EngLee's Path

Becoming A Father

2011-08-30T21:49:00.003+08:00

My baby Adelyn was born last month and I officially become a father. Time past really fast, can't believe my last post was one year ago. Too many things happened during the year, becoming father is one of the significant event for my wife and me.

To all father-to-be, I strongly recommend you to be in the labour room. It's really a lifetime opportunity that you must experience to know how a baby is born.

Over the month, we really learned that it's really not easy to grow a child, especially at this stage when cry is the only mode of communication.

At least things are getting better now when she learned to know day and night.

Just started to bring her out for shopping few days ago. After the day, you don't really remember much about what you have seen at the mall, you only remember about comforting her throughout the day. All you are shopping are only her clothes, toys or other necessities for her. It's no longer NAS, hard disk nor SAN storage system, it's breast milk storage system we are shopping.

Even when you are eating, you need to take turn!

All these may scare you, but you will be happy and contented when you see her sleep soundly. That's the joy of parenting, I guess.

Singapore Trip

2010-09-12T16:20:00.005+08:00

The last time I went to Singapore was few years back when I was in UTM. Time flies, that was at least 6 years ago. It was last weekend that I revisited this "expensive" place again. I feel like I have accumulated sufficient purposes to go there again.

Ever since Genting started the casino in Sentosa, I have always wanted to see how nice the place is, especially when I have seen so many mock up designs and videos when I was with eGenting.

Secondly, I have always wanted to visit my friends who work in Singapore. They have been there for years and I have not have the chance to see them in Singapore yet.

Of course, there is also plan to get myself an iPad, which has been launched in Singapore and not Malaysia. I don't know why things reach Singapore faster than Malaysia, although the two countries are only separated by a tiny strait.

There is also pressure by my wife who has not been to Singapore since her kindergarten days, although I repeatedly told her that Singapore is nothing different, only more expensive.

After we planned everything, we also lucky to have GeekCamp held at the same time, which we could join a few sessions.

With a very limited time, less than 48 hours, and so many things to accomplish, it's definitely a trip that makes you tired, not to relax yourself at all.

With Seh Hui blogged in great detail on our itinerary, I am not going to repeat the same words. Go: A Brief Singapore Trip by Felix Leong.

I am sure you can see how tiring we were, if you read how much walking we have done from his blog.

My version of the trip is actually much more tiring compared to his, because we have the most "exciting" time after he left.

I wrote this on the bus, with my new iPad, right after it happened:

The Last Minute Rush

We had a very exciting rush at the very end of the trip. Our last point of exit will be The Plaza, which we will leave by First Coach bus at 6:45pm. We were having our dinner at The McDonald's at Boat Quay until 6pm which we thought we are only one station away from Nicoll Highway station, the place to get ourselves to The Plaza.

While we were walking to the station, we realized that we need to travel to Dhoby Ghaut to switch to Circle Line (another MRT line), to get to Nicoll Highway. At that point of time, we thought we still have plenty of time and MRT should be much more reliable than our LRT back in Malaysia.

Things got much more exciting when we reach Dhoby Ghaut station. We saw a train about to leave and the alarm rang right before we entered. We failed to step in.

The next train that we boarded the train did not move. The door opened and closed for a few times. The time was 6:20pm. For the fifth time it opened, we decided to run out of the station to take a cab. It was a very risky decision because we have no idea which direction are we heading and taxis could stuck in traffic jam.

As we reach the street, instinct told us to cross the road. We saw more than 10 taxis but they are all hired. The time was 6:30pm and we have no idea which direction and how far are we. As we run, yes run like crazy, along the street, we were lucky to find someone just got off from a taxi!

The taxi driver told us that we are very near to Beach Rd and asked us not to worry. All the traffic light turns red as we go along. It seems like we are destined not to leave Singapore at that time.

Finally, when the driver told us that we have arrived, he told us that Parkroyal is supposed to be The Plaza and we do not see any sign of green bus as described by my sister, who is leaving with us.

As he U-turned and drove past Parkroyal, he realized that The Plaza is actually a building behind Parkroyal. We were relieved to see the green bus. We reached the bus at 6:43pm. And, we boarded the bus and left the place at 6:50pm.

This experience is priceless.

Our feeling, even after so many days is simple: Don't visit Singapore anymore! It's going to be a trip that makes you tired. Don't get cheated by the advertisements that describe Singapore as shopping heaven, I was unable to buy a single item from Orchard Rd, after spending hours at the place. Or probably the problem is not the place, the problem is ME!

If you are more interested with the iPad than my trip, I have shared my iPad thoughts on another blog few days ago. Go: iPad from Singapore.

Gunung Nuang - Second Attempt

2010-08-07T08:04:00.004+08:00

Gunung Nuang, the highest peak in Selangor (1493m), has always been an unaccomplished task in my mind for years, after failed to conquered it few years ago. During the last attempt, we started quite late in the morning, and it was raining heavily throughout the climb. Moreover, Gunung Nuang is known for its 'evil red earth' section. When the red earth is wet, it becomes very slippery. My badminton shoes can't take it. Although we managed to get to the false peak, it remains as an uncompleted task in my mind.

This time was different. We have great weather, we started damn early although it was really an impromptu trip without much planning.

Woke up at 4:00am, gathered at 4:30am to have breakfast. Reach the place at 6:30am and begin our journey to the peak at 6:40am.

The direction to the place is quite straightforward. This guide by COREZONE is quite complete:

From Leisure Mall Cheras, drive towards the Kajang hwy. You will pass a TOLL. First exit after the toll will take you to Hulu Langat if you keep left. Go straight at the first traffic lights. You will get to a second traffic lights with a police station at the T-junction on your right. Take a left turn at the lights. Go straight a long this very very long kampong road. It will take you pass many small kampungs along the road, i.e. Kampung Batu 14, Batu 18, etc. (you will see exits for Ampang, Semenyih, Kajang, etc. but keep going straight). Sg. Hulu Langat is on your right side.

Towards the end of this long winding road you will arrive at the last kampong along the Hulu Langat river. You will see a big TNB pump station on your left with a football field in front of a bus stop. The road breaks into a V (there is also a bridge going across the river). Take the road LEFT of the football field.

Follow this road. You will see a very very old signboard describing G. Nuang. The road curves right and will take you to directly to a Puncak Niaga gate. Just before the gate, turn left and you will end up at the G.Nuang ranger station & parking lot. There are some chalets for rent. Est. time from Cheras, 45mins - 1hr.

The only thing that is wrong about the guide is that, the traffic light with the police station on the right is actually the third traffic light, not the second. Maybe the second traffic light is a new one. Secondly, the estimated time could be faster, if you are going to the place as early as 5:00am.

Back to our hiking trip. There are actually a few milestone to meet before we can reach the actual peak.

As provided in the guide, these are the expected timings:

1.5 hours - Logging Trail from parking lot (fast time, 1 hour)
30 mins - River crossings at campsites (fast time, 10 mins)
1-2 hours - Evil red earth section (fast time, 45 mins)
1 hour - Rocky section & tree root scramble (fast time, 30 mins)
40mins - From "false peak" to REAL PEAK (fast time, 20 mins)

We are at the acceptable range because we managed to reach the false peak at around 11:00am, although not the entire group. In our group, we also have some losers who did not made it at all, not even up to the second campsite (Kem Pacat).

Though we were enjoying our lunch on the peak as early as 12:00pm, we have very bad time after that. We have been reminding ourselves to U-Turn at 2:00pm no matter where we were.

As we have waited for more than 30 minutes on the peak and do not see any sign of our other friends coming up, we decided to head downwards so we could back home early.

However, after 30 minutes down, we see a friend still coming on the way up. We cheered him up and encouraged him to get on the peak, and we shall wait for him at the false peak. We didn't know this is the worse decision ever made.

We waited for more than an hour, even went to the peak again to search for him and we finally get him with us at the false peak at 2:30pm. He has both his thigh muscle cramped.

The journey down become extremely slow. I even had the chance to swim at the waterfall near Kem Lolo for more than an hour (the water was great!), while waiting for our friend.

Things went even worse when it started to rain after that, at around 6:30pm. The pace went even slower.

We finally reached the car park at 8:30pm. Our "loser" friends had been waited for us since 2:30pm. Imagine! We have spent 14 hours on the hill!

I must say it was a great experience. Few lessons learned:

Always keep the team in group. If we were to move together with the weak or injured, they will be motivated to keep going.
Don't bring the weak, Nuang is never for the faint-hearted.
If you break things down to the smaller size, you find it much easier to conquer. We know we have how many sections and how many hours for each section. With that, you will definitely do it. Without breaking down into small pieces, it will be a never ending hike. (This could be applied to everything we do in our life)
Always bring rain-coat (not umbrella) and torch lights (with new Energizer batteries).

Looking forward to go for hiking again. It's really not easy to spare time for these kind of activity at this stage of my career, but it really feels good.

Something I heard from foreigner group-mate (not in exact word) during this trip: "This trip is painful, very painful, but I like it. This is exactly what I wanted to feel."

I agree with him.

It's Another Year

2010-01-05T01:55:00.004+08:00

It's already 5th day of this new year, I haven't got the time to review what I have done last year and to set new goals for this new year. Remember I did this last year on the very first day of new year!

Looking back my goals for 2009

Lose procrastination attitude and stay motivated to accomplish my monthly financial goal. [No more procrastination! Yea!]

Abide by the schedule I created for myself. Be discipline! [Mission failed. Where's my schedule? Blame it on room renovation!]

Complete all projects on time. [Improved]

Setup my own software development office. [Accomplished]

Lose my belly and build a strong and healthy body. Aim for body weight of 75kg, by visiting gym at least twice a week. [Mission failed, but weight is quite near due to heavy work load and stress, not the healthy way.]

Read at least one book a month. [Mission failed]

Get Competent Communicator title in Toastmaster. [Mission failed. Didn't go for Toastmaster anymore due to tight schedule]

Other things accomplished

Signed the certificate of marriage, legally got myself a wife. If you think this is not an accomplishment, you will know it is one when you get married.

Got myself into a different business world, changed my mindset and perspective in managing business.

Setup a new business with a new office in a new field.

Do I have any other accomplishments? Should have blogged more so I do not need to squeeze my brain now.

Goals for 2010

Financial: Double my net-worth by end of year.

Health 1: To sleep early, by 12:00am daily and wake up early by 8:00am. (I'm writing this post at 2:00am?)

Health 2: Join a gym and go at least twice a week. 75kg is still my goal, but I want it the healthier way.

IT Office: Get myself a few programmers to reduce my work load.

Time management: Allocate at least 1 days a week for myself and family. To regain control of my own time.

Personal development: To improve communication skills, hopefully thru Toastmaster.

That's it. And... maybe writing more blog posts should be one of my goals..

Three Discoveries from Sunway Pyramid

2009-08-15T22:34:00.005+08:00

Sunway Pyramid will soon become the next The Store
All shops are closing down at 9:45pm on a Saturday night. Can't find much people there. Or is it due to H1N1? (From my perception, The Store is doing very badly in the past few years and it's never a place for young people like myself.)

Men's wedding band is much more expensive than women's!
Went to check the price of wedding bands. Men's wedding band doesn't come with diamond but it costs at least 1K more than women's, because of the weight of the platinum to make it look bigger.

Carl's Jr don't serve sauce anymore
Recent years, I started to prefer Carl's Jr than McD's, mainly due to the fries which tastes better, their sauce, and the bigger size of the burger. The sauce, especially the Santa Fe sauce, tastes damn good. Now, they don't even serve Mayonnaise for me to dip the fries.

Amanah Saham 1Malaysia

2009-08-01T16:36:00.003+08:00

The Prime Minister recently launched a new fund, Amanah Saham 1Malaysia.

From TheStar:

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced the incentive at the launch of the new trust fund, which has 10 billion units, with each unit going for RM1.

Amanah Saham 1Malaysia is the biggest trust fund in the country, and will go on sale from Aug 5.

With the name 1Malaysia, the first thing that came to mind is, we all live together as Malaysian and not separated by races. We will go out claiming ourselves Malaysians, NOT Malay or Chinese or Indian.

But somehow, in contrary, the package is distributed according to races:

To ensure that the units are fairly distributed, Najib said that for the first 30 days of sale (Aug 5 to Sept 3), 50% of the units have been allocated to bumiputras, 30% to the Chinese, 15% to the Indians and 5% to other races.

So, are we really heading for 1Malaysia? Or do we still separating ourselves by races?

Fitness Center Pricing

2009-07-25T09:14:00.003+08:00

I went to a fitness center in Petaling Jaya, a chained type of fitness center yesterday. Since I'll be in or crossing PJ everyday, it might be a good idea to get a gym membership in PJ.

I had a strange feeling after I went for a tour and consultation about the package pricing of the membership.

The price starts at:

Joining fee: RM700
Processing fee: RM140
Monthly fee: RM245 (or RM265, can't remember)

My feeling: Impossible. How they can survive with this rate?!

Second price:

Joining fee: Waived
Processing fee: Waived
Monthly fee: RM175
Contract: 1 year

My feeling: Sounds more like it.

Third price

Joining fee: Waived
Processing fee: Waived
Monthly fee: RM155
Contract: 2 years

My feeling: 2 years is a little bit too long.

Fourth price

Joining fee: Waived
Processing fee: Waived
Monthly fee: RM123
Contract: 2 years

My feeling: 2 years is still too long, but the price is good.

Fifth price

Joining fee: Waived
Processing fee: RM140
Monthly fee: RM131
Contract: 1 years

My feeling: The package is just nice, but I'll need a HSBC card, which I don't.

In the beginning of the session, when we tried to reduce the price, the consultant claimed they are one of the premier fitness center and emphasis that they are not pasar malam, we can't simply bargain. So, they are NOT pasar malam, huh?

At the end of the discussion, we were thinking, the package is nice but we think the price can go lower for sure! They have came down from RM200+ to almost half of it now.

Don't ask me about which center is that, I'm not going to tell you.

Not to talk about joining or not because I have not made up my mind. I have a feeling like fitness center is built to cheat people's money. They tried to squeeze as much money from you. We could have agreed at any price before we reach the lowest.

