EngLee's Path

Becoming A Father

2011-08-30T21:49:00.003+08:00

My baby Adelyn was born last month and I officially become a father. Time past really fast, can't believe my last post was one year ago. Too many things happened during the year, becoming father is one of the significant event for my wife and me.

To all father-to-be, I strongly recommend you to be in the labour room. It's really a lifetime opportunity that you must experience to know how a baby is born.

Over the month, we really learned that it's really not easy to grow a child, especially at this stage when cry is the only mode of communication.

At least things are getting better now when she learned to know day and night.

Just started to bring her out for shopping few days ago. After the day, you don't really remember much about what you have seen at the mall, you only remember about comforting her throughout the day. All you are shopping are only her clothes, toys or other necessities for her. It's no longer NAS, hard disk nor SAN storage system, it's breast milk storage system we are shopping.

Even when you are eating, you need to take turn!

All these may scare you, but you will be happy and contented when you see her sleep soundly. That's the joy of parenting, I guess.

Singapore Trip

2010-09-12T16:20:00.005+08:00

The last time I went to Singapore was few years back when I was in UTM. Time flies, that was at least 6 years ago. It was last weekend that I revisited this "expensive" place again. I feel like I have accumulated sufficient purposes to go there again.

Ever since Genting started the casino in Sentosa, I have always wanted to see how nice the place is, especially when I have seen so many mock up designs and videos when I was with eGenting.

Secondly, I have always wanted to visit my friends who work in Singapore. They have been there for years and I have not have the chance to see them in Singapore yet.

Of course, there is also plan to get myself an iPad, which has been launched in Singapore and not Malaysia. I don't know why things reach Singapore faster than Malaysia, although the two countries are only separated by a tiny strait.

There is also pressure by my wife who has not been to Singapore since her kindergarten days, although I repeatedly told her that Singapore is nothing different, only more expensive.

After we planned everything, we also lucky to have GeekCamp held at the same time, which we could join a few sessions.

With a very limited time, less than 48 hours, and so many things to accomplish, it's definitely a trip that makes you tired, not to relax yourself at all.

With Seh Hui blogged in great detail on our itinerary, I am not going to repeat the same words. Go: A Brief Singapore Trip by Felix Leong.

I am sure you can see how tiring we were, if you read how much walking we have done from his blog.

My version of the trip is actually much more tiring compared to his, because we have the most "exciting" time after he left.

I wrote this on the bus, with my new iPad, right after it happened:

The Last Minute Rush

We had a very exciting rush at the very end of the trip. Our last point of exit will be The Plaza, which we will leave by First Coach bus at 6:45pm. We were having our dinner at The McDonald's at Boat Quay until 6pm which we thought we are only one station away from Nicoll Highway station, the place to get ourselves to The Plaza.

While we were walking to the station, we realized that we need to travel to Dhoby Ghaut to switch to Circle Line (another MRT line), to get to Nicoll Highway. At that point of time, we thought we still have plenty of time and MRT should be much more reliable than our LRT back in Malaysia.

Things got much more exciting when we reach Dhoby Ghaut station. We saw a train about to leave and the alarm rang right before we entered. We failed to step in.

The next train that we boarded the train did not move. The door opened and closed for a few times. The time was 6:20pm. For the fifth time it opened, we decided to run out of the station to take a cab. It was a very risky decision because we have no idea which direction are we heading and taxis could stuck in traffic jam.

As we reach the street, instinct told us to cross the road. We saw more than 10 taxis but they are all hired. The time was 6:30pm and we have no idea which direction and how far are we. As we run, yes run like crazy, along the street, we were lucky to find someone just got off from a taxi!

The taxi driver told us that we are very near to Beach Rd and asked us not to worry. All the traffic light turns red as we go along. It seems like we are destined not to leave Singapore at that time.

Finally, when the driver told us that we have arrived, he told us that Parkroyal is supposed to be The Plaza and we do not see any sign of green bus as described by my sister, who is leaving with us.

As he U-turned and drove past Parkroyal, he realized that The Plaza is actually a building behind Parkroyal. We were relieved to see the green bus. We reached the bus at 6:43pm. And, we boarded the bus and left the place at 6:50pm.

This experience is priceless.

Our feeling, even after so many days is simple: Don't visit Singapore anymore! It's going to be a trip that makes you tired. Don't get cheated by the advertisements that describe Singapore as shopping heaven, I was unable to buy a single item from Orchard Rd, after spending hours at the place. Or probably the problem is not the place, the problem is ME!

If you are more interested with the iPad than my trip, I have shared my iPad thoughts on another blog few days ago. Go: iPad from Singapore.

