Designer Love and Empty Things

Look before you leap, year!

2008-02-29T00:33:00.002+08:00

Hey it's the least common day of the year - 29 Feb! I've not blogged since my birthday so I'd better put something up today.

Screw it...it's past midnight and I have the choice between staying up and working or going to bed and worrying about work tomorrow. The latter sounds a lot more enticing. I'm a sucker for enticement.

Updates soon-ish (?).

Happy birthday....

2007-10-22T23:52:00.000+08:00

...to me.

I turned 26 today. As far as birthdays go, this one turned out alright. It sucked that my birthday fell on a Monday and I had a frickin' busy day at work but it ended well. =)

Now I have a new wallet and another year to look forward to. I'm too tired to write more. I'm an old man now. I'm officially 26 years and 1 day old....

Lalalalala

2007-09-26T23:12:00.000+08:00

I apologise for my last post. Boys are dumb too. That's why boys and girls make such an explosive yet delicious combination.

My apartment upstairs is almost ready and I hope to move in before the end of October. Woohoo! I've yet to figure out how to pay for furniture but I will have a cool little pad to call my own soon.

Went to Perth and came back recently but the trip was nothing to shout about. I typed into Excel lots and now my right index finger feels like my left index finger which I broke while playing lacrosse back in 2002. I can't recall breaking my right finger so I wonder what's wrong with it.

It's Ramadhan once again and for the next week and a half I'm trying something new - I'll sleep early (read = before it's late) and will attempt to stay awake after sahur every morning. This means I'll go to work with 5 hours (or less) of sleep every day but this is a small price to pay for peace of mind and tummy.

I believe late o'clock is fast approaching and I should get ready for my slumber. Another day, one step closer to moving into my rumah kayu.

Streuth

2007-08-12T23:04:00.000+08:00

This is not a swipe at anyone in particular so please don't take this personally.

Girls are dumb.

This is a fact of life and I stand by it. I am the 2nd most pragmatic person on earth (the first was the inventor of the Swiss Army knife) but that has nothing to do with my statement.

Fuck this. I'd rather sleep now so I can start my Monday blues an hour early tomorrow.

Spare some change, guv?

2007-07-18T00:12:00.000+08:00

Yes, the blog looks a bit different now. I'm a lousy coder (despite the degree in Computer Science) so I couldn't be bothered to mess around with the XML. Thank goodness Blogger has some easy to use (if slighly limited) tweaking facilities.

But beggars can't eat Fillet Mignon or be choosers.

I wish I was a girl

2007-07-15T22:48:00.000+08:00

I needed to do a load of laundry before a very important fact embedded itself into my thick skull - I now own the apartment upstairs. It's mine, baby!

Actually I've done 3 loads of laundry this weekend. Whites, colours and cat-peed bed linens. I love Jada and her unfortunately permanent cone fixture, but why did she have to use my bed as a litter box?

So now all I have to do is renovate the apartment, furnish it (all I really need is a beanbag and that 40" LCD TV I saw today), move in, throw a few kick ass housewarming parties and then accept the mantle of adulthood that has been hovering over me for the past few years.

I have made an attempt at growing up - I behaved myself (for the most part) at BUM last weekend which meant no one in ACN saw my ass or had to start intensive therapy after seeing me in a bikini. I was subdued but had fun anyway. I'd never been into the pool dunking "tradition" at BUM but this year I decided to join in the fun since I was only there for 1 night. I apologise to Rahayu, Siu, Amran, Nadia, Grace, Yinsern et al for making you wet. After all, I am a sexy beast and it's impossible to resist my fireman's carry and/or dragging expertise.

Now the reason I only spent 1 night at BUM was because my buddy Bong decided to put all the boys to shame by being the first to get hitched. Bong and his wife Rose were the epitomy of radiance on 7.7.07 and I was honoured to be the master of ceremonies alongside Su Yin at their reception. I got off to a shaky start (although Su Yin thought I was being my "usual confident self") but we pulled it together eventually. I'm not ready to quit my day&night job to be a full-time emcee but at least I know all those days spent preparing for the few public speaking activities I participated in whilst at school did not go to waste. Rahayu made a very interesting observation - apparently all my nervous energy redirects itself to a particular part of my body. So I appear calm and collected but 1 appendage on my hot bod does something repetitively. Let me know if you notice this the next time I'm on stage.

