It's amazing how time just flies, as if it has strapped itself with turbo boosters. Today marks the last day of year 2008. I'm sure a lot of people are looking back and tallying their achievements and failures over the year, while news agencies would be busy making a list of event highlights... etc.
On the global front, I think the most memorable events that just came into my mind would be the disastrous Wenzhou earthquake, the Beijing Olympics, the US elections, the sub prime and credit crunch...
Back home, off the mind we have the election tsunami on 8th March, the petrol price hike followed by descents, Bukit Antarabangsa landslide...
As for myself, some significant milestones include taking up diving (finally! after like 7 years of wanting to do so), and picking up some lessons on the art of self defense (another thing that I always wanted to learn). This year also marks the first time I've ever been to East Malaysia (Sipadan), as well as the east coast islands - Perhentian Kecil, Redang, Tioman. And I've finally committed myself to help out with tutoring for some underpriviledged children.
Well, not to say a fruitful 2008, but it's a good year nontheless. Looking forward to a better 2009, with more travels (hopefully) and more great dives :)
Happy New Year 2009 to all!
31 December 2008
12 December 2008
Hmm...
I just woke up from the weirdest illogical dream - saved by the bell (or rather, alarm clock). It was funny how the storyline in the dream goes on and on with certain details that seemed reasonable, then later on realizing that those details are impossible and thus the mind tries to recover by furnishing illogical details to fill in the gap. Totally weird I tell you. Oh and my friend told me he read somewhere that most people have black and white dreams... by I can remember pretty well that my dreams are in color.
Actually I very rarely dream all these while... but lately these few months I've been dreaming quite a bit... don't know why.
Oh and on a sidenote, congrats to my buddy CW whose wife just delivered a 2.8kg baby girl. Woohoo! :)
Actually I very rarely dream all these while... but lately these few months I've been dreaming quite a bit... don't know why.
Oh and on a sidenote, congrats to my buddy CW whose wife just delivered a 2.8kg baby girl. Woohoo! :)
02 December 2008
December Already!
How time flies... damn.
Yesterday I was not feeling very well, don't know why. Decided to cut short on my class and leave a bit earlier. After reaching home and taking a shower, I just fell asleep on the living room sofa till the next morning.
Today had an interview (I believe my colleagues don't know my blog, I hope :P), so took half day off to attend the interview. Didn't really go as well as I'd like. Just see how it goes. *Fingers crossed*
After the interview I went to see a buddy who just survived a car accident. He was driving in midnight, lost concentration for a brief moment and drove his car through a taxi stand into a ditch. Car was in pretty bad shape but luckily he was not badly hurt. Got some bruises on the legs, broke his right wrist, possibly a cracked rib. He could go back home after spending 4 hours in the hospital, no need to be warded. Hope he'll get well soon.
Yesterday I was not feeling very well, don't know why. Decided to cut short on my class and leave a bit earlier. After reaching home and taking a shower, I just fell asleep on the living room sofa till the next morning.
Today had an interview (I believe my colleagues don't know my blog, I hope :P), so took half day off to attend the interview. Didn't really go as well as I'd like. Just see how it goes. *Fingers crossed*
After the interview I went to see a buddy who just survived a car accident. He was driving in midnight, lost concentration for a brief moment and drove his car through a taxi stand into a ditch. Car was in pretty bad shape but luckily he was not badly hurt. Got some bruises on the legs, broke his right wrist, possibly a cracked rib. He could go back home after spending 4 hours in the hospital, no need to be warded. Hope he'll get well soon.
24 November 2008
3 Weddings down...
3 more to go.
- 9th was colleague's, then 15th ex colleague's, and just got back from ex classmate's wedding a while ago.
- Next up is Dec 7th (ex classmate), Dec 27th (either ex college mate or ex classmate, choose one), Jan 3rd (online forum friend).
- The world is damn small, only on today's wedding that I realized my dad and the groom's dad are friends.
- Felt that I've not been in touch with a lot of people for quite some time. Need to do something about this, but need to find time at the same time. (Reason, refer to previous post)
- Someone said something like this before, "after school, you'd lose touch with your mates, and the only times when you can gather everyone together is usually when there's good news (marriage, newborn, etc) or bad news (someone passed away)". Kinda sad but true, innit?
- 9th was colleague's, then 15th ex colleague's, and just got back from ex classmate's wedding a while ago.
- Next up is Dec 7th (ex classmate), Dec 27th (either ex college mate or ex classmate, choose one), Jan 3rd (online forum friend).
- The world is damn small, only on today's wedding that I realized my dad and the groom's dad are friends.
- Felt that I've not been in touch with a lot of people for quite some time. Need to do something about this, but need to find time at the same time. (Reason, refer to previous post)
- Someone said something like this before, "after school, you'd lose touch with your mates, and the only times when you can gather everyone together is usually when there's good news (marriage, newborn, etc) or bad news (someone passed away)". Kinda sad but true, innit?
11 November 2008
Taking up a new class today...
... which fills up another one of my weekday after work empty slots. So now my after work schedule is something like this:
Mon: 8:30pm class A
Tue: 7:30pm class B
Wed: 8:30pm class A (optional if I skip Mon or Fri)
Alternatively, 8:00pm extra class B (optional)
Thu: 7:00pm tutoring
Fri: 8:30pm class A
Then for weekends:
Sat: 5:00pm class A (optional, if I skip weekday classes)
Sun: 4:30pm class A (optional, if I skip weekday and sat classes)
Damn... I'm sure time would fly... hahaha
Mon: 8:30pm class A
Tue: 7:30pm class B
Wed: 8:30pm class A (optional if I skip Mon or Fri)
Alternatively, 8:00pm extra class B (optional)
Thu: 7:00pm tutoring
Fri: 8:30pm class A
Then for weekends:
Sat: 5:00pm class A (optional, if I skip weekday classes)
Sun: 4:30pm class A (optional, if I skip weekday and sat classes)
Damn... I'm sure time would fly... hahaha
03 November 2008
Updates
Wow, with the blink of an eye, it's November already. Had 2 action packed weekends for the past 2 week, so was a little lazy to update blog.
On the long weekend 2 weeks ago (that Monday was a Deepavali holiday), my parents decided to go back to my mom's hometown, so I drove them there. Got to meet up with a bunch of my uncles and aunts as well as cousins. I haven't really been back for like 2 years already. Got quite a bit of development going on for mom's hometown.
Then this past weekend, attended a damn happening Halloween party organized by my friend last Friday. Some of them are damn creative and dressed up to the theme "Dead Celebrities". There were like 2 Heath Ledger, 2 Audrey Hepburn, Chairman Mao, Shirley Temple etc... Hilarious!
Yesterday I went for a charity run called the "Terry Fox Run" at Lake Gardens. Was supposed to be a 5km run, but end up everyone just walked the whole 5km because it was quite packed and crowded.
On the long weekend 2 weeks ago (that Monday was a Deepavali holiday), my parents decided to go back to my mom's hometown, so I drove them there. Got to meet up with a bunch of my uncles and aunts as well as cousins. I haven't really been back for like 2 years already. Got quite a bit of development going on for mom's hometown.
Then this past weekend, attended a damn happening Halloween party organized by my friend last Friday. Some of them are damn creative and dressed up to the theme "Dead Celebrities". There were like 2 Heath Ledger, 2 Audrey Hepburn, Chairman Mao, Shirley Temple etc... Hilarious!
Yesterday I went for a charity run called the "Terry Fox Run" at Lake Gardens. Was supposed to be a 5km run, but end up everyone just walked the whole 5km because it was quite packed and crowded.
19 October 2008
Long Overdue Post
Haha yeah I know, I was supposed to post details about my Sipadan dive trip like 2 weeks ago. But had been busy over the weekends (watching Heroes season 1 and 2, hanging out with friends etc). Anyways here it is:
On the 30th Sept, after work, I went home, had my dinner, packed my bags, and then went over to B and C's place to crash. Gotta wake up very early (4:30am) the next day to catch the cab to LCC Terminal for the early flight to Tawau.
The next morning, we arrived at the airport right on time for check in. This time around everyone made it and nobody got left behind (unlike the last time where 2 guys missed the flight).
After checking out from Tawau airport, we have to take a rental van to get to the Pulau Sipadan Resort (PSR) pier, which is about an hour's drive away. And from the pier, it's another 45min to 1 hour of boat ride to Kapalai (where PSR is at). On the way we passed by Mabul as well, which is a bigger island (I heard there's like 3 resorts, and a town community there).
When we reached PSR, it was like WOW... the whole resort is like on stilts sitting on a semi submerged sandy island. And you can see a lot of sea critters (especially starfishes) in the water. Other than no airconditioning, the facilities on the resort is pretty complete. The dining hall has an opening right smack in the middle like an aquarium and you keep seeing lots of fishes just hanging out below. In the room, the balcony has got deck chairs looking out to the sea.
Diving here was awesome. Creatures which are considered rare in east coast semenanjung is like in abundance here. Pipe fishes, lionfishes, starfishes, groupers, jacks, blue spotted rays, even bumphead parrotfishes would just be swimming around the resort. We get to see so many creatures like white tip sharks, green turtles, hawkbills, lots and lots of barracudas (esp on Sipadan itself), colorful nudibranches, pygmy seahorses, leaf fishes, frog fishes etc. Even the anemones would house big families of clownfishes (I've seen like tens to twenties of them hanging around a single anemone).
The only grudge we have is because of recent policy changes, we need permits to dive in Sipadan. And the thing is that the permit was randomly awarded. There are people who get to dive there everyday, and some didn't get a chance to dive in Sipadan after staying for 5 days. Our group managed to get a dive (some get 2 dives). We were supposed to get another dive actually, but while waiting for the personnel to approve our, one stupid gwai lou went to reason with the personnel and talked so much until he got fed up and shooed us all back.
All in all, it is a great trip. Great dive, good food, friendly people and staffs. I would definitely want to come back. No wonder some of my friends who dives call this place their second home. Time to save up for another trip... maybe next year. :P
On the 30th Sept, after work, I went home, had my dinner, packed my bags, and then went over to B and C's place to crash. Gotta wake up very early (4:30am) the next day to catch the cab to LCC Terminal for the early flight to Tawau.
The next morning, we arrived at the airport right on time for check in. This time around everyone made it and nobody got left behind (unlike the last time where 2 guys missed the flight).
After checking out from Tawau airport, we have to take a rental van to get to the Pulau Sipadan Resort (PSR) pier, which is about an hour's drive away. And from the pier, it's another 45min to 1 hour of boat ride to Kapalai (where PSR is at). On the way we passed by Mabul as well, which is a bigger island (I heard there's like 3 resorts, and a town community there).
When we reached PSR, it was like WOW... the whole resort is like on stilts sitting on a semi submerged sandy island. And you can see a lot of sea critters (especially starfishes) in the water. Other than no airconditioning, the facilities on the resort is pretty complete. The dining hall has an opening right smack in the middle like an aquarium and you keep seeing lots of fishes just hanging out below. In the room, the balcony has got deck chairs looking out to the sea.
Diving here was awesome. Creatures which are considered rare in east coast semenanjung is like in abundance here. Pipe fishes, lionfishes, starfishes, groupers, jacks, blue spotted rays, even bumphead parrotfishes would just be swimming around the resort. We get to see so many creatures like white tip sharks, green turtles, hawkbills, lots and lots of barracudas (esp on Sipadan itself), colorful nudibranches, pygmy seahorses, leaf fishes, frog fishes etc. Even the anemones would house big families of clownfishes (I've seen like tens to twenties of them hanging around a single anemone).
