Spring in Aus 2008

It's been a long hiatus. Went Aussie for 2 weeks holidays 2 months ago. Left my mind in Melbourne and am suffering from the remaining of the withdrawal syndrome.


It was an impromptu decision that had brought me to Melbourne and Sydney in Spring 2008. The route of PJ->Singapore->Darwin->Melbourne->Sydney->Melbourne->Darwin->Singapore->PJ encompassed 3 countries, 5 cities and 5 airports. Quite statistical though it was only a 16-day journey.


Distance
It always makes me wonder, how far can the distance be between 2 people? How far is far and how near is near? At times, it's so near yet so far and so far yet so near...


It's Spring
It's spring time. I smelled it and felt it everywhere. All the flowers were so beautiful and in their full bloom. The trees and the grass were so green. The invigorating and cooling wind (chilling for me sometimes) under the hot sun and clear blue sky was bringing the best out of the spring weather in Aussie. It was wonderful roaming around the relaxing city of melbourne in spring.


St Kilda Beach - Loving It
Like St Kilda Beach very much. It's such a calming, peaceful and relaxing beach. A nice stroll by the beach embraced by the invigorating wind, a cup of nice coffee and the breakfast at Little Blue, St Kilda Pier, and the tranquil moment was the best time spent there. Found out that XW who went there somewhen in March also shares the same feeing on this beach - just loving it!


New Discovery
Discovered the same great voice - Joanna Wang in both Singapore and Melbourne from the trip. Love her voice, love her songs. Immediately bought her CD when I was back. Each time I listen to her songs, the good time and memories in melbourne linger in my mind...


The Desire
It felt great to have entirely left everything behind, care not where I am from and just keep going, enjoying every scenery along the way, setting myself free and breathing in the air of freedom. The thought and desire to leave everything behind to begin my journey to see the world started to linger again...


Adieu
The happiest thing about the trip was to be able to meet up with some people that I don't get to see often at a city so far away from home. It doesn't really matter where we went, it's the time spent together that matters more. Well, after bidding adieu, it's time to miss them again and look forward to the next meet up.


Thoughts
For every step I took, every place I went, I was in moments of thought in the wonderland very naturally. Had been thinking and wondering a lot during the trip, and having new thoughts and decisions.


Lost
Gone were the good times that did not last long, as always. Distance and everything are back to the original position. Back to reality, what's left is the feeling of lost...

A Merdeka Day with Love-Hate

When I was drafting this post, National day was just 2 days away. As I was driving home on that night in a crawling traffic in the drizzle, the word 'love-hate' crossed my mind and was registered to best describe my mixed feeling towards our country at this juncture, in conjunction with the 51st Merdeka Day.

Strategically located geographically, full of natural resources and almost free of natural disasters, this is the blessed piece of land where I was born and where my ancestors had set foot on and rooted.

Clear blue sky, coconut trees, hibiscus, kampung houses, beaches, rivers, tropicana fruits, loads and loads of awesomely delicious local foods and drinks, and the authentic smile and laughter of the people are probably some of the symbolic things that paint the picture of the nostalgic Malaysia in those good old days. This piece of beautiful land has given us loads of very unique Malaysian memories as we grew up.

When I was a kid, whenever there were Badminton matches between China and Malaysia, be it Thomas Cup or any other tounaments, I would naturally cheer for the Chinese players, ironically. It was probably the influence from my dad, who is more patriotic towards China comparatively, as my late grandparents were from China.

From the recent Beijing Olympics opening, I discovered that dad's heart is still more towards China, which caught me a little bit in surprise but on a second thought it's understandably not that surprising. Though dad was extremely sleepy, he waited till the China contingent to march in to the Bird's Nest Stadium and he sang along enthusiastically when the national anthem of the People Republic of China was played! I can't really recall if I've ever heard him sing the Negaraku in front of me but can clearly remember hearing him sing the national anthem of China more than once. Of course, he did sing the Negaraku on offical occasions but not in front of me. Well, when the people love the country but the country doesn't them in return... You know...

