it's the end of the road

As our work at J&J is coming to an end, the associates (trainers) decided to treat the whole team to lunch, exchange some gifts, photo whore a bit and share some thoughts... At the end of the whole session, almost everyone was tearing except for a few cold blooded souls like me... It's juz not my thing to do farewells. Anyways, it has been a very tiring but enjoyable 2 weeks working in Cordis, Juarez. Even though communication was impossible without an interpretor, we still managed our way through and even picked up a few simple Spanish phrases. I need to practice them for my upcoming trip =)

After my training with all the balloon functional tests were completed, I switched over to do 100% manufacturing inspection and this was my station =)

People that I work with daily in the clean room =) White for regular operators, light blue for group leader and supervisors (somehow our interpretor was in light blue too), yellow for QC and dark blue for executives and guests.

My Spanish interpretor. He's 22 but his thinking and level of maturity is way beyond his age. With 4 languages under his belt and a strong passion for the literary world, he makes me feel really uncultured. hahaha... Thankfully, his presence made work less boring as he was the only one whom I could related to outside work as the rest who speak English are old and boring people....

Team Avalon/Tactx Medical

The entire BX Sonic team that made this training possible.

I casually asked my boss whether there's a possibility of us returning and he sounded promising. With the number of J&J projects lining up, there's no doubt that we'll be back =) It's gonna be hell busy when we return to SG and I've yet to apply for leave for my family holiday..... Crap

zapatos!!!

Look at how messy my bed was when I received these goodies!!! Obviously I couldn't be bothered to open box by box nicely...

My new FAV shoes!!! Peep toes, oxfords, 5" platform, wedges, ALL in one. Can it get any better?
Another pair of oxfords from Aldo for work. Simple and understated =)

All my new shoes to lug back to SG =) together with 3 other pairs that I brought to wear during my stay..... Totally justifies getting an extra luggage. hahaha

top left (all mine): Sperry loafer, Aldo Mckew oxfords, Cynthia Vincent for Target wedges, Aldo Cannistro wedges

bottom left (my sis's and my boy's): Converse sneakers, Sperry loafer, Nike tennis shoes

Now, all that's lacking is the largest package from Victoria's Secret which should be here soon =)

i need an energy booster

1 bottle per day for the busy and tiring week ahead....

Sperry Top-Sider

I've been eying on Sperry Top-Sider for a really long time and was so disappointed that the smallest size that SG brings in is still too big for me. Thankfully, the country which supports the entire consumer market has it and now it's mine =) Loafers are so comfortable and eludes casual chic without looking sloppy. It juz overtook oxfords on my 'flats' list =)

If anyone noticed, I bought the exact same pair for my boy on my very first shopping spree. He chose the color himself without any prior knowledge of me wanting to get one in the exact same color. This is our first 'couple' item ever. See how a size 5.5 contrasts with a size 11 =)

Receiving packages after a long day of work is definitely uplifting. The long hrs on the clean room, performing test after test after test, running around to shadow trainers, listening to the same thing in Spanish then in English, filling up tons of Spanish documents, 1 hr journey across border daily, dragging myself out of bed at 4am even on Saturdays for work.......... I juz want to get away from all work related matters. Ok, I shall stop complaining about work. It's boring.... SHOPPING =)

13hr shift

First day on the production floor and it's a straight 13hr shift.... I think it's gonna be like that for the rest of our trip as our boss wants us to finish as quickly as we can and leave for home. Tough love but it will be all worth it when we become J&J certified trainers for whatever operation we were in-charged of =)

This is the line that they will ship to SG. Literally the entire line, all the machines including tables, will be dismantled and shipped to our plant in SG. How awesome is that! And a rough estimate of how big their clean room is, there's at least 20 such lines in my section and there are like 6 or more different sections. I dare not wonder around the clean room for fear of getting lost.

Documentation is such a pain especially for big companies. The same components verification has to be performed by 3 different groups of people. We are talking about more than 10 different part numbers, machine calibration tags, expiration dates....... Seriously driving me NUTS!

