funny how ww10 has been communicated since before the Christmas holidays as the prospective date for headcount reduction actions in my department... and since then up to now, not much has been revealed in terms of scale/magnitude of this cut in resources. People are generally kept in the blue as people up stairs are trying to "figure it out" Guess what? D-week is finally here... whether you're in or you're out... you will know by end of the week...
the experience so far is relatively interesting in my opinion... sometimes you just end up not knowing how to feel. do i feel excited because another drastic turn is about to happen in my life? or do i feel oh shoot, this is it, i might be unemployed soon...
- not too big of deal -
yup, that's my conclusion. Either way, I am sure i will be able to figure something out... probably some other unforeseen opportunities might turn up from the event of this....
hmmm... what does it feel like to walk into the bosses office and take a seat... and wait in anticipation like an american idol finalist waiting to hear verdicts from the judges... ?
Shall keep you guys posted on the experience... bet it will be worth sharing... :)
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Airasia OnTime Guarantee
Hello 2009!
I remember it was quite a few years back that i first took Air Asia... I remember my first trip on it was actually a KL to Kuala Terengganu return. If I am not wrong, this should be dated sometime between 2000 and 2002... pardon my memory lapse to pin point the exact date... but date is not important in this story... what happened was in the return trip, me and my family had to wait at the KT airport for a good 4 to 5 hours due to delay. At that time, I remember hearing that Air Asia often have delays due to the fact that the airline company is growing pretty rapidly and the mere volume caused the planes to run a schedule whereby being on-time was hard to come by... so being on-time was a problem back then.
However, since 2004 to probably a good portion of 2008, I remember this problem was nearly non-existent. Somehow, all the flights that i took on Air Asia had no problems in meeting its departure time. Sometime in late 2008 was when they rolled out this on-time guarantee promotion. I still remember when I first saw the ad, my first impressions were... heck, AirAsia is really smart in rolling this out now, as 1) they can promote that AirAsia is committed to being on-time (in addition to its cheap fares) and 2) it wont cost them much as at that time, being on-time was a regular occurence for them. Kudos to that!
I am not sure why but things started to go downhill a few months after this programme rolled out as I start to see more delays in my monthly travel between KL and Penang. It could be likely that AirAsia is reaching its saturation point again; capacity of 58 spanking new AirbusA320 delivered to date is no longer providing enough schedule buffer to avoid running a tight departure and arrival schedule.
Summary of my travel experience with Air Asia
- 12/05/08 9pm departure - on time
- 12/08/08 4.20pm departure - delayed to 8pm
- 12/31/08 9pm - on time
- 01/04/09 4.20pm - delayed to 5.15pm
- 01/23/09 9pm - delayed to 11.15pm
- 01/31/09 7.15am - on time
- 02/06/09 9pm - delayed to 10.35pm
- 02/09/09 4pm - TBD
I mean nothing to be upset about. I actually manage to get to RM200 voucher for my 12/08/08 flight delay as it was more than 2 hours. About my 01/23/09 however, I conciously chose to make myself ineligible for the voucher as it was already late and all i wanted is to arrive as early as possible. So what I did was I changed my flight to the 11.15pm departure instead of God knows when the 9pm will departure. You need to be onboard of your original flight that was delayed to be eligible for this RM200 voucher.
To think about it, it really is not that great of a voucher because of 2 reasons. 1) next itinerary purchase must be made in 3 months (fine for me but for people that dont travel, i dont see how they will use it) 2) RM200 must be used together and you can't bring forward any balance shall your next purchase be less than that. And I shall add a THIRD reason for this 3) I had to submit my claim TWICE online and call AirAsia Call Center TWICE... so that's THREE times too much for such a simple claim! Just to give you a timeframe, my delayed flight was on 12/08/08. I only got my claim processed 12/26/08.
So, what's my point? Air Asia really needs to look into this to avoid turning away potential customers to MAS which now offers fairly competitive prices for its domestic routes. I understand Air Asia is a low-cost airline. But being low-cost is not a valid excuse for being late 50% of the time! To think about it, Air Asia these days are not that much cheaper than MAS.
To be fair, my flights prior to my last four was pleasant and I dont remember any significant delays. I also remember over time since I began to frequently use Air Asia, there was a moment when I started to use MAS as their promotional fares are cutting below Air Asia regular prices... then Air Asia eliminated fuel surcharges which brought its fares well below again. Consequently, I renewed my commitment with Air Asia...
