Surviving 3rd day in Beirut.
So many things going on here in Beirut, I do not know where to start. First of all, bullet marks and bomb holes can be seen everywhere, mostly from the 70's civil war, neglected until now. Army personnel are still patrolling areas especially around government offices, a few tanks here and there. Apparently there are still tensions among the different factions (even if the civil war ended almost 2o yrs ago).
Despite all these, we could walk around at 1030 pm, went through barricades and tents and army checkpoints, and just lepak at night. There's even a road here filled with nightclubs and bars, like Bangsar, only trendier and more stylish. Style is so significant here. The people here are really concerned about looks, and for the ldies it seems like everyday is a fashion show. Maybe too trendy and stylish.
Some parts of town are going massive reconstruction and restoration. The downtown is now well restored and the buildings look beautiful, with a lot of sidewalk cafes and restaurants. Also a lot of high end boutiqes in downtown, a lot of nice cars, I guess a lot of rich people here. Drivers here you can find nowhere in the world, this is the only place so far that I witnessed a car being reversed at a speed of at least 60kmh, on a busy main road!!! Even better, today I saw a porsche cayenne doing just that.
This place is surreal. Some parts make you feel like you are at a beautiful meditteranean city, and other parts make you feel you are at a warzone.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Off to the Middle East!!
Flying to Beirut and later Dubai. Will be back in Msia 23rd. Lepakking at the lounge, there is no better moment to update my blog.
Quite nervous about this trip. This is the first time that it feels funny. I mean I am heading to Beirut. I think the war there just ended last year or something like that. I tried to search for pics of Beirut on the net, and came across a lot of graphics showing ruins in central Beirut or bombed cars and stuff like that. Those were from last year, but still the country is surrounded by Israel, Syria, Jordan and Iraq. Probably the most unstable region off the world. But my hope is to get a pic with a UN personnel with the UN tank in the background.
Looking forward to Dubai, and hopefully can see the Burj. Though dont think there much for me to do there, unless I have the money of course. Lets see if I can bring some Arabian desert sand back.
Quite nervous about this trip. This is the first time that it feels funny. I mean I am heading to Beirut. I think the war there just ended last year or something like that. I tried to search for pics of Beirut on the net, and came across a lot of graphics showing ruins in central Beirut or bombed cars and stuff like that. Those were from last year, but still the country is surrounded by Israel, Syria, Jordan and Iraq. Probably the most unstable region off the world. But my hope is to get a pic with a UN personnel with the UN tank in the background.
Looking forward to Dubai, and hopefully can see the Burj. Though dont think there much for me to do there, unless I have the money of course. Lets see if I can bring some Arabian desert sand back.
Monday, April 16, 2007
The Neverending Quest
There was a moment when I remember waking up and then started asking myself what is the purpose(eat breakfast onli), nothingness can drive me crazy. That was the time gap between graduation and returning to Msia for good. But then, now I wake up and whats the purpose? To go through all this s&** again!!!! Damn I really prefer the former. Then again, we never can fully appreciate what youhave got, nor can we feel real happiness in the current moment. Then the moment passes and you start to cherish the moment and sort of living in the past???## You get a good job, then you look at other people and you want their job. You own a honda n you want mercedes. You have condo and you want banglo. Wil this ever end???? ultimately it is all about being at peace with your inner self, and each of us have different life goals that we consider to be success.
In next post.... I will put up pics from London. Managed to get the policeman to take pic of me in trafalgar square. Travelling alone sucks.... might as well not travel. The least is to have one companion, at least got someone to talk to.
In next post.... I will put up pics from London. Managed to get the policeman to take pic of me in trafalgar square. Travelling alone sucks.... might as well not travel. The least is to have one companion, at least got someone to talk to.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
I wish I have Hiro's power
It seems like the traffic in KL is getting worse. Its been a while since I had to drive to KL in the morning rush hour, and last wed it took me one one and a half hours to get to KLCC. Even on weekends and recent example on chinese new year, there were just so many people everywhere, dunno where they come from. KL-Seremban highway is just horrible..... the crawl now starts from bukit jalil exit.... I wonder if the SMART tunnel will be able to make any difference.
We had our annual zone 3 asiapac meeting in KL convention centre last wed. It is quite a remarkable occasion, with all staffs required to attend and most of the leadership team flying from all around the world to share the results of the last financial year. Our meeting is different from other companies I think, because the meeting itself is morelike a side show. Most of the day is spent doing all sorts of activities with pre-determined teams, and it usually leads up to the prize giving to the team that scored most points.
Yeah it is a bit weird cause its not really a meeting actually, more like a team building event of some sorts. Nevertheless I quite like it, any free food or time away from office is good. My favourite activity for this years meeting was the rock climbing race. They constructed a rock climbing wall in the KL convention centre, and that itself was quite awsome. I have never thought that I would like rock climbing, and it has also proven that all that time in the gym has at least produced some measurable result......
