Sharing Sw33t moments @ Indonesia

Sukarno Hatta airport is about 1-hour drive from Central Jakarta. KLIA is of course much better in term of facilities and infrastructure. Quite surprise with the Gents. Look like a public toilet at bus station in Malaysia but, it smells better. Due to bad traffic condition, we lepak at Airport's McD. The Chicken foldover, they call it here as Gourmet Wrap. Found difficulty to make the order since I couldn't catch what the guy was saying.

We stayed at Ascott Residence, Central Jakarta. Very nice serviced apartment with 2 big bedrooms, 4 toilets, kitchen and living hall. But the bad thing, I snored for the first two nite. The other guy did to. So embarrasing but what can I do..am so tired.

Central Jakarta - the skycrappers are not as packed as Kuala Lumpur but, the shopping malls are nice. The 8-floor Grand Indonesia, opposite to Ascott is really big. You should go there at nite so that you can enjoy the fabulous decoration inside. They decorate each floor differently and you can feel like you are walking in a 5-star hotel. Other than Grand Indonesia, the close by malls are Plaza Indonesia, Plaza Senayan, Senayan City, Jakarta City Center and Embassador Mall (RM2 DVD movies are here). Other than Jakarta Schlumberger office at Central Mulia, I visited the National Monument called MONAS and National Museum. People here love to combine two words into one. Warung Telefon (Wartel), Warung Makan (Warkan), Monumen Nasional (Monas) and Warjok (Warong Pojok/Food Center).

There are five regions in Jakarta. Central, North, South, East and West which one of them has 1 big attraction. Due to time and budget constraints, I only managed to go to North and East Jakarta. Ancol at North jakarta is a center of many kind of entertainment...They have Seaworld, Gelanggang Samudera (lion sea show etc), Atlantic (water games), theme park etc. While in Bogor, East Jakarta, they have Taman Mini (like the Miniature Park in Malacca) and it is a center for handicraft and muesums (Petroleum, Electric, Ship etc).

Bandung If you like volcanoes and shopping, Bandung is the right place. Tangkuban Perahu and Kawah Putih are very nice places to visit. However, Kawah Putih (I think in Lembang) is quite far from the Bandung shopping district as compared to Tangkuban Perahu. But, both give you very distinct sceneries. You should go there! Just have to get ready with the strong smell of sulfur. The shopping? Ermm... I think girls will love it. As for me, not may that I can buy there. I just enjoyed myself watching how crazy my friends and other people do shopping.

I got a car!

I got a new baby girl in early October. No name for her but, it's Vios S. I feel great driving a new car (I never owned a car before).

Bad Story :( I already scratched my car! Reverse parking problem!

Embarrasing but quite a funny moment :) I did my 1st service at Puchong UniHub. After 800km of driving, from Puchong-Salak Tinggi-Kajang-KLumpur-Hometown-Sabak Bernam-KLumpur-Hometown-TgMalim (2 days), my sis-in-law found a leakage of my engine oil. Quite a lot! Just imagine how much wasted along 800km distance! She asked me to open the front cover and I replied, "How to open it, using key or just open from in front?" <-- stupid Q!

Once opened, she asked me to check the engine oil level and I replied, "Which one is the engine oil? How to check it?" <-- another stupid Q!

"You only know to drive the car...haihhh", she responded.

"Huh, the oil level is below minimum level. You should fill it." So, I put the balance of engine oil and then went ahead to Behrang 2020's Petronas station to buy an engine oil.

I could not make sure the right engine oil. I left my manual book in KL. So, I called En Elias, the sales guy. "No, you should call the hub line. Get their advices. If anything happen to the engine, the warranty is void." So, I called the hub line. I was worry yet angry with the situation. How Toyoto service center did the work? I told my self, I will be angry if the person reply "You should send your car to Puchong Service Center".

As expected, the guy responded with that statement and straightly I replied "Helloooo...I already told you that I'm at Tg. Malim Perak, my engine oil level is below minimum...I asked you, could I refill with Petronas engine oil and you said..."cannot". Then, don't you have a more relevant solution than that. How could you ask me to send my car to hundred-km-away's service center under this condition?????"

After a long conversation, he suggested to provide service to send my car to Puchong and my family home. The cost is about RM430 and Toyota will cover the RM400. Sounds good but, I said, hold on. My sis-in-law called me and said, "eh, Hafiz, the oil level is still between min and max levels. "ARE YOU SUREEEEEE??????!!!!"

