Canon Ixus 75

Canon Ixus 75

I've changed my mind. Scratch the Ixus 850IS. After all, the specs are not that very different. Better to put the savings I get to better use, like the O2 Atom Life. Phew, what a dreamer, that one.

I'm going to get the Ixus 75. It's 7.1M, 130g, supports SDHC, and has 1/1500 second shutter speed. Good enough. I should be able to get good pics from this compact.

O2 Atom Life ~ The Centre of Your World

Yeah, baby! The Atom Life, now retailling at RM3,380 (gulps!). It's got the fastest onboard processor amongst PDA phones, stereo sound, 3G, HSPDA.

Another slow slow week day..

Huuuuarghhh.....

It is another slow slow week day. Temperature outside is hitting close to 40C, with slight winds rustling the leaves. Temperature inside no better.

I've just reviewed thru 63 resumes, all online. What a nightmare... strangely enough, there's so many people out there looking for work. Must prepare for another influx of fresh graduates. Unfortunately, the choices out there are too slim for picking.

So what if the number of places per university had increased? Seems till now, they've still not managed to do much character-building in the future generation. No, scratch that. I should say, they merely reached a handful of minorities, where people development are concerned.

How would you feel, as an interviewer, when a candidate walks in late, couldn't understand english, couldn't understand questions aaaaannnd... allows his legs to twitch throughout the whole interview?

They don't bother to check up on the Company, don't even know what industry they are applying to, and have the cheek to ask for a four digit pay!

Or perhaps, I've been meeting local candidates. Yes, that could be it. Poor sods never had the exposure of professionalism. Didn't know what is called sophistication. The old adage sticks - Katak bawah tempurung.

Scour the web, see the world...

It's lunch break.
With not much else to do, besides munch on carbs, I decided it'll be good to scour the world wide web, and see what's happening.

First place to start - Other blogs.
I'm surprised to find stuffs I'd never expect to see, just by clicking "Next Blog" again and again...
Found a site about a trans-sex living in Manila... then another site popped up about a same-gender loving brother... then site about comics... then site about American Idols... then site about hot chicks online :o !...

Come to think of it, whatever it is that they blog about, it's basically their life. Their interests. No wonder today's daily claimed that political bloggers can write all they want, the number of readers are still small to have much impact. The phrase was "bloggers write for other bloggers to read".

Meaning, only bloggers read my posts. Only friends who knows I've got a blog would pop in occasionally to see what I'm up to, that is, if they're interested to know. Or sometimes, they'll pop in after being reminded to pop in... hah! Pop away!



I've been re-reading my very thick copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, in preparation of the launch of The Deathly Hallows.

Speaking of Hallows, I was arguing with a buddy who runs a bookstore, that there was a typo error in his advertising. I told him there was no such word as Hallows. Needless to say, he dragged me over to the dictionary section, and we started combing tomes after tomes of dictionary. True enough, only one had the word. And it's equally as unclear.... So to Ask Oxford I turn.

hallow
/halo/
• verb 1 make holy; consecrate. 2 honour as holy. 3 hallowed greatly revered.
• noun archaic a saint or holy person.
— ORIGIN Old English, related to HOLY.

Hah... the amazing language of English. Another new word, which I doubt any of us would be using it much. Can't expect us to go round hallowing stuffs and people, rite?

Lobster dinner

One good thing that came out of the KK trip.

My parents brought back 4 fresh, succulent lobters.

Picture above shows the meal that we made:

1. Cheese baked lobster
2. Lamb in mint sauce
3. Leftover turkey thigh - baked
4. Wild mushroom + yellow corn soup (we mixed both)
5. Hydroponic salad - crispy... yum...
6. Fried potato skins with salsa sauce
7. Mashed potatoes with yellow corn
8. Garlic bread
9. Pecan, Walnut and Plum pie from Strudels

Excessive. I know. For 6 people, this is mad. Besides, there's 2 bottles of wine (I must recommend the Lehmann, 2002, mixture of 3 grapes)

Worst thing is, I'm to go for my annual blood test coming Wednesday. Those Lobster roe is definitely gonna shoot my cholesterol off the roof!

Ahhh... yum!

Gunung Tahan, anyone?

Speaking of hikes and treks, I've been informed of organised treks up Mt.Tahan, the earliest is in August.

Out of curiosity, are there friends out there who would like to make up a group for this trek? Normally, a group of 10 would be ideal, as the whole trek/camp would take up 4 days. There's plenty to carry, the walk is tough, the fun factor is high.

I'm keen. Anyone else?

Bummer...

What a bummer..

My parents are climbing Mt. Kota Kinabalu, the highest peak in Malaysia, this morning. I just got news that mother is felt dizzy, cold and her legs hurt. She's staying put at Laban Rata. She's not going to complete the climb to the summit.

Dad went ahead. Halfway up the summit, he dropped the torch. As usual, he trodded on, and tripped. Hurt his legs. Said it felt weak. And so, he turned back.
Good thing he's safe. Those cliffs are too dark for trekking without light. And one wrong step....

Right now, they're both headed back to base, enroute to KK town for a good rest. They'll need to nurse their injuries, sooth the pain. I know most definitely, they're disappointed for not reaching the summit. Nevermind. What's important is that they went up. Halfway, is better than nowhere. I've seen too many younger ones, who shudder at the thought. This is where guts and bravery comes from.

I've been there. Sis had been there. It was indeed very challenging to get to the top. But I had expected dad to be able to make it. After all, he spent an hour daily at the gym. For a 59ner, he's definitely fitter than I. If only he had listened and secured the torch to his arm.

I've been thinking since then. Perhaps, next year we climb as a family. We'll lookout for each other. Try to make the summit together. Right then. 12 months of preparation work. I better go get a medical check. Will my knee hold up for the climb?

CYoong's been there. Heard his toe is still black till now. Is he going to amputate it? But I know he'll say, it's worth it. We're not Everest material. Yeap, we're too soft for that. But for a softy, we've got the guts to go at it. It runs deep in our blood.

Bungee jump, anyone?

Invitation to Stuff 3rd Anniversary @ Zouk

Hey'all!

I've got an invite for two, to Stuff's 3rd Anniversary Party at Zouk, 18th May, 9pm.

Anyone interested to go catch "...a few hot bodies...up close and personal with some beautiful models....catch the eye of our gorgeous cover girls...." drop me a message and I'll have it couriered.

Hurry!

Joys of achievement

Ever shared in the joy of another person's success?

Today, a sales consultant of mine walked into my room, with red eyes, and the first thing she said was,

"Give me a hug"

I was naturally concerned, and wondered what happened to her. We hugged. She sat down, and blurted,

"I did it! I closed the first breakthrough sale of our new product in Melaka".

