Merry Christmas

• Merry Christmas!!!
• May all of you have a blessed and joyful Christmas
• No Christmas present coz Santa is busy with something else....
• Recession?
  

Year end

It is the time of the year again for the Christmas and new year celebrations. Well wishes and blessings are exchanged, hoping that everyone will have a merry Christmas and a good year ahead.

It is also a time to reflect back what were done and what not. I have done a lot of things over the year, but there are still a lot of other things that I have not done as well. Time will never be enough for me to do everything I wanted to do. And even if I have the time, there will be other limitations forbidding me in doing so.

One of the most significant events of the year is the temporary relocation to Liverpool. After almost three months, I have yet settle myself comfortably here, still without a permanent job, and still trying to cope with the cold weather. There's just a lot more to be done here and all I need now is to pick myself up, gain back my self confidence and be positive. That's not easy but I am really trying very hard to do just that.

It is most saddening to leave my parent alone in Kuching. This is the first time that I'll be away from home for such a long time. I've enjoyed the comfort of home under the care of my parent for 31 years and suddenly getting out of that comfort zone is really hard to bear. I miss them a lot. I miss home so much.

Other family members are dearly missed as well. My sister's family, my in-laws, uncles and aunties, cousins, etc. Will miss all the get-together and visiting, as well as the good food they always prepare for me, knowing that I like to eat so much.

Miss my bunch of friends as well. Will surely miss all the gatherings and drinking sessions during this festive period and Chinese New Year. They are still thinking where to gather for CNY as I will not be able to host one this coming CNY. I am certain someone else can do the job. Someone will have to take over for the next three CNY. Great bunch of friends. You guys and gals are dearly missed, especially this festive period.

My job also has to make way for my relocation. I remembered that evening that I had to break the news to my superior and then to my boss. I got the words out to my superior, but just do not know how to tell my boss about it. It was my superior who eventually told my boss about it. It's really sad because they've been treating me so well over the last 5 years. I've learned so much from them as well, not only stuffs in the corporate environment but a lot more other things that I could not possibly learn and experience elsewhere. I am ever grateful to have the chance to work so closely with them.

Those are the major "costs" that I paid for coming to Liverpool with my wife and chubby kid. But it is worth paying as I am now able to be with them all the time. Similarly, I will miss them so much if they are here and should I stay back in Kuching. I just cannot imagine how depress I will be then. The opportunity cost forgone will be much greater. This is the right decision.

Many of us will be setting new goals and things to achieve in the coming year. I don't really set goals and targets for myself. Just want to be happy and healthy. What is the use of setting target and goals that will be forgotten in less than a month? It may be useful to many, but doesn't work for me. Everything around us is changing so fast and it is now near impossible to forecast what will happen the next day. So basically goals and targets set will have to change as the surrounding factors change.

I am ending this year on a low. Just want to spend this festive season at home with my wife and chubby kid.

Santa Claus(es)...

• santa clauses all over town last sunday
• almost everywhere, every corner, every shop.....

Out-of-cash Santa

Hungry Santa

Shopping Santa


Posing & merry Santa

Mr & Mrs Santa

• these are actually participants of the Liverpool '08 Santa Dash
• but sadly could not break the world record
• I plan to be in the run next year
• pics taken using handphone
• must remember to bring camera out next time

landslide

• just realized that there's another landslide in KL
• still remember the one many years back (Highland Towers)
  
• I remembered that the Government at that time had taken actions and precautions on all those hillside projects
• Why is this happening again?
  
• My view: documented but not implemented
• Biasa-lah
  

wife's birthday

• today is my wife's birthday
• but this is the first time after we've been together that I won't be able to give her a present
• cannot afford to buy her anything
• the cake we got is a frozen strawberry cheese cake from Tesco for one pound
• Happy Birthday Dear....
  