My camera is starting to misbehave again so it might be time for another trip to Canon to get it fixed or replaced. I can't decide between sticking to a Powershot (better grip, easier access to controls, pain in the ass to carry around) or switching to a more compact point-and-shooter (looks cooler, fits in my back pocket, I can't grip it without cramping up my fingers). The SLR dream still lurks in the back of my mind but I can't afford an expensive toy right now.

My next toy after the apartment's furnished is a lump of coal. I'll also need Superman to add pressure. I bet no one knows what the flying heck I'm talking about, but what else is new?

Triple threat

2007-07-04T00:03:00.000+08:00

They say the pen is mightier than the sword. They also say a picture is worth a thousand words. So who'll win a ladder match between a Jedi Knight wielding a lightsaber, a blogger writing shite about himself and a photo-journalist armed with a digital camera?

I thought of this analogy coz I'm obviously not a regular writer and most of the time my posts are incomprehensible anyway. My Flickr page on the other hand is updated pretty much every time I snap a few shots on my rapidly aging Powershot and every now and then I write a witty description to explain the photos. The points I'm trying to make are:

Jika A = I post photos more often than I blog (especially since I've paid for a Pro account on Flickr)
Jika B = My photos are probably more interesting and coherent than my writing
Maka C = You'll find out more about my life if you browse my photo collection

I'm too lazy (and tired, but mostly lazy) to write a full-blown account of the 2 weeks I spent in sunny USA but here's the abbreviated summary. (It's abbreviated and it's a summary?? This ought to be interesting):

St Charles
My first trip to the Q Center was certainly memorable. Fulfill Demand was an interesting course coz the lecturers were fantastic. I don't use that word lightly. If you ever get the chance, sign up for it. If you don't work for ACN, why not? Send me your resume and I'll hook you up with HR.

I met some cool people, played beach volleyball and footy with some dudes from London (we kicked some French arse), played video golf with the same guys, hung out in Cadillac Ranch and took limo ride to Chicago with 3 Argentinians, a German, an American and a Russian I think.

Chicago
Chicago's architecture is amazing and I liked the way every city block was exactly the same size. I know I can walk from one traffic light to another (1 block) in about 2 minutes. I hung out in a bar called The Loft with Paula (my Argentinian classmate), Dave (another ACNdroid working in Chicago) and Dave's 2 friends whose names escape me. Let's call 'em Al and Gore. The Loft is the venue of the greatest dancing spectale known to man and once I get the pictures from Dave I'll post them (along with the videos I took). You heard it here first. Don't come running to me for a copy of the footage when you see the "Youtube Made Me Famous" show on VH1.

San Francisco
Wow. I don't have enough words in my vocab to describe how freakin' cold San Francisco was when I was there. Nonetheless, it was my favourite stop on my trip. What I did:

Rode the cable cars. Awesome!
Biked across the Golden Gate Bridge. Great experience and I'll do it again if someone can guarantee that the fog stays away from the Bay while I'm there.
Saw some lesbians making out. They did not look like anything I may or may not have downloaded off file-sharing services in the past.
Ate yummy burittos. I'm not using a double entendre for a change.
Froze my balls off for 3 days.

Los Angeles
The main reason I went to LA was to see my friend Roya who went to King's with me back in 2000. She's a doctor now so I spent 4 days calling her Dr. Roya (actually I only did this once) and comparing her knowledge of medicine against the first aid training I received as a Boy Scout. I also discovered first hand that she meant it every time she said "LA is huge" or "public transport in LA sucks". I walked to Glendale Galleria (that's about 10 blocks from the Hilton) everyday and had to wait for Roya to finish work every night before I could be driven into downtown LA (which took anything from 15-45 minutes, depending on traffic). Catching up was cool and it felt like I was in Hampstead all over again. I also obtained the essential summer souvenir - sunburn.

I'm back at work now, semi-broke and looking forward to a 3 day week. BUM's coming up and so's Bong's wedding. More photos and stories to come in a future post. Now it's time to floss.

US eyyyy

2007-06-21T15:20:00.001+08:00

I'm on the final leg of my US tour. Started off in St Charles, Illinois last week where I attended 5 days of training, followed by a weekend in Chicago. I then flew halfway across the country to San Francisco and stayed for 3 nights. I'm not in the City of Angels, LA.