Ahh, tears of achievement. That explains it. I'm happy for her. I believe, in the 3 years that she had slogged in my team, this is the greatest achievement for her. Not only did she successfully penetrated the market, she had managed to get the product placed in a high profile residence, and at the same time achieved her highest sales record for May in Melaka.

Way to go, Fiona. Now you just keep up the momentum, and it's guaranteed that you will see your efforts bear fruit.

No one, other than herself and I, would understand the hardships that she had gone through to get this far. She saw her biggest career growth in her 10 years of employment, through me. She had to bear the harsh words, silence and ignorance by the top, all the whilst believing in herself and pushing harder.

Now, success.

It's momentary. It's for the day, the month. But she got it right. Now to keep going. To go where they had wanted her to go, but gave up. She must make it there.

"Ut sementem feceris ita metes" - As you sow, so will you reap

Sale! Sale! Sale!

To the Sales Addicts out there.... Yoo hoo!
Here's something you'll like - The Great Singapore Sale 2007
It's on from 25th May to 22nd July.

Thanks, Fabian for the tip.

Oh, and while I'm at it, here's the website to Uniquely Singapore.

New Word - Photonut

I learnt a new word today, courtesy of Fabian.

Photonut

Definition:

• Wikipedia - none
• Fabian - people who're passionate about photography
• WWW - generally refers to Photo Nut, ie photographs of nuts; and websites

So what.
I like it. From now on, Fabian, PohChin, MayChean, CheeWee & CheeYoong are officially Photonuts! Hahahaha.....

Anyone looking for work?

Anyone looking for a HR position, based in Labuan?

I was asked to put word out. Can't reveal much, but the fact that it's a good International Company.

Interested parties please email me.

Japanese Teppanyaki, or some yaki....

Warm Sake served in warm water (Duh!)

Warm Sake anyone?

We visited this dainty little restaurant selling Japanese food last night. Second time here, after Valentine's.

Liked the place. It's owned by a lady who had spent much time in Japan. Speaks good Japanese (she converse with her mostly Jap clientele in Jap), pleasant. Even have lots of novels and magazines from Japan.

Food's a little costly, by local standards. A light meal could come to RM50 for two, with 2 set dishes and a vege. That's minus the Sake too.

Oh, I was told Sake's good for health. Don't know how true it is, but I must say warm alcohol is certainly refreshing. It's actually rice wine, thus the taste needs some getting used to. In fact, I was perspiring by the 3rd cup (warm alcohol=blood rush)

Strange people, strange happenings.

Do you meet lots of strange people around all the time?

Like the weird ones that snap at you for no apparent reasons, or the clingy ones that refuses to let go despite you asking nicely, again and again...

I've seen enough of such people. Some are really creepy (friend in reading would agree). More often than not, we'll try our best to avoid such people. Then again, you and I know avoiding problems doesn't solve them.

What can we do about them?

I'm home alone again..

Poor JD. Everytime we come back to Melaka, he spends the whole day alone at home. It's sad to see his excited face in the morning, thinking that it's time to go back to Subang. I know he misses home.

Well son, we'll be back this coming weekend. Hang on there for another 4 days. I'll get you some chicken treats to compensate.

Melaka Tree

Anyone not seen a Melaka Tree? Now I'm not certain if this is the one that Parameswara leaned against and founded Melaka.

However, I must say that it is indeed shady.

Visit Melaka

Over the weekend, my cousins dropped by Melaka for a food tour. As is part of the itinerary, I took them to visit the landmark of this historical place. And for those interested, the statue above is found on the hill behind the Stadhuys.

And that's my niece, Chloe with her proud parents.

Dungeon Siege 2: Broken World

What's this?

I believe many reading this blog would be wondering what nonsense I'm up to this time.

The past weekend, I've revisited my schooling days past time of computer gaming, upped a notch by setting up a local area network at home. And I proudly say, we've completed the expansion quest of Broken World, after a long hiatus from gaming.

To those who likes fantasy, 3rd party RPG, multiplayer cooperative gaming, Dungeon Siege II is indeed a captivating game, offering good challenges and exciting moments.

PaintBall

I went for a Paintball session recently, with my colleagues, on grounds of team-building (or stealing time from work, whichever way you want ot look at it).

Anyhow, it's my first experience at Paintball, after hearing and reading about it for so many times. Really, nothing comes close to trying it out in person.

The Equipment:

• Face Mask - a very important safety component. More often than not, the is one of the nicest target to go for.
• Marker - this is a term used for the "gun". I was told that it's called a Marker, and not a gun, to avoid the connotation with violence and legality. (We were advised to avoid wearing military camouflage as well, in case we're mistaken as a militia group training for the wrong reasons). You'll notice that in photographs from foreign websites, the camouflage make up part of the gameplan.
• Pellets - not bullets. It's filled with paint made of vegetable oil (edible).

The Rules:

• Everytime we enter the enclosure, it's Mask On! No matter for what reasons, be it to adjust the obstacles, retrieve items, walk past. Of course, it's more for personal safety.
• Marker safety must be ON, and the Barrel Stopper fitted. Again, safety reasons.
• At close range, NO shooting. Just tap with the marker barrel. (Now I must add that those pellets really hurt, even when hit from a distance 10 feet away)

We played the game 4 to a side, with the objective of capturing the opponent's flag. Then again, this being our first time, our intention lingers more towards the number of bruises we will leave on the opposition; not the victory of flag capture.

To add to the fun, the session was held in the woods, amidst a light drizzle. Needless to say, we ended up soaked, muddy and bruised.

Like excitement? Try Paintball. Ladies and Gents alike.

Dinner Ala HongKong TeaHouse

Lindy found a magazine recently, listing most of the common HK teahouse dishes that we find in the major chains... Cheese Baked Rice, Twin Sauce Pork Chop Rice, French Toast...

Needless to say, we jumped at the chance. Results, passable....

Fried Spaghetti

Borsch Soup (HK ABC soup)

Cheese Baked Seafood Fried Rice

French Toast, with Honey and Peanut Butter

Not bad, eh....

Heroes

Have anyone been following the Heroes series?

I've been following the first season on my notebook. Thank goodness for the world wide web. Now for the uninitiated, Heroes is all about people with unique abilities, due to some oddities in their brains which gave them the additional advantege over others.

Given a choice, what would you choose?

• Flight - the freedom of movement, speed and a most useful ability to have when we need to get far far away..
• Persuasion - the power of persuasion, getting people to do things they do not intend to..
• Telekinesis - reaching out with the brain to physically move objects..
• Bend time and space - controls time, moving forward, backward, or stopping it for good..
• Foresight - seeing the future, before it happens..
• Mind reading - hearing what others think..

I wonder how this world will be like, if some people are given this "gift".

Surviving in the Klang Valley

I received this from a friend, and posting it uneditted. Odd how people could survive under such circumstances..

