, one also need to consider the security part of it...

Another...

Kjersti left DiGi today. It was quite hard for me to take the news. Somehow I suspected something since yesterday but, I didn't know it will be this. I felt something is not right. And the feeling got worse this morning... Then, came the breaking news.

She took me into Technology to support her which I was really grateful of that. Ever since, she has been coaching and teaching me in all aspects. She really took me to a higher level thinking - more strategic and dynamic which I really appreciate a lot.

Thank you so much Kjersti!! I will miss you a lot!!! And I wish you all the best!