| Sunday, February 15, 2009 |
| What i got from NY?? |
Best best..thanks dear!..bile nak bwk i plak?? hehehe |
posted by NADZIR & RAHIMA @ 11:00 AM  |
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| USA Trip Day 5 |
04.02.09
Today's plan is to go to up to Chicopee, Massachusetts and back to Manchester, Connecticut. We're going to see Turbocare's facilities in both places. Arrived in Chicopee at about 8.30 am and met Jackie, one of the marketing personnel there. We were suppose to meet her boss Mary but she's in a meeting or sumthin'. But after that this guy called James D, greeted and have a chat with us. He's the turbocare's Vice President of North American region sales. Here's a guy who is very down to earth and I must say he's really cool! He's from Boston and just moved to Connecticut last year. Really interesting talking to him. I really like the ring he's wearing...it was made of silver and have 3 black stripes. It was his 25th anniversary wedding ring.
As we were chatting with him, we discovered something surprising. We knew that the temperature at the airport yesterday was -4...what we don't know is that the temp was in freakin' Fahrenheit!! All these times we thought it was in Celsius! Well, guess what...the temperature yesterday was -15 degreeC!!! And I was like walking around Hartford in that blistering cold...no wonder I was upset when I got back...hehe!
Now, the machines they got there is pretty much the same as the ones we saw in Winston-Salem. However they specializes in making seals, packings, valve parts incl. stems, bolts and nuts. After the tour, we met Erik. He's the product marketing manager. He gave presentation about turbine's new seal technology - the retractable brush seals. I was interested to hear & learn more about this product because it can improve the plant's efficiency up to 3%. And did you know that the seals contribute about 40% of turbine losses? Why look elsewhere when you know you can improve at that particular area.
After the presentation, we went out for lunch at one of the seafood restaurant. I wanted to have sumthin' different this time…so i ordered baked haddock fish. I don't know what kind of fish is that, so I was pretty excited to order sumthin different. When I ate it, taste something like ikan siakap…
After lunch, we met with this girl name Jenna…attractive girl I'd have to say…probably in her early 20's…she drove us to Manchester in Connecticut to see another factory there. She worked as the marketing personnel also. Interesting to chat with her…she got the job through James D where she was his kids nanny for two years. Then James D told her to try out the job interview at Turbocare. And guess what, she got the job!
After about 1 hour drive, we reached Manchester. I was lucky to meet Turbocare's big guns there including the President himself, Mr Donald. He gave me a tip or two when visit to New York…he told me to go to Rockafella Center to see the view of Manhattan at the top building called Top of the Rock. Why he chose there is because we can see the Empire State Building from there. So if you're going to Empire State Building to have the view, you're missing the most important building in New York. Plus, the lines are longer at the Empire State. Secondly, he told us to spend sometime to go and watch Broadway shows. It'll be the most memorable thing for the visit to New York. And that advice stuck in my head for the days to come…hehehe…Labels: nadzir, vacation |
| posted by NADZIR & RAHIMA @ 10:54 AM |
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| Tuesday, February 10, 2009 |
| USA Trip Day 4 |
03.02.09
I woke up @ 12 midnite and as usual, can't sleep after that. I slept from 6 in the evening yesteday after got back from Winston-Salem. Pretty tired...
Once I woke up called my dear wife and she was kinda dissappointed with me for not going out to explore Charlotte City. Well, having said that I decided to go out to the city center and check-out their nightspots alone. It was pretty nervous at first but soon after I saw Charlotte's skyscrapers, I got excited.
Drove around the city for like 40 minutes but didn't managed to find any nightspots. Saw a few bars such 'dixies', 'sports bar', 'ice club' & 'uptown cabaret'. The bars were scattered around the city. By the time I got there at 1am, most of them are already closed.
About 2 am, I drove back to the hotel. Nothing to explore after midnite in Charlotte. Reached my hotel at 2.30 am, watched some TV, and went to sleep.
Woke up again at 7.30am, planned to go to wal-mart or factory outlet shop in uptown charlotte after breakfast. This LaQuintas Hotel is really good. They provide free breakfast. This is the only hotel in US that provide free breakfast so far. They have waffle, muffin, cereals, bread, egg, fruits, yogurt, juice and coffee (as usual).
