Another year...

I'm 28. I think it's a nice number though. Not too young to be dismissed but not too old to be 'mature'. Then again, age is just a number. You're only as old as you think! :)



To celebrate the day, I had a small dinner/mooncake thingy at home. It was a pleasant affair and always good to be around friends.

So here's to a new year of adventure. I wonder what life have in store for me in the future.

Malaysia in the news

I was going through my morning routine of Yahoo! news feeds and there are two news bits from Malaysia. It's rare enough finding anything on Malaysia but two in a morning? Cool :) though wished the news could be a little more inspiring.

Anyways, if you're curious, do read one on a jealous wife aka bobbit and this devastating news on the Langkawi Underwater World. Sigh... and I was just about to visit next month. Sigh sigh sigh...

Mooncakes and makans...

I had a good weekend filled with all things sweet... family came up and we had a pleasant time chatting, shopping, and eating. Big on the list is of course mooncakes! I loved the packaging of this one, especially the rabbit. Tastes pretty good too.



On Sunday evening, I had a break fast with an old friend and his family. It's always a pleasure meeting him up for our once yearly ritual! This time, we had dinner with his wife and 6 kids at Hartz Chicken Buffet at Summit. Food is how I remembered it though the Summit branch is a tad congested.



At the office, we are kept entertained with origami! As we prepare for a 'toy' filled school holidays, we are testing out various folds and patterns. Check out my rabbit and in the background, my stork!



Colleagues and I also had a picnic at the park on Friday. The view is amazing :)

Anyone wants to join me? Leave a comment by 28/9!

10 Nov Fri 8.30pm
Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra
Carl Davis conductor
Mary Carewe vocalist

The Music of James Bond
From Dr. No of 1962 with Sean Connery as Bond, to Casino Royale of 2006 with Daniel Craig as the sixth actor to play Bond on screen, the films based on Ian Fleming's immortal spy have been huge box-office successes. Celebrate the Bond movies' unforgettable hit themes as Carl Davis and Mary Carewe delve into the world of musical espionage, 007-style.

RM140 | RM100 | RM60 | RM40

Woohoo?

How will I die? Your Result: You will die while having sex. Your last moments in this life will be enjoyable indeed...hopefully. Do not fear sex. Try not to become celibate as a way of escaping death. You cannot run from destiny.
You will die in a nuclear holocaust.
You will die in a car accident.
You will die in your sleep.
You will die while saving someone's life.
You will die from a terminal illness.
You will die of boredom.
You will be murdered.
How will I die? Create a Quiz

12 months

One year! It's been a whole year of changes and eventful is has definitely been!

- 12 months ago I had my last CreativeKids class at my old place. We had an awesome farewell party. Gosh, I missed those kids and the classes.

- 12 months ago I left the college to join my new company. In that time, I've been fortunate in being able to travel to North America twice!

- 10 months ago I committed to my first house.

- 9 months ago Rick left for Australia. I've been living alone ever since.

- 9 months ago I also reinstated CreativeKids but only one class a week at a later hour. Am glad the loyalists stuck with it and came even though they were all bleary-eyed!

- 5 months ago I moved to my new place. Lots of legalese hurdles but am glad to be in my new home! Had 3 great housewarming sessions to celebrate!

- Last month I finally had my airconditioning installed. My home is now complete and comfortable!

- Next month I will realise one of my 'must-dos' in life which is to bring my whole family on holiday. Am thankful to be able to finally afford to do this.

Life has ups and downs but it's good to be thankful and remember the ups and find ways to work with the downs.

Merdeka morning

I slept in... woke up happy, and then did my laundry. I missed the parade on tv but I'm sure there'll be a repeat. Happy Merdeka!

I was watching Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends when Malaysia was mentioned. Apparently, Mac thinks Singapore is in Malaysia. Interesting :)

Have a good weekend!

Big Five-O!

It's Merdeka time! I just love this holiday for all the patriotism on parade. I love this country and amidst the whirlwind of work, I'll celebrate quietly at home being thankful for what we have.

Bangkok :)

Bangkok was fun though quite exhaustive! First up, there's so many types of alluring desserts! I must have ate a week's worth of food in 2 days. Not all food is good though like this weird looking toasted banana that tasted fine but has looks only a local could love!



Shopping is the theme for the trip as we went from mall to mall and spent almost a day at Jatujak. The famous market is huge and is deserving of all the amazing things you hear about it. It is huge... it does sell almost everything... and it's worth a trip!




The downside of such sheer scale is that you need to walk a lot and that means getting tired fairly quickly. Bus rides are a good time to snooze if you can find a seat :)



And you cannot go to Bangkok without having Tom Yam Kung! The one I had was good though it had the negative side effect of turning Kotak invisible.



There's also other-worldly snacks that I should leave to the locals to indulge in.



I didn't buy anything this time round as for me, this trip is all about friends and food! Yum!

Wanderlust no more!

I'm a Malaysian through and through. The moment I arrived in Canada I already wished I was home! I'm glad for the experience although the very eventful trip home could have been done without. I had flight delays, a cancellation, terrible turbulence and misrouted luggage, not to mention running out of cash. Ah, the memories... :)

Anyways, for a quick preview of my trip, let's begin in Ottawa (pronounced O-do-wah) where I attended a conference and spent an additional 2 days visiting really great museums. Here's a picture of the Parliement House at night at 930pm. Days are long in summer. I'm here to watch a sound and light show.




Ottawa is a really laidback capital with really good museums. Here's the National Gallery of Canada, an artsy fartsy place and I saw a collection from Renoir, the impressionist painter.



In Ottawa, I also visited the War Museum (amazing place, green bathrooms!), Museum of Civilisations (very cool), Currency Museum (yawns), Museum of Science & Technology (they have a steam train!), Museum of Nature (dinosaurs and polar bears!) and the Byward Market (the place wherre Ottawa grew from as it was originally called Byward Town).

Next stop though is Toronto which is a bustling metropolis which strikes more as a capital! Toronto has some amazing buildings though like the Royal Ontario Museum seen here. The funky extension is called the Christal and it links to the old very historical like building.



