The Banker Rants

Too Much ...

2010-12-05T18:07:00.004+08:00

hey, it's the time of the year again. With Christmas and new year around the corner, last minute shopping - well, maybe not so last minute here in Miri. That marked my first anniversary with CIMB Auto Finance. I must tell you, what a year I've had.

i didn't realized that it has been a year since I left KL. I arrived late last night. The flight from KL to Miri was delayed and we ended up arriving around 10.00 pm. Exhausted after all those walks and shopping sprees, I slept early. I am still dealing with my cough and running nose though. I guess that's the price for having too much of fun. That's bad ..

at this current moment, i am at starbucks bintang mall, spending my time here, updating my resume, uploading pictures. gosh, i missed having my own time relaxing and just lean back enjoying the smooth melody in a cool comfy place, not that they have many in miri but this one will do. guess what? i've been here since 4.00 pm.

tomorrow another working day, a new month, a new cycle .. well at least that's the way it seems to be now. Sales line, what can i say? but it was good to have that period where you can just relax and enjoy yourself out from work. too much of it is bad.

Here I Stand

2010-01-08T06:55:00.003+08:00

It's official - I would be station in Miri from now on. It's expected but still in a way I was quite dissapointed. I was hoping to get a bigger chunk of market in Bintulu. I group my members today and tell them the good news (for them) that I'm staying put in Miri until further notice but in the meantime I told them the hard cold fact that there are possibilities that we will face a never ending war againts that humongous target being placed upon me.

I was a little bit stressed out yesterday. The two of my members try very hard to make me feel better by saying that they will give me their full support. Not that I question their effort or support but for me to go against a tiny market, head to head with a few other auto finance centres and against my own colleagues sounds a little bit scary.

After I sat down and did my own calculation, I lay out the blue print figure for the team yesterday. We need a daily disbursement figure at 150,000 daily in order to achieve our target and for that I told them that we might need to go all out for disbursement of new car instead of the usual used car. Not to ignore them at all but I think effort should be focus more on bringing in new cars because of the cutting points that used cars are going to cost us in the future.

At the moment the team is doing at about 110,000 disbursement rate daily which is not bad but it could be better. I do not think that it is enough for the whole team, it will not be enough to prevent all of us to be issued a show cause letter by the end of the third month and that I am quite scared of.

Boss had been telling me that I am doing quite well in my daily disbursement taken into account that I am quite new in this field, she said that it was actually quite an encouraging figure and I just need to keep that up. I do not know, what I know - It is not enough. I know because I've done my calculation. I need to push it up to another 100,000 if possible or 50,000 the least.

So today

I feel rather enthusiastic to go on a roll. I would like to keep that energy and be focus rather. It's not easy to managed a team because you as the main man need to be strong and can't be seen losing hope in your fight. I will do just that. My aim, I am going to be in Bintulu but nefore that I need to prove myself here in Miri. I will make them know that it is important for them to put me in Bintulu in order to increase branch achievement.

For that, I pray.

Bitter Sweet Symphony

2010-01-07T06:43:00.004+08:00

Yesterday we had a long 2 hours meeting after work. Initially it was supposed to be the monthly staff meeting but in the end my boss decided just to have a meeting for sales department. A few days ago, a few of the marketing officers had this meeting on how to improve processing time and to make full use of the resources that we have. I guess the outcome was quite pleasing in a way.

Currently we have 3 marketing officers and I'm one of them. So we are divided into 3 teams which is made of a marketing officer, an underwriter, customer support personnel and a sales support clerk - well, supposed to be that way but currently only one team was given a full set of cards and the another two teams, will be having bits and pieces of what's left in the office.

I was given an underwriter and a sales support clerk. There had been a reshuffling in the office whereby level 2 data entry clerk is not needed anymore and that responsibility will be placed upon the underwriter. Oh, and another thing - the underwriters will be call "Central Processing Executive" from now on.

Talking about underwriter, I used to think that underwriter is someone who writes will for the dead. I do not know why. Maybe because of the word "under". You know like "undertaker". *slaps*. but to tell you the truth, until now I could not find a word to describe what is an underwriter. I'd just say he is someone who writes recommendation for people. *grins*

In the beginning of my employment I was told that I would be heading back to Bintulu but before that I would be station in Miri for some time. Initially it was supposed to be this month but until now there is no news about it. To be honest I was quite scared because my target is quite high and there are 3 marketing people in this branch and we all are aware that the market in Miri is just about enough for the three of us.

I hope everything will turn out right. I thank God that I have 2 very experienced staffs under my team. I guess, I couldn't wait for the management to decide on my status. The time is now, the fight is on. Bring it!

Pimp My Ride?

2010-01-06T07:27:00.004+08:00

A lot of people been asking me to get a car. Like seriously. Every time I walk into a showroom, the fellas inside will ask me to get one for myself. Imagine this, a bank officer who is handling auto loans do not own a car.

The case is not I do not want one. I'll give you two reasons.

1. This banker do not posses a driving license.

Hoi! Don't laugh okay. I know, I should have get one during my school days at least. Unlike any of my friends, my parents would not spend their money on things like that for me. So, after form 5 I was left in the dark, drooling enviously at those who had one. So I put that hope on hold. The problem is, it is not temporary. I put it on hold even until today!

At least I'm one step closer to that. I, know got a motorcycle license. (*grins*) Boo!

2. This banker thinks that it is not the right time to buy one yet

I have no explanation for this one. I do not think that I am ready to commit like 1/3 of my basic salary for a car just yet. But in the nature of my work, I would require one. A cikai one at least. In KL I do not own one because I don't think I need one. I have LRT that would take me to office everyday. Besides, residing in KL with all the enormous expenses, I do not think I can afford to have one.

At the moment I only need something that can move me around and I think going on bike is a cheaper and faster way because I need to run here and there to get things running. So, having a car is not a priority at the moment.

Maybe if I got transferred back to Bintulu, I will get myself one but not now

Of Bonus and A New Found Glory

2010-01-05T22:49:00.002+08:00

I got this from UMW Toyota, Miri.

A new year, well 6 days after and that is almost a week. People has been listing out lists of things to do before the year ended. Some got a long winded one some short one and some - none. They just go with the flow. Way to go!

Bonus, that's the big topic of the day. I read somewhere across the internet that bonus for my previous company is in today. Well, good for them. I'm actually happy for those who really deserved what they get especially for my colleagues in sales department. Hard work pays but in the meantime I'm a bit not happy the fact that some of the staffs that I knew they put in a lot of effort in their work but was rewarded in contrast.

A friend of mine, who have been working with the bank for quite some time, I think almost two years to date will be getting an increment from RM 1,500 to RM 1,800 or something in between I do not know the exact amount. I remember the last time she was paid an initial salary of RM 1,500 was because she is not a degree holder, she was in the middle of pursuing a degree.

She told me that she will be getting her degree like in another month. We are all happy for her. The sad news came with that because the management told her that the salary is going to be RM 1,800 the most for a fresh graduate. I was wondering what will she be taking home every month? I remember when I first join the bank I was paid RM 2,200 eventhough I do not any experiences in banking. That was 2 years ago and now two years after, they are offering this colleague of mine RM 1,800? A bit ridiculously insane and inhumane!

I was told that the very reason for that was because of the recession and they need to cut cost. My foot, your ass! You want to downgrade the post of an executive? How can you adjust the salary bar like that? If you maintain it, it's okay but to downgrade RM 400 out of it? That's purely inhumane! And so I told my friend that it is bullshit. Why they come out with such ideas? If that is so, I thank God that i quit long time ago. Well, not that long actually, at about 2 months or so - almost.

To be fair, i think there is no way that you can actually measure the performances of an operation staff. 2 months bonus, happy? The hardwork is not justified. Even people who work in a small town and go back sharp at 530 everyday also got 2 months bonus la dey! Happy for what?

Do you regret resigning from your previous company?

No. Absolutely not and you know what, I suddenly find myself full of angst now. Why? Because I think I feel for those who stayed and bled for the company. Digress a bit. Partly because, I really want to go back home or closer to home. It is better that way.

I think I move from a not so berapa type of bank to a better bank in a way, so i think I have no regrets or whatsoever. I do think that I can do better here than on the other side, financially I'll be better.

Like baby said,

God loves me. I think so too. and I thank God for everything that you've given me

Geu Rae Do Sarang Ee Da

2009-12-06T20:37:00.003+08:00

I was browsing through the net when I stumbled upon this song :

Love it. I used to be a very big fan of K-Pop. To be honest, I still do actually just that I lost track with what's happening on the other side of the world. It's been a while since I last get myself crazy over Korean soap operas.

This song, which was featured in the soundtrack of "A Love To Kill", if you listen to it tentatively, you somehow can feel what he's trying to tell you, you know that he sings his heart out. That's what I really like about Shin Seung Hoon's masterpiece. Remember the song "I believe" in "My Sassy Girl"? That number is also by Shin.

Comes Monday,Comes what may, I'm looking forward to each day.

Kampung Love

2009-12-01T20:06:00.003+08:00

One of the things that I really missed about home when I was in KL was the rumah panjang mood. If people in KL have this "balik kampung" mood, our kampung is our rumah panjang, orang putih call "longhouse". In Iban we call it "rumah panjai". Not much different though.

A long house lives up to its name. It's a basically a very long house. There you go, easy to understand. My rumah panjai is located in Batu Niah, well actually just a few kilometres away from Batu Niah town itself. Have you heard of Niah Cave? My rumah panjai is just around the corner. (Don't get the wrong idea that Sarawakians lives in caves!)

Basically, I go back to my longhouse every Gawai safe to say and sometimes during Christmas, it depends but Gawai, it's a must to go back. That is the only time of the year that relatives from all over the place will come together and celebrate the togetherness within the family.

Usually, a few days before Gawai (some even a week) relatives will start to fill in the "bilik". Eventhough the direct translation of bilik in Malay would be room, in this case "bilik" refers to a house, a unit of within the longhouse. So, if everyone is back for Gawai - the "bilik" will be like a mass grave at night. Everybody basically just sleeps everywhere around the house. It's like dead bodies everywhere!

And for our family, on the eve we will always have BBQ at the back part of the house which we called "tanju". It's a nice, cool and cozy place. Great hang out spot, especially with Tsing Tao or Tiger in hand. Most of the time it's cheap beers because you can't afford to filled in everyone's stomach with Tiger or Heineken all the time. It doesn't matter.

The chit chat will go on and on till God knows when ...

The dishes will keep on coming after one after another. You'll never see the end of it ...

That's mum

And off to the pitt they go! Whooooooa!

Even these taste nice if your whole family is around.

And it won't be complete without this. A nice bottle of "tuak".

Cheers!

My Everything - The Distance

2009-11-24T20:33:00.011+08:00

"How do you maintain a long distance relationship?"

For a moment I was stunned. I would've never imagined being asked that question. I paused and said;

"I do not know how, really. But I guess giving in and being able to tolerate with whatever comes along the way does help"

Anyone who's ever been in a long-distance relationship can certainly tell you how hard it can be to make a long-distance relationship work but not all will say that they perfectly know how did they make it work.

I do not believe that anybody like or intends to end up in a long-distance relationship, but sometimes it just happens. No one chooses to be in a long distance relationship, often at times they choose you. Along the way you might hear or met people that does not believe in a long distance relationship at all.

Distance between two hearts is not an obstacle; sometimes you like to think that it is true but there are some times that you might not. Emotionally some times it does hurt. It hurts because you can't be there if you're special someone needs you the most, you can't be the crying shoulder, you can't be there for whatever reason that is there when needed - it really hurts.

Some might say that you need a lot of faith in each other, yes I do agree but that is my dear friend, sometimes ; easier said than done. Even if you're not in one you sometimes find that it is quite difficult to do, what more to say in a long distance relationship?

Dealing with conflicts and when differences in opinions surface is quite a tough situation to handle. It's difficult to express yourself clearly on the phone without having to touch, to look that person in the eye and not being able to use your body language at one time. Sometimes, conflicts will be left unattended. Sad, but true.

But a few things I learn along the way is developing understanding, the word sacrifice, give more and expect less - does make a different. Although it's not easy but it's a thing that I myself personally want to do, sincerely. It was not always a smooth ride, sometimes there will be some rough patches somewhere but the experiences does matter. It somehow make me stronger and a better person.

And for that reason, I would like to wish my one and only, the love of my life, my dearest baby a happy birthday! And I dedicate this lovely song just for my baby.

Distance is not the hardest part, it is having to listen to the people who swear it won't work!

Every night I pray on bended knees that you will always be my everything. I am glad to have you in my life.

