Melbourne Posts (Part 2 - Sniffle me this...!)

This whole fever and cough is killing me...STILL! I have now lost my voice thanks to phlegm spitting coughs and I now sound like Jabba the Hut trying to speak Aussie! :( And to think I am gonna have heaps of teleconferences this week!

Despite that all, heading to work on a Monday in a foreign land was devoid of any blues, what with the perfect sunny weather and cool spring breeze to perk you up! Despite the coughings and runny nose, I was in office all sunshiny and ready to face the world of HR Processes via "Project Kerang"!

How abruptly it ended! (cue: dramatic music)

No sooner have I settled in, I was going to be introduced to the Australian Biatch of the Year!

I was minding my own business and my runny nose decided to do the sprint instead, so naturally my brain triggered my nose to sniffle; breathe your mucus in so it doesnt flow out. Out of nowhere a balding lady with spiked hair peered over my partition which nearly looked like a muppet out of your Childrens Television Workshop. "Excuse me! Could you stop doing that?! That sniffling! It just sounds awful!"

I was momentarily stunned! I couldnt think of anything to say but mustered a muted "Oh, sorry!" And down she went from the partition akin to Oscar the Grouch into his bin!

I was tu lan to the max!! And next to me, a lady was sick too. But I guess her BLOWING HER NOSE away seems to be a norm, not the annoying sniffling sound! Officially, my Monday was fucked! I left the office to work from my hotel afterwards...

Melbourne posts (part 1)

First and foremost, I personally dont like to fly MAS (especially after what happened to my cousin, a former lead stewardess - she was let go of her job for being pregnant with her 3rd child). However, its the company's policy to do so, and you would think I shant be complaining as it'll be in business class right? WRONG! I've complained more than enough, but you hear it from me...SIA is wayyy better! For the trip to Melbourne, the food has seen better days, entertainment seems to be on par with Astro's B-grade movie channels, plus the systems color and brightness was wayy off, the seat was not long enough (but I dont blame it for attempting to rest my 6 feet 1 frame) and one of the steward has this attitude problem that I didnt bother asking him for anything. Alas, they really need to depend on the satay to save their blushes! Now THAT could even give Haji Samuri a run for his...err, satay!

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Its springtime in Melbourne. With really good weather too!

That means sunny days with chilly winds, just the way I like my weather! Reminds me a lot of Bonn / Europe. Theres something about being in the cold and sipping a perfectly brewed hot chocolate, you really feel the liquid warming your chilled body, from the mouth to the tummy!

I arrived just in time for a huge national event, albeit it being in Melbourne. Called the Melbourne Cup, its an extravaganza of high fashion, free flowing champagne, legal bettings, elegant hats on posh women, heaps of food, super A list celebs...all centered around a HORSE RACE! Nah beh!
Its so big that its a public holiday here! They call it "The race that stopes the nation". I call it "Like the Oscars, with the Horses"!
I got up early (or tried too) to catch whats the fuss about. It lasted over 8 hours with each race not more than 3 minutes long! Crazyyyy!!!

On the downside of things...I got up with a fever on that holiday! And to make things worst, when I contacted my cousin who is studying over here...he said he was attending JT's concert at the Rod Laver Arena...where I have a super nice view of it from the hotel room, although not the concert! Now I thought what luck I would be having knowing JT is performing a day after I leave, but who would have known he is performing 3 freakin times! To top off my bad day, my cousin sold the last of his extra ticket a couple of days back! Why JT...why!!! You really want Sexy to come Back to your concerts right?! Sheeshh!

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Ok, I love Melbourne!

The garden-like city is primarily the reason. I havent gone out much (thanks to work and the damned fever), but I already see lots of museums, parks and gardens in abundance, lakes, nice Victorian architecture which makes it Europ'ish and ooohhh... a river!!! It is also the sporting and cultural capital of Australia...the Australian Open, the recent Commonwealth Games and many live concerts among the many events happening all year round!

More reasons to move over here...Melbourne was voted "Worlds Most Livable Cities" for 3 years!!

And Aussie chicks are one hot lot...apparently everyone seems to have a nice body, ohh and a super fine pair of legs!!
;)

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G'day from Down Under...

"I got some news for you", my project leader called me last Tuesday as I was heading for lunch. "I am not sure if you will like it or not". SHIT...not even a month and I got my first ticking off, I wondered nervously. "We have to take you out from the Middle East team and you need to fly to Melbourne immediately to join the Aussie team there," he explained. In between fits of controlled excitement, I calmly agreed, noting that if thats ok with team wants, I guess I couldnt say no. Besides...I am a team player (AHAHAHAHHA!).