The only grudge we have is because of recent policy changes, we need permits to dive in Sipadan. And the thing is that the permit was randomly awarded. There are people who get to dive there everyday, and some didn't get a chance to dive in Sipadan after staying for 5 days. Our group managed to get a dive (some get 2 dives). We were supposed to get another dive actually, but while waiting for the personnel to approve our, one stupid gwai lou went to reason with the personnel and talked so much until he got fed up and shooed us all back.
All in all, it is a great trip. Great dive, good food, friendly people and staffs. I would definitely want to come back. No wonder some of my friends who dives call this place their second home. Time to save up for another trip... maybe next year. :P
06 October 2008
Back! But wished I could stay longer
Just got home not long ago. Air Asia delayed again. Sipadan was awesome. But there's some new restrictions on diving there, only got to go there once. The rest of the diving was done in Kapalai, Mabul, and Siamil.
Off to sleep. More details next time.
Off to sleep. More details next time.
30 September 2008
Go-Karting etc
Last Saturday was quite action packed for me. First I met up with an ex colleague to have bakuteh together. Then some friends asked me to join them for go karting in Shah Alam. Looking at the time, I figured I can go for it and still have ample of time to go home and shower before meeting up with another friend for dinner. So off I go to Shah Alam to meet my friends.
The weather was quite gloomy and we were quite worried that it was going to rain. Nevertheless we still proceed to the venue. Upon arriving there, it still didn't rain, and thus we carried on with karting. There were 2 options, 60cc karts and 100cc karts. The 100cc ones are quite pricey, so we opt for 60cc.
This is the 2nd time I go karts. It's a really fun albeit pricey activity. Pictures are on Facebook.
The weather was quite gloomy and we were quite worried that it was going to rain. Nevertheless we still proceed to the venue. Upon arriving there, it still didn't rain, and thus we carried on with karting. There were 2 options, 60cc karts and 100cc karts. The 100cc ones are quite pricey, so we opt for 60cc.
This is the 2nd time I go karts. It's a really fun albeit pricey activity. Pictures are on Facebook.
23 September 2008
Wedding Dinner
Sunday I had to skip my class because I realized that I'm supposed to be attending an ex-colleague's wedding dinner in KL. I really forgot about it totally, but luckily I did made a note about it in my phone's calender and hence got reminded about it before it's too late.
It was the typical Chinese wedding dinner that we've all been attending and been very familiar with. I was surprised that they have the Karaoke set ready for guests to sing on stage, because most people did not want that nowadays. More surprising is that I went to toilet and came back finding out my ex-colleagues have nominated me to sing on stage. What to do, have to be sporting, so I went up to sing. After a while, they made me sing another song. Really got "placed on the table" (俾人摆上台).
On a side note, this is one wedding dinner that ended very very early for KL standards. 10pm and it's done. I guess the hosts didn't want everyone to stay back too late since the next day is a working Monday.
It was the typical Chinese wedding dinner that we've all been attending and been very familiar with. I was surprised that they have the Karaoke set ready for guests to sing on stage, because most people did not want that nowadays. More surprising is that I went to toilet and came back finding out my ex-colleagues have nominated me to sing on stage. What to do, have to be sporting, so I went up to sing. After a while, they made me sing another song. Really got "placed on the table" (俾人摆上台).
On a side note, this is one wedding dinner that ended very very early for KL standards. 10pm and it's done. I guess the hosts didn't want everyone to stay back too late since the next day is a working Monday.
16 September 2008
New Set of Resolutions
Well, it's not exactly new year yet... but I guess I'm setting my resolutions early. Looking back, I think I'm still quite a failure. I've been slacking off from my visions and taking things in a too relaxed manner.
Things are going to change. I am in the midst of planning a series of upgrades that I should work on to improve myself. I will be a different person by 2010. Item 1 has just begun. Item 2 coming soon. Item 3 most likely somewhere next year.
Things are going to change. I am in the midst of planning a series of upgrades that I should work on to improve myself. I will be a different person by 2010. Item 1 has just begun. Item 2 coming soon. Item 3 most likely somewhere next year.
07 September 2008
Farewell, Gathering and more
Last weekend was quite eventful. Started off with a farewell dinner of a colleague, followed by a visit to MOS: Euphoria on Friday; caught up with a friend I haven't meet for months, and a gathering of ex colleagues at Souled Out on Saturday; as well as a visit to *undisclosed location* plus some hands on trial of *something* on Sunday.
So, yet another disgruntled employee left the company. I wonder who's next... and when is my turn. This girl is one of the few remaining subject matter expert in the company after a bunch of them all left about 2 years back (I was told).
After the farewell dinner, I joined a few of the colleagues to check out MOS: Euphoria. Entrance was pretty expensive at RM50, and so are the liquors, with Chivas going for RM420. Music is typical MOS style... trance-y techno. Crowd was not too bad either. Don't know why lately I've been enjoying these techno music like MOS, David Guetta, Paul van Dyk, Tiesto etc, so I kinda enjoyed Euphoria. Not to mention that it's a non smoking club, so all the better.
Hartamas has been kinda quiet lately. I went there on a Saturday evening, thinking it would be packed, but surprisingly there's ample of parking. Maybe as my friends say, economy is not that good, so more people prefer to stay home. Also could be because it rained earlier, so less people feel like coming out on a rainy day. I've no idea.
I've been interested to learn something new. Lately learnt about *something* and I happen to have a few friends who are into it. So I decided to visit their *undisclosed location* to check it out. Most likely I will be taking it up, although classes would be on Monday evenings, which could be quite tiring since next day is also a working day. Plus if I were to be dumped into another client's site, it might be quite troublesome for me to travel after work for practices. Nevertheless, I think I'll just start first and worry about all these later. I think I'm gonna like it.
So, yet another disgruntled employee left the company. I wonder who's next... and when is my turn. This girl is one of the few remaining subject matter expert in the company after a bunch of them all left about 2 years back (I was told).
After the farewell dinner, I joined a few of the colleagues to check out MOS: Euphoria. Entrance was pretty expensive at RM50, and so are the liquors, with Chivas going for RM420. Music is typical MOS style... trance-y techno. Crowd was not too bad either. Don't know why lately I've been enjoying these techno music like MOS, David Guetta, Paul van Dyk, Tiesto etc, so I kinda enjoyed Euphoria. Not to mention that it's a non smoking club, so all the better.
Hartamas has been kinda quiet lately. I went there on a Saturday evening, thinking it would be packed, but surprisingly there's ample of parking. Maybe as my friends say, economy is not that good, so more people prefer to stay home. Also could be because it rained earlier, so less people feel like coming out on a rainy day. I've no idea.
I've been interested to learn something new. Lately learnt about *something* and I happen to have a few friends who are into it. So I decided to visit their *undisclosed location* to check it out. Most likely I will be taking it up, although classes would be on Monday evenings, which could be quite tiring since next day is also a working day. Plus if I were to be dumped into another client's site, it might be quite troublesome for me to travel after work for practices. Nevertheless, I think I'll just start first and worry about all these later. I think I'm gonna like it.
30 August 2008
好人？
好久没打中文了，真的退步了。一些想要表达的事，脑袋里用英文一下就想出来，但想用中文来表达呢，却要花些心思组句。
当然，如果你有留意我的部落格，并懂得读中文的话，你会知道当我写中文时，是想表达一些比较私人的事。为什么会选中文呢？因为“香蕉人”很多，比较少人会明白我写的东西。:P
好人。当一个女生告诉男生他是个好人，你觉得这是好事还是坏事？很多时候这并非好事。有时候我想，为什么女生就不能直接一点？不喜欢就说出来嘛。干吗要说“你是个好人，但是...”。其实我知道，很多时候她们想说的是“你是个好人，可是对我而言，你还不够好”， 或是“你是个好人，可是我比较喜欢坏坏的男生”之类的。
刚刚看了一个台湾综艺节目，叫“速配男女”，一个女的配对失败，对男的说的就是这样“你是个很好的男生，希望你会找到更好的女生”。太没新意了吧！其实她想表达的不过是“你是很好，但不足以赢得我的芳心”。
当然，如果你有留意我的部落格，并懂得读中文的话，你会知道当我写中文时，是想表达一些比较私人的事。为什么会选中文呢？因为“香蕉人”很多，比较少人会明白我写的东西。:P
好人。当一个女生告诉男生他是个好人，你觉得这是好事还是坏事？很多时候这并非好事。有时候我想，为什么女生就不能直接一点？不喜欢就说出来嘛。干吗要说“你是个好人，但是...”。其实我知道，很多时候她们想说的是“你是个好人，可是对我而言，你还不够好”， 或是“你是个好人，可是我比较喜欢坏坏的男生”之类的。
刚刚看了一个台湾综艺节目，叫“速配男女”，一个女的配对失败，对男的说的就是这样“你是个很好的男生，希望你会找到更好的女生”。太没新意了吧！其实她想表达的不过是“你是很好，但不足以赢得我的芳心”。
25 August 2008
Today
Today I won a game of Worms World Party (WWP) Symbian edition in an absolutely ridiculous way. WWP is an artillery turn-based game where you throw all sorts of explosives and stuffs at opponent worms to destroy them. I have the Symbian edition installed on my handphone and I play with it once in a while when I've nothing to do or when I need something to clear my mind.
So what I did was I started a 3 vs 3 game. The game starts with the opponent firing the first shot. The idiot worm take a shot at me and missed, hitting it's team member, and because there's a slope, the worm slides down, bringing with it another of it's team member, all the way into the water. The first opponent on the other hand, slided on the opposite side and also fell into the water, ended up with me winning the game without firing a single shot... LOL. How ridiculous.
On a separate note, witnessed an accident happening right in front of me today. It was raining the time I left office, and while I was driving towards a road junction, I noticed this taxi in front of me moving very close to the Myvi in front. My senses suddenly tell me not to follow so close, and so I kept quite a distance, and true enough, the taxi suddenly crashed right into the rear of the Myvi. As I overtook the 2 cars, I noticed another City in front with a dented rear. So I looked into my reverse mirror and noticed the Myvi's front was dented as well. Not really sure what happened, could be the taxi banged into the Myvi causing the Myvi to bang into the City, or it could be that the Myvi banged into the City, both of them slowing down, and the taxi banged into the Myvi. Oh ya forgot to take down number to buy 4D... Not that I buy 4D regularly anyways. :P
On another separate note, today is the very first time I saw a Ferrari broke down beside the road with it's bonnet open right before a traffic light. This was just before me reaching home from work. I mean, how rare can it be, to see a Ferrari, let alone one which brokes down beside the road?
Let's not start with work talk...
What a day...
So what I did was I started a 3 vs 3 game. The game starts with the opponent firing the first shot. The idiot worm take a shot at me and missed, hitting it's team member, and because there's a slope, the worm slides down, bringing with it another of it's team member, all the way into the water. The first opponent on the other hand, slided on the opposite side and also fell into the water, ended up with me winning the game without firing a single shot... LOL. How ridiculous.
On a separate note, witnessed an accident happening right in front of me today. It was raining the time I left office, and while I was driving towards a road junction, I noticed this taxi in front of me moving very close to the Myvi in front. My senses suddenly tell me not to follow so close, and so I kept quite a distance, and true enough, the taxi suddenly crashed right into the rear of the Myvi. As I overtook the 2 cars, I noticed another City in front with a dented rear. So I looked into my reverse mirror and noticed the Myvi's front was dented as well. Not really sure what happened, could be the taxi banged into the Myvi causing the Myvi to bang into the City, or it could be that the Myvi banged into the City, both of them slowing down, and the taxi banged into the Myvi. Oh ya forgot to take down number to buy 4D... Not that I buy 4D regularly anyways. :P
On another separate note, today is the very first time I saw a Ferrari broke down beside the road with it's bonnet open right before a traffic light. This was just before me reaching home from work. I mean, how rare can it be, to see a Ferrari, let alone one which brokes down beside the road?
