Me in Kuching, Sarawak

Salam w.b.t and hello all.

How are you guys been doing? I am doing great. I would like to share my recent experience in Kuching, Sarawak. This was my first time in Kuching and I kinda look forward to go there. I was invited by the SLB recruiter to join the career fair as a volunteer which happened on March 7 and 8 at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK). SLB will have a booth there and we will interact with the visitors. I departed to Kuching on March 6 and back in KL on March 9. 

March 6, Friday

I was on the same flight with Sir Lokman and Nadiah. I never met them face to face, we only talked on the phone. So, it was a bit nervous for me in meeting new people. When we met, Sir Lokman asked me, "How do you feel when meeting us?". I did not have a particular feeling at that time, honestly. So, I said, "I don't know". I am not sure that is acceptable answer to him. Haha...does not matter to me but yes,  that is the truth.

View of Kuching City from the top

The flight took off about 2.10 pm and we arrived in Kuching around 4 pm. Then, we check-in at Pullman Hotel that is located at the center of Kuching City. I shared the room with Nadiah.

We stayed on eleventh floor

After solat, we headed down to the Warong Nusantara near to the hotel to fill our stomach. I just drank the milo ice because I was not hungry. When Nadiah and I arrived at the warong, I believe Sir Lokman already had his second round of roti canai. I am sure he was starving :D

Then, we took a taxi and head to BCCK that was about 20 minutes drive. Arrived at BCCK around 6.30 pm and we immediately unloaded the box that contained the exhibition's stuff. I can see there are many other companies joining the career fair like Petronas, Shell, Nippon Oil, Sime Darby, and many more. There are also learning institutions that will take part in the fair. Since Petronas is one of the sponsors to this event, they got spacious booth for the exhibition and it looked so elegant. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of their booth. Never mind, it is no longer important. Hahaha…

Around 8 pm, we left the convention center with my stomach kept screaming for food. I am sure other's stomach also kept shouting for food. Sir Lokman and Nadiah kept asking me where to eat, where to go for our dinner, what we want to eat, and bla bla bla. My tiny little brain absolutely cannot give the reasonable answers to their questions since this was first time in Kuching. So, what I said was, "I don't mind anywhere, goreng-goreng also can". Finally, we went to Top Spot located close to our hotel.

Can you see the Pullman Hotel back there?

Top  Spot is the name of the location on the rooftop. When we were there, I can see there are various restaurants and most of them offered seafood. Nadiah asked me to choose the restaurant that I am interested to try. Again, of course I do not have a clue where to go. I asked Nadiah whether all this restaurants are halal or not. Well, the reason I asked was because that the restaurants' names are not only written in Malay, there are also written in Chinese. Nadiah said, they are all halal and it is normal to have the Chinese written everywhere since Kuching is a tourist attraction.

I could not conceal my blurriness in choosing which restaurant, finally Nadiah chose ABC Restaurant. Yes, if I am not mistaken, that's the place where we had our dinner. I was hungry, but not that hungry because I drank a lot of water. So, I ordered Nasi Goreng Ayam. When I ordered the food, Sir Lokman shot me a weird look like, 'So, you come all the way from KL just to eat Nasi Goreng Ayam. Really, I mean like, really?'. I did not give a crap to that. Hahaha...They ordered rice, fish, vegetables, tom yam, and egg. I gave half of my nasi goreng to Nadiah, because it was so much for me. When their food arrived, I was not sure whether they could finish all the food because it was a lot. Unbelievably, they finished it. After we had our dinner, we headed back to our hotel and get ready for tomorrow.

March 7, Saturday

In the morning, we had our breakfast together. Another engineer, Leon also joined us. He is a Sarawakian and we car pooled to the BCCK. Arrived at the venue around 9.30 am and we unpacked the stuffs and get ready for the exhibition.

Me at the front desk

I was quite nervous actually, because this was my first time of becoming a company's representative. On top of that, the company is Schlumberger, the entity that I really want to work with since years ago. Before this, I was a job seeker, came to career fairs and praying that someone will recruit me, walk from one booth to another to gain information, experience how some recruiters treated graduates with disrespect. Therefore, I really understand the feeling of the job seekers.