And this is their City Hall. I like!



I've seen so many dinosaurs in so many museums but this one being assembled in the Royal Ontario Museum my favourite. It has a certain classic pose and it's so cool! Too bad it's not complete yet so can't enter the gallery.



Next stop is New York before ending at Houston. New York really lives up to its reputation. There's such a buzz and it's really a great city to visit. And I found the cheapest fruits here sold on the street. I didn't have much time here but managed to check out Ground Zero, a few other landmarks and of course, the Statue of Liberty!



I was away for 2 weeks and saw lots and did lots. One of the highlights though is bumping into a wild bunny at a park. Made my day!

I’M TAGGED, THEREFORE…”

Chun has tagged me and by gawd knows what law, I will comply. This stuff can be so revealing though! Darn my honest bones...

Rules:
Repeat subject header “I’M TAGGED, THEREFORE…”Copy + paste these rules in your entry.Complete these 15 totally useless statements & questions.Mention who you were tagged by, followed by 8 people who you’ll be tagging (of which by now, it'll be no one!).

If I was an opposite gender, what would my party clothes be like?
Black, slinky and short. Plunging if there's stuff to plunge into.

At 10am this morning, I was…
In a cab driven by Rose, a talkative grandmother who insists on showing me her coin collection while she drives me to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. She insists on taking detours because tollways are congested (so she tells me) but I know she's just ripping me off on a few extra dollars.

At 10pm tonight, I will be…
Watching tv in my hotel room. Probably some house renovation show on HGTV or TLC. I've been watching lots of those lately.

Who should be the next Malaysian Prime Minister?
Someone who has driven in KL before during rush hour.

If my spouse told me to do without sex for a year, I would…
Be divorced.

If I was a piece of a car, I would be the…
Marquee. No work at all but I sure will look good!

If I was told one day that I would have to give up either 1) anything chocolate OR 2) ever seeing the beach again, for the rest of my life, which one will I give up?
The beach. I don't quite care for sand in my slippers and the ocean is full of stuff that's alive. I can see fishes at the aquarium but nothing beats eating chocolate!

Singapore is good for…
A supply of tourists to Malaysia. Come come, spend spend.

If I could only say 3 words before I die, what would those last words be?
Format my harddisk.

Who would I like to be left on a deserted island with?
Just one person? Rick.

Die by drowning or by fire?
Fire. At least if the flames are hot enough, it can be quick. Drowning will be interminably long.

What one single thing would you buy with your last RM9.95?
Cut slices of mango - RM2.00, Sweet & sour chicken rice - RM5.50, Pisang Goreng - RM1, Soya Cincau - RM1.50 (am sure I can bargain it for 5 cents less). This is by the way my typical weekend dinner which I am sorely missing now!

If I opened a night club, what would I call it?
I can't type it... way too suggestive.

Don’t cheat: what’s “bulbous”?
Having similarities or the properties of a bulb, e.g. round, bulging like...

I think my ass is…
None of your concern.

Done done done!

NY NY

I'm utterly exhausted but also glad for the opportunity to 'see the world'! I am currently blogging from my hotel in New Jersey, just across the river from New York and I'm a little frightened actually. After the peaceful pace of Ottawa and the exciting hustle and bustle of Toronto, New Jersey seems like a snapshot of one of those CSI episodes where you expect someone to get shot at anytime. It's scary...

Hi from Ottawa

I left my house at 630am on Monday the 16th and arrived in Ottawa 10pm Malaysian time the next day. 30 hours in 4 flights and 5 airports can get to you.

I started work right away but I was optimistic. Sneaked a nap during lunch and never woke up afterwards. I will have some explaining to do at the office back home!

Anyways, just a short blog to let you guys know I've arrived! :)

I'm it...

I am back from a whirlwind tour of Singapore. Spending barely 3 hours at humongotic places like the Bird Park, Zoo, Night Safari, Science Centre and the National Museum is terribly inadequate. It was like going to a screening of trailers... you get a glimpse of what's there but you are left with nothing substantial or tangible enough which is silly because the whole reason we're there was to learn.

It was a good visit though. I have never been one to jump to go to Singapore as I don't really have all that much fondness for the city state. And after visiting the horror that is the Discovery Centre, I am definitely happy to be in Malaysia. I don't think any other country in the world will be happy claiming that they are 'artificial but real'.

For tourists though, Singapore really has it all and with great service to boot.

Anyways, am back again only briefly as will be off and away on Monday to Canada and USA. And while I'm sorting through last minute demands and planning what to bring, Kalamari springs this on:

Another Tagging Thingy!

First up, the rules!

1) Each player must post these rules first.

2) Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

3) People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.

4) At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

5) Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

So, here goes my 8 random facts or habits about myself:

ONE
I like rabbits.

TWO
I love Nandos.

THREE
I like being asked out to stuff like movies and etc. but I seldom take the offer up as I'm usually just lazy to go out. When I do though it's usually all good and when prodded, I usually will concede.

FOUR
I need sleep. Above all else, my nightly sleep is not to be sacrificed.

FIVE
Trust is important to me but once broken, usually it's never recovered.

SIX
I do not like driving, especially to someplace new.

SEVEN
I have no ability to save money.

EIGHT
I am opinionated and when I want to be, I can be quite annoying about it.

Now, the harder part, finding 8 people who have not already been tagged. Let me see:

- Jeremy!
- Meng!
- Jason!
- Jin!
- Clara!
- Alan!
- Zeke!
- Derek!

... and I think that's it...

Trinkets

Weariness in my bones...

I'm back from 7 days in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. The cities were beautiful and the leisure time there was well spent but gosh, I am exhausted. Worse still, come Monday I'm off again to Singapore until Thursday then off again the following Monday. I am going to wear myself to the bone...

I used to long for the 'jet-setting' lifestyle but I know better these days. One got to be careful what one wishes for!

Guilt-ridden

Retail therapy binge is over.

I had a chat with a student yesterday who had to stop studying due to financial problems. His family can't support him and he has 3 younger siblings. In their interest, he needs to work to be able to send money home so the family can eat and the kids can go to school.