She tried again and again. To get more confident, she asked a Vios' driver who just parked her car at the station, to check the oil level. "It's still above min level. If below, you will get a warning lamp at you meter panel. I have been driving Vios for 2 years and the engine is very good. You don't have to worry, you can still safely drive it to KL and send it for service."

Abu Dhabi - My first time went abroad

It was my first time going oversea. I wasn't really excited because it is a summer (45 degrees) in Abu Dhabi. On Friday July 4, I went out from office at 5.15 pm and heading to KLIA by KLIA Express. Little bit excited when the other 3 mates were there with their big luggages. Anniza will go to Doha and Prabu to Syria.

Only Etihad Airways (UAE National Airlines) has direct flight from KL to Abu Dhabi. I could see the plane took off from the screen. I was nervous moreover, when I saw the lane number is 4. It's not a good number! My series number for the course is also 4 - 44. adesss. While having my dinner, I watched new release movie but the entertainment system kept up and down. For 6 hours 30 mins..I could not finish watching 1 movie (should deduct 3 hours of sleep..hehe)...

The 1st time I stepped on the UAE land, I said oh, my good! It's hot! At the airport parking lot before boarding MLC bus, I could see rowSSS of luxury cars but dusty. Gurun la katakan. After checked in at the Blue Tower Service Apartment, I continued sleeping till 9 am in the morning. I missed the Subuh prayer!. haih...At 12 noon, I went to Al-Falah Plaza (in front the apartment) and bought L'oreal For Men mosturizing gel and Nivea For Men body lotion. You need that if you are here. Then, to Pharmacy because someone ordered ubat perancang. The price much cheaper here. I bought 6 boxes for AED148.

FOOD It's expensive! One set of meal without drink is at least 25 dirhams...around RM24. Thai fried rice is AED28 and fruit juice is AED10. So, you need at least AED30 for complete set of regular meal. I tried shis tawook, chicken kofta, zareshk rice and other local foods. Since I had long schedule during day time, I frequently bought subway sandwich downstair for my dinner - Tuna, Spicy Italian and Chicken Teriyaki are my favorites, not Subway Club/Melt.

PEOPLE They are rich. Own big bungalows and nice cars. Lexus, Bentley, Merc, BMW, Crysler, Hummer are everywhere. The speed limit is 120 km/h but the radar will only catch you if more than 160. So, take care when crossing the road! The customer service in Abu Dhabi is not good. They dont know to say thank you, please come again and even smile. Even when we were having class dinner at Abu Dhabi Shang-Ri La..we do not feel invited. Other bad thing about customer service here is if the balance is AED5.25, they will not return you the AED0.25. They did that more than 3 times to me.

FREE-TIME Since there are nothing here but malls, so I spent my free time to Marina Mall, Al-Falah Plaza and Al-Wahda Mall. I bought a Columbia Sportwear cap, a GAP short and local yet famous chocs for my friends and family. I didn't manage to go to another famous mall - Abu Dhabi Mall. Tired! What else to do here???? Well, you can sleep ... sleep and sleep. I don't think Abu Dhabi is for vacation. It's only for business - oil!

WEIRD Abu Dhabi is a planned, modern city...Talls building and tower everywhere along the road. But, I don't undertstand there is no parking in the building itself. It's hard to find a parking space. And I believe this will be the major problem once the density becomes higher.

Other thing is people here are not good in making pastries and cakes. The muffin is hard, the cheese cake is just like a butter cake and so forth. Even the muffin at the Starbucks!

The Subuh, Zohor and Asar prayers are 1 hour earlier but, the Maghrib and Isya' time are just the same as in Malaysia.

No sky bridge here! The road is 8-lane and the cars are driven like in circuit. So, depends on your luck!

Fruit juices are too thick ..betul ke? I mean pekat. As an example, the guava juice. It's like they blend the guava without adding water and put it in the bottle. Same goes to strawberry, orange and others.

Canned drinks here are cheaper. Only 90 cents. Actually 1 dirham because they don't have 10 cents to return.

