end of 2009...

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...

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...

A break from work, and trip away from home.

Hong Kong, here I come.

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

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...

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...

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...

…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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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?

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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!

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...

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...

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...

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?

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.

.

.

.

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.

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

pancit...

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...

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...

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?