My Place on Earth

New Chapter

2012-01-06T00:19:00.002+08:00

Hi all, it certainly has been a long long while since I blogged here. Been busy settling into my new job at MBA.

It has not been easy getting used to the new work environment, particularly trying to understand what the boss wants. Had to stick it out after starting earlier than the rest of the team members so as to keep the team together. However, now that the real team leader, KW has joined (since mid-Nov 2011), I can now relax a bit.

But with the strange treatments that the senior management has been giving to some of us, me included, a few of us are regretting making this move. I am frankly hoping to move from this industry into something less stressful.

Maybe move back into IT support if there is an opportunity. Some friends have asked me to look even beyond our shores to our neighbouring Singapore. Sounds all well and fine but it's going to cause a serious bother to my family and at my age, I doubt many employers here or in Spore will be interested.

Anyway, hope something good happens soon.

iPad blogging

2010-12-26T19:30:00.003+08:00

Hey, I know it's been a long time since I blogged here but I've been quite busy both with work as well as been traveling quite a bit the last two months. End of last month, went on a cruise on Star Cruise. Cruised from Port Klang to Phuket and Singapore. Spent most of the time onboard the ship. Went with my wife and her sister and her husband.

But the most exciting thing I did this month was that I bought my iPad. Having been thrilling exploring the many apps mostly free ones but still great. Found it great for reading and games.

Still haven't really found any serious apps for business or work use. This device is more for casual browsing, reading (lots of news apps), and many utility apps for just about anything. Good for viewing photos and videos too.

If anyone who is still considering buying it, think no more. Keep the phone to the iPhone or any regular phone but get an iPad and discover new ways to do things.

But if you want to know more, search YouTube for iPad today show and find out more. Or go to www.twit.tv/ipt and follow the articles on this device.

As a matter of fact I'm blogging now on my iPad.

Quick update

2010-09-06T13:37:00.004+08:00

Wow, it has been a long time since my last update. Have been busy and tied up with work mostly.

There has been many changes at work too following the merger between the two companies, Cunningham Lindsey and GAB Robins Malaysia and for the past year, things had also been quite hectic as people come and go and changes take place in the workplace.

Will try to provide more details in my future updates.

A Mother's Health (update)

2010-01-31T23:05:00.002+08:00

Following my last post about my mother's health, I would like to post an update of her condition here.

It has now been slightly over two months since my mother fell sick. Now, I am happy to report that she is recovering well in my brother's home. The first month of her discharge was a trying time as she was in and out of the hospital with low blood pressure and UTR amongst other things. We had to take her for regular physiotherapy as well as fourth monthly check up with the neurologist at the Sunway Medical Centre.

She is now able to eat and move about better but still with help from a caregiver or another person but definitely more mobile than before. Her speech has also improved considerably and she is now more alert and cheerful.

When we decided to have home nursing, it was a real awakening call as we had little time to look for these services but surprisingly found that there were quite a few good options available and the level of service provided by these caregivers were quite good. So, not to advertise their service but simple as a sign of gratitude as well as for anyone reading my blog who may need such services, I will list down the ones that I have used as follows:

1. Shalom Health Services, run by Mr. Ronnie - Tel: 016-2088332 / 03-79574908 who can provide experienced ex-nurses or trained caregivers who can provide between either to twelve hours and even twenty-four hour home nursing services at about RM 13 per hour.

2. Nurse @ Home - attached to the Sunway Medical Center, this is similar to the above, in that they can also provide trained caregivers on eight to twenty-four hour basis. The person to contact is Pn Anushia or Ms Tan - Tel: 03-56211382 / 012 13827580 and their charges vary depending on the length and type of service required.

3. Columbia Asia Rehabilitation Center - although I have not used their services before, but I have had the opportunity to visit this facility and they provide secondary hospital care for patients recovering from health or accident and they have in house doctors and nurses to provide round-the-clock care for patients. Their contact is Ms Simran - 012-2247933 / 03-55417833. Rates depends on whether the room is single, double or four-bedded and the level of services and medical needs required.

Hope the above information would be useful to someone out there. If anyone need more information, you can call them directly or drop me a post below.

A mother's health

2009-11-15T23:13:00.006+08:00

Today I just want to relate what happened to my mother the past week.

Last Friday, my mother collapsed in my brother's house around 11am and when my sister in law called to informed me, she thought my mother had suffered a stroke and at that time she was waiting for the ambulance. All the fears of losing a loved one flowed through my veins. The problem was, I was about the make a trip to Kuantan as I had to present at a seminar for a client in Kuantan. As a result, I had to notify my Director and our client of the cancellation of my trip. Both my brothers were then out of the country, so the weight of the whole thing fell on my shoulders as I was the most senior around.

Got my family together and rushed over to the hospital in Sunway. By then, they had done a CT Scan and she was in the emergency ward, still semi-conscious and in quite crital condition as her vitals were off the scale.

That night, the doctors and nurses worked towards stabilising her condition. Fortunately, my youngest sister in law, took the initiative and offered to stay with her for the night. That night when I went home, I could not really sleep and the next morning, we were at her bedside again.

It was in the evening when the neurologist came to see my mother and advised that from the examination and her symptoms, she had probably suffered a severe deterioration of her Parkinson's Disease and not a stroke. That itself was a relief as PD was more treatable than a stroke.

Still, her condition had to be closely monitored as she was not able to eat and her vitals were still off the scale, BP ranging from 220 to 180 over 90 to 70 and blood sugar on the high side.

Only when she regained consciousness a little on Sun that we were able to really feed her some nutrition and the medication took effect. By Mon and Tues, she showed signs of positive recovery, though with clear signs of effects from PD, such as slurring of her speech and stiffness of her joints.

We had a slight scare on Wed and Thurs when she acted strange due to the side effects of the drugs she was given and only after some moderation of her drugs that she returned to normal.

By Fri and Sat, her condition was positively improving and by today (Sun), she was more coherent and is now able to eat on her own and drink at least from a straw. Her strength with the physiotherapy they gave her the past few days also improved her mobility and strength so that she could get up from the bed and sit, with a little aid either from the nurses or us.

We hope her condition will continue to progress so that we can take her home either Tues or Wed latest and are arranging for some home nursing to progress her recovery at home.

Until then, all our prayers are for her speedy recovery. This goes to show how fragile life is and one minute a very healthy person and be so down and out with sickness.

Biggest case ever

2009-11-07T18:14:00.003+08:00

In my 31 years in the adjusting industry, I just completed my biggest case ever; RM 13mil fire loss. Of course due to the size, my CEO and engineering Sr VP had to be involved for the technical input. The main account coordinator also gets a share of the budget cos he had to be seen 'fronting' the case although all the hard work is done by yours truly.

O well, it's the experience and the knowledge that you can do it that really counts, or does it. If not for all the politics internally and externally, it would have been a less stressful experience and I would have completed this job a month earlier.

Fortunately, the Insured was a considerate and kind man who though griped about it, was quite patient about the whole thing. I did managed to get him a RM 3mil interim payment that should at least help him get back into biz.

Now I can sleep soundly. Work done. Hopefully, there wouldn't be any queries and follow ups next week when I get back to work.

What a drag

2009-10-19T22:34:00.002+08:00

Our company's changed the financial year closing from November to December now which means that we have an additional month to close files. But I am not too worried cos I have a few nice seizable ones that should close by either end of this or latest November so even with December closing, I should have achieved my budget for 2009.

I am still hopeful to be able to take my short trip to Bali in December and be back in time to wrap up the rest of year. The additional month, means that I will have an additional two days leave, making my available leave to be five until end of December.

Wonder if I should take an additional day after my trip to recuperate from the stress of all that travelling.

Anyway, my main concern now is there is no adverse weather or natural catastrophes like earth quakes around that region during that time.

Take a break

2009-10-13T12:45:00.003+08:00

Well, that long break is coming to an end. Today is the last day of the PMR exams for my daughter. She so senang now but I have to finish an urgent report and will be back to work tomorrow.

Expecting an avalanche of work to catch up with. I am beginning to regret a bit this whole bit of going back into adjusting... seems to be getting to taxing for my old bones and stressful at times especially after the recent changes in the company.

Wish the bond would finish then I will be free to consider my options again. sigh.

Anyone out there hiring old and very experience IT support staff, prepared to work cheap so long as there is no stress and no shift work? :-)

Long time no post

2009-10-08T16:12:00.002+08:00

Well, surprised my last post was way back in May 15 2009. Haven't been posting here since I started using Twitter to post updates.

Am currently on leave this week, so found a bit of time to post some. Took time off to help see my daughter through her PMR exams.

At the same time, trying to catch up on some paper work - no been that successful because the crappy internet connection at home isn't helping much in so far as using the company's reporting templates.

I've also been working out regularly these few days and watching my diet to try and get my ideal weight, i.e. 70kg, five more kilos to go.

Petrol price changes again

2009-05-15T09:31:00.003+08:00

Looks like the government is trying to reshuffle things around again. Despite the crude oil price remaining relatively stable these past few months, one wonders if the change proposed by the government to remove the Ron 92 currently being sold to Ron 95. It is supposed to narrow the gap to the Ron 97 which is being sold at a higher price.

This means we will have no choice but to pay a little more for the higher grade oil whether our cars need this or not. As for the highest grade in the market Ron 99, it will certainly cost more and not many people are going to be using these unless they are performance freaks with sports cars that need this kind of performance.

More can be read at Paul Tan's blog .

Check out my new addition, a dashboard that tracks the global crude oil prices.

Long time between posts

2009-01-10T11:35:00.006+08:00

My, my, didn't realised it was such a long time between my last post, Dec 25.

Lots has happened in between of course. There was the New Year eve dinner and dance at Corus Hotel which was kinda cool and enjoyable. Lots to eat but nothing much else though it didn't turn out that bad.

At least they had a live singing and DJ with his sound machine that eventually got the crowd dancing on the floor and for the first time in years, I had a chance to view the fireworks display at KLCC up close.

It was a mascarade ball so they gave out masks to everyone. Not everyone wore them of course but they were fun.

Starting on a diet

2008-12-25T23:23:00.004+08:00

Sigh, just started on a new diet and finding it hard to keep it up. I'm already at 79Kg, which is bad for me. Trying to get it down to my ideal 69Kg by July 2009. Watching my calories intake daily but having little control of the food choices can be quite frustrating.

Have even resorted to purchasing a Diet & Calorie Counting software for my E71, the Acendo Fitness for Symbian software. It has a ready database of food and activities where by choosing which you have taken or activity that you have recorded, it will calculate the calorie taken versus the calorie burnt.

Dieting or weight reduction is not about just how much you eat or the amount of calories taken but the amount of calories burnt. For some, eating as much as they want isn't a problem cos they can burn up those calories they have taken, hence they do not put on weight.

You can read more at http://www.ascendo-inc.com/Fitness.html or download a trial version to try first at http://www.handango.com/catalog/ProductDetails.jsp;jsessionid=F186A409B47C30DD449BB19F28EDEF74.worker12?storeId=2218&productId=142468

AGPS costs

2008-12-10T22:26:00.003+08:00

Further to my earlier article, I found one by Cnet Australia about the same thing and they too encountered charges for the packet use whilst they were testing the Nokia 6110, one of the first phones that used the AGPS feature. See the article here.

According to Derek Fung in the article, "Thanks to the an almost undocumented feature on the Nokia 6110 Navigator, we unwittingly racked up over AU$50 in data charges the first month we used it. Read on to find out how to avoid our fate."

Well, I am not the only to look at the AGPS functions, apparently, there have been many like WM Experts

Another more detail article tells us that it uses the SMS data and thus of course there is a cost to that.