Let's not start with work talk...
What a day...
24 August 2008
Disappointments
This past week has been quite disappointing for me. First I got news of a failed job app. Then my car refused to start when I was going to work on Wednesday (lucky thing it happened when I was leaving home instead of when I'm at basement car park at client's place). On top of that, due to some misunderstandings (I think) and some of my actions, someone is not very happy with me.
On top of that, my project has came to the final week. Getting a little stressful trying to tie things up together. And colleague ain't helping by creating more issues that needs my intervention.
Crap :(
On top of that, my project has came to the final week. Getting a little stressful trying to tie things up together. And colleague ain't helping by creating more issues that needs my intervention.
Crap :(
18 August 2008
Yet Another Week
How time flies... there goes another week. On work front, that means the deadline for our (failing) project is drawing near. In less than 2 weeks time we'll need to show whatever we've got and try to impress the clients. This is only the phase 1 of the project. From the user feedback, I am almost certain that we won't be getting phase 2 due to the poor performance of our phase 1. But nevertheless, as professionals, we still need to do our best to deliver a good show for our phase 1. As blogged earlier, this project has been doomed to fail since the beginning, as there's miscommunications between the sales team and project team, resulting in a wastage of about 2 and a half month's time. Then the PM kept pushing the team around various directions without a clear idea of what the client wants. Now that time is running short, the PM should've been on site with us to sort out issues, but instead he's still the same, always hard to catch him. If he's on site, either it's because he need to sit in for meetings, or he'll be sitting there replying emails. Oh well, I'll just have to do whatever I can to close the project and hope for a successful sign off *fingers crossed*.
Work aside, I've met up with a bunch of clubbing friends on Friday night, which I haven't seen for... I don't know... 2 months? 3 months? Yeah it's been quite a while. After hanging out till about 2am at La Bodega, upon suggestions of EJ, who said he hasn't drank enough, VA, ML, WY, WY's French friend (I forgot... I'm bad with names) and myself adjourned to another pub which EJ frequents for 2nd rounds. Ended up opening a bottle of Black Label which 4 of us guys (EJ, VA, ML and me) finished on the same night. In the end we left the place at about 6am. I was so sleepy that I had to stop at a petrol station to get some rest. Slept for 2 hours there before I woke up and drove home. Damn, haven't partied so hard for a long time. In fact, normally the latest we've stayed up to is like 4am. This is like totally breaking the record. (in the spirit of Olympics I guess :P)
Oh yeah speaking of Olympics, only a couple more days before the 16-day long event is done (24th is the closing ceremony). Already about half of the gold medals are out. Seems like there's quite a number of world record being broken already. The most impressive one being Phelps of US, who broke the record of the most gold won by an individual. Another one would be Bolt of Jamaica, who broke the 100m sprint record with ease (it was said he started slowing down 20m from the finish line). You would wonder if he were to push his limits, how fast could he get. The most disappointing one would have to be Liu Xiang, whose injury forced him to withdrew himself from the games.
And that's that.
Work aside, I've met up with a bunch of clubbing friends on Friday night, which I haven't seen for... I don't know... 2 months? 3 months? Yeah it's been quite a while. After hanging out till about 2am at La Bodega, upon suggestions of EJ, who said he hasn't drank enough, VA, ML, WY, WY's French friend (I forgot... I'm bad with names) and myself adjourned to another pub which EJ frequents for 2nd rounds. Ended up opening a bottle of Black Label which 4 of us guys (EJ, VA, ML and me) finished on the same night. In the end we left the place at about 6am. I was so sleepy that I had to stop at a petrol station to get some rest. Slept for 2 hours there before I woke up and drove home. Damn, haven't partied so hard for a long time. In fact, normally the latest we've stayed up to is like 4am. This is like totally breaking the record. (in the spirit of Olympics I guess :P)
Oh yeah speaking of Olympics, only a couple more days before the 16-day long event is done (24th is the closing ceremony). Already about half of the gold medals are out. Seems like there's quite a number of world record being broken already. The most impressive one being Phelps of US, who broke the record of the most gold won by an individual. Another one would be Bolt of Jamaica, who broke the 100m sprint record with ease (it was said he started slowing down 20m from the finish line). You would wonder if he were to push his limits, how fast could he get. The most disappointing one would have to be Liu Xiang, whose injury forced him to withdrew himself from the games.
And that's that.
11 August 2008
Meet up, Reunion, and a Farewell
Haven't had such an "action packed" weekend for a long time until last weekend.
On Saturday, had a gathering with a bunch of angels from HelpingAngels. It was an unofficial celebration to mark the 1st year anniversary of forming the group. So we met up for dimsum lunch in Jaya33.
After the lunch, someone suggested to go for those fish spa therapy, but we ended up in Curve for karaoke. Sang our lungs out from 4pm until about 8pm at night. Then head back to Jaya33 to have shabu shabu dinner.
Note: pictures on Facebook
Was supposed to then meet up with some friends who was back from HK (Malaysian working there, both husband and wife) next, but got cancelled and postphoned to Sunday.
So on Sunday, managed to meet up the HK couple for a while, before they go meet up my other ex colleagues for dinner (by the way, thanks again for the Yuen Long Lou Poh Bang :D ). I can't make it for the dinner (though I'm supposed to) because I've promised to go find a good friend of mine who's leaving for US on Tuesday. Sort of a farewell.
So got to meet up with my friend, had a good chat and catch up over mamak until about 12:30am. Even talked about some of the gossips and behind the scenes of a local musical production. Anyways, don't think you read my blog but all the best on your new life in San Francisco! :)
On Saturday, had a gathering with a bunch of angels from HelpingAngels. It was an unofficial celebration to mark the 1st year anniversary of forming the group. So we met up for dimsum lunch in Jaya33.
After the lunch, someone suggested to go for those fish spa therapy, but we ended up in Curve for karaoke. Sang our lungs out from 4pm until about 8pm at night. Then head back to Jaya33 to have shabu shabu dinner.
Note: pictures on Facebook
Was supposed to then meet up with some friends who was back from HK (Malaysian working there, both husband and wife) next, but got cancelled and postphoned to Sunday.
So on Sunday, managed to meet up the HK couple for a while, before they go meet up my other ex colleagues for dinner (by the way, thanks again for the Yuen Long Lou Poh Bang :D ). I can't make it for the dinner (though I'm supposed to) because I've promised to go find a good friend of mine who's leaving for US on Tuesday. Sort of a farewell.
So got to meet up with my friend, had a good chat and catch up over mamak until about 12:30am. Even talked about some of the gossips and behind the scenes of a local musical production. Anyways, don't think you read my blog but all the best on your new life in San Francisco! :)
09 August 2008
080808
The much anticipated day of Beijing Olympics 2008 finally opened yesterday, on the 8th day of the 8th month, of the 08 year at 8pm. Yesterday after work, on my way home, I got stuck in a bad jam which is quite unusual. I guess everyone was rushing home so that they don't miss the opening ceremony.
The starting performance was pretty awesome, as they got thousands of people to synchronize on some performances. Especially the part where they have blocks of letter cubes in synchronized patterns. Details of the opening ceremony can be found on the official website here.
After the performances, participants from all over the world starts marching in. Took quite a few hours to have all of them walk through the main area.
Finally, the event ends with the lighting of the fire pit, which is also one of the highlights of the night. After Barcelona's archer shooting the flame to light the pit, many are wondering what would China do to top that. Apparently they used technology in this case, to lift the ex gymnastic gold medalist Li Ning on wires so that it seems like he was making a round in the stadium, in the air. Should be quite tiring for him as he has to act like he was walking on air.
Overall it's a successful olympic opening. As some say, having a successful opening is almost like 50% of the whole event is already a success. Although I'm not much of a sports fan, I still look forward to see record breaking moments in this year's game.
The starting performance was pretty awesome, as they got thousands of people to synchronize on some performances. Especially the part where they have blocks of letter cubes in synchronized patterns. Details of the opening ceremony can be found on the official website here.
After the performances, participants from all over the world starts marching in. Took quite a few hours to have all of them walk through the main area.
Finally, the event ends with the lighting of the fire pit, which is also one of the highlights of the night. After Barcelona's archer shooting the flame to light the pit, many are wondering what would China do to top that. Apparently they used technology in this case, to lift the ex gymnastic gold medalist Li Ning on wires so that it seems like he was making a round in the stadium, in the air. Should be quite tiring for him as he has to act like he was walking on air.
Overall it's a successful olympic opening. As some say, having a successful opening is almost like 50% of the whole event is already a success. Although I'm not much of a sports fan, I still look forward to see record breaking moments in this year's game.
26 July 2008
Happy Birthday to me :P
Yup... just past my my birthday few days back. Now I'm officially in the 30s bracket, can n0 longer claim I'm twenty-something anymore. :P
The best thing to have happened on my birthday is definitely being able to celebrate it with someone special. We had dinner at Kampachi in Pavillion KL. The food was good, and the company was better. I was a very happy boy. Hahaha.
A friend of mine in 30s told me 2 days back, "welcome to the 30s club, everything starts going downhill from now on." Hahaha, quite true I think. Gotta do some review on what I've done so far (nothing much actually), and make plans for the future.
On a separate note, I've finally received my contest prize which I won in May (well actually March, the prize ceremony was in May), after going through some unexpected events in between.
The story goes like this, by right we, the winners of the contest (by PRM), are supposed to collect our prizes from this company (PMXM). What we have to do is go to PMXM, show the letter, sign some forms, and they will claim the money from PRM and purchase the prize to be given to us.
What happened is that (I got to know from an ex-staff in PMXM) after we signed the forms, the people at PMXM did not utilize our money to buy the prizes, but instead use it to fund their business (which was not doing too well it seems). So when things turned sour, the directors/owners disappeared and was not contactable anymore, and the shop closed down.
So for a while I thought, damn, my prize is gone. And after about 2 weeks from the incident, the people from TMM, who was representing PRM, called me up. They offered to give me the prize in terms of cash value. Well, of course I'm more than happy to accept the offer. So many thanks to PRM and TMM. You guys are awesome :)
The best thing to have happened on my birthday is definitely being able to celebrate it with someone special. We had dinner at Kampachi in Pavillion KL. The food was good, and the company was better. I was a very happy boy. Hahaha.
A friend of mine in 30s told me 2 days back, "welcome to the 30s club, everything starts going downhill from now on." Hahaha, quite true I think. Gotta do some review on what I've done so far (nothing much actually), and make plans for the future.
On a separate note, I've finally received my contest prize which I won in May (well actually March, the prize ceremony was in May), after going through some unexpected events in between.
The story goes like this, by right we, the winners of the contest (by PRM), are supposed to collect our prizes from this company (PMXM). What we have to do is go to PMXM, show the letter, sign some forms, and they will claim the money from PRM and purchase the prize to be given to us.
What happened is that (I got to know from an ex-staff in PMXM) after we signed the forms, the people at PMXM did not utilize our money to buy the prizes, but instead use it to fund their business (which was not doing too well it seems). So when things turned sour, the directors/owners disappeared and was not contactable anymore, and the shop closed down.
So for a while I thought, damn, my prize is gone. And after about 2 weeks from the incident, the people from TMM, who was representing PRM, called me up. They offered to give me the prize in terms of cash value. Well, of course I'm more than happy to accept the offer. So many thanks to PRM and TMM. You guys are awesome :)
17 July 2008
Back from my 3rd Dive!