I'm blogging from the hotel lobby at 12.30am which isn't the most conducive location/time so maybe I'll blog again tomorrow. Hopefully the free wifi reaches the pool. In the mean time, check out some pics on my flickr page.

Peace out! (I found out earlier tonight that this is a completely legit statement in LA).

Definitions

2007-05-22T00:01:00.000+08:00

Bullshit = when your clients send you away for 6 weeks without telephone allowances to call home.
Fucking bullshit = when the phonecards you buy to call home last about as long as a Simpsons cartoon on the Tracy Ullman show.

This past week's been a mixed bag. The weather decided to turn Arctic on the unsuspecting Perth population (myself included) who were still frolicking in shorts and flip flops (or as the Aussies call them, thongs). (Hee hee). Walking to work ceases to be a barrel of monkeys telling racist jokes when it's 7 degrees out there.

Work itself was a lot more satisfying than my first week and a half in SDA. One of the users is starting to warm up to me after a seemingly aloof disposition in our first few meetings. I think he just likes my swimlane diagrams, even though they don't show him what he thinks he should be seeing. I don't mind working 10 hour days here coz at least my brain's being utilised for at least 8 of those hours (which is quite unlike my situation in Cybertron where my brain went into hybernation on July 12 2004 and hasn't really woken up since).

My career counselor e-mailed me today and pointed out the fact that for the 3rd year running, I've been rated as "consistent with peer group" which either means I'm doing just as well as the 700 other brilliant men and women in ACN or I'm just an average Moe and I could get slightly higher wages if I were smarter than the average bear. I thought about it long and hard (well, about as long as it takes to hang out in the loo) and I realised that it's really hard to motivate myself to go that little bit further to make sure my clients understand the meaning of deadlines, learn how to tell the time and sign on the figurative dotted line when I tell them to, on top of all the other work I do. Frankly speaking, I didn't sign up for this gig to babysit the mentally-deficient and in turn slowly turn into one of them. I'm going to make it absolutely clear to the powers that be that once I reach the 3 year milestone in DSO (on 12 July 2007), they should start making plans to take me off the roster. My roll-off date is meant to be 31 March 2008 and that date had better not keep rolling. I'm not one for threats, but if big-boobied chicks with practically zero experience are offered plush jobs in their project of choice, then I don't see why I can't be assigned to something remotely interesting as well.

This autumn/winter weather's got me down. SAD while in SDA is a shitty prospect.

Which is why I loved being outside last weekend. The sun was out and so were my shorts. I should've been in Cherating with the AD&D crew but that's another story altogether. Ah Bee, Gunn and Lee took me out for lunch at this place called Ba Ba Black in East Perth and I must say I've not enjoyed smoked salmon more. The Ba Ba Benedict really hit the spot. I didn't even know I had a spot for eggs Benedict, smoked salmon, spinach and hollandaise sauce on what should have been English muffins but seemed more like uber-bread. I know I'll never be a professional food photographer but that if that photo doesn't make your mouth water, you must be 3 kinds of weird.

The restaurant was sorta by the water and I managed to snap a few scenery shots. The weather was good and I really like how this photo turned out. With enough practice, I might be able to justify the purchase of a DSLR before Azlan leaves Japan in August (or whenever it is he's leaving). This will however depend on how much cash I'll have left over after I buy more cool toys for the apartment.

I ended Saturday on Hay Street. Didn't buy anything coz I'm a stingy bastard but I managed one more shot which I'm proud of. It's probably the worst photo technically, the lighting's all wrong and the I must've crossed the streams as well (go watch Ghostbusters if you don't know what I'm talking about). But that was the scene I saw as soon as I stepped out of Borders and I think it's pretty damn cool.

Almost 1am now and another workday begins in about 7 hours.

IlovemyjobIlovemyjobIlovemyjobIlovemyjob .... for the next 3 weeks I'm probably telling the truth. If it's still true in July remains to be seen.

More news as it happens! Give or take a week. Or two.

Obsessed

2007-05-10T23:26:00.000+08:00

There's not much to do here in Perth so I find myself getting obsessed with various things. Last weekend I just had to find a new hat. I found one at the end of my shopping day out.

For the past 3 days I've had the uncontrollable urge to bite into a nice, juicy chunk of meat. I think it has something to do with being in Perth and eating seafood for lunch and salad for dinner. Maybe it has nothing to do with that and I'm just a carnivore by nature. Can't wait to go back to KL and dig in.

