Presentation Skills - Day 2.

So here's my "upgraded" presentation after the feedback of our trainer from yesterday.

Still the same topic... I personally feel that I could have done better, dragged the speech at a few places. Still need to improve my posture/stance, body language and movement.

Hopefully I'll do better the next time around... if I get a chance.

I Hate Indecisive People!

I HATE INDECISIVE PEOPLE!!!

AKPK & RedFort Alpha.

All of us face financial issues at one point or another - with that in mind, AirAsia invited Agensi Kaunseling & Pengurusan Kredit (AKPK) to give a talk to it's employees regarding financial planning and related issues. NGLers were incorporated into the talk since we are all young working adults.

Nothing much during the second half of the day, except for NGLers bombarded AirAsia's office in LCCT to get our Internet connection sorted. After spending about 4 hours at the office with the ICT guys, all of us can access to the RedFort Alpha network when we come to work! Yeay! That makes it easier for me, I don't have to get a broadband for now... yes!

Competitive Edge - Day 2.

So here's the continuation on Day 2. Still has the same energy and power due to the way the trainer conducts the training.

The training started off with Lena playing a background music and we were required to draw down on the paper the thoughts we have on a paper with a movie plot-line with a  $50 million dollar budget. Once we have drawn the picture, we have to present it our fellow colleagues who'll be acting as venture capitalists. The venture capitalists will then decide on which movie to fund.

And here's what I thought when the music was played on the background. On my side, I felt the music connected to the 3 things which I always have on my mind - death, the end of the world and the purpose of us, humans on Earth.

                         

Next, we played a game which required half of us to act out as psychiatry doctors and the other half as patients. And the doctors were given stickers based on their feedback and assessment - 2 stickers for great, 1 for good and 0 if the patient feels the doctor was not good enough. The stickers were sticked on the doctor's face and eventually all of us looked like we have leprosy.

The 2 days were one the most unique training we have ever gone through in NGL and kudos to the trainer for making it such a interesting and exciting.

Competitive Edge - Day 1.

Another Performance Development Consultant, this time for Competitive Edge. Lenaghaz, that was the trainer's name and I thought it will be just another training but... the training started off with a BANG! 

Her trick was to get everyone pay attention to the training by giving out fake "cash" to voice out our opinions and ideas. And everyone just started going off in voicing out their ideas instantly! Awesome way to get everyone to contribute in a class!

On top of that, she also requested all the groups to get a name (ours was Humble Yet Greedy - HYG) and come out with a cheer. And we came out with our cheer with a fusion of martial arts and cartoon moves.

The class was full of crazy activities and exercises, with the most memorable one being an activity whereby we had to look for 20 items in 20 mins - and that was crazyyy!

Here's the list.

    

And here's the end product!

My group managed to get 13 out of the 20 items, not bad actually for impromptu exercise.

Towards the end of the class, we were asked to fold paper into 6 hats representing the 6 groups of people who normally take part in a discussion or negotiation  - Neutral, Emotional, Pessimist, Creative, Control and Optimist. 

We were put into different situation, which means different hats and represent our thoughts in discussion. One word to describe today: FUN!

Happily Ever After, Flashers & Alexis.

Yeah, another crazy Saturday!

Started off the day with the wedding ceremony at Rubber Research Institute, Sungai Buloh for our fellow NGLer, Mr. Fatah and his bride, Ms. Farah a.k.a Mrs. Fatah now! Congratulations, selamat pengantin baru and God bless! I'm pretty sure there will be many more to come, since most of the NGLers are in our 20s and still single (... I mean our marital status, not availability!).

After that, Tian, Najib and I rushed to KL Sentral, Brickfields to catch the #KeretapiSarong flash mob/gag organized by RandomAlphabets. We even saw Azhan taking part in the flash mob... and once we knew their plan, we went to KLCC to wait for the final meeting point. For strangers who come together to do something without much pre-planning, I have to admit, it was really, really impressive how they moved and did the whole sequence.

So after the flash mob ended, the three of us just lepak-ed at the KLCC pool area, discussing about NGL and everything in between. And then we were hungry... so we messaged all the other NGLers to see who's free to join us and Millie replied. She suggested Alexis, Bangsar and that's where we ended next.

Once we reached Alexis, it was munching time... Millie and the waiter recommended their signature tiramisu cake, so I said "Why not?" Hands down, one of the best piece of cake I've tasted, props to Millie for that!

Bo Lingam & EGM 2012.

Friday started with a discussion on how we can make our current room, Chiang Rai into a NGL fortress - both individually and as a group. We had tons of ideas on the board from the group and we have a week to finalize the details and work plan for this.

We also had the beloved yet humble COO, Bo Lingam, who kindly accommodated 2 hours of his time to speak to NGLers on what it takes to be AirAsia's Allstar. His speech was simple but something which had substance – “be respectful of experience, be humble, appreciate people and culture and be yourself” He also advised NGLers to be hungry and to believe that change starts from/within us. The whole session with Bo was quite laidback back, compared to other HODs and Chiefs, yet the message was powerful and clear. We were also reassured that we have should not compromise on our beliefs or stand, while learning and having fun at the same time.