So, they are no different from cheating, agree?

Of course, this is business but why can't they just give one standard package?

What happen if the members are discussing about the pricing after they joined?

Share your experience on this, if any.

Twitter Widget Scripts for Blogger (Good Tip!)

2009-07-22T00:19:00.005+08:00

If you added Twitter widget to your blogger, especially you, remember to move the following section of the code to the bottom of your template so that your blog doesn't have to wait for twitter to load first.

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://twitter.com/javascripts/blogger.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/englee.json?callback=twitterCallback2&amp;count=7"></script>

I notice that this blog loaded halfway up to the twitter section, then it stops for a few seconds, then it continues to load. It is caused by twitter widget loading slower than the blog itself. Sometimes, it might fail too. So, it's better to move the actual JavaScript that does the loading to the bottom of your blog, right before the </body> tag.

Got this tip from Twitter while procrastinating.

If you are too lazy to do your own code editing, just go to Twitter's Widget Page to get the code!

Twitter Updates

2009-06-25T12:39:00.002+08:00

I have been on twitter for quite some time. You can follow me @englee. I just added my twitter updates to the side bar of this blog.

It's unbelievably easy. Thanks to Bloganol.

Feeling Tired

2009-06-24T19:40:00.004+08:00

"You have so many tasks in mind that you don't have the time to finish anything at all. Then, when you look at the calendar, you notice another week is gone already."

That's what happening to me right now. Every time I review my to-do list, the list never go shorter, but it gets longer.

Why is that happening even I have been chasing for it all day? I leave home in the morning (though not early) and reaches home at 10pm daily but why things do not improve at all?

Clients still chasing me for a long overdue project. I still don't have much time for family or girlfriend. I still have to work at home every weekend.

Prioritising working is very important. Discipline is also critical for success.

I need to be more focused on what I wanted to achieve. Let me just sit down in a quiet environment to think about it, rather than rushing without any clear direction....

(This post is probably a rambling after drinking too much the day before and no mood to do anything today)

Which Way?

2009-05-31T23:50:00.003+08:00

Lots of things happened in the past few months since my last post. I turned down one partnership offer and took up another offer in a non-IT business (don't feel like disclose the detail here right now, unless I go to create a new anonymous blog..).

This is a question I have been asking myself all the while. Should I really go into another business when I know what I really want is to develop my own software house?

My IT projects are going well. New projects keep coming. The new non-IT business started 2 months ago and the sales started to build up already too. I'm feeling damned happy about it, but at the same time, I felt a little lost.

I'm worried that I'll lose both because I can't concentrate on one. It's the same dilemma I had when I decided to leave Genting almost a year ago (wow... didn't realised I left Genting for so long already).

When I review my IT task list today, I realised that my IT projects haven't progress much since I last updated the list 2 weeks ago, because the other business is taking up more and more of my time. My partner is putting all his effort in the business. I put most of my effort in it too. Staying up late night in the office is a norm now. Even my parents who would always call me back home for dinner don't do it anymore.

On the other side, I will have to start an IT office soon, so that I could begin hiring people to help me on the projects. I find myself struggling to meet project due dates. I can't abandon the projects after they put so much faith in me....

So, which way? Have to seriously put some thought on my next step.

Donated RM30 to APT

2009-01-19T21:27:00.003+08:00

WARNING: This is a complaint blog post. Stop reading if you are busy.

I have been a loyal customer of APT for more than 4 years (maybe longer, I can't recall my previous barber before them). I don't have specific hairstyle that I want nor I have high requirement for good look. Maybe that's the reason I could stay with them for so long.

Loyal with them because of what?

For their price that goes up from RM18 to RM30?

For their hairstylist who never recognise me and treat me like I'm new everytime I'm there?

Or for their unfriendly hairstylist?

It's actually for the convenience of walking distance from my house (so, it's actually loyal for no reason).

Although I would get a different hairstylist and get myself a different hairstyle every time I visit them, I have never get the experience I'm getting today. The hairstylist actually cut very little hair off my head then put on some hair gel and assume it's done.

When I commented on it, she give so many excuses for not cutting my hair any shorter. Maybe she's the "professional" hairstylist who think for the best look for the customer, but I am not sure why I should spend 20 minutes and spent RM30 there, if I don't get my hair much shorter that I expected.

OK, I might look so damn cool for this week. By next week, I'll need to get another haircut again? Think for the sake of my wallet.

My advice to hairstylists, we are not artists. We don't get our haircut every day or every week. So do it properly. Besides that, I can't shape my hair like a artist and visit bank HQ to negotiate for big deals. All I need is just a formal look. Not everyone wants to look like the coolest artist in town.

So, to keep myself happy, I'll just assume I have DONATED RM30 to them.

My compliant ends. Please comment on this issue. Would you prefer a reliable Indian barber than this kind of service?

A Whole New Year

2009-01-01T21:28:00.004+08:00

2008 had been a wonderful year for me. It is the year that I really left the comfort zone to be in a whole new unpredictable world, though I actually planned to do it in 2007.

Since I joined this new world in July 2007, I find myself keep looking for excuses for not doing my best for my own company. I should be glad to work for myself, which is what I really want all the while. Discipline is certainly one of my biggest problems I'll have to overcome.

Maybe I'll have to list down some of the few things I want to accomplish in 2009. I'm not sure how useful are new year resolutions, and I never believe in writing it before.

Here are the few things that I hope to accomplish in 2009 (and I shall review them by end of 2009!):

Lose procrastination attitude and stay motivated to accomplish my monthly financial goal.

Abide by the schedule I created for myself. Be discipline!

Complete all projects on time.

Setup my own software development office.

Lose my belly and build a strong and healthy body. Aim for body weight of 75kg, by visiting gym at least twice a week.

Read at least one book a month.

Get Competent Communicator title in Toastmaster.

Is that all? I'm not sure, but these will be my direction in 2009 and I will take 100% responsibility to achieve them!

A Long Christmas Day

2008-12-26T10:00:00.005+08:00

My Christmas day started the night before, my whole gang of buddies gathered at my house for BBQ and beers all night. Played some silly games till 1:00am and finally when to bed at 2:00am after cleaning up everything.

The Christmas morning, we all went to Dewan Sungai Pinang for badminton, which we book the court the night before with a wrong guard. Luckily the court was open because the "Seng" family (Wei "Seng", Ee "Seng", ...) also booked the other court at the same time.

I was quite surprised that everyone managed to wake up so early to be at the court before 9:30am though the few of us finished 2 cartons of Carlsberg.

In the afternoon, I (and girlfriend) went to Tropicana City with William (and his girlfriend), which he claimed to be one of the biggest mall in Malaysia. I was very disappointed with the place. Many parts of it are still in renovation, so the smell paint and cement are all around. Besides that, about 40% of the shops are not opened yet. Contrary from William's claim, the mall was so damned small. Not much bigger than the tiny Jusco Bukit Raja. If you haven't been there, just wait for another 3 months.

Didn't manage to find any food to eat at Tropicana City, we headed to One Utama. After stucked in traffic for about 1 hour, we reach One Utama and found that all parking lots were full and closed. So, we were forced to go somewhere else. Next obvious choice was The Curve, but it was also full.

Planning to go back, I suddenly thought of having Dim Sum at Sungai Buloh, which is not far to travel from Kota Damansara. When I reach the place, found that IT WAS CLOSED!!!

So, we have no place to go but to head back to Klang. On the way back, I thought of Subang Parade which I thought will not be crowded. While on the way there, we met a "gangster". We were like queuing quite long for a traffic light. Suddenly, a car tried to cut into the queue right in front of me. So, as usual, I would not allow a car like that to cut in. With my driving skill, he didn't manage to cut in, but right after that, he drove to the side of my car and show us his tattoo for about 30 seconds, trying to scare us. I don't know what he is trying to prove but maybe he thinks that gangster just don't have to queue. I don't know what a girl (his girlfriend/wife in the car) thinks about a man like that. Have you guys met anything like this?

Not to be bothered by the incident, we continue our way to Subang Parade. AND, YES, IT IS NOT CROWDED. Easily get a good parking spot. Bought some cloths and had our dinner there. And finally reach home at 10:30pm.

So, it's a very long day for me. How did you spend your Christmas?

Malaysia Entrepreneurs' Startup Camp

2008-11-23T16:36:00.005+08:00

Since I left eGENTING to do a startup, though a small one, thought it might be useful to join the Startup Camp organised by Malaysia Entrepreneurs (check the schedule to roughly know what is it all about).

I was planning to be there early to get myself a T-shirt (limited by first 100) but failed to do so because I had a severe stomachache early in the morning. I reached the Plug and Play Centre at 9:30am, so I managed to join "Profiling: Picking The Right Partners" by Michael Reyes from Money Tree. I must say he's a good speaker and learn what to look for when you need to get a partner. He also made me realised that I shouldn't get the partner I was planning to get.

Next, I thought MSC Pre Seed Grants would help a little in my small company, but after listening to it, I understand that the things I'm working for, is not really suitable to get a grant. Besides that, it was a session where there are too many people standing at the front, each of them trying to tell a story of their own, made the whole session out of control.

I then left for lunch early because I haven't had anything yet. Heard from my girlfriend who attended another session that the other speaker is too inexperience to share his experience.

After that, I can't find any of the session interesting until 5:00pm when Dr Sivapalan spoke about "7 Deadly Sins of Entrepreneurs". He is quite right, from what I learned from his speech, I would fail miserably soon, if I'm working the way I'm.

The 7 Deadly Sins:

Not enough research - I didn't do much research, I don't even know who's my competitor!

Not focus - I'm taking all kinds of projects!

Under capitalised - Never thought of capital yet!

Weak team - Do I have a team?!

Lack of strategy - What is strategy?!

Value proposition - Err.. at least I have some values.

Weak marketing and sales - Haha. One leg kicking!

Guess I'm planning to fail. Time to change!

Besides learning a little from the talks, I also learn something new: Young speakers are either success too early or failed too early. They are not ready to share experience when the successful ones don't know how to overcome failures and the failed ones don't know about how to success. Only the ones who has gone ups and downs can tell you the real story. (Anyway, there are exceptions too.)

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

2008-11-19T23:48:00.004+08:00

I haven't been to the cinema for months, didn't expect the next movie I'm watching is Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. My comment on the show was simple: Humorous but the story line is slightly too simple and predictable. It's definitely a good show for the kids (and I suppose it's meant for them).

I thought I'll just need to relax as I have too much things to think lately. The movie just fits how I wanted it to be.

Go get yourself some laughs.

--

When I was writing this, I received a call from one of my partners. Told me something really serious. Something that I wouldn't want to confront now, but it has to happen very soon. The outside world has so much obstacles to overcome (so, I advise you to be contented when you're with a good company). I guess that's the price to pay to be successful. Didn't expect something so simply could become so hard..... I just want to write some computer programs, man!

Ideal Workplace

2008-11-09T23:54:00.003+08:00

I just can't find THE IDEAL WORKPLACE for me to concentrate on my work. I keep changing the place I work, not from a company to another, but from different place in my room or different location in my house.

Just can't stop finding reason for me to not concentrate on my work. Just few months ago, I do a big room reorganisation to relocate my work desk. With one person using two desks, I'm still no satisfied. Then, I attached my LG LCD to my HP Compaq laptop, work with two monitors at one time. I also attached external keyboard and mouse to my laptop.

Then, I shifted to downstair of my house and work on the big table in the hall. Find the place is good to work. After some time, I shifted back to my room, back to my work desk.

My current location is a temporary table set up in my room (leaving my work desk empty), and work without any keyboard attached (just days ago, I have it attached).

(I skipped quite a number of changes which I'm too lazy to write.)

Not to scare you, the long story didn't happen in one day or one week, it's an ongoing process that took a couple of months.

Now, after trying all the possibilities, I am thinking of STARTING AN OFFICE! Will office really solve my problem, I wonder..

Universiti Putra Malaysia Golf Course - Rate

2008-11-08T13:49:00.003+08:00

Managed to take the picture of the pricing for UPM Golf Course.

Might go there next week, hopefully during weekdays, cheaper + not crowded. Very pressure when you have people waiting behind you...

First Time Driving a Buggy

2008-11-08T13:21:00.003+08:00

... also mean first time in a real golf course.

This morning I went to the Bukit Utama Golf Course. It only has nine holes. Price to pay is RM40 for 9 holes plus RM20 for the buggy. Another RM3 for insurance (which is NOT for human, but for the windows of condominium nearby). It would be much cheaper going during weekday.

Still trying to master irons, I used only irons to hit some more than 400m holes. Glad that my 3-iron can reach about 140m. Seeing improvements! Last week, I was struggling to get the ball flying with 3-iron. Get an average of 7 per hole. Sounds bad but looking forward to go there again.

Last week, We went to Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Golf Course, but the place is too packed. There were about 5 buggies queing. So, we were only practicing at the driving range there.

Looking forward to go for more practice at driving range.

Rushing Project

2008-10-28T23:22:00.002+08:00

Feeling very tired. I stay awake to work till 4:00am yesterday night, rushing to meet a due date of a programming project.

This morning I woke up at 7:30am to continue with my work.

At 10:00am, before I could finish the project, I got a call from office asking me to train a group of people on a new finance package that the company is developing. Then calls just keep coming and I only left office at 7:30pm.

Dropped by at a colleague's house to have a Deepavali open house dinner.

Before I managed to get home, I was called by my uncle, asking me to go over his house to settle something.

Ah... finally got home at 10:00pm, took bath and now going to continue with my programming work.

It's a long long day. Long time never accomplish so much things in one day. Hope I could finish my work up to the mark required...

Golf Golf Golf

2008-10-22T20:43:00.002+08:00

After my virgin visit to golf course few months ago, I have stopped playing golf for a while until recently, I'm back again. I have been to Bukit Jelutong golf course for the fourth time now, in the past few weeks, almost once a week.

Still need some time to get used to this kind of EXPENSIVE sport (it is known to be expensive sport, right?), especially when I'm still considering whether to get a new iron set OR to buy a second hand Nike Slingshot iron set OR to get a very cheap golf set from my friend. Suggestions? If I don't get any iron set soon, it would take a long time for me to improve.

