merdeka!!

Ahh its that time of the year again. August 31st. This day 48 years ago (1957), Malaysia finally got its independence after over 400 years of colonization. Officially it is a Public Holiday for all to rejoice but working for an outsourcing project supporting UK and US, we do not get the luxury to be on leave. It isn't all that bad I guess considering the stress you would have being outside celebrating with the rest of the nation. Traffic jams everywhere, motorcycles zooming in out recklessly and idiots roaming around shouting Merdeka and at the same time vandalizing everything in sight. Its interesting how a celebration of our freedom would end up bringing out the worse of people. Before the day itself everyone would be gung ho about tying our flag up and propping them on our cars and what not. Give a few days after the 31st and you'll see our poor flag lying on the road or dumped somewhere.

There isn't a proper sense of respect for our flag and its sickening. Quite often I see those that raise the flag daily do not even have the decency to place it on their shoulder while they are tying it up. They would just leave it lying there on the road or pavement or whatever. Some even step on it without thinking twice. That isn't the way you should treat your nation's flag. It should be handled with respect and honour. Then again I guess a lot of Malaysians nowadays are just too selfish to care about anything else but themselves. Most do not even know the shit our forefathers had to go through to get freedom and make Malaysia what it is today. I'm not saying I know every teeny bit of history but I do at least have a sense of respect and pride for the country. As they always say, 'Ignorance is bliss'.

Yaaaawn. I think I better hit the sack now. Been a tiring day. G'nite folks and Selamat Merdeka!!

false alarms...

Arrgghhh its so freaking annoying!! Can you imagine sitting down in the dark watching some telly when suddenly your house alarm system kicks in? Bearing in mind the siren is just near the TV Room. Damn if I was older I wouldn't be surprised if I got a heart attack from it. This has been going on for the past few weeks and there is no way in getting used to it. I trip every single time. Scares the hell out of me. Plus with all the shit that is happening around the country with theft, rape and murder. Doesn't really help in the 'scaring the shit outta me' department. All this because there is some rodent running around on the roof. Triggering the motion detectors up there. Damn it! Gotta get some rat poison and leave it up there. Kill them rascals. DIE!!

office humour...

Commonly used phrases in the office...and what they REALLY mean!

1.For your information, please. (FYI)
Meaning : I don't know what to do with this, so please keep it.

2.Noted and returned.
Meaning : I don't know what to do with this, so please keep it little while.

3.Review and comment.
Meaning : Do the dirty work so that I can forward it.

4.Action please.
Meaning : Get yourself involved for me. Don't worry, I'll claim the credit.

5.For your necessary action.
Meaning : It's your headache now.

6.Copy to.
Meaning : Here's a share of my headache.

7.For your approval, please.
Meaning : Put your neck on the chopping board for me please.

8.Action is being taken.
Meaning : Your correspondence is lost and I am trying to locate it.

9.Your letter is receiving our attention.
Meaning : I am trying to figure out what you want.

10.Please discuss.
Meaning : I don't know what the "****" this is, so please brief me.

11.For your immediate action.
Meaning : Do it NOW! Or I will get into serious trouble.

12.Please reply soon.
Meaning : Please be efficient. It makes me look inefficient.

13.We are investigating/processing your request with the relevant authorities.
Meaning : They are causing the delay, not us.

14.Regards.
Meaning : Thanks and bless you for reading all the bullshit.

award winning joke...

A Chinese walks into a bar in America late one night and he saw Steven
Spielberg. As he was a great fan of his movies, he rushes over to him,
and asks for his autograph. Instead, Spielberg gives him a slap and
says,
"You Chinese people bombed our Pearl Habour, get outta here."
The astonished Chinese man replied, "It was not the Chinese who bombed
your Pearl Harbour, it was the Japanese".
"Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, you're all the same," replied Spielberg.
In return, the Chinese gives Spielberg a slap and says,
"You sank the Titanic, my forefathers were on that ship."
Shocked, Spielberg replies, "It was the iceberg that sank the ship,
not me."
The Chinese replies, "Iceberg, Spielberg, Carlsberg, you're all the
same."


