who's the monolith?

landed finally...

2012-02-03T17:11:00.002+08:00

Well, the title itself doesn't explain anything.

But like I mentioned a couple of posts back, I have finally found the nerves to sign an agreement to tie myself down to a whole life of commitment. That 'dream' landed property for my own family.

Surprising sometimes how some things seem to work the way it does. The Mrs and I have been discussing about getting a landed home for years, and for years I have pushed back the idea because I thought at our age and the size of our family, a proper condominium would've suffice.

Having said that, it is still my dream to find a landed for both of us to grow old in. That special home where we will get to decorate with arty farty paintings on the walls, argue over the shades of brown in the livingroom's wall, how the kitchen should be extended, how the bathroom tiles should match the floor tiles, you get what I mean.

I always thought this place will be there, maybe just 5-10 years down the road. Yes, I get somewhat worried with the current escalating price of properties in the country, but in a way I have always tried to assure myself that I will be financially equipped when the day comes I will have no hesitation in signing the dotted line.

And unexpectedly, that day came a little bit too soon for me, or for us?

Nevertheless, it is still a dream home, and all signs and circumstances have it that we will be staying here for a long time. And so we decided to go all in, even though it means that I will never get to buy another property for investment again. Ever.

A huge step to take, and a huge responsibility to shoulder. But every time I look into my Mrs' eyes when we talk about this home, that is all the convincing I need that I have made the right decision.

I can never be happier than to see the person I love that happy.

posting from phones...

2012-01-07T15:34:00.001+08:00

Recently got myself an IPhone 4S and found a Blog App, although I've downloaded this app for a while I haven't really tried utilizing it.

Will see if this app will help me blog more often in 2012. Hectic end of 2011 and am glad it's all over for now. On the sunny side, I'm now an uncle to two nephews, time sure flies. :)

ending 2011 in style...

2011-10-31T18:47:00.003+08:00

Blogging seems like a difficult chore these days, I always wonder how some blogger find the time to commit. I mean, don't these people have a full-time job or something?

First it was twice a week, then once a week, once a month, once every two months, and now I guess I'll be blogging once every quarter of a year. Soon I'll be posting twice a year if the graphs indicate whatever it looks like it's going to be.

Anyway, an update is still an update, no one shall complain that I never blog anymore (the least I am updating my blog more often that my friends do, you guys know who you are).

October came and it's gonna be gone in a few hours, and we're into the final 2 months of 2011. What exactly have I done in the year 2011? Need a quick refresh.

Quarter 1 - Got married, best celebration party of my life. Honeymoon in Club Med Kani, Maldives, best holiday in my life. Went into a subsale purchase, met the worst agent and banker in my life.

Quarter 2 - Joined Business Network International, got to know individuals from dozens of different industries. Went to Bali, but was working while holidaying. Had no break throughout June, spent 10 hours at work when lucky, or 20 hours when unlucky.

Quarter 3 - Work spill over from June to July. August was meant to be better but didn't happen, but at least finally closed the deal started in February. Schedule became hectic as outstation assignments started piling in. Started looking out for the next property.

Quarter 4 - First month into the last quarter of the year, and already traveled 5 states in a little over a month. Made the bravest decision in purchasing the most expensive property in my short working life.

With 2 months left of 2011, I would've wanted to make the most of out it, but knowing the nature of my business, chances are 2 or 3 days off in the next 60 days will be considered a luxury. Already worked through Deepavali, will be working through Hari Raya Haji, Awal Muharram and Christmas. My best bet for a day off work will be New Year, provided that I won't need to work from home.

What more, with one of my best friend's wedding coming in the coming few weeks, I have actually considered for a couple of months whether to make the bold decision and fly to NZ for a short break and celebrate my buddy's big day in Christchurch, but in the end decided that it will be somewhat irresponsible considering that my colleagues will be battling and working their a$$e$ off when I am away.

So sorry, bro if you're reading this, would really love to be there to witness your biggest day in your life. But I can assure you that even though I'm thousands of miles away I will be cheering for you on the day you end your bachelorhood, congratulations brother!

weeks to come...

2011-06-11T23:09:00.002+08:00

It's probably a year since I last posted twice in a month, that probably shows how idle I am these couple of weeks, hahaha...

Anyway, the Mrs is away in Cameron Highlands attending her close friend's wedding, so here I am again with nothing much to do on a weekend. Now, perhaps I have mentioned this too many times that people might think that I only get to blog when the Mrs is not around, that may be partly true, but also only because when she's not around, I have nothing much to do and the boredom creeps into my head. ;)

The coming few weeks will be extremely hectic for me, nothing less than 30 sessions of graduations to cover in a little over 6 weeks to come, it will be a challenge to stand up straight after the end of the ordeal in August; good challenge nonetheless, and perhaps I will be away longer than usual. Not just in blogsphere, but in person as well. I can't remember the last time we had so many assignments to cover in such a short span of time, but it's a good indication that our client portfolio is growing stronger by the day.

Besides that, 2011 seems to be the Comics year. I've just watched X-Men: First Class last week after catching Thor earlier last month, it was awesome, I could be a little biased but coming up there will Transformer 3, Captain America, and Green Lantern just came to the big screens.

Work comes first, but there's always some time to destress, and movies like these, I like!

hola from butterworth...

2011-06-04T15:28:00.003+08:00

Same old way in starting my write up: 'It's been a long while since I wrote something here'.

Same excuses, haha...

Quite a lot has happened in the two months since my last post. Well, one of the 'happening' is that the Mrs and I have already been to our second honeymoon to Bali. :) We've taken quite some pictures but like the lazy guy I am I won't be bothered to post them all up here. Perhaps the Mrs will upload into her Facebook albums sometime soon, better view there than here.

Also in these two months, we've managed to acquire a property, Shop Office Home Unit actually. Anyway, this place has been in my radar even before our big day earlier this year, but because of the commitment we'll have to choose where our priority lies so this come in second best. After the wedding is over, we went back in the market and the price appreciated a good 15% from what I was quoted before. Oh well, there's a price to pay for procrastination, but I don't regret the decision to have a wonderful wedding as our main priority (despite making myself RM30,000 poorer).

In the past two months, I have also officially joined a business network group, where a group of businessmen and businesswomen gather together once a week at 6 in the morning to brainstorm and refer businesses to each other. It's a different experience altogether; I get to learn about how other businesses are run, how people market their products or services, how to develop good social skills, and most importantly, how to make these people understand my business so to be able to refer me my desired referrals. It's about time that I approach my work in a different direction, I no longer have to sit at my desk doing paperwork, cold calls, occasional appointments, and busy with the production work. These days I am always on the run, normally spending half the day on the road, very little time in the office (mostly to prepare my presentation items), and very little time with the computer, hence the lack of effort in blogging.

In fact, the only reason why I get to post this right now is because I have 4 hours to spare, stranded here in Butterworth with the Mrs at the saloon to straighten her hair.

Time is getting more and more precious.

And I am loving life more each day. :)

back to the city...

2011-03-19T13:47:00.005+08:00

It's a boring Saturday. I haven't had a good weekend break for a long time, and now I actually get to sit in a cafe, blogging away after having lunch here, right after a gym session late morning.

Wouldn't it be great if I get to have the same routine every weekend? Ah, wishful thinking.

Anyway, I'm back from Kani, Maldives. It was a wonderful getaway from the busy city of Kuala Lumpur.

Wait. Wonderful isn't good enough a term. Awesome? Orgasmic?

Heck, nevermind. I couldn't find a good enough word to describe the holiday.

Anyway, we were at Maldives' Club Med in Kani Island earlier this month, celebrating our honeymoon two months after our wedding. I hate to repeat myself, but it's a very wonderful place to be. You always hear people talking about finding that 'heaven' on earth, well, we practically found it. It's located northeast of Maldives' capital city of Male.

We spent 6 days there, doing practically nothing other than enjoying the sun. Okay, we did some things. Sailing, snorkelling, took a scenic flight and had an aerial tour of the islands around Kani, kayaking, etc. The point is, never had I went to a holiday where I really got disconnected from the world.

I don't want to write a bloody essay on our honeymoon, I'll leave the rest of the pictures in my Facebook page sometime soon, but this is probably the best ever vacation one can experience. I guess when the pictures are uploaded people will figure out what I was trying to say.

Perhaps I can consider having more holidays like this in the future.

________________________

On another note, finally got back into the game, the Mrs and I have managed to secure another property (provided the vendor doesn't try anything funny). Comparatively I might've paid a little over the market value, but it doesn't matter when it comes with a secured tenancy which brings me positive cashflow for at least a year while I wait for it to appreciate further.

Came across plenty of discussions with different people of different backgrounds lately, and apparently real estate investment can be quite a difficult issue to discuss. There are people who want to invest but expects the property price to come down to what he perceives as the worthy valuation. Then there are people who just whack whatever properties there are and hope for the best.

Then there are people who ask others, 'I am a real estate investor, can you tell me what are the developments I should invest in?'

Hmm.

back to business...

2011-02-20T12:32:00.003+08:00

Okay, it has been a quiet 2011 thus far, and fair enough with the wedding and stuff ongoing.

Mid of February, I'm back. Perhaps I should blog monthly, at least I'll make up to 12 posts a year. Which isn't too bad.

Wedding was a blast, and great that everything went by smoothly. Since then, 3 pairs of friends got engaged. Now that our wedding is out of the picture, we're scheduled to attend at least 10 weddings throughout the rest of 2011, two of which are my cousins'. November will be a busy wedding month, it's gonna be fully booked every weekend.

Saving a penny here and there since the wedding's over, I guess I can go back to what I enjoyed doing all these while, and get back going in the market. One year out from the field and feeling rusty, but 2-3 weeks of practice and things started to feel like how it used to be. And if everything's going good hopefully a good deal before next month, and one of my goals for 2011 will be fulfilled. Boy, I have a really expensive hobby, sigh...

hello 2011...

2011-01-02T01:10:00.003+08:00

Turn of the year. Weird things have happened. Life's the same. Vision's still intact. Mission is compromised. Happiness is shared.

Two weeks before the big day.

Butterflies in my stomach?

Hundreds of butterflies all over the place on 15th January 2011.

greed and fear...

2010-10-07T20:07:00.004+08:00

I considered myself to be somewhat lucky to have an interest in something that generates some passive income every month. I have to admit that I am still pretty new in property investments but several years on, I am starting to feel disillusioned with the growing crop of so-called 'investors'.

Over the years I've got to know some pretty good investors who I thought shared a common interest, but lately things seem to be getting a little out of hand. Generally I have no problems with how one manipulates his/her own financial tools to diversify their own investments. But I do have my reservations when a company is formed to 'train' new investors into jumping into the bandwagon.

Personally, I believe property investment is not the kind of activity where a huge group of people can just join and be a member. Surely there is something that benefits the core group of investors who formed the 'group' that gives such training and seminars, such as huge membership fees up front. While one can gather much knowledge through these activities, but to introduce ONE project to 300 registrants I think we are misleading a whole group of 'newbies' into the BUY BUY BUY trend.

Surely no one is obliged to join and buy but the situation now creates an army of mindless zombie-like 'investors' who would be more than willing to jump in with the rest of the crowd, and let's be honest, with thousands of like-minded 'investors' in the same project, do one still think it is a good investment? I have my conclusion on that, but I'm keen to know what these people are thinking.

In the end of the day, the core group of investors will be the main beneficiary. Hundreds of registrants will mean over a million ringgits of membership fee received, and no doubt these 'seed monies' will be distributed amongst themselves as 'bullets' for their own agenda, possibly other developments not known by commoners like me. Do one honestly think that a smart investor will buy something where thousands of others are investing into?

Think again.

By motivating a group of people to BUY unconditionally we're creating a bubble which will eventually burst in the near future, and when that happens who will benefit, again?

Things are getting a little out of hand, and you either join the bandwagon which will guarantee to make some profit IF you can predict the timing of the bursting bubble correctly; or you take a road which holds lesser risks and let others have make the money first.

You may be greedy when people around you are fearful, but be fearful when people around you are greedy.

rings...

2010-09-18T15:27:00.004+08:00

Well, most would've already know that we have registered last month, while this is not really a proper post, I am posting up the photos of the Proposal Ring and our Wedding Bands, as promised previously.

This is to toast the end of bachelorhood. Less than 4 months to go before the big day.

qualifications...

2010-08-11T19:49:00.004+08:00

These days, you only need to grab a big DSLR and take a photo with you holding it near your face, crop the image to hide the bad angles, add a little airbrush using Adobe Photoshop, adjust the colour tones and post that photo on your Facebook profile and voila! You call yourself a professional photographer.

Sometimes, it feels like everything is getting too easy and people earn titles without having to work for it. 15 years ago, a photographer will take one shot and his reputation will be based on that naked photograph that comes straight out from the darkroom.

Come 2010, a person holding a DSLR will take hundreds of images of the same object, go back to his computer and select the least ugly shot, make overwhelming editings and he'll come out with that great 'photograph'. He then uploads it online and earn plaudits and compliments for a capturing a fantastic shot.

Photographer? Cameraman? Or just plain photo editor?

new look...

2010-08-06T14:53:00.002+08:00

Since I wasn't going to post any updates, a little revamp on this little blog to compensate.

Busy weeks; probably months, ahead.

It's official: I will be tied down after 20th August 2010. It will be fun to know how life will pan out to be after that.

A picture of our wedding bands shortly, once I got it downloaded into the laptop.

my way or no way...

2010-06-28T22:10:00.003+08:00

I still remember someone asking me that if given a choice of two properties with identical specs, apart from one being freehold and the other leasehold priced 20% lower than the former, which would I choose.

I chose the latter, without hesitation.

I won't be discussing my reasons for doing so, especially so since it's going to derail from today's topic.