Yup, last weekend I went for my 3rd dive trip to Tioman. We drove all the way to Mersing town, and then took a boat transfer to Tekek. I think the transfer was supposed to take like about an hour, but because the boat goes around the island and stopped at every jetty, it took us like 2 hour plus to reach Tekek. Along the way the boat kept playing "The Last Samurai" disc 2 again and again (auto repeat). It gives me a stupid deja vu-like feeling.
This place has got very good service. I was telling my friend, it seems like the dive centers that we go to each time keep improving in terms of services. First time in Perhentian, we have to do all the hardwork of carrying our equipments plus the air tank to the boat each time we go out for dive. Then when we're in Redang, we just have to carry our gear, as the air tank would be transported by the staffs onto the boat. This dive, it's even better... our equipments are all prep up for us and transferred to the boat. So we just have to board the boat, wear our equipments and dive.
Overall the trip was awesome. Visibility underwater was excellent and we managed to see alot of sea creatures like schools of baby barracuda, sea turtle, huge napoleon bumphead, big angelfish, cuttlefish, blue spotted ray, nudi branch (lots)... not to mention lots of sea urchins too.
This place has got very good service. I was telling my friend, it seems like the dive centers that we go to each time keep improving in terms of services. First time in Perhentian, we have to do all the hardwork of carrying our equipments plus the air tank to the boat each time we go out for dive. Then when we're in Redang, we just have to carry our gear, as the air tank would be transported by the staffs onto the boat. This dive, it's even better... our equipments are all prep up for us and transferred to the boat. So we just have to board the boat, wear our equipments and dive.
Overall the trip was awesome. Visibility underwater was excellent and we managed to see alot of sea creatures like schools of baby barracuda, sea turtle, huge napoleon bumphead, big angelfish, cuttlefish, blue spotted ray, nudi branch (lots)... not to mention lots of sea urchins too.
05 July 2008
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility...
But with great responsibility comes great loads of crap.
*Warning: Work related rant ahead*
It all pretty much started about a month or so back. I was suddenly pulled out from my job responsibilities to help out in a project which was running short of time. So I joined the project team to help out with the requirement studies and documentation.
Since I only come into the project half way, and I'm not really happy being thrown around (it's not the first time) doing things out of my job scope, I chose to be passive in this project, i.e. just do up whatever is necessary, no questions asked. On the other hand, I'm good friends with the project team lead, so I try to help the team however I can.
As the project moves on, it came to a point that we need to do a milestone update to the users. Only then we got a wake up call that the whole project is moving in a totally wrong direction. My boss, the project manager (PM), have no idea what's going on because he's never on the site although he carries the PM title. So in the meeting we really got hit left right and center. What's worse is that our PM still tries to beat around the bush to reason his way through. All of us just kept quiet.
On a separate timeline, my project team lead friend is resigning. There's another story to it. He came in for the R&D developer post initially, but was thrown to project implementation and subsequently project team lead. He had already highlighted to the management that he do not wish to be based in customer's place, but rather, in the office to do development work. But after being reassured that the situation is temporary, he was again and again sent to more sites. So after like 1 year, he's had enough of it.
So now, with a failing project, and project team lead leaving (in fact, yesterday was his last day)... with the project seriously need professional help and more involvement of the PM, guess what happened?
Yeah, you'd probably seen it coming... suddenly the PM asked me to be the team lead. I tried to refuse, but he give me reasons like "you have more business sense among the team mates", "don't worry I'll work with you hand in hand"... etc. I also don't know how to say no (although I really should have).
Now I'm thinking, most likely I'll be made a scapegoat if the project fails. Even if it doesn't, I'll become like my friend, being roped in to do things out of scope. WTF!
Time to hunt for a new job.
*Warning: Work related rant ahead*
It all pretty much started about a month or so back. I was suddenly pulled out from my job responsibilities to help out in a project which was running short of time. So I joined the project team to help out with the requirement studies and documentation.
Since I only come into the project half way, and I'm not really happy being thrown around (it's not the first time) doing things out of my job scope, I chose to be passive in this project, i.e. just do up whatever is necessary, no questions asked. On the other hand, I'm good friends with the project team lead, so I try to help the team however I can.
As the project moves on, it came to a point that we need to do a milestone update to the users. Only then we got a wake up call that the whole project is moving in a totally wrong direction. My boss, the project manager (PM), have no idea what's going on because he's never on the site although he carries the PM title. So in the meeting we really got hit left right and center. What's worse is that our PM still tries to beat around the bush to reason his way through. All of us just kept quiet.
On a separate timeline, my project team lead friend is resigning. There's another story to it. He came in for the R&D developer post initially, but was thrown to project implementation and subsequently project team lead. He had already highlighted to the management that he do not wish to be based in customer's place, but rather, in the office to do development work. But after being reassured that the situation is temporary, he was again and again sent to more sites. So after like 1 year, he's had enough of it.
So now, with a failing project, and project team lead leaving (in fact, yesterday was his last day)... with the project seriously need professional help and more involvement of the PM, guess what happened?
Yeah, you'd probably seen it coming... suddenly the PM asked me to be the team lead. I tried to refuse, but he give me reasons like "you have more business sense among the team mates", "don't worry I'll work with you hand in hand"... etc. I also don't know how to say no (although I really should have).
Now I'm thinking, most likely I'll be made a scapegoat if the project fails. Even if it doesn't, I'll become like my friend, being roped in to do things out of scope. WTF!
Time to hunt for a new job.
Sigh
Why is it that everytime I found someone that I'm fond of, there's always complications...
1st time, maybe bad luck...
2nd time, coincidence maybe?
3rd time, probably it's just me...
4th time? What the...
I'm beginning to think that I'm jinxed or something.
1st time, maybe bad luck...
2nd time, coincidence maybe?
3rd time, probably it's just me...
4th time? What the...
I'm beginning to think that I'm jinxed or something.
01 July 2008
2nd Dive Trip
It's already been a week since I came back from my 2nd dive trip to Redang/Bidong (21-23 June). It had been overall a fun trip for me, with many new things like new friends, new technique discoveries, new dive site, new creature sightings... etc.
For the 3 days, I did 6 dives, 2 on first day, 3 on 2nd day, and 1 morning dive on the third day before checking out. Water was quite chilly and the currents are quite strong at some of the sites. On 2 of the dives, the visibility was pretty bad and nothing much could be seen. I had to stick close to my dive buddy so I don't lose sight of him. All of the divers are very much more senior than me... between the 9 of them, 2 are Dive Masters (DM), 1 Dive Master in Training (DMT), and the rest 6 of them are all Advanced Divers. I am the only Open Water Diver with less than 10 dives. I still need to work on my breathing and buoyancy, but am getting better at it.
Overall, I think I had 2 achievements, 1st of all is I've reduced 1 weight from 5 to 4, and 2nd, on some of the dives, I managed to keep up with the rest and surface with them on the same time. Other than that, my sifu mentioned that I'm kicking better in the water, probably due to the new AA Splitfin (on the previous trip I was using some old-tech fins).
Pictures can be found in Facebook ;)
For the 3 days, I did 6 dives, 2 on first day, 3 on 2nd day, and 1 morning dive on the third day before checking out. Water was quite chilly and the currents are quite strong at some of the sites. On 2 of the dives, the visibility was pretty bad and nothing much could be seen. I had to stick close to my dive buddy so I don't lose sight of him. All of the divers are very much more senior than me... between the 9 of them, 2 are Dive Masters (DM), 1 Dive Master in Training (DMT), and the rest 6 of them are all Advanced Divers. I am the only Open Water Diver with less than 10 dives. I still need to work on my breathing and buoyancy, but am getting better at it.
Overall, I think I had 2 achievements, 1st of all is I've reduced 1 weight from 5 to 4, and 2nd, on some of the dives, I managed to keep up with the rest and surface with them on the same time. Other than that, my sifu mentioned that I'm kicking better in the water, probably due to the new AA Splitfin (on the previous trip I was using some old-tech fins).
Pictures can be found in Facebook ;)
15 June 2008
Another Wedding to Attend
I'll be going for yet another wedding dinner later today. Earlier this morning, joined a few friends to help the groom "bring back the bride" (接新娘).
The girl friends of the bride really EFNBTD (eat full nothing better to do)... apply hair removal wax on our legs and then peeled them off. No it's not really painful at all... but now my leg's got a bloody bald rectangular patch, and I'm going for diving next week! #$%^&@$%^@$... hahahaha.
Other than hair removal, they have us drink some funny juice... bittergourd, lemon, honey, chili all blended in. I cheated and only took 2 sips. :P Then they make us pass around a piece of chili with our mouth (but not spicy la the chili, no challenge). Finally they put keys in whipped cream and got 3 "heng dai"s to fish it out with their mouth.
Come to think of it... I've participated in a lot of these "接新娘" events of my friends... I've been the camera man (video cam), the "heng dai", the "ji mui", the driver, the best man... I think if there's a resume for this, mine would be 5 pages long or something... LOL
UPDATE:
I've put up my "bald spot" picture on facebook :P
The girl friends of the bride really EFNBTD (eat full nothing better to do)... apply hair removal wax on our legs and then peeled them off. No it's not really painful at all... but now my leg's got a bloody bald rectangular patch, and I'm going for diving next week! #$%^&@$%^@$... hahahaha.
Other than hair removal, they have us drink some funny juice... bittergourd, lemon, honey, chili all blended in. I cheated and only took 2 sips. :P Then they make us pass around a piece of chili with our mouth (but not spicy la the chili, no challenge). Finally they put keys in whipped cream and got 3 "heng dai"s to fish it out with their mouth.
Come to think of it... I've participated in a lot of these "接新娘" events of my friends... I've been the camera man (video cam), the "heng dai", the "ji mui", the driver, the best man... I think if there's a resume for this, mine would be 5 pages long or something... LOL
UPDATE:
I've put up my "bald spot" picture on facebook :P
08 June 2008
What the...
On the 4th of June, our "brilliant" government decided to drop the bomb, announcing that our fuel prices will be semi-floating... with Petrol going on a RM0.78 hike, while Diesel going on a RM1.00 hike, to be reviewed every month from now on. And what do they do as compensation? A measly RM625 cash rebate for car owners with vehicles less than 2000cc. That's probably the amount an average working class would spend for petrol in a month (with the latest rate).
Just a few days back before the incident, I was discussing with my dad on the issue of banning vehicles from neighbouring country from fueling up in M'sia. I was just saying, maybe they should reduce the subsidy, then give us some kind of tax or cash rebate. Speak of the devil... because it actually happened. But not at the kind of rates I would expect.
Now everything is going up... flour, sugar, cooking oil, rice, now petrol... except for our salary. What to do? Freelance? Moonlighting? Do part time jobs? Or like what our government says, "change lifestyle"? Rubbish.
Just a few days back before the incident, I was discussing with my dad on the issue of banning vehicles from neighbouring country from fueling up in M'sia. I was just saying, maybe they should reduce the subsidy, then give us some kind of tax or cash rebate. Speak of the devil... because it actually happened. But not at the kind of rates I would expect.
Now everything is going up... flour, sugar, cooking oil, rice, now petrol... except for our salary. What to do? Freelance? Moonlighting? Do part time jobs? Or like what our government says, "change lifestyle"? Rubbish.
31 May 2008
Some Updates
Time flies... today is already the last day of May 2008. I've been somewhat busy with stuffs + being lazy, so haven't been updating my blog.
Umm... let's see... first of all, I think this year there seems to be a lot of changes/movements going on around me. I was discussing with a friend recently, that this year seems like there's a lot of hook ups and break ups going on. I had few friends who just endured break ups, and countless more who got hooked up.