This month is going to be a hectic month. Im flying off to hometown Kuching next thurs, just in time to see my new-born nephew. Its just scary how time is beyond our control, and now my parents are grandparents, couldn't imagine them doing stuff that grandparents do. The week after Ill be off to London for a few days, alone, and the thought of that brings chills to my bone. There will be a lot of public speaking to do in front of big bosses at the BAT world hq, and I have no idea how will I get through that. There is no other better time to apply Nike's motto, JUST DO IT. Then the week after that I plan to go to Taman Negara.... really hopeful that that will happen.
We had our annual zone 3 asiapac meeting in KL convention centre last wed. It is quite a remarkable occasion, with all staffs required to attend and most of the leadership team flying from all around the world to share the results of the last financial year. Our meeting is different from other companies I think, because the meeting itself is morelike a side show. Most of the day is spent doing all sorts of activities with pre-determined teams, and it usually leads up to the prize giving to the team that scored most points.
Yeah it is a bit weird cause its not really a meeting actually, more like a team building event of some sorts. Nevertheless I quite like it, any free food or time away from office is good. My favourite activity for this years meeting was the rock climbing race. They constructed a rock climbing wall in the KL convention centre, and that itself was quite awsome. I have never thought that I would like rock climbing, and it has also proven that all that time in the gym has at least produced some measurable result......
This month is going to be a hectic month. Im flying off to hometown Kuching next thurs, just in time to see my new-born nephew. Its just scary how time is beyond our control, and now my parents are grandparents, couldn't imagine them doing stuff that grandparents do. The week after Ill be off to London for a few days, alone, and the thought of that brings chills to my bone. There will be a lot of public speaking to do in front of big bosses at the BAT world hq, and I have no idea how will I get through that. There is no other better time to apply Nike's motto, JUST DO IT. Then the week after that I plan to go to Taman Negara.... really hopeful that that will happen.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Tong tong chiang!!
I am working today, and yesterday as well. No one else from my team is here in office, most of them only return next week. I as the one of the non-chinese felt obligated to volunteer myself to work on public holidays. Obligation or is it just plain ass kissing, I am also not sure. The other non chinese is travelling in europe to do some training. Sometimes i wonder why the heck am I doing this.
It always interesting when a chat with another individual can really mess up your mind. Mind you, this individual is like the type of worker who comes to office pissed off every day, no interest whatsoever feeling 'Im doing crap' with an end goal of to get the hell out of here. Sometimes I feel this type of people are too pessimistic and should be avoided at all costs; especially in one to one chatting sessions. But these people do give you a different perspective to a situation and get you back to reality and truth, which are usually not really good. They end up being pragmatic rather than pessimistic, messed up fuckedups.
It always interesting when a chat with another individual can really mess up your mind. Mind you, this individual is like the type of worker who comes to office pissed off every day, no interest whatsoever feeling 'Im doing crap' with an end goal of to get the hell out of here. Sometimes I feel this type of people are too pessimistic and should be avoided at all costs; especially in one to one chatting sessions. But these people do give you a different perspective to a situation and get you back to reality and truth, which are usually not really good. They end up being pragmatic rather than pessimistic, messed up fuckedups.
Monday, February 05, 2007
i am getting free internet again yay
I thought I was getting used to my 4-12 night shift. Now that latin america trainings are over, so does the night shift. It felt like I worked less hours, and I could do a lot of things during the day. It is weird and good at the same time that I could do groceries and go watch movies and theres like no one around.
We had our inaugaural foosball tournament a couple of days ago. After such a build up, with all that practise at lunch break; heck we spent way too much time at the lounge playing foosball; we went out in the first round. It was no peanut opponent though, and it was quite unfortunate that we spent our previous weekend in Langkawi, and literally didnt practise before the game, so were quite rusty. Anyway, they used a new ball for the tournament, a much slower one, and we just didnt deal with that change. It didnt help that our game plan was based on statistics (were like a foosball version of Bolton, with less skills).
It was ironic that the course in Langkawi was all about that, how to deal with change. I think it was a good course, and the group; which for me makes or breaks the course, was good, willing to participate. I am no fan of this type of courses, I only went after seeing pictures of the resort were going to stay in. Westin Langkawi is a fantastic resort; huge plasma screen in every room, biggest ever bathtub with view of the sea, infinity pool, and to top it off friendly staff and good service.
Anyhow, some of my favourites from the course. First, the mbti test, which determines your personality and attributes. Mine is entp(introvert, perceiving, thinking,intuition... or something). This allows me to understand myself as well as others better, especially in trying to make sense of why people react or do things in a certain way in a situation. The other is the take charge thinking model, whereby u focus on the goal and develop the steps to acheive it instead of allowing thoughts or feelings clouding your thinking and judgement. Its trivial, but sometimes its good to step back and take a more hollistic or process-driven approach to how our mind works.
We had our inaugaural foosball tournament a couple of days ago. After such a build up, with all that practise at lunch break; heck we spent way too much time at the lounge playing foosball; we went out in the first round. It was no peanut opponent though, and it was quite unfortunate that we spent our previous weekend in Langkawi, and literally didnt practise before the game, so were quite rusty. Anyway, they used a new ball for the tournament, a much slower one, and we just didnt deal with that change. It didnt help that our game plan was based on statistics (were like a foosball version of Bolton, with less skills).
