B is for Bakau, B*tchin, Blog

2022-03-15T20:40:00.001+08:00

Dear bloggie,

I moved to here...

UNIFI - New website, same sh*t

2018-01-10T23:21:00.003+08:00

Dear bloggie,

The year 2018 started out for me with the normal level of *excellence* one can ALWAYS expected from Malaysia's BEST ISP TMNUT... No Internet... God knows how or why I was blessed with no internet/telephone line for a good 2-3 days on the first day of 2018 (2018 virus maybe?)

And now, despite "reconnecting" my internet line... I been experiencing garbage level internet speed.

How garbage ur ask?

A 10Mbps speed line become a 4+Mbps... and tested against a local server... Awesomeness...

While the world move forward towards AI and VR... Malaysia is unfortunately still stuck with our shitty lazy monopolizer ISP... If they got the $$$ to update their website (and wipe out all previous customer login users from their previous website), I suggest they blow it on improving their infrastructure to provide Malaysian's with more "reliable" internet service...

As a so called "developed" nation, our average Internet Speed sadly lags behind so many countries (and not to mention reliability for consistent speed is garbage)

Purpose of thinking

2016-07-07T20:45:00.001+08:00

Dear bloggie,

To teach is to learn. Hence these are my slides based on my understanding of "the purpose we think" by Edward De Bono, enjoy:

Into 2016

2016-01-04T01:22:00.001+08:00

Dear bloggie,

Time flies... noes?

I always get this feeling especially when at the start of the new year. I feel it's because I have the tendency to review what I done within this year and when I review it, I tend to relive the whole year and having that 1 year experience flashes through you mind in a couple of minutes tend to make it feel as a year flies... Theory of relativity?

Anyway, time to look at the past and present so I can plan for the future...

2015 new year resolutions

Visit Japan - Yes, I finally set foot upon the land of the rising sun
Write a short novel - Nope
Achieve 15% body fat at minimum body weight 65 kg - Nope
Run 3 10K runs - Nope, but I did ran a 21K in the Penang
Build/Program a game - Nope
Land 1 date - Nope
Visit Penang - Yes, not once but twice
Update my English slang vocabulary - Nope
Go on a juicing diet - Nope
Try out 3 new hobbies - Nope

So overall, an epic failure in terms of new year resolution. I blame most of it due to busy work schedule. I guess in terms of project wise, my team got roped in 4 different projects this year. I had to lead one of them which I have to say is perhaps my most stress project I ever done, mainly because I had to play so many roles: requirement gatherer, scrum master, tech lead, mentor, troubleshooter, developer... I learnt I need to be more cautious and make sure the responsibilities that is assigned to me is defined properly and bodes well with me before I say "ok". And if I don't agree or like the responsibility, just say "no".

Unexpected surprises this year? I got send by my company to Hong Kong for 1 week for training. The trade off, my work schedule no longer abide the normal 9-5 rule as I have to follow a more shift like schedule. I expected to maybe have maybe 1-2 days less interaction with the team members but instead find myself working extra on weekends and public holidays, mainly because it's hard for me to find a replacement day for the weekend or public holiday I worked on. I feel the over burnt feeling on a rather frequent basis, which is not really helped by the sad state of productivity of my team at the moment (1 guy resigned and his protege is often assign under me, which I DON'T enjoy mentoring).

I already had a lot of thoughts maybe it's time to find myself another new job, as I already see signs my current job has already run it's full course. I just don't see a future I envision myself with in this team any more.

My 2016 resolutions:

Resolve team issue or find a new job

Focus more on personal goal rather then team goal (1 man can't save a sinking ship unless the other crew play their role)
De-attach my personal life from work

Start re blog
Start a personal programming project
Land 1 date
2 overseas vacation
Try out 3 new hobbies
Finish reading Edward Bono books
Improve my facilitation skills
Java certification
Redesign this blog

Genting 2015

2015-06-28T17:25:00.001+08:00

Dear bloggie,

A long time ago... I visited Genting after I secured my 1st job... Now, 8-9 years down this road I walked, I finally step foot upon the misty hot Genting hill again.

Spelly for some odd reason (probably want to bring his gal here quah) wanted to test his Almera's hill climbing capabilities hence I setup the short trip to Genting. MFR whom has avoided any Monk Inc related trips this few years strangely decided to join us for this trip. Cutting short the long boring trip up Genting, Spelly's Almera managed to scale the Genting hill with not much problem.

Genting Highlands

Well, Genting outdoor theme park is still under renovation hence we spend most of our time in the casino instead. Goh Tong decided to donate to me RM 300 via a few games of Bacarrat. MFR chalked in a RM 200 deficit while Spelly raked in RM 200.

