First salary

"There is no way I can justify my salary level, but I am learning to live with it "

- Drew Carey

I came across this one article about how people spend their first salary? Banyak gila rupenye cara orang abeskan gaji first. Some people buy the most expensive thing they have been wishing for, some people spend most of it on food, pegi kedai mewah2 makan semua jenis makanan yang teringin, some people book flight ticket for a vacation, as a reward for themselves for getting the job, and not to be missed, some people just do not know where their money goes, but it was just GONE!

As for me, my rule of thumb is simple, Do not save any of it! kahkahkah or in other words, just spend all of your first salary and at the end of the month, the money you have should be the same amount with what you had before started working. Why? Because, in a few years from now, saving your first salary wouldnt make you any richer  though :P Yang penting ialah the consistency afterwards, itu yang counted hehe. But my rule of thumb might not applicable to some people yang first salary diorg byk sgt and is like my saving for the whole year kekekekee, so macam struggle jugak la nak spend all kan :P

When I got my first pay, Firstly, I would keep aside some amount for commitment (food, transport etc) + very little amount for emergency. And the balance is forrrrr happinessss! hehehe. yup,in this context money can really buy happiness ;)

My happiness is of course people I love! Family and favorite people, who were there for me through thick and thin. And one way to celebrate is makann! Treat people I love with foods! Well, food always bring us together kan. Then, I give some amount to my parents and siblings. Another rule I made is, biar sikit takpe asalkan semua dapat merasa. hehehe. Pastu spend some for the kiddos and adiks! Buy something and plan an entertainment day for them, bawak tengok movie, main bowling, spend time at arcade games etc. Joy of my salary!

I just dont feel good spending my first pay on me alone, i don't know why. Maybe for me, I still have countless paycheck to reward myself with whatever I want. InsyaAllah. So what's more important is to make people around me happy! and that way, I would be happy too! hehehe. And bulan bulan seterusnya baru la I allocate some for saving, donation, vacation, and blablabla. But that doesnt mean we only treat people on our first salary, kalau bile2 ade rezeki lebih, lagi often lagi bagus ;)

I believe there is no specific way on how you should spend your first salary. It totally depends on you. There is no right or wrong way, just spend wisely and be happy! After all, only you know what you want the most ;)

Not a Monday Blues

I have this never ending love-hate relationship with my job. As much as I hate it, I still decided to stay. Anyway, something had happened last week that led me to do something bad. Rebel la kononnnn :P and I decided to take one day MC padahal tak sakit. It wasn't that bad but still...*sigh* (don't try this at home). Duduk rumah on weekdays, dengan sehat nya, bangun lambat, tak payah pikir kerja yang serabut, it was such a great escape. Tanpe rase bersalah.

And the next day was a normal working day, woke up early, waited for the train, grab roti for breakfast, until.... I sat on my chair, did the everyday routine, nak bukak online news but then.. something was missing, I just realized that the laptop was not there! macam I felt so satisfied dapat tunjuk rebel tak datang kerja semalam konon2. skalii hahhhh nak rebel sangat, balasan cash dapatttt. You know what's worse than Monday blues? I left my laptop at home! pfffttttt.

For those who still remember, I did this once while still working with my previous company. So it was like..a year ago? And I did it again last week. Rushed home to take my laptop, otw back sent sms to Along, Mama and roomate just to laugh at myself and to tell them how stupid I was. Rase nak ketuk kepala banyak2 kali. Pergi kerja tak bawak laptop, abes tu baik tak payah pergi kerjaaa. eeeeeeee. Thank you thank you, memang dah lama tak buat morning exercise pon kan.

On a side note, one-year-ago-me is not much different with the-current-me, despite the additional 1 to the age, and maybe a bit more mature, I still did the silly but not so funny thing like that. A year from now, if it happens again, memang sah laaa i am forever younggg (sedapkan hati). Oh work is great!

p/s: Second round BBW?-completed!

