We woke up early and left home early today (at around 7.30am), since my office is further from where i stay now. Passed through two ERP gantries, one already in operation and the other wasn't.
In the lift, i met a guy who was going to the same floor as me. Since there's only one company on that floor, he asked me if i'm a new joinee and then introduced himself. When we arrived at the entrance to the office, there was a lion dance troupe waiting at the doorstep. Uh huh, they were there for the opening ceremony of the office.
Everyone was busy with the preparation for the ceremony as well as welcoming the big shots from the UK. So my day started off really slow, with nothing to do at all. My laptop was ready but not set up yet, and the desk was empty. I had nothing to read and not even a screen to stare at. So i sms-ed 贝 and pulled out a magazine that i had brought with me to read.
When the big shots finally arrived, he was shown around the office and then the lion dance started. To my surprise, my big boss actually introduced me to the big shots when i was hiding myself in a corner. The big shot jokingly said to me that since my first day of work coincides with the opening, this probably means that i bring good luck. Well, i hope so too.
Then in the afternoon, there was a luncheon held at a restaurant in a hotel. It was arranged because of the opening and the big shots of course, but then it so happened that it was my first day at work too, so one of the managers said that it was as if everyone was having a welcoming lunch for me. I hope that's an auspicious sign.
We had the lunch until 2.30pm, which was good for me, as it was easier for the time to pass. The laptop was ready after lunch and i was given some materials to read, so the rest of the afternoon wasn't too boring.
I left office at around 6.15pm. I entered the parking lot in the morning with the cash card, so i gotta make special arrangement with the building management to not deduct the fee from the cash card since i have gotten the car disc. But i didn't know where to get the car disc activated, so i thought i could try my luck at the exit by pressing the intercom on the parking machine.
Too bad that the lion dance in the morning didn't seem to bring me any good luck. No one answered my paging and there was a car behind mine waiting to exit too. I was forced to insert my cash card into the parking machine and had SGD23 deducted for the full-day parking.
I was pissed and worried that i wouldn't be able to enter the parking lot with the car disc the next morning. So i re-entered the parking lot and was determined to look for the right place to activate the car disc. I asked the security guard of the building and was given wrong directions two times. After some merry-go-rounds, i finally got the car disc activated and did not have to pay for the second entrance.
I did complain to the person-in-charge about the SGD23, but she asked me for the receipt so that the building management could reimburse me. Unfortunately, i did not press for the receipt when i left. So there goes my SGD23.
I have quite a number of observations about the company, the new colleagues and bosses. But then, i'll withhold my judgement since it was only the first day. Let's wait till i see more for the next few days.
Oh, and another piece of surprising news was that i'd be travelling to Taiwan and HK next week. When i applied for the job, they already told me that there will be extensive travelling. What i didn't expect was that the travelling starts just one week after i joined.
Anyway, i'll have more details once the tickets are confirmed.
Labels: work
