Call from San Jose

Vincent called me this morning at about 8am. I nearly didn't want to pick up the call, because I was still half asleep and the screen shows "Private number". I hate people who purposely set thier hp ID to appear as "Private number" on the receiver handphone. I felt it's a nuisance, and sometimes if you missed a call, you wouldn't know who called you. And you can't call back if it's something urgent!

However, I seldom receive calls at such early hour, so I thought maybe it's something urgent, and I picked it up. And it's Vincent's voice at the other end. Lol. Alas, he called.

He went to the States without a word! This is his first call after almost one month in the States. Lol. We talked about life in the States and he says the smallest car they have over there is Nissan Sentra and Toyota Altis. Can you imagine that? How about cars the size of Kelisa or Kancil? He has yet to seen one. But cars are so affordable there, I don't think anyone will buy a smaller car. Even the petrol is cheap.

Yes! You read it right. The petrol there is cheaper than in Malaysia. Vince said full tank over there cost him USD30...but over here in Malaysia, he has to pay RM80. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask him if he's comparing the same car or the car with the same size petrol tank. Btw, we're comparing apple to apple here. Which means, you earn USD, and you spend USD, and you earn RM and you spend RM.

While some of us here in Malaysia work our ass off for our whole life, and couldn't even afford a Toyota Altis, a fresh grad over in the States can buy a Toyota Camry (USD20 000 ONLY) after working for only ONE f**king year! Even the fresh grad salary over there is higher than it is in Malaysia.

Sometimes it makes u wonder if we are deprived of our rights to better life. Supposingly good cars like Toyota Camry and Honda Accord are affordable to us...but...becos of the interest of certain ppl...the cars become unaffordable to majority of us, and we have to buy overpriced low quality cheap cars.

Life is so affordable over there. Things are cheap, not as overpriced as in Malaysia. If you are taking home the same salary you are getting in Malaysia, you would live a far happier life in the States. Nice car. Nice home. Nice food. Nice life.

But again, the grass is always greener on the other side of the world. If you have never experienced it before, you will never know. Vincent is there now, and this is what he sees which is already publicly known by everyone in Malaysia. Lol. He seems interested to stay back there to work, if he can find a company who is willing to bail him out of the bond with his current company.

I have a colleague who came back to Malaysia after spending more than 6 years in the States too. And he gave exactly the same review of life over there. So, Vincent can't be wrong. Hopefully, one day, I'll also get a chance to work in the States, earn a USD salary, and live there. Then I'll really know if it's as good as they say.

Btw, does anyone know what is the income tax rate in the States?

Working trip to langkawi

And here are a brief pictorial update of my working trip to Langkawi.

A total of nine of us gathered at office at 7:30 am, and we took off to KLIA in two minivan (the Renault Scenic type of lime from KLIA).

Checking in our luggages.

Refuelling the plan while we waited inside.

Touch-down on Langkawi International Airport. My 2nd time here! Lol.

The eerie apartment where we stayed for 3 nites!!! OMG.

All of us felt the eerie-ness of the apartment the moment we stepped in, but we couldn't do much, as we've all paid up. We booked 2 apartments, and both have the same kind of feeling. The other apartment was worse. The pipe water starting running in the middle of the night! TWICE ok! For 2 days! And the water was running quite fast.

We got down to work right on the first day we arrive. We only have 2 and half day to completely set up this boutique, and have boxes of stocks to count, and put on display.

Got our throat sliced by this restaurant. Very very normal food, but very very abnormal price. But, nvmlah...it's on the company. hehehe...

Hey! Is that me trying to fix the sensor panel?? Lol. As if I know how to...Hahaha...

The boutique starting to take shape, with mannequins being set up.

The view from our freaky apartment.

Pity. We only managed to go down to the beach on the last day, before our flight. And we had breakfast at this restaurant called Red Tomato Splash! Notice the red colored half-circle? Some il-litter-rate couldn't take a few more steps and threw it into the rubbish bin!

Red Tomato Splash!!!!! They serves really nice and huge imported hot dog, and home made hash brown. Highly recommended.

And it's bye bye Langkawi.

All work and no play on this trip makes me wanna come back! Gotta thank Ivan and Cathy for their warm hospitality, and they are the one that makes this trip felt nice, though it's filled with work!