*Hugs and kisses*

Wordless Monday : I Can HazCheezBaga Too

2009-11-23T07:25:00.000+08:00

Happy Monday everyone! Never felt better!

The Warmth

2009-11-20T07:10:00.003+08:00

It's been quite settled since the day I arrived in Miri. I'm gelling in well with my colleagues. I think it's easier when you have a bunch of folks with a common understanding of how life is at one place, the process of adapting is way much faster than I thought.

A few terms that I will hear every single day will be daily disbursement, sales achieved and short fall. That will be playing on my ears as long as I'm working here. It's not that bad, I guess that's the drive in a new place.

You asked me whether I regret making this decision? No, I did not. Sometimes, after a while changes in nature of work is important. Life will be a dull less after that. I think I would adhere to this pressing new frontier, experiencing the warmth before I grow old. That's the spirit.

xoxo

cibol

Now & Then

2009-11-18T19:45:00.002+08:00

Or the other way around.

Here is how my W660i look like a few weeks ago.

I turn it into this for RM50 in Melaka, plus a brand new battery (which I will explain later)

I even put a condom to it.

Back to the battery case. Well, in cut short the story actually I do not know how could it happened but it just happened right in front of my eyes. They actually lost my battery.

I wanted to change my hp housing for quite sometime but due to the price was I must say not that cheap, I held back. A customer of my former employer actually quoted me RM65 for the same thing. I was like WTF???

It took me all the way to Melaka to finally changed my housing into a new one. I found a shop which is located inside Melaka Parade. The shop quoted me RM50 including labor charges. So I said, Okay!

After a few hours, I came back to the shop but that time the thing was not done yet. So, we waited for another half and hour before he came back to me and hand me my handphone in it's new housing.

I noticed there was some uneven surface on my keypad and out of my curiosity I asked him.

"Why is this like this?"

It was another lady who actually attend to me at that moment because the other guy was busy. And so she said ;

"Let me take a look"

She took out the battery and then examine the thing. She looked puzzled and my bet was she also did not know what she was doing and so she handed the thing to the fella who repaired the thing.

"I have to put some sponge in it because the previous cushion is no longer functioning very well"

Okay. By the time I wanted to put the thing back together, I found out that my battery was no longer there. The puzzled girl became more puzzled. She searched high and low for the battery but it was nowhere to be found. Meanwhile the boss keep on asking her;

"Where you put it?"

I can see the stress in her eyes and after a while I asked;

"How should we go about this?"

The girl quickly took out a battery from her own phone and gave it to me and said;

"Take mine. I'm sorry that I've lost yours"

I was like? but I have no choice. I asked the fella if they did found the thing, call me up. The battery belongs to her and not the shop. I do not think that she should be entirely responsible for the incident. Anyone of them could have easily misplaced the thing. The battery that she gave me was quite new and it was a new phone too. I feel bad but I have no choice.

*sigh*

The owner very bad hoh?

From now on, I will take good care of my handphone.

Dessert Time @ Dessert's Bar Mont Kiara

2009-11-14T07:40:00.008+08:00

Last Saturday, after a full set of breakfast, Daniel, Mary and we decided to indulge ourselves in some fresh mouthwatering desserts. Mary suggested that we all go for Dessert's Bar in Mont Kiara, a place quite new for me as I always do not have a thick wallet to go and dine or even go to that area. It's like the Beverly Hills of Kuala Lumpur.

Located in the heart of one of the most expensive sites in KL, Dessert's Bar offers a wide range of desserts from smoothies, sorbet, cheesecakes and some small stuffs just to fill that vacant spots in your tummy after a heavy loaded lunch or breakfast.

Yummy cheesecakes!

The area is quite a comfy place, not so much people during the day but according to Mary, the place will be a little bit crowded at night. But even so, you will still enjoy that nice ambiance.

Grapes cheesecake!

I like this shot. I saw Daniel took this pic and so I try my best shot

*hearts* it

I had a glass of passion grape smoothie and a cup of Crème brûlée while Daniel and Mary had blueberry vanilla smoothie and honey lemon respectively. One thing I do not really like about the Crème brûlée was the caramel was not crispy enough. I've had better ones in Finnegan's before but the atmosphere of the place compensate all that.

I enjoyed my time at the place. I like the atmosphere, very relaxing. This is the place where we say goodbye. Thanks guys!

Cloudy With The Chance of Chicken Rice Balls

2009-11-13T09:41:00.010+08:00

One of the most talk about must have food when you are visiting Melaka is chicken rice balls. Why is it so famous? I do not know. It's just amongst those few things you must try in Melaka. There were three most prominent chicken rice balls eating place in Melaka which is Restoran Famosa Chicken Rice Balls, Hoe Kee Chicken Rice Balls and Chung Wah restaurant. During our stay in Melaka, we tried all three places just to see which one suits our taste better. So, before you read further on - you are reminded that this is solely our opinions and we are not associated to any of these three places or any other places that is included in this blog.

Restoran Famosa Chicken Rice

The shop claimed to have used traditional Hainanese chicken rice recipe, whereby their rich-balls are served with the tender and juicy chicken meat from Bukit Mertajam, which is well-known for its free-range chicken.

The place does not only serves chicken rice but they also serve roasted pork, duck and also curry dishes. We ordered chicken, roasted pork and choi sam and we ordered additional 5 pieces of rice balls.

We also ordered a bowl of cendol.

It was at around 6:30 pm when we got there, and there were still quite a number of people around. The service was quite slow due to heavy orders but given that nobody bothered to take our orders kind of deteriorate the feeling a bit.

Interior decor of the place - not bad

Overall we think that there's nothing to shout about regarding the rice balls and maybe because of the slow service it did give an impact to how we judge the taste of the food there but I give a two thumbs up for the cendol. It was nice. We like it.

Hoe Kee Chicken Rice Balls

We went into this shop as early as 9:00 AM. We went in for breakfast before we started our journey to The Red Square and St Paul's Ruin. This place is located just a few shophouses away from Restoran Famosa Chicken Rice Balls.

I like the very "chantique" look of this building. (Chantique - Beautiful + antique).

I must say that this particular shop got one of the best or if not the best Hainanese chicken I've ever tasted. It was so tender and nothing like those in KL and of course Ipoh Chicken rice is a totally different thing but this? It's out of this world.

Again, the chicken rice balls they have nothing to shout about but it was better than the one we tried previously. Overall, we like the ambiance, the restaurant itself is very spacious and comfy and it's cool eventhough it's not air-conditioned.

Kedai Kopi Chung Wah

From the look of this place, you would not know that they're selling chicken rice balls because the place looks a little dull and it looks rather like a normal "kampung" type kopitiam. It does look like it serves nice coffee judging by the look of it.

and so I ordered white coffee "ping", which was not bad. Sorry I didn't take any pictures of it here. The place somehow gave you this very relaxing feeling - a summary of what it is like to live in Melaka. It's a different kind of feeling from entering "Old Town Kopitiam" if you get what I mean.

Lo and behold! The chicken rice balls. Mama Mia! This is the best we've tasted so far. According to Mani, this shop claimed to be one of the pioneers of this chicken rice balls business. Located nearby the red square, exactly after the bridge, the first shop after the parking space, even as early as 9:00 AM, they already have big orders. Well, not that 9:00 AM is late, it's just that the shops here in Melaka opens at 9:00 AM, so I can't really complaint!

The chicken was so-so, I prefer the ones at Hoe Kee compared to this one.

And so, overall the best chicken rice balls award falls to Chung Wah but if given a chance - I'd have cendol from Famosa, Hainanese chicken from Hoe Kee and rice balls from Chung Wah. That would pretty much make my day!

P/S : In about a few hours I'll be flying back to Bintulu. Thanks so much guys for the company all these years. I'll pay you guys a visit some time. Until then, take care!

Whiskey In The Jar

2009-11-13T07:55:00.004+08:00

Yesterday was my last day at work. Didn't do anything much though because most of my back logs have been cleared like a few days before and so I'm just left with some filings and some minor stuffs like sorting out cheques and queries.

And today, I'll be going to pack up all of my things, mostly are clothes and bed sheets. The rest of my things my sis will bring them back home by Christmas. It will be a very busy day as my sis will also be moving out to Equine Park, further down where the rental is much more cheaper and since my sis just bought a car so I guess transport would not be a problem. Glad that it is settled.

By the way, I got a gift from David of Chocolate Gallery yesterday. I thought it was thoughtful of him. He brought me some chocolates.

They come in three flavors; Tiramisu, Coffee and Coconut

There's a lot of people you want to remember and some you just want to forget. Life in this bank was not always shiny. There are some shitty days as well but of course good things matters the most - Give and take, forgive and forget.

Makan Time Melaka : Restoran Sin Yin Hoe, Lorong Hang Jebat.

2009-11-09T11:51:00.008+08:00

Melaka is pretty much dead during the weekdays. Not in a bad way of course. The shops around the area where we were staying will start to close at about 5:30 PM so, you wanna have some decent meals at night, you got to be pretty sure of places you want to go.

There is this shop at the end of Lorong Hang Jebat, which is just a walking distance from River View Guest House which sells very good oh-chien (oyster ommelette). This place was recommended by Mani actually and she told us to try the pork yam ring. It was only after we had a dose of nice sotong kangkung and sea food rebus nearby Madam Kings that we decided to stop by.

We ordered oh-chien, a plate of vege cooked with garlic and oyster sauce and last but not least, the pork yam ring.The Oh-Chien, fried with plump, juicy tiny oysters was delicious Most of the food here are cooked with lard and you can sense the presence of lard so heavily in all of the dishes. This generous amount of Oh-Chien is only RM 5

The "vege" Also cooked with lard, garlic and juicy oyster sauce. This is really good stuff.

Now, when I ordered Yam Ring, I actually did not know what I was ordering until it came and then I thought :

"Wait a minute, I had these before. Just that I can't really remember the name"

The serving was very filling. The dinner costs us at about RM 20 ++ if I'm not mistaken I can't really recall but it was nice. Considering the food was for two, I think the price was quite reasonable and please do not compare with prices of food in Sarawak, of course back home is cheaper - especially Sibu and Bintulu.

Restoran Sin Yin Hoe
No 135 Lorong Hang Jebat
75200 Melaka

Zheng He Tea House, Melaka

2009-11-08T16:46:00.009+08:00

If you've been like many of the tourists, wandering around historical places like The Red Square, St Paul's Church or even around Jonker's Street itself for almost the whole day, I would like to recommend a perfect place for you to relax and take a short rest to re-energize your weary legs. There is a tea house just along Jalan Tukang Besi which can offer you not only the comfort but also the joy and excitement of drinking quality chinese tea. (not those 30 cents that you always order when you go eat nasi campur okay!)

We didn't actually enter the tea house because we knew that there is a tea house around the corner but it was more to we-bumped-onto the tea shop in which I personally do not know that it was actually a tea shop. We entered through the Cheng Ho Museum.

The Zheng He Tea House (Say it like this : Jehrng Her) is managed by Ms Pak and Mr. Lai. While Mr. Lai was busy with the kids the ever friendly Ms. Pak took the opportunity to explain to us about various types of tea and benefits of having good and high quality tea.

There were a few types of tea being displayed. Amongst those that I can remember was the Oo-long Tea and the Pu-erh Tea. There was also one type of scented tea which smells like peach. I felt like putting it into my mouth. The smell was tasty!

The tea leaves are not shredded

For a small fee of RM 15 (correction RM 20), we got our pot of tea and the most important thing for me was the experience of preparing Chinese tea. It's an art not everybody can do plus indulging our self with good quality tea.

It was a new experience for me because I've never really tasted real good quality Chinese tea before. We had great time at the museum and Ms Pak was a good company. We had another pot of tea, on the house!

Zheng He Tea House
17, Jalan Tukang Besi
75200 Melaka

H/P : 016-7640588

or you can add Ms Pak to your facebook buddy list :

psyong_1308@yahoo.com

Backpacking Melaka? River View Guest House - The Best Deal In Town!

2009-11-07T20:53:00.006+08:00

The last time I was in Melaka was in 2005 and it was a few days before I enter Marcus Evans, and a few days after I recovered from dengue fever. Yes, I did get the fever but it was not strong enough to get me entitled for "hospitalized" status. I was back then a guest at a friend's house, Adel. Since back then I did not know much about Melaka, I thought it was a good idea that I get myself a reliable tour guide. (Back then wikipedia was not an IN thing *kobek*) I spent 3 days with Adel's family and that gave me a rough idea on how to go out and about inside Melaka town.