But if someone's going to come up to me and say that when you buy freehold you own the land, I'd say bull and go flip today's paper to see what's the latest crap.

Condo owners shocked by land acquisition

In Malaysia, it doesn't matter whether you buy free- or leasehold, 10- or 99-years lease, if your government suddenly decides during their teh tarik session last night that they want to acquire your land to build a Legoland they'll just issue a statement of compulsory acquisition and you're left there screwing your own behind yourself.

In Malaysia, the freehold title is as precious as toilet paper, you can use it to wipe your @$$ and flush it down the toilet, nobody gives a damn.

"want to rent"...

2010-06-13T01:06:00.004+08:00

When I was 20 and searching for a place to rent near my university, my budget was RM150 per month for a room, and I don't mind having roommates.

I just saw a post put up by a student looking for a place to rent near his university, his budget is RM1,200 and he would prefer to have a studio apartment for himself.

Generation gap?

point to ponder...

2010-06-07T19:03:00.002+08:00

When single-room units in KL begin to hit the RM400,000 mark, does that mean Mont Kiara can no longer be called the hub for luxury condos?

bye bye BBCC...

2010-05-11T15:25:00.008+08:00

Uda diminta utama Bumiputera

Oleh Sharifah Salwa Syed

Pengusaha Melayu mahu pemilikan 70 peratus di Bukit Bintang City Centre KUALA LUMPUR: Uda Holdings Berhad (Uda) diminta supaya memberikan pemilikan lebih 70 peratus kepada Bumiputera untuk membeli projek pembangunan bercampur dikenali sebagai Bukit Bintang City Centre (BBCC) yang akan dibangunkan agensi itu tidak lama lagi.

Yang Dipertua Persatuan Penjaja dan Pekedai Bumiputera Wilayah Persekutuan, Mithlan Samijoo, berkata Uda bukan saja perlu memberi peluang kepada pengusaha Bumiputera yang berkemampuan, malah memberi keutamaan kepada mereka yang layak membeli hartanah di kawasan berkenaan.

“Apa yang kita tahu ada di kalangan ahli persatuan memiliki aset yang banyak, tetapi kebanyakan mereka mengeluh tidak mempunyai tapak niaga yang strategik seperti yang dimiliki peniaga Cina di sekitar Bukit Bintang. Jika ada pun, kita tidak mampu untuk bersaing dengan mereka berikutan sewa yang terlalu tinggi.

“Justeru, apabila Uda memperuntukkan pemilikan sebanyak 60 peratus kepada Bumiputera, kita anggap itu satu bonus kepada peniaga Melayu. Namun, pada masa sama, kita berharap Uda meningkatkan pemilikan sehingga 70 peratus bagi memberi lebih ramai peniaga Bumiputera memiliki hartanah di kawasan berkenaan,” katanya ketika dihubungi di sini, semalam.

Semalam, kerajaan bersetuju dengan cadangan Uda meroboh keseluruhan Kompleks Penjara Pudu tahun ini untuk dibangunkan sebagai projek pembangunan bercampur dikenali sebagai Bukit Bintang City Centre.

Menteri Kewangan Kedua, Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, berkata pembangunan di kawasan seluas 7.6 hektar itu akan membabitkan pembinaan 1,100 unit kondominium, hotel, ruang pejabat dan pusat komersial dengan anggaran kos RM5 bilion.

Mithlan berkata, pihaknya yakin ramai di kalangan peniaga Melayu mempunyai kemampuan untuk memiliki hartanah di kawasan berprestij itu cuma yang menjadi kekangan kepada mereka adalah dari segi kekurangan tapak sesuai untuk dijadikan premis perniagaan.

Beliau berkata, ada antara ahli persatuan menyewa premis di Jalan Masjid India dengan kadar harga tinggi sehingga RM30,000 sebulan untuk tapak niaga berukuran 20x70 kaki.

Sehubungan itu, pihaknya berharap cadangan pembinaan hartanah bercampur itu akan memberi satu khabar gembira kepada peniaga Bumiputera.

“Jika tidak diberikan 100 peratus kepada peniaga Bumiputera, memadailah memberi keutamaan sehingga 80 peratus kepada peniaga Melayu untuk bertapak di BBCC apabila ia siap kelak. Kita mahu menjadikan kawasan ini sebagai tempat pemborong Bumiputera.

“Kebanyakan ahli mampu untuk membelinya... cuma apa yang perlu Uda sebagai agensi yang menjaga kepentingan orang Melayu perlu memikirkan sesuatu, termasuk menawarkan harga berpatutan bagi membolehkan mereka membeli ruang niaga di BBCC, sekali gus bersaing dengan peniaga bukan Melayu,” katanya.

Now I am really speechless. No, this isn't about races or religions, this is about the mindset of certain quarters in the country.

“Apa yang kita tahu ada di kalangan ahli persatuan memiliki aset yang banyak, tetapi kebanyakan mereka mengeluh tidak mempunyai tapak niaga yang strategik seperti yang dimiliki peniaga Cina di sekitar Bukit Bintang. Jika ada pun, kita tidak mampu untuk bersaing dengan mereka berikutan sewa yang terlalu tinggi.

Wait, I didn't know in Bukit Bintang retail outlets have different rental prices for bumis and non-bumis.

Jika tidak diberikan 100 peratus kepada peniaga Bumiputera, memadailah memberi keutamaan sehingga 80 peratus kepada peniaga Melayu untuk bertapak di BBCC apabila ia siap kelak. Kita mahu menjadikan kawasan ini sebagai tempat pemborong Bumiputera.

Here's the plan, I think UDA SHOULD give 100% to bumi entrepreneurs, and on top of that, the developer should bear all costs of promoting the commercial area after completion, guarantee-buy-back scheme with 10% increment from developer's price in case businesses do not make it, waive maintenance fee for life, developer to bear utilities fee, developer to bear all renovation costs for owners, as well as providing working staff for business owners as there's a shortage of foreign labours and the locals are demanding way too high in salary, also subsidizing 20% of the employees' pay, contribute EPF and SOCSO on behalf of business owners, while the banks should come out with BLR%-BLR% (0% interest) loan packages with options to postpone installments when business is bad, further 10% off the installment sum when paid on time, and special buy-out clauses when business go haywire.

Goodbye Bukit Bintang City Centre. For a moment I thought you're going to be a key development, the next hotspot, and a brilliant investment in Bukit Bintang.

Then I woke up.

1Malaysia!

points to ponder...

2010-04-29T12:30:00.004+08:00

Boy, 15, shot dead by cop.

Public's Response:-

1) He's only 15, are there no other alternatives but to fire shots at him?

2) The only crime he committed was sneaking out from his home at 2am in the morning, and driving without a licence, and beating several traffic lights.

3) The cops are hungry for blood and above the law.

I'm not saying that I'm siding with the cops, nor am I siding with those who are calling for justice, but I'm just looking into this matter objectively.

It's 2am. The cop doesn't know who is manning the vehicle. The suspicious car tried to escape from the cops and sped past several red lights in the chase before being stopped by the patrol car. The deceased reversed and rammed his car into the patrol car.

If you're the cop, and in such situation, what would you have done?

ice kacang puppy love...

2010-04-14T20:38:00.011+08:00

Time to hit the cinema, Ice Kacang Puppy Love will be coming to the big screen tomorrow.

I must say this is one of the movies in 2010 I'm looking forward to catch besides Iron Man 2, and after watching the trailer, I must say that I am very impressed.

The movie, directed by Aniu - who also starred in the movie -, boasts big name artistes which includes Angelica Lee, Gary Chaw, Fish Leong, Victor Wong, Yi Jet Qi, Eric Moo, Nicholas Teo, Penny Tai, Hong Kong Bruce Lee-lookalike Chan Kwok Kwan and apparently Michael Wong as well (although I don't see his picture in the poster or in the trailer).

Apart from directing and acting, Aniu also produced, co-wrote and edited the film which is some sort of semi-biography of his own first love. By roping in the internationally-recognized all star cast of singers (and friends), this is almost like an extended music video-styled movie that lasts close to two hours, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Set in the 1980s and filmed in the mining town of Tronoh in Perak, Ice Kacang Puppy Love first got my attention when Aniu was promoting an audition through 98.8 radio station to search for an Indian man to play a motorcyclist who sells junk food (although come to think of it now, isn't it a bit funny to look for an Indian to go for audition through a Chinese radio station?). It was already widely publicized back then (I can't remember but that must be over half a year ago) when the casting was announced.

From the trailer it looks to be a class above the CNY movie 'Woohoo!', and this is one local movie I'll be watching in the cinema in the coming week.

Malaysia Boleh!

transformation...

2010-03-25T18:56:00.006+08:00

Pardon my disappearance for some time, I have been pretty occupied with these...

That took me about a month to change the entire outlook, and for a first timer, I guess it's not bad huh? And if things go as planned, it's going to give a cash on cash return (COCR) of 27.6% and 11.6% rental yield beginning from next month.

Requote something I read some time ago,

"The harder you try, the luckier you get."

signs…

2010-01-28T18:54:00.001+08:00

PT950.

0.31.

VS2.

Here goes nothing.

hello 2010...

2010-01-15T18:57:00.007+08:00

Turn of the new year, and I became an uncle. My brother's baby son came to the real world last week and that instantly made me feel old.

But I'm not really.

Seriously.

2010. So what do we expect?

From a personal POV, I sure hope this year will sail through smoothly. Just like every other year.

Career? A little bit tensed but I'm coping well, and hoping to make some major statements.

Relationship. Seeing so many friends around getting engaged or married is indeed a real pressure. Let's just say something will happen this year alright? No wild guesses please, we don't wanna make things too predictable, do we?

Financial. Sabotaged by red bombs hurled around. Okay, just kidding. Hopefully it'll be steadier than last year, I had some bad moments towards end of 2009 but everything turned out well and good things are spilling over to the new year. Will slow down a little in my real estate portfolio and saving up for another important 'aspect' in life, although I won't rule out any good deals if they come along at the right time and price.

Health-wise, will need to watch my food intake. High level of uric acid but yet to see any symptoms. High level of bad cholesterol. Goodbye to Bak Kut Teh.

Won't be making any new year resolutions, at this age I'm starting to feel that my goals are for life, and hopefully I won't be setting myself any short-term targets and risk getting in the way of what I want to achieve in life's marathon.

Happy New Year to all. Be nice.

end of 2009...

2009-12-31T17:16:00.004+08:00

It's the final day of 2009, and there's not much of a plan to celebrate.

Still stuck in the office and all clients are on a one-week break, so nothing much to do except for paperworks and closing files for the year.

Will be away for a day trip to Ipoh with ex-housemates tomorrow, and next there'll be a belated New Year BBQ party (again, I'm going to charge venue fees soon, hehehe...) this Saturday that gathers friends from different phases in my life: primary school, secondary school, Form 6 and university. Let's hope it's not gonna be awkward.

A big off day on Sunday and I'll be back for 2010.

new toy...

2009-12-04T13:27:00.004+08:00

Finally decided not to remain an el cheapo and spent a little money in getting a new gadget. No, not those we used to build during camps.

I've been to the Maxis Centre earlier this week to make a conversion from my current plan to the Blackberry plan.

Yes, if nothing goes wrong in the coming weeks, I should be getting a Blackberry Curve 8520 very soon.

Very rarely anyone would find me spending a huge amount of money for the latest technology-related gadgets, and to be honest I still don't think I will succumb to the lure, yet. I've been thinking for the past two weeks before finally getting the phone (which is available for a lower price when you sign up a value plan contract with Maxis), where the convenience of retrieving emails wherever I am helped me to make a decision.

I have yet to receive the phone yet, I've been informed that the earliest will be in a week and it may take up to a month latest.

Till then, I will still be with my Nokia ExpressMusic.

away for the weekend...

2009-11-10T23:01:00.001+08:00

A break from work, and trip away from home.

Hong Kong, here I come.

i can't believe i'm being blamed for this...

2009-11-05T16:37:00.004+08:00

Today I received a call from a client whose sole purpose is to give me a tick off. And it was a lengthy one as well.

I delivered some samples for viewing to the said client this morning for selection of prints, and she was not in when I arrived. I am not sure how ‘professionals’ deliver items, but being an ‘amateur’ dispatch myself I passed the samples to her colleague and reconfirmed that the parcel is supposed to be handed to her before I left it with them.

Less than 2 hours later I got a call from this client, and I assumed that she called to inform that she has received the parcel. Unexpectedly, the first thing that blurted from her mouth was ‘Is this how you deliver things? I can’t believe you’re so unprofessional.’

I was like, WTF?

I made a delivery. She was not in, during office hours. I passed the parcel to her colleague and left a message that it has to be handed to her.

And somehow, that made me unprofessional.

To summarize the telephone conversation, let’s just say that they have some office politics and internal problems between themselves, and I look to be a very good scapegoat for someone who’s probably enduring THAT time of the month.

The samples aren’t P&C (and mine by the way), and I know very well how I should handle the deliveries should they involve monetary or confidential documents.

I do not know that your colleague is a troublesome employee in your administration, and even if she is, I honestly don’t think that’s my problem, is it? And I definitely do not know that this colleague of yours is getting fired soon for her inadequacies.

Let’s sum it up, so now I am not professional, because…:-
1) You’re out of the office, during office hours.
2) Your colleague is a prick in your office.
3) Your colleague will be getting the sack soon.
4) I do not know information (1) to (3).

Ah, the common sense in a woman’s mind.

I do not intend to analyze how the conclusion came around that I am at fault right now. It’s futile.

government maths...

2009-10-28T19:26:00.003+08:00

Government losses can reach RM28bil a year – or more due to overpayment

RM28 billion.

Hmm.

That's RM28,000,000,000.

Malaysia's population is 27 million.

