Genentech- "We'd strongly like you to be on the weekend shift...you'll learn a lot more!" ohh what?!

..After weeks of searching and scrambling for a new job in February before my temp contract was up at Genentech QCI, I managed to land a regular term position doing Environmental Monitoring and Bioburden after 3 long hours of interviewing. After working here in EMB for a week, I realized the training is insanely intense! Supposedly, to be a fully trained analyst in EMB takes 9 months! What a fast paced department. I had to take so much notes...took me a good hour to type up all of it...it felt like college..I'm learning something again...something I wanna do too! I am so thankful for the referrals that my friend and supervisor gave to my new manager. It was such a coincidence that my supervisor was very close to my new manager. The crappy news is that I am moving to a weekend shift...

Working on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays from 8-6:30pm....and then getting Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off...

My social life is basically gone! but a job is a job in this economy.. ...I guess what happened was during the interview, I told them I was willing to learn new stuff and work on as much stuff as I could, and the weekend manager wanted me to be in his group... Supposedly, the weekend people work on more assays, monitoring, and more cross-training in other depts. (so they say).

I'm happy I'm finally a blue badge at Genentech...the temp/regulars segregation was very apparent throughout the months I've worked here. It feels good to be able to take advantage of some benefits and be part of the Genentech Community. No more paying 140 a month just for medical insurance! More money to pay off my car now, and pay off the mortgage and bills. Finally some money I can spend on and save up. Finally get to eat out more!!!!

I'm gonna miss my QCI group a lot and B29. Too bad I didn't take a group picture. No more taking 2 hour lunches and watching Ironman 2. No more Jollibee runs at Tanforan!! :( My lunch hours are so strict now..

No more messing around with Achilles in the front lobby checking out accidents/chemical spills/gas leaks that happen every so often on the security cameras, or just chilling playing fuseball. Good times! Probably the chillest job in the last 10 months while being able to learn a lot of new things. (Sorry Achilles I just had to put this picture up of you...for good memories! haha!)

I'll definitely miss everyone else in my QCI Group. Gonna miss talking about random stuff in everyday life...the deuces...the gym workouts...the ladies...videogames..cussing at each other in cantonese...making up stupid names to call each other....blasting music in the inspection room and having our mini-karoake sessions! Gonna miss those free Genentech-paid-for Japanese buffet runs that we so often get in QCI. Very grateful to have had a such a good first out of college full-time job with a really cool supervisor and group. I guess theres always a time when everyone has to move on and do what they gotta do.

I won't be seeing these glass vials for awhile!

These last couple of months have been very surprising...just before the Genentech offer, I was about to be shipped out to South Korea to teach English. I cancelled the last minute once I found out I got the job at EMB. I had prepared all my paperwork and had just finished 2 rounds of interviews.

I would have been teaching at this place called Chungdahm Institute somewhere near Seoul. I was pretty desperate to travel to Asia and experience life there and Korea would've been just fine to fulfill my interest. I wasn't hearing back from any other job applications besides crappy temp jobs that were all the way in Oakland or Fremont, so this job seemed perfect. I guess everything happens for a reason, maybe I was destined to stay to help my sister pay off the mortgage...or maybe I'm meant to stick to doing something that was related to my major..who knows! I do wonder what would've happened right now if I was in Korea...maybe having the most awesome time of my life..?

Chungdahm Institute

Some other stuff happening in life...my sister just got her degree in California College of the Arts..so really happy for her...freelancing right now..i hope she finds a nice job soon!

Looking forward to the upcoming months...either I will hate it or love it...I hope I don't mess up or screw up big time at work...hopefully I'll be able to endure the training...tiring yet stimulating...excited to take days off again in July and head back down to socal again to see my socal buddies!

..To finish it off..I just had to post a video of my pets. Some of my friends didn't believe I had this much fish. IMMA PROVE YOU GUYS WRONG! haha...

I'm showing my Marine Bio side of me! They were the size of my pinky when I first got them! Its been like 6 years!

(the whining noise in the background is my dog wanting to play fetch..haha)

Sacramento is now officially my de-stressor spot. My parent's backyard is like one of the most relaxing spots. That's one thing I like about Sactown, the large amount of space you can get for such a cheap price.

You start to appreciate abundance of space when you've been living in a small living room for over a year without your own room.

haha...

2010年一開始就發現..去日本的目的 =肥佬啦.!