Therefore, in my own opinion (and I state, my own opinion), AGPS should not be used as an excuse by the phone companies for not providing a proper and good quality GPS device in the phone or are they in league with the telco to get more data traffic?

It may assist, but shouldn't a full and proper GPS like the Sirf III be good enough to locate and lock onto satellites since AGPS don't really work indoors anyway. As for the 911 search and rescue option, if the cellular network is down, then it's of no use anyways. But if a proper GPS with tracking ability is installed in the phone, wouldn't this be better to allow rescuers to log onto victims using GPS tracking than the AGPS system that currently does not work as they are supposed to, to begin with.

I let you decide for yourselves.

AGPs vs No AGPS

2008-11-30T18:15:00.008+08:00

With the iPhone and more built-in GPS in smartphones, my Nokia E71 for example, there is great debate about whether to use this feature or not and if we do, how much will it cost. Having a phone that can browse the net so easily, there is even greater tendency to browse even though there is no wifi available and as I use the Pay-per-use package, the rate is 0.01 cts per Kb (peak) and 0.005 cts per Kb (off peak). So after about 1-1/2 months of having this phone, I racked up a total of RM 193.41 in data charges alone for 19,501Kb of data use. That's almost 3 times it costs me to use my Streamyx RM66 account at home. So for now, I have stopped all 3G usage for mail or AGPS unless, I urgently need to lock on and my trusty Nuvi 760 is unavailable.

Anyway, out of curiosity, I recently did a test on this AGPS feature on my E71. First, I cleared the Packet Data log, reset all to 0. Then I turned off AGPS on my phone. Tested the GPS function with the built-in GPS app, satellite signal was really down. Checked the GMXT app, same results.

Although it will eventually locked on to the satellites (E71 needs to lock on to at least 4 satellites the first time it locks on), so it actually took about 20 - 25 sec to lock on using the internal GPS alone. My Nuvi 760 without AGPS look half the time.

After the above, I turned on the AGPS feature of the E71, tested again. This time, satellite signals in the builtin GPS app, showed optimal strength, same for the GMXT and it took only between 10 - 15 sec to lock on. Almost as fast as my Nuvi.

However, there is a cost to using the AGPS as I found out with this exercise. The following screen showed my Packet Data log and you can see the it Sent 1.15kb and Received 4.18kb for an AGPS lock on.

I also checked that whilst in the same phone cell, no matter how many times, you use it, there is not additional data usage only onces. So I believe, if you had AGPS turned on whilst navigating, each time, you travelled from one cell to another and there is a need to lock on to a new cell, there would be a data exchange like the one seen above so, it can get quite expensive at 0.05 cts a pop (peak).

So, think again if you really need AGPS. If you have an unlimited Data Package, then use all you want by all means else if you are like me, use sparingly.

Updated my Nokia E71 phone's firmware

2008-11-30T17:59:00.005+08:00

For the Asia Pac region, there is a new firmware for the E71. This software release was to include a new versions of Mail For Exchange and Nokia Maps. The release also includes a number of performance improvements including camera viewfinder orientation, Mail for Exchange synchronisation and browsing. Please note that if you have encrypted your device or memory card, decrypt it before the software update to avoid possible data loss. But after updating I did not see any change for these.

According to the change log:

This SW release contains
the following new features:
Gimlet 9.2.1.381 (Nokia Email Service version) in user disk; gimlet is visible only in countries where service available, otherwise hidden.
Improved Email Set-up Wizard to check availability of Nokia email service
This is visible only in countries where service available, otherwise hidden.
Mail for Exchange 2.5.5
Maps 2.0 release from wk 30
VoIP baseline from wk 31
Switch4 from wk 32
Startup settings from wk 31
Catalogs 3.1.50 from wk 32
Y drive for WMDRM protection files

Changes/improvements made to
MCU SW version 110.07.127:
Email set-up improvements
Maps 2.0 improvements
Music library refresh function performance improvement
Browser improvements
Bluetooth improvements
Camera improvements

Corrected Items from
MCU SW version 100.07.76
Email for Exchange – Synching improvements
DUT does not connect to BT stereo headset (SEM HBH -DS970) and car kit (SM HCB-120)
Y-drive visible with PC Suite
EAP-FAST authentication improvements
Unable to start maps when memory card is full
Camera - Picture cannot be taken correctly after zooming in max

In fact, like many, I encountered a loss of my wifi and 3G connection and there was no clear answers anywhere in the net nor from Nokia. So by trial and error, I tried and found that when I restored my backup (you need to do a backup before updating else you will lose all your data), is not to restore the settings to the new firmware. Apparently there is some incompatibility between the old and new settings and restoring these will render the loss of your internet connectivity.

So as the screenshot attached, restore using your PC Suite but uncheck the Settings option and restore everything else. You may still lose some apps but these are easy to restore / reinstall, if you got copies of their set up files.

Old Boys Reunion

2008-11-29T04:15:00.006+08:00

Went back to Taiping on Saturday, 22 Nov for our reunion dinner with classmates of 1975 at the Lagend Hotel. There were about 60 over of us who made it along with four of our former teachers (all retired of course).

Lots of booze but more importantly, lots of catching up and old memories of the good old years back when.

Like this Rod Steward song, "This Old Heart of Mine"

The group photo for remembrance of those that made it.

ANZIF Final Papers

2008-11-03T18:39:00.005+08:00

Well, last two days to the ANZIF final two papers on Wed. ;-( I hear these two, Theft and CAR are tough papers. Hope to just scrap through so don't have to resit an papers, cos they are expensive. After that, it still the last month of the company's financial year... lots of work to clear. Last Sat went to an ex-colleques Deepavali gathering. Got a chance to meet up with a few old friends, chatted about the old times. Those last few years were good and life was easy. Can't imagine how things have changed in such a short time. Friends getting all split up, moving onto another employ. *sigh*

My new toy

2008-09-20T00:02:00.005+08:00

Here's my new toy, a Nokia E71, one of the best business handphones says the reviews. It's got a good full qwety keyboard, none of those touchscreen imitation of a keyboard with simple yet functional PDA utilities installed including QuickOffice for the occasional Windows Office files like Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

Best of all it's got a GPS wih A-GPS built-in, B/G Wifi and it's a 3.6G for surfing or just plain web access either for browsing or mails.

It's got a 3.15MP 2048x1536 pixels camera for the occassional pictures or videos and a front facing webcam for video calls. The LCD display is excellent with a full 16M colours and really clear even in broad daylight.

I can view most of the video files, including flv files downloaded from YouTube. And if you don't wanna download the file, you can browse to it, view it streamling to the phone.

Really cool.

High School Musical on Ice

2008-08-18T23:33:00.004+08:00

Went for the High School Musical on Ice show at Stadium Putra, Bukit Jalil on Saturday, 16 Aug at about 4.30 p.m. mainly cos my daughter was very keen on this show and my wife wanted to give her a treat.

We were quite surprise that there wasn't much of a crowd as only about half the seats were taken. There were many kids though and accompanied by their parents.

The performance was entertaining, though there weren't much ice skating acrobatics, just more a musical rendition of the popular Disney TV hit show, comprising both HSM1 and HSM2 with a 15 min intermission.

Some of the photos are here, though they would not allow any videos, they didn't mind still shots.

My new Nikom Coolpix S210

2008-08-03T12:48:00.003+08:00

Whilst most people visited the PC Fair at KLCC Convention Center, I went with my family to Mid-Valley for the Maybank Treatspoint fair.

The choices were a plenty and the range of goods on offer were great. As a result, my wife got herself some jewellery from Wah Chan who had a stall there whilst I got me a new camera to replace my old Minolta that died during my visit to USA.

As per the heading, it is a Coolpix S210, great feature and yet simple to use. The 8mp was simply out performing the pictures I used to get on my old 5pm Minolta or the 5mp Coolpix that I was using in my office. Loved the close-ups, up to 10mm for the macro shots. The range of ISO from Auto to 1600 were also great.

Looking forward to exploring more what I can do with this little light, sexy and slim baby.

Visit to the US

2008-08-02T12:00:00.011+08:00

Finally, found the time to share my personal experience of my first trip to the USA. We flew from Malaysia on a Cathay Pacific flight and made a brief stopover in Hong Kong before continuing the long leg to Los Angeles.

When we touched down in LA, it was mid-night (US-Pacific time) and we had a lengthy check at the immigration in LA airport. The first officer was obviously racially prejudiced because before us, he had rejected the forms of three others from Indonesia and when we came up to the counter, before we could even show him our, he nickpick on the littlest of issues and had us re-fill all our forms and there were five of us there.

Then it was a bus ride to the Holiday Inn to check-in for the night. We had a brief supper at a nearby cafe, just to sample to local fare there.

The next morning involved a long bus ride to Las Vegas, stopping briefly at Barstow for a bit of shopping. Bought a couple of shoes for my kids and a pair of Timberland for me (Do no miss this outlets, great buys). Lunched nearby, there was ample choice from western fast food to asian buffet nearby.

Spent two nights in Las Vegas, the first night was a brief tour of the night sights culminating with a visit to the casino in Circus Circus (what else is there to do?). The light and sound shows at the old strip was great but the hotels in the new strip was just as great.

We had a whole days visit next to the Grand Canyon. From the drive up, passing the amazing Hoover dam to the bumpy bus ride up to the Grand Canyon. We had to opportunity to visit an Indian reservation and camp there before experiencing the Sky Walk, over the glass bridge over the canyon walls. The sight of the Grand Canyon was a wonder by itself.

We then travelled from LV to San Francisco but on the way, got to visit the Yosemite National Park. There are so many waterfalls and amazing sight of the wonders of nature there that if you are a nature lover, this is one place you should not miss.

The Chinatown in San Francisco is famous indeed and the largest chinatown in the US. We did not get to see much of this great city, but did visited the popular Fisherman Wharf. Next day, was another long drive along the coastal route back to LA, passing the town of Monterey Bay. It was a Sunday and everyone there was in a festive mood. Tried their famous Clam Chowder, amongst other things. Seafood lovers paradise it was indeed.

Finally, back in LA, we got to visit Disneyland. Spent the whole day there, taking in the shows and the rides. These were lagendary and indeed worth the while. Some of the newer rides were more for the younger people and maybe even a little disappointing.

Next day was another long visit to Universal Studio. Plenty to see and experience here. The rides were amazing and we tried to catch all we could in the short time we had. Ended the long day with a nice Chinese dinner and then the long wait at the LA airport for our flight back.

It was good and I am sure those who went like us, would like to go back again some time in the nearer future.

No Fun in Shah Alam

2008-08-02T10:50:00.003+08:00

Referring to the recent article in The Star where is was reported:

" THE city of Shah Alam, already without cinemas, night clubs or pubs, has shut the door on another form of entertainment — funfair.

That was the conclusion drawn by the councillors during the full board meeting held at Wisma MBSA on Thursday. "

Looks like the already dowdy and boring city of Shah Alam will still continue to be just that. Not exactly a way to attract anyone to move there or even do business.

Make one wonder if these local councillors know what they are doing. If they just want to impose their personal 'morals' or 'imorals' on the people....

In absence

2008-07-18T19:27:00.002+08:00

Sorry, I have not been blogging very regular these days. After my USA trip, I was too busy catching up on my ANZIF studies, and then after that, it was catching up on work.

Even up to today, work is still mounting, at least at my end. I have been on site surveys almost everyday since last Wed.

Today is the only day, I can really rest, cos I fell sick. Down with a cold, so had to go on medical leave.

