WildChai's Journey

Many forms of Blessings....

2008-12-03T16:44:00.002+08:00

Finally, after days of hounding the logistics people they finally get my tickets changed. For a few days I have been requesting to get new tickets for my trip home. Since the demonstration at the Bangkok Airport has just ended this morning, I am not taking any chances. There are thousands of people stranded in Thailand since last Tuesday. Which means that once the airport reopens, there's gonna a be major flight change and I am not sure which is given priority....those with valid flight tickets after the airport reopens or those that have been stranded for days.

My initial tickets with Thai Airways has been canceled and I will be flying with Etihad...not my favourite choice but I don't complain when I am heading home.

Practically every major airlines has been fully booked for flights into Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. You name it...I have tried Emirates, MAS, SIA and Qatar. All fully booked till next week. It was a blessing really that they manage to get me a ticket home.

Just a few more days....

The Aurora....Antartica

2008-12-02T12:58:00.005+08:00

There's always beauty in nature that is captivating....Randi and I have always loved the Aurora, we will plan or win a trip one day to see it with our own eyes.

Pictures taken from The Big Picture

Read more about Aurora Borealis at Wiki

Beautiful Cities in the Night

2008-12-01T16:11:00.008+08:00

Pictures are worth a thousand words?

Singapore

Paris

Brazil

London

Niagara

Toronto

Islamabad

Oops sorry, regular black out happens in Islamabad

Bangkok Jam....Bangkok Dangerous

2008-11-28T16:01:00.003+08:00

A lot is happening to the world nowadays. Everywhere there's unrest. The latest news is about the terror attacks in Mumbai and demonstrations in Bangkok's international airport....Suvarnabhumi Airport which led to it's closure since Tuesday. Trapping thousands of tourists going out of the country.

I am to fly back home next Friday via Suvarnabhumi airport. If the demo is still going by Monday, I will have to rebook a different flight home. Maybe Islamabad-Karachi-Kuala Lumpur with Malaysian Airlines.

These things happens during the last week of my hitch. Hmmm...my previous hitch, on the night of my departure...the Marriot Hotel was hit with a truck bomb which destroyed half of the hotel. But they are rebuilding the hotel now. I can see construction going on at the hotel. With tighter security I hope.

A little haven called Kim Mun

2008-11-25T14:57:00.002+08:00

Not sure I have been bitchin' about the food here in Pakistan. So for a refresher...it is really really bad. Maybe just our staff house, our company hired live in caterers to serve us. Problem is that these caterers are trained to cook for rig camps...which was bad. What I have in the house is the same crap I have when I am working in the oil rigs.

Breakfast
We usually get to choose what to eat....with the limited choices we have. Cheap ass cereals, eggs and toast. That's it.

Lunch
Always the same ol shite...Rice, potatoes and noodles...ultra carb! We are not at the rig for goodness sake. Usually have some weird ground up beef or chicken mushed into a ball or shape of a tube which Andi would like to call it "Tahi Kuda" (horse shite).
Vege? They serve us the same vege for 6weeks, twice a day. Cucumber, Tomato and Onions. Either sliced or diced.

Dinner
(refer to Lunch) same crap.

Most of the time, we eat out. Chinese, Thai or Afghan. The chinese foods are usually China style. But we "stumbled" on a nice little restaurant in sector F7, just opposite Pizza Hut called Kim Mun. Last night we bailed on staff house dinner and went to Kim Mun. Food was great. They even serve Cantonese style dishes. It was fantastic. And there were plenty of vegetables! Had a good meal...and put a smile on our faces.

The Room, a 17 year old's description of Heaven

2008-11-22T14:35:00.004+08:00

I was clearing out my emails and as I was browsing through them to see what's in them....I came across some very old emails that I have saved. After reading them....I knew why I kept them for so long. Some are very meaningful....and now I am going to share it. This is an email I received from my aunt in singapore sometime back in 2003.

It's a long read but a good one. It was a pain to remove those ">>" that's before every line, placed there when you forward your emails. But it was worth it.

The Room, a 17 year old's description of Heaven

17-year-old Brian Moore had only a short time to write something for a class. The subject as what Heaven was like. "I wowed 'em," he later told his father, Bruce. "It's a killer. It's the bomb. It's the best thing I ever wrote." It also was the last.

Brian's parents had forgotten about the essay when a cousin found it while cleaning out the teenager's locker at Teays Valley High School in Pickaway County.

Brian had been dead only hours, but his parents desperately wanted every piece of his life near them, notes from classmates and teachers, and his homework. Only two months before, he had handwritten the essay about encountering Jesus in a file room full of cards detailing every moment of the teen's life. But it was only after Brian's death that Beth and Bruce Moore realized that their son had described his view of heaven. It makes such an impact that people want to share it. You feel like you are there." Mr. Moore said.

Brian Moore died May 27, 1997, the day after Memorial Day. He was driving home from a friend's house when his car went off Bulen-Pierce Road in Pickaway County and struck a utility pole. He emerged from the wreck unharmed but stepped on a downed power line and was electrocuted.

The Moores framed a copy of Brian's essay and hung it among the family portraits in the living room.

"I think God used him to make a point. I think we were meant to find it and make something out of it, " Mrs. Moore said of the essay. She and her husband want to share their son's vision of life after death. "I'm happy for Brian. I know he's in heaven. I know I'll see him.

Brian's Essay:

The Room...

In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the room. There were no distinguishing features except for the one wall covered with small index card files. They were like the ones in libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order.

But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly endless in either direction, had very different headings. As I drew near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was one that read "Girls I have liked." I opened it and began flipping through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names written
on each one.

And then without being told, I knew exactly where I was. This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalogue system for my life. Here were written the actions of my every moment, big and small, in a detail my memory couldn't match.

A sense of wonder and curiosity, coupled with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly opening files and exploring their content. Some brought joy and sweet memories; others a sense of shame and regret so in tense that I would look over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching.

A file named "Friends" was next to one marked "Friends I have betrayed." The titles ranged from the mundane to the outright weird. "Books I Have Read," "Lies I Have Told," "Comfort I have given", "Jokes I Have Laughed at."

Some were almost hilarious in their exactness:
"Things I've yelled at my brothers." Others I couldn't laugh at: "Things I Have Done in My Anger", "Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath at My Parents."
I never ceased to be surprised by the contents. Often there were many more cards than I expected. Sometimes fewer than I hoped. I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the life I had lived.

Could it be possible that I had the time in my years to fill each of these thousands or even millions of cards? But each card confirmed this truth. Each was written in my own handwriting. Each signed with my signature.

When I pulled out the file marked "TV Shows I have watched,” I realized the files grew to contain their contents. The cards were packed tightly and yet after two or three yards, I hadn't found the end of the file. I shut it, shamed, not so much by the quality of shows but
more by the vast time I knew that file represented.

When I came to a file marked "Lustful Thoughts," I felt a chill run through my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test its size, and drew out a card. I shuddered at its detailed content. I felt sick to think that such a moment had been recorded. An almost animal rage broke on me. One thought dominated my mind: No one must ever see these cards!

No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy them!" In insane frenzy I yanked the file out. Its size didn't matter now. I had to empty it and burn the cards. But as I took it at one end and began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card. I became
desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it as strong as steel when I tried to tear it. Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to its slot. Leaning my forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh.

And then I saw it... The title read, "People I Have Shared the Gospel With."
The handle was brighter than those around it, newer, almost unused. I pulled on its handle and a small box not more than three inches long fell into my hands. I could count the cards it contained on one hand. And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that they hurt. They started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and cried. I cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The rows of file shelves swirled in my tear-filled eyes. No one must ever, ever know of this room.

I must lock it up and hide the key.

But then as I pushed away the tears, I saw Him.
No, please not Him. Not here.
Oh, anyone but Jesus. I watched helplessly as He began to open the files and read the cards. I couldn't bear to watch His response. And in the moments I could bring myself to look at His face, I saw a sorrow deeper than my own. He seemed to intuitively go to the worst boxes.

Why did He have to read every one?

Finally He turned and looked at me from across the room. He looked at me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn't anger me. I dropped my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry again. He walked over and put His arm around me. He could have said so many things. But He didn't say a word. He just cried with me.

Then He got up and walked back to the wall of files. Starting at one end of the room, He took out a file and, one by one, began to sign His name over mine on each card.

"No!" I shouted rushing to Him.

All I could find to say was "No, no," as I pulled the card from Him. His name shouldn't be on these cards. But there it was, written in red so rich, so dark, and so alive. The name of Jesus covered mine. It was written with His blood. He gently took the card back. He smiled a sad smile and began to sign the cards. I don't think I'll ever understand how He did it so quickly, but the next instant it seemed I heard Him close the last file and walk back to my side. He placed His hand on my shoulder and said, "It is finished."

I stood up, and He led me out of the room. There was no lock on its door. There were still cards to be written.....

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." -
Phil. 4:13

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

If you feel the same way, forward it to as many people as you can so the love of Jesus will touch their lives also. My "People I shared the gospel with" file just got bigger, how about yours?