That's more than RM1,000 from each Malaysian.

Say if I pay RM1,000 tax every year, that will mean the government 'lost' my money all these while.

Welcome to Bolehland, where everything 'boleh lesap' just like that.

first experience in auctions...

2009-10-15T22:36:00.001+08:00

Perhaps this doesn’t equate in an ordinary manner, but I traded approximately three weeks and 50 bucks to buy an experience in property auctions.

Before anyone jumps into conclusions, I did not manage to get the unit auctioned.

Here’s how the story goes.

I spotted a pretty decent auction unit while rummaging through the classifieds 3-4 weeks back. After the usual queries, an agent alerted me of another condominium studio unit in a location which has been interesting me a long while. I got the common information I could get from the agent and paid the unit a visit the following day.

Visiting the auction property is a must, if you do not know yet, because you’ll never know if you are buying an auction unit with a corpse tucked nicely in the fridge (you know, the Mont Kiara case several years back). But having said that, 99 of out 100 times you’ll never get to view the inside of the unit because 1) the unit’s vacant with padlocks intact; and 2) the person staying there refuses to open the door for you. Well, unfortunately but expectedly, yours truly belong to the group of 99.

Anyway, knowing the area and location, I was somewhat confident that the unit is decently priced below the market value and after a week of research, found that the unit’s being auctioned for the second time (and 10% cheaper than the original auction price). Also, after checks with several agents and database, figured out that it’s around 15% below the market value, which is pretty decent.

The following week, I arranged with another agent to view a unit for rent which is identical with the auction unit so that I can look at the actual layout with my own eyes. Not the nicest thing to do, I have to admit, but that’s the best I can do to have a good grasp of what I’m getting into.

Within the same week, I also visited the land office twice. I arrived at the land office in the afternoon for the first time and got turned away because the land office does not check documents in the afternoon (?). Don’t ask me why, but that’s the reason uttered by the man over the counter. In Bolehland, anything can happen and that includes government employees being barred from searching for documents after 12pm. Good luck in achieving Vision 2020.

Anyway, had to return the following day to make the title search, as well as to check whether any caveats are lodged on the property. After being directed to 3-4 different counters, I finally manage to get the property’s strata title presented in front of me.

It’s but a whole load of jargons.

Can’t really decipher anything encrypted in all of the 3 pages and considering that I can’t photocopy it, I end up staring blankly at the documents not knowing what I should be looking for. I had to request the office staff to explain the important things that I want to know, which is 1) if the defendant the rightful owner of the auction unit; and 2) whether there are any private caveats lodged on the property. And I got good news for both.

Went through the proclamation of sale with the agent again after that and was assured that the bank will bear all outstanding arrears so everything seemed fine. All the recipe for a perfect buy.

But if some things seem too good to be true, usually it’s too good to be true.

Several days ago, I dropped by the auction unit again and this time I lingered around with the security guards to know more about the current owner. Little is known about the owner except that she defaulted payment amounting several thousands, and the weird thing is the neighbour of this unit is so reluctant to talk to me (I bumped into the neighbour in the lift) he’d rather stare right at the lift’s wall than to speak up.

This bothered me for a couple of days. What if the owner’s still staying there? What if she refuses to move out after the auction? Is she even alive? Why is the neighbour so afraid when I asked questions about the auction unit?

After much consideration, I decided to back out from the deal.

But having gone through almost the entire procedure, I went to the auction anyway, and bought the banker’s cheque that will enable me to enter the auction room.

Thank God I made up my mind early, because on auction day there were 7 other bidders who’re targeting the same unit. And the proud new owner of the auction unit is a middle-aged lady who’s obviously a newbie in auctions.

How do I know?

Because she raised the last three bids without anyone counter-bidding and she got the unit at a price 15% above the market value (might as well scout the market for sales if you’re gonna pay a price like that). The judge actually had to stop and ask if she knows she’s upping the price herself before the hammer finally comes. Not my problem anyway.

It was fun while it lasted, and despite all the hassles and troubles I think it was a worthwhile experience. I’ll be glad to go through the entire ordeal again if I can unearth another gem in the auction market in the future.

you know you're old when...

2009-09-12T20:02:00.002+08:00

…friends are throwing red bombs at you from all over the place.

I am invited to FIVE wedding dinners in the space of one month. This is simply outrageous (and burning a bloody big hole in my pocket!).

Work commitment means I can attend only two of these weddings, but that does not mean it did any kind to my wallet.

At a time when I’m planning a decent trip to overseas. Crap.

done and dusted...

2009-09-09T18:33:00.001+08:00

It took almost seven months, but anyhow I’m glad that the deal’s finally concluded.

It was right before Chinese New Year this year that we went to view this condo unit, which wasn’t even put up for sale back then. We were merely viewing another similar unit belonging to an extremely fickle-minded owner, and for that this condo unit was presented there and then to us by an agent, from a person who didn’t thought of selling at all.

Immediately after the first viewing we made up our mind that this is the better choice (thanks to the other owner’s decision to increase the selling price 3 hours BEFORE we sign the agreement), and we made an offer to this current unit which he agreed after almost two weeks of consideration.

I had some doubts during the early stages, but seven months down the road, the path looks so far so good. The current tenant is continuing until end of the year, which as least will give us several months’ buffer which can be used to cover the gap when we take over for renovations after vacant. Hopefully, we’ll be able to increase the rental and get it occupied before the turn of a new year.

The entire duration of this transaction hasn’t really gone that smooth, but at the moment I pretty satisfied with the extra knowledge and experience gained throughout the past six months. I’m sure I’ll be better equipped for the next target, although I may have to push the plan further back to accommodate some far more important plans at the moment.

Plans, plans, plans.

celebration at leonardo's...

2009-08-26T13:32:00.010+08:00

This post is long overdue. I've been wanting to write up a picture post but with my desktop currently dying on me, I kept finding excuses that prevented me from doing so.

Back in May, during The Lady's XXth birthday, I made a reservation at Leonardo's Dining Room & Wine Loft in Bangsar. It was a lottery really, as I browsed furiously in the world wide web to find a decent fine dining restaurant and this place popped up in the first page.

Thank my lucky starts that this place didn't disappoint me. Leonardo's is superb with very little crowd (in fact, I think they can house a maximum of 30-40 pax only), and with soothing music being played in the background, you can feel that they really make it a romantic venue for couple the italian way.

Leonardo's serves modern Italian cuisine, and while fine dining restaurants have limited items in the menu, there wasn't short of options here.

I can barely remember the names of the dishes that we ordered that night, but looking back at the photos it's pretty apparent we had mushroom soup as a starter. The Lady ordered spaghetti (forgive me but I really can't tell what kind), while I took up the chef's recommended Port Knuckle. Plus a Kahlua Tiramisu for dessert.

The spaghetti was okay, but the Pork Knuckle was simply delicious. Which surprises me, I didn't even notice that Leonardo's is a non-halal restaurant until the waitress recommended this dish.

Leonardo's also organizes talks, book launches and exhibitions occasionally during the weekends, according to the notice board found at the staircase. I'm sure this place attracts plenty of intellectual groups, and usually classy ones.

If you ask me, I'd definitely return to this restaurant again, probably with a small group of friends for a good round of dinner. I tell you, this will make you look pretty darn professional; dining and sipping wine in a classy restaurant located in a secluded row of shoplots hidden in Bangsar.

Leonardo's Dining Room & Wine Loft

61-1 & 61-2, Jalan Bangkung,

Bukit Bandaraya, 59100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 6.03.2096.2226

all's well, end's well...

2009-08-17T13:59:00.002+08:00

The past week has just been non-stop action, if we are to put it into a film, hahaha...

Anyway, job assignments have sent me to Santubong (Kuching), Ipoh, Kuantan and Nilai back to back in a little over a week. As fun as it sound, things didn't really turn out that great.

The job assignments were completed without any major troubles, although some must've been wondering if it's just our luck that some things fall right into place despite some really unexpected misfortunes that happened along the way.

Santubong came first when I departed on Saturday, the weather in Kuching was horrendous and the haze was suffocating. Our job resumed despite the recent H1N1 scare, and on Sunday it was 6am-11.30pm continuous run before I hit the sack. The event itself was close to perfect (from our side at least), until the moment we have to depart to the airport at 5pm. One of the rented vehicles' engine couldn't start, and with our flight's check-in time at 7.30pm (Santubong is one hour from Kuching International Airport) time wasn’t with our side. Speedy arrangements were made on the spot and we ended up renting two tourist MPVs from the Santubong Resort to send us to the airport.

The crazy things didn't end there. When I arrived at the airport (we traveled in 4 different vehicles), one van was missing. After several phonecalls, it was revealed that the petrol station attendant has mistakenly pumped petrol into the diesel-engined van, and will need a mechanic to assist in flushing out the mixed fuel. If you think things couldn't get worse, the mechanic's car broke down on the way to the petrol station. Just managed to check-in everyone but one of our two flights got delayed for an hour and a half (WTF?). We finally get to gather back at the office in KL and reload our equipment at 3am, and then headed straight to Ipoh.

Arrived at Ipoh approximately 5.30am on Tuesday, we’ve got about half an hour to refresh before we began work. Several hours into the job we realized that a baggage was missing from our loading. My colleagues in KL spent an hour or so searching through the office while we ransacked our hotel rooms to find it but to no avail. Finally, we had to get someone to drive all the way to the LCCT and what do you know, the missing baggage was left unclaimed outside the airport.

The assignment in Ipoh ended at 4pm Wednesday, and after a late lunch we departed back to KL. Heavy rain in the city didn't help and after dropping off my colleague at the office I reached home at 9pm for a quick shower and repack my luggage. A burger Ramli was enough for dinner and 10.30pm we began our journey to Kuantan. By the time everyone arrived at Kuantan town it was already 3.30am Thursday.

Work started at 6.30am, and for once everything went without any shortcomings. The assignment finished at 3pm and we got into our cars sped back to KL. Again, heavy rain slowed the journey and lunch was at 5pm in Karak, before reaching KL around 7pm. We finished reshuffling the equipment for Saturday’s event and went home around 9pm that Friday.

Saturday’s work began at 5.30am and it was a breeze handling this job after 7 days of constant traveling (and quite a distance too I may add). Finally got everything wrapped up by Sunday 1am and went home to sleep.

During the entire trip, there were also ongoing assignments back in KL beginning with the Friday before I depart to Kuching, and every single day thereafter until Saturday, hence the lack of manpower. Not forgetting that the office and retail shops were practically open for 24 hours that week as there were night shifts as well.

For all the hectic scheduling, I guess I will have to thank whoever that has prayed that everything went smoothly and well. No major incidents happened and despite all the late night traveling and lack of sleep everyone are safe and sound, and still coming to work these few days with no hints of H1N1 infections (touch wood) despite being in contact with over 15,000 graduating students all over Malaysia during this period of time.

As for me, I slept the entire Sunday and woke up at 7pm for dinner, and slept all the way until this morning.

hangover...

2009-08-01T14:53:00.003+08:00

Couldn't really pull myself out of the bed this morning. If it wasn't for some smart client who calls on a Saturday morning, I think I'd be spending the entire day tucked nicely in my bed.

Haven't had any off days for quite some time, and considering that KL's traffic condition to be static today it meant I'm able to stay at home instead of going to work. And also had a good night out last night.

Ministry of Sound was celebrating Juice's 7th birthday with a party called "Future So Bright" on the 31st July, but to be honest the real attraction was the free flow of Chivas between 9pm-11pm. Though not a fan of liquor, I didn't pass the chance to attend especially since it's been some time I've gone out clubbing. And also because a big number of my primary school friends will be having a good gathering there as well.

Upon arrival, it turned out to be a major disappointment when news broke out from some of my friends who're already inside that every patron is limited to only two glasses of Chivas (heck, that's a major fraud case), and the long queue didn't help. In the end we hopped over to Coco Banana instead.

Coco Banana was expectedly less happening, but within an hour the crowd started moving over from MOS, and quite a few complained being duped by the 'free flow liquor' adverts, coupled with boring fashion shows (??) being the main agenda of the night.

It was the first time I met several of my long lost friends, definitely over a decade since I saw them. Clubs aren't really the best place to sit down and catch up on our pasts, apart from a few small chats everyone were basically dancing all night long and boy, aren't they serial clubbers. ;)

2-3 glasses of liquor was okay. 4-5 glasses, still good. 12 glasses within 2 hours? Well, I'm surprised that even with a dozen glasses of Chivas I'm still sober, although to be very honest had I stayed on for another glass I'd be puking all over the place. I'd have to thank the lady for having a seminar early morning today, that was a good excuse to leave early (1.30am is considered pretty early for them).

Took a shower and hit the sack immediately after I reached home, and I couldn't really do anything but lie straight on the bed, at that moment any movements could've triggered my 'puke' action. A double dose of paracetamol in the morning helped little to ease the headache.

I'm still wondering why do people enjoy getting wasted. I certainly don't. But I do enjoy catching up with old friends though.

weekend plans...

2009-07-17T14:52:00.003+08:00

Since my last post, I have been traveling non-stop again, and for a change, come this Sunday it's exactly one week that I've managed to remain within Klang Valley.

The workload didn't lighten though.

Must be some sort of miracle that in the midst of my busiest season, nothing major falls on the date of my birthday this coming Sunday and I will be able to spend some quality time at home. And a dinner plan arranged by The Lady. :)

Nic is back from US and suggested a BBQ session on Saturday night, which will be extremely late considering that both The Lady and I are working our socks off till night, so by the time we start burning up the food it'll most probably past midnight. No problems for Nic and Jacky, as both are attending the Man Utd - Malaysia football friendly match at Bukit Jalil (hmm, I wonder if Nic's back in M'sia just for the game).