In Malaysia, the average family income is RM3,000/month.
I understand there are many families whose monthly income does not reach RM3,000, but, to make things simple, let's take RM3,000 as the figure. Ok lah, right?
Okay, let's start rolling with a family which has Papa, Mama, 1 daughter and 1 son. Ngam-ngam ...

Calculation starts...
-Electricity and water bill:RM100 (No air-con, No home theatre, No water heater ...ok?)
-Phone bill (Mobile):RM100
-Meals for a happy family:RM775 (3 meals on RM25/day, RM25 for 4 persons...?)
-Papa makan teh-tarik during working hrs:RM155 (RM5/day, RM5 ... can eat what?)
-Car repayment:RM400 (A proton saga aeroback, 7 yrs repayment)
-Petrol (living in city, traffic-jam):RM300 (go to work, bring son to school, only can afford one car running)
-Insurance:RM650 (kids, wife and myself)
-House repayment:RM750 (low cost housing repayment for 30 yrs, retired still have to work to pay!)
-Tuition: RM80 (got that cheap meh? I don't think so)
-Older children pocket money @ school:RM20 (RM1/day, eat bread?)
-School fees:RM30 (enough ah?)
-School books and etc:RM100 (always got extra to pay in school)
-Younger children milk powder:RM50 (cannot have the DHA, BHA, PHA one, expensive)
-Miscellaneous:RM100 (shampoo, rice, sauce, toilet paper)

No medical fees, no cinema visits, no Astro education, no outing with expensive tolls and carparks, no extras for LRT and busses.

Now it's starting to ring true. Most Malaysians go thru life in debts. House debts, car debts, credit debts. It's no surprise that an honest survey will turn up more bankruptcies than reported.

Can someone enlighten me if the same is true elsewhere??

Register local bloggers

Here's the latest scoop.
The Govt wants M'sian-hosted bloggers to register, in a move to prevent malicious contents being published, causing harm to Nation Unity.
How is it that putting in an administrative obstacle can prevent malicious contents being published?
Register to instill Accountability?
Or should it be Educate to instill Accountability?
~What if the bloggers moved their sites out of the Country?
~No longer held accountable?
~Licensed to speak freely?
~Isn't the person who's blogging still on the same soil?

If preventing the wrong things being said is what this is all about, then get to the source.
~Why was it said?
~Is there a basis for discussion?
~Is there "dirt" for picking?
~Isn't people's interests piqued from sparks of unconformity that originated somewhere else?

Didn't we register car owners too? Did that prevent accidents, hit and runs?
Didn't we register business owners too? Where did those gambling dens come from?

Is REGISTERING people on a list, a SOLUTION?

Happy Birthday May Li

May Li! Welcome to ClubThirty!

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to May Li,
Happy Birthday to you...

Ouch!

I tore my shoulder muscle. At least, that's what I was told by an experienced badminton player.
I've had this nagging sharp pain shooting up my right shoulder since last Monday, when I did a nature-defying smash. I had my right arm overhead, and took the smash on the left side of my head, which resulted in an odd "tearing" sensation.

The past one week, I've experienced the pain each time I reach for my wallet in my back pocket (pun intended). Also the same each time I scratch my posterior ;) or when I lift the arm overhead.

Serves me right, no? The pros train for hours each day, to execute that stunt perfectly, and there I go, a once-a-week wannabe, carrying a 35" waist, trying that stunt.

Ouch!

Horror!

Horror of horrors!

A pink-punching monstrosity, thanks to the oddball owners with a really weird sense of beauty.

I took this in Ipoh, on a really hot Saturday afternoon.

Oh, what a blow to the poor dog's esteem, being seen in public like that.

Congratulations to Kelvin & Cui Si

24th March, 2007
Kelvin Wong and Lai Cui Si's Wedding
Bukit Kinding Resort, Tg Rambutan
Ipoh, Perak.

Congratulations!

Food for thought

Ever wanted to check out an eatery and couldn't find it anywhere? I've been scouring the web for links to the usual sites. Am gonna put it up for any of you people who might find it useful.

Check out the foodsite links on the side bar.

Something different?

Changed the feel of my blog today. No more dark gloomy webpage.
Like it?

Also found another blogsite featuring lotsa lotsa jokes. Pay it a visit: E-Laughs. It's on my site's link. I find it refreshing to have entertainment such as this.

What productive thing have I done today?

Let's see. I woke up late, if you consider 9.30am over sleeping.
First things first, JD got his haircut. Finally he got back his cute, intelligent look. Prefers him this way.
Then it's shower time. JD, not mine.

I had lunch with Ma and Pa. Jo's back in Ipoh with her other half. Somehow, Manhattan Fish Market's loosing their touch. Not on the recommended list anymore, unless it's your first time.

Oh, I saw lots of Yellow men around the Digital Mall. It's their opening ceremony today. Found my PDA softwares in one of the shops there. Bummer thing, the program I wanted couldn't work. Had to settle for something else. Nonetheless, it's still entertaining. What the heck!

Right now, I'm at Friends' Cafe, blogging and surfing. Lindy's attending a friend's wedding reception. Ahh... peaceful weekend.

Missing in Action again

Of late, I've not been blogging as often as I should. Blame it on endless busy weekends, scarcity of Net connections wherever I go, and pure laziness.

No, wait. It's not laziness... I've been busy scouring the weekend papers for interesting vacancies. No wonder I've not been blogging.

Seriously, despite the endless pages of recruitment listings, I still can't find something I'm keen on. I did take a few looks at Project Management, and somehow, I don't think I know enough to get the job.

Logistics? Finance? Marketing? Sales? Programmers? Developers?
Nope, nope, nope.... sighhhhh

Isn't there any Company looking at new startups? Needs Functional Manager, to set, implement, execute, conceptualize, analyse, improve?

Harry Potter @ JW Marriott Putrajaya

We had our National Sales Conference recently. Yours truly was there as Harry Potter, minus the nerdy glasses.

That's CK, a good friend, dressed as I-dunnoe-what... but hey, it's Hollywood characters night. So there you are...

Sushi Afternoon

Here you go. A handiwork of my sister, Lindy and myself, on a warm Wednesday afternoon...

We have various sushi of Egg Mayo, Crabstick Prawn Cucumber, Salmon Bits, Sweet Corn and Hand Rolls. Burp!

Kong Hei Fatt Choy

Jeng... Jeng Jeng...
Peng You Men, Gong Xi Fa Cai!

How's your Ang Pow collection this year?
As expected, once we touch 30, it's going to start slowing down. No matter, after all, Chinese New Year is very different nowadays.

