2008 coming to an end

Another 2 more days and 2008 will just slip away. I've been on leave for the whole of last week. Haven't done much or gone anywhere for the holidays. Christmas was just like any other ordinary day. Taiping was kinda dead. I wonder where all the people went, cos normally there will be alot of out-station cars during the holidays in Taiping. Is the economy that bad that everybody is staying put at wherever they are, so no one is coming back to their hometown anymore? Petrol price is at RM 1.80 per litre now. Hey, where has everyone gone to?

I've finally moved to my own place now. It's a neat place. I have all the space to myself and don't have to worry about anyone messing up my bathroom. And I can walk around the house naked too. It comes along with a nice night view as I am living on the 27th floor. I am feeling ecstatic about it. Just that for the past few days, I had many guests, so I don't have my own quiet moment. I am going back to work tomorrow as I haven't got anything else better to do. I still have 5 more days of leave which I will see if I can make it to New Zealand next year.

With all of this, year 2008 has been good to me. I've earned enough to make myself a decent living. Of course I'd wish to be making more money next year. I am grateful that I am still holding my job. I am also grateful that I have more than enough to spare. And here's wishing all of you, another great year ahead and may you all have more achievements than this year to brag about!

Christmas 2008

When I was in Singapore last week, there were Christmas decorations in the streets already. It's like another month to Christmas, but the streets were lighted with christmas trees and candy canes. Isn't it abit too early for it? I feel that sometimes all these celebrations are too commercialised. It's just another avenue for making money. Hey, I even heard Chinese New Year songs on TV already!

Ritz-Carlton also started with it's decoration, with this big Christmas tree erected at the entrace of the lobby. Beautiful, it's nice. Unfortunately, you won't find this kind of decos in Malaysia. Here, it's just going to be another public holiday, without much of a celebration though.

Even in the office, I am seeing a few Christmas trees around. Every department have it's own Christmas tree, except for mine. We used to have a big Christmas tree. I think we've run out of space to put it up. Am not sure if we are going to put it up. I won't be around, have taken leave on the last 2 weeks of the year.

Leave Out All The Rest - Linkin Park

Congratulations, baby!

A very good friend of mine is finally giving up his bachelorhood to get married. Another mixed feelings that I am having now. But first, I have to congratulate him. Congratulations, baby! May you live happily ever after with lots of cute, chubby kids like you.

Well, till now, it's almost 2 years that I myself am married. I don't see any difference before and after marriage. 3 years ago, it didn't occur to me to get married. But I am living the life that I didn't want to now. So, what is marriage really all about? Beats me.

Maybe marriage is just part of the plan. Having kids and a family will complete the circle. I'm not sure if I am ready for this. But, when will you know if you are ready? People last time could handle a dozen kids, I'm sure I can survive one. Ah, I'm not young anymore, maybe it's really time for me to plan one. Then, what's life going to be like with the kid running around the house like a little monster? That will be another mystery to unfold.

The sweetest thing

They are the sweetest thing on earth, Bryan and Sarah. Bryan's turning 5 and Sarah is 2. Oh God, they are so cute. They were up in Penang last week, just before I left for Singapore. There's also Adrian, but I don't have a decent picture of him. Adrian is 1. He is so chubby and cuddly. Well, I love all of them so much. Those are Raymond's kids, the loveliest ever!

Look what I found

I was sent to Singapore last week to assist SITEX. It was fun travelling by myself, all the peace and quiet. My first stop was to check-in to Ritz-Carlton. Yea, baby, I had the whole big room to myself in THE Ritz-Carlton. I even requested for a king size bed. As I arrived early, the room wasn't ready yet, so I decided to have lunch. Called Ivan, and he asked me to have lunch in Shangri-La. How about lobster for lunch? I'm not really a seafood fan, but if you serve me a lobster every once in a while, I think I can handle it. I enjoyed my lunch for about an hour.
Did you know that Sunny Side Up is not just an egg? I found this drink in The Line, the restaurant I was having lunch in in Shangri-La. It's a concoction of Belvedere vodka, Malibu, Galliano, passion fruit essence, orange juice and whipped cream. Looks so refreshing, and it costs SG$ 17 ++.

After lunch, I headed to Singapore Expo to start work. This time, our booth is divided into 4. So, we only got quarter of a booth. I think the storeroom is smaller than my bathroom, but I got to make do to have 2 scanner boys and 2 cashier girls with Clifford and myself stationed in there. Also, we had to make some space for the flyers, boxes of water and empty boxes for the system. Nothing else! With the small booth that we got, setting up was pretty fast. Alex and Taufiq set up the systems, while I set up the scanners and charging terminals.

The next morning, the real day, I started with breakfast at the Greenhouse. I had my sunny side up with a toast, some cereals and coffee. Eek... the coffee sucks. Hey, stupid me again. It didn't occur to me to ask for tea instead. I asked for coffee for all 5 days I had my breakfast there. Stupid me indeed!

