Photos From France

Here are some photos taken during my training stint in France.

Hello from the Lourve Museum, Paris (Monna Lisa painting is in the Museum)

LV Shop in Champ-Elysee, Paris

Arc De Triumphe in Paris

Snow in Paris

Hello from Bordeaux

Nice Discovery

Do you believe in fate? Well, I do. Sometimes fate play jokes at me. I had one after I joined my current company, Thales Aerospace, and realised that we are going to qualify my ex-company. Isn't it funny that I got kicked out of my previous company and going back there as customer? This week, I had to accompany my french counterparts and audit my company for the whole week. This is the first time I understudied my french counterpart, Thierry Legault, who is the Supplier Quality Manager, and we worked well together to audit our new supplier's process management. Anyway, the business unit that we audited was the previous Solectron group that were acquired by Flextronics. Oops! I just mentioned my ex-company's name. Heehee.

I had a startling discovery that my french counterpart, Thierry Legault is a famous french amateur astronomer who has taken numerous fantastic photos of the galaxies, skies and the space. He has a website (http://legault.club.fr/index.htm), with many wonderful photos of the planets, stars, moon, etc. Take a look at the website to view the amazing photos he has taken. Here is a photo of Thierry and me.

By the way, he is admitted in the SBIG Hall of Fame. See link http://www.sbig.com/award/hall_of_fame.htm.
He is also has a asteroid to his name "19458 Legault". He has published a book with all the photos he has taken on astronomy, titled "ASTROPHOTOGRAPHIE" but it is publised in french. I am waiting for the English version to be out and hopefully he will send me a copy with his signature on it (for free, of course).

It is my honour to meet Thierry, and I am amazed with the fantastic photos, and most of all, he is also my teacher and counterpart.

Singapore Air Show 2008

I was lucky to visit the recent Singapore Air Show 2008 2 weeks ago. It was the first time I visited any air show and I felt very privileged to be there. I was able to visit there during the trade show (not open for public) as my company participated in the Air Show and they have a huge booth in the exhibition hall. You can see a product from our company in the below photo.
The main draw of the show has to be the giant Airbus A380. It is really huge and many people crowded around the plane. My colleague and I did not board the plane, but we took many pictures of it. But I will just show you one here.
You can see the size of the people on the ground and the plane, it is really really BIG. It has 3 levels: first level is for cargo (luggages), second and third levels are for passengers. I hope one of these days, I will be able to fly in Airbus A380. Wouldn't you?

Started Work

Happy be-lated Lunar New Year greetings and Valentine's Day greetings. I have already started work on 1 Feb, and it feels good starting work again. I got a new laptop from my company (Dell D430) with a 12 inch monitor. The screen is small and lightweight and I have to wear my reading glasses to read the screen. It is good for those who need to travel frequently. I have been reading the company's procedures and have not started visiting suppliers yet. There are many things to learn and it is a challenge to me as the requirements from the suppliers are high. Luckily, my counterpart in France is arranging weekly video / teleconference to coach me before my trip to France. The training trip has not been firmed yet, and it is still tentatively 2 weeks in March, although they have arranged 16 days training for me there. So, they will have to try to squeeze everything within the 2 weeks. I am looking forward to the training trip and I hope it will help me in understanding the procedures and the company's requirements. And at the same time, visiting those tourist attraction in Paris. There will be about 7-8 of us going for this training, so I will have someone to accompany me there.

Recently, I have been experiencing poor broadband network connection, and I often have intermittent internet connection. I have already contacted SingTel to send their technician to my home, but during the visit, the connection was good. But a few days later, the poor connection return. My colleague also feedback he is facing the same problem with his SingTel broadband connection as well. That is one of the reason why I was not able to update my blog. Another reason was because I was busy with the Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day celebrations. So I am taking the opportunity to update it now since my broadband connection is better. Anyway, my contract with SingTel will expire somewhere in April or May, so I will decide later whether to continue my contract with them. Anyone out there experiencing the same broadband connection problem as I do?

Well, it is a new job and new challenge for me. And once again, many thanks to those who have given your well wishes and support to me during the difficult time. And lastly, I would like to thank my wife, for supporting me all these while, tolerating my temper, encouraging me and never giving up on me. And in the spirit of Valentine's Day,

Xiao Ping (my wife), I LOVE YOU!!!

The Wait is Over!

It has been a long time since I started visiting my blog. I was busy with my course work: attending classes, working on assignments and preparing for exams. For the past few months, I was involved in preparing my daughter for her Primary 1 education. She has been enrolled to the nearby school, in fact just opposite our block. It is nice to see her in school uniform and looking forward to school everyday. And of course, I have been through many interviews trying to look for a job. The wait is finally over. I have managed to land myself a job and I will be starting work in Febuary.

Looking back, by the time I started work, I would have been unemployed for 3 months. It is scary during these long period, as anxiety and fear leads to stress. I can really feel the impact of stress during the past months when I was faced with working on assignments, preparing for exams, looking for jobs and family matters. I began to slim down due to poor appetite, having sleepless nights, could not concentrate in studies, getting aggitated easily, etc. That was how bad the situation was.

But now, the exams are almost over, and I am starting work soon, the pressure is beginning to wear off. I wish I will not go through this ever again!

As for my new job, I will be working as Supplier Quality Engineer, and I will be required to travel frequently, especially in the Asia region. And I will also be attending training in France for about 2-3 weeks. This is discussed during the 3rd interview via video conference with the France's division. This sounds like a good deal right? Anyway, the expectations are very high and I hope I am able to make it there. So wish me luck.