Get, Set, Work!

March 23, 2009
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This is my first day at Houston office, and I got a big warm welcome from my team lead and colleagues. My morning passed by quickly, and not long after the "re-union" we headed for lunch at "Potato Patah". "Potato Patah" is known to be a bread throwing / tossing restaurant. Interesting? You bet... but u better watch out a "potato bun" flying at you when you spot somebody around the corner waving for potato buns!


March 24, 2009
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I Woke up at 1 a.m. today, as I can't put myself to bed. Instead of staring blankly on the ceiling, I turned on my laptop to work. Soon after that, it's time to get ready to work. I was feeling dizzy at work, as I believe I'm still suffering from jet-lag. However, it was not as bad as the first day.

I had several cups of coffee yesterday to keep me awake. But I'm just getting myself a cup today, as I want to cut down the caffeine in my diet. Again, my morning passed me by like a gust of wind... not long after, it's lunch again. This time, my colleagues bring me to Piazza. I remembered the last time I went to this place was about two years ago (July 2007). I ordered "Pasta with Spinach", and it was yummy :)

After the lunch, we proceed to have a meeting with the Project Manager. It seems that my day was pretty much packed with none other but meetings! Argh~ wish I have more time to work than attending crazy meetings...

Finally at Houston

I always have this phobia of not able to reach the destination or miss a flight due to my lack of alertness/cues in traveling. But I'm glad that I'm able to reach the destination by myself! This is in-fact my first time traveling so far away from home, and I'm very proud of it... At least I get to prove to my parents that I'm big enough to take care of myself! Ashamed to say that I am a working adult now, but my parents are still treating me like a 7-year-old kid... Maybe because I'm their only precious child.

There was a slight delay in my flight, as the plane encounter turbulance along the way to the destination - no thanks to the weather! I reached Houston on 21 March, 10:20p.m, and I was glad that I don't have to wait for a shuttle to the hotel & I have a limo driver who is willing to wait for me at the airport for 1 and half hour. I get to know his name is Ali, and my hotel was not really far away from the airport. I gave him $10 dollar tips, and end up regretting as I wasn't sure if the tip I gave was claimable! - Feel like an Idi*t.

I was not able to go to bed till 2 a.m, and when I looked out of the window... it was pitch dark out there! I realized that there is another door next to my bed and I was not very comfortable at it, so I placed the dining wooden chair right under the knob pressing against the edge of the bed so that nobody could ever try to invade into my room.

The next day, I woke up 7:30a.m in the morning hoping that I could cope with the local time and fight against the jetlag. Breakfast at the hotel was free, and it was not too bad. The things that borders me:

1. I could not logon to the Internet via my VPN connection to my company network;
2. There is no nice view looking out of the window except woods & bushes (which is kinda creepy);
3. There is no where I could go to shop/explore/dine at the restaurant as it is fairly remote here;
4. I heard strange sound coming out from the door next to my bedroom + ceiling & the room has this coconut oil smells - which sort of reminds me of my Indian neighbours =,="

Dinner was not provided at the hotel suite from Thursday till Sunday, so I was figuring real hard what to eat for dinner! I went out from the hotel, hoping to spot a nearby place that I could dine-in, but unfortunately I couldn't spot any cafe/restaurants/stores that are near enough for me to walk over to grab some foods/groceries!

I end up ordering delivery service, from the number provided by the hotel. I called for Chef Lin Hunan cuisine Delivery, and a Chinese lady picked up a call. She couldn't seems to be able to understand what I was saying... and she asked whether I'm a Chinese/Japanese. I felt a little bit hurt, as she's indicating that I'm not speaking English!!! and when I speak Mandarin to her, she asked me if I could speak Cantonese as though my Mandarin is really hard for her to understand~! So I spoke Cantonese to her... It makes me wonder - Did I just fail badly in my language!!??? I wonder... "The feeling is kinda su*ks in me".

There's nothing much in the TV channels, and most of the series / movies that I found interesting are crime investigation -CSI & reality ghost stories! To make things worst, the compressor (which I discovered was actually located behind the small door that is right next to my bed) is making a lot of noise most of the time - and I figure out that's the source of where the strange noise were coming from!

Feeling lonely, hopeless and afraid in a foreign land... I just feel like crying out loud. Instead, I laugh out loud to myself - shaking my head miserably.

My 2nd Trip to Houston =)

Feeling a little bit nervous... though this is my second time flying over to Houston. Probably it is because this time I'm traveling alone - all by myself.

This is my first post here at blogspot.com. I've an existing "cool" blog in spaces.live.com, but my company laptop had blocked my access. I'm going for a business trip, so my company laptop is the only PC companion that will be with me for the next 5 weeks! How boring... I won't be able to msn, YouTube with this @$#@ laptop... :(

*It's getting late now... Gotta catch a flight early in the morning tomorrow. Will try to update the blog later...