It was ironic that the course in Langkawi was all about that, how to deal with change. I think it was a good course, and the group; which for me makes or breaks the course, was good, willing to participate. I am no fan of this type of courses, I only went after seeing pictures of the resort were going to stay in. Westin Langkawi is a fantastic resort; huge plasma screen in every room, biggest ever bathtub with view of the sea, infinity pool, and to top it off friendly staff and good service.
Anyhow, some of my favourites from the course. First, the mbti test, which determines your personality and attributes. Mine is entp(introvert, perceiving, thinking,intuition... or something). This allows me to understand myself as well as others better, especially in trying to make sense of why people react or do things in a certain way in a situation. The other is the take charge thinking model, whereby u focus on the goal and develop the steps to acheive it instead of allowing thoughts or feelings clouding your thinking and judgement. Its trivial, but sometimes its good to step back and take a more hollistic or process-driven approach to how our mind works.
Monday, January 22, 2007
The Ugly Malaysian.....
I came across this article in the NST on the ugly habits of Malaysian shoppers list.... no 2 says people trying on bikinis and leaving their vaginal discharge on the bikinis. And the department store staff had to throw them away of course(sure or NOT!)... I have forgotten what number one was.... but my god no 2 is already like the most disgusting thing ever....
This has inspired me to come out with my own list of the ugly habit of Malaysians, when going to the gym. I had been going to the gym in umich and had never seen these kind of things. This is only in my beloved Malaysia. Here goes:
1. Resting on a gym machine, while picking nose. This is top notch skill indeed.
2. Use hair dryer to dry arm pit. I can still tolerate people drying their body and feet (from a distance) with hair dryer, but it is just ridiculous on armpit. I am just waiting to see someone using hair dryer to blow their u-know-what hair. I think I will lose my mind and smack the guy on the head should this happen.
3. Pee in the shower. These people think their pee smell like perfume and make the whole shower area stinking like animal cage.
4. Fill 1.5 litre bottle at the water cooler. Yes I understand we want cool water to refresh after a good workout, and they dont serve cold water in the jugs, but out of courtesy, use a cup or smaller bottle la. The water cooler is not discharging water at jet speed...
5. Produce 'orgasm' sounds when doing weight training or whatever. This is totally unnecessary, and it doesnt help with anything. If anything, it just make u look plain ridiculous.
This has inspired me to come out with my own list of the ugly habit of Malaysians, when going to the gym. I had been going to the gym in umich and had never seen these kind of things. This is only in my beloved Malaysia. Here goes:
1. Resting on a gym machine, while picking nose. This is top notch skill indeed.
2. Use hair dryer to dry arm pit. I can still tolerate people drying their body and feet (from a distance) with hair dryer, but it is just ridiculous on armpit. I am just waiting to see someone using hair dryer to blow their u-know-what hair. I think I will lose my mind and smack the guy on the head should this happen.
3. Pee in the shower. These people think their pee smell like perfume and make the whole shower area stinking like animal cage.
4. Fill 1.5 litre bottle at the water cooler. Yes I understand we want cool water to refresh after a good workout, and they dont serve cold water in the jugs, but out of courtesy, use a cup or smaller bottle la. The water cooler is not discharging water at jet speed...
5. Produce 'orgasm' sounds when doing weight training or whatever. This is totally unnecessary, and it doesnt help with anything. If anything, it just make u look plain ridiculous.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
It has been a while....
They closed my mail account...
You know you have been offline long enough when hotmail closes your account..... they did reserve an account for me, an I just need to activate it, and that took like 10 seconds. Now i got 1GB of space(previously 250 mb), but they deleted all my mails??!! Having said that, when someone never login for more than one month....
Work
If you have been working for more than one year.... and still not sure if you are doing the right thing, or what the hell that you really want..... what does that mean? I consider a job is worth doing if it surrounds you nd engages you with smart people from whom you can learn new things. Or at least surrounds yourself with more smart people than dumbasses(because sometimes you still need them around). That is good enough for me. Then again, people always say that you spend 5 days a week at office, and basically you only have 2 days only for family or anything outside office. That a hell lot of time spent at work! And if work is shit, your life is shit too.
On being out of favour....
This is really a shitty feeling. This is when you find your superior is making decisions that do not meet your expectations. Everything was going as planned and predicted, and all of a sudden something out of nowhere which really was quite surprising. Being half paranoid, this made me analyse everything to the nitty gritty details, from whatever that ive said during the meeting to the look that I gave to the boss when I met him in the hallway. Or it could even mean nothing.
Who moved my cheese...
This is supposed to be one of the best selling business books. I am supposed to read this as prework for my eagerly waited training/course in Langkawi next week. The objective of this course is among others to basically unlock your potential, and for self reflection etc, in the ever enlightening process of determining what is that that you really want in life and what you are best at doing. Enlightenment is what I seek in Langkawi, and hopefully the course will give me some light on what i should be thinking about now. Nevertheless, I havent been to Langkawi and a long weekend plus two days in Langkawi sounds like a good plan, isnt it.
You know you have been offline long enough when hotmail closes your account..... they did reserve an account for me, an I just need to activate it, and that took like 10 seconds. Now i got 1GB of space(previously 250 mb), but they deleted all my mails??!! Having said that, when someone never login for more than one month....