Nonetheless, I'm happy to have a decent break from work this weekend, even though for only a day.

on the road...

2009-06-24T11:49:00.004+08:00

16 June

0700hrs - Depart from KL to Tanjung Malim to pick up a colleague.

1100hrs - Depart from Tanjung Malim to Penang for an appointment.

1400hrs - Meeting in Penang that lasted 2 hours, late lunch followed.

1700hrs - Depart from Penang to Kota Bharu.

2330hrs - Arrive at Kota Bharu.

17 June

0730hrs - Work till evening.

1830hrs - Got back to hotel for shower, dinner and sleep.

18 June

0500hrs - Got up for work.

1400hrs - Job assignment in Kota Bharu over. Depart to Alor Setar.

1730hrs - Dinner somewhere near Temenggor Lake.

2100hrs - Arrive Butterworth for light meals.

2330hrs - Arrive at Alor Setar.

19 June

0500hrs - Got up for work.

1400hrs - Job assignment over. Depart to Tanjung Malim.

1700hrs - Arrive Tanjung Malim. Depart to KL.

1900hrs - Arrive KL. Preparations for next assignment.

2130hrs - Arrive home.

20 June

0630hrs - Got up for work.

1830hrs - Job assignment over.

2130hrs - Meet up with friends for a drink in The Curve.

+0130hrs - Arrive home.

21 June

Rest

22 June

Standard working hours.

23 June

0500hrs - Got up for work.

0600hrs - Depart to Jerantut.

0900hrs - Meeting for 4 hours.

1300hrs - Depart to KL.

1630hrs - Arrive KL.

Coming assignments:-

Penang 27-29 June

Pardon me for neglecting the blog at the moment.

exhausted...

2009-06-05T17:21:00.002+08:00

This year has been somewhat different from previous years. Work-wise.

In previous years, I would've gone off at least once on vacation outside Malaysia by June. With a different working schedule/season this time around, I find myself having quite some difficulty taking long leaves from work.

Prior to 2009, the first half of the year always seemed a little more relaxed with few major assignments, and I'll have most weekends to myself. This year, my work has started as early as February, and there have been a healthy stream of commitments that tied me down, and as a result, I failed to plan for any holidays until today.

Going back to my record, I have taken only 2-days leave in the past 6 months, and almost every other weekend there is an assignment.

Honestly, I don't think it's good for me mentally. My performance have obviously been compromised, and this isn't something I expected. These days, I can actually feel like 'floating' when walking about, easily more forgetful of recent incidents, at times very moody and passive, and I can't imagine myself doing something very productive the moment I step into the office.

Even blogging seems like hard work to me nowadays.

i'm leaving on a jetplane, don't know when i'll be back again...

2009-05-28T20:54:00.004+08:00

You know, back when I was younger I wished that I will get a job that takes me to different places all the time.

While there wasn't any guarantee of this when I joined the company, there has been a lot of outstation and overseas assignments for the past year or so, and it seemed all rosy to travel around as part of my job then.

About a year later, I begin to feel a little tired of traveling.

I still enjoy traveling mind you, but there has been way too much of non-stop journeys all over the country to my liking; occasionally overseas, and I'm starting to feel like puking at the sight of highways and airports.

My job has brought me to Sg Petani, Penang, Ipoh, Tanjung Rambutan, Seremban, Kuantan, Marang Kuala Terengganu, Kota Bharu, Tawau, Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan in the past 6 months, and for majority of the above-mentioned places I've been there at least 2-3 times. And then there's Singapore and Hong Kong as well, although I can't complain for getting some exposure outside the country.

Apart from work, vacations in recent years have brought me to Phuket, Bangkok, Butterworth, Gopeng, Malacca, Muar and Johor Bahru.

While the experience is good; the vacations are generally relaxing too, spending so many hours driving or sitting in ultra-cramped seats of Airasia planes is beginning to look dreadful.

Even more on trips when you depart in the morning and return at night.

The long hours on the highway.

Hours of waiting at the terminal.

Every hour spent to travel from home to the LCCT or KLIA.

And back from there.

I just came back from Sandakan on Monday night for a one-day trip. Before that I just came back from Penang on Sunday night. And I'll be flying off again to Kota Bharu next Tuesday. Then coming back on the same day.

And at the moment the routine doesn't look to be ending anytime soon.

old blog...

2009-05-08T17:52:00.006+08:00

As days pass by, I find myself harder and harder to post anything meaningful in this blog.

Maybe it's because everything that happens from day to day is getting more and more routine, or perhaps I'm getting lazier to elaborate on the events that has happened to me in recent times.

Take for example, last weekend. Sharon and I went to Lee Hom's Musicman Live Concert in Malaysia. It was a surprise early birthday gift for her. We took quite a lot of pictures, lots of laughs, lots of wonderful songs. Suppose I have a lot of things to blog about the concert.

But I can't find anything to blog about.

We had a good time. Yeah. But to blog about a concert?

I'm no longer 20.

I feel like I no longer have the energy to write passionately like how I used to several years back.

Why is that? I honestly don't know. Apart from these 'tired-' and 'lazy-' looking posts, I can't find the energy to write with an oompth about anything.

I'm mentally tired. And my way of writing certainly reflects it. I realize that too at the time of typing, and I'm sure readers are feeling somewhat tired reading these posts. Shessh, even the title of the post makes people feel sleepy.

I'm old. In blog years. I may still be enjoying many more happening events in real life, but I can no longer write a post that will carry a big influence in anything.

And honestly, I don't feel bad about it.

dead tired, yet awake...

2009-04-27T17:43:00.003+08:00

It has been a while since my last post, in fact I'm quite surprised myself that I actually have a little time to spare today to write a couple of lines (or more) here.

For the past 4 days, I have accumulated about 15 hours of sleep due to work commitment. That works out to be approximately 4 hours a night. Although I was scheduled to be off from work yesterday, that didn't stop me from getting calls from Kelantan and also some stuff I brought home to work with. Which by the way, I am seriously annoyed that some Kelantanese don't know that Sundays are actually NOT working days in the Federal Territory and Petaling Jaya! Do you really have to make a call at 9.00am on a Sunday morning to talk about work?!

Anyway, it was dead tiring that by Saturday night I was getting all grumpy and easily pissed off. Not just me but all my colleagues as well. But strangely I have no problem staying awake at work for the past few days. In fact I think I gained some weight as well. I blame it on my poor digestion system which was affected by lack of sleep and couldn't recover as fast as I consume my meals. ; )

Anyway, after a hectic morning of post-convocation matters to settle, things seem to have slowed down and the working pace isn't as aggresive like the past few days.

I'm worshipping the man who invented Labour's Day. That must be the only day in my calendar where I can totally switch off from work.

I'm going to sculpture a little statue figurine of that man and place it somewhere in my room and pray to it everyday for giving me a total break from work.

I'll probably send him an email and tell him that he rocks.

reminder...

2009-04-06T18:32:00.003+08:00

Reminder to self: Don't forget the aims. Don't forget the goals.

Going to work five days a week (or in my case, occasionally seven days a week), it's quite easy to sometimes getting a little bit too comfortable and forget to push myself to achieve what I can possibly achieve within my limitation. It's easy to take my foot of the pedal at times, especially so when the bed and air-cond looking so tempting, the relaxation of doing nothing but watching television and lazing around at home, or all those luxuries in life.

I hate to admit that I am someone that needs a kick in the butt to get things going, but I guess fact is I am. Occasionally life gets a bit too comfortable and suddenly you lose the drive to strive.

Man, and I'm only just about to step into the second quarter of a century old.

Reminder to self: Remember to remind self when all seems a bit too rosy. Life is not that way, all that's worth having doesn't come easy, and don't expect them to.

earth hour: the aftermath...

2009-03-29T02:52:00.007+08:00

This must be the first time I blog twice in short a short duration of time.

So the Earth Hour's over, what next?

I know I get a lot of flak for not 'participating' our country's Earth Hour between 8.30-9.30pm earlier.

Make no mistakes, kudos to all those who successfully switched off all electrical devices and whatever that can help preserve energy during that hour. Good job there.

But again, how many of you turned on the lights, fans, airconds, computers and televisions IMMEDIATELY after the clock struck 9.30pm?

So you think your ONE hour contribution to help fight global warming is enough reason to critisize my decision not to turn off my lights for that ONE particular hour? Wow, one hour experience as an environmentalist and suddenly everyone have the rights to judge and condemn.

I think somewhere along the line, I have done some part in helping to preserve energy despite doing the opposite during this certain hour, but again the reactions I received convinced me that many in our country did not get the 'true' message behind the Earth Hour.

For those who think that they've practically saved the world and humankind just because they did a good thing for ONE hour yesterday, I've nothing else to say other than 'Congratulations'. If you're content that you've done a great job for one hour to help fight global warming, go on and continue patting yourself on the back.

I know no matter how much I do, I will never do enough to help save earth.

earth hour looming...

2009-03-28T20:37:00.004+08:00

Minutes to go and we're entering the official 'Earth Hour'.

Am I participating in switching off my lights?

No.

Not that I don't support the cause. But just my personal opinion though, I think people around are taking advantage of the marketing gimmick more than supporting its real cause.

Look and read around. People are calling to turn off the lights for one hour to help save our earth. Get real. Do you think ONE single hour is enough to save the earth? People are jumping on the ship because it's the latest fad. Everyone's getting excited because they are hyping it up as a 'happening' event. How many are actually doing their part to spread the message and create awareness?

It's a good cause, but I think the approach was wrong. I hate to say it but when I see local celebrities being engaged to promote this 'earth hour' without knowing the true cause, I feel like it's a joke. Real bad one.

This isn't about this ONE bloody hour without lights. It's about fighting global warming, and it requires effort way bigger than joining in the party turning off the lights for ONE hour. If anything it's a mockery to those genuine enviromentalists.

Do something for the rest of the year to save the earth rather than shouting like you care just because it's the 'in' thing today.

pot.kettle.black...

2009-03-22T13:46:00.003+08:00

Haha, recently I've been observing regularly the scenario above, and boy, does that happen often in our daily lives.

I don't know, most probably I do that too myself at times, but it's a real eye-opener to see how everyone seemingly to be so objective with their criticism but failed to reflect themselves at the mirror. And to be honest, I find it pretty annoying and a whole load of hypocrisy.

And yet, I could be doing it myself.

Hahahahaha, human nature. There's so much to learn about humanity we'll never learn enough in our lifetime.

ray of light...

2009-03-22T01:26:00.004+08:00

Former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch scored two to beat Everton.

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy scored from the penalty spot to down Man Utd.

Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney sent off and will miss their next match against Aston Villa.

Luka Modric scored the only goal in the slim win against Chelsea.

So far it has been a good weekend, up to Saturday that is.

Liverpool to play Aston Villa tomorrow night. Let's see if the Reds will shoot themselves on the foot again or not.

guess who just gave birth?

2009-03-13T13:04:00.007+08:00

Quills just gave birth to another litter of hoglets yesterday. Not surprisingly though, I was expecting the delivery date to be within this week anyway.

But the wonderful news is, this time Quills gave birth to 5 hoglets!

Didn't expect to have so big a number in one delivery.

It's actually the first time I managed to see how the hoglets look like in their first day of birth, the previous time I was away for work in Sabah and missed the first 4 days of their lives, how they grow up from day to day.

And my other half jokes that this time around, I'll get to spend a full 2 weeks with them, considering she's going away for training starting from next Monday. ; )

Although my schedule has been pretty tight lately, at least I'll get to monitor their growth from day to day until the hoglets are big enough to be handled.

Hope to see some difference in colours this batch, and perhaps a pure white or two. : )

the day liverpool tore madrid apart...

2009-03-11T13:44:00.003+08:00

Despite the title of the post, I honestly think it was a flattering scoreline. Too flattering in fact.

4-0.

Who would've thought this match will end with such scoreline?

Anyway, even with the four goals (one invalid penalty with the lousy linesman's error), Liverpool looked comfortable for only about an hour of the match. From then onwards, it was all Real Madrid, and if they have half the luck, Raul could've scored a few to make the final score more realistic.

Reina had a great match and saved all the shots coming towards the goalmouth, and the backline was immensely compact. Arbeloa must be drifting in wonderland though towards the end as his flank was constantly exposed, but credit to Aurelio for upping his tempo and contributing so much in the match.

Mascherano must be desperate for attention, he was all over the pitch. In fact, he was so dominating I didn't realize Alonso was playing at all until the Spaniard got substituted. Thumbs up for the Argentinian captain's performance, Liverpool will miss his presence in the next round with the automatic one-match ban for kicking the ball away.

Babel showed character in this match, and for all the hype of him being a selfish player, he actually created two goals directly. Something to praise, and hopefully he will come to realize that not all heroes score the goal, the assists are just as important.

Finally, the combination of Gerrard and Torres when both are fit: Awesome.

I'd like to know what was going through Cannavaro's mind when he was left hanging in the middle of nowhere as Torres deftly flicked the ball past him three minutes into the match. Must've shat his pants when Torres just strolled past him there, classic.

Another important game over, and next comes Man Utd at Old Trafford. Would love to see Liverpool put up a decent challenge against the Devils, although I think it would do little to alter the outcome of the title race.

words don't hurt me...

2009-03-06T16:49:00.002+08:00

I may not be the best one to explain everything regarding property investments, but I will have to concede that at times, the more I explain the more futile it gets. Especially when the people around find it easier to knock down my idea rather than take seriously why I do things the way I do.

Is property investment risky? From a common point of view, yes it probably is. To start investing in property one may consider having tens of thousands cash to begin with, down-payments, legal fees, bank loans, insurance and stuff. You only need to make ONE mistake in property investment to earn you a one-way ticket to hell.

But me being me, I’d like to think it’s a complete opposite from the general perception of high-risk.