Es-ca-pe! Time to exercise that grey matter....

2008-11-21T17:25:00.008+08:00

There's this little brain teaser game that's been circulating in the net, I played it when one of my trainee was messing with it. Even randi and her colleagues were playing it. It's short and simple. Enough to kill a few minutes. It's called the Cave Puzzle for obvious reasons.

So put on your thinking cap and help "Golo" out of his predicament.

Download: http://rapidshare.com/files/165898465/Cave_-_PUZZLE.xls

(Highlight the space after Solution:)

Solution: Fill (7), 7-5, Empty (5), 7-5, Fill (7), 7-5, Empty(5), 7-5, Fill (7), 7-5, Put 7 on pedal

Sooo many months has passed....

2008-11-20T12:15:00.002+08:00

Looking at the last post, it has been 4 months liao. Pretty long....due to reasons such as....laziness. Not sure why but I think blogging is not my thing. Anyway, the reason I blog is not because of recognition or rantings. I just want to keep this like my little life tabs hence the blog title "WildChai's Journey". I keep forgetting things nowadays...apparently I have a pretty bad memory. I can barely recall anything from my past....even the good ones. Dang. By the time I am a grand-daddy, I would have probably drawn a blank when telling a story to my cucu & cicits.

Not sure why....maybe I have very limited storage space in my noggin'. That's why what I am trying to remember the good ones. But everyday I keep filling my head with nonsense. From work to movies to animes. Sheesh...good waste of space.

Gotta find something more productive to put my mind to. Learning a new language, playing a musical instrument, reading a good book.

Alot has happened these past months....the Marriot Hotel Islamabad bombing and I was there...well, somewhere around very very near. I felt the tremors, see the smoke but dare not venture any nearer. Bombings here tend to happen twice within the span of a few hours. So best to keep away from public places....be it with foreigners or locals. The bombing happened on the same night as my flight back home. I was being selfish wondering whether my flight would be canceled or delayed cos once anything this serious happens in our city, the company tend to issue a lockdown....meaning every expat employee are to stay indoors. No taking a walk, no shopping and no work. I was waiting for our safety manager in Dubai to make the call whether to let me fly home or not....and he did. It was all green for me. After missing 2 birthdays....I am finally home for my own birthday.

What else? .....Oh.....our wonderful 7th anniversary of being together with my babe. Yeah, by me mentioning "7 Years" to people....I tend to draw flak like B52 bombers during the Hiroshima bombing run. Yes...Yes....time to settle down....I will get to it....soon. Hey, things are really expensive nowadays, I am just building up my piggy bank resources. And that is one major piggy. Since I was away from home on that wonderful day....she suggested that we have an internet date....how interesting. We set up a time, and order the same food so we can sit in front of the webcam and eat it "together". Haha...yes it might sound cheesy to you maroons but we enjoyed it. Before laughing your ass off, think about it.....have you done anything for your loved ones lately?

Till I decide to write another day.....

Makori-2

2008-07-17T12:11:00.004+08:00

A full 6 weeks here and only been to one job.....not making any money. Sigh. At least I get to have some action. Makori-2, this site is slightly nearer than the previous Manzalai field. On our way here...we were escorted by a pickup full of armed soldiers. We stopped at a coffee shop to take a break, the soldiers was walking around telling people to stand back or to be more precise...stay away from us foreigners. Sheesh...wouldn't that make us a more obvious targets?!

The job lasted 3 days....we ran an imaging and a sonic tool. Simple...but we ran into some complications. Pretty bad hole.

My Google Map....zoom in & see

2008-07-15T10:57:00.004+08:00

By now you would have realize that there's banner of Google map right on top. The marker...the red spot thingey.....If you zoom in close enough, it is right on top of the staff house that I am staying in Islamabad.

To the north-west of the map, the huge square building. That is the Faisal Mosque. I have posted the pictures on the previous post.

The Faisal Mosque....gift of Saudi Arabia

2008-07-14T16:46:00.005+08:00

Counting down the days.....

2008-07-14T16:09:00.002+08:00

It's difficult to get used to being away for the first week.....and much harder on the last few days before heading home. The anxiety. Just another 3 days and I'm on a plane flying back home. The past 3 weeks, hell almost broke loose here. With all the bombings and kidnappings happening almost everyday.

There was a big blast at the Melody area, the place where we had dinner just the previous night. A suicide bomber took down 20 people, mostly policemen after a rally being held in front of the Red Mosque. For most of you who don't know, there's a sad story behind this little mosque. Last year, following some disputes and protests in the mosque....the government sent in a squad of armed military guards and mowed down everyone in the mosque....the death toll was by the hundreds...even thousands. Crowd control? More like genocide.

Glad that I'll be back home for a few weeks, away from all this.

Aih....working weekend again.....

2008-06-21T11:27:00.002+08:00

Well, that's the life in the field and on rotation.....no weekends....everyday for a few weeks is workday. Later in the afternoon we will be heading down to Rawalpindi's Cinepax theatre for Incredible Hulk. It launched yesterday but didn't have time for it.

This is the only cineplex in Islamabad. Not sure why they don't want to build more of them...or just the government wants to control it. Anyways, good to get out of the office and staff house once in a awhile.

Day of Worship

2008-06-15T16:16:00.004+08:00

Just came back from church. Yeah, they have churches here in Islamabad. St. Thomas Church. Our driver Sunny invited me and Guillerme for sunday service since he knew that we were Christians. It was kind of him to do that. The service started at 11AM. Most of the people there are Nigerians. Weird....we don't see them at all around the city.

Great Entertainment in unrest land...

2008-06-15T16:01:00.003+08:00

Yesterday, my boss came up to me...told me that we're going out to get a PS3 for our staff house. I thought he was pulling my leg.....but he was dead serious. I jumped up from my seat and we left the office heading the Blue Area. Went to this entertainment store that sells tons of bootleg dvds.

PS3 here is quite pricey compare to other countries....Egypt's the most expensive....at least USD1000 for just the console. We grabbed our brand new PS3 and head back home. Finally we can put our 42" LCD to good use. Guillerme tore open the packaging like a kid on christmas morning. It was a pain to have the HDMI cable plugged into the LCD, gotta remove the whole thing from the wall.

Anyways, after messing with some cables and some settings. Voila! Hi-def! Only game we bought was Winning Eleven soccer. Games here are expensive. Gonna bring some when I'm back home.

Now who says we can't have fun in this country?

Wrong Time, Wrong Place

2008-06-11T12:31:00.004+08:00

Just got a briefing from our security officer, there's a demonstration going on in Karachi that's making its way here to Islamabad. They call it the Long March. This march is to force president Musharaff to resign but guess what.....the Americans wants Musharaff to stay as president of Pakistan. Now that is bad mix. Powder keg waiting to go off.

And since I am working for an American company...that might pose a problem. So we are told to stay in the staff house for a couple of days till this thing blows over or cool down. Islamabad has already announced a lock down of the city. Nothing coming in or out till further notice. Containers are being used as road blocks.....extra security check points.....not like that's a new thing here.

At least I am staying in a fancy staff house. A huge bungalow with 4 butlers. Just spend more time watching TV I guess.

Manzalai 5

2008-05-13T13:26:00.007+08:00

My first job in Pakistan. The rig is located on Manzalai field nearing the border of Afghanistan. We set out in the afternoon and arrive late evening. It was difficult to grab any nice pictures with the driver putting the pedal to the metal. It was a rough 5 hr ride. As we were nearing the a town called Kohat, the oil company sent 2 trucks with security personnels armed with sub-machine guns to escort us to the rig. Reason being that we were nearing the Afghan border, and Talibans have some nasty activities around there. Raids and attacks. Gun fights...RPGs flying. LOL....no, seriously.

Just came back last night, job got delayed. Was on standby for 6 days on site. Rotting in the camp. They have nice food though....better than the ones I had back in the staff house. Apparently the rig got lost while drilling....couldn't find the intended zone. Might take another week or two.

Never thought that Pakistan has such a beautiful countryside, it was hilly but filled with green. The rig is smack right in the hills. A nice change of scenery for me...since I have been with the company, I have only worked in deserts.

Bridge built by the British in 1905

Annual Sick Day

2008-04-30T14:29:00.003+08:00

Haih....sick today. Since last night actually. Not sure why but I only get sick only once a year or sometimes once in every 2 years. I have worked in the hottest place on earth to one of the coldest...and I did not even get sick. And here I am in a tropical climate country....I get sick. Nothing bad....just a fever.

Staying home today....woke up with a headache. There's nothing much to do at the office anyways. I just need to rest in bed for the day.

Hi from the land of Honking!

2008-04-28T16:29:00.002+08:00

The title speaks for itself....literally....in Islamabad, people just love their car horns. They honk their horns at the slightest movement. LOL. I mean everything. In a 10 minutes car ride...one could hear hundreds of honks.