Work
If you have been working for more than one year.... and still not sure if you are doing the right thing, or what the hell that you really want..... what does that mean? I consider a job is worth doing if it surrounds you nd engages you with smart people from whom you can learn new things. Or at least surrounds yourself with more smart people than dumbasses(because sometimes you still need them around). That is good enough for me. Then again, people always say that you spend 5 days a week at office, and basically you only have 2 days only for family or anything outside office. That a hell lot of time spent at work! And if work is shit, your life is shit too.
On being out of favour....
This is really a shitty feeling. This is when you find your superior is making decisions that do not meet your expectations. Everything was going as planned and predicted, and all of a sudden something out of nowhere which really was quite surprising. Being half paranoid, this made me analyse everything to the nitty gritty details, from whatever that ive said during the meeting to the look that I gave to the boss when I met him in the hallway. Or it could even mean nothing.
Who moved my cheese...
This is supposed to be one of the best selling business books. I am supposed to read this as prework for my eagerly waited training/course in Langkawi next week. The objective of this course is among others to basically unlock your potential, and for self reflection etc, in the ever enlightening process of determining what is that that you really want in life and what you are best at doing. Enlightenment is what I seek in Langkawi, and hopefully the course will give me some light on what i should be thinking about now. Nevertheless, I havent been to Langkawi and a long weekend plus two days in Langkawi sounds like a good plan, isnt it.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Cape Town part 2
We managed to go to Its quite difficult to get around here due to security reasons. There are so many problems in this country, and it shows just how shitty it can be if you have a huge gap between the rich and poor, and especially when the majority are poor.
The ‘Welcome to
We took a boat tour, hoping to see some whales and dolphins. The tour operator promised that we would see dolphins, but whales migrated north during spring. But of course no dolphin can be seen, and if not for the fantastic view of the city and table mountain, it would have been a total rip-off.
Hopped on the ‘Topless bus’, a double-decker which gave us quite a good tour of the city and suburbs. It took us around the city center, and also the Bo-Kaap…. the cape-malay area. And of course to the table mountain, were we hopped off and took the cable car to the top. We could see everything from up there, fantastic view of the seas and city on one side, and the wine lands and mountains on the other.
Coming soon…. more pics.... from top of table mountain...!
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Yello from Stellenbosch
Im not exactly in Cape Town, but in Stellenbosch, about 45 mins drive away from the 'Mother City'.
Touched down Sunday morning via Johannesberg. On the way to Stellenbosch from the airport, we went pass a squatter camp. Its similar to the squatters in Jakarta.... only that its in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by a 'fence'. That was going to be the only hint of Africa during my trip here that I would see up till now.
Beyond the squatter camps, its just endless vineyards surrounded by beautiful mountains. Stellenbosch is right in the middle of South Africa's winelands. This is where you can get supposedly the best wines in the world. There are a lot of guest houses, wine country resorts, wine tours and all that stuff here. I just never get this wine route tasting country-resort thing.
Stellenbosch is quite a beautiful town. Its a university town, with the university of stellenbosch buildings scattered around the town. Students form a third of the population, but theyre all away for the summer. So the crowd is a bit mature now, and less things to look at(all though its still not bad!). A lot of nice restaurants, bars and stuff like that.... all the fine dining crap. it reminds me of Ann Arbor in so many ways.
People here are predominantly white. Unfortunately, most black people I have met so far are the driver, receptionist or waiter. Standard of living quite high, and you can see a lot of german cars. The people here are beautiful.
We are staying in some guesthouse. Sadly to say, this place is more suitable for a couple in their 50's. Everything is 'old-fashioned'. My toilet seat is made of wood. Are you freaking kidding me. My room smells like some wood. It is just so weird when at the breakfast, 2 young asian guys among some old couple who are obviously here to enjoy the wine country stuff. I think my dad will love this place.
One week has gone by, and one more week of training to go. Tomorrow we are planning to go to Cape Town, and do all the touristy stuff like table mountain and the waterfront. Cant wait for tomorrow cause I feel like I am 50 already after staying at this place.....
Touched down Sunday morning via Johannesberg. On the way to Stellenbosch from the airport, we went pass a squatter camp. Its similar to the squatters in Jakarta.... only that its in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by a 'fence'. That was going to be the only hint of Africa during my trip here that I would see up till now.
Beyond the squatter camps, its just endless vineyards surrounded by beautiful mountains. Stellenbosch is right in the middle of South Africa's winelands. This is where you can get supposedly the best wines in the world. There are a lot of guest houses, wine country resorts, wine tours and all that stuff here. I just never get this wine route tasting country-resort thing.
Stellenbosch is quite a beautiful town. Its a university town, with the university of stellenbosch buildings scattered around the town. Students form a third of the population, but theyre all away for the summer. So the crowd is a bit mature now, and less things to look at(all though its still not bad!). A lot of nice restaurants, bars and stuff like that.... all the fine dining crap. it reminds me of Ann Arbor in so many ways.
People here are predominantly white. Unfortunately, most black people I have met so far are the driver, receptionist or waiter. Standard of living quite high, and you can see a lot of german cars. The people here are beautiful.