I didn't have any good coffee in this trip, come to think of it. We used to have Starbucks everyday previously. What was I thinking? Maybe I had too many things in my head. But, I found this really delicious drink in the hawker stalls that I have dinner with the kiosk boys at night. Tea Chino. I think it's made of fresh cow milk with tea. I craved for it every night after that.

People these days

Last night, as I was opening the gate to enter my house, I heard someone shouting. I turned back to check out what was happening. As it was quite dark, I had to search around to locate where the shouting came from. I saw an old man holding his bicycle. He was frantically screaming at someone who was reversing the car to his direction. I thought that the car was really going to bang into the old man for a second.

No, there was no accident. Thank God! However, it amazed me that, the person who was driving the car, didn't even have the courtesy to get down of his car to apologise to the old man. He just drove away like nothing had happened. What is wrong with people these days? Is it that difficult to just get off the car to check if the old man was ok? That would take less than a minute. Furthermore, they are neighbours.

I guess people these days just don't care for others. Did you say hi to your neighbour this morning? Or, have you ever stopped to talk a little to your neighbours? People in the city these days are just too engaged with themselves. I bet you don't even know your neighbour's surname, let alone knowing if your right door neighbour is a drug dealer and your left door neighbour is an armed robber!

More money to spend

When the government increased petrol price to RM 2.70 in June, it caused an uproar. Everyone hated the government so much. I was one of them, as I travel back and forth Penang - Taiping weekly, of course I felt the pinch. Then gradually and slowly, the government decided to ease our burden, dropping the petrol price 10 - 15 cents every now and then. Petrol price right now is RM 2.00 a litre. So, a full tank would cost from RM 115 previously to RM 85 now. With that, I have RM 30 more to spend on other things. Awesome # 1.

Not too long ago, the government decided that we pay less for our EPF contribution. From 11% to 8%. So, I'll have a couple of hundred ringgit more cash to spend every month. Awesome # 2.

And awesome # 3 is there's going to be toll discount up to 10% and an additional 5% for the loyalty programme starting 1st January 2009. As I'm a frequent user of the North-South Expressway, surely I applaud this move.

With all the savings, I'll be able to buy more stuff. Isn't it awesome? I even came up with the plan of buying some expansive electrical goods using installment plan with those little savings I'm going to have. Like almost every credit card is offering interest free installments.

But the problem with awesome # 2 is that I'm gonna have less money for when I am old and haggard and don't have the ability to work to earn somemore. What is going to happen to me then? Will the government spare the aged some money?

And you know the catch with awesome # 3? You got to travel between midnight to 7am to enjoy the 10% discount. I'm not sure if this plan was a good move and certainly I don't want to know who approved it. If it's a short distance, eg. Penang - Taiping, then if I start my journey sharp at midnight, I'll reach Taiping by 1am. That is ok to me. But for someone who is going to start their journey at midnight from Penang heading to KL, that's going to be a 4 hour drive. That person is going to reach at 4am? Isn't it insane? Is it worth your consciousness for an RM 4 savings? I think that's gonna cause more accidents as the driver is going to feel so sleepy and lose the concentration to drive carefully. Come to think of it, are they serious about this? Seriously?

I think I will apply to continue paying 11% contribution to my EPF, so that I could live a few months longer when I'm old. And maybe what PLUS can do to make this 10% rebate worthy is to provide free coffee at rest areas or petrol kiosks along the highways during those times. Maybe this time caffeine will save some lives.

Less than a year ago...

I posted about the mixed feelings I had when I heard about my friend's father was diagnosed with cancer. At that time, I really hoped that he'd fully recover with all our new age medicine and technology. Then, off and on, I'll hear a little about him. And when I met him in Gleneagles where I had my endoscopy done around three months back, he's aged tremendously. Still, I wished him well.

Never did I imagine that he will succumb to the illness. So, I heard last week that he has passed on. I still pray him well in heaven. I paid my last respects. Though we are not as closed as we used to be, I still hope God will give them the strenght to carry on.

Today

Apart from being very excited that I am finally getting my own place, I am kinda frustrated with life. And that is a choice I have to make, to keep feeling that way, or let things go and turn around to maximise this life. My conscience mind tells me that the latter is of course the better choice. People keep saying that life is short and that we should enjoy it to the fullest. Is that true? What do they mean to enjoy life to the fullest? Come on, most of us are normal people. We have to work our asses each day, just to make enough money to pay for the home loan, car loan, lifestyle... and the list goes on. Work is from 9am to 6pm, maybe 7pm. At my age, who would have the energy to go out partying? But wait... partying? Will the balance in my bank account remain positive, or am I going to owe my credit card for another month?

Yes, everyone longs and dreams for a better life. But when we are young and strong, we have to work hard to earn enough money for when we are old. Then when we are old, we are too frill to actually enjoy life. Oh, life is so unfair!

This is just my thoughts. Come on, let's be positive. Life can be great. It's just how we look at it!