Wednesday, October 31

Bergumbira tepuk tangan sama-sama

I've just heard from my boss that the new position for me also means that I go up a notch in my grade...yeah!!!

He also told me that at the Global Reservoir Seismic Services (RSS...that's my dept) Business Meeting that he attended last week, he presented that one of the threats for next year is losing me to WesternGeco, the other subsidiary of Schlumberger.

Then the President of Data & Consulting Services (that arm of Schlumberger where I'm attached to now) said, "Wait hang on a second, what is Yang going to be doing there?" And my boss explained, and all the time the WesternGeco's President (a big fat and ugly guy...Kam can confirm that) was sitting with his arms folded in front of him and grinning from ear to ear.

Kembang semangkuk sekejap when I heard this...unless my boss was lying lah. Actually what this company doesn't realize yet is that jhoras are essential in any business.

Looking back at why I pilih Odegaard over Jason (I was keen on the Regional Manager position), I never imagined that one day I would be a Global Account Manager for a National Oil Company. Big shoes to wear, and all you jhoras are going to be there to support me and keep me sane....love y'all

Monday, October 29

Where do you see yourself in 10 years

I've just finished my interview with my Personnel Manager for Brunei, Malaysia and Philippines geomarket. What I expected to be an "Oh-gawd-what-else-do-you-need-to-do-to-tick-off-your-objectives" session turned out to be quite pleasant. It totally changed my perception of this guy. Initial perception sumer I got from my boss and the Egyptian mafia (Personnel Manager's nickname) surprised me. He wants to chart my career path and actually sounded like he cared. Also wanted to know if I'd appreciate having at least one day in a week to work from home....to which I'd actually said no. I mean my work space is my work space, to bring work home...just doesn't sound right.
He asked me the cliche question "Where do you see yourself in 10 years?"...and since I've been a Manager for quite a while, I'm getting good at eluding questions, I said, "Well, I can tell you where I don't want to be"
"I don't want to be an Ops Manager" and he said "Ooops!" BINGO, that's what they have planned for me obviously. I then told him, that I'm not ambitious, but if they provide me with the proper training, then I will consider, at the moment, I don't like managing things in my little segment, I certainly don't want to take on something that is 100 times greater..nope definitely not palatable to me.
We ended our discussion with an interesting question from him, "Would you have problems with relocating to South America, North America or Europe?" No one in this company asks a specific question like that. Definitely a loaded question...something is definitely brewing, and to top it all off, this guy didn't even know that he'd be losing me to another Schlumberger entity by end of the year.

Post with Pix - Raya

Unfortunately, we didn't take that many photos over Raya, but here are a few of our ride to the masjid for sembahyang Raya, of Kam and the kids mandi hujan, of the triple Birthday bash (Kam's grandfather, Kam's cousin and Kam's son celebrated their birthday on eve of the 16th of October) and of our visit to Taman Ular...last picture I've added for peace and serenity.





It poured...





Mandi hujan



Kam cutting kambing and daging bakar



Triple birthday



One of the many feisty ulars at the Taman Ular. The Taman Ular is actually a research facility for antivenom or something like that. Hence you see ponies there as well, ponies are probably used to test the antivenom. This particular ular reacted to the noise that we were making and instantly rose and ready to attack. Upon seeing this, I started to hum and sing to the tunes of "my-version-of-a-snake-charmer" song. This snake reacted as well, and Dina just started to shout in panic.



Kam's grandfather



Peace, serenity....

Sumer kena tipu, I only managed to upload what was intended to be the last photo...sorry Intan. Gambar XXX Kam mandi hujan later kay...

Updated 30th of October
Okay, I managed to upload a few more...wait ah Intan

Wednesday, October 24

100 Ways to Motivate Others

At the beginning of every Bullet Proof Manager course I attend (once a month, half a day for a year), they give away a book to one deserving person, all based on a Personal Action Plan that one has put together.

I won the book for last month's PAP, the book is entitled 100 Ways to Motivate Others...How Great Leaders Can Produce Insane Results Without Drivig People Crazy.

1st Chapter...Know where Motivation Comes From.
Tip...you can't manage people, neither can you motivate them, motivation has to come from within them. First step...you need to feel motivated.

Easier said than done yes? Now I need to go and find some source of motivation.

