Vios, Note 3 dan Interview ATCO

Salam semua... Agak lame tak menulis di ruangan ini. Sekarang ni aku agak busy. So bila weekend je, aku memang akan gunakan masa sepenuhnya untuk merehatkan diri. Atas sebab itulah aku dah lame tak menulis di ruangan ini. Idea nak menulis tu banyak tapi masa yang tidak mengizinkan aku menulis.

Seperti yang aku beritahu dalam post-post sebelum ni, aku ade membeli sebuah kereta baru. In my line of work, I need to do a lot of travelling. So keep using my Kancil is not a feasible option. Baru jalan dalam area Klang Valley pun enjin dah overheat. Bayangkan kalau aku nak round satu Malaysia. Mau terbarai enjin Kancil aku tu. Thus, I need to have a new car. A reliable one which can be used for hundreds of thousands of miles. Setelah dibuat perkiraan dan pertimbangan, aku memilih Toyota Vios yang baru tu sebagai kenderaan rasmi. Because Toyota is known for its reliability and the spare parts can be categorized as affordable. For a person who wants to start his life like me, it is very important to have a worry free motoring experience. Because of that, I've chosen Vios for my first car. Walaupun kereta tu agak basic kalau nak dibandingkan dengan kereta-kereta lain dalam lingkungan harga yang sama (i.e Honda Jazz, City, VW Polo, Hyundai/Kia), but basic means that there are less to go wrong with the car. It is always the case. Walaupun enjin dan gearbox is a carry over from the first generation Vios (it was 12 years ago!), but hey, it means that the engine and gearbox has a proven reliability. That is why we can still see first generation Vios cruising along confidently in our motorways.

Aku book kereta pada 1 Disember 2013. Alhamdulillah salesman aku dapat push kereta aku untuk dapat awal sikit. Sepatutnya aku dapat kereta pada 10 March 2014. Tapi alhamdulillah dapat ambil pada pada 15 Febuari 2014. Aku letak downpayment agak banyak pasal aku tak nak buat bayaran bulanan dalam jumlah yang besar. I want to manage my debt. I specifically told my salesman that I don't want to pay more than RM650 per month for my installment. Alhamdulillah I managed to do just that.

It has been a month I've been using my new Vios. For me, it is obviously a big step up from my previous Kancil. It is much bigger, much more comfortable, much more powerful and much more stable at high speed as compared to the Kancil. Memang la kn? But do I feel satisfied with the car? Hurm.. Not quite actually. I pay about RM 80k for the car. But the problem is, it doesn't feel like a car worth RM 80k. Because I treasure my own hard earn money very much. So my expectation when I bought the car was quite high. Don't get me wrong. It is a good car. A very good car actually. But there are a few rough edges which I think, shouldn't be found on a RM 80k car. Because Perodua can do the trick as well. And they don't need to charge you RM 80k for it.

However, the car gives you perceived quality by the way it looks, the way it is put together and the way it rides. The dashboard looks elegant though you will change you mind once you decided to knock on the dasboard. The use of hard plastic straight away throw the feel of elegance. But to be fair, what to expect? It is no Camry or Accord. It is an entry level sedan. The ride is very comfortable and not bad when you decide to have fun on the village road. As I said before, in terms of perceived quality, it is not bad at all. But once you examine closely, you'll see the rough edges. Not a big one but big enough to make you think.

Front view. I installed the TRD Sportivo bodykit.

Rear view

The centre console with the fake leather stitching. It looks good though.

The whole look of the dashboard.

Meter panel. The lack of optitron backlighting is a disappointment

The rear seat. The fabric they use is good.

The legroom is commodious enough for a typical malay man like me.

Ok. Enough with the car. Now, the Note 3. Amboi-amboi. Joli katak betul aku ni. Kete baru, phone baru. Hurm.. Phone ni pun work related jugak. Aku agak hesitate nk beli pada mulanya. Tapi macam yang aku cakap. Aku perlu jumpe banyak orang dalam line keje aku ni. And having a device which can take note is very helpful. Dan aku dh gunakan bende tu time aku pegi Hospital Rompin hari tu. I am not regretting buying my Note 3. It is a very fast phone and I need the S Note feature. Walaupun menggigil tangan nak bayar time beli hari tu, tapi aku rase amat berbaloi. Tak perlu bawak buku nota ke hulu ke hilir. Guna phone je. Kalau ikutkan memula aku nak survey je phone tu kat Mutiara Damansara. Tapi time tu ade offer. They give more than RM 200 discount for the phone. Macam rugi pulak tak beli. Dan aku pun beli la dengan abah aku.

One for me, one for my father.

Ok. Last but not least. 11 March hari tu aku ade interview utk jawatan Pegawai Kawalan Trafik Udara (ATCO) di SPA Putrajaya. Panel aku Dato' Najri, panel yang same interview aku untuk jawatan PTD tahun lepas. And to my surprise, he still remembers me. Haha.. So borak-borak macam berborak dalam kedai kopi je. I think I did better than my PTD interview. Tapi aku tak nak letak apa-apa pengharapan. Pasal soalan yang Dato' tanya pun tak banyak pasal dasar negara or DCA. Kebanyakannya pasal peribadi je. That is why la aku bole jawab dengan yakin je. Dan soalan-soalan tu macam soalan tak berapa minat je dengan aku. So takpe la. Ade rezeki, ade la. Kalau takde, anggap je la itu bukan yang terbaik untuk aku. Lagi pun there are a lot not to like about ATCO. Firstly, keje syif. Keduanya, tanggungjawab sangat besar. Jage 5-6 kapal terbang dalam satu-satu masa. Maknanya, kesilapan kita bole menyebabkan ribuan nyawa melayang. Lagi besar tanggungjawab daripada doktor. Tu yang paling aku takut. But the upside is the remuneration package. Elaun sangat banyak. Ade sorang ATCO yang dah keje 3 tahun cakap gaji dan elaun die mencecah RM 6k sebulan! Baru keje 3 tahun. But as I said earlier, it does come with a price.

Before aku terlupa, baru-baru ni aku dapat conditional offer drpd University of Edinburgh utk sambung Master in Sustainable Energy System (MSc.). Cuma aku perlu dapatkan IELTS band 6.5 dan scholarship je lagi utk aku ke sana. So aku sekarang tengah cari scholarship dan setelkan IELTS aku. Yang ni pun tak berharap sangat. Takut jugak pisang berbuah 2 kali. Tengoklah nanti macam mane. So tahun ni aku ade 3 pengharapan. Jadi ATCO, sambung master or success in this year's PTD interview. Ade satu lagi harapan sebenarnya. To tie the knot. I mean bertunang la. Bukan kawen. But actually I feel tired to chase that one girl when I have already gave her so much hint with no positive return from her. So aku pun malas la nak harap kat die. If someone comes to me and she is good enough, I am open for her. Aku pun bukan muda lagi. The word 'tunggu' is not something that I should make friend with.

Rasenye itu je la. Dah cukup panjang ni. Ya Allah, please make everything easy for me. I've been through a lot of your tests before. I hope the tests carry something good for me. Ameen =)