Today, i am close and on the verge of switching to MAS and flying them whenever they have promotions... unless Air Asia comes up with something soon and quick, I believe I am not the only one among many frequent Air Asia users who would consider other options of travel.
Dear Mr Tony Fernandez, if you're reading this... being on-time is fundamental to the transportation business. I applaud all the things you're doing to improve the service of AirAsia (self check-in kiosks for boarding pass printout, new KLIA-East, new Call Center, etc). However, all these things will be of little importance if AirAsia customers are constantly being frustrated by their travel plans being messed up by flight delays.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Life's full of decisions...
Believe it or not... it is through the decisions that we make that we shape our character, beliefs, and priorities... In other words, the decisions that we make every day shape who we are... very profound for myself... as I always thought that making decisions have always been about trying to do what simply made sense. However, simply making sense is no longer enough... at the end, if decisions are made according to sensibility, you will often time find yourself lost and having little goal to run after... instead just a string of decisions that made sense... of no significance, of no value even to ourselves...
sigh...
sigh...
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Places I want to visit... or revisit...
SWITZERLAND
Swiss Alps
Zurich+++++++++++++++++++
GREECE
Panthenon, Athens
Aegean Sea @ Santorini
+++++++++++++++++++
CALIFORNIA, USA
Lake Tahoe
Scenic Highway #1
San Diego Skyline
CALIFORNIA, USA
Lake Tahoe
Scenic Highway #1
San Diego Skyline+++++++++++++++++++
NEW ZEALAND
NEW ZEALAND
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Chasing someone else’s dream…
Strange how this thought kinda came up on me... lately a good number of people at work seem to throw this question at me... which lead to me thinking about this
What are my long term goals at the company? (Clueless-ness signals a red-flag)
I am seeing a trend of increasing working hours and decreasing working morale among my group of friends… actually this is pretty evident with my own work as well… I guess the enthusiasm and excitement of finally being able to join the workforce only goes so far… few are actually contented and even fewer are actually passionate with what they are doing…
Instead of just sweeping this under the rug and accepting this as it is. I decided to put some thoughts into this. Most people that I talk to seem to admire people that pursue their passion and dreams regardless of circumstances. The friend who decides to pursue a career in music due to deep interest even though he has an engineering degree gets awed upon.
This truly should be admired. I recently spoke to this true friend of mine and looking at what he is doing with his life, really encourages me to think about what I am doing with my life… =) Always good to have reality checks once in a while… cause if you don’t, it is easy just to get always bogged down by the details (rat-race to climb to the top) and totally missing the big picture (do we really want to be on top).
It’s so funny how often we get so efficient with our work that we know from head to tail how to identify and solve problems at work but never do we really apply them to our lives. Hopefully I am not offending anyone here but at least that is true for my case.
We are encouraged to have goals. If we don’t, we will lose direction and at the end of the day, it will be hard to figure out what we have achieved or where our time went. That’s why I think most companies have team/individual goals to drive discipline and keep everyone focused. Also, intermediate goals need to be identified in order to achieve our long term goals. Constant check and balances are also needed.
I ask myself, how often do I actually apply or even vaguely think about these things in my daily life… answer often lies somewhere between… never… and not often enough. Hence, the resulting discouragement and decreasing morale… because we do not know what we want… and we end up doing something that “we think” we want.
Point of the story is not to discourage but rather to encourage. =) If you’re living your dream life… great! You’re my idol! But if not, I don’t think it is ever too late to make a decision and change the circumstances. Most of the time the excuses that we come up with are never real excuses… because if we really ask ourselves what are preventing us from pursuing what we want, the answer most often boils down to ourselves. Sad fact but very true.
Haha.. .please don’t quote me and go quit your jobs immediately tomorrow ya! =P But really, life is far too short to be spent wandering around chasing dreams that aren’t really our own.
What are my long term goals at the company? (Clueless-ness signals a red-flag)
I am seeing a trend of increasing working hours and decreasing working morale among my group of friends… actually this is pretty evident with my own work as well… I guess the enthusiasm and excitement of finally being able to join the workforce only goes so far… few are actually contented and even fewer are actually passionate with what they are doing…
Instead of just sweeping this under the rug and accepting this as it is. I decided to put some thoughts into this. Most people that I talk to seem to admire people that pursue their passion and dreams regardless of circumstances. The friend who decides to pursue a career in music due to deep interest even though he has an engineering degree gets awed upon.