I promise, I will get round to posting some of the interesting places and pictures of my trip to the USA, hopefully over the weekend.

Cheers & for those who still drops by, do drop me a note or comment or two.

All my bags are packed...

2008-05-25T12:14:00.002+08:00

Yeah, that's right, all my bags are packed and I'm ready to go.
On vacation to the States for the next 2 weeks with my family.
Can't wait to get away.. get some peace of mind... away from the hustle and bustle of work.

Flying off tomorrow evening and arriving there tomorrow night...

Don't worry, I am bringing along with me 2 cameras and 1 videocam... so lots to capture and probably be lots to post when I get back.

Keep checking in then for the posts of my trip.

Bye for now

Still waiting

2008-05-16T11:10:00.002+08:00

Well, it's a long wait and I am still waiting with the rest of my colleques for the announcement for Bonus, increment and heck, I've yet to receive my confirmation letter too.

But never mind lah, after all, without it, only need to give one month's notice if I want to leave (ha ha ha).

Hope something comes up before my trip.

Exam fever

2008-05-11T08:11:00.002+08:00

I never quite expected to be studying let alone taking exams but due to the encouragement of my employers and fellow colleques, I decided to join the rest of them and last Wednesday, took the first two of eight papers of the ANZIF exams. Studying was the hard part. The old brain just refused to absorb much. Thankfully, the tuitoring by our own MD and a Senior Manager, helped.

I guess at the begining, just cos the Company was sponsoring meant the risk was low and no capital outlay helped. I only had to study for it.

However, getting the information out during the exams was hard too. There were times, it just won't come out. Some of the times, had to draw on past experience.

Hopefully, the effort was enough to get me through. Anyway, will know in a month or so if I got through or not.

Busy Bee

2008-04-15T00:28:00.002+08:00

Well, it has been a terribly busy week last week. Many preliminary reports outstanding and even more cases to conclude. On top of that, go so many new cases, that up till today, I am still behind on the Immediate Advices. Got to get going because got to also find time to study for my ANZIF exams.

Yes, at my age, still taking exams.. ha ha ha. But since it is encouraged by the company and best of all, sponsored by the company, I guess I might as well put in a good try to achieve it. After all, there will be eight of us in KL, almost all the junior staff also taking the exams.. biggest group this year yet.

I am determine to do well and hope that I can complete the exams within the one year time frame, i.e finish by early next year and have a recognised qualification in this industry.

Got the US visa finally

2008-04-03T21:19:00.002+08:00

After almost two months of enquirying, reviewing travel options, checking the Matta fair, checking online and making calls to RCI, etc, my wife and I finally decided along with three of my in-laws and two of their friends, to head for the USA for our next holiday destination.

It will be in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Fransisco, taking in Disneyland, Grand Canyon, Golden Gate Bridge and more. Won't be cheap but then I got my 50th EPF withdrawal, so that'll help a bit to ease the 'pain'.

Today, all eight of us went to the US Embassy and submitted our applications for our visas and after almost four hours, we finally got our visa applications approved. So tomorrow, will need to go collect the passports with the new visas for all.

Hurrah, after almost five years when I first thought of visiting the USA, we finally achieve the first step so, now for the trip itself.

All things going fine, (touch wood), we'll be on our flights to LA on 26 May for eleven days in USA.

Backlogged

2008-04-03T21:13:00.002+08:00

Man, I have a serious backlog of work. Loads of reports yet to write. Cases completed, yet not even written the preliminary report. Basically, work load just up and got heavy the last month but we lost two senior staff. Sigh. They got promoted to Branch Manager positions, one in Kota Kinabalu and one to Malacca. And to make matters worse, one of the staff in the property department is on 10 days marriage leave. Bummer. So I end up holding the fort and dying in the process.

Wonder if it is too late or too early to be looking elsewhere for a quick solution? *s* Hope things get better but no light at the end of the tunnel in sight yet.

For the time being, guess I'll have to plod on for a while.

Met an old pal, CP Lim at Ampang. Was working there, decided to give him a call and we met up for drinks.

Getting more and more duties and responsibility but no authority to even approve my own IAs, sigh. Not that I wanted it in the first place.

What makes a Chinese New Year different?

2008-02-08T02:15:00.000+08:00

It's the Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year to the global community. But what makes each CNY different.

What I found different this year began with my family's visit to the Thean Hou temple. Right at the vary entrance, at the foothill, we met the crowd entering and the traffic was piled up till the bottom of the hill.

But what takes my breath away is the thousands of red lanterns hung all over the temple.

Then the many people queuing up to pray at the temple, leaving hundreds of pairs of shoes at the doorsteps.

Then the many oil lamps being offered in pray for a better year by the believers. Many taking this time to also show their friends from other countries the way of life of most Chinese in the country.

Weekend Update

2008-01-23T08:22:00.000+08:00

It was an interesting experience last Saturday, 19 January when I went for Chloe's wedding dinner. Sat with Robert, Chew, Emily, Elizabeth, Komathy and Shen. Seems that there were almost as many ex-staff attending as there were present staff of MI who were there. Met up people like Cindy, Tracy, Ee Lee, Ms Chong and the likes.

What was even more interesting that the 'main table' where RL and Teo sat, no one wanted to sit there so much so that KW had to 'force some of the other adjusters to move from the assigned tables to join this table. Invitees like Bala and CW didn't even turned up.

Of course Jr had to make his 'VIP' entrance after the event all started as usual and in his typical self. But these are all but forgettable insignificants these days since I am no longer with the company.

Enjoyed the evening with a bit of red wine and good food. Best of all, the good company. Chloe of course looked stunning in her evening gown.

Seems like it only takes such events for the ex-staff to ever meet for any sort of reunion and Chloe has managed this very successfully.

Start of a new year

2008-01-11T00:50:00.000+08:00

It is now the start of a new year ahead. I hear that for some the new RAT year ahead is not going to be smooth flowing. But for others, it could be just uneventful. We can only hope that the future will hold something nice in store for us.

I am told that this year is not going to be fantastic for me, career wise and I can expect it to be instead quite uneventful. Health wise, I hope there wouldn't be any problems... that's always something crucial to everyone.

Travel is on my wife's mind. She wants to go somewhere but can't decide where cos the prices of air tickets and tours have been on the rise since end of last year and it will not be cheap if we want to fly overseas.

We have been thinking either NZ but that's ridiculously expensive even though it is only one country to visit. The other alternative is Italy or Spain which would be better and slightly cheaper.

Only thing is, she cannot decide when nor where and how do we do it. If we take just a flight, then we have to arrange accommodation and food ourselves. The alternative is to take a guided tour but that will be expensive.

Being very much a practical person, I find it extremely hard to throw away RM10 to 20K just for a tour or holiday and come back broke and having to work doubly hard to earn back the hard-earned money that we have just thrown away.

Alas, decision, decision...

Happy New Year 2008!!

2007-12-29T21:03:00.000+08:00

So it's the end of another year. A 2007 that started poorly but fortunately, ended quite well. I started this year having a nasty time at work, working for people who did not appreciate me. Fortunately I still had friends who appreciated me and fortunately, I was able to join a company that is a world of a difference from my old employer.

I look at 2007 as another major turning point in my life. So I just take it in stride, accept that change is inevitable and look forward to the new life ahead.

So instead of gloating in misery, I end this 2007 with celebration and look forward to 2008 with gusto, eagerly waiting to face the challenge ahead.

Come this Monday, my wife and I are going for a dinner cum concert at Holiday Villa, Subang with the 3 Degress performing, to usher in 2008. Hurray!!

Seasons Greetings

2007-12-17T00:39:00.000+08:00

It's the time of the season again when everyone is wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. All I can say is that this is going to be a happier new year than the one I had before cos everything has changed. As for Christmas, this will be usually quiet for me as well. Last year this time, I was in Hong Kong with my family but this year, I decided that with the new job, I'd stay back and spend it at home.

My son is also back for his end semester break, so with the school holidays, I have more time to spend with my family.

As for the new year, I am approaching it with a bit of caution, after all, it will be my 50th next year. So, the feeling is of course a bit of apprehension, looking back at the years that had gone by so quickly, I may add that it makes you wonder, where did it all go?

Time to make so resolutions I guess. Seems like we are always making resolutions but having problems keeping them or achieving what we resolve to do. For one, I am resolving to spend more time with my family. Trying to cherish the minutes rather than the hours or days, cos, as time passes us by, they become more precious like a fading commodity, the lesser they become, the more precious they become.

I resolve not to take life more seriously and not let it all slip by unnoticed. Taking time to watch what happens each day, cherish the friends and times we have with them. Catching up with old associates and long lost friends.

Holding on to time, like the sands slipping through the fingers of your hand... holding on to them as long as you can and trying to not let the time slip by too quickly.

So sorry

2007-11-23T00:25:00.000+08:00

So sorry, I have been really bz both at work and also being too engross with Facebook and Malsingmaps.

There are many new and interesting applications within the main, i.e. Facebook that helps to easse the mind over the drag of a job.

New hobbies

2007-10-29T00:03:00.000+08:00

Sorry for not been posting much lately. Besides being too caught up with my current job, I have also been indulging in my two most recent hobbies, i.e. GPS and the MalsingMaps forum at

which can be located at http://www.malsingmaps.com/portal/

At the same time, of late, I have been also caught up in the Facebook fever.. keeping up with the latest craze: http://www.facebook.com/

Nice little break

2007-10-15T23:58:00.000+08:00

Well, the Hari Raya Puasa holidays have come and gone. I found it to be a nice little break after starting on my new job. The extended weekend allowed me to catch up on errands and also spend some time with my family; especially since my son is back for the long one week break.

The town seemed a little deserted the last few days which made driving around a lot easier. The weather wasn't too bad although it rained quite heavily on Friday.

Speaking of which, I had to replace one of my colleques who was supposed to pick up the Regional Manager of an Insurance company from Singapore. It was both a strange yet funnily good feeling since, it meant I had to opportunity to meet up with my former boss from GAB. It was a surprise to him as it was to me but we exchange plesantries and got to catch up a bit on old times. After all, it was an hour and a half drive from KLIA to Malacca where he had come to interview one of their agents on a claim matter.

The whole journey there and back (when I took him back to the airport for his flight back) wasn't too bad all in all. Fortunately, we had not parted ways in a bad way, and he too had his nasty experience from his former employers... we had in a way, something common, after all we were both former colleques from GAB :-)

WHY EMPLOYEES LEAVE ORGANISATIONS ?

2007-10-01T22:23:00.001+08:00

WHY EMPLOYEES LEAVE ORGANISATIONS ? - Azim Premji, CEO- Wipro Every company faces the problem of people leaving the company for better pay or profile.

Early this year, Mark, a senior software designer, got an offer from a prestigious international firm to work in its China operations developing specialized software. He was thrilled by the offer.

He had heard a lot about the CEO. The salary was great. The company had all the right systems in place employee-friendly human resources (HR)policies, a spanking new office, and the very best technology, even a canteen that served superb food.

Twice Mark was sent abroad for training. "My learning curve is the sharpest it's ever been," he said soon after he joined. Last week, less than eight months after he joined, Mark walked out of the job.

Why did this talented employee leave ?

Arun quit for the same reason that drives many good people away. The answer lies in one of the largest studies undertaken by the Gallup Organization. The study surveyed over a million employees and 80,000 managers and was published in a book called "First Break All The Rules".

It came up with this surprising finding:

If you're losing good people, look to their immediate boss . Immediate boss is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he's the reason why people leave. When people leave they take knowledge, experience and contacts with them, straight to the competition.

