LUCKY BASTARD!!!

I guess I am indeed.

Fact... I was born before my parents registered their marriage. So, technically I am a bastard.

Now, there some people who say that my team's performance in the past year was LUCK... implying that I was lucky to have got such achievements. Also implying that I am worthless and that I have survived 11 years (well almost, 16 days to go) with LUCK.

Wow! Thank you GOD for bestowing an abundance of LUCK on me. Please GOD, don't ever take that LUCK away from me or I will fail...

Since I am so LUCKY, I should go buy the lottery later...

One Year...

Today I complete 1 full year of service with this property. Wow, time flies...

On 1st March I will complete 11 years of service with the company... and it is also the day I intend to bid farewell to this company.

2009 was a tough year for me and the team here but they persevered and ploughed on and the results show. They achieved many records... among them highest revenue turnover ever in July and also highest profit ever. Highest Food and Beverage revenue ever in October. And most importantly they managed to better 2008 by RM1.4 million in revenue with RM2.2 million in profits. That means not only did all the extra revenue go to profits, they managed to save an additional RM800 thousand in profits. Yes, they did a remarkable job.

Today, I gave out bonus letters to all of them. I can tell they were happy. I am happy for them yet sad as well, as I had hoped they would get better bonuses. Sadly a sister property who was RM2 million BEHIND 2008 got the same bonus. I wonder if the company is aware of the 'message' they are sending out... sigh... anyway, it won't be my problem anymore soon.

If things go according to plan. I should be out of KL by my birthday...

It's Been A While...

I have not been posting for quite a while now. Two main reasons... busy at Flickr and also because I have nothing nice to say. There's so much frustration in me... at work and also with this country. At work, I feel like Jerry Maguire... and I guess it will soon come to an end and hopefully I will have a happy ending just like Jerry Maguire did. There's really no point carrying on when everything is in conflict with your principles. 

And then this country... this country is filled with idiots and if you read my blog often enough you know how much I hate idiots. There are just too many idiots out there. Idiots who think they know everything when they don't. Idiots are idiots... we have all kinds... they are universal... and quite a few run our country.

I don't know... I am just so tired... every time I start to think about the company or this country, I just end up so depressed and sad. I will try to pen my thoughts and feelings down here soon. Hopefully by next week when everything's out in the open.

Intai-Intai

It has been a very disturbing week for me and I have spent a few sessions educating people... including Ayu's family. We were seated watching TV when the news showed the burning of the churches. Ayu then condemns the act and states that it was silly to claim right over the word. Immediately her elder sister defended saying that it was their right and only they have the right to the word. It was very painful to my ears... I just dislike misinformed arguments. So, I broke my silence and gave all of them a very brief lesson in history and ethics. And it was total silence after that... I wonder which shocked them more? The fact that I broke my silence or the fact that I gave them a history and ethics lesson. I just wish people would seek knowledge... then we would have a more peaceful world.

Anyway, yesterday I went to Intai-Intai... the place that I couldn't find the last time. Here's the location if you wanna go there. It's a pretty cool place surrounding a pond. Wasn't crowded. Food came very-very fast. The menu is mainly Thai. I ordered the Tom Yum, Chicken with Pepper, Thai Omelette, Mango Kerabu and a Butter Prawn. Those dishes with 2 drinks a hot tea and an extra rice came up to about RM80. The food was good with the exception of the Chicken with Pepper which was way too oily.

This is the 'chandelier' for the lack of a better word... or lamp or whatever... quite cool looking huh?!

Tea light candle-la-bras at each table to set the mood and also to help you see what you're actually eating during dinner. Hahaha...

This is the other side of the restaurant, the entrance side, taken from where I was seated. The restaurant is a semi-circle around the pond.

The butter prawns. It was absolutely marvelous. I cleaned the plate out... ate everything and I mean EVERYTHING... including the curry leaves. Everything was crispy... the shell of the prawns included. A must try....

The mango kerabu. It was very nice too. The only problem I had with it was that it was 'drowning' in dressing as you can see.

My drink... the Melon-Chee... watermelon juice with lychees. Very refreshing and one of my favourite drinks.