This joke won an award for the best joke in a competition organized in Britain and was sent by an Indian.

economy rice?!

What is Economy Rice? Well its also known as Mixed Rice or Chap Fan in Cantonese. The main idea is to sell plain white rice with a whole variety of other pre-prepared dishes. These dishes are usually some form chicken, pork, beef, seafood or veggies. They can either be Chinese, Malay or Indian cuisine. The reason its called Economy Rice is because its extremely cheap hence economically good. One plate of rice with about 3 varities of dishes will only cost abour RM3 to RM5. Obviously taking seafood and pork might cost slightly more due to the cost of the raw items itself but relatively its still one of the cheapest form of a full meal. Its also always hot and clean. Not cold, stale leftover stuff.

Now thats not what I'm blogging about. The problem I have is that I went to this place in Sec 14 and they had Economy Rice. So as usual at an Economy Rice stall, you go about choosing your varieties and get ready to pay. All I did was choose some salted veggy, half an egg, some tofu and some pork. This place also does the serving for you. So you can't really take more of something that you fancy like most places. Now something like that we would expect to pay about RM5 tops. Maybe RM6 if I took a bit more of the pork. Can you guess how much it turned out to be? I'm sure you couldn't even fathom especially those of you who are familiar with Economy Rice. The damn thing cost me RM10!! What the fuck is that? Nothing on my plate was even worth that much. Combined or otherwise. Damn man. I got shafted. I'm never going back there again. Even Bah Kut Teh (Pork Herbal Soup) which cost around RM9 for a single set is cheaper and much more satisfying. This ain't Economy Rice anymore. This is more like 'Fuck the Economy' Rice. Arrgghhhh.

Anyways was just venting. I'm sure most of you can imagine the frustration. I guess we all learn the hard way huh. =(

readership survey...

Just like most bloggers, I'm curious on how many people actually read my blog. I know a few would stumble upon it via other blogs or through Blogspot itself but are there any regular readers. In my mind I can think of maybe 3 people tops. Just for the sake of satisfying my curiousity, to those that read my blog regularly, please leave a comment on this post. You can either sign it off anonymously or by your nicknames or whatever. Lets really see how sad my readership is.

gym and futsal...

Ahh finally after weeks of procrastination I managed to use the company gym. The gym was opened on the 29th of July and is surprisingly fully equipped. Best part is that until December this year its FREE for all staff. The only problem I had is the timing of when its open. It doesn't coincide with my work schedule and I don't plan to come to work earlier to workout. Wouldn't be at all comfortable to take a shower in the office plus I most probably will be tired at work then. So the only way was to come during weekends before our regular futsal game. Got up early and headed to the gym about an hour and half before futsal. Managed to get 10 mins on the treadmill and 10 mins on the cycling machine. Did some shoulder weights as well. Not really sure what you call that equipment. Felt good after that. Then we headed straight to futsal and played a good solid hour of it. Sadly my damn knee twisted again right smack at the end of our hour. Now I'm limping like a wounded dog. Good thing is I was wearing the brace so it didn't snap like before. Its slightly swollen now but bearable. Hopefully it heals before next weekend as we might have a game with some team. Plus I would like to continue my weekend gym activity. Need to lose my damn tummy. Getting pretty annoyed with it. Drinking most weekends isn't helping either I must say. Well I better hit the showers, I smell like fish right now. Cheerio.

useless comments...

Damn what is up with some ppl!! Simply posting unrelated comments just to promote some crap or their own blog. C'mon. I can't imagine someone going through blogs and posting the same comments over and over again. Must be really free. Not like its gonna give such a publicity or something. Its just comments on a blog. Most ppl would breeze right through it. Arrggghhh.

seminars...