Another thing to headache would be whether to pay for a lesson from professionals. It would costs me few hundreds again.

Luckily, it's not too expensive to play at a low quality course which is for beginners. It costs me only RM30 per 9-hole session. Looking forward to play at other course but I really need to practice to make my swing more consistent.

Just been there again this morning. Played very badly today. Partly because of the very hot weather. Partly because we reach the place quite late, didn't have enough time to swing at driving range first. Lost three balls. Two to the pond. One to the bushes. Now I know why my friend asked me to buy more balls. Didn't know that one would lose so many ball in one session. Maybe it's just me!

--

Have been quite busy for nothing recently. I feel like my schedule is always full but accomplished nothing. Have to be more focus on achieving what I need to achieve. It's already the fourth month since I left Genting. I need to see more RESULTS!!!

A Few Days in Langkawi Island

2008-07-27T02:08:00.016+08:00

So much work keeps coming. Sometimes I thought I would take a break to relax after I finish my current project. It would be really.. really good. However, just think of it, will the day ever come? The work just keep coming. So, with so much work in hand, I was with my family, for a short three-day trip in Pulau Langkawi last week.

During my time there, I still can see many places I have seen 4 years ago, when I was there with my UTM coursemates. I really enjoy the trip last time. Some of the places were renovating. Some look totally different, especially the Underwater World.

Glad to find my Dopod D810 GPS is working properly there! I didn't check whether the malsingmaps covers roads in Langkawi before I go.

The new Toyota Innova that we rented. It costs us RM260, slightly expensive than normal package because we reach in the morning, left in the night of the third night. It costs around RM250 for normal 3-day-2-night, and still negotiable.

The Seven Wells waterfall. We didn't climb the stairs up to the real seven well but we really enjoy ourselves at the waterfall below the wells. Imagine the ice cool water splashing on your back in a hot and sunny day.

Another nice waterfall, the Temurun waterfall.

We choose to go on the Mangroove boat trip. We were brought around in a boat to the places at the north-west of the Langkawi Island. We went through a cave in boat, we see monkeys, we see bats in another cave, we see snakes, we see eagles, we see lots of Mangroove trees (of course), we had a nice seafood meal on a floating restaurant. With so many things, it costs somewhere RM500 per boat. Oh, we also see many different weird fishes from sea, which they caught and kept at a place to show the special abilities of the fishes.

The seafood in a floating restaurant. They served 3 fishes, 2 plate of prawns, fried rice and some vegetables.

The Black Sand Beach. Don't know why it's black, it's just black.

Spend an evening at Tanjung Rhu. The scenery is undoubtedly beautiful, especially during sunset. We also found that there's sandbar connecting Tanjung Rhu beach to opposite island. That means you could walk to the opposite beach (which is about 2km away) without getting your shirt wet!

We spent about RM25 per person to get ourselves into the Underwater World. I would say all the animal, fishing, everything were great except for ONE thing. That is the 3D cinema, showing a very tedious story. The 3D effect is really bad, especially if you have seen the quality of those 3D videos in Disneyland.

You can find penguins in Underwater World! The ones with yellow eyebrow look exactly like those you can find in Happy Feet.

I didn't had the chance to get on the cable car last time and I thought I must go up the hill this time. But no luck for me. It was closed for maintenance. If you are going, make sure you check when it will be down for maintenance. They have a monthly scheduled maintenance. Besides that, they will not run it when it's raining. So, plan properly.

Found this at the Oriental Park at the bottom of cable car station. Does it really free? Why put up the stand when they are not putting up the price? Or they are keeping it blank to cheat some Mat Salleh?

Burned rice or beras terbakar. You will find a place where the Langkawi once used to burn the rice they harvested when Siam attacks them. When they don't get to enjoy it, they don't let the Siam have it as well! Good... die together!

It was a nice trip. A place I look forward to go again for a low cost and relaxing trip.

Replace MyKad at Putrajaya

2008-07-25T08:48:00.007+08:00

It was a great experience to replace my I/C or MyKad at Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN) or you would call it National Registration Department.

First of all, why do I need to replace my I/C? I just went to Public Bank the day before to open a bank account to borrow some money (economy is bad). After everything has been properly filled up, they wanted to verify my MyKad. The IRIS device failed to read the chip. Actually, I'm already expecting that because it has broken more than a year ago. Then, I thought I could use passport to verify myself. Maybank would request for passport when my I/C failed.

The Public Bank staff insisted on using I/C, and she suggested me to change it at JPN Putrajaya which only takes one day to process. ONE DAY TO PROCESS?! Is that really a government department? I remember there were some reports about this earlier. I thought I'll check it out.

Yesterday, I woke up damned early in the morning and drove to JPN, Putrajaya. I didn't know where is the exact location, but I managed to find it in my GPS. Anyhow, it's not hard to find because it's located at Presint 2, at the road where all the Merdeka parade was held.

Unbelievably, the whole process to register and take picture took me less than 5 minutes. There are about 18 counters for replacing or getting a new MyKad. Another thing I must praise is their efficiency and courtesy. They certainly deserve the praise and gone to the next level.

Yesterday evening, I called their hotline and well-mannered, they told me that my I/C is ready! I was supposed to wake up early to collect it this morning, but I'm just so lazy. I'll probably get it later today.

However, there is still one point for improvement. When I reach there, I had to park my car at a parking lot beside a construction yard. All the parking lots in the building are reserved for their employees. I don't care to leave my car under the sun, but the parking lot that shares the same entrance with construction site is just so bad.

Oh, forgot to mentioned about the cost. I had to pay RM10 for replacing MyKad. Other costs would be the petrol from Klang to Putrajaya (50KM one way) and RM5.90 toll (one way). By doing the maths, it actually quite expensive to do it there.

(100 x 0.25) + (5.90 x 2) + 10 = 46.80

UPDATE: I forgot to include a second trip to collect it. So, it would be at the cost of RM36.80 + RM46.80 = RM83.60!

It's far but it's worth the trouble. If I were to replace it in Klang or Shah Alam, it would take 10 days. You wouldn't know whether it's a real 10 days.

Some pictures:

The floors are well labeled. You know where to go once you are there.

There's a small garden in the building. Look at how our tax money are spent.

Nice cafe with the running numbers, so that you don't have to wait at the counters.

One Hour from Klang to Klang

2008-07-22T16:39:00.004+08:00

I thought after leaving my nine-five job (or should it be eight-nine job?) at Kuala Lumpur, I don't have to stuck in traffic jam for hours. It just happen again few minutes ago. I had to go to Public Bank Taman Chi Liung (somewhere near Klang Hospital).

It took me less than 15 minutes to get myself there, but when I'm on my way back, it took me more than 40 minutes to cross the Jambatan Kota (the Klang bridge). Blame it on the construction blocking one lane of the bridge.

While I was swearing the authority, an ambulance appear behind me. I can see that all drivers would like to give way, but there weren't any place for us to squeeze. If there is someone almost dying in the ambulance, I can only wish him luck.

I was told that it would be closed till next third quarter of 2009. Next time, I am not going to take the risk again. I'll just come back using the Connaught bridge through Sentosa.

Anybody had to travel through the way everyday? Any better route for me?

Newly Renovated UOB Bank

2008-07-08T22:19:00.004+08:00

Recently, the UOB bank near my house just renovated. They installed lots of new machines, replacing all old machines. It looks good.

My parents have been using the bank's services for a few years, for their good services and walking-distance location. Surprisingly, today my parents were waiting for me to help them bank in some cheques. I thought that's a trivial thing that they could do it themselves?

The silly bank management, after the renovation, removed all the envelope-style cheque deposit machines, replaced with those machines that you will need to key in every detail at the machine. What a brilliant idea to save some trees but I believe they will lose lots of their customers.

Why I say so? Firstly, I notice that they had long queue during peak hours. How much time do you need to drop the envelope? Five seconds! How much time do you need to key in account number and cheque details? Errr.. at least few minutes!

Secondly, how many people, especially the older generation, will actually spend time to learn new things like this? OK, it's not really a new technology. But, my parents have been filling up the cheque deposit form for the past decade. Do you really want them to change? They don't really touch computers or such machines for the past decade! Besides that, who should take the responsibility if the things are entered wrongly?

Thirdly, I believe the old-style machines should be more robust than the new machines that do lots of processing. The old-style machine only accepts the envelope, than print a slip. The new one requires more processing. They also need to embed a scanner inside. So, when you have more functions, you fail more.

When I was there to deposit the cheques at 10:00pm, two of the machines are out of order. I will have to queue for few minutes, waiting for the one person before me. YES, I AM QUEUING AT 10:00PM! The other machine, went offline while I key-in the details half way. The guard has nothing to say. He can only smile to us.

For this, I would give a thumb-up to Maybank which keeps the envelope-style cheque deposit machine at their branches.

I was wondering, if you were driving few kilometers to the bank to deposit the cheques, and you had a situation like this, what would you do? (Remember! 1km = RM0.30!!)

Three Sport Sessions In One Week!

2008-07-06T12:03:00.004+08:00

Apart from career perspective, two of the things that I want to get after I left my full time job are to go for more sports and to sleep more. I think I have achieved one of them in this very first week!

I went for golf on Thursday. I went for badminton with UTM seniors yesterday. This morning, despite very sleepy, I woke up for jogging at Taman Rakyat.

After jogging, I went to a mamak stall at Pandamaran. I was surprised to see the shop is so crowded early in the morning. I was then informed that it is actually famous for its roti canai.

The roti canai was very thin and crispy. Besides that, it is not as oily like what you can find elsewhere. The pre-packed nasi lemak on the table was not bad as well. I bumped into many friends and relatives there. Maybe I need to bring some name cards there, so that I could promote my services. Haha!

I hope sport activities like these will keep coming!

First Time on a Golf Course

2008-07-04T12:36:00.003+08:00

Yesterday was my first time on a golf course. I wasn't prepared for this first time. I don't have golf set. Even my golf shoes were bought the day earlier. I remember I don't even do well when I went for driving range last time.

I knew I had to try it, though I was forced to do it this time. As we reach Kundang Lakes Country Club at 8:00am, we went for training at driving range first. My performance at driving range was much better than how I did last time.

The fee for 9 holes at Kundang golf course was not expensive. It was at around RM25 per person. We also rented the cart which costs more. I find it hard to control the cart in the beginning.

I actually felt nervous first time playing in the course. I was unable to stroke the ball properly when I'm on the course. On a par 5 hole, it took me 12 strokes!

We were unable to finish the 9 holes due to rain pouring down heaving when we were playing the 4th holes.

Anyhow, it was a great experience. Call me up if you are interested to go for driving range training. I seriously need more training!

First Page of My New Chapter

2008-07-01T21:44:00.003+08:00

Today morning was indeed a different one. I woke up at 9:10am, NOT 7:00am anymore.

Sadly, that's the only thing that really changed. I dressed in office wear meet with a group of suppliers, negotiating on how their system could be linked to my system. Next, I have a quick lunch at KFC in a petrol station.

Second half was spent with a different group of system users. We discussed on how the system can be improved and what should be done in the later phases of the system. The discussion took about 4 hours. The 4-hour discussion is very tiring, but fruitful.

I finally reached home at 8:25pm, slightly better than my eGENTING days. I'll have to begin writing draft of discussion into formal specifications now....

SO, WHAT'S THE DIFFERENT? DOES MY LIFE REALLY CHANGED?

I'll need some more time to judge.

Today's The Last Day, Tomorrow's The First Day

2008-06-30T23:41:00.001+08:00

Every ending represents another new beginning. I believe that's always true. Today is my last day at eGENTING. That's the place I wish to leave especially when I get support call early at 4:00am. How I wish to resign earlier when my whole weekend is used to trace a program bug, working for the company, from home. Not to mention staying awake till morning to make sure all servers are up and running.

Surprisingly, I feel sad today. I don't feel like leaving all the good memories I had with the team. That's my very first job. That's the place I learn all the world-class programming style, and one of the best system designs, if not the best. That's where I see all wonderful people who always generous to share all they learn. How I wish my resign notification period could be longer, so that I could stay a little longer in the company.

I have been telling myself in the past one year, it's really time to move on. I know what I want. I know it very clear. I can't hide. I must not procrastinate anymore. It's time for me to face it. That's how I convince myself to resign three months ago.

After 6:00pm of 30 June 2008, I'm a free man. I'm not tied to any company anymore. I'll be concentrating for my own projects, working for myself. As what Robert Kiyosaki said, how do you get job security when your job and your salary is determined by someone else? I'll decide myself this time.

I'll go own my own, unless someone could offer a very very good deal that I can't resist. I'll be working on a few projects I have already secured in my hand, finish them in a few months.

As I work on the projects, I hope I could pick up a technical partner who could handle the system development so that I can concentrate on getting more deals.

Finally, the last thing before I move on. Thanks to the people who brought me up to what I am today. Special thanks to Mr Jonathan Searcy who opened my eyes to the real programming world. I don't think I'll meet another boss like him. To Seng Yaw, who guided me all the way and allowed me to sleep in his car everyday. To Chee Wah, Sze Hau and Jenn Yeh, who showed me the way when I got lost, don't know where to find solution. To Chee Leng, who always provided me with all kind of administration needs. To the others in the department (lsh, khl, smk, kwp, ygl, yhd, hyc, jhp, fyl, mpf, tlt, ken, vik, bas), whom we shared the great memories together. Lastly, to the others in Genting Group, who gave me all the phone calls and emails when I'm sleepy in the office.

OK. Enough with the appreciation. I believe they have heard me. I still have only 20 minutes to plan for my new beginning, to start first day of the new chapter that I have waited for a long time.

DHL - Dua Hari Lagi (Two More Days)

2008-06-27T11:07:00.002+08:00

That was what my form one teacher told me about DHL - the courier service. Anyway, this post has nothing to do with DHL, but to announce my final two days in eGENTING.

I still have a long list of tasks to be finished in these two days. Need to finish all the things I owe them.

Will probably make another post after I become a FREE MAN.

Bukit Melawati (Tabur) Pictures

2008-06-24T15:06:00.007+08:00

I went to Bukit Melawati last Saturday and I've just received some photographs from my colleagues yesterday.