I'll definitely go back again to try the other dishes. Oh... one warning though... mosquitoes...

Chance...

Last year in October I blogged about the Cumulus cloud I saw and posted a picture up here too. Today, I was browsing through Flick and came across a picture which looked damn familiar. I said to myself, Hey! That's my cloud! To be sure, I checked my picture again... then I crossed-checked the dates. Well, what do you know? It actually was the same cloud captured by someone else. Now tell me... what are the chances of that happening? A cloud emerges, unannounced. It's not like an eclipse or a fireworks show or something expected. A freaking cloud! See for yourself here. Talk about chance!

That's not all... this morning, after I parked my car I noticed a a dead house sparrow on the road. It was on the path where I had just reversed to park my car. The blood was fresh. I'm pretty sure it was me... but what are the chances of your running over a bird? On the road? It's not like you hit it while it was flying... Anyway, that's me and my story of chance today.

That's all for now... I am very much disturbed and am not in the mood to blog anything for now. The events over the past few days are very disturbing and I find myself very disturbed by it. Such a big issue over a word. Malaysians claiming right to an Arabic word. I wonder what the Arabs think of us....

Happy 2010!

Like I said last year, I didn't intend to go out for the eve. I bought KFC and chilled out at home. I was watching TV... they were showing Westlife and it brought back memories. One of the songs they performed was You Raise Me Up which had me singing along and then ended up crying like a big baby. It made me think of my late dad and the tears just rolled down like there was no tomorrow.

After that I just felt like having a drink. So I put the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon that I had in the kitchen into the freezer for 30 minutes and then opened it and enjoyed it all by myself. Yup by MYSELF... I finished the bottle.

This is the moon on New Year's Eve... taken at about 9:00pm. My last photo for the year 2009.

This is just one of the many pictures that I took of the fireworks display at KLCC. I don't have a tripod so this was taken handheld so it is not so fancy. Maybe next time I can post nicer ones when I have a tripod to use.

After the fireworks, I layan streaming radio with retro disco music which reminded my of the good old days. The days when I partied all the time. I layan-ed till almost 4:00am then hit the sack.

By 7:00am, I was up and about... getting ready to go to Port Dickson. Port Dickson was fun... I enjoyed the water sports and the pool and I got some nice pictures which I will post at Flickr as usual.

Me on the banana boat... trying hard not to fall off. Note that someone had fallen off. Took the ride twice. One on the first day and another on the second day. It was fun as the driver took us on a long route and made us fall 4 times in a trip.

On the second day I took the donut as well... It was fun... but I think the banana boat was more fun as the ride was longer, you get thrown into the water and its more relaxing. The donut required a strong grip to avoid being flung into the water as that is what they essentially try to do. Nevertheless, it was good fun.

On Saturday, on the way back we decided to try Bagan Lalang for seafood. When we got there at about 8pm, all the restaurants were full. No joke... it was jammed packed. Eventually we got a table and managed to order some food. The food was just so-so... not dirt cheap but not expensive either.  I'll go again if I am in the vicinity but I don't think I'll make a trip there just for the seafood.

That's basically, how I started my year...

Bye-bye 2009, Hello 2010...

Last day of the year... I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all my readers (I make it sound like I have a large audience but I don't... just a few) a Happy New Year. Thank you for coming back to read my junk. Maybe next year I have better things to rant about.

Tonight I am not going out. I don't want to get caught in the madness. I'll just hang-out at my balcony and wait for the KLCC fireworks. So... all the best to everyone and see you next year. God bless...

Y.E.S & Y.E.B

Malaysia is having the Y.E.S again... that's Year End Sale if you don't know. Everyone's busy shopping... which by the way reminds me... my apologies for being so rude... Compliments of the season a.k.a Season's Greetings to everyone. SO, while most are engaged with the Y.E.S I find myself trapped in the Y.E.B.... Year End Blues.

Yup, it's that time of the year again when I reminisce the year... ask myself what did I achieve? What did I not achieve and most importantly what would I like to achieve in the coming year. This year has been pretty hectic with many obstacles in my path and I guess I did pretty well... if I do say so myself. However, as I thought about it... I was reminded of the people around me... Malaysians. It made me sad as Malaysians in general are ugly people these days... not on the outside but deep inside them... that's why I said that I no longer like KL anymore coz this is where most of them are.