As I grow older, I started to be 'clearer' of my identity and feel proud to be a Malaysian. Patriotism started to grow within me. I love my country, that's where I was born and bred with lots of unique fond memories, with my dearest family and friends around.

When I entered university, the first thing that I was exposed to was injustice in student intake under the quota system and hostel allocation. Everything is not based on qualification but 'kulitfication'. While some friends scored straight As in STPM just to be denied an entry to University of Malaya, the uni and course of their choices, some people who got shitty results and didn't even deserve a place in uni were everywhere in the local universities. Nothing much has changed till today. Pissed and disappointed, these friends left the country to study in Singapore and have become doctors there and would never want to come back.

Over the years, when I get exposed to more and more realities that really bite and hurt, I am getting more and more pissed off and disappointed with the country, should say the morons in power to be more exact.

With rocketing crime rate, worsening economy, inflation, continuous brain drain, severe corruption, injustice, racism, one after another ridiculous political dramas and a lot more saddening situations, our beloved country has been turned into a very sorry state. Am even comtemplating to leave... So, don't get surprised if I tell you I am leaving one day.

I didn't find any reason and meaning to celerate the national day. Even Anwar's political come back into the parliarnment wasn't a strong enough reason. We, the people want something more, an entire change for the betterment of the country! Will that really happen on 16 Sep? I wonder...

It's a Merdeka with a love-hate mixed feeling. I didn't even bother to read or follow any news about the celebration. The only thing that I felt happy about on 31 Aug 2008 was a friend's wedding.

Chain Reaction Revisited

It seems that I have been in hiatus since my last post about a month ago. So many things are keeping me preccupied lately, not to mention the tireness of the eyes and mind after work, as a reuslt of staring at the computer for long hours.

Well, this is a backdated post, which I have wanted to pen down but just couldn't find the time. Since I am not going anywhere this weekend, am finally sitting down to write it.

The weekend 2 weeks ago was a happening one for me back in Ipoh. YT was back from Singapore and so was Pao. Chai was also back from Japan for vacation. I went back too, not knowing that Feilo, Sailo & Shyang were back too. Seemed that everyone was heading back to home sweet home in Ipoh coincidentally.

08.08.2008, Friday
Sharp at 5pm , I headed straight from office to Damansara Toll for the North South Highway on my way home, alone. Yes, I drive home alone quite often whenever I spontaneously feel like going home for a cup of nice Ipoh White Coffee and catch up with friends or feel like getting of town for a peace of mind. Occasioanally, there will passengers along with me. So, don't be surprised to spot me, probably speeding on the North South Highway one fine day. :)

It was actually quite boring to drive alone on the highway. I accelerated and speeded home, just in time to catch the grand Beijing Olympics opening at 8pm on 08. 08. 2008. What a prosperous date and time, especially to the Chinese! It was a magnificent and splendid opening. China has demonstrated to the world on how capable they are. The awaken mighty dragon is definitely going to rock the world for a long long time to come...

09.08.2008, Saturday
Being a sport lover, I was busy cathing the Olympics live on Astro on Saturday till I had no time to use my Dellnosaur (notebook) to go online, a routine in my daily life. In the evening, the electricity supply was suddenly out! The weather was bloody hot and I was under massive mosquito attack! Damn it! Quickily had my dinner and shower, and went out to meet up with the Chai, Pao, Feilo and Shyang for a drink.

We went to 'Indulgence', a colonial style bungalow converted restaurant that serves Malaysian and Chinese street fare on a more upmarket scale in Ipoh. It was actually my first visit there. Heard about this restaurant which is known to be a pricy place to dine at Ipoh standard and drove passed it many times prior to this. Well, the ambience there was cosy but the food was proven to be pricy. The guys ordered a bottle of white wine which tasted not bad and 3 pieces of cakes which just didn't satisfy my taste bud at all whereas I ordered a glass of warm water which was never served. Guess what, the bill cost us RM150++! Heard that the Sultan of Perak is a regular there. Maybe I should just give it a second chance to try some other food there to find out what's so special about this restaurant.