It's certainly a nice place for photography enthusiasts.

Always Look at the Pump!

2008-06-24T14:17:00.005+08:00

Last weekend, when I was refueling my new Proton Saga at Esso Jalan Tun Razak, something bad happened. No, not the whole thing exploded. The petrol overflowed my petrol tank and made the floor flooded with petrol. It's the fullest tank I've ever had, I must say.

As usual, after I made the payment with my credit card, I put in the nozzle into the petrol tank of my car. I would then walk away as I hate the smell of petrol. As I look at the meter, it is approaching RM80.00, and still it's not full. Then, as it approached RM89.00, one of the petrol station attendant rushed to my car to stop the nozzle.

At that time only I realised that the floor began to flood with petrol. It took a while for the attendant to clean the place and my car.

It's the most expensive petrol my car ever had. Moral of the story (for you guys out there), always look at the nozzle when you are refueling, especially when the oil is so damned expensive now. Though it's the nozzle malfunctioned, but they are not going to pay you for your lost.

Bukit Melawati (Tabur) - Round 2

2008-06-22T12:16:00.005+08:00

I have been to Bukit Melawati last time, but didn't blog about it. I just went there again yesterday.

I remember that it takes about one and half hour for me to travel from Klang to Taman Melawati. By using my Dopod D810 as my GPS this time, I managed to reach there in less than an hour! If you are interested to go there from Klang, make sure you go from NKVE way, definitely not KESAS. (Let me know if you want me to guide you there)

For this trip, I was with my colleagues at eGENTING and a few from WorldCard. The trip was nice, but the weather is too hot because we are only starting our journey at 9:30am, waiting for one another at Giant.

In beginning of the journey, everyone thought the trip will be an easy one. We were only walking on normal trekking path. After about 20 minutes hike, we saw the first nice scenery. There's a nice lake, which the water was retained by the dam there. Due to the very hot weather, we are unable to take nice picture. It would be better if we could reach the spot at around 8:00am. (But that would make me leave home at 6:00am!)

As we continued, we began to reach the rocky path. There, you get to feel some easy rock climbing. Also, there are two spots where you need to climb down with a rope. The weak or the heavy ones would have some problem there. Those are the points that decide how long the trip would take. You will have to rely on the strength of your hand to do it.

One of us, Tee Li, got his thigh muscle cramp while overcoming some of the harder obstacles. We had to slow down the team.

While you are at the top, you get to see part of the Kuala Lumpur city. I remember I could see KLCC last time. But this time, it was covered with dirty air and bad visibility. Thanks to air pollution.

We went through a few rocky slopes until we come to a sign that indicates that we could head down from the hill through a "jungle" path. The jungle route was filled with fruit trees. We saw some durian, rambutan, mangosteen, cempedak and petai trees there.

The gang from WorldCard managed to get back to beginning point at about 1:00pm. We, as we wait for the injured one, only managed to reach the bottom at 2:30pm. Glad that Tee Li, though injured, still managed walk down the path unaided.

We then have our lunch at Giant. We parted at 3:40pm.

Expecting that the trip will take only half day, it ended up that it took one whole day. I only reached home at 5:00pm after I sent my colleague, Fang-Yin, home.

Sorry that you don't find any photos. I didn't bring any camera. I'll upload some pictures once I got it.

Update: Bukit Melawati Pictures

The Star Supports SAPP Whole Heartily

2008-06-18T23:40:00.004+08:00

With such a big image on the main page of The Star, we can be quite sure that The Star fully supports the move for a no-confidence motion against Abdullah. Before this, they also support Anwar as the Prime Minister.

Or probably the editors at The Star don't get enough sleep.

Collected "Free Money" from Government

2008-06-16T14:26:00.004+08:00

I just collected the RM625 fuel rebate through Post Office (Sungei Wang). I went there the get the queue number before I have my lunch. My number was 1299, and the running number was around 1220. After I finished my lunch, the number was at 1295. How nice. The guy at the counter was responsive. It took about 1 minute to process the transaction. Even the money was calculated and prepared earlier. Well done for the great service.

You might be asking, why everyone wants to get it so fast when they have 365 days. I think it's because of our flip-flop government that can't really make quick and correct decision at one time. They might regret it some day and do it away. Besides that, I'm not sure when and how the new fuel card system will be implemented. Getting cash into my pocket first should be the best thing to do. Do you agree?

If you are not sure what you need to get the money, just bring your left thumb and MyKad (I/C). All you need to do, is to get the form and fill it up with your very basic information such as name, I/C number, car registration number, telephone and address. There is a written guide on the wall, telling you how to fill it up. I was told that there's an online form which you can download, but the POS Malaysia website is down at this moment.

What's your opinion on this fuel rebate? Have you got yours?

Increasing Petrol Price - Compensated with Cheaper Bus Fare?

2008-06-12T18:55:00.002+08:00

The increase of petrol price recently has certainly caused lots of troubles to the people of Malaysia. So far, I'm seeing price increase in many things.

Yesterday, I had to take public transport back (to Klang) from KLCC, after installing a system at my client's office at Jalan Ampang. Since it's 3:30pm (off-peak hours), it took me very little time to take LRT from KLCC to Pasar Seni.

Then, as I stepped into a bus, I gave the bus driver RM3.00 and told him "Klang!". He reach his hand to the side to get some coins. I was very curious at that time. I remember the fare was somewhere between RM3.00 or RM3.50. When the ticket is out, it was indeed RM2.50 only.

As soon as I sat down, I saw a small notice at the front. It describes some kind of promotion from a certain date to a certain date for cheaper bus fare (I can't read the very detail, blame it on my bad eyes, and lazy ass). I was surprised.

The first time in my life I see a bus fare deduction. Did Transnasional got subsidy from the Government to do this? I didn't find any detail at their website. It's certainly a good thing if that's their initiative to promote public transport.

Anyway, it's certainly a good thing. I reached home in less at 1 hour. It's quite unbelievable, though I'm travelling during off-peak hours.

I Need More Sports

2008-06-10T23:44:00.002+08:00

I feel like I'm really unhealthy at this point of life. I spend most of my time for work, work and work. And, my stomach begins to grow on its own at a difference pace, compared to other parts of my body.

I begin looking for sports again. I remember the days when I go for 10KM marathon run at least once a month (until my knee got injured). I go for volleyball games every Friday. I go for two badminton sessions almost every week. Today, I didn't go for any of them, but I still eat the same amount of food (maybe more).

Until very recently, badminton sessions seem to be coming back. I had once for last week, and once the week before. Hope that will endure.

I am also planning for a small hiking trip to Bukit Tabur (or Melawati) as well, with my colleagues. Not much people interested. Planning to go on early morning of 21st or 28th June. Anyone is interested?

After I "graduated", I might be looking for a gym center to join. Wonder which has the best package and hopefully it's in Klang. Thinking to go there every morning, or at least thrice a week. Do you have any gym to recommend? If you have joined, what package are you getting?

Let me know if you have any sport for me.

Leaving eGENTING Soon

2008-06-09T10:13:00.002+08:00

As most people have known, I have tendered the "letter" 2 months ago on the April Fools' day, though it's not a April Fool's joke. It's for real.

The 3-month notification is long, I must say. Excluding today, I still have 3 weeks to be in the office. If you don't do it, the time will never come.

Why I decided to leave? I have been asked the same question many times. I would like to make it clear that I am happy with the company, true from my heart. The answer to that is probably "what is keeping me busy recently?". Since more than a year ago, I began working on freelance projects. I must say, it certainly has caused my health to deteriorate. I am restless almost everyday. After spending 14 hours for work (7:00am to 9:00pm, including preparation and travelling time), I am rushing to finish the freelance projects till 1:00am, most of the days. Still, I'm not able to keep my clients happy.

In that situation, will I still be able to concentrate on my office work? Life's getting worse everyday. I can't do well both side, the office and freelance. I need to be fair to my boss (my company) and my freelance clients. And that's why I made the decision.

So, what's next? Yet another question I keep getting since 2 months ago. I don't have big ambition at this moment. My first aim is to finish up all the freelance projects in hand. I have a few of them running concurrently, mostly programming projects. Besides that, I MIGHT have a surprise move, which is not ready to announced, before I confirm anything.

Hopefully, this post will reduce the curiousity in you guys.

I hope I'll have more time for myself, and some time to blog about myself in this blog after the "day" (30 June 2008).

Unintentional or Intentional?

2008-04-11T09:04:00.003+08:00

This is what I see in the new this morning.

Is Anwar the one?

Happy Moments

2008-01-31T22:13:00.000+08:00

I have been missing from this blog for more than a year! Imagine how fast time has passed. Although I don't have much time to write on my personal life, I still constantly updating my programming blog, as a log of what I've done in my IT life.

Well, where was I when I was away from this blog? I have had lots of happy moments, which I'm going to share with you in this single post.

Seeing this scenery on the top of Tabur hill.

Standing on the peak of Mount Kinabalu.

Holding Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower in my hand.

Seeing London Tower Bridge while I was in London on a business trip.

Looking at Taipei 101.

Took this fireworks picture at Putrajaya during MIFC.

I've had these happy moments. How about you?

Activities Update - Marathons, Gunung Datuk and Gunung Angsi

2006-05-29T09:46:00.000+08:00

You can hardly see me updating my blog lately. I'm quite busy lately, especially with my work in office. After my last run, the Power run, I've been to 2 more marathons recently: Larian Mesra on 16th of April 2006 and Larian Bomba on 7th of May 2006. Though running on the same Dataran Merdeka route (10KM) for both of the runs, I did better for Larian Bomba because of the drizzling weather. I did 1 hour 6 minutes and 1 hour 4 minutes for the runs.

Almost forget another more recent run, New Balance Pacesetters Run, was held on 14th of May. This is a 15km run which I had participated last year. I did slightly better than last year with 1 hour 34 minutes, 2 minutes better. The route is still as bad (too many hills) as last year.

And, before those, on 14th of April, I went to Gunung Datuk once again, for the third time. This time with Swee Hong, Hooi Nee and Ah Lek. A nice short trip.

My latest activity, on last Saturday, I went to Gunung Angsi (once again) with my girlfriend (who went for hiking for the first time), Swee Hong, Ah Lek, Chun Keat (who emitted smoke like an lorry all the way up and down) and Wei Siong (who injured his knee on the way down).

I'm really getting tired to go for the same hill again and again, but I really can't find any hill for one-day trip. (Do suggest and provide the information, if you know any.)

My upcoming activities would be to hike a few more hills as training for my Kinabalu trip in the end of June.

Kuala Lumpur Power Run 2006

2006-03-21T09:14:00.000+08:00

The second run after my long rest turned out to be a hard time for me. I had too much at the buffet dinner that celebrating my best friend's birthday earlier night and I slept for only 4 hours.

The run was flagged off at 7:30am and I'm still not done with my stretching because I spent a long time in the public toilet (caused by the buffet dinner). All the way, I felt my body burning hot. Not the usual feeling I would feel during runs. Probably caused by sleep late, I guess.

The route was not a good one. It started with house area, which I'm quite comfortable with, followed by highways. I hate that. I hate to run with lorries and cars. Sometimes, I even had to hold my breath to avoid inhaling those dark smoke. Can't the organiser find a better route?

This tough 10km quarter marathon took me 1 hour and 6 minutes to finish. Though not qualified for anything, I'm happy that my right knee didn't really feel pain at the end of the run (just very slight of the weird feeling I said earlier, which is much better). I'm sure it will be better if I prepare myself better next time.

Kuala Lumpur International Marathon 2006

2006-03-08T17:45:00.000+08:00

After away from marathon for more than 6 months, I finally back to track last Sunday for Kuala Lumpur International Marathon (KLIM). As far as I could recall, Malaysian Airlines was the main sponsor when I went for the run in year 2000. Now, I see AmBank logo everywhere when I reached Dataran Merdeka early in the morning.

Being unprepared for the run, I thought I will not be able to finish the 10km run. Until about flag off time, I only realised that it's actually 7km. Along the way, I see my office. I see the places we hanged around when I out for lunch during working days.

Since it's only 7 km, I don't feel any pain this time. Normally, I will feel some discomfort in my knee and sometimes ankle at 8th or 9th km. Anyhow, I don't hope to feel it during this run, hoping that my knees had fully recovered.

As always, mental strength has brought me to finish line without stopping. It took around 45 minutes for me to finish 7 km. I suppose it's a bad record since 1 km should take only 5 minutes. I don't want to have my knee injured again. I'll run slowly for this and every other run.

I enjoyed the run, after such a long rest. My next run will be KL Power Run on 19 December 2006.

Astro Wah Lai Toi Drama Award for 2005

2006-01-08T01:34:00.000+08:00

I've just attended The Astro Drama Award for Year 2005 held at Sunway Pyramid Convention Center. I would say that it's definitely a great experience to be there, not to mention that we were sitting on the 4th row from the stage just now. (Thanks to Yin for the tickets. We look forward for more such tickets!).

All the Hong Kong drama stars were being seated at the front row. It followed by our local artists at the second row. We (my girlfriend and I) were actually at a very close distance from them. In that kind of situation, we have some kind of weird feeling when we were so near to those artists that we normally see in TV, especially for people like me that don't always go for concerts. Guess you understand what I mean.

Everything during the night was great except for an auntie who took photo with those Hong Kong artists. I know that it's OK for her to take photo with them. But, guess what, she asked Chi Lam (Julian Cheung) to stand up and take photo for her with Charmaine Sheh. That didn't end there. She then asked Ron Ng to take another photo. I can see that they felt so ashamed when they had stood up in front of their fans to take photo for her with other artists.

Something that I was wondering all the while, what they normally do (in a live show) when we see advertisements in TV? For the very first time to attend such kind of live show, I learned that they are actually giving some information to us (the audience) on what's coming up next and what we should do. And that's why we can see in TV that everything can go so smoothly during the show.

I must admit that I really had a great time there as part of the event. Watching such on my own eyes is so much better than through TV!