And so, a few months ago Lily and I decided that we make a quick trip down to Melaka. we spend some time reading and Google-ing around for cheap and reliable accommodations around Melaka and we finally bump onto, River View Guest House. We read a lot of good reviews on the place and since the place is basically within walking distance to most of the places of interests in Melaka, we decided to call them up for a booking.

River View Guest House is located at Jalan Kampong Pantai, which is the traditional commercial centre within the UNESCO World Heritage zone in the old part of Chinatown. It is within a few minutes walk away from Jonker's Street, The red Square and a few other interesting places.

Upon reaching Melaka Sentral, we took a bus ride to town. Our route was getting around bus number 17, which is going to town and Ujong Pasir (if I'm not mistaken). We stopped by The Red Square and continue our journey to the guest house. We walked along Lorong Hang Jebat which is just before the gate of Jonker's Street, by your right side if you're coming from The Red Square. At the end of that alley, you'll find a coffee shop called Sin Yin Hoe, turn left and just walk straight towards the end of the road, you'll find the guest house on your right.

Well, I actually have to call them up for directions. Not that I am really fermilliar with the place.

The host, Mani and Raymond - I must say, you guys are the best. I mean it. Both of them were very friendly and helpful. To my surprise, they told me that the guest house had been up and running only for about six months old. Judging by the reviews I read online I thought that this place have been there for quite a while.

The guest house offers accommodation in comfortable twin(6'x4') or double(6'x6') bedded rooms with fan and common bathrooms (hot & cold shower) for up to 14 guests. All rooms have windows.Bath towels are provided for guest use. There is a sitting, TV and dining area with a kitchen for light cooking. Coffee / tea and drinking water is provided complimentary. The first floor terrace has a magnificent view of the Melaka River snaking majestically through traditional Melaka shop-houses and homes ; thus the name of the guest house. You could sit here in the evening, drink beer and watch the boats go by or just take a walk along the river, which is brightly and beautifully lighted at night. This is true local living.

Taken from : Lonely Planet

It was full house when we reached. I guess travelers from all over the world have come to know about this place then, which is good. The merrier the better.

The room rates are as follows :

For an air-cond room, RM 60 per night and for non air-cond room RM 45 per night.

Photo Courtesy of : Tripadvisor

We actually paid for a three days stay at the guest house.

Chill out area on the second floor

We really loved our stay at the guest house. The place is peaceful and even if there's a lot to see just around the corner it was really hard to leave in the morning! We definitely recommend this place to anyone who wants to visit this beautiful city and have an excellent stay.

River View Guest House
No. 94 & 96
Jalan Kampong Pantai
75200 Melaka

Email : riverviewguesthouse@yahoo.com
Contact : 012-3277746 (Mani)
: 012-3807211 (Raymond)

Last Day in Melaka

2009-11-07T07:18:00.004+08:00

Today is our last day in Melaka. Time flies. It has been a wonderful three days here in this small town. I pretty much enjoyed my stay here. I guess my liking for a laid back kind of life, relaxing, not-so-stressed-up life have to do with all of that. The guest house owner, Mani and Raymond has been very nice to us. I shall write about all that when I got back.

It's about 7:21 AM now and we're about to have breakfast at Chung Hwa kopitiam. The place where they say this thing called "Rice Ball" originated from. We missed that one yesterday and went to Hoe Kee instead but to our surprise, Chung Hwa was just opposite, just that the sign board is too high above the sky for us to notice.

I shall be back with pictures and more once I get my butt in KL. Untill then, goodbye for now.

Cheers,

cibol

From Melaka With Love

2009-11-04T20:22:00.002+08:00

I'm actually writing from a guest house. A beautiful one located in the heart of Melaka town. Ohmigawd! It's been a while since I was last here. I think it was like back four years ago. I have to admit that I've lost touch a lot on what happened in Melaka all these years. I even forgotten the phone number of the very first person who brought me here. Oh, I will need another day to write this whole journey. I had a fine first day in Melaka today.

Cheers!

Danddy Danddy Go Away and Please Go To Hell

2009-10-29T06:58:00.004+08:00

I have been struggling with dandruff problem for quite some time. I really hate that. I've tried like different types of shampoo these years but none of them seems to work well for me. There was this one time that I shaved my head, not to the extend of Stone Cold Steve Austin kind of baldness but safe to say it was about an inch thick and I thought by doing so it would be easier to keep up with my dandruff problem. Well, for a few weeks it worked but then after that they came back.

I've seen these bottles of "medicated" shampoo for scalp care / dandruff control in Watson, Guardian for quite some time but it never crossed my mind to go and actually buy the thing because I thought the price was a little bit expensive for a small bottle of shampoo. That would cost me around 25 bucks or so if i remember that correctly.

It is called "Selsun Blue".

I was in Sungei Wang yesterday after work. I thought of buying some rations and few other personal care stuffs like soaps and all and I saw there was this promotion for Selsun Blue shampoos. For the price of RM 31 you'll get two bottles instead of one. One bottle contains 200ml and the other one is 120ml.

I was tempted to try this one out and so I bought the thing and I hope it does solve my problems because according to them it's 99% effective.

Read this :

Dandruff can be caused of overactive sebaceous glands which are triggered by hormonal imbalance and stress.

Ok, that's new. I knew about the hormonal imbalance thingy but not the later part of it.

I woke up this morning and check my scalp out, there are still dandruff but it is sort of lesser than everyday for the past God-knows-how-long. Not to get too carried away, I shall try this shampoo for a couple more of times as the instructions says, twice a week or according to your doctor!

Active ingredients : Selenium Sulfide 1%

The Wait

2009-10-24T19:58:00.003+08:00

Okay, I know - Scream if you will!

Finally I decided to pen down something on this old dusty blog of mine which I'm very much sure will be resurrected once I touch down in my "tanahair". Yes, you read that right. I'm coming home.

It has been a fantastic two years working here in the big city, well if you would want to count since the day I got my feet on this very ground, it has been nine years. It's been that long, yes.

Next month I'll be moving back to Sarawak, Miri to be exact and start a new line of job, still within the banking line but with a different view. Currently I'm serving my one month notice period. And Arthur was right, I find that this the longest month of my life. Gosh! How much I hate the wait.

Well, I guess I've learnt a lot during these past two years, met lotsa nice people and I'm blessed with the experience that I've had all these years and I thank God that I survived.

I guess sometimes, when you got older - there are more valueable things in life than just the likes of partying hard all night and shopping. I guess that part is settling down and enjoy the greater things in life.

I'm coming home!

2009-09-17T19:28:00.002+08:00

It's really hard to get back into it because you've not been doing it for quite some time. Sometimes I wish that my life is full of drama so that I can write something about it every single day. Well, I used to have one and I'm not saying that my life is mundane either.

Perhaps the word "complex" sums it but who's life isn't complex to begin with?

I'm happy? To a certain point, yes. I am happy to have someone who loves me dearly and yes I am happy that my dad is doing fine and recovering. (I've yet to blog about that) I'm happy that I have a job, I'm partially in between happy with the way things are running in my life and the same goes with my colleague. Never in my life being in a place where I hate almost everybody but the hatred is not enough to make me kill them. That's the complexity of the life that I'm living on now.

Another contradicting fact : I am happy that I have a job that I kinda hate and not because because I really hate the job but because I hate the institution as a whole!

Nothing personal, just my random frayed end of sanity going on live and I could go on and on and on - but let's keep that for another day.

I'm all but gone

I Know Sometimes It's Gonna Rain

2009-08-24T23:06:00.005+08:00

"God, I had enough of this!"

She screamed. That was like all of a sudden.

"What did I do to deserved all this?"

She paused for a while and take a deep breathe.

I look at her but I didn't say a thing. I probably, just probably understands how does she feels. Maybe not to the extend that I would do the same but maybe if I hit the jackpot like she did, I'd be the first to jump.

A few moments before Kong was here beside her. I do not understand Cantonese but I think I did get a few part where he said;

"Why you keep on delaying this case? Just submit this one case and be gone with it. This case of yours is ruining my chances of getting enlisted for the London trip!".

It stunned me. I know we all at some point have to be honest but I didn't expect that it would come as straight forward as that. Bummer! I was like, how could he possibly say such things? I mean I do get the urgency of hitting the branch target but this? Ruining your chances to be on board the London trip? If I'm her, I'd be pissed. More pissed than anyone could ever imagine.

I kept my eyes firmly on the monitor. I was supposed to update some database but I can't help it but to hear all that. He didn't really raised his voice but then you can sense the frustrations in the tone of his ageing voice.

I turned my head to Nat. She didn't even look at me, paying full attention to her work. I was waiting for her to say something as I'm pretty much accustomed to the way she operate. She will always say something every time Kong came down to give a few encouraging words. Well, discouraging - that's more I like it.

After a few moments she stopped and said;

"I'm letting you know in advance"

I don't like that sound but I guess I kinda know what she is going to say.

"My last day with this bank would be on the 27Th"

That's it, I knew it! I knew she got that on her mind for God knows how long and finally now she said it.

"Good, you better because if not I'm gonna kick your ass out of this office"

She drew a smile, a big one.

On this occasion how I wish that I could do the same too. Given her situation, who would not? She's clearly not happy here. Not happy with lots of things - problems with colleagues, the boss and the whole institution is against her!

But I haven't get to the best part yet - She'd just secured RM2 million worth of deal in which will give her a commission in not less than Rm 250,000. That's like getting a RM 20,000 for a whole year without doing anything. Damn!

While she is on the happy side of writing a resignation letter, me on the other hand is hoping that I will get the chance to be back at home, to be near to my family and my dearest baby because I know at this very moment, they need me more than anything.

God will never leave you empty. He will replace everything you lost. If HE ask you to put something down, it is simply because HE wants you to pick something so much better

Confession of A Banker - Ironic

2009-08-11T20:20:00.005+08:00

"Nope, take it easy. It won't hurt that much".

Gently I tear off the envelope. And there you go. That was very much of a relief but the real thing has just begun.

"It wasn't that hard isn't it?"

I could close one eye and just look at the figure and try to tell myself, it's bearable. Just to keep myself calm and not to panic. Pheww ...

Have you ever felt that adrenaline rush everytime you received your credit card bill or bills? The thrill, suspense well it is more like a thriller for some. Believe me, it's so not easy. I remember that feeling. I can't wait to not feel like that anymore.

I'm here. I've been here for the last two years. Pretty impressive because back a few years ago I can never imagine myself being a banker. The idea of working for a bank is scary to me. But here I am, standing still after one helluva ride. Me, a banker - it doesn't really rhyme.

I failed my accounts, I failed my maths countless times over the years and that's on the academic part. On personal terms, I'm spendtrift, a shop-a-lot and bad with managing credit but one thing I can't deny, I love money. That's the only thing that I can make me feel connected to financial institution.

Somehow, all these makes me feel like "Rebecca Bloomwood", a shopaholic who can never get hold of her financial finance working for a financial magazine called "Successful Savings", teaching and sharing thoughts on personal savings, APRs and advising and giving a lot to the readers but what she never did was to take her own advice. Me, on the other hand, sometimes I feel that I am more or less like that not the part that I'm supposed to be "The Girl in A Green Scarf". Maybe I suit more to "The Boy in A Blue PJs" or maybe "The Boy in The Blue Boxers". Eyy, that's kinda cool.

It felt good, after all these years somehow being in this line taught me a lot of things and knowing little by little the way in and out of it makes me feel a lot more energetic and in the process build up my confidence.

A friend called a few days ago and asked me about how to open an account.

"Dude, need some help"

"Okay, wassup?"

"I kinda need to open an account. I have a malfunctioned mykad but it would be from a competitor bank. How do i go about it"

I paused for a moment, like if you open an account with my bank I got something from it? Perghh ...

"get a temporary IC from JPN. That would do"

"Anything else I need?"

"Just in case they want more supporting docs, bring your birth cert and driving license along"

"Okay, cool. Thanks dude"

It's a simple question but I feel proud because I shared something that I know with someone. I can feel the happy-ness in it. It was such a pleasure when someone come to you and asked for your advice on things. It might not be a one million dollar question but as long as you can satisfy that someone with your explanation, I think you'd be satisfied as well. That's the way it is, right?

Be proud of what you are doing for you are doing good to others. yeah, talking like a real man!

Image courtesy of : http://washingtonindependent.com

How Far We've Come

2009-08-09T20:22:00.003+08:00

Do you remember when we first met? I know it was not the, you know under normal circumstances would people call a date but I thought that should be our first date. And I still remember that I was having a little kick on myself for not buying flowers on that special day, in which I wrote a post that you did not even know that it was about you. You know, sometimes life is funny. If I look back at how things started, oh boy ... I just can't believe it but hey, we're here aren't we? We pulled it out together.