I have been here for 5 days and things are good. Unsafe? Don't believe everything you see or read in the news. I am practically living in a mansion. My room is practically a master bedroom, we have 5 butlers waiting on us....thirsty? they will bring a glass on a tray. Feel a bit awkward since I have never been served like that before. But this I can get use to....Haha. My toilet has 2 "jamban"...now that is just weird. If you can't squat, you can just hop over to the next one.

It is a blessing that I get to work with a few other Indonesian expats, feels like home since we can speak Bahasa. At least now I can brush up on my Bahasa and maybe some Indonesian. LOL.

Food here is not at all bad, just like asian food.....rice, curry chicken and stuff. Will post some pictures. Last night we went up to a place called Margalla Hills, there's a nice restaurant....Monal....the restaurant overlooks Islamabad. Cool air. Food there is fantastic....awesome kebab. There were 8 of us and it only cost Rs 4800....which is about RM 240. Cheap! We even had Shisha. Wish can eat there every night.

It is weird that they have power blackouts 4 times a day. It happens at 5am, 1PM, 5PM and 9PM....like clockwork. I guess the government is trying to conserve energy by allocating it to other districts or sectors. Each blackouts lasts only an hour. Our staff house will get a power generator soon. Oh...and even for Pakistan it has kick a** broadband speed. But you gotta pay a hefty connection fee.

Too many experiences to write and elaborate. Will go in detail when I'm free...for now...I am here to work my butt off.

Haih....another 12hr flight....

2008-04-13T16:19:00.002+08:00

After a 9hr flight...got my land legs back...another 12hr flight back home in an hour. Sitting in McDonald's having my breakfast....I usually skip airplane meals...really dislike them regardless what they serve. Usually once on board, I'll have a beer or any liquor and sleep. Best and fastest way to kill time during long flights. Unless I am taking Emirates, which usually has individual screens and plenty of movie selections. But this time I am flying with KLM, using old planes.....a few monitors in an aisle. Crappy.

Anyway, thought that I will have a chance to tour the city of Amsterdam this round home but they changed my flight itinerary again....now only have 3+ hrs transit here. The previous booking made, I have at least 11hrs of transit...which I was thinking of heading out to Amsterdam. Chance destroyed.

After 2 weeks in Houston I am ready and eager to head back home. I still prefer Fort Worth. More quiet and peaceful....sorta. And they the Six Flags Over Texas theme park. Man how I miss the Titan.

Ok...back to watching anime again. Sleepy...need coffee. More beer! LOL.

Howdy Pardners!

2008-04-11T08:25:00.008+08:00

Didn't realise that it has already been a month since I last updated this. Been putting it off to prepare for my trip here to Houston. Yeah...yeah....I am a lazy. Busy getting my head wrap around this training course. It's been a good adventure here, seen a lot of things and experience "many" new things. Mainly the NASA Johnson Space Center....where the famous quote from the movie Apollo 13...actually it IS the real thing.

Will be heading home in a couple of days...here are some pics.

That is one BIG engine....

Ken Lee - tulibu dibu douchoo!

2008-03-13T17:58:00.003+08:00

Hahaha....came across this wondrous video clip in Youtube. You guys gotta see this. I laughed so hard almost fell off my chair. Is it english? Who knows. Lols. Lols. Lols. Comes with very accurate subtitle. Have a laugh.

P/S: It is actually "Without You" by Air Supply or Mariah Carey "Puff" or the first original by Badfinger (1970).

Wondrous Malaysia!

2008-03-11T11:44:00.002+08:00

Was reading the theStar online this morning and saw the headlines that former Port Klang assemblyman Zakaria Deros has kicked the bucket. May he rest in peace. What will happen to his infamous mansion? I believe everyone knows by now that he has built himself a house befitting a multi-millionaire.

"His mansion has 21 bathrooms and 16 bedrooms, including 11 that are occupied by each of his children, as well as a VIP room, three living rooms, a dining hall and a prayer room.

The house also has a swimming pool, several gazebos, an orchard, a two-hole golf lawn, an office, a storeroom, two rooms for maids as well as a wet kitchen and a dry kitchen." - taken from theStar.com.my

Anyway, while reading about his mansion. I remembered receiving an email about our very own Malaysia's 7 Wonders! How cool is that? After rummaging through a few hundred emails, I found it. Here it is....

Organizers recently announced the seven new wonders of the world.
Here in MALAYSIA BOLEH -land we have our very own 7 wonders .

1. THE ZAKARIA 'PALACE'
The only building built with no approval and unpaid
assessment fees that is not demolished and sealed.

2. THE 'BOCOR' PARLIAMENT
The unique feature is its ability to 'leak' away
billions of taxpayers money while the guardians of
the nation stood there all wet.

3. 'UNHAUNTED' KUCHING PRISON
The only $600M prison in this world that is free of
haunted stories and encounters. Reasons No execution
was done here before. In fact no prisoners were held
in here. There are also no concrete walls with barbed
wires to contain souls - both dead and alive. Maybe it
can qualify as the first imaginary prison built with
real money.

4. PAYA INDAH 'WASTED' WETLANDS
The nation's premier eco-tourism park holds the
record in the category of attracting more lawyers
with litigation than tourists with binoculars.

5. 'NOT SO' SMART TUNNEL
Uniquely design to alleviate floods. When completed,
it does everything except alleviate floods.

6. 'DISCONNECTED' CYBERJAYA
The one and only high tech city in the world that
offers limited or no internet connection to its
residents.

7. CROOKED 'CROOKED' BRIDGE
The most crooked bridge in the world dreamt by a
most crooked mind. Too bad it was abandoned; otherwise
it would make it as one of the wonders.

LATEST 8th WONDER :
1ST MALAYSIAN ASTRO MAN BLASTED OFF TO NOWHERE WITH MILLIONS OF
RAKYAT MONEY BURNT IN 10 DAYS FOR THE MOST EXPENSIVE SPACE EXPEDITION HAS ENTER INTO THE MALAYSIAN GUINESS BOOK RECORD AT 10 PM ON 0CT 10, 2007.
BRAVO!

Well, I was in Kazakhstan that time and was waving to the rocket with millions of hard earned tax payer's money blasting off leaving only a trail of smoke. For what?

Wounded but not out...

2008-03-10T10:54:00.005+08:00

My butt cheeks are cramped as I walked to the washroom. Results from yesterdays paintball session. Guess I am in better shape than the others. Some of them left with several additional nipples as a souvenir courtesy of me....Haha.

Key Fatt arranged a Paintball session at TTSportspark in Subang Jaya, he invited his cousins and some friends. I only managed to get Seng to come along. For the rest, I guess they must've been traumatized by our previous games. There were total of 13 players yesterday...and one of them was a female participant. After the short briefing, I got suited up...my personal armor. Long sleeve turtle neck and my company coverall. Haha. Full protection eh?

With the adrenaline rush from the excitement, I was able to calm myself down for the 3rd round. After that, all hell broke loose. Haha. In a round, I manage eliminate 2-3 opponents. Most of them by flanking them. Don't know what hit them. There's a guy which I manage to go up to him at point blank but he decided not to surrender and turn his weapon on me....so I rained a barrage of fast paint balls on him.....point blank! He was grabbing his sides leaving the zone. Pity him though.

As for me, I got wounded too. A few headshots, thigh, hand and arm. Nothing serious compared to a guy who has 4 nipples. Haha. His wife is gonna be grilling him when he gets home. It was a good day. Our players were all rushing, rather than hiding behind the same bunkers everytime. Guess I will put it off till my next rotation then.

Rule #1 - No More Chinese Horror Flicks

2008-03-06T17:01:00.008+08:00

Woke up today with a little smirk on my face....thinking I would be the first few in Malaysia to catch the new movie "10,000 B.C.". It was a media screening at 10:30AM at MidValley's GSC, manatau kena "yam"! It turns out there was a miscommunication with the people at both ends, it turns out it was a screening for a Chinese horror flick..."RULE #1: There are no Ghosts".

Since we were already there, what the heck. We have free popcorn and coke to boot. And again I was wrong....the movie really really sucked. Starring Ekin Cheng and Shawn Yue, they are both police officers in a special underground branch called Miscellaneous Affairs Department (MAD). They investigate the paranormal activities a.k.a Hantu that people report in. And trying to keep paranormal under wraps from the public. The story tells of a serial killer that was killed by Shawn later turned into a ghost and seeking revenge. The ghost apparently possesses people by touch. Passing himself around like a parasite. It is somewhat similar to the 1998 movie "Fallen" by Denzel Washington.

Not only the acting is B-grade, the storyline is so cliché. With ghost appearing out of nowhere trying to scare viewers. Which would be better if the ghosts were....how should I say....scary? In this movie, we can see Ekin Cheng with a trench coat, unshaven face, always smoking, wearing a tie, a gun holster and drinking Chivas from a flask....sounds familiar? He's like those movie detectives from the 50's. Gosh...soooo corny. In the end...the hantu wins. That was suppose to be the twist in the story....a twist that like lemon to be exact.