We are staying in some guesthouse. Sadly to say, this place is more suitable for a couple in their 50's. Everything is 'old-fashioned'. My toilet seat is made of wood. Are you freaking kidding me. My room smells like some wood. It is just so weird when at the breakfast, 2 young asian guys among some old couple who are obviously here to enjoy the wine country stuff. I think my dad will love this place.
One week has gone by, and one more week of training to go. Tomorrow we are planning to go to Cape Town, and do all the touristy stuff like table mountain and the waterfront. Cant wait for tomorrow cause I feel like I am 50 already after staying at this place.....
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Cape town, South Africa
Blogging from MAS lounge at KLIA. On my way to Cape Town. Will be there until 4 dis. Its going to be 2 crazy weeks there.
The past week was hell week as well. So glad its over already. Screwed up so many things along the way.
Looking forward to get on the flight and have the ever fantastic MAS sate.
The past week was hell week as well. So glad its over already. Screwed up so many things along the way.
Looking forward to get on the flight and have the ever fantastic MAS sate.
Friday, October 20, 2006
the third world
It has been a while.... the last time I was in hometown Kuching was like 4 months ago. Even after 4 months.... nothing.... I thinks its becoming stagnant. Apart from the new flyover near the airport, I dont see many changes in this town. Kuching enjoyed its heyday in the 90's..... after 97 it was like nothingness..... even the roads look dusty now. It used to look like a garden, well kept decorative plants and flowers, tree-lined streets and boulevards....maybe the new mayor has got something to do with this.....
Houses dotting the hilly landscape of Monterrey. Its pathetic really.... this is like the only decent picture of Monterrey that I managed to take. I would probably never step my foot in this city again..... and yet I couldnt find the time to explore the city and take more pictures. The schedule and jetlag was too exhausting. Got the picture from my hotel room.
Luckily there was a mall across the street from the hotel. It totally reminded me of the mall near ann arbor.... the two-level one.... twelve oaks or something. The shops and brands were no different than those you can find in the US. In fact this city in most parts could be mistaken as a southern US city I think. Its cool to see walmart, ford trucks, mustangs.... I even managed to catch conan o brien on tv..... freaking hilarious as ever. American football was shown everywhere in bars...... prolly because americans were everywhere..... but too bad couldn't catch the Michigan-msu game.....
On my way back, was in transit in Mexico City. I was told by the other guys on how crazy the Mexico city airport is. Some people would prefer travelling to Monterrey via Dallas just to avoid this airport. It thought it was OK.... until I bought a lot of chocolates and candies and the security took ALL of them away. I was already late at the gate and didnt have time to argue with them.... in SPANISH. Anyway, the Mexicana flight gave us fantastic view of the expansive city.
The view of Los Angeles was also fantastic..... I could even spot rodeo drive from up there. It really felt good to be in the states again.... even only for a few hours of transit. The pure american accent was fantastic and refreshing...... such a relief from the fake accent of KLites and american wannabe malaysian. Too bad I couldnt spend some time in the US.... I only have business visa anyway.
Anyway its still good to get just a little bit of americana again. It must be realy gorgeous in ann arbor at this time of the year when the leaves change colors.
Houses dotting the hilly landscape of Monterrey. Its pathetic really.... this is like the only decent picture of Monterrey that I managed to take. I would probably never step my foot in this city again..... and yet I couldnt find the time to explore the city and take more pictures. The schedule and jetlag was too exhausting. Got the picture from my hotel room.Luckily there was a mall across the street from the hotel. It totally reminded me of the mall near ann arbor.... the two-level one.... twelve oaks or something. The shops and brands were no different than those you can find in the US. In fact this city in most parts could be mistaken as a southern US city I think. Its cool to see walmart, ford trucks, mustangs.... I even managed to catch conan o brien on tv..... freaking hilarious as ever. American football was shown everywhere in bars...... prolly because americans were everywhere..... but too bad couldn't catch the Michigan-msu game.....
On my way back, was in transit in Mexico City. I was told by the other guys on how crazy the Mexico city airport is. Some people would prefer travelling to Monterrey via Dallas just to avoid this airport. It thought it was OK.... until I bought a lot of chocolates and candies and the security took ALL of them away. I was already late at the gate and didnt have time to argue with them.... in SPANISH. Anyway, the Mexicana flight gave us fantastic view of the expansive city.
The view of Los Angeles was also fantastic..... I could even spot rodeo drive from up there. It really felt good to be in the states again.... even only for a few hours of transit. The pure american accent was fantastic and refreshing...... such a relief from the fake accent of KLites and american wannabe malaysian. Too bad I couldnt spend some time in the US.... I only have business visa anyway.
Anyway its still good to get just a little bit of americana again. It must be realy gorgeous in ann arbor at this time of the year when the leaves change colors.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Hola from Monterrey
Greetings from Monterrey, Mexico. I am gonna be here for about a week, coming back on a Friday flight. We have a training workshop here for our project, which is the main activity for global deployment.