Merseyrail

• took the train for the first time a few weeks back
• something like KTM but the frequency of train is much higher, thus the short waiting time
• very comfortable although the main station, Liverpool Central, looks really old

Liverpool Central

Old but effective railway

The train

• one can take a train here to smaller towns across Merseyside, as well as other main cities throughout England via Liverpool Lime Street Station
• most of the other stations are small and simple

Small and simple station

• there's no need for a big station when a train comes every 15 minutes, or less
  

XL Christmas tree

• there's a big christmas tree in city centre
• and it's a real chritsmas tree, unlike the ones back home
• a friend told me that this is not the biggest, and there's another bigger one elsewhere
• really beautiful...

reading

• Before I came to Liverpool, my dad suggested that I continue studying here as well
• but there's no way I could afford paying the fees
• however, I do put in effort to read when I'm free
• so my Pa Pa must be really happy with that
• this is one of the book I've done reading:-

• it's an interesting book, 600 plus pages
• and now I know alot more of my favourite beverage
• hi hi hi...
  

Iceland Foods...sucks

• went for a jog one fine Sunday afternoon
• always on the lookout for supermarkets and other interesting places when running
• found Iceland, a supermarket chain, known for their frozen foodstuffs near Edge Hill
• went in for a look and survey price of goods
  
• after a while, realized that the security guard is following me
• continue to look around, but having the guard following makes me really uncomfortable
• no more mood, so just ran home
  
• Iceland, damn you for making me uncomfortable, and very unlikely I will go back there again.

long layoff...

• have not update my blog for almost 2 months
• just can't find the right mood and attention to write, even when there's so many to blog about
• today is different as I received happy news that a friend will be here next year and be in Europe for a month
• thanks so much to Air Asia's KL-London route
• hoping for more family members and friends to come
  

someone's coming to town, and it's not Santa..

• waking up early to receive news that a friend will be in UK next year
• thanks to Air Asia's offer for KL-London
• hoping more family members and friends to come
  

EPF Contribution

• just read in the news that the Govt is allowing employees to reduce their contribution from 11% to 8%
• Finance Minister said "Assuming that only 50% of contributors take up the option, private spending is expected to go up by RM2.4bil".
• private spending is expected to go up, that's for sure
• but are we getting more (in quantity) necessities like food with the extra spending?
• might not even be enough to cover the inflation as prices of goods have gone so high lately
• what about our saving in EPF?
  
• lesser saving, lesser dividend
• are you taking this option?
  

daylight saving time

• adjusted the clock one hour back this morning
• the end of daylight saving time (DST)
• now 8 hours behind Malaysia time

trojan

• very windy outside
• did not go out this morning
• too free at home

phone call...

• such a wonderful morning
• my phone rang. someone actually called me early this morning
• it's my boss from Kuching
• received less than 10 phone calls since arriving in Liverpool
  
• that's less than what i used to get in half a day
• hoping for more calls
  

Saturday morning surprise

• went out for an early jog in search for another nearby Tesco Metro (Edge Hill)
• was told it's good coz there's no uphill street after grocery shopping
• failed to locate the place coz got all the directions wrong
• saw car boot sale on the way back (at the church's car park)
• bought 5 books and a xylophone for baby
• all for just one pound

early morning to the market

• took some photos while on my way to market early this morning
• just some buildings along the way to the market

Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

Hardman Street. Going downhill (empty handed) towards city center. But going uphill after shopping and marketing!

St. Luke's Church

St. Luke's Church

Bold Street. Very busy during the day. Leads to city center.

Veg & fruits stall, Bold Street. buy veg here weekly.

Radio City Tower. Liverpool's FM radio.

Wide open area. This place will be full of people later in the day.

Tesco Metro. getting most of our foodstuffs here.


St. Johns. Wilkinson, Poundland & 99p Shop, etc, all in there.

A simple direction map showing few of the iconic landmarks in Liverpool.

Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King

• a picture of this very beautiful church
• it's also very grand and nice inside
• history of the church here
  

Baby's Play Group

• baby has a play group now
• young children getting together to play, like we adults get together to eat and talk
• 2 hour session every thursday & friday morning
  
• it's free but so many toys and stuffs to play
• there's even a modern multi sensory room (no pics, room under renovation)
• why can't we have this kind of facilities back home?

Baby's Play Group: Family Resource Centre & Toy Library

Baby showing off

Baby playing with our Msian neighbour's son

Nice map! Can show others where we're from.

Messy room

running

• managed to go for a run yesterday evening
• last time wanna run so easy, but not here
  
• cold and wet, but nice
• breathing is different, and need time to adapt to new running environment
• hope can run everyday to burn off calories
  

Pork Char Siew

• tried roasting char siew meat
• not really a success yet, some minor adjustments required
• will try again next week

my dinner

• had pizza for dinner this cold saturday night
• added bacon to the cheese & tomato pizza bought from tesco
• only 99pence

Hari Raya Gathering

• attended a hari raya gathering this afternoon
• lots of Msian here in Liverpool, around 200 plus
  
• met lots of nice, helpful people
• had nice raya food: curry, masak merah, etc.

our little liverpool apartment

our living and dining room

kitchen

hallway from door to living room (left) and bedroom (right)

bathroom & toilet

• forgotten to take picture of bedroom when its tidy..hahaha
  

first drop of sweat in liverpool

• after so many days, finally got my first drop of sweat
• curry chicken for dinner
• i can cook curry!!!
• spicy curry chicken, lots of gravy, mix wtih plain rice, with two fried eggs
• wonderful dinner
• thanks to Aunty Jasmine for the curry paste
  

Selamat Hari Raya

• Selamat Hari Raya to all my friends
• two days holiday back home, but don't have the atmosphere here
• i'm sure the gang are having fun, having breakfast or something
• consider cooking curry tomorrow
• enjoy the holidays!!!
  

liverpool

• Already a week after arriving in Liverpool
• Flying long distance is really difficult
• Flew through darkness from KL to see sunrise in Amsterdam after 12 hours
• Add up all those hours waiting and transiting in airports, total travel hours is more than 20 hours
• So glad once the last leg of the journey was completed when we landed in Manchester Airport
• An hour’s bus ride after that, we’re finally here in Liverpool City
• First impression of the city: ok
• First impression of our family apartment: ok
• Apartment is small and simple: 1 bedroom, 1 toilet/bathroom, a small kitchen and a small living room/dining room
• Good location too. Walking distance to the city center, roughly 15 minutes
• First few days, baby lost her sleep & eat pattern. All the wrong timing due to time difference. She's ok now.
• Spent the first few days locating shops and markets.
• Got our own kitchen to function on the second day. Can’t afford to eat out.
• Found Chinatown and some shops selling our type of foodstuffs. Bought sauces (soya sauce, marinating sauce, etc) and rice.
• Buying the other foodstuffs from Tesco. Like it there. Plenty of choices.
• Prices are ok if no conversion done. If convert to RM, then I will die of hunger here.
• Example: 6 nos of eggs is £1.37. If convert, it’ll be around RM8.50.
• But if earning £, then things are cheap. Can get bread at 50 pence. One whole chicken is £3.
• I’ve become a bargain hunter at Tesco. Always hunting for discounted price items.
• Weather is COLD. It can be sunny, but still very cold.
• Angmo men wear t-shirts, ladies wear miniskirts but I wear thick shirts with winter jacket.
• Pang sai & pang jio also difficult coz toilet seat very cold.
• How I cope with winter, I still have no idea. Should get some wine and whisky ready.
• City center is a nice place. Lots of shops selling all sorts of stuffs. Very crowded too.
• Pubs and cafes here are heaven. It’s a pity I don’t have my “kaki” here.
• Beer is not expensive. Mostly European beer. Canned beer is 1 pint, more than our small little can.
• Can get from supermarket from 50 pence per can onwards, depending on brand. Tiger is expensive.
• Angmo here are football crazy. Mostly Liverpool fans, but not lack of Everton supporters too.
• But I’ll remain sincere to my club. Manchester is just nearby.
• Angmo go drink and watch football, then happily sing and shout in the street when the team wins.
• Have not decided on mobile network yet. Still using the one given to us by the university “meet & greet” team.
• Too many deals and packages from so many operators to choose from. Again, if earning £, it’s cheap. You get free minutes, free text, and even free handphones for those paying monthly packages.
• Even blackberry, 02 smartphones and iphone are free on certain packages.
• No chance to really go explore the city yet. Not easy walking around with a 2-year old baby.
• Will post up pictures soon.
• Miss home so much. Miss my parents.