(But I'll have less than 24 hours in KL before I fly off to Chicago... must try to make the most of my time back home).

My latest obsession is with getting a new messenger bag. I don't need one but I walk past the Crumpler shop every other day and I just have to get my hands on a Western Lawn or Hoax. I can't decide and ultimately my wallet will probably make the final decision.

Running around the city last night took my mind off things temporarily. It's really weird running through the heart of a city at 8pm...there was hardly anyone around besides a few people coming out of offices and a few more waiting for buses. I can't imagine doing that along Sultan Ismail or Bukit Bintang without getting knocked over or mugged.

The new fitness plan kicks in tomorrow. I'll wake up at 6.30am, work out for an hour, have some breakfast, shower then go to work. Do this 4 days in a row with 1 rest day and repeat. I had a similar routine in Miri last year and it felt good. Of course back then I went to the gym after work but by the time I finish over here, the gym's closed (that's at 9pm). If I manage to drag my sorry ass outta bed when my alarm clock rings tomorrow without hitting snooze every 10 minutes, I'd consider that a major achievement.

Here's the view from out of our meeting room window. The apartments I live in are on the right, just after the flyovers and opposite the small body of water.
The flyover's a bit dodgy at night (or even in the day) but it's only a 10 minute walk to work.

The weather was superb today with a high of 28 degrees C. If the weather's anything close to that this weekend, I'm hitting the beach.

But for now, I'm hitting the hay.

Letting go

2007-05-08T23:34:00.000+08:00

...of all the crap I left behind. There's only so much bullshit I can take from Nigeria and Oman. If my work's delayed for another month, so be it. Shrek can take it up with them himself. Give 'em two weeks and they expect everything to be done in the last 2 days.

I'm so glad for the dialup connection I'm on. At least I'm able to get in touch with the people who matter. Perth's got me in a mellow mood so I've been listening to slightly sad songs all day. Johnny Mayer, Thom Yorke - thanks for for keeping me company today.

I wanna sit outside in the sun and just relax. Hopefully the weather holds up for a day at Rottnest Island this weekend. On the flight here, I thought the announcement said "Loch Ness Island".

My eyes don't work too well anymore and I don't know if it's a genetic defect of if I'm just tired. Either way, I need to be in the office early tomorrow so it's time to visit the Sandman.

G'day!

2007-05-06T21:25:00.000+08:00

So here I am in Perth, Australia working on an implementation project. Finally! It's only a short-term assignment but at least I've got 1 foot in. Now that I'm here though, I feel a bit out of my element coz the business folks are asking me questions about how Bl*eprint can work for their business. How the fuck am I supposed to answer those questions? I'm only a CR monkey.

I'm on dial-up in my hotel room/apartment coz their broadband connection is insanely expensive. Who in their right minds would pay 11 Aussie dollars for an hour of broadband? So I'm making full use the 80 cents per call charge on the landline and leveraging on ACN's wonderful remote access facilities. The hotel had better not screw me over with the phonebill.

Perth is a nice, quiet city. Work starts around 8.30 and most of the clients leave around 5.30. By the time I leave around 6.30 or 7, the entire city's shut down except for maybe a couple of bars, McDonalds and 1 grocery store that charges 3 dollars for a carton of eggs.

But maybe it's not just that 1 shop that robs you blind. The shop next to the hotel charged me 6 dollars for orange juice. For 18 ringgit, it'd better make me cream my pants with every glass. Okay I should stop converting. All my food's covered by the Dutch oil company that shall not be named. 6 dollar OJ .

I went to Fremantle yesterday which is about 20 minutes' drive from the city. The weather was good and I wish I'd worn shorts instead of jeans. First stop - the fish & chips shop. Well there were about 7 different restaurants, each claiming to be the best chippy in Australia/Western Australia/Fremantle/Perth/that particular corner of the harbour. We finally settled for a place that started with "C" but I can't recall what it's called now. The fish and chips were wrapped in paper...quite a novelty since I haven't eaten paper-wrapped fish since sometime in the 90s I think. Take a look:

The fish wasn't great and they charged 30 cents for each packet of tartar sauce. Outrageous! Oh well, I was full and happy. But next time I'll try Kailis, since it's supposed to be better than that place starting with "C".

