Walking Contradiction..

Whose back?

2009-05-21T01:22:00.003+08:00

Around 6 months or more ago, I thought I was done with this blog, but someone said something to me "you are an expressive person, you will probably find that after a while, you need to blog because things just need to come out."

Guess what, my friend. You knew me well and you are right. The past few weeks have been hard. Hard at work, hard with new people and just generally hard. People generally dont like other people who complain and whinge, so I guess I shall keep that to a minimum. It's not anyone's fault, but thats reality right? Things just get hard. We all wish for sunny days, rainbows and happy times. Many people dont appreciate that enough and only remember rainy days.

When you reach a certain point in life and you realise the person that you are, we always think, what else is out there for me? Is this all life can ever be? It is with certain amount of consiousness that we choose the life that we are in and we do not change it so in some way, have we no one to blame for ourselves for we carve the life that we are in?

It is 1.25am, and I stay awake. Not because I cannot sleep, but because I think of so much work that lie in my responsibility. I reach a point where it disturbs me, and that I cannot focus nor think or work any further. I stay awake. I stay awake and i think, and i think. People always say "why worry, its just work?" But if you do something for like 8-10 hours or like me, maybe 16 hours a day, wouldn't you take pride in what you can deliver? Is it not sad that you find you have so little time to show the capability that you are truly able?

It's been a tough week and its only Thursday am.

Not a goodbye, but a new begining..

2008-10-30T00:24:00.003+08:00

This blog started out as the place for me to share with my friends what has been happening to me, the general updates of my life. During my time away, this has been so difficult to maintain and I find that it becomes easier to share with friends who are truly close to me directly (you know who you are and I love you guys always). And then I start to think that perhaps this place has become a little bit too superficial, and I’m losing my personal touch with people. I feel that I should not only be telling my stories once to a computer, but many times more to actual groups of people.

At first this was also my place to vent, but now I think I don’t need this anymore, perhaps I just got a little bit more content with life, and need to bring back to perspective what is really important.

To share one last piece of news, I’m coming home…The past few months experience has been an unforgettable one, I think I grew up, and thank you to the people who helped me bring me to this place not just geographically, but to a higher state of mental being that I am in. I was watching a show alone in my hotel room the other night, and one of the lines stuck out to me.. “What you do for yourself, will live and die with you. What you do with others, will leave an impact on the world forever”

So with this I say, farewell, I don’t think there would be any more updates to this place. If you want to catch up, drop me a note. I’ll still be continuing my journey of running, treasure hunting, working, badminton, and whatever new activities I’ll continue to try in the coming year.. :)

Where are thou, Verona?

2008-09-25T22:38:00.001+08:00

I was speaking to a colleague about what I did over the weekend, and basically what I did was visit Verona on the Saturday and Turin on the Sunday. This was indeed crazy and super tiring, but my colleague said I will finish Italy in a month. Beautiful Verona was where the birthplace of Shakespears’ play “Romeo and Juliet’.

I have the famous picture where I am rubbing the right breast which is polished of Giulette. It’s said that if you rub the breasts of the bronze Juliet statue in the courtyard you’ll be lucky in love or fertile or something. It is free to travel to the balcony, but I wasn’t about to give anyone my handphone to catch a picture of me waving a kiss to Romeo…

On the ferry to from Como to Bellagio

2008-09-23T00:35:00.000+08:00

You say the word Lake Como, and this is actually the place where a lot of celebrities like George Clooney, Richard Branson has huge villas in various villages along the lake. It was raining, so it was impossible to sit outside. The correct side to sit on the ferry is the LEFT side because that’s where most of the interesting items are.. (anyway, you will notice because everyone rushes in to sit on that side).
Additionally, I found it VERY strange that on a ferry, there is a restaurant on board. So, for Euro15, you get to have a set lunch. Some bread, drinks (vino rossi and vino bianco) better known as red n white wine, water, a primandi (pasta), a secondo and a desert. That’s just too much for me, and I thought I wanted to eat the famous fish in Bellagio, so I spent the ferry trip enjoying the view instead.

