Team Red

That's it. My last day in Integricity.

Hah... I can write things like what I've learnt and people that I've met, but I've included all of these into my report. I've been typing so much on Integricity the past week. Anyhow, these are pictures of the place I have been working in for the past four months.

My desk.

Reception just outside the office. There's a foosball competition going on every six o'clock, every day, without fail.

One of my favourite perks of working in this place was getting access to design books and magazines. Too bad, I didn't utilise them properly.

Bean bag room! My favourite spot in the whole office. I WILL have bean bag in my future house.

Yesterday, the whole office went out for a farewell lunch in Frontera, Jaya One. The farewell was not for me alone, but for the other two colleagues as well, great guys who have been in the office longer than I did. The part I loved about yesterday's lunch was it was fully sponsored by the directors for the people going off. Ah... I am so going to miss all the free food: birthday cakes, Super Ring, milo, pisang goreng, keropok lekor, cup cakes, Krispy Creme. O well, at least now I can start on my diet plan. Oh, and also the day before, studio treat me to Japanese food coz I'm leaving. Umm.. I have a suspicion it was not a farewell lunch but celebratory instead. They were happy to send me off! Hee...

People leaving had to give a speech during the Frontera lunch (great fried chicken tenders they have!). I didn't prepare mine, coz I've already typed this long farewell letter addressing every one in the office that I've yet to send out then. Anyhow, I managed to thank ever one, appreciating them for the things I've learnt from them as well as the good times I had.

I didn't know working life could be this fun. It boils down to the people in the company. Very kind, patient and knowledgeable people. Not to forget, their love for bullying and pushing the intern around. Fuh... I have endured through it all coz I was merely an intern. But now I'm FREE!!

I remembered how reluctant I was of sending out my resume, looking for a job. And now, it's all over, an amazing experience from an amazing company.

Thank you, Integricity.

Of Contraceptions and Virginities

Let's talk about sex.

I had a pretty interesting conversation with a friend recently. To him, if a guy were to look for a future wife hoping she's still a virgin, well, good luck. I kind of resented his tone for it seemed to me that if a girl's no longer a virgin on her wedding day, or if her future husband's not the first guy whom she had sex with, this will somehow devalue her. How archaic is this thought?

I got an interesting forwarded mail from U-Jean a while back. It's about how a woman's value is determined not by what society deemed is right, but by her own choice. An excerpt from the article below:

"Typically, there is a whole lot of talk about a woman's honour and 'worth' (and again described in archaic terms), but very little on her choice.

Tell me something new. Tell me about a woman's choice to choose, a woman's choice to interpret her dignity and self-worth in her own terms. Why have we not heard much about men being virgins? Why is a woman's Self-Worth being defined by a tiny piece of skin, a few inches of cloth (either too much / the lack thereof) ?

Tell me about a Woman's Right to Choose what she wants to do with her Body. Tell me about a Woman's Right to Decide how she wants to express her Self-Worth. Tell me about a Woman's Right to Honour Herself in a way she seems fit. Tell me about a Woman's Right to Determine for Herself."

All along, it has not been about what people say is right, or what is deemed as appropriate. It is about a woman knowing her choices, and knowing what is best FOR HER.

Sex and worth talk aside, I'd like to share a link with you: World Contraception Day

It is the first website that I have been involved in from the beginning stage to the launching of the live site. The template of the site was designed by my Senior Art Director. I played a part in laying out the content and designing some of the headers you will see in some of the pages. It was a good experience to learn and see how a major site come into form from the initial planning stages, to design, to developing, to endless changes and lastly, to reality.

Do go to the site, make a pledge on contraception. Spread the word. Safe sex happens by choice, not by chance (plus, STIs are really disgusting, I should know, I was the one who layout all the disgusting pictures).

IT'S ALIVE!!!! (the site, I mean. Pardon me, but it is a pretty exhilarating feeling.)

A Summary of Week One

There are so much that I want to share, so much that I want to write, but at the same time, don't feel like writing grandmother stories.

The first week of internship has passed. And my wallet is quick running dry. Dank.. my wallet could hardly survive my first weekend here, in Damansara. But what to do?? It's the Malaysian Mega Sale, for goodness sake! And what kind of a good loyal citizen am I if I don't at least contribute a little back to further boost the economy? This show of patriotism "earned" me a new pair of jeans, two cardigans, and awesome lunches.

Let me wrap up the week with a few thoughts:

Out of sheer boredom, extraordinary things happen. Or, You'll do anything out of sheer boredom.

Let me elaborate. Heck, I am finally in the heart of a city! I can go places without first having to fork out RM20 to get to Serdang KTM. So you can't really blame me for letting things get out of hand. But the down part of this is, friends are far away. Uni friends, that is. I get back home from work, and the only thing that greeted me were four empty walls. I'd appreciate a friendly face, and sorta missed the light banter between friends. Come weekend, with all the free time of 48 hours, I needed real hang out time!