So this one in Mexico is catered for Project Managers in latin America and the caribbean, 20+ of them. People from places like brazil, mexico, honduras, argentina and so on.... and 2 guys from KL and one from London.... it is just crazy. I have one presentation to do in front of these people... its quite scary and I hope my superior will change his mind about me doing it and he does it instead.
When we were in KL, were told jokingly by a brazilian that the training is gonna be in Spanish. Well, it wasnt a joke... the training is in Spanish. At least I have some use of the very basic Spanish that I studied in Michigan.
I am still trying to recover from jetlag. So far have no time to go sightseeing. Looking at the schedule, it will get more hectic. Hopefully can get some picture of the city and buildings. Its a nice city, and is very similar to the US due to its closeness to the border. Too bad I cant extend my stay into the US... maybe couple of days in LA or something like that.
So this one in Mexico is catered for Project Managers in latin America and the caribbean, 20+ of them. People from places like brazil, mexico, honduras, argentina and so on.... and 2 guys from KL and one from London.... it is just crazy. I have one presentation to do in front of these people... its quite scary and I hope my superior will change his mind about me doing it and he does it instead.
When we were in KL, were told jokingly by a brazilian that the training is gonna be in Spanish. Well, it wasnt a joke... the training is in Spanish. At least I have some use of the very basic Spanish that I studied in Michigan.
I am still trying to recover from jetlag. So far have no time to go sightseeing. Looking at the schedule, it will get more hectic. Hopefully can get some picture of the city and buildings. Its a nice city, and is very similar to the US due to its closeness to the border. Too bad I cant extend my stay into the US... maybe couple of days in LA or something like that.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
moronic car owners
Someone left a dent on my car. Its a small one, one has to really look and explore all angles before it can be spotted. Nevertheless, it is such a sore sight. I would rather get a minor scratch than a small dent. At least the scratch can be get rid off by waxing. He who left the dent... i surely hope ur car's body is flawless and somone will do the exact same thing to your car.
This makes me paranoid whenever I need to park my car. I really need to choose my parking spot, preferably next to an expensive car or a really well maintained car exterior wise. I am also tryin to avoid family cars- suv, minivans, and mpv. More often than not, these are filled with a family, housewives or obnoxious kids who do not have a care in the world about how deep a dent to other peoples car their act of opening the door would result in.
You only get this kind of problem here in KL. You can park as close to any other car in Kuching and not to have to worry about your car being dented by morons.
This makes me paranoid whenever I need to park my car. I really need to choose my parking spot, preferably next to an expensive car or a really well maintained car exterior wise. I am also tryin to avoid family cars- suv, minivans, and mpv. More often than not, these are filled with a family, housewives or obnoxious kids who do not have a care in the world about how deep a dent to other peoples car their act of opening the door would result in.
You only get this kind of problem here in KL. You can park as close to any other car in Kuching and not to have to worry about your car being dented by morons.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Update!!
Our project is nearing global roll out.... so its getting a bit busy now. Nevertheless, I can update this blog.... whenever i have internet lah.
I want to upload some pics.... but now at office cant do that. Im gonna do that some other time, not to distant future. Ive got some pictures from my trip to indonesia couple weeks back. Got volcano pic and stuff like that hehehe....
I want to upload some pics.... but now at office cant do that. Im gonna do that some other time, not to distant future. Ive got some pictures from my trip to indonesia couple weeks back. Got volcano pic and stuff like that hehehe....
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Lost at sea...
In a bid to save this blog from extinction, I set a goal for my self, to post update of any kind, at least once a week.
Back to my post. I thought that it was the usual thing: go through the competencies... look at the rating i give myself for each competency, reasoning provided, area for improvement bla bla bla.... then out of nowhere came the soklan cepumas from my bosses: "Do you relly want to stay in this organisation?"
That totally caught me offguard. It wasnt the usual assessment after all. Totally unprepared for this. What the hell does that mean? I seriously thought I was getting fired. After that I was bombarded with torpedos, scuds, bomb so forth. Questions on how do i want to move forward, technical or business.... engnieering or stay in consulting bla bla bla.... my contract is ending very soon....
I went straight to the point and asked them if this is related to my performance or my lack of decision making on how do I want to progress with my job. They replied the latter.... but that didnt make me feel better at all. There is still this sneaky feeling that I am getting fired or sumthing like that.
After all... after 6 months in this IT consulting thing.... I still dunno what the heck that i want to do to myself. I have no idea if i want to go to the business side, or do technical things, or leave this consulting and go back to engineering altogether. And if pepople ask u what u wanna do and u reply u havent decided or dunno... I think it makes u look like a dumbass. Bottom line, I have some serious thinking to do in this couple of weeks, which hopefully will lead to some decisiion making from my side.
Back to my post. I thought that it was the usual thing: go through the competencies... look at the rating i give myself for each competency, reasoning provided, area for improvement bla bla bla.... then out of nowhere came the soklan cepumas from my bosses: "Do you relly want to stay in this organisation?"
That totally caught me offguard. It wasnt the usual assessment after all. Totally unprepared for this. What the hell does that mean? I seriously thought I was getting fired. After that I was bombarded with torpedos, scuds, bomb so forth. Questions on how do i want to move forward, technical or business.... engnieering or stay in consulting bla bla bla.... my contract is ending very soon....