Gunung Nuang - Second Attempt

2010-08-07T08:04:00.004+08:00

Gunung Nuang, the highest peak in Selangor (1493m), has always been an unaccomplished task in my mind for years, after failed to conquered it few years ago. During the last attempt, we started quite late in the morning, and it was raining heavily throughout the climb. Moreover, Gunung Nuang is known for its 'evil red earth' section. When the red earth is wet, it becomes very slippery. My badminton shoes can't take it. Although we managed to get to the false peak, it remains as an uncompleted task in my mind.

This time was different. We have great weather, we started damn early although it was really an impromptu trip without much planning.

Woke up at 4:00am, gathered at 4:30am to have breakfast. Reach the place at 6:30am and begin our journey to the peak at 6:40am.

The direction to the place is quite straightforward. This guide by COREZONE is quite complete:

From Leisure Mall Cheras, drive towards the Kajang hwy. You will pass a TOLL. First exit after the toll will take you to Hulu Langat if you keep left. Go straight at the first traffic lights. You will get to a second traffic lights with a police station at the T-junction on your right. Take a left turn at the lights. Go straight a long this very very long kampong road. It will take you pass many small kampungs along the road, i.e. Kampung Batu 14, Batu 18, etc. (you will see exits for Ampang, Semenyih, Kajang, etc. but keep going straight). Sg. Hulu Langat is on your right side.

Towards the end of this long winding road you will arrive at the last kampong along the Hulu Langat river. You will see a big TNB pump station on your left with a football field in front of a bus stop. The road breaks into a V (there is also a bridge going across the river). Take the road LEFT of the football field.

Follow this road. You will see a very very old signboard describing G. Nuang. The road curves right and will take you to directly to a Puncak Niaga gate. Just before the gate, turn left and you will end up at the G.Nuang ranger station & parking lot. There are some chalets for rent. Est. time from Cheras, 45mins - 1hr.

The only thing that is wrong about the guide is that, the traffic light with the police station on the right is actually the third traffic light, not the second. Maybe the second traffic light is a new one. Secondly, the estimated time could be faster, if you are going to the place as early as 5:00am.

Back to our hiking trip. There are actually a few milestone to meet before we can reach the actual peak.

As provided in the guide, these are the expected timings:

1.5 hours - Logging Trail from parking lot (fast time, 1 hour)
30 mins - River crossings at campsites (fast time, 10 mins)
1-2 hours - Evil red earth section (fast time, 45 mins)
1 hour - Rocky section & tree root scramble (fast time, 30 mins)
40mins - From "false peak" to REAL PEAK (fast time, 20 mins)

We are at the acceptable range because we managed to reach the false peak at around 11:00am, although not the entire group. In our group, we also have some losers who did not made it at all, not even up to the second campsite (Kem Pacat).

Though we were enjoying our lunch on the peak as early as 12:00pm, we have very bad time after that. We have been reminding ourselves to U-Turn at 2:00pm no matter where we were.

As we have waited for more than 30 minutes on the peak and do not see any sign of our other friends coming up, we decided to head downwards so we could back home early.

However, after 30 minutes down, we see a friend still coming on the way up. We cheered him up and encouraged him to get on the peak, and we shall wait for him at the false peak. We didn't know this is the worse decision ever made.

We waited for more than an hour, even went to the peak again to search for him and we finally get him with us at the false peak at 2:30pm. He has both his thigh muscle cramped.

The journey down become extremely slow. I even had the chance to swim at the waterfall near Kem Lolo for more than an hour (the water was great!), while waiting for our friend.

Things went even worse when it started to rain after that, at around 6:30pm. The pace went even slower.

We finally reached the car park at 8:30pm. Our "loser" friends had been waited for us since 2:30pm. Imagine! We have spent 14 hours on the hill!

I must say it was a great experience. Few lessons learned:

Always keep the team in group. If we were to move together with the weak or injured, they will be motivated to keep going.
Don't bring the weak, Nuang is never for the faint-hearted.
If you break things down to the smaller size, you find it much easier to conquer. We know we have how many sections and how many hours for each section. With that, you will definitely do it. Without breaking down into small pieces, it will be a never ending hike. (This could be applied to everything we do in our life)
Always bring rain-coat (not umbrella) and torch lights (with new Energizer batteries).

Looking forward to go for hiking again. It's really not easy to spare time for these kind of activity at this stage of my career, but it really feels good.

Something I heard from foreigner group-mate (not in exact word) during this trip: "This trip is painful, very painful, but I like it. This is exactly what I wanted to feel."

I agree with him.

It's Another Year

2010-01-05T01:55:00.004+08:00

It's already 5th day of this new year, I haven't got the time to review what I have done last year and to set new goals for this new year. Remember I did this last year on the very first day of new year!

Looking back my goals for 2009

Lose procrastination attitude and stay motivated to accomplish my monthly financial goal. [No more procrastination! Yea!]

