Something new...

Its been a while since i update my blog in friendster, too occupied with facebook.com :)
well, maybe i am a facebook addict, but there are just so many application where you can interact with your friends there. Unlike friendster... but i think friendster is catching up...

Well, as most of you guys know, now i am at Forli, Italy. Doing some jobs here and adapting to the new environment. This is the second month and i am going back to KL for summer holidays soon. Next tuesday to be exact, but will reach there on wednesday morning. Its a 12 hours flight from Rome to KLIA, but i will have to wake up early, catch the train and that journey alone takes about 5 hours where i have to transit 2 times, first Bologna and final one is from Bologna to Rome Termini. Tiring... yeah, it is.

Well, this is something new to me. First time to europe country, where the Italian doesnt really speak much english. Unless for those that work in Restaurants, Hotels and well, tourism places.

First thing to adjust myself to when i first arrived here is the weather, its hot as it is now summer. The temperature sometimes reaches 39 degrees. And i would say the hotness here, is not like in Malaysia, its dry... and its... er, cant find a word to describe but its just too hot sometimes as if you are burning... yeah, it feels like that to me.

Then, come to the food. Italian can really eat... eat their stomach out for sure. First the appetizer. then comes the main course, and second course and deserts. I can eat, but not as much as them... i am full with only the main course. At the hotel where i am staying now, there was one day the owner looked so surprise when i said i am done... "Finito!!??" hahaha, yeah, i am finished! I am no Italiano so i dont eat as much as you guys! hahaha.

Something about Italy, of what i know la... the first day i arrived, my boss came to fetch me. Driving from Rome to Forli takes about 4 hours. At the speed of 140kmh. And the roads are winding, passed too many tunnels and ofcos, the scenery is fantastic. Driving along the sea... passes mountain after mountain... and i falled asleep just before i reached to Forli.

Been staying in hotels since i arrived as the apartment is not ready... as in knowing my boss planning and scheduling, and some info from my colleagues, a singaporean and a malaysian, it could take up to months till he finds one for me. Well, to me its not a problem, cos as long as i got a place to sleep then its alright.

Comes to colleagues, there are five ladies in the office. Two of them are hot chicks. One is aunty and one is funny. The last one, i thought was a lady boy when i first saw her at the customer place... hahaha. Never really communicate with them as i seldom in office.

The singaporean... well, now i know.. its true to say that they are kiasu, cos he is really kiasu. He knows more stuff than i do... being a person not so sensitive about current issue in Malaysia, obviously i dont know much about the politics in malaysia accept for some latest news like Anwar is accused of playing backside again... and the petrol price is up and our sleeping PM is reviewing the oil price. Thats all i know, not in depth... but he... wow, its a waste that he is a service engineer, cos he can made fortunes if he is a politician. You say la, anything... he got a point to fight back, just say anything... i am serious, just about anything from Malaysia to singapore, or Italy... even all over the world... he is like a walking dictionary, Astro, CNN... just about anything at all la... and one thing i cant stand is that, SINGAPORE IS ALWIZ ON THE RIGHT SIDE!

Also, talk too much. Cant stop talking, and i am very tired if travelling with him. 3 hours journey, 3 hours of non stop unwanted entertainment from him. Repeat and repeat and repeat again about the same current issue. I had no choice but to entertain him, also, my answer to most of his topic is repeated again and again. Its like.. "Oh, yeah meh", "Realy?", "Its like that one la" ...Cos dont reason with him, he is alwiz right! And if you give your point, he will talk more, so just a few of those favourite replies is enough. But he still dont get it that he bored me. Sigh!

Well, too much about him, now, my Malaysian colleague. Steady! Slow! and sometimes too slow... hahaha. But i rather talk with him then the singaporean, cos maybe we are both from Malaysia, so the topics that we talk about are of our interest.

So... still reading? hahaha, now about customers. I alwiz tought that... you know... european... high quality in production, work smart, tact time oriented. No, no, no... completely wrong. Factories here are unlike those we see in Malaysia. We have JVC,SONY, HITACHI, SANYO, SHARP... those big coorperations back there. Here... its even smaller in size and workforce than the sub-con in malaysia.

As long as the machines are running, its a productive day! No ISO, no SIngle PPM, no monthly maintenance, no yearly maintenance. Well, not until the machine is completely down... if the machine is still running with 6 heads (total 8 heads), it is still running and no need to to change any parts! I would say... its easy, no pressure and really, no pressure at all working here. And one thing good is that, we deal direct with the owner, you can see the owner at the production floor... doing things that other employees are doing.

My first visit to one customer... in the middle of machine installation... he went to the fridge, take out a bottle of chilled white wine... and yamseng!!! After finish the wine about 20 minutes... continue with the job. Another customer even chase me off cos me and my colleague was installing a production line, some problem occur and we need time to fix it, it was already 730pm... so, he asked us to come back the next day as he wanted to close the factory and back to dinner with his family... hahaha. Really different from Malaysia, you cant fix it, you stay till you can get the production line up and running, be it 24 hours...

And yeah, finally... driving here is confusing at the beginning. Its a left hand drive and i really had a hard time adjusting to it. First of all, everything is mirrored from what i am used to in Malaysia. The seat belt is pulled from left to right, you shift gear using right hand, and everything la... few times when i turn on the wiper instead of signal light! But after few times driving... kinda getting use a little bit. So, after 3 days of practising, i will drive to Poppi on Monday for the first time driving on the expressway... up to the mountain... wish me luck, hope i dont make headlines here... hahahaha.

Well... these are something new to me now. After summer holiday, there will be another new thing for me to experience... er... the autumn. :) Wondering what to expect... till then. Ciao!