MY COURSE AT MIDDLE EAST & ASIA LEARNING CENTER Interesting! Lots to share other than getting a new laptop but, I just want to write on our driving test. Schlumberger really emphasizes on driving safely. Out of 45, only 5 passed the test - 2 Americans, 1 Iranian, 1 Lebanese and 1 Australian. I got NYC status in my QHSE passport means I can drive in New York City...Just kidding. NYC means Not Yet Competent. Hehe... My last time drove a car was in 2006 - Kancil. But this time, the driver seat is on the left and it is a big car - Honda Accord. I got 17 out of 27 for training at the parking lot of Marina Mall. I entered into the wrong side of the road but Peter Wilkie said "yeah, not easy because you are driving left-sided in Malaysia" (means the driver seat is on the right side). He advised me to have 6 months practice before taking new test in Kuala Lumpur. My mate from China...hahhaha...he was quite confident since he is a frequent driver and he drives big car in China. Surprisingly, his performance was not better than me. Peter said you are a novice driver and you must have 2 years practice before taking a test. Do you drive in China? Eric said yes! So, you are a lucky man as Peter replied. If I were your driving instructor, no way you will get the license.

My First Week in Schlumberger

My 1st week in Schlumberger as an Information Management Engineer is quite free. My manager is away for business trip. Furthermore, our new team project will start on 3rd week of July.

I received a very warm welcome from managers and other engineers. They said “I’m very happy to have you here!” and this makes my heart beating very fast. I don’t want them to have very high expectation on me at first place. I’m afraid I can’t make it but I’ll always work for it. As for me, working is a life and I love being surrounded by tasks and challenges!

This Friday night (4 July) I’ll be leaving for Abu Dhabi until 12 July for introductory week. After come back from my OFS-1, my first assignment will be a development project. It’s a very huge project and I’ll be one of the programmers. I’m nervous actually! In university, when doing a project, if we can’t do it as of A standard, we could expect for B or C. But, in business environment, no matter what happen, it should be an A and better if it is an A+ standard.

I really hope everything will be okay. Although I have 7-months working experience as an intern here, this time is totally different.

Offer letter dh lama tp, placement x da lg...Mcm mana nie

Drpd 8 aku sorang je x dpt ape2 placement dr schlumberger. time exam, mmg la hati x tenang lebey2 lagi kwn2 lain tu sibuk g wat passport, g sana sini. aku plak, org asyik tanye dpt mana. sedey nk jawab. sampai la awal jun. tiada berita. bila di tanya, dont worry, confirm there's a position for u. mmg down. duk rmh tak wat ape2. nk cr kije part time..agak susah sbb jauh dr pekan. kije smpi mlm nk balik takut sbb kenee lalu hutan simpan yan byk cerite2 x best.

tibe-tibe, SIS (schlumberger information solutions) tmpt intern aku dulu call aku. Hafiz, r u available tomorrow or the next day for an interview??? terkejut n bertambah down la.. memandangkan aku dh ada offer letter like my friends...spttnye terus dpt placement...tp, ku kene dtg interview. maksudnya macam antara hidup dan mati...samada dapat atau x dpt...x ke risiko yg tinggi.

Alhamdulillah, aku dpt position tu...wpun x dpt keje kt luar negara..aku sbnrny rs amat gembira kije kt KL...dan 6 july ni aku akan ke Abu Dhabi ntk OFS-1...

lepas nie aku kene gi kl wat passport..international drivin license...n physical exam yg kene bogel tu..ahhh malunyer....hehehehe.... semoga Allah permudahan perjalanan hidupku, keluargaku dan teman-temanku....aminnn....

Will we have this moment again?

"Keep the memories in a bottle so that you can open it every time you miss any of 'em"

I've no plan to further study ~ not in my mind to own a master or doctorate title.
But, if it is required in order to get better position and much2 higher salary then, I'll do it... isk3
That's the reason I try the best for my degree :-)

I'm sure I'll miss the study time - study alone as well as in group. I don't think I'll have this sweet moment again:


>> We all study except the last one ~


>> And that "last one" buddy bribed our study time with cards - We took the bribe :-)

Guys, although you are not in a formal edu inst, keep digging for knowledge...

~Success without Boundaries~

Still a LONG Journey

Perjalanan aku masih jauh. Wpun sudah mencecah 22 tahun (B'day aku 23 May nie ^_^), baru 33.33% hidupku yang baru aku tempuhi (assumption: 'pergi' umur 66 thn).

Now, aku di penghujung alam seorang pelajar & x lama lagi aku akan menjejakkan kaki ke alam pekerjaan yang pastinya lebih besar tangungjawab dan dugaan.

Kemudian, dari alam single ke alam berdua...Wahhh, indahnya! Tapi, mesti banyak cabaran juge. Kan?

