Staying Alive

My cubicle in the office is layered with dust now. I haven’t been back for some time, it feels like an eternity. Everyone at work is feeling the heat or are de-motivated. Most are afraid of losing their job or keenly applying VSS. But, I for one have got a million and one things to do. I keep thinking if this is all worth it? Cos, if you are holding tight to your job, then you will automatically assume the jobs of those who left. Your title and pay remains the same, and the only increment you are getting is your job description!

At this moment, I’m trying to take one step at a time. Every job comes with its own fair share of problem, pressure and stress. We all keep complaining about how damned our jobs are, but we forget to realise that someone else is facing a million times worst situation than ourselves. If you have a roof on your head at night and a decent meal for dinner, then do count your blessings.

Stop complaining. Get back to work and do the best you can. It is seriously not worth it for you to be worrying about something you can’t control. Times are bad? Fix what you can control. Stay strong, I believe we’ll get through the bad times.

I could take the easy path to go back to Taiping and live a simple yet comfortable life. But, there are dreams that I am chasing for. And that’s what’s keeping me strong. Set your dream, then you’ll see the path that will bring you there.

Apple's iPods

I've always fancied the latest gadgets in town. Most of the high tech electronics are expansive and more often than not are impractical, built as toys for the rich. So, we poor people only get to look at these gadgets through magazines and the wonderful world wide web. Somehow though, I managed to get a few iPods in my hands. To date, I have owned 4 different iPods. My very first, was the 1st gen 256MB iPod shuffle, then I got lucky again and won myself the 1st gen 1GB iPod nano. I actually won these two iPods from some contests at work. When I was in Singapore sometime last year, there was a promotion for foreigners, all I needed to do was show them my passport and an official receipt of any purchases made in Suntec for the amount of more than SG$ 300, then I am entitled to purchase the 2nd gen 1GB iPod shuffle for SG$ 20 only. I totally did not need it, but the price was irresistibly cheap. So, I just bought it with no hesitation. Till today, it’s still upwrapped in the box.

Last week, AMEX sent me the all new 4th gen 8GB iPod nano. Cool or what? The touch and feel of it was totally awesome. During the weekend, I was busy loading iTunes v8.0 into my notebook so that I can start using the nano. To earn this nano from AMEX, all you need to do is be the first 100 to spend RM 3,000 in the month, promo ends in April. So, start planning if you need to do any big purchases, do it on April Fool’s day with your AMEX. You might just be the lucky winner like me.

Well, I’ve given away the first shuffle to Ivan after I won the first nano. I’m looking to give away the nano now. And also the second upwrapped shuffle is looking for an owner too. I’m good with the latest nano! I feel as though I could load in any songs without end. And I just need to shake it and it will skip to the next song. I also can view the display in portrait or landscape mode depending on how I position the nano. I give it five stars. Now I'm eyeing the iPhone 3G.

60 Earth Hour - 28 March 2009, 8:30pm

I think we all should come together to do our small part in making a big difference to mother earth. All it takes is just 60 minutes, turn off all your electrical devices this coming Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 8:30pm. This one hour of darkness may or may not change the world ultimately. But at least, lets show our side of being a real human and support this move. I voted earth! Have you? Click here to register and show your support in this fight against global warming.

Two and a half hours of sleep

That was all I got last night. The last day of PC Fair is normally the most tiring one. As the show ends, we need to pack up all our display units and arrange for it to be sent back. All has to be done immediately as they will tear down the booth that night itself. If we miss anything, then that’s it, you won’t be able to find it the next day as the hall will be totally empty.

I went back to the hotel at almost midnight, called room service for dinner. I ordered Oscar’s Club Sandwich, a triple decker ham, cheese, bacon and tossed iceberg lettuce, served with string potatoes at the price of SG$ 28.25. Ridiculously expansive, but I was too hungry and tired to go looking for food elsewhere.

How about counting some money for starters? After dinner with the kiosk boys, Clifford and Alex came up to sort out the orders sheets for the day. We did pretty well. Look at how much cash they were carrying. Approximately SG$ 22k, was in my room last night. That’s around RM 52k. It’s fun to see so much cash lying on the floor.