last update......for now

• time is near
• last posting for now from kuching
• flying off at 8pm
• will miss everyone dearly
• take care
• next posting from City of Liverpool
  

getting ready

• started packing last nite
• bring sufficient amount of stuffs only, but still alot
• hope won't exceed the allowance
• feeling happy and sad at the same time
• leaving home for the first time for long period
• need more durian to make me happy
  

visa

• received our visa this morning

thank you

• we only finished 22 cans of beer
  
• chicken wings: not enough
• other food: more than enough
• friends: deeply appreciated
• thanks for coming over. thanks for all the best wishes. thanks for everything....
• most important: your presence.....thank you
  

jobless yet busy

• when working busy, when not working also busy
• how to enjoy life?
  

my wife's new toy

• she could not make up her mind
• but blames me for telling her not to buy
• eventually buy in Kuching at higher price
• ?
  
• post this blog while she happily take photos of her new mp3 player
  

the king...

• had durian immediately after reaching home from airport
• can sense presence of durian in the house at the car porch
• one of my top 10 foodstuffs
• how to cope with "no durian" syndrome?
• my supper tonight: 2 nos of durians with flesh like shown in above pictures

Amy & William's Wedding

• Congratulations to Amy & William
• a wonderful wedding ceremony from morning till night
• William got off rather easy in the morning.
  
• Door is opened for him when he got the "ang pows" flowing
• Amy wanted to play hide & seek, so William had to search for his bride.
  
• too easy, right? how can Amy hide when she's beautifully dressed up?
  
• dinner reception is excellent: good atmosphere, good F&B, excellent group of friends, etc...
• also celebrated Ah Hong's birthday during the dinner. sang Happy Birthday for him too, but no ang pow for him
  
• waiting for Jason to upload photos here

jobless...

• officially jobless today
• need to clear up office after Singapore trip
• wondering how life will be without work
• temporary things to do to keep myself occupied: housework, gardening and getting my stamina back to the desired level
• will surely miss work and colleagues
  

attending financial course (2)

• completed the financial course
• interesting and useful
• refreshing course for my rusty accounting and finance brain
• met a few interesting businessmen & women
• Meisan Holiday Inn Kuching serves great ala carte chinese food

attending financial course

• attending a two-day financial course
  
• good for my rusty brain
• food included-2 tea breaks and lunch
• hope to get some nice hotel food
• thinking of what to do in case the course is boring
  

facebook

• facebook is interesting
• found many friends, including long lost friends
• happy!
• but still a facebook dummy
• have not tried out many of its applications and stuffs
• should not get too addicted
• hope to find more friends
  

gold medal gone...

• hope for country to get first gold medal in olympic gone
• too much respect for opponent
• at least put up a fight
• what is the problem with our badminton players?
  
• they are good but not consistent
• Who am I to give such comment?
  
• a silver is better than nothing
  

Kuching Blackout

• saturday evening blackout
• probably the whole Kuching city
• took some time to get electricity back
• my house area likely the last area to get back to normal
• why during blackout so difficult?
  
• why can i go to sleep even without electricity 20 years ago but not now?
  
• can we survive without electricity or any other power source?
  
• if we cannot survive, why our ancestors can?
  