Yes, many have told me that I’m gambling with this. At my age it’s easy for people to assume that I do not know what I’m doing. It’s too convenient for people to make sweeping statements when somebody my age talks about property investment.

It really irks me at times, especially so when someone 10-20 years my senior makes degrading remarks of me ‘pretending to be smart without much substance or investments’.

Does it hurt? I’d be lying if I say I don’t. But I guess over time I’ve come to realize that I’m not doing this to prove anything to others, but to protect myself financially for my future.

Besides, me playing with fire? Serious shit? Nobody; who knows me personally; takes me as a risk-taker all my life, and believe me, I am not still.

Lucky?

When I’ve gone through months of extensive research on the area’s development past, present and future, its population, capital appreciation or depreciation, prospects, yields, browsing through endless legal documentations and exploitations, continuous scouting, surveying and negotiations, seeking professional advices in both banking and legal, thorough discussions with investors, and countless other efforts probably not worth mentioning?

Me being lucky is a fantastic analysis for the lazy.

Well, then again, maybe I am lucky.

Like what some people say: the harder you try, the luckier you get.

misfortune...

2009-02-27T14:58:00.003+08:00

Yay, I've been slapped with a summon for illegally obstructing the driveway.

Time to strike 4D toto lottery, whatever they call it.

connaught avenue...

2009-02-23T12:59:00.005+08:00

My first brush of shoulders with Connaught Avenue's developer, Akisama Enterprise, was back in late 2006 when I visited their show unit for Kuchai Avenue. I was pretty impressed with their finishings and pricing, especially that the locations they acquired are usually pretty strategic.

And when I saw a banner erected at Jalan Cheras on their latest development, Connaught Avenue Service Apartments, I decided to visit the show unit to take a peek at what they have to offer this time.

To put it briefly, Connaught Avenue is located beside Econsave and will take up the location which currently The Challenger Futsal Centre sits. A leasehold land with 99 years (starting from 2009), with a total land area of 8.66 acres, more than half of the land taken up by 2-storey shop-lots that will be completed together in end of 2011.

One thing unique about Akisama's residential properties is that they always come up with only one type of lay-out, regardless of how many units there are. Connaught Avenue will have 385 units of service aparments spread in two blocks, which makes it about 193 units per block. Having stayed in D'aman Ria with over 400 units in a single block, personally I think this will be quite low in density.

I've always been impressed with what Akisama offers together with the units they sell, back then when I visited Kuchai Avenue, they were selling at RM15X,XXX per unit of 935sf, inclusive of fully furnished bathrooms and 2x2 tiles. I visited the show unit pretty late, and at that time there were only 2 units left, and they even offered 2 units of air-conds to close the deal. Let's just say I passed the offer and now I live to regret the decision. ; )

Anyway, last weekend was Connaught Avenue's soft launch, and it was already Sunday when I finally went, and boy their sales certainly impressed me. Soft launch for the first block with about 190 units, 70% were already taken up by the time I reached (around 1 noon).

What not, with their starting price of RM180,500 for a 950sf unit, I'd say it's pretty affordable especially since it's in a location with mature residential lands surrounding it. And to top the offer, the bathrooms come fully furnished together with plaster ceiling, and now they include built-in wardrobes for all three bedrooms and the kitchen cabinets! Not forgetting that the maintenance fee is 0.13 cents per sf, that adds up to less than RM140 monthly including the sinking fee (which btw, will be waived for the first two years).

I'll leave it to your decision whether this is going to be a good development or not. I have my opinions, but I'd rather listen to others on how they see Connaught Avenue.

: )

confusion...

2009-02-19T15:05:00.004+08:00

I'm trying very hard to find flaws in common financing packages, I'm sure there's a common practice amongst investors where they get to finance properties 100% but in reality the loan agreement says 90% margin of finance in black and white. The banker values your property higher than the transacted price, and the bank approves 90% loan according to the bank's valuation.

But considering that the bank will require all the necessary documentations of the transaction and SPA, how on earth do one get away with the inflated price to acquire a higher loan amount than he/she is supposed to get?

Even if this works, how do we claim the extra cash from the bank when they help you to pay off to the vendor? Doesn't the money go straight to the vendor? If not, then do the bank transfer the loan to your own account? Which didn't really happen during my first experience in properties. So how does the money go about here?

And if it's a common practice, do the loan packages include zero entry cost, or just plain loans for the property value? If the package can include the likes of MRTA and such, then surely the loan wouldn't be the exact '90%' but higher. So how does the bank calculate the loan amount when the transacted price is totally flawed on purpose in the first place?

I must've missed something very important along the way. Surely there's a way to explain all these.

I hate it when something bothers me this much.

valentine's home-made dinner...

2009-02-17T12:59:00.013+08:00

Well, considering that a close friend is having his wedding dinner on Valentine's this year, we've brought forward our Valentine's plans to Friday night.

And considering that the lady of the night is under strict diet control following consultations with her colleagues, we ended up cooking our own Valentine's dinner.

Which wasn't so bad.

Grilled Salmon with tartar sauce

Campbell's cream of mushroom

Black pepper grilled chicken with bacon

Mirinda's orange

While wedding is a good excuse to skip a fancy restaurant dinner outside, to be honest Valentine Dinner sets are always a cut-throat to your pocket. A dinner like the above could've cost us like, what, RM300++?

It was a good dinner at home on the eve of Valentine's, which we both think was spent pretty well.

A very belated Happy Valentine's Day to all!

bye bye hoglets...

2009-02-16T16:03:00.005+08:00

Well, I was supposed to blog about my Valentine dinner, or ZH's wedding, whichever, but unfortunately the camera's not with me and the photo images are yet to be transferred to the computer, so I'm blogging about something else in the meantime.

On the night of ZH's wedding, someone called up and expressed serious interest in purchasing my last hedgehog on the same night, and after much hesitation (it's Valentine's Day and a close friend's wedding for Pete's sake!), I finally decided to have the deal done, and my last hoglet finally left to a new owner's home at 12.30am. : )

While I would say that breeding hedgehogs wouldn't really give you very good profit, at least it has covered up my expenses when I first started rearing. But anyway, it isn't really for all the money; nobody gets rich by breeding livestocks and selling them, personally it has been a wonderful 4 months I have had watching the hoglets grow from an inch long into the size of my palm. I'm just glad to find a hobby which can give me a little return in cash to be 'reinvested' to my hobby.

I've mated my pair of hedgehogs last week and hopefully this round, I'd be able to breed the mother's colour which didn't happen in the last batch of hoglets.

On a different topic, I've finally put the pen on paper for another investment, ending my 6-month monitoring and research, and three weeks of continuous negotiation. Now it's time to shift my attention to another location and begin the tedious works all over again.

Next post will be either Valentine's or ZH's wedding. : )

wedding bells on february 14...

2009-02-11T14:09:00.003+08:00

It's Valentine's Day this Saturday and I will officially NOT celebrate on February 14th. No thanks to my life-long brother's biggest day of his life.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Oh well, I can celebrate Valentine's a day earlier.

Anyway, this is going to be great experience, a church wedding in the city. I've never been to one before.

Okay, I lied. I've been to one before. But that's my lecturer's wedding which was held in the church she frequently attends. Which is located in a residential area. So it's different okay?

Back to the wedding, so it's going to be a double celebration every year from next year onwards. Anniversary on Valentine's huh? That's gonna be a bit corny, but hey, it saves the guy from having to remember another anniversary date, no? And one present for two celebrations.

That's cunningly smart. Sorry bro but I've exposed your plans here,.hahaha...

false alarm...

2009-02-04T11:07:00.003+08:00

Damn it, when things look like they're too good to be true, then it's too good to be true.

I guess it wasn't really heaven, just a pile of clouds in the sky.

Oh well, better luck next time.

CIMB's BLR drops today!

2009-02-03T13:32:00.004+08:00

And it's all great news!

Ah, it's like all the best things that can happen today happened!

I'm in heaven!

back from break...

2009-02-01T10:07:00.003+08:00

I'm back!

Well, yeah, something like that. So I was hanging out in Butterworth for the last few days (hence my disappearance from the cyberworld), and started my early morning drive back to KL at 4am just in case we get stuck in traffic, but the journey was pretty smooth all the way back home.

Supposed to take a nap now to regenerate, was up all night, but I guess it should be alright to drop a line here just before I hit the lights off.

Hope everyone had a terrific festive season for the past week, and get your ass back to work tomorrow! ;)

big fish...

2009-01-22T14:22:00.005+08:00

Came across an ad of a property priced at approximately 7% below market value on sale last month but after (very) much procrastination, the property was 'JUST' sold by the time I lift up the phone to make an enquiry.

Having studied the rental rates of similar properties, it's probably going to fetch about 9% rental yield, at least. Or better still, I've come across investors who's getting 12% for the same type of property.

Oh well, that's a big fish that escaped.

Anyway, I guess I'll need to be more alert next time, but it's gonna be hard considering that the BLR has dropped to 6.5%, with news that it's going further down in the coming months. Good news for current landlords, yay, bad news for slowpokes like me, nay...:(

baking day...

2009-01-19T18:41:00.016+08:00

Had a family baking day yesterday, not surprisingly, considering Chinese New Year's round the corner.

This will be more like a picture posts, so just enjoy the photos and spare the words!

Some of the ingredients of the Kerabu dish for dinner.

Our Kerabu's sauce. Yummy!

Egg yolk to apply on the biscuits.

Not sure what these 'fluffy' biscuits are called.

Sweet Almond biscuits.

Family favourite Pineapple Tarts.

Had some dough left and we've decided to make some themed-biscuits.

'Doggies' lining up in the line of fire.

They make pretty good gifts in a box.

"Crap, why do I have to be the bottom one?"

How would a tortoise biscuit look like when baked?

Hmm, pretty okay I guess, though the head's slightly deformed.

What about this blind old man?

Went for a hair-dye.

And finally, my favourite biscuit. How will it turn out to be?

Not too bad for a 'Hedgehog' biscuit. ;)

pancit...

2009-01-15T15:50:00.002+08:00

It's pretty much a norm in the last decade that Liverpool loses steam in later stages of an 8-month season.

Last night, Man Utd won 1-0 against former Liverpool man Emile Heskey's Wigan Athletics. As much as I hoped that Man Utd lose, it's apparent that they'll be able to grind out a victory no matter what. They always do, don't they?

Anyway, back to current standings, Liverpool are only leading at the top by 2 points, with Man Utd having played a game less. Winning against Bolton will see Man Utd topping the table and ahead of Liverpool by a point.

Heartwrenching?

Not really.

Not that I don't have any feelings about it, I'll be heck disappointed in fact, but in a way to summarize it better, it's not unexpected.

Liverpool have never got the steam to last the entire season for so many previous seasons, they either start up slow, or slowed down in the second half of the season. Plus, the many inconsistent displays throughout the seasons see them lose unnecessary points.

We went through some great moments during the turn of the new year, solid displays to thrash both Bolton and Newcastle, only to be let down by mediocre showings against Stoke. How did it happen?

This season looks more exciting than the previous years because, unexpectedly, all the top teams are dropping points at some stage in the course of the season. Man Utd started slow, Arsenal's choking here and there, and Chelsea in the midst of a crisis in confidence. Liverpool too, are having some major hiccups before Christmas, and it sure looks like we're going to have few more blips before the season ends.

But this is definitely one of the better seasons to watch in recent history. If there's a need to lower my expectations, I only hope that Liverpool will last the pace and be in contention for the league title in the last couple of matches.

That'll be some great finale.

hoglets all grown up...

2009-01-09T17:08:00.006+08:00

About 10 weeks ago, Quills gave birth to three little female hoglets.

Considering that the first mating session didn't work out, I was somewhat not expecting her to be pregnant during the second mating session when Cactus looked to be injured and there were stains of blood on the body less than 48 hours putting both of them together.

30 over days later on 21 Oct, while I was away in Tawau, I received an unexpected call from my girlfriend telling me that I've became a grandfather of three.

Last Tuesday, the first hoglet left for her new home.

The other two hoglets will soon follow suit when suitable buyers come along.

It has been a wonderful 10 weeks watching these few little 'rambutans' grow from the size of my thumb into the size of my palm.

Hope my hoglets will all end up with loving and caring owners, who'll be able to shower them with lots of affection!

2009...

2009-01-06T16:09:00.003+08:00

First...

post...

of...

the...

year.

And I'm back to work. Yay.

Alright, not to be too gloomy, but I've had a good 10 days break from work to be fair (although I did receive countless calls related to work in each of those days).

It's still pretty early to get back into shape (as a workaholic), what more the market is pretty quiet here in this field, and I can still afford to linger around during weekends.

Pretty quiet everywhere else too, wonder what's everyone up to these days?

my best friend's wedding...

2008-12-24T16:08:00.003+08:00

2008 is coming to an end, and I'm not gonna let the year pass by without a mention of my best friend's wedding. ; )

I must say this is one of my best moments in 2008, seeing a close friend for over 10 years, getting married. And for sure, this is the most memorable day for Ang and Pei Li.

A very belated Congratulations to Ang and Pei Li, and I hope you'll live happily ever after!

liverpool's early christmas gift...

2008-12-23T13:22:00.001+08:00

Well, what do you know.

Christmas is in a couple of days, and Liverpool are surprisingly STILL at the top of the league table.

One would’ve guessed Liverpool would be slumping down the table with two successive draws and with some dreaded displays of late, but then again who would’ve thought the rest of the big guns are having their patchy mid-season form on as well?

Chelsea is having some tough time themselves, and with John Terry now out for three matches during the festive season, that will surely be a major loss for the men in blue.

Arsenal are already choking all the way this season, and although nobody’s writing off anybody, I sincerely believe it’ll be a huge challenge for Arsene Wenger’s side to mount a credible climb up the pecking orders with the league getting so competitive now.