With a huge chunk of earnings sent home, he can barely afford essential costs not to mention food. Dinner is forgone on most days, breakfast is bread and lunch is usually a packet of Maggi.

Times like this, I feel blessed, thankful and ever so guilty for having so many things taken for granted.

Needless to say, I no longer feel like shopping.

Retail therapy

It's good to be back after being away for a week in Langkawi and Penang. The island cities are such shopping havens that I've burnt my wallet and had a good time (outside of work that is!).

Back in KL the momentum didn't stop though. The megasale is back and as usual, I find myself in a shopping binge and frenzy! Someone needs to take away my credit cards everytime the sale starts...

These time, in less than 2 weeks I've bought:

- 10 pairs of underwear
- 6 pairs of socks
- 5 t-shirts
- 2 polo t's
- 2 shirts
- loads of chocolates
- a 3-piece luggage set
- a pair of shoes

I am a happy (but broke) boy. Meng and Chun, you need to rein me in when we're at Bangkok otherwise I'll buy everything.

Wanderlust...

Everyone who knows me knows I'm a homebody... I enjoy staying at home and an ideal day off is a day in front of the tv eating mangoes... Work however dictates otherwise. Come June and July, I will be off and away to quite a few places. So if my blog starts attracting cobwebs, you'll know why :)

So I'm packing bags and about ready to go to...

- Langkawi
- Penang
- Kota Kinabalu
- Kuching
- Singapore
- JB
- Ottawa
- Toronto
- New York
- Houston

and will be briefly transitting in Taipei, LA, Chicago and Denver, all in less than 2 months. Woohoo?

World... here I come!

Grr...

I love my life. It's not perfect but I really have little cause to complain. There are gripes however, and as petty as they may seem, it annoys me to heck! As work is a big part of my life, a lot of the things that rub me the wrong way are things that happen daily. So here's my top 10 list of things that makes Dan grumpy!

#10: The LRT stops at KLCC for a good amount of time as a lot of commuters stop here SO those at the back, you really don't need to push and shove your way out. Just move with the crowd otherwise I will step on your toes!

#9: Go take the free Sun paper but don't read it and walk. Having a barricade of slow-walking readers who can't move in a straight line tempts me to start pushing people. Don't tempt me.

#8: Mobile phones come in a silent mode. Use it. The only one who enjoys those annoying 3-minute long text alerts are you. Seriously.

#7: When parking cars, just go head in, especially when there are a line of cars behind you. I have better things to do then to spend 5 minutes watching you move in and out trying to straighten your car into the space backfirst.

#6: Gym equipments are not chairs. If you need to sit and rest, go home.

#5: Music in the office may soothe your soul but it aggravates mine. Use headphones.

#4: Don't smile at me and say hi when you are a backstabbing, incompetent ****. Colleagues with misplaced sense of purpose and authority should be torched, skewered and fed to ravenous birds.

#3: If you want something, just say so. I am not a mind reader.

#2: Where are all my pens!!!

#1: I don't care why the server is down. Get it up and working!

Let the good times roll...

I'm feeling very elated yet somewhat down both at the same time. It's confusing, brain-bending and it's culturing previously non-existent insomniac tendencies.

I've had a great (and final) housewarming makan with family last Saturday. Other than my immediate family, aunts, uncles, cousins and even my grandmother came for a really good time together. I am definitely thankful to be able to call these people my family (and thank goodness for that as you can't really choose your family!) and it was the easiest housewarming ever as everyone chipped in to do just about everything. I wished I could post some photos but I left my camera in my dad's car which is now in Melaka. Groan...

Anyways, when it's all over and done and everyone's gone home, it's utterly depressing to be alone in your house and missing the warmth and company of people you care about. I guess I'm still not quite used to living alone as I've always had people at home with me. Perhaps it was the rain that sparked the melancholy.

It's Monday now and I'm at work facing a deluge of things-to-do, courtesy of my five day weekend last week. Maybe jumping right into work will get me out of my doldrums... or maybe it's just a Monday thing.

Have a good week ahead!

What a weekend...

Life has been pretty hectic of late so it's been awhile since I've watched a decent movie at the cineplex. I managed to find some time last Saturday so I went to watch Spiderman 3 and POTC back to back.

I have to say it wasn't the best of decisions and because I couldn't really commit to the time, I went to watch alone. The movies were long and for such highly anticipated movies, they were kinda lacklustre. I was entertained but I wasn't blown away. And both movies had somewhat unsatisfactory endings. Gah...

Then on Sunday I had my 2nd housewarming. Thanks for those who came bearing food and gifts! It was good catching up though I must say I didn't quite appreciate the ghost story sharing session. Not a great note to end an evening with especially when you have my imagination and are living alone.

When I get my airconditioner installed, let's have more such evenings! :)

Housewarming... literally

I had my first housewarming session last Sunday and it was exhausting but good! It's a nice feeling to be able to welcome friends over but the preparation and the cleanup can be a chore.

There was tonnes of food so am a little worried about my future housewarming sessions. A potluck is a lot of fun but sometimes the amount of food can be overwhelming. There were only 10 of us but we had enough food to feed 40 easily! I'll be eating leftovers for the good part of this week... and that is after food has been doggie-bagged to everyone who came!

Am looking forward to it again this Sunday with you guys. Do dress lightly tho, my place can get a little warm... no aircond mah!

Sleepiness...

I need sleep. On average, I need a wholesome 8 hours to be doing good. Any less and I'll be prone to grumpiness and any more indicates signs of a great day ahead. These days, I can fall asleep standing. I need sleep.

Sneak Peeks :)

Am quite settled into my place and slowly feeling comfortable here. Still a little obsessive with keeping things tidy but am sure it's going to 'really' be home very soon :) Here's some sneak peeks!

My dining area/classroom.



My hall.



The master bedroom.



My kitchen!

Mouse in the House

Caught this mouse at the old house a few weeks back. So cute but it chewed through so much stuff! Released it at the Kelana Jaya LRT station on my way to work :)

Food Day

Food is such an important part of the day :) Breakfast sets the tone, lunch perks the day up and dinner ends it all! Here's a snapshot of a pretty good day food-wise!