Facebook?

• The in-thing among internet savvy community

• I do have an account, but inactive. Never put in effort to create proper account

• Long time friend who is in NZ invited me long ago, before it is so popular

• Wife keeps telling me the fun of Facebook

• Possibility of finding some long lost friends

• Something to keep me occupied when I’m jobless in the coming months

• Consider reviving my inactive account, but will it be another Friendster

• I wouldn’t be able to update it frequently like others. This blog is a good example of low activity

• Should I Facebook?

Easying blogging

• Starting to blog in point-form
• If ex-pm can use point-form, why can’t I?
• Easy and fast. Reduce reading and writing time
• No worry of poor English
• Straight to the point

World class facilities but no class mentality

Have been occupied by many things lately and thus a period of no update. Started off with the new machine installation and commissioning in the factory, followed by the 5-day trip to KL, and not forgetting the numerous outstanding matters that remain outstanding after many months. Trying very hard to complete all those outstanding matters before the end of August, but time is just not on my side.

Met a few long time friends from uni days during the KL trip, and that turns up to be the best part of the trip. We had dinner at this restaurant in the Gardens serving excellent Taiwanese food. Also had a great time having dinner with a colleague of mine and lunch with Jason. Seldom have a chance to eat together in Kuching, but easily in KL.

Apart from the time meeting these few friends of mine, I would categorize the rest of the trip as “disappointed”. Baby not feeling well and having bad mood most of the time so that takes most of the fun away. Very disappointed with the “unfriendly” condition of the LRT and monorail stations. Travelers with baby strollers would understand my anger. Also very disappointed with the KTM station of KL Sentral. It’s dark, hot and way too crowded at times. KL Sentral has become very messy nowadays, as compared to a few years back. The behavior of the passengers is most regretted. The concept of allowing other passengers to get out of the train before boarding doesn’t apply here. Those wanted to board will push their way in while those wanted to get down would have no choice but push their way out. Elderly people and those with small children and baby would have no chance fighting for space. World class facilities but no class mentality. The presence of police officers at the train station is merely to blow their whistles to remind people not to overstep the yellow line when the train approaches, but they too are helpless in getting people to board and get down from the train accordingly.

But I do admit that there’s still very good passengers out there in KL. Very rare but exist. I was offered seat twice (only) during the many rides in LRT and monorail. Extremely rare.

Better not go on writing. Must think of something nice and positive before I go to sleep. Hi hi.

old friends

Met up with a few of my primary school classmates on Saturday night. These are the people that I met way back in 1984 during my first day in primary school. Some of us are still in contact, but some I’ve not met since last day of primary school.

It’s good to meet these friends again after all these years. Also glad to know that most of them are doing well in their respective career.

We’ve decided to have another meeting in August, and hopefully we’ll have more long lost friends turning up.

Another trip to Miri

Arrived in Miri early this morning for a three day working visit. Work has occupied all my time during the day but after sunset, I set aside works and try to make myself occupied with other things. The problem is there’s nothing much I can do.

Going for dinner in a while, but haven’t decided what & where to eat.

Have to decide what to do after dinner. My options:
• Walk around town and the two shopping complexes nearby the hotel.
• Surfing in the hotel lobby. Staying in a hotel with no WIFI in the room.
• Surfing in Coffee Bean.
• Watch TV in room. But will there be any interesting program to watch?

Whichever option I choose, I’ll still be growing mushroom at the same time.


Updates:
Just had dinner. There must be so much good food out there in Miri but I ended up having KFC’s dinner plate at Bintang Plaza. Went for a walk around town and the two shopping complexes, completing the course in less than one hour. Bought two packets of peanuts and three cans of beer to make myself occupied until I’m ready to sleep. Hope the three cans are enough to make me sleepy. Sometimes too little actually make me more awake.

Just realized that the room I’m staying this time is still within the hotel lobby’s WIFI range. I can surf in the room.  Sorry to the management of Coffee Bean coz they won’t be earning anything from me this time.