Sepanjang mana pun lagi perjalanan kite, kite x pasti akan sampai di penghujungnya. Jadi, sentiasalah bersedia ntk pergi ke alam yg kekal selamanya pada bila-bila masa. Walau di titik mana pun kite (plot la your journey kt great wall of china), kite kene wat yang terbaik. Janganlah tunggu pada titik-titik tertentu baru hendak berusaha ke arah kejayaan sbb titik itu juga bergantung pada titik-titik yang sebelumnya... :)

1st time Ber 'karok'

Aku x pernah berkaraoke sblm nie. Clubbing mmg x pernah langsung wpun ade segelintir manusia yg ragu2 dgn statement aku neh. Almaklumlah, office aku dulu dikelilingi kelab-kelab malam yg famous di ibu kota neh mcm Beach Club, Aloha Bistro, Thai Club, Rump Jungle and Nouvo Club.

Baru2 nie, aku dan kawan-kawan aku (Aizat, Mia, Krel and Hazirah) gi Ipoh...dalam perjalanan pulang ke utp, singgah kt Karaoke Batu Gajah (kul 1.15 am). Ermm, actually aku amat cuak time tu. Hehe, aku mane pernah gi tempat mcm tue. Lebey-lebey lagi bler org kt situ pandang semacam jerk. Klu aku kene attack, Mia ngn Hazirah la kene pertahankan aku...(ape mende la aku neh, aku la yg perlu berjuang #_@).

Lepas dpt bilik, aku rs segan la plak. Aku mmg tau suara aku x sedap... tp, setelah mendengarkan nyanyian mereka, ermmm, kire lebey kurang la...That night (early morning act) mmg enjoy, tp aku still ingat Tuhan (takut gak tibe2 tempat tue kene bomb ke)...Yang pasti malam tue mmg enjoy...sampai aku tertido dlm room tu...haih, karok smpi dkt kul 5...penat siout. Budak2 lain still melalak. Kuat btol stamina dorang.

Sebelum tu, kitorang makan2 dulu kt Oldtown Kopitiam...then men bowling kt Ipoh Parade. Yg lawaknye kt Ipoh Parade tue, kene 'halau' siout. We all main ntk enjoy so mmg byk wat bising. Rupe2nye sblh kitorang ade pemain yg die rs professional la tgh practice ntk MBI Tournament (Champion RM4k). Die x dpt kwl emosi ble kitorang wat bising then, de suruh staff tukar lane kami. Lebih malang, sebelah lane br kami tu, dorang tgh practice gak...hebat2...pandai wat bola spin. X lama selepas tue, dorang cabut lari tukar lane lain...haih, bising sgt kot kitorang neh.

final semester in UTP - an empty life

Mmm...My study at utp will end soon. Minggu depan bermulalah study week then exam weeks. My last paper will be on May 26 (Lutfy's birthday...). Kalau nk katakan tentang apa yang aku rasa, aku x rasa ape2. Sedikit pun x rasa sedih untuk tinggalkan zaman belajar. Malah, sentiasa berharap ntk cepat habis.
Waktu petang, kalau aku rasa bdn aku gemuk dan lemah, aku pergi la joging tp, klu aku rasa sihat, the best activity to do ialah bagi makan ikan kt tasik utp. Sekurang2 nya dpt la tenangkan fikiran melihat ikan-ikan berenang dan berebut makanan. Kadang-kadang angin petang agak kuat...permukaan air tasik cantik sgt ditiup angin..Sungguh mendamaikan. Bila dh senja, mentari yg terbenam di ufuk barat menjadikan pemandangan lebih indah. Cantik sungguh alam ciptaan Tuhan.

Final semester nie, aku byk habiskan masa bersendirian. Aku selalu rs kosong. Mcm x byk kawan plak. Tp, sem-sem lepas x rs plak mcm nie. Satu alasan yg kuat ialah mungkin dulu, selain belajar aku rajin join event MPPUTP, jarang ade waktu lapang, dengan meeting yg lama, kerja yg byk jd, setiap masa renggang yg ade aku akan gunakan ntk tunaikan tanggungjawab aku ntk event tersebut. Boleh dikatakan, setiap masa aku terisi. Final sem nie lain plak. X pernah rs hidup sekosong ni. This sem, if My roommate or Lutfy or Ciko are not around, mula lah aku rs bosan sgt. Rasa mcm sorang2 je kt dunia nie. Mungkin tue lah sebabnya aku rs nk cepat hbskn belajar.

Aku harap sgt hari-hari akhir kt UTP nie lebih menceriakan... :-)