This being the year of the glorious Piggy, we're told to expect a really good year ahead, for many people. Strangely, it doesn't feel that wild... But that's beside the point:

To all my friends, relatives, acquaintances,... I wish you a really good year ahead, full of wonderful surprises, pleasant memories, sweet nothings and cute encounters.

Rewards for bums?

Read the newspaper lately?

Here's an intereting scoop -

• Gifts for late ID subscribers
• Empowering the street menace, and Incentives for snitching on own kind
• Rewards to photograph law breakers

Is this strange or what? This brings me to a statement once made by my immediate Manager:

When we become a leader, always remember "Do not reward the good worker with more work because they do things well, and reward the poor worker with less work because we cannot rely on them"

Now, that seems like good advice. Why are the efficient ones always having to do more, whereas the ones paid to do the job gets away with less?

Did we appoint the right people to run this zoo?

Happy Birthday Mummy!

Happy Birthday to you...
Happy Birthday to you...
Happy Birthday dear Mommy...
Happy Birthday to you...

Mummy you're the greatest
You gave years of yourself,
To feed us, cloth us
Without grumble
Without regret

There would be no words
To express my love to you
Nor actions to tell you I remember
Only me, myself, and I
And the return of endless love
Respect
and friendship that you so deserved

Happy Birthday Mummy.

Happy Valentine's!

Yup, Happy Valentine's to the positive, lovey-dovey, warm, encouraging, bubbly, beautiful souls out there, who still sees some silver lining in dark clouds.

Just Ask!

I received the following text from my insurance agent. A good read, for those of us who are too timid to ask.

It was 11am on a Sunday and I was due to catch a plane to Singapore at 2.30pm. Next day in Singapore I was to give a speech to 5,000 people. Suddenly I realized that I had lost my passport.

Julie said, “I’ll get you a passport!” She grabbed the phone and started calling emergency immigration numbers all over Australia, but all she got were answering machines or people who said, “Impossible on a Sunday!”.

Finally, after 25 calls, Julie spoke to a government official who was at home suffering from a severe hangover. Julie convinced this person to crawl out of bed, drive to the Australian passport office in Currie St. Adelaide, turn off the entire twenty-storey security system, fire up the computers and make a passport for me by 1pm.

Julie is amazing for many reasons. One of them is: she knows how to ask. Julie once rebuilt an orphanage in Indonesia with no money. She visited CEOs of corporations all over Jakarta and asked fro donations of bricks, timber, plumbing, paint, roofing iron and labour. Once the orphanage was complete, she kept it supplied with drugs and bandages using the same strategy.

Julie’s philosophy is:
If you ask, you’ll often get.
If someone says “No”, don’t take it personally. Ask someone else.

YOUR success and happiness depend on you asking for things. For small things… “May I have a refund, an upgrade, can you reschedule my appointment?” “Will you go out with me on a date?”
And for big things… “Can I WORK for you?” “Will you MARRY me?”

People will often say, “Yes!” Other people aren’t mind readers. Often, they will happily agree to your request if they KNOW what you want.

USA Today recently ran a report on people who asked for a raise in salary. The study showed the 45% of women and 59% of men got more money when they asked for it. It’s worth asking!

If you never ask – if you suffer in silence, if you always act the martyr and allow yourself to go without – your stomach keeps count. Asking for what you want keeps your happier and healthier.

IN A NUTSHELL

If you ask for it, you just might get it!

Happy Birthday Camelia!

Hey old buddy.
Another red carpet to the ThreeOh Club. Of the many friends that I have, you're one of the few whose birthday I could remember without fail. Must be close proximity to Valentine's.
Wish you a really joyous day to be remembered.

Happy Birthday!

Dear Jaimie,

Many Happy Returns to you, for the wonderful life you have, and the great future ahead.

Welcome to ThreeOh Club!

I'm leaving..

Hey.
I've done it. I've put the wheels in motion, is what I'm saying. I will be leaving the Company for sure, once I get an offer.
Today, I had a good chat with my immediate Manager. The verdict, she start looking for a replacement, I start preparing a handover.
Big world, here I come!

Useless "people"

If anyone had been following my blogs, you may be forgiven to think that I have some kind of low-sugar problem. What with all the rantings of Useless "people", time after time after time..

Truly, I really have problems with these particular race of "people". In fact, I'm in the process of seeking employment:

• that do not require giving instructions to these "people"
• that do not require selling anything to these "people"
• that do not have such "people" like these in authority
• that will not allow a Company to be jeopardised by these "people"

These "people" cannot work and cannot be trusted. And there are so few of such capable "people" around.

I really need to get away from here.

Happy Birthday to me....

This is it! I'm 30, officially.
My take of what's it like to be part of the ThreeOhClub:

• For a brief moment, all joy was sucked out of me, realising it's now time for facing responsibilities, loss of care-free, care-not moments; for a brief moment.
• Health, and fitness, is now an issue, not an option.
• Celebrating birthday, is avoided at all costs (I spent it at client's place, earning my keep).
• Club membership is gonna start growing, populated by school mates, housemates, childhood friend.
• Old.

Then again, I'm not giving in that easily.Life, begins at thirty, right? Older and wiser, spicier like ginger, tastier like wine, wrinkler than prunes...

Many thanks to friends for remembering my birthday. I received all your messages. So so sorry if I replied late to you.

Speedy roads, bloody drivers

Truly, our Malaysian highway had improved tremendously, what with the on-going upgrades and expansion. By improvement, it's indicating a better ride, than before.

Then again, with progress, comes opportunities for many, and the mushrooming of more idiots. Our neighbours down south would definitely be raring to tryout our newly paved expressway. Little did they forget that with more lanes, it meant there's obvious difference between fast, slow and DEAD SLOW!

Would they ever learn that fast lanes have specific uses? If they're travelling at 110km/h, stick to the mid. The fast lane is for over-taking, and OVER-TAKING means going FASTER than the car on your LEFT!

Progress

It's been 20 odd days since I underwent the eye correction ops. Today, I was asked how my condition now.

Honest feedback? I'd say my vision's good, though I still believe my left has better focus than my right. Will know better once I go for my 3o days check up.

Experience-wise, there's more pros than cons to the treatment (no serious side-effects). Only thing that sucks is I seem to loose my line of sight where snooker is concerned. Back when I was wearing glassses, the frame helps me focus a straight line from point to cue. Now it's more guess work, since I don't really know if I'm looking straight, or slant.

Oh well, a good time to correct my aim, anyway.

TKit, if you're planning on doing it, go get the assessment done. You'll know for sure then.

New Year, New Resolution?

Happy 2007!

I was asked this morning, what were my New Year resolutions?

To think of it, I switched from 2006 to 2007 without really feeling the euphoria of celebration. Might be because I've had too much celebrating since Christmas..

Or perhaps, simply the realization that I've hit the big 30.