"People leave managers not companies," write the authors Marcus Buckingham
and Curt Coffman.

Mostly manager drives people away?

HR experts say that of all the abuses, employees find humiliation the most intolerable. The first time, an employee may not leave, but a thought has been planted. The second time, that thought gets strengthened. The third time, he looks for another job.

When people cannot retort openly in anger, they do so by passive aggression. By digging their heels in and slowing down. By doing only what they are told to do and no more. By omitting to give the boss crucial information. Dev says: "If you work for a jerk, you basically want to get him into trouble. You don't have your heart and soul in the job."

Different managers can stress out employees in different ways - by being too controlling, too suspicious, too pushy, too critical, but they forget that workers are not fixed assets, they are free agents. When this goes on too long, an employee will quit - often over a trivial issue.

Talented men leave. Dead wood doesn't.

Connecting with Great Ideas

Settling on my job

2007-10-01T00:58:00.000+08:00

Well, it's been a month (slightly more) since I joined my new employers and I am really settling in now. Doing the job I had made my career a long time ago before I changed it about 10 years ago.

I guess adjusting is still in my blood. Just a matter of getting the hang of it again. There has of course been a lot of changes in the industry and I have had to adjust to these new changes and requirements by Insurers but that's nothing new.

Best part of it is that I feel a lot more relaxed in my new job than the one I had been doing. Stuck for 9 years but the last one and half was really hell. Nowadays, I don't feel the stress that came with my last job. Come to think of it, it was not the job that stressed me out but the person whom I had to work for that stressed me out.

I read that most people leave companies not because of the company itself but the immediate boss that they had to work with. If the boss does not know how to manage their staff, the staff will eventually leave.

I love the new environment I am in now, everyone are so friendly and really made me feel at home straight away from the first day I joined. We are just one happy family here and made the move really worth the while.

Last Sat night I went to an old colleague's birthday at his house and despite not having seen him for over 5 years, he still remembered me and invited me to his party. That's what I call real friendship. I hope that I still can maintain some of the old friends I had in MI though I am no longer there. Well, time will tell, I guess.

quick post

2007-09-25T20:32:00.000+08:00

I know I have not been posting regularly. been busy settling into my new job, getting used to the companies procedures and my new boss' preferences. I am blessed that he at least is understanding and willing to allow me time to get used to things and get up to speed.

been also busy celebrating my 20th anniversary. had dinner with close relatives last Sat.

Thanks too to those who had posted their comments and visit my blog regularly for updates. Hope to hear more from you.

Time passes by

2007-09-15T01:07:00.000+08:00

Time is relativity. When you are too busy in life, you forget about time and it can pass you by very quickly. Time is stealthy when you don't take notice of it. When you least know it, it has escaped you and would have run away before you can even catch it.

On the other hand, if you are watching time, it just refuses to move. It simply stays still, watching back at you. Ever noticed how slowly time seem to pass by whenever we are waiting for something to happen?

The more you watch it and the more you want it to go faster, the slower it will move. However, if you ignored it, it will pass by ever so quickly. Sometimes, time go so fast that it is gone even before you realise.

The one thing we all need to remember about time is that no matter how fast or how slow it passes by, everyone have the same amount of time, i.e. 24 hours a day, no more and no less. And when it is gone, you can never get it back. Each moment in time only passes by but once in a lifetime. So, take note and enjoy every moment of whatever time you have in life and don't let it go by unnoticed.

Because in just a quick wink of an eye, come this 26th, it will be 20 years since my wife and I got married. Our 20th anniversary - two decades. These days it's considered a miracle. Even I am amazed at how fast the time have passed.

Thus brings to mind and just for sake of remembering what such anniversaries mean, below are the birth stones associated with such anniversaries:

The 1st is PAPER, on which you can write
The 2nd is COTTON, all crisp and white,
The 3rd is LEATHER, a bag or some gloves,
The 4th is BOOKS, Lady Chatterley's loves!
The 5th is WOOD, a box full of dreams,
The 6th is IRON, metal not steam
The 7th is WOOL, soft and warm
The 8th is BRONZE, metal in an elegant form
The 9th is COPPER, and 10th is TIN,
If you have got this far you are bound to win.

The 11th is STEEL, so shiny and bright
The 12th is SILK, so soft and so light,
The 13th is LACE, maybe a cloth for a tray,
The 14th is IVORY, leave it for Jumbo,
Its better that way!

The 15th is CRYSTAL, cut glass at its best,
The 20th CHINA, cups, plates and the rest,
The 25th is SILVER - really swell
The 30th is PEARL - from an oyster's shell
The 35th is CORAL, from under the sea
The 40th is RUBY, as red as red can be
The 45th is SAPPHIRE - precious and blue
The 50th is GOLDEN - Congratulations to you!
The 55th is EMERALD - so green and so pure,
The 60th DIAMOND - an achievement for sure.
The 65th BLUE SAPPHIRE and 70th PLATINUM
The last two which are reached by some
The 75th is DIAMOND AND GOLD
The 80th OAK **

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY DEAR WIFE!

Click on Cookie to read message

Anyone for tennis

2007-09-05T01:34:00.001+08:00

No, not to play. I don't play tennis either, just a good spectator. Love those new players but my fav player is unfortunately out of the US Open tournament.

There are lots of new and younger players still but don't know who is going to get through.. Looks like the players this year are getting younger and younger.

As for the men, Federer and Nadal is still in... that should make it interesting, especially if they meet in the finals.

This year, there are too many upsets involving the seeded players... so now who will win, especially in the Ladies Single tournament is like a roulette game, don't know who will make it through.

Sorry for this short digression. Just adding some spice into my blog... instead of the usual boring stuff.

Where am I

2007-08-29T00:49:00.000+08:00

Well, for all those who have been asking, "Where has Edwin gone?", it is to a really genunine international loss adjusting company, not one that merely have the word international in its name just for show. Check out more from their web page, if you are not familiar with it, http://www.cunninghamlindsey.com/

I was supposed to start from the beginning of Sept, but due to the requested support from their International colleques from Oman, some of them had to go there next week. So, to help out, I have been asked to report early to enable me to take over some of their files here.

So far, the first day had been cool yet interesting. I am immediately thrown into the groove. Lots of younger staff here, which is good, cos it means, I am one of the older and more experienced guys around... (just trying to not feel old)

But at least, I got a proper and well spaced workstation... which, was a lot more space that I ever got in MI where I had to sit in 'school kiddie sized desk' cramped between 2 staff with no room to work.

It is a very new and refreshing feeling to be able to work in a friendly environment where you are welcomed by your fellow colleques and your boss is not trying to skrew you all the time or waiting for you to make a mistake and then pounce on you. Waiting to find every opportunity to chew you up.

End of the holidays

2007-08-27T22:03:00.000+08:00

It's been slightly over a week of holiday and lying back since I left MI. My son came back for the weekend and I sent him back today.

Well, I was supposed to start work on 3rd Sept but alas, they have requested me to start earlier so, tomorrow, will be my first day at work. Hmm, gotta get the rust out of the old bucket of bolts, oil my old bones and jump back into the grind.

Stay tuned to find out more when I next blog again, after starting work at my new office.

For those still curious, they are another International company that has the word International at the end of their name but in this case, they are truly and genuinely international, not just namesake.

Get fit again

2007-08-24T15:29:00.000+08:00

Taking opportunity of this well-earned rest (longest I've ever taken in years), I have just started on an intensive program to get fit. Starting each morning with either a 20 min brisk walking, followed by some light weight training or alternatively, a 15 to 30 min or min. 300mtrs swim.

This is usually followed by a 10 min sauna sweat-out (phew, still not dehydrated completely yet).

Then a hearty breakfast, then either a light or even skip lunch and ending with a nice home cooked dinner to end the day.

My target (though sounding ambitious) is to lose 5-6 Kg in 3 weeks.

Epilogue to another chapter in my life

2007-08-23T17:10:00.000+08:00

When I last changed job, it was in September 1998 and when I left my previous company in August 1998, people told me "Merdeka" and congratulated me for making a bold move. Some of my former colleques who I had worked with before in Maphilindo called me anxiously and asked if I had thought it through carefully. At that time, it seemed like a good idea.

Well, that idea and that job lasted 8 years, 11 months and it is again another August Merdeka for me this 2007 as I leave Maphilindo once again for a second time. I cannot truly say it was all roses as there were also thorns that went with it but it was an interesting experience. Working here, gave me some satisfaction in that I did make some GENUINE friends who cared and that made up for the not so genuine ones who were only interested to make use of you.

Though there were various ups and downs, highs and lows in my career, it was all very fine and for a while, I did enjoyed my job and even convinced myself that this could be the last place I would ever worked.

Alas, it is not to be for with the change of management, a change a wind, and everything changed for the worst and through no fault of mine. How am I to compete with someone so high up in the hierarchy and with the support he has, there is definitely no wrong he can do but everyone else is deemed wrong or at fault.

Though I tried, how I tried to work with him, but after being sidelined for over a year, I see no resolution but to leave. However, dearest of friends whom I have had to leave behind, all I can say, is that it is with a heavy heart that I had to leave. I hope that you will not forget me and do keep in touch.

Finally, I do hope that in the future, our paths may cross again but in a good and hopefully better way. For those who remained, I sincerely wish you the best of luck and pray that you will have a bright future.

Adios

Merdeka at last (reposted)

2007-08-16T10:57:00.000+08:00

Please note: this entry was previously posted earlier but temporarily taken off due to the amount of unwanted attention it was getting. So, in the interest of free speech, do not forward or take copies of this post and give to anyone and treat this as strictly for your eyes only.

Hurray!! Finally, I am liberated from the dictatorship of Mr Ray Lee, who is so power crazy that he just want to usurp everyone's authority. He thinks that just because of the past successes we had in developing innovative IT systems for the company and all the praises and accolades that the company had received in the past, he can get the credit all for himself if he took over the IT Department. So much so that from day one, he had been desperately trying to make life difficult for me, trying to force me out of my job as the IT Manager for Maphilindo International.

Well, I believe the successes that the company had in the past and the innovative systems was entirely and solely due to me but since he is so desperate to take over that job, he can have it. After all he is the Chairman cum CEO's son, and I am after all a nobody. So, how can I ever hope to challenge him. It is nevertheless just a job, can always find another and I did find another. Just had to open my mouth and there were many people willing to take me on. At least I am not married to the company unlike him. He's signed on a life sentence... so pity him.

Looking at the recent events over the last 2.5 months. Soon as I tendered my resignation and a day immediately after the last management meeting, our prodigal son had to announce his rise to Head of IT by sending a mail out to all managers in the company.

He is so desperate that 1 day short of my last day, i.e. on 14th, he issued the following mail to all the staff (request a copy if you have not received one).

For a person with no working experience, not even trained in IT, to want to usurp the job a Head of IT, don't think he knows what he is doing. Spend and spend ridiculously, wasting the company's money. Unfortunately the father is so blind, he cannot see the ruin the company is heading if he is allowed to carry on doing what he is doing.

Every staff who had ever worked under him, eventually leaves, many not lasting more than 1 or 2 months. His recent PA too cannot stand him and have resigned. Nearly all the former IT staff in my former department had left solely because of him.

The more promotions he got (all superficial) the bigger his head swelled. Like the graphic example below:

So, now finally I am free!!!! (jumping for joy). Everyone past and present were so happy for me when I said my farewells or when they heard. I got congratulated for leaving. There is no regrets, just jubilations.

Onwards to the future then...!!

