Thursday, July 20, 2017

Bliss

That moment when you both look up from afar just to smile and wave goodbye.

I keep on saying this, I hope I can have this exact feeling again...

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Risau

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wa barakatuh....

If yesterday I wrote about my dreams should I be able to land a job in KL, today I will share what my plan is, if that did not happen.

This is my final year here, and although I have not spoken to the GM yet, I have a feeling that my service here is not going to be extended. Reason is, my boss gave me a non-hesitant approval to start looking for jobs, now that I am reaching the end of assignment. That is indirectly saying, we no longer need you, please go ahead and make the necessary plan towards the end of your time here.

For the past 2-3 years, Shell has been cutting jobs all around the world, Malaysia is not excluded. Been looking for job since May and I have yet to find anything. I don't even see many job in my field that are being advertised, at least not within Shell.

So, if I fail to get a job in Malaysia, by end of this year, what will happen? Big question....and indeed I have been thinking a lot about this as well. For the first time in my life, I am worried that I will not be able to provide for my family. Back in 2006, when I resigned from MP without having even 1 offer in my hand, it was less terrifying. Maybe because I don't have much commitment back then. Now all are on me.

Having that in mind, I came up with back up plans.

Plan A:
Take a break from working, and maybe pursue full time Masters Degree course. I've been wanting to do this for quite sometime. I have no discipline to commit to part time study. So a full year course should be fine and I have confidence that I can complete it. The only problem is $$ or should I say £££? Hehehe. Well, I did my diploma and bach degree in UiTM, so rasanya tak salah kalau nak berangan buat Masters kat oversea kan..

For this plan to work, I need to save up ~ RM 240K, that will roughly cover my tuition fee, cost of living in UK, cost of living mak in SP and some basic overheads for SJ apartment.

The semester in UK starts in September, but I will be free January onwards (depending on employment T&C with Shell is, so during the gap time, I have to think of something, my sister actually suggested doing Uber..hahaha. not bad, boleh la kot dipertimbangkan.

Plan B:
Venture into business, cake business maybe but I have to save some start up cost. So anyhow I still need to save money. For this one, I need to attend classes, take proper training and have some target customer. Maybe balik dok Kedah pun ok. Spoken to a friend that works with Mardi, she suggested bisnes cendawan tiram, menarik jugakla kalau pikiaq balik. So yes, this one definitely an option.

Plan C:
Find job with other O&G company. To be honest, I am kind of tired of working in the corporate world. Selagi ada rezeki with Shell, OK, but to apply to another company....boleh, tapi... banyakla tapi..hehehe. We'll see how. Rezeki ada kat mana-mana kan..?

So anyhow, life has to go on, and rezeki Allah ada di mana-mana. We will see how this will turns out.

Till next time, wassalam.

Monday, July 17, 2017

Haaalllllluuuuu....

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wa barakatuh...

Phhewww...no post at all in June. Sibuk nau puasa dan beraya kot..hehehe. Maybe. Its been a week since I came back to work. Puasa ganti baru sehari and doesn't look like I can finish all the puasa ganti, let alone puasa 6 this Syawal. Dua minggu beraya di tanah Malaya, enjoy sakan, mana nak posa. Konon nak posa bila balik sini, less distraction kononnya...

The first few days, layan jetlag, posa? gone..After that I was down with flu, sampaikan kena work from home as I could not stand the office aircond, its a centralized system, therefore we could not manipulate it. Now I am still recovering. Syawal tinggal lagi kurang lebih seminggu, and my cough is still lingering, so not likely I will clock any puasa days anytime soon. Tu la..waktu sihat kat Malaya tak nak buat, bertangguh... padan muka. Try better next year OK?