Indulgence closes at 11:30pm, which is considered quite early for us, a bunch of night owls. We left for 'Tong Sui Kai' (Dessert Street) near Sam Tet Primary School for second round to satisfy Chai's craving for Ipoh food which he can't find in Japan. Our table was fully occupied by food such as Wantan, Yau Yu Ngung Choy (Octopus with Kangkung), Rojak, 2 plates of friend noodle and Tong Sui (dessert). Chai whacked another bowl of Bubur Cacar after his Fu Chook Yi Mai. Looks like Chai really misses Ipoh food alot after few years in Japan. It was really a nice catch up with loads and loads of food till midnight. Too bad, the guys were swift in whacking the food when it was served, faster than I could take out my camera to snap a shot or two of the food.

10.08.2008 Sunday
Arrhhh... The great weekend had to come to an end and it was time to head back to KL. Dad had gone to Genting with friends to watch concert while mum was not around when I left home. Before I departed, I went in and out of the house to double check if I had left anything home. Usually mum will play role of nagging gently to ensure I don't leave anything at home each time I go back to KL. After checking, off I went to YT's house to carpool with him back to KL.

Had yummy Curry Noodle and nice Iced White Coffee near YT's place for lunch before we headed back to KL. The White Coffee was superb. The very first sip of it was so refreshing that it gave me so much ummpp and pleasure!

I drove for the 1st half of the journey and stopped at Sungai Buluh for a toilet break. While looking for parking, this conversation kind of amused me.

Me: Don't you need to drink water? Not thirsty?

YT: Not really, I am a camel mah. :)

Me: Hahahaha... LOL!

What an interesting answer. I think he really is a camel as he wasn't feeling thirsty and drinking any water through out the journey. Guess he must be doing the same during his extensive travelling.

I went off to the toilet and washed my face. YT took over to drive after the break and headed back to the hotel that he was staying in.

After dropping YT at the hotel, I realised that my glasses were nowhere to be found after searching through the whole car. Geez! I must have left the glasses in the toilet at Sungai Buluh when I took them off to wash my face.

Well, the power of glasses isn't that high. Am having lazy eye in fact with left eye:225, right eye:50 plus some mild astigmatism. I can still see bigger objects quite clearly with my right eye most of the time if the eyesight is not blocked. That probably explained why I didn't even realise that my glassese were taken off though I still had them on moments ago. It was about 5:30pm, the sun hadn't set yet. I could still see and drive my way home without my glasses.

When I reached home in PJ, I discovered something more disasterous than having a pair of missing glasses! I left my Dellnosaur at hometown!!! This is really 'big wok' (trouble), man! My notebook is something that I totally can't work without! How ah? What should I do? I was thinking hard for some alternative though I knew the ultimate solution was to go back to collect it.

Called Sailo who carpooled with Shyang back to KL to see if they had already left Ipoh, hoping that they had not and hence I could explore the option of crying for help from them to bring the notebook back for me.

Me: Over! Over! Where are you guys? Have you guys left Ipoh?

Sailo: What's up?

Me: I have a ' big wok' to deal with, left my notebook at home. Calling to see if you guys have left Ipoh and could help me to bring my notebook back to KL if you guys are still in Ipoh.

Sailo: We are even in 'bigger wok' lah. Shyang's car broke down, and we are now pathetically stranded at road side of the highway, somewhere near Rawang exit.

Me: Gosh! Why everyone seems to be so 'hak jai' (unfortunate) today ah? I also left my glasses at the toilet at Sungai Buluh rest point apart from my notebook at home.

Sailo: Hahaha... Why not you come over to pick us up and then go to Sungai Buluh to check if your glasses are still there. (this jovioul fellow still managed to joke at time like this)

Me: Where are you guys located exactly? I can come to pick you guys up but you have to tell me you guys' exact location and guide me how to get there.

Sailo: At the road side lor! Joking lah, Shyang is calling the tow truck now.

Me: Let me try to call Feilo to see if he's already on his way back. If he hasn't passed Rawang, probably he can come to rescue you guys.