Influential Communicator: Day 2.

Today was the continuation of the Influential Leader training by Mr. Izmas.

We had 3 different exercises, which brought out the best out of the 19 of us - Self Image, Projected Image & Public Image, Blindfolded Square and Helium Straw.

All 3 activities provided us great insights... all of us were put out under pressure and there were definitely some cracks appearing in the team for the first time. 

The most interesting activity was the Self Image, Projected Image & Public Image. This involves each individuals evaluating themselves, what they think about their Self Image and Projected Image, while the other 18 colleagues will evaluate us on our Public Image. 

After all said and done, here's what I thought about myself when Mr. Izmas asked us to write down what is our Self Image and Projected Image:

Self Image:

1. Shy

2. Adventurous

3. Outgoing

4. Fearful

5. Open minded

6. Indecisive

7. Adaptable

Projected Image:

1. Outgoing

2. Outspoken

3. Swagger

4. Playful

5. Open minded

6. Mental

7. Snub/Arrogant

So here's what my colleagues think about my Public Image (I'm putting it down word for word, spelling and all):

1. Strong will

2. Friendly

3. Cheerful

4. One hell of bestard!

5. High ego in a confident way

6. Funny & opinionated

7. Easygoing

8. Straight forward/outspoken

9. Not revealing himself yet

10. Take it a lot thing as a personal matter

11. Very open & friendly on the outside, but I think deep down he's shy and traditional

12. Tough

13. Reserved in a secret way, his loudness cover up him well. Very good thinker & analytical person

14. Don't take things too personal!

15. Cool

16. Bold with a mind of a strategist

17. Friendly

18. Well educated (in RedTube and assorted awesome sites)

19. Outspoken

Kathleen Tan & Drills.

The most crazy day an Allstar can have in AirAsia. Kathleen Tan, Regional Head of Commercial and the slide and wet drills, all in ONE day! 

The first half of the day, Kathleen Tan and her team came in to give a overview of her department, Commercial. Despite all the reputation told about her, I thought she was a nice person. She had the story-telling ability, to move people by inspiring with her own stories... and yes, I have to admit that her achievements are huge and has quite an impact on AirAsia in it's transformation to be the Best Low Cost Carrier in the world.

So after lunch, here it comes - the most interesting activity yet in NGL, the slide drill and wet drill y'all! This activity is normally held for the FAs and pilots, but since we were the first batch of NGL, we were given a chance to try it out first hand. We were given briefing by 2 instructors, Zul and Fairuz and Mahadi, the life guard. For a person who loves thrill, I was pumped up for both activities, the only problem was the swimming part during the wet drill in the pool. However, after Zamrah and Mahadi gave me some tips, I could manage it during the second and third round. All in all, it was the most exciting activity we have done so far in NGL.

And if there's one final thing for me to share, I would say this... NEVER, EVER underestimate a FA again! They are not just pretty girls in skirts serving drinks up in the air. They are more than that, trust me!

Restoran Soong Kee.

Nothing much going at AirAsia Academy, but I was hungry throughout the day. Don't know why!

Suggested to the guys to have dinner at Restoran Soong Kee at Jalan Tun H.S. Lee, which serves one of the best Beef Ball Noodle in town. Only two guys followed me though, Tian and Jimmy.

The food was awesome for me (maybe because I was hungry), while Jimmy mentioned the noodle was overcooked and Tian meanwhile gave a rating of 6.5 out of 10 for the noodle.

Quite a big portion for RM6.00.

Restoran Soong Kee.

IKEA and Life Lesson.

IKEA can teach you about life... that's what I learnt! Went there because Darma wanted to check out some furniture for his room, so me and Tian followed since we have nothing much to do after lunch.

You may ask - how? Well, IKEA shows us that when you think you found the, it turns out you can't afford it for whatever reason. Just like in life!

It is one of the most startling discovery I've made about IKEA, since this is the first time I'm visiting IKEA in Damansara.

Another lesson about life from IKEA: Life is short, so live you life as you wish!

Presentation Skills - Day 1.

Presentation Skills - another activity in the NGL Programme.

As most the NGLers are being groomed to become the future management of AirAsia, I strongly believe that presentation skills is an integral element needed in any leader. We had an external trainer, Ms. Zuraina from Performance Development Consultants to come in and coach us.

We were asked to prepare a 3 mins presentation on any topic and I chose a topic which is close to me, Brickfields' Boys. Here's the video of my presentation:

After the presentation, Zuraina pointed out some of the areas that I need to improve e.g. my base stance, moving about during presentation, the structure of my presentation and etc. I really found the whole session to be very valuable.