Update...8.19 am 25th October, 2007
Okay, I've slept on it, and realize one of the things that motivates me is providing the best service and products to my clients. From now on, I am going to focus on that, and that alone, everyone else can take a hike or take a number to be on my list of priorities....I mean everyone else in this company lah.
I want satisfaction. I want to be proud of putting my name to something. As in the words of George Michael..."If you want to do it, do it right"...

Post with Pix - Balik Kampung

Perjalanan jauh tak ku rasa
Look at how they slept through the journey...
Time nak bukak posa baru Danial bangun









Bukak posa

Tuesday, October 23

Post with Pix - Phuket Meeting

Di atas permintaan Intan, here is a post with pictures. Starting with my Phuket Business meeting.




My room..a bit scary at night, banyak bunyi burung dan serangga pelik-pelik.



View from my room...one of the angles



The thorns, the guy in the stripy red shirt is my boss, Mr. Richard Salter whom a friend, Aunty K (I have to blog about her at some point) refers to as Timmy Boy..because he looks like that boy who turns into a rat in one of the Harry Potter movies. He is also a nice boss, sometimes too nice I think, shelters most of us from all the crap that comes our way. A few of us agree that we need to confiscate his laptop at some point and force him to go on a vacation. We can do that in this company. He's only gone off for a one week vacation in the past 10 months.

The guy next to him is Richard as well, I used to report to him, until he couldn't take it anymore, but he is one of the greatest boss/friend/bouncer that one could ever wish for. Keeps other Mat Sallehs at bay when we attend conferences and parties..."Hoy, that's my Project Manager that you're talking to".

Next to him is Frazer Barclay (everyone thinks that he looks like Mr. Bean, but I think he is better looking), I reported to Frazer when I first joined Odegaard, then he left to expand the business in Perth and I took over his position. He can also pass off as a Bollywood actor, well at least that's what the Indians think. When we were wondering around the streets of Mumbai, a few people stopped him and asked him if he was a Bollywood actor.

Next is Phil Beale, I reported to him after Frazer left. He decided to go back to the UK after about 11 years of being in this region. Also one of the nicest boss one could ever wish for...whenever he wants to be that is. We argued a lot as well, come to think of it, I guess its just me, I am so degil and set on doing things my way.

Next is Ben Flack...the latest addition to our little family in the region. He's just started his job as our Segment's Business Development Manager for China, Korea and Japan. Very nice guy in a geeky way.



The rose amongst the thorns...as in the words of my great friend, Richard Bottomley..."That's a very good picture of you there, its a pity that you had to be surrounded by ugly blokes" to which I said, "Eh, why are you being so sarkas? Do you see the size of my arms?" Dahlah tu, bergambar dengan diorang ni nampak sangat lah betapa cerahnya kulit ku.

Building A Personal Success Foundation

One of the modules covered in my Bullet Proof Manager course for this month is Building A Personal Success Foundation. Zig Ziglar in his video highlighted a few key points, and this man has quite a nice way of putting things into perspective (you have to ignore his very southern drawl).

He listed about 6 foundation stones for success in a very apt way, if I may say so, but what I'd like to share with all of you is the fourth foundation (the first three most of you have already), that is to have faith and trust in yourself, in your country, in your company, and in what you're doing...I'd like to add one more to that, first and foremost you must have faith in Allah.

Then I realized that actually all these and more are already covered in our Rukun Iman, actually what's covered in Rukun Iman is more...

Beriman kepada Allah
Beriman kepada Malaikat
Beriman kepada Kitab
Beriman kepada Rasul
Beriman kepada Hari Kiamat
Beriman kepada Qada' dan Qadar

I am no ustazah, don't get me wrong, the only reason why I can still remember them is because I had to tutor Dania for her PKSR on Sunday. Anyways, if we stick to our Rukun Iman, everything else will naturally fall into place wouldn't it?

Anyways, the fifth foundation stone is love. That may mean that you do what is best for the person, not necessarily what that person wants you to do.

But the loveliest thing that I heard today is "Say no to the tears of the moment but yes to the laughter of a lifetime".