We moved out of the hotel at about 8.30am and head straight to charlotte city center. The traffic was a bit busy. To my surprise, most of the shops in the city are still close! What the heck??! Cruised around the city for 15 minutes and we set our GPS to Alamo's rental car area at Charlotte Airport.
Once arrive at the destination, I saw the spike at the entrance barrier. Hesitated for a minute but the shuttle bus driver behind me signalled me to just go forward. Then I can see that spikes are one-way pass. It's like the non-return valve in our plant. You can only go thru it one way, while if you go the opposite way, you'll get stuck. In this case, your tires will get burst!
Checked into the US Airways counter at the outside of the airport. Took only about a min or two...have about 2 hrs before we board our flight. Walkaround at the airport, and bought 3 souvenirs. 2 fridge magnets & 1 t-shirt. Not sure yet for who. As I walkaround the airport, I can see that there are a total of 6 starbucks outlet spreadout in the 5 airport concourse area. There were also at least 4 large bookstores in here. It says a lot about the culture here in the US when you see these stores. They like coffee and they like to read books. The end.
And speaking of culture, I cannot be more amaze when I went to their restrooms (are as we say toilet). It is soo clean, dry, very modern, and they even have listerine and sweets too in there!! I mean this is an airport for heaven's sake! They can maintain the standard even though hundreds of people using it everyday. How did they do it? I'm a shame to say this but their restrooms...are cleaner & shinier than my house's living room! You can sleep in there if they allow you to. I just wanna have a last look at their restroom and maybe take a pic or two just to prove it to you.
My flight to Hartford, Connecticut is a bit late. It was scheduled @ 1245 hrs but we only boarded the flight @ 1305. Took off @ 1325 hrs. On my way to Hartford now.Labels: nadzir, vacation |
| posted by NADZIR & RAHIMA @ 1:29 AM |
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| USA Trip Day 3 |
02.02.09
Started my day with some coffee in my hotel room. The American coffee is quite strong for me, and I enjoyed it very much! It's one of those American lifestyle. That is why I can find a coffee maker machine in every hotel room here in the US. Me being a coffee lover, will not miss to use the coffee maker. I really like the one in Wyndham Garden Hotel in Newark Airport. It really is simple & easy to use.
Ok, enough about coffee...we check-out of the the hotel at 0800 hrs and head on to Turbocare Inc facility in Westinghouse Road, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It’s about 15 min drive from where we stayed. We arrived there and found nobody is in the welcome area. I used the electronic thing (like a phone) to find the contact person. It's just a really simple device where you can find their names & extension no. to call them from the outside. As I was just finished giving message to him, a pretty lady opened the door and greet us. She said that they've been expecting us and asking me from Kev. I mean 'Kev' as in 'kevin', not k-e-v. It's quite funny though as I recall the name almost similar to Russian's 'Kiev'.
About a few mins later, Larry Creason, Kevin Harris and Dan met us in the conference room. Speaking about conference room, they have this dedicated phone for tele-conferencing and also a big-a$$ LCD TV. Biggest one i ever saw...made by LG (surprisingly!).
We talked about the quality plan, the material issues, the sample delivery and also the blades delivery to kapar. It seems that the freight forwarder have not yet contacted them. This worries me that I told them to get in touch with Adam immediately to confirm on the delivery. They've told us that the blades was completed on the 29th of January. And I assumed the packing is done on the 31st, and the remaining days is for the forwarder arrangement which normally take 3 days to ship-out.
After completed looking at the quality material, we went for a tour in the facility. We found that their machines are very capable of machining things accurately. Not only that, the machinist themselves are the QC.Labels: nadzir, vacation |
| posted by NADZIR & RAHIMA @ 1:28 AM |
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| USA Trip Day 1 |
31.01.09
I was stranded about 3.5 hrs at the Newark Airport Immigration a.k.a. US Border & Protection. I was not the only 'lucky' person, there was one pilot, two flight attendents and 2 other passengers who goes thru the same process.