Easy come, easy go as they say... I spent this unexpected windfall by treating the gang for Starbucks and combined with Spelly to treat a dinner at Soon Wah Seafood in Klang (Must try: Watermelon Paikut, Avoid: Sotong Ball Special).

Watermelon Pai Kut

Upon reaching home, I discovered I was supposed to attend an ex-colleague wedding (Didn't receive any official red bomb).

Next day aka today, I decided Goh Tong was gonna buy me a new running shoe which I wanted for quite awhile to replace my ancient New Balance one I been using for the last +4 years.

Bye bye my old friend that ran with me for +4 years

I did a shoe hunting in Sunway Piramid and realized the price of running shoes now day seem f*ckin expensive (All ranged around RM300-500). I managed to spot a a cheap Asics Gel Impression 8 which cost a good RM 265. The color is abit too blackish and reddish for my liking since I really wanted to try a different color palette of red, black and white which my old shoe also had. However the sales gal told me it's a new model and they only had this color. I did search other shoe shops but sadly had only the same color only. A brief moment of hesitation but at last decided to settle for another red, black and white shoe when the sales gal told me they were giving away a free shoe bag at the moment

My shiny black and red new shoe

It's funny really, how fast times flies... and how money seem to come and go...

1505!

2015-06-13T13:50:00.002+08:00

Dear bloggie,

Wohoo!

Finally breached the 1500 barrier in chess.com for blitz category...

McD Breakfast Day

2015-04-13T09:34:00.001+08:00

Dear bloggie,

Free bugger from McD today

Saw the ad in my papers today, and since I'm on leave and McD is just a 5 min drive from my house, so might as well try my luck... And walah!

Got my bugger in around 10 mins, a lot of aunty/elderly and kids queueing. Had to stomach some bad manners elders queueing and rushing macam tak pernah makan bugger.... *Sigh* Thought of snapping these species of mankind in action but decided I was too lazy to do it...

MixFM Do it like a man

2015-04-05T11:15:00.000+08:00

Dear bloggie,

Heard tis on the radio these last couple of weeks. There's this dude that won a contest that entitles him RM30K to organize his so called dream "Pokemon x Gundam" wedding that will be held in another 2 weeks time.

Now, usually if 2 people have tis weird idea on how their dream wedding should be like, I would just say "Just do it, the f*ck with how other people thinks your dream wedding should be like". However I have to say I'm pretty pessimistic on this particular wedding. For starters, the organizer/bridegroom seems a bit too "blur f*ck". He just seems too "high" and not grounded enough to the earth when trying to organize this wedding. And with a low budget of only RM30K and due date of 2 more weeks, how the hell is he gonna pull of a customized "Pokemon/Gundam" wedding makes it to my "Mission Impossible" list. A giant gundam head on the stage? Flying pokemon decoration? 3D animation? Tuxedo with Gundam wings?

Another thing that strike my chord is this wedding doesn't seem like the dream wedding his "soon be wife" envision. I'm not convinced she's into it because she dreams of wearing a pikachu wedding dress. I'm more convinced she's into it because her "high" hubby is into it. This is where I have a problem with this whole thing, it just seem to much of a publicity stunt rather then a real wedding. I find it a bit hard to stomach how a wedding is conceived by the younger generations now days. As if they're doing it because they get the free RM 30K to do it. Feels like it's cheapens the knot they're about to tie.

Anyway, my prediction will be the wedding will most likely not take place in 2 weeks time, and if it does, the true cost of the wedding will exceed the RM 30K budget. I also don't think it will be a memorable dream wedding the couple envisioned as well.

However that's just a still single bachelor thoughts on the matter. Given to me, I prefer a small and simple shotgun marriage and spend more dough on honeymoon instead of a "publicity stunt".

Breakfast and progress

2015-03-29T13:00:00.000+08:00

Dear bloggie,

Been busy with work since it's crunch time but a quick update anyway:

My breakfast:

Myself a week ago:

Myself yesterday:

Seem like no progress at all in my 4 pac crusade... that's cause I haven't been really following my 1 444 perday quota, thanks to my lack of discipline and crunch time stress... Still my crusade have 1 1/2 months left, will try to achieve something.