The TV programs are so boring too. “Saving Private Ryan” is on HBO now. But there’s something interesting early tomorrow morning. Germany is playing Turkey in the first semi final of Euro 2008. I’m expecting a Germany win.

Going to start keeping myself busy with peanuts and beer. Good night.

then and now...

While waiting to collect some documents from a government office yesterday morning, I saw a group of bank officers promoting their products and services. Then one of them, a young lady, walks towards me with all those product catalogues, and immediately I tried to avoid her and whatever product she wants to introduce to me.

Before I have time to turn away, this young lady called out my “funny“ Chinese name. How come this lady knows my Chinese name? A total stranger but she calls me by my Chinese name in full. She came nearer and politely asks if that’s my name. I asked her how come she knew my name, and shockingly she told me that she’s my classmate in kindy. But how come she can still remember me, I asked her. That’s 25 years ago. Do I still look the same? She told me I still look the same.

We chat for a while and finally I recalled that we were staying in the same area years ago. Her family and mine are neighborhood friends. But after kindy, we went to different schools and never meet ever since.

It’s a good thing to meet up long lost friends. But what she said got me thinking. I still look the same, 25 years ago and now.

Positive thinking: I still look as young, baby face and probably cute, just like 25 years ago.

Negative thinking: I’m already so “old” looking 25 years ago!!!

One thing I can be sure of, I have more hair on my head then. Ha ha ha….

"growing mushroom" in Bintulu again....

Another outing to Bintulu today. I have been to this small town a few times already, and most of the time, my official duties are completed around noon. But thanks to the very limited air services, I have to "grow mushroom" in Bintulu for around 5 hours or more before my flight back to Kuching. No difference today.

After my meeting, a colleague of mine from Miri dropped me off at Parkcity Mall, a modern shopping complex here. After checking out the food at the food court, I decided to have my lunch elsewhere and ended up at Marrybrown. Then I realized that it's a WIFI zone here. Lucky me. The number of mushrooms will be lesser this time. At least I can reply mails, read blogs and stuffs online. And now I'm blogging "live" from Bintulu's Marrybrown at Parkcity Mall.

Let me just describe my surrounding now. Though this is the most modern shopping complex here in Bintulu, the crowd is really scarce. Right in front of me a bunch of direct selling promoters hang around, approaching everyone passing by to take a look at their cooking pots, stove, water filter, etc., but most people will just try to walk pass as fast as possible to avoid them. But they spend most of their time sitting around talking to one another. Retail shopkeepers just sitting/standing in their respective shop chatting to fellow shopkeepers or looking around out of boredom. Wonder what's on their mind. Most of them must be thinking how long more before they can go home. One thing I'm very sure of now is that the shopkeepers easily outnumber the patrons here in the whole complex.

Just realized that some travelers are sitting a few tables behind me with their laptops on as well, and enjoying the free WIFI. I think I'll see these people again tonite at the airport. Looks like day-trip traveler like me.

Thought of calling two of my friends working here. One a teacher and the other one with Shell. But they too are busy people so better don't bother them. The one with Shell is surely busy with work, but the teacher is either having tuition class or sleeping. That's the only two things I normally hear her doing most of the time.

I'll continue observing my surrounding here and at the same time write a few memos and letters for work tomorrow.



Note: "growing mushroom" does not mean me planting mushroom. It's just another way of expressing the situation when someone is "stagnant" and having nothing to do. Like a piece of bread left on a table to rot/decompose.

Friday 13th...

Just realized that today is Friday 13th.....

Do you know what Friday 13th is all about? I have no idea too.

See what Wikipedia has for us here

I'm back in Kuching after a hectic 3-day outstation trip to Miri, Bintulu and Sibu. The 3 days passed by so quickly with meetings and discussions taking up lots of time, and the time spent on the road and in the air. Will be traveling to Bintulu again next Monday, but luckily it's just a day trip, going early in the morning and coming back in the evening.