You see, most passengers who got stuck at the immigration was referred to the secondary counter for further screening. Mine however, not only secondary, but the level above the secondary screened thru my background. They took 3.5 hrs to do the background check on me. Another malaysian guy was more 'lucky' than me, he got off after 4 hrs waiting. Being so fed up, he asked the officer in charge what's the problem!!! They said that his name & his birthdate have matched with someone they look for. At the end of the day the officer appologized for the mistake. Oh, one more thing, that guy happened to be sister's friend. What a small world...
Considering the things that I went thru, i really felt that this is the first & the last time i'll ever been to the US. Let's see if the days after this will change my mind. Still looking forward for my trip to New York tho'...despite what had happened.Labels: nadzir, vacation |
| posted by NADZIR & RAHIMA @ 12:48 AM |
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| Tuesday, February 3, 2009 |
| Charlotte travel guide...... |
Abang..this is travel guide for you..even though i know the purpose to go there is purely on WORK..but get alive!!!!!....hahahahahahaha
One of Charlotte's biggest weaknesses is the relative lack of retail shopping in the center city. Though this will change somewhat in the near future, you will generally have to venture into the suburbs to do your shopping. As with most American cities, most retail is located in malls and shopping centers, though some areas (especially the inner suburbs) have stores along the streets.
* Metropolitan Midtown [72] Just outside the central business district, this redevelopment of the former Charlottetown Mall now includes an urban Target and the first Home Depot Design Center store in the country. Also included is a Trader Joe's, West Elm, Best Buy, Marshall's and Staples.
* Concord Mills [73]. Though not technically located in Charlotte, this is the largest shopping destination in the region. Only minutes from the Charlotte city line. Over a linear mile of outlet-sized stores; if you can think of it, you can buy it here. 200 factory-size stores, a 24 screen theatre, large NASCAR-themed race track/arcade, and many restaurants, this Mall's motto is "Eat. Drink. Play". This is the largest tourist attraction in North Carolina.
* Carolina Place Mall [74]. Large mall near the southern city line, convenient to the southern suburbs and South Carolina. This is a somewhat more middle-class alternative to SouthPark, and extremely popular among teens in the southern part of the city. Its location off I-485 puts it in the middle of traffic, but also locates it near a large number of other shopping centers and restaurants (though the food court is more than adequate to feed a family). Anchors include Belk, Dillard's, Sears, J.C. Penney, Macy's, REI and Barnes & Noble.
* Eastland Mall [75]. An older Charlotte mall that is slated for a revitalization, department store anchors include Burlington Coat Factory and Sears, and the mall itself includes many urban themed stores.
* Northlake Mall [76]. Brand-new mall in north Charlotte, convenient to the University area. On the same price level as Carolina Place. Anchors are Belk, Dillard's, Macy's, Dick's and Borders. Includes an AMC movie theater.
* SouthPark Mall [77]. Charlotte's largest and most upscale mall, located in eponymous neighborhood of Charlotte approximately 6 miles south of center city. Stores include Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Dillard's, Macy's and a flagship Belk, and many shops and boutiques are unique to the Carolinas such as Louis Vuitton and Burberry. The area around SouthPark mall includes many other retail options as well.
* If you are looking to shop outside the commercial retail sector, try exploring some of the districts just outside the I-277 loop. In particular, the Dilworth and Plaza-Midwood areas are good places to visit unique, funky stores. East Blvd. (upscale) and Thomas St. (downscale) are both good places to find unusual items.
* There are several market-style locations scattered across the city. There is a "green market" [78] during the warmer months on E. 7th St. near Tryon, the EclecFest market [79] (every second Saturday) behind the Neighborhood Theater on N. Davidson St., and many flea markets in and around the city. |
| posted by NADZIR & RAHIMA @ 11:31 AM |
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| Winston Salem..Things to do there!...SHOPPING! |
Hanes Mall, the largest shopping mall in North Carolina, and one of the largest in the southeastern United States. The area surrounding the mall along Stratford Road, Silas Creek Parkway, and Hanes Mall Boulevard has become the city's largest shopping district.
Other major shopping areas are found along Peters Creek Parkway (home of Marketplace Mall), University Parkway, Jonestown Road, North Point Boulevard, Reynolda Road, and Robinhood Road. |
| posted by NADZIR & RAHIMA @ 11:26 AM |
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| Monday, February 2, 2009 |
| Happy but stressful weekend! |
When i wrote this blog, hubby already in the big apple city! NEW YORK!
