A Glance Through: A Flashback

It has been 7 months since I came to this region and there was nothing... it was just an empty shell...

Now that I look back, the transformation is just too much to take in especially now that it feels as though this will be my final glance at the office I set up... due to the new proposition.

Here's a brief look at the changes:

1. Reception Area

TO

2. Sectional Office Area

TO

3. Conference Room

TO

4. Cross Diagonal View

TO

With the new challenge, it will bring me further away from the office that I have got so accustomed to since the beginning of this year... Let's hope its for the better.

Much Ado About Nothing... Part II

Sat in the office today… surfed the net… typed the letter… surfed the net… ate lunch… looked at boat/ yatch prices… watched a movie, downloaded songs from p2p, synching my iphone to the itunes… adding songs… that was pretty much it today…. Why?

1. Twenty two of my original master planned sites in SORSOGON area has been reduced to 6 sites because of the rebel demands. After much political bickering with customers and management, those sites will be reduced.
2. TIGAON was supposed to have tower erection today, however, opposition operator demanded for a work stoppage because of fear that frequencies might crash… what a whole lot of bollocks… but what can we do? It’s all on paper.
3. CALABANGA lot owners weren’t satisfied with the E91, E71s and IPhone we gave them. Some even claimed that the IPhones we gave them were fake. Total of 20 cell phones given out for free just to pacify them and they came back wanting for more. Now they filed a petition against us.
4. OCAMPOCMRS towers are still sailing… with 14 more days to the month end, my towers are still somewhere along the ocean enroute to Philippines. Nice…
   

Now you know why I am free?... somewhere along the fine thin line, its not hard to see that corruption is rampant here. Red tapes are just hollow blocks to corruption. On the other front…

1. A long lost friend has arrived in the Philippines under Ericsson
2. Another friend coming to Philippines at the end of the month… its been almost 6 months since I last saw him
3. I have started my handover to my Asst Manager but he seems to be quite defiant on the idea and put it straight to me that, if I am transferred, the whole team will go with me. He kept on telling me about the ‘All for one, one for all’ thingy that I preached since the beginning of the project to the team. I will continue to explain to him that heroics won’t work here.
4. Heard news from a friend that he met with an accident with the Sultan’s car… hahahahaha… that is one in a million!
5. I have been given the task last week to be YET, another bestman to one of my best friends. This will be the third time… hmmpphh…

Well... so much for the day... more to come this week....

Time Has Come...

Its funny how it has always felt, but not materialized since the Pakistan days. People say, if you cant beat em', join the bandwagon. I believed in it for a while...., but, its true, the system can neither be changed nor altered because of one man. Hence, I have tentatively penned my corporate orbituary with HW on a specific date.

To me, it wasnt difficult to pen down the letter. It was simple. I needed a light to guide me back into the forefront of Project Management instead of fire-fighting. I wanted to be in a corporate understanding of my mission statement and how it was projected to me in this company, wasnt part of the career advancement I had in mind. Stepping stone... definitely!

The ship will soon sail again after a long docking period and probably, the time has come...

Discovery Channel: Everest

Everest: Beyond The Limit

Recently, there has been a new season of Everest adventures on Discovery Channel and it has blown me away for some reason. I have been hooked on it ever since. Probably because it reminded me of Mt KK… I know its not the same but the feeling of reaching the top and all the terrains that you have to go through… it was surreal.

If anyone out there has time, go watch it. It shows the trials and turbulences of both amateur and pro climbers trying to conquer Everest and the suspense here is that, not all make it back alive.

It really reminded me of how it felt like climbing the peaks and what it felt like when you are there. Of course, Everest is twice the height of Mt KK and a hell lot tougher but I could really relate to their perserverance and the mental block they had to go through trying to convince themselves its just another step away from the top OR how halfway through the climb, you'll drift off to the best things in life and wonder to yourself, what the hell are you doing there?

Its really crazy how the conditions can succumb you to the most humbling experience ever...