就係咁囉.好多野都係整定.有小小失望去唔到日本...但係依家只可以向前望. 依家有得可以翻工多幾個月,已經係好事.可惜,日日翻工就咁係到驗 Genentech D玻璃樽...驗到嘔電. 悶到真係唔洗用腦. 總要,好多Quality Control 工作都係咁,...好"重覆性?" 依家我翻工好多時都冇野做, 所以我多數就會係到打機, 看戲集, 學中文, 睡覺. 真係咁都得..(所以今日悶到寫blog都寫中文! haha).. 講開ah..雖然翻工係容易...又有十七美元一個鐘, 我已經要開始搵另外一份工. 因為工作合同只係一年. 想留耐d係無可能. 冇計啦.. 真係好希望今年會搵到一份長期穩定的工作. 唔係一定要好多錢既, 搵到新朋友學到新野就好夠啦..

講其他野-

我依家好多時發熱如果翻工無音樂聽, 我真係會黐線!

係...雖然去唔到日本..但係我似中都會繼續鍾意日本d歌.

-_wd&Link

唔知點解一體到依首歌就好開心..

超吸"漂亮"囉! 好自然, 好鍾意佢ah!..好好聽 jpop. BoA and Yui ..hella crackin! ...首歌整到我係到諗..點解搵一個..又吸引,老實, 簡單, 又不要靠化妝品, 的愛情人咁鬼死困難呢????!" :X

依家d生活就係咁囉..一放工候多數係: 無-野--做! haha..唔係上網搵工就去打機..真係有小小掛住UCSD大學d曰紙..起馬過陣時忙到真係會用腦...依家??? ..懶到書都唔想讀.但係..我反醒啦...反醒啦.. 我終於開始搵翻d有樂趣d活動..繼續做反gym!! 繼續學中文! 打反golf!

講起golf先攪笑!去上youtube搵 golf videos 時候..搵到d超攪笑video笑死我!!!!

就係咁多.

覺位-恭喜發財 笑口常開..天天向上!

搵工要有希望..要有忠心...一定唔可以放氣! !!

Right decision?..."千里之行始於足下."

I just dropped $13,500 + $1131 (taxes) on this used honda civic 2007 with 27k miles, and blew one of my chances at a Japan interview. Now working two jobs at Genentech during the day, and Macys during the night to pay this thing off. Was it really worth it? Sometimes... I have my doubts..but no point in looking back.

On the bright side, I don't have to ride a bike everywhere I go anymore like i did the last 4 years at UCSD..(which is near impossible in San Francisco).. Biking did hella keep me in shape though.

Fixing my bike up in Latin America Hall back in 2005 with Alex Wong. [Nov 15, 2005] to be exact! Over 4+ years already..crazy! Fall Quarter Freshmen year of college at U C S D!

So with my new Macys job..

This job is pretty much a joke...supervisors and managers are usually nowhere to be found and they scare us at orientation claiming they always have "eyes" on us "ALL THE TIME" watching our every move. Shooot, like I really give a crap, I'll just eat cereal breakfast lunch and dinner to eat within budget instead of eating out if I ever lose/quit this job. My lab job in college paid more than this. At first it was pretty tiring standing over 5 hours after an 8 hour shift, but my body finally adjusted so its not too bad no more..

Nevertheless..I met some pretty cool people/coworkers at Macy's :D Most of them are still in college up in CSM or SFSU...definitely more fun talking to people while working than having to work by myself. And of course, theres a part of the job description that they didn't mention at orientation...and thats dealing with douchebag customers.....well..with that..let's just say its an interesting experience haha.

2009! What a year...what will happen in 2010?!

JET with Japan?

Selling the house in the Bay Area?

Parents moving out of Sacramento?

Back to Hong Kong?

-The Bay?

The mortgage in the bay seems to be putting a lot of pressure on my oldest sister. I feel her stress though. It definitely won't be easy trying to sell it, but we all know we want to do our own thing and I can't always assume my sister having to look over the family like she has over who knows how many years. Most likely will sell the place at a slight loss, and rent our own places.

-Sacramento? Hong Kong?

Both of my parents will be in Hong Kong by December 26th. My mom hella wants to move back to Hong Kong due to cheap health insurance and the close proximity of friends and relatives. My dad on the other hand, doesn't like Hong Kong too much and wants to come back. My mom has thought of selling the house in Sacramento and at least move back to the bay, which I understand. There is no longer any type of reason to drive over 200 miles each weekend just to see them. My sisters and I hate the long drive and traffic, and no longer has enough time to drive up there often to visit them anymore. It'll be much better if we are all back in the bay. It will save soooo much gas money..maybe my dad will give in next year? Besides the small place in the bay, he seemed to like coming out to the bay... I'll keep my hopes up.

-Japan?

The JET Program received my application and sent me a letter that I will be hearing from them in early February. But with over 3000 applicants, I'll still need a back up plan.

2010 will be a very interesting year..

千里之行始於足下...

