Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Shell..earlydays as an intern

20th Nov 2006
I was supposed to report to office at 9 am to meet the person in-charge of my internship. Wanting to give a good impression, i reached there early..toooo early..i reach at 8.15am. My superior only came at 9.20am. He briefed me on what he expected of me and what i should learn and i was to be placed in the engineering logistics department. His name is Md Zaid. He told me that he wants my internship here to be a fruitful one and not photocopy stuff and make coffee. He was telling me about how i should cherish my experience here and learn as much as you can from it and enjoy my internship.

I was then passed over to the HR manager for Shell LPG Msia and Spore to get my RFID tag and also was briefed on the fire escape routes and what i should do. AND i was briefed on the whole company structure and going through every department and who was the head of dept and who was under them..and what they were in charge of. I was soooo sleepy and im trying to hard to remember everything.. all the abbreviations for each department and what they stand for and who is what in the chain of command. I have never woke up soooo early for such a long time (7am). Then i was taken around the WHOLE officeand introduced to everysingle person from the security guard, to the receptionist to the finance staff. I was having a fun time trying to introduce myself in different ways. After that...i was supposed to report back to Zaid for a briefing. He had my job description all written our and a Gantt chart of my learning pace and targets. I have to write a weekly report on what i have learnt and also give a presentation on what i leant throughout my internship at the end of it.

THEN!!!i was thrown 2 manuals to read. 90 pages all together, A4 size by the way. I was to learn the scientific fact of LPG. Then in those 2 manuals i had to understand the engineering standards on how LPG should be kept and hazards it succumbs to and stuff like that. 90 pages of new stuff. it felt like i was crashing for exam. Was trying very hard to stay awake and give a good impression and actually getting some reading done.

I followed the whole office to Bukit Aman to eat sup daging. Was very confused with whos doing what and what peoples names were. Everyone was very motivated with their jobs and was happy with what they were working for in shell..everyone was so happy to explain what they do for work in shell and its not like a single line or a single paragraph description. it was more like a 5000 word essay. Before the day was done, i was thrown 2 more manuals but this time on equipments in the LPG filling plant for read up. This was relevant to my course.


21st Nov 2006

I came to work early, a few guys from the HSSE department grabbed me to have breakfast with them. Got to know some people better and realized how the world was so small. Viz, when i was having a joint troop meeting with MBS and he was one of the scouters present that time. Headed back to my second manual and finished it just before lunch. Headed for lunch with the guys from HSSE and went to Maarof to eat at banana leaf. It was good shit la..Nice fried bittergourd, yummy!! When i came back i started on the new manuals.. and yes..by the end of the day.. i got somemore stuff to read.. MORE manuals and a project tender (cant say what, not allowed to) to study so that i can assist him in Kuching some time december i guess. I got to have a proper conversation with some of the people there today because i was finally finished introducing myself to everyone. I met Vanessa, she sits a table away from me, shes a Chem eng and doing sales. Excellent! waste of course study. Anyways, i keep asking people why they dont exploit our expertise and they said its because they like the way engineers think compared to other students. Cause and effect mentality and efficient thinking...CHEWAH!! Then an intern josephine invited me to join all the new ppl (the new gang) and interns for breakfast to socialize. That was nice.

22nd Nov 2006
I came to work later compared to usual because i left the house slightly later then the past 2 days.. yes yes..the cause and effect of traffic congestions. Went there and met the new gang and socialized with them during breakfast. Met a few senior staff there also, they were plant managers and sales department manager. Shared a long conversation about life and the mentality of people nowadays and how society has changed. Interesting topics which sometimes became dull when he elaborated boring stuff.
Went to the office and headed back to reading the other manuals..total i have 6 folders of stuff to read up to date about 300 pages total i guess. Then i was told that i needed to do some "engineering cataloging", which was of course...rearranging his engineering records, files and stuff. basically becoming a librarian. Finish reading the 2nd last booklet of stuff and headed for lunch. Followed the HSSE guys to lunch with a singaporean employee. He was here for briefing on his new job and a tour of the plants. We went to Hilton KL and ate in a restaurant called Chynna. It was the most luxurious chinese restaurant and restaurant ive been to so far. Waitresses were dressed in cheong sams that costs 1k ringgit, cutleries used were the dining cutleries of tradional chinese dining with crafted chopstick rests. We were served ginseng tea upon arrival, it was poured by an employee which was flown all the way here to pour the tea from a 20 cm long spout or longer. We had dim sum for lunch. the prawns was soooo fresh that you can feel the texture when you bite into them. Its like biting into a pomello but with prawn taste..the scallop too was soo fresh that it would just melt in your mouth when you put it in. everything was soo good. i had the best dim sum in my life..i had scallop chee cheong fun..omg.. heavenly..soo fresssh!!! I was soo tempted to take a picture of everything but i didnt want to act like a jakun infront of everyone. The bill came to 300 ringgit for 4 people for dim sum..damn nice price also. Had a long lunch.. soo full.. and tried to read my manuals again.. and i couldnt.. so spent the rest of my time arranging the files and records in the store room. I wasnt soo tired compared to other days. was getting used to the early and long hours in the office. Guess its not so bad. infact.. it was great. i love shell.. work hard and enjoy life and work