6 days later...I am here in Melbourne! One more city I've added to my profile...I ve been down under before (cheeky cheeky), but this is the real thing!! I love the accent...I love the people...and I am loving this job! Crikey!

Dubai experience

Mini Tarts : Photos of Dubai shall be coming, subject to availability and how quick my colleagues upload them into facebook.

I really hate the fact that I dont have my camera with me! Damnnnn!! Dubai is one giant plot of land thats sprouting with aethetically designed buildings which are so damn eye pleasing. And its constantly on construction, as in more and more buildings are being built. Among others an exclusive (now tell me what the hell isnt exclusive there!?) Versace designed waterfront apartment that looks too good to be true and get this...the soon to be "Worlds Tallest Building...FOREVER"!! Why...cuz not only will the Burj Dubai be the tallest building in the world upon completion, if ever some other country is even thinking of outdoing them, the building has the capacity to GO HIGHER! WTF...like I thought only Singaporeans are kiasu (scared to lose)!

Well for the imaginative ones in you...just imagine how Las Vegas looks like; ie. a long strip of road heading towards the city and upon reaching there you have beautiful neon lights lighting up the way on both sides, emancipating from hotels, casinos, motels, one stop wedding chapels, stripclubs etc. Now for Dubai, think a SIX LANE two way highway as the strip (I meant 6 lanes on either side!) and New York City like buildings that suspisously look like designer perfume bottles decorating both sides of the highway.

Oh, to top it all off...the gorgeous, super porcelain skinned, all round sharp features and gorgeous eyes of Arabic ladies!! They're soooo beautiful I wouldnt mind converting...that way I can legally have 4 of them! And biggest myth...NOT ALL Arabic women are covered from top to bottom. Apparently thats how you differentiate the local Emirati women with that of other Arabic country women (Egypt, Morocco, Kuwait, Iraqi etc); the locals cover up. Some even dont show their eyes, their most beautiful asset I reckon!

But all in all, the Dubai experience was just so-so, mainly due to the fact I didnt do the real fun thing...desert safari'ing and snowboarding!! Yup...you read right...there is an indoor sky resort where your average sheikhs go snowboarding and skiing!! Awesome! Other than that...its similar to Singapore (10x worst in fact) in the sense that its an extravagant city for the rich, filled with upmarket shopping complexes and bazaars, posh and luxurious cars zipping here and there, plus a huge number of migrant workers that can be divided to mainly South Asians (cab drivers, construction) and Phillippinos (retail - 100% gay if its men, restaurants and hotel). And to add to the already confusing nature of how weird I look, I was mistaken for a Phillipino countless times (sometimes even in H&M when I am shopping!!). Bloody hell!

In the meantime, "Project Kerang" went on smoothly, although I must say certain characteristics are slowly rearing their ugly heads. And we're talking how much money is spent on bringing people there yet for some, it did suspiciously look like a holiday. As for me, heaps more learning to do and definitely an eye opener!

Looking forward to going there again...

Mission: Impossible

And so the journey of the accidental consultant continues. You know this is cliched when you hear ppl say "you learn along the way". Never more so with this line. Upon my attachment to my first project (more of that later), I quickly learnt / realised that the consulting line is similar to that of those super agents working in IMF, (not the higher-than-any-national-debt Intl Monetary Fund type, but more the uber cool espionage type Impossible Mission Force). You see, firstly you have a "profiler" that looks at profiles of all the available "agents" (us), views and compares the agents according to their strengths and skills and what nots to then match them to available "missions" (projects). When I was briefed bout my upcoming project (no we didnt get it from shades or tape recorders that blew up after 5 seconds), I already had a stupid grin plastered on my face as the bloody Mission Impossible tune was blasting in my head!

To my project...obviously nothing I could / would talk about except it involves the implementation of key HR services from one place to another. May sound like Russian Opera (read: I dont give a shit!) to others but it definitely tickles the HR afficionado's fancy for sure, or I think! Now the irony to it all is that the client is one of the places I would love to work for too, which I applied as well and is in fact Malaysia's TOP place to work (so says some survey). So unique is this project that us "agents" are "embedded" with the client where the mission will take place, meaning I get my gears and accessories from here as well (ie. email address, laptop, smart cards, similar holidays etc). It also means I am hardly ever at home base in Uptown, unless I am there to "claim some ammo" (literally do my mileage and claims!). Lets just call this project, "Project Kerang" (pic).