M! The Opera

Janganlah stress, it's only a dress!

That's the tag line for M! The Opera.

This is my first theather show, and I think it's amazing! Thanks to Cassandra for that invitation to the show on Saturday night, and of course, the nice seats you reserved for me. Hehe...

And based on this show, I really regretted for missing out on The Sound of Music play. I think it will be even better, imagine a movie that you watch on the telly, and now it's being transform into a live stage performance. Isk! Isk! Should have gone and watched The Sound of Music when they were here.

Anyway, back to M! The Opera. I'd have to give them both thumbs up! Khir Rahman is fantastic in the leading role, so is Doreen Tang. She look amazing on the stage, and I just love the wedding dress that she wore, by Bernard Chandran.

Before the show, I was actually quite worried that it might bored my gf. Becos, well, you know...not everyone knows how to enjoy a stage play like this one. But, amazing, she got interested in it too, and we're discussing the story line and she even tells me some part of the story where I got lost. lol.

And the hall is great too! It looks almost like the Theatre Royal Covent Garde in UK. It gave me a very royal feel. Haha...

Unfortunately, they do not allow any form of recording during the show. :( But, here are some pics stolen from M! The Opera blog. Hehehhe...

The cast!

The ladies!

And lastly, the angelic-pretty-sweet-beautiful-lovely Sepi or Doreen Tang!!!

Now, tell me how could I not look forward to The Homecoming??!!!

Post card from Langkawi...

my third day in langkawi now...and it's the same as the first day here --> busy busy busy...

and i only got a moment to post an entry now..on the third day...evening..lol...

the boutique is almost done...everything's in place...and getting ready for first day of business tomoro morning...

anyway, will write more next time when I get back to KL tomoro..

:)

Do good.

Have you ever stopped your car by the roadside, got down from your car, go over and help an old person or someone with limited abilities to cross the road?

Or just lend a hand to ease what they are trying hard to do?

This is what I pledge to myself to do.

Yesterday, I manage to do just that! While I was driving up the hill back to my house, I saw two guys trying to help an old man, to walk down the stairs, cross the road into the mosque.

The old man can barely move! He was having a walking stick with him, but I could see that he can barely move, and his legs were shaking! So, I made a u-turn and pick that old man up, made a round, and drop him inside the mosque.

No! I'm not boasting, I just want to share my experience, and hope more people will follow the example shown by Mr. Liao Fan, and do more good deeds. Doing good beyond religion or race.

Doing good, does not necessary harbour good returns, but still there are no harm in doing good. At least you know deep down inside, you've made someone felt better, and help to ease their burden.

Suggested reading: Liao Fan's Four Lessons

fyi, I don't think this is written for Buddhist or written by a Buddhist. This book I believe applies to everyone, and everyone can practise what is in this book. Doing good is universal.

So, starting from today, ask yourself, have you helped someone today?

The King of FFK

How do you feel being ffk-ed?

ffk - abbr. Fong Fei Kei aka let fly aeroplane; didn't turn up for a scheduled appointment/meeting/yum cha/etc.

eg Why you ffk and didn't turn up for yesterday gathering eventhough you promised to come?

LOL. I felt so bad to ffk jyon so many times. Let's see what I ffk-ed him. Err...trip to my hometown to check out my dad's shop. Trip to Penang to visit Vincent, few yum cha sessions and yeah...yesterday nite.

jyon supposed to come over to Cheras for yum cha after work, but due to unforeseen circumstances, it have to be cancelled. I felt extremely bad. He cancelled movie with his colleagues just to come over to Cheras for yum cha. My apologies to you, man. Will made that up to you.

Will plan a trip with you down to my hometown, and probably down to Pangkor as well. My mom has been asking me about the new packaging design. Hahahha... so we gotta get down to work really fast.

And talking about Vincent, this @$$hole went to San Jose, quietly, without informing anyone. LOL. When I couldn't get him, Li Lian told me probably he's in the States now. Finally I got him on his mobile and he says he's in the States. LOL.

Glad for him, as he has been mentioning to me for a while, about his friends being sent to the States to work for few months. So he'll be there until early May when he'll take one week off to travel down to New York, and probably might go to Memphis. LOL. Still pondering whether to join him or not. Hmmm...the flight to New York itself cost more than RM3k, and that not including other expenses. And for one week only.