December

And I finally took the one less traveled by

Alhamdulillah for the opportunity. 

One month before new year. 

And two months beforee my Krabi trip! Yehoooooo!

Feel good to end the year. hehehehehehe

p/s: "The only way out" is just an option. I always forget that I also have the option to stay, and close all way out. 

Road not taken.

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

This might be the toughest one. 

May Allah shows me the right path. Aminn. 

Engineer vs Teacher?

"No matter how high a bird can fly, it still has to look for food on the ground"

My cousin is a teacher, in fact I have a few aunties who are also teachers, primary school secondary school, semua ade. One day, all of a sudden  my cousin asked me this cepumas question when I was eating,

"Angah susah ke kerja jadi engineer?" 

To be honest, I don't know how to answer this, unless if she asked about my work specifically, then it should be easier to answer, but to generalize the engineer's job? I don't know. I was about to answer "STRESS", yes loud and bold, but then I realized semua kerja pon stress kan? So I quickly change my mind,

"Uhmm, depends la kot. ade yg senang ade yg sush, depends on field and company. Nape akak tanya tibe2?"

Then she told me about this one young engineer, who posts about Engineer vs Teachers in her blog, successfully increased her blog traffic, got a lot of comments and got so many hits in one day. tibe2 terus jadi famous blog die. Why? Sebab die telah mengkritik cikgu sewenang-wenangnya.I'm not gonna put her link here but if you search Cikgu Vs Engineer InsyaAllah akan jumpe even she already deleted all her entries. Because Google did a good job by caching her old entries, so a few bloggers managed to post her hot entry on their blog. 

Freedom of speech. So she has the right to write anything.. blog dia suka hati die la kan? But as an engineer, I feel so embarrassing reading her entry. I don't know what is the right term to use, mungkin 'lupa daratan' atau 'kacang lupakan kulit' atau 'si tanggang'? you told me. 

But one thing we need to remember... Tiap kali berdoa..

" Ya Allah, ampunkan dosa2ku, dosa kedua ibu bapaku, dosa GURU-GURUku, ahli keluargaku.............." 

Tak penah dengar lagi orang berdoa

"Ya Allah, ampunkan dosaku, dosa kedua ibu bapaku, dosa ENGINEER-ENGINEER......".. or maybe not yet. 

That shows how much our teachers mean to us...Mulianya kerja seorang guru, to be honest, I feel jealous, because I didn't get as much prayers as Teachers do. maybe we should include engineer in our doa then? T_T

Balikpapan 2

"Life is like a roller coaster. Its has its ups and downs, but it's your choice to scream or enjoy the ride"

More about Balikpapan....

For those who don't know Balikpapan is at Kalimantan, Borneo Island. yes sebelah2 je dengan Sarawak. Maybe that's why the city is more-Malaysia-look than Bandung and Jakarta. So Balikpapan doesn't get affected by the earthquake eventho it's in Indonesia (but my boss claimed that he can feel it during offshore. like durhh). Geographically, Penang is closer to Acheh than Balikpapan. 

I went there with my boss.I know I have to get used to this, but maybe for the first time, I really don't. I'm fine with the fact that it's only 2 of us. Well, pegi kerja takkan nak anta satu company kan. But........ OK.

He's a married man, OK. i guess he's 40+, OK. and he's pure Indian from India, not Malaysian-Indian, OK. See the 3 OK combo? That's what makes me feel awkward all the way. HAHAHA. don't get me wrong die bukan jahat ke ape, die baik je, but it's just me yang ntah ape2 kekekeke. 

The first day, I went out for dinner with him and I was sooo homesick I don't know why. kahkahkah. I kept thinking about this on my mind "awkwardnya", "oh now i know how boring my life could be", "having dinner alone is much better" and so on...So the second day, saya pon berfikir, if all I can think is just all the awkward, awkward and awkward moments, I would have wasted this trip just like that. I only have a week, not that I'll stay there for a month! So, the next day, after work, we went back to the Hotel, I prayed, changed coverall and went out alone. HAHA. and I was enjoying it. No more awkward feeling! hehe.