This truly should be admired. I recently spoke to this true friend of mine and looking at what he is doing with his life, really encourages me to think about what I am doing with my life… =) Always good to have reality checks once in a while… cause if you don’t, it is easy just to get always bogged down by the details (rat-race to climb to the top) and totally missing the big picture (do we really want to be on top).
It’s so funny how often we get so efficient with our work that we know from head to tail how to identify and solve problems at work but never do we really apply them to our lives. Hopefully I am not offending anyone here but at least that is true for my case.
We are encouraged to have goals. If we don’t, we will lose direction and at the end of the day, it will be hard to figure out what we have achieved or where our time went. That’s why I think most companies have team/individual goals to drive discipline and keep everyone focused. Also, intermediate goals need to be identified in order to achieve our long term goals. Constant check and balances are also needed.
I ask myself, how often do I actually apply or even vaguely think about these things in my daily life… answer often lies somewhere between… never… and not often enough. Hence, the resulting discouragement and decreasing morale… because we do not know what we want… and we end up doing something that “we think” we want.
Point of the story is not to discourage but rather to encourage. =) If you’re living your dream life… great! You’re my idol! But if not, I don’t think it is ever too late to make a decision and change the circumstances. Most of the time the excuses that we come up with are never real excuses… because if we really ask ourselves what are preventing us from pursuing what we want, the answer most often boils down to ourselves. Sad fact but very true.
Haha.. .please don’t quote me and go quit your jobs immediately tomorrow ya! =P But really, life is far too short to be spent wandering around chasing dreams that aren’t really our own.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
a bowl of pasta...
really funny how I actually came up with the idea to write about this... yes, it started with a bowl of pasta... =)
well, over the past weekend I had made myself for the first time since I came back from the US... chicken with tuna pasta bake... just a little back story about this dish... I actually ate a lot of this during my last year of college when I was actually doing some cooking rather than relying on the good old dining hall to fatten me up... don't get me wrong, I cooked this a lot in college not because it was easy... well, okay, easy to cook was part of it but mainly because I really enjoy this... it is kinda like my comfort food you can say...
so I was chomping my way on the meal and all out of sudden it really reminded me of the times I had in college... haha... funny how college actually feels ages away even though it has not been even a year since graduation yet...
anyway, I was thinking about what I typically do during college and comparing them to what I typically do now on a daily basis.
some of my thoughts... :)
Weekdays are pretty much the same in my opinion, classes, coffee, lunch, classes, dinner, homework, tv, bed for college and for now.... coffee, work, coffee and more coffee before dinner, tv and bed... so eeeehh... pretty much the same for weekdays. Oh! One difference! In college, I always eat dinner to Everybody Loves Raymond and Friends on tv... while now, I get to amuse myself with the news of the country instead. It is really ridiculous these days what gets headlined here in the news... well, I guess thats 1-for-college and 0-for-work
for weekends, my college fridays would typically start latest by noon (which is awesome I know) :) I remember I used to have only one japanese class on friday and basically the rest of the morning will be in the library in a very relaxing pace, earning my minimum wage doing stuff like retreiving etc... yes, very therapeutic and relaxing indeed... then I usually go and treat myself on a nice lunch (emmm... burritos... sushi!!) before heading home and taking a nap before heading out in the evening to do groceries for the week... then the rest of my Friday evening will be spent on things like watching cable tv, playing volleyball, relaxing and drinking beer occasionally with music in the background... OMG!! I so crave it that relaxing pace right now....
now that I am working, my fridays still pretty much start on the same pace, I mean it's Friday :) what's to complain right? funny, how things in the company also are less crazy on Fridays... less meetings, and more time actually on my desk... which is always a welcome :) anyway, before I know it, most of the time, lunchtime will come before we know it... Fridays are extra awesome because lunchtime is actually 2 hours! but I typically still manage to get back a little early and with not much people in the office, will read some papers or play some foosball if I have nothing to do... but lately, finding myself working through lunchtime more and more... but anyway, typically leave office very accurately at 5pm on Fridays... then would go back for a long welcoming shower before going out for a relaxing dinner... typically will sit in starbucks after dinner and relax on the couch after a long week... ahhhh.... yes, I love doing that... feels so good everytime...