What's resolutions for, anyway? Every year, in and out, I'll decide to get something done, and along the way, it's either I forgot what it was, or some weird circumstances will bar me from it.

Still wanna put a resolute (is this how the word's used?) for the year?
Let's see....

• Quit swiping the credit card! ~ There's no way the statement is gonna appear as ZERO, if I keep adding on to it.
• Get fit! ~ I'm exercising. But I love food!!!
• Stay young! ~ I gotta find a fountain of youth. Someone told me to laugh always. A little silly, but what the heck!
• Change job! ~ Easier said than done. (Cammie will be laughing if she reads this. I owe her my resume since 6 months ago). But it might just happen this year. ;)

I think that's about it. Anybody wanna ask me to add anything else?

P.S. To Hsin Yee, the passing of a friend, is to be mourned. Mourn then, by rejoicing for the happy times, for the moments of joy that was had.

I'm 20/20

I got it done. Yesterday, I spent RM3800 to get my vision corrected to near perfect, via the use of Lasik technology.

That's me, prepped for the surgery. Here's what they did.

28th, Eye assessment to see if my eyes are suitable for the treatment. Droplets were placed in my eyes to dilate the pupil, to determine the thickness and pressure. Also checked were my vision diopter.

29th, 11am appointment. Last assessment by the doctor, and then they prepped me to undergo the zapping.

• Doctor first gave my eyes local anaesthetic, then fitted wires to hold my lids open (did I mention she tapped my eyelids as well..)
• She then capped a plastic ring over my eyes, and made an incision to create a flap, thus exposing my pupils.
• The lasers came into action, and started zapping my pupils to correct my vision (at this point, I could smell my pupils getting cooked...)
• Once done, she reattached the flap, and I'm off.

All this took place in under 5 minutes, and believe me, seeing the whole process thru certainly is odd.

No pain were felt, though the first couple of hours are quite uncomfortable. It was described as having sand in my eyes. To me, it was as if someone's pressing down on my eyeballs. Ergh!

Anyway, I now get to put behind the past 19 years of wearing a contraption on my eyes. I could see clearly, without any aid.

Eyahoo!

Flooding in Melaka

You've read it in the papers.
Exactly how bad is it? Generally water is around 4ft to 7ft high, depending on which part of Melaka you're standing on.

Some of the road are impassable to cars. The Melaka river is now as wide as the Pahang river (almost, at least).

Right now, we're all hoping that the rain will stop, and allow the water to subside. The rising tide certainly made things worst.

Brisingr!

That's from Eragon.

My advice, watch the movie, only if you had read the book. Otherwise, go read the book.
There is no way you'll understand what the movie was about, despite it being 2 1/2 hours long.

Wedding bells...

Congratulations to Camelia and Pak Wei!
Here's a snippet of the dinner reception, for those not present.



Wanna see more? Get on the Smartgroups (HY, I'm advertising for you here..)

Eragon

Believe you would have seen the cinead by now. For the uninitiated, this is another fantasy epic, spanning 3 books of entertaining mystical lore of dragons, magick, knights and valor.

What's it about then? I'm not going to spoil the movie for you. But if you wanna know more, suggests you go get the book: Eragon. There's two in the market, the third due out sometime 2007.

In general, Eragon's a young teenager (as always), living with a relative (of course), who stumbled upon a unique package which happened to be a dragon egg. Overtime, the dragon and the boy bonded, to become a pair and one with each other.

As the story unfolds, you'll find much similarity to our real world, of politics, wars, rebels, espionage.

The interesting part of book, is very much Eragon's discovery process of his ability, his learning curve.

I'd recommend this to fans of the fantasy world. It'll be a good escape from reality for awhile. Me, I'm going to catch the movie this Sunday. Hope it's as fulfilling as the book.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Hey everyone, Christmas is coming!!!

Black Forest Cake

Cakes.
Who came up with the idea anyway? Having one for birthdays, for anniversaries, for weddings...

Lately, my family had taken up the hobby of baking cakes. Cheese cakes, butter cakes, sponge cakes, now Black Forest Cake. Few years back, I was planning a trip to Germany. One focal point of interest was a visit to the Black Forest there, and seek the Cake. Is that the origin?

No matter what the interest, it's good to see my family bonding this way. Heart warming. Not that we're dysfunctional or something. It's just that growing up in a traditional Chinese family, meant silent nights in front of the telly, quick dinners, and to each our own.

Perhaps it's the age. As we grow, the "children" learnt to appreciate the parents more. We're more open, the topic of discussion gets more personal. The parents start to see and treat us like "adults". Hey! I'm turning 30 soon. Can't be looking at me as a kid no more, rite??

But I like it. We're close. Makes me look forward to coming back every weekend, even if it's for a quick dinner, a sound sleep. Not many understands my fixation of making every weekend a family weekend. Just spend time with them. They'll feel like they're still important. They'll feel like growing with us, not left behind as we seek our new family.

Ah...yada yada yada...

Long hiatus...

Been away, been away...

Phew! Just completed my Company's annual dinner, hosted for the southern region. What a rush! We got those fella trekking under a hot Saturday afternoon, all over the historical sites of Malacca. Needless to say, they were thankless bout it.

Whatever!

Somewhere, over the rainbow...

It's been raining incessantly in Melaka. Was on my way to the weekly badminton game, and managed to catch this. Is it true there's a pot of gold at the base of the rainbow? (If it's true, why bother learning physics rite?)

Love it. It's nature's way of telling us to keep going. You'll always see it in front of you, forever beckoning.

Harry Potter!

Does this look cool or what?

It's my bedsheet! I've got Harry Potter prints for my bed.
Best part of it, the sheet costs RM215, and I paid RM69.

Now that's cheap.

Friend's Cafe

Saturday night.

Including tonight,I believe I've not stayed over in Melaka for more than 5 Saturdays, since I got here 3 years ago!

My other half's attending a wedding dinner (almost every restaurants and hotels are booked for receptions).

Speaking of which, Business 101, where there's demand, there's profit to gain. I've been negotiating with hotels for their function hall, and they had the gall to hold stern the offer on the table. Every little request an excuse for more charges. I'd sure like to see their faces when school restarts and the wedding season is over. Hah!

Anyway, I'm seated at Friend's Cafe. One of my favourite hangout here. They play nice hitz, a little funky, but not loud. Besides, the food selection is pretty decent, and the drinks generous.

PC would know the place. She finished an American burger all by herself here! Had a strange drink called CoCoke Milk. Ask PC how's it.

One of the highlights of this place, is a really cool mirrored-wall, with much wise sayings written all over it.



That's me in the mirror Literally!
Some highlights "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail -Ralph Waldo Emerson-"


Ahh.. my dinner's here. Till next.

Dusk.

Dusk.