Abide by the schedule I created for myself. Be discipline! [Mission failed. Where's my schedule? Blame it on room renovation!]

Complete all projects on time. [Improved]

Setup my own software development office. [Accomplished]

Lose my belly and build a strong and healthy body. Aim for body weight of 75kg, by visiting gym at least twice a week. [Mission failed, but weight is quite near due to heavy work load and stress, not the healthy way.]

Read at least one book a month. [Mission failed]

Get Competent Communicator title in Toastmaster. [Mission failed. Didn't go for Toastmaster anymore due to tight schedule]

Other things accomplished

Signed the certificate of marriage, legally got myself a wife. If you think this is not an accomplishment, you will know it is one when you get married.

Got myself into a different business world, changed my mindset and perspective in managing business.

Setup a new business with a new office in a new field.

Do I have any other accomplishments? Should have blogged more so I do not need to squeeze my brain now.

Goals for 2010

Financial: Double my net-worth by end of year.

Health 1: To sleep early, by 12:00am daily and wake up early by 8:00am. (I'm writing this post at 2:00am?)

Health 2: Join a gym and go at least twice a week. 75kg is still my goal, but I want it the healthier way.

IT Office: Get myself a few programmers to reduce my work load.

Time management: Allocate at least 1 days a week for myself and family. To regain control of my own time.

Personal development: To improve communication skills, hopefully thru Toastmaster.

That's it. And... maybe writing more blog posts should be one of my goals..

Three Discoveries from Sunway Pyramid

2009-08-15T22:34:00.005+08:00

Sunway Pyramid will soon become the next The Store
All shops are closing down at 9:45pm on a Saturday night. Can't find much people there. Or is it due to H1N1? (From my perception, The Store is doing very badly in the past few years and it's never a place for young people like myself.)

Men's wedding band is much more expensive than women's!
Went to check the price of wedding bands. Men's wedding band doesn't come with diamond but it costs at least 1K more than women's, because of the weight of the platinum to make it look bigger.

Carl's Jr don't serve sauce anymore
Recent years, I started to prefer Carl's Jr than McD's, mainly due to the fries which tastes better, their sauce, and the bigger size of the burger. The sauce, especially the Santa Fe sauce, tastes damn good. Now, they don't even serve Mayonnaise for me to dip the fries.

Amanah Saham 1Malaysia

2009-08-01T16:36:00.003+08:00

The Prime Minister recently launched a new fund, Amanah Saham 1Malaysia.

From TheStar:

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced the incentive at the launch of the new trust fund, which has 10 billion units, with each unit going for RM1.

Amanah Saham 1Malaysia is the biggest trust fund in the country, and will go on sale from Aug 5.

With the name 1Malaysia, the first thing that came to mind is, we all live together as Malaysian and not separated by races. We will go out claiming ourselves Malaysians, NOT Malay or Chinese or Indian.

But somehow, in contrary, the package is distributed according to races:

To ensure that the units are fairly distributed, Najib said that for the first 30 days of sale (Aug 5 to Sept 3), 50% of the units have been allocated to bumiputras, 30% to the Chinese, 15% to the Indians and 5% to other races.

So, are we really heading for 1Malaysia? Or do we still separating ourselves by races?

Fitness Center Pricing

2009-07-25T09:14:00.003+08:00

I went to a fitness center in Petaling Jaya, a chained type of fitness center yesterday. Since I'll be in or crossing PJ everyday, it might be a good idea to get a gym membership in PJ.

I had a strange feeling after I went for a tour and consultation about the package pricing of the membership.

The price starts at:

Joining fee: RM700
Processing fee: RM140
Monthly fee: RM245 (or RM265, can't remember)

My feeling: Impossible. How they can survive with this rate?!

Second price:

Joining fee: Waived
Processing fee: Waived
Monthly fee: RM175
Contract: 1 year

My feeling: Sounds more like it.

Third price

Joining fee: Waived
Processing fee: Waived
Monthly fee: RM155
Contract: 2 years

My feeling: 2 years is a little bit too long.

Fourth price

Joining fee: Waived
Processing fee: Waived
Monthly fee: RM123
Contract: 2 years

My feeling: 2 years is still too long, but the price is good.

Fifth price

Joining fee: Waived
Processing fee: RM140
Monthly fee: RM131
Contract: 1 years

My feeling: The package is just nice, but I'll need a HSBC card, which I don't.

In the beginning of the session, when we tried to reduce the price, the consultant claimed they are one of the premier fitness center and emphasis that they are not pasar malam, we can't simply bargain. So, they are NOT pasar malam, huh?

At the end of the discussion, we were thinking, the package is nice but we think the price can go lower for sure! They have came down from RM200+ to almost half of it now.

Don't ask me about which center is that, I'm not going to tell you.