Just some random thoughts playing on my mind.

You might be asking why all the sudden and my answer would be, I suddenly thought of it. Been feeding myself with some rom-com recently and I find myself back to the old times mode. You know, laid back, relax, be funny and just seriously take things a little easier. Having a little breather I would say.

Sometimes looking back at the whole "how we started" kinda thing tickles me a lot. I know we often talked about it. You know the little, "how can this be" talk over the phone and everytime we talked about it, it never failed to amuse me. It's funny how people from two different world, the opposite direct of every single thing on earth could get hooked to each other. Let's just keep the details to ourself for the moment.

"I pray to God and HE gave me you"

Seriously that was like the sweetest thing that I've ever heard of.

Picture courtesy of : http://chrisbarton.wordpress.com

Financial Literacy at a glance

2009-07-12T20:05:00.006+08:00

One of the regrets of my life was not being able to educate myself earlier with personal finance. Even though it might not seems to be too late to have acquired at least some at the age of 26, I think life could be better if I start to accumulate them at the age of 16, which is exactly ten years ago.

Now, let's just forget for a moment about the recent "revert back to Bahasa Melayu" in the education system. The issue that I would like to talk about today would be, "Financial Literacy". Financial literacy of course refers to the ability to understand finance and also creating awareness in oneself one the matter of personal finance. This is one area that I think pretty much important and should be in-line with other subjects.

We have been taught to get good education and then get a good job since we were young. Not that it is bad, not that it is not good enough but maybe - I would not set aside any possibilities that it is not good enough but the reality is, most of us are merely a product of a textbook and nothing more than that. Most graduates are not well prepared to face the hard truth of the working world, what more to say on personal finance - which is not on any syllabus at all.

Robert T. Kiyosaki said in his books, I've forgotten which one; there are three types of education that everyone should have,

1. Academic education - I mean before you can be financially literate, you need to be able to read, write and understand at least the basic education right? At least you go to school, complete it and not dropping out so that at least, even that you're not a graduate you would probably get the idea of what the news are saying.

2. Professional education - Tertiary education in case you don't have a clue. These are obtain via entering universities, colleges, vocational universities, liberal arts colleges or institute of technology and by completing them of course.

3. Financial education - This determined our financial station in life.

And most of us, sadly stopped upon completing our professional education. Most of us are amongst these average Joe's who go to work, get paid and pay bills, fullstop. Even if you don't want to get rich, if you don't want to get into deep shit for the rest of your life, you better start to equip yourself.

Now, talking about this financial education, I came across a website a while ago and I thought the idea was brilliant. It was something that I would like to call very thoughtful of them to educate our younger generations on the importance of financial education. It is called Money Tree.

Money Tree was established to provide the financial skill and knowledge to youths aged 9 – 22 , which would be required to build a career or business, as well as plan for their financial freedom. It has been created to fill the void left by the education system and school curriculum and to explore the opportunities available worldwide to further the dissemination and propagation of high-quality e-learning programmes utilizing state of the art technology, and to groom the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Being that said, this academy is like a tuition center for kids to acquire basic knowledge of personal finance. Isn't that marvelous?

Let say if they have classes for folks like me, I would certainly go for it because for me I have so much more to learn and being in this field I think it will be an advantage for me to have all these in my head. Last Saturday I was supposed to attend a seminar organized by I-Fast Caoital at Wisma MCA, Jalan Ampang but due to office commitment I could not make it. It's free anyway. As what was listed in my resolutions for last year, I told myself to go to seminars and invest in it for myself. Missing this one would not dampened my spirit in doing so.

Any courses that you want to bring me too?

How I save My Money - Effectively (at least for now.)

2009-07-09T21:12:00.006+08:00

Saving! That's like one topic that even when you're still in your Mommy's womb, your folks have been talking about it. Why they even think about it in the first place? Simple, to fund the process of you growing up. That is to sum up, giving you enough food to eat, to provide a comfortable place for you to live in, to give you good education and to have some cash prepared just in case something unexpected happen - touch wood lah hor.

Now, saving and savings are two different things. The former refers to an increase in one's assets, an increase in net worth, whereas the latter refers to one part of one's assets, usually deposits in savings accounts, or to all of one's assets. Now, I'm not going to give you a boring talk about the important of saving or savings but what I would like to share with all of you is how I actually do it, my way.

How much should I save? That is the question that often comes across my mind. Is as long as I can save, even as little as a buck, enough? Or should I save one grand per month? While the more is the better, a realistic target is equally important too. Now, realistically for myself, a few hundred is affordable. I don't earn that much to set aside a lot but I think, comfortably I can live by that.

I once read this book by Azizi Ali, titled "Millionaires are From a Different Planet!". I must say it's an amazing book. That was the very first book that snapped me out of my dream land and said;

"Hey, dude! What have you done?".

It kinda open me up a bit to read more on personal finance. I know, I should have started a long time ago but not a surprise, you can ask around, not many of us are aware of this part of their life. So, I said to myself - It's not too late to do so.

When it comes to the topic of saving, sometimes it's hard to give an exact answer. Ask a friend, how much he/she save monthly and they'd probably say;

"About a hundred"

"A few hundreds"

Often you got answers like this. "about", "around", "sometimes" and some would probably tell you,

"Where got enough money to save?"

But if you asked me, I can confidently tell you that I save an exact amount of RM 580 per month. It's not a staggering one grand a month but that is the best that I can do at least for now. You gotta start off somewhere, right?

A few of us were talking about this topic over the supper table and there was this friend of mine saying that saving a hundred buck is like not saving at all and it is somewhat an amount that she would think very little. She later added that she would like to have at least a saving up to a thousand monthly, now that is what she would like to call a saving.

I asked her,

"How much did you save?"

The answer I got was, almost none. Now, if a few hundred or even a hundred you can't really save, what make you think you can save a grand? While being positive is good, like I said before being realistic is also equally important. My advice was, start small. Take a hundred monthly. It won't hurt that much. It might be little, but just try.

I myself started small, I initially started with RM 100 a month. But I think somehow, along the way I got the tactic wrong because by next month I'd be using that money and serious shit I sometimes did not set aside that amount at all. I wonder where did it all went wrong?

As I go along the way, I bump into this system which they call, "Pay Yourself First". It's like this, on the very first day of your payday, set aside you saving and then proceed to pay off whatever that is there you have to pay. I think I read that somewhere in Azizi Ali's book and also in KC Lau's "Top Money Making Tips For Malaysians". That was the day that I decided to place a SI (standing instruction) to transfer RM 100 to an account with another bank every month. At first it was a little bit hard because I tend to take out that money whenever I want to go shopping but after a few months, I can't feel the money anymore. I'm used to not having that RM 100 in my pocket and so it stayed there.

Saving is also one part of "Investment". If you have zero saving, what is there to invest with? Like any other bumiputera out there, yes I am a bumiputera just in case you don't know ( a lot of people here are still puzzled over my ethnicity status), I am eligible for ASB investment. Now this is one investment tool that I think all of you bumiputeras out there should take advantage of. Use it, seriously. Since you're given the privilege to do so, do it while you can. Sad to say that most of our bumis, do not really fully utilized this privilege. It's a waste. This is one hell of an easy ride that can easily give you 7%-9% ROI annually, no joke I tell you! Maybe at some other time I will elaborate more about ASB, not that I know much about it anyway.

When the FIs introduced the ASB Investment Plan (I think it was back a few years ago that I first heard about it) I was a little skeptical. You know, like some of my friends they always say - "Bank tipu orang". Okay, I'm not going to defend that statement. It's up to you. I took up a loan to finance my ASB, although I would not advice you to do so because of the interests charged a little too not over you hoo-haa, unless you have a lot of cash then you can do it without the loan. I pay RM 140 every month for that. That was like a forced saving for me. In a way, a hard way it kind of giving me the discipline to save. After a year, I decided to add on to my loan and taking advantage of the situation but opted for another RM 140. That's RM 280 in total.

These are my only tools for saving at the moment. And I added another two SIs worth RM 100 each to another two different accounts and that make a total of RM 580. And that is how I save my money. And subsequently, after the savings reached RM 400, I will transfer them to my unit trust investment. I haven't got enough to buy more but if you do have a lot of cash, now is the time to buy but be extra careful. Even though the power of leveraging looks pretty promising, there are some things that you need to deal with carefully and that would not be an area that I can say a lot of things because honestly, I am still learning.

The Cream of The Crop

2009-07-08T22:11:00.003+08:00

They've install a new machine in the banking hall today. A new CDM. And I said, finally after a year full of complaints they decided to have the old machine replaced. I just don't get it sometimes, when every other banks in the region are on a full scale make over - for customer satisfaction purposes of course, this bank seems like a little not moved by the idea. Funny, and yes I am very much aware that this is by far the stingiest financial institution I've ever been in. (I actually have been in two, but according to friends and colleagues - yes, they are).

We actually had a briefing on how to handle the machine this evening. They way the thing works differs slightly from the previous one. This one is more simplified and less hassle in a way and I hope it's less sensitive as well. I'm sick of complaints and attending to a sick machine. I'm actually quite relief that SSTs are off my portfolio for now but again being in remittance department is like three times the work and with another teller of mine out for a freaking two months maternity leave, I'm having her share of work imposed upon my already bundle ladden table and having another slow-moe dickhead who claimed to have four freaking years in banking line, doesn't really help at all. I wonder, how could these people passed the interview? I'll save my thought on that for another day.

Oh, boy .. I'm the cream of the crop eh?

The Unforgiven

2009-07-05T22:31:00.003+08:00

So many things, yet so "Don't Know" what to write. I guess that's the price that you pay for not been blogging actively for the whole year. I believe ever since I moved here, everything had been a little bit too mundane. I guess being brought up in a small town makes me feel like I suited more to a small town rather than big cities like KL.

It's easy to say that one must balance between work and having own life but the fact is, in this place I feel pretty much do not have a life at all. It's not just a life less than ordinary but maybe extraordinarily lifeless. It is said as if one just couldn't imagine how to cope with that.

Blah .. It's dull, mundane, boring .. That's what it is.

Ras was is in KL. How I know? It's a good thing that I spent my weekend sitting in front of my computer and spending ample of time on facebook. I saw the status saying "kelompo kelompo". I quickly sent him a message on his mobile asking is he coming down to KL and he promptly replied, YES!

For that moment I thought, facebook is just brilliant. Not that I only realized that now but somehow I wanted to echo the statement around! and yes, I met him today. Having some lomo time down at KLCC. No, I'm not planning to have a lomo camera or what not even though I've always said that I wanted a camera. I do not know for what purpose that will be but I want it but maybe not so badly. If you give money, I think I would like to prefer the money more than the thought of buying a camera. Weird, but it is true. True things sometimes doesn't make any sense.

We spent time catching up on old stories, talking about friends, while a few of us are still single (not available) there's a bunch of us who are happily married. Well, actually not just a bunch but like almost all of them. Funny, it feels like we were in school yesterday. Time flies. I know, you can't turn it back. Same like some words when spoken can't be taken back. Can't find a better man.

I remember the days when the "Ujang" pantun series was released back in 1996. The thought of Lim Tat and Din Beramboi came to my mind. Because of this freaking tape, we got so excited and we decided to make our own "Ujang" series. It's not funny but it is funny to us that time. I remember Ras recited a two kerat whammy and it goes like :

"Aku ada kek, mak aku ada p***k"

We thought that was funny but little that we know that the recording almost land us into trouble when the pengawas asrama decided to take away the tape and threatened us. And for that very reason, we all have to behave. Really really behave. I wonder where is the tape right now. I would love to listen to it again. Listen to how stupid I was - but then like they say, if you were not a manace when you were in school, you have nothing to talk about when you hang out with your old buddies, like today. At least, today we had a good laugh. So, don't be too good in school, be nasty a bit. That's a must!

I know, I didn't explain that much on the content of the tape - but honestly, I myself trying very hard to remember it. But I know it was full of curses and fucks all around. I mean it. No, there's no moral of the story. I think some things are meant to be left as in what it is. Don't think too much. Like the saying :

Fortune fame,
Mirror vain,
Gone insane but the memory remains

I'll rest my case for the day.

P/S : It's hard to write - my brains can't really be in a creative mode

P/S : Hey, don't give it up. No comments doesn't mean the end of the world. Keep on writing.

Hello Peeps!

2009-06-28T00:13:00.002+08:00

I've been down with cough, slight one - no worries. So, I just spend my Saturday at home, sleeping, resting. Nothing like a fine Saturday - In bed all day long. Love and hate kinda thing, love it because you just can get lazy, hate it because - It's not because you want to be in bed all day long but because you can't go out.