It's just so sad... 10 dead in a bus accident... yes, AGAIN... and the blaming starts yet AGAIN... such a bloody knee-jerk society... then all the supposed enforcement starts... then it will die a slow death yet AGAIN... until next year or the next festival or the next accident. Another dead child found in the sewer... then a dead infant found by a monsoon drain. It just makes me sick... angry... sigh...

Anyway, guess what I did for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Well... for the eve I watched Sherlock Holmes... I caught the 9:40pm show and by the time I left the cinema it was just before midnight and then I got caught in a slight traffic jam at the Jalan Imbi-Sultan Ismail junction. Obviously it was jammed like crazy on Sultan Ismail itself.... you'd be a dork if you didn't know it... yet... people still want to try their luck... idiots... no, I was not one of them... I have better things to do then to get caught in such madness. I was merely making my way to the junction to make a U-turn to get back on the highway to go to Jalan Tun Razak.    It is at times like this when I really, really hate Malaysians. I shall not elaborate any further or I may get agitated just writing about it. To make it short... it was idiocy at it's prime. I got home in good time though.

Christmas day... I went to the zoo! Yes, again... I thought I'd try to get a few better pictures compared to my last visit on my birthday. I went in the afternoon. Oh boy... it was packed.... and the animals... they were lazy... they were all sleeping away... so I didn't get many good shots but I got a winning shot of a white hibiscus. Yup... hibiscus in the zoo... you read that right. I managed to catch the 3:30pm animal show.

It was okaylah... it was super-duper packed... and here you see ugly Malaysians again. The zoo is mainly about children... so, naturally parents take children there. If you don't want to surrender your seat to parents who have to carry their children, I am okay with it. I may not like it but I guess it is your prerogative. But I think you're a FUCKER when you start making remarks about children who end up standing too close to you or slightly nudging into you when they try to get a better view. I had children who were pushed right up next to me. They were sticky with sweat and they smelt bad but I kept quiet.... they just want to watch the show. And of course there are parents who are equally as bad who just push their way through the crowd as though it is their right. Hey, just because you have a child in your arms does not mean you can be rude! I don't know... we're so self-centered these days. F-ugly people... I hate all of you!

Maybe that's why I blog less these days as I don't have many nice things to relate to. I prefer to spend more time on Flickr with my photos. At least I get satisfaction there... I'd prefer sextification but satisfication will suffice... hahaha...

I really hope 2010 will be a better year for me. I know that in January I will end up having a very big fight with my boss... it will be about bonus. The team did very well this year and if they do not get a better bonus than last year then I will have to fight it out with my boss.

I also hope by next week I'll be better. I am so disoriented lately. Not focused at work. Don't feel like doing anything at all...

Gloomy Sunday

What a gloomy Sunday. I took my mom for a movie at Pavilion today. We watched Bodyguards and Assassins. It was slow... even my mom agreed. She says Ninja Assassin was better but I haven't seen that yet so I can't comment. After the movie I took my mom down to the food court area to see what she would have liked for lunch. We walked around a bit after which she decide that she wanted to have beef ball noodles at Jalan Tengkat Tung Shin. The place is called Ngau Kee. So off we went. I had the dry version and double... and I like to 'banjir' mine with their chilli sauce. Wow... damn syiok... my botak head was dripping with sweat. I'm salivating already...

Then after I sent my mom home I didn't feel too good so I just went home and lazed... and the weather didn't help either as you can see from the picture above.

For dinner, I decided to have something light since I wasn't feeling too good. So, I cooked myself a simple fish ball noodles. I think I need to get some rest and hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow...

M&M

Last Sunday I did M&Ms in my photography project. The result was so-so and I had made a notation to re-shoot M&Ms when I had the opportunity. I was doing my grocery shopping at Giant yesterday and as I was queuing to pay, there by the counter were these two cute M&M figurines. It gave me an idea immediately. I bought them at RM9.90 each and also another bag of M&Ms for the shoot.