At the end of the session, I was asked to list down 2 people that I deem to be successful. I chose my father Abdul Aziz Mohd. Sultan as No. 1, because he possessed all 6 of the foundation stones, and no I am not jaded or biased, he truly does have all 6 of it. I have not met anyone like him at all, don't think that I can ever reach his level, but I can try. Zig Ziglar said that "Success is not measured by what you do compared to somebody else. Success is measured by comparing what you do to what you are capable of doing with your ability"...and that is how Papa has nurtured me, I realize that now when I think of how I used to drive myself insane in school cause I constantly pressured myself to be at par with my sisters, Kakak had already set such high standards you see. Jahat dia!! To be honest, Mama played a role at driving me insane as well, but Papa straighten me out when I failed Physics in Form 4. Kita mesti ukur baju padan dengan badan or something like that...

Tapi sejahat-jahat Kakak, I put her as my No. 2 choice.

Thursday, October 11

You've been tagged

I'm gonna start a tag.

I'm gonna put the first few lines of an ABBA song that should be known to all, and the person I tag next would have to write the next line...in the comments, and that person can tag someone else. Please text the person you tag and ask them to log on to yuih.

You have 48 hours to put in the next line, kalau tak orang tu kena host an open house BBQ sempena Raya and give us all duit Raya.

Here goes....

(Got Aaaa at the beginning),
Hoooo,
You can dance, you can jive,
Having the time of your life,
Oooo, se that girl, watch that scene,
Digging the dancing queen,

Over to you Kak Adek

Blast Off

Okay now, confession time...how many of you felt emotional watching the live telecast of the launch last night?

Kakak?

Wednesday, October 10

Announcement

Yesterday Mak Azi came over with Harry to give gulai masam tempoyak daging...mmmm best sangat!! Jangan jeles.

But I found out that Mak Ni got a stroke about two weeks ago, so sesiapa yang tak tahu tu (like me) can give her a call at 013-9174738. I spoke to her last night, and she can speak properly now, mulut dah tak herot, but she is still weak, no blood clots in the brain, and the doctor told her not to worry too much because she is young. He says it'll take a month until she recovers fully.

Call her if you want to find out more, I'm sure that she will appreciate it...yang tak kenal dia tu tak payah call lah.

Just wanted to explain why we didn't know, its because Mak Ni called home about a week after she got it, she spoke to Papa, but Papa didn't tell anyone...he must have forgotten, which is very unlike Papa.

Tuesday, October 9

Minutes to bukak posa

Okay quick one. Petang tadi Papa had difficulties driving/parking his car at the porch sebab there was a van partially blocking. Van belonging to the Indian contractors renovating the house next door. He finally managed to drive in, although his car slightly scratched by a pasu bunga. Luckily Harry was around and he helped to move the pot elsewhere. Papa then got out of the car, and in true don't-mess-with-me attitude marched over and told them to not block our house ever again...I thinklah. By that time, Harry and I had already walked in.

Tahu-tahu aje ada dengar orang mencarut...Papa of course, and more swearing were excanged between that guy and him. Mak Azi asked Harry to go out and protect Papa should anything happen. I too went outside, but one of them was being very courteous...and apologized. Then I saw the culprit, when he stepped forward and started to say something to me as well...to be honest I didn't hear him, I just saw through him, apa lagi, makcik naik angin lah!! I just looked him in the eye and said "Excuse me, I don't want to talk to you, I was talking to him" He then went on and on about not wanting to respect Papa and I said, "Hello, respect from people like you is not what my father needs, thank you very much" Mother also joined in the drama, she very gila already by then. I calmed her down by saying, "Don't bother with them Mama, if they were smart and sensible, they wouldn't be doing this job". Papa asked the civilised guy to move the van so that he can then park properly. Then I saw something on the floor, a Carslberg bottle cap..BINGO.

I picked it up, turned to the guy yang baik and said, "Is this why your friend is crazy?" And he just nodded. That guy yang tadi bising bukan main terus kecut when I turned to him and said, "Hey...this is evidence okay, you have been drinking on the job, I don't care even if its not you, someone is going to take this fall".

After the nice guy moved the van, he came back and apologized again. I told him..my dad is old, you all want to drink all, go ahead, not my problem, but if anyone of you become aggressive like that ever again, I will make a police report.

Sekian sahaja episode "Drama Minggu Ini". Minggu depan kami akan kembali lagi dengan kisah yang lagi menarik....dari Bicara Lelaki..that is if I update it.

My version

As promised, before I write about our bukak posa session, I'd like to tell you my version of the kuih making session at Yana's place on Saturday....up close and personal.