And, as I have blogged previously, I've finally done my PADI open water diver course in Perhentian, which I had thought of doing since years back (2001 or so). So far I've invested in an Atomic Aquatic's Ultraclear Mask, a pair of Bare short necked Booties, and a pair of AA's Splitfins. Might be considering Regulator and Buoyancy Control Device (BCD) too, but probably will start off with 2nd hand units. By end of this year I'll probably be aiming to do another 2 dives, one in Tioman - July, and another one Sipadan - October. Tioman is pretty much confirmed, whereas Sipadan still in planning stage.
As for work, not really happy at work nowadays. I left my previous job due to crappy boss and politicking colleagues, only to end up with another not-so-crappy-but-still-quite-crappy boss, and selfish colleague (only one so far, luckily). What luck. I'm being dumped into tasks waaay out of my job scope/KPI. My friend was telling me that I might have a case with constructive dismissal. Maaaaaybe I should look into that... *evil grin*
I really am seriously considering quitting the rat race and move to something else... but no idea what to do yet. I think I need to spend more time with my family and less time at work, while still maintain a healthy income. Been looking into some methods of investments too, but yet to make any decisions.
Well... that's it for now... take care everyone.
Umm... let's see... first of all, I think this year there seems to be a lot of changes/movements going on around me. I was discussing with a friend recently, that this year seems like there's a lot of hook ups and break ups going on. I had few friends who just endured break ups, and countless more who got hooked up.
And, as I have blogged previously, I've finally done my PADI open water diver course in Perhentian, which I had thought of doing since years back (2001 or so). So far I've invested in an Atomic Aquatic's Ultraclear Mask, a pair of Bare short necked Booties, and a pair of AA's Splitfins. Might be considering Regulator and Buoyancy Control Device (BCD) too, but probably will start off with 2nd hand units. By end of this year I'll probably be aiming to do another 2 dives, one in Tioman - July, and another one Sipadan - October. Tioman is pretty much confirmed, whereas Sipadan still in planning stage.
As for work, not really happy at work nowadays. I left my previous job due to crappy boss and politicking colleagues, only to end up with another not-so-crappy-but-still-quite-crappy boss, and selfish colleague (only one so far, luckily). What luck. I'm being dumped into tasks waaay out of my job scope/KPI. My friend was telling me that I might have a case with constructive dismissal. Maaaaaybe I should look into that... *evil grin*
I really am seriously considering quitting the rat race and move to something else... but no idea what to do yet. I think I need to spend more time with my family and less time at work, while still maintain a healthy income. Been looking into some methods of investments too, but yet to make any decisions.
Well... that's it for now... take care everyone.
07 May 2008
Back from Perhentian
Yeah... I survived the PADI certification and gotten my Open Water Diving License... :D
On the 1st we took Air Asia and flew to Kota Bahru, then took a taxi to the jetty, and after a speed boat ride, we reached our destination... Pulau Perhentian Kecil.
The certification process requires us to do 4 open water dives under supervision from our instructor. We did 2 dives on the first day, and 2 dives on the second day. I also did 2 extra dives on the 3rd day.
Will elaborate a bit more on my next post. As for pictures, please refer to my Facebook picture album. ;)
On the 1st we took Air Asia and flew to Kota Bahru, then took a taxi to the jetty, and after a speed boat ride, we reached our destination... Pulau Perhentian Kecil.
The certification process requires us to do 4 open water dives under supervision from our instructor. We did 2 dives on the first day, and 2 dives on the second day. I also did 2 extra dives on the 3rd day.
Will elaborate a bit more on my next post. As for pictures, please refer to my Facebook picture album. ;)
29 April 2008
Tired
Spent both Sat and Sun last weekend going for pool dive training to prepare myself for PADI certification. Man, was that tiring or what. Well, due to the fact that I don't exercise much, I was struggling a little on the second day of training. Anyways, am glad that I've past the written test (wasn't that hard, but if you don't study the book, it's quite hard to pass).
Looking forward for my dive trip to Perhentian this Thursday... hope I don't get nervous going into the endless sea...
Looking forward for my dive trip to Perhentian this Thursday... hope I don't get nervous going into the endless sea...
15 April 2008
A string of unfortunate events
最近全家都非常“黑仔”，首先是侄儿病了，然后爸爸遇上了车祸，再来妈妈又不小心摔了一跤，昨天轮到我的车子在回家途中抛锚了。搞得我没车子上班，只好请几天假。觉得好无奈好郁闷。
希望如人家所说的，“大难不死，必有后福”。不好的都已成过去，好事接着而来吧！
希望如人家所说的，“大难不死，必有后福”。不好的都已成过去，好事接着而来吧！
29 March 2008
One Fine Saturday
Today I woke up at 7am after 4hrs of sleep... took a shower and prepared to go to office. Am sitting in for an internal training. But before that, I needed to rush to Port Klang Poslaju office to pick up some stuffs. So I zoom zoom over to the Poslaju, made a wrong turn (was trying out an alternate route that I've never used before), U-turned back on track, picked up parcel, turn back, zoom zoom all the way to office. All in an hour. Phew.
After training, me and colleagues decided to walk over to the mall next door for lunch. And so we ended up here:
Groovy baybeh!
Pretty funky set up... was quite empty as we're a little early than the regular lunch crowd (about 11:45am)
This is the Unagi Don I'm having
We're given this complimentary beef dish (forgot the name). Basically it's beef slices rolled up with cheese inside. Not bad...
I think they're running some sort of promo for lunch, where you choose from the rice or noodle menu, and with the listed price, you get Ocha and dessert (ice cream) as a set. Plus the fact that we've got 10% staff discount, looks like a pretty ok deal.
After lunch, I dropped a colleague back home, then zoom zoom back to Klang, topped up my TnG card, banked in some cheques, and then headed for home.
Somewhere in the afternoon, suddenly someone rang my door bell. I looked out of the window and see someone unfamiliar. Turned out that she is my ex-classmate LM's wedding planner. LM was already married last year in the States, but she's coming back to have her wedding dinner in Malaysia in August. No wonder she was asking me for my home address recently... LOL
And now I'm sitting in front of my PC updating blog while waiting for my friend to find me yumcha. :P
After training, me and colleagues decided to walk over to the mall next door for lunch. And so we ended up here:
Groovy baybeh!
Pretty funky set up... was quite empty as we're a little early than the regular lunch crowd (about 11:45am)
This is the Unagi Don I'm having
We're given this complimentary beef dish (forgot the name). Basically it's beef slices rolled up with cheese inside. Not bad...
I think they're running some sort of promo for lunch, where you choose from the rice or noodle menu, and with the listed price, you get Ocha and dessert (ice cream) as a set. Plus the fact that we've got 10% staff discount, looks like a pretty ok deal.
After lunch, I dropped a colleague back home, then zoom zoom back to Klang, topped up my TnG card, banked in some cheques, and then headed for home.
Somewhere in the afternoon, suddenly someone rang my door bell. I looked out of the window and see someone unfamiliar. Turned out that she is my ex-classmate LM's wedding planner. LM was already married last year in the States, but she's coming back to have her wedding dinner in Malaysia in August. No wonder she was asking me for my home address recently... LOL
And now I'm sitting in front of my PC updating blog while waiting for my friend to find me yumcha. :P
18 March 2008
I've won!
Yesterday after lunch at about 2+pm, my phone suddenly rang with a land line number... I was wondering who might it be...
V: Hello, is this [insert my full name]?
Me: Umm... yeah?
V: Oh, I'm Vinson calling from [insert whiskey brand], you've recently entered our [insert contest name] contest right?
Me: Oh yeah... that... yup.
V: I'm pleased to inform you that you've won the [insert prize]
Me: Oh cool!
Actually I was aiming for the first prize... but hey, this is good enough. :P
Frankly speaking, I do have luck when it comes to contests... though I never really keep track of what I've won. The biggest thing I've won before this was a Nokia 3330 + 2x Jacky Cheung Live in Malaysia Concert in 2001 if I'm not mistaken. And before that, there was some product vouchers, some computer games CDs... etc which I've won before.
I should join more of these contests... shouldn't procrastinate or be lazy anymore. :P
V: Hello, is this [insert my full name]?
Me: Umm... yeah?
V: Oh, I'm Vinson calling from [insert whiskey brand], you've recently entered our [insert contest name] contest right?
Me: Oh yeah... that... yup.
V: I'm pleased to inform you that you've won the [insert prize]
Me: Oh cool!
Actually I was aiming for the first prize... but hey, this is good enough. :P
Frankly speaking, I do have luck when it comes to contests... though I never really keep track of what I've won. The biggest thing I've won before this was a Nokia 3330 + 2x Jacky Cheung Live in Malaysia Concert in 2001 if I'm not mistaken. And before that, there was some product vouchers, some computer games CDs... etc which I've won before.
I should join more of these contests... shouldn't procrastinate or be lazy anymore. :P
11 March 2008
Random
Last Friday I was hanging out with some buddies in a cafe, listening to live band while playing "chor dai dee" (also known as Big 2). Though no $ involved (we always play for fun), I've been losing quite a lot of games in the beginning... until I get this...
Yeah, royal flush... ROYAL FLUSH... hahaha... first time I got this in my life :P Too bad we're not playing for $... hehe.
The biggest thing happened over the weekend would have to be the 12th general erec... err I mean election on Saturday. Results weren't that surprising, considering the string of disappointing events happening in the country for the past few years. Most people are looking for a change, and seems like we're gonna be getting a change indeed.
On Saturday night, as the results are being revealed, there are fears that riots might ensue. I actually still did went out "yumcha" with some highschool friends, and the whole town is pretty empty. The usual happening places in town are probably having 1/5 of the usual crowds. Other than that, everything seems very peaceful.
Yeah, royal flush... ROYAL FLUSH... hahaha... first time I got this in my life :P Too bad we're not playing for $... hehe.
The biggest thing happened over the weekend would have to be the 12th general erec... err I mean election on Saturday. Results weren't that surprising, considering the string of disappointing events happening in the country for the past few years. Most people are looking for a change, and seems like we're gonna be getting a change indeed.
On Saturday night, as the results are being revealed, there are fears that riots might ensue. I actually still did went out "yumcha" with some highschool friends, and the whole town is pretty empty. The usual happening places in town are probably having 1/5 of the usual crowds. Other than that, everything seems very peaceful.
04 March 2008
Phuket Trip
Lazy to upload the pictures... if you have Facebook, you'll see some of it there (because FB's photo uploading tool is easy :P). Let me put up the story first, and pictures later.
On the last Thursday morning, I departed from the Low Cost Carrier Terminal, heading for Phuket. Yep, I'm spending the weekend in the lovely island paradise. Together on the trip are JT, SK, and HK. It'll be my good buddy/brother, JT's 7th birthday on the 29th Feb, so partially this trip is planned to celebrate his 4-year-once birthday.
Most of the time in KL, I didn't wanna get pissed drunk because I still need to drive my ass home. So going to Phuket is also a good opportunity to get myself really pissed. So for this trip, I told my friends I'm planning to get pissed. And sure enough my friends didn't wanna disappoint me.
On the first night, first we went drinking at an Irish pub, Molly Malone's. I had like 5 pints of Chang draught here. Next we stop by a place called Coyote for some food and 2 pitchers of frozen margarita. After that we proceed to some pub and had shots... Black death (tastes like cough syrup) and Fisherman's friend (mmm... minty)... I think I had like 5-6 shots here. At this time I was kinda high and just downed all the shots being put in front of me. Finally we moved over to Dingo's bar (where JT will have his bday party tomorrow). Here I had like 4-5 Jaegerbombs... Jaegermeister shots dunked in a glass of Redbull. After all that drinking, I'm quite high, but could still walk back to our guesthouse. Plan to get pissed failed... dang.