Not to talk about joining or not because I have not made up my mind. I have a feeling like fitness center is built to cheat people's money. They tried to squeeze as much money from you. We could have agreed at any price before we reach the lowest.

So, they are no different from cheating, agree?

Of course, this is business but why can't they just give one standard package?

What happen if the members are discussing about the pricing after they joined?

Share your experience on this, if any.

Twitter Widget Scripts for Blogger (Good Tip!)

2009-07-22T00:19:00.005+08:00

If you added Twitter widget to your blogger, especially you, remember to move the following section of the code to the bottom of your template so that your blog doesn't have to wait for twitter to load first.

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://twitter.com/javascripts/blogger.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/englee.json?callback=twitterCallback2&amp;count=7"></script>

I notice that this blog loaded halfway up to the twitter section, then it stops for a few seconds, then it continues to load. It is caused by twitter widget loading slower than the blog itself. Sometimes, it might fail too. So, it's better to move the actual JavaScript that does the loading to the bottom of your blog, right before the </body> tag.

Got this tip from Twitter while procrastinating.

If you are too lazy to do your own code editing, just go to Twitter's Widget Page to get the code!

Twitter Updates

2009-06-25T12:39:00.002+08:00

I have been on twitter for quite some time. You can follow me @englee. I just added my twitter updates to the side bar of this blog.

It's unbelievably easy. Thanks to Bloganol.

Feeling Tired

2009-06-24T19:40:00.004+08:00

"You have so many tasks in mind that you don't have the time to finish anything at all. Then, when you look at the calendar, you notice another week is gone already."

That's what happening to me right now. Every time I review my to-do list, the list never go shorter, but it gets longer.

Why is that happening even I have been chasing for it all day? I leave home in the morning (though not early) and reaches home at 10pm daily but why things do not improve at all?

Clients still chasing me for a long overdue project. I still don't have much time for family or girlfriend. I still have to work at home every weekend.

Prioritising working is very important. Discipline is also critical for success.

I need to be more focused on what I wanted to achieve. Let me just sit down in a quiet environment to think about it, rather than rushing without any clear direction....

(This post is probably a rambling after drinking too much the day before and no mood to do anything today)

Which Way?

2009-05-31T23:50:00.003+08:00

Lots of things happened in the past few months since my last post. I turned down one partnership offer and took up another offer in a non-IT business (don't feel like disclose the detail here right now, unless I go to create a new anonymous blog..).

This is a question I have been asking myself all the while. Should I really go into another business when I know what I really want is to develop my own software house?

My IT projects are going well. New projects keep coming. The new non-IT business started 2 months ago and the sales started to build up already too. I'm feeling damned happy about it, but at the same time, I felt a little lost.

I'm worried that I'll lose both because I can't concentrate on one. It's the same dilemma I had when I decided to leave Genting almost a year ago (wow... didn't realised I left Genting for so long already).

When I review my IT task list today, I realised that my IT projects haven't progress much since I last updated the list 2 weeks ago, because the other business is taking up more and more of my time. My partner is putting all his effort in the business. I put most of my effort in it too. Staying up late night in the office is a norm now. Even my parents who would always call me back home for dinner don't do it anymore.

On the other side, I will have to start an IT office soon, so that I could begin hiring people to help me on the projects. I find myself struggling to meet project due dates. I can't abandon the projects after they put so much faith in me....

So, which way? Have to seriously put some thought on my next step.

Donated RM30 to APT

2009-01-19T21:27:00.003+08:00

WARNING: This is a complaint blog post. Stop reading if you are busy.

I have been a loyal customer of APT for more than 4 years (maybe longer, I can't recall my previous barber before them). I don't have specific hairstyle that I want nor I have high requirement for good look. Maybe that's the reason I could stay with them for so long.

Loyal with them because of what?

For their price that goes up from RM18 to RM30?

For their hairstylist who never recognise me and treat me like I'm new everytime I'm there?

Or for their unfriendly hairstylist?

It's actually for the convenience of walking distance from my house (so, it's actually loyal for no reason).

Although I would get a different hairstylist and get myself a different hairstyle every time I visit them, I have never get the experience I'm getting today. The hairstylist actually cut very little hair off my head then put on some hair gel and assume it's done.

When I commented on it, she give so many excuses for not cutting my hair any shorter. Maybe she's the "professional" hairstylist who think for the best look for the customer, but I am not sure why I should spend 20 minutes and spent RM30 there, if I don't get my hair much shorter that I expected.

OK, I might look so damn cool for this week. By next week, I'll need to get another haircut again? Think for the sake of my wallet.

My advice to hairstylists, we are not artists. We don't get our haircut every day or every week. So do it properly. Besides that, I can't shape my hair like a artist and visit bank HQ to negotiate for big deals. All I need is just a formal look. Not everyone wants to look like the coolest artist in town.