We were given 24 hours to rectify our weaknesses and to present again the tomorrow. Hopefully, I can improve! :).

I Heart You, Dear FA.

Valentine's Day and I'm still single, so what? I rather look at the bright side of life, especially when it comes to this matter. So what is the good thing? Well, if you are single, you can give a rose to any girl you like! No questions asked!... And that's what I exactly did!

On Valentine's Day eve, while having our dinner, me and Jimmy came out with this crazy idea of buying a rose and presenting it to the Indonesian and South Korean FAs in AirAsia Academy. So we walked to a florist in Brickfields and bought a rose without giving it much thought.

So here I am on Valentine's Day and I need to give the rose to the FAs... and trust me, I'm frreaked out like hell. Somehow, the fellow NGLers persuaded me and taa-daa, I managed to give the rose to FA (...she's pretty hot too!). Her name is Kim Nam Yeom and she's from South Korea.

While this was happening, the rest of the gang were actually taking photos and recording the whole process! So apa lagi? They posted on Facebook la! Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/photo.php?v=3259129036149&set=vb.1204842768&type=2&theater

Mokx, the rose and Nam Yeong, the South Korean FA.

I'm not sure if I will ever give another rose on a Valentine's Day ever again... but I will cherish this particular craziness for some time! Definitely one of a kind experience and helped me to break a little bit more from my inferiority complex and shyness! Thank you NGLers!

AirAsia Allstars.

I have my Allstars ID card y'all! Oh yeahhhh! 

So here's the privileges people:

1. 2 eCoupon - free return tickets on any AirAsia X flights
2. ID90 - 90% discount on any AirAsia (short haul - unlimited) or AirAsia X (long haul - 6 flights) flights
3. Daily RM5.00 rebate on food at the AirAsia Academy or AirAsia LCCT lounges
4. 10% discount at F&B and merchandise outlets at any airport AirAsia flies to

We have also have staff discount for any events that is handled by RedTix - can't wait for 2012 F1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix!

And the most important privilege, I don't have to convince the Aerobus fellas that I'm an employee of AirAsia by showing them the offer letter or arguing with them - I just flash the tag, boom! I pay RM4.00 and there's my transport to AirAsia Acedemy!

Remember the face!

Brickfields Boys' Night Ride.

Just another get together with the Brickfields' Boys. Felt like having some good ol' Nasi Kandar, but since Kuala Lumpur does not have much options - we headed to Nasi Kandar Pelita Samudera in Bangsar.

We discussed a lot topics (especially on FAs!) and as usual, it was a laughing session all the way!

And we were also entertained by a street performance from a band... good entertainment for some rice, curry and RM5:00.

Clockwise: Poom (Thailand), Jimmy (Indonesia), Jej (The Philippines), Darma (Indonesia) and me - Tian (Indonesia is not in the photo cause he's the photographer).

Baby's Back!

Alright partner, keep on rollin' babyyy!

She's sweet, she's fixed, she's back! After about 2 weeks in the workshop, 6246 is back for good! Now I can move around freely again - that's like throwing away my crutches!

And she came back with an additional accessory on the roof - a dead mice! Don't ask me why or how it got there... but that was one funny case! When I showed it to my fellow NGLers, they couldn't stop laughing... so do I! 

Now that I have my car, let's roll! Keep rollin', rollin', rollin'!

First Wave... You're Cleared To Depart!

Date      : 6 February 2012

Venue   : Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT), Sepang

Time      : 2:30AM – 7:30AM

To understand the mechanisms that function internally and are not outwardly visible within the AirAsia organization, NGLers were given a chance to go down to the field and experience the processes by taking part in an activity called “First Wave”. And yes, First Wave started at 3:00AM, so to make sure we got there on time, the Brickfields' Boys went to LCCT early. Too early in fact, at about 10:00PM! Of course we were dumbfounded without knowing what to do at the Terminal, so we tried our best to keep ourselves entertained. For instance, me and Tian walked in to the Red Lounge as AirAsia employees who want to check out the place and what it has to offer :P. Trust me, that place was cool, compared to other parts of LCCT.

The First Wave activity itself primarily focused on all the backend processes and support activities that take place in preparation for AirAsia’s AK flights. Everything that a passenger does not see or not concerned with when flying – activities such as fueling, in-flight catering, maintenance to things which are visible from the moment a passenger walks in to the airport, such as checking-in and baggage handling.

In-flight Operations

First up, we were taken to the in-flight operation’s warehouse just beside AirAsia Academy where NGLers were given a walk through on how food and merchandise is prepared for each AK flight. All carts which are stocked by In Flight Operations must go through 2 security checking – one at the warehouse and the other is at LCC Terminal.

There are 3 main categories of items that In-Flight Operations need to load into an aircraft during the First Wave preparation, namely:

1. Perishables

2. Non-perishables

3. Merchandise

Guest Services and Ramp Handling

NGLers getting ready to rumble!