I've been spending some time going around youtube, myspace to find fresh new sound - at least the one that are better than those already in the market right now. The good thing about myspace is that there's a lot of local musicians and also abroad sharing music and stuffs they do. It's cool. Then you'll be able to see that actually we have a lot of unnoticed talent out there. Seriously a lot!

I've been hoovering around this particular myspace of late. I found that the songs, a real class. It's not like those badly recorded drum beats of some established Malaysian band. This one rocks! It sounded like All American Rejects in some ways. SAM, that's the name.

And sharing with you guys, one of the track that I really like from SAM, it's a Malays song called :

Pergi Buat Selamanya

Who says Malaysia ain't got talent?

The Real Kampua, Please Stand Up!

2009-06-21T21:42:00.006+08:00

Suituapui texted me a few days ago and it says something sort of like this :

"Go to neo, hotscreensaver blog to find kampua in Puchong"

I was like, okay - maybe this is just an ordinary kampua or something that they "suka hati" call kampua but doesn't taste like kampua at all. Obediently, I went to neo's blog to take a peek and I did jot down the address of the place. Soon after that I texted Daniel,

"Wanna go for kampua in Puchong?"

the reply was,

"I'm up for it. When?"

my reply was,

"Anytime also can. If you want tonight also I don't mind"

Seriously, I've been craving to have kampua even though I still have a heavy doubt on this one either.

"Breakfast would be fine"

And so, the quest for kampua is on. On the day itself, we head straight to Puchong after picking me up at Bukit Jalil LRT station. The place, is located at Japan Puteri 7/11, Bandar Puteri, Puchong. It's located nearby the hospital, so before the hospital you turn in then you can see a lot of shophouses there.

Since neo doesn't really provide us with much details, with the help of a little bit of technology that they call GPS, we managed to find the place - that was after a few toss and turns. Seriously, I was about to blame neo for not telling us the name of the shop. :p

The GPS tells us this, well more complicated than this but the thing gave us instructions on how to go there. Cool huh? Sakai-ed!

To go There : Let me give you kampua cravers the coordinate: N03° 1.467' E101° 37.441'

I hope this will be more helpful. Just key in the coordinate on your GPS or Google Earth/Map. Hola!

Still a bit skeptical, I took a peek at the ingredient of the kampua. It smells like kampua alright, and it does look like one, but is it kampua? Not after I had a bite that I said,

"This is the real kampua"

Notice the char siew? Over here and back at home, the char siew got a little bit different. It's nicer and less oily.

Yes, it is! After a long search for kampua, finally I found one!

Me and Danny boy had the bigger plate which cost us RM4.50 each meanwhile Drumsticks had the small one for RM 4.00. The difference is only RM 0.50, but the amount, generous eventhough for a plate of kampua, RM 4.50 is a little bit too expensive but what the heck? It's KL, you don't find this type of food in KL that much.

My take on it is, it's not the best but one thing for sure, it is kampua and it's not bad either and forgive me because I forgot to take the picture of the shop. I told myself I will be taking it so that people will know of this place but I just forgot. But the only thing that I can tell you is that the shop name was Berry or Berryl .. something sort of.

So, the next time I want to have kampua, I know where to go. Wheeeeoooa!

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T18:58:00.002+08:00

To all daddies, Happy Father's Day!

I'm Yours

2009-06-20T12:46:00.004+08:00

I texted a few friends back in February if I'm not mistaken, that was the time when Jason Mraz was in town. he was not really a household name by that time and I thought that It will be interesting to go and watch the concert. I've been following jason Mraz ever since the single "You and I Both" was released back in 2002, it was the third single from the album "Waiting For My Rocket To Come".

I actually really really wanted to go for the concert but I received 5 out of 5 replies saying, "No, not interested", and a few "Who the fuck is Jason Mraz?" and a "I only know one song, why should I go?". That actually dented my hope of catching MR. A-Z live act in KL. A bummer! yeah, some of you might want to suggest that I go there alone but dudes and dudettes, I don't drive and going there to catch him playing live will require me to sleep over at the stadium (wherever that was) until the very next morning!

and so, the story ended there.

But there was this wave of everybody having to sing "I'm Yours" every single day for I do not know how long until I got so tired and sick of the song and then my friends started to know who Jason Mraz is and they said "Why didn't you tell me earlier?". Hello, didn't I just did that? But anyway, that's a gone case now and so since it's Saturday, a day where everyone else would like to call shopping day, clubbing day or what not and I'm here at home, doing house chores, washing clothes and blah blah blah ...

I've got some free time. So I dig my own "I'm Yours". This is recorded like a few times because I just couldn't really follow the lyrics quite well, that's the best I can do. Seriously ... Enjoy!

A Little Too Not Over You ..

2009-06-17T20:51:00.004+08:00

Finally I get to get my hands on my PC again. I've been dirtying my hands with don't know the source from kind of money for the past few days. Well, not much to complaint as it is in my line of work. It's in the circle, alright.

Little that I realized that it has been like almost a year and a half that I've been here. Time flies huh. Tell me about it. It's nice to see that everything is getting back to normal, no haze - at least for the moment. I know, working in the office, fully air-cond, cosy seats and blah blah blah .. Hey, gimme a break! When I get out of work I do want some fresh air too!

I'm trying that Zee Avi's pose but the cameraman clearly failed me - Yeah blame the cameraman. Shame on you! :p

I've been having fun on twitter and also facebook lately. Suddenly everything is like a little bit addictive to me. It's like those days when I got hooked up with MiRC. Those days eventhough it was over, I can still remember how thrilled and all pumped up to get connected to undernet or webnet or whatever net that was. Those were the days and facebooking (yeah, it's now a verb)and twittering are just like that.

I see a lot of people doing everything and nothing at all on it - It's fun, I just enjoyed that. People posting pictures, commenting on each others status eventhough I know sometimes it's pretty much lame but who cares? As long as you're happy, I'm happy I think that's okay.

So I thought people like Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey (was that the name?) did bring joy to some of the earthlings - I mean not everybody enjoyed FB and Twits to get things real. *Singing "Crazier" by Taylor Swift* And not just that, this two dudes made millions. That's crazy ..

I remember a few years back when I first sign up for facebook, I asked a friend to join (sorry dear friend, I seriously forgot who that friend was) facebook, and the answer I got was :

"So many things lah, this lah that lah .. better stick to friendster"

But I think a few months after that I saw this friend of mine somewhere in the facebophere. Slowly, a lot of people shifting. At this moment I can say that I can spend the whole night just in front of my facebook, waiting for updates.

By the way, I bought new guitar strings yesterday. The old one is a bit rusty because it has been like almost a year since I last changed any. I was thinking of grabbing some Ernie Ball or maybe just some Fender will do but then since there is a new Music Shop around the block, I decided to pay them a visit. One of our regular customer actually, and he offered me a smooth medium dens strings for at about twelve bucks. Hey, you can't get any better than that for one full set of strings eh ..

Since I don't have any electronic tuner at home guess what I did? I actually tuned my guitar with the help of youtube. You know you can just search for anything on youtube. It's cool. It does make things a little bit easier to me With this i told myself ....

I PLAY AND SING MORE OFTEN ...

P/S : I actually changed the strings because Eddie pointed it out.

All About Loving You

2009-06-14T22:17:00.004+08:00

These days I hardly touch the very thing that I used to hold on to every single day since sound was made known to my ears. I never own one until back two years ago and it wasn't an acoustic one either. My first guitar was a purple Ibanez Gio which cost me around RM 800 which I bought from a friend and mind you, I've been playing since I was thirteen.

I've been missing a lot these days I guess. I've not been writing until recently and I do not know where does that come from. It sort of just came out like that from the middle of nowhere. I used to pen down sounds every now and then back then but now not anymore. I kind of lost that special kind of something.

It comes in naturally without me having to think that I should let it out aloud. It would knock on the door of my head without having me inviting it in. It will always came as such surprise, not at the moment that I'd expect - which now, doesn't happen that often.

But today I picked up that guitar, strangely it flows smoothly and I played some notes and it was turned into a song. A song that I've yet to know how will it go, a song which is very empty inside. I thought I like the tune and I played it a few more time.

So, I thought to myself, I think I got it back. It's like I lived,I've loved, I've lost I've and paid some dues and now I'm back again. It felt good to be able to do so. I've got that touch back ...

Nah, I'm not going to upload that here at this moment. Since Mandy requested for my very own version of The Climb, originally by Miley Cyrus taken from the soundtrack of Hannah Montana The Movie, here it goes.

The Climb

2009-06-14T09:21:00.004+08:00

In life, there'll always be challenges. Big, small like it or not we all have to face it. Sometimes it's not just about how well you do to face it, it includes how much you've learned after all that because there's always will be another mountain struggle that you will have to climb.

Oh, well. I know that sounds pretty much familiar. Yeah, I know - I've been feeding myself with lotsa teen movies lately. I pretty much enjoyed watching teen movies, keeps you younger - in a way. No, a lot of way.

I woke up this morning and this song keeps on playing in my head. I thought it was a very nice number and very meaningful indeed. It tells of one being courageous, tough inside out and determine in dealing with a lot of struggle in life. It's about moving on and also about realizing dreams.

I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying
"You'll never reach it"

Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I'm not breaking

I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on

'Cause there's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Somebody's gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, baby
It's all about, it's all about the climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith

Hope that keeps us motivated at least for today ...

Are You The 12th Man?

2009-06-12T08:11:00.002+08:00

I'm so gonna get this one!

Time To Change - Again!

2009-06-11T07:52:00.003+08:00

I kinda missed that wordpress platform. I missed tweaking it, not that I tweak that much but it was fun to do this and that since wordpress is the most used blogging platform in the world - anybody can deny that? I missed my dot.com for short.

Now, the plan is to move my cibolution.com to another hosting because basically mercumaya doesn't really satisfies my needs. I'm still looking around for some good ones. I've got friends who offered me some space in their hosting, I might take that into consideration as well.

Now, any suggestions guys?

Something affordable and reliable at the same time. I don't want those "server down often" type of service provider.

My Big Fat ....

2009-06-09T23:59:00.003+08:00

You know that the generation has expanded

1. When you go ngabang (house visiting, usually during gawai), you need two Avanza and two Hilux.

2. When you want to sleep, you have to go to your another grandpa's house which is a few rooms away because your own 'bilik' (units in a long house) you have to walk 'jengket-jengket' like there's dead bodies everywhere from the living room until the kitchen.

3. When a RM30 plate of fried mee is not enough for even ONE table

4. When you see piles of TIGER beer before the kick-off

Yes, I experienced all that. I actually didn't really notice that before this until on that very day, first day of gawai. My God! My grandpa actually have more than a dozen grand children!

then I started to draw a chart on a piece of paper (sorry I did not managed to take the picture). This is my mom's side. My mom got six siblings for a start. My mom as the eldest child of Mr Edwin Dol got three children.

Cibol - That's me
Amy Maureen
Brenda Punga

Aunt Pauline, from Julau with love got herself two handsome young man

Gadley Tommy
Gadley Terry

Uncle Nick have by far the biggest number 5 PRINCESSESS!

Aileen Lola
Bernaddette Chara
Dierdre Eva
Beatrice Sura
Jennycia

Anybody taking?

Then comes Aunt Esther with one

Swaylin - yes, she was name after that Iban pop-star

next comes Aunt Anna with a lovely young lady and two rascals but grandma said, they're both way off my standard.

Renee Ajan
Leonard Leopold
Terence Awal

Uncle george came in next with

Stephanie George
Augustine Mirap
and another two which I forgot their name (Bad bad bad!)

Uncle Mike came in next with only one in Munai, I also forgot her English name.

If my math is correct that is 18 altogether.

We do not have a bungalow per say but at this current moment, yes they sleep from the living room until the kitchen. It's like a war aftermath seriously. It's like seeing dead bodies everywhere.

That pic includes Uncle Roger Baran - A young uncle of mine

The best part of this all is that, eventhough there's simply not enough place to sleep but seriously it was fun with everybody around. It's not that you guys meet each other that often but this is the season that everybody come together and GET DRUNK! ha ha ha ...

Aram kitai ngansar ka tumbung!

Batu Niah Best Fried Mee

2009-06-08T21:13:00.004+08:00

I was back at home for Gawai end of last month and yeah, I didn't managed to put up any post on it but chill, I left my modem in Bintulu, that's why.

There's this one particular shop at the corner of the row of coffee shops by the riverside of Batu Niah which we often if I must say, a must place to eat for each and every one of us. Every time after Sunday Mass we would be gathering at that particular shop and spend time chit chatting and just mingle around.