Kesan kenaikan harga minyak

The below article is from a forwarded emails, that I read in a forum. Just cut and paste here lah.

"
PM Subject: Kesan Kenaikan Harga Minyak

Saudara,

Pertama sekali abang Perdana Menteri kita ia itu Ibrahim bin Badawi menerusi syarikatnya SkyChef menjadi supplier makanan kepada syarikat penerbangan MAS yang sekarang mengalami kerugian RM900 juta untuk sembilan bulan pertama 2005. Abang PM kita jual sebotol air mineral kepada MAS dengan harga RM30 setiap botol. Kenapa kita hairan MAS rugi?

Menteri Besar terengganu Idris Jusoh telah mengadakan lumbakapal layar Monsoon Cup yang menelan duit rakyat sebanyak RM300.0 Juta. Duit ini di bayar kepada seorang taukeh bernama Patrick Lim dan kekawannya termasuk Khairy Jamaludin menantu Perdana Menteri. Perlumbaan kapal layar tak sampai lima hari makan duit rakyat RM300.0Juta. Sudah tentu duit RM300.0 Juta itu ditelan oleh orang yang sungguh bertuah dapat kontrak RM300.0 Juta itu.

Untuk menutup kehilangan duit sebesar ini sekarang sabsidi minyak di potong dan harga minyak nail 30 sen satu liter. Telekom Malaysia pula rugi lebih RM700 Juta duit rakyat sebab terpaksa bayar ganti rugi kepada syarikat telekom German ia itu Deutsche Telekom. Terpaksa bayar ganti rugi RM700 Juta sebab Telekom Malaysia tak tahu buat kontrak. Nak tutup rugi ini pula kerajaan potong sabsidi minyak.

Sekarang lebih murah naik kapalterbang Air Asia pergi balik dari Kuala Lumpur ke Kuala Terengganu. Tambang pergi balik Air Asia dari Kuala Lumpur ke Kuala Terengganu tak sampai RM300 bagi tiga orang sekeluarga. Air Asia diurus oleh orang yang tidak rasuah dan yang tahu buat bisnes tanpa menyusahkan rakyat.

Sekarang dengan harga minyak yang sudah naik, belanja minyak sahaja nak pergi balik dari Kuala Lumpur ke Alor Setar sudah naik hingga RM220 (kereta Proton Waja). Bayar tol pula lebih RM120. Belanja makan dan minum (nasi campur dan teh kosong) bagi sekeluarga enam orang tambah lagi RM40. Ini bermaksud jumlah belanja minyak, tol dan makan minum pergi balik dari Kuala Lumpur ke Alor Setar hampir RM400.

Negeri lain bukan macam negara kita. Walaupun harga minyak di Thailand lebih mahal daripada harga minyak di Malaysia tapi di Thailand tak ada bayar tol. Dari Bukit Kayu Hitam ke Bangkok jauhnya lebih 1,100 batu (bukan kilometer) naik lebuhraya enam lorong tanpa bayar TOL (bukan empat lorong macam Lebuhraya Utara Selatan kita).

Di Thailand tak ada rasuah AP. Harga kereta Honda Civic 1.5 di Thailand tak sampai RM40,000. Lebih murah daripada harga kereta Perodua Kelisa 1.0 di Malaysia. Inilah kelebihannya di Thailand- tak ada AP di sana. *I'm driving a Kelisa ok! Cry also no tears!!!

Di Malaysia pula ada AP. Sebenarnya harga AP yang perlu di bayar kepada Kerajaan (MITI) tak sampai RM250 sahaja. Tapi AP boleh di jual sehingga RM40,000 sekeping kepada Dato Dato yang kaya yang di kenal sebagai "AP King". Rasuah AP ini telah berlanjutan selama lebih 30 tahun.

Akhir kata rakyat Malaysia yang terpaksa tanggung rasuah AP ini. Oleh yang demikian kereta Honda Civic 1.5 yang dijual dengan harga RM40,000 di Thailand naik harga sehingga RM110,000 di Malaysia.

Rakyat Malaysia rugi. Kerajaan pun hilang wang. Bila kerajaan tak cukup wang - maka potonglah subsidi minyak. Maka naik lah harga minyak 30 sen satu liter.