We went around LCCT to learn more about the Guest Services team (yeap, those beautiful girls who sit behind the check-in counter) to understand what are the things the do before a passenger boards a plane. What was suppose to be a learning session quickly turned to bonding session for some of the gentleman, haha! We wanted to more than the process... we wanted to know them! :D.

And when it came to Ramp Handling, we were astonished to learn how Ramp Handling Agents could actually do the 25 minute turnaround time by doing it all manually! The job was definitely tough and physical, with all my heart, kudos to the Ramp Handling  Team. RESPECT y'all!

Pre-Flight Check and On-Flight Check

Before an aircraft takes-off for a flight, some basic checks are done by the pilot and FAs who will be operating the aircraft. That aside, NGLers had the chance to checkout the aircraft on the apron, which includes the cockpit! Oh yeah! Some of the basic checks include are as below. 

Pilot:

1. Visual inspection of the aircraft.
2. Getting the manifest and Load Sheet from the Guest Services/Ramp Handling on the baggage’s weight.
3. Do the necessary setup for the flight.

FAs:
1. Checking of carts – to make sure merchandise, perishables and non-perishables are replenished accordingly.
2. Checking of aircraft cleanliness and order of the aircraft. 
3. Compare the passengers with the manifest provided.

Mum's Place.

Ah ha, I'm back after a short hiatus!

Since we were having a 4 day weekend due to Awal Muharram and Thaipusam, NGLers decided to have a get together at a local Malaysian Portuguese cuisine restaurant called Mum's Place in Damansara Perdana. 

What better time to have a get together? Since we will be having out First Wave activity at 3:00AM, Monday morning (can't wait for that one!). We definitely need to load up on those calories!

The food was good, I especially liked the Beef Rendang ;).

Except for Sheikh and Fatah, all the other NGLers turned up and it was a good session all in all.

Now... can't wait to rumble for the First Wave at wee hours!

Walk, Walk, Keep On Walking.

You know what happens you start a journey without a plan? You walk around city, start to enjoy it and soak in all the good things that is around you.

This is exactly what happen to me and the boys from NGL - Tian, Darma, Poom, Jej and Jimmy. We met up in the morning and decided that we have to make use of the long weekend... and that's what we exactly did!

We started our journey in KL Sentral, Brickfields - we took a monorail to Imbi Station in Jalan Imbi, then we started to roam about all the shopping complexes around Bukit Bintang area. Low Yat Plaza, Lot 10, Berjaya Times Square - you name it, we covered it. The guys were hungry, so we dropped by the Berjaya Times Square food court for lunch. Jej, Jimmy, Poom and Darma had their lunch there, while me and Tian just observed *the menu not good enough for us* Once done with the, we just went and sat at the main crossing in Jalam Bukit Bintang - just to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city.

Not enough with Bukit Bintang, we started to find how we can reach the Petronas Twin Towers, KLCC! So apa lagi? We started to walk down Jalan Raja Chulan to Jalan Sultan Ismail, all the way to Jalan Ampang. On on way to Jalan Ampang, we stopped by the KFC outlet in Wisma KFC to have our late lunch, since me and Tian did not have lunch at the Berjaya Times Square food court.

Then something bad happened, Poom lost his wallet - with RM500.00 in it! Damn! We tried to look for the wallet up and down the streets but couldn't find it. We even went back to KFC outlet and check there but we couldn't find it. So we left our contact number with the KFC employees, just in case they find it later. I really felt sorry for Poom, but no worries cause I know he's in good hands.

With a heavy heart, we continued our walk to KLCC... and I must say the boys were pretty impressed with the tower and everything about Kuala Lumpur's infrastructure. I have to admit I was impressed as well! Driving around the city and walking along street after street is two different things! Walking allows you to soak the environment and see thing clearer!

When we were happy with the photoshoots and had enough of the tower and high-rises around us, we proceeded to walk to Jalan Raja Chulan's monorail station and caught a train back to KL Sentral. We realized we were hungry by now, so we went to our Brickfields HQ, Restoran Ah Goh in Jalan Travers and Jalan Tun Sambanthan inter-junction to have our Chinese style dinner. All in all, our day ended at about 12.30AM... it started at 10.30AM. We have walked about 8KM to 10KM and just enjoyed KL City and it's vibe! A great day indeed!

Culture Overload.

The first working Friday in AirAsia and the topic of the day was - CULTURE! The Corporate Culture team of AirAsia, consists of Renuka, Yvonne, Jason and Dharsini came in to give NGLers a dose of the practice and beliefs in the organization.