The Final Countdown - 3 days to go

2007-08-13T00:03:00.000+08:00

It's been a long long 3 month or 2 and half to be precise, since I put in my letter. It will be 15 days short of 9 whole years since I joined Maphilindo in Sept 1998. So now it has come to the last 3 days of my working life with the company.

So far, along the way, I have made some really good friends, and some good colleagues. The past week, it's been just farewell after another, 3 to be exact from Amal & Eliz, Zaini & friends and our usual lunch buddies.

I am surely going to miss a lot of your guys but there are things that are beyond my control and much as I don't like it, I have to make this change, at least for my own peace of mind.

Farewell then old friends and I hope we have had pleasant memories together.

It's PC Fair again!

2007-08-05T01:03:00.000+08:00

It's PC Fair again starting on Fri. Got stuck in a mad traffic on the way there, so ended up in the PC Fair shopping for stuff for my son.

The same vendors as the earlier fair appears to be at it this time around as well and located in almost the same booth and locations too.

I was able to pick up some good offers, especially a Canon IP1880 printer and a 2Gb thumbdrive for my son.

Got myself some CDs and a wireless headphone that works on the FM frequency. Doubles up as my PC headphone and can also be use for personal TV viewing. It can also tune in on our radio FM channels.

First of many visits

2007-07-30T23:20:00.000+08:00

My son came back for the weekend, after spending 2 weeks at UTP, the first being the orientation and the second, the start of his foundation course.

Took the opportunity to check what else he needed and we drove him back last Sun with a load of stuff and his bike.

He seems to have settled down a bit and quite prepared for the long haul stay at this place. As parents, it is our duty to try and make his stay as pleasant as possible and give him a happy experience studying at the institute.

The journey up was quite a breeze, especially with my new GPS navigator, managed to take a new route via Gopeng instead of Simpang Pulai and past Batu Gajah. The return trip was more tiring due to the long traffic jams caused by an accident before Tapah and then the rain. Again the jam near Rawang was long and winding. Traffic only moved smoothly after Sungei Buloh and we were able to travel quite fast until Ulu Kelang when it jammed again before Taman Melati for no apparent reason.

Got past that and arrive about 9pm. That trip wore me out and today at work was not easy as there was more server problems.

They had a failure in Hq-SVR last week and that hasn't been fully sorted out when this morning, the other backup server, Hq-Multimedia1 also went down. Can't say it wasn't exactly unpredictable since there were signs that these equipment were either at the end of their life or was facing problems but the new team and especially the new Head of IT choose to ignore it.

Well, if its the sign of things to come, good luck to them all. Fortunately I am getting out soon... sigh... only 15 days to go... so long more, lah... !!

Asked the HR Manager today about the balance 'B', says no sign, and probably only next month. So, mine is probably burnt lah... quite expecting this actually.. sigh.

New Toy

2007-07-30T23:09:00.001+08:00

For this past 2 weeks, have been tinkering around with my new toy, a Garmin Nuvi 200 GPS auto navigator.

Found it really useful, with the loaded Malaysian, Singapore and East Malaysian maps. So far, I've only been able to explore Pen Malaysian roads only. It's been pretty accurate and most times, the route plotted is about 85 - 90% accurate, safe for a few off road excursions and unofficial shortcuts that I often take :-D

It is especially useful whilst traveling in unfamiliar new areas or whilst driving during the night when it is difficult to see road signs. Even when I went up to Tronoh last Sun, found using this whilst navigating useful in anticipating where the next bend is or how the road is like ahead. Finding junctions to roads ahead was especially useful and knowing when to change lanes to where you want to go and anticipating junctions became a real breeze. The audio guide was useful since you don't need to see the map to know when to turn.

And when I do not take the route originally plotted or intentionally choose a different route, the system was relatively quick to re plot a new route. I am also learning to upgrade and combine additional maps to my GPS. Having the speed trap alerts along major highways too was cool. Hopefully, this will help avoid costly speeding tickets.

Everyone should get one of these, after all, this model is relatively cheap. I got mine for RM1,260 with the Malaysian maps pre-loaded and ready to run with no extra costs to incur.

My son's off to UTP

2007-07-18T01:07:00.000+08:00

The last few weeks had been hectic. Packing and last minute shopping for stuff for my son. Finally, last Saturday, we drove him up to UTP, Tronoh and helped him settled into his campus dorm.

Now he has to undergo a weeks orientation and lectures prior to starting his foundation course there.

My wife and I have been calling or smsing him up daily to check on his situation. After all, it's the first time he is actually staying away from us for such a long time.

Already, we are planning a trip up to visit probably in about a week's time. He already says he needs some additional supplies and a few things which we forgot about.

So far, things seem fine and he seemed to have adapted to the situation. Just hope he enjoys himself and get a good experience out of this.

Last Meeting

2007-07-08T18:33:00.000+08:00

Well, I was surprised. On 2nd July, the company had their 3rd quarter financial review and I was asked to attend (normally, outgoing managers would be excluded). Maybe they don't consider me a manager, just needed my service, i.e. to set up and manage the powerpoint slides. But then Kwan was there, surely he could handle that, couldn't he? They probably don't consider me a threat to their secrets anyway.

Whatever the reasons, I had to sit through the whole day's meeting and that was the busiest day of the week for me. Of course, I had to arrange and set up all the PCs requested by the branches and most were happy to get their share or what they requested.

Interestingly, the new 'Head of IT' insisted to show all the visiting managers and directors too, his new 'systems' and renovations to the call center. And no sooner as the meeting was adjourned, a mail was circulated the very next day to all the managers, nationwide, declaring his authourity and the new position above and the new rule that all IT requests must go through him.

Well, good luck to the company... and all the more reasons for me to 'wash my hands' off the job.

15th August 2007

2007-07-03T23:35:00.000+08:00

It's final now, just got confirmation that my last day at Maphilindo International will be on the 15th August 2007.

Now for that welcomed break and very timely indeed, just a few days before the school break from 18th to 25th August.

So the final chapter of my career with Maphilindo International will be written on this day. It is of course sad to depart and leave friends behind. But, so much has happened that it is impossible to bear but leave.

Now I can only look forward to a new adventure ahead, a new career, a turning point in my life and new chellenges facing me.

Video Magic

2007-06-21T01:19:00.001+08:00

Hey, Blogger's doing video now. So, here's my little contribution. Hope you like the little video below:

Meanwhile, back on the ranch...

2007-06-21T01:06:00.000+08:00

Surprise, surprise, but then again, not that much a surprise considering what is happening and has been happening over the last year or so.

What am I getting on you ask? Well, the new IT Administrator who joined us recently just tendered his letter and tomorrow's his last day with the company. sigh. He's faster than I.

Meanwhile, they just lost one of the general adjusters yesterday and I heard one more, an engineering adjuster just put in his letter too. Soon there may be none, except maybe the Managers, AMs, etc left... no more soldiers at the front lines.

Still got about one and a half month to endure. So plodding on, no more enthusiasm, no more desire but work is work lah, so just do what's necessary. Hope they find the 'expert' replacements soon, so I can hand over the work, ha ha ha.

Vista Administrator

2007-06-13T00:14:00.000+08:00

In my last posting about my review and new installation of Windows Vista in my home computer, I did mentioned that Vista by default had the system Administrator turned off. Despite checking with the Microsoft site and various other suggestions from other blogs, I was also not able to enable and use the Administrator in Vista.

Now for the good news, I just discovered the way to activate this Administrator and to be able to easily switch between it and my own user ID. Somehow, this method was not documented nor mentioned in the various technical sites that I searched.

Nevertheless, it was so easy, I was surprised no one actually tried it. I was checking the settings on the Local Security Policy screens and simply found the option to enable the Administrator just as simple as merely turning it on. (see screen attached).

The Note attached said:

Accounts: Administrator account status
This security setting determines whether the local Administrator account is enabled or disabled.
Notes

If you try to reenable the Administrator account after it has been disabled, and if the current Administrator password does not meet the password requirements, you cannot reenable the account. In this case, an alternative member of the Administrators group must reset the password on the Administrator account. For information about how to reset a password, see To reset a password.Disabling the Administrator account can become a maintenance issue under certain circumstances. For example, in a domain environment, if the secure channel that constitutes your join fails for any reason, and there is no other local Administrator account, you must restart in Safe Mode to fix the problem that is causing your join status to be broken.Under Safe Mode boot, the Administrator account is always enabled, regardless of this setting.
Default: Enabled.

The above simply means that you got to be careful since you will need to set the Administrator's password, else you will not be able to log in as the Administrator. There is a simple, yet effective way to do that and that is to log on the Command Prompt, as Administrator

It means, you just click on the Start button, navigate to the Accessories Group, then, right-click on the Command Prompt icon and select to Run as Administrator. Then in the Command Prompt, use the command: net user administrator setting the password that you wish to assign to the administrator.

Then you simply press Ctrl-Alt-Del keys to display the traditional login screen where you can then log out and / or switch user and log in as the Administrator.

However, Microsoft does suggest that it is dangerous to expose the system administrator by leaving it activated. So, if you do not need it, the suggestion is to best deactivate this and reactivate using the above method if you next need it.

Technologically speaking...

2007-06-08T01:40:00.000+08:00

Well, I went and did it. Decided to redo my old home computer and installed Windows Vista Ultimate. Initially I expected some problems. Did the usual pre-system scan and checks and it said that my system was graphically inadequate.

However, surprisingly, once I installed, it worked without a hitched. I was also surprised at the ease of the installation process, no partitions to create or delete. No formatting to do. Just decide whether you wanted to installed it into a new folder or the old Windows folder. From my experience, choose a new folder because, all my old Windows files, Program Files, Documents all got put into a folder called Windows.old, whilst the new Vista was installed fresh.

If I had known, I need not have even bothered to back up my old files and documents. Anyway, after moving all my old documents back to my new Document folder, just simply deleted the Windows.old folder and that was it. Rebooted Windows Vista and no crash... so far, everything's fine.

All my existing drivers worked, had to manually install the Audio driver though but it worked and I need not look for the Vista compatible version. Of course there were some, e.g. printer drivers that had to be upgraded to Vista and that was easily gotten from the printer manufacturer's site.

I even installe the latest Ms Office 2007 and it worked beautifully... but of course the new GUI, needs some getting used to.

So as far as my evaulation of the new Windows and Ms Office, it has been really a pleasant surprise compared to the previous versions of Windows... this one was a breeze. I think Microsoft got it right this time around. Only word of advice, is you got to have at least a minimum of 1GB or RAM. Been monitoring my RAM usage, and with my 1GB, it always hovering around 55 - 70%. Don't think you can even run it on 512MB. Ideally, if you can afford, upgrade to a 256MB graphic card, mine is a 128MB, but still noticably fast and graphics seem to improve with the new GUI.

Best part of the new Windows is the use of gadgets, much like the widgets in the Mac, these are cool and fun to use. Unfortunately, there aren't as many around as widgets. But if you don't have Vista, but want to try out such widgets, go get the free ones from http://widgets.yahoo.com check out some of the newspaper RSS ones, found the ones for the Sun and the Star. Currently running some of these in the office computer.

Maybe I might combine some of these with the gadgets in my home PC... hmm, thinking about it :-)

Anyway, just thought I'd share this little bit of info for those contemplating of doing something similar.

Btw, see a screenshot of my Desktop.

Ciao

schools out ... time out!

2007-06-02T12:48:00.000+08:00

It's mid-term school holidays again for those attending public school in Malaysia. All those kids with 2 weeks break.

Took my family up to Genting Highlands for a short weekend break. Stayed at the First World Hotel, all others were fully booked unfortunately.

Mulling the time whilst waiting for my in-laws to meet up with us, I looked out of our hotel windows and saw some interesting sights that I thought would share here.