Excellent breakfast of fried bihun, yamcake and soy+cincau.



Lunch was pretty funky. Not sure what this is exactly but got it at this vegetarian place near KLCC.



Dinner was at an event launching at the Galeri Petronas. Good food is even better when free!

Moved, settled and satisfied

It's been a long long week but have finally moved and settled into my new place. Everything is where it should be and there's nothing left to do. Am relieved and happy and now look forward to making the place lived in :)

Legally though, still some obstacles left. Last few transactions still pending but am hopeful it will be resolved soon. There is just so many steps to take in buying property that it's a wonder how businesses even get started. Just one delay at one step of the process can wreck the whole timeline. I'm just glad at least the move is resolved!

New is good...

I've finally been to the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas! After years of wanting to, finally took the initiative (albeit motivated by free tickets) the Fri before last with Chun for an MPO performance (of which I dozed off a bit) and last Fri for a theatre performance. The theatre was a traditional Malay play done in Mek Mulung style. It was very very interesting and am glad I went. Am definitely looking forward to more!

I'm also finally moving into my new place. Will be off from Wed onwards to move. Started cleaning yesterday and begun assembling some DIY furniture I bought from Carrefour. I bought two units of a 3-door wardrobe for my humongous and mostly unused pile of clothes (which now literally is scattered in 2 rooms). It took me 3 hours just to completely assemble 1 of the wardrobes. Gosh... not looking forward to the next.

Lots of new projects at work too. With the college, just finished trialling a whole new workshop on learning approaches that used soap, eggs and root beer. Fun fun fun! And come May, I'll be kicking off a Science Scouts project!

So many new things... :) Feels like Christmas almost!

501

This is my 501st post... and it's one done in sombre reflection on the massacre at Virginia Tech. It's hard to fathom the depths to which people can sink in depression and it's frightening to see how minds can be distorted and disillusioned.

It's also a reminder on how life is unpredictable. Start the day right, live it well, and end it counting our blessings. There's really too much to be thankful for to let the inevitable hiccups ruin it all.

Must See

TOKITSUMUGI - The Grain of Strands From Some Moments
Bustle gallery
10 Apr 2007 - 13 May 2007

GALERI PETRONAS and the Japan Foundation proudly present TOKITSUMUGI - The Grain of Strands From Some Moments, an exhibition of kinetic sculptures by Japanese kinetic artist and 3-4 dimensional space designer Masato Tanaka . Showing for the 1st time ever in Malaysia from 10 April to 13 May 2007, the exhibition presents a unique display of 12 moving sculptures which combine art and technology to create free movement, dubbed a 'scenic movement presentation'.

GALERI PETRONAS and the Japan Foundation present this unique exhibition to the public in celebration of Malaysia's 50th Year of Independence and the Japan-Malaysia Friendship Year 2007.

Feeding Optimism

I've been quite in the dumps of late. Life has been beleaguered with challenges (sounds nicer than problems!) and I've been stressed more than I can remember. My mood has been bleak and I've been rather whiny at times.

An obvious 'challenge' is the house of which moving into seems to be a dangling carrot always beyond reach. Things should resolve within a month but the pessimist foresee more problems to come. Then there's issues with relationships of which a lot is left in limbo. Heart break and stress does tend to magnify things into a narrow perspective. Then there's work which has my workload quadrupling.

I've been so narrowly obsessed with these that life became for the first time in a long while, a chore. Until yesterday that is when I had a revelation again.

We had a gathering at work yesterday and a colleague whose dad recently passed away went up to stage (all new staff have to sing) to sing a song. I can't remember the title but it's something about smiling even though there's nothing to smile about. And it struck me I guess.

I have 'challenges' yes, but there are really good challenges! I have problems with a house but eventually, I will have one! I am able to afford one and no matter how difficult, it is a problem that I really should be thankful for. Relationship issues are always touchy but I've known love. Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all! And work? For all the stress, I love my job and it pays me well. I can still remember the interview way back then when I was hoping so much to land it.

When things get tough it's easy to forget optimism. I am thankful that I remember to be thankful! Life isn't easy but thankfully my problems are not about paying bills, getting shelter or finding food even. I have really good problems and for all the crap I've yet to face, I'm thankful so bring it on!

Hmm...

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who have a split personality - cold as ice on the outside but hot as fire in the heart. In love, you feel the most alive when your partner is patient and never willing to give up on you. You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy. You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please. Your ideal relationship is comforting. You crave a relationship where you always feel warmth and love. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something that will confine you. You are afraid of marriage. In this moment, you think of love as commitment. Love only works when both people are totally devoted.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

F1 Fever? Nah...

F1 is back in town and those who know me will know I'm unfazed. Anyways, point of this is that right now at the KLCC Concourse, there's an F1 roadshow with lots of merchandise on sale and if any of you guys are planning to buy them, well, bring me along for discounts! I get 30% off BMW Sauber merchandise and 20% off Petronas F1 merchandise. You know how to reach me.

This is a public service announcement.

Finally!

It has been a long but interesting 6 months but finally, I'm confirmed :) Woohoo!

Ye Olde Comfort Zone, Closed

It's April and I've yet to move in to my house. I'm definitely not too happy about it as I've planned stuff such that by today I should be in my new place but there have been legal delays that I have no control over so moving in will not take place for another 2-4 weeks. Gah...

So I'm now living in a house with almost every thing in a box. And being me, I labelled none of the boxes so I've been buying stuff I already have because I'm too lazy to open up boxes to search.

Worse still, I was and still am feeling sick and malaise these past week. It's a terrible feeling and it just drains the energy levels. Am still adjusting to a lot of changes but thankfully have been meeting up with friends who have helped.

What capped it all was when I went to Borders yesterday, I flipped through Lillian Too's predictions for my Chinese sign this year and it said that for March, I should expect delays in projects and energy levels will run low due to poor health. My gawd, how on earth can she be right? Was compelled to buy the book but afraid to learn more. Did sneak a peek for April though and it's supposedly a great month where things will finally fall into place and energy levels will be up. So guess I'll definitely be moving soon!