New Year Celebration

2006-01-04T09:46:00.000+08:00

I know it's been weeks since I last updated my blog. I'm busy with my work and also my other blogs. Anyhow, I finally able to make a post on my 2006 New Year Countdown celebration at Ikano Power Centre.

That day was a hectic day for me. My ex-coursemates asked me to join them at 5:00pm. In my schedule, I'll still have to have dinner with my family. I'll still have to attend a bachelor party before I can join them at Ikano.

My dinner with family was a different one that day. We had Osaka, the Japanese restaurant in Bandar Baru Klang, instead of the chinese cuisine we normally have. I can't remember the name of those japanese food (although I learn Japanese before). The only one I can remember is the 'Black Dragon', which was the best I had there. Go try it if you have not been there before. Expect to spend around RM40 per person, if you want to have a full meal there.

After that, I fetched all my friends with plan to go to the bachelor party. It was already 10:00pm. Somebody suggested that we don't waste time at the party but go straight to Ikano and everybody agreed.

Although the traffic is quite congested, we managed to reach the place before 11:00pm. I saw my colleague, some mountain-climbing friends and also my ex-coursemates that invited me to join them at 5:00pm.

Here's a picture of the gang that went with me.

We watch some local artists made some live performances. We countdown with a large crowd of people.

They have around 15 minutes of fireworks right after countdown. Then, we went over to Taman Megah to have supper before we went back to sleep.

PIKOM PC Fair 2005 (III)

2005-12-07T22:40:00.000+08:00

Again, I went to this PC Fair twice. I went on Friday for a preview session and again on Sunday to spend some money. The arrangement of the fair is exactly the same like last time with 5 halls, one exhibition hall on the higher floor and 4 other halls joint together to become a large computer hardware bazaar.

This time, I've got something in mind before I go. I've bought a piece of DDR RAM which is not for me. My colleague requested me to buy for him. It costs him only RM75. Then, I bought a LG DVD writer for only RM160. Also, it's not for me. It's for my brother in Sabah.

After rounding the place for hours, I finally found something for myself. I subscribed to PC Magazine for only RM 45. My friend, William paid the other half to get the free gift, a Logitech webcam. I don’t need the webcam. I've got my A4Tech webcam.

During the fair, I found myself wondering around, not knowing what to buy for myself. Maybe I really have everything I ever needed. The one last time I'm going to get should be a PDA. I saw a very good offer there. They are selling the HP 6365 (with free gifts worth RM1000) for only RM1888! However, I'm still undecided. I still can't make up my mind, whether to get a single machine for phone + PDA or I should separate them. I'll see what they have next time.

Though everytime I know I have nothing to buy, I still find myself wandering around in every PC fair. I just don't understand myself!

eBay Explained! 2005

2005-12-01T00:00:00.000+08:00

It was actually last 2 week (2005.11.19) when we (Seng Yaw and I) went to eBay Explained! 2005. I've been waiting for so long till I received this photo today from Eric Tan, an acquaintance we met at the event. Thanks, Tan. It was taken during the eBay 1st Anniversary Party.

If you would like to know more about the event, I've written a full report on it - eBay Explained! 2005: The Event.

Hiking at Gunung Irau (Hill), Cameron Highlands

2005-11-20T19:42:00.000+08:00

It actually took a week for me to finish this post. I'm too busy with my work. It was last Saturday (2005.11.12) when I went to Gunung Irau, Cameron Highlands.

I'm very lazy to pack my stuff the day before the trip (Friday). I hang out with my friends till 2:00am. I knew I shouldn't. My clock rang at 5:30am in the morning. I woke up to "morning call" my friends and to pack my things. I left the house at 6:30am to reach Puchong Giant to meet my friends at 7:00am sharp.

Getting There

For this second time to Irau, we left Puchong at 8:00am and reached Cameron Highlands at around 11:30pm. The direction to the place was simple. We headed north on the North South Highway and exit at Tapah. Following “Cameron Highland” signboard will lead you to Ringlet, then Tanah Rata, and finally Brinchang.

The highest road in the whole Peninsular Malaysia is located here at Gunung Brincang. It's around 2000m above sea level! When you reach Brinchang, you'll have to look for a butterfly farm there. A small road to the bottom of Gunung Irau is just right after the butterfly farm, opposite of some vegetable market. It's on your left. It should take at least another 15 minutes to reach the place.

The Hike

We didn't proceed straight to hiking when we reach Cameron. We had lunch and spend lots of time looking for chalets because we are not planning to stay up on the hill. From what we heard from the locals, it should take around 4 hours to hike up the hill. And, we are still haven't start our journey until 2:20pm!

I'm not sure we'll have enough time to come out of the forest before dark. But, we are there for the hill. I'm not going to miss this chance to reach this peak again! During our last attempt, we failed to reach the peak for the reason that it rained heavily and one of our teammates has her shoes broken (due to the muddy condition). I must make it to the peak this time!

The mosses and temperature difference has brought us back to the hill again. Along the way, we don't really feel thirsty, simply because of the humidness and low temperature. It rained heavily again this time. This is the Malaysian weather, especially at the end of the year, it will rain, almost everyday.

All the way, we have to be very careful when stepping on the ground. There are parts where we might get our shoes stuck in the mud. One of us (Hooi Nee) has the experience here.

We were quite easy on the beginning. We actually spent quite some time on taking pictures despite lack of time. We knew we shouldn't but the photos will be the best memory for us.

The journey for this hike is actually quite different. We trek down from Gunung Brinchang, then head back up to Gunung Irau. For Gunung Irau, there are actually 2 peaks. The first one is meant for camping. I would say it's a fake peak. It was around 5:00pm when we reached the first one. There's an idiot who actually modified a signboard there to make it look like the real peak. He changed 0.8km to 0.0km. We were very happy when we saw the 0.0km. After some discussions and thoughts we verified that somebody fake it.

It should take another hour to reach the peak. This is the period that actually challenges our mind. We ran out of time. We had to go down before dark. We went up and down the path way for many times. Each time when we headed up, we were expecting the peak. But it was not. That happened for at least 5 to 10 times.

The Peak

When we finally reach the peak, we are really very happy and contented. I couldn't believe that we finally made it to the peak even though it rained so heavily and part of the team has lost their morale. We took pictures and had some food up on the hill.

Comparing other hills, the scenery on the peak of this hill is not the breathtaking type. It's the scenery along the journey to the peak made this trip interesting. It would be even better if everyone of the team has their own cameras. I didn't bring mine that day.

Heading Down

We traveled down the hill at 6:30pm. The sky is getting darker and darker. The sky was still raining. The whole path was very muddy. Some of us are quite worried, especially the girls. Some are suggesting that we stay up on the hill. We weren't prepared for that. We neither have tent nor sleeping bag with us. The temperature was around 10-15 degree Celsius when the sky was getting dark and the rain was still pouring.

Still, we headed down. We have only 4 torch lights (with a super mini light) with us. Wong has one. Ying Chun has two. I have one for myself. Haw Seng has the super mini light (in his key chain)! Along the way, we spent most of the time identifying the correct path.

We learnt a lesson for hiking here. Always remember to bring torch light and batteries for hiking. And, batteries mean Energizer batteries, not Eveready!

We were lucky that we finally able to get back down at around 11:00pm. Though it was quite late, we still able to make it safely.

The Night

The next thing we did was to simply clean ourselves before heading to an Indian 24 hour's foot stall for dinner. We made some phone calls to ask for accommodation at the time of 1:00am. We thought we probably won't get any shelter at that time. Fortunately, A guest house nearby, Papillon Guest House is still accommodating guests at that time! The pricing was OK. It costs us only RM10.00 per person!

Second Day

We had steamboat as our brunch on the second day. After that, we bought some strawberries before leaving the place. If you don't know, Cameron is supposed to be the only place to buy strawberry in Malaysia. We used a different way to go back. We drove through Blue Valley then turn over to Simpang Pulai before heading down back to KL. The old road (the way we came) is slightly more dangerous simply because of the slippery road condition and mudslides.

It was really the greatest experience among the hills I've been to. I highly recommend it to all hikers for the mossy and cold condition. Just make sure that you start your hike early!

Gunung Angsi Hiking Trip

2005-11-06T02:41:00.000+08:00

Last Sunday, I had been to another hill, Gunung Angsi (Angsi Hill) for a one day hiking trip. With me were Robert, HooiNee and KinChong. I woke up at early as 6:00am to prepare myself and to take train to meet them at Serdang.

From there, we head to Seremban through North South Highway. After exiting highway, we go straight until the end of the road where we had to make a left turning. When we saw another traffic light, we turned right (follow the signboard to Kuala Pilah) before we came to another traffic light. We made another right turning at the traffic light and then another left turning. Then we followed where the road lead to, until we reach Ulu Bendul (the place to start hiking), which is on our right.

We reach the place at around 11:00am (I can't recall the exact time). The place is actually quite commercialized where we can find a few row of food stalls, a natural swimming pool, and bathrooms. We head straight into the forest as soon as we reached the place.

It took around an hour walking on a flat route (an easy trekking) until we came to a campsite. After that, the following 2 hours path was not simple (it should take approximately 3 hours to reach the peak).

There was a dangerous place where we had to use rope to climb. Luckily it was a dry day because we might hurt ourselves if we slipped.

Along the way, we met a group of Christians from Kuala Lumpur. It was their first time to the place (it was ours too). However, they did not make it to the peak. They thought they reached the peak (or nearly to the peak) but actually there was still around 40 minutes to go.

The peak doesn't look very good. Part of the scenery was blocked by trees. But still, we took a number of photographs. We then had our lunch up on the peak. We began to head down hill at about 2:30pm. Walking down the hill was very much faster.

As soon as we reach the campsite, we wash ourselves in the waterfall. The water was extremely frosty but we still jump into in to clean ourselves. We were thinking that we might want to come to the place again for camping, but not hiking simply because the peak is not nice, but the campsite was quite good and close to waterfall.

Next, we trekked back to our starting point for another bath in the public bathroom. After we really cleaned ourselves (but not HooiNee who did not brought any pants), we advanced to Seremban to have dinner.

Although this is quite a disappointing trip among other hiking trips, it's worth experiencing it ourselves rather than listening to others' stories.

[Will add photos soon]

Gunung Datuk Hiking Trip

2005-10-28T09:04:00.000+08:00

Again, I went to Gunung Datuk (Grandfather Hill, directly translated) for hiking. This is another impromptu trip, which we are just discussing it and confirmed it on Friday and we are sleeping up on the hill on last Saturday night.

The Direction

We head south in North South Highway until we exited the highway at “Pedas Linggi”. We took a left turning after the toll and follow Rembau all the way until we see “Hutan Lipur Gunung Datuk” signboard. I suppose there will be another two left turnings to reach the place. If you follow the “Hutan Lipur” signboard closely, you will have no problem reaching the place.

Climb, climb, climb!

We reach the bottom of the mountain at around 4:30pm. (I know it’s really late) Spend some time registering and paid RM9.00 for some useless stuffs. We started climbing at 5:00pm. 6 of us, Robert, SingThai, JiaWen, ShenLong, Liew and I were in the trip to sleep up on the hill.

Since this is my second trip to the place, I know it’s not very hard to reach the peak. The route itself is not tough, it the weight of our haversacks makes the trip slightly tough. Liew, the oldest among us was doing a great job this time. I remembered that he had a hard time in previous climb.

It took around two and a half hours to reach the peak. We left our bags on the small hut and climbed the rock to the peak as soon as we reached there. There was a group of Singaporeans that were already up on the hill when we arrived. They were so kind to offer us one of the two huts there. I heard that they are from some kind of hiking society in school. Well, thanks for the hut.

The wind was strong in the early night. It was very unfortunate for the Singaporeans when their hut collapsed. We return their kindness with our only tent. Six of us slept in the very tiny hut the whole night.

Second day

We woke up early in the morning to eat everything we brought up. Before we managed to come down, I had stomachache, probably caused by eating too much. I had my first time in middle of leaves. The feeling was so different when I had to worry that somebody might be coming. Well, a good experience!

It took an hour for me to travel down the mountain. After all of us washed ourselves at the bottom of the hill, we head to Seremban to have our lunch.

I can say that Gunung Datuk is a good place to go if you don’t have much time or stamina. Since it’s only a two-hour climb, you can expect that the route should actually quite steep, so that we can reach 2,900 feet above sea level in such a short time. I’m looking forward for a few more hills in coming weeks. Coming with me? Drop me a mail.

Gua Tempurung (Tempurung Caves)

2005-10-09T02:29:00.000+08:00

This is another unplanned trip. This time I was with my collegues. It was last Saturday (01.10.2005) when we woke up early in the morning to start our journey to Sungai Buloh highway rest house to meet another group of colleagues before we head to Gua Tempurung.

The Gang

There were 4 of them following my car. They are Swee Hong (coursemate), Chee Wei (secondary school mate), Yuan Hui (Chee Wei's sister + colleague) and Seh Hui (colleague).

Sook Lan (colleague), Keh Yong (Sook Lan's husband), Hui Ying (colleague) and 2 so-called ABC (American Borned Chinese) were in another car.

In The Caves

We reached the place at around 10:40am. There were a number of different tour guide packages. Sook Lan went to the place before and she suggested that we should take the toughest one. As we entered the cave, the environment reminded me of my previous caving at Dark Caves. The smell of guano was quite similar. The ranger who brought us showed us lots of natural shapes on the wall of the caves. We spent most of the time walking the stairs in the beginning.

As we move deeper to the cave, we were asked to turn off our torch light. That's the most interesting thing to do in caves actually. We walk a short path blindly. I can't see anything even when I wave my hand in front of my eyes. How fun!

After 2 hours of stair case path, the journey became tougher. We came to a place where we have to slide down a slope with about 4 meter high. I guess this was supposed to be the toughest thing to do in the cave. Then, when we were about to get out from the caves, we had to crawl through many shallow holes where I almost had my head hit. Luckily it was not raining in the morning; else we might get ourselves totally wet with those water with guano!

The most unfortunate thing that ever happened in the cave was the ranger's torch light spoilt! However, we managed it to the end safely though some of us get some minor injuries.