Japan- JET and AEON, Transportation..and Tendonitis

Don't do free weights and perform repetitive inspections!! Lesson learned. At first I thought I got Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, but it turns out it's Tendonitis. Now I have to wear wrist supports all the time! Who would've thought! Gym + videogames + inspections = killed my wrists haha. I for sure learned one thing from this incident in the working world. Don't try to finish all your work at once, not take breaks, and expect to get free time afterwards, because the work just keeps on coming!!!

These things (Caliper and Go-Nogo Gauges) basically killed my wrist.

Achilles at work helped me jack some ice packs...inflammation at its finest.

I ended up going the chinese medicinal way to ease the pain. Acupuncture + Chinese herbs = the natural way. Surprisingly, acupuncture felt really good, the NEEDLES and the electricity shocking your nerves!! It felt like someone was massaging my nerves on the inside! haha. It definitely isn't as bad as it seems.

Supposedly soaking your hands in chinese herbs can relieve inflammation.. I have no idea how, but it helped.

Besides getting owned at the gym and at work, I managed to try to follow through with the whole JAPAN thing. I got an upcoming interview with AEON on the 21st after spending a couple of days on the personal statement and application. Supposedly, it takes up a whole day from 11am-7pm!!!! Theres gonna be group interviews, and I have to perform a 30 minute lesson plan. Sheesh, not so easy as people claim it to be! I'm still debating if I plan to go through with the AEON route, as I've researched online, people have mentioned its a half sales/half teacher job and some cases of not getting paid working overtime! Also, I sure as hell might not have the patience to sell something. Like Graham said, I am probably going to be like, "If you don't buy this, your're dumb. Bye." Haha. The whole AEON thing is an English school or so called Eikawa, where it mainly focuses on people who take English for fun during evening and night time. AEON also pays only around 35,000 and you have to pay for your own ticket.

For JET, you get paid around 40,000, included round trip flight to JAPAN, and subsidized housing and rent/bills. The downside is I will most likely be placed in the boonies. The good side is you really get exposed to Japanese culture, nature (which is one of the biggest things I am interested in, I wanna go backpacking there!), and meet and work with a lot of kids! Surprisingly, people online said JET also actually wants people who DON'T know Japanese! At first I was like wtf, but then I guess it made sense, because they want people that only mainly know English, which would make the teachers more "foreign" to the Japanese natives. I don't know how my asian looks will work out though haha. Nevertheless, the way I see it, some basic japanese wouldn't hurt..

..I'm ready!.. Got all my stuff together, transcripts, study abroad transcripts, passport, my references and recommendation letters (still waiting on one more!!), and a 2 page statement of purpose that I spent two weeks on!!! I hope I get this, tried my hardest on the application part, ready to take some Japanese night classes at San Mateo Community College. If I don't get it, then I guess it's not meant to be!

People did say this whole Japan thing could be a GOOD or BAD thing.

-THE BAD- It won't be that great on my resume as teaching English is completely different from my Environmental Biology background and my work at Genentech right now. I would have to start the job hunting all over again if I do come back from Japan after 2 years (That's IF I get it, haha). People have been telling me to just stay with Genentech if possible.

-THE GOOD- I would be given the opportunity to have the greatest experience of my life while I'm still young. I would go to the place that I have always wanted to go to since high school and be able to live there. (Hong Kong does come second since I kinda semi-live there every now and then haha). I would also not lose out on social life, and might even make a lot of friends over there.

Lots to think about, I might not even get it, I might suck at teaching!! Training people at work and working with kids on kung fu back in h.s and college is so different from teaching a language!! Anyways, in the meantime, I just need to create a lesson plan for AEON, gotta keep saving that money for a car, cause carpooling and sharing a car with my sister just ain't crackin. Hopefully, the next time I write in this thing, I can say I am going to be "LIVING IN JAPAN FOR 2 YEARS!!!" Not going to expect TOO MUCH though, 16% acceptance rate, and with this kind of economy, it's almost like finding a needle in a haystack.

Right now..I just hope my tendonitis goes away quicker than the expected 6 weeks. I need my hands back so I can play the most anticipated game of the year. Of course, MODERN WARFARE 2!!!!! My coworkers got it, lots of my friends got it, and now I am patiently waiting for it from the mailman. This just might be Counter-Strike alllll over again haha

Funny thing is.. at first, I cancelled my pre-order thinking I wouldn't and shouldn't play so much games! But after seeing this commercial when watching new South Park, I went crazy and re-ordered it again. Eminem and Nate Dogg KILLED THIS TRAILER!!!

One last thing I forgot ..I blogged this on my new mac!...I never thought I would switch over..Haven't regretted since...after using a PC since I was like 6 when it was like windows 3.0.

I guess Linda was right when she said, "Once you go mac, you never go back!" I think Brent lectured me on this too haha.