Just outside, saw two excavators clearing a slope of boulders and they were interestingly passing each boulder from one to another and bowling them downhill. See the video and you'll know what I mean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy6fivHwNaA

I looked at the back of the hotel and saw another apartment block up on a distant hill with a really winding road leading to it.

Can't imagine travelling up and down this road daily for those staying there.

The apartments are pretty secluded and situated away from the rest of the hotels and apartments in the resort.

It was really a sight for sore eyes.

Final Countdown begins...

2007-05-31T01:11:00.000+08:00

Well, finally did it. After 8 and half years with MI, I finally took the final plunge and submitted my resignation on Monday. Now the wait to serve out my 3 months notice and leave by end of August.

Sigh, it is something I probably should have done long ago. Tried to work with the new management but efforts aren't just appreciated nor accepted.

O well, if they want new blood, let them. I have stayed long enough and nothing came out of all my efforts. Stuck in this position so long, only stayed so long cos I thought I could be satisfied with doing the job but since that is even not possible now, what more, look for greener pastures.

Now, I am looking for to my new adventure. New chellenges but new environment.

Wish me luck!

Hurray! My son got into UTP

2007-05-22T00:19:00.000+08:00

Hurray! My son got a scholarship to study Petroleum Engineering at Unitversiti Technologi Petronas. That's taken a big load of my mind now. He will start in mid-July, so we are kinda busy these few days, preparing all the necessary submission forms, getting the necessary clothes and supplies for his migration there. phew, it's hard work though.

I even got him a new Sony Ericsson W850i today. Costed me a pretty buck, total RM1,210 including the MS2 Pro upgrade to 1GB.

Looks good though, has all the function similar to my current Nokia 6280 except that the Sony Ericsson's hands free kit was kinda unique. It allows you to change the ear pieces to any stereo ear pieces cos it's got a standard 3mm adapter.

Well, haven't quite tested it yet, still charging the bloody thing, first time charge - 8 hours. So, will leave to my son to try it out tomorrow.

TGIF

2007-05-11T01:19:00.000+08:00

Thank God it's Fri again. Been a funny, buzy week. Had vendors over to fix the door security system, and also had to chase the Time.net guy to fix the new DSL line in the boardroom on the 10th so that Ray could video conference with JO.

Meanwhile, being chased for the new AHA travel system. Done most of it but had to wait for Amal to finalise some customization and she's on MC.

Although Kwan and Juliet are back, it's been a slow week. Lots of data to clean up and the same time upload to the database.

Lonely Sat

2007-05-11T01:17:00.000+08:00

Well, stuck in the office alone last Sat. Had to come in cos there was no one from IT and the vendor had to come fix the power supply to one of the DVR for the CCTV.

Holding the fort

2007-05-03T01:30:00.000+08:00

It's casualty week, lost Roman, the telco tech, after he left. Then Juliet went off to Nepal with her parents. Just got word that her flight back has been rescheduled and she could be back only on Sat. On top of that, Kwan, is also on leave and have gone to Taiwan for holidays.

Busy week, it seems. Got the Elid door system tech in on Mon to install the access controls to both server rooms and the PABX room, as well as synch up with the 10th floor doors. Unfortunately, he was not able to complete the job. Now it seems, I need to prep up a WinXP PC for him to install the new software for the new devices.

Then the video conferencing vendors came in the same time, but try as they may, there wasn't enough bandwidth in the current spare DSL line to set it up. Now gotta apply for a new Time.net DSL line. So, Adam's gotta prepare a new phone line from the Time DB to the board room and need to apply to Time.net to get the line in.

Now why didn't the 2 guys in charge of the project anticipated these problems - wasn't there sufficient infor from the vendors or did they not asked enough. Whatever, now I have to solve the issue for Ray. sic

Meanwhile, still got the new Travel system to design for AHA, urgently as they were supposed to roll off last week. Unfortunately, no one told me until they were passed the deadline to roll out the scheme.

Seemed like a long week

2007-04-28T23:26:00.000+08:00

Seems like a long week. Govt servants, public schools, banks and some insurance companies were closed on Thurs for the new Agong's installation but we didn't have any holiday.

Wife was away since Tues, flew to Singapore for a course sent by her company (lucky). I was left behind to take care of the house and feed my kids (smile).

Had to make do with lots of things but no probs. Just no home cooked food that's all.

Work had been pretty much routine... buzy updating the data and started developing new system for the AIG Travel scheme.

Not much time for anything else.

So Sad...

2007-04-23T00:36:00.000+08:00

It's been a sad weekend. My brother-in-law, Jeff's father passed away on Fri. This is only less than a month after going for his second heart by-pass op.

Went over to visit with my mum this afternoon, funeral is tomorrow afternoon. The deceased was only 68.. goes to show how fragile life is. One minute you are fine, the next...

After the successful op, everyone thought he would recover, unfortunately, it was not to be. Seems some complications developed and he become rather sickly after it, was in and out of ICU for some time before returning home recently.

It's Tax time again

2007-04-21T18:29:00.000+08:00

sigh! It's tax time again.. busy this weekend sorting out my tax cos I got until end of this month to submit it.

Improvements in the Immigration Dept

2007-04-21T01:10:00.000+08:00

Since my wife had to travel overseas next week and suddenly found that she had less than 6 months of passport left, we had to kinda rush over to renew her passport. Got there early at about 8am to try and beat the queue. We found out that she hadn't made a photocopy of her IC and thus had to go down to get one.

On the way down, we noticed a small crowd in the new renewal ATMs (IRIS) and decided what the heck, why not find out more. So, in we went and after observing some people there and a officer helping them, we decided to give this a try; after all, it should be too difficult, I thought.

So we queued up, and fortunately we were 2 in line at the machine where we had stood. Well, to my surprise, it was relatively quick and simple. Just had to follow the onscreen instructions to the T. In goes first the chip passport (has to be one of these new chipped ones), then on being prompted, insert the MyKad (again should have this ready). Then came the scanning of both thumbs. As we found out, you cannot depress too hard nor too softly or the system won't read and you will have to start from the beginning.

O, by the way, did I mentioned, you will need a colour photograph and use the envelopes provided (sorry the idiots didn't bothered to place any signs advising you need to do this first). Then when prompted, you will need to deposit your photograph in this envelope into the slot provided. And, walla, that's done. But don't forget your receipt. It will state the time and counter number where you can collect your passport.

This supposedly was to be 2 hours after you have paid. Haa, I almost forgot, you will need to get the cash (RM300) for a 30 page book ready. And you when asked, you should deposit the whole batch of notes into the machine, else, like some I saw, were feeding individual RM50 notes, one at a time.

Then go up to the given counter and wait. But wait, you will have to wait 2 hours before you can present your receipt to that counter and then only after that, will they give you a tally number again to wait further. Fortunately, on that day we went, there wasn't much a crowd, it we only had to wait another half hour before actually getting my wife's passport. All in all, it took almost 3-1/2 hours including the drive there (almost the whole morning).

This if you compared to previous experience of having to queue up before 7.30am to get just a tally number and then queue from counter to counter, taking at least 4 - 6 hours just to submit your application and then wait between 1 to 2 weeks to get a passport, is a major improvement.
Syabas! If only all departments were like this, it would be heaven... but my only grievance is that when we went to get the tally number following the payment, the lady at the counter forgot to smile *sigh* I guess, you can't expect everything.

Next time, you have to renew a passport, I would certainly recommend using these spiffy machines. Cheers!

PC Fair @ KLCC convention center

2007-04-16T00:04:00.000+08:00

It's PC Fair again and I was there on a cursory visit last Fri evening. Checked out the Ground floor where most of the merchants had set up shop to sell their wares.

Went again this afternoon and visited the Level 3 exhibits (mostly by larger companies and manufacturers). Then took the lift down to the ground floor again.

Did quite a bit of shopping, starting off with a stereo headset for my son, then got a 4Gb thumbdrive. The Apacer thumbdrive cost RM119. Imagine over 2 years ago, for that price, I only managed to get 64MB of memory.

Got me a new printer as well. A Canon MP500 (3 in One), scanner, copier, printer. Got great features, 5 ink cartrides incl. 2 black. Multiple memory card slots to import photos from camera, a USB pictbridge port, IR port (was able to print directly from my camera phone via IR or cable.

There are 2 paper feeds, one from the top and back and another via a drawer below the printer. These are well enclosed and both the top feed and output trays can be closed when not in use. What stood out is, it's got a adapter to allow me to do CD or DVD printing either directly to printable disks or disk with labels. Cool eh?

The scanner function's quite normal, but the ability to copy either in b/w or colour is cool. There is even a small little 2.5" LCD screen in front that shows the menu, status and allows you to preview photos that you import from the memory cards. You can then trim or select the photos that you want to print and the layout of the prints without using the computer too. Finally, the printer will do borderless printing and auto duplex printing.

Best of all, the printer that usually goes for RM968 was selling at RM499 (a real steal) and for the fair, they also gave away a mini luggage trolley and a golf umbrella too.

Drat - car air cond busted

2007-04-15T00:18:00.000+08:00

It never seems to end. My car's air cond started giving me problems; shuts down during long journeys; doesn't get cold when you need it and is too cold when you don't need it to be cold.

Finally decided to have it checked out and found that this little temperature sensor and control was not working. As a result, the air cond either does not get cold or freezes up during the long journeys and thus, no air.

What surprised me most was that it was so difficult to find the part. The mechanic had to search through a few before finding one. Size is misleading cos, this little thing cost RM250 to replace. Alas, had no choice, a little too much of a pinch but still since the mechanic had dismantled it, had no choice - couldn't ask him to put it all back in again.

Duties of a parent

2007-04-13T01:15:00.000+08:00

Know what? When I got back to work yesterday, I heard that Ray wasn't too happy cos I went on leave on Tues. Alas, what to do, can't please everyone.

My job can always find someone to substitute but my duties as a parent, no one can substitute. So no matter what, I still had to give all the support I can for my son.

That's why this morning, I had to take leave again and go up to Tronoh to fetch him back. It was unfortunately a longer wait than I had anticipated as his final interview took longer than expected. Finally, started the drive back at about 1.30p but only reached KL at almost 6p cos of an accident near Lembah Beringin - overturned trailer caused a massive traffic jam.

All for the sake of education

2007-04-10T20:18:00.000+08:00

Alas, this was a long day. Left the house at about 5am to fetch my son to the campus of Universiti Technology Petronas to attend the 2007 Educamp where for the next 3 days, about 500 prospective SPM students will vie for a place in the university or a scholarship to pursue a course of their choice either at a local faculty or overseas and the scholarship is provided by Petronas. http://www.utp.edu.my/

This session is the first of 3 which will take place over the next 3 weeks and it is the second intake, the first being in January 2007.

Hopefully, my son could qualify to obtain a scholarship - that will be a big load of my mind and at least take care of his education until tertiary level, if he works hard to achieve what he wants, that is.

The facility is pretty new and take a look at the library - awesome. They had book shelves all the way up to the ceiling 5 storeys high.

It was situated next to the main hall, the Chancellor Hall. The whole structure was amazing.

It was a long drive, exiting from the Simpang Pulai junction from the NSE, and finding my way through Batu Gajah, winding all the way to Bandar Seri Iskandar where the campus is located. Again, after the morning session and after lunch, both my wife and I left the campus to begin our drive back to KL. It rained most of the way, slowing our progress but luckily when we got back to town at about 5.30pm, traffic had yet to build up and we managed to get home without much hitch.

Will again have to go there to fetch him back this Thurs when the camp breaks after the interviews.