So, to keep myself happy, I'll just assume I have DONATED RM30 to them.

My compliant ends. Please comment on this issue. Would you prefer a reliable Indian barber than this kind of service?

A Whole New Year

2009-01-01T21:28:00.004+08:00

2008 had been a wonderful year for me. It is the year that I really left the comfort zone to be in a whole new unpredictable world, though I actually planned to do it in 2007.

Since I joined this new world in July 2007, I find myself keep looking for excuses for not doing my best for my own company. I should be glad to work for myself, which is what I really want all the while. Discipline is certainly one of my biggest problems I'll have to overcome.

Maybe I'll have to list down some of the few things I want to accomplish in 2009. I'm not sure how useful are new year resolutions, and I never believe in writing it before.

Here are the few things that I hope to accomplish in 2009 (and I shall review them by end of 2009!):

Lose procrastination attitude and stay motivated to accomplish my monthly financial goal.

Abide by the schedule I created for myself. Be discipline!

Complete all projects on time.

Setup my own software development office.

Lose my belly and build a strong and healthy body. Aim for body weight of 75kg, by visiting gym at least twice a week.

Read at least one book a month.

Get Competent Communicator title in Toastmaster.

Is that all? I'm not sure, but these will be my direction in 2009 and I will take 100% responsibility to achieve them!

A Long Christmas Day

2008-12-26T10:00:00.005+08:00

My Christmas day started the night before, my whole gang of buddies gathered at my house for BBQ and beers all night. Played some silly games till 1:00am and finally when to bed at 2:00am after cleaning up everything.

The Christmas morning, we all went to Dewan Sungai Pinang for badminton, which we book the court the night before with a wrong guard. Luckily the court was open because the "Seng" family (Wei "Seng", Ee "Seng", ...) also booked the other court at the same time.

I was quite surprised that everyone managed to wake up so early to be at the court before 9:30am though the few of us finished 2 cartons of Carlsberg.

In the afternoon, I (and girlfriend) went to Tropicana City with William (and his girlfriend), which he claimed to be one of the biggest mall in Malaysia. I was very disappointed with the place. Many parts of it are still in renovation, so the smell paint and cement are all around. Besides that, about 40% of the shops are not opened yet. Contrary from William's claim, the mall was so damned small. Not much bigger than the tiny Jusco Bukit Raja. If you haven't been there, just wait for another 3 months.

Didn't manage to find any food to eat at Tropicana City, we headed to One Utama. After stucked in traffic for about 1 hour, we reach One Utama and found that all parking lots were full and closed. So, we were forced to go somewhere else. Next obvious choice was The Curve, but it was also full.

Planning to go back, I suddenly thought of having Dim Sum at Sungai Buloh, which is not far to travel from Kota Damansara. When I reach the place, found that IT WAS CLOSED!!!

So, we have no place to go but to head back to Klang. On the way back, I thought of Subang Parade which I thought will not be crowded. While on the way there, we met a "gangster". We were like queuing quite long for a traffic light. Suddenly, a car tried to cut into the queue right in front of me. So, as usual, I would not allow a car like that to cut in. With my driving skill, he didn't manage to cut in, but right after that, he drove to the side of my car and show us his tattoo for about 30 seconds, trying to scare us. I don't know what he is trying to prove but maybe he thinks that gangster just don't have to queue. I don't know what a girl (his girlfriend/wife in the car) thinks about a man like that. Have you guys met anything like this?

Not to be bothered by the incident, we continue our way to Subang Parade. AND, YES, IT IS NOT CROWDED. Easily get a good parking spot. Bought some cloths and had our dinner there. And finally reach home at 10:30pm.

So, it's a very long day for me. How did you spend your Christmas?

Malaysia Entrepreneurs' Startup Camp

2008-11-23T16:36:00.005+08:00

Since I left eGENTING to do a startup, though a small one, thought it might be useful to join the Startup Camp organised by Malaysia Entrepreneurs (check the schedule to roughly know what is it all about).

I was planning to be there early to get myself a T-shirt (limited by first 100) but failed to do so because I had a severe stomachache early in the morning. I reached the Plug and Play Centre at 9:30am, so I managed to join "Profiling: Picking The Right Partners" by Michael Reyes from Money Tree. I must say he's a good speaker and learn what to look for when you need to get a partner. He also made me realised that I shouldn't get the partner I was planning to get.

Next, I thought MSC Pre Seed Grants would help a little in my small company, but after listening to it, I understand that the things I'm working for, is not really suitable to get a grant. Besides that, it was a session where there are too many people standing at the front, each of them trying to tell a story of their own, made the whole session out of control.