Second day, did some wandering around town, strolled by the beach etc. Come evening, again we started with some beer, then hopped over to Dingo's bar. There's a BBQ going on (my friend paid for it) and the pork chops and sausages are really yummy. Then as we settled down with a beer each, the pub owner, T, bought us a round of Jaegerbomb. Next, someone started ringing the bell (in Phuket you can see almost every pub has a bell hanging. Ringing the bell means you wanna buy everyone in the pub a round of drinks). We had like 3 different shots with 3 rings on the bell... one is Jaegermeister I think, one is... I forgot... and the 3rd shot is like some sky blue drink... I dunno. After that I had like another 5 Jaegerbombs before calling it a night. And I think I didn't quite had enough... I could still walk back to the guesthouse in a straight line, albeit pretty high. Dang.
Third day we're just taking things slow... wandered around town, buy some stuffs. Night time we rented a taxi to go to Phuket town for dinner. There's this Chinese restaurant in town that serves pretty authentic Chinese food. My friends who've been in Phuket few times always make sure the come here for dinner at least once every visit. We also brought along a bottle of whiskey to drink with our meal. Had quite a lot to eat... noodles, glass noodles, soft shell crab, orh chean (oysters fried with eggs), crispy chicken, duck web, etc. After the meal we stopped by a nearby night market for some desserts. Most people here looks fairer, probably quite a big population are of Chinese decendents I believe. Some hawkers speak fluent mandarin too (not really surprised as we past by a Phuket Chinese School along the way). No more attempts to get pissed drunk. Hehe.
Finally on Sunday we'll be leaving for home on a noon flight. Went for morning walk along the beach... feeling the nice sea breeze, taking some pictures here and there... And then pack our stuffs to head for the airport. During the flight, we went thru some air pocket I think, and the plane at one stage just suddenly dropped couple of meters downwards. There was like a big bunch of International School students and they just started screaming. By the time we landed on LCCT (by the way the pilot was pretty good, the landing was really smooth), the kids were clapping their hands. I remember reading it somewhere that certain countries does have this culture... but definitely not Malaysia, and it's the first time I see people applauses after a plane landing.
All in all, fun trip. Good to have a getaway once in a while... what more having the chance to get pissed (albeit failed at trying to get myself really drunk) and not worry about driving. :P
On the last Thursday morning, I departed from the Low Cost Carrier Terminal, heading for Phuket. Yep, I'm spending the weekend in the lovely island paradise. Together on the trip are JT, SK, and HK. It'll be my good buddy/brother, JT's 7th birthday on the 29th Feb, so partially this trip is planned to celebrate his 4-year-once birthday.
Most of the time in KL, I didn't wanna get pissed drunk because I still need to drive my ass home. So going to Phuket is also a good opportunity to get myself really pissed. So for this trip, I told my friends I'm planning to get pissed. And sure enough my friends didn't wanna disappoint me.
On the first night, first we went drinking at an Irish pub, Molly Malone's. I had like 5 pints of Chang draught here. Next we stop by a place called Coyote for some food and 2 pitchers of frozen margarita. After that we proceed to some pub and had shots... Black death (tastes like cough syrup) and Fisherman's friend (mmm... minty)... I think I had like 5-6 shots here. At this time I was kinda high and just downed all the shots being put in front of me. Finally we moved over to Dingo's bar (where JT will have his bday party tomorrow). Here I had like 4-5 Jaegerbombs... Jaegermeister shots dunked in a glass of Redbull. After all that drinking, I'm quite high, but could still walk back to our guesthouse. Plan to get pissed failed... dang.
Second day, did some wandering around town, strolled by the beach etc. Come evening, again we started with some beer, then hopped over to Dingo's bar. There's a BBQ going on (my friend paid for it) and the pork chops and sausages are really yummy. Then as we settled down with a beer each, the pub owner, T, bought us a round of Jaegerbomb. Next, someone started ringing the bell (in Phuket you can see almost every pub has a bell hanging. Ringing the bell means you wanna buy everyone in the pub a round of drinks). We had like 3 different shots with 3 rings on the bell... one is Jaegermeister I think, one is... I forgot... and the 3rd shot is like some sky blue drink... I dunno. After that I had like another 5 Jaegerbombs before calling it a night. And I think I didn't quite had enough... I could still walk back to the guesthouse in a straight line, albeit pretty high. Dang.
Third day we're just taking things slow... wandered around town, buy some stuffs. Night time we rented a taxi to go to Phuket town for dinner. There's this Chinese restaurant in town that serves pretty authentic Chinese food. My friends who've been in Phuket few times always make sure the come here for dinner at least once every visit. We also brought along a bottle of whiskey to drink with our meal. Had quite a lot to eat... noodles, glass noodles, soft shell crab, orh chean (oysters fried with eggs), crispy chicken, duck web, etc. After the meal we stopped by a nearby night market for some desserts. Most people here looks fairer, probably quite a big population are of Chinese decendents I believe. Some hawkers speak fluent mandarin too (not really surprised as we past by a Phuket Chinese School along the way). No more attempts to get pissed drunk. Hehe.
Finally on Sunday we'll be leaving for home on a noon flight. Went for morning walk along the beach... feeling the nice sea breeze, taking some pictures here and there... And then pack our stuffs to head for the airport. During the flight, we went thru some air pocket I think, and the plane at one stage just suddenly dropped couple of meters downwards. There was like a big bunch of International School students and they just started screaming. By the time we landed on LCCT (by the way the pilot was pretty good, the landing was really smooth), the kids were clapping their hands. I remember reading it somewhere that certain countries does have this culture... but definitely not Malaysia, and it's the first time I see people applauses after a plane landing.
All in all, fun trip. Good to have a getaway once in a while... what more having the chance to get pissed (albeit failed at trying to get myself really drunk) and not worry about driving. :P
02 March 2008
Will is Back in Town
Yep... back in town... give me some time to sort out my stuffs and do laundry etc... Will post some pictures soon :D
27 February 2008
Leaving on a Jetplane
All my bags are packed... err wait... I still haven't pack my bag... :P
But no sweat, it's only 4 days 3 nights. I can finish packing in couple of minutes.
Now just gotta make sure I don't miss the important stuffs:
Passport... checked
Thai Baht... checked
Credit card... checked
Camera + charger... checked
But no sweat, it's only 4 days 3 nights. I can finish packing in couple of minutes.
Now just gotta make sure I don't miss the important stuffs:
Passport... checked
Thai Baht... checked
Credit card... checked
Camera + charger... checked
Phuket, here I come ^^
22 February 2008
All in a day
My day started off pretty hazy... no thanks to some jokers doing open burning these couple of days.
Then in the afternoon, my friend ac (who've stopped blogging for quite some time already) dropped by my workplace and brought me out for lunch.
On the way there, there was a bit of a jam... and from afar we spotted something that looked like an accident
An accident it is... Seems that someone decided to test the safety features of an S-class (as we pass by we could see the airbags were deployed... so it's a pass I guess :P)
We ended up at this restaurant that carries the tagline "If it swims, we have it!". Wow... very bold statement. I was telling ac, what if we asked for something like whale or dolphin meat? And he said, might as well just ask for a mermaid... LOL
We had 3 plates of dim sum, followed by the "sang har meen" (生虾面). As you can see below, the prawns are MASSIVE!
See how huge the prawn is compared to a regular small plate in restaurants...
Of course the price ends up pretty massive as well. Thanks ac for the treat. :P
On a totally separate note:
Went yumcha with my so-called business partner just now after dinner. He was telling me about some things that he's getting involved lately. Somehow, I don't know if it's fate or what... it happens to end up being related to the industry that I'm currently in. I'm like "hmmm... now that's interesting...". Looks like the knowledge I've gained so far in the industry ends up being much more useful than it seems.
Then in the afternoon, my friend ac (who've stopped blogging for quite some time already) dropped by my workplace and brought me out for lunch.
On the way there, there was a bit of a jam... and from afar we spotted something that looked like an accident
An accident it is... Seems that someone decided to test the safety features of an S-class (as we pass by we could see the airbags were deployed... so it's a pass I guess :P)
We ended up at this restaurant that carries the tagline "If it swims, we have it!". Wow... very bold statement. I was telling ac, what if we asked for something like whale or dolphin meat? And he said, might as well just ask for a mermaid... LOL
We had 3 plates of dim sum, followed by the "sang har meen" (生虾面). As you can see below, the prawns are MASSIVE!
See how huge the prawn is compared to a regular small plate in restaurants...
Of course the price ends up pretty massive as well. Thanks ac for the treat. :P
On a totally separate note:
Went yumcha with my so-called business partner just now after dinner. He was telling me about some things that he's getting involved lately. Somehow, I don't know if it's fate or what... it happens to end up being related to the industry that I'm currently in. I'm like "hmmm... now that's interesting...". Looks like the knowledge I've gained so far in the industry ends up being much more useful than it seems.
20 February 2008
Summary of CNY
Well, time flies... tomorrow will be Chap Goh Mei, marking the last day of the 15-day Chinese New Year celebration.
Lou sang tally... 5.
1. before CNY with colleagues.
2. 11th Feb with secondary school classmates
3. 15th Feb with company's client
4. 15th Feb (again) with Facebook friends
5. 17th Feb with ex-Uni mates
Note: planning to get a little buffed up before my Phuket trip end of the month... but seems like my plan is failing with the amount of food intake I had so far :P
Others:
- Lost money in "CNY extra curricular activities"
- Work notebook kena stolen... latest news: they caught the bugger. What next?
- The number from the police report kena 4D
- Mom went to stay with brother's family in Australia for couple of months... kena makan sendiri when it comes to dinner :P
- I'm missing somebody...
And that's that...
So... ang pow tally:
Lou sang tally... 5.
1. before CNY with colleagues.
2. 11th Feb with secondary school classmates
3. 15th Feb with company's client
4. 15th Feb (again) with Facebook friends
5. 17th Feb with ex-Uni mates
Note: planning to get a little buffed up before my Phuket trip end of the month... but seems like my plan is failing with the amount of food intake I had so far :P
Others:
- Lost money in "CNY extra curricular activities"
- Work notebook kena stolen... latest news: they caught the bugger. What next?
- The number from the police report kena 4D
- Mom went to stay with brother's family in Australia for couple of months... kena makan sendiri when it comes to dinner :P
- I'm missing somebody...
And that's that...
13 February 2008
Stolen... Again
Yesterday was our first day back to work after the long Chinese New Year break... and our notebooks got stolen by intruders at the client's office during lunch time... aiyoh -_-"
What happened was that the client place is a factory with pretty ok security, so all this while we always leave our notebooks in the office when we go out for lunch. Furthermore, usually the factory canteen is open and thus there's always staffs around the area. But, this week the canteen is not open, so all the staffs have to drive out for lunch.
So from the CCTV, it seems that during lunch time, an indian fella came to the guard house and started talking to the guard on post (usually there's 2 but one went for lunch). While being distracted, the CCTV caught 2 more guys went past the guard house into the compound. Usually there should be another glass door that can't be opened unless you have a magnetic card... but probably the 2 sneaked in when someone is coming out. A staff claimed to have seen them roaming and summoned the security guard to chase them out, not realizing that they've already stolen 3 notebooks.
By the time we got back from lunch, I walked in and noticed the notebooks are all gone, leaving the charger and network cables dangling. At first my colleague thought someone pulled a prank, but apparently from what it seems, I got a bad feeling that the notebooks have been stolen. (A similar incident happened to me 2 years back at my ex-ex-office). And after verifying with the CCTV, it's pretty obvious there's a theft.