This particular shop by far, I think got the best fried noodles I've ever tasted! I think the whole family agrees with me. They've been around for as long as I can remember. we practically watched their children grew up!

It is a very small shop with limited sitting I must say but mind you, the seats are never empty.

Yup, the shop itself was so full of US! From the picture you can see my cousin, Renee and my grandparents. Yes, they're still alive and kicking!

After mass on 31st of May, we went there. Some of the family members was supposed to arrived a day before but due to some - I don't know, maybe they had early Gawai somewhere along the way, they only managed to get going from their respective places on the eve of Gawai itself.

This time, we ordered RM 15 worth of fried noodles.

Seriously, that RM 15 plate was not enough, we add another RM 10!

That's how good it is!

It's very different from the fried mee that we have in KL. It's less dark, less oily and also really dry. I had bad experiences in the peninsular when it comes to having fried mee. There was this one time I asked for a "mee goreng kering" and I thought that the fella would understand what I want and instead, he gave me a plate of fried mee but with sauce - I told him, I want a dry one and you know what, he came back to me, with the same plate of noodle but with the sauce taken out. WTF!

The difference between here and there would be first thing first, the bean sprout. Here we cut the roots but the ones on the other side, the fried it with the roots and not to mention they always got this burnt smell out of it. It's really a turn off ...

The Coming

2009-05-28T07:29:00.005+08:00

Packing is tiring. Another day to look forward to. Lucky thing I bought my ticket like way back before - I think it was somewhere in February or March. Nah .. Couldn't really remember. RM 400 for a return ticket with MAS I think is quite reasonable. Finally a reason to cheer after a few months of heavy work load, time to loosen up a bit.

So, foongpc came up with this creative tag a few days ago and I decided to give it a support. It is called the "My Favourite A-Z List".

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Start copy from "Begin Copy Here" until "End Copy" to your blog.

2. List your favourites from A-Z.
For example, starting with the alphabet A, you can list down your favourite Actor, your favourite Anthem, favourite Aerobic exercise or even your favourite ABBA's song. As long as it starts with the letter A.

Then move on to alphabet B. You can list your favourite Book, or Bag, or Blog, or even your favourite Boxer shorts! It's entirely up to you!

Repeat the same with alphabet C, D, E and so on until Z.

If you can't think of a word that starts on that particular alphabet, you may visit Foongpc's Very First Blog for a comprehensive list of words.

3. Tag 7 people.

Actor - Tom Hanks
Book - None in my mind now
Cartoon - Transformers
Day - Friday, working hours cut short and weekend starts
Excuse - I forgot?
Fruit - Durian, should be
Game - Football, Championship Manager 01-02
Horror Movie - The Exorcist
Ice cream - Cornetto
Japanese Food - Ermmm ... I don't have any
Korean Food - Bulgoggi
Lake - The band Madina Lake (:p)
Music - Rock
Number - 8, Frank Lampard, Bebeto, Steve Archibald, Corey Taylor
Order - Panfried Dory at London Fish Tales
Past Time - Playing CM
Queen - Baby
Rocker - Alex Band, Bon Jovi, Chris Cornell, Chad Kroeger
Slipknot - Corey Taylor of course
Transformers - Fortress Maximus
University - UPM
Vacation - The Bahamas, maybe one day or South Korea
World Cup - 1986, Argentina won it for the second time
X-Men - Wolverine
Yogurt- Strawberry yogurt
Zodiac - Pisces

Now as for the tagging, let me see :

Charyelle
Daniel
Drumsticks
Bongkersz
Alice
Jing
Suituapui

He he he .. so, any of you in Bintulu Friday onwards?

Your Blog Is A Failure

2009-05-27T07:26:00.004+08:00

Recently I came across this blog post on Nuffnang innit. It says something like my blog is dead or something like that. "My Blog Is A Failure" And I must say that this kind of post irks me to my spine. It's annoying. Annoying in a sense that you drag everybody along into your melancholy and your infinite sadness. Seriously, I think the writer should have not blog and get a better life instead.

She blogs about giving it all up just because there's simply not enough hits for her blog to make money. Duh! What a way to grab attentions. Well, it works - it does grab my attention and I can't help but to feel sorry for this poor little soul and it kinda remind me of this song "I'm Just a Kid" by Simple Plan. Typical SGD, being kiasu all the time. Patheticly, utterly, totally useless.

Let me just reply to all that :

First and foremost, say you want more hits on your blog right? So I'll ask you this question, what did you do to deserve more hits? If you right a post and just sit there and hoping that hits will fall of from the sky, don't dream of it, don't even think of it 0- it won't get you anywhere because in this context you want hits and hits will bring you more money (since you mentioned that you want to have more money from advertisement) and I presume that you right good stuffs that at least half of the tennants of planet earth would be dying to google for your articles online, am I right?

But sadly - No. You don't have a niche market. You write ... Oh well, not worth mentioning but seriously, if you want it to be good, work on it. And why am I talking about niche market here? It's insane.

Anyway, is not all about making money and getting hits unless you're a serious full time blogger and you make a living out of it. It's a hobby, a passion and something you can live without as per say. You blog because you want to, because it's a new way of socializing, interact with people, with friends and like talking to your audience and if there is no audience it's like a diary, a diary that you want someone to read about and to remind you of what have you done, what you've accomplished and what not.

If you think that money is the focus of you blogging, then treat it like a business and stop buying HOPE! *period

The QUEEN of Stone Age In Adam Lambert

2009-05-25T23:38:00.007+08:00

Small Talk : Surprisingly, my google adsense pay me better than my Nuffnang. I wonder? Maybe this is what they call, "Anak tiri dimanjakan, anak sendiri mati tak makan".

Image courtesy of : broadwayworld.com

And so I heard. Well it was everywhere to be honest. Ever since the day that he was touted to the next American Idol he had been everywhere, be it in the local tabloid and what more to say in the states itself. I'm not a big fan but I was dissapointed I must say because the result went against him. Like what my AI enthusiasts friends STP and Charyelle said :

"America is ready for a black president but not a Gay American Idol"

"America is not ready for another Led Zeppelin"

That is history, winning it doesn't guarantee you success. Look at the previous AI winners, only a few bunch make the cut. The likes of Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson still flying high in their respective field and look at the pathetic "Soul Patrol" Taylor Hicks, where is he now? This is where America was trying to be funny and it end up as a bad, bad joke.

Image courtesy of : taylorhicksgirlfriend.wordpress.com

And you know what? This might be a reality - Adam Lambert might be the next frontman of the next legendary rock band, Queen! While it was made known to the whole world that Queen recently ended a four year spell with Paul Rodgers who had been less than successful in his role as a frontman and it was rumoured that Queen are looking for somebody with a bigger fan base, charisma and that somebody who would be able to revive the good old glam rock era and all that traits seems to be written on Lambert's resume, I must say.

While the news had been somewhat they would like to call - had not yet to be confirmed to be true, but neither of the two sides trying to rule out the possibility.

"Amongst all that furor, there wasn't really a quiet moment to talk. But [drummer Roger Taylor] and I are definitely hoping to have a meaningful conversation with him at some point," May told Rolling Stone. "It's not like we, as Queen, would rush into coalescing with another singer just like that. It isn't that easy. But I'd certainly like to work with Adam. That is one amazing instrument he has there."

He's right on the money and he's bodaciously talented and if Queen would make this partnership a reality, I'm very much sure that it's going to be a phenomenon! Adam could out-wailed anybody to an insane degree on any of Queen's track, period.

Why Is That My Nuffnang Ads Always Appear At The Wrong Side of The Clock?

2009-05-22T01:06:00.006+08:00

I heard it all before but what I've yet to get is experiencing it. And here in the wee hour, I realized that Nuffnang ads are all over my blog and it's 3:00 am.

Now, how do I benefit from this when I know that most of my hits comes in during the day and the ones that always comes in the wee hours are usually from the other side of the world which is no matter how big is the volume of unique hits at this hour it will not be counted as they are not from Nuffnang served country? Weird ...

So, in a way I'm making lesser money ..

Oh ya, that's the beauty of what we would like to call "marketing strategy" or maybe "product positioning". Marketing, I used to hate this subject during my uni days. There were just so many things to read.

By the way ever since my dot.com was closed down I decided not to put so many stuffs on my blog e.g : slogbites, entrecard, adigitize and what not. Not that because they're not good but because I see no point putting it up since I won't really be benefiting from it anyway ...

The Mag And Pat Family Reunion!

2009-05-20T07:25:00.005+08:00

To be honest - sorry Mag and Pat, I've not been tuning in to Traxx for quite a long while since I moved to KL and the worst thing is that I don't even know that you guys are not even there anymore!

Back when I was working in Bintulu I used to tune in to Mag and Pat In The Afternoon show. STP actually dragged me into it. No regrets though. Since back then I was so free and got nothing to do in the office, I will tune in to Traxxfm on a daily basis, except for weekends that is. What we did during the show? We send sms, request for songs, dedications and just sms-chat lah!

Now that the show is no longer on air and Mag and Pat are also not there, too bad but then the show doesn't really stop there. It somehow was brought back to life by Marty (I supposed) online. How cool is that? And so, last Saturday the family held their reunion dinner at the Baywatch, Kelana Jaya.JL, Foongpc and Christock (He came a little later though) was also present.

This is my first time ever hanging out with all of them since - the day I won that F1 tickets (Thanks Mag *winks*). I must say that I was thrilled and glad to be finally meeting people like Martin, Zul, Zee, Mandy and all the regulars lah. You guys are so cool!

To the left, to the left : Zee, Mandy & Zul

From left : STP, Martin, Marie and Cash

The night itself we also celebrated the ala Chicanos Cash the friendly cabbie (I forgot to count the candles, so I don't really know how young lah). The night was so full of fun. We chit chat and mingle around and not forgetting filming the 10th webisode of MagandPat.com show.

Terence, Grace (Depache Mode), Areen

I like this one.

We chill out until at about around 1 am I think and return to our respective home after that. It was a great one for me and I am hoping to have more and more of that in the near future!

Fly To The Sky

2009-05-19T06:56:00.004+08:00

While baby was here we decided to went uphill Genting. Actually we've been planning to go up for quite a while but only this time around we managed to really got the time to at least step our feet in Genting. Not that this is our first time there but for me myself, the last time I was there was back in 2005. That was like 4 years ago.

The journey up was rather challenging for us because in the first place it seems like everything is against plan. First, from my place to LRT station, we waited for 30 bloody minutes for a cab and I tell you, during that period not even a single cab went in our way until we finally decided to take the bus instead. And the moment we stepped into the bus, a cab passed by!

Second, upon reaching KL Sentral we quickly went downstairs to get our bus tickets and guess what? System down and the only bus available is at 1 pm and of course, since we're on a day trip - that is a waste of time and so we decided to take LRT to Putra Station and then go up Genting via bus.

When we finally reached Putra Station, the only bus available is at 12 pm. Still, not worth it. There were a few cabbies around offering us ride to go the top and they were asking for RM20 per person and they were saying that they already had 2 passengers on board and it would be easier to share the fare. There was this one Pakcik who actually offered us RM15 per person to go up and without hesitation, we took the cab - and I must say he is very geng driving up the slope and bents of Genting. Caya lah!

Actually we just wanted to go to Genting's Snow World. Even though I've been up here a few times but never had I stepped my feet on this ground. Tickets were sold at RM15 per person and we have to wait for turn to go in because they're having it by session.

I didn't want to take the jacket and boots provided by the management because they were - seriously, they stinks and the boots are in bad condition most of them. So I decided to just wear my cardi, a scarf and my own shoes. It was freezing cold up there. It's like being trapped in a big chiller!

Believe me, my arse was like numb for a while!

Pose pose lah a bit!

Then we heard : "Sorry ya, kamera tak boleh pakai kat sini"

Ooops, caught in the act. Yes, you were not supposed to take photos with your own camera here and with that last shot, actually our camera battery went kong!

We stayed in this house for a while because outside was just so freaking cold!

Pose again lah .. :p

After all that we decided to go and have our lunch at one of the restaurant nearby snow world. I can't really remember what was the name but it was amongst the cheapest there actually.

The hero

The heroin

The food was not bad actually and it was below RM10. If you noticed, all of the food sold in Genting are priced above RM10 usually.

I was having this nicely made chicken with sambal! yum yum!

Baby looks confused : "What is this?"

and we had this for dessert

It's mango pudding.