I then left for lunch early because I haven't had anything yet. Heard from my girlfriend who attended another session that the other speaker is too inexperience to share his experience.

After that, I can't find any of the session interesting until 5:00pm when Dr Sivapalan spoke about "7 Deadly Sins of Entrepreneurs". He is quite right, from what I learned from his speech, I would fail miserably soon, if I'm working the way I'm.

The 7 Deadly Sins:

Not enough research - I didn't do much research, I don't even know who's my competitor!

Not focus - I'm taking all kinds of projects!

Under capitalised - Never thought of capital yet!

Weak team - Do I have a team?!

Lack of strategy - What is strategy?!

Value proposition - Err.. at least I have some values.

Weak marketing and sales - Haha. One leg kicking!

Guess I'm planning to fail. Time to change!

Besides learning a little from the talks, I also learn something new: Young speakers are either success too early or failed too early. They are not ready to share experience when the successful ones don't know how to overcome failures and the failed ones don't know about how to success. Only the ones who has gone ups and downs can tell you the real story. (Anyway, there are exceptions too.)

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

2008-11-19T23:48:00.004+08:00

I haven't been to the cinema for months, didn't expect the next movie I'm watching is Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. My comment on the show was simple: Humorous but the story line is slightly too simple and predictable. It's definitely a good show for the kids (and I suppose it's meant for them).

I thought I'll just need to relax as I have too much things to think lately. The movie just fits how I wanted it to be.

Go get yourself some laughs.

--

When I was writing this, I received a call from one of my partners. Told me something really serious. Something that I wouldn't want to confront now, but it has to happen very soon. The outside world has so much obstacles to overcome (so, I advise you to be contented when you're with a good company). I guess that's the price to pay to be successful. Didn't expect something so simply could become so hard..... I just want to write some computer programs, man!

Ideal Workplace

2008-11-09T23:54:00.003+08:00

I just can't find THE IDEAL WORKPLACE for me to concentrate on my work. I keep changing the place I work, not from a company to another, but from different place in my room or different location in my house.

Just can't stop finding reason for me to not concentrate on my work. Just few months ago, I do a big room reorganisation to relocate my work desk. With one person using two desks, I'm still no satisfied. Then, I attached my LG LCD to my HP Compaq laptop, work with two monitors at one time. I also attached external keyboard and mouse to my laptop.

Then, I shifted to downstair of my house and work on the big table in the hall. Find the place is good to work. After some time, I shifted back to my room, back to my work desk.

My current location is a temporary table set up in my room (leaving my work desk empty), and work without any keyboard attached (just days ago, I have it attached).

(I skipped quite a number of changes which I'm too lazy to write.)

Not to scare you, the long story didn't happen in one day or one week, it's an ongoing process that took a couple of months.

Now, after trying all the possibilities, I am thinking of STARTING AN OFFICE! Will office really solve my problem, I wonder..

Universiti Putra Malaysia Golf Course - Rate

2008-11-08T13:49:00.003+08:00

Managed to take the picture of the pricing for UPM Golf Course.

Might go there next week, hopefully during weekdays, cheaper + not crowded. Very pressure when you have people waiting behind you...

First Time Driving a Buggy

2008-11-08T13:21:00.003+08:00

... also mean first time in a real golf course.

This morning I went to the Bukit Utama Golf Course. It only has nine holes. Price to pay is RM40 for 9 holes plus RM20 for the buggy. Another RM3 for insurance (which is NOT for human, but for the windows of condominium nearby). It would be much cheaper going during weekday.

Still trying to master irons, I used only irons to hit some more than 400m holes. Glad that my 3-iron can reach about 140m. Seeing improvements! Last week, I was struggling to get the ball flying with 3-iron. Get an average of 7 per hole. Sounds bad but looking forward to go there again.

Last week, We went to Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Golf Course, but the place is too packed. There were about 5 buggies queing. So, we were only practicing at the driving range there.

Looking forward to go for more practice at driving range.

Rushing Project

2008-10-28T23:22:00.002+08:00

Feeling very tired. I stay awake to work till 4:00am yesterday night, rushing to meet a due date of a programming project.

This morning I woke up at 7:30am to continue with my work.

At 10:00am, before I could finish the project, I got a call from office asking me to train a group of people on a new finance package that the company is developing. Then calls just keep coming and I only left office at 7:30pm.

Dropped by at a colleague's house to have a Deepavali open house dinner.

Before I managed to get home, I was called by my uncle, asking me to go over his house to settle something.

Ah... finally got home at 10:00pm, took bath and now going to continue with my programming work.

It's a long long day. Long time never accomplish so much things in one day. Hope I could finish my work up to the mark required...

Golf Golf Golf

2008-10-22T20:43:00.002+08:00

After my virgin visit to golf course few months ago, I have stopped playing golf for a while until recently, I'm back again. I have been to Bukit Jelutong golf course for the fourth time now, in the past few weeks, almost once a week.

