Abang Bomba...

I had a taste of what its like being a fireman or "Abang Bomba" during the induction course... at least for 2 hours or so... During the last week of our last practical training, we had to undergo a fire safety briefing and practical session.

Which suddenly brings back old memories.... The last time I handled a fire extinguisher was when I was 13 years old. It was not a pleasant thing for me to remember as I almost burned down my mom's kitchen.... Yes, you read it right, I almost burned down my mom's kitchen stove and the whole kitchen. And this was in the US of A when my father was pursuing his studies...

For some reasons which I can't really recall, I was trying to cook something in the kitchen of our rented house in Dekalb. My mom was not at home at the time, most probably away buying some groceries with my dad and I was feeling kinda hungry (yeah, now I remember!!). So I decided to go to the kitchen and try to find something to eat.

I think I wanted to fry some eggs, started to turn on the stove and put the frying pan on the stove. Whilst beating the egg, I didn't realise that there was a "kain buruk" near the pan (normally used by my mom to wipe the stove) that had caught fire. When I saw the "kain buruk" on fire, I jumped and panicked like a chicken...

Lucky for me, there was a fire extinguisher near the kitchen (may God bless whoever put it there!) and I instinctively pulled the pin and started spraying the stove with the white powder.

The result.........well..... the fire was gone and my mom's kitchen was like Santa's Wonderland.... You can imagine how shocked my mom and dad was when they got home that day....Well, I leave that to your imagination....

A hungry 13 year old who thinks he knows how to cook and handle the kitchen stove is indeed a recipe for disaster!!! Alhamdulillah, I survived, thanks to the fire extinguisher.....

Well, I never thought I would have to handle the fire extinguisher again....

And this time around, about 20 years later, I get another opportunity, this time around, in a controlled environment.



As u can see here, they just had to brief us in the scorching Terengganu sun. Man, it was hot, especially wearing those thick coveralls. Luckily there were some trees to provide us some shades....



Here is yours truly, testing the fire extinguisher, to see whether its working before i put out the burning flame... it better be working... or else... wearing the thick and heavy fire retardant suit is also not something easy in the hot sun....




Here we go!!! "Spray the flame, spray the flame....!!! Sweeping motion, sweeping motion" - shouts the trainer!!!....



"Fuh...lega...dah padam pun...."

In the end, it was almost like second nature for me, to use the fire extinguisher that is... hehehe....

Thanks to the experience I had some 20 years ago....

DSCN0925, originally uploaded by Pak Uda.

This is not a DIGI advertisement. I repeat..... We are not the fat yellow people.... And the green ones are not from Maxis either!!!

This one of the many pictures taken during a recent 3-weeks Induction Program I attended. Its a picture of my group taken after our practical lessons on fire safety & fire extinguishing practical session. There's more pics to come....

Indeed it was a very fun & enjoyable experience, learning new things & stuff about a totally new industry for me... (Not so fun for Mak Uda though as she had to take care of my 3 kids for 3 weeks all alone). Thanks honey, for your patience & understanding. I love u so much!...... :-)

I also felt like a fresh graduate, just out of university. With almost 95% of the participants new staff who are fresh grads, I had a rather easy time to blend-in with them.

For last 2 days of the course, we had to wear these yellow (and some green) coveralls for practical workshops at my company's Institute of Technology in Batu Rakit, Terengganu. For a moment, I felt like one of those DIGI people.

For the record, even before DIGI had their yellow people, the off-shore and onshore technical and plant staff had to wear these yellow coveralls. Why yellow? Well, nobody bothered to ask the instructors but I suppose its because the colour is striking and makes it easy to find you in case of an emergency.

In the end, I gained new knowledge and experience, got new friends and boosted my confidence in working at my new workplace.

Its Been A While....

Its been more than 4 weeks since I last posted an entry in my blog.

Well.... I've been busy and a bit lazy too....

Busy adjusting to the new workplace, new things to learn and unlearn, new environment, new colleagues, busy attending a 3-weeks induction course for new staff in Bangi & Kerteh. And I have no time to blog at the office like I used to.

And to write in the evening after coming home from work is simply not something easy to do when you're tired, with 3 small kids and me wifey needing your attention . Being maidless since late last year meant that both of us have to do our daily household chores on our own.

And there also the laziness factor due to the lack of motivation and ideas to write something.... Can't gripe about a tyrannical boss and the company this time around....Darn it!

Anyway, just would like to thank my friends (Leilanie & Ayu) for your practical suggestions on how to overcome my newest "problem" - my inner demons. I seem to prefer Leilanie's suggestion though.... Ayu, pls come up with a better suggestion next time! And please, no more Voldermort..... My life is a much much better & pleasurable without him in my mind....



With Spiderman 3 out this week, I can relate to his problems of facing his own inner demons... (che wah!). I mean the man has got his own intra-personal issues. I think everyone has their own inner demons to deal with.... What is important is the will-power to confront and overcome these inner demons..... And please don't tell me the ending of Spiderman 3 as I've not seen it yet. Tickets are so hard to come by these days....

Oh yeah, I've decided to have a new background template. The previous background template somewhat reflected my mood back then. It was simple in layout, dark, mysterious yet colourful. Perhaps there is a psychological interpretation to this....

I've decided to liberate my inner self from old baggages, old bitter memories and some of my inner demons (there are still some inner demons left to do battle with) and come up with a more refreshing yet simple and no-nonsense background.

Its time to get on with my life and enjoy it to the fullest..... Its time to truly move on....