Being on the harbour meant fighting off seagulls. I hate seagulls, especially after Vicky's story about her mum getting pooped on back in Folktstone. So I had mixed emotions when I noticed this sign:

I assume S.O.Y. means "shit on you" and it's true - seagulls, like other flying feathered creatures will not hesitate to poop on your head or black leather jacket as you're walking to the bank to deposit a cheque.

Those were the highlights of Fremantle. It's a cool place and it seems everyone in Perth heads over there for the weekend. I don't blame them. The city's pretty dull unless you wanna hit the shops.

Which is what I did today. I needed a new jumper so I walked up and down Hay Street a few times in search of the perfect jumper, if such a thing existed. I also had my eye on a new jacket, although I don't really need one. Malaysia's not that cold.

I just realised - I could probably wear the jacket in DSO when I go back coz it's a fucking freezer in there sometimes. Justification to waste money always comes at inappropriate moments.

Anyway, I finally settled for a grey thingy from Quiksilver and bought a hat as well. 1 I needed, the other I bought for the heck of it. I guess it's okay, since the best way to retain heat is by wearing a hat. I love scientific explanations.

All in all, it's been a goood week in Australia and I have 4 more to look forward to. Now that I've found a way to get online from home, things don't look so bleak.

More tales from down under as the days pass.

Traffic!

2007-04-15T22:19:00.000+08:00

Crazy haired lady driving the Satria GTI this afternoon in Damansara Heights - what the flying feck were you smoking? You drove in between lanes, you stopped in the middle of the intersection when the light was green. Seriously... what the fuck?

I'm looking forward to the day when I don't swear at strangers when I drive.

I'm also looking forward to spending a few weekends surfing in Perth =D

Let's see how that turns out.

Jam Factory

2007-04-11T01:03:00.001+08:00

London'03 - Jam Factory 051
Originally uploaded by Rashid Shukor.

This was a classic action shot that was only supposed to be a trial run but it turned out so perfectly, we didn't bother taking another.

I miss the Jam Factory.

Rewind

2007-04-11T00:01:00.000+08:00

It's been a funny kinda week. I started thinking, dreaming, daydreaming about London. Lacrosse, Hampstead, Jam Factory, everything and everyone in between. I didn't have too much on my plate yesterday so I started looking for Jon on Google. He's the sort of chap you'd expect to find online and I did. Check out his band - Quixotic Flies.

I then started to actively look for my old friends over in MySpace. Managed to find a few of the old Hampstead crew but I'm waiting for them to add me. It's odd, saying "Hey remember me, we used to be friends back when I was a foreign student". Sorta like the Dandy Warhols song, but not quite. So Edi, Alice, Dave, Daria, Ele, Grace, etc. I hope you still remember me.

So yesterday was fun but today was rather hellish. It's a bit late to start ranting but suffice to say I have never felt as frustrated with work as I did today.

I need to start blogging a bit more regularly. It's already April and I have half of February and all of March to blog about.

I'm also contemplating upgrading my Flickr to a Pro account. Do I really wanna share all my photos online? But then again, do I really not want to?

Okay it's almost 1am and I plan to go running before work tomorrow. Flickr decision will be made in dreamland.

I had a good title but I forgot

2007-02-19T00:55:00.000+08:00

It's the Chinese New Year weekend so Gong Xi Fa Chai! Everyone skipped town so I've been left to my own devices. Yesterday was a pain in the arse coz I found cat pee in various parts of the apartment and had to go on a cleaning spree to clean up Rufus' mess. It might've been any of the cats but I blame Rufus anyway. The place looked pretty nice after hours of scrubbing, mopping and yelling at the cats.

So I finally got round to putting on the Infernal Affairs DVD that Zeid gave me for my birthday a couple of years ago. Man oh man why did I wait so long to watch this baby? The story was superb... acting was okay I guess (but who am I to comment? I was reading the subtitles the whole way through) and the tension that builds throughout the movie made me wanna smoke as many cigarettes as SP Wong did. If you've never watched it or even heard of it, it's about a triad member planted in the police force them who eventually rises through the ranks. At the same time, the cops plant a mole in the triads and he becomes one of the the head honcho's top guys. I won't spoil it for you so go get the DVD and watch it for yourselves. Scorsese remade the movie as 2006's The Departed (which I've not seen yet) and even though Ooi says it pales in comparison, I think I'll head over to the DVD shop soon to find out for myself.

