歩いていこう

And I finally made it a point to sit down and write something (at like 2.40am). Talking about procrastination. Been wanting to talk about the new job, for the longest time. The last one wasn't counted, since I wanted to do it in case I never do. So here's the real stuff.

The location, at Marunouchi, is simply great. I'll just say having lunch everyday is quite a headache coz there's just too much choices around, either just within the building or a short walk away. We have a convenience store, Starbucks and another few less well known cafes around. The company has its own pantry at every floor, with drip coffee, tea etc available, or vending machines if you prefer. The washroom is clean and nice too (cant find other words to describe), is one of my fave places now. MUFG Bank is just a road across, so I can run over to settle any business I might have, like robbing the bank during lunch. Yurakucho and Ginza is just a very short walk away, so I find myself spending more time there than at home these day. :S

The company, is as expected, pretty professional in the ways they do things. There's the right people to take care of your matters, be it HR, IT, etc... you may say hey, these are pretty standard teams that exist in almost every company! But then again, I've experienced the best kinds of internal support staff who run away without giving you the solution you need, so this is reeeally like a luxury for me. After talking to a few people, I realised that this is one place where you can look at moving across functions/countries and do what you want, as long as you prove to be good.

There's some things I don't really like about like the fact that we work based on the office hotelling system, I dont get a permenant desk and so no decors, which they don't allow anyway (due to info privacy issues). The security here is damn tight, especially IT. I cant use the notebook with any USB device (unless approved) or connect to WiFi save for the office or mobile svc they provide us. And by saying 'cant', i mean it is prohibited theoretically and technically. Data are not to be saved on the local drives too (we have our own drive in the network) and the rule is if you are not heading home straight after work, don't bring the PC back. Another 101 things abt info security but it doesnt come as a surprise when working in this field. Oh and a few scandals in this industry recently made the company restrict all company related parties, which means no 忘年会、新年会、送迎会、etc..... darn!

With that number of staff in just that office, I already have difficulties remembering who's who. For the first 2 weeks, I made it a point to remember at least the last names of the team membes. Wasn't easy when half of them are shuttling out to client sites most of the time. Office hour officially starts at 9.30 am, but not many come in in time. In fact, I'll surprise you with the fact that I'm one of the earliest and had been on time save for 1 day.

The partner who interviewed me, turned out to be the way I expected. Funny, friendly, and is kinda a joker haha... there were mornings when I reach the office when the lights were still partially on (coz everyone's not in yet!) and he was seated there doing up some presentation. When I walked over to say Good Morning, he'll get all freaked out and give a loud startled shout and freak me out as well. I've checked myself in the mirror and made sure there wasnt any eyeliner smear or messy hair. Guess that's the way he is, super jumpy. The good thing is that he is super friendly and approacheable (as with all the others) so the staff are always joking ard with him casually.

Our team leader, who was the SM who interviewed me as well, is not what I'd made him out to be. Felt during the interview he's kinda stern (but good with what he does). Well, I was right about the part of him being good, but he's definitely not the quiet or strict guy, even though he might look like one when he's working. This guy is another joker, who hangs around talking to the team about everything the sky, which I think is good and one of the things you need to do as a manager, to let ur members feel you are with them. On the other hand, he seemed so capable that even the partner respects him, though there are times when I found him saying the wrong facts (about non-work stuffs that is haha...). One thing he surprised me was that despite his pretty slim frame, he actually eats Yakisoba/Okonomiyaki with rice, like a real Kansai guy! I havent met someone who does that, for the record.

We had lunch one of those days and had a great time talking about life, Singapore, Japan, the team, and some stuffs I wanted to know about the industry. When he asked for my opinion of the team, I told him that I used to be very wary of a group with majority ladies and was surprised with this team being non political even with that number of females. He said to me "Well, that's because they are not ambitious, and that gets me worried at times.". I was kinda taken back by his words and just looked down at my pasta for 30s wondering if I agreed with him or not. Perhaps it was true afterall but I just wished he wasnt that blunt abt it.