The storyboard... In my mind I wanted to capture the two figurines with a background of lights bokeh. Simple... except the lights for the bokeh. If I had a christmas tree at home with christmas lights then it wouldn't be an issue at all, alas I didn't. Then I looked out my balcony and there were all the lights that I needed.  Then came the next problem... elevating the 'scene' to the level of the lights. The scene had to be about 5 feet high. Nothing in my apartment was that high. So I improvised. I used my ironing board as the base and elevated it further with two chairs.

It was not an easy shoot. If I stood I would be too high. If I sat I would be too low. So it was very uncomfortable. I took a total of 52 shots in this project.

This was taken at f/3.5, 1/60, ISO800, flash fired. This came out the sharpest due to the fast shutter speed and smaller aperture assisted with the flash. However, the downside was that the background was darker.

This was taken at f/2.8, 1/30, ISO1600. I like this better but it is not as sharp as I would have liked thanks to my shaky hands and the slower shutter speed and even that, I had to boost the ISO to 1600 to get it at 1/30. I really need to get myself a tripod....

This was taken at f/1.8, 1/50, ISO800. This ended up slightly underexposed so I had to compensate in the editing process. I like the bokeh produced by the larger aperture... round. Again... the tripod would have helped.

So... next item to buy is the tripod... and it ain't cheap. The one that I have my eyes on is approximately RM1k... and that is why I still haven't got it yet... sigh...

Messed Up...

The past few days have been pretty messy. There was frustration. There was hurt... lots of it... I wished I could just take my heart out but alas I can't. There was anger. Some people just love to report half facts and get others worked up... really spoilt my days.

Anyway, thankfully I had planned to spoil myself last night and that kinda made up for everything for the time being. I bought myself tickets for Avatar-3D on Monday for last night, midnight. My last 3D movie was Jaws 3D... and I think I was about thirteen then. I decided on 3D for Avatar as I read somewhere that this would be a good movie to watch on 3D. To cut a long story short... I was happy as shit. Damn! It was so cool! Really cool... nowhere near what I remembered it to be. I was literally fascinated... switching views to see the difference... trying to touch certain things... and here comes the best part.... there was a scene with an explosion and  the debris flew towards the audience... I actually ducked! It was a good experience. Go try it... you won't regret.

This is a view that I should be seeing daily soon. I've always dreamed of having a beach-side house but I guess a beach-side workplace will have to suffice for now... really looking forward to it... get away from this place... away from everyone. Maybe I'll find peace there... maybe I'll just decide to sever all ties and start life all over again... maybe that's the best way since people can't move on... they just have to haunt you.

If the weather is good I'll go out for some photography tomorrow...

Going Bananas...

Following yesterday's picture, I thought I'd try something different today... and I decided on a banana... why a banana? Well... I did see something like this before done by a professional so I thought I'd try to replicate it and see how difficult it actually was to shoot it. As it turned out... it's pretty simple actually. Same methodology as the apple shot. Only difference is the depth of field and for this shot I used a flat surface instead. I used f/22 for this shot as I wanted the banana to be sharp throughout and I think a flat surface is nicer.

I decided on the shot late in the evening. So after dinner I went to a few 7-Eleven's to try and get a Montel banana as they were longer and cleaner... but unfortunately they had sold out all their bananas. I guess the preference generally is for long and clean bananas. So I had no choice but to buy a whole comb of kontot bananas from the little convenience store at my apartment block. Therefore I am stuck with a kontot banana. Pun fully intended. Hahahahaha...

I must say I really like the picture... clean.

Anyway... back to reality... I dunno... I find myself hating this place so much these days. This place as in KL generally. Sigh... maybe I'll elaborate on this tomorrow.

An Apple A Day...

...keeps the boredom at bay.

I decided to do some still life photography and this apple is my first subject. I must say that I am quite pleased with the result.

The set up is very simple. I cleared my bed... that is push the pillows aside... then polished the apple a bit and placed it on the bed. Used my 50mm prime lens set at f/1.8 and at 1/60sec exposure. Flashed pointed upwards to the ceiling for bounce effect. Voila!

There's more at my Flickr page. I'm thinking a banana next...

Been Busy...