The feeling when we saw the light (when we were about to get out) was extremely great! When we got out (it was around 3:00pm), we washed ourselves before heading to Ipoh for a meal. It was really a great trip for me as I was waiting to visit Gua Tempurung since long ago. I'll be glad to go again. Anybody?

On My 22nd Birthday

2005-09-25T15:50:00.000+08:00

I celebrated with my girlfriend. I had a great lunch with her at The Chilli in Midvalley. On this is my first visit to Mexican food, I find that the food was extraordinary! In addition to the great food, they are giving out free dessert for birthday boy!

I celebrated together with SingWang. He's only 4 days older than me. We treated our buddies to have seafood dinner at Teluk Gong (a well-known seafood zone in Klang). Next, we went to KTV at Klang Parade for a singing session. I would like to thank SingWang for sharing the joy together and my buddies who made my birthday moments memorable.

My colleagues treated me Korean food in Crowne Plaza Hotel. The Korean food is actually very tasty and flavoursome, especially the big portion of chicken, made me so full! Thanks!

[Photo will be uploaded soon]

I received a number of birthday wishes through emails, calls, online instant messages and SMS. Thanks for the wishes. I appreciate each and every wish from you all!

Photo Gallery

2005-09-18T02:03:00.000+08:00

After working for a number of days, I finally constructed an online photo gallery of my own. Although I still don't have time to further customize the template, it still serve the purpose to display all my photos. In the future, I'll share all my photo thru that site. For your information, I've added a link (enrii.gallery) in the sidebar for your convenient.

I've added my convocation photos and port dickson trip. Do check the gallery next time, after each of my trip!

Port Dickson-Melaka Trip

2005-09-05T22:41:00.000+08:00

All of sudden, WeiSiong called me in a tired night to ask me whether I'm interested to go for 2 day trip to Port Dickson. Since I didn't been there for quite some time, I agreed. We started our journey to the place last Saturday afternoon. We, SoonFat, his colleague, my girlfriend and I, drove to Seremban to fetch SingWang before we finally reached Corus Paradise hotel at around 4:00pm. We then had a normal meal at a normal road side food court in Port Dickson.

WeiSiong and gang reached our rented apartment at around 6:00pm. We spent some time walking along the beach and swimming in the beach. When the sky getting dark, we walked back to our apartment and began to prepare for barbeque. WeiSiong (the so-called organiser of this event) prepared a large amount (the amount you can never imagine) of food. They consist of chicken wings, pork chops (sponsored by my father), hotdogs, 3 kilograms of fish balls, packs of fried beehoon, 2 loaves of bread, few cans of tuna, eggs, 2 watermelons and a large box of coleslaws (made from 2 cabbages and 3 carrots). There were only 9 of us. We ate and chatted all the time from 8:00pm to 2:00am.

The second day, I woke up at 10:30am. After we have some leftovers for breakfast, we went to the beach to play balls. We began with volleyball, then beach soccer and hand ball.

We left the apartment at 2:00pm and head Melaka, the historical city. We had plenty of food there. First, we had the famous Melaka Chicken Rice. The rice was nicely made into sphere shape, which looks so different compared to what we have in a normal chicken rice shop. The chicken, although not as good as those in Ipoh, were quite good to be taken with the rice.

Then, we moved to a dessert shop, or they call it "ice shop". The Gula Melaka in ice that I ordered tastes great with the taste of durian in it.

The last station we went was the famous "satay celup" stall. All the seafood was tasty, but my stomach too full for it.

We left Melaka at 9:30pm. A great unplanned trip.

Independence Day

2005-09-05T22:28:00.000+08:00

Malaysia's Independence Day (Hari Merdeka) falls on 31st of August. I've been quite busy in the past few days. Today, finally I'm able to squeeze out some time to blog. I celebrated Independence Day with a slightly different activity this year. I actually went to Putrajaya to watch Merdeka Parade for the first time, after 21 years living in Malaysia. I'm quite ashamed with it.

It was a hot sunny day in the morning when we reach the place at about 7:30am. With me were Zbjernak, WeeSeng (with his partner, Diong) and Kevin. There were some stalls selling food and drinks.

We took lots of photographs. That's the major activity there, besides eating. Here's a few photos.

Spent around 5 hours there before we left for Alamanda Putrajaya (again) for lunch. The FIRST truly patriotic event I've ever been to.

UTM Convocation

2005-08-30T17:54:00.000+08:00

Finally, the day has come. Very much earlier than the medal presentation day, we started our journey as early as 2:00am. Parents, younger sister, girl friend were going to my convocation with me yesterday. Though we were required to report in at 6:45am, we managed to reach Johor at 5:40am to bath and had our breakfast.

As soon as we reached the campus, I quickly prepare myself with my suit and the gown. At around 8:00am, all the graduates queued and walked in the hall. Our parents went in earlier than us. As I was walking in, I saw my parents smiled at me.

Our vice chancellor was punctual. The ceremony started with National song and a speech by vice chancellor. There are more than a thousand graduates who were going to receive their scroll that morning. I was the 616th to receive my scroll.

Our faculty (Faculty of Computer Science) was the one with the most first class degrees. I was one of them. I waited impatiently until finally it's our faculty's turn. We queued on the side of the stage. Walked up the stage one by one and receive the scroll from vice chancellor when our names were called. After a number of names from our faculty had been announced, there was a technical problem. They stopped announcing names. How sad! This made my convocation experience an unpleasant one.

It finally finished at 11:30am. It ended with our university song.

I spent hours taking photos with my coursemates and my family. The photo session with my coursemates made me feel great.

We travelled back to Klang at 3:30pm, after I returned my gown and took my certificate. Another tiring yet memorable day.

Medal Presentation

2005-08-28T02:15:00.000+08:00

Friday has been a very tiring day for me. I woke up at 3:30am to prepare myself to meet my coursemates at 4:30am. We chatted all the way from Klang to Skudai since we didn't meet each other for a number of weeks already. It's always nice to update each other about our current life.

We reached our campus (UTM) at 8:35am for convocation rehearsal which is supposed to start at 8:30am. They told us about some rules for the real convocation. It ended with a rehearsal by a number of students who volunteered themselves.

After the rehearsal, we walked over to the robe collection booth. I found myself queuing for almost an hour, before I was able to push myself out of the crowd. Next, we went over to Lucky Town, our favourite lunching restaurant during our campus life, to have our lunch.

The medal presentation event started at around 4:00pm. The event was like a Chinese students' gathering where I was able to meet most of my Chinese coursemates. It started with a speech by our Dean. From the event, I realised that there are so many of coursemates that did so well in their result, after 4 years studying together. There were even some who got 3.96. Our CPAs are shown on the projector display when the medals were presented to us.

As soon as each of us had gotten our medals, we spent the rest of the time taking photos in the hall. That was the time we got to chat with those long-time-no-see friends. A light meal is followed after that.

We began to travel back to Klang at around 6:30pm. It was a great day.

My Convocation is Coming

2005-08-22T16:57:00.000+08:00

It's my turn for convocation this coming weekend. Had been preparing for it in the past weeks. There are so many documents that has to be filled and mailed to them. It's sad that I still have to send those document in post office despite the technologies we currently have.

If you do not know, I've spent 4 years in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) for a bachelor degree of science (Computer Science). The university is located at Skudai, Johor, 4 hours or 360km away from my home, 30 minutes away from Singapore.

This coming Friday (22.08.2005), there will be a medal presentation event. Five of us (YiYang, CheeKuan, HooiNee, Lek and I) have planned to car-pool there. SweeHong, our good 'brother', will not be with us because he will be driving his parents there. Last Saturday, we came out to meet at SS2, just to discuss this matter. It will be a one-day trip.

Next event, our convocation, would be on Monday (29.08.2005). We all will travel there separately to drive our own parents there. I plan to drive there early in the morning. Some of them will be driving there a day earlier. On that day, we have to register ourselves at 6:45am. I think you can guess how early I will have to start my journey from Klang. The event will end at around 12:30pm. We shall have a photo session around the campus till evening, before travelling back. Hopefully all my coursemates will be there, taking pictures with me.

I really hope my friends in Klang would be able to be with me, but I know it's hard. It's on a working Monday. Will update again soon.

University of Malaya Convocation 2005

2005-08-15T16:23:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was the last day of University of Malaya (UM) convocation. It was also my girlfriend’s convocation day. Woke up early in the morning to have our breakfast at Berkley Corner. We were early that day, to reach the UM at 7:15am.

After she got herself ready, she went in to the hall with her parents. Spent hours wandering around with her sister when she was in the hall. Luckily the stalls were many enough to fill up my waiting time. They were selling flowers, food and cloths. Bought nothing but some food to feed my stomach.

We were fortunate to be able to take pictures without haze that had hit whole Klang Valley heavily earlier few days. If you are not aware of that, the average Air Pollution Index (API) of Klang Valley has increased to more than 300 in the past few days due to forest burning in Indonesia. The weather was fine yesterday, slightly cloudy, made the photo taking session not too hot. She has lots from friends coming from Klang to attend and her convocation. I was the cameraman, taking hundred of photos.

Besides her friend, I saw a number of my friend as well. One of my colleague and also a number of my secondary friends were also there having their convocation or celebrating for their friends.

Everything was great until it rained heavily at around 1:30pm. We went to Midvalley to have our lunch after that. Did I mention about her course? She graduated with a first class degree in Bachelor of Science, majoring in Chemistry.

Pikom PC Fair 2005 II

2005-08-07T02:19:00.000+08:00

Though I went to this PC fair twice, I didn't spend a single cent to buy anything. Both visits took approximately an hour each. Maybe not in the mood to buy computer hardware now. Normally, I would at least spend a few hundreds of ringgit in this kind of fair. Maybe because I'm currently spending on my own little salary. Have to think twice before buying anything.

As opposed to the old Pikom PC fair tradition, the location of this fair has been changed to Kuala Lumpur Convention Center, not the old Putra World Trade Center (PWTC) anymore. The environment is better, with everything of the building is still new. The fair took 5 halls of the center, but the first hall (a ballroom) is not connected to the other four. I noticed that if we proceeded to the second hall which is quite far from the first, we are not allowed to go back to the first hall unless we walk a big round for it. Bad arrangement!

Most of the booths were almost same as what can be seen in the past years. Nothing much... Anyone has visited this fair? What's your opinion of this fair?

Bored Life

2005-07-31T23:20:00.000+08:00

Since I had knee problem, I don't go for running anymore (No more blog entry about runs). Feels like nothing much to do in the weekends. Yesterday, the uncomfortable feeling in my knee came back again, after 2 hours badminton session with my friends. I really think that my knee is getting better and it's time for me to go for some easy sports. No, it's not! Whole body muscle is aching, just because of the badminton session. Lack of sports! I really don't know how my life would be if my knee problem persists.

A Naked Man

2005-07-19T22:39:00.000+08:00

Just to share a weird man I've encountered a few days ago when I was coming back from Midvalley. After inserted the parking ticket to the machine, as usual, I drove directly to the exit. From far, I saw a dirty man standing at the road side soon after I left ticket machine. I was thinking that he's just an insane people. Then, as I get closer to him, I saw that he's not wearing any pants (I can actually saw his private part!), he's only covered with a dirty T-shirt with his beard and hair covering his face (He has a long and thick beard which makes him looks dirty). Then, he ran towards my car, trying to stop me! I don't even dare to look at him at that moment. I tried my best to accelerate my car to the maximum toward the main road. I really don't know whether he's insane or maybe somebody had just robbed him and ripped his cloths. My thinking is that if he's not insane, he would have covered his private part with that T-shirt. I think that I'm quite lucky because he didn't block my way when I was accelerating my car. However, hope that he is still ok right now.

What do you think about this man? Should I stop and try to help him? Has anybody encountered anything like this before?

Bon Odori Festival

2005-07-17T22:02:00.000+08:00

After the waterfall trip, only few of us were interested to go for Bon Odori Celebration in Shah Alam. I've heard of the event in the past years, but I never had the chance to participate it myself and that's why I rushed back from the waterfall to be at this event at 7:30pm. Along the way to the event, I can see that there were many people wearing the T-shirt of the event, waiting to instruct and asist people to reach the place. In addition, they provided a huge parking lot for us. They did a great job in organizing the event. The opening ceremony of the event start at 7:00pm. We were too late for that. When I reached the place, I saw many Japanese, with most of the female wearing kimono, were dancing on the stage, with all the others on the ground followed their moves. On the other side, I can see many Japanese food stalls selling Japanese food. There, I saw my colleagues, YuanHui (together with WeeSeng), SehHui and SookLan (with her husband) enjoying the food. Then as I was queuing to buy some food, I saw KuanYew whom I managed to take a photo with him in such a crowded place.

Then, we walked over to the stage area and I saw YiYang and his gang dancing in the crowd. I took a video of them without their knowledge! For them who want a copy, please email me!

As we walked around, I noticed that there was a martial art performance during the intervals for the dancing sessions. I took some pictures of the performance quite far from the behind of the crowd, crowding toward the performance area. We finally went back slightly earlier before the event actually ends to avoid traffic congestion. Although the event was not very interesting, but I get to learn more about Japanese culture from the event which made the event well worth for my time!

Sungai Gabai Waterfall

2005-07-17T20:50:00.000+08:00

Left Klang at 1:00pm yesterday to meet up with my ex-coursemates at South City Plaza, Seri Kembangan for the waterfall trip. It took around 45 minutes for us to travel from Seri Kembangan to the waterfall, which is located in Hulu Langat. The first thing I did before we all walked up the stairs, was to take some photographs of the beautiful view.

The stair has so many steps (hundreds of them), made the pain in my knee came back again. Have to move on! As soon as we reached the highest point, we unpacked our stuff and had some snacks before we jumped into the water. The water was chilling and refreshing! Although the place is nice, but walking on the rocks was quite dangerous as it is very slippery. We spent around 2 hours at the place playing with the water and finished up the food we brought. We were expecting there is bathing facilities, but there isn't any! Washed ourselves using a water tap and left the place at around 6:00pm. It would be a nice trip if I'm staying near the place..

Great Job, Maxis!