So, the whole of yesterday's afternoon was spent at the police station reporting the case, then move to another bigger police station to notify them, and they followed us back to the office trying to get some finger prints and stuff.
Anyhow I think there's a very slim chance of recovery, as these thieves should be quite pro. According to the inspector, there's a similar case last week at another factory, involving 9 notebooks... *sweats*
What happened was that the client place is a factory with pretty ok security, so all this while we always leave our notebooks in the office when we go out for lunch. Furthermore, usually the factory canteen is open and thus there's always staffs around the area. But, this week the canteen is not open, so all the staffs have to drive out for lunch.
So from the CCTV, it seems that during lunch time, an indian fella came to the guard house and started talking to the guard on post (usually there's 2 but one went for lunch). While being distracted, the CCTV caught 2 more guys went past the guard house into the compound. Usually there should be another glass door that can't be opened unless you have a magnetic card... but probably the 2 sneaked in when someone is coming out. A staff claimed to have seen them roaming and summoned the security guard to chase them out, not realizing that they've already stolen 3 notebooks.
By the time we got back from lunch, I walked in and noticed the notebooks are all gone, leaving the charger and network cables dangling. At first my colleague thought someone pulled a prank, but apparently from what it seems, I got a bad feeling that the notebooks have been stolen. (A similar incident happened to me 2 years back at my ex-ex-office). And after verifying with the CCTV, it's pretty obvious there's a theft.
So, the whole of yesterday's afternoon was spent at the police station reporting the case, then move to another bigger police station to notify them, and they followed us back to the office trying to get some finger prints and stuff.
Anyhow I think there's a very slim chance of recovery, as these thieves should be quite pro. According to the inspector, there's a similar case last week at another factory, involving 9 notebooks... *sweats*
09 February 2008
2nd Day of CNY
I had this...
and this...
and this...
and more ^^
Where was I?
Obvious hint...
Tadaa...
The shop which is "full of culture" and "should be visited by the high class people". LOL. So I'm high class for a day... wheeee :P
After lunch, I dropped by here...
And have a seat here with my friends.
Then we decided to move over to 1U for this:
At TGIF... but the draught beer is crap. So we moved over to...
Chili's
Much better beer... but happy hour until 7pm only -_-"
So we moved again to here...
Mardigras... happy hour until 10pm I think...
After a couple of jugs... felt a bit hungry and dropped by here...
Size does matter... the burger is HUGE. Yummy :P
A very "full"filling 2nd day of CNY indeed ;)
and this...
and this...
and more ^^
Where was I?
Obvious hint...
Tadaa...
The shop which is "full of culture" and "should be visited by the high class people". LOL. So I'm high class for a day... wheeee :P
After lunch, I dropped by here...
And have a seat here with my friends.
Then we decided to move over to 1U for this:
At TGIF... but the draught beer is crap. So we moved over to...
Chili's
Much better beer... but happy hour until 7pm only -_-"
So we moved again to here...
Mardigras... happy hour until 10pm I think...
After a couple of jugs... felt a bit hungry and dropped by here...
Size does matter... the burger is HUGE. Yummy :P
A very "full"filling 2nd day of CNY indeed ;)
08 February 2008
Keong Hee Huat Chai
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous Chinese New Year of the Rat.
PS: Sorry, a bit late on the wishes as have been "busy" rotting at home watching shows on the TV... :P
PS: Sorry, a bit late on the wishes as have been "busy" rotting at home watching shows on the TV... :P
06 February 2008
T'was the day before CNY holiday
Guess when this picture was taken? Yesterday lunch time... Hahaha. Went to kopitiam for lunch as usual with my colleagues (yesterday was last day of work before CNY), and somehow our discussion topic ended up with our deparmental dinner last Friday (blogged in previous entry) and alcohol. Suddenly, one of the guy started saying "Want to drink or not?"
Another colleague responded "Sure, why not? All the big bosses not in."
And the next thing we know, we got 4 big bottles of Tiger beer on the table.
Later on, after lunch, you can see a few "red lobsters" at work. LOL
02 February 2008
First "Lou Sang" of 2008
Update: Picture courtesy of my colleague
Yesterday after work, I went for a "lou sang" dinner with my colleagues. It was Federal Territory Day, thus people working in KL have a day off, but that doesn't seems to help the traffic at all. Took me 2 hours to travel from work place to the destination... *sweats* (makes mental note never to go places that needs to pass by LDP right after work... well either that or use alternative roads)
We took a 499 "lou sang" package consisting of "yu sang", 4 season, sharkfin soup, steamed fish, some tofu dish, pork legs, butter crab, butter prawns... and get a free fried rice + dessert (longan water). Overall portions are quite ok, but colleague said the taste is so so, probably due to there's many customers and they rush the dishes out.
Other than makan, we had some beers. One of the colleague also brought along a bottle of Bundaberg rum, so we mixed it with cola. I didn't really drink that much, probably 3 mugs of beer and 2 glasses of rum and cola. Funny thing is I've observed myself that whenever I had alcohol, I woke up real early. Even sometimes when I go clubbing and came home late, like 4-5am, I still wake up around 8-9am. I don't know if it's the alcohol that's disrupting my sleep or what, but here I am awake at 6:30am blogging away. LOL.
29 January 2008
Ipoh (Extended)
Departing from home at about 10:30am on Saturday morning, with a stop at Tapah rest area in between, we arrived in Ipoh around 12:45pm.
Quite a lot of road construction going on
Upon arrival, sis called up my BIL (brother in law) but couldn't reach him, so she called his 6th uncle asking him where should we meet. After determining the place to rendezvous, I drove there with the help of an Ipoh map I've printed earlier. Ipoh roads are not very complicated, so with a little help from the map, we managed to meet up with the uncle in no time.
6th uncle then proceed to bring us to a restaurant for lunch. This restaurant is famous for noodles and porridges. He ordered noodles with crab and abalone, seafood porridge, garoupa hor fun, and a few others. According to him, the cook's skills are nothing to shout about, but he uses very fresh ingredients, which is why the food tastes good, and so is the price (expensive). And indeed the seafood noodles was really tasty.
A sign in the restaurant
Halfway through lunch, I got a call that some of our relatives has arrived in Ipoh. So I went off with the FIL to guide them to our place. So I missed the seafood porridge and garoupa hor fun :(
In the evening, my BIL have a buffet dinner over their place, so we went over to join them. We ate and chit chat and did some catch up with the relatives. Around midnite, we went back to the rented house to get some rest.
The gowns and the shoe
The next morning, 6th uncle was kind enough to "tapau" some dim sum and noodles for our breakfast. The eggtarts are just fabulous. I was too busy eating and forgotten to snap some pictures of the food. Gotta ask him where he got those. I bet he'll ask me to go visit them again :)
Dawning of a new day
After breakfast, about 9am, the makeup artist showed up to help my sister with her preparation. We had ample of time because the groom is only coming over at about 11am. A pro camera man also came by at around 10:30am to snap pictures.
The tools of the pros
About 11-ish am, the groom convoy came. We didn't give him a hard time because mom want it simple, so someone just asked him to say 50x "I love you" to my sis... hehe. After that we proceed with the tea ceremony and then followed them back to the groom's place. Then it's the usual stuff over there as well... tea ceremony. After everything is settled, we went to the restaurant for the wedding lunch.
The convoy sign
I thought this was going to be the usual wedding lunch, but apparently it wasn't. The FIL invited some veteren karaoke competitor friend of his to become the MC for the day. He arranged such that the wedding becomes some kinda karaoke singing performance or something. I've lost count how many jokers he sent on stage (probably 6 or 7 including himself) to sing. And mind you, he calls them "king of songs", "queen of songs", "[some artist]'s sifu"... etc. but some of them kept singing off key. *sweats*
The wedding lunch venue
After the dinner concludes, we hang around to take some photos. Finally we left Ipoh at around 5:30pm and got home close to 8pm.
Leaving Ipoh
Saw an accident near Tanjung Malim, where a lorry overturned
Quite a lot of road construction going on
Upon arrival, sis called up my BIL (brother in law) but couldn't reach him, so she called his 6th uncle asking him where should we meet. After determining the place to rendezvous, I drove there with the help of an Ipoh map I've printed earlier. Ipoh roads are not very complicated, so with a little help from the map, we managed to meet up with the uncle in no time.
6th uncle then proceed to bring us to a restaurant for lunch. This restaurant is famous for noodles and porridges. He ordered noodles with crab and abalone, seafood porridge, garoupa hor fun, and a few others. According to him, the cook's skills are nothing to shout about, but he uses very fresh ingredients, which is why the food tastes good, and so is the price (expensive). And indeed the seafood noodles was really tasty.
A sign in the restaurant
Halfway through lunch, I got a call that some of our relatives has arrived in Ipoh. So I went off with the FIL to guide them to our place. So I missed the seafood porridge and garoupa hor fun :(
In the evening, my BIL have a buffet dinner over their place, so we went over to join them. We ate and chit chat and did some catch up with the relatives. Around midnite, we went back to the rented house to get some rest.
The gowns and the shoe
The next morning, 6th uncle was kind enough to "tapau" some dim sum and noodles for our breakfast. The eggtarts are just fabulous. I was too busy eating and forgotten to snap some pictures of the food. Gotta ask him where he got those. I bet he'll ask me to go visit them again :)
Dawning of a new day
After breakfast, about 9am, the makeup artist showed up to help my sister with her preparation. We had ample of time because the groom is only coming over at about 11am. A pro camera man also came by at around 10:30am to snap pictures.
The tools of the pros
About 11-ish am, the groom convoy came. We didn't give him a hard time because mom want it simple, so someone just asked him to say 50x "I love you" to my sis... hehe. After that we proceed with the tea ceremony and then followed them back to the groom's place. Then it's the usual stuff over there as well... tea ceremony. After everything is settled, we went to the restaurant for the wedding lunch.
The convoy sign
I thought this was going to be the usual wedding lunch, but apparently it wasn't. The FIL invited some veteren karaoke competitor friend of his to become the MC for the day. He arranged such that the wedding becomes some kinda karaoke singing performance or something. I've lost count how many jokers he sent on stage (probably 6 or 7 including himself) to sing. And mind you, he calls them "king of songs", "queen of songs", "[some artist]
The wedding lunch venue
After the dinner concludes, we hang around to take some photos. Finally we left Ipoh at around 5:30pm and got home close to 8pm.
Leaving Ipoh
Saw an accident near Tanjung Malim, where a lorry overturned
27 January 2008
After hundreds of KMs, 160+ shots, and 4 hours of sleep...
... I've been to Ipoh and back. Got a tour around town for a bit, but because of time restrictions, didn't manage to explore Ipoh fully. Tried a number of good (and expensive) food, but didn't get to eat "nga choy kai" (the locals claim Ipoh people don't eat it :P)
Wedding was quite okay... except that some people decided to kinda make it into a karaoke singing show -_-" ... Queen of songs of the East (东方歌后) my arse! (Pardon the language). Singing until off tune, not just for 1 song but 2-3 songs...
Well anyways, hope to visit Ipoh again in the near future. This time with enough time for a proper "tour" around town.
Now gotta go get my pictures and videos sorted. :)
PS: On a side note, a friend forwarded a mail to me... and it says "Lack of sleep can send your blood sugar levels skyrocketing, contribute to weight gain, lead to depression, put you at risk for diabetes, and cause brain damage. "
Damn... I guess I need to get more sleep :P
Wedding was quite okay... except that some people decided to kinda make it into a karaoke singing show -_-" ... Queen of songs of the East (东方歌后) my arse! (Pardon the language). Singing until off tune, not just for 1 song but 2-3 songs...