First and foremost, sorry to those who actually check back on my blog for updates. There are a few of you to my surprise. Google Analytics say so. Whoever you are, sorry and thank you.

I'm back and hopefully I will try and manage my time better. I have been very busy and I'll try to summarize everything that's happened in the past weeks in this post.

Last month, during the holidays I took leave and went on a short holiday too and I also went to see my potential new work place and here's a picture of it. Please click on the picture to get the full panoramic version.

It looks very much in line with the artist's impression. I'm sure things will look much, much better after the landscaping is completed. The rooms are so-so... hard to comment when it isn't fully furnished.

On the way back from my holiday I got caught in my worst traffic jam ever in my entire life. I left Kangar at 5:00pm on Sunday evening. The journey from Kuala Lumpur took just over 5 hours. The journey back took 13 FUCKING hours! Excuse the language but I was really, really pissed. Something I'll never forget and hopefully never ever get caught in again.

I got myself Tekken 6 and on the first day played it till my thumb was numb... and flat too. I couldn't feel my thumb the next day. They did a damn good job with the graphics. The movements are good... to the point when the female characters fell or moved, their boobs moved in sync with everything.... cool!

Hmmm... what else... Wada seems to have stopped blogging. I guess having a partner now has been keeping her busy.

Oh, yes... the ex has tied the knot. I sent them flowers to congratulate them. Bought them online. The exchange is a killer... cost me almost RM400. Oh, well... it's a one-time affair so what the heck.

I have been very, very busy with my Flickr page. I deleted a shit load of pictures and added a lot of potraits. I have been revisiting a lot of my photos and been re-editing them to get better results. I'm going to be more active there now and I need to do a lot of housekeeping there with the sets and tags. So, do drop by there and pen down some comments to help me improve with my hobby.

I've had a lot of trouble focusing on my current job as my heart seems to be in Langkawi already. You know... being a KL boy I thought I would suffer in Kuantan... which I did for a very short while but then when I got used to it I started to dislike KL and now after being in Langkawi again I think I really hate KL now... I really am looking forward to the move.

Last week I attended the Joint Council... a meeting where we senior management meet with the owner and his representatives (board of directors). The owner shared his views on the company's expansion plans and how it intended to place all of us under REIT and how he intended to expand after that. In return he needed us to commit our performance to to meet the REIT rentals. He went on and on telling us how he was so excited with it... sure... I'd be excited too if I had in excess of RM400 million to play with. And then he asked all of us if we were excited.... well... ALL OF US tried to look excited but here is the truth. How can any of us be excited? He asks us to commit our performance in blood so to speak... but  he does not commit anything to us. Come on... if we commit and don't meet the goal there was threat of asking us to look for a new job... but if we do meet the goal, what's in it for us? If you want us to be as excited as you are, then hang a fucking carrot in front of us! Even a baby carrot is better than nothing!

Anyway...  I haven't changed my mind... Langkawi, here I come...

Another Sleepless Night

I thought that I'd sleep like a baby since I didn't sleep a wink at all on Sunday night but I was wrong. My mind was active again. I think I got about 2 hours of sleep. I am still very, very excited about my upcoming new job. I just finished and sent my assignment over.

Another view of Phase 1.

Sleepless Night

I had a sleepless night last night and I am so, so sleepy today. This excited botak's mind was on overdrive last night. I was thinking of the candidates for my core team, finance, policies, benefits, salary structure, etc. I am really, really excited about this. Need to find the time to do my assignment today. Here's an artist impression of what I'm all excited about.

This is Phase 1.

My Interview

I met my friend Pam today.... the one who is going to be my new boss. It was an interview cum chit-chat session. We have not met in quite awhile. She looked pretty much the same. She was a hot hoochymama 15 years ago... really hot. Now... hmmm... not so hot lah.... but bolehlah. Hahaha...

Anyway we met in Bangsar Village 2's Coffee Bean. She wanted to know if I was serious in accepting her offer. She proceeded to tell me more of the project. It sounded very good. I am interested... very interested.

1. The 40% and the increment when phase 2 opens still stands.

2. Accommodation thrown in. My beloved mom gets to come visit for free. This is a benefit she insisted on. I guess she wanted to emphasise on this coz she just lost her mom last year.

