Monday, September 13, 2004
Wow - 4 years
It's exactly 4 years and 1 day since i first joined APOC. So, it's my
I still remembered how i came over. I ran out of leave in my previous company, and have to stay for the morning half to clear my final hours. A final lunch with some colleagues later, i took a cab to Technopark and reported for work!
It was a bit rush as Chan was just about to leave for Redmond on Saturday, so it meant that i had about four and a half days to learn the software release processes, get my email account setup, and the typical new employee orientation stuffs.
Whatever else happened within the first week, i cannot remember now, however, standing at the other side of the ocean now, i really loved almost every single minute there.
I learnt a lot, and i mean A LOT, from my various managers, teammates, colleagues and vendors within the 3 1/2 years in APOC. The constant need for quality; detailed mindedness; root cause prevention; leadership; open communications; and a whole lot more.
I loved the "road marches" when we had our peak workloads; 16 hours days were, to me, a great way for the team to grow together. I loved to be able to help the company get a product shipped, no matter what it required me to do, be it middle of the night delivery, overnight monitoring of jobs etc.
With the hardwork, come the fun too. I loved the luxuries of being able to get my hands on the latest Xbox games before they are released. I still remembered how much i love the first Halo, and took every single opportunity that i had to play this marvellous game. I loved the regular eating outings that we had as a department, and as a company.
Along the way, i made many friends within my department and within APOC. I also learnt a lot of things that i didn't plan to.
Went through quick expansions, reorgs, change of reporting lines, splitting of teams, decentralisation, centralisation. Saw colleagues joining from other teams, colleagues leaving the team, saw vendors becoming colleagues becoming excolleagues becoming colleagues again. Constant changes, not a oxymoron, but a reality.
I think this song really describes the experience i had in APOC, constantly Under Pressure, but with a lot of fun being pressurized all the time. Have a listen to this great song!
I still remembered how i came over. I ran out of leave in my previous company, and have to stay for the morning half to clear my final hours. A final lunch with some colleagues later, i took a cab to Technopark and reported for work!
It was a bit rush as Chan was just about to leave for Redmond on Saturday, so it meant that i had about four and a half days to learn the software release processes, get my email account setup, and the typical new employee orientation stuffs.
Whatever else happened within the first week, i cannot remember now, however, standing at the other side of the ocean now, i really loved almost every single minute there.
I learnt a lot, and i mean A LOT, from my various managers, teammates, colleagues and vendors within the 3 1/2 years in APOC. The constant need for quality; detailed mindedness; root cause prevention; leadership; open communications; and a whole lot more.
I loved the "road marches" when we had our peak workloads; 16 hours days were, to me, a great way for the team to grow together. I loved to be able to help the company get a product shipped, no matter what it required me to do, be it middle of the night delivery, overnight monitoring of jobs etc.
With the hardwork, come the fun too. I loved the luxuries of being able to get my hands on the latest Xbox games before they are released. I still remembered how much i love the first Halo, and took every single opportunity that i had to play this marvellous game. I loved the regular eating outings that we had as a department, and as a company.
Along the way, i made many friends within my department and within APOC. I also learnt a lot of things that i didn't plan to.
Went through quick expansions, reorgs, change of reporting lines, splitting of teams, decentralisation, centralisation. Saw colleagues joining from other teams, colleagues leaving the team, saw vendors becoming colleagues becoming excolleagues becoming colleagues again. Constant changes, not a oxymoron, but a reality.
I think this song really describes the experience i had in APOC, constantly Under Pressure, but with a lot of fun being pressurized all the time. Have a listen to this great song!