Don't you just love it when your company sends you to seminars? Its like you are paid to take a break. I just got done with a 2 day seminar on 'Understanding Misconduct and Discipline Procedures'. It was pretty enlightening I must say. Taught us alot about how to catch staff screwing around at work and what to do to ensure they are punished properly. Our country is very pro employee and it could be a real headache for employers if they don't follow proper policies or even have a policy. Majority of cases that hit the labor courts are in favor of the employees. I guess its good and bad. Good if you work for someone and bad if you hire people to work for you. The worse part is that the lawyers are making all the freaking money! Do you know that they take 1 month salary as a starting service fee and if you win, they take from 25% to 35% of the awarded compensation. Damn. I'm in the wrong line of work man. =(

This is the third seminar I have gone for since working in this company. Surprisingly 2 were within this month. Its great to just relax and listen while enjoying multiple meals a day. Sadly the choice of hotels weren't that desirable but I guess we can't be choosy right. The material so far were good and the participants were interactive, so I didn't fall asleep or day dream. Although from time to time I had to struggle to keep my eyes open after the lunch buffet. I wonder who came up with all these meals during a seminar. It only makes you full and sleepy. I do see some people who really love it though. They just can't wait for the next break. I guess once you've attended multiple seminars throughout your career, there isn't really anything to care about except the food. Hmmmm, I wonder when is the next seminar. Soon I hope. I could do with another break! =)

I guess I better hit the sack now. Got shit loads to do tommorrow. Plus I got to attend my niece's 2nd birthday tommorrow. cheerio!

rain rain...

Finally!! After 2 looong, dry and smoky weeks, we got hit with a heavy shower. Guess the rain dance I did last night worked. The rain lasted for a good 2 hours plus. Sadly some places got hit by flash floods but overall it did us good. Helped clean up the crappy air we've been tolerating. The air smells damn good now. Plus is soo nice and cool outside. I slept through the whole rainstorm. Since there was lightning, I couldn't have the telly or PC on. So I to take full advantage of the cool weather and sleep. By the time I woke up it was over. Birds were chirping happily and I could hear kids playing outside. The haze made everyone stay indoors and the animals were rather quiet. Now everything is back to normal. I hope this weather keeps up. I better go outside now and appreciate the fresh clean air. Till next time. G'nite.

cough cough...

Its been awhile since we last saw it, but now its back and its better than ever! God only knows what the hell Indonesia is doing but all their shit is coming over to us and all they can say is, 'I'm sorry Malaysia'. What the fuck is that?! Sorry ain't gonna do jack for us. It feels like we are living in a freaking BBQ pit. A cheap ass pit at that. The air smells pungent and unbearable. Plus its so freaking depressing! The damn haze is even coming into the house and making me WANT to go to work just to be under some fluorescent lights and air conditioning. I feel bad to all those that have to work outdoors, can't imagine how they can tolerate it. Being out for just a teeny bit to get into my car is already pissing me off. Damn smell is going everywhere, seeping into buildings and houses and into our cars. Its like a freaking disease. There is no escape either, we are stuck with this till the winds pick up or we get some good rain. Sigh. If only Indonesia would stop all their freaking fires and be considerate. How many fucking times must be tolerate this bullshit?! You don't see us shitting in their backyard right. Damn there should be some sorta limit or law against this. HELP US!! HELP US PLEASEEEE!!



Note: These pictures were taken by The Star Malaysia newspaper. Just a brief look at what we are going through. First picture is a new sport called Smoky Footy. The challenge is to see the freaking ball through the haze. Second picture is actually of a mosque, but it was easier to focus on the gardener instead.

looong and tiring day...

As always every Friday after work, a group of us would head over to Bangsar's Lotus (which has shut down sadly) or Sri Dewi's for some supper and chit chat. Yesterday however was one night we will not forgot for some time. A total of 5 cars headed over to Bangsar via Jalan Damansara from work. Myself and 2 others were ahead while 2 more stayed back for some hot action. Sadly that hot action turned out to be too hot to handle! Just as we were nearing Dewi's we get a call that they got into an accident. Damn! Thoughts ran through my mind wondering WTF?! happened and hope they or anyone else were not injured. Took a quick U Turn and headed back to ground zero which was near the bus stop @ Victoria Station Damansara.