3. She's buying a Murano and I can drive that Murano when she is not there as she is based in KL. Wow! Finally, a company car... sort of....

4. After this resort there will be two other resorts and if I do my job well here then I will head the project for the next two with profit sharing options. That sealed the deal actually.

5. I report to her and no one else and during the conversation we established that she and I both have the same goals. That's important.

6. I am fully in-charge. I am to treat it like my own business. I get to pick my all my managers. She only needs to interview the Financial Controller and choose the Financial Controller. Ok... I have no problems with that.

Finally... a chance to build something of my own... mould it the way I see it should be moulded into and not DICKtated by some idiots... and if things go well I might be there for at least 5 years as all the projects are in Langkawi. And if that's the case then... I may finally get to buy my dream car... duty free... hence affordable to a poor man like me.

I am so inspired now. Pam asked me if I wanted an appointment letter now. I laughed at her and said... What the fuck for? Even with the letter, you can still sack me on the spot and I can also NOT turn up for work right? She laughed and agreed... she said that most people would want to have something in writing to 'feel' more secure. I trust her I said... I'll need the letter much later. Not now.

And I already got my first assignment. Proposed manning for Phase 1 and Phase 2.

Damn... the last time I was so excited was when I lost my virginity! By the look of it... I think I should be at my new job by my next birthday.

The Appointment

My potential employer wants to see me. Looks like after over 10 years of complacency, I am taking that bold move after all. The appointment is set for 12:30 pm tomorrow.

Snakes...

I dreamt of snakes last night. I was fighting snakes off then it ended up in a frenzy and I had no choice but to start  killing them I think I had killed 3 when suddenly one lunges towards me... mouth wide open... fangs staring at me... and suddenly I woke. Fuck... it was scary shit... wonder what it signifies.

2012 and IDIOTS

I watched 2012 last night. I bought the tickets online early this week. This time round I decided to try Pavilion instead of my norm at Berjaya Times Square. I have not watched a movie in Pavilion in almost 2 years. Anyway, got there and the way to the cinema was not familiar. Only when I was queuing to pick my tickets up did things start to fall in place. There were a lot of people there. It was 9:30 pm and I was watching the 9:45 pm movie. 2012 was sold out right to the 1:00 am slot.

When I got in the cinema and sat down, I then remembered how comfortable the seats were compared to the others. They had more advertisements then most other places. Probably due to the profile of people who frequent Pavilion. The movie had not even started and I had already spotted an IDIOT. I'm quite good at spotting IDIOTS now. He was seated right in front of me. A foreigner. Probably Korean or Japanese, not sure. I was seated at row A... like I normally am as I always plan and I always buy online and days in advance. He had some friends at the front right corner of the hall. He went there for awhile and just as the movie was about to start he came back to his seat and get this... he was talking out loud to his friends at the front row. I was already annoyed at him but since the movie was only beginning I kept quiet.

Then... just a few minutes later a group of people enter the cinema... and they appear to be friends of his too. Then he starts talking to them again, aloud and it seems like he is telling them where their seats are. Some were at the front while a few were on my row at the far right... about 5 seats away from me. Others were annoyed as well and there were some remarks made by others and they quickly hushed down.

Alas, it was not the end of it. This IDIOT actually had conversations with his friend who was seated 5 seats away from me. And he did this about 5 times throughout the entire movie. They were not long conversations but definitely annoying. I was like, WTF!!! Really... I swear I would have told them off and probably even ended up smacking the IDIOT if he had any retorts of any kind but I was not allowed to by my partner. She knew I was already boiling so she kept me at bay.

What is it with these IDIOTS? No bloody respect for people whatsoever... tiu!

2012 is just so-so... kinda 'dry'. I really liked the seats of the cinema. It was a bit warm for me but maybe it was my anger. I hate the car park... from the cinema to the car park.... absolutely horrible. Maybe I haven't figured out a proper system yet like I did in BTS. In BTS I knew where to park and it was convenient.  I'll give this place a few more tries...

And again... incidents like this make me absolutely love my DVD and Blu-Ray...