Honestly, watch it, this is really good. And the best part is, each climber has to pay USD42k to be on the team which, then again, isnt guaranteed. They need to pass the time trial to be able to make the summit team and if they dont, its just bye bye... to their dreams and money. Hence, you get climbers going all the way to prove that they are mentally strong enough to take it.

Kudos to Discovery to be able to provide these live feeds. They tell a pretty good story...

Weekend Frustration: Much Ado About Nothing II

You know, its been quite a long while that I haven’t really enjoyed my Saturday’s and Sundays fully and given that fact I have earned that right, I still miss work. For the past 2 weekends, I have told my guys to stay off work and just rest. Last week was a disaster… not long before the clock even crossed the afternoon mark, my guys were calling me up, ‘Sir, can I go to the site? I need to see the conditions there….’…. I reiterated ‘No’ from every phone call I answered and added.. ‘hey, you guys are supposed to be glad you are on vacation on the weekends (because for the past 6 months… weekends were work)…’

All my engineers felt so restless that they were raring to go on Monday. And so, I had a meeting with them on Monday and they told me:

‘Sir, please don’t let us stay in the hotel during weekends…’ I said bro… I have to because I am not going to pay you during weekends now because there are no more sites to work on and I cannot justify my cost of letting you go to the site and claim your OT….

They pleaded again to me… ‘Sir, I wont claim for OT… I just want to work for free… I just want to get out of this boredom…’ ….. I replied… ‘boredom or not, you guys are staying put… no one’s going to the site… I am letting you rest’.


You see… the thing is, they will use the car when they go to the site and gasoline these days aren’t cheap by the way…. Its not just about paying their OT… its about the gas as well. I too need to control my cost because I cannot justify the escalating costs vs progress anymore. It’s my duty as a PM.

But it’s a relief to know that my guys have been trained well. partially also because, there’s absolutely nothing to do here in the BICOL… no cinemas (there is in fact, but substandard conditions), no bowling alleys, no form of entertainment known to 20th century mankind, nothing, zit… wala… mei you… end of story.


Hence, over the weekend, I managed myself quite decently in front of my television watching reruns of CNN, Discovery Channel, Star Movies and HBO (Gladiator, Hot Fuzz, Ocean’s Thirteen, Fly Boys, etc).

BICOL: Naga City

Time and again, people use to pop this question at my face… hey, you seem to be enjoying your life at BICOL... I’ve heard ppl come back and say BICOL is a really cool place… I say, hell yeah… it is a nice place alright… there’s no traffic, the people are nice and that’s about it. YET, they don’t believe you and they go like… bullshit… there’s more to that (…thinking that its similar to any big city like Manila and Makati…)… well, here’s to prove all of you wrong:

1. The place is filled with padjaks, tricycle, jeepneys and there’s virtually no posh cars there… a VIOS is considered a posh car, like the one I am using.
2. The city itself is dead at 930pm, 10pm tops… streets will be empty, there’s no bar, no clubs,…etc
3. The city is at least 20 years behind Ipoh… yeah, Ipoh!!

Here’s some pictures to prove it!

One of the many Departmental stores in BICOL. You figure out the rest.

One of the main streets (high street) in Naga City where I live. See the traffic at rush hour?

Can you picture this city now? No? Main transportation mode are Jeepneys, Padjaks, Tricycle. No buses visible and cars are a rare sight.

Robertson mall. One of the biggest already.

E-Mall: The most modern facilitated departmental store in BICOL, at 4 storeys high, just right opposite my hotel, there isnt much to shout about.

One of the main venues at the centre of the city with a Welcome board by a local pharmacist.

Sichara Cinema... there's only two in BICOL. This one is the best. No TGV or Goldenscreens, or even Cineplex... only 3 times a day for each show, this is one of the classic cinemas likened to the golden era of the past whereby the movie ads are still painted. Nope, I have not been in it.

