at d top of my hate list is "ad-hoc" (%$#@?!!*). but if it's what pays me, i dont have a choice. so here's my story, you might suffer from slight headache since i'll be going back and forth on it.
the trip
it started as early as 0450 on tuesday morning. i had to be at the airport as early as 6 since i havent paid for my ticket so my alarm was set at 0400 and 50mins later my (caring) bf fetched me at home and sent me to the airport. we reached der an hour later, thanks to the light early morning traffic.
9 hours earlier i managed to book myself a seat on the almost-fully-booked first flight down south so i went straight to the ticket counter feeling assured as i already have a seat. i headed straight to the check in counter and queued with a bunch of Bangla's who was heading back to Dhaka (damn it!) then i realized i was queuing at the wrong lane.
i was at the departure hall about 45minutes before the plane took off and 50mins later i was already in JB, the land of the unknown (to me). when i touched down, i headed straight to the cab counter and took a cab down to Pasir Gudang, by myself.
met up with the business partner before entering the meeting which lasted for 2hours or so. before we left, grabbed a quick lunch at tg puteri golf resort and from der, yazid came to my rescue. fyi, yazid is one of our personnel in charge of hr at the shipyard. he drove me to the airport and it was about an hour's drive because he didnt take d shortcut but nvm, its good to have someone help me get around.
going back i didnt have a ticket because earlier the ticketing person said i had to be waitlisted but i gave them another call otw to senai airport which was really a gamble but luck was on my side, there's one seat available (Alhamdulillah!) at 1840 which is the earliest. when yazid dropped me off, i headed straight to the ticket counter and there she was, my long lost friend - zack (short for zakiah).
i checked in at around 1700 and waited for my rocket to come. earlier i saw a familiar face and after a long thought, i remembered it was d guy who interviewed me for a job about two months back. itd be awkward to go up to him to say hi so i didnt despite being offered the job (sorry sharma <---- still remember his name!)
left at sunrise, going back at sunset
departed at 1850 and touched down at klia at 1940 and 15mins later got myself a ticket for the express train to kl sentral. the train left the terminal at 2000hrs sharp and reached my destination at 2028 and 5mins later my daddy fetched me at kl sentral. phewwww...it felt so good to heading back home.
the meeting
initially the meeting was scheduled at 0930 but after going back and forth between the partners and client, it was pushed to 1130. client's office is in in pasir gudang and business partner came down from singapore.
the meeting leader reminded me of shrek the ogre, no joke (mainly because he acts like one). anyway, they initiated a teleconference between us and subang office but it didnt quite happen due to some bad technicalities. sorry boss, it was beyond my control.
my role was purely "secret agent" (no joke!) so most of the time i was doing the listening and i didnt say much coz i wasnt gonna burst my cover. after 2long hours of discussion, the guy who minuted the meeting came up to me and asked for my business card but i told him i didnt bring mine and instead i wrote down my name on his diary. he was surprised to see my name prolly because i blend well with the other two gentlemen i came with. "you're malay??!". duhhh.
the long lost friend
you know how things are when we use social networking like fb. my friend zack, i've known that she has been working with an airline co and based at the airport down south but never have i tot i'd be seeing her dat day.
my fren usop referred to us as "double Z"
btw, this is my friend zack, we've worked on numerous project together and
were tight back in sri iskandar
but due to unforeseen circumstances, i had to get my return ticket which took me to the ticketing office at the JB airport. as i walked through the door, i started scanning the room which only had 3 counters - MAS, AirAsia and FireFly and there she was, looking stunned to see me! i was overjoyed to see a familiar face after walking about a mile to get inside the airport (airport under reno so d entrance/exit is at the veryyy end of the place).
d last time i met her mustve been at least 3 years back, when we were still in uni. despite being on duty, she insisted to help me pick up my ticket and check in. i wudve loved to buy her a drink for being so hospitable but she really didnt have the time. zack, tqvm for being there dat day! next trip down south i'll definitely give u a heads up.
the shoes
two weeks ago, since my working shoes suffered from "bruises", i decided it was high time i got myself a new one. so while walking around a mall with my bf one fine eve, i went into a shop and fell in love at first sight with a black pair of comfy heels. when i tried one size down my actual size, i contemplated for a while but then after the cashier convinced me that it was super comfy for its height, i bought it anyway.
i did the breaking-in last week so for 5days ive been walking around in it at work and it proved to be kind to these super sensitive and always-blistering feet. so tuesday morning i slipped into them and headed to the airport in it.
at klia alone, i mustve walked about 1km around the area (getting ticket, checking in, walking down the long departure hall, etc) and when i reached JB, it was easily another 1km getting out from the terminal to get the cab. when i reached client's office, i walked another 300m to get to the main building and then back to d airport in JB, then klia then kl sentral. you do the maths. if my feet could speak, they'd be screaming but they didnt.
the shoes was comfy enough for all the hard work dat day. kaki tak sakit ble sakit then ble hilang sakit tu. a lil magical for me.
but yesterday in the office it had it's first bruise on the left side...almost ruined my day coz im starting to love it.
all in all...
damn, it was super tiring but im grateful that i met all the nice people who helped me with lotsa stuffs along the way.