Tried to call and sms Feilo many times but couldn't really reach him. Only got 1 pathetic sms reply from Feilo telling that his battery was running low and would be death at any time. Sigh!

On and off, I called the guys to check on their situation and talked nonsense to entertain them a bit as it was actually bloody 'sien' to get stranded at the highway like this.

Me: Over! Over! Apa macam?

Sailo: On tow now, both the car and us. :)

Me: The wind is chilling, isn't it?

Sailo: Yawor, very cooling and refreshing indeed to be on tow (refering to the wind blowing on them on the tow truck). Hahaha.... Yiii... Very interesting wor, the car is now moving by itself without anyone driving it. LOL!

Shyang: Fuyoh, my unmaneuvered car can even over take other cars somemore! Keng ah! (Yes, they are a bunch of crazy fellows who can really 'talk with their lungs')

Me: Ahahha... LOL! What's actually wrong with your car?

Shyang: The timing belt lor. It's almost time to change already. Thought of changing it during my next car service, who knows it went dead just now.

Me: Ok lah, since you guys are on tow already, am going off to have my dinner now. Enjoy your 'tow ride'. Bye!

Well, I thought I was unfortunate, who knew these guys were even in deeper shit. Sigh.. Decided to make another trip back home the next day to collect my notebook. Arrrhhh.. it's gonna be darn tiring!

11.08.2008 Monday
Took emergency leave, sent my car to workshop for checking especially for the timing belt to ensure it's in good condition (though I just sent my car for service not long ago) before heading to the highway for my way home, alone again. Sien! Sien! Sien! The first thing that I did when I reached home was to grab my notebook and put it at a very noticeable place so that I wouldn't forget to bring it back to KL.

12.08.2008 Tuesday
Woke up damn early in the morning. After having my super early breakfast, from hometown, I headed straight to the office in PJ, a journey of about 210km. The highway seemed lonely with low traffic volume. It was really very boring to maintain the speed at 110km/hr and I started to speed a little bit.

Somewhere near Tapah, the 3 lanes highway had shrunk to become 1 lane. I thought the lanes were closed due to some road works. Bloody hell, there was 1 team of traffic policemen lining up in front to catch everyone for speeding, on the spot and off-guard! Most of the cars were speeding and I guess most would be summoned.

Policeman: Ah Moi, lajunya!

Me: Yalah, nak rush pergi ke office mah.

Policeman: Mana you kerja ni?

Me: KL lah. I pandu terus dari Ipoh ni.

Policeman: Macam mana?

Me: You tulis saman lah.

Policeman: Nak tulis kah ni? (hinting for something you and me and everybody knows)

Me: Tulis lah, tolong cepat sikit, I ada meeting ni.

I paid attention to the radio which was broadcasting some Olympics updates while waiting for the policeman to issue the summon, not even looking at him at all. Well, I wasn't trying to be cocky as some might perceive it to be. I just wanted to leave him alone to quickily write the summon and waste no time.

Sigh! Sigh! Sigh! Due to some human errors (forgetting my notebook and speeding on the highway), everything happended like a chain reaction and I was paying the price for it - adttional cost of petrol & toll, tireness plus a summon!



Have yet to settle the summon till this very moment...

Where Do I Go From Here?

Have been in KL for about 10 years. I am kind of tired of this city and don't quite feel the sense of belonging here. Like many others from outstation who study in KL, I stay here to work after completing my Degree, as a matter of course. Recently, the thought of getting out of KL has been lingering in my mind. If I were to leave KL one day, some great friends made here and some of the delicious food would definitely be something that I miss the most.

At times, I was considering to go back to Ipoh for good, back to a town that I love and feel home for better quality of life, good food and more tranquility and peace of mind. But what can this town offer me in terms of job opportunity? Going back tantamount to letting go my career and probably have to start all over again by doing something else. Do I really have to wait till retirement?

I thought that I would never bother about politics and could never be bothered. I found that I am wrong when I am utterly digusted and pissed off with the ridiculous and sickening state of the nation the more I realise and feel the impact of what is going on. I bother and it bothers me though that's not my very choice. Prior to this, I had never thought of leaving the country, where I was born and bred. But now, I have this thought and given an opportunity, I will...