Wonderment...

I had my company annual dinner last night at Shangri-La and my gawd, was it an eye opener! First of all, the theme was 'Bedtime Wonder' which is a fairly open-ended yet quite suggestive theme. I was actually quite surprised that they chose this theme considering the organisation but gosh, the people here are darn 'sporting'!

The event had beds and pillows on the stage and the foyer. The shows included girls in really skimpy lingerie prancing and dancing, and the host was just hilariously naughty! Some of my colleagues went in their sarong's and nothing else (no top even) and there was a point where the performing girls 'went down' on the guys on stage in an act. For a moment, I thought I was in Bangkok instead of KL!

Everyone had a lot of fun and the energy was high! Everyone didn't care about hierarchy as much and bosses mingled and buddied for photos and laughs throughout the night!

4 people in my department won best dressed awards in 3 categories. In the 'Young & Outrageous' category, both male and female were won by colleagues in my department, the guy in nothing but a bedsheet and the girl in pink boxers and a white men's shirt. In the 'Romance' category, a guy in my department won for his blue satin pyjamas that oozed 5-star luxury! And in the 'Out of This World' category, I WON! Woohoo! :) I wore a Spongebob t-shirt, Spongebob boxers (yes, boxers) and Spongebob slippers while carrying my stuffed Spongebob. It was great fun :)

Stuffed

The past week has seen all the gym effort go down the drain! I had workshops and training and it all inevitably ends up with great buffet lunches and endlessly sumptuous breaks and breakfasts!

It started last Saturday with a hi-tea at The Summit. Was invited to the VIP table (thanks to ex-colleagues) so had a pretty good meal including ice kacang!

Monday and Tuesday was at Maya Hotel, an amazing boutique hotel right opposite Zouk that I would recommend to everyone! The aesthetics is right up there and the food, my gawd! The quality is incredible and the choices will leave you literally breathless if you want to go try everything. But the best part of all is the dessert spread which includes Movenpick ice-cream... deliciously sinfully orgasmic (quoting the words of my colleague).

Then on Thursday, it was a remarkably classy buffet lunch at Mandarin Oriental. The spread is just so good and the service is top notch! It was a sumptuous and no one could work once we were back at the office.

Finally today (Saturday), it's another day long spread but this time at Hyatt Saujana. The landscaping and scenery is gorgeous and the food, not as great but good nevertheless.

I'm stuffed... and I'm off to Melaka from Monday to Wednesday so it's more buffets! Gosh...

Home Improvement

It's been a crazy month but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! Work on the house is reaching the end and I can't be more thankful. Been going crazy with shenanigans of odd-job workers and my gawd, everything costs serious money.

Anyways, here's a sneak peek before furniture comes in :)



The Kitchen!



The Hall



The 1st Floor



Doors to the rooms



The Master Bedroom



My bathroom sink!

Taggerama!

I have been tagged and to continue the honor of this game, I have tagged six people which can be found at the bottom of my list. The rules are as follows: Each person who gets tagged needs to write a blog post of their own 6 idiosyncrasies (abnormal behaviour, habits etc.) as well as clearly stating this rule. After you state your 6 weirdness you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their multiply id / blog names / nicknames at the bottom of your blog. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says "You’re tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog for information as to what it means."

Tagged by Kotakkosong

1. I need to sleep with 3 pillows. One for my head, one to hug, and one to rest my feet on.

2. I carry a torchlight wherever I go. One for every keychain, three in my car, two beside my bed, and a few all over my house. I am not really afraid of the dark but I feel secure having them!

3. I get grumpy when my hair is long. So I get a hair cut about once every 3-4 weeks.

4. I sit/stand at almost the same place every morning and evening on the LRT. Routine comforts me :)

5. If ASTRO or Streamyx is down, I don't know what to do.

6. I go speed crazy on the highway but I am usually so rule abiding I have personal conflicts about parking in a non-designated parking space.

Phew... that's over. But not before I tag YOU!

1. Jeremy
2. Jason
3. Meng

and sadly... I have no one to tag who's not been tagged!

Roadtrip

Am off to Ipoh from Monday to Wednesday. Any requests for Ipoh goodies? :) SMS me.

Moments that matter

I've been a little on edge lately and gosh, it's been quite a rollercoaster. Every day is filled with extreme emotions, peaking with really buoyant good times and then sinking really deep into depths of depression. I need to find balance again or I'm going nuts!

I don't like to categorise myself but I guess I'm a typical Libran. Without something (or someone) to keep me focussed and glued, I get twisted all over trying to find balance and to justify things. The new house for example is driving me nuts! Until the time when the house is legally mine (legal process still in motion), only then will I have peace of mind although there really isn't any reason for the process to be hijacked as everything so far has checked out.

I guess I just like things to be in its place and everything to function as it's supposed to. And I think it's worse still because it's a Wednesday. Unlike the other weekdays where I stay back late in the office, on Wednesdays I have to leave on time and hit the rush hour commute to be back in time for my Creative Writing classes. I have never yet been late and it's unlikely I'll ever be but just thinking of all the possible way things can go wrong (LRT breakdown, accidents, downpour, etc) drives me all the way up the stress ladder. And it's so strange considering the only adverse affect will be a bunch of kids having to wait a few more minutes for class.

I need to learn how to relax...

CNY Goodies

Meng as always served the best spread! Check out her table of goodies :) Yummy...

Post-CNY Blues

It's been a long while... more than 5 years to be exact... but I'm depressed again. Not utterly so but just enough to make days seem to drag and the littlest of things dredges up spills of emotional aftertaste.

Chinese New Year most definitely did not help. Although I did enjoy the festivities and the company of family and friends, it's just a little empty when you miss someone.

Anyways, if anyone's keen to view some of my CNY family photos, feel free to visit the online album!

Happy Chinese New Year!

