JOB SWITCHING FOR BETTER PAY?Dawgs. Over the past year, I have to admit to job hopping. Temptations of the dough, company brand and job title have been my undoing I would say. I left Genting and over the course of the next 5 months or so, I have moved twice.
The moral of the story here is that if you really feel comfortable where you are depending on your current age, I believe its better to just sit your ass down. But then again, job hopping does have its benefits. Here's what I've come up with so far (by priority):
1. Better pay rise
2. Diversity in job environment and requirements
3. Know more people
4. Upgrade job title
5. Enhance interview skills
The cons are as below:
1. Unstable
2. Might move to a far too challenging environment
3. Lose touch with friends
4. Unemployable after 30
In my opinion, jobs come up because either the company is just starting up / got new projects or the employess to whom your replacing has left. Most likely its the latter in which case I have found to be of the following reasons:
a. Boss sucks
b. Work sucks
c. Too political
d. Someone got to clear leftover shit
When you think about it, the best places have already been taken. The most noticeable job vacanies are always of the finance related kind. Not surprising in that you'd have to deal with alot with number crunching, late nights, tight deadlines, low pay in lieu of more stress, and LLB (Look Like Busy) managers.
Currently, my job hours and pay are decent. My pay rise has increased over 30% after just 5 months because of moving around. Was it worth it as compared to staying around and supposedly gaining 'seniority'? I suppose.
HK - THE DEBRIEFHow much did I spend on shopping and eating? Close to RM2k I reckon. My personal goodies cost like RM1k already. My cousin's low rise HK4m condo was atop a mountain with very steep and narrow roads along the way. Takes about 1/2 hr from the airport. To my surprise, it was no bigger than my own condo which is no more than 1,000 sq ft. It seems that average income earners stay in far smaller confines like 300 sq ft. Jeez.
People there are quite hostile until they find out your a tourist. First experience was when airport taxi driver didn't even look at us and motioned us to place our bags in the back OURSELVES! When shopping, be prepared to fork out the cash if you ask lotsa questions coz the moment you decline and walk away after they have entertained your time-wasting questions, they're gonna berate you Canto-pop style.
Food was decent despite the heavy price tag at restaurants. Buying water outside is also quite expensive at around RM10/bottle. Best practice would be to carry along warm water from home and eat at hawker stalls. Their "yum cha" was just alright with slightly bigger prawns, and I must say Ipoh's Fu-san can be comparable. The highlights were definitely the goose meat, egg tarts and tea ice. Full of flavour!
Disneyland was a first for me. I think its better than Australia's Movie World and such. My parents were not very keen but were there just for the sights and sounds. They did thoroughly enjoy the 3D Mickey Mouse movie which was the best ever I've seen! Didn't manage to take many photos there coz the damn battery died early on.
Shopping at Mongkok was the bomb! We spent most of our time there and with their MTR system, it was a breeze to travel back home from just about anywhere. Just like in the movies, Mongkok was seriously overcrowded and decorated with limitless number of signboards that it almost seems different everytime you step out of a shop. Seriously, its so easy to get lost there, that the only way to trace back is to remember one of the many huge posters all over the place. Its really a sight to behold and only in HK you'll get to see this setup.
HK Central is their CBD with major branded shopping malls, restaurants and commercial buildings. Nothing much here except for this local market place located along a downhill alley way where we bumped into a very friendly local who guided us to their famous bakery serving egg tart, chicken & grandma biscuits,etc fresh from the oven. Good stuff.
Overall, it was a good trip and definitely an eye opener. I may have caught the travelling bug after this but it'll have to wait till end of this year. Next stop - JAAPAN!
Draped in BAPE
BAPE hoodie in pink camo with an Swarovski crystal engraved logo. Sporting also a rare Bape X G-Shock watch, produced in limited quantities of only 2000.
Rare M-65 jacket in red camo.Check it out! Got my dear some authentic BAPE clothing. If you have been living under a rock, "A Bathing Ape" or BAPE is the most exclusive underground clothing brand around. Sold exclusively in Japan, UK and recently HK, its the latest craze with a loud price tag to match. Unfortunately, like all other expensive brands, it has been exposed to the black market with imitations popping up like crazy particularly from China (T-shirts, jackets, hoodies), Thailand (T-shirts) and Korea (shoes).
Luckily, these imitations do leave clues that differentiate themselves from the original, and BAPE is no exception, though they are becoming harder to notice. I've spent about over RM1k on them lately with most goin to the miss. The ones above are the "slightly pricer" ones.
EBAY! LAND OF OPPURTUNITYBeen quite busy lately, packing and selling off more of my collectibles, including my dad's Rolleiflex 2.8F camera made in Germany! Surprising it was in mint condition with leather casing and it still works! It sold for about RM2,600 to a S'pore dude.
Most Ebay buyers would settle payment by Paypal (www.paypal.com). I had one dude from Luxembourg, who decided to pay for one of my figures for at least 3 times its original value using wire transfer.
Unfortunately, payment was delayed due to an error in the SWIFT code (www.swift.com) and we had to wait 4 weeks before everything was settled. The money was in EURO and had to be dealt in US$, so was transferred to one of Maybank's US agencies for conversion. But it was stuck there as the swift code for Maybank (MBBEMYKL) was incorrect! Luckily they sorted it out and it flowed through. Dunno if he had mistyped it!