Naga City market

... and this is about it. The radius that covers the city centre is about 5-10km end to end. After the borders, its all greenfields with paddy or mountainous areas. Mabuhay BICOL.. or rather in Visayans... Dos Mabalos Bicol.

Anyone who still wishes to come, I will be more than happy to give you a tour of Naga City absolutely free of charge, and a half day tour will give you a complete and comprehensive information about BICOL... more or less.

What Is & What Not's... A bLoT iN mY BrAiNs...

I had a read through my blog recently which I started since 2002. Browsed through randomly and found a few articles that brings a chuckle or two…

I still remember more than one occasion (here, here and here) I complained that in Pakistan, people that slacks big time as though they are in slumberland because they are so fond of the phrase ‘I Don’t Know’. I used to get very agitated and had to educate them about finding out, so on and so forth.

Now, in the Philippines, I don’t have to worry about that no more, instead, I have to worry about their commitments because their national prided phrases are ‘No Problem Sir’, ‘Ok Sir’ and ‘Tomorrow Sir’ in all situations, but do they know that sometimes, tomorrow never comes???? Its truly an eye opener working with them actually.

The people in Pakistan is in slumberland waiting for snow to fall whilst the people in Philippines are experiencing snowfall without one. Ever wondered why these two countries are lacking behind? … and that… I would say is about 30 years behind Malaysia.

I am not saying Malaysia is good though… they are structurally developed in that sense, mentally… still some way to go, but national pride and focus is way way out! I mean, lets take into perspective what Malaysia offers or has:

1. National Car – Proton
2. National Airline – MAS
3. National Budget Airline – Air Asia
4. National Resources – Petroleum, Gas, Water, rubber, tin, palm oil, Buatan Malaysia products, etc
5. National Treasure – Tourism, people of different walks of life, size, age, creed, tolerance and free practice of religion, etc

With this, ever wondered why Malaysia is still struggling to meet ends meet? Why the people are still squabbling over petty issues? Racial slurs in this 21st century?? Power-mongering dictators? Power hungry senates? Why is Malaysia still struggling when we are a nation of oil producers? Why are we still importing rice when we have our northern corridor of Perlis and Kedah filled with paddy fields? Where is FELDA? After 50 years of independence and staying together, why are the different races still wanting to rid each other? Are we losing our heads already?

What I see is eventually, Malaysia will self destruct in their own hands if nothing is done.

As for me, I am stuck in values. 1/3 of my life has been spent abroad and I truly believe, Malaysia is still a wonderful place to be in but as the years go on, the percentage gets lower. I believe many others see it the same way and want out.

I rest my case as a concerned citizen…. Hmmphh… hey… why am I ending up with the political bullshit? As if we care…

Moments of Vulnerability

Ever been in this situation?

Your life slows down to a gradual pace, breathing heavily, flashbacks of clustered memories fills the air, you try to reach for them but it passes by so quickly you cannot grasp what is going on, you begin to feel that you are losing control of everything, you are completely drenched in sweat, its like a dream and you are unable to wake up to reality, its almost surreal, you begin to float in and out of dreams and reality, then, you try to comprehend what is going on, it scares the shit out of you, you scramble your way out of the seemingly endless thick clouds filled with vacuums of unsustainable 3 second clips of your lifetime’s past.

You feel dizzy like, with a million needles piercing through your thick membrane, and suddenly you are beamed into another perspective, you hear endless laughter all around you. Moments later, you subconsciously wake up to a sledgehammer hitting your brains out. Still in a daze, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. You look at the clock, 1 hour had only just passed and it’s not even midnight yet.

You drink a glass of water, trying to calm yourself down and you hit the sack again with a million questions still playing in your mind. You cannot stay awake because you are still floating in and out and your head is killing you. You change into a new pair of PJs and lay yourself down again on the bed, trying to keep your eyelids as tight as possible, and tell yourself its all just a dream, reassuring yourself that it is ok. Moments later, the whole thing repeats itself…

Have you ever been in this situation.....?