Well anyways, hope to visit Ipoh again in the near future. This time with enough time for a proper "tour" around town.
Now gotta go get my pictures and videos sorted. :)
PS: On a side note, a friend forwarded a mail to me... and it says "Lack of sleep can send your blood sugar levels skyrocketing, contribute to weight gain, lead to depression, put you at risk for diabetes, and cause brain damage. "
Damn... I guess I need to get more sleep :P
25 January 2008
Ipoh, here I mali :P
Tomorrow I'll be travelling up North to Ipoh for "nga choi kai" and all the other goodies. :P
Seriously, my sis will be having her wedding lunch over in Ipoh this Sunday. So we're gonna leave for Ipoh early morning tomorrow. Will be spending a night there and be back Sunday evening.
Will try to post some pictures of me snap snap with me F50fd when I'm back. :)
Seriously, my sis will be having her wedding lunch over in Ipoh this Sunday. So we're gonna leave for Ipoh early morning tomorrow. Will be spending a night there and be back Sunday evening.
Will try to post some pictures of me snap snap with me F50fd when I'm back. :)
23 January 2008
Testing Macro Mode
Shot at 12mp, then shrunk to 20% with Photoshop.
My funky cow mouse wristrest sitting on a keyboard wristrest
Mode: Aperture Priority, F2.8, ISO200
My old faithful first generation Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer
Mode: Aperture Priority, F2.8, ISO200
*ADDED*
Flower in mom's garden
Mode: Aperture Priority, F3.2, ISO100
My funky cow mouse wristrest sitting on a keyboard wristrest
Mode: Aperture Priority, F2.8, ISO200
My old faithful first generation Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer
Mode: Aperture Priority, F2.8, ISO200
*ADDED*
Flower in mom's garden
Mode: Aperture Priority, F3.2, ISO100
21 January 2008
Karaoke and a new Camera
Last Friday, I went to Neway Puchong with a bunch of ex-colleagues to have a farewell party with one of them who is going to HK. Her husband is in HK on a contract job, so she tags along and applied for spouse working visa as well. We started at around 7pm and was supposed to end at 11:15pm. But since there wasn't many customers, they allowed us to extend the session until they are closed (which I think is around 4am). Of course, with everyone quite tired after work and stuffs, we stayed until 2am only. But then, this is already a record shattering 7 hours of continuous karaoke-ing for us. LOL...
On a separate note, my sis is back from Japan for 2 weeks to settle her marriage ceremony. This weekend we'll be traveling North to Ipoh where the wedding lunch will be held. She also brought back a Fujifilm F50fd for me which I asked her to help me buy from Japan. So now I can start taking better picture as compared to my N73 shots (I hope :P). Well one thing for sure, now I can take more night shots (N73 is quite cacat with night shots because the LED flash wasn't powerful enough, and flashless shots shouldn't even be attempted as there's too much noise)
Time to start learning about Aperture settings and stuffs... ^^
On a separate note, my sis is back from Japan for 2 weeks to settle her marriage ceremony. This weekend we'll be traveling North to Ipoh where the wedding lunch will be held. She also brought back a Fujifilm F50fd for me which I asked her to help me buy from Japan. So now I can start taking better picture as compared to my N73 shots (I hope :P). Well one thing for sure, now I can take more night shots (N73 is quite cacat with night shots because the LED flash wasn't powerful enough, and flashless shots shouldn't even be attempted as there's too much noise)
Time to start learning about Aperture settings and stuffs... ^^
16 January 2008
Confusing...
Was having a chat with a friend earlier today. Talked about some stuffs and then it moved to the fact where I always thinks to much, and in the end I end up doing nothing and the thoughts just remained as over-exercised thoughts.
So, we sort of came to the conclusion that I should not think too much, and instead should be more spontaneous and just do it. And I should really start doing that this year, you know, now being the start of a brand new year.
But just now I read a famous Feng Shui celebrity's prediction for 2008, and she says:
"Curb that impulsive trait of yours as it will not serve you well this year. It is even better to appear indecisive than to jump headlong into something you will regret."
Damn...
So now what? Should I heed the warning and remain my existing self? Or should I just go right ahead and make the change, and not worry about the possibility of a "crash, boom, bang" later on? Maybe this REALLY ain't such a good year for me after all?
Waaaaaiiitt a min... did I just think too much again? Haha... I guess I just did. What the heck, I'll just believe in myself and my decisions. Screw the negative predictions... hehe :P
So, we sort of came to the conclusion that I should not think too much, and instead should be more spontaneous and just do it. And I should really start doing that this year, you know, now being the start of a brand new year.
But just now I read a famous Feng Shui celebrity's prediction for 2008, and she says:
"Curb that impulsive trait of yours as it will not serve you well this year. It is even better to appear indecisive than to jump headlong into something you will regret."
Damn...
So now what? Should I heed the warning and remain my existing self? Or should I just go right ahead and make the change, and not worry about the possibility of a "crash, boom, bang" later on? Maybe this REALLY ain't such a good year for me after all?
Waaaaaiiitt a min... did I just think too much again? Haha... I guess I just did. What the heck, I'll just believe in myself and my decisions. Screw the negative predictions... hehe :P
12 January 2008
Aqua what?
Yesterday I got the chance to try this drink, Linie Aquavit, courtesy of a Norwegian buddy from Facebook. He told us that he had this when he's back home for Christmas, and I mentioned I was curious, thus he brought a bottle when he came over for us to try it out.
Taken pretty much from the web:
Aquavit derives from the Latin word "aqua vitae", which means "water of life". It is a potato based liquor flavored with herbs like caraway, dill and cumin. Some variants have a somewhat fruity hint. It is a popular drink in Scandanavian countries, but only the Norwegians have this "Linie" variant.
What's so special about these "Linie" ones is that they have a high mileage on them. "Linie" refers to the equator (in Norwegian) and it means that these liquors actually travelled across the equator to Australia and back.
What sparks the creation of the "Linie Aquavit" goes all the way back to 1805 when Jorgen Lysholm (the signature you see on the bottle's white banner) sent a batch of the Aquavit in oak sherry casks to Asia (in this case, Australia) to market it. Unfortunately it didn't sell too well and 5 barrels of it was sent back to Norway. Then Lysholm found out that these well travelled Aquavits actually tastes better and smoother after sloshing in the cask throughout the journey.
To date, as mentioned on the website, all "Linie Aquavit" will spend four and a half months on the sea before going into the market. The back of the bottle would indicate the dates of the journey and even the name of the ship it was on. (I didn't check on that when I drink it though).
Interesting indeed.
PS: This is not a paid post. :)
08 January 2008
On my way home today...
and saw this at the toll booth...
I was wondering... what's going on? Doesn't seemed like a road block to me. Then as I move in closer to the queue for toll payment, I barely see this:
Yea it's not too clear, I guess you can't really see what's going on. Apparently a car rammed right into the toll area (SMART tag lane) and seems to have hit on the divider stone. The car is badly damaged, virtually wrapped around the divider.
As much as I don't like lunatic drivers (assuming he/she is one...), I do hope the person survives the crash... o_0"
I was wondering... what's going on? Doesn't seemed like a road block to me. Then as I move in closer to the queue for toll payment, I barely see this:
Yea it's not too clear, I guess you can't really see what's going on. Apparently a car rammed right into the toll area (SMART tag lane) and seems to have hit on the divider stone. The car is badly damaged, virtually wrapped around the divider.
As much as I don't like lunatic drivers (assuming he/she is one...), I do hope the person survives the crash... o_0"
04 January 2008
Spoilt?
Been thinking about this... but never took an effort to actually organize my thoughts until now:
I think I've been quite spoilt by the computer and internet. Back in the early days where information is not so easily accessible and nobody have the habit of storing information in digital format; I used to cram up my brain with knowledge and information I've picked up from various sources. For example, whenever I browse through my cousin’s collection of computer magazine, I will go through the details of the articles and remember the facts and info. Of course, at times I will also make notes of important points, in case I forget.
Nowadays, because of the convenience of the internet, I have become less attentive on details. Most of the time I just skim through whatever that I’m reading, because I know very well that I could always come back and refer to it again. Other times, I just mark down the link or keep the softcopy on the PC, telling myself that I’ll come back and read it up when I’m free.
And guess what, after some time, I got this whole pile of backlogs that I’m supposed to read up, but I’ll just procrastinate and wait for another day. Sometimes when I have the time and the mood, I do try to clear up the backlog. But still, at the rate that it is going, the backlog just keeps on increasing, almost exponentially.
Now I’m trying to make it a habit that I’ll read anything that I should be reading and don’t allow myself to leave it for another day unless absolutely necessary. Talk is cheap, but doing it is not easy at all. :P
I think I've been quite spoilt by the computer and internet. Back in the early days where information is not so easily accessible and nobody have the habit of storing information in digital format; I used to cram up my brain with knowledge and information I've picked up from various sources. For example, whenever I browse through my cousin’s collection of computer magazine, I will go through the details of the articles and remember the facts and info. Of course, at times I will also make notes of important points, in case I forget.
Nowadays, because of the convenience of the internet, I have become less attentive on details. Most of the time I just skim through whatever that I’m reading, because I know very well that I could always come back and refer to it again. Other times, I just mark down the link or keep the softcopy on the PC, telling myself that I’ll come back and read it up when I’m free.
And guess what, after some time, I got this whole pile of backlogs that I’m supposed to read up, but I’ll just procrastinate and wait for another day. Sometimes when I have the time and the mood, I do try to clear up the backlog. But still, at the rate that it is going, the backlog just keeps on increasing, almost exponentially.
Now I’m trying to make it a habit that I’ll read anything that I should be reading and don’t allow myself to leave it for another day unless absolutely necessary. Talk is cheap, but doing it is not easy at all. :P
01 January 2008
Happy New Year 2008
How time flies... goodbye 2007, hello 2008.
Someone asked me what is 2007 to me, I thought about it real hard but couldn't really remember anything significant.
Well I guess 2007 marks the year I'm finally out of a programming career and moved into pre-sales instead. So far haven't have any regrets of my decision. 2007 is also a year which sees me hopping through 3 jobs (changed once on Feb - into my first pre-sales job, then again on Oct because of crappy boss - into my second pre-sales job).
I'm also getting back into clubbing scenes (not that I've ever been much in it) towards the end of 2007 after joining a group of happening people in Facebook. Only thing is that somehow I've kinda lost interest in alcoholic drinks lately. Well I still drink them, but I usually have like a drink or two only.
Overall, I didn't think it's been a spectacular year for me... but I guess it's not too shabby either. New work environment, new bunch of friends, seriously looking into some investments...
I'll be looking forward to a better 2008 although horoscopes say it won't be a good year for my sign. I'm sure I can make 2008 a good year for me. Yeah!
Someone asked me what is 2007 to me, I thought about it real hard but couldn't really remember anything significant.
Well I guess 2007 marks the year I'm finally out of a programming career and moved into pre-sales instead. So far haven't have any regrets of my decision. 2007 is also a year which sees me hopping through 3 jobs (changed once on Feb - into my first pre-sales job, then again on Oct because of crappy boss - into my second pre-sales job).
I'm also getting back into clubbing scenes (not that I've ever been much in it) towards the end of 2007 after joining a group of happening people in Facebook. Only thing is that somehow I've kinda lost interest in alcoholic drinks lately. Well I still drink them, but I usually have like a drink or two only.
Overall, I didn't think it's been a spectacular year for me... but I guess it's not too shabby either. New work environment, new bunch of friends, seriously looking into some investments...
I'll be looking forward to a better 2008 although horoscopes say it won't be a good year for my sign. I'm sure I can make 2008 a good year for me. Yeah!
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