We made our move down to the bus station around 6 pm, we don't want to miss the bus. The journey was quite okay even though we have to rush for things but we did managed to sleep in the hotel before continuing our tour throughout the place - Ripley's Museum is a must!

Back In Time

2009-05-15T06:47:00.003+08:00

The appearance, the rusty salon doors, the design and everything about it tells it all. By looking at it you might have guess it right that the building itself must be around at least a century old or perhaps nearby. Being inside the place is like being back in time and I felt just that when I entered Coliseum Cafe & Hotel - one of the famous tourist dining place along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. This particular diner had been doling out wholesome food to loyal customers with generous servings and a journey back in time experience.

According to goingplaces magazine, the Coliseum which was named after Rome's famous landmark opened its doors in 1921. Imagine how old it is. The cafe was set up to cater to the English living in then Malaya and still now you can find a lot of expat dining in this place - closer to home, perhaps and especially when you're so sick of nasi lemak and roti canai.

I happened to know about this place when baby showed me goingplaces and so we thought that it might be a place worth to visit, and so we did. We took LRT from my place and stop at Bandaraya station which is nearby SOGO. Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman is on the other side of the building, along the place they call "Little India" I supposed. Along the way you can see a lot of shops selling silks, clothes - and of course the famous Harrisons.

Yesterday once more eh?

Antique design

Chak! Boom! Boom!

And so we ordered this lot and yes it was quite heavy for breakfast, it serves lunch as well for us and I guess it's brunch then.

I must say, even though the food looks expensive and sounds so, but in this case - it was rather cheap comparatively.

but this is one expensive "telur dadar".

We find time to walk around the cafe as it was quite early and I bet we were their first customer for the day. The coliseum has been visited by many famous names, some of whom are being sketch by our very own famous cartoonist and a regular patron himself, Dato' Lat - You know "kampung Boy"?

We spent some time looking at the articles hanging on the wall.

Owh, almost forgot our soup of the day - French onion soup.

and my cup of cappucino

Love it

Knowing You Knowing Me

2009-05-01T12:51:00.003+08:00

Reminds me of that ABBA song. I know, I'm not too young for ABBA okay. heard about this talk that ABBA are gays .. :p

By the way, sorry for being away far, far too long. I was busy setting up me online store. But now I'm back again and yes, I will blog more often after this. Oh ya, before I forget - Happy Holiday to each and everyone of you.

Now, who says having your own business is easy? Nobody is born into this world knowing everything, that's why we need to learn and in the process of learning we make mistakes. Jatuh, bangun semula as they said. learn, grab and move forward. It's hard work. So, because of this hard work I find it is insanely unacceptable to not let you guys know that republic fusion was finally set up.

It was a relief that I finally can put everything all up. I was worried at first but I'm a believer in honesty and also God's grace. So, I thank God for the birth of Republic Fusion.

Been going to Facebook and saw there's this long list of quizzes .. What I like the most? How well do you know me! And so, I created one for my friends. See how well you know me. Check it out on my Facebook.

And you know what, looks like for someone that I've known for more than ten years, they still not know much about me.

You can try your luck! Click on this link

A Day Before Today

2009-04-20T07:28:00.004+08:00

I like having meals at Ikea Cafe. I must say that food are nice and it's quite affordable too. If you happen to be there, don't just go Swedish on your furniture, go Swedish on your food as well.

This place is so famous for its meatballs. People had been telling me that all these while. This place is like heaven, everything in one place - shopping and food. You just gonna love this.

I've tried almost everything on their menu but what I haven't is the Daim Cake. If you're a chocolate lover, then you must love Daim cake. It’s made from an almondy biscuit batter that yields a thin cake. The cake is covered with chopped pieces of Daim candy and milk chocolate. It’s very sweet and rich and oh, bad for your teeth!

Okay, then only you have the energy to shop. The only turn off in this place is the long queue, I just hate that and most of the time you'll find it hard to grab a seat because the place is always flooded with people - even during weekdays!

I bought a few stuffs for baby and I must say I like the Famnig Hajrta. So comfy!

*Hugs*

The Distance

2009-04-18T19:30:00.004+08:00

I missed my quiet and laid back kind of life back at home - Noted that my home is in the land far beyond. Well, actually just 2 hours and 15 minutes away from LCCT that is. Somehow now I became accustomed to busy life in the metropolitan, a place where I will never have enough time. I feel like a walking-dead even in my sleep. Nothing, I mean nothing really stops here.

When I was back at home, I would normally get up around 7:30, take my bath and switch on the computer and surf the net for news, jobstreet, my blog and a cup of tea before I went off to work. Upon arriving, I will have my breakfast nearby Laksa House, Parkcity and normally I would have either kampua or yong tau foo (not as good as the ones here in peninsular but it was okay. Most importantly, a lot cheaper). Then I will have a puff or two, chit chatting with all my colleagues before we start the day at 8:30 am. Our office opens at 9:00 am, mind you.

Here, the story would be :

I wake up everyday at 6:25 am, as my alarm is set at 6:25 am. I get up, take my bath and before that I switch on my computer to check my mails, jobstreet, my blogs and soccernet at one go. Now here is the catch, I always do not have enough time here and so, I have to open so many browser at one go and then go take my bath. 7:25 Usually I will be down the road waiting for bus to take me to LRT. Now, this is the thing that I just hate about this place, the bus is so damn slow. 7:45 I will reach the LRT station and it will take me about 15 minutes to reach my destination. Upon arriving, I will have to walk another 10 minutes to office from the station and as usual, by the time I got into office it was already 8:30 am. There is simply no time to go out for breakfast and so along the way usually I will just stop by 7-Eleven or the aunt next to it and tapau a box of fried bihun at RM 2.00, sometimes she would just give me for free.

I eat in the office, no time to talk to people, no time to mind about the others and quickly grab all the reports and work starts since then and mind you, the office only opens at 9:15 am which is 15 minutes later than my previous office but still, I am on a run all the time.

Can you see the differences? I described my morning working at home in one nice paragraph and the part that I described my life here, you can just feel the tense while reading the two long winded paragraphs. That is the difference.

How about my after work life?

Back home office close at 4:30 pm. I will straight away do some report checking, daily balancing, filing and sharp at 5:30 pm off I go and every Tuesday and Thursday, sometimes Saturday, me and my colleagues will be in the badminton court and get into action.

Contradictorily, here eventhough the office close at 4:30 pm, I will have my daily balancing done at 5:00 pm, then off to checking reports, filing the same old story but it would stretched until 7:30 pm. I need to walk another 10 minutes to the train station and repeat the whole process again and reached home around 9:00 pm or 10:00 pm sometimes and how about badminton? I can forget about it.

That's life here and there. Maybe that's what shaped my writings as well ...

Bubbly ...

2009-04-14T22:16:00.004+08:00

It should be Cibol instead

I think the happiest blogging moments in my life was when I was still in my wordpress. Don't ask me why because I honestly don not know. My joy with cibolution does not really .. well, you can say that I treat my cibolution like a blog rather than a place to talk to my friends and acquaintances. It is rather boring, I supposed - There is no more of that personal touch, the inner self and all I can see is the bubbly "wannabe" me - Whatever that mean is.

It is something more personal, more me in a way. I can't really help but to think about bubbly ever since I wrote that last reply on the previous post. I want to be back to where I was, maybe not really that but the moments. I know, it is something .. somewhat I can never describe. There was life in that particular wordpress but cibolution? I found it rather fake - full of things that would irritate me right down to my bone. It doesn't sound right.

I wish that the spirit of "A Life Less Ordinary" stays with me.

On another note, little that I realize it has been a year. A year since the very first day I step into this little office of mine. Time flies, that was real fast. I remember, the day I went for interview, it was on my twenty sixth birthday and it was I who decide that I shall be here. I would've said - "No, not here". With HOPE, I made that decision to be where I am now.

Looking back what I've achieved along the way, I think I've learnt a lot. What I learnt here for the past 12 months is much more greater than what I would have learn in my previous office in three years. That is how important this place is to me. I grow and I am what I am now because of this place and I thank God I made that choice.

There are still a lot of bends and corners along the way, we might not know what is there around those bends but perhaps, HE got better plans - Who knows? HE sometimes doesn't make sense, but HE knows what he's doing. I just need to trust HIM on that or else ...

Let's just live and take it a day at a time, with HIM that is ...

Unto You - An Easter Reflection

2009-04-12T10:41:00.007+08:00

This Holy Week has taught me a lot of things in life and in fact I think that this Holy Week has the most impact and could be a turning point of my faith, how I look at things, the way I operate and so on.

This Holy Week finally my eyes were open and hopefully it stays open so that I would not be constantly reminded of how the world is pretty much fair for me. You do good, you'll be paid good, you do bad - you'll get your share of swipes and all of this comes in HIS time. Yes, in HIS very own sweet time.

I've strayed, I've wondered far and I think it's time to go back and perhaps what had happen during this Holy Week is a call to remind me of just all that. It's a wake up call.

Sometimes when something bad happened, we tend to ask that sacred question of :

"Eloi, Eloi lama sabachthani!"

Which translates into asking God the Father why has he forsaken us. Maybe most of the time we question our faith, we question God - like He is responsible for everything and He is the one who make it happen but what we never succeed to realize was that there is a meaning behind it all. We often fail to look back what we had done.

There is this one song that actually reminds me of it all. I beautiful song and I must say that it is one of my personal favourite and today I would just like to share this beautiful song with each and everyone of us. A song that which reminds me of the point of our existence, of life, of love and most importantly of hope as we would like to be remembered as - I thank God that all of this happened.

Have a blessed Easter everybody.

Liverpool 1-3 Chelsea: Blues stun Anfield

2009-04-09T06:44:00.003+08:00

It just can't get any better than this. You woke up in the morning and walla - Great news greets you as it says.

LIVERPOOL A BRIDGE TOO FAR

and yes, you read that right! Chelsea hammered Liverpool in their own backyard and the KOP's 14-months unbeaten home record destroyed.

Image from http://www.telegraph.co.uk

It felt good because I was a little skeptical about Chelsea's chances of progressing to the next run due to the nature of them losing grounds at Anfield but I guess, histories are just best to be left as histories.

Two goals from the most unlikely source - Branislav Ivanovic who had been very impressive since taking over from the injured Jose Bosingwa and a goal by the ressurected Didier Drogba gave Chelsea the upper hand for the second leg next Tuesday. Who would've bet on Chelsea to run riot at the KOP?

Certain Shade of Green

2009-04-08T07:30:00.004+08:00

It always feels good when what you did in life is very much appreciated - even if they don't really mean it. Because sometimes we just need to hear the words. Simple words like - congratulations, well done.

I received an email from from the RM.

From : RSM
Sent : Tuesday, April 07, 2009 5:09 PM
To : BSM
Cc : RMO, cibol
Subject : RE : HALO !!! BRANCH OPS TEAM - PLS START SELLING

Dear BSM,

Good job from your Ops staff - cibol ! Please do let him know that I am very much pleased with his effort to help the branch out by capturing that RM XX,XXX deal. The reason is because the management team and I would not know if he doesn't key-in the sales under his ID and we are also very keen to know who is the real person behind, who is actually giving effort to promote the products for your branch. Now that I know, I am very pleased that your ops staff did a great job.

Thanks for letting me know BSM!

Please quickly sign him up for UT exam.

Dear cibol,

Well done! Keep up the good work and go for a higher figures for your Branch Ops Team.

Cheers!

RSM

Like Baby said, what we have now is what HE had given us and what HE'd given he can take it away at any given time HE wants. And I guess in a way it's a blessing that I must thank HIM for.

Fullhouse - Lifestyle Store and Cafe

2009-04-07T07:19:00.003+08:00

As the name says, when we got there after mass it was really a fullhouse.

I've seen it before, walk passed it like every now and then everytime I go to NZX and what I never did was walk in and dine. I must say I'm impressed. The moment I stepped in, it's like stepping in into my dream house. This cafe was actually built and designed as a full-sized house.

The outside eating place, ground floor.

Also the outside but was taken from the inside, taken on the stairs while going upstairs.

The other wing of the house.

Now, it's not like your average retail outlets or any restaurants out there, what makes this place so different is that everything inside is for sale, I mean those with price tags lah. Don't come up to me and say you want a maid. Stuffs on sale are like clothes, fashion accessories, gifts and even decorative items!

This is located on the first floor

Nice

Some of the items on sale

View of the center of ground floor

After a while touring the place, I sat down and ordered and I must say that for this kind of environment, it's actually quite cheap. The Pan Sear Dory Fish that I ordered cost around RM 12 and it doesn't taste bad either. I must say it's worth the price. This dory set is cooked with siew pak choy and mushroom and what I like the most was the sauce, which made out of butter, milk and lemon grass cream. Love it!