I went straight to the point and asked them if this is related to my performance or my lack of decision making on how do I want to progress with my job. They replied the latter.... but that didnt make me feel better at all. There is still this sneaky feeling that I am getting fired or sumthing like that.
After all... after 6 months in this IT consulting thing.... I still dunno what the heck that i want to do to myself. I have no idea if i want to go to the business side, or do technical things, or leave this consulting and go back to engineering altogether. And if pepople ask u what u wanna do and u reply u havent decided or dunno... I think it makes u look like a dumbass. Bottom line, I have some serious thinking to do in this couple of weeks, which hopefully will lead to some decisiion making from my side.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Satria Neo
I just test drive the new Satria Neo 1.3 manual. Overall, I was quite impressed by it. Though they didnt really allow me to go anywhere.... just go one round around seri petaling. Pity they dont have the 1.6 manual for test drive.
I have no problem with the exterior. It looks really good to me. Build quality looks good. I really like the headlights, look like gen2 a bit, but more refined. The rear lights are ok, albeit a bit bland. The body looks beefy, due to the higher ratio of body:glass(window). Fancy the feline look also. But the gas tank cover is ridiculous. Despite hat...... still thumbs up for Proton!!
Interior is trademark proton all the way: cheap plastic. The round air cond looks ugly and cheapskate. The three knobs in the middle look like that of gen2 and dont look any better. Steering wheel feels plastic and cheap(why cant they use waja's wheel????). Dashboard:plastic. Meter panel is ok, but i dont really like the meter 'hood'.... looks like bra hanging. Door handle: round(very ugly) and plastic. Dont like the samurai sword handbrake, dodgy. Driver's position is a bit weird, quite high, which leaves not much headspace. Seat feels fairly comfortable. Not much room for the passenger at the back, but what do u expect from a satria right? Despite all these, I can still say thumbs up to proton for improving the overall look of the interior. It looks so much better than the ridiculous interior of gen2.
I am no car expert and I cant comment much on performance and handling. I was concerned about the high revving campro engine. Proton were supposed to tune it for this new satria. I have never driven a Gen2 and dont know how bad it is. But based on my test drive, the 1.3 manual version was ok, pick up was ok.
I only took the car out for like 15 minutes, so didnt really have a good feel of it. The handling feels really good. This should be expected from proton, with all that lotus involvement.
The most imnportant thing is..... the new satria is using a new mechanism for its power windows.... can we expect a no power window malfunction for the new satria???? Only time will tell.
The pricing, in my opinion, is spot on albeit predictable. The Satria is quite a good package overall.
Then we come to the holy grail of Proton: QC. I can just pray they did something to improve their Quality Management programme(if they have any...). Cannot tell.... only time will tell. But people claim that the quality of savvy models is so much improved compared to other models.
This is a good sign from Proton. I really hope they can continue to come out with models as good as this new satria... and improve quality.
I have no problem with the exterior. It looks really good to me. Build quality looks good. I really like the headlights, look like gen2 a bit, but more refined. The rear lights are ok, albeit a bit bland. The body looks beefy, due to the higher ratio of body:glass(window). Fancy the feline look also. But the gas tank cover is ridiculous. Despite hat...... still thumbs up for Proton!!
Interior is trademark proton all the way: cheap plastic. The round air cond looks ugly and cheapskate. The three knobs in the middle look like that of gen2 and dont look any better. Steering wheel feels plastic and cheap(why cant they use waja's wheel????). Dashboard:plastic. Meter panel is ok, but i dont really like the meter 'hood'.... looks like bra hanging. Door handle: round(very ugly) and plastic. Dont like the samurai sword handbrake, dodgy. Driver's position is a bit weird, quite high, which leaves not much headspace. Seat feels fairly comfortable. Not much room for the passenger at the back, but what do u expect from a satria right? Despite all these, I can still say thumbs up to proton for improving the overall look of the interior. It looks so much better than the ridiculous interior of gen2.
I am no car expert and I cant comment much on performance and handling. I was concerned about the high revving campro engine. Proton were supposed to tune it for this new satria. I have never driven a Gen2 and dont know how bad it is. But based on my test drive, the 1.3 manual version was ok, pick up was ok.
I only took the car out for like 15 minutes, so didnt really have a good feel of it. The handling feels really good. This should be expected from proton, with all that lotus involvement.
The most imnportant thing is..... the new satria is using a new mechanism for its power windows.... can we expect a no power window malfunction for the new satria???? Only time will tell.
The pricing, in my opinion, is spot on albeit predictable. The Satria is quite a good package overall.
Then we come to the holy grail of Proton: QC. I can just pray they did something to improve their Quality Management programme(if they have any...). Cannot tell.... only time will tell. But people claim that the quality of savvy models is so much improved compared to other models.
This is a good sign from Proton. I really hope they can continue to come out with models as good as this new satria... and improve quality.
Friday, April 28, 2006
It is raining outside....
This week has been so good... it has been a long time since I can sit at the office and browse internet until the cows come home..... I can get used to this again...