Me and Diyanah, already 5 years with SLB doing finance related stuff

Since the beginning, I set my mind to treat those who come with respect and do my best to deliver all the information accurately. I am sure they come to the fair with a bunch of hopes and I will try my best not to be the one who crush their hopes and beliefs.

The people started coming to our booth once we completed the final finishing to our booth. The visitors ranged from graduates, school students, parents, professionals, and also other exhibitors. They asked questions, and we gave them the explanation about SLB and what we do. So far, I can draw one conclusion. Most of the visitors never heard Schlumberger and do not have any idea what we do. Thus, that is our role to explain to them, the job opportunities available, requirements to join in, career path, and many more.

Ahamad Yuhana doing his explanation

From the crowd, suddenly I met a guy that looks familiar to me. He also said that my face looks familiar to him, and I randomly guessed his name is Zul. Definitely my wild guess was wrong, his name is Firdaus. Of course his face looks familiar, because we met in KL for our SLB group interview. We exchanged stories, I wished him the best in his future undertakings, and as usual, I forgot to take our picture.

Not long after that, I saw someone that I know standing at our booth, "Michelle!". I called her and she turned to see who was calling. Yes! I was right, the person was Michelle Jemang. We knew each other at MARA College Kuala Nerang, but she furthered her studies in the UK. So, now she already graduated. We exchanged stories and I gave some encouragement to her to not to give in. I believe, every job seekers need that since it is hard to get a proper place to start their career with current market.

Me and Michelle

Actually, we hold an open interview in the arvo for field engineer position. I was unsure how it will be done but Yuhana and I were automatically sorted the candidates. Those who came to our booth and show us their resumes, we will have a look and directed them to the interview room if we find them suitable. Yuhana, the engineer also did not have the idea how to do it. I mean a proper way to do it, so he kept collecting the resumes and gave them to me for the review.

The open interview conducted by Leon and Sir Lokman

Seriously, I did not have a clue how to sort the resumes but I did see how Sir Lokman reviewed one graduate's resume in the morning. So, with that I reviewed the resumes in front of the graduates and gave comments on how to improve their resumes. Generally, I did not give most of them a green light for the open interview because I could see they need to improve their resumes. However, I hope with the comments and advices given would help them in the future.

From left: Nadiah, me, Yuhana, and Leon. The theme was white

The people kept coming and coming. It was tiring but it was fun and satisfying for me. I am truly happy because I got the opportunity to meet people and in a way, assist them.

We left the BCCK around 6 pm, Leon sent us back to the hotel. We planned to have our dinner together and Leon will choose the place. Hahaha...Once Nadiah and I reached our room, we jumped to our bed and laid in our comforter for several minutes. What a day. I took a nap for several minutes before solat. Then, we got ready for dinner.

We had our dinner at Bla Bla Bla restaurant. Yes, the restaurant name is Bla Bla Bla, no kidding.

Bla bla bla Restaurant FROM Google

When we walked into the restaurant, the atmosphere of tranquility hit myself and the light was deemed. I believe, if you come to Kuching with your partner, this restaurant is a nice place to dine in. :)

Me, Nadiah, and loads of food

They ordered foods, a lot of foods. I ate half bowl of rice together with dishes like prawn, tofu, cakung manis (I think that’s the name of the vegetable that only available in Sarawak, according to the waiter) and watermelon juice. Again, the rest kept pushing me to add more rice and dishes, but seriously, I could not eat more than I can. My stomach may be explode. Well, the situation might be different if I am studying or doing physical works that use a lot energy.

Leon and Sir Lokman

We did not go straight to the hotel after we finished our dinner. Sir Lokman and Leon had a very long, long, long chat. Nadiah and I had to wait until they done and by that time, my eyeballs nearly popped out from the sockets. Around 10 pm, we arrived at the hotel. Nadiah and I took a stroll to the nearby shops and we found a gift shop. I bought fridge magnet only since I left my purse in the hotel.

Finally, we arrived at our room around 11.30 pm and we got ready for tomorrow.

March 8, Sunday

After we had our breakfast, Leon fetched us around 8.30 am. We arrived at the BCCK around 9 am and we get ready for the exhibition. SLB will held a career talk at 3.00 pm until 4.00 pm. Sir Lokman, Yuhana, and Leon will give a talk and Nadiah will need to be there to assist the talk. So, it was just me at the booth during that hour. I do not mind at all, because I believe I could handle it.

