The Arrival

In relative terms, I would describe my flight hours to be about 5 meals, 4 good movies and a long nap (in real terms: about 24 hours flight time with a 4 hour layover in Paris), we have arrived in New York! It was June 29, 2013.

       

Arrival in John F. Kennedy International airport - muka penat;p tapi we were revived with the very warm welcome by Salinda & Nurul. It was warm and slightly breezy. Good day as any to arrive in New York. 

After a quick stop at Forest Hills for a peek at my future home, we were brought for lunch at a new Malaysian restaurant in Queens called Mamak House. The restaurant is owned by Nani who hails from Penang and serves authentic Malaysian food Penang style - char koay tiau, Mamak noodle, kari kepala ikan and other delicious fares. No time to miss Malaysian food:) Sorry, no pics here as we were hungry especially after the paltry vegetarian meal served in Air France.  seen here with Said & Nurul, Salinda, Kat and yours truly

Since we arrived over the weekend, Salinda was kind enough to bring me around town and had all the necessities set up eg mobile phone (coz stupid ass MAXIS didn't roam even though I had called them before I left to set up roaming) and did furniture shopping to fill the house. She had left behind the basic necessities such as a queen bed, iron, rice cooker, pots, pans, cutleries, etc so I was ok for a couple of weeks sans furniture and tv. we had wifi so that was a consolation. 

Monday came.

I was still jet lagged but determined to learn as much as I can before Salinda hands over officially . As a preparation for the posting, HQ made us attend a two weeks crash course to learn the necessities of managing an office eg accounts, admin matters, marketing. But being there in the actual office with all the tasks in front of me, it became very real that I had all this responsibilities to fulfill. There were so much to learn in the three days before Salinda leave. So it was information overload for me, coupled with my befuddled, jet lagged mind, I wasn't sure if I had all the information down pat. I guess I'll just have to learn on the job.

Handing over job scope by my predecessor, Salinda and looked over by my boss, Mr Johanif.

I must admit that the first 2 months was hard for me, just adjusting to the new job, with one staff short (on wedding leave) for the first month. But the good camaraderie in the office helped me to quickly adjust to the city, weather, work, people. Missed family and friends back home, missed the food, favourite hangouts. But NYC is home for the next three years, so will make the most out of it by exploring as much as I can on NY. 

Note: Right now preparing a bucket list to explore as much as I can - USA and beyond.