If you are a fan of Chinese horror or got nothing better to do....I would still recommend you to avoid this one.

a Chair? health investment?

2008-02-29T15:10:00.003+08:00

Alot of morning I wake up with a knot at my lower back....hurts so dang much. I have a condition, my 5th lumbar is a little off alignment which causes me to have a stiff lower back and causes me plenty of pain. Apparently the muscle left to that particular joint is pulling it, causing it to twist and stiffened. That's why I have been visiting the local chiropractor clinic in Klang. Which I have not attend any back adjusting sessions for awhile now.

Another cause of my back problems is that I spend wayy too much time in front of my computer...which is what I'm doing now. I play games, surf net for nonsense, download movies...the works. I tend to slouch and maintain at a certain position for a long period of time. Which causes undue stress to my joints and back. So since my current chair has a broken gas lift...time to shop for a new one.

Done some research online and found out that a chair is very important to health and productivity.....to me it just means more gaming goodness with little rest. Ahhhh....music to my ears. Anyway, I have found a perfect match for my new health investment....a chair that is so ergonomic it should be part of Star Wars. The chair is by Herman Miller, a really really expensive furniture company. Which cost about RM 5000. But I am looking for a knock off or similar design to it.

After making some calls to local companies that carries such chair designs. Some have the design I wanted and it only cost less than RM 1,500. Which is good. One of them invited me to a furniture exhibition with a free pass held at PWTC this 6th March. The Malaysian International Furniture Fair....or MIFF.

Anyone wanna tag along?

Belvedere Luxury Vodka

2008-02-28T10:32:00.005+08:00

Woke up tired this morning but surprisingly without the headache considering the amount of vodka I chugged down last nite. Yeah, was the Belvedere Luxury Vodka launch at Sunshine Modern Bar. Only managed to RSVP a few people only before the event, so only Me, Randi, Vincent, Brenda and Eddie. A small group but we had loads of fun.

As we walked into the bar, we were ushered in front for our mugshots...now we know how the celebs feels. 6 cameramen were shooting away at us. LOL. The event is held at Sunshine Bar to promote their Ice Bar too. It's a bar where the inside temperature is at a constant 0. Keep things chilled, no?

Vodka served in Ice Shot glasses...cool!

A little info on Belvedere, apparently it's the world's first luxury vodka. Belvedere is marketed as being distilled longer than most other vodkas. The lengthy distillation of the drink is said to make it much smoother. Which is true, when I drank it...it went down easy and smooth. Not like the ones I drank in Kazakhstan...hard and almost makes me throw up.

It was kinda boring inside then we decided to take it outside, where he get to see all the invited celebrities and the Ice Queen with an albino python around her. Each of us took turns to have our picture taken with the python but not Eddie. He was terrified of the little guy. LOL.

The night ended with the ladies driving us home. It was fun hanging out with friends at bars once in awhile.

Update: Lou Sang Pics

2008-02-22T13:56:00.005+08:00

Finally gotten a card reader for my digital camera....left the cable at my aunt's place in Singapore. Uploaded some pics during CNY Lou Sang session and lunch at my place.

Calm before the battle....

DIY Project 95% Completed

2008-02-22T13:35:00.006+08:00

It's finally over...it has been a tiring 6 days of moving, painting...up and down stairs....measuring, drilling and cleaning up. Alot of work has been done. And I didn't do it alone, my dad's been a great help. Without his help I wouldn't have completed my project in just 6 days! It is kinda fun doing activities with your dad. You guys should do it once in a while.

Anyways, the only thing that is left undone is fixing up the lights and a piece of my shelf is missing. Had a last minute change of plans and extended the shelf length. So I gotta go back to IKEA for another piece and for a carpet. A big one.

Doing something like this gave me a sense of accomplishment on my vacation back home. Not just lounging about doing nothing. Now I just gotta find for something else to do.

Some pics of the makeover:

Drilled 12 holes for the shelves....

Room Makeover.....DIY Project

2008-02-14T22:25:00.003+08:00

I have been looking for things to do with my free time back here...and I figured why not do a little makeover for my room? So I decided to move into the master bedroom, but before that I need to prep up the place. Since my aunt is here on a holiday, might as well ask for her expert advice on snazzing up the place. She's an interior designer in Singapore. And it's free! LOL.

Was shopping at IKEA yesterday with my aunt, mom and randi. Picked up some stuff to spruce up the room. New lights, some shelves and little of this and that. Found a nice carpet that fits perfectly to cover the huge empty floor...didn't know that big piece of rug like that will set me back a few hundred bucks. But I guess it's an investment.

Bought a few cans of paint from Boon Seng. I let my aunt decide what color would best match the furniture. I am quite bad with color and tend to pick the weirdest combination. LOL. Will need to do some rewiring and patching up cracks on the walls before painting. Gonna be busy this week, hopefully can be done before I leave for my next rotation.

Since I'm gonna be doing everything myself....I hope all will turn out well. Will post some pics of the progress here. Tune in!

Lou Sang at Home

2008-02-14T21:40:00.003+08:00

Been a fun and exciting Chinese New Year so far...best bit is that I am back for it and get to spend time with my family. And also to have friends is a great bonus. This year the annual "Lou Sang" is held at home...the first one I had was in Anderson's house with a bunch of friends. It was like battle of the chopsticks....it was all over the place.

Last Sunday, my mom whipped up a great lunch and I had some of my college buddies over and of course another round of Lou Sang. This time I bought it from a vegetarian restaurant and the salmon are from Jusco. Huge and fresh. Everyone brought their partners and we all crammed into the table. Crap...need the card reader to upload the video from my camera.

Did you know that "Lou Sang" is originated from Malaysia? Alot of people would've thought that it might be originated from China or Hong Kong but nope...it was a home bred culture.

And tonight is the Hokkien's Lunar New Year.....there's gonna be tons of fireworks later. Be sure to keep both eyes out for a great show.

Camp Food....Nyum!

2008-02-06T00:59:00.001+08:00

Some of the food that is served in the camp. Gruesome I tell you. Same crap, different day

Cabbage wrapped Beef

Buckwheat with Beef

Rice with Beef and vege soup

A birthday meal for a fellow operator. Salted fish with Onions, Tomato with Onions,
Bowl of Cucumbers, Flat Bread and Vodka!

Rye Bread...hard, dry and sour-ish.

Now this takes the cake....it's a big piece of
Pork Fat...pure!
Yep, just slice it and chomp it down with bread. Errgh!

Time Forgotten...

2008-02-06T00:30:00.000+08:00

Wow...it's almost a week since I've been home. And it feels like only a day has passed. Sheesh...when I'm in Kazakhstan, a day feels like a week. Guess time flies when you are comfortable and happy huh? It's a blessing that I get to be back home for the Lunar New Year. Family and friends...that's what makes home feels so great. Been doing some shopping and tagging along with my mom to the morning market in Eng Ann. Get the feel of the festive mood.

Well, tonight will be the "Reunion Dinner", everyone back home with their family for dinner. Anderson's back from China too. The bad weather didn't keep him away huh.

I have brought back a can of horse meat from Kazakhstan. I guess will be waiting for a time when everyone is gathered and will get a taste of it. I personally won't be eating it...had my fair share in the camps. Uggh. So wants to have a Fear Factor Klang challenge can contact me. LOL.

Anyways, I have lots of pictures and videos to upload. Finally.

White Christmas in Almaty

What I wore to work everyday...ninja gear.

Happy New Year!
(SnoVim GodOm)

Headin' Back Home

2008-01-26T18:55:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow I will start my journey back home...a long journey. In one week alone I have traveled more than 50hrs, by every transport available. Trucks, Trains and Planes. Will be heading out of Zhannajol camp to Aktobe and spending a night there, the next day I will be flying to Almaty and spending a night there too.

20hr Super Star Express

2008-01-22T17:13:00.000+08:00

I just got to Aktobe this morning, the 20hr train ride wasn't so bad actually. It was quite fun. It is an old train with lots of cabin which has 4 bunk beds. It was kinda cramp but quite comfortable. Although there was problem with storing my luggage.

I was accompanied by a Kompani GIS office girl, Svetlana, cos it's hard to travel through Kazakhstan alone if you don't speak any russian. So the company sent her with me. She doesn't speak English too. But we use a little translation book she had. Haha.

The journey started at 3:30PM from the town of Kyzlorda. It made many stops along the way...some short and some long. Enough time to run down to get some food or just to stretch your legs...but I hardly recommend the latter. As you travel up north, it gets colder.

The cabin was OK, depends on your standards. But I am used to it because of the condition of my camp in Kumkol. The toilet is terrible though. Dirty and smelly. Ugh! And they have this weird little water heater. So unique in design that I thought it was a distiller from the olden days. Got a picture but sadly I don't have the cable to upload the pics.

In our cabin was other 2 men, both heading to Aktobe. One of them is a university student traveling a camp nearby Zhannajol for practical before graduating. The other is for work. The student speaks little english, but good enough to communicate. Kazakshtan are a friendly bunch. They offered to share their food and even bought me some beer. Cool eh? We ate and drank and talk...sorta. At first I was wondering about what am I going to do for 20hrs in a train. Guess time flew by if you enjoying yourself eh?