The drink of the day went to : The Green Milk Tea

Second set was the fish and chips, nothing to shout about but it's more expensive than the much better tasting dory. I still prefer the ones by London Fish Tales, the best I'd ever had.

The bar on the first floor

It's time to say goodbye for the day and we all need to go back to Kelana Jaya station before it's too late and I can't go back later. But wait,

Didn't the thing just turned red?

Holy Smoke : Bavarian Bierhaus, The Curve.

2009-04-06T07:10:00.000+08:00

One thing I really like about Mutiara Damansara is that there are plenty of dining place to choose from. If you are the type that prefer a laid back and not so noisy kind of place then the place to be is HERE, a place like no other. I must say that The Curve is probably one of the most favourite place for me to chill and just relax. I can't just grab a drink and sit, read and relax all day long.

A place definitely not to be missed when you're there is the Bavarian Bierhaus. Located at the ground floor of the curve, Bavarian Bierhaus offers a wide range of German cuisine of course and The Germans are so famous for their pork dishes - sausages and grills and as the name say, bierhaus. They don't call it that for nothing. By the way bierhaus means Beer House in German. It's very direct and predictable anyway. October Fest comes early, eh?

Oh, boy! I just lurve the atmosphere - cosy and a great place to chill out.

there were not so many people by the time we got there. The place is a little bit out of side if you walk by.

We started with something that was recommended by the waiter for us as we are not well versed with German cuisine and so we ordered something like in this picture. I kinda forgot what's the name of the dish but it is listed as number one in the menu on the starter page if I'm not mistaken. It was quite hard to pronounce anyway. If I'm not mistaken it cost us about RM26 or so.

Experimenting shots with some lighting

and without, the future looks bleak ...

But this one I remember. Barbecue Baby Pork Rib with dried plum barbecue sauce served with Brussels sprout in beer and mash potato. This is one the dish that I highly recommended. Finger licking good. Everyone had been saying that their pork knuckles is the best, and I thought so but alternatively if you ordered this one, you won't be dissapointed either. This dish would cost you RM56 and it's big enough for three. (STP alone can finish this one in no time).

Too bad I was on my way to St Ignatius for Palm Sunday. Germans, they like have the best beers in the world.

Cheers, and for the believers - Have a blessed Holy Week.

Nuffnang Music Bash 2009

2009-04-05T10:56:00.000+08:00

One of the most anticipated events - especially for me because this would mean that I will be attending my very first Nuff event was rolled out at Maison KL, yesterday. I know I was supposed to blog about it live at the spot itself but again, connection was a little sucky and I don't really know why but that's alright. The experiences matters.

I had problems locating the place due to my limited night outings eventhough I must say I have been in KL plus minus in about 6 years or so, prior to studying and working here in peninsular. So, I texted Bongkersz and asked for Huai Bin's number. I was really in need of some directions on how to go there.

Finally after a few toss and turns we hit the jackpot. Yeah, Maison in front of me.

Drum rolls ..

The red carpet awaits ..

I was trying to do a Gerard Butler, but FAILED miserably.

Second try, also FAILED ..

I came with Roy, now it's not hard to bring him along. Just mention the word, free flow and he'll tag along. No, he's not a blogger but he's a loyal reader of mine *winks* That's what families are for, eh?

The event was ornganized by Nuffnang with support from Maxis Broadband and it's Nuff's first party for the year 2009, means that there'll be more to come.

We reached at about 7:30 pm or so and upon reaching I saw a long queue and I was wondering what is it all about and so, Roy asked :

"What are we queuing up for?"

and the answer was ..

"Food, of course .. Duh!"

I estimate there were like at least 100 attendees for the event with loud noise all over. It was quite happening.

We head in

I contacted Sue a few hours earlier mentioning that my blog was actually suspended for high CPU usage blah blah blah, I was a bit worried that I might be denied a pass to go in but as Sue confirmed that I was already in the guest list, it doesn't really matter.

Some snapshots of the Beyonce's dance impersonation

Sorry about the blurry images guys, I don't have a DSLR like most of these people inside. I'll just make do with what I got. That one pun pinjam.

The MC doing his booty shaking stuffs

There were performances by the Nuff's team as well and sorry guys, it was tottally, utterly ... feel free to fill in the blanks. But that doesn't really matter, you had fun right? That's more important. Way to go Tim ..

Oh, the Nuff band is called the "Nuffnang All Stars". Oh, come on! Can't get more lemur than that aite mate? Cheers!

And there were the Jaiho girls. Go and google Jaiho then you'll know lah. I was scratching head to figure out WTF is Jaiho in the first place.

Beauty and the beast

The best dressed male award was awarded to Yat who actually came in as a hippie Jonsie (John Lennon lah - but seriously he does look like Yoko Ono a bit with the sepet eyes) and the worst impersonator ... aisehmen, how come la brader?? Looks like the Eminem trick didn't get the cut but then you still walk away with a price right? That's cool!

Left to right : Pink of Lady Marmalade, Lady Gaga, Britney Naughty Spears, Eminem - The Eminem Show, Bob Mat Ganja Marley, Yoko Ono (oops) John Lennon.

The best celebrity impersonator for the guys was awarded to Julian aka Mat Ganja with the dreads and all, that was cool man and for the ladies it went out to Britney! Way to go people!

Paparazzis!!!!!!!!!! Run for your life!!

The crowd ..

The party lasted until I don't know but it's a wrapped untill 11 or so but since there was a massive jam. We decided to just wait nearby Heritage Row and guess what? That was another RM15 parking fees!!! Cheebuy betul la!

Account Suspended - HIGH CPU Usage

2009-04-04T08:56:00.000+08:00

Whatever that mean, it doesn't sounds good either.

The Heart of Everything : Pair World

2009-04-04T01:04:00.000+08:00

This small shop caught my attention

Every now and then I will always drop by at any gift shop around. I think it's fun and a good place for me myself to be in my "peace mode" after work. Being surrounded by cute stuffs does take the headache away though - surprisingly, for me.

Located inside of Berjaya Times Squares, this small shop sells lotsa cuties

Cute isn't it?

More more more ...

Last but not least, I bought this simple heart for my baby.

It says :

You are always in my heart and I love you

The Big Red Ferrari

2009-04-03T04:32:00.000+08:00

I'm having trouble getting online today. I called Celcom's customer care line and the answer that they gave me was :

We will try to look into that matter. If you still facing problems after 24 hours, do not hesitate to get back to us.

I would've guess that - a very standard and a very scripted answer as well. Instead of me getting back to you, why not the other way around?

I was hoovering around Pavillion during lunch and was greeted by this beaut ...

Look at that beaut ..

Astonishing ...

A symbol of endurance ...

Gaya ..

Mutu & Keunggulan ...

And that's wrapped up my 365 for today. Thank you

Japanese Buffet : Jogoya, Starhill

2009-04-02T06:59:00.000+08:00

Since a few of my staffs will be leaving the branch soon, we decided to throw a farewell dinner for them. We were looking for a decent place, not so expensive but a place whereby we can have plenty of food to satisfy our cravings for food, seafood that is - You know how hard it is to get a decent and nice seafood around KL.

We actually listed out a few places but finally decided to go to Jogoya because on that particular day, they offered a 50% discount on bookings for citibank card holder and luckily one of our staffs told me before hand and we managed to booked a place for a dinner buffet.

JOGOYA is a flagship fusion Japanese restaurant from Taiwan located at the at Relish Floor of Starhill Gallery. The restaurant has the space of 30,000 square feet with seating for 580 guests. So, on a day whereby there is discount, you can expect hundreds of people lining up to get in - that's why bookings are important in the first place.

It was quite a long wait before we actually went in to the place so, me and a few of my colleagues decided just to seat at the foyer while waiting for the ladies.

Everybody was like super busy with their hand phones.

This one just get to the extreme.

This was taken at the counter. I took a few bites of the cookies - butter cookies that is. I thought it was nice.

Finally after almost 45 minutes of waiting, table for 11 was served for us.

Personally, the bull "kiap kiap" is what attracted me the most.

First stop is always the light bites for me. And so I went to the sushi corner. There's plenty of seafood and most of it are raw. So, if you don't eat raw meat I would not suggest you to come over this place. Enter at your own risk.

Japanese tofu with salted century egg.

Some sort of mini salad

I grab a couple of these. I must say that I'm not a big fan of Japanese food but I'm kinda influence by baby bit by bit now. She's a great fan. It's not that bad anyway. we always enjoy good food right?

My personal plate, full of seafood.

My second plate. Damn!

The hot steaming dim sum on the way!!

I was mesmerized by this fella. He made cooking seafood so much fun but too bad I didn't have the time to take a video.

Each and everyone of us will have a VIP orders, which means we get to order the special dish for the night and I went for the lobsters! They're expensive man, I can't help it.

Some even shared the shark fin's soup which tasted rather bad for me. I've tasted better and so at this moment I thought Jogoya is really overrated and the prices doesn't really reflects the quality of food served.

Apart from Japanese cuisine, they offer western and Chinese food as well and for those drinkers, the served alcoholic beverages too. There's a bar at the very far end of the restaurant whereby you can't get your alcohol.

AK 47

Cuba Libra

How I missed "pussy foot" at Finnegan's. The last time I had that was when baby came down to KL. I haven't had one since then.

There were some desserts as well and mostly in the shape of cakes and what do you call that glutinous dumplings? Kochi is it?

Chocolate Mint Cake

I personally like this mango pudding

Choco choco

Blueberry Cheese Cake

Tiramisu Cake

At the end of the day, one turn off for me was that I did placed 3 plates of soft shell crabs and they didn't even turned up on the table and guess what, we were chased off the table before we can actually finished everything.

So next time, come early because 2 hours is just not enough

Get Ready!

2009-04-01T07:31:00.000+08:00

It's really hard to find a nice and comfy shoes for a guy you know and usually shoes for guys aren't cheap either. *sigh* What an unfair world we're living in.

I was wandering around Times Square yesterday after work. The initial plan was to walk around and do some window shopping before I get down to business. I really need a pair of new shoes to with my Se7eN's impersonation this weekend.

I'd be wearing like this some sort of :

I got a white jacket with white pants, so I'd like to go for something different with my shoes. And so I got myself these pair of Borse Mogan!

Teng teng teng ...

It's really comfy inside

This is the part that I like the most .. classic!

Oh, that's my 365 entry for today. Since my [dot]com is giving me a headache. I guess I'll have to make do with this blog at the moment. Hey, they're not bad either okay!

Oh ya, this is the suit that I'm talking about. I can't find the pics but I found it in this music video

and I love the song too ...

Debunked Face

2009-03-31T21:23:00.000+08:00

I came back from work and my blog is still ...

Enough said, I just don't know what to do.

It's official, from Monday onwards I'll be moving into a new department. Strange, because I was only like three months into Fixed Deposit and now I am being given remittance. That was fast.

A few reshuffling will take place in the next few weeks and my office is not going to be spared. Two of our staffs will be transferred OUG and TAR branch respectively. Seriously, I don't get the point of doing so. The new staff just came in and had just completed her training and now she will be shipped out to OUG in like - tomorrow? And one of the most experienced staff that we have will be shipped out next week. Good God!

I was told :

Recession hits blah blah blah .. so we must cut cost at any will
Other branches needed people more than us ..

The truth is, some jack ass up there trying very hard to please the upper jack asses. That's the truth! Nothing but the absolute truth that this bugger is trying to lick the upper jack asses asses!

It's not that hard to figure out.

Yeah, you've heard it all before.

"we are now in a crisis. Recruitment will be freeze at the moment and there will be changes here and there, inter-branch transfers, inter-region, inter-divisions"

Crisis your head.

The Lightness of Being

2009-03-31T07:24:00.000+08:00

I've been facing problems trying to access my own blog. Darn it! I don't really know what's wrong with it. I did face a few problems before but not until to this extend. The last time it was only for an hour or so but this, it has been almost 12 hours and all I can see after several minutes of loading, is blank. Nada! There's simply nothing!

I hate this ...

Looks like I have to make do with my existing blogger accounts. Oh, boy! It doesn't feel good starting everything all over again. It's hard work and more hard work.

Did I ever mention that running a blog is like running a business?

How am I supposed to relate to that? But I guess like running a business, good services are required. Customers needs to have some interaction with you, feel you and also the most important thing is to get connected to you. In this case, my blog is my store and now my blog is having a major shutdown and a turnaround (hopefully) there's nothing much I can do. There's no interactions and it's not accessible since yesterday.

And so, can somebody out there enlighten me? Please ...