Already I was considered lucky as this project requires me to travel...it was in fact THE REASON I chose it in the first place. And right before my first salary, I am required to fly with my team to the Middle East, specifically DUBAI on the 20th! But funny enough, and cliched as it may sound, timing is in fact such a bitch! I fly smack on my mum's birthday, plus THE AIESEC EVENT OF THE YEAR (no, its not some National Committee election, but the AIESEC Msia Awards Night - acronyze it and you get AMAN which is PEACE in Malay, yup...the WORD for AIESEC!) and following that a combined birthday party of several close friends in a suite at Berjaya Hotel! You would think you ll get a natural rush of excitement at the mere thought of business class travelling for work...but not surprisingly its a bit lacking in me this time! :(

Try as I might to get an ounce of excitement...I wiki-travelled and googled about Dubai and at least knowing its a shoppers paradise kinda pleased me a little. Ok got even perkier knowing that there is H&M too! Of course lets not mention the skyscrappers and many man made islands of which Nat Geo has been showcasing far too many times! However before this I got excited about the mere mention of the Burj Al Arab...but blame it on the mood, or the fact I dont even have a freakin camera, or that I am missing several major events...the feeling is just not there!

Connecting the DOTS

Mini tarts: Thanks to the sweet and lovely messages for those of you who thought it was nice to send sms'es on someone's first day on the job! It definitely melted my heart. And for those who always never fail to shower me with positive vibes wrapped with hugs and smiles and kisses to someone who was at wits end with his misery the past few months...needless to say it kept me going! And for those of you that predicted right and who need to say this...you can all collectively say this out loud so that it smacks my face real hard... "I TOLD YOU SO!"
Here's to a super journey in corporate Malaysia...

When I returned not too long ago (which sounded awkwardly wrong!), AIESEC UM invited me and Eric to share our AIESEC experiences, focusing on our working abroad journey. Now this was after we both went to an exchange participant preparation camp in Port Dickson (they call outgoing and incoming trainees that now...whats next, LEGAL IMMIGRANTS / LABOR WORKERS??).

The PD sharing was short, but it was great because the content of our experiences (although shorten dramatically to 7mins each!) gave the future ambassadors an inside and insights into whats it like going for a work abroad experience. We both enjoyed the attention given too (who wouldnt!), and shortly after that came the UM sharing...this time the crowd were the new members.

As I am always gaming for a difference, wandering how could our sharing be different than any other 'reintegration' sharing...I suggested to Eric that instead of presenting it alone, we should try to do it together. Themed "Connecting the Dots", we thought it'd be cool to share our experiences through our perspectives / dots. It would add heaps of leverage on our unique experiences together, plus doing things a little bit out of the box. Now who would ever have a sharing like this, our different lives intertwined through connected dots such as Chief Delegates for our delegation to our first national conference, rejected Local Committee Presidents, 'recycled' National Committee members and team mates in AIESEC Malaysia, facilitators in an Asia Pac conference and then...our work abroad experience at two neighbouring countries, Belgium and Germany. And now, sharing this story filled sojourn across continents in a lecture hall where it all began (at least for Eric).

We thought it went really well, although our ending was rather hurried which resulted in a rather not so good ending after all, at least for us. Not to mention some who took my constant proclamation of "how our dots connected", it got people to curiously suspect if we're both trying to publicly come out of the closet twogether!!!

Anyways, apparently the DOTS seemed to be connecting again...


May 2006 - Eric's first trip visiting me in Bonn. Our sojourn across Europe (mainly Belgium/Germany) became a monthly affair.


Sept 2007 - Same shirt, same company...the dots get connected!

I think I can safely say I owe my current job to him, as it was he who suggested me to send my cv to his current employer. I noted that I consulting isnt me, what more from the Big 4 which I never fail to shun whenever it comes to interesting opportunities, but what the heck...and voila...before you could say "Con+inSult=Consult", I got the job!

The pics were taken from our company's recently organized Impact Day, an annual community service activity. It was held the Friday before I officially began. We were at a disabled childrens home that housed several adults and old folks too. I thought it was a nice way to break the ice by joining the group early, despite not officially on payroll yet ;) Plus its doing a little bit of good for the society which will definitely get any ex AIESECer / Interact'er on board anytime!

Business analysts to consultants to managers to partners...on that day we broke ranks and built hope.



Impact Day - Kirtarsh Handicaped And Disabled Children's Home

How things can change...

Mini tarts: Ok it has been FOREVER! Things has definitely changed for sure...but lets hope this blog shall continue with a new zest.

"How things can change!"