A few stops I went down to stretch my legs and saw lots of doggies running about, all searching for food or hoping for passengers alighting from the train to throw some scraps. Peddlers are walking about to sell you things, mostly food. Even dried salty fish....it's the custom to drink beer and eat salty fish. Weird but kinda nice.

Slept rather well in the night. Quite warm in the cabin, and thank goodness none of the people snored. Woke up and coffee was made by Svetlana. Ate some bread, hard boiled eggs and cold sausage. After 20hrs, we arrived at Aktobe. Grabbed my luggage and waited for the driver to come.

Another Adventure

2008-01-20T20:52:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow I'll be taking another adventure through this country, traveling from Kyzlorda to Aktobe via train. My butt is gonna get sores from this trip...20hrs of chugging. This is normal for the people who works here. They usually live in towns far away from the oil fields. Like Karaganda. Some 26hr train ride away.

And by train I don't mean those nice cushy ones we have back at home...wait...I take it back...our trains are crap! Beyond crap! I guess anything is still better than our stinky trains back home eh? Anyway, trains here are the old kinds where I remember taking them from KL to Singapore. Sways sideways the whole journey.

The reason I'm heading up north is for my breakout exam! Yay! Finally after more than a year of waiting I am finally "graduating". I have already prepared my 120 slide presentation...Yup...long and gruesome. Reckon it will take about 8hrs. Nice. After my breakout, I will head back to my ol' camp in Libya. Funny, once you have been to the worse kind of camps...I find the camp in Libya is like Hilton compared to here.

Lord of the Snow

2008-01-15T14:18:00.000+08:00

It snowed again yesterday.....a full day till 3AM this morning. It started light in the morning and during the evening, strong winds started to join in the fun. Hard to move around the camp, even to the mess hall. Strong winds + heavy snow = Slapped with hundreds of ice. LOL.

In the nite, the snow was already 1 feet high. I can barely walk with the boots I have on. Worse is that I was locked in my room....the snow barricaded my door from the outside. Haha. Had to use force to push open the door. And had to shovel the snow away. Then this morning I had to do it all over again. In Malaysia we have to deal with flood and here I have to deal with frozen water. Although I never have to deal with flood at my house.

Frozen in Time

2008-01-13T14:00:00.000+08:00

I've been here for almost 3 weeks now and only been to 3 jobs. All short ones. Apparently the weather here isn't helping to the drilling, everything tends to freeze under -35. I guess the steamers didn't help much.

I can see liquids freezes before my very eyes. That is how cold it is here. Well, nothing much to do except sittin in my room watchin movies and playing some games. Also reading up on my job related stuff. Preparing for my breakout, hopefully it can be done this trip. So I won't have to return to this depressing place. My boss needs me back in the desert, apparently I'm the most "senior" once I return there. I will have to lead everything for the Compact tools. Greatt......

At least I get to have a short holiday in States after my training course in Houston in April. Randi will be coming over and we will travel from Texas to New York. Gonna be a short 2weeks excursion. Since my frequent flyer account has enough points to redeem a ticket for her.

Anyways, still waiting for my laundry. Haih. Get paid to sit around eh?

Heaven's Swarovski

2008-01-08T17:18:00.000+08:00

As the title says, fresh snow on the ground with the sun shining on it makes it look heaven peppered the earth with swarovski crystals. Everything just sparkles. Get to be a "Sua Ku", was so excited when checking out snow flakes that fell on my black jacket, I can see each of the unique design of the flake. Such beauty.

Last night was out on a rush job. Kinda came last minute, was ready for bed and suddenly got a call for a job at 3AM. So I packed and made sure I took extra clothes for layering. Since it gets pretty cold at during dead hours in the night...I mean really really cold. Say -35 degrees. So we got there and unloading the equipment from the truck and it started to snow. Little at first then it got heavy. The snow lasted till 10AM.

With 6inches of snow, my shoe was covered to the top. Luckily I bought myself a ski pants...and it kept my legs dry from the snow. Money well spent. Apparently last night it wasn't that cold, it was perfect to work in. It was around 5 to 10 degrees and it was great. Kinda gotten used to the cold temperature except when it drops below zero, that is a different story altogether.

A Sex Scandal...but....Ewwww!

2008-01-02T12:15:00.000+08:00

I was shocked to see the headlines in thestar.com.my this morning. It was about a sex DVD...hmmm...so they changed it from sex tape eh? keeping up with the trend I see. Anyways, it was about the Health minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek. His "endeavor" with a personal friend has hit the Malaysian box office and has led to a press conference to apologise for it.

Read more at thestar.com.my

As I was looking for more news inside thestar, I stumbled upon something really funny. The headlines at the "Most Viewed" section.

The first title is 'Chua says sorry over sex DVD', if you scanned through the topics and come to the fourth topic which is 'Chua - Highly experienced'. If you read them together like that it seems like the the 4th article is telling that Chua is highly experienced in bed as shown on the DVD? Haha.

That article just explains how successful and experience he is as a minister for his past work. What a relief.

Happy New Year 2008...Let's Party!

2008-01-01T20:57:00.001+08:00

Yea....bye bye 2007, hellooooo 2008. It has been a great year! And this is a New Year to start anew! I have plenty of New Year's Resolution liao. Gonna be lots of changes in this new year.
Anyways, last nite was a blast. I was invited to the guy's hut for an early session of yamseng...and I mean real early....5PM. Cos they wanna celebrate Fanil's 50th birthday early too. His birthday's on January 1st, how cool is that. They only drink neat Vodka, and that did not go too well with me. I took a break at around 8PM to sleep it off and was dragged out again at 10PM. Haha.

At 11:30PM, we were called over the workshop for a New Year countdown. Everyone was there. Some trucks we moved outside to make room for a dance floor....yup....dance floor. Russian and English music was playing. I had the honor of opening a bottle of champagne too. Was cheering and I was asked to give a speech in my own language and Vitaly will translate it to them. Since I was half drunk, I say why the hell not eh?

And then everyone was groovin' at the dance floor. Man, these russian guys and gals are sporting. Young and old alike just dancing away. And I was dragged in too. Haha. I even won a prize for being the best dancer I think. It was quite a good New Year celebration. I mean apart from spending time with my loved ones. Especially with Randi. Da Best!

Well, more drinking and dancing. This old man called Yuri, he grabs and made me his drinking buddy last night. Really nice fellas. Everyone is friendly and hospitable. Will post up some pics and videos later.

A BLESSED NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!

Beep...Beep...Beep....Uh-oh!

2007-12-30T16:15:00.000+08:00

You know, I have been explaining to you guys about my job and the hazards of it. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so I guess a video is worth a million? This video shows me carrying a Geiger Meter (device that measures radiation) that you always see in movies. In my job, I have to use it every time a radiation source will be used. To check before and after status of a job site and make sure we don't leave the source behind. Or worse case scenario, a leak. And that can very very bad.

Radiation kills a person slowly over time if they are over exposed, but that takes ALOT of exposure from a source. Back in my Libya camp, the locals there runs helter-skelter every time we take a source out BUT when we are assembling Guns by loading High Explosives into them. They stand right by it SMOKING. Geez...they are scared shit of something that will not kill them even in the long run but they are carefree about something that will blow their head clear off their shoulder instantly? Go figure...

Took this video when on a job in Kazakhstan last trip. Gotta tilt your head a bit, forgot bout the angle when taping this :P

The big orange container holds the Neutron source, the smaller is the Density. Neutron is deadlier as it sort of disassemble H2O,which what 90% of what the human body consists of, by knocking the 'H' off.

Is this the cause of Malaysia's problems?

2007-12-27T15:49:00.000+08:00

Was surfing the net and some forums, stumbled upon an interesting topic, education level comparison between Malaysian and Singaporean ministers. I'm not sure they are true or not, use Google to find out if you want.

The circulated email is making our Malaysian ministers a joke.....true? You decide.