I'm off to Melaka tomorrow onwards and for the most of next week. It's Chinese New Year! House renovations should finish by today (fingers crossed) and all's left to do is some rewiring and painting. I'm getting more optimistic that I will be moving (thought it was never going to happen) but for the next few days, all I'm going to do is just eat, sleep and see red!

So to everyone, have a good celebrations! For those travelling, do travel safe. Hope to catch up with some of you guys who are in town :)

Home Improvement

I was naive... I never imagined moving house to require so much work! It has been an exhausting experience so far and I've only just begun!

Minor renovations started yesterday and I do mean minor. Am just clearing up the back garden and modifying my bathroom and those two alone requires 2.5 truckloads of stuff! I never imagined you need so much sand, rocks, and bricks just to make a 24x5 feet wall.

And then I was sink hunting yesterday. Gosh, sinks are expensive! And the taps to boot. What I planned to have in my bathroom is a sink like this:



I originally wanted a square one but round ones are cheaper so had to go with round.

With so much more to do, I am getting overwhelmed. Although I'll be off for CNY the entire week, I think I'll have to cut my Melaka trip short this time to come back and settle the house. I've yet to buy the 12 tins of paint I need and the 15 lights for the entire house. Perhaps I shouldn't be so picky...

Gah...

Home is where the heart is?

I have finally got the keys to my new house and I'm a tad overwhelmed.

Been using the weekend to start clearing stuff at my current place. I really love my hall in particular, where my classes are held. Here's how it formerly looks like:



And after days spent clearing the walls of nails, tape, and a whole bunch of gunk, I'm left with:



It's just sad moving out of a place you love and though I'm sure I'll feel the same eventually with the new place, this house has just tonnes of memories.

Anyways, here's a sneak peek at my new place. Here's the hall:



And my favourite place in the house, the upstairs lounge:



With luck and good planning, I should have this place up and running by mid-March. :)

They did it!

They did it! What an amazing race it was too :) I was rooting for the girls but never thought they could pull through what with coming in close to last (and even last) almost throughout the race but they came in first when it counted!

I always love happy endings.

Home Alone

I've never in my life had to live alone. When I moved to Cyberjaya, I had Jin as a roommate for the longest of time (or so it felt? hehe). Then stayed with my aunt, then Saw, then with Rick and now, with the move to my new place and housemates all left, I've been all alone this past week.

And it's freaky...

My imagination has gone into overdrive and it takes an immense amount of rationalisation for me to get through the night! Having a colleague talk about his real-life encounters with the supernatural as well as how haunted my workplace is, I've been so-so-so edgy.

I hope the new house will be better as it's smaller. The current place is just way too big for one person, more so a person like me who will jump at his own shadow.

Chilling at the office...

It's a Saturday afternoon and a public holiday and here I am chilling very literally in the office. I really should know better than to wear a t-shirt in the tallest fridge in the world.

A pet project of mine has kicked off and I will likely find myself in the office over the next few weekends. I really don't mind it since I get to replace it with days off on weekdays. Commuting on weekends is a breeze and the office is so empty, it hardly feels like work in the first place!

Anyways, some of you may know what I'm up to. Basically, am inviting people over to the centre for a free visit before I interview them. It's always good to have new insights though repeating the interview the 100th or so time can be a tad tedious.

I also have a few other projects which have been given approval to kick off! I hope I'm not being too optimistic but as a colleague pointed out, now the company have no choice but to confirm me as the projects are entirely on my shoulders. :) I didn't thought of that but I guess the timing does work out!

So I'll find myself the next few months pretty occupied and busy, especially with the impending move of home. It will be another exciting year I foresee and I do not need Tarot cards for this prediction!

Constructive Feedback

I had quite an interesting experience last month at Kenny Rogers in Subang, and I use the word 'interesting' liberally. What happened in not so many words was that I brought my family there to celebrate my sister's birthday and after waiting for 5 mins (there was a 'Please wait to be seated' sign) and seeing many illiterate people just entering, I entered as well and then I was greeted and asked how many are there in my company. It remains a wonder why they did not greet the illiterate people who graciously seated themselves.

Anyways, I had a company of 7, myself including which upon a quick glance, could easily be accomodated by a quick move of tables. To my surprise however, the lady said there were no tables, and when I pointed out the empty ones, she said they were all booked. Booked perhaps by the illiterate self seating guests? Hmm...

So she told me in really not very nice words to go shopping and come back in 5 minutes. I told her if I leave I won't be coming back and she seemed pleased. Perhaps people who can read annoy her. Anyways, I left and found her colleague, probably the competent ones rushing out to tell me that tables are indeed available and please do let her seat us. Obviously I said no, it's a matter of principle, plus I don't really like Kenny Rogers anyways. It's always Nandos for me but then, it wasn't my birthday.

And that's the story in erm, well, a bit of words. I'm not sure how you guys will react but poor service gets to me really bad. So being me, I wrote in very many words a letter to the management and detailed the incident. I kicked myself for not taking down the name of little miss rude but my message went across as someone called from management and apologised profusely while I, in my best professional voice, expressed my shock and disappointment at the utterly depraved level of service at such a respectable establishment. Well, I just said it's ok but you get my point.

Anyways... yesterday, in my mailbox are neat little meal vouchers for Kenny Rogers and a belated birthday card for my sister. I didn't need them but it says a lot about their respect for customers. Nandos did the same before as well, vouchers with a personal touch. So Kenny Rogers, I accept your apology and yes, since it's on the house, I will come by and eat there again. And thank you for the card. It was indeed a nice touch.

There are days…

by Daniel

When time crawls still and seconds pause,

And the mind lingers just ever so,

When we find solace in that which was,

Remembering times not too long ago…

There are days when the heart aches in quiet,

As we fondly remember those,

That once meant the world, a love acquired,

A refuge from whines and woes…

While we sink in pillows on beds ever kind,

Emotions can flood the soul,

A touch, a caress, the words ‘do be mine’,

A love that could never grow old…

But old can love get, when distance is present,

When days away turn into months,

The heart will still try but the mind is persistent,

To live life filling needs and wants…

There will be days when old love is missed,

When the present seems all wrong,

On bad days, and lost days, when nothing is bliss,

And the past seems right all along…

On those days take heart for those days will be there,

Together with days that you’ll find,

New friends and new love, new memories to share,

And new souls who say ‘do be mine’…

In all of those days find some time to remember,

And perhaps share a moment or two,

To relive a love shared, a love never forgotten,

But one faded, a remembered few…

When I say I love you I know I always will,

But love can change over time,

Just remember the times shared, and know that I feel,

That forever, you will always be mine.