2005-07-17T20:38:00.000+08:00

My father lost his handphone on last Thursday. On that night, I called Maxis to ask them on how to recover the number. I was thinking that it will not be possible for him to get a new SIM card with the same number since he's using Hotlink prepaid. They informed me that I can get it back if I'm able to pay a visit to Maxis Center and provide them with some information (for them to confirm that my father is the owner). Yesterday morning, I went there and fill up a form. In a matter of minutes, everything has been done and the service is FREE! I plugged the SIM card into a new phone and pass it back to my father. Didn't expect everything can be solved in such a short time!

TMNET Streamyx First Bill

2005-07-12T09:45:00.000+08:00

I’ve just made my payment to my Streamyx account a few days ago thru online banking. For this first time using online bill payment service (I know I’m outdated), I find it quite reliable and efficient. It took 2 days to process where I can check the payment updated in http://tmbill.tm.net.my the third night.

Back to the main point! When I receive my bill, I saw a large amount to be paid! The payable amount was RM188.00. Angrily, I called 1800-88-9515, Streamyx hotline to ask them. And their explanation was:

RM50 - first month
RM50 - second month (advance payment)
RM88 - registration fee

I can accept the advance payment for the second month (though we shouldn’t have to pay), but why there’s a registration fee? She then explained that the registration fee could be deducted if I send an email to customer care center after I’ve paid the RM100. Ahh… Feeling better. According to her again, this process would take around 3 months. What an inefficient service! Hopefully everything will be fine after this.

Do check my past post about my bad experience during TMNET Streamyx installation if you have not read about it.

Retire From Running?

2005-07-10T01:04:00.000+08:00

The uncomfortable feeling in my right knee makes me quite worry. It becomes worse from one run to another. It makes me hard to decide whether I should go for the Seremban Half Marathon (21KM) which I’ve registered. WeeSeng suggested that I should go for Chinese acupuncture to confirm my knee problem. Today afternoon, I went with him to one of the Chinese doctor he claimed reliable and has helped him cure his leg in the past. And what the doctor said is… I need to rest at least 6 months to actually get back into running. I’ve never thought that I need to retire that early. He further explained that the pain in my knee is caused by the ligament has became loose and not able to hold the joint very well. If I continue to run, the ligament might become overstressed and incurable. Then I’ll have to retire from sports forever! No! Hopefully I can get back to track after 6 months, which is until next year. Have to go for swimming as my main sport until I fully recovered. Anybody interested to join me for swimming?

[update]To runners, good warm-up and regular training may help to prevent this problem. I've never practice those in my past runs...

Ipoh International Run 2005

2005-07-04T21:50:00.000+08:00

After woke up at 8:15am last Saturday morning, I prepared and packed all my stuff before leaving home at 8:30am. I had my Bah Kut Teh breakfast (again!) with a group runners and some non-runners who are going to Ipoh with me, then leave Klang at around 10:00am. The journey took around two and a half hours to reach Ipoh to meet up with BoonSeng who was already there, alone, from Penang.

Since I've been to Ipoh before, I know a little about the roads in Ipoh. Although I made them went into the wrong way a few times, but still I managed to bring them to the destinations. First place we went was O-town White Coffee shop. I had char kuey teow and smooth white coffee as my lunch. Next destination was Ipoh Parade. The only special thing in Ipoh Parade is that they don't have any McDonald in it. As for dinner, as usual, all the Ipoh visitors would go for the bean sprout chicken rice (nga choi kai). We went to Lou Wong instead of Onn Kei (the second time) without any special reason. Maybe they looks like the more original one. After the meal, we went to a pub for a while before going to take some night scene photo of Ipoh.

The Running Day

In the Sunday morning, I woke up at 5:15am. Did I mentioned that we checked in at a hotel as soon as we reach Ipoh? We stay in Grand View hotel, which is quite comfortable and more importantly affordable. We reached the Dataran Ipoh, in front of the Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh (MBI) building at around 6:45am. I warmed myself up and the flag off was around 7:15am for 10km runners. WeeSeng and BoonSeng went for 21km run.

I found myself running slightly faster in the beginning today. Everything was OK and the route is quite flat (much more better compared to the Pacesetter run). As usual, my mental become weaker and weaker as I run further and further. The main thing I was thinking all the time was "How long more to go?" (Really hope I'd a sport watch to at least help me keep track how long I've been running). Then, I saw "4km". Ahh.. I felt so good at that time. I thought 4km more to go. That really kept me motivated to go on. After a while I saw a counter providing drinking water, then only I realised that I still have a long way to go. I guess the counter is normally placed at the middle of the track.

Took a cup of water then continue running. Suddenly, I felt my knee was aching. Is this normal for runner? Or should I go for treatment? I kept myself concentrating on running and hoped that I can run till the end. Next, I saw another station which provides wet sponge. Though I never like those, but had to spour some water on my face to make myself feel better and motivated to go on.

Finally, I reached the finish line at around 1 hour. I know it's quite a bad record, but this time, I ran the whole route without any stop! As soon as I reached, I looked for some drinks. Spent quite a while for me to find the 100plus counter. Drank 5 cups of it before looking for Milo counter which is always available. But after I saw the queue for Milo, I went back to take a few more cups of 100plus. They didn't provide any food for us. MBI is not a good organiser thought the track is good. The air along the track is quite fresh and not so polluted compared to the runs in Klang Valley.

Before we left Ipoh for Klang we had Dim Sum at Foh San and bought some pomelo. Along the way, we stopped at Kampar to have Min Bao Kai (Curry Chicken Bao). I finally reached home at 9:30pm. Straight to bed after bathing!

Fish or Hamster

2005-06-26T20:00:00.000+08:00

After spending 2 days going out with William, I heard him keeps on talking about his new aquarium. Suddenly feels so interested to some pets to stay with me in my room. Have been thinking to get pets since I was in secondary school, but didn't really managed to get any. I'm thinking that I'm quite interested in fish or hamster. What do you think? You guys might have been adopting these pets before. If so, please give your opinions on those pets from your past experiences if possible! Maybe you can share some experience in terms of maintenance, cost or time needed.

Alamanda Putrajaya

2005-06-25T20:22:00.000+08:00

We were very hungry when we left the job fair. I remembered that my brother mentioned about Alamanda during our previous visit. So, we decided to look for it. Guess what?! We spent around 30 minutes driving around to look for the place! I thought they will provide enough signboards to guide us there, but we don't see any along the way until we almost reach the place. We felt a little bit disappointed when we saw the building. We were expecting something like Midvalley Megamall, however what we got is just about the size of Jaya Jusco Bukit Raja which has only 2 levels. We had a McDonald meal there and window shopped the place until we left the place at around 7:00pm.

Alamanda's website

MSC Recruitment Fair for the ICT Industry 2005

2005-06-25T20:03:00.000+08:00

Today, I spent my whole day with William (secondary school friend) at Putrajaya International Convention Center (PICC) for the job fair. In the hot sunny afternoon, we were asked to walk up the hill to the convention center. I guess, there isn't any car park lots up there! As we went in the building (this is our first visit to PICC), we can feel that the place is quite comfortable and spacious. We were required to do registration before going to the company booths. As I walked around with William, I noticed that he met a lot of his friend from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) but I didn't meet any of my coursemates from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). Is this the difference between private and government institution? If yes, why is this so? Why they will go for those opportunities but not us? Perhaps all of my friends had got their ideal jobs?

After wandering around at the booth, we went to look for photostate machine to photocopy resume. They provide free photocopy services! Then, before we went back to the booths, we saw a some people giving speeches in halls that we passed by. We ended up spending our time listening to the speeches about entrepreneurship and didn't submit any of the resumes. Spent hours in the hall and finally left the place at around 5:00pm.

Blogging

2005-06-25T01:12:00.000+08:00

Suddenly feels like writing more blogs in this week. I've just created a few more blogs few days ago. One for my programming and two for digital gadgets. Do check out if you have time. Hopefully you can find something interesting over there. It's in my list of blogs on the right side.

TVB8 Konsert 6 Jahanam

2005-06-19T10:34:00.000+08:00

If I was asked to describe the concert, I would say it’s disappointing! Expecting there will be traffic congestion all the way from Klang to KL, my girlfriend and I started our journey at 5:30pm, since the concert will be starting at 7:00pm. Unbelievably, we reached KL at 6:10pm. We parked our car at Berjaya Times Square and walked over to Jalan Bukit Bintang (the location of the concert). The place was full of people until we can hardly move to the main entrance to the concert. However, we decided not to enter through entrance even though we had the tickets because we can get a nearer view to the stage from the left side of the stage. I guess everyone should know the situation where people are pushing from every direction that makes you unable to move and breathless. We thought its fine seeing as we can see the stage from a near view. There was some speeches and ceremony which started at around 8:30pm. Finally, the concert began at around 9:00pm with 3 songs from Hacken Lee. He had a great and clear voice which is nothing much different from what you can listen from radio. Fish Leong was the next singer, with another 3 songs. Guess who was the next singer? Two unknown Malay singers! MAYBE they are famous, but I never heard of them. After waiting for such a long time in hot and sweaty environment, we left the crowd. And we went back after we get some drinks at Sungei Wang McDonalds. A bad experience for me! Any of you guys went to the place?

ICTS Computer Fair 2005

2005-06-13T22:24:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday (04.06.2005), I called few of my friends to accompany me to PC Fair. Sadly, all of them are busy with their own things. After thinking for a while, I finally decided to go on my own with KTM. But, just before I left the house, my brother offered himself to go with me.

When we reached Putra World Trade Center (PWTC), as usual, we expect to enter the fair in maybe second or third floor. But when we went up to second floor, we saw a signboard for the fair, pointing out of the building. What happened? Where’s the fair? After 10 minutes walk, we found the entrance to the fair. It’s located at a small hall in PWTC. A little bit disappointed, we went in to look around. I guess, this is supposed to be our first visit to ICTS Computer Fair, which is supposed to be rather small compared to Pikom PC Fair.

After spending some time in the hall, I still managed to buy some new stuff for myself. I bought a webcam! It’s an A4 Tech Webcam which costs me RM79. My sister in Canada will be very happy with this because she will get the chance to see everyone of us at home. In addition, I got myself a set of rechargeable batteries with charger from GP. It’s really a great bargain. The normal price for the set should be around RM99, but I got it at RM69. Hmm.. That’s all! Just to share with you guys my new stuffs!

Putrajaya

2005-06-04T11:12:00.000+08:00

After drink tea session with my Eddie and William (my BEST friends) yesterday night, we decided to go jogging this morning. Slept at 2:00am, I still managed to wake up at 7:40am this morning to call them up! However, it rained heavily as we reach the Klang Stadium. Damn! So, end up having our Bah Kut Teh in Taman Rashna. After that, we went to play badminton (and not continue sleeping), together with SingWang.

As I reached home from badminton, my family was waiting for me to go out. Undecided where to go, we left the house. Since we didn't go to Putrajaya for quite some time already, we made up our mind to go there to take some pictures. For those who's not from Malaysia, Putrajaya is actually a Malaysian Government Administration City. You get to see many building of the ministry there. Additional information of Putrajaya can be reached here. Reached the place at around 3:00pm, round the place to take some photos. First place we laid our legs on is the botanic garden (Taman Botani). It does not require any entrance fee, but we paid RM4.00 for the tram service. Although they claimed that the tour by tram would take around 25 minutes, it actually took 17 minutes to finish the whole tour. In the garden, we get to see many species of tropical plants such as ferns, palms, bamboos and much more which I can't remember the names. In the garden, there's a place to sell plants. For them who loves gardening, you can actually buy some flowers there. My mother keeps on complaining that the plant is sold at such an expensive price with a very few plants available for sale. Next, we went to Putra Mosque (Masjid Putra). The building looks nice. We saw tourists walking in and out of the mosque. However, as we tried to enter the mosque, one of the receptionist there approached us and told us that we are not allowed to enter the building because we are not muslims (No comments here, you guys should understand!). Finally we left the place angrily at around 6:00pm.

One of the greatest thing there would be the view of the well-designed bridges there. Currently, there are around 8 bridges there). The Seri Wawasan bridge should be the best one around, I guess.

We went to Kajang (a place well-known for its satays) for dinner. It took around 15 minutes to travel from Putrajaya to Kajang. We've been to Kajang for satays before, but this time, my colleague recommended me another shop which he claimed "the best in Kajang". For them who never been to the place, should go there and try on the satay there. Drove back from Kajang after that. A tiring day... but well worth it!

The great Seri Wawasan bridge.

All my family members, except one of my sisters who's in Canada.

New Balance Pacesetters 15km Run 2005

2005-05-22T12:45:00.000+08:00

The same old running gang went with me to this run again. This run would be the longest route I've ever run. Beginning and ends at Taman Tasik Perdana, the route was quite tough for me as we are required to run up and down hill all the way. I can see that the people who joined this run are quite good in running and the organiser is limiting the number of participants to 1200 people only. The fee for this run is quite expensive (RM40.00) but, they are giving out a new balance running vest which should cost quite a lot. For the website of the run, click here.

After the blow off, I run at a faster pace in the beginning. I was able to follow BoonSeng for quite long, around 2km I think. However, the steep route makes me mentally weak. All along the run, I can see people overtook me but I didn’t get a chance to overtake any of them. At around 10km, I can feel that my knee started to pain and my shoes were getting tighter and tighter as my leg began to expand after the long run. I finally stop running to walk twice as the pain became worse. However, I managed finish the run with 1:39:29. I think this should be a quite good achievement for me since I never go for any sport anymore. My job is demanding so much time from me. BoonSeng, WinSeng and my brother recorded better time than me. After the run, there’s lucky draw. BoonSeng and WinSeng were so lucky to get a New Balance goodie bag.

The gang who went along with me to the Pacesetter's run.

A finisher's medal from the Pacesetter's run.