Singapore and Malaysia's Minister

PM Lee Hsien Loong
Cambridge University - First Class Honours (1974)
Harvard University - Masters (1980)

PM Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi
University of Malaya - Bachelor of Arts Honours (1964)

SM Goh Chok Tong
University of Singapore - First Class Honours (1964)
Williams College , USA - Masters (1967)

Deputy PM Dato' Sri Najib Razak
University of Nottingham - Bachelor of Arts Honours (1974)

MM Lee Kuan Yew
Cambridge University - First Class Honours (1949)

Minister of Foregn Affairs Syed Hamid Albar
(can someone tell me his univeristy? )- Bachelor of Arts [ UITM ]

Minister for Law Prof. S Jayakumar
University of Singapore - Bachelor of Law Honours (1963)
Yale Univerity - Masters (1966)

Ministry of Works- Dato' Seri Samy Vellu
(Education Unknown) [ Form 6, Anderson School ]

Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng
University of Singapore - Bachelor of Arts & Business Admin (1977)
London Business School - Masters (1979)

Ministry of International Trade & Industry Rafidah binti Aziz
Universiti Malaya - Bachelor of Arts Honours

Minister for Foreign Affairs BG George Yeo
Cambridge University - Double First Class Honours (1976)
Harvard Business School - MBA w/ Distinction (1985)

Minister of Agriculture Muhyiddin Yassin
(Education Unknown) [ Polytechnic Ungku Omar ]

Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang
Cambridge University - First Class Honours w/ Distinction (1976)
Harvard University - Masters (1986)

Ministry of Domestic Trade Shafie Apdal
(Education Unknown) [ Form 5, Failed English ]

Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean
University of Manchester - First Class Honours (1976)
Imperial College, London - Masters w/ Distinction (1977)

Minister of Education Hishammuddin Hussein
(Education Unknown) [ Bachelor of Arts, Social Science ]

Minister for Education Tharman Shanmugaratnam
London School of Economics - Bachelor of Arts
Cambridge University - Masters
Harvard University - Masters

Minister of Home Affairs Radzi bin Sheikh Ahmad
(Education Unknown) [ Kolej Islam Malaysia , Diploma ]

My First White Christmas....alone....

2007-12-26T11:12:00.000+08:00

Blessed Belated Christmas Everyone!

Well, on the morning of Christmas I got a big surprise. It was snowing! Don't wanna sound like a 'sua-ku', this IS my first white Christmas.....even my first snowing winter. Previous winters I spent was either back in Malaysia which is usually raining or in Libya which is cold but no snow.

First white Christmas and I am spending it alone....sad eh? Well, what to do....work is work. I flew out of Almaty early in the morning and arrived in Kzylorda around noon. Once landed, the captain announced that the temperature outside was -19°C....I thought I heard -9°C but once I stepped out of the plane...it immediately hit me.....my face had a biting feeling....ears and fingers were in pain. You think that is bad huh? Wait till I tell you about the temperature at my base camp in Kumkol.

A list of my Christmas presents:

1) Nokia N81 8GB from Randi
2) White Christmas
3) Skywards Silver status from Emirates (sorta...)

Yes, apparently I'm short of 135miles but they gave it to me anyways. I guess it must be too close and they decided to give me the status or because I have the returning flight with them. Either way, I have additional perks now. Access to the Business Class Lounge, E-Gate check-in, add luggage allowance and many more. Woot!

Shalom!

My Skywards miles

2007-12-23T14:05:00.000+08:00

Feeling heavy waking up this morning....knowing that I'll be flying...again. Another 2 more flights before I'm at my camp. I take a total of 6 flights a month just to get to work and back. And you guys complaining of driving to work. LOL.

My uncle dropped me off at the airport, first time in almost 2 years the airport is not so packed. Weird...maybe because it's a work day. Check in my luggage, 23.5 KG. Not bad...considering the amount of winter clothes I brought...including 2 huge thermal coveralls my uncle gotten me. Having my breakfast at Starbucks...now...typing this while waiting to enter the departure gate. 5hrs of flight and I'll be in Almaty....checked the weather online....it's -3 now. Rainy Snow Mist....hmmm...is that good?

As we drove near the airport, can see the newly built departure terminal from afar. It's huugggee...like a huge caterpillar. It's not open yet but once it does....it'll be hell for someone who gotta walk from one end of the terminal to other. One of either new or the old terminal would be dedicated to Emirates flights. Good news for me.

Oh talking about Emirates, I am so pissed since I knew that my frequent flyer Skywards Tier miles are going to expire by 31st Dec. The tier miles determines which level I'm at....there are 3 levels....Blue, Silver and Gold. To reach Silver level, I have to collect 25,000 tier miles in a year, Gold is 50,000. Apparently I only have 24,865 tier miles!! Short 135 miles to become Silver. Crap! and it's gonna expire end of this year. My next flight is only in January. By then I'll have to start from 0 again. Actually I could get the Gold status if I didn't spend 5 months at home. Being Gold, I get to check in at the First and Business class counter, use the Business Class Emirates lounge at airports and get 30KG of luggage allowance. And maybe...just maybe....get bumped to Business class seats. LOL.

Okay, gotta go now. Shall write more when I'm freezing my arse off in Kazakhstan.

Shalom and Out!

Dubai again....kinda cool

2007-12-22T17:32:00.000+08:00

Well dudes and dudettes, halfway again to somewhere. Dubai is always my stopover hub before heading off to a month of work somewhere around the world. Will be heading out to Kazakhstan tomorrow morning, Air Astana....not bad. Better than alot. Weather here is kinda cool, although it's colder same time last year though....Global Warming?

But once I touchdown in Alamaty, the temperature there is currently -15 to -20. Ugghhh...thinking about it makes me shiver. With all the money spent on my winter wear, it better keep me warm and cosy. Although working will be much harder with me dressed looking like the Michelin Tire mascot. You know the white bald marshmallow man?

Good news is that I'll be back in Dubai for the Dubai Festival Sale! woot! Shop! Shop! Shop! I just bought an LV handbag...not for myself of course....for Randi. Luckily I did not buy it back in Malaysia, it's cheaper by RM500 here! cripes! Although LV is NEVER on sale. But I'll be back for their festival sale....almost EVERYTHING is on sale. Up to 75% on all brands. Got my eyes on an Oakley or Victorninox Backpack, some shoes and clothes. Hopefully it'll be a steal.

Gonna go out window shop again....need to get gift ideas for everyone at home. Out!

Ever seen a Rig Floor? a dirty one?

2007-12-17T12:52:00.000+08:00

Was clearing up clutter in my computer, thousands of picture files here and there. And stumbled on the videos taken from my last trip to Kazakhstan, videos of the rig floor. It's where all the action is....drilling, pumping....and where I work. Now you all can see how it is on the rig floor. The floor is usually 30-40 feet above ground level. Why is it that high up? Between the floor and the ground level is a huge BOP (Blow-Out-Preventer)....a massive object that retains the pressure in the hole from exploding out is one of it's many uses.

This rig in the video is dirty, not all are this bad...some worse though. There are some rig floors that are organised and clean. Easier to work on.

Crammed Like Sardines!

2007-12-08T22:13:00.000+08:00

Saturday morning is usually our lazy sleeping day....but Mike Goh made plans with us earlier for Dim-Sum at his uncle's place in Puchong and to PC Fair afterwards. There was a miscommunication during our drive to breakfast, but we all made it only to find out that his uncle's shop has already closed down. Luckily there was another Dim-Sum shop right next to it, since everyone's famished...we just ate there. Food's not bad....cheap though. Adrian, Eric, Mike Goh, Randi and I....it only cost RM 64. After makan we headed out, Randi drove back to church for puppet practice.

Surprisingly there wasn't much jam heading to KLCC, and plenty of parking. Last year everywhere was bumper to bumper. Anyhoo, we made our way to the convention center and start our sardine packing routine. There were throngs of people there, at least the air-conditioning in the halls were working fine. Thank goodness for that...if not there's gonna be massive "BO" (Body odour lar) problem.

The first few halls were not very interesting 'cept Dell for displaying their new XPS laptops and desktops. And also some promoter girls from other major brands. Got my friends oogling at them. The main event is located at the last hall, which hosts the retailers like MTEC, BESS and Computer War. Lots of other small retailers, they usually offer more unique and cheaper items. I got myself ink refills for my Dell printer for only RM9 and 50pcs Memorex DVDs. I was sooo tempted to get some really cool hardware for my computer but need to be patient till my next big upgrade. Very soon. The guys were looking for cases for their IPods and memory stick drives.

After a long stroll, we headed back to KLCC's Starbucks....where else? LOL. Sat down, relaxing while sipping iced lattes. There is this huge-mungous Christmas tree at the center court of the shopping mall. Biggest I've seen so far in Malaysia. Not bad eh?

Updates! Updates!

2007-12-06T23:33:00.000+08:00

It's been soooo long since my last post...yeah I know...I'm lazy. Alot has happened since then. Don't even know where to start. Let me give you the short story. Hmmm...I have been chasing for my salary and rig bonus for the past week or so...the smart alec people in the payroll department seems to have made an error on the swift code, the code tells the banks where the location of the account is. Maybank Malaysia is MBBEMYKL, the douche bag that made the mistake wrote MBBEMYKA which is the code for Labuan's Mayban Berhad. Sheesh. Apparently my money got bounced off Labuan and headed back to New York. And now they are trying to sort it out....and I'm broke! Of all the time to make a mistake.

That's a recent news. Oh....my good friend Anderson and his wife, Zoe went back to China after a short 2 week holiday here. Kinda fun when he's around, we went to a bar called Just Divine, which is co-owned by Randi's brother. A bunch of us got together there and chilled out. It has been 6 years since the last similar event. Long overdue. Although I missed out on the Japanese buffet outing at KLCC. Busy lar.