That statement hit me reall hard the moment I got news that my original offer to continue working in Germany got cancelled! I was told before I left by my supposed future boss to enjoy my hols back home. I even had tran-fuckin-sition! I left 2 thirds of my belongings in Bonn! Once home, I waited anxiously for the unconfirmed official offer...and after inquiring about it one week upon arriving, I got the worst ever reply. A warm, pleasant lady boss (supposed i thought) replied in the most cold, cruelly blunt way stating that they will not pursue the offer. Why? She promised to call to explain...but didnt. Very professional...PROFESSIONALLY BITCHY! I was left ruing what could possibly be a great future with the Yellow Company. At the end of the day, I was understood that my old dept bitchhead played a part in it. Bless her...

"How things can change!"

This was the 2nd time I was offered another position within the same company, albeit a different role. Alas all was not well too as again, the offer was cancelled. Excuse this time was they cant justify hiring me over a local. Err...ever heard of globalisation??

For this, I even went to Singapore for a face to face interview for the role in Bonn. Job scope was given, team mates told, everything except the legal paperworks. 3 days later and I called the Singapore office...only to be told of that stupid excuse. Strike 2...

In between, an offer within Malaysia (Yellow company again) which I rejected for the one in Bonn promised to get back to me if the Bonn thing didnt happen. It didnt, I got back to the Malaysian one...and no replies! 4 weeks later, another mail...this time saying I would be surplus to requirement. Strike 3...

"How things can change!"

This statement reflected how my life, which at one point was happily confirming the fact that I would be embarking a permanent role working abroad and building my life abroad, reacts to a broken dream, cruelly shattered by office politics! Who would have guessed it would become my worst nightmare!

Staying at home reflecting all this didnt help either. I will always end up being all furious and disappointed and really upset. Dream career down in the dumps, living abroad dreams crashed...i didnt even bothered bout the fact that most of my Zara's are still in Bonn! Having a pressuring mum didnt help either...plus situations at home made things much worst! At times my parents didnt want me to return to Bonn at all...confusing me sooo much more!

I didnt feel like going out...thanks heaps to some close friends who did pester me in the end (forking the bill out was definitely a good way...I owe them for sure!). I didnt bother replying mails or updating my friends abroad. Mood wasnt there at all...

"How things can change!">
In the pursuit job hunting in Malaysia...despite being overly confident yet the very desire to find a suitable, yet challenging company to suit my own personal and professional needs seems to be a huge obstacle for me to find that RIGHT job/company. Every single day waiting for a response equals to the ego glass getting thinner and thinner, ultimately making one losing the confidence that used to maketh the person in him. It definitely brings on the humility test! You ask yourself if you re even worth it! Its during these times words of encouragement from friends really, and literally pick you up!

Each day that goes by, felt like eternity in the job hunting world. Job portals, classifieds, networks, head hunting firms...tried all of it! I am just damn picky when it comes to jobs as much as I am picky on them girls.

"How things can change!"

More than 20 hours of interviews and several more interesting options, I have now embarked on a new journey with the ideal company which I believe suits my needs and wants and everything more. Its weird that I for one never thought of myself working in the consulting line...always thought it was a job that kills of your social life just so you can put up your nose real high and say "I'm a CONSULTANT for so and so..."

But nearly all the company that responded to me were in consulting, or so they said! Turns out...some of them were mere disguises...like a Sales job disguised in Consulting! Like, I so hate having a set of targets to achieve! Dont get me wrong...targets for sales vs career targets/goals are very different!

Ultimately it boiled down to two companies. One had me meeting my team leader on one day, a phone interview the next day with its managing director, a further interview with another director, managing director and HR on another day...boy, everyone except the cleaning lady interviewed me! The company is a well known headhunting firm but they re opening up their consulting branch within the APac region. Suffice to say, theres gonna be a lot of SALES (or Business Development) work involved. When they offered me...a desperate me would have just took it!

Nevertheless...I decided to reject it, hoping the answer which I so wanted will come. The answer came...positively! So after the endless wait...the roller coaster of emotional rides...the humility and ego shattering moments, I am up and running again...and hopefully will this blog too!

So where am I now?

Businessweek for September end issue placed it tops of their 50 Best Places To Launch a Career.

Although the survey was rather surfacial and very US centric. Plus, its for the bean counters, not the consulting line. But we all jump on cheap publicity anyways...

My nose aint high...but I can kiss my social life goodbye! Guess theres gonna be more adventures coming from "The Accidental Consultant"...how things can change indeed!

My last swipe to the Yellow Company...well I am not a bitter person. But despite only a year there...I bled YELLOW! I loved the job and most of the people, the culture and even Bonn! I was gonna be the rare breed that was gonna be loyal. I was so gonna be that super employee which have the critical skills they re yearning to find. Alas...it was not meant to be. Their loss then...