Malaysia Boleh!!!!

Sekian.

Salam."

Is it in the gene or what?

Is it the gene or pure hardwork? It could also be the role-models!

Two public examination results were released this week, and guess what!, for both SPM and STPM, my cousins are one of the top scorers!

TLS I got 9A's and 2B's for SPM, while another TLS II got 11A's and 1B. Steady. And both are one of the top scorers in their respective school. TLS I studied in my former school back in my hometown while TLS II study in KL.

So, TLS I is an aspiring medical doctor, while TLS II is planning to do Engineering, and has enrolled into Taylor's College. Congrats to both!!

And today my another cousin, from my mother's side, got her STPM results, and she is one of the 6 top scorers from my hometown! Straight A for STPM. Respect. I'll never find out how they manage that with the world 2nd toughest exam. Or so they say.

Is this in the gene? or what? My sisters are the epitome of good grades in my family, and they have been my role models when it comes to study. Though my results were not as good as them, but at least I used to be one of the top scorers too. With good results.

Forget about STPM, ok. I screwed up. Maybe shouldn't go into Form 6 at all. Based on my style of study, Form 6 definitely not my cup of tea. LOL. Anyway, the past is past.

I was rather over estactic when I heard of their results. All the best to them!!

Congratulations again to 3 of them. They did not really exceed any expectation as they have been doing well in their studies all these while. ;)

AGFM

Put on your thinking cap and think what AGFM stands for. LOL.

It's related to the Oscar winning FuckBackside Mountain.

Reading the synopsis itself is gross, but funnily, the trailer looks ok. What makes me puke are those gay sex scenes, and kissing scene. It's just soooo D-I-S-G-U-S-T-I-N-G. To make matter worse, I often hangs out with guys friends for a drink and do some catching up.

The story is like it can happen in Y-O-U-R real life. One of the INCOVARIANS has had nightmares, ever since he watched the trailer. LOL. "What if we hangs out this often, and fall for each other?".....**puke all the food i ate last year**

Ok, I haven't wacthed it yet, but so far, besides jyon, I had not heard of any favourable reviews yet. Mostly said it's disgusting. And I have no plan to watch it. Nope. Nope. Nope. Never. Never. Never. I guess Dr Liew doesn't recommend it as well.

And this jyon still has the guts to ask me to download the whole movie for him. !@#$%^&*()

via LiewCF.com

How many men do you need to dig a hole?

Repost: Humor

I just couldn't resist reposting this joke. Well, I still find it amusing, eventhough I read it some 1 or 2 years ago. LOL.

Temubual seorang pemuda dengan pakcik gembala biri-biri.

Pemuda : Boleh saya tanya beberapa soalan tak?

Pakcik : Boleh aje...

Pemuda : Berapa jauh biri-biri ni berjalan setiap hari?

Pakcik : Yang mana, yang putih atau yang hitam?"

Pemuda : Yang putih.

Pakcik : Kalau yang putih lebih kurang enam kilometer setiap hari.

Pemuda : Yang hitam?

Pakcik : Yang hitam pun sama...

Pemuda : Berapa banyak plak rumput biri-biri ni makan setiap hari?

Pakcik : Yang mana, yang putih atau yang hitam?

Pemuda : Yang putih? Pakcik : Ah, yang putih lebih kurang empat kilo rumput setiap hari.

Pemuda : Dan yang hitam?

Pakcik : Yang hitam pun sama...

Pemuda : Berapa banyak bulu yang mereka hasilkan setiap tahun?

Pakcik : Yang mana, yang putih atau yang hitam?

Pemuda : Yang putih?

Pakcik : Aaa...yang putih sekitar enam kilo bulu setiap tahun.

Pemuda : Dan yang hitam?

Pakcik : Yang hitam pun sama...

Pemuda : Kenapa pakcik membezakan biri-biri pakcik yg putih dgn yg hitam, padahal jawapan semuanya sama aje?

Pakcik : Mestilah...sebab biri-biri yang putih itu pakcik yang punye.

Pemuda : Ooo, gitu ke...abis tu yang hitam tu sapa punye?

Pakcik : Yang hitam pun sama...

Stoopid Driver

This morning I was driving, on my way to work. There are two lanes, and I was on the left lane, quite a distance behind a bus.