Thursday, November 16, 2006

getting there

I decided to spend my weekdays with my parents while i can before starting work. So in order to do that..lets play golf... We have scheduled a golf game on friday with my parents and Uncle Desmond at the Rahman Putra Golf club, not sure where it is. Anyways, i have been to the driving range at Bukit Jalil twice this week. My parents have been making sure i forget all the stupid things my useless coach thought me and tried to instill the proper techniques which she picked up from coaches and books. I guess i can hit fairly well, was kinda suprised i could hit like that actually. I learnt how to use my torso and my shoulders to swing instead of my forearms. Its all in the swinging motion, not the forcing motion. Have a look

Here is a video of me hitting with the 5 iron (s-yard)





Here is the side view




Another video but with me hitting with the 5 wood (big bertha)

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Back home

10th November

When i stepped out of the airport, i was already sweating and it was raining. Suprisingly it had rained for a month religiously during the evenings. I was happy that it wasnt so hot and it would be better for me to cope. Yeah and its bloody humid. You roughly feel like a dim sum in a steamer in Msia. I was happy to see my parents, they have aged. I somehow feel sympathetic for them being older and less capable. Wish there was a cure to aging. I got home, looked for my dog..and he was gone..he ran away.. :( . I wonder where is oreo now. The last time my parents saw him he was at sri petaling and my parents took him home and he ran away again. Sighs.

Guess what i ate for dinner, my first meal in KL was.. SATAY!! My dad packed it for me and i ate it at home with ketupat and cucumbers and the sweeeet satay sauce.

I came back to my room, it was all stuff and dusty. Smelled like a store room. Every corner of my room reminded me or larnee. Her presence there previously or something she gave me was nicely displayed on the tables, side tables. SIGH

Another dissapointment was my cousin. He ripped off the whole wireless setup which i fixed at home just because he could not find away to connect the xbox through the wireless router and made my dad REWIRE the whole house again an bought a Gateway modem/router thingy.. ass..Im sure there was an easier way then to implement CAT5 cables again...IDIOT...simple analogy like the malaysian education system, malay to english and back to malay.

11th November

Went out to buy some essentials and met my juniors at the St John's Scout den. All of them looked so different with piercings and stuff. Unfortunately no one from my batch was there. They had a potluck barbeque thingy going on using firewood and charcoal. Cool shit. Smelled like firewood when i came back at 7pm. Here's what we worked with





Met up with Sern Liang at the LRT station to meet up with Monash friends (chee kang, melvin,derek,chee ming and aik) at the curve laundry and the later ate at some restaurant which had a wireless call button for customer service. We had such a great time talking cock that overflowed through every hole of our body. Everyone was still the same.. no one changed.

12th November

Woke up late and met SL in the evening for a game of snooker and played the XBOX360. Supposed to meet up with Chiong and Ken. But Chiong and SL was sick ..so Ken and i decided to meet next week, hopefully before i start work at shell. So i spent the rest of the day familarizing myself to my room and my environment..no laptop..sobz




13th November

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIT MEY!!!
Happy 20th Birthday Kit Mey, sorry i have no picture to put up now because my laptop has it all. Im sorry i wasnt there to make you birthday more interesting if you know what i mean. Anyways, enjoy your birthday celebration in Sydney and tell me all about it when i see you again. All the best in your future endeavours. You have been a very nice person to talk to, down to earth, tolerant and cheerful. Take care!!! Cheers!


Headed down to Glenmarie with my dad to send my laptop in for some minor warranty claims. My fan was not working very well..my sd card had some problems deleting contents and my battery clip spring came lose. Later I then followed him to Angkasapuri for some job. I went into Wisma TV(the actual place where they manage the airing of TV1 and TV2). They were having a buka puasa thingy. It was soo crowded in the building with food stalls everywhere (food sucked). I was wondering how come there was sooo many people operating these 2 channels and yet the quality is soo STUUPID? For the quality airing they are providing now i think you can hire 50 ppl to run the TV station. 10 for finance, 10 for IT and maintenance and 30 for production and editting. Have you recently watched TV1 or TV2? yes...feel the dissapointment....

After that we headed down to Old Klang Road to see the someone in the driving school and handed in my suspension forms to get a consult on how to attain my new license.