Fireworks@DatchForum Sept 08

2008-09-19T08:17:00.000+08:00

One of the perks of staying so near the main venue of concerts and events, is that there is always some thing going on. This particular night, I hear "boom, pang" outside. Wondering what it was, i peered out my window and there it was... FIREWORKS!
(I later found out that it was MTVDAY in Milan)

I have alot of pictures which turned out pretty great for a little Nokia N82. You can see that it was taken outside my hotel window, (refer pillar on left), and flagpoles at the very bottom and lights illuminating the carpark. In the distance, is the DatchForum.

Not bad huh? I listened to my fellow photogs and changed the ISO setting on my little Nokia N82 to high and also night mode, and using PhotoScape to brighten it up a bit... Not badddddd... :)

Bellagio

2008-09-18T19:42:00.000+08:00

Is a quaint little town, which was unfortunately pouring cats and dogs when I got there. No choice but to spend Euro5 on an umbrella, and hide out in a quaint little café to warm up. I tried speaking Italian to the waiter and he responded in English. Managed to score a panini for lunch and a latte. What I didn’t realise is that I did the ultimate boo-boo in Italy which was I started drinking my coffee while I was eating my panini. Later I read on wiki that coffee is purely meant as a digestivo which means ‘AFTER’ meal.. This town name was also taken to be the name of the famous Las Vegas casino, the Bellagio. With its cobble-stone walkways, little shops, it truly is a nice little village in Italy.

Shopping in Foxtown, Mendrisio

2008-09-16T17:04:00.003+08:00

This place is actually in Switzerland, but at the border of Italy-Switzerland. I took a bus which costs me Euro15 to get here. Wow, the trick is you have to pre-book or come super early because the double decker bus was fast filled up with enthusiastic shoppers. The bus trip was quite boring, but we got there little over an hour. Then …

SHOPPERS HAVEN!!!

Gucci, Prada, D&C, Versace, Salvatore Ferragamo bags, shoes.. I somehow expected it to be ALOT cheaper, but it is actually not. A bag still costs around 200 Euro, and I never saw the big deal in owning thousand dollar bags, so this was a deal breaker for me. A lot of people left with BIG shopping bags and is truly recommended for the brand-conscious… For me, if something is Made in China, then it really doesn’t matter whether its Prada or some other generic brand…

Work-Life Balance

2008-09-10T21:39:00.000+08:00

It has been 2 weeks at work, and it feels like a month as I feel like I’ve barely contributed anything. Time passes seemingly slow while I’m at work… I’m addicted to stress maybe. The life is quite different, contrary to what I expected. Italians work life is 9:00-6:00 with a short lunch time (less than an hour). They also seem to have no problem going to the EXACT same place to eat for lunch everyday. You learn to appreciate Malaysia where we have so many cultures and variety.

In the grander scheme of things, one must really question, “What is 6 months anyway?” It takes years to build a career and this experience is once-in-a-lifetime. So like they say, you gotta make most of a good thing (I’m IN MILAN, for goodness sakes) so I have now planned 6 months worth of traveling around Europe. What a pity that most of the time I have here is in the winter, but apparently it is also nice to see certain places in winter.

Let’s hope work picks up in the next few weeks…

Milan SHOPPING TIME!

2008-09-10T15:44:00.009+08:00

Managed to visit the Galleria Vitt. Em 2, which was a shopping haven really. Actually all the streets surrounding the Duomo, Via Dante, Via Monte-Napoleane, and Via Vitt. Emannuel 2 has the major brands, the Armani, the Louis Vuittion, Prada, Versace. The price tags of these items made my eyes pop out.

One thing nice about this place is the clear glass ceiling windows that it has. Made it a good atmostphere to buy something..