When I saw the bus stopping at one of the bus stop, and seeing that the taxi on the right lane is quite a distance behind me, I turn on the signal to cut into the right lane, and overtake the bus.

And as you all know, upon seeing my signal light, this stoopid taxi driver immediately sped up his taxi, wanting to block me from cutting into the right lane, but fortunately, with my superb expertise in driving, I managed to cut into the right lane with ease and safely, before his taxi pick up the speed. LOL.

Why do ppl have to do these? What I mean is that, these stoopid drivers purposely step on the accelerator when they see your signal light. It's so....I don't know what to say. I encounter a lot of these drivers, and I just don't understand why do they have to do these? Why can't they just drive at their current speed,and let the car safely cut into that other lane?

Stoopid drivers.

Tokkok: Well, I'll Be Damned!!!

Tokkok: Well, I'll Be Damned!!!

go take part!! lol.. gonna crack my head for this... i want OKT's tailor add!!!!

Friend

How do you describe a friend?

Do we actually know the real meaning of friend?

According to Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, there are 6 definition of "friend". The first one seems to be the most relevant to what I meant. To quote Oxford Dic;

friend /frend/ n person one knows and likes, but who is not a relation

If you ask me for my definition of friend, I'd say,

"A friend is someone whom you can sit on a swing with the whole night, without saying a word, yet, both of you walk away feeling like you have had the longest conversation ever."

I read this quotation somewhere, and I can't remember the person who quoted it. I was amazed by this quotation, as I felt this is what a friend should meant. Friend do not judge friend, but to lend him an ear when he needed someone to listen to him. I did not say "a shoulder to cry on" because I know I wouldn't cry in front of my friends. LOL.

I have carried this quotation with me for more than half a decade now, and I still very much agrees with it. Of course, I don't choose my friends based on this quotation. I try not to judge anyone (Mother Teresa says if you judge, you'll have no time to love.), and be friend with everyone, but due to my rather quiet nature, sometimes(read: seldom) people portray me as snobbish, until they started talking to me. I guess everyone just have the lack of confidence in starting a conversation with someone.

All through my life, I've had a lot of friends, and I still have a lot of friends, eventhough I've lose touch with some of my hometown friends.

Vincent is my closest friends that I've never lose touch with. I've known him in Standard 6, and through some twist of fate, we became really close friends in Form 1, even though we're in different class. And from then on, we're the best of friends. I can rather safely says that he's one of the very few hometown friends that I've never lose touch with. If you see him during CNY, you should see me too. LOL. We're known best friends.

Sometimes, people feel lonely, and complains that they do not have enough friends. To me, I'd rather have 1 really close friends, than to have 100 fairweather friends. LOL. But of course, glad to say that I have more than 1 really close friends. In fact, I have quite a number of them from different stages of my life, and we're still in touch, and I really treasure them. Friendship forever.

Ramlah is in Hyderabad, working under arrangement from AIESEC, while Tanu just got a new job in Cyberjaya. Greg and Jillian, both doing well too. Greg is with Patimas, in Tech Park, while Jillian seems to be enjoying herself working in Inti. Then there are people like Yoke Kong (Mr. Rat) and Yee Meng, my lepak kaki in Subang, and we still lepak together now that I'm staying in Cheras. My friends in INCOVAR. And there are few more that I did not mention over here.

Why am I writing this? I don't know. Maybe because I just wanted to thank a really good friend. Venturing into this working world has been tough to me. No! Not that I faced with problems at work, but it's more to life as a whole. As I started my working life, it opened my eyes to so many things that I've never experienced before. It's not just a responsibility. It's more than responsibility.

I have jyon to thank for ever ready in lending me an ear to talk to, and somewhere to seek for guidance. I don't know what to say, but he has always been there, ready to listen to my whines, and gives his piece of mind, which is always calm and peaceful. Rather than escalating a problem, he often taught me ways to solve a problem. According to him, or Alex, see opportunities in problems.

Jyon has helped me in a lot of things, in a lot of ways. I'm not sure how experienced he is, but he is definitely experienced enough to give me advice, and help me with my work, as in giving me ideas, where most of the time, I find him to be very IT-minded.