Foretelling the future...

I have a new role at the office... I am now the resident psychic for about 2 weeks now!

Every morning before work and evenings after work, there'll be colleagues lining up to get their Tarot cards reading. It's really amazing how many people are fascinated by it and the extent to which the readings affect them.

Although everyone knows it's mostly for fun, I can sense that for some, they're definitely taking it more seriously! It's a unique office-bonding activity and I've gotten to know some new colleagues and some old ones better by reading them :)

A new year beckons...

2007 is here and like any start of the year, it's always a time for reflection and ponderance on the past, the present, and the to be.

At this time last year, I remember feeling contented and blessed. And this year, I feel very much the same if not more! 2006 has truly been a year for the record books in the story of my life. Here are some highlights:

1. I was confirmed as Head of Academics in my previous company which also moved to a spanking new building. It was an incidental career path that I grew to love and definitely achieved more than what I expected.

2. CreativeKids really took off last year with full capacity for almost all classes and some enquiries even had to be turned down. A small homegrown project born out of necessity became in many ways a surprising success! At least in my books!

3. Bunnies in the backyard really became an integral part of my life what with adorable babies and sad deaths and losses. I had to see them all go in 2006 but I am glad to have had them in my life. To King Wombat, Wallaby Wallace the 4th, Biscuit, Dominose, Mocha, Caramel, Fudge, Biscotto, Biscotti, Cody, and Raisin... I will definitely miss you guys.

4. I cleared all outstanding debts on my credit cards and I enter the new year with no outstanding balances!

5. I've met some really good friends and rekindled old ones. You know who you are.

6. I managed to get the job of my dreams (at least my dreams for the moment!). Great company, good job scope, and excellent remuneration.

7. I bought a house! Yet to move in as lots more legalese to wade through but it's a done deal.

8. My home in Melaka is flooded but amidst the tragedy, the family found connection, strengthened bonds and truly recognised the blessings of having an extended family that cares, is supportive and are just truly wonderful people.

9. I went to the USA!

10. I am alive and well :)

To all my friends, thanks guys and gals for being there. I really should put more effort into keeping in touch but even in silence, I never forget the times shared :)

A toast to a great year for all of us!

Christmas underwater...

I was looking forward to a restful Christmas weekend but that's a dream now seeing as how my home in Melaka is underwater. Yes, underwater.

The insane flooding has reached Melaka and with my home being on low-lying land, flooding was inevitable. I tried to convey the urgency to my parents but they assumed it to be just 'another' flood (we had 4 in the past).

This time round however, the water came up to the waist almost! Damage is surreal and more so for stuff with sentimental value. We can always buy new stuff but will be hard replacing old photos and mementos. All I hope now is that the water stops rising.

I will be off to Melaka tomorrow, hopefully waters has receded some by then. Am feeling terribly sad for my parents. Got to be thankful for blessings though.

Please, please, please let there be no snakes in the house!

Ah... Christmas...

It's Christmas in only 5 days and even with the humongous KLCC tree, just not quite in the mood though am definitely relishing the extra day weekend! It's been crazy of late, what with the LRT acting up a bit and traffic heavy with all the rain but life is good :) And miraculously, I have yet to buy anything this Christmas sales!

JOY TO THE WEEKEND
sung to the tune of Joy to the World

Joy to the world, Christmas is soon to come!
Let alarms no longer ring,
Let every head, just lie in bed,
And dream of silly things,
And dream of silly things,
And dream, and dream of silly things.

Joy to the world, the weekend awaits!
Let men reign over the remote;
Watching old Lost shows, past episodes,
Repeat old rerun joys,
Repeat old rerun joys,
Repeat, repeat, old rerun joys.

No more to wait for the LRT,
No more parking space to find;
Just stay at home and eat Maggi,
Only 3 minutes to cook,
Only 3 minutes to cook,
Only, only, 3 minutes to cook.

Joy for the holidays, it's coming soon,
Don't forget, it's Christmas too,
The glories of the long weekend,
Makes me a happy boy,
Makes me a happy boy,
And makes, makes me a happy boy!

Home is where the heart is...

I've done it, or rather in the process of getting it done. After years of wishful thinking and a few 'almost' situations, I've finally committed to buying a house!

After a week of house viewing, I've found a property I actually can see myself living in. It's a cosy 1 1/2 storey structure that's actually facing a school (so lots of 'yang' energy). I've paid the earnest fee and it's now quite a drama dealing with the lawyers and the bank.

Am definitely excited and also a little trepidatious... it's a big commitment but probably an inevitable one. It's also on my little list of life goals so I can now tick off 'buying a house before the age of 30'.

Woohoo!

Tip-toeing on eggshells...

It's 3 months into my new job and it really feels like 3 years already! I've been uber productive (probably because I'm at work so early and leave so late) and there's been so much to do. Everything's pretty much great except for one unexpected aspect, the politics.

It's quite amazing to me to learn and notice the level and depth of office politics here! Then again, I've never really worked in such a humongous company before. I really do admire the players and the playing field though. And here I thought I was an experienced corporate ladder climber.

It's really not all bad though once you get the gist of it. I know some people who cannot fathom being in a working environment knee deep in political mush but I'm ok with it. Am not sure what that says about me but I find the constant need to be 'aware' and 'observant' a unique challenge. Sure beats crossword puzzles anyway!

Whatever the climate though, at the end of the day the work is all that matters and I definitely do love what I do. Heck, I'm even ok with the commute! The green tea must really be working. :)

Ah... life...

Life is all about perspective. What comes may, it's how you see the world and the context of your world that makes all the difference in the world!