The designer shops were all there.. The Gucci, the LV, the most important brand of all in this pristine shopping centre, the MCDONALDS..:)

Around Milano!

2008-09-08T17:12:00.007+08:00

Away I went on my exploration around Milano… First stop ! The Castello Sforzesco which was really.. quite ordinary. It was quite a nice place and tourists were there, but it cannot compare to the older castles I’ve seen in other major European cities. I only found the main entrance having gone one round the Parco Sempione, where tons of joggers were jogging around me. The main entrance had a nice water feature in the front, and tons of locals tend to sit here around the grass as well…

Milan map showed that there were other places of interest in the park, but when I passed it, it looked a bit grungy, and didn’t leave me the best impression so no pictures there. I should have guessed when I didn’t see other tourist groups going there.

I did see 2 cats sleeping which I thought was cute. Shows that animals get lonely too huh..

The next stop the DUOMO, largest Gothic cathedral
Be careful of hagglers who try to sell you strips of friendship bands. They attempt to tie it on your wrists and try to ask money from you. DON’T LET THEM!

The Duomo itself was quite a spectacular site, but somehow, didn’t have the same effect for me as the Sagreda Familia which I saw in Spain 2 months ago. The roof and museum ticket costs Euro7, and was worth it to go the roof. I didn’t realize they offered a cheaper option to climb the stairs. It is not that high, so if you want the budget option, go for it!

Should definitely go early as I saw crowds building up in the afternoon. The inside was tourist friendly as they cordoned off alot of the religious areas for worshippers. They also have big screen projectors for everyone to see what was happening. I happened to go during a service, so it was quite peaceful to see a service or bits of it, but I can imagine the feeling would be 10 fold when I visit the Basilica in Rome.

They weren’t kidding with the dress code, so definitely wear appropriate clothing, or cover yourself up when visiting the Duomo, and they have guards checking bags before you can enter.

Theatro Scalla
This place boasts showing the most famous operas and shows, but even the façade of the building was nice, so had a picture moment.

After all the sightseeing, this is my take away. When doing research of places, having a picture of the place you are looking for, or heading to really helps. I spent quite a lot of time walking around trying to find this place, not knowing that one hour before that, I was standing right it front of it… What a noob.

The fitness centre....is my friend

2008-09-04T22:16:00.003+08:00

So, since I'm still fighting some jetlag, the fitness centre in the hotel has been my friend. 2 treadmills, 2 steppers, 2 bikes, plus a lot of weight machines (that I dont use). I took this picture while I was cycling.. Surprisingly alot of people use the gym (but left as I was still exercising... think i come in later than most people).

The entire gym has mirrors, so you can't help but to stare how good looking you are when you are running... cycling.. lifting weights... haehahehahe..

Hello Hotel Room...

2008-09-03T19:55:00.006+08:00

I left a 3 bedroom apartment with a kitchen to come to a small hotel room in the Central Business District of an alien town with a lot of offices and lunch time cafeterias, but minimal nightlife.

The room is small, and looks to be my home for at least a month. I originally began with a 2 single bed room, but since the fact that my apartment has a queen size bed, i've kinda gotton not used to sleeping in one single bed, and and anyway, its riduculous as the other bed is there completely un-used.

So I swapped to what i thought was a king size bedroom. Lo and Behold... I opened underneath the covers, and it was 2 single beds joined together in the middle. But whatever it is, anyway the room layout is better.

The weather is also a lot warmer than i expected this time of year, but anyway, its going to be freezing soon..

The good thing is that I get free breakfast every morning which is a combination of hams, cheeses, breads, croissants, cereals, juices.

Yums, im gonna be a fatty soon....

(The scenic views of my nearby offices outside my hotel room window)

Once you go business class, you cant go back...

2008-09-01T23:33:00.005+08:00

I was UPGRADED in my long haul flight from Malaysian Airlines (Thanks Amish from the Malaysian Airlines counter)to Amsterdam. It was an incredibly long wait at the airport, and one wonders a few things while I am lining up here.