To start of the day, it was the usual introduction session with a twist. Each NGLer has to go to the front and tell 3 things that other NGLers does not know about him/her. I definitely learnt a lot of things about my fellow NGLers - when they were young, the dreams, their hopes, their kinky imaginations and some other censored stuff! As for me, I disclosed the following about myself to the rest:

1. I'm a Straight Edge follower - strictly no drugs, no tobacco, no alcohol
2. I'm not good in Tamil - started to learn the language when I was in university
3. I love exotic food - have eaten bison, crocodile, kangaroo, wild boar, monitor lizard
4. I used to follow my uncles to do illegal stuffs *censorship required*

Started of with short a video presentation and then Yvonne proceeded with the presentation of AirAsia core culture, which consists of the following 6 important elements:

1. Safety conscious
2. Fun
3. Full of integrity
4. Friendly
5. Hardworking
6. Caring 

The tagline of the company also says it all - "All For One, One For All".

We also had a quiz in between and I managed to answer the question correctly and I won a prize for that! It was a Lotus F1 ballpen, yeah!

After the Friday prayer break, Jason took over the stage and presented about all the different departments within the company and their roles/job functions. There were a lot of questions thrown at him since most of the NGLers were curious about their job scope in their respective teams once the 6 months training is over and we are deployed to the teams.

Once Jason was with his presentation, the group was broken to 2 groups and a game was held. It was a guessing game, whereby each team needs to send a representative to the front and the representative must pick up a piece of paper available and try to act out what's written on the paper to their teammates for them to guess it correctly. All I can say is I had an epic failure... cause how do you act out the word "Anthony Francis Fernandes"? Damn! Oh yeah, by the way, my team lost!

The day ended with more video presentations - Mr. Tony's closing speech and a short clip from AirAsia's 10th Anniversary celebration.

On my way back on the Aerobus to Brickfields with the boys, we discussed what should we do during the weekend ahead, since this is the first weekend we are spending time together in Kuala Lumpur. We decided to hit the road tomorrow, not with a set plan but just a guideline and see where the journey takes us to. Oh yeah, keep on rolling babyyy!

Day 2 - Muffin Day.

So Day 2 started quite interestingly... Naresh and Cheralyn walked in with a box of Triple Chocolate Muffin and forced us to buy one muffin at RM15.00 each, under the disguise of charity. As a chocoholic, I didn't give much thought about it. I just paid the money and bought it - cause it was not just plain chocolate, or double chocolate BUT TRIPLE chocolate, which means TRIPLE the fun! Chocolate makes me feel good.

After the Triple Chocolate Muffin "charity" trick, NGLers were tricked once again when the administrators start to "sell" AirAsia notepads for RM10.00, which again, turned out to be an hoax. They returned all our money, so it was all good. Chocolaty feeling for free, yeah!

We also got a pin which says the following:
ONE PEOPLE
ONE CULTURE
ONE AIRASIA
ONE FAMILY

Other than the challenging job role, my love for aviation industry and the travelling benefits - this is definitely one area that attracted me to AirAsia - the feeling of being in a family and backing up one another. So I'm definitely looking forward to the working environment here once I'm deployed to my team in AirAsia X.


Day 2 was also the day NGLers decided to do an activity outside of work time for the first time. Zul suggested we go for a dinner at Nilai 3. Not everyone could make it due to commitments, but it was still a great turnout with about 14 NGLers! There's definitely more to come y'all!

Clockwise: Tian, Poom, Najib, Jej, Faizal, Jimmy, Zul, Sheikh, Joel, Jovi, Puven, Darma, JJ

A Brand New Day, A Brand New Start Y'all!

So here it is! After about 5 months of selection processes, one telephone interview, a bootcamp for four days in AirAsia Academy and Gopeng... and oh, not to forget all the emails back and forth between the NGLers and the programme administrators - THIS IS THE DAY I BECAME AN AIRASIA ALLSTAR OFFICIALLY!

So the day started with a drive from Brickfields to AirAsia Academy, Sepang with JJ. We decided to car pool and the drive itself took us about an hour. When we finally arrived in AirAsia Academy, it was like meeting up with our long lost family members! Some of other NGLers selected were there and it was one BIG happy family again!

Clockwise: Gopi, Jimmy, me, Poom, Darma, JJ, Jovi

It was a great time, just catching up with one another in real life. There's only so much you can do through a Facebook page. Later on,other guys arrived and we had our breakfast in the lounge and chatted away.

After a bit, we proceeded to the Main Hall and guess what? We saw clipboards arranged on the wall by Azhan and the NGL Administrators. It had the photos, quotes and etc from our time here during the 4 days bootcamp. The printouts just brought back so much memories! It was definitely not easy and as they say in AirAsia, it was all blood, sweat and tears from each and every single NGLer!

Day One proceeded with us seating in a semi-circle arrangement and being briefed by the management. Naresh, one of our mentors briefed about the uniqueness of the program. The NGLers have liberty to chop and change or modify the program as per our needs. Very unique compared to other companies'.

And yes, the CEO of AirAsia, the ever charming and a rebel with attitude, Tan Sri Tony himself  did come in to give his speech. Before him, a long list of notable and key personnel from the organization - such as Aireen from Corporate Finance, Azran from AirAsia X, Raman from ASEAN Culture and so on.

