ending 2011 in style...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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.