Just today, the 5 day Vacation Bible School (VBS) at Klang Wesley Methodist Church ended. Randi was one of the coordinator for the event. This event is for sunday school kids, they have bible lessons, games, craft and lots of activities. I sort of helped out for the first 2 days, after that I disappeared into the wind. LOL. I just found out the noise level that 150 children makes. Totally deafening! Even the disco feng-thau speakers loses out! Haha. Glad that's over liao, Randi was poofed after the 5 day event. At least the kids gone back home happy and with bible knowledge.

Oh, just heard that a family friend was denied his Datukship title today, he was invited to accept the Datuk title sometime ago but now being denied it. The reason for his predicament? He was charged in the court of law for stealing a bicycle more than 20 years ago! Back then he was poor, but now he has multiple legitimate businesses and is a respected businessman. A little black mark that happened years ago that you think will not harm you in the future, apparently came back to bite you in the ass. A lesson here people.....Don't get caught! I mean...do good.

Gonna try to update more lah. Wanna play some CS now.

My Nokia N81 8GB

2007-11-11T11:51:00.001+08:00

Last night was our grand anniversary celebration. I'm glad that I could be home from Kazakhstan for this. We headed out to Sunway Pyramid, wanted to see the new section of the place that was opened recently. I liked the individual floor concept, each floor has it's own theme. From Egyptian to Asian.

What I wanted to brag is my new toy, a present from Randi. My Nokia N81 8GB cell phone! It was shocked speechless when I opened the very very well wrapped box. The phone was wrapped under 20 sheets of wrapper! But once I got to the box, it was a Kenneth Cole perfume box. I opened it and a black velvet pouch sits inside. In it is my brand new top of the line Nokia N81. I was shocked speechless.

This phone was released just 2 days ago. This is the first time I have a phone like this...I never bought myself any good phones. Yeah..yeah...I'm a cheap ass. LOL. Anyways, this phone rocks! It has 2 speakers to produce stereo music, NGage gaming capability and videos! It has a huge memory, 8GB built in. There are so many cool kinks that I haven't even discovered yet. Just surf to Nokia site if you want to know more. I just want to mess with it now. Oh one more thing.....Jeles lehhh...? LOL.

Home Sweet Home....

2007-11-11T11:17:00.000+08:00

Ahhh...After a few days of bouncing off a few countries I've finally landed back home. Arrived 10PM on the 9th. After leaving the camp on the 4th, spent a night at the Hotel Selena Star in Kyzlorda. A little town 3hrs south of the camp, it says on the card that the hotel is a 4-star...which I don't know how they rate it but the waited service at the restaurant was excellent, better than a lot back home.

Then next morning we headed out to the airport for our flight to Almaty. Final destination in Kazakhstan. Got put up in the Otrar Hotel which is at the old part of the city. The hotel faces a park, sort of like a central park in New York but way smaller. One thing about Almaty is that the city is FILLED with trees, there's either an oak tree or some other tree every 7-9 feet apart...on EVERY road there is. Tsk...wish Malaysian would adopt this kind of city landscaping. We went to a nice little place called the American Bar & Grill to have some REAL food after 5 weeks of "confinement". Sank my teeth into a juicy succulent burger and fries. SWEET!!!

Went to the office the next day to drop off some stuff and to collect my flight tickets, met with the ever helpful Yuliya and Maria, without them I think I would still be stuck in somewhere in Kyzlorda. We got the driver to drop us off at the MegaMall in Almaty, their biggest shopping mall. Not bad actually, they have a nice food court which serves food I wish our Malaysian mall food court would.

At Dubai, met up with my brother and my uncle. Haven't seen them in months. It was nice to have a little gathering. Good thing that my flight plans were changed and I got bounced off Dubai before KL. Stayed with my brother in his apartment in Abu Dhabi. His apartment have a view overlooking the sea and the naval base. I got some pictures of a naval transport and a destroyer. In the night, we brothers went out to a bar to unwind and share some working tales. He brought me to a nice bar called Rock Bottom, which has a live band playing. And this live band isn't the ordinary ones we have back home...which is kinda lame. But this band in Rock Bottom really rocked the place. What a night. Sadly, I can only stay for 2 nights, the last night we spent having quality time...and BBQ time with my uncle and his family. My uncle setup his BBQ grill and grilled some nice grub. Awesome food! Good thing is, I get to spend some time with my cousins...Melanie and little Max. Max was teething and drooling all over the place...and Melanie is starting to talk...a lot. LOL.

The next morning, I had to drag myself off the bed and pack up. I was kinda heavy hearted at the airport. Feeling hard to leave my brother. Well at least I would get to see him again on my next trip back to Kazakhstan. It was a long but comfortable flight in the 777. The flight was full but there was an empty seat next to me, which gives me more space to relax.

When the plane landed, my heart started to race. So excited to be back home...actually excited to see my family. Randi was there waiting for me...what an awesome sight. Mom and Dad was waiting at home. We went out for late dinner at Kayu's nearby.

Home Soon...

2007-11-02T17:43:00.000+08:00

I just came back from another all-nighter, didn't sleep for 24hrs. A long job with all the tools being ran. Very chilly also, dropped to -4 around midnight. Been quite awhile since last posted. Didn't have much to tell except working details. The time has finally come, I'll be heading home in 3days. Will be spending 2 nights in Alamaty. Stretch my legs a bit around the city and get some real food. I have been eating weird tasting, bland, same crap different day kind of stuff. And I am getting sick of it. It's always just beef and potatoes. Time to find some real food, but my craving is for home cook food and our local Malaysian food! Just thinking about it makes me fidgety.

Time to get packing. Can't wait to get away from this place. Just 3 more days! WOOHOO!

Slow Week....Bored.....

2007-10-19T13:41:00.000+08:00

This week is kinda slow...no jobs at all, a rig had equipment problems and another is drilling at a snail pace...only 20meters in the last 24hrs. Last week here was kinda hectic...with jobs back to back...everyday. Pulled all nighters for a couple of days. From rigs to rigs. What I don't like is the jobs that happens at night. Middle of the nights, the temperature drops to 0 or 5 degrees. Not that I mind with my handy terrorist hat. LOL. But it's the wind that gets to me. The wind chill is kinda high in during the nights as winter approaches.

Well, I will be back here during the middle of winter. Hopefully I can survive, I am from a tropical climate country. And previously worked in the hottest place on earth! And now working so near Siberia! Last winter the lowest temperature recorded was a low -42!! Practically the rigs frozen. Steaming the equipment barely worked.

Another Cold Day in the Oilfields

2007-10-16T11:19:00.000+08:00

Another day, another Tenge. Not much to do these few days, still waiting on jobs to come along. This camp I'm in has nothing much but at least the Petro Kazakhstan camp has something to offer. Every alternate day, a few of us head over to their gym to workout. Kill some time and get in shape.

There are some activities planned by the local people here...soccer, volleyball and even the occasional sauna. A little room that is usually packed. Something to look forward to after a long cold night of working. Temperature is dropping lower after a few days...a few nights ago it was around 0 degrees. Last winter was one of the worst ever in Kumkol...it was around -42. Which all the rigs have to cease operations...in such cold temperatures, the pipes and structure tend to freeze and become brittle. Steam is useless to warm them up.

Let's see what else is there to do later in the day.

Rocket Launch From Kazakhstan

2007-10-14T19:47:00.000+08:00

Apparently I had brought along my USB cable. It was hidden somewhere in my luggage bag. Here is the video that I manage to capture with my digital camera. Removed the sound for better bandwidth. Incredible sight.

Greetings From Kazakhstan

2007-10-10T21:55:00.000+08:00

It's been 2 weeks since I left home to come here. Smack in the middle of the 9th largest country in the world. People here are friendly though. But my base camp is place to be desired....literally. LOL.

I had to come online and post something that I have seen 20minutes ago. The most fascinating spectacle....I get to witness what you guys in Malaysia can only witness through the television screen. I was staring up in the sky in awe as our first Malaysian astronaut being catapulted to space. The rocket was launch from the west, from what I gather, the launch was only 350KM away from where I was.....it went all the way to the eastern horizon and disappeared. As it was climbing, I can see sparkling debris falling from the sky. It's just beautiful.

Now that is something that you really don't see everyday.....or your lifetime. LOL.

What a blessing to be here eh?

I took wonderful pictures and videos of it but guess what....I forgot to bring my camera USB cable....so I couldn't upload it to gloat!!!!

Prison Break Season 3

2007-09-20T03:36:00.000+08:00

It is finally here.....the 3rd season of an exciting tv series that has everybody glued to their chairs. The first episode titled Orientación was aired in the States on the 17th but thanks to some good samaritan we get to watch it almost on the same day.

If you haven't watch any of it...I suggest start from the first season. Most exciting! And yes....the charming Wenworth Miller.

My Tounge is Fat!

2007-09-18T10:39:00.000+08:00

I have never visited the dentist much, maybe once a year for a checkup. Apparently I have very strong teeth and gums. So I never had to face any drills, syringe or even big shiny pliers....till today. And my first had all of the above used at the same time....to remove one of my wisdom tooth that is embedded beneath my gums.