Godlike logic

2015-03-28T00:08:00.002+08:00

Dear bloggie,

I encounter the following argument today:

A: Insurance should be you pay and if nothing happens to you, you get back what you paid cause nothing happen to you
B: Not like that la
A: Why not? If you go to shop and prepaid for a food, then next day you decide not to to eat that food, the shop should pay you back the amount you paid for that food since you never eat that food right?
B: [Speechless]

This is where, I couldn't take it any more and had to intervene

K: Let's use another example, where you pay RM100 to me and if anything happen to you within a year, I pay you back RM10,000. If something does happen to you, I lose RM10,000 and if nothing happens to you I still have to pay you back RM100, what do I gain then?
A: Yala, that's what wrong. Why do you need to gain? People should take care of each other.
K: If there's is nothing for people to gain, why bother doing it?
A: That's my point, it's a business. Why then people pay tax? These insurance should not exist
K: People pay tax so govt build infrastructure, etc
A: Govt should put healthy benefits ahead infrastructure. Are you saying infrastructure is more important than health?
K: No, we don't decide that. The govt decided that
A: You vote for this govt
K: I didn't but a majority of people that voted
A: That's my point, the society that have problem. I seen community that when someone bad happens to them, the community will take care of them.
K: Ok, I have nothing to say...

Sometimes I feel I -10 of my IQ whenever I engage in conversation like this...

444

2015-03-14T13:39:00.000+08:00

Dear bloggie,

Been some time since I last blogged. Been quite busy with work.

Today I decided to commit myself to something I can blog about regularly and takes little effort to do. One of my 2015's resolution is to reduce my fat to 15% and achieve a weight of 65kg.

My weight at the moment is, let me see...

Yes, an ideal stable 70kg. Thats' quite pretty good figure for my height which is 174cm.

However, the main problem is this:

My amazing "1 pack". Since I retired from running, I noticed my belly starting to grow bigger and bigger (My old loose pants seem to be a perfect fit now). Sure there could several other reason for this protruding belly increase in size, like I started doing deadlift, I eat more crap nowdays, ~~jerking off more often~~, etc. I decided to at least try to reach a compromise between what I currently am and those "6 pack" diet Nazis.

Hence, project:

444

So what the ^*#%#F*CK is 444!?

This is 444:

So I mixed these 4 things up into my trusty blender to spit out this

So the rough plan is I replace one of my regular meals with this

4 things
for me to gain
4 pack abs

Tada... 444!

I'm putting a 2 month timeline on tis little experiment of mine and plan to post some pictures of my progress though this period. Like I say easy to do and blog about... My goal is to achieve a visible 4 pack abs, which indirectly translate to lower body fat and hence hopefully reaching my 15% body fat goal. I'm a f*ckin lazy genius...

Boyhood Review

2015-02-15T11:44:00.002+08:00

Dear bloggie,

I was ecstatic when I saw this particular poster at Midvalley's GSC cinema. I thought this particular film was NEVER going to make it to our country's shore but hoy boy, how wrong was I.

I actually wanted to watch this online but didn't as I was not in the mood for a movie that's thought provoking and heavy this last few past months. A part of me now regret it, yet another part of me thinks it's a blessing in disguise as I get to watch it for the first time on the silver screen.

A movie that took 12 years to film, watch as Mason (and the rest of the main cast) ages in real time from a young cute 7 years old boy to a young 19 years old adult through the movie.

Passing of time for Mason

So the plot in short is... Mason is 7 years old boy that has divorced parents and is living with his mother and sister. The story mainly looks at the process of growing up from the eyes of Mason. Most of the scenes are simple yet everyday things we often take for granted, for instance going bowling with your dad, hanging out and drinking your first beer with your buddies, sibling quarrel, etc.

There are some scene that really caught my attention especially those which have some nuggets of wisdom hidden in-between the lines. For instance there was a scene where Mason was complaining that they were bowling in a bowling alley which didn't have bumper and it was not fun as he keep hitting the gutter, but his father replied "You don't want bumpers, life doesn't give you bumpers" or the dark room scene where a teenage Mason was advised by his teacher about the importance of hard work besides having talent.

Some reviewers actually complain on the lack of plot due to the lack of conclusion on some events in the movie, but I think these people failed to realize most thing in our life itself has no conclusion. Some things/peoples just come and go by, some will affect us, others won't... That's life and that's why for me it's so easy to related to this movie.

If your looking for a movie with amazing plot which is ground breaking but improbable like Fight Club, Memento, Inception... This is not a movie for you. The movie sticks true to its concept that

"Life is beautiful and interesting enough as it is, and you don't need to manufacture a lot of falset"

Acting wise, the overall cast was very believable in the role they are playing as. Sometimes some of them just look dull and bored out, which make them even believable as we sometimes in life we really do look dull and bored out. I liked the small random titbits like when Samantha (Mason's sister) dyed her hair red, or when Mason had pierced his ear or growing some facial hair which I heard was really not scripted.