“Why don’t they have a line for single passengers with single luggage?” It’s obvious that the families and groups are the slowest because they have more people, and thus they think they can pack more into their luggage and TADA, when they reach the counter, its overweight, and then they start taking little things out, weighing them again, and taking and weighing, and taking and weighing.. (yes, its frustrating when you are at the back of the line)

I did however enjoy my business class seat on the 747 aircraft.

SEAT: OmG, this was the most wonderful contraption ever. It goes side, up, down and full sleeping position..

FOOD: Why do they overstuff us with food and beverages? I was so full I didn’t even eat my main course for dinner. I did enjoy the proper plates, cutlery, tablecloth. Nice of them to give us menu, but came breakfast, I had no choice but to eat nasi lemak.. where was the omelette or crepes choices??? “Run out lar miss” *grumble grumble*

COMPARTMENTS: Everywhere, side, front, they even have a little place to put a bottle of water.. Nice..

Sorryla, if I sound gundu. First time business class mahh…

CupCake Chic @ The Curve

2008-08-28T18:22:00.003+08:00

To celebrate my upcoming birthday, or rather to have a reason to eat a cupcake from Cupcake Chic from The Curve, i bought a yummy looking Rum and Raisin cupcake.

At Rm4.50, its a price of having a sugar high and EXTREMELY sweeetttt flavour stuck on your tongue.

The amount of cream is about 1/3 the thickness of the cupcake, which is CRAZYY.. unless you are trying to get diabetes, or a coronory heart disease..:) They have a large amount of variety in the shop, (similar to that of donuts like green tea, and chocolate)

Overall, tasted allright..:)

Life throws a curveball...

2008-08-22T17:02:00.004+08:00

Just recently when I thought life was getting a bit too settled, it throws me a curveball. A twist of events, a kinda unexpected one has happened to me. More news on this soon....

The end of the road of The Edge Rat Race 2008 KL

2008-08-21T11:12:00.008+08:00

Well, the Rat Race was on Tuesday evening, and we were there a little bit too early, because I was worried there was no place to park. Ended up parking in one of dodgy open carpark (on a side note, when i went back, there was pieces of broken glass next to mine, i.e. the car next to mine had his car broken into. More reason to leave early)

The Rat Race experience is truly a unique one and I thought I would do much better but I guess I underestimated the running in my work pants and also the afternoon he

at. Supporters were really great to come out and support us, I felt awful that I was probably last from the company to run by but they cheered enthusiatically.

Our company sent 2 teams of mixed male and female and the first team did extremely well and managed to win 2nd overall. What an achievenment! The atmosphere at the place was trully great, with the costumes, cheerleaders, CEOs, one of the best moments to remember.

Unfortunately I also sprung up with an allergy the night before which caused my lip to be swollen a bit. So i came in last in my company, to be expected I guess. Lesson learnt, next year, let someone younger run, it's not funny playing a badminton competition on Sat, then running Rat Race on Tuesday. Getting old and weary. I actually make that lil noise 'ughhh' when i get up from a chair these days...

HAehahehaeh...

Champions@ New Vision Badminton Academy

2008-08-20T09:52:00.005+08:00

Thanks to the yellow-inspired jerseys (similar to those of the Malaysian Olympic Team), the team did extremely well in the latest badminton competition. We were perhaps thinking of Lee Chong Wei's win in the semi finals the night before.

This year was a good one for me, as I didn't manage to lose a match, though I did come extremely close to losing one of my singles. It was a tough match, where I won 21-19, and I nearly coughed my lungs out. Super tired. Tell-tell signs that I'm getting old, and it's time to hang up the jersey maybe in a year. I played every type of category, women's singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles in the finals.

New Vision was an accomodating host, so anyone looking for a venue to host their games, I would strongly recommend it as they have excellent courts.