Then the climax of the day, Mr. Tony walked in to give his speech. Like every time, he was inspirational and straightforward in his communication. He requested us to introduce ourselves one by one and even tried to remember everybody's name and to our surprise, remembered them all correctly. Like deja vu, something similar to the intro time at the start if the bootcamp happened again! For some reason, Mr. Tony called me "The Fat Bastard", and it was jokes all the way. Looks like I'll be a clown for some time, wooohooo!

We had classes for the rest of the day and more briefing about our projects. Every single one of us was pumped to know what's in store for the rest of programme. You could just see in the face of every NGLer the eagerness and drive to make this a successful programme. 

The first day was just awesome! All I can say is I think I've made the correct career choice in my life at this point of time. I just wish to give my best in everything that I do here and be a catalyst to the change that's going to come. I'm so thankful to God for whatever has happened thus far. Wish me all the luck guys!

That In Between Feeling.

Since 30th January 2012 was my last day at work, I had a day's break to relax and rejuvenate myself before joining AirAsia X.

It was boring, so I called up another NGLer, Jiun Jie or better known as JJ, if he'd be free for a yum cha session. And like all other meet ups, this little plan grew bigger along the way. Eventually, we had a total of 5 people who turned up for this meet up - me, JJ, Danial, Milli and Najib at Nirwana Curry, Bangsar.

We had a great chat and from the reaction that I got, everyone was very eager to join AirAsia and couldn't wait to start the ball rolling. The whole meeting lasted about an hour.

On my way back, I met Syahid over a CBTL session in KL Sentral. This talk was a more enlightening one, as usual. We covered many topics, including the hollow feeling I have since leaving AMD - just one day earlier (well... I was still sad that I had to leave AMD).

Next up was meeting the NGLers from ASEAN - Tian, Jimmy and Darma from Indonesia, Poom from Thailand and Jej from Philippines. Visited their place in Mutiara Apartment, Brickfields! At least I have people to go to work whenever I take a bus to AirAsia  Academy. After lepak-ing at their place for about an hour, we went to Little India for dinner and the boys were quite stoked with the Indian food. Plus, the have already tasted briyani on the first day they arrived here - super cool eh?

And the day ended with preparation for the big day on 1st of February - the day I become part of the AirAsia Allstars family!

So here you go, We Are Augustines' "Chapel Song". The song that keeps me happy and depressed at the same time. Don't ask me why, I can't answer that. Sad case? I know.

Roger, Over and Out!

After all said and done, here comes THE day! The day to leave AMD for real. No drama, no hesitation. Things to be packed and my last journey home from AMD Cyberjaya.

They say action speaks louder than words... and I definitely agree! I was so touched by the love shown towards me by my colleagues - so many of them, that I had THREE different farewell gatherings in ONE day!

The first one was a lunch organized in Nando's, Alamanda Putrajaya by the Teletubbies Gang. To my surprise, the number of people increased from the initial 6 to 13! I was so glad and proud that a person like me can bring together a diverse group of people - different races, level of seniority and expertise. When my turn came to give my farewell speech, I just felt a jolt - a sensation I've never felt before, very strange, very nervy.

Clockwise: Amira, Julianna, Zamri, Johan, Mokx, Chia Ming, Asmah, Salina, Zaini, Aizat Bert, Aida, Aini, Ain Jaja.

My second farewell was a small gathering held in Padi House, Cyberjaya. This time it was a very small gathering which were organized by the people close to me since Day One. It was a meeting full of laughter and discussion about unexpressed love. 

Left to right: Syazli, John Cheok, Mokx, Chia Ming, Zamri

And then the final gathering - organized by colleagues who were in the night shift. The location - Padi House again - it seems like this place was turning into our fortress. As usual, there were tonnes of laughter and a bit later, Montha and her cousin sister joined us as well. However, due to time constraints, we didn't take any photos as I had to go to the office to grab all the photos as a remembrance of a place which has practically been my second home for the past 2 years and 9 months.

Left to right: Meor, Mokx, Hadi Mook

Left to right: Hakim Pokeng, Shela Mango, Ain Mon, Mokx, Nabila Magik

If there's one positive thing I can take away from my time in AMD Cyberjaya, it would be that I was able to reach out to everyone - regardless of race, religion, politics, seniority, department etc, etc. And the fruit of my labor showed during the farewell gatherings that was held for me. To be honest, I teared up reading some of the comments posted on my Facebook - that shows how much AMD means to me. I never did anything to impress anyone. I rather did things for my own satisfaction and made sure I gave my all, my best shot in everything - so that the results were not disappointing.

I can't never thank enough all the guys and girls who have helped me throughout my time in AMD and I'll forever be grateful and indebted to everyone of you. Thank you for everything, I wish all the best and success in life and in profession. 

And then, that moment came... at 11.55PM, 30th January 2012, my relationship with AMD came to an end. I shall miss AMD for a long, long time. Thank you for everything people. Until we meet again - take care, take care, take care.