Someone said to me at work that passion is all about our point of view. Passion on its own fades but if we are able to always find that right point of view given whatever vantage point we have, we will always fuel the fire. And I concur!

For those of you that remember, I was a grumpy grumpy boy back in MMU. What changed was the moment I realised I was not tied to my scholarship bond and had all the choices in the world! From that point on, even though life had its ups and downs, things were overall great :)

So, if I may offer a small token of advice, consider perspective. You know what they say, always look for the silver lining!

Days are a daze...

The loudspeakers blared the brain-imprinted tones and announcements to remind all bleary-eyed passengers what the next station is. All I remember hearing was ding-something then some 'blah blah' and then KL Sentral. Having been blissfully asleep, I shrugged off the sandman and then frightfully wondered whether am I on the way home or on the way to work.

Days are such a daze this days! I leave the house in the wee hours of the morning at around 6'ish and am at work in the frigid KLCC tower by 740am. Then it's work and stuff until I leave the office at 8pm to reach home after 9pm. Then I sleep at 10'ish and am up again at 6am!

It's such a tightly spaced cycle that come Friday, I'm hugging and kissing my calendar as I pass the day knowing that for the next two days I can wake up after the sun and be alone in my bed in solitary reward. Hoorah!

More photos!

Have finally uploaded most of the photos. The rest are really junk stuff like my hotel bed (which was incredibly comfortable and blissfully restful), random pictures from the conference and other stuff like my maggi all lined up! :)

Anyways, I have pictures of the Science Centres I visited. Pictures include the Louisville Science Centre, Boston Museum of Science, and the Acton Discovery Museums.

Then I have some pictures of art galleries and museums. I managed to visit the Louisville Slugger Museum (all about baseball!), Louisville Glassworks Museum, Louisville Arts and Crafts Gallery, and the Museum Hotel which is a functioning hotel with an excellent gallery for a lobby (see all the red penguins?).

In Boston, I managed to visit the New England Aquarium as well as the Harvard Museum of Natural History, both really excellent places to visit.

Have fun with the pictures!

Photos of Louisville, Kentucky and Harvard, Massachusettes.

Photos will be added slowly and not in chronological order.

First two up are photos of the city of Louisville in Kentucky and the Harvard campus grounds in Massachusettes.

More will be added soon!

Home sweet home...

I'm finally back! The trip has been quite an ordeal though there were good moments. It is such a relief though to be back home in my own bed after 30 hours of airports and airplanes on the way home.

Will post up pictures soon. It's just good to be back :)

Monday blues? You gotta be kidding!

It's the eve of Raya and driving to work is absolute bliss! Reached the Kelana LRT and parking lots were aplenty. Got a seat on the train and travelled in tune to my phone busting out The Corrs Irresistible twice.

I wondered for awhile the likelihood of my phone's random song selection engine to always select at least 2 songs by The Corrs from a playlist of 40 to be played during the 6-7 song length train ride to and from work daily. My phone must be psychic. Or everyone (and everything) loves The Corrs!

Arrived in KLCC to find a whole lot of people, even before 9am. Also noticed camera flashes everywhere! KLCC has been occupied by a whole bunch of foreign workers, which became more noticeable during lunch.

Office is amazingly quiet, except for a teeny radio beating out Hindi music. The office of 150+ people had only 4 today, myself including.

As I'm off to the USA come Thursday morning and with Tuesday and Wednesday a public holiday, I really have little to do today except of course to shop for travel stuff. Got my usual assortment of Panadol, charcoal tablets, motion sickness meds and 'asam'. I've never been a good long distance traveller and doubt it'll be any different this time around!

Just chilling and killing time today with some readings. My first Raya hols in KL is off to a good start :)

Mondays should always be like this.

Tearjerker...

If you have a couple of minutes to spare, check out the new PETRONAS ad for Raya. It is such a tearjerker... sigh.

Life in KLCC

My second week working in KLCC is about done and I must say, life has changed terribly! Going to work feels like going to another state at times :)

I do have a nice cubicle though with great neighbours.



Here's a shot of my desk area. More shots will come later. I love the 'natural' lighting. Plus windows everywhere means no glaring white fluorescent.

Life in KLCC has its quirks though. For example, lunch can be an adventure, though must say the food is good.



My favourite 'chap fan' combo is a tidy RM10. Definitely pricey but very very good.



But then, considering how much melons are, well...

Working here has its perks though. There's pretty good shopping, or at least window shopping. Office is really secure and there's always the 'wow' factor of having a KLCC Tower address on your business card.

Not to mention perks like the art gallery, MPO and similar.



It's a change :)

It's been a week!

A week has gone by since I've started work at my new job and it's been really good so far. I must admit that I was a nervous wreck last Sunday but am very glad that concerns are unfounded. Office is really such a welcoming place and with so much going on, the day really goes by quite quickly.

Commuting has been an effort so far. I do miss walking to work and waking up after sunrise but I guess it's a small price to pay. It was quite a drama though last Friday when the trains broke down. I guess I really need to evaluate alternatives to the LRT just in case it happens again!

Don't forget to buzz me for lunch if any of you guys are in KLCC! :)

Work or Play?

There's one of this in my office :) It's just SO cool!

Around the World in 12 Days

It's my first day at the new job and amazingly, spent the whole day in meetings, 5 altogether! It's good feeling somewhat 'productive' on Day 1 :) Kinda eases the nerves when there's ample information given. Knowledge is empowering.

Also attended a meeting to clarify a work trip I'll be taking. Come October 26, I will be travelling literally around the world!

First up, I'll be heading to the city of Louisville, Kentucky via KL - Stockholm - Newark, NY - Kentucky. I'll be there attending a 5 day conference which is not just fully paid for, but being the only guy, I get the entire hotel room to myself!

Then after about 7 days in Kentucky, I'll be heading down to Boston via Chicago. Boston's agenda is simple. Check out the competition :)I'll be in Boston for a grand 4 days with a day off to shop!

After Boston I'm off to LA for a short stopover before heading back to KL via Taipei through the other side of the globe. In total, I'll be away on travel for 12 days!

It's going to be a heck of a trip but it sure beats morning commute!