Too many thoughts in my mind, in search for a better place with better quality of life and more peace of mind. Depressed, sometimes I feel like hibernating or in need of a free fall which is only subject to the gravity of earth, to temporarily shut down my mind...

Where do I belong to? Where do I go from here? Where can I go? I wonder...

Gluttony In the Name of Birthday

It was my birthday yesterday. Don't feel like mentioning how old I am this year as this number will keep increasing every year... which is a bit scary as I can't freeze time.

Basically, celebration or to be more exact gluttony in the name of birthday started about 2 weeks before my actual birthday, which was a total surprise for me.

So far, I have had 4 rounds of makan-makan, courtesy of different group of friends, and there's another round to come with the parasites. Was too hungry when having the 2nd round and I had totally forgotten to snap some shots of the yummy food.

Let's take a look at what I have had.

Round 1 - Dinner @ Shabu Shabu, 1-U, New Wing:
Round 2 - Curry Fish Head @ Sec 17, PJ - No pics available, was too hungry till I forgot to take any but the food was heavenly good!

Round 3 - Lunch @ UME TEI, Amcorp Mall, PJ:Round 4 - Dinner @ Chilli's, 1-U, New Wing:

Round 5 - Soon to come, looking forward to it!

From the bottom of my heart, a sincere thank to everyone for all the treats, sms, and wishes! You guys have made my birthday special!

Struck

In Bowling, a player makes 3 strikes in a row to hit a Turkey. I hit a Turkey too yesterday. No, I didn't make 3 strikes in Bowling but I was struck trice with disappointment. Things weren't going that smoothly and I had a bad day at work.


Strike 1: X
2 appointments got cancelled by candidates at the last minute. Aeroplanes! Sigh, some people tend to change their minds in a split second.

Strike 2: XX
A candidate who is supposed to start work on next Monday with a client called to inform that she's rejecting the offer. She's been offered a position by her ex-boss who has joined a new company. I was driving from KL back to PJ after an appointment at KLCC without having lunch when I received the call. Mood index dropped immediately. So was my appetite.

Strike 3: XXX- Turkey!
Went to Taman Megah to grab something for lunch. When I was back to the office, I got to know that another candidate who is also supposed to commence work with another client on next Monday also rejected client's offer at the last minute. Mood index further dropped drastically. My packed lunch became tasteless. Anyway, I wouldn't torture my stomach and I finished 90% of it.

The rejection of offer by candidate doesn't only mean all the time and effort spent are to no avail. It also means that I am answerable to the clients. Fortunately, clients have been understanding in both cases. Well, this is beyond my control and I put no blame to the candidates.

Was a bit down. Anyway, some friends chatted with me in MSN before my day ended in the office. Some of the conversations did cheer me up and divert my focus on the negative mood. Some bullshitted with me while MC told me that she 'lau sai' 3 times during her recent 42KM SunDown Marathon in Singaore and how she kept farting, held her shit, and ran fast to look for toilet! That's quite funny. MC then helped me to download a song by Sandy Lam, "没有你还是爱你"，which I have been searching for. Besides, she also sent me another song, "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. Quite a nice song, with light & easy beat & rythm. This song had indeed cheered me up. Thanks to MC and others for cheering me up on a bad day.

It was raining heavily when I was driving home, as if the day was not gloomy enough...

If the 3rd Newton's Law of Motion applies, there must be some good things happening soon as the equal and opposite reactions, I consoled myself.


Well well well, today isn't any better. The annoucement by the government that petrol price will go up by 78 sen at midnight - a 40.6 percent jump from RM1.92 per litre to RM2.70 has caused another strike on me and the impact is so great! Will foresee endless inflation to follow. The nightmare has just begun for the people...

Cockroach Attack!

How would you react when you see a cockroach? Well, some people will scream out of fear and some can't wait to kill it and make sure it's dead. It actually doesn't really bother me as much as a cat or dog does.

