I finally got a job, yeahoo!!

introduction:
how coincidence that exactly 2months after my bday, i actually got a job.. in an architect firm! thanks to dad who juz happened to bump into Tuan Zainal (Pak Non, husband of the firm owner) during one of his seminars @ conferences.. and later, he hooked me up. Neat, eh? [Anak Arshad Architect] is situated at Taman Wira, Mergong.. right here in Kedah. A bit far from my place (15mins drive) but the good thing is that there's no parking tolls, coin slots or those pre-purchased tickets (do they still use that paper thingy?).. coz there's plenty space to park right infront of the building. Hence, carpark money is saved!!
RM5 per day (approx.) x 5 days a week (weekends are offdays) x 4 weeks in a month = RM100!! Now that's a lot to be exact. (^_^)

1st day (28th september 2005)
Arrived EXACTLY 8.30am at the firm (8.30am-5.30pm), but the doors are still locked. Waited a few minutes before the 1st staff came and unlocked it, and later around 9am everyone else came in and introduced + welcomed me to the firm. Kak Wan & Pak Non called me and a few staffs for a meeting regarding my new employment to the firm. As usual, no fun and games.. this firm means business. At any other firm, they would only let you focus on your specialities rather than teaching you to do everything so that if one day a certain staff is not around, you can still manage to run the company. Personally, I think it's right coz you can't just be an architect in a firm but you don't know how to answer phone calls or write meeting minutes, right? Anyway, let me try to recap the core of the firm (this particular office to be exact) before I forget..
Kak Wan
(firm owner. yes, a WOMAN with abundant architecture qualifications)
Pak Non
(the husband, manager in the business department)
Abg Shah
(manages the meetups with the clients, contractors, buyers & sellers, etc)
Abg Saparin & Abg Zul
(CAD operators, specializing in landscape)
Kak Fiza
(CAD operator, specializing in interior design)
ME
(CAD operator, specializing in graphic presentations)
Kak Ina
(receptionist & typist)
As soon as Kak Fiza & Abg Saparin knew I was good in graphics, they asked my opinion and gave me the liberty to re-edit 2 resindential projects. A double-storey terrace house and a single-storey bungalow, both needed new fonts + style to potray the best advert. Several hours later, I finished the editing and then they plotted (same as print, but a bigger-sized machine) it in colour and conincidently, the client wanted to meet up at that very moment. So, Abg Saparin drove us to meet the client, and he then presented the layouts of both projects. Amazingly, the client was satisfied with it.. and later we drove back to the firm. Had lunch with every guy staffs at nearby stalls, and back to the firm where I continued learning and chatting with the staffs. At 5.30pm, it was time to go home. Yeay!!! My 1st day at work was brilliant!! Met the wonderful staffs, did my 1st project, witness my 1st presentation with a client, and above all.. cita2 masa kanak2 utk menjadik seorang arkitek, insya' Allah akan menjadi kenyataan!! Yippieee!!


2nd day (29th september 2005)
One of the staffs, Min, finished his practical today.. so he brought spaghetti and pasta for everyone!! Nyummeeee!!! Today, there wasn't any outing.. but I was given an easier task. COLOURING. Yup, back to kindergarden ages. I was given a small project which were few plans (top view & isometric view) and plenty books of coloured materials (wall tiles, ceramic floor tiles) with different measurements (20x20cm, 20x25cm, 30x30cm, 40x40cm).. all for me to choose whatever colour I want to put on the plans. But of coz, I must be logical and not to be stupid enough to choose golden tiles for a store room or using non-ceramic floor tiles for bathrooms (slippery-textured floor tiles are not advisable.. hehe). At the end of the day, I managed to coloured all plans and had a full italian stomach. (^_^) Thanks Mim, eventhough I juz met you, all the best in your studies dude!!

3rd day (2nd october 2005)
I was invited by Abg Shah to follow him to Sungai Petani for inspecting a site, regarding the maintainance and complaints at PUSPA which happened to be one of the sites he's handling at the moment. Yes, there were a few other men (and a woman) to conduct the surveilance.. an air-conditioner technician, an electrical cabling expert, an interior designer, a water department representer, a public facility supplier, abg shah (head contractor) and ME. A lot of damages were seen at the site.. waters were dripping from the ceiling due to upper floor leakage, wires and cables were utterly in a mess (could cause short circuits), garbage cans and 'penyidai baju' weren't provided as promised, air-conds were not even cool at full blast mode, corridor lights were blinking and some are not functioning, etc. The site inspection took a whole day from morning till noon, which then finished at 1pm and everyone from the meeting went for lunch at D'Kayu Nasi Kandar, beside Tesco. Reached back at the firm around 3pm, I straightaway did more of the plans colouring (bcoz I didn't have anything to do at that time and I didn't want to fall asleep from boredom!). At 5.45pm, drove back home. And guess what?? I've finished downloading SMALLVILLE Season 5 first episode, "Arrival", yeahooo!!! Smallville is back in the states, oh yeah!!! (^_^)