I found my love....in Paris...Eiffel, I'm in Love! Thanks Allah.

Thanks Allah. Finally found it! All the best for your architectural study in Glasgow!...
X sabar ntk jumpa semula mid of the year...
And insyaAllah my training will be in England end of the year so I can fly to see u in Scotland...

Love you...
Miss you...

5 weeks in Bangkok, A weekend in Pattaya

hmmm...when was my last post? looooooong time ago, right? I also didn't manage to check my friends' blog due to tight schedules for my grade promotion as well as a project in Bangkok. I really miss all Mekarians. Hopefully, there will be a reunion anytime soon.

My project in Bangkok was successfully completed for Phase 1. The next phase (GIS) would be in early January 2010. I couldn't see any project assigned to me for 2nd half of November and December. Meaning that, I'm free.... Eagerly waiting for my Europe trip this mid of December :)

However, I'm a kind of person who hate to go to office if there is no job to do...Perhaps, starting next week, I'll try to make myself occupied...to do something beneficial to the team or even better... to the company.

Talking about Bangkok, it is quite a nice city to live in. Apart from its friendly folks, the cost of living there is much lower than Kuala Lumpur. And sex is an industry in Thailand. It is very easy to get and it iiiiissss very affordable.

If you plan to go to Bangkok, there are something that you should not miss; a grand temple next to Grand Palace (I forgot the name---Wat Phrao??), Floating Market, Chaktuchak Market and Jim Thomson's Thai Silk. Chaktuchak Market is claimed as the biggest market in the world...thousands of shops are there and it is a good place to find souvenir & something for home decoration which are unique and cheap. While Jim Thomson offers you the best quality of Thai Silk, even the Thais agree with that. Jim Thomson is not a Thai but, he contributed a lot in Thai silk industry after World War II. You can easily find his boutique at the airport & grand shopping complex. I went to his main shop at Silom by BTS (Sky Train) which is the only place where you can find the fabric. It is expensive though...if you want to make a standard cutting of Baju Kurung, at least you need 6-7 meters (price range around RM400 (1ply) - RM850 (2ply)). It's not like normal fabric in M'sia - 4 meters are enough for 1 baju kurung. If you want to see how the silk is extracted from boiled cocoon, you can head yourself to Jim Thomson's house/museum.

During the 2nd trip, I spent my weekend in Pattaya...it is about 2-hour journey by bus from Bangkok. Pattaya is like Batu Ferringi to me but, it is far more happening. You can have a seat or sun bath next to the beach while enjoying very cheap seafood. There are so many women at the pathway waiting for customers...uhhh, there are not so pretty..you know...girls in Bangkok are far more sweeter..haha....What I could see, the tourists...mat salleh sume looks like a 2nd-class people...I think the richer ones will go for Koh Samui, Krabi or Phuket. If you like ladyboy-dancing, come to Pattaya (I don't like it but, it was the first question from the tourist info booth). I managed to go to Koh Island (Coral Island) which only costs me RM40 including lunch and I can spend about 5 hours with a very crystal clear water.

I think that's all my post...check my fb for photos.

I quit!!

This is quite a funny story.

I had a meeting for one small project around 6pm last Tuesday. Then we had a short break. It is a regulation to lock the laptop and also lock the laptop screen whenever you are away from the computer.

What I did? I forgot to Ctl+Alt+Dlt my laptop. When I back to the meeting room, everyone was laughing at me and my manager is sitting in front of my laptop. What happened?

He replied, "I already sent an email to my mailbox saying that you want to quit!"

I no longer want to be part of sis team. I quit!!


That's what will happen if somebody can access your laptop.


This morning I got another email:

Keep working as you have been doing until now...If not, see the email below. I will use against you...jajaja


jajaja ::: Mexican word for hahaha. My manager is a Mexican.

Houston, USA - Some Stories

I suppose to be in Houston for 9 weeks only. But suddenly, there is an extension which causes me to cancel my tour to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Yosmite. Quite disappointing but always there is opportunity cost in life.

Below are some places/activities that I visited/did on weekends:

1) Rodeo @ Reliant Park

It is held on every day of March where Reliant stadium will be fully seated by people from Texas and other states to watch the Bull Riding, Steer Wrestling, Bareback Riding and many more. It's very good! USD16 for the cheapest seat + USD60 return by cab.

2) Houston Museum of Natural Science @ Hermann Park

It's a good museum. This is my first time seeing a place named museum to be very crowded. USD15 for Main Exhibition Halls + USD10 for 3D show + USD30 return by cab

3) NASA Johnson Space Center

There is a 50-min tram tour where you can see closer the NASA building and facilities and got opportunity to enter their real space training center. But, the exhibition hall is quite disappointing. Not many exhibits plus, they are fake. If you wanna come here, don't put too high expectations. But overall, it is a worth visit. USD20 + 20 miles away.

4) Galveston Island

Mmmm...Not much you can do there especially after the big cyclone last year.

5) Houston Zoo @ Hermann Park

It's a very good zoo. The way they display the animals especially at the primates and wild area is something to follow. There is also a quite big park to relax. USD10 + USD40 return by cab (Quite close to the Museum but this time, the taxi driver took a longer route).

6) Basketball Game @ Toyota Center

April is the month of Basketball and Baseball. My friends & I managed to watch a final home game between Houston Rockets (2x NBA Champion) vs a team from New Orleans. It was a great match. Yao Ming (one of the tallest people in the World) from China is in that team. USD25 for the second highest seat @ eBay.

7) BBQ @ Memorial Park

The park is very huge and purposely designed for barbeque area. We held a small BBQ party since we are going home soon (before we know our stay is extended). Plus, no more interesting places to visit.

Mmmm..overall Houston is quite a good city to live in but, it got a problem of public transportation....If you happen to come here, please do not use bus outside the uptown area...It happened to me at Wheeler station (South downtown) when someone insulted my friends and I with a lot of bad statements. We get out from the bus to avoid anything bad happen and the guy loudly shouted, "Yeah, you get out now!"

(i'll add some more soon...wanna pick some lunch) hope soooo...

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~