♥ maxis ♥

Something I put together back in SG but was too busy to post. Spring/Summer is all about maxi dresses and I love how a simple black piece can be worn is so many different ways.

maxi: ASOS, flats: Steve Madden, necklace: F21, chain belt: AX

vest: Zara

top: Bershika

denim jacket: Esprit, fringe bag: Urban Outfitters

update: Just bought another tie dye maxi from F21 and can't wait to wear it =)

Cynthia Vincent by Target

My first online purchase arrived at my hotel today =) The highly anticipated Cynthia Vincent for Target Collection. I knew I had to get a pair when I first saw them on nitrolicious.com + Target offered free ground shipping so it was pretty much a no-brainer =)

The original Cynthia Vincent Luella Wedge which cost US$405 when it first came out, compared to this affordable version at US$29.99 =)

Should be expecting another 4 packages to arrive within the next few days =)

drowned in documents

10hrs of documents review proved to be deadly. We went in at 6am, reviewed manufacturing documents, quality documents, visual standards, functional testings etc and took tests for our relevant operations and only left at 5pm. I myself did 5 tests and each takes at least 45 mins. Worst of all is that the original documents were in Spanish so they had to translate them to English and some translations came out funny. Thankfully we had a product trainer and 2 translators present. Finally hitting the production floors tmr =) I'm getting too old for classroom style trainings and tests.

morning owl

Waking up at 430am, leaving the hotel at 5am to start work at 6am is unheard off... Doesn't help that they seem to be super unprepared, with Spanish documents not translated, a million of unnecessary trainings, and tons of time wasted waiting around. The whole afternoon after lunch was spent waiting for them to review the manufacturing documents which still didn't happen in the end...

hmmm.....

Cordis Mexico

Work work work.... Our 10 seater van that's in-charged of ferrying us daily across border.

Apparently, the situation at Juarez is worst than I've imagine. Even the locals don't like living there and kept emphasizing that we should not deviate from the direct route from our hotel to J&J or even leave the gates of this high security compound.

This is where most of the intervention catheters are manufactured. I wasn't allowed to snap photos within the plant but I'm pretty impressed with the level of automation and technology applied. Their clean room is huge, each operator has he/her own desk within the line, a flat screen monitor, personal microscope and other equipment required for the line's process. Their total staff count is close to 3000 people! Walking along the corridors during meal hrs or changing shift is like walking in a mega mall filled with people.....

The product that we are transferring to SG.

First day of orientation and training was a pure waste of time..... As we are going for trainer certification, they required us to sit through this 2 day training course, covering different aspects of their operations which were either not required for us to know or things we already knew like their plant emergency exits, medical department, security, gowning, environmental and health safety etc. Most of which were pretty much common sense since we work in a clean room environment too and should have a good understanding. A lot of waiting time as people scheduled to give the presentation were not available... Can't wait to hit the product line and really start learning/working. Otherwise, it's gonna be a long long 2.5 weeks ahead.....

crossing over

Since people have been telling me how dangerous it is at Juarez Mexico, I came up with this picture of how there would be an army of gun men petrolling the borders, and all of us walking across like prisoners. hahaha. Maybe I've been watching too much dramas. The whole experience of crossing the border over to Mexico to get our work permits approved felt more like going to Johor, with tighter security and men in rifles.

No man's land. Maybe not....

We walked across to Mexico as we were told that there would be major traffic congestion at the gateways. Don't know how we are gonna survive this everyday for the next 2 weeks....

El Paso, Texas

After 2 domestic flights from San Francisco to Phoenix, then to El Paso, we've arrived at this little town. The past few days at San Francisco have been exhausting with the adjusting of time zones, work and shopping. Time to recharge over the weekend before work officially starts on Monday.

This is gonna be my home for the next 2 weeks. Let the online shopping begin =)
Why do I need 2 beds when there's only 1 me? hahaha

San Francisco Bay

Something related to our training down at Mexico. Balloon catheters and heart stents. Balloons are manually blown, piece by piece. Simple but tedious process.....

Heart stent is the answer to open heart surgery, angioplasty, and a bypass surgery. Some really awesome research behind every stent design.

Done with work and off to San Francisco Bay area. It's about an hour drive from our office. No visit to San Francisco is complete without visiting Lombard St and Golden Gate Bridge, and a glimpse of Alcatraz Island and Fisherman Wharf.

Well done Team Avalon

I kindly volunteered to stay at the bottom to take a photo of them in the convertible, down the most crooked St. How noble....

I have no idea what made Golden Gate Bridge so famous but it's one of the landmarks of San Francisco and thus deserved a visit.

Us with our lovely colleague/tour guide =)

Dinner at the famous Cheesecake Factory. I'm still not used to the portions served here. I can barely finish half of it. Total waste of food.... My boy will love staying in USA.

Shopping loot from Gilroy Premium Outlet =) Final day of shopping. It's kinda sad when I'm the one doing most of the shopping while the rest juz hangs around. 2 hrs at an outlet is totally insufficient =(

Done with San Francisco. Now El Paso, Texas awaits..... Some serious work ahead.