Any-who, I've made about US$1,800 ~ RM6,700 so far just on Ebay. Aside from that, I did some COD with other interested parties locally through Play.com forums, but that's about RM200 only this month. I've got a one set selling for RM900 but I'm thinking of keeping as it might go up even higher in value later on.
And they say toys are for kids.... hmph....$$$
HONG KONG!That's right folks, I'm goin to HK! Though the MATTA Fair 2006 came and past, I didn't get tickets from there as apparently airport tax using MAS flights came up to RM500! Got Cathay Pacific instead and Joyce, parents and myself would be leaving the following Saturday morning.
Spending 5 days 4 nights over at my cousin's HK$4 million house located at HK central. Timing was right coz she was taking a holiday as well in Oz, leaving the place empty with 2 maids. That's right... she has TWO MAIDS in HK!.
She's apparently married to a ozzie too, and works fulltime as a flight stewardess on where else but Cathay Pacific! Yeah she could have gotten free tickets, but heck with it, I can pay!
Anywayz, Joyce bought a chinese travel guide to HK written by locals, thus making it easier to pin point hotspots quickly. She's doing a great job studying it, coz she's gonna be our travel guide too as we can't read chinese! :P
FAT WEEK AT GENTINGSo we managed to get the results out to the public on time. Woohoo! Not only that, Genting recorded a historical first net profit of RM1 billion.
We celebrated a late CNY breakfast at 9.30am on 1st March 2006 at our dept floor, where all Chinese execs contributed RM16 each for the catering. The same would apply to the others come Hari Raya or Deepavali. Check out the makan as shown below:
On the same week (Friday), we attended a company-sponsored lunch next door at Crowne Plaza (previously Mutiara / Hilton Hotel). Booked about 5 tables, 20 persons per table, RM70++ per person. Very pricey and not really fantastic. Buffet at Prince Hotel would have been better. Check out the group pics:
The eating story doesn't end here. There's going to be another makan session this coming Wednesday but this time, I've gotta pay RM20 coz one of our SVP has resigned. Apparently, our group will be having a day trip to Genting Highlands next Friday too. Lovely. Pity the auditors though ;P
Just a few more hurdles.....Annoucement of the unaudited Group results are due this Wednesday. Had to work late nights and through the weekends.
Haven't been catching much sleep and was sick for a week (still having cough). Even had nightmares about work. Here's one:-
Dreamt about balancing the accounts using various foreign exchange differences, which in my case involved MYR,USD,SGD,AUD,Rupiah,GBP and THB. The problem was it could never balance coz if one amount changes, the rest also does.... and so for some unholy reason, I was trying to get just one single figure across all the currencies.
Man.. I was tossing and turning all night. Well, the VP has told us that once Wednesday is over, we can take a break. BUT.... according to the grapevines, that deadline would be extended coz based on past history, we never make it.
All I know is that my 2 months here have felt long and tiring, but it happens only once a year. It should be quite plain n dull after that..... that is until the big annoucement of the winners of the Singapore tender is released.
In other news, the position for Accounts Assistant has opened up again, and apparently HR has mentioned about 80 people having signed up already. Dunno if I'm involved to interview the candidates. Would be nice to know how it feels to be on the other side of a formal job interview doing all the questioning.
News snippet from The Star and Resignation"Genting expects to clinch S’pore licence
GENTING Bhd is looking at a busy 2006 as it expects to clinch one of the two Singapore casino licences to operate in Marina Bay and Sentosa Island.
The de-regulation in Britain's gaming sector and return on capital re-rating from the expansion of its non-gaming assets, specifically energy, also augur well for the group.
Should Genting not get anything out of Singapore, ECM said there was always the other pillar of gaming liberalisation - Britain's casino de-regulation.According to an analyst, sentiment on the stock was boosted following reports that James Packer’s Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd and Stanley Ho have withdrawn their joint bid for the Marina Bay IR-cum-casino, raising Genting’s chances of securing the bid. However, a local research house said despite this, it believed Genting’s prospects lay with the Sentosa Island IR, not the Marina Bay IR as the former fitted in with Genting’s track record and experience. "NOTE: If the above is true, then my my... I'm goin to experience fits. I guess towards the end, regardless of the result, there was merit to my departure from PwC. Let's just see how it turns out.
Also, my Accounts Assistant has eventually tendered. After weeks of speculation and no showings, he poped an email via Hotmail notifying me and my manager of his taking unpaid leave and subsequent resignation. Not surprising really, as from his attitude, he couldn't take the pressure and having not turn up for work several times would normally lead to black listing and non-confirmation. So I guess this was the best move. Apparently, he wants to help out his deceased uncle's business. All d best to him.
Post CNY celebration at Port KlangToday is supposedly everybody's birthday. So what better way than to spend the family for good seafood at Port Klang. Loh behold, we arrived about 8-ish and it was packed! Nonetheless, we eventually found a table and feasted!
Dinner was about RM197. Not bad with all the usual seafood dishes (garlic fish, fried sotong, s&s crabs, fried mee and chicken). Was raining quite heavily and it felt very breezy at the sea side restaurant...... cool :)
My little fortune cookie!
During our visits, one of my aunts opened a fortune cookie boxset to pass us a packet for each of us. Quite cool coz I've never really received one of the cookies.
The cookie itself tastes alright, but I guess no one really bothers about the taste but more on the fortune inside. I heard different fortunes and most were centred around good health, wealth and so on. But there was one that read
'You will have control over the wisdom of the ages'. Very cool.
Mine read
'Suppose you could wish for anything you wanted....'. What the heck does that mean?? Mmmmm....