Speaking of raya, the normal topics that comes with it is open house. I've been holding mini makan-makan session here for the past three years and this year the tradition will continue insyaAllah, and this time around I have the extra help from my new neighbour. Hari ni nak plan detail on who does what. But based on our earlier discussion, most likely the menu would be:
  1. Nasi impit
  2. Kuah lodeh
  3. Sambal kacang
  4. Sambal ikan bilis
  5. Rendang ayam
  6. Lemang instant? - am not keen, but she insisted it
  7. Biskut raya - specially imported from Malaya. Nak buat kat sini memang tak la..dengan butter mahai nak mampss
  8. Kerepek - also specially imported from Malaya. Penuh my hand carry ngan biskut raya and kerepek..hahaha. 
  9. Special appearance of kek lapis - this is a surprise for my neighbour. Dia tak berkesempatan balik raya lagi, raya haji baru balik to Miri, so I took the liberty of belikan kek lapis and bawak balik sini :) would love to see her face when she gets it!
  10. Toffee date pudding - ni sebab nak pakai stok kurma yang bertahun-tahun dah kejung dalam my pantry. Hopefully it will turn out fine. 
I think by normal open house standard, we still lack of one main dish...but I maybe wrong. The mat saleh doesn't eat much. So we'll see how the discussion today turns out. 

On the same note but different token, I've been thinking a lot of getting another house in BJ. The apartment that I bought in 2013 was completed in 2015, and I've been furnishing it bit by bit. Its a small 2 bedroom apartment, so there is not a lot to be done. Lagipun most of my stuffs are either in SP or here with me.

It is a small apartment and last year I hosted the DIC girls and their family for buka puasa and it was crammed.. So imagine if I want to have open house, confirm la sempit kan. Besides, it is quite small to fit my family when they came for a visit. So that is why I am heavily considering buying a landed home. Now that I have the luxury to live here, I suddenly becomes pampered...huhuhuhu...

Now I am in the midst of applying for a new job. Shell Malaysia does not allow back-to-back overseas posting (even though ramai je trotting the globe one expat job after another :P) and I have to find a job in Malaysia. The job market is really tough for the past 2 years and not many jobs are available. Spotted one potential job, but still things are a little bit shady. So if ada rezeki dapat kerja in KL, my plan is to save up deposit money for a landed property in BJ. I love the area, so its a no brainer. I am not looking for a new development, a second hand house would do. A link house is fine as long as landed, nak banglo besaq2 sapa nak duduk? nak maintain lagi..banyak la pulak kerja. So based on what I want, the asking price right now is between RM 800-900k. Freaking expensive! Ko tengok la area mana..haha. So easily 30% deposit will come to RM 240k. Why 30%? Sebab that would be the 3rd house under my name..hehehe. Bunyi macam kaya sangat la kan.. but actually not. 1st house in SP is for the family, am not making any profit of that property. Kalau takdak rumah tu memang kami masih menyewa kat Flat DBKL.

Second house is this one in BJ. So if the link house plan comes through, I will most probably rent out the apartment. Nak kata buat duit sangat pun, maybe tak kot.. takat rent out satu pintu, barely cover the maintenance and monthly commitment to the bank.

So insyaAllah, kalau ada rezeki, here is my plan:

2018: stay in the apartment - save up deposits
2019: purchase the landed house in BJ. Hopefully the market is still slow. Been monitoring the price since last year, not much movement, economy kan still slow.. korek la duit mana-mana to make up to the deposits. InsyaAllah hopefully can move in the same year and start furnish sikit2..
2020: have my first open house kat rumah baru! yeay! InsyaAllah, semoga dipermudahkan. That now has become my very own 'Wawasan 2020' hehehe..

Why do I share all the details here? I noticed that many things that I have today, are a result of once a dream. When I dream of things, I visualize it and somehow Allah make it easy for me to work towards it. Talk about power of visualization! Betul ni, tak tipu...

First example that I can relate to is back in 2005, I was job hunting, fresh after graduation. Masa kat career fair, I passed my resume to Sony Malaysia, waktu tu dah berangan nanti email aku ada nama @sony.com.my ...gituuu.... hahaha.. Walaupun tak dapat Sony, look where I ends up now. Alhamdulillah!

And this expat posting, was something I visualized as well, years before I get the chance to actually apply for it. So tak ke pemurah Allah SWT tu?

Satu lagi ja visualization that has yet to come true.. that is to get married..hahaha. Well, rezeki yang ada ni pun dah syukur sangat dah. If I can find someone to be married to in this lifetime, its going to be a big bonanza bonus :D.

Panjang sangat la pulak kali ni despite not having any readers around..hahaha. Takpa. Bukan selalu pun update. Till next time, wassalam.