It's F1 Fever again

2007-04-09T00:42:00.000+08:00

Fomula 1 - for those race fanetics like me.. it's either packing off to the Sepang circuit or like this year when it's my wife's turn since she got an invite to the Grandstand, and my daughter has her tuition, I volunteered to stay back and watch the races on the telly.

Somehow, without the favorite like Michael, it's like there is no longer any favourite. Yes, many are still fond of Alonso but he is still not that much a fav.. so, the scarlet avenger though the fav of all the cars on the circuit, was disappointment.

The driver on pole, Masa was a disappointing amatuer when it came to push and shaft and he got shafted instead by of all people a rookie at that. Hamilton as he put it during the post race press conference, "tricked him to out run".

... anyway, tomorrow it's back to work (sigh) as usual.

Dropping off like flies

2007-04-05T23:15:00.000+08:00

Alas, we are again losing staff. They are dropping off like flies. Last week, one of our PA, Cindy left and I didn't even know till this morning, sigh.

End of the month, another casualty from the IT staff, as Roman who is supposed to be the telco expert for the call center leaves us.

Something just don't seem right if we keep losing more staff than we can hold on to. It certainly doesn't bode well for those remaining as they too feel jittery.

I hear there may be more, as Mala, the medical call center staff leaves us today, I also hear there may be another casualty from the same department - poor csk.

Wonder whose next?

All Souls Day - "Cham Beng"

2007-03-28T00:52:00.001+08:00

it's the time of the year again when all Chinese who have lost any loved ones will be make their pilgrimage to the graves to pay their annual respect to those lost.

likewise, i will be going with my mother and brother (the rest of my family have elected to skip due to other unavoidable commitments), so we plan to make it a quick in and quick out trip to taiping to pay respects to my father and maybe the other ancestors. but for the first time, we will not be make the trip up the hillside graves (a definite break from tradition) but it's deliberate to make things easier for me and my kids because it get harder and harder each year to meet these commitments.

will still be a smoky and hot affair nonetheless since it is going to be a holiday this saturday and expecting to see a big crowd not just at the temples and grave yards but along the roads as well.

for those of you who have to meet the same commitments, hope you have a good time this year.

Car Trouble

2007-03-25T14:49:00.000+08:00

Took my car for a long overdue service. Found that the engine wasn't running very smoothly. After checking the mechanic found that there was a short in the spark plug cables and had to change the spark plugs and cables as well.

Cables and plugs costed RM190 apart from the cost of servicing.

At the same time, found that there was a damage to the left front tyre where there was an obvious bulge in the tyre wall. So, ended up I had to get both front tyres changed for safety.

The whole exercise cost me a cool RM360. (sigh)

a short week

2007-03-24T00:37:00.000+08:00

well, it's been another short week. Especially since our ED is currently on leave :-)

however, i haven't exactly been sitting around doing nothing... been busy backing up all the important files from our servers, archiving a lot of them on CDs.

guess when you are bz, time simply flies by and gets hardly noticed.

the office has generally been quiet this week too... with the impending departure of our former CEO. almost like the 'calm before the storm' feeling. hopefully, it's just the calm and no storm after (ha, ha)

anyway, just keeping this entry short and sweet.

Penang Trip

2007-03-21T01:00:00.000+08:00

well had some extra days carried forward from last year, so took my family up to Penang last weekend for the last few days of the school holidays.

kids were enjoying the welcome break, though it was short. it was tiring a drive but nonetheless, a welcome break from the usual routine.

went up to the kek lok si temple. not much changes except a new building that begun more than 2 years ago. the kwan yin stature's shelter was still incomplete.

this was also partially completed. inside there is a large wooden carved idol.

took some great pictures of interesting bonsai plants there though. these appear to be rather old plants, judging from the looks of their wrinkled barks.

another year ... sigh!

2007-03-11T03:09:00.000+08:00

well, another has passed and as of today, i'm 1 year older and hopefully wiser (laff).

tis ole candle is still burning bright.

spent a rather uneventful day during my birthday since it was a sat. had dinner with my family, my mum, youngest bro and his (new girlfriend) at a nice little restaurant in Park Royal Hotel (thanks to Felicia for organising this).

meal was different than usual but interesting. sorry didn't take any pictures of the food.. everyone were too engrossed with the eating *ha, ha*

got lots more presents than last year (smiles).

Public Services or Dis-Service?

2007-03-10T16:00:00.000+08:00

If you ever have the need to visit a government then you will know the frustrations that comes with that. the standard of service or 'dis-service' of these 'public' services departments are very much left to be desired.

I happened to be at the EPF Department's Pudu branch which was located along Jln Hicks, and it was a Friday, so there was no crowd. Even so, despite there being 4 counters available, two being manned, only 1 was opened (as seen in the picture). So even with one person at the counter, and me being next in line, there was a good 15 min wait. The other counter where an employee was sitting, did not even bother to assist.

Eventually, the counter 2 staff who probably went for a break, returned to attend to me. So, what has happened to the Government's aspirations to be ISO certified, is this the kind of standards to be expected? If so, I doubt they can ever be 'World-class' or even ISO certified. And from experience, this was one of the better EPF office around. If you had tried to go to the headoffice, you'd be swamped with crowds of people and again, lack of staff.

If we were to evaluate the civil service of the last 10 years, we will notice a serious drop in the quality of service and certainly the standard of such service to the public. What is happening? Are these government employees not satisfied with their work? If so, why then work with the government? After all, we keep hearing the requests for pay increase and bonuses, yet we have yet to see any improvement in the service. Of late, there has also been comments that the counter staff don't even smile when handling customers. Surely there must be something that the government can do to improve the service they are providing to the public. After all, it's the tax payers who are paying ultimately for these services.

chap goh meh

2007-03-04T16:19:00.000+08:00

'Chap Goh Meh' is 15th night for Hokkien. Is it only celebrated by the Hokkiens? No, it seems to be celebrated by all Chinese and more these days. So, why not "Sap Emm Man" in Cantonese?

Anyway, it's like a Valentine's night for the Chinese. Traditionally, boys and girls are not allowed to mix (so I heard) and only on the 15th night of the Chinese lunar celebrations are these boys and girls allowed to mingle or out in public and most take this as an opportunity to spy their favourites or prospective suitors. The excuse to throw oranges was somewhat made up as an excuse to send secret messages to their 'loved' ones.

These days, it just an occassion to celebrate. To get out and enjoy or mix around. Has it been too commercialised too? I don't think so, at least not as bad as Valentine's Day on Feb 14. It is also a signal to the end of the CNY celebrations although we still see some quarters carrying on their celebrations long beyond the 15 days, i.e. visiting friends and relatives, eating 'yee sang' and so forth.

Some place in Malaysia like Penang especially, it's celebrated in quite a big way, particularly along Jalan Gurney where you see celebrants crowding the whole road and more.

But with the prices of oranges these days, I don't think you'll see many being thrown. More likely, they will be 'exchanged' between friends. What ever it is, it's a time to be merry and enjoy.

This year, I'll be visiting my brother (tonight) and celebrating at his house as it is also the same time of his son's birthday. Double celebration it is, but a time for the family nonetheless.

'Lo Sang' with the colleagues

2007-03-01T21:41:00.000+08:00

It's 'Lo Sang' with the colleagues today. As we have been doing the past years, Vivien organized a lunch at the Marco Polo restaurant for a 'Lo Sang' lunch amongst us few colleagues. This year only Vivien, Karen, Emily, Juliet, Robert, Alex, Chew and I were present.

Robert was especially ecstatic with the "suckling" piglet and he and Alex really did 'justice' to it. Almost nothing was left of it after.

The absentees included KS Sim who has been 'temporarily' assigned to Johor branch since before the CNY and after Mr Goh left. Mr Wong Joy Yip was unfortunately not able to make it as he had to attend another lunch with Progressive Ins staff.

The price of such typical fare seemed slightly more expensive every year and this year was no different. Although it was not the end of the 15 days of celebration, I noticed that there was no significant crowd at the restaurant. I remembered last year, the place was packed. A sign of the times, perhaps.

It's Back To The Grind

2007-02-27T02:00:00.000+08:00

Yes, it's back to work. All good things eventually have to come to an end as I got back to work last Friday, 23 Feb. Lots to catch up although it was a Friday.

Many of the colleagues are still on leave, and I went for a quick lunch with Robert at the Weld.

It was also the same night that Richard was having his company dinner at his house in Bangsar. It was splitted into 2 groups, and I had to go fetch my family so by the time I got there it was almost 7.45p. There was already a sizable crowd by the time we got there. Many from the earlier session were still around and by the time we sat down to eat, they had got a little card game going in the next table and some of the staff were gathered around it to play or watch.

The weather had been raining in the afternoon but luckily stopped before the event so it was kinda cool that night. We ate and then sat around talking amongst the few of us. The usual exchange of pleasantries amongst staff and other guests as usual.

Drinks didn't flow as much as the previous years but we had the expected roast lamb on the rack and Chinese fare.

Most of us left at about 10p though I noticed there were still quite a few who stayed behind, particularly those involved in the card game.

However, most noticeably missing was Richard's youngest son, Simon. According to Ray, Simon will only be back next week.

The Lunar Celebrations

2007-02-21T09:46:00.000+08:00

The eve of the lunar celebrations, a typical Chinese ritual is to visit a temple and pray for blessings for the new year.

This is the scene I saw at a temple in Cecil Street, Kuala Lumpur during the recent Chinese New Year festivities. The place was engulfed in thick smoke from all the burning incense and paper offerings that practically everyone who went into the areas where the joss sticks were place, came out 'in tears'. I went in and last no longer than 10 minutes before retreating to safer and clearer air near the court yard and waited for my wife and sister-in-law to finish their prayers.

It has been a quiet first 2 days of the Chinese New Year. Visited my mum along with my brothers at her house. We had lunch there before my younger brother had to leave for Malacca.

Then on the second day of CNY, we visited my wife's friend in Bukit Belimbing, Belakong; then droved across town to visit my wife's nephew, Kin Keat before finally visiting my brother-in-law at Bandar Utama. That took out most of the whole day and by the time we left BU, it was almost 6pm. Decided to return to Pandan Indah for dinner with my other in-laws who lived nearby.

Reached home almost 8pm that night.

Got a cold

2007-02-09T00:58:00.000+08:00

Sigh, too much work, not enough sleep... now got the cold (snifle). Was feeling a little under the weather yesterday and today, the cold was almost full blown. Luckily, I kept some pills the doctor gave me the last time and took them. That help a bit and by evening, I was better.

Chinese New Year mood

2007-02-05T01:44:00.000+08:00

Time really flies. didn't realised that the chinese new year was just round the corner until I saw this sight - lanterns and decorations for sale at a shop near my house. somehow, the chinese new year bug never got me this year. the mood everywhere seem very sombre.

went to the jusco store in maluri this afternoon and saw more decorations and lots of people shopping. however there was something different this year. though there was a crowd, it was smaller than last year. people were buying but less and there were even less items on offer or sale. distinctively less were the typical cny stuffs like the mandarin oranges. although they still had the lo kam, the teo chew kam were none to be seen. there were still boxes of mandarin but no as many as last year and certainly not as many people buying.

last year a medium box would have cost around rm8 - rm9 but this year, for the same price, you can only get a box of small fruits. the medium ones were going from rm9.80 to rm14.00.

i guess with the increased cost of things, people are buying less. obviously the same amount of money isn't buying as much as last year. i looked at my cart, it was barely half full and was checking out at over 100c. (
sigh).

the biggest sigh of course was when we got our pay last sat, the obvious missing 'B' was a disappointment. hopefully there is something cos last 2 years, it was just the usual minimum and nothing much to shout about. anyways with what's going on in the office these days, i guess i am not expecting a whole lot more. keeping my fingers crossed tho' and hoping something will come in before the cny.

to all my friends, "Happy Chinese New Year".