I have a mentor, who feels like the ex mentor. When I was introduced to him on the first day, I looked into his eyes and felt like, hey, this was the same guy 6 years back! But no la, this guy is an angmoh who looks very much like Tom Cruise. Ehhh but somehow he just doesnt feel the same, i think he lacks the charisma and the team lead said that's coz he's a geek. Bleargh anyway, this is another smart guy, who really inspires me with how he do things. We had a talk about how he ended up here, and it wasn through pure luck but with lotsa of hard work. He clearly knows his targets and work smart towards them. Having him as my mentor is a good thing coz he'll challenge you with questions to think about and explore ideas. On the other hand, it might be kinda stressed when I'm not in the mood for it or just feeling tired. This guy thinks and talks damn fast, and I mean it. Maybe all these really fits the specs of a Geek.

The team (the rest of them) is an amazing mixture of people. We have another few joker SMs and Ms around, and they are the people who liven up the place while the rest of the staff work hard staring at their PCs. There's this funny SM guy who has big laughter and actions, that I cant help but look at him when he sits opp me doing the silliest things. We have a preggy SM who is very cute in her own ways, and I really adore her for being a career woman despite having her 2nd kid. One guy puts me off abit when he tries to talk to me as if he's damn cool and all. But deep down, I think he reminds me of Charlie the Geek, just a nicer and not-so-geeky-LOOKING version i guess? Anyways, he's proven to me to be quite irritating, though there's times when I think he's sincerely nice and I shouldnt be such a mean bitch.

Gotta talk about the girls (my lunch mates) in another post else I won't have any sleep for today! There's still this half of the team who have been situated off site for over 3 weeks and I've only met once during the welcome party. More to come, it means!

Woohooo 忘年会 with the family tonight!

Feeling kinda... rich!

First pay cheque in yen is in!! Feels rich seeing all the zeros (and refusing to face the fact that this is yen).

Gonna hit the malls tmr!! No prize for guessing where ;P Santa Claus is coming to town!!


Finally started moving my big fat ass and got some things done for the wedding... hope the momentum can continue to go on hee...

不要对我太好

。。。我会想入非非的。

And dont even try to impress me, coz I already am.

Short one

Finally got some time to write something *phew*

Been wanting to write about the new company, team and job for the longest time (or it seems). So it's been slightly more than a week, and I kinda like it here =) It's not perfect, but I guess the environment works out better for me (compared to the previous one). People here are flexible about the timing you turn up for work, lunch hours and etc, just as long as u get the job done. There's ample facilities for staff and the fact that the current office is in the heart of Japan's CDB, I'm kinda spoilt for choice when it comes to lunch! The downside is of course, each meal costs at least ￥1000. Not good that Starbucks is just a trip down to the first floor *blushes* I can go on and on.....

One thing though, they are damn strict with security (IT and everything else included). We're not authorized to install a thing onto the PCs (new ones!), which includes the IntelliPoint app for my mouse!! Grrr.... and everything you sent (is prob) scanned locally and remotely, no attachments can be downloaded via webmail, etc etc.... FB isnt blocked but it doesnt mk a diff coz nobody surfs the net for personal stuffs in the office anyway! I suspect this is the case for companies in this line.

As for the team, I like them too! Well maybe that's coz I have been doing training with barely any real jobs involved, until today. Everyone seems nice, except for this geek who turns me off abit. Too bad I had to work with him on something today and realize he's not that smart (and not a good manager) at all. There's surprisingly more ladies than guys, considering the fact that this is IT related. I can only reason out by imagining females are more keen and better in linguistic stuffs and most of us here are at least EFFECTIVELY bilingual. I stress the word 'effectively' coz in the previous place, people are not as multilingual as they claim to be. Anyways, the ladies are nice, and this proved me wrong that workplaces with ladies tend to be more political. Maybe I'm right and haven't seen it all yet. We'll know. But at least I can tell the partners and SMs are pretty humane, and joke around with us so often, I think the staff seem more 真面目 haha....

Besides work, I'm so glad we made the bookings for flight back to SG!! It's damn exp la, like 4.8k for 2 pax, economy class of course! No choice coz this is my only chance to be back and I planned to She wasnt my first choice (whom I was dead set on initially) but after we both looked thru the works of the 'candidates', we both loved those things she captured and went for her! Am lucky enough that she wasnt booked yet yay!

Ok, that's it for now. I'm off to bed and slog it out!