We finished work at almost 3.30am. After I had my shower, went to bed at 4am. And just before anything else, morning call woke me up at 6.30am. Catch the flight back to Penang and came straight back to the office to work. I’m brain dead now.

Another Singapore Trip

Can I have the window seat please? I always ask for the window seat whenever I get the chance to fly. And looks like I've been flying to Singapore for work once every quarter.

Picture from clockwise: Above the clouds of KL, almost landing Singapore, big Sony Bravia LCD (I think it's 40", but can't confirm cos I'm no good with sizes), king size bed in my hotel room where I'll be sleeping for 5 nights.

All these luxury you'll think at first glance, but do you know that all this comes with a cost? Coming here for work is really hectic, the lack of sleep and non-stop work. So, I think all these luxury is a compensation. A really nice big bed, which I can hardly get 8 proper hours of sleep per night. The bed is super comfy, I wished I had one at home. I practically had to climb up the bed as it's really high. And those super soft pillows. All the tiredness of the day seems to dissolve on this bed. I could fall right to sleep as my head falls on the pillows.

At this hour, I've just finished my work. There's just too much of manual work which is very tedious and needs absolute precision. There is no room for the slightest mistake, which will make all the accounts go wrong and that would need me to do it all over again.

I've completed my work for the day. Goodnight, Singapore and Malaysia. I need the rest to survive tomorrow. And the bed is calling me. :) xoxo

Spice Garden @ Penang

I don't see no spice in here! As I was almost bored to death in Penang last weekend, I decided to take a trip around Penang, to get to know Penang a little bit more. Believe it or not, for the past six years I've been working in Penang, I haven't been to most of the tourist attractions. To me, Penang is just a place that I go to work.

Well, the Spice Garden is a far drive up to Batu Ferringhi. With the winding road, I almost vomited by the time I reached there. Entrance is RM 14 without a tour guide, and if you need a tour guide, that's RM 22 per entry. This place is like some jungle tracking route. It's not a place I would recommend to others, except if you tell me that you like the greens. Yes, it's very green in there. But contrary to it's name, I don't see much spice in there. Maybe, I went in without a tour guide, therefore, I don't know which is the spice and which is the ordinary tree. Aloe Vera is a kind of spice? I saw it in there.

The above picture is taken from a hanging swing in the middle of the garden. Nice place to hang out on an afternoon with a book. But, to pay RM 14 for that seat? I think I'd rather stay home with a cup of coffee on one hand and the book on the other. Hence, I am the indoor kind of person and the lack of knowledge of where to bring you about Penang.

What am I going to do this weekend?

It’s supposed to be the happiest day of a weekday today. It’s Friday, something that every working person have desperately waited for, for the last four days. But, this weekend is going to be something totally different for me. I have nothing to look forward to. Sunshine is going down to KL today, so I won’t be going back to Taiping. I’m stuck here alone. Well, I’ve got plans till tomorrow afternoon, I’ll be at work. And after that, I have totally no idea what I’m going to do. Maybe I’ll stay indoors to hibernate, reserve all my energy for my Singapore trip next week.

Focus

Very often we lose focus of the direction we have set in our lives when we get too drowned in our daily routine. When it seems that we are flying on auto-pilot, we stop thinking and continue life day in day out the same as yesterday. This is what is happening to me, suddenly I am so needed here, there and everywhere. Till I don’t even know how to prioritize what I should be doing, not to mention forgetting my ultimate goal in life.

Many of us, in fact, I’m sure ALL of us, has got something that we have been dreaming of, but how many of us are privileged or lucky enough to realize that dream? Cos, most of the time, there are many other more important things in life that needs our immediate attention, that we forget about those dreams eventually.

So, this is the question I have been pondering. Work is just a job, why are we putting our all into it? Yes, economy is bad and everyone is trying to hold on tight to what they’ve got. Is it all worth it in the end? What happened to your dreams? Are you chasing them, or letting it fly away? Cos, when you miss the chances in life, there’s not going to be a second chance.

Stop for awhile. Remember your dreams as you sail along this life. Let’s try to get it, in this short moment we have here. At least, if you die tomorrow, you know that you have given your best shot here.