You know what, I really gotta thanks jyon for all the long and late nite session at Starbucks, and also mamak, once in a while. LOL. It's nice to always have a friend there to listen to you, when you face with problems, or setback. I know not everyone can have this luxury, and I gotta thank my lucky stars for it must have been our good karma that made us friends.

Coming to think about it, I got to know Jyon from the 15th INCOVAR. He was there with Seen Lan to pick me and my friends up and drove us to the temple. When I need help with my college projects, Seen Lan asked me to message Jyon for help. Unfortunately, Jyon replies were rather dissapointing, as I can sense that he was reluctant. He said was, and still is not good with programming. LOL. So, that's where our communication ended, until the 21st INCOVAR.

Until I got an email from Jowynne, asking if I'm interested to become a facilitator for the 21st INCOVAR. At the same time, I was considering to join the Rotaract Club, but decided against it, and joined INCOVAR instead. Being lost from INCOVAR for almost 2 years, Jyon is the only one that I know. LOL.

To all my friends out there, I hope you all know that you are being treasured by me, no matter how long I have known you, or how I know you. No matter how much contact we've kept with each other all these while, once a friend, we'll always be friends. I was surprised myself, that after more than 1 year leaving my previous company, I'm still keeping in touch with some of my ex-colleagues back there.

People says that when you are in the working world, it's hard to get good and sincere friends. I wouldn't agree with that statement. There are sincere people in the office too.

So, people out there, what do your friends meant to you? Are they here just to cure your boredom? Or are they here to keep you company? To help you kill time?

Friendships are precious, and it's fragile, because sincerity is something not to be found easily. More often than not, people are quick to shy away when you are faced with problems. As the saying goes, "a friend in need, is a friend indeed."

Personal DNA

And so I did the test too! Here is my report...

I'm a RESPECTFUL CREATOR. lol.

My Personal Dna Report

18.5% increment.

How I wish it was my salary increment instead.

The picture on the previous post still make me laugh. LOL. And I never expected Patrick to put a comment in my blog. That's really an honour to me. I read blogs, and I'm really green of those people who can write well. And among all, I think Patrick's blog is one of the best. It's just like reading Kee's World comic strip (Btw, do you actually read a comic?), eventhough there is a contrast in both person view of reality. Where as Kee's World allows us to look at the lighter side of life, even in the most dire situation, Patrick is just doing the same thing, and of cos he did it in writing, and best of all, with a little bit (read: a lot) sarcasm!

This reminds me of one of my friend, who commented on me. I am a pretty reserved person, but he remarked that I'm darn good joker. He said that my jokes are of higher quality, and one needs a certain level of intelligence to understand my jokes. Or it might take you some time to understand it. LOL. He also mentioned that my jokes are mostly filled with sarcasm. LOL.

Maybe that's what makes me find Patrick's blog interesting. Sarcasm. I like.

So, the 30 cents petrol increment really pissed me off. To make the matter worse, someone commented on the newspaper (front page news somemore! don't pray-pray) that we should change our lifestyle and adapt to higher fuel prices. Did he make any sense? Or is he just trying to make himself look _______. (Fill in the blank with any words that you think best fit. Note: Sorry, no marks allocated.)

To be frank, I know it's hard to be the top man. You have to make decisions, and people might not like it. Still, you have to call the shots. I do not want to sound too patriotic (I'm still patriotic) , but deep down, I do know that the spiralling of the fuel prices is a burden to our country. All we citizens, especially taxpayers hope is that the RM4 billion saved from this fuel increment is being put to good use.

According to our PM, the RM4 billion will be used to improve the public transport. The public are surely glad to hear this, but someone commented in some forum that MAS is also a public transport. That is a real jerker. Well, as a benefit of doubt, and who knows, we might see improvements in the "right" public transports (eg: bus, trains, taxi, etc etc).

Guess what, a full tank Kelisa cost RM53++. I'm not sure of the exact figure yet, cos I pumped a full tank the day before the increment. That is like, "Wow." It's only a Kelisa, for my wallet's sake! About 2 years ago, I was paying RM35, full tank! for my Kelisa and now the digits shifted place. It could be feng shui! Probably they consulted Lillian Too, and decided to change place. LOL.

from: Tokkok

Saw this on Patrick Teoh's Tokkok blog posted in response to the petrol increment. Gotta say it's a good one. Lol.