When we reached there it was a relief as the damage couldn't be seen plus it only involved one of them. So at least the accident wasn't all too bad. Turned out while they were dragging, he lost control of his car and spun 180 degrees and smashed into the divider. Luckily only his left rear tyre hit the divider which bent his axel (which misaligned his rear frame a bit) and cracked his rim. The body and everything else was spared from any damage. Even the divider did not crumble and there were no skid marks. Best part is he missed all the other drivers on the road. Phew. As expected he was a bit shaken up by the whole thing.

We then had to wait for tow truck to arrive before hauling the car to the traffic police station near Petaling Street. After writing the report and taking some pics of the car (which took about an hour plus due to those lazy assholes who actually have beds at their work stations!), we headed towards Ford Service Center in Klang for repair. At the service center, it was our luck that they didn't have any guards (just 2 barking dogs), so we were shouting like monkeys hoping to get someone to open the damn gate. All we wanted to do was leave the car inside and handle the shit in the morning. At the end we had to leave the car right in front of the center at the gate. Damn service center advertised that they have 24 hour towing service but they don't even answer their phones or have a damn guard to let people in when they have an accident after hours. After that was done we dropped the poor dude home and went for breakfast since it was already 6am then. Whole ordeal took around 5 hours plus. Didn't mind much, more like an adventure, plus I would like my friends to help me out as well if I ever got into such a mess.

Weird thing is we did speak to him on that day about not dragging as it was pointless and also because he doesn't really know his car well or anything about cars for that matter. The dude he was dragging with also declined the challenge due to safety reasons. Sigh. Then this shit happens. I can imagine what all could be running through his mind right now. Oh well, we learn from our mistakes right and we should be greatful that no one got hurt.

*Yaaaawn* I better hit the sack now. I got a game of futsal in about 5 hours time. Goodnight folks and please drive safe at all times.

bad news after a fun trip...

Don't you just hate it when you return after a good trip only to receive bad news! Well this just happened to me. I got home from a fun road trip with some mates only to hear not one but 2 bad news. First being my brand new car has a slight scratch on it. Being a person that loves his car more than himself at times, it tore me up. Damn. Thankfully it wasn't deep and not very noticeable as well. Sigh. I guess we all need some slight scratches right. Can't keep it in tip top condition all the time. The 2nd bad news was that the Sri Lanka tour that I had plan to go for in August got cancelled. All because a handful of the others backed out due to some fears that there might be some rebel activity soon. Can't really blame them I guess. Sigh. I was really looking forward to heading back to my roots to see the sights and see how they live. Now I gotta wait till things die down and also another tour is planned. Sigh. I'm heading to bed right now. *Yaaaawn* Will blog about the trip soon enuff. G'nite.

the pweor of a hmuan mnid...

Found this through a forum. Thought it was rather interesting. Give it a try...

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt.

Did you mngaae to raed it???

cars that i've owned (episode 3)...

Selling Zoe was easy because it had a good value on the market and the car was a great student car so living in a University town I had tonnes of prospective buyers. Before selling her I had to buy my new toy first as a good offer suddenly came up. I was offered a 1992 Nissan NX2000 for only US$3250 (sold Z0e at the end for US$3500). Now the NX2000 is a different breed of car altogether. It was a black 2 door sports car with a 5 speed stick shift, SR20DE powered (2 liters with 140hp and 130 pounds of torque), ABS, all discs and LSD equipped monster which does 0 to 100 kph a little under 8 seconds! The best part was the car was owned by this old couple who had it since it came out and never really ran it in. So the car was practically new except for its age. These cars came out for only 3 years and didn't really sell well due to its weird look (nicknamed the 'egg' by many). Overall in the 3 years I think only about 10k or so of them were ever sold. Now in US, among Japanese import lovers, the car is a rare prize. When it was out then it was considered the 8th best handling car in the world. Once I bought it, cleaned it up, installed a cd player and speakers, it was good to go. This car you could say was my only macho car so far. I called him Max after my last pet dog who was put down prematurely by stupid MPPJ (I might blog about that some day).