(Thanks to CG for the pictures, and more pics to come of the team and our glorious trophy)

Famous on The Edge pg 68

2008-08-17T15:36:00.005+08:00

We are famous! Our photo is on the The Edge Page 68! Buy the August issue! We were one of the teams that was featured for the 19th August 2008 Rat Race....

Kiasu Parking @ Taman Desa

2008-08-14T12:48:00.006+08:00

One lunch time, Amy, CY, PN and I went to eat the famous "Yu Tau Mai" in Taman Desa. This place is a place where parking is scarce and the food is great. Whilst we were happily eating our lunch (this yu tau mai came with milk, so it was a little funny), this car started hooooooooooonnnniggggggggggggg super damn long as her car was double parked.

"Hon"

"Hooooon"

Mind you, this was truly disturbing our enjoyment of lunch. The shop owner tried to alert all his customers that this irritated woman, (lets call her Lady A) was well.. irritated that she was stuck and couldn't get out.

A good 10 minutes later, out came another datin-looking like lady, let's call her Lady B. Lady A gave Lady B a good piece of her mind, and backed out. The funniest thing about Lady B is that she decided to take the spot that Lady A went out off but at the same time, Lady B was afraid someone would double park her. So... this is how she parked.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? ???????

THis is what Malaysian Kiasu-ness is about. Dont be one...

On the road to being Badminton Champs 08

2008-08-12T09:04:00.004+08:00

I stumbled onto a new world yesterday when Adelene and I went to Pertama Complex (which was next to Sogo)

There is a huge amount of shops which sell sports ALL sorts of sport items there like apparel, raquets, shoes, etc, though I've been told the carpark is a bit dodgy. Adelene and I were there looking for shirts for our team badminton even this weekend.

We finally decided on YELLOW Yonex T's (matching for both male and female) for a very reasonable price, and can bargain also, which is good. Will keep you posted on whether we bring back the badminton cup again this year.... :)

Cafe W.I.P@ Bangsar

2008-08-06T11:21:00.014+08:00

The owner of Cafe W.I.P is actually the same owner as Souled Out and sevenatenine. I'm not sure which magazine I read it from (was it Prestige?) but one of the questions there were asked were "Would you ever consider franchising these places?", and their response was "No, because every area is unique. Hartamas needed a place like Souled Out, and Bangsar a place like W.IP. It should never be more than one type of restaurant per area".

So, anyhow, we had a gathering there a few weeks back. Our previous gatherings have always been about large quantities of food and sort of minimal mingling. This time, direction from the top was to change up the format a little, have it a bit more of a cocktail party setting. After much haggling with the W.I.P event management guys, we settled on something we were all happy with. We had a buffett dinner in the outdoor setting. The only peev I had about this place is that it's super WARM (everyone was sweating), and they did try their best by setting up fans, but because it was a hot night, it couldnt really be helped. I wonder if this was their ploy to get us to buy more drinks... The food was alright, and we did end up with alot of leftovers.

We made everyone who was late for the event to down glasses of Coke, which trust me is alot harder than downing alcohol. There was also a dress code for the night which was to wear the colours of the Mozambique flag (as that day was the Mozambique National Day). Dont ask me why I planned this, it was just an excuse to phych people up.

We had some games lined up for the night, and one of the games was where we got people to count upwards, but omitting the number 7, multiples of 7 or numbers which contained 7 in it. This turned out pretty funny, and some were truly gifted at this game..

We also had another game where males were worth a certain amount and females were worth another amount, and we shouted out currency amounts to make them form into groups. That was truly chaotic in W.I.P. At that point, we had all the outdoor guests looking at us weirdly. Not that we noticed, but W.I.P staff were telling me about it later in the night.

So, to conclude a great event, we had to have a group photo, so here it was, hope everyone had an enjoyable night, and more to come :D

(Thanks to Jasmine, Ronan, and David for the photos). The SLR group is growing i heard...