I also caught another movie which I'd been dying to watch for ages now - Wedding Crashers. It was on HBO tonight so I thought I'd give it a shot. I honestly can't remember the last time I sat through an entire movie on Astro and thoroughly enjoyed myself. It wasn't laugh-a-minute comedy but I felt the story was entertaining and the Wilson-Vaughn tag team was excellent. Yet another one to be added to the DVD pile.

Preparation for the half marathon has been progressing steadily. I've managed to (mostly) stick to the Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays schedule. Weekday runs in Cyberjaya are now done with the inclusion of several ladies who'll be doing the 10km run. Ooi's a pretty steady runner (even though she says she can't run) so now I have someone to keep pace with while I warm up on the first 3km or so. After that, I usually try to catch up with and beat Gary and if I'm extra quick, catch up with Djorgo and maybe even Keat Seong.

I got through 16km today in about an hour and 35 minutes, which means I'm sticking to my pace of roughly 6 minutes per kilometer. If I can keep this up, I'll finish the half in slightly more than 2 hours which would make me a very happy man. I'll definitely need a few more long runs though coz my legs could hardly carry me anymore towards the end of the run today.

It's exactly a week before the Muse concert and I cannot wait. It's also exactly a month before the KLIM. So much to look forward to! I hope they don't send me to Sakhalin instead...

It's 4am, I must be lonely

2007-01-30T03:52:00.000+08:00

I'm recovering from the flu but am having trouble sleeping. It's almost 4am and I'd been asleep for about 3 hours when my PC goes *bleep*. Then *bleep* again. And again. Someone didn't know it was 4am and I had to find out.

It turned out to be Vick McGick, my ex-housemate from London town. And she told me the funniest thing.

I know the screenshot does not convey the hilarity of the situation. You'd have had to been there in Hampstead and Mile End to understand. Good luck McGick! Or rather, good luck Mr. Director of Economics.

And on that note, I'll give sleep another chance. Otherwise, I might have to go back to Corellia to find out how Fett and Solo fare.

Working under the inFLUence

2007-01-29T14:37:00.000+08:00

I have the flu. I've been dodging germ bullets for the past couple of months now and I've finally been taken down. It's not so bad, apart from the runny nose, dehydration, lack or coordination and all round craptitude.

I'm sitting in bed blogging instead of napping. Why? Coz I have work to deliver by today, otherwise a whole bunch of deadlines go out the window. But my programmer's still working on the fix so I'll play on my PSP and blog and chat while I wait.

I don't wanna wait anymore. My eyes are heavy and I need some rest. Work can wait.

Flip flop cat and other stories

2007-01-17T23:09:00.000+08:00

Things are getting back to "normal" at work. It's crunch time for yet another PO output CR which means I'll be pulling a late night on Citrix tonight. But if the Russian doesn't e-mail me by today, I'm gonna tell him to bugger off and expect another week's delay.

Mak came back from Dubai today and gave me 2 tailor made shirts. They're a bit wide around the shoulders but that's to be expected coz I have scrawny girl shoulders. The good news is Abah's going there on Friday so he'll ask the tailor to hook me up with a few more shirts. 3/4" less is best.

Fucking boring post thus far.

I got home to the sight of Rufus (my sister's cat who's been here for far too long) slobbering on my old Reefs. I thought he was just satisfying his foot fetish, but upon closer inspection realised that he was actually gnawing on it! We really need to sort the bugger out. Can't he just hump the couch like any normal cat approaching adolescence?

Things to look forward to for the next few months:

January - hmmm not too sure. Lan's birthday... home loan application. Woo!
February - KLRC pub crawl; Muse gig!
March - AD&D; KL half marathon
April - Rahayu's birthday; move in to new pad?
May - Bali trip?
June - Training in the States; roadtrip!
July - diving trip?
August - declare bankruptcy

Yeah, 2007's looking promising. It'll be even better if I'm allowed to play with the sheep at some point =)

Favourite picture of 2006: Monyet couple, courtesy of Tai's blog

Losing my V

2007-01-16T00:20:00.000+08:00

Ever had one of those days where you get off work relatively early and you have a whole evening of rest and relaxation to look forward to? But you end up having a late dinner and then spend the rest of the night in front of your computer doing everything but resting and relaxing.