The strangest of hour in a day. Have you ever felt lonely in any part of a day?
I have. Dusk is my bane. Very often, when nightfall comes along, usually sevenish, just as it's about to get dark...

This strange sense of loss is often felt. Not belonging. Lost.

Perhaps this is a manifestation of the earlier years? A loss of daylight, the end of fun time. Dreading nightfall when the day is almost over. Another day gone by.

Italian weekend..

Our weekend dinner, me pa, ma, sis, her other half, my other half and myself. We four teamed up to get together an Italian fest.

On the table were Meatball spaghetti, carbonarra fettucine, vegetarian pizza, spicy chicken pizza, antipesto, and garlic bread. All these were washed down with a 12 year old Suntori whiskey, Penfolds Bin 389 Shiraz, a Korean ginseng soaked in KouLeiSum for 12 months. Dessert was Bombe Alaska.

Phew... all those for 6. Needless to say, I'm now tipsy, filled to the brim, and slowy slipping into stupor of a glutton.

But, the fun of what we did together, putting up a dinner that we're so proud of. The chaos and confusion certainly added to the fun.

Tonight, I'm getting a real good sleep. Will be out like a baby. Tomorrow's a peaceful weekend for us. Not for JD though. It's time to give him his haircut. Snip! Snip! Snip!

Accident!

PC! PC! I got into the same, unfortunate situation. Earlier, I got rammed from behind at the on-ramp near Summit, USJ.


The Culprit!










The Iswara's wheels got locked when he emergency-braked. I heard the tyres screech, looked behind and saw him fast approaching, then looked forward to see if I had room to move forward without hitting the Toyota Unser in front of me.


My Misery...

Unfortunately (aren't they all), there wasn't room. So it was simply reflex to step on the brakes hard, and hope the Iswara won't push me under the Unser.

Looks like I gotto pay a visit to the traffic cops tomorrow and get this sorted out. Definitely am going to claim his Insurance for this. Sheesh... so troublesome...

Father's birthday Fusion Dinner

It's my dad's birthday weekend. To make it special, Lindy and I are going to make dad a very unique dinner. Fusion of chinese and continental.

We'll be making fried drummets marinated in fermented sauce (known as "lam yee"). Greens will be minced pork, chicken and shrimps, wrapped in cabbage and steamed. Third dish is fried potatoes slices, dressed with sweet and sour sauce. Lastly, there's an egg and tofu combo, pan fried till golden brown. Ahh, how much more fusion can you get...

We even got dad a very chic looking tee-shirt from John Masters.

Happy birthday, dad!

I got creamed, and rightfully so!

Argh! I got creamed by my friends last nite. I guess the news would have came out eventually, though I wouldn't had expected it to be so soon.

Yes, my dear friends. I'm in the midst of an early, beautiful romance. It began a month ago, and it's been a wonderful month for me.

Just read Jaimie's lengthy recollection of TL and Lena's wedding. Here's my thanks to this wonderful couple. As I sat there last night, it suddenly dawned on me (and many others) that we had not met many of each other for years. Really, it took a wedding of amazing proportions to get everyone together again.

Funnee thing is, the oddity of meeting ex and ex-es sitting around and talking to each other, while their spouse/halfs sat right beside. You know who you are. I'm glad to see how mature everyone were about it. You fellas are cool.

TL, you could really sing. That was a romantic gesture, and sure takes lot of guts to do. Worth it, right?

Now we wait for the next big one. Camelia's big day is fast approaching. And we'll be there.

The big big day!

Teik Lee! My heartiest congratulations to you and Lena.

Today's TL and Lena's wedding day. Right now, they'd be wrapping up the church ceremony at St. Ignatius. I'll get to see them tonight. Am so happy for them.

I've know TL since my mid-teen, and Lena a few years later. While not entirely close, I've know them to be dependable, good friends. People that can be counted upon when you need them the most. And to see this happy union after so many years, it gives hope to everyone that love still exists in this world. It is possible for great friends to become life partners...

Who's next?

New URL linked

I added another URL today. Poh Chin's Blog, at Friendster. She told me about the styrofoam story when she visited me at Melaka. Hehehe.. still floating yeh?

PC, read about the car accident. Hope you're all ok.

Happy Mooncake Festival

As above, it's MidAutumn (Don't know where on Earth, but it's MidAutumn).
Pity, we Malaysians gotto celebrate it hazily...

Yeah.. yeah.. I'm one day late. I know! Can't help that, but then again at least I got to taste a slice of those oily goodies. Kudos to modernisation - Sambal Mooncake!?

What's the story behind this festival anyway? All I remember was the tradition of lanterns (from the quaint little candle-lit to the battery-operated with audio built-in), sipping chinese tea under the moon, munching on groundnuts...

There was something about this young lady who got upset over some stuffs, and decided to "fly" to the moon... and a rabbit was involved... folklore about the MidAutumn.

The mooncakes came about as an ancient means of espionage communication, of hiding messages in gifts of food, which brought about a major coup of sorts.

Don't know what brought about the lanterns, groundnuts and tea.... folklore.

TL messaged me this afternoon. To pass me the invite card I believe. Maybe I'll get to catch him tonite.

Short short weekend..

Argh... such a short weekend!

I lost half a day yesterday at the police station, accompanying a friend to regain back his car (which was "stolen" by another friend to pay off debts!). Such madness, and friends...

Roamed Low Yat again this weekend. Was on a mission to get replacement parts for my Toshiba.

Here's my shopping list:
Samsung 40Gb Notebook harddrive ~ RM180.00 (the original drive had bad sectors)
A4Tech Glaser mouse ~ RM45 (for a friend)
Epson Stylus printer cartridge ~ RM140 (for my dad)
Panasonic Cordless phone replacement battery ~ RM29 (for my dad)

And none of it's for me.
By the way, the Toshiba's for sale. Any takers?

It's a Satelite S2410, 512Mb Ram, nVidia Graphics card.
New harddrive, Samsung 40Gb, CDRW/DVD-ROm drive, SD card reader, Build in Floppy drive.
Original system disc is WinXP Home.

I'm letting it go at RM2,000.00

Good friends..

So nice. I received a call from ML this evening, from Singapore. She's concerned enough to call and see how I am. HY too, who'd catch me online and check up with me.

I'm ok fellas. Am very very busy and occupied at the moment. Company's into a major exercise, and I'm involved in many ways.

I'll catch up with you all at TL's wedding. Take care for now!

Never so overworked, nor overjoyed

Never had I ran this fast in pushing a project through. Definitely proud to say I'm ahead in my milestones.

Besides, life is sweet. I've not had this for such a long time. This time, it must work.

Anyone thinking about watching Monster House? Go for it. It's entertaining. Simple fare, but entertaining.

Tomorrow it's family day. Part, if not whole, is definitely a welcome. Mum will like it.