Offhand Dinner at Al Diafah, Sri Petaling

2008-07-29T22:25:00.011+08:00

Having worked in Technology Park for so many years till recently, its amazing that I've eaten in so few places around here for dinner. So, just on an offhand night, got off early from work and ate here. It looked real posh from the outside (and also the inside, check out the ambience!) which made us hesitate to enter but the prices was really reasonable.

What was ordered?

Complimentary coffee mint drink starter
Al-Diafah Salad
Mixed Grill
Shish Kebab
Complimentary desert fruit cocktail

The damage?
Around RM70

The service?
Could have been better. We over-ordered, because we did ask the waiter whether the Mixed Grill contained only lamb and chicken. So, we ordered the extra Shish Kebab. Turned out the Mixed Grill also has beef which is the exact same meat in the Shish Kebab. The Mixed Grill also came with bread so, basically we have the Shish Kebab twice. Waiter could have warned us about this...

Not a bad place for a posh Friday halal lunch if you guys are looking for a place to go for celebrations. :) Food was tasty.

Do you know?

2008-07-29T21:31:00.000+08:00

When i introduce myself to people that I'm from Kuching, I'll start to tell them that it's a small place, and most people know everyone. And you know what's the next question everyone will ask?

Do you know Kenny Sia????

Road to the Edge Rat Race

2008-07-27T22:30:00.008+08:00

This is the first post for the training on the Road to The Edge Rat Race 2008 which will be held 19th August. What's the Rat Race? It's the time where the corporate people run for ~4.5 km around KL town, starting from Bursa Malaysia, passing through KLCC area, and back. Sounds easy doesn't it? The trick is you have to do it in work clothes!

This is my first year participating, as they have introduced a Mixed Team category where runners consist of 3 guys, and 2 girls. Our company has sent 2 teams this year, so I managed to work my way in to the 2nd team. Training sort of started last week, where i did my sprinting action on the treadmill but today was my first trial run around the actual route. Conclusion? Not bad. One big hill, one small hill at the finish, but the most of it was relatively flat. I managed to do 2 rounds around the route.

So, those of you who work around the area. Mark the date, 19th August, I should be whizzing by, and I would a cheer but as long you dont throw a tomato at me, I'm alright.

With 23 more days to go, the countdown begins.. Run Run RUNNN!

Pangkor Laut Resort

2008-07-20T23:11:00.010+08:00

A bit of a spontaneous trip to the one of the most relaxing places in the world, Pangkor Laut Resort....

Filled with sunbathing Caucasian tourists, no TV in the rooms, and just a small section with WiFi connection.

The Check In
Very cool system they have, they have an individual greeter to explain to you what facilities was available, so you feel extra special. And we felt super extra special because our Garden room was upgraded to the special SPA VILLA on stilts... :) The reason being that apparently the Garden rooms were booked out, so lucky us!

The Food

The package we ordered directly from the YTL Travel Centre included food but not drinks. The set food were basically one appetizer, one main and one desert EACH, and several buffets for dinner and breakfasts. I never ate too much in 2 days *pig*. Bloated by the 2nd night. The value of food is is CRAZY though. All our meals didnt cost less than RM200 per meal as they priced their appetizers no cheaper than Rm30, Mains no cheaper than RM40 and desserts at RM30. So having a food deal was super worth it! Having drinks would have been better....

The Beach, The Pool (where we hung out most)
Being in the Spa Villa was great, because you got to use the super exclusive pool for Spa Villa people. The infinity pool was great, overlooking one side of the island. The beach (Emerald Bay) was a bit overrated. The coastline was very short, and the sand had lots of corals and stones. The water was nice temperature though, but the WAVES were huge. Played around with the water but kinda scared me, cos I was wearing contact lenses and the water was super salty

In another 2 weeks, I'm heading of to Swiss Garden Hotel & Spa, Lumut. Let you know how it compares...:)