When hubby got an invitation to witness FAT at North Carolina, USA..he was happy because all his hard work about this blade thing has been paid off...
First, when he gone for an interview at US embassy, he didn't get thru' (yellow card) because they wanted to process and investigate further on his application..It was damn weird because with the same document, his colleague able to get thru'(green card) the interview..
After no news for 3 days, on last Thursday evening he received called from US embassy saying that his application has been approved! Unfortunately hubby told me this approval kinda late because the blade is ready to ship over here...
I think he kinda de-moralized about this whole thing. Instead of being sorry for him, i pushed him to call his CEO about the visa approval...who knows maybe his CEO can let him go there to see the factory facilities...At first he kinda mad at me because i am supposed to calm him down NOT to PUSH him...again i told him why not trying because he spent too much of his time preparing the tender, quotation and soo on..i always believe this quote 'What comes around,goes around' if you did the right things, of course the luck will be by ur side...Then at last he agree to call the CEO around 7.30pm.. After having conversation with his CEO, like i said..THE LUCK is always by our side if we WORK HARD!..wallah..the CEO said YES!!!!!!! ..huhuhu.. i am sooooo glad that i able to motivate him!..i think i shud be a motivator instead of an engineer..hehhehee....(masuk bakul laa nih)
After got the approval, here comes the BIG stressful day - Friday...he has to be at US embassy,KL by 7am...so, aound 6am he need to make a move from Kapar...
After that, back to his plant attended meeting (half day)..then back again to US embassy to collect his passport...around 7pm he called me that his flight to NY is on SATURDAY, 8.45am...fuyooooo...what a RUSH! Since this is the first time he traveled during winter, he need to get winter clothes, change money...and so..on..to many things to do for less than a day....
Luckily i'm on my way back to Kuala Lumpur from Segamat..i able to reach at Kapar around 8pm..we rushed to Jaya Jusco klang to buy winter jacket...I realised that this jacket is damn expensive...he spent nearly 1k for the clothes..luckily it's claimable..
Then we back at home around 11pm..do some packing while he preparing his documentation for the journey..i told him to be ready on everything because US is damn strict..especially after september 11 event...
Since kapar is quite far to airport, we overnight at Gombak so Hilal can drive for us since i am tooo tired to drive early in the morning...we have to be at KLIA at 6am...We arrived at Gombak around 2am..slept for only 2 hours, then at 5.30am we started our journey to KLIA...
After he checked in, we had our breakfast at MCD...around 7.45am he ready to go in...this is the saddest part for me..because i'm gonna miss him soooo much...deep inside my heart i kinda worried because i still remember En azahar once told me that if we had a problem from start on Visa application..sure we had problem when we arrived there.. I didn't told him about the story because don't want to afraid him off..i was hoping that everything gonna be ok...
After we sent him...i went back to gombak to continue sleeping..letih oooo tido 2 jam! around 12.30pm i woke up , having lunch and went straight to my HOMETOWN - kuantan..i guess i miss mummy very2 much!
Around 10am sunday...i kinda worried because hubby didn't message me about his arrival at NY...he supposed to arrived at 6am (malaysia time)...i try to called him..get thru but he didn't picked up the phone. I sense something was not right...then i received his message saying that he was STUCK at immigration for more than 3 hours while his friend has passed thru immigration without any questions...
Only allah knows how much i worried about him..i can't even stand straight imagine him being questions and i even afraid that he might been sending over back to Malaysia....oh NO!...luckily when i called hunny & keane, they told me that it's a normal procedure because american loves to interrogate tourist especially muslim..it was all because September 11... damn it...
I was relieved because hubby did called me around 11.30am saying that he able to get thru the immigration..alhamdullilah....
Huhh...that's why i posted the title 'happy but stressful weekend'....
To Nadzir, i am still hoping that your journey at US gonna be smooth...ENJOY ur day and Don't be demoralized but unnecessary event... I LOVE YOU SOOO MUCH! |
| posted by NADZIR & RAHIMA @ 3:30 PM |
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