Max to me was a different breed than my other cars. This was a sports car which could take all the beating I can give and still have fight in em'. The amount of dumbass American cars that tried to pull a fast one and was left to smell my smoke is amazing. I'm not showing off or anything but some American petrol heads can be really dumb. They figure that having big ass engines will definately kill a Japanese import with smaller engines. C'mon. If only they knew the potential or the facts of what they are up against. Anyways it was fun, to see their face in awe being left behind by a weird looking 'egg'. I'm not saying I race most of the time but when it happens, it happens right. Max was the car that helped me move from Columbia, Missouri to Philly, Pennsylvania which took about 16 hours. I filled it up with all my belongings gathered from the 3 and half years and headed down to Philly where my girlfriend stayed in hopes of securing a job. Sadly that did not work out and before long (4 months or so) I had to head back home. That meant I had to sell Max off after only owning him for 8 months. It was a good 8 months though and I had hopes to bring the car back but it just wasn't meant to be. The conversion from left to right and the crap with Customs. Sigh. From time to time I do miss Max and wished I owned him in Malaysia instead. I would never have sold him if I did. Its a rare jewel.

Well I guess thats all for now. *Yaaaaaaaaaawn* Getting sleepy. G'nite folks!

cars that i've owned (part deux)...

After I managed to get some money from my old man I went ahead and sold off the Corolla for almost the same price I bought it. Lost about 50 bucks but I had the car for a year, so no complaints. I replaced the Corolla with another Toyota called the Tercel. It was a 1995 dark green 1.5 liter automatic coupe. Got the car at a salvage reseller. What they do is they buy cars that went through accidents and the owners just discarded them. They take ownership of it and fix it up. Good as new. Usually the accidents do not involve the front and almost always minor stuff compared to what we fix up here in Malaysia. Good thing for me is the price of the car is almost cut into half.

Comparing to the Corolla it was one hellave ride and soon I called her Zoe. I had this car for about 2 years plus and just like the Corolla it had been everywhere. She was a real easy car to drive. Power was spot on, handling nippy and looked good. Zoe also managed to teach about 5 people how to drive, as well as pass their driving exams to get their licenses. Sadly towards the end one of them crashed Zoe soon after getting her license. And this was while I was back in Malaysia for summer. Luckily it was all body damage and could be fixed easily. By the time I got back to US she looked almost as I had left her.Over the 2 years I did alot of modifications to the car. All by myself as well. This was mainly because labor charges in US are ridiculous and I also had tonnes of free time so it was fun playing around with her. With the money I made from part time work I upgraded my sound system (which to me is the most essential modification for any car), got better brakes, changed the air intake and exhaust as well as added some suspension upgrades. After all was done, the car could really perform. I'm not saying it could beat WRXs or EVOs but it could take some cars bigger than her. The last plan I had for the car was to turbocharge it but something else caught my eye which was much cheaper.

Will blog about that next time. Sadly I don't have a picture of Zoe. Can't seem to find it anywhere. Will post if I do. Cheers.

cars that i've owned (part 1)...

As I stare at my new baby, I can't help but reminisce on all the past cars that I've owned and the adventures that I've had with them. All in all I have had 5 cars total (which includes the new baby) whereby 3 of them were owned while studying in US. I even named all of them except the first car and the recent one (due to it being new, need to run it in and find its character first). I still miss those days in US as cars were relatively cheap and I could sell one off and get another without even having to look for extra money. Over here we would need to beg, borrow or steal just to get another car.

It all started with a dull red 1988 Toyota Corolla. Stick shift of course with. Bought it real cheap at around US$1k to get around town and travel whenever possible. It used to be the only car within our circle of friends and boy did it get thrashed. The AC rarely worked and that was solved by just having the windows wound down most of the time. Thankfully the heater always worked although the insulation was poor, so it would take ages for the car to warm up during winter. Surprisingly for its age and condition, it never did break down. Only problem I ever faced was the muffler rusting away and dropped off. LOL. Still remember that day while driving down Broadway Street when I suddenly heard a scraping metal sound plus my exhaust became noisy as hell. As I looked through my rear view mirror I saw the sparks the muffler was creating scraping on the road and before I could even stop to inspect, it just fell off. Thankfully no one was behind me at that time. I didn't really change much of the Corolla then as I didn't have the money but the car did run up alot of miles. We travelled to and fro from Columbia to Kansas City (3 hours) and also from Columbia to St. Louis (2 hours) almost every weekend. Almost always to grab some nice chinese food or cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. Sigh. It was actually the only period where I didn't worry much about my car. I could take it out and not be bothered if someone hits it or scratches it. I could park it anywhere and be sure it'll still be there when I get back. Sometimes I feel its good to just get a older cheaper car. You tend to worry less.