From left: Leon, Yuhana, Lokman, Nadiah and me. Theme was black.

I also met several UWA graduates who graduated mid last year. Since the morning, people came and visited our booth and asked a lot of questions. However, the influx of visitors not that large compared to the first day of the fair. I had time to sit down with Yuhana and he shared a lot of information regarding his career at SLB and it was inspiring. He graduated from Monash University in Melbourne back in early 2000. Leon also have an awesome background, he used to play badminton in  same national team with Lee Chong Wei.

The talk gave by Leon

Father and his son asking about the opportunity

Around 5 pm, we packed our stuffs and ready to go back to the hotel. Leon helped us a lot with the packing. He even waited the taxi with us although we said that is fine if he want to go home. He countered back, "Who is going to load the stuffs into the taxi? It is heavy". Not long after that, we were on our way to the hotel. We were exhausted but happy at the same time.

We arrived aroung 5.30 pm, after solat jamak Asar and Zohor, I slept. So with Nadiah. We were supposed to hangout with new friends of Nadiah at 7.40 pm but we overslept until 9.30 pm. What the heck. Haha...Luckily her friends were still nearby. The Kek Lapis shop close at 10 pm, thus we will hardly make it there before 10 pm. Thus we asked their help to buy the kek Lapis Sarawak.

Me in front of the cats, landmark in Kuching

Laksa Sarawak and Teh P whatever, I forgot the drink's name

Then, we went out and had dinner with them at Restoran Pak Simmet, if I am not mistaken. The food I ordered was delicious and spicy, which met my taste. Before that, I bought several shirts at the shop near to riverfront. Nadiah and I finally arrived at the hotel around 1 am. My stomach was so full and I believe this caused me to feel so sleepy. After packing my luggage, I slept around 3 am. I set the alarms many times just to ensure we do not overslept and miss our flight home. Haha…

March 9, Monday

Our flight was at 9.25 am. The immigration check was so strict, I had to remove my belt. I remember, the last time I had to remove my belt was when in Melbourne's airport. We brought a box together with us as a hand luggage. Actually, in that box we put the cake and we planned to bring it into the cabin. Otherwise, the cake might melt. Other than the cake, several company's items were in it as well. Unfortunately, I accidentally put a pair of pliers in it. (Good job, Atiqah! Go knock your head on the wall)

According to the officer, the pliers is considered to be a very dangerous item and able to cut a cable. He sounded like we were some hooligans planning to do something to the flight. Like it or not, we need to unpack the box and recheck-in the box. I also had an issue with the immigration. Actually, on the day I arrived in Kuching, I only brought my Identity Card (IC) with me, no passport. Then, the immigration gave me a receipt like an instant visa to enter Sarawak and I need to give it back when I want to leave the state. The receipt was a small piece of paper and I just slip it in my phone casing.

When I want to go through the immigration check, the officer asked me for the receipt. I was panicked as I was unsure where I put it. I know that I put it in somewhere safe but I also afraid the possibility that I already threw it away. While I searched for that little paper, the officer already warned me that I need to do a police report if I lost it. She kept repeating it over, over, and over. Then, calmly I pulled it out from my phone case and gave it to her. She smiled sheepishly and advised me the importance of that paper. She also said that it is better to bring a blue passport (travel in Sarawak/Sabah) or international passport. Thus, no instant visa required. I have no idea about this before. So people, learn the lesson here. Alhamdulillah, everything went well after that.

In the flight, I slept all the way because I was so sleepy. We arrived in KLIA around 11 am and we departed to KL using KLIA express. I safely arrived at home around 3 pm.

Overall, it was a nice getaway. Hopefully, I will have a chance to visit Kuching again in the future. Also, I pray that a good news from AU immigration will pop out anytime soon. So, I can start working and earn money. Money, that is the critical part right now. 

That's it guys. I think I want to share something related to career fair in the future. Like, what can you do before coming to the fair, questions to ask, and others. Well, that is a plan for now. As usual, take care and see you later.

Salam w.b.t and chow!

P/S - The praying time in Kuching is about 30 minutes earlier than in KL