How did this movie made me feel? Aside of feeling nostalgic on my own boyhood, I did have the WTF!? moment (which a few more reviewer had) half way though as I suddenly realize looking at the now teenage Mason, "Where did that cute little boy vanish to?".

Verdict: Overall I would highly recommend this movie to anyone that is open to the idea of watching a movie about normal things in our everyday life. If you come into this movie looking for escape from everyday reality, you'll most likely be disappointed like a bunch of people that left the movie 3/4 thru when I watched it. Otherwise be prepared to be dazzled by a simply intriguing story about the passage of time through boyhood...

Pizza wet dream

2015-02-14T08:36:00.001+08:00

Dear bloggie,

Since I was like in High School, I had tis funny wish to devour a whole pizza in my room. I meant that "SO" teenager right? To eat something cool like pizza in your own room.

I wasn't ever able to fulfil this dream of mine back then till recently where Pizza Hut had tis promo for RM10 for regular take away pizza...

I buy,

I see,

I cleanhouse...

That's one teenager's wet dream I managed to fulfil now...

There and Back Again - A Penang Tale 1

2015-01-18T21:11:00.000+08:00

Dear bloggie,

It been 3 long years since I last visited Penang. My last trip was to test my body, mind and spirit in the Penang Marathon.

The premise of this trip is quite simple, I had 10 days of leave to clear by April, I pretty much close a boiling point at my workplace... I had wanted to revisit Penang for a long time but my so called "buddies" were all busy hence...

I decided to take a week off and pull a lone ranger trip to the northern isle. Despite a lot of criticism on doing a solo trip = boring trip, I'm pretty much taken aback by how this trip actually exceed even my own expectations. Sure, there are parts of the trip the pangs of loneliness haunt me, but those moment are quite little. I had a lot of "me" time, where I just go and do whatever I want whenever I wanted to. As for human socialization, I had the sufficient dosage in the form of foreigner backpackers that stayed at the same hostel as me. I do however regret not joining them in one of their night bash at a club.

My original plan was to enjoy a slow ride north while enjoying the scenery from a romantic moonlight railway track via a night express train, however that plan was derailed due to in availability of train beds for booking (fully booked). So I opt for a bus instead.

Equipped with my trusty old backpack, I embarked on this 4 days, 3 nights adventure from Pudu Sentral at late noon. The journey was a VERY tiring one, being confined to my seat through most of the bus ride. It took a long 5 hour 30 minutes for the bus to finally reached Penang at 7.30pm. The bus dumped most of us at the Sungai Nibong bus terminal, where I got a bad first impression of Penang Rapid Transit bus when I had to wait AN HOUR for a bus to take us to Komtar bus terminal which happens to be just a short 10-20 minutes away.

Worn out to my bones, no thanks to unexpected hour wait for the bus to take us to Komtar, I arrive at Komtar around 8.30pm. Next, I had to locate my hostel so I can unload. Lucky for me, a kind Penangite actually show me the way to Ryokan Chic Hostel @ Jalan Murni, which was just a 10-15 minutes walk from Komtar (Was asked if I was Hong Kong). However my relief turned into panic when I learnt their bunk was already full. Yes, I didn't book in advance as my whole theme for this trip was to be as random as possible and do as little planning as I can. It's getting late and I had to find a place to stay for the night. Lucky for me, I short listed another hostel, Syok @ Jalan Chulia which happen to be just nearby.

I open the doors of the hostel entrance to see the receptionist and a kwai mui backpacker. The kwai mui backpacker flashed a courtesy smile to me as I awaited for my turn. After showing the kwai mui backpacker to her room/bunk which is located upstairs, I popped the question "Do you have a bed for 1 tonight?" Relief flooded me when she confirmed there is indeed a bed available. I was lead to my royal abode which is in the 1st floor ala Victoria Street 8 bed Mixed Dorm. The room also house a German couple and the receptionist herself (Yea, she slept in that room too). The next thing I instantly noticed is I could hear the street performer singing from the streets below. Free music. With my sleeping place finally secured, I attend to the next highest priority matter, my stomach. Lucky for me, one venue of the food list I compiled was just around the corner. I had a rather expensive Nasi Kandar at Nasi Kandar Line Clear. So-so only. Disappointed, I decided to call it a day.

Unfortunately for me, I found sleeping was quite hard due to noise from the street and vibration of heavy vehicles zooming by. I managed to enter lala land but was disrupted by the sound of Indian Bollywood music at 4am. Apparently someone decided it was fun to hit their stereo on full blast on the streets below. The disco event lasted around at least 30-60 minutes which after I had hard time falling back to sleep.