TMNET Streamyx Experience

2005-05-21T12:25:00.000+08:00

I've actually signed up for streamyx last month (April), and I finally get my streamyx activated today. It took them so many weeks to get me online. I think I haved already called the streamyx help center for more than 5 times. It's long story since the sign-up date. The story began this way. I heard there's promotion for streamyx RM66 package which I'll get a free modem with built-in router. So, I signed the contract with a third party company (a reseller) and they promised me that the service will be available very soon. After 1 week, they called me and told me that the modem is ready and I can collect from them anytime. The second day, I went to see them and collect the modem. I was so happy at that moment that everything can be done so fast. Since I've done streamyx configuration when I was in Johor last time, so I don't want to pay for the streamyx guy to come over and install for me (this saves me RM50). When I finally get home and installed the modem, the DSL light is off. So, I called the streamyx help line, to the technical side. And they told me that has something to do with the activation side. And so, I called again, to the activation side. The activation side is normally busy where I need to queue in the phone for few minutes. When finally someone answered my call, they told me that they have actually done the jumpering thing for my phone line and the DSL light is supposed to be on. So, they told me that they will check the problem for me and call me back after few days. Waited days after days, unpatiently I call them again. And all I was told was still "wait"! After few weeks with many calls to the center, I finally tell them that I hope them to send me a technician. This morning, they sent a Malay guy here (a contractor for streamyx). When he plug in the modem, the light is on already. Shits! He told me that he just do the jumpering thing for me. What the hell! The help center operator told me that they have already done it earlier! Then that guy call the activation center and activated my account for me. Then he ask me to sign a paper, so that he can claim a fee from TMNET. He didn't do a thing here, I've done all the configuration myself! All the did was the jumpering thing that is provided by streamyx free of charge! Then, I called the help center again, and they ask me to sign first then call the billing department to void the charge. So much trouble for a broadband connection! Really hope I've option for other broadband provider. Hopefully I don't have to pay the fee since all the installation has been done earlier by myself...

First Working Day

2005-05-03T22:48:00.000+08:00

Today is the first day I started my working life. Leaving school and study life. The company I'm working for is located in the middle of the Golden Triangle in Kuala Lumpur (KL)! So, for this first day, I decided to take public transport instead of driving. I woke up at 5:00am sharp this morning with great spirit to work. After I had my breakfast and bath, I managed to get myself to be in Klang KTM station at 6:15am. From Klang station, I travelled to Central KL station before boarding on the KL Monorail. Finally, I reached office at 7:45am. It's too early! After waited for 15 minutes, another guy who looked like a fresh-graduate also came and waited together with me. Everyone in the company finally came to the office at around 9:00am. They all looks quite friendly and helpful. They helped me a lot to setup my PC. Besides setting up PC, I spent most of the time reading user manual with thousands of pages to learn about the operation of the company. Quite boring but I think everyone will have to go thru this for their new company. Hopefully I will get to be assigned some interesting task soon.

Gunung Ledang (Mt. Ophir) Trip

2005-04-25T22:20:00.000+08:00

Last friday (22.04.2005) night, when I was still painting my house, my brother who was painting together with me suddenly told me that they were planning to climb Gunung Ledang on Saturday morning. It's a little bit too late to tell me, but that was the only time I was with my brother after my Redang trip. I remembered it was 2:00am that night when I finished packing my things.

We began our journey to Tangkak, Johor early in the morning at 6:00am (23.04.2005). With me was my brother, WeeSeng, BoonSeng, KenSeng, WinSeng and ZerPing. My brother was driving that morning until halfway, he started to fall asleep and I continued the journey until we finally reached Tangkak at around 8:30am. We had our breakfast at a chicken rice stall in a hotel. After that we continued our way to Gunung Ledang. Reached the bottom of the hill at around 10:00am after some registration and made some payment. Unexpectedly, the place has became very commercialised where we need to pay so much money to climb the hill. We are required to play RM1 per person and RM2 per car to enter the place. Besides that, we must hire a guide to go with us which costs around RM100. There's charges again for each of us to climb the hill.

We finally started hiking at around 10:00am to get to "check point 4" (a campsite). At around 12:00pm we managed to reach the place and set up our tent. We had our lunch and prepared ourselves to climb the hill at the campsite. After leaving all our haversacks in the tents, we are far more prepare for hiking. Started our hiking at around 2:00pm. The path is quite easy in the beginning until we met some part where we have to use ropes to climb over big rocks. Hand power is rather important in those parts. Other parts will require lots of thigh powers where you need to climb up the slopes. Along the way, we can hear the sound of the water flowing. We need to go across the river few times. Luckily, the water is odourless where we can drink the water along the way until the last check point. We finally reached the peak at around 5:30pm. Our main activity up there was taking photos. We planned to see sun set before heading down as opposed to the normal plan where other climbers of Gunung Ledang will wake up early in the morning (at around 3:00am) to hike and to see sun rise. However, it was not our day. The sky is getting dark and the clouds started to block our views. Too bad! We finally decided to go down at around 7:00pm. The journey got tougher when the sky got darker. The hardest part of the trip for me was to climb down the rope (doing something like abseiling) in the dark. It was not too dangerous if you have enough hand power. Along the way, torch light and extra batteries were the most essential things at that time! I can't remember what time we reached campsite. We bathed, dined and finally slept there until the second day. We were too tired!

Woke up at 8:00am. We ate everything we brought. Fed the fishs with some breads. Then, we took some time to clear the place before leaving the campsite at around 10:30am. We bathed at the public toilet when we reached the bottom of the hill at around 12:00pm. After we left the place, we drove to Muar to meet WeeSeng's friend, Shirley and walk around the place. One of the popular famous food of the place we managed to eat was "otak-otak". Spent quite a lot of time there, but we all were not at the mood the walk that day. We finally reached home at around 10:30pm (24.04.2005). A great unplanned and unprepared trip! (But tiring as well!)

Redang Island Graduation Trip

2005-04-21T17:11:00.000+08:00

Days after graduate has been great. I'd been waiting eagerly for this Redang trip since last year. Actually, I'd planned to go Redang last year but was cancelled because of SARS outbreak at that time. I took this chance to really enjoy Redang Island that I'd been waiting for a long time. For this trip, we took the package provided by Redang Pelangi Resort. They really gave us a very good Redang experience with great price. Together with me were my UTM housemates and few coursemates. We started our journey for this trip in the night of 17.04.2005 and finally reached home in the morning of 21.04.2005. This trip had been a very tight-scheduled and short (3-day-2-night trip), but it gave me a real great beach experience especially during snorkelling. Before this I went to snorkelling once, in Pangkor Island. I was quite afraid to get close to the fishes and not really dare to touch the fishes. However, during this visit to the island, I felt that I began to like the sea and underwater world. The water is so clear that I was able to see the colourful coral clearly from the surface. The marine park has lots of fishs with different colours and we were supplied with breads where we got the chance to feed the fishs with hand. Another great experience during this trip was to swim together with the baby sharks. Yet, I was not brave enough to touch the sharks! The only bad thing for the trip was the long travelling time. Still, for the great views and experiences, I'm looking forward to visit Redang Island again!

Redang beach view

Larian Mesra Rakan Cop 2005

2005-04-17T12:01:00.000+08:00

After the previous run last week, I went to another run again. This run is organised by Police Department annually and this was the second time I participated but I can't really remember the running route. After the warming up run last week, I was more prepared for this run. Around 6:15am in the morning, we reached Kuala Lumpur Police Headquarter. Together with me were my brother, WeeSeng, BoonSeng, WinSeng and PeiYi. The run started at around 7:30am. The route was not too hot because the skycrapers in KL are already able to cover us from the sun light. However, I was not very comfortable with the polluted air caused be the heavy vehicles. I recorded a better time this time with around 1hr 5mins for this 10KM run. Although I still not able to run very well but still I was able to continue running for the whole path without taking any rest. A great achievement for myself as I rested for so many times last week for the 7KM charity run. I'm now looking forward for more run and better running time.

Hong Leong Charity Run

2005-04-10T12:10:00.000+08:00

After resting for months since the previous marathon run, I thought I still be able to run 7km without the need to stop for walking. Hong Leong Charity Run has proved me wrong. I just came back from Hong Leong Charity Run 2005 in Shah Alam. It is an anual activity for me (and my scout troop) since I was in Secondary school. This morning my brother woke me up at 6:45am and we left our house at 7:00am when Boon Seng (brother's friend) fetch us. He have been waiting in front of my house gate for 15 minutes! (Sorry!) When we reached there, the aerobic session has just started. The run actually began at 8:00am. It took me 47 minutes to reach the ending point. A very dissapointing record! I was not mentally strong for run anymore. I need to build it up again! Heard that there's another run next week. Hopefully I will perform better.

Travelling Back Hometown

2005-04-04T20:03:00.000+08:00

It took me 7 hours for me to travel from Skudai, Johor to Klang (my hometown). Normally it should take about 4 hours at most to drive back. I started my journey at 4:00pm yesterday after packing everything into my car. Planned to move everything back, but too bad, my chair could not fit in and I still have to ask my friend to move my table back (Thanks to Edison Wong). 3 of us, Robert, Yi Yang and I was driving our own car, but we travel together. It started to rain heavily at around 6:00pm and we are moving around 5km every 30 minutes. We saw many car accidents along the way, a Proton Waja was upside down in the middle of the road. At around 8:00pm, we are getting hungry, so we decided to turn into Seremban to take our dinner before continue back to our own place. We turned out from highway at Senawang toll and travel through town roads to Seremban to have our dinner. After that, we continued our journey at around 9:30pm and finally reached home at 11:00pm. Afterwards, I unpacked my things into my room and setup my computer before bathing. A tired journey, but this would be the last time for me to travel from Skudai to Klang for study. Next, I will plan how to enjoy my 1 month holiday before starting my working life!

Finish My Degree

2005-04-01T03:10:00.000+08:00

Just finish my final 3 papers for my final exam in my final semester in UTM. Hopefully I don't get any bad result for my final exams and able to graduate with first class degree. Convocation date will fall somewhere in August 2005. I can't believe that I've actually finished my degree course. I've spent 4 years here in Johor. I still can remember the feeling when my brother and mom sent me here. I was so sad to see them left me alone here without any friend. Everything is still fresh in my mind. However, after spending such a long time here, I've met and get along many good buddies. Without them, I wouldn't be able to have such a great campus life. Still not able to see what I'll be in coming working days. I will probably start working in May 2005. And my plans for whole April would be to enjoy a graduation trip (to Redang Island and possibly Cameron Highlands), a visit to Ipoh and Teluk Intan as well, find jobs, and to prepare myself to move myself to the next phase of my life!

Kayaking

2005-03-26T21:36:00.000+08:00

Today, my coursemates (around 30 of them) went for kayaking in the pond near UTM gate. The water looks very dirty, but it doesn't smell bad (expected to be very smelly!). It was still raining when we reach the place. I thought it might be cancelled because it was raining in the whole afternoon. The first thing we did was to take the paddles from a store room near the guard house. The instructor gave brief instructions on how to paddle and taught us how to warm up. Then, we was asked to pulled our own canoe from the rack to the water. My girlfriend was with me, in the same canoe. The instructors was quite friendly, and even try to organise a simple competition for us. For them in UTM who haven't try it, should really go and have fun with your friends. It costs less than RM4.00 per person.

Kota Tinggi Waterfall

2005-03-22T22:00:00.000+08:00

Heard of "Kota Tinggi" for a long time but still never actually plan to go there for almost four years in UTM. Finally, in my final few days here, we actually get a chance to go there. Yesterday, we bought some bread and tuna as our lunch for this trip. After pack everything into my car, we started our journey at around 12:30pm. It took more than an hour for us the reach there. It was around 1:40pm when we reach there. The first thing we saw was the ticket counter. I didn't expect to pay any money there! The car park ticket was RM4.00 and each of us still have to pay RM2.50 for entrance fee. It is really expensive. However, this means that place has really been commercialised and being taken care by some authorities. As we walk along the river, we saw few bathrooms, food canteens, burger stall and also safe guards! We walked to the end of the walking path and we saw a nice view of the waterfall. Then we changed to swimming outfits and play in the water for few hours at the same time, enjoying the tuna sandwiches and snacks. We left the place at around 5:30pm. It was a good place to visit for those who like nature.

First Test Over

2005-03-18T16:29:00.000+08:00

My first exam paper is Creative and Critical Thinking. Spent 2 days preparing for it but still didn't actually know how to do. To get 'A' for this subject, I need to score 30 out of 40 objective questions. Hopefully I'm in luck for it. My next paper will be on 29th March. Still don't know what to do in these few days. Actually I planned to go Sabah with my brothers' friends to visit my brother. They are leaving for Kota Kinabalu tomorrow. So sad my test hasn't over yet. Maybe will plan again next year! I want to climb Mt Kinabalu!

XPC (Expert System)

2005-03-11T16:59:00.000+08:00

We, my groupmates (Robert, Yi Yang and Chee Kuan) has developed an expert system titled "Expert System on Assembling a Personal Computer" with code name "XPC". This is a coursework for the subject Expert System. The system focuses mainly on how to choose computer components to assembly a personal computer. However, it's not for those computer geeks who knows everything, it is intended for them who don't know anything about computers. Although it is not a full system, but it's something that we designed everything on our own to implement expert system inference techniques in the system. We just came back from presenting the system and the lecturer is impressed with the system and a poster for the system. I think this will be the last project for my 4 years degree. Glad I've made it this far. The next final thing would be the final exam. But.. got to catch some sleep first!

Final Project

2005-03-08T11:44:00.000+08:00

My final project is on "Stock Market Prediction using Kohonen Network". Although Kohonen network is not a new approach, it is seldom being applied in forecasting stock market returns. Moreover, I did it for Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE). After 1 year of work and one final presentation in the past week, my project has come to an end. I just came back from faculty to meet my examiner to discuss about corrections to be made to my report. Glad to know that no major correction to be made.

LISP

2005-03-08T04:41:00.000+08:00

After working hard doing LISP programming for few days, the project is going to finish soon. Each of us are required to come up with a different type of database system. I developed a small friend information database system. Allegro CL (tool I'm using) has lots of bug which made the development process very tough. Spend most of the time debugging for the unknown problems. If I were using other development tools, I would be sleeping now!

Blog Created

2005-03-05T00:45:00.000+08:00

This blog is created on this day. Will I be continously updating this blog? No idea. At this moment, I'm going to finish my final semester in UTM soon. Just handed up my final project few days ago. Waiting for final exams. Hopefully it's not going to be a tough one.