Still need some time to get used to this kind of EXPENSIVE sport (it is known to be expensive sport, right?), especially when I'm still considering whether to get a new iron set OR to buy a second hand Nike Slingshot iron set OR to get a very cheap golf set from my friend. Suggestions? If I don't get any iron set soon, it would take a long time for me to improve.

Another thing to headache would be whether to pay for a lesson from professionals. It would costs me few hundreds again.

Luckily, it's not too expensive to play at a low quality course which is for beginners. It costs me only RM30 per 9-hole session. Looking forward to play at other course but I really need to practice to make my swing more consistent.

Just been there again this morning. Played very badly today. Partly because of the very hot weather. Partly because we reach the place quite late, didn't have enough time to swing at driving range first. Lost three balls. Two to the pond. One to the bushes. Now I know why my friend asked me to buy more balls. Didn't know that one would lose so many ball in one session. Maybe it's just me!

--

Have been quite busy for nothing recently. I feel like my schedule is always full but accomplished nothing. Have to be more focus on achieving what I need to achieve. It's already the fourth month since I left Genting. I need to see more RESULTS!!!

A Few Days in Langkawi Island

2008-07-27T02:08:00.016+08:00

So much work keeps coming. Sometimes I thought I would take a break to relax after I finish my current project. It would be really.. really good. However, just think of it, will the day ever come? The work just keep coming. So, with so much work in hand, I was with my family, for a short three-day trip in Pulau Langkawi last week.

During my time there, I still can see many places I have seen 4 years ago, when I was there with my UTM coursemates. I really enjoy the trip last time. Some of the places were renovating. Some look totally different, especially the Underwater World.

Glad to find my Dopod D810 GPS is working properly there! I didn't check whether the malsingmaps covers roads in Langkawi before I go.

The new Toyota Innova that we rented. It costs us RM260, slightly expensive than normal package because we reach in the morning, left in the night of the third night. It costs around RM250 for normal 3-day-2-night, and still negotiable.

The Seven Wells waterfall. We didn't climb the stairs up to the real seven well but we really enjoy ourselves at the waterfall below the wells. Imagine the ice cool water splashing on your back in a hot and sunny day.

Another nice waterfall, the Temurun waterfall.

We choose to go on the Mangroove boat trip. We were brought around in a boat to the places at the north-west of the Langkawi Island. We went through a cave in boat, we see monkeys, we see bats in another cave, we see snakes, we see eagles, we see lots of Mangroove trees (of course), we had a nice seafood meal on a floating restaurant. With so many things, it costs somewhere RM500 per boat. Oh, we also see many different weird fishes from sea, which they caught and kept at a place to show the special abilities of the fishes.

The seafood in a floating restaurant. They served 3 fishes, 2 plate of prawns, fried rice and some vegetables.

The Black Sand Beach. Don't know why it's black, it's just black.

Spend an evening at Tanjung Rhu. The scenery is undoubtedly beautiful, especially during sunset. We also found that there's sandbar connecting Tanjung Rhu beach to opposite island. That means you could walk to the opposite beach (which is about 2km away) without getting your shirt wet!

We spent about RM25 per person to get ourselves into the Underwater World. I would say all the animal, fishing, everything were great except for ONE thing. That is the 3D cinema, showing a very tedious story. The 3D effect is really bad, especially if you have seen the quality of those 3D videos in Disneyland.

You can find penguins in Underwater World! The ones with yellow eyebrow look exactly like those you can find in Happy Feet.

I didn't had the chance to get on the cable car last time and I thought I must go up the hill this time. But no luck for me. It was closed for maintenance. If you are going, make sure you check when it will be down for maintenance. They have a monthly scheduled maintenance. Besides that, they will not run it when it's raining. So, plan properly.

Found this at the Oriental Park at the bottom of cable car station. Does it really free? Why put up the stand when they are not putting up the price? Or they are keeping it blank to cheat some Mat Salleh?

Burned rice or beras terbakar. You will find a place where the Langkawi once used to burn the rice they harvested when Siam attacks them. When they don't get to enjoy it, they don't let the Siam have it as well! Good... die together!

It was a nice trip. A place I look forward to go again for a low cost and relaxing trip.

Replace MyKad at Putrajaya

2008-07-25T08:48:00.007+08:00

It was a great experience to replace my I/C or MyKad at Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN) or you would call it National Registration Department.

First of all, why do I need to replace my I/C? I just went to Public Bank the day before to open a bank account to borrow some money (economy is bad). After everything has been properly filled up, they wanted to verify my MyKad. The IRIS device failed to read the chip. Actually, I'm already expecting that because it has broken more than a year ago. Then, I thought I could use passport to verify myself. Maybank would request for passport when my I/C failed.