Syok@Jalan Chulia

Considering I couldn't much fall back asleep and I planned to visit Bukit Bendera in the morning, I decided to hit the road early morning. After my morning ritual, I was out to Komtar to catch a bus to Bukit Bendera. I wanted to complete this place before the sun gets too hot. Disaster strikes again as I learnt from the bus driver that apparently Bukit Bendara was close till the 19th... So I decided to go to Kek Lok Si Temple instead.

The bus took me straight to Air Itam, which took around 30 minutes. I felt a sense of satisfaction on not bringing my car to Penang and opting to utilize the public bus there instead when I saw the mayhem of driving around Penang. What a mess... I arrive at the bus stop just infront of Kek Lok Si Temple and at around 9.30am. From there, I had to do a ~~short~~ long hike to the temple. The temple was partially prepare for the Chinese New Year Celebration next month, as there was tang lung hanging all over the place

CNY 2015 ready!

To reach the top of the temple where the Kuan Yin statue reside, I had to ~~forked out~~ donate RM6 for a round trip cable car short ride.

At the top, I am reminded of the majestic view of the gigantic Kuan Yin statue and the amazing view of Penang from a high vantage point.

Amazing how humans could build such a thing

View of Penang

My zodiac sign

I however do feel the temple has been too commercialized instead of being a sacred place of worship with the tons of souvenir shop and donation boxes around the temple.

I was told by a sales lady in one of the souvenir shop that a week before Chinese New Year, visitors time would be extended to 7pm for them to catch the amazing sight of all lights at Kek Lok Si Temple being lit. It's indeed a shame I would be unable to catch such a majestic sight.

To be continued...

Kpop scandal

2015-01-18T15:47:00.002+08:00

Dear bloggie,

This is probably the hottest funny scandal I seen for quite a while. Woi, haram leh! While most people are b*tchin it's just "brotherly hug", I suggest you take a closer look at the girls body language through the whole video.. very obviously "gatal".

I just hate the hypocrite image of a girl in tudung "gatal". To wear a tudung and "gatal", that just doesn't sit well with me. If she remove the tudung maybe I wouldn't be so pissed (cause let's face it, KPop SUX) but hey that me.

Tracks trailer

2015-01-17T12:13:00.000+08:00

Dear bloggie,

Brought a tear into my eyes just watching this trailer...

2015

2015-01-03T11:24:00.000+08:00

Dear bloggie,

It's 2015... Another year has gone like the wind... It's the time of the year where we look back on the previous year and see what how good/bad we fared and plan how do we look back the next year.

So a refresher on my 2014's New Year resolutions and some snide remark on how I fared...

Visit a foreign land - Yeap, US is as foreign as it could ever get...
Start gambling investing in dividend stocks - Epic fail
Facebook less - Been clean of Facebook for a year, amazing feat
Achieve my fitness goals - Finally after 5 years, I reached my 70 kg goal weight
Write a full fledged application using Spring Roo - Epic fail + laziness
Write a few technical post on Spring Roo in this blog - Hahaha...
Learn to say "Fuck You" in 12 different languages - Only learnt one, Fakku Anata
Land 1 date - Yes, my ~~monk~~ mean streak continues...
Refactor my room - Epic fail
Get a monk hairdo - Almost
Watch more documentary movies - Mehkay

So, a mixed bag overall in terms of how I fared... Probably the US trip, going cold turkey in Facebook and hitting 70 kg weight pretty much sums up my 2014 story for me. Looking forward, what is my 2015 resolutions?

Visit Japan
Write a short novel
Achieve 15% body fat at minimum body weight 65 kg
Run 3 10K runs
Build/Program a game
Land 1 date
Visit Penang
Update my English slang vocabulary
Go on a juicing diet
Try out 3 new hobbies

Top 8 Best 2014 Movies

2014-12-28T15:13:00.000+08:00

Dear bloggie,

Yes, yes, yes... I completely forgotten to do this till I saw Jeremy Jahns doing it in his youtube channel.

So without further ado.... tis is MY top 8 best mobie list of 2014 which I watched... Yes, 8 not 10... Why? Why not... Truth be told, cause I feel I missed a lot of good movie worthy to be in a top 10 list, so instead of forcing myself to put a movie I think that doesn't worth the gold top ten brass, I decided to just cut short 10 to 8 instead... it is after all my entry :)

The Journey - A Malaysian local film that finally manages to edge typical local block buster ciplak movie like KL Gangster, Lu Gua Bro, Jangan Pandang Belakang Boleh?
Interstellar - Great movie but sorry, this ain't Gravity.
John Wick - Despite the absurdity, this movie is a f*ckin good kill joyride
Edge of Tomorrow - Live, Die, Repeat... So Zen...
Fault in Our Stars - The ~~few~~ only movie that made me shed a tear... Okay, a couple of tears... A movie resolving on death that is really about life. Mush a bit of tragedy, romance and philosophy, and you got yourself a piece of romantic masterpiece.
Frozen - The music was amazing, storyline was above average, characters colourful, ~let it go, let it go...
Guardian of the Galaxy - Best Marvel movie of the year. A fun ride from start to end.
The Lego Movie - Everything is awesome, this movie is perhaps the movie I underestimated the most and honestly was very delighted when it turn out to be a stellar gem.