My hotel is just opposite to the waterfront. Pegi tepi laut jalan2.  Took a few pictures, tapi malas upload because everyone knows how old-school my phone is, 3gs has a very bad quality camera. Pastu pegi mall, window shopping and having early dinner alone. kekeke. 

A day before we checked out, I went to Kebun Sayur. Kebun Sayur ialah tempat carik souvenir yeyy! After work on Thursday, I called the receptionist asked how to get to Kebun Sayur and siap2 terus amek cab to Kebun sayur. And it took about 30mins driving. Yes, I went there alone. Of course, the aftermath is I got scolded tapi biase2 la tu kan. But, i have no option. To enjoy it or miss it. hehehe. And that's how we grow up kan, make mistake and learn :P :P So sama je mcm Sabah Sarwak, Balikpapan famous dengan gelang2, rantai2 yg batu2, craft2, pastu kain2 Batik and ikan masin. Dalam cab,  borak2 dengan pakcik teksi, biase la kan kalau cakap ala2 Indon mesti diorg pon baik je layan and I am so luckkyyy pakcik cab tu baik gila and siap offer temankan shopping. dia kta kalau die tolong cakap2kan dapat murah , which is really true! i experienced this before in Bandung, kalau org Malaysia yang beli, semurah2 nya pon takkan sama dengan local. And another thing, I dont have to worry about transportation to go back to the Hotel anymore. Alhamdulillah, sampai ke hotel dengan selamatnya and work hard to finish the report by 12.00am kahkahkah. Nasib baik sempat siap report :P

Oh and another thing I learnt is Malaysian memang suka makan kahkahkah. Ok I've been to a few client companies in Malaysia, technip, MMC, RNZ and blabla, everytime ade meeting even a short one, sure ade food! kuih2, air mineral,coffee and tea mmg provided all the times, and kalau lucky siap provide lunchhh as good as Kenny Rogers and O'Brien kekeke. Tapi time kick-off meeting dekat TOTAL E&P Indonesie, Kick-off meeting kott kire important la, takde provide food ape2 pon. HAHAHA. ok me always looking for food. yes free food :P 

2 years ago. Internship at Petronas Methanol Labuan

2 weeks ago. Bekapai platform, Balikpapan.

Alhamdulillah.

Balikpapan

"Balikpapan Kota Beriman"

One week trip has finally ended. Apart from work and boss, I enjoy Balikpapan very much. Get to know new people, get new experience and improve my Indon's accent kah3. This time, so many thing is considered as my first time.

First time at Balikpapan
First trip with boss *insert annoying face*
First offshore at rig and platform
First chopper/transfer boat experience
First time travel almost alone (considering after work, boss is not exist :P )
enough of my first times.

The most excited and valuable experience is ofcourse work-related. well, inikan business-trip bukan trip suka hati. haha but I don't think I will share my first offshore experience sebab ramaiii lgi kwn2 slalu pegi offshore,chopper tu mungkin mcm public transport je. dan ramai jugak stay offshore berbulan2 tak kecoh pon kan. makanya nnti ibuk2 bapak2 nya anggapnya saya sebagai poyo pula. hahahaa. let just keep it by myself. but I really enjoyed my 1st 3days offshore experience.

First impression of Balikpapan. Wahh kaya2 nyaa orang dekat sini. Well, looking at their cars. Semua Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Suzuki. kereta impian pon bersepah2 ok. Kira kalau Myvi dekat Malaysia tu, kat sana standardnya Honda Jazz. seriousss byk. and Mazda 2 jugak. but mostly is Sedan, not full size. Tapi kereta besar diorg maybe utk yg anak ramai ke, Innova and Avanza. takde van2 cabukk ok :P Very Impressive.