Welcome to my private hell.

I can't seem to get enough rest no matter what I do. I got a haircut tonight and noticed how bloodshot my eyes were. I'm all for the Core Values but this is ridiculous. I didn't sign up for the hidden 7th Core Value - "age at an exponential rate".

I managed to run 10.4 kilometers around the KLCC park yesterday along with the rest of the running SIG. Okay, I mostly ran and I walked for a bit at the end of every lap. That still counts according to Hal Jordan (or whatever that marathon dude's name is). I went home and crashed for most of the day. I woke up feeling like I'd gone back to school and it was was Fitness Day at the troop meeting.

Surprisingly enough, my legs are only just starting to show some weariness but I don't ache at all. The knees and ankles are holding up pretty well do. Thank you God and thank you Nike Free 7.0.

On a completely unrelated note, I've received a complaint regarding my previous post. I apologise to all my young readers. Ooi is not my youngest colleague. There are other 23 year olds out there and I meant no offence, nor did I mean to cause any jealousy =p

Thanks a lot. I feel even older now.

Going the distance

2007-01-09T00:28:00.000+08:00

I maxed out the treadmill at the gym for the first time ever. 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) in just about 30 minutes.

I celebrated with a Whopper and 2 ice cream sandwiches.

Before the gym, I gave my iPaq to Bong to send to HP. I hope it doesn't take a month like it did the last time. The leather case I got for it last night has given it a new lease of life. Forget the mobile phone community. Smartphones are the way of the future!

Speaking of the future, I'm starting to feel really old. The youngest person at work (Ooi!) is 23 or something ridiculous like that. I was the youngest kid in the office close to 3 years ago and I had my whole life to look forward to. Now all I look forward to is the day my bank account fills up with salary-rific goodness which means it's usually time for 2 things - my monthly haircut and a trip to Comixtra to pick up the latest goodies from Marvel. By the way, I don't even go home and read all my books in one sitting anymore. The comics just lie there in a sad pile, with the exception of Astonishing X-Men (coz Josh Whedon is a sexy mofo and Cyclops has a personality nowadays). He really does put in a cromulent effort as the merry mutants' scribe.

So many decisions to make...so little time to be awake.

Marathon man

2007-01-08T18:29:00.000+08:00

I plan to run the 21 kilometer half-marathon event at the KL International Marathon in March. I sorta started training a few weeks ago by going for 4km runs around the neighbourhood but today marks the beginning of my 10 week training regime.

Klaas (Dutch guy on my project) sent me a link to a marathon training guide for novices so I might base my training on that guide. It seems to make sense.

This is gonna beat all the merentas desa in school and I might have to give up on footie for a while. Knees, don't fail me now!

A new year

2007-01-07T23:04:00.000+08:00

It's 2007 and I still don't see flying cars, cybernetic housekeepers and teleportation devices. I read the back of the Transformers movie DVD a few weeks ago and it said something like "it is the year 2005 and the Transformers have taken their ongoing war to Cybertron". Pheh. Either those Hasbro guys were smoking lots of dope or mankind just got lazy after the 80's and didn't reach its full potential in the last 20 or so years.

The past week has been one of celebration and lots of staying awake. I had an unprecedented week off (a full 7 days including the weekend!) and as these things go, I could do with another few days off to rest, recover and catch up on my sleep. Pics are on my Flickr page.

I also bought myself a PSP to add to my ever-growing collection of unnecessary gadgets and toys. This came less than 2 months after I spent a small fortune on a 20" widescreen LCD for my ageing computer and also an iPod shuffle (to be used only at the gym and while running).

My iPaq's speaker killed itself again last Wednesday and although I know it's fixable, I'm contemplating giving up on this PDA/phone business and reintegrating myself into the mobile telephone community. The Motorola RIZR looks so good to me right now. But alas, I know I shouldn't be spending any more money on toys (this week. Muahaha!). I'll have an apartment to pay for soon and that apartment needs to be renovated and furnished.

Note to self: add "be more responsible with finances" to list of yet-to-be-written new year's resolutions.

This is new...

2006-12-21T02:02:00.000+08:00

I guess I got bored of my old blog. 2 updates in 2 years doesn't really bode well for my blogger cred.

Here's my new blog for 2007. Hopefully I'll have more time to write in the new year.