Man Utd may be having 2 extra games in hand, but that doesn’t mean there are 6 points in the pocket. They can be as close as 1 point behind Liverpool, but they can also be as far as 7 points away if results go our way. And let’s not forget Evra is having a lengthy ban himself, and he has been one of the most consistent performers in the Man Utd squad now.

And let’s not forget Aston Villa is making a statement to break into the Big Four stronghold, and at the moment they certainly look like they are more than capable to do so.

It’s a fun festive season this Christmas, and though Bolton and Newcastle aren’t totally pushovers, I certainly hope Liverpool will end 2009 top of the league, and it’ll be a bonus if we can pull away from the chasing pack. ;)

Merry Christmas everybody!

december...

2008-12-15T13:55:00.004+08:00

I would really liked to blog about my friend's and my brother's wedding in these past week, but until today I still can't find myself capable of reaching to my home PC and download some photos into it. And well, to be honest, I am kinda in a rush to finish up all the pending jobs I'm currently holding, and then take a week off work (and home too) for a breather.

First weekend in December:
At work, followed by Ang's wedding.

Second weekend in December:
My brother's wedding. And it's pretty stressful to be the punching bag of many stressful people around you.

Third weekend in December:
Which is this coming weekend, my girlfriend had planned a river-rafting trip near Gua Tempurung with my ol' housemates and uni friends, and then perhaps going to the hot-spring in Sungkai as well.

Fourth weekend in December:
Right after Christmas, my girlfriend's mom and sis will be visiting KL, and will spend the entire week off from work and home too. Well, I had to since there'll always be traces of work back at home I have run away in order to escape from work!

can the reds stay top?

2008-12-06T21:25:00.002+08:00

I've never seen Liverpool leading the table so many months into a season and as far as I'm concerned, this may well be one season that we can finally be challenging for the title.

I don't really want to set the expectations too high so I won't be disappointed come end of the season next May, but to watch the current Liverpool team play is pretty much all the joy since the team has proved to be able to play some beautiful football at par with Arsenal and Man Utd. Of course, grinding out results and points along the way make the games more enjoyable too. ;)

And on top of everything, the team actually looks like they are not playing up to their best yet, Keane hasn't got into any sort of goal-scoring act, Torres in-and-out with injuries, inconsistent fullbacks of Dossena and Aurelio, long-term injury to Skrtel, and Mascherano looked like he's quite jaded after going for the Olympic games. So how good can this team be when everyone's back and hitting form? I don't know, but I'm excited if the team gets to show the entire league what they're capable of.

Blackburn up next without a win in their last 9 games. Let's see how Liverpool will cope with this physical side and make a statement.

It's a great season to watch Liverpool play, and it's a great month to catch plenty of matches!

it's been a long time...

2008-11-16T15:22:00.002+08:00

What do you know, after 12 years and we're still in touch.

VSG, truly second to none. Hahahaha...:)

welcome to the world...

2008-11-02T18:36:00.004+08:00

Welcome to the world, little ones...

The three little hoglets, 10-days old.

Aren't they cute little buggers?

while i was away...

2008-10-25T17:36:00.002+08:00

Hmm, I guess nothing much happened back here. Almost didn't make it back home to KL after I lost my temporary visa slip. Luckily the immigration officers were a bit lenient and let me off with a warning.

Oh, and while I was away? My hedgehog gave birth to three beautiful hoglets. :)

Can't believe I missed the first few days of the babies growing up, and with nobody at home knowing what to do with them!

Finally got to see them tucked nicely in the hidebox sleeping late yesterday night when I finally reached home, and thankfully all hoglets and the mom are safe and healthy. I guess when the mommy hedgehog gets less protective I'll be able to take several photos of the 'rambutans' (as my family calls them) to be uploading into this blog. :P

travel-mania...

2008-10-17T22:00:00.001+08:00

It has been quite a hectic couple of months for me, in the past few weeks I've been traveling to Seremban, Kuantan, Penang, Kuantan, Penang, Penang and Ipoh, for the following week I'll be going to Tawau and then Kota Kinabalu, before going back to Ipoh again next month.

Traveling around has always been something which I enjoyed, but when it's for work, it wrecks the mood. Sometimes, that is. And the mental torture of pre- and post-paperwork, calls, production and planning, some strands of white hair will soon come popping up.

Will be working full-day tomorrow and will again be back in office on Sunday for preparations before I board a flight to Tawau next Monday.

So the blog will remain dormant again for quite some time, hahaha...

ugly side of me...

2008-10-06T23:14:00.003+08:00

Don't really know what happened yesterday. I guess the bad mood really got into my head and did some damage.

Anyway, it was a bit uncharacteristic of me to blow my fuse and lost my temper in the way I did, and apologies to everyone at the receiving end of my 'not very nice' words.

I guess my mind's clearer today and I was acting a bit too foolishly to be a cause of concern for many.

I'll learn to take things easy and take control of my life. Life is too precious to be wasted the way I did yesterday.

finally back...

2008-09-18T17:20:00.002+08:00

Well, what do you expect, the only reason I actually write a post today is because I finally fall ill and took the day off.

But that doesn't mean I'm off work. It's just that I'm working from home today. Countless phone calls. And a little bit of traveling. Twice.

So much for a day which I'm supposed to rest at home. I'm starting to feel that I won't be able to really have a proper day off anymore.

26 and counting...

2008-08-15T22:15:00.003+08:00

26 days since I last have an off-day.

21 days more to go before my next day off.

Woohoo...

6 colleagues have gone down with illness and took MCs in the past fortnight and I'm still feeling relatively healthy (or at least that's what my brain is telling me).

Come on, 3 weeks to go, I know I can make it...

my first nuffnang ringgit...

2008-08-12T19:21:00.003+08:00

After about like, 2-3 months putting Nuffnang's ad in my blog, I finally registered the first ringgit earned through CTR!

Okay, so it's only RM1, but then again, my blog is finally making money for me. Although it's only enough to buy me a glass of herbal tea in a chinese kopitiam, I'm optimistic that somewhere in the near future I'll be able to withdraw my first official 'pay' from Nuffnang once I hit RM50, so I guess I have a good reason to continue blogging well.

On another note, went to the tailor yesterday to make myself a matching suit and trousers for my brother's wedding end of the year. I'm gonna be like, RM900 poorer before end of the month, but on the other hand, I guess I have got my dress code ready for the many wedding invitations starting from next month. Hmm, minus my brother's, there like one, two, three, FOUR weddings I'll be attending from next month onwards till next February.

I can actually FEEL that age is finally catching up.

can't wait for the new season to start...

2008-08-08T12:29:00.002+08:00

It's 12.30 on a Friday afternoon and I'm blogging during my lunchtime. How sad is that? Anyway, it's been too hectic lately and I seriously need some time off work.

Back to the title, the Barclays Premier League will begin in a short several weeks' time, and to liven things up, I'm engaging the polls by Nuffnang for the first time in my blog, 'where will Liverpool Football Club end up this coming season?'

Rafa Benitez has acquired quite a decent number of players in Andrea Dossena (jersey No. 2), Philip Degen (27), Robbie Keane (7), David Ngog (24) and Diego Cavalieri (1), while Harry Kewell and Peter Crouch were the only notable departures during the pre-season, while Leto leaves for Olympiakos on a season-long loan.

Possibly more signings as well, Gareth Barry's transfer saga looks to be concluding soon, but it may signal the end of the Anfield road for a few reds, sacrificed to fund the likely Barry transfer.

On top of that, watching the friendlies so far, several youngsters have been showing promising displays with the likes of Daniel Pacheco, Stephen Darby, Jay Spearing, Emiliano Insua, Damien Plessis and Krisztian Nemeth grabbing some spotlights when the regulars were rested.

While Chelsea signed several top class players, Man Utd and Arsenal don't seem to be very active in the transfer window this time around, although make no mistakes the teams are still filled with quality in every position.

Perhaps this will be Rafa Benitez's make or break season, but how well will he do, and where will he bring Liverpool, up or down?

18 days and counting...

2008-08-07T21:24:00.002+08:00

It is now officially 18 days since my last off-day. 30 days to go before I get to have another off-day.

Dang. Feels like my productivity rate has plummeted drastically in the past week.

And I now can't tell the days of the week because everyday feels the same.

This is not good.

overtime...

2008-08-03T23:35:00.002+08:00

All my off-days for the month of August had been frozen, so I'll be working 7 days/week for the next few weeks. Don't be surprised to see less of me online these days, it's going to be all work, work and work only to look forward to at the time being.

Plus overtime too.

I'm getting easily irritated recently, too stressed and lacking adequate sleep. Life, at this moment, sucks to the max.

changes...

2008-07-25T23:25:00.003+08:00

I had lunch together with two of my ex-coursemates and a senior from my university days (all furthering studies after their degrees) yesterday, we briefly chatted about everything we used to talk about back when we were still studying. I haven't seen them for several months, and seriously it's a bit embarassing that once we joined the workforce I don't really take time offs to catch up with old friends.

Today, I received a message through facebook from one of them. He said I don't look as cheerful as before. He said I looked like a matured man.

Work stress? I don't know. I still have that crazy, wacky and crappy side inside of me, I think, but yeah, perhaps age is catching up.

I miss the old me. When will this other side of me show up again?

bad morning...

2008-07-22T10:18:00.002+08:00

Start off the day by receiving an early phone call from my bank stating that there have been some over-withdrawal and I need to make a fund transfer to my current account before 10am. My account has been pretty messed up recently as the fundraising, company claims and my parents are all using the my same account, it's pretty hard to track all the transactions and I finally got punished for bad management.

We didn't suscribe any internet services in our PJ home, and I couldn't settle the problem online through my e-account.

I rushed back to the office to transfer the fund online and arrived at 9.30am only to find out that the office's network has been down. Immediately I rushed to the nearest bank to make a contra. But due to a newbie at the counter who has no idea how to transfer funds from a savings account to a current account, the transaction was only completed 5 minutes after 10.

As if it's not bad enough, I came back to the office to find the network working fine, browsed my e-account and found that I've been penalized RM100.00 for the late fund transfer.

And bloody hell I wasted my petrol and sleep as well.

Need to settle down a little and manage my time properly I guess. It's been a hectic month of July and there's 9 more days to go, hopefully I'll get through the month in one piece.

testing times...

2008-07-18T01:07:00.002+08:00

I intended to update here a couple of days back, but again something came up and I don't really have the time.

To be honest, lately, especially the last 2-3 weeks, I felt that I am completely drowned in my jobs and there are times where I wonder if 24 hours in a day is really enough, because there's just so much things to do.

It's like what I already said, second half of the year will always be busier than the first, and with the current economy not looking so good, there are just too many reasons why I should spend more time doing something more beneficial than blogging. Which is sad, really, because life like this sucks.

But I guess these days we don't really have any options, do we?

Many thanks to our country's government for making my life miserable. You never fail to disappoint me.

introducing cactus & quills...

2008-06-27T22:29:00.005+08:00

I have promised to upload photos of my hedgehogs and after a little effort, ehem... I proudly present to you, Cactus & Quills!

Cactus

Cactus is the male hedgehog I brought back home in March from a home breeder. He has good temperaments and can fall asleep on anyone's lap. Picky eater, but will snap up mealworms when in sight! Cactus is the more 'athletic' one between the two hedgehogs I have, he'll make sure he gets enough exercise by running in the wheels every night (and leaves his poop all over the wheel). Cactus also likes to get his head stuck inside a toilet paper roll and bang around. ;) Quite a clumsy hedgehog, always tumbling around in his cage.

Quills

Quills was brought back roughly 2 weeks ago. She is considered quite grumpy and would rather be left alone in her cage, but once she gets outside she'll wander off very fast. Quills' rather friendly and tame when you have food in your hands, she'll come to you uninvited. ;) A bit on the plump side as she doesn't really know what to do with the wheels, the only thing she plays with is the bell ball which she keeps knocking around late at night.

Will need to take some time to study their behaviours, these two young hedgehogs are wonderful pets to have, and I learn new things about them as days go by. Honestly, hedgehogs are not suitable pets for many people because they're solitary animals, you don't get to play with them daily like dogs or cats, and they are unlikely to show any sort of emotions. But once you get to know each of their personalities, you'll fall in love with them. :)

bangkok day 2...

2008-06-25T21:57:00.018+08:00

Continued from here.

Woke up pretty early on the second day and headed for breakfast in the guesthouse's lounge. After that we took a short walk to the Sala Daeng BTS Skytrain which is like 5 minutes away from where we stayed.

Patpong during daytime.

Funny to see how many shops with Japanese names along the streets of Patpong, I didn't even notice that when we arrived. It's like a mini Japanese Street here.

BTS Skytrain. Way more efficient than Malaysia's LRT.

We decided to go to Pratunam Market which is, according to the map, located quite near the Phaya Thai Station.

Apparently we got it wrong.

Took us more than half an hour's walk from the station to the market (under the hot sun), we swore that we won't take anything other than taxi to return later.

Streets in Pratunam Market.

Pratunam Market is a place where you'll find plenty of tailors selling custom-made working blouses, pants, or old folks' attires. We initially thought we could get some decent buys here but sadly we got that wrong. The stuff sold here are just not our styles. But that didn't stop me from getting a pair of jeans at 300Baht (RM30) though!

The famous Jay Puy.

After spending the entire morning & noon in Pratunam, we headed back to the guesthouse for a short rest before proceeding to China Town.

We got to China Town close to evening hours, and once we stepped out of the taxi we went straight to the much talked-about Jay Puy, rice served with thick kaeng karii, a chinese-style curry. You can almost certainly miss the stall if you're not paying attention, simply because the curry stall doesn't look like they're doing business.