Memorable mentions: How to Train your Dragon 2, X Men: Days of Future Past, The Wind Rises, In Between Floors

Movies that I think should be in the list but didn't watch: Boyhood, Gone Girl, Dawn of Planet of the Apes, Whiplash, Wild, Night crawler

Over Hyped: 300: Rise of an Empire, The Maze Runner, The Amazing Spiderman 2, The Hobbit: Battle of 5 Armies, The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay,

Shit + Gimme a refund list: Transformer 4, Teenage Mutant Nincompoop Turtle (Seriously, I'm putting Michael Bay into my blacklist)

2014 in retrospective

2014-12-27T00:14:00.001+08:00

Dear bloggie,

I'll start this blog entry with a very cliché opening...

"What is the meaning of life"

I been asking this question for almost 1/2 of my life... It seems that every time I take a step forward in my quest to find an answer for this question, the answer would seem another 2 steps further away from me.

Life sometimes befuddles me... Sometimes it seems like a majestic piece of creation by god... at the same time sometimes it seems like a tornado of chaotic, meaningless, empty dark void pit.

I sit here now at the edge of the final eclipse of the year 2014, staring into the face of this strange yet familiar face in the mirror in front of me. I'm unable to tell apart the facial difference from a year ago with exception of less hair that grace this face now.

As MFR told me, 2014 been quite an eventful year for me. I kicked off this year at 1/2 way through my 5 months self imposed exile from the workforce from the previous year. I had to wait until March to start work as my new job only requires me to report in then. I then joined this good company which even gave me the opportunity to travel to the US for training.

I spent a month in the US, where within that 1 month I expanded my eyes to the vastness of the horizon in this world. I lived in this beautiful and serene city of Manassas. I also get to visit Washington DC, Skyline Drive (in Shenandoah Park), Luray Caverns, Baltimore, and even New York! Despite all the bad images and conception from media, tv and etc... I learnt that US is really a beautiful place to be. It was truly a memorable trip that will stay etched in my memory for a very long time, with exception of the tiring long 16+ hours flight time.

Work wise, nothing spectacular happening. I felt my growth in learning again stumped. Unlike my previous job which was fast pace and have a tight dateline which forced my skill to grow, the environment here at my new workplace is perhaps too relax to forced me to grow. I however as always fulfill my tasks which is required of me, which is something I take pride in... getting the job done. The lack of simulation to grow and stress of dealing with one of my colleague does arouse my desire to find a new job... but the scale between good and bad favours the good more hence I will remain where I am for now.

I also finally achieve my goal of hitting the 70 kg weight on the scale. The journey which began 5 years ago finally ended. I gained 10 kg across this 5 years, which I think is rather good. While I'm no Arnold Schwarzenegger, I feel I'm way more sturdier than I was 5 years ago. A end of one journey leads to the beginning of another one. My new goal is to lose fat while maintain muscle mass to stabilize at the 65 kg mark. It been a rather yo-yo battle as I gain and loss weight and currently weighting 68 kg.

Achievement wise, achieve nothing major. I did however won 2nd place for Male Top Scorer in a Inter Department Bowling competition in my company.

Not all is sunshine though, as my grandmother and grand aunty passed away. Somehow, I feel like a piece of me was forever lost. Despite my stance to distance myself from my relatives, I feel I am bonded to my relatives though a link which run deeper than blood.

As for my romance life, it's another dry run year for me. I think I'd finally recovered from the rejection that thrown my monkish life upside down. I felt some attraction to a few girls in my office, but as for trying to catch another fish, I think I will maintain my stance of not trying and let things be. MFR berated me for my lazy and cowardice approach but somehow a part of me already resigned to the fact I'm meant to live the rest of my life alone.

So to sum it all up, I would have to say 2014 is a pretty good year for me. Not so optimistic on 2015 being better or even able to equal this year. However that is another post for next year...

Merry Xmas

2014-12-21T19:23:00.002+08:00

Dear bloggie,

I would like to wish everyone: couple or single, happy or sad, rich or poor, in love or out of love...