Kinda nervous at first....but hey.....I have been through worse.....and I mean much much worse. After sticking me with 2 syringe full of painkillers, the left side of my face began to tingle and soon I don't feel my cheeks anymore. And here comes the scalpel to cut open the gum.

The wisdom tooth is embedded quite deep and the doc had to use a drill and cut it into 2 pieces to remove it. Alot of drilling and it vibrates my skull. He used a plier and yanked both pieces out and begin to stitch it close.

It wasn't a bad experience....I was in good hands today. And now I have "chipmunk cheeks" for a few days. Haha. Talking funny and spitting blood. Cool.

Selamat Berpuasa.....

2007-09-14T15:13:00.000+08:00

Last night was the first Buka Puasa of the month of Ramadhan. A friend Randi and I invited us to Hotel Istana KL for their Buka Puasa Buffet, she works there as the Marketing Comm Manager. FREE makan! Another good perk! Took quite awhile to get there though....with everyone trying to get home for buka puasa.

The buffet is at the Taman Sari brasserie, nice cosy place. As we walked into the restaurant, a local band performing Ghazal, not sure what is that but it was very cultural. When we were greeted and I panned the restaurant, it's amazing big the place was. They are serving more than 100 dishes each day with 8 different menus rotating throughout the month! Sweet! And that makes the RM89++ per person well worth it.

When it was time to makan, we went around surveying the dishes....very impressive especially their presentation. Local, Chinese, Japanese, Italian and even Mediterranean. And at the dessert section, all sorts of cakes and pastries. They even have a chocolate fondue fountain with assortments of fruits and marshmallows for dipping.

After 3 rounds of food....and desserts. I can barely move. Haha. The food was great. Sadly I forgot to bring along my camera for some snapshots. You guys would be drooling all over the keyboard with those pictures. I definitely recommend Hotel Istana for their buffet.

Not filled with Wisdom after all...

2007-09-14T14:46:00.000+08:00

I finally got everything settled to go to work next week Wednesday....flight tickets all booked but I had to postpone the my flight to the following week. Why? Woke up this morning and felt a mind throbbing pain at the back of my mouth. Thought I was just heaty, but the pain got worse and my gum started to swell to a point where I can't even close my mouth. By now the pain was excruciating! Even my head hurts.

Went straight to the dentist, after an X-Ray the doctor says that I have a wisdom tooth making a punching bag out of my molar. It grew sideways and pressing against the next molar. And now there is a little infection which is causing the swelling and pain.....whole lotta pain! And I can't even eat now. Cripes! After seeing the X-Ray (which is only 2 square inch)....very small and cute...looks something like the picture below.

Now I gotta take some meds to curb the swelling for the surgery next week. Was kinda hoping that it can be done today. Gonna remove 2 wisdom tooth, the one at the top gotta go too. Fear of future complications. Aiyai yai. Shall take some gory pics of the surgery.

AC leaky leaky...drippy drippy

2007-09-03T17:29:00.001+08:00

Was sleeping one night and a sound rudely awoken me. The sound of water dripping....practically sounds like a M4A1 with the silencer attached! HAHA. Turns out that my air-conditioner is taking a "leak" in the middle of the night. Sheesh!

Apparently it was clogged....in dire need of service. Called the technicians but they cannot come over till Monday. Cripes!

They arrived today....my saviors! They have a new technique nowadays, they service the blower unit while it's attached to the wall....putting a canvas and channeling the excess water and dirt into a pail tied to the ladder. At least it gets the work done.

And now.....my room feels like winter in the Sahara! Brings back memories.

Happy Birthday Malaysia! Merdeka!

2007-09-01T16:21:00.000+08:00

MERDEKA! MERDEKA! MERDEKA! 50 years ago, Malaysia was independent! And we have came a long way. Anyhoo, it's been many years I have even stepped out of my house for a Merdeka celebration. Usually just stay at home for a movie or at mamak with family and friends. This year is different, there was a International Fireworks Competition held at Putrajaya. And since there will be nice fireworks on display, why not go and enjoy it. The news reported that there were estimated 100,000 people at Putrajaya on the eve of Merdeka!

At 9:15pm, we were on the Kesas Highway almost reaching the Cyberjaya/Putrajaya exit. And there were was a looooong line of cars. I was thinking.....crap! Since we're already here, might as well bear with it. Turns out that the line of a few hundred cars were all queuing for the cash booths. The smart tag line was clear! In your face you cheapskates! LOL. No hard feelings eh?

Didn't look too good when we pulled up near the overhead bridge just before turning into the Putrajaya city center road. We decided to go a little ways and make our way back.....so that we can leave immediately after the fireworks. And it turns out to be a wise decision made! At midnight, there were a thousand cars lined up all the way from the city center to where we were. Luckily we were on the other side of the road.

We waited for the fireworks till 12AM, and all of the sudden.....little flares shot up from the horizon.....and BOOM! It has begun! The pyrotechnics on that night was prepared by Japan. It was spectacular! With fireworks that explodes into flowers particularly our Bunga Raya....just beautiful, stars, saturn-shapes and even hearts! Some were so big that when it explodes in the sky, the sound and shockwave took 2 seconds to reach us and even sets off some car alarms! The best was the last string of fireworks.....massive.

It was the best Merdeka ever! Happy Birthday Malaysia!

Watch it all, the best bit is in the end!

iPhone Unlocked!

2007-08-29T16:35:00.000+08:00

Some dude in Malaysia has it!! Jeless!!

No, that is not mine....yet. LOL. I have been eyeing on the iPhone since the design was released some time ago. And when it launched in the US, I was thinking of getting a friend to get me one and courier it to me. But to my dismay, turns out that the iPhone is sim-locked with AT&T which means it only works with that service provider. News of the availability of the iPhone in Asia is 2008.

But now my friends! Everyone can own it! A six-man team called iPhoneSimFree has released a software that can unlock the iPhone carrier's lock! No need to mess with the hardware. It has been tested and reviewed by the experts at engadgets.com.

"We can confirm with 100% certainty that iPhoneSIMfree.com's software solution completely SIM unlocks the iPhone, is restore-resistant, and should make the iPhone fully functional for users outside of the US", said hardware expert Ryan Block.

...and that is good news to us all eh? Now all I need is an iPhone.

Adieu Mon Frère

2007-08-28T02:16:00.000+08:00

Haih....just came back from the airport. My brother has left for Abu Dhabi, back to work. A month ago I was worried that I wouldn't get to see him as I was suppose to leave for Kazakhstan too. But turns out that he came and left.....and I'm still here. At least we get to spend some time together as a whole family. Hopefully when he's back for CNY 2008, I will be able to meet him in Malaysia for my break.
We all miss him dearly....pray that he gets his rotation.

Young and Dangerous?

2007-08-27T02:04:00.000+08:00

It's been awhile since I last posted on me blog. A busy month. Although the funeral was a lengthy ordeal, I managed to get through it. Seen alot of stuff during that 5 days....some funny....some weird. But the thing that caught my attention was on the 3rd night, about a hundred of gangstas came to pay their last respect....Hong Kong style! I only thought it only happens in the movies! Friends of the family.

What a hectic month....

2007-08-20T17:24:00.000+08:00

It's been a long 2 weeks....a little of joy and grief. A week ago, my family and I went on a 5 days trip down to Singapore. Had a lot of fun and had very little sleep. Some holiday huh? Will post more of this event later....with pictures.

And this week, things didn't turn out quite good....my grandmother passed away yesterday afternoon. Although we weren't very close, it's sad. I have no idea how the chinese customs are about these things....apparently we are holding a 5 day tribute to my grandmother before she is laid to rest.

Will write more after I get back from the night ceremony....a lengthy process.

Out.

MyKad....Never Leave Home Without It!

2007-08-06T03:38:00.000+08:00

It's amazing that our Malaysian police force can go to great lengths to persecute and prosecute a person who did not commit murder, rape nor armed robbery. This is a case of a 19 year old teenager, for his only "crime" is failure to present his identity card to a police officer.

Being detained, charged in a court, slapped with a RM1000 bail and now in a prison cell for months awaiting for a retrial. Wish the gomen can show such tenacity towards "real" criminals. Good effort....wrong reasons.

Remember to bring your MyKad wherever you go!

Full story: The STAR: Teen detained for months after failing to produce MyKad

Get In Line!

2007-08-04T03:26:00.000+08:00

A nice read and a nice reminder of Malaysian "un-common courtesy". Refer back to my old post.

Source Malay Mail
04 August, 2007

I CANNOT stand people who jump the queue. Whenever anyone commits this transgression in my presence, I take a deep breath and look at it as a personal invitation to do some scolding. One time, this well-dressed man cut my line to pay a parking ticket. When I realized what was happening, I marched to the paybooth to point out what he had done. Without even looking at me, he curtly said, “I’m in a hurry.”

Big mistake. I made sure I blocked his exit path and expended some of his precious time to let him know that other people’s time mattered too