Changing roles

2007-01-30T23:45:00.000+08:00

Man it looks like my role keeps changing. Last two weeks, I was asked to help out with the adjusting of claims down in Malacca. This week, I'm back to being a Lotus Notes programmer.

Went down to Singapore today with James to see a client to propose / demo our Notes solutions for Travel and Medical claims. Hope they are impressed enough to want to buy these cos, it would seem that that's one of the lesser things I can do for the company now.

As for IT support, seems that I'm the only one assigned now to provide that for the main operations. I don't mind that, after all, when I first joined, that's what I thought I was supposed to do that until they got me involved in system development. And the rest is history.

Solo act

2007-01-28T01:18:00.000+08:00

Sorry since coming back from Malacca last week, I had been too busy at work and too tired after work to blog. Since the new batch of computers arrived at my office and since I had been away until this week, none of it was deployed. According to the new guys, they had been too busy with "you-know-who" 's work to do anything else.

So no choice lah, got to do it all by myself. No one to lift a finger to help even (fed up lah). What to do, do it slowly but at least the last few days, I managed to deploy half of it already but I hear now the call center has ordered another 36 new ones. These, I will leave to the new guys to do the deployment lah.. since it seems like they only work for the call center and I alone supporting the main operations.

Next Tuesday, got to go to Singapore to do another presentation.. Company selling our systems to a company there, so got my work cut out for me, if they decide to take it up. Going there with the CEO. Probably a day's trip, fly in, fly out same day.

So much to do, so little time to do it all. Worst of all, only a solo act now, no one to help. Branches, and other staff coming to me to ask for support cos, they got poor responses from the other guys.

With CNY coming round the corner, hope the new year will bring new opportunities and better luck. Someone told me it's a good year for the Dog (that's me), so keeping my fingers crossed that it is true...

Anyone reading this and is hiring people, drop me a line or two (smiles).

wet, wet, wet ... more water than you need

2007-01-17T14:37:00.000+08:00

As if the first time around wasn't bad enough, it's started to rain again and quite heavily last week and as a result, many areas in Johor is flooded again. From the news, towns like Kota Tinggi (not that high), Batu Pahat, Segamat, Gemas and even some parts of Johor Baharu town were inundated with flood water again.

For those who have not been keeping up with the news, here are some photos (courtesy of The Star).
Record number of evacueers, over 100,000 this time around and worst than the first time. Many people had not even recovered from the first incident.

Back to Adjusting

2007-01-11T19:32:00.000+08:00

Posting from Malacca. Well it has come back one full circle as I have been 'asked' by the management to assist with the flood loss adjustments in Malacca. So, since yesterday, six of us, Mr Chew, Mr JY Wong and Mr MC Wong, Mustatir, Sim, Chong and Jeremy were despatched from Kuala Lumpur to assist in the processing of the flood claims in Malacca.

Whilst Jeremy, Chong and I help on the HH claims in the office, the rest were assigned the commecial claims that had been overdue.

We are currently putting up at the Orchid Hotel, opposite the office and have been trying to cope with the volume of cases that had 'flooded' the branch. However, it was basically getting used to the procedures the first day and besides helping to sort out some IT and Notes issues at the branch, was only able to complet 2 cases yesterday but today, so far, I had achieve 7 cases and all had agreed and accepted the offers.

Unfortunately, the 'air-cond' environment and my poor health hasn't been too good. I am currently down with a cold and sneezing non-stop. Had to take 2 panadol and that helped a bit.

By the looks of things, we are going to be stuck here until at least Saturday if not Sunday.

Back to the grind

2007-01-06T02:03:00.000+08:00

After a long break, it's back to the grind again when I reported back to work on the 3rd. I was literally lost cos, they had dismantled the place I was seated before I went on leave so imagine when I returned, I found my PC dismantled and placed at a desk where there was no LAN connection. Fortunately, I still had my notebook from which I could at least use my WIFI connection to get access to the server and do a bit of work.

Speaking of work, there was so much to catch up, cos nothing was done whilst I was away. So, there certainly is a lot to do.

Then I was told that I was need to be in Malacca office to help them sort out the network connection and set up a wifi connection because they had deployed several guys down there to help the branch due to the overwhelming work but no one considered the necessary infrastructure and networking they will need to make their PCs or notebooks work.

So, there I had to drive down there first think on Friday morning with the spare wifi access point from KL. Fortunately, I was able to set up the network with little problems. Checked the existing set up for the users and ensure that they could work.

Happy New 2007 Year!

2007-01-02T10:30:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year to all. It's been a relatively fast 2006 that just went by and now in comes 2007. Hopefully this would be a better year for everyone.

Came New Year's eve, I decided to do something different. Instead of the usual partying, I opted for a simple family dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant. Took my mum along with my kids.

After dinner, my younger brother came over with his family and we chatted for a while before adjourning to my mum's apartment for the countdown and to get a better view of the fireworks display at KLCC. Met up with my youngest brother and his new girlfriend, JJ. An unexpected family reunion of sorts. That made my mum very happy.

Watched the short fireworks display from the BB area and KLCC before leaving. Was feeling tired and exhausted after a long day but that's how most end of year feels.

Anyway for some really nice virtual fireworks try this link: http://www.maylin.net/Fireworks.html

Further Education

2006-12-30T10:46:00.000+08:00

Took my son Gary to register for his Australian Matriculation at Sunway University College in Bandar Sunway.

Hopefully, things will work out and he starts school on 4th January 2007.

It's a one year programme with 2 semester but it's gonna cost me over RM13k for it. The first semester itself will cost RM8k. But I can trust him to put in a good effort, so far, he hasn't let us down yet when it comes to studies. It's what to do after that still worries me, cost we have also looked at various undergraduate programmes offerred both local and overseas and they are exorbitant. Without a scholarship, it's going to be really tough even for local universities and not even considering twinning programmes or transfer programmes.

Meanwhile, my daughter went for her Form 1 orientation at her new school, SM Convent Jln Peel. Only problem is she will be doing afternoon sessions for the next two years. So, desperately now trying to arrange transportation for her to and from school.

Anyone living in the area and wants to offer transportation for school children between the Pandan area and this school, leave me your contact in the Comments posts.

Hong Kong Disneyland

2006-12-29T13:56:00.000+08:00

Hong Kong, December 26, 2006.
After 2 nights in Shenzen, we were back in Hong Kong. The main highlight of this trip was the visit to the Hong Kong Disneyland.

There, we spent half a day taking in the sights and some of the rides. Of course it is not as big as most Disneylands around the world, particularly the ones in the USA or Japan, but it was not short of fun. We took in some shows and there were plenty to see and lots more photos to take.

Kids loved taking pictures with some of the characters, namely Mickey Mouse, etc. There was Main Street, Fantasy Land, Adventure Land and Tomorrow Land to see.

They had the Disney Parade around 3pm and then at 9pm, the grand finale of fireworks from around the Fantasy Land castle.

Both my kids enjoyed the visit. Only complaint was that the food was expensive. In fact everything was expensive, for example, a bottle of 75ml mineral water costs HK20. So, if you want to go there, bring along your own food and water.

Plenty of sourvenirs to be had too, if you can afford them. A Mickey Mouse cap costs around HK45 to HK100 depending on how elaborate it is.

Of course don't miss the train ride around the whole place. It helps to get an overview of the whole park so you know where to target especially if you want to catch the shows as they have specific times.

We were lucky that it was after Christmas so the crowd was lesser and the kids could get onto most of the rides they wanted with a short wait of between 25 to 30 minutes. A lot of the rides were for smaller kids, so my two teens picked the ones that only suited them, which, weren't many but fun nonetheless.

I took a ride in the Space Mountain, more like a roller coaster ride in the dark with lots of lights like flying through space. It was the fastest ride in the park.

More pictures in the gallery below:

HK Trip

More of Shenzhen

2006-12-29T13:50:00.000+08:00

Shenzen, December 25, 2006.

We also took in the China Cultural Village where we took two shows. One in the afternoon and one at night.

These were situated in a beautiful garden with replicas of Chinese buildings, Great Wall of China, palaces and temples.

Windows of the World

2006-12-29T13:44:00.000+08:00

Shenzhen, December 25, 2006. One of the best locations to visit in Shenzhen is the Windows of the World where you get minature replicas of well-known buildings, sculptures and scenes from all over the world in one place.

Picture here show us at the entrance prior to entering the place. As the place was so big, we had to take the tram ride so that we could cover the place in the shortest possible time.

Took lots of video here, it's like a world tour in one small place. The place was teeming with people as we see many bus loads of tourists from all over the world converging on the place.

First day in Hong Kong

2006-12-29T13:38:00.000+08:00

December 24, 2006. We started the day with a Dim Sum breakfast and
then a tour of Hong Kong. This included a visit to the Convention Center and Aberdeen (an old fishing port) where pleasure crafts are docked along side fishing boats and boat houses.

A few more places of interests, including a visit to a medical shop to look and sample some herbs and we were then off to Hung Hom Railway station to catch the train to Shenzhen.

My Hong Kong trip with the family

2006-12-29T13:27:00.000+08:00

Flew off on 23rd to Hong Kong with my family. By the time we touched down and got settled in the hotel, it was quite late at night and we did not have much time to look around except for the vicinity of the hotel which, is located in Tsim Sha Tsui East.

It was a night before Christmas eve and many of the buildings around the Tsim Sha Tsui park were lit and decorated with Christmas decorations. We took a walk around the area and tried some local fare. The "Wantan Mee" was recommended but found this quite different from the kind in Malaysia. There were no roast pork with the noodles, just prawn dumplings.

Many people were just hanging around the park, taking pictures and singing carols. Almost everyone were armed with a camera and snapping away happily around the park.

Checked out some of the shops that were still opened. Not many though as most had been closed for the Christmas holidays.

It's break time

2006-12-22T17:48:00.000+08:00

Today I start my year-end break but, even before I can settle in, first thing in the morning I start to get calls for assistance from a Mitsubishi dealer and then there was calls from the office. sigh.

Up till an hour ago, I was still getting emails requesting assistance. Don't they know when to give it a rest. After all, I am out of the office and there is little I can do from home.

Anyway, tomorrow on, I'll be out of the country and there would be absolutely nothing I can do then except verbal or email assistance I guess.

By the way, here's some links to my friends' blogs:

Kelvin
Juliet

It's Xmas time again

2006-12-22T02:37:00.000+08:00

Well folks, it's been a long time since I blogged and this is my first on this site.

And what a time to do it since, it's coming to the end of another year and a start to a new one. But before we get to that, it's that Xmas time again where it's family togetherness time and seasons' greetings to everyone.

For this year, I am going to take my family up to Hong Kong. Leaving this Saturday and back only on Wednesday. We'll spend 2 days in Shenzen and then back to Hong Kong and Disneyland. It's meant to be a treat for my wife for baring with me throughout the good and bad, especially this difficult year and for my kids; my daughter who just finished her Std 6 exams and my son who just sat for his SPM - still waiting for results.

Basically, it's to be able to take a short break from the rat race whilst we still can afford. When my son starts his higher education, first metriculation then hopefully onto Uni, it's going to cost me an arm and a leg.. but what to do.. that's the responsibilty of a 'good parent'.

I guess it's about this much since it's my first post and I more keen to see how this new site turns up.