New Beginning...

1st March 2007 was the starting point of my next quest in the working world...

There were mixed feelings on my 1st day at the new place... Its the same feeling I had when I joined a new school. Excited, anxious, worried and nervous... I remember when I was small, my family used to move around alot. From Melaka, to Genting Highlands, to Bloomington, Indiana, to Dekalb, Illinois, then back to Melaka, then to Batu 11 Gombak, Lembah Pantai and so on.... So my siblings & I changed school quite often.... Somehow, its like de ja vu all over again....Its the same feeling that had enveloped me that morning...

Had to wake up a bit earlier as the office hours start at 8am and I had to take the LRT too, after all these years. And I tell you, the morning rush hour is no child's play. Now I know how a sardine feels like.... Taking the LRT in the morning is definitely not a walk in the park and surely not for the faint hearted....Everybody was really rushing, walking very fast.... I really have to get used to the pace....

Anyhow, I arrived at the lobby on the dot - 8 am... The security was tight at this new workplace. I grimace at the fact that I have to go through the daily security checks . But then again, its a necessary hassle to ensure the safety of the folks inside the tower.

The first day went well. I felt like a "Jakun" (no offence to the Jakun people out there! Its just a common expression for "rusa masuk kampung") The office was impressive and modern. The HR people gave a short briefing and showed me around my floor. My cubicle was already prepared for me (yeah, cubicles again!). The PC was up and running, save for my email & telephone extensions.The colleagues were nice, most importantly the bosses seemed like reasonable men. I have to report to 2 bosses this time around. Both are serious people but are nice and calm. They seemed to focus on the work and deliverables rather than petty, unrelated stuff.

Finally, I get to get a sensible boss..... In fact I got 2 sensible bosses. Now its just me and the work. No more worrying about the bosses' temperament..... Its just about getting the job done... And the work is not going to be easy, its a totally new area that I have to deal with - engineering contracts, oil & gas related contracts, petrochemical jargons like feedstock, vinyl chloride monomer, hydro-chloro-carbons, bla bla bla...

Oh God, I feel like a fresh graduate just out of law school. I definitely need to boost my confidence. Need to do alot of reading. I wish they had an Idiot's Guide for Oil & Gas business. But with few old friends around, I think I should be ok. They invited me for lunch. We finally meet after all these years. I have to thank my friend, Mus who recommended me for my present posting. He's a true friend indeed. Good friends are hard to come by these days. Appreciate them while you can. Appreciate your family more too because they will always be with you, through thick and thin....

The first day ended well. I hope & pray that the coming days will be good as well, if not better....