Later in the evening, my parents and i headed down to the driving range to help me brush up on my swing so that ill be fit to play on friday at rahman putra i think. I was hitting really well after coaching from my mum. My stupid coach last time thought me all the wrong techniques when i was young..now im slowly correcting my bad "habits".

14th November

Slept almost the whole day,sleep was interlaced with activities. woke up..at breakfast..slept...woke up.. ate lunch watched house..slept...woke up.... I dont know why i have been sleeping so much and feeling awfully latargic.(is that how you spell it). I think because im depressed. depressed that something or someone is missing. oh well.im going to cook dinner for my parents and relatives. going to cook lambchops..hope all goes well..

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Melbourne Cup at Joanna's House!!!

Jo out of no where invited me to her place to "celebrate" Melbourne Cup. She told me it was a public holiday which i had no clue of. Melbourne Cup is a day commemorating the many years of horse racing in Australia. This is when Australians family and friends come over to a relatives house to bet and watch the horse race. Or go to the race course and do the same. I had a first hand experience in Jo's house. What we did was wrote down all the horses for the ceremonial race and then put it in a jar, and then write down the names of the people who wants to be in seperate pieces of paper. Then the children picked the names out, and then picked the horse. This was a randomized bet among each other. So it was good fun. My horse was Dizzele which came out 17th out of the 24 horses..dammit..So the winner won 75 Aud and i lost 5 aud. Oh well.. it was good fun.

Besides that.. i had LOADS of food. Prawn sambal...lamb curry...spare ribs...stir fry veg...noodles. For desert was lime cheese cake, some crackers with basil leaves with tomatoes, cheese, jam and some weird looking dip. The food was good. Thanks Aunt Odette for the meal and Unc Phil. The drinks accompanied me throughout the day were, Malibu with OJ andChampagne with OJ.

By the way, Jo's house was nice. I wouldnt mind spending the rest of my life in it. It was a double story sorta corner house. Top floor was all rooms. Ground floor was a kitchen, entertainment room and a dining area. Outside the dining area was a wooden deck with a table and sofa's around. It was an open air lounge with a heater.. The deck was overlooking the garden and a park not too far away.. it was gorgeous. After we stuffed ourselves enough that day, Jo took the guitar out and people took turns to play for each other while slowly enjoying their drinks. I was definitely enjoying my Malibu OJ.. We then went to the park and took Jo's cousins around. After that, Jordan, Thayne and I went to a public primary school and played basketball. Being all sweaty and after having a shower at her place, we then met up with my friends at Glen to watch Saw III. The show was quite disturbing.i wonder who actually sat down and thought of all the ways to torture ppl to put it in the movie. Sicko...

Anyways, THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH JOANNA for having me over. It was nice being in an actual Australian home. Havent been to a home for almost a year now. Will be going home to my home soon. :) WIPPIE!!

Monday, November 06, 2006

Texas hold 'em poker

One of the weekends before my exams we (Aiks, tots and Jc) signed up for a social poker tournament in at Glen organized by the ASEAN club. The entrance fee was 10 AUSD and the first prize was the xbox 360 and the second an Ipod Nano. The ASEAN club is not an international club its a Australian Born Chinese club.. Its damn irritating to see chinese that looks like you who talks with a slang. Somehow we Msians find ABCs damn bloody irritating. And the best thing is.. they say they are chinese but they cant speak a word of it..of any dialect. Oh well. But people there were quite friendly eventhough they sounded arrogant..but that my misconception.

The setup was very professional, they hired a few professional dealers and they had the huge digital display to tell you when the blinds are going to change and how much. There was the nice smooth carpeted tables with nice padded arm rest. It was a good atmosphere. Very tournament like.

Here a shot of me at the professional poker table with real heavy chips and trying to shuffle chips.. which i can now i think :)





Heres a a macro shot of the nice smoooth carpet that enables the cards to slide to an arrangement.




Unfortunately i didnt win, because i went all in on a pair of jacks and lost to a pair of kings.. oh well...it was a memorable experience to compete professionally.

Friday, November 03, 2006

Selamat Hari Jadi Kecik!!



Kecik sekarang sudah berumur dua puluh. Zaman remaja kamu sudah lalu dan masa menjadi dewasa yang betanggung jawab dan insan yang berguna. Saya ingin mengucapkan terima kasih kerana menjadi kawan yang saya hormati dan untuk masa-masa yang lucu dan seronok selama ini. Walaupun kami baru berjumpa, masa saya menjadi jiran kamu adalah pengalaman yang tidak boleh dilupai. Semoga harapan anda ditemui dan mulailah masa dewasa anda dengan hati yang tabah dan minda yang tajam