Bold move

This past week had been like hell. I've not had enough sleep at all.

I'm one admin staff short (she's on maternity, bless her), the Co's into a major integration exercise and expects results within the month, I just took my team for a weekend getaway to celebrate their recent success, and lots and lots of extra hours every night...

But it's worth it. I've longed for such adrenalin rush a long time. This is what makes me appreciates my job.

I've done it. I've taken the bold move. Ready or not, I'm not waiting any longer. Ask, and get it out of my head. And it worked. No doubt the going's gonna be tough, but I know it's worth it. Hang in there, trust, and flow with the "waves"... this is going to be real mad. Of all the time to get this done... Right, I'm mad.

If all works out as planned, I'll make it known soon. No sense talking bout it now.

Pray. Pray like there's nothing left but prayers. Keep faith.

Another lazy weekend... it's just too darn hot.

It's indeed a lazy afternoon, with the sun blazing hot. Not only I am suffering from it, even poor JD's completely exhausted.

It's that time of the year again!

Hey y'all, PC Fair is around again. The annual event of the year, for all geeks and nerds around. As usual, much stuffs are available, at beat down prices.

Then again, temptation of spending is definitely strong if anyone were to go there. Perhaps it's the joy of seeing the multitude of gadgets, all under one roof. Or maybe, it's the jostling crowd, bargaining for the lowest price and best bargain.

Sometimes, even Superman falls ill

Haha... not that I'm enlarging myself into the status of a Super-being. I'm sick. Fell ill on a Friday night, after I spent a whole day sampling air in two Hospitals. Gosh, did I contract something I bad? Right now, I've got a runny nose, slight fever and a very irritating cough.

And havign told my friend of my illness, she immediately made an offer to supply me some medication. Thank you so much, May Li. Appreciate the warm thought, though I'l pass on the offer to stock up on pills. Don't plan to get sick again.

Sigh, home alone again tomorrow. Parents going to pay grandma a visit. I wish I could tag along. Would love to hold my niece again. Then again, sick man should not travel, much less hold a baby.

Gonna make some pasta dish tomorrow for lunch. Any takers?

Killings? Are these pics real?

I got these pics via mass mail. As usual, I'm curious to know about the authenticity of such mails. I'm certain the veteran netizens would have received many such mails from time to time, either seeking donations via tracking softwares, warding off ill-luck, or the downright ludicrous mass mails to earn cash!!!

So, can anyone verify the authenticity of the pics above? Are people killing baby seals wantonly? No greater reason, for a greater cause? Or are those simply Photoshop-ed pics?

What's your take?

A date!

I just got back from a date. It's been a long long time since I actually went out on a date. Perhaps it's part of the healing process that made me reluctant, or perhaps the fear of history repeating itself. Nonetheless, I had fun.

I picked HY up from her place at late noon, and proceeded to 1U for the movie. As expected, parking traffing was horrendous. I actually went up the parking ramp, then exited, and re-entered the basement. Eventually I had to go up and get the tickets, while HY seek a spot. For those not in the know, if you paid for the tickets via credit online, you can pick up the tickets using the confirmation code at the Gold Class booth. Credit card not required. We caught Dragon Tiger Gate.

The verdict:
Very good action scenes, definitely lotsa CGI. Overall story telling a little choppy, and slow. Towards the finale, the director got a little over the top with his imagination.

For dinner, we went to Italiannies. Dinner was sumptuous. We had Artichoke with Spinach, Eggplant Parmagiana (cheesy), and a Roasted Potato dish with Chicken and some spicy sauce (I can't pronounce the exact words, neither remember how it's written). And a carafe of red wine. No, no.. no nagging bout white meat and red wine. It's personal preference, yah.

Gosh, what a great night. Perhaps we could do this again, eh? This time we get a lighter meal and leave room for desserts as well.

Well, time for ZZZzzz...

Runabout weekend

Supper last night with KH. Very nice to have the company of HY and Fab with us. Very much a pity that we couldn't get more around. TL, TF, Cammie.... apasal tak senang leh?

It's Movie weekend! We're going Dragon Tiger Gate today. KH said there's too much CGI. Wonder if it's entertaining. I just want entertainment. That's all...

August. According to the Chinese calendar, it's the Hungry Ghost Festival. This year, we have 2 months' worth of hair-raising sensations. Frankly, it's to each their own. Cheers to dark nights.

Late night get-together

Hey y'all..

I've had a long week. How about you?
Last night was nice. I got to laze around with a couple of my friends, midnight till bout 4am. We downed 2 bottles of red. Hsin Yee, May Li, thanks for the wines. It's really nice.

Who's there? Well, there's Siew Keng, who's going to attempt 72 hours of movie marathon without falling asleep for a shot a 10k prize monies. Hope she succeed. Then there's Terrence, and his "hamper" of junk food. Dede, who's recovering from post late-night binge. Hsin Yee, finally able to steal her away from her work. Poh Chin, and her endless ideas (you're late). May Li, host of our little gathering at her very large mansion, and myself, self-appointed butler for the night...

PC, we're left wondering what's the ending to that horror movie...

To my friends who're starting (or just started) their new jobs, all the very best.

Mid year performance, team buildings and sore muscles..

It's that time of year again, when all fat cats sit together in a boardroom and see what went wrong, what went right, and where to go next.

As expected, the pressure is on, and the is turned to the max. This year, it's make the waves, or leave the bus. To say it's good, there's plenty of room to fill, to say it's bad, we're not far off. So there you have it. All in a nutshell, we're doing right, but not perfect.

The management trend had geared towards teambuilding a lot. This is no exception. This weekend, I survived a night orientation session using a compass, and a 20 obstacle course that would make any commando proud. Fire in the Hole!

Was hoping for a paintball session to go with it. No such luck. Would have taken great pleasure to whup a couple of hardballs up some stiff butts.

Another weekend, and my niece!!!

Lina, my heartiest congratulations to you and Vincent!



Everyone, say hi to my 1 month old niece, Chloe! Ain't she pretty?

Bz bz weekend...

This weekend is going to be a hectic one.

I'm headed north to a rustic little town called Sitiawan for a ex-colleague's wedding. It's going to be an early drive to collect my fellow passengers, and then a four hour road trip.

The following day, it's off to my niece's fullmoon luncheon (That's 30 days exact after birth). This will be in Ipoh. Wonder if I have any spare time to grab a cuppa of local white coffee? Yum yum...

Road mishap!

Accident. The worst thing that can happen to a person. Of all the miserable time in a year, this had to happen to me now.





I suppose this is bound to happen eventually. I've been clocking more distance at ungodly hour more and more often.

What took place? Simply put, I fell asleep behind the wheel.
Unbelieveable? Yup. Happened last night (or rather this morning, 1+am) along the expressway near the International Airport.