In fact, you don't even see tables anywhere. Everyone either sit on plastic stools holding up your plate of curry rice or you just tapao and leave. There's a variety of curries available, but we again chose the one most people ordered, the thick pork curry with potato.

Yummy!

Suffice to say, it's by far the best meal we've had in Bangkok throughout our 4-day stay.

Mr Cowboy preparing pork satays.

That, and the pork satays where you can find almost everywhere in Bangkok. They all taste the same, which is simply delicious!!

And they're only at 10Baht (RM1) per stick!

I bought one everytime I passed by a stall selling pork satays. I just can't resist it.;)

I can eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Around 7pm, we went back to get dressed up for the night.

Sirocco & Sky Bar.

You can see pictures of the bar circulating in emails, people speak in awe of this place, which means you can't miss out Sirocco when visiting Bangkok.

Located at the 63rd floor of Lebua Hotel, you get to see the most magnificent view of Chao Phraya River behind you under the romantic moonlight.

Back to reality though, nothing here is cheap.

We spent a close 2,000Baht (RM200) for drinks alone (OMG!).

Lightning strikes.

But really, you cannot not come here. Just sitting up here looking at the majestic view of Bangkok's nightlights is priceless.

Our expensive drinks.

Too bad though, that it rained after a while. We thought we could enjoy the entire night outside admiring the lights of Bangkok city, but fate had it that it rained cats and dogs for the rest of the night.

Bangkok's night lights.

But not before we took enough pictures of the amazing view from the top of the world.

Simply beautiful.

To be continued...

bangkok day 1...

2008-06-22T15:52:00.015+08:00

Have I mentioned that I was in Bangkok last month for a holiday?

These photos are a bit late, but didn't really have the time to write a lengthy post until now, so this is the update.

The gueshouse we stayed during the first two days.

Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, is locally known as 'Krung Thep' or 'City of Angels', It's a short form of the Thai name, which I don't think anyone uses at all. The full-length version of its name, when translated, is something like 'Great city of angels, the repository of divine gems, the great land unconquerable, the grand and prominent realm, the royal and delightful capital full of nine noble gems, the highest royal dwelling and grand palace, the divine shelter and living place of reincarnated spirits'.

Now you know why us 'foreigners' simply call this capital 'Bangkok', derived from 'Bang Makok' or Village of Olive Plums.

Cafe Kaldi is a local version of Starbucks. This is one of many you'll find along the streets in Bangkok.

During our four-day trip, we stayed in Silom for the first two nights. We stayed a bit further from the Riverside, closer to the nightlife in the city. While it used to be known for the shipping and ports during the olden days, Silom has transformed into a business area packed with office workers during the day.

At night though, the entire place magically turns into the infamous night bazaar and red light district of Patpong.

One of the stalls in Soi Pradit, Silom.

We stayed in a decent guesthouse called 'Take a Nap Hotel', which really isn't a hotel. It's a budget guesthouse for free-n-easy travelers like us, but with more privacy. Every room has different 'themes', if that's what it's called, and at 1300Baht/night (~RM130) for a double room + breakfast, it's considered relatively cheap in the area.

Our first meal in Bangkok, and it's heavenly. ;)

We arrived at the guesthouse at 11.30am, and the receptionists are more than welcome to allow us early check-in. Once settled down, we proceed to walk over to Soi Pradit Market, about 20-30 minutes walk from our guesthouse. Not known for anything extravaganza, but always packed with office workers during lunch hours. We went for the stall with the most customers and ordered what everyone else were eating, rice with braised (?) pork. Or something like that, I don't know. I just pointed and showed 2 fingers (for two), and there comes the plates with delicious pork rice. It's a pretty common sight to see Thais plucking the chilli and chew them when they're eating any meals, but since spicy's the trend here I'm not surprised.

Neilson Hays Library

On the way back we stopped by Neilson Hays Library. This wasn't our intended stop, but the architecture and designs are so captivating that we went in for a short visit.

Entrance of Neilson Hays Library

It was a pretty well-kept old library with the classic feel. Very brightly-lit, and although a bit small, it's extremely cosy to be sitting in here and reading a book.

Enjoying the air-conditioner in the library after a long walk.

You'll find plenty of foreigners taking some time and hang around in this library and enjoying a book or two.

Jim Thompson Store.

Opposite the road of our guesthouse is the Jim Thompson Store. Jim Thompson is the company that revived the silk industry in Bangkok and you'll find plenty of Jim Thompson outlets in Bangkok. There are plenty of stuff (not just silks) sold here, tableclothes, wallets, handbags, pillowcases, cookies and even Jim Thompson postcards. While I think everything in the store are quite overpriced, the place is worth a visit for any tourists. I don't encourage to buy anything there though...;)

Soi Polo Fried Chicken.

Towards the evening we took a cab to Lumphini and went to try out the much recommended Soi Polo Fried Chicken. Most cabbies have no idea where is the location unless you show the map, and seriously at that time I felt I may have been misled to think the fried chicken is really that good.

Personally, it tasted so-so, pretty much like our local mamak's fried chicken. Perhaps 'farangs' don't really enjoy their KFCs and prefer these, I don't know.

Suan Lum Night Bazaar.

From there we took a short walk to the Suan Lum night bazaar. When we arrived it was still pretty early (6pm), but most stalls were already up and ready to do business.

Illegal vendors in Suan Lum operating as usual despite court battles to close it down.

Suan Lum night bazaar is only a few years old, and is just getting its crowd when it was announced to be closed soon for other developments. But that doesn't stop the vendors from opening the stalls. If you don't read the local papers you won't even realize that these vendors are actually operating illegally!

This night bazaar isn't the cheapest naturally, but bargain hard and you'll be able to get a thing or two for dirt cheap prices. Of course, there are some other bazaars and markets in town where you can get great deals as well, but for the first night we're content to get our hands full shopping for souvenirs here.

Patpong Street at night.

Around 9pm we left the bazaar with both hands busy carrying plastic bags filled with clothes, souvenirs and shoes. Took a taxi back to our guesthouse and had a short rest before we went back down to enjoy the nightlife in Patpong.

Patpong is famous for its gay bars and tiger shows, while the night market is filled with over-inflated items. For a T-shirt you can get in Suan Lum for 150Baht, you're likely to find the same shirt here selling at 300Baht.

The notorious street filled with gaybars in Patpong.

We took a short stroll along the few streets there, but really, if you're smart and have done your research you wouldn't want to buy anything here. Plus, it's not really fun to have 20-30 Thais
asking if you're interested to watch pingpong shows, which I don't really want to explain here.;)

To be continued...

4 years down the road and nothing much has changed...

2008-06-20T02:02:00.003+08:00

In a little more than a month, this blog would be celebrating its 4th birthday. I don't think I'll be free on that day to wish my blog a happy birthday (I'm slotted in 'busy' mode that week), so I might as well blog about it since I remember about this now.

My first post was crap. It was written due to pressure from a couple of friends who blog as well. I didn't expect 4 years on, I still have this blog. And actively blogging still.

4 years back, there weren't many blogs in Malaysia. I know I'm not the first who caught the blog flu, but really, even project petaling street has just begun operation for some time. There are plenty of great stuff to read in that blogtal.

I struggled to write in html back then. I still do, but thanks to blogsphere's popularity nowadays the host does everything for you.

I can blog about anyone I want then because nobody knows, since nobody really reads blogs.

I lost my passion in blogging some years back during the time where plenty of useless blogs mushrooming out from nowhere, and everyone tries to make money out of blogging. Reading others' blogs became fun no more because people are copying and pasting news just to get easy money. Quality bloggers shunted the blogsphere, and I lost interest as well.

I don't know what spurred me to continue blogging, but I just thought of something just recently.

Maybe 10 years, 20 years, perhaps even 50 years down the road, I would have compiled a thorough journey of my life, and I can imagine myself laughing my socks off reading the first few posts I made. This will be my diary and will be recording many more important events in my life, my loved ones, my friends, my country, my everything.

50 years later, if I'm blessed with grandchildren, they would be sitting on my lap, reading back the old posts, and ask me why the heck my generation is so out of fashion.

Happy be-'earlied' 4th birthday to my blog.

There will be many more anniversaries to come.

ray of light...

2008-06-18T15:23:00.003+08:00

It's been almost a week since I last updated.

And yes, I have got the new hedgehog, yet to name it, don't really know what to call it but I don't think that matters much since she won't know I'm calling her anyway. Haven't had the time to take any photos of this snowflake hedgehog, but you guys can bet I sure will post them up here when I do. Unfortunately the hedgehog is a bit bad-tempered, so far she has not quilled down any time I tried to touch it. The hissing and puffing sound sure makes it like she's a bit grumpy. Too grumpy to my liking. But well, I think I'll have ways to tame her.

On another issue, I'm thinking of something new to start. While it's too early to say anything, but I think I've found something which I think I will have a passion in doing.

No, it's not breeding hedgehogs, although yeah, I'm planning to do that as well, but um... I think I'll make a public announcement when I achieve some success in it.

In any case, I think I'll be pretty busy for the coming months due to this new thing that I wanna do, plus my job and hedgehog breeding, and heck, my brother's getting married end of the year (have I mentioned it?). This will not be good for my health, hahaha...

But like the frequently used proverb, "no pain no gain". This is the time to go through some pain I guess. Wish me luck!

my second hedgehog...

2008-06-12T11:03:00.002+08:00

3 months after getting Cactus, I've finally decided to get a female hedgehog, first step towards my plan of becoming a hobbyist breeder.

I have reserved a 4 month-old female hedgehog, a solid snowflake with dominant white quills from another fellow hedgehog enthusiast. Consider my lady luck because I was scouting for a platinum-coloured, but an all white snowflake will be a beauty as well.

Will be getting the hedgehog this Saturday if nothing goes wrong, after some time I'll be posting pictures of the new addition here in my blog...:)

ads back in...

2008-06-11T11:48:00.002+08:00

After blogging several years without any ads in my personal blog, I'm beginning to let loose a little and add one into mine. What's better than earning a little cash while spending time on your hobby right?

To be honest, I've been registered with Nuffnang for a couple of years already, I think, but I did not really concentrate in a blog for the purpose of drawing click through ratio from my friends, who are the majority of my blog readers anyway. Therefore I started another blog, which is now defunct (unfortunately). I found that blogging what people loves to read is not what I really want to do.

I blog about what I love to read, and what I would want to read back 10 years down the road. And I think this blog serves my purpose, and reverted back to active posting with this blog for the past year. I mean, I write what I want to write, and to hell who cares what you guys want to read, right?

My blog has been ads-free for as long as it existed, and finally I've decided to include one that does not get into everyone's face, but at the same time is given enough attention while viewers get to read what they wanted to read. I'm not expecting much of a passive income by including Nuffnang's ad, but hey, it's a Malaysian's effort and heck I feel better putting Nuffnang's ad rather than any other advertisements from foreign companies. Support local product they said, no?

78 cents...

2008-06-04T22:42:00.001+08:00

Ouch.

that rock that bothers us all...

2008-06-01T14:24:00.002+08:00

"I still maintain my stand that we have half the victory, and half the failure. All are rocks anyway, there is no mempelam (mango) there, nothing, not even a blade of grass. But people like to rub it in. But let's face it. Malaysia did not lose all. Whoever says that, either he or she does not understand the international law result, or they are playing belukar politics."

"It is a subjective assessment, of course. The fact that Batu Puteh is not with Malaysia now, I think that is the nagging problem. The fact that we have Middle Rocks, not many people appreciate."

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim's opinion on ICJ's verdict to rule that Pedra Branca belongs to Singapore, while claiming that it should have been Malaysia's.

While I understand that our current Foreign Minister shouldn't be blamed for the lost of the island to Singapore, I seriously think he's in self-denial to claim that we have half the victory, when the only win situation is to claim back all our islands. Losing any of these rocks are just pure failure. Nothing else.

The maps of Malaysia put forward does not even recognise Batu Puteh as part of Malaysia, and it is purely our fault that the island was eventually awarded the the tiny country south of us. How can the important letters and documents go missing, and why do we let Singapore maintain the island independently in the first place?

Just concentrate to get back Batu Puteh and stop critisizing citizens for feeling disappointed that part of our country is lost.

united malaysia for malaysians...

2008-05-28T22:34:00.005+08:00

Got the link through a close friend's blog, and finally got to listen and watch the music video after numerous attempts, don't have a speaker you see, I'm poor...;) Goofy as it seems, the video served it's purpose to call for unity in our home, our country, our beloved Malaysia.

As of now (10.37pm, 28 May 2008), 59,469 individuals have downloaded the song, over 100,000 had listened the song through youtube, and thousands of bloggers are spreading the same message through their blogs: we all hope for a single united nation and we are all proud to be Malaysians. See beyond colours and you will see that we are brothers and sisters, after all.

Spread the love, Malaysians. Spread the love.

Our country needs it.

content...

2008-05-11T14:17:00.003+08:00

You know, sometimes you really wonder if you're experiencing difference phases in life after being alive for a quarter of a century. Yeah, yeah, I know I'm not old enough to talk philosophy, but sometimes, at times, I begin to feel more and more content with whatever I have now in my life, or anything that may come in the future.

There has always been times when I felt that I do not make enough money to live a comfortable life. Call me materialistic, or anything you wish, but that's what makes the world spin, no? I want to, I need to, be financially-independent if I'm being serious in buying my own home to stay with my beloved one, and to take care of my family with ease, while at the same time making enough money to travel to places I have never been to, and perhaps going for some occasional fine-dinings if my financial situation permits.

I'd live extremely frugal at times in recent years, to the extent that I thought I can save a couple of bucks if I have bread for lunch instead of a decent chicken rice with iced tea. At times I'm very satisfied, but there will be times where I wonder if I'm doing enough.