Most people are not initially from Balikpapan, but stay at Balikpapan for work. Balikpapan is really a hub to the Oil&Gas. Most oil platforms own by TOTAL and Chevron. Jadi, ramai foreigner jugak. Banyak kedai karaoke, I don't know if they like singing that much tpi on one street sometimes ade more than 3 tmpt karaoke.

More about Balikpapan when I got the feeling to write...ngeh3

Miri

Rase makin lama makin malas nak menulis. Bukan sebab takde benda nak cerita, tapi tak berperasaan nak menghabiskan mase depan blog. haha. banyak lagi bnda berfaedah seperti menjerit jerit on the phone dengan roomate sampai abes battery, melayan running man sampai mata berair2, mahupun mentidokan diri sampai tak mampu bukak mata :P

So last week I was sent to Miri for a day. Yes, only for one day. Just to get something done which only takes 5 fricking mins. Macam pergi office tapi naik flight, because by 6pm I already touch down at LCCT. But looking from the bright side, I finally get a chance to meet another super-senior, which I haven't meet for 3 years. Thanks boss for letting me meet her for free! :D It was fast, jumpe time lunch hour je but just enough for us to share life stories, update each other and lepaskan rindu keke. oh sempat jugak reminisce Vandy moments, yang paling xleh lupa time freshman, first day snow, naik kereta 7 orang to Marshall, and kene tahan polis. hahaha. that was soo long time ago, but everytime teringat sure tergelak2 even at that time, muka punya cuak pucat2, sampai terus tak boleh ckp english. kahkahkah

next week is gonna be tough. and next 2 weeks, gonna be tougher without teammates at the office! how to survive?

tbe2 sempat blogwalking and terlupa post yang terbengkalai. and i dont have any energy left to keep typing *making excuse*

work.

"If you catch yourself working hard and loving every minute of if, don't stop, You're on to something big. Because hard work isn't hard when you concentrate on your passions"

-Marc, 12 stressful things to stop tolerating.

I'm quite busy these past few weeks. Yelah dah 2 bulan bersenang lenang kan. It's time to get busy and be more productive. except for weekend. ngeh3. The not-so-new-job is good. Alhamdulillah. The company treats me well. The colleagues are friendly and so far we get along very well. Time lunch kami gelak macam gila. Time kerja, muka sorang2 macam tampal "please do not disturb" punye sticky notes dekat dahi. hehehe.

Big boss saya Malay, boss kecik pulak Chinese and Indian. Sooo 1 Malaysiaa ok :P I currently working on a few projects under the Chinese boss. At his age, I think he's overachiever sebab dia hebat sgttt. He rarely come to the office, only a few days every month tu pon slalunya nak anta claim yang berlambak2. And even if he does, he will come as early as 6 am and go back by 3.30pm. Very good time management kan so he never get stuck in the heavy traffic. saya tau die banyak buat duit utk company.sbb saya slalu jumpe die dekat office client je.kekeke

And yesterday we had workshop at one of the client's office. I wrote down a few information from client that we required to prepare the report. So, pagi tadi boss pon datang at my place nak tgk semua data2 tu. And I was likeee. errr wait, i need to tidy up a bit. kahkah padahal mmg scribble gilaaa kot buku tu. Then, when I was trying to write it back nicely, I got confused with my own hand-writing. serious tak xtau mana datang no2 pelik. pikir2 siap tnye kwn2. Yes, saya tanya kawan2 ape yang saya tulis. of course la diorg lgi xpaham because they're not even there pon yesterday.kahkah memang sakai. Nak taknak memang kne tnye boss la because he is the only one who was there yesterday.

"Doc, I wrote down these few numbers yesterday, tapi I tak tau itu number ape. I try to recall, still not helping. But I know it's important. "

Maka boss pon amek buku saya, die tengok a few seconds, pastu die gelak. "You tulis itu speed la. 25, 15 and 11 knot. hahaha"

I was amazeddd sambil segan2. he understands my notes more than I do. kahkah.

p/s: HI roomate. GL roomate :P