[to be continued]
well, over the past weekend I had made myself for the first time since I came back from the US... chicken with tuna pasta bake... just a little back story about this dish... I actually ate a lot of this during my last year of college when I was actually doing some cooking rather than relying on the good old dining hall to fatten me up... don't get me wrong, I cooked this a lot in college not because it was easy... well, okay, easy to cook was part of it but mainly because I really enjoy this... it is kinda like my comfort food you can say...
so I was chomping my way on the meal and all out of sudden it really reminded me of the times I had in college... haha... funny how college actually feels ages away even though it has not been even a year since graduation yet...
anyway, I was thinking about what I typically do during college and comparing them to what I typically do now on a daily basis.
some of my thoughts... :)
Weekdays are pretty much the same in my opinion, classes, coffee, lunch, classes, dinner, homework, tv, bed for college and for now.... coffee, work, coffee and more coffee before dinner, tv and bed... so eeeehh... pretty much the same for weekdays. Oh! One difference! In college, I always eat dinner to Everybody Loves Raymond and Friends on tv... while now, I get to amuse myself with the news of the country instead. It is really ridiculous these days what gets headlined here in the news... well, I guess thats 1-for-college and 0-for-work
for weekends, my college fridays would typically start latest by noon (which is awesome I know) :) I remember I used to have only one japanese class on friday and basically the rest of the morning will be in the library in a very relaxing pace, earning my minimum wage doing stuff like retreiving etc... yes, very therapeutic and relaxing indeed... then I usually go and treat myself on a nice lunch (emmm... burritos... sushi!!) before heading home and taking a nap before heading out in the evening to do groceries for the week... then the rest of my Friday evening will be spent on things like watching cable tv, playing volleyball, relaxing and drinking beer occasionally with music in the background... OMG!! I so crave it that relaxing pace right now....
now that I am working, my fridays still pretty much start on the same pace, I mean it's Friday :) what's to complain right? funny, how things in the company also are less crazy on Fridays... less meetings, and more time actually on my desk... which is always a welcome :) anyway, before I know it, most of the time, lunchtime will come before we know it... Fridays are extra awesome because lunchtime is actually 2 hours! but I typically still manage to get back a little early and with not much people in the office, will read some papers or play some foosball if I have nothing to do... but lately, finding myself working through lunchtime more and more... but anyway, typically leave office very accurately at 5pm on Fridays... then would go back for a long welcoming shower before going out for a relaxing dinner... typically will sit in starbucks after dinner and relax on the couch after a long week... ahhhh.... yes, I love doing that... feels so good everytime...
[to be continued]
Saturday, October 4, 2008
OMG October!!
[status update] currently in Alor Setar waiting for lunchtime... mmmm... spare ribs and potato bake...
[work update] office was exceptionally quiet on Friday, IMHO, think the company should have declared holiday and saved on electricity =P
[penang road cendol update] have had .... 5 bowls of cendols in the span of a month... hmmm... and myth confirmed! the 1st bowl of cendol always taste better than the 2nd!
[what have been on my mind] black friday!!! it's not even funny... eventhough it is almost a good 2 months away, but i cant stop thinking about it!! all the deals... ~tear~
[football update] awesome comeback by Michigan last weekend! hope that this weekend will be yet another big weekend for Michigan with Illinois coming to the big house... I recently found something out and decided to share this, Astro ESPN actually do have delayed telecast of selected matches from the NCAA. They are usually on Saturday and Sunday afternoons around 3+. Sometimes they pick Big Ten games, sometimes the show Big 12, etc... so far this have been my only hope to catch the Mich Wolverines... and of course there is youtube. =P
[work update] office was exceptionally quiet on Friday, IMHO, think the company should have declared holiday and saved on electricity =P
[penang road cendol update] have had .... 5 bowls of cendols in the span of a month... hmmm... and myth confirmed! the 1st bowl of cendol always taste better than the 2nd!
[what have been on my mind] black friday!!! it's not even funny... eventhough it is almost a good 2 months away, but i cant stop thinking about it!! all the deals... ~tear~
[football update] awesome comeback by Michigan last weekend! hope that this weekend will be yet another big weekend for Michigan with Illinois coming to the big house... I recently found something out and decided to share this, Astro ESPN actually do have delayed telecast of selected matches from the NCAA. They are usually on Saturday and Sunday afternoons around 3+. Sometimes they pick Big Ten games, sometimes the show Big 12, etc... so far this have been my only hope to catch the Mich Wolverines... and of course there is youtube. =P
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