Nothing interesting from this trip, except the journey from Miri to Bintulu. Passed by lots of long houses, and realized that long houses no longer look like the one we see in Cultural Village. Lots of the long houses I saw are made of brick and concrete, with Astro and satellite TV services, and 4WD pickups like mine parked outside. Where are the atap long houses?

Also passed by the Batu Niah National Park junction. I'm not sure the mountain I saw along the way is where the famous Gua Niah is located, but it sure looks so natural and interesting. How I wish to go to the cave. If I have the time, I would want to drive to the park and take a look.

Also passed by the junction to the Bakun hydro dam. But the dam is still very far from the junction. I don't think that place is accessible to us common people.

It's a normal sight to see vast deforestation along the "highway". Most of it are for palm oil plantation. I never know that Sarawak has so many palm oil plantations. Can use palm oil for our cars instead of petrol? hahaha....

Have to sleep now. Busy day in the office tomorrow.

z zz zzz zzzz zzzzz

Last week passed by quickly as I actually worked for two days instead of the normal five and a half, thanks to the many public holidays we have in the country. I've checked and realized that there's only about six or seven public holidays in a year in UK.

The petrol price increase is still the hottest issue, even hotter than the Euro 2008. However, I still see as many cars on the road, and public transport is still not preferred. Those in KL could probably use the available public transports, but the public transport service in Kuching is near to zero, so no choice but to use our own.

Euro 2008 just started over the weekend. I no longer can stay awake all night long for the whole month to watch all the matches. Age factor. But will surely watch the final. Anyway, my fav team is not playing and that too takes away some level of interest.

Will be traveling again to Miri early tomorrow morning, then to Bintulu the next day followed by Sibu on Thursday. This week will surely be a quick to pass by.

End of long holiday...

Got back to Kuching this afternoon. The few days spent in Singapore are fruitful, particularly the medical checkup for baby as we managed to find some answers to those uncertainties we were facing. We also managed to survey some items that we need to buy for our move to Liverpool. The Great Singapore Sale is now on until July, but certain things are still expensive. Bought only a few stuffs and planned to survey the other items in KL soon before we decide where to buy.

A shopkeeper tried to cheat me when I was surveying a camera accessory for a friend. That damn fellow tried to sell me the thing for S$70 when it is worth much less than RM70. There’s no price tag on the product packing and therefore the fellow tried his luck to cut my throat. Luckily my friend had told me that if it’s more than RM50, don’t buy. All the while I thought Singapore is free from this kind of tactic.

Got the news on my way back home that the govt has announced a price hike for petrol and diesel effective midnight. This time the hike is drastic compared to previous occasions. All the petrol stations are jammed, and the queues are so long, causing traffic jams everywhere. I told my wife that we’ll have to cut down our daily after-dinner outing and plan our routes properly in order to reduce the use of petrol for her car and diesel for mine. But I wonder how long would it last. After a while, we’ll get used to the price and slowly will not even realize how much it costs. The funny thing about this round of price hike is that while charging more for petrol and diesel, the govt is “giving” something back in return in the form of cash rebate and road tax deduction. It is just like putting money into one pocket and giving money out from another pocket at the same time. There must be a logical explanation for this. Will have to read more about it.

Read from The Star on the price hike

Going back to work early tomorrow morning. Holiday’s over.

Gawai holiday in Singapore...

Landed in Singapore around noon just now.

Taking opportunity of the long Gawai holiday to visit family members and friends, and also for little girl’s medical checkup. The rest of the time will be spent on window shopping and lots of eating. Any suggestion?

Also want to send Gawai wishes to friends and colleagues in Sarawak. Won't be able to visit you all this Gawai, sorry. Selamat Hari Gawai!!! Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai!!!

Moving on...

Though I won’t be in the office on the final day of this month, I can’t hide the fact that I will surely miss two of my colleagues who will be moving on with their respective career elsewhere. They have recently been offered jobs by bigger corporations.