But then again, from time to time, I'd have moments where I sit back to think, long and thoroughly that maybe, perhaps maybe, sometimes money isn't everything. I'd count my blessings to have a proper roof over my head now. I'd appreciate myself if I can spend a little more to have some decent dinner outings with my girlfriend. I would spend a little to pamper myself and the people surrounding me, just for the sake of spending. During these moments, I would think that there aren't more important things in life than having a good time, and enjoying life to the fullest in slow-motion.

I know it won't be long before I go full throttle in making money again, but it's always during phases like these I would tend to sit back and relax, and think about what's best in life. And a cup of nice hot coffee on a Sunday afternoon, with nothing else to worry about, it's as though the best thing that can happen to me at the moment.

Sometimes, after taking a couple of steps forward, you need to take one step backward just to have a wider view of the road ahead of you.

Sometimes, it keeps you sane.

Other times, it keeps you happy too. I'm content to be happy, at the moment.

tortoise...

2008-05-02T19:03:00.006+08:00

I've uploaded quite some photos of Cactus lately, it'll be biased if I didn't put in any photos of my beloved tortoise as well.

Photo uploading will do for now, lately I'm a bit too busy to think of proper stuff to blog about. Things may change though after the Bangkok trip end of this month.

So for the time being, enjoy some tortoise photos!

crépes cottage...

2008-04-30T18:57:00.009+08:00

Went to Butterworth and Penang last weekend (whew, I travel a lot lately...), and finally had the chance to stop by Crépes Cottage for some much recommended pancake desserts my friends have been praising non-stop.

Swoosh!

Crépes Cottage is owned by an old lady by the name Agnes, and is located somewhere along Gurney Drive. It's a very small cottage by the roadside, with ample parking spaces behind the comfy wooden cottage.

Strawberry Roll

Coincidentally, my girlfriend's best buddy worked for quite some time in this cafe, being the nephew of the owner, as a chef. Many of my friends have dined here and left with praises and good reviews, while for me, 3's a charm as I finally get to test the desserts after failing to have any meals the first two times I dropped by.

Traffic Light

Both my girlfriend and I met up with her other friends working in Penang just to have a taste of the much-talked pancake desserts, we ordered 5 different pancakes for our 11pm supper, one being a new dessert yet to be named.

Hot Apple

I personally find the pancakes very unique, you seriously don't find these kind of desserts at a lot of places.

Italian Iced Coffee

My girlfriend paid tremendous compliments to her best bud who has never served her any desserts available in the menu everytime she visits. And this time there's no difference, we have a specially-made chocolate pancake dessert pre-ordered.

Unnamed Dessert specially made for us!

Am pretty satisfied with the environment and food, I've never tried having supper in such cosy cottage with such colourful walls. And the final bill that came that night was pretty astonishing as well, we spent only RM60.00 on 5 pancake desserts and 5 drinks. Quite a bargain compared to any other eateries along Gurney Drive.

Mango Cup

Crépes Cottage is located at 77-A, Gurney Drive, Penang Island. You can contact Agnes at 019-448 1680 for reservations especially on weekends as there are limited tables in the air-conditioned cottage. For a large gathering of sorts you'll need to sit in the lawn outside, but you'll get the enjoy the breezy wind at night.

Great place to hang out during weekends, too bad they closes at midnight. But they don't mind if you sit around chatting the night away as long as you pays the bill!

whisked away...

2008-04-14T23:11:00.003+08:00

I took the last Friday off and left for a short relaxing trip to Malacca. Time to take a short break from work before the busy season approaches. And it's 0.5 of another resolution fulfilled for the year 2008.

Took off around late noon and arrived Malacca Town in less than 2 hours, my girlfriend and I went straight to Jonker Walk's dessert house for a nice bowl of durian cendol. Hanged around until 6pm and when our ex-housemates were off work, we met up for a satay celup session, slurp!

After dinner, we headed back to Jonker Walk for a little shopping spree, but I was obviously very exhausted that night, my legs were wobbly and my eyes were watery even though the clock has not hit 11pm yet. Spent the night at my ex-housemates' rented apartment, which was quite comfy (and those buggers are renting it for RM2XX a month, OMG how the prices differ from KL properties!!!).

The following morning we headed back the street again for some chicken rice ball, before going to the infamous A Farmosa and the Santiago Fort. We took a trishaw ride around the Stadhuys just to kill time, before heading down to Muar to look for my ex-housemate (the same one, working in Malacca but went back to hometown in Muar). We again had some food fest, went for some char koay teow, pork and pork intestine satays and the last but not least, Muar's signature food otak-otak! Well, there's nothing much about the trip other than food, but when you travel for food you go for good food, hahahaha...

Meanwhile, I've captured a better picture of Cactus, this time with a decent camera.

Introducing, Cactus!!!

I like to pretend to look like some soft toy...

Uploaded a large image, but I reduced the quality because this blog kept returning errors when I tried uploading a bigger file size.

cactus...

2008-04-05T13:43:00.009+08:00

Finally, some photos of my hedgehog...:)

I've decided to name this little bugger 'Cactus', for obvious reasons. He has a bitemark on his right ear, and I don't think it can fully recover and grow back the missing part. But this guy's still as handsome as ever.

Made him a tupperware home for snuggling during the day time.

Busy exploring and sniffing around in my room when I brought him up first time.

More interested in nibbling the tissue. Bad boy!

Trying to run away when I picked him up. This fella can't sit still.

After all the hassle, decided to take a nap and ignore me.

Yummy!!! Dinner time for Cactus. The bowl's always empty by the time I wake up in the morning.

Took these pictures using my camera phone, hence the bad quality. Wait till I bring home a DSLR, there'll be better shots for uploading...;)

Someone has offered me another female salt & pepper hedgehog, together with the cage, food, and the wheel as well, at quite a bargain price because he is moving and is no longer able to keep it. I'm still wondering if I should get it, will it be too early for me to have 2? I'm still learning new things with Cactus everyday, I doubt if a second one coming now would be a good time. Heck, today I spent half an hour chasing after the little bugger in the house when I took him out to clean his cage.

money come money...

2008-04-03T21:21:00.002+08:00

If all goes well tomorrow, I'm officially an online trader, hahaha...

I've been putting up my comic collection up for sale in the internet, just started the web running last month and it got picked up real quick. Of course, being a regular member in a few forums does help my advertising.

Tomorrow I'll be meeting my first buyer who'll be the recipient of my Age of Apocalypse comics, that lucky bugger. AoA is my favourite title in X-Men, the first storyline I collected which started over 10 years ago. I'm selling off my collection of 26 issues, which will be quite some healthy 200% profit roughly.

Hopefully end of the month the second buyer will have time to meet up for another collection of mine. If everything's good I'll be putting in more effort in online trading and put up other second hand stuff for sale in the future.

Wish me luck...:)

broken...

2008-03-21T16:25:00.002+08:00

Hopefully I can catch this tonight. If time permits.

hoglet in the family...

2008-03-21T13:12:00.002+08:00

It's working hours now but what the heck, now it's officially lunchtime and I'm gonna blog this anyway, hahahaha...

I went to collect my hoglet (baby hedgehog) from my breeder Dickson last night, boy, it was a tiring journey to drive all the way to Batu Caves. But thankfully, it was worth it.

Sat down at the KFC with Dickson and his girlfriend, and chatted on the basic necessities of this hoglet. Apparently the hoglet belongs to his cousin, and fortunately I reserved this young fella earlier because when the hoglet began quilling, this kiddo turned to be a beautiful salt & pepper snowflake, and his cousin must be thumping his chest, Dickson said his cousin claimed that if no one has reserved he wanted to keep it, hahaha... I'm lucky that Dickson kept his promise. It was originally more of a standard salt & pepper. Dickson confessed that this is by far his most beautiful hoglet he and his cousin managed to breed.

It had an injured right ear, part of it bitten off. Got it after a fight with siblings (what a loser). But anyhow, it'll be fine, in fact now I can recognize my hedgehog easily, hehe, still applying some medication though... And for a hoglet, it is unusually tame. When we first met this kiddo let me hold it and it doesn't ball up like other hedgehogs (hedgehogs recognize smells, and usually rolls itself into a ball when they see strangers or smell different stuff). It was already running around actively, and not making any hissing or puffing noises. Hahaha, I think it's my fate that I always end up with pets that are unusually tame. ;)

Reached home very late, and took the hoglet out so it can adapt to a new environment. Dickson said usually his hoglets take about a couple of days before they get used to the new surrounding, food and stuff. This little guy doesn't look like it needs time though, this morning when I woke up it already pooped all over the wheel I left in it's box.

No doubt I'll start posting pictures here when I have the time, but now it's back to work. I'll be attending a play tonight in PJ, entitled 'Broken' if I've not mistaken. Hope it turns out to be good. And tomorrow I'll be back to the alma mater to resolve some issues, you guys know what they are. So after that I'll be back home playing with my hoglet again!

our spm level...

2008-03-18T18:33:00.003+08:00

"help me..i m fill the jpa scholarship..closed by this midnight..i want to ask about pharmacy..i got 7A1 and 4a2 in spm..my chem and bio got A2..am i will be shortlisted??or better if i choose the engineering??"

I copied the above from somewhere (not going to mention where) because I find it extremely shocking.

Please look at the sentences and check out the grammar mistakes.

Then proceed to read what kind of SPM results he/she obtained.

Surely it's not possible right?

How can he/she get an A1 or A2 for English? What the heck? Has the SPM standard dropped so low? Dear oh dear, now I know why we get students with crazy loads of As in their certificates.

Shit, and I only got a C3 for my 1119.

I must've been crapshit back in Form 5.

just another manic monday...

2008-03-10T12:02:00.002+08:00

Or not.

General Election 2008 is over, and things are back to normal. At least things look to be normal to me. In fact, Sunday was pretty normal too, much to my surprise. But I'm proud that this time around, Malaysians are mature enough and did not cause any troubles anywhere in the country after the elections.

A quick recap on what happened on Saturday, few prominent BN candidates were ousted from the Parliament.

S. Samy Vellu himself, with G. Palanivel, S. Sothinathan, S. Veerasingam and Dr K.S. Nijhar; the top five in MIC, won't be sitting in the Parliament for the next four years, arguably the worst casualty in BN's group of parties.

Gerakan's leader Dr Koh Tsu Koon lost, and lost big, in Penang, with only two of his party members remaining in the Parliament. PPP president M. Kayveas is in the losing end as well.

MCA's leader Ong Ka Ting stays, but many won't be joining him as Tan Chai Ho, Ong Tang Chuan, Wong Nai Chee, Fu Ah Kiow, Donald Lim and Chew Mei Fun among those rejected by the people.

Umno did not fare too well, big names Sharizat Abdul Jalil and Zainuddin Maidin are out.

Of all these names, Sharizat must have been the biggest surprise. Although Nurul Izzah does ooze some confidence and a leader in the making, I did not expect Sharizat to falter after all she has done for the country for the past few years.

Tsu Koon's defeat was down to his Motorola deal, obviously, and Samy Velly didn't make a good impression with his threats. MCA's list of losers are clearly due to their inability to voice out the people's unrest.

I believe the major reason why the Opposition had so much support this year is due to citizen's rejection to the Government. Easy assumption, with all the prices hiking up, poor management of funds ending up with hundreds of millions going to the drain (90 million to send an idiot to space as a participant? what the hell?), corruption, racial polarisation and discrimination among few.

Of the late 2 weeks, they did not do well even though the managed to control the local medias to broadcast and channel their 'successes', while hiding all the flaws from public. What they did not expect is that the internet nowadays provide more than adequate news, unfiltered ones, for the citizens. The Star, NST, TV3, RTM and the others, you guys should be ashamed for letting BN control you guys like muppets.

With BN denied their craved 2/3 majority, what will happen in the Parliament? It'll be some time before we can expect some major changes towards our lives, especially now that the combined PAS, DAP and PKR seek to make some voices heard with the five states won.

But still, expect changes. For better or worst.

and mommy told me tomorrow will be better...

2008-03-09T09:35:00.003+08:00

So the Opposition did what they set out to do, deny Barisan Nasional the 2/3 majority.

My plea to the Opposition leaders,

We have made our voices heard now, we have shown that we can make a difference, and we have voted you all to help us achieve a better tomorrow.

Now it's time for you to show us what you can do, and don't let me and my fellow countrymen down.

We have gone lengths to show our support, and while I believe changes may not necessary always be better, at least we have hope. We can hope for a better governance and future for our beloved Malaysia, for the sake of every single Malaysian who stepped forward to be counted.

We voted you in, and we have the power to vote you out.

Goodluck, and God bless Malaysia!!!

tales of inks...

2008-03-05T11:34:00.003+08:00

Flipped over the NST this morning and to my disgust the Election Commission has declared that the indelible ink will now not be used during voting procedures, 3 days before the big day.

News splashed across all national newspapers and blogs, internet news all over the world.

47,000 bottles of the indelible ink, costing the government RM2.4 million, was brought in over a week ago, and after 'much discussions' the EC chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman has confirmed that it will cause plenty of troubles and misunderstanding at the polling stations and decided against it.

Why, for Pete's sake, does he only manage to figure that out after spending RM2.4 million of us taxpayer's money is beyond my imaginations. I mean, look! I am paying my tax to subsidize the government to buy bottles of inks which are now practically going to be stored in some whoknowswhereisitgonnabe storeroom until they get expired and be disposed off!

This news just pisses me off and flipped my day.

I'm sure we will not be facing petroleum price hikes if these funds are used to subsidize petrol, plus all those cash gone in transactions in government bodies, or in another word, corruption.

Why is Abdul Rashid the EC chairperson? I can pick up a stone and throw it across the street, any man who gets hit can still make a better judgement than this guy. Especially when it involves so much money!