Prior to that, I had participated in a game of Futsal, which my friends and I organise fortnightly. I must had been more tired that I anticipated. Along the journey home, I pulled over on 2 separate occasions to catch a quick ZZzzz, couple of minutes each time. Somehow, I blacked out later, and in that quick seconds, ran the car towards the middle divider, and scrapped the sides. Good thing there wasn't another car near me, or I would not be writing this now.

Looks like I gotto tighten the purse strings the next few months to pay off the repairs, and sustain my housing loan until I get a new tenant.

Sigh,... truly, the more we earn, the more we spend. It's never enough.

Big shock wedding...

I attended a buddy's wedding ceremony today. As is the Chinese custom, there's always the early drive to the bride's home to ferry her to her new home

But then it's never that simple. Getting to the bride always involved the a perilous journey for the stomach, liver and heart.

The local custom here is that the groom gotto pass a series of "obstacles" before entering the bride's parent's home. The obstacles ranges from the common 4 tastes of flavour (sweet/sour/spicy/bitter), signifying the the journey of a married couple, to the physically challenging tasks of fitness execises in formal jackets; food galore meant to overfill the stomachs; and vocal sessions to express love.

And if that's not enuff, the groom gotto provide a red packet (cash) to the ladies holding the bride's fort. As usual, much haggling would take place to ensure a fair amount is given, and received. More often than not, this would burn a hole in the groom's wallet.

What's amazing about this wedding is the suddenness of it. I got to know the groom's seeing this gal 5 months ago (that's when they began), and now they're getting married. My hats off to you, pal.

I'll post a pic when I get them after the dinner tonight.

P.S. Met the photographer, a lovely lass. Hope she didn't get hurt when they pushed our faces together during the singles' game.

Visit by a friend

What a surprise...

Poh Chin came by for a visit on Thursday. This is rare, seeing that i've known her since Secondary school.
We've not really had a chance to talk one to one, eh?

You'll be surprised to know how many person are like what you said. Floating in the ocean, not knowing where to go. Have faith. At times, you need to step back and look at the big picture. The end may be very near...

Live happy, girl.

Expensive Saturday

Sigh... I really have no self control.

Today, I bought a FM Modulator. It's a contraption that can be plugged into the cigarette lighter for power, and has a USB port for a thumbdrive. Basically, it'll function as a radio station, with a FM of its own. And the car stereo can pick up the MP3 songs when tuned to the similar station. I blew RM75 bucks there.

Then, it's to a 2 hours game of Snooker. Phew.

Dinner was TGIF. Ouch!

It's another weekend

The weekend's here again.

Phew, what a week. Why are there so many idiots out there? Don't they know the difference driving within the lanes, and driving without the lanes? Sheesh, sure wished my car was equipped with some kinda rocket launcher/laser gun to zap the idiot that caused the hour-long jam.

This weekend, I'm going to get a FM modulator that could play mp3 from my thumbdrive, and blast it out of the car stereo like a radio station. Hope it works.

I bought another cue stick. Not for myself, but for my Sis's BF. He's hooked on the game, thanks to me, hehehe.

Am getting better at the game. Hope with the added player, I'll get the much needed practise.

Jeram Besu rapids

Phew, I'm back.
Jeram Besu, hour and half away from KL, is part of the Lipis River, that links eastwards. I had a quick session there today, after a long drive to the destination. And I really meant long. We departed Subang 9am, and only got there by 1pm. Miscommunication, and lots of time spent following traffic.

Our main guide, Nizam, ran thru the basics with us. The seating on the sides, leg positions horseback on the sides, caution when appoaching branches and rocks.

After that, he got us floating on the river, to let us get comfortable with the currents.

Next up was jumping of some boulders, and being swept down river by the currents. Here we were taught the techniques of positioning ourselves when being swept by the currents.

Last exercise was to capsize the raft, with us in it. No doubt some of us had a good drink of river water.

Finally, we're off. Though the rapids was supposed to be a level 3, it felt more like level 1. The water was so calm that it felt more like a romantic river cruise, in the afternoon sun. Hehe...

Fun part came when we finished the rapids, and brought the rafts back to the starting point, where we got to brave the real level 3 rapids. This we did twice.

If anyone wants to try out the rapids (it's said to be real good during the rainy season), call Nizam at +6013 975 0606 (JB Outdoor).

Cheers, y'all!

Lazy weekend

Ah... finally, a peaceful and lazy weekend to sit around and do nothing.



It's the Chinese Dumpling Festival season again. As usual, I get to try my skills at wrapping the dumpling, filled with cubes of pork, chestnut, salted egg yolk and chinese mushroom. It's tough, as a wrong wrap would cause the dumpling to break open in the pot of boiling water, thus ruining the rest of the batch.

It's Lily's birthday today. Now this is a 30 year old, who doesn't look like she's a day over 25. Amazing.

Blunder... I'm not focussing

Am now at home, waiting to get to the O2 Service Centre. If only they were to open earlier. Then again, can't expect much of a retail outlet. Serves me right for choosing a non-mainstream unit to use. Thank Lord it's not often (I hope).

Looking at the schedule for today, I know I'm not going to be able to achieve much work today. Good thing I called the office today, got all the nitty gritty stuffs out of the way. I expect to get into the office by 4pm, if all goes well.

Terry, Josh, sorry for cancelling the plans tonight. Was looking forward to meeting you guys up. Actually, Josh didn't reply my SMS. Wonder if he's settled his Grandpa's funeral, or enroute south. Hope he got the message.

I called a client this morning to inform her of a change of dates for a project, only to be reminded that I had notified her last week! (Gasp!) What am I doing? I'm getting so disorganized without my PDA. Aaargh!

Horrors!

Oh no! My beloved O2 took a fall this morning, and now had ceased to function. I can't get any display on the unit.

Aarrgh! This is a horror! What am I going to do? How am I going to survive? I've grown so accustomed and reliant on it, now it feels so so strange without my trusted aide.

Worst still, this is a really bad time for it to fall sick. Looks like I've to cut expenses in the next 2 months to ensure I don't fall into the red. Damn the sorry luck.

I'm pissed.

Relaxation, & catching up

My girls and I @ Langkawi on 13th May.
The second of my Getaways this year. Earlier, I took time off to visit the last state of this Country, and completed my circuit. Next year, it's another Country.

The island, as is known to all, is a haven for drinkers and Chocolate lovers. It's Duty Free!!! Which mean, eat and drink to your heart's contend.

As expected, the few of us whacked a bottle of Johnnie Walker, and a bottle of Absolut Citron over two nights. Needless to say it was a really good sleep, with many visits to the loo to purge. Being the only male there, I had the "honour" of carrying them to and fro the loo for their painful encounter with vomitting.

Why do we drink that much, when we knew the horrors of the next day?