The Public Bank staff insisted on using I/C, and she suggested me to change it at JPN Putrajaya which only takes one day to process. ONE DAY TO PROCESS?! Is that really a government department? I remember there were some reports about this earlier. I thought I'll check it out.

Yesterday, I woke up damned early in the morning and drove to JPN, Putrajaya. I didn't know where is the exact location, but I managed to find it in my GPS. Anyhow, it's not hard to find because it's located at Presint 2, at the road where all the Merdeka parade was held.

Unbelievably, the whole process to register and take picture took me less than 5 minutes. There are about 18 counters for replacing or getting a new MyKad. Another thing I must praise is their efficiency and courtesy. They certainly deserve the praise and gone to the next level.

Yesterday evening, I called their hotline and well-mannered, they told me that my I/C is ready! I was supposed to wake up early to collect it this morning, but I'm just so lazy. I'll probably get it later today.

However, there is still one point for improvement. When I reach there, I had to park my car at a parking lot beside a construction yard. All the parking lots in the building are reserved for their employees. I don't care to leave my car under the sun, but the parking lot that shares the same entrance with construction site is just so bad.

Oh, forgot to mentioned about the cost. I had to pay RM10 for replacing MyKad. Other costs would be the petrol from Klang to Putrajaya (50KM one way) and RM5.90 toll (one way). By doing the maths, it actually quite expensive to do it there.

(100 x 0.25) + (5.90 x 2) + 10 = 46.80

UPDATE: I forgot to include a second trip to collect it. So, it would be at the cost of RM36.80 + RM46.80 = RM83.60!

It's far but it's worth the trouble. If I were to replace it in Klang or Shah Alam, it would take 10 days. You wouldn't know whether it's a real 10 days.

Some pictures:

The floors are well labeled. You know where to go once you are there.

There's a small garden in the building. Look at how our tax money are spent.

Nice cafe with the running numbers, so that you don't have to wait at the counters.

One Hour from Klang to Klang

2008-07-22T16:39:00.004+08:00

I thought after leaving my nine-five job (or should it be eight-nine job?) at Kuala Lumpur, I don't have to stuck in traffic jam for hours. It just happen again few minutes ago. I had to go to Public Bank Taman Chi Liung (somewhere near Klang Hospital).

It took me less than 15 minutes to get myself there, but when I'm on my way back, it took me more than 40 minutes to cross the Jambatan Kota (the Klang bridge). Blame it on the construction blocking one lane of the bridge.

While I was swearing the authority, an ambulance appear behind me. I can see that all drivers would like to give way, but there weren't any place for us to squeeze. If there is someone almost dying in the ambulance, I can only wish him luck.

I was told that it would be closed till next third quarter of 2009. Next time, I am not going to take the risk again. I'll just come back using the Connaught bridge through Sentosa.

Anybody had to travel through the way everyday? Any better route for me?

Newly Renovated UOB Bank

2008-07-08T22:19:00.004+08:00

Recently, the UOB bank near my house just renovated. They installed lots of new machines, replacing all old machines. It looks good.

My parents have been using the bank's services for a few years, for their good services and walking-distance location. Surprisingly, today my parents were waiting for me to help them bank in some cheques. I thought that's a trivial thing that they could do it themselves?

The silly bank management, after the renovation, removed all the envelope-style cheque deposit machines, replaced with those machines that you will need to key in every detail at the machine. What a brilliant idea to save some trees but I believe they will lose lots of their customers.

Why I say so? Firstly, I notice that they had long queue during peak hours. How much time do you need to drop the envelope? Five seconds! How much time do you need to key in account number and cheque details? Errr.. at least few minutes!

Secondly, how many people, especially the older generation, will actually spend time to learn new things like this? OK, it's not really a new technology. But, my parents have been filling up the cheque deposit form for the past decade. Do you really want them to change? They don't really touch computers or such machines for the past decade! Besides that, who should take the responsibility if the things are entered wrongly?

Thirdly, I believe the old-style machines should be more robust than the new machines that do lots of processing. The old-style machine only accepts the envelope, than print a slip. The new one requires more processing. They also need to embed a scanner inside. So, when you have more functions, you fail more.

When I was there to deposit the cheques at 10:00pm, two of the machines are out of order. I will have to queue for few minutes, waiting for the one person before me. YES, I AM QUEUING AT 10:00PM! The other machine, went offline while I key-in the details half way. The guard has nothing to say. He can only smile to us.

For this, I would give a thumb-up to Maybank which keeps the envelope-style cheque deposit machine at their branches.

I was wondering, if you were driving few kilometers to the bank to deposit the cheques, and you had a situation like this, what would you do? (Remember! 1km = RM0.30!!)