This Employee Card is considered null and void.

 Goodbye for the last time. Bye AMD Cyberjaya!

P/S: Just like any other employee who is leaving an organization, I had one last hurrah as well. So here you go, my farewell email to all my beloved colleagues:

Dear AMDers,

30th January 2012 marks my last working day in AMD and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the support and guidance extended to me during my tenure, I will definitely miss AMD and my colleagues here.

I will be joining another organization this week in a new position and I’m really looking forward to the new challenge in that role.

It has been a wonderful experience working in this family for the past 3 years and I have really enjoyed it thoroughly. This experience will truly be memorable for years to come. I am definitely leaving with a lot of good memories which will be long cherished.

Thank you to the following people/teams: Michele Harle, Devinder Kumar, Boon Somchit, Salina Zain, Zaini Hussain, TH Tan, Dexter Ng, SAP CRM Support, RLKLite – L3 Others, Business – DistiOps & AIBOps, AMD Cyberjaya Toastmasters Club, AMD Cyberjaya ERT, Organizing Committees of the Inaugural Annual Dinner 2010 and AMD Cyberjaya Launch 2011, as well as The Wild Bunch! and The Cool Kids - who have all made my stay even more memorable, meaningful and merrier.

Please accept my utmost sincere apologies if I have offended any of you by any means.

Do keep in touch, by email: taneskumar85@hotmail.com (Facebook/Twitter) or by mobile #: +6012 925 7636.

Until we meet again, it’s been a pleasure working with all of you. I wish you all the very best in life - both in profession and in person, God bless and thank you.

Best Regards,

Tanes-Kumar N-Maniam | Mokx
SAP CRM | Sales & Marketing IT
o: +603 8316 3626 (e: 31626)
c: +6012 925 7636

B-O-O-M!

6264 met with her match or more like the Goliath - a HUGE one indeed. Bas kilang or what we call a factory bus!

The accident happened at Bulatan Dato' Onn, smack in the middle of Kuala Lumpur. A show stopper indeed, considering it was a weekend and the traffic was heavy in the city center.

Here's the end product of the duel.

The initial outlook was bad... so bad that I thought I got screwed up big time. My heart just sank, considering the car was less than 20 days old! To be honest, I'm just thankful for the outcome, nothing serious happened to me or my sister - and that's all that

matters! THANK YOU LORD JESUS CHRIST!

The front left side was gone - bumper, fender, bonnet, headlight and due to the impact the front right tire came out from the rim and the rim hit the road. But after further checking, it wasn't as bad as what I thought. The car moved smoothly after changing the front right tire with the spare one. The big relieve was all the injury to 6246 was just to the bodyworks and external parts - surprised that the chassis and engine was not affected by the impact.

The whole incident happened because the bus driver said the traffic light on his side "has not changed to red, it was still yellow". How dumb he can be, yellow means be prepared to stop la idiot, not speed faster!

And when I was at the Balai Polis Tun H.S. Lee to do the report, I was praying hard everything will go smoothly... and God send an angel in the form of Rizal. He's someone we refer to as "runner" here. He's from Tanjung Tokong, Penang and he came to help me because of my car registration has Penang identity, how awesome is that? True Penangite spirit indeed! He knew everyone at the police station, so much so, I thought he was running the show there. The IO officer, SJN Mazlan for my case meanwhile was very helpful as well.

Every injury needs to be addressed.

The bus owner tried to bullshit me by giving me another registration number, thank God I managed to jot down the actual number before the bus driver left the accident spot - BAP 7554.

And the whole chapter was closed when the bus owner made the report and the IO office and SJN Mazlan found out the bus has violated it's road tax and insurance requirements - ah, now I know the tactic of the owner. Rizal and SJN Mazlan work out the deal with him and everything was back on track. By 8.30PM, Rizal called me to send my baby to his workshop - all I hope is their workmanship is good and the parts are original. Hopefully, the car will be back to its original state by the end of the week. Let's wait and see y'all!

For now, my mind is back to my last day in AMD tomorrow and the farewell part. I'm going to be emotional, period! The whole week has been a emotional roller coaster ride for me! Bye for now, night people!

Bangsar HCS.

The title refers to Bangsar High Class Society, haha! That's how I felt, spending practically the whole day in Bangsar with Bob, Kumar and Elvina.

Started off with lunch at Devi's Corner, which serves proper Kerala cuisine. The food here is awesome! For some reason, there's always comparison between Devi's and Nirwana, but for me Devi's is always the winner! It's like my personal preference of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf over Starbucks :).

After that, it was tea time at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Bangsar Village II. It was another Pure Double Chocolate for me while the others enjoyed their favorites.

How I wish one day I could laze around Bangsar area and just enjoy the weekend, in fact I'm thinking of doing this every Saturday - just to spend time with my sister and close friends.