My objectives for the day were:-

Ensure that Dina makes it to her early morning training at CBN.
Ensure that Dania goes for her afternoon training at Bukit Jalil after her mengaji.
Send the car to the workshop in Puchong.
Send Dina's competition leotard to the tailor for altering.
Make sure Dina attends her training in the afternoon at Bukit Jalil.
Make sure Dina brings lunch from home.
Bake cookies with Yana and Kak Ana.
Check angin and air kereta.
Bukak posa at Yana's place

And I managed to do all of it, but had to ask for help from Kakak (who sent Dina to CBN in the morning), Jessie (who took Dania with her to Bukit Jalil, but I had to send Dania to CBN after mengaji), Kak Ana and Ebi (who went with me to the workshop and took me with them to Yana's place) and Yani (who looked after Danial in the car while I brought Dania to CBN, and went up to the tailor's)

When we got to Yana's kitchen, Yana started to delegate the work..I have to say that she is really a pro when it comes to baking and we chose the right place to do it (except for the fact that she didn't have a rolling pin, or she does, but doesn't know where it is). First kuih...jam tart.

Pineapple jam made by Yani. We started to measure the ingredients, hand written in a fragile and old buku resipi, Mama has had it since the 60's. Unfortunately not many instructions, which was why Yana's intuition was great.

First badge...adunan a bit lembik. Yana gave us a tip, we must put the dough in a plastic bag (we used the tepung punya plastic) and give it a good ramas or two. So I did it...and didn't realize that I got some ink (from the label of the flour) on my hands and when I started to play around with the dough, it got dirty, like berdaki like that...very menggelikan. Anyways, we managed, although the cookies came out sebesar muka kitorang (as in the words of Kak Ana) but we will perfect it in time, before we start our business. Jokes aside, they were delicious.

Kak Ana and Yana, just thought that you should know that Mama has never used that acuan that we used. That was a gift from S'pore from her favourite female biras. So, lessons learnt...need a new acuan and a rolling pin.

While the tarts were baking, we lepak-lepak on Yana's newly reupholstered sofa (white colour, make sure kaki bersih kalau nak duduk bersila tau). It was then that Ebi arrived from Kak Idah's and Alwi's place. He was so excited, like can die kalau tak tengok Heroes dan-dan tu jugak. But before that he kept pestering Yana for the wi-fi key. He kept on saying that hexadecimal code, and Yana kept on saying tak tahu. Ebi was so tak puas hati and said "Yana, what if Rahimi goes off somewhere and something happens and you need to know this pin in order to connect?" Kak Ana jawab, "Ebi kalau Rahimi has to go somewhere, of course lah Yana tanya". Then I said, "Alah Ebi, kalau Rahimi tak ada and Yana needs to reestablish connection she can ask Efi to help" which is true, Efi's helped me before.

Ebi tak puas hati, after a few minutes decided to watch his Heroes new season, macam can die if don't watch you know. He took out the headphones and said, "I love these headphones, they're noise cancelling headphones you know, which means that I can't hear any noise" Both Yana and I looked at him with envy and mouth wide open, "Ye ke Ebi?" Really we were turning green. Immediately after he put it on, all three of us (macam tau-tau) started to talk to each other (very animated) tapi no sound, mulut aje bergerak. Ebi said "Yeah, very funny".

Then I put in a comment on Ebi's blog using Yana's laptop...after which I turned to him and said, "Ebi, I dah letak comment". He buat tak tahu (noise cancelling mah). I actually had to put this noise cancelling hphones through the ultimate test. I gave the most beautiful rendition of Sudriman's "Balik Kampung" right beside Ebi's ear. Memang sedap sangat suara I...Norman would agree. And I guess it was quite noise cancelling after all....

Penat lah nak cerita lagi, sambung besoklah.

Monday, October 8

SELAMAT HARI RAYA




Firstly....Applause! Applause!

What a good way to start a blog, by wishing all you jhoras Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Mohon maaf, yang driving to kampung, please drive safely, don't forget to wear seat belts, di mana sahaja anda berada (as in front or back).

I will be back tomorrow or the day after with my version of the cookies baking session, Ebi's version a bit dry :-)

This blog was created in 5 minutes. A more pleasing look will be coming your way after I consult experts (eintanz the freelance Consultant)

By the way, picture courtesy of Ewnict!!