Generally speaking, I am not afraid of cockroach. The closest contact that I have ever had with cockcroach was holding its antenna to see it spin or catching it alive with my bare hand when I was a kid. Didn't really do it often though and of course I washed my hand real clean after that as the cockroach smell really stinks. As I grow older, realising that it's not hygienic, I have stopped having direct contact with cockroach with my hands. Nowadays, I will spray insecticide at it, hit it with an object or layer my hand with material such as paper/cloth/plastic bag/etc if I wanna catch it to get rid of it.

Of late, we have been noticing cockroaches (from small to big size) appearing in both the toilets of our apartment during midnight hours. As our toilets are always kept clean, we have always been wondering where they come from and why only at the toilets.

Last Sunday, BigTV was trying to trace the source of the cockroaches. The ceiling cover of her master bedroom toilet was opened to examine if there were any cockroaches there. To her horror, there were at least 100 to 200 of cockroaches there at the piping area on top of the toilet ceiling! She felt terribly shocked and horrified but still tried to spray insecticide to kill them and clear some of them. She couldn't clear the remaining as some areas were out of her reach. This happened while I was having an afternoon nap.

In the evening, BigTV came back with a strange and troubled look on her face and asked if I have any contact of cleaner and explained her 'discovery' which seriously bothered her. I called a friend who is working with a pest control company but found out unfortunately that they don't provide such service of clearing the dead cockroaches as they only provide treatment services.

BigTV sat there with a long face and her mind trying to figure out a solution to get rid of the remaining of dead cockroaches at the piping area asap, on the night itself! She mumbled and contemplating the idea of buying the cheapest vacum cleaner to clear them off. I suggested to her that I could try to borrow one from my office the following day but she just didn't seem to have the patience to wait till the next day. Her whole mind was occupied by cockroaches, feeling disgusted!

I went for my shower and when I was done, BigTV was nowhere to be seen. After a while, she returned with a vacum cleaner, borrowed from her ex-roommate.

I went in to her room to offer to help her. Sitting on the bed, she was devastasted in tears, feeling pathetic and questioning why she had to live with so many cockroaches in the same room! Initially she said she could do it herself and asked me not to watch her while vacuming as she would cry simultaneously. Knew she would not be able to handle it alone. I tried to pacify her and told her that I could help her to vacum as I am taller and not afraid of cockroach. She asked to be left alone to cry for a while and cool down before starting. Having no choice, I left her alone for some time off to continue sobbing.

I then went back to my room to look for a shower cap to protect my hair (which was just washed) from the dust falling when opening the ceiling cover later. Without leaving her much time to waste on crying, I went into her room again, getting her ass to move to start the vacuming. With a table stacked with a stool on top (as we don't have a ladder), I climbed up the stool, opened the ceiling cover, suffered some dust falling onto my face, snapped some shots of the cockroaches as proof for complaint purpose before doing the dirty job, from the the size of XS to XXL, dead or alive, while BigTV helped to hold and control the power of the vacum cleaner. Done with the vacuming, we sprayed another round of insecticide at the piping area before putting the ceiling cover back.


After we were done with BigTV's toilet, the Cockroach Buster crew headed by me then proceeded to the second toilet which was also under cockroach attack. Damn it! This time around, more dust falling onto my face while opening the ceiling cover! I got to close my eyes in order to avoid any dust from falling into my eyes. There were less cockroaches at the piping area of this second toilet comparatively, estimated at around 50 of them. Majority of them were big big & fat fat and were still crawling actively. Having goose bumps, huh? Haha... We did the same dirty job, vacuming them dead or alive, and sending them to hell! It was darn suffocating when I sprayed the insectiside before putting the ceiling cover back. I was joking with BigTV, 'It seems like I will die faster as a result of suffocation instead of the cockroaches!' Haha :D

Weather was hot, I was sweating like nobody's business after completing this one of its kind Sunday night special enough impromptu plan. Went for another round of shower and washing my hair.

BigTV took care of cleaning the vacum cleaner. Thus, I couldn't answer JK's question on if the cockroaches were ground into pieces in the vacum clearner. I seriously don't know and don't wish to see to know. It would surely be disgusting and nauseating!