Therefore, out of boredom, nudged Kar Yee on msn. Asked her out for lunch. Dank. Never been out with her one on one before, what are we going to talk about??!! On the day itself, ShzeLi came too. What a weird threesome. We definitely never hung out with each other back in Penang. But then again, things tend to surprise you. Kar Yee, if you're reading this, I'd say the hang out session was a successful one. Except for the costly lunch in the Apartment. It's pretty cool hanging out with a different group of people, not with the usual ones, and you get to hear different things and opinions. Coz truth be told, I have definitely heard it all when it comes to my usual clique: CY, HF, Rui (not Vietnam, tho!) and Eve.

And CY, I still hate you. =D

Good or bad a situation, it all depends on you.

Work was boring, coz I have nothing much to do yet. Everyone has been telling me their internship started off the same way; some have even perfected the skill of staring into spaces. I wanna do more! I want to learn more! I want to be busy!! Really really busy! People there are awesome, and I am definitely learning more about web design every single day. But I have really touched on real design work only once. Blog skin. Which I am not even sure is going to be used. Had fun though.

This place is a whole different environment from the one in LUCT. What I have learnt so far, would have put some of the lecturers back there to shame. Horrible comment, but it's the truth!

It all really depends on how much of an initiative I am willing to put in. It's all in my hands.

And they say the web is a free world....

I can't rant about personal feelings on FB, coz my mom is there.
I can't rant about work on twitter, coz I have all my colleagues there.
As for ranting in my blog... I prefer to believe in blind oblivion that no one even bothers.


Right.

The Job Hunt

Today is a perfect example of how some times fear gets the best of you and the best way to tackle any fear, is to simply focus on what you want. Just in case if you were wondering something horrible happened to me today, well no, on the contrary, it couldn't have been any better. Well, it could, but still, no complains.

We are all supposed to be looking for internships now. If you know me, you'll realize how I often drag my feet when it comes to official matters such as these. Making formal phone calls, enquiries and actually planning for something, put fluttering bugs in my stomach. It's a situation where I know I will have to do it sooner or later, but I was just too lazy to get started. Fine, I was scared. *blek* Cut me some slack.

Anyway, what motivated me was the uncertainties that were going around. What to do with my current hostel unit, where to live when I come back for final year, where to work, penang or KL, if in KL, do I need to rent a house, then what about transportation? Little details that were quickly unsettling me. But the greatest motivator of all, I need to have already done something before going home. I seriously don't need my mom nagging into my ears.

Therefore, I set out to make the perfect resume! I referenced how to make a good one from three different sources. Thank you Adrienne for fixing some phrasing for me. Then next, I went and look for a whole list of different companies in which to apply to. Even registered to jobstreet.com. This is my list of priorities:

1. Ad agency
2. Web company
3. Graphic design company
4. Balik Penang

I simply bombarded every single company I found with an email. Hee... there was a moment of panic as well, as I didn't know how to start the enquiry. Once again, thanks to the Australian llama, who perfected a good opening for me: Dear Sir/Madam ......

It was nerve wrecking checking up on the emails after the bombardment. The waiting game ensued. After one day, I got a reply. It was a request to view my port. Thus, I scrambled to assemble some of my better works into InDesign, saved it in PDF, and sent it! (Adrienne: Use PDF, more professional)

And thus, the waiting continues... (This was after sending a few copies of my port out to total strangers.)

And then the interviews came. I got myself scheduled to three different interviews. Even got a call today from a company that I was having some pretty high hopes for confirming my placement. It was pretty high, being accepted, but at the same time, that web company is like located in the middle of no-where rich man's land. And I could have slapped myself over and over for not remembering the allowance advertised!

A bit long winded here. But I'd like to record down all these fine details. My memory is giving up on me when it comes to little things like these. I don't want to forget, therefore I write. More on this in future posts.

Anyway, I went for an ad agency interview today, therefore the last minute printing of my port. I went on the KL transit for the first time! So cool lo, I tell you... if only all Malaysian public transportation was like that! Yea right.. I wouldn't mind giving the extra ringgit for such a comfortable speedy ride again. I good choice apart from going to Serdang KTM. Will keep that in mind for future reference.

Aiyo! I seemed to be deterred from my main point in every turn of this post. So, there I was, pretty tired after changing so many rounds of different trains and taxi, I finally got to the company. Truth be told, I was not bearing any hopes. In fact, I did think about canceling this interview when I got an offer from the web company. But like a wise guy used to say, choice is power. Nothing wrong with having more to choose from.

So I went. And was immediately impressed. The company (sounding like a reference to Prison Break) was small in size, but not so small that they deal only with below the line ads. They don't do tv commercials, but they have some pretty big clients under their belt. The woman who interviewed me impressed me a lot. Quoting Ken Goh: She managed to sell herself to me. As in, I'm sold on the impression of her... something like that. The company was what I thought to myself to get even before I started looking for jobs. Best of all, it's in a very convenient location. And opposite the building there's room for rents. AND... it's only RM3 by taxi away from the LRT station. Pay is low, but not about to get greedy here. Money has never been an issue when I thought of this internship, and it shouldn't be now too, even when I do have more choices now.

So, will be going for another internship with a web/ad company on Monday. So, wish me luck!


ps: I feel so incredibly lucky today... so lucky to the point where I am afraid of whatever bad that's going to happen. Nothing bad happened, but just a thought.

Printing my portfolio cost a bomb! A3 pintouts: RM 35, emergency black folder: RM 15.