mealtimes

waiting for lunch now, which is usually served at about 1pm here. mealtimes here are much later than those back home. lunch is typically at 2pm while dinner can be as late as 10pm. takes a while to get use to it, and i often end up hungry in between.

food has been pretty alright so far, except for the lack of meat on the dishes. seems like the bulk of the dishes are made up of either flour or beans. i've only had chicken twice since coming over on sunday.

but that being said, its great to have all our meals taken care of.

+91 call me

woohoo! finally got my new number today, courtesy of Airtel :) working in a telco has its perks i tell you. i get a free line with free credits worth Rps 2500, which is about S$100. and best of all, the call rates are super subsidised! -big grin-

here's an example of the rates that get charged for employees:

SMS: 30 pesa (~S$0.01)
Local calls: 50 pesa/min (~S$0.02/min)
Int'l calls: 8 rupee/min (~S$0.33/min)

good stuff right. lol. and best of all, its free incoming, regardless of local or international, so feel free to call me anytime.

p.s. mobile numbers here are 10-digits long.. doubt i'll be able to remember my own number

sweet.

Today’s my official first day of work after the last 2 days of Orientation. I’ve been posted to the Finance department (once again, the last time being Amex) to do strategy. Met up with my boss, the vice CFO who briefed me on the scope of my project over the next 3 months.

Project Scope

I’ll be joining the C*APEX Committee, which currently comprises of 5 members, including the Airte*l’s CEO, CFO and other directors. This committee oversees the capital expenditure of the company. Every business unit that requires funds (from US$50mn to US$500mn per project) for capital expansion/renewal will have to send their proposals/requests through to this committee, complete with the capex requirements, return on investment etc. The committee will then analyze the request, and decide if this particular project should be given approval. The committee convenes once a month to listen to the various requests from the business units and decides on the outcome. My job’s to go through each proposal and give my recommendations base on the case presented. I am also to work on a common structure and put into place a capex evaluation model to be used to assess future capex projects, putting them through parameters and guidelines.


Thoughts

I’m extremely excited with the scope of the project! It’s like doing case all over again. Evaluating the feasibility and finances for each project, just that it’s for real this time. Through this, I get to see all the upcoming projects, sit in with the CEO and CFO, and get a chance to present my views on the situation at hand.

It’s a great opportunity to learn and delve into the telecoms sector. Indeed a great high-level project that marries both strategy and finance.

Sweet.

grey

if there's one word to describe delhi when i arrive, it has to be the colour grey.

everything's hazy and extremely dusty.. things just look bleak, and across the vast land space, things look really sparse. and yes, everything looks like its in the midst of construction, kind of.. streets dug up, cows roaming about, constant honking from the vehicles on the roads.

Suvarnabhumi Airport

the following are photos taken at the new Suvarnabhumi airport in bangkok. was there on transit en route to delhi on sunday. its a very new place, similar to that of hong kong international airport. the flight to bangkok was gd too. plenty of legroom on the plane, it was a 2-4-2 configuration and the colours were really cheery!

i had to take a picture of the glass panes and windows. they were really dirty and stained.. a pity since the airport's actually really nice

here's celine and i at this temple-like structure taken jus outside our boarding gate. she gets a free orchid pin after every thai airways flight! not fair.. lol

notice the mural/painting behind the man.. many of these artworks adorn the walkways of the airport. pretty nice touch.

and so it begins!

here's a short note to say that i've arrived safely here in new delhi, india. currently staying at gurgaon, just outside of delhi. lots of stuff to update once i get the time to do so. had a really tiring first day! will be trying to get photos up as well, so look out for them!