They have contributed greatly to the company and their professionalism, expertise, experience and presence will surely be missed.

I wish them the best.

Hunting...

Job hunting. Not hunting some cute animals or living creatures.

It is so difficult when the country, the location and everything else is like a different planet. This is only my second hunting season. The first is after I completed my studies and I managed to hunt down a position in a logistic company. I considered myself lucky as it’s a Singapore based company and pays a little bit more than local companies for a fresh graduate. Spent two good years there. Then I was hunted and never have I thought I would be hunting again.

Why is it so difficult? Well, I had to prepare a resume. Although it looks like a simple thing to do using the template from Microsoft Word, I had to think what to write in it. What is my position? What do I do in the company? What is my specialized field? I could not put into words what I do, what am I good at, what are my responsibilities, etc. It is so tough that I vow not to criticize those resumes I received from job applicants anymore. I’m sure they put in a lot of efforts to write a resume that could portray themselves in words.

When the resume is ready, the actual hunting process begins. Since the target location is so far away, the most effective method is searching through the web.

But the search resulted in too many hits. I cannot be clicking into all the results or I’ll still be doing it after three and a half years. Only the first few hits would be relevant, I tell myself. So off I go following the URLs given and a lot more links that follows. Lots of the sites are actually recruitment sites that require registration and filling in more forms and stuffs. Assuming one site takes 30 minutes to complete, four of these sites would take up 2 precious hours.

Once all the registrations are done, the search for a vacancy eventually begins. The search within the job recruitment sites also generated hundreds of hit. The hits are then narrowed down by defining the industry, job scope, place of work and so on. If the description of the vacancy is acceptable to my liking, it’ll be added to the shortlisted vacancy whereby I can officially submit my application. But after having gone through this process for almost a week now, there is only one vacancy that I am interested, but very unlikely to get it. I am still without a permit. The plan to obtain the permit is in the month of July so I can only assume that no company will be interested to consider my application without me providing them a proper permit.

The most I can do now is to keep on searching for a post that will interest me, and that the company is willing to wait for me until around October when I intend to start work. Otherwise, I’ll have to temporarily become the house-husband before I am successful in my hunting.

Wonderful Morning...

Manchester United had just beaten Chelsea in the Champions League Final.

Champion of England, Champion of Europe!!!!!

Glory! Glory! MAN UTD!!!!!

Sibu...

I’m on a business trip to Sibu since early yesterday morning.

Upon arrival from Kuching, my colleagues and I went to eat kangpua noodle. It tasted so much better compared to those found in Kuching. It’s also much cheaper and the portion is a lot more.

Will be going over to Miri in a while. But before I leave, I must go and have another plate of the wonderful kangpua noodle of Sibu.

wish...

Over the 31 years of my life, everything is always so routine and predictable, which is ok for me. My daily activities are always related either to work or family. But of course there are occasional activities with friends, but it’s getting very rare as everyone is so busy and occupied with works and family matters.

Recently, Mrs. Chiong received the green light to continue her studies in a faraway place from our usual kampung. Due to the many circumstances, I’ll be following her there for 3 ½ years. It came as a shock to many as it’s such an unpredictable matter. I’m like a kampung boy leaving for a big city. It’ll be a drastic change of my life, unpredictable and so out of the way. The climate, food, people, surrounding, work, family, house, etc., these will all change, all at once.

Will I be able to adapt to the change? My wish for this special day is obvious…

First Entry

Welcome to the first entry of “Me & My Life”.

The idea of having a blog post of my own has been thought long ago but did not materialize until this day. I shall maintain this blog to write about activities I do, places I go to, thoughts that cross my mind, significant events of my life, anything worth sharing and so on.

Most importantly, I am hoping that this blog can act as a means of communication between myself and my family & friends regardless of where they are. The power of the web shall bring us closer, though we might be far apart physically.