Thats all for now. Attached on the side is a pic of the car I managed to find.

another year gone by...

Time surely flies. Yesterday was my 26th birthday and I could have sworn I celebrated my 25th birthday not too long ago. I had the pleasure of spending it with my work mates in a 3 bedroom apartment in Malacca. There were 12 of us and we headed up on Saturday for a one nighter. I must say it was a lovely birthday celebration. We had lovely food throughout the weekend and around midnite celebrated my birth with a lovely blueberry cheesecake made by my friend's sister. Much better than Secret Recipe I must add. I guess nothing can beat the taste of home made goodies. To top it off one of my buds got me a bottle of Chivas Regal which is my all time favourite drink. Liquid gold I tell ya! Together we spent the night drinking and chatting away. Ended roughly around 5am whereby we headed out for some lovely Dim Sum. After that we headed back and crashed before checkout time at noon.

Overall the trip was practically a food fest. From chicken rice balls for lunch to munchies like muachi, popiah and nyonya kuehs for tea to satay celup for dinner. After reading about it for months I finally got my hands on satay celup and it was pretty all right I guess. A bit overrated but good enuff. In my opinion the price would be the only thing worth the effort as I've tasted better peanut sauce in Pee Jay itself. I guess if we went to a better restaurant it would have been better but our tour guide was caught up with something and couldn't take us there. We ended up somewhere where one of my mates tried before and looking at the queue of ppl waiting to have a go, I would say they were pretty popular.

All and all it was a great birthday weekend. Spent it at a great place with even greater people. Thankfully this time I did not get wasted and had no hangover to deal with when I woke up. That itself is a blessing. Now I gotta wait another 364 days before I get to celebrate my birthday again. By then god only knows how much I would have changed and where I would be.

Some pictures to enjoy.

new baby in town...

Finally after a long wait I was able to pick up the new gal in my life. Got a call from my sales agent with the good news that she was ready. Headed over immediately to the dealership and there she was. All spick and span. She looked very much better than I had expected. Did a quick run through to make sure she wasn't scared or damaged in any way. Thanked my sales agent for her good and efficient work and headed straight to Klang. Guess why? For some new rims and tyres of cause. If I delayed that I wouldn't get a good offer on my original rims and tyres so I decided to do it immediately. Didn't really have time this weekend as well coz I had plans to head over to Malacca.

Now my baby is sitting pretty at home with new 16 inchers and slick tyres. Sadly I won't be able to drive her around this weekend but we have loads of time to get to know one another. I'm just happy that I finally got her after waiting for so freaking long. I'll post up some pics when I get good shots of her. Damn batteries have run dry. =(

bye bye betty...

It is a sad day today. At 1.05pm I handed over the keys to Betty to her new owner. I am not sure but I don't think I will be seeing her again. It has been a wonderful 2 years and 68 days. We have shared so much together and travelled to some interesting places. Since May this year I had to slowly tear Betty apart and sell off what made her to various people. It was a tough decision but time had come for me to upgrade and I couldn't afford keeping Betty as well.

Never expected it but I was sad when I had to finally hand over Betty. Didn't think it would affect me but it did. Its like a little part of me is gone forever. The process of selling off parts of Betty did not strike me but when finally surrendered the car to the new owner, that is when it hit me. Especially after driving away and knowing I would never see her again. I guess we all move on after awhile. I always had the impression that I would keep Betty and if I upgraded she would still be with me. Sadly that wasn't possible financially.

I wish the new owner all sorts of happy memories with Betty. I doubt she would be called that anymore or even given a name but you never know. The new owner looked responsible enough and was grateful to be owning a car. I hope she will be able to take care of her as how I did. So long dear and hope you live a long life. Till we meet again. Toodles.