Time To Clear Up, It's About Time!

Finally, here I am - the last working Friday here in AMD.

And then it hit me that I need to clear up my work space/cube since it's the only suitable time I have before coming in on Monday and doing the customary his/byes and sending out the farewell email. I know I'll be down and sad on Monday, you can even call it depressing... but on the other hand as a grown up man (cheh, macho tak?), I know life has to go on! *sob*sob*.

So here's my work space/cube photo which I took as a remembrance before I leave AMD. Thank you for the memories, appreciate the spot! Though I've never sat here that often. You see, I'm a roamer, a gypsy of sort in AMD Cyberjaya and every one know about it! Let me count how many cubes I've sat before... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 2nd floor pantry, 3rd floor pantry... well, let's just move on, okay?

Well, the writing on the whiteboard says it all - "MOKX R.I.P 1985 - DEAD", it refers to my time here in AMD I guess :'(.

Every item on the table has tells a tale - the Coke bottles, the Salt Lick Bar-B-Q sauce bottle, the teddy bear, the Best Table Topics speaker ribbon and etc. I'm going to miss all the people and stories behind each and one item I took back home.

Whatever it is, I'm going to stick to the first poster on the side - "Keep Calm & Carry On".

Verdict's Out!

So here we go... after much consideration and requesting time time and time again, I have made my decision! And the decision is to leave AMD!

There are few reasons, on why I made such a decision - includes both push and pull factors:

1. My next job involves the aviation/airline industry and I love that area.

2. The other organization offers a promising career path and growth opportunities.

3. I've gone through a rigorous selection process and finally making a cut, and to throw away the opportunity just like that would be quite foolish.

4. Travelling perks.

5. Working in a new environment - more vibrant, open minded and straight forward.

6. There's just too many communication breakdown and cultural issues at the current place - damn, I miss working directly with the US managers/directors.

7. It's a non-IT job and that itself is a huge shoo-in.

It was about 2.30PM when I walked in to Michele's cube and informed her of my decision. I could see that she was disappointed with it but she understood where I'm coming from. I'll always be grateful to have an awesome director like her, one of the best!

It was also the day I publicly informed all my colleagues about my decision to leave and quite clearly some of them were upset - some because I'm leaving, while others because I did not inform them earlier. Well, on my side, I did not inform earlier because I wanted to make 100% sure that I'm leaving the company. I did not want to tell something which do not materialize and disappoint them or make others think that I'm just seeking attention.

Will I come back to AMD ever again? Well, for me, it's always a case of never say never! If the right opportunity opens up in AMD, I'll definitely be back - there's just too many attachments I have with this place, too many to mentioned. So let's see how in future.

If there's a song to express how I feel right now, then this must be it - Radiohead's "High and Dry".

Thank you to everyone who advised me and provided their insights during the process, I'm truly grateful. Appreciate it guys!

Extra Time (ET).

I'm supposed to tell Michele about my decision today!

I'm still confused, still contemplating, still undecided. So when Michele caught me on IM, I requested for one more day. Just ONE more day!

I told myself that I have to make the conclusion soon, by hook or by crook - no more delays and not to let any emotional attachments to screw up my decision making any more.

That's it! I'm came back to my Seri Kembangan house, locked my room and just thought about this. No more of "should I stay or should I go" argument within myself.

Yes, I still have a lot to achieve here. Yes, I have a lot friends. Yes, my pay and benefits are good. And yes, my performance have been rewarded accordingly throughout my time here. But then no, I could have changed the mindset and culture of the people ere. And no, I should did some things differently. One thing for sure though - I gave my best and all in everything I did here, nothing more, nothing less and I'm damn proud of it!

After all said and done, it's down to what I want. What's good for my future, my career and my growth as an individual in the society.

I can do this and I will do this - end off! Tomorrow will end all my confusion and decide the next chapter of my career.

Arghhh!

Another drive down to Kuala Lumpur and since it's the festivities, the journey was longer than usual. This time it was 6 hours! Pretty normal for me by now, damn!

I just wondered all the hours I've wasted on the road during the past 6 weeks - that's a huge

number! I know there's a saying which goes "It's not about the destination, it's about the journey that counts", but if this is the case week in , week out, then I have to find another option to travel I guess.

However, I have to admit that there's something which I love during all my journeys between Penang - Kuala Lumpur on PLUS - and that's the Menora Tunnel! The whole stretch just feels good, with it's corners, winding roads, the view, the trees and eventually, the tunnel itself, which I think it's a engineering marvel. Just the way the rocks which form the hill slope is cut and the road is build along the outer line of the hill.

The trees and vegetation on your way up to the tunnel.

Well, yet another slow moving jam due to the festivities.

The solid rock hill slope which had been cut, quite mind blowing.

The Menora Tunnel.

At least the Nasi Lemak Bumbung for dinner at the end of the drive compensated for some of the irritation I had due to 6 hours journey :).