Anyway, it has been almost 6 months since I joined my current company, thats the longest I have ever stayed in a company. Hopefully I can make the stay longer, even though I have no freaking idea what the hell am I doing right now lalala. Well.... fck it and I couldnt be bothered, now I just want to concentrate on being confirmed and get higher salary lalala.
This also marks the almost six month that I have been staying in KL. I couldnt help it but to compare KL to kuching. Though I have stayed in KL before during my A-level years. First thing that comes to mind are the drivers..... KL drivers are among the stupidest around. Not only they perform stupid acts all the time, they embed their stupidity with agression and speed.... stupidity with added danger to human lives make them all the stupider. Kuching drivers are stupid but dont drive fast at all.... so at least they dont get killed.
what the hell am i writing about, absolutely have no idea. This IT environment has depraved me of anything creative and artsy.
The makcik who sells nasi lemak in sri petaling is always in my memory for all the wrong reasons. This makcik you would never find anywhere in Kuching. With that motherly nature and kind eyes and all that, who would expect such a person to rip you off. Well she ripped me off my nasi lemak. I would have never imagined such a humble dish like nasi lemak could be so pricey.... to be exact the simple everyday nasik lemak with sotong sambal at the side for 4 ringgit.... freaking rip off indeed. I almost believed that she ripped me off cause I look like chinese and she was being rascist.... then again, maybe she was just being a normal KL folk.
Anyway, it has been almost 6 months since I joined my current company, thats the longest I have ever stayed in a company. Hopefully I can make the stay longer, even though I have no freaking idea what the hell am I doing right now lalala. Well.... fck it and I couldnt be bothered, now I just want to concentrate on being confirmed and get higher salary lalala.
This also marks the almost six month that I have been staying in KL. I couldnt help it but to compare KL to kuching. Though I have stayed in KL before during my A-level years. First thing that comes to mind are the drivers..... KL drivers are among the stupidest around. Not only they perform stupid acts all the time, they embed their stupidity with agression and speed.... stupidity with added danger to human lives make them all the stupider. Kuching drivers are stupid but dont drive fast at all.... so at least they dont get killed.
what the hell am i writing about, absolutely have no idea. This IT environment has depraved me of anything creative and artsy.
The makcik who sells nasi lemak in sri petaling is always in my memory for all the wrong reasons. This makcik you would never find anywhere in Kuching. With that motherly nature and kind eyes and all that, who would expect such a person to rip you off. Well she ripped me off my nasi lemak. I would have never imagined such a humble dish like nasi lemak could be so pricey.... to be exact the simple everyday nasik lemak with sotong sambal at the side for 4 ringgit.... freaking rip off indeed. I almost believed that she ripped me off cause I look like chinese and she was being rascist.... then again, maybe she was just being a normal KL folk.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
I love astro
I thought that it was the usual astro technical glitch, but the service is not back yet. So the support people were right indeed. It has got to do with the so called central system that we have here at arena green apt. Nothing to do with astro, everything to do with the central system. So there is a need to contact the management.
But people dont work on Sundays. No way to get people to fix the problem. I feel like installing the dish myself. We are put in this position where people can screw up and nothing can be done to fix the problems.
This astro service interruption is really getting on my nerves. Missed the "el-clasico" and the Liverpool match last night. Both astro and the management are morons.
I find that astro service here in KL is so much worse than in Kuching. Technical glitches, weird messages popping that cannot be deleted..... missing channels... wrongly printed bills.....omg i feel like smacking some people. The central system instead of individual dish does complicate the matter as well. This is because now we have to deal with 2 morons: astro and apt management. Sigh....
But people dont work on Sundays. No way to get people to fix the problem. I feel like installing the dish myself. We are put in this position where people can screw up and nothing can be done to fix the problems.
This astro service interruption is really getting on my nerves. Missed the "el-clasico" and the Liverpool match last night. Both astro and the management are morons.
I find that astro service here in KL is so much worse than in Kuching. Technical glitches, weird messages popping that cannot be deleted..... missing channels... wrongly printed bills.....omg i feel like smacking some people. The central system instead of individual dish does complicate the matter as well. This is because now we have to deal with 2 morons: astro and apt management. Sigh....
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Its time to get going
I am trying to update this blog as often as I can. Dont want it to be obsolete.... I first used the word obsolete in my final 450 report and now I will use it whenever I have the chance.
Anyways, try to do that at office (update blog).... after lunch or a couple of minutes here and there.... so far its not really happening. At home the connection is intermittent at best..... better use the online time to check email and other more important stuffs... right?
We have a full house at bkt jalil. Now I have 3 housemates..... thank goodness that there is no way that the number will increase any further. Anyhow.... with the cheaper rent divided by four, comes the catch. The house could not get any more messy, blocked sink.... and weird smell.... its getting disgusting lol.
Anyways, try to do that at office (update blog).... after lunch or a couple of minutes here and there.... so far its not really happening. At home the connection is intermittent at best..... better use the online time to check email and other more important stuffs... right?
We have a full house at bkt jalil. Now I have 3 housemates..... thank goodness that there is no way that the number will increase any further. Anyhow.... with the cheaper rent divided by four, comes the catch. The house could not get any more messy, blocked sink.... and weird smell.... its getting disgusting lol.
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