MERRY XMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Life is a roller coaster ride filled with both up and down, so for those that are now in a rut and hurting, remember the greatest strength in our human species doesn't lie in our capacity to think nor reason, but in our unlimited capacity to feel. So it's alright to feel pain, sorrow, loneliness, sadness... Cause it's that part of us that also allows us to feel joy, love, closeness, empathy... and as a whole what makes us what we are... human...

So cherish the good times, accept the bad times... and move forward knowing, it's what shapes us to who we are now...

May everyone's wish come true this Xmas or in the coming year... And if they don't, may you at least draw warmth from this Xmas festive spirit...

Sound of silence

2014-10-25T07:32:00.001+08:00

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never shared
No one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

"Fools," said I, "you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sound of silence

Yoga

2014-10-08T22:50:00.001+08:00

Dear Emma,

During work today out of the blue, one of my colleague jabber on purpose of meditation, etc which lead him to question me on what is yoga. He defines yoga as "something we do to feed our spiritual self". I told him based on my understand and my own instructor words "Yoga means union of body, mind and spirit" which he ended up dismissing, stating yoga comes from the word "yoking". Since I ain't adept in Sanskrit and know going into a debate with this colleague typically will go no where, I decided to shut my mouth once he dismissed my definition of yoga. Truth be told, I understand that his definition is true, yoga does feed our spirit but what I disliked is how he "defined" yoga and asked me "Isn't that the purpose of yoga, you practice yoga right?" before dismissing my opinion of yoga and reinforcing his point on "yoga = food for spirit".

So being the kiasu I am, here is the definition of yoga from the web:

"Yoga are the physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that aim to transform body and mind. The term yoga is derived from the literal meaning of "yoking together" a span of horses or oxen, but came to be applied to the "yoking" of mind and body. - Wikipedia"

Remind myself have faith in those that have practice and taught yoga for years and have some confidence in what I seen/experience/practice...

I actually debate a bit on should I post such a petty dispute since we all human have different definition on different things. However I decided to post this anyway since I did learn something out of this, which is the real Sanskrit meaning of yoga, which is yoking. I also wanted to post upon my reflection upon why I study yoga. Even if yoga means spiritual food, union of body and mind, etc, I practice yoga because I enjoy it and that alone is sufficient...

12.57am

2014-08-11T02:04:00.000+08:00

Dear Emma,

It's now 12.57am late nite and I'm still wide awake. This is one of those days where my mind simply refuse to go into sleep mode. It seems like a eternity since the last time I couldn't fall asleep. The past 6 months been a rather tiring one with my new job, hence I had little problem sleeping at nite.

The refusal to sleep reminded me of myself when I was in college days, those days when I simply refused to sleep to watch a movie or etc. I was like an owl back then, active at nite, sleep at day. Sometimes I could go without sleep for 2 days straight... How I aged since...

I have been always complaining bout how I couldn't b*tch bout being in mid life crisis since I was still not mid aged yet... Yet in another 4 days, I will be 32 years old. 32 years old... Oh man... Another 3 years before I can declare myself mid age crisis. Just 3 more years... *Sigh*

So what do I feel like b*tchin about in this late hour? I dunno frankly speaking. My creative juice seem to be running low recently. Let me think, what I been doing today. I practically spend the whole day at home today. Surfing, counter striking and juicing...

Anyway, I was told I am going to be involve in a personality team training conducted by my company. So, I was surfing for personality tests to see if I had a change in my personality. I retook the Carl Jung personality test and to my amazement, was stereotype as ISFP. In my last personality test, I was labelled as INFP. So did I change my personality or what?

Technically, both ISFP and INFP are introverts that are live their life according to a set of belief that they hold dear inside their heart. ISFP is a more hand on guy, grounded to physical things and action oriented. INFP meanwhile is more de attached from physical reality, dwell in the imaginary world in their mind and prefer to daydream than to do something.

Reading the description of the ISFP and INFP, I'm convinced the test I took is faulty and believe I still fall inside my original INFP type. According to some material I saw on the net, a good example of a INFP is Frodo from Lord of the Rings. The reluctant hero that plays the hero role due to his conviction to his belief he has to complete the quest. Another cool character that is INFP is Calvin from the comic strip "Calvin and Hobbes".

INFP are in general great listeners. One that is willing to lend a ear for others to pour their hearts to, as long as the topic is something that INFP deem as meaningful (non empty conversation). INFP keep their feelings and thoughts deep inside themselves and are only willing to share em with a selected few that are really close with them. They are also constantly trying to make sense of this world and hold a set of belief that they place as a sacred unspoken oath. They sometimes are deem as cold by other due to their lack of physical reaction to things but the reality is that they have a reaction in the inside, it's just they are good at masking it on the outside. They however are de attached from reality and due to their perfectionist behaviour sometimes take things too personally.

Sweet 70

2014-08-03T21:11:00.001+08:00

Dear Emma,

I finally hit my targeted weight of 70kg... That's a 10kg increase from my original 60kg bodyweight before I started gymin. Hard to imagine it already been 5 long years since I first started doing my 1st pushup in July 2009.

There's definitely been good days, bad days and really bad days during this 5 long years of sweating blood while pumping iron. Injuries come and go. I injured my tricep, shoulder and even spine. But that's all part of the parcel of this discipline...

Looking back, my motivating for working out definitely have changed through the years. From the initial gain stronger body for running and putting some meat into my upper body to gaining a acceptable strength ratio in my lifts. I started with a classical bodyweight workout I got via Scooby's youtube videos. Then I got exposed to the mental and spirtual exercise via Pilates and Yoga. I made some great progress during my 1st 2 years putting on 5 kgs before plateauing for 1.5 year.

My working career and mating attempt went down the tube during that period... I however stumbled across power lifting (Starting Strength) and decided to try something new to break the plateau. I made some progress in terms of weights I could lift (and gained 2.5 kg) before finally injuring my lower spine courtesy the deadlift.

Took some time off heavy weight and attempt to further improve my skill in Pilates by taking Pilates instructor course. Learnt a lot from the course, but the most important lesson learnt was I'm no instructor material. I returned to power lifting but found my strength pummel quite a lot compared to my peak before I got injured. Slowly rebuild my strength via Wendler 5-3-1 but my lack of discipline to follow the program made my progress really slow. I took a month of it due to my US trip before deciding to restart my whole power lifting training from ground zero via Starting Strength. Almost hit my peak again and walah... I finally achieved my magic 70kg body weight.

So where do I go from here? To be honest, I'm not so sure myself. I'm considering taking another break from power lifting and venturing into a more all rounded workout. A little bit of strength, flexibility, balance, aerobics and core. While most people say the danger of training for everything is you might end up gaining nothing. But I think "gain" is depends on one's goal.

While I feel stronger especially after lifting weights, I do feel my body is heavier. My new fitness goal is to obtain a body that feels light. To feel light, one body must be strong and weight must be light. Hence a proper bodyweight-strength ratio is required. Also to feel light, proper movement patterns should be practised. I will be focusing more on bodyweight exercises to obtain the bodyweight-strength ratio as bodyweight exercises are a great indicator of how fit you are (Too fat or lack strength = little reps). Also I want to refocus more on Pilates to obtain at least the "Breathing", "Spine Elongation" and "Spine Articulation" aspect down. Also look to fix some muscle imbalance I develop in my body, mainly anterior and rear deltoids issue. Looking forward to this new journey....

Xiaomi Fad

2014-07-29T20:08:00.002+08:00

Dear Emma,

I actually was keen on getting a Xiaomi Red1S smartphone but decided against it due to conflict in principle. My problem lies with both the provider and the bunch of scavengers that seems to plague this rather good product in my opinion.

First of all, while I think the flash sales strategy is rather innovative but fundamentally flawed. Frankly speaking this flash sales is a nuisance in my opinion and don't understand why do they need to resort to such mean to rake up sales, especially when they already have a good product at a great price. A lot of people got sucker into buying their product cause of the "Jusco Member Day" mindset Xiaomi managed to infused into these bunch of peoples. Who do I blame for this? Sadly I have to blame the consumers themselves for this. Why? For getting sucker into this gimmick. As long as the consumer keep playing along, that's as long Xiaomi will continue doing this gig. If consumer grow a backbone and boikot Xiaomi for one flash sale event... Imagine "10,000 unit, not one single unit sold", you think Xiaomi will take a serious look at how they are f*ckin the consumer with their gimmick? But at last, consumers will be consumers... overly blinded by greed and kiasu ness.

Second is the 2nd level market some people are already creating. True to the mindset "You can make profit outta anything", the scavengers are buying multiple units and then reselling for some profit. Now is this wrong? No... This act is in no way wrong-er than how our real estate got screwed by a bunch people with the same mindset. And everyone is b*tchin bout how house prices are expensive and etc, when the same bunch of jokers are actually pulling the same shit albeit at a much smaller scale. A bunch of hypocrites...

So I decided to grow a backbone and say no. F*ck Xiaomi and their flash sales... Flash ur cheap phone up ur candid arse for all I care... I will not participate in this dumb gimmick and will not contribute to getting a bunch of scavengers richer period... I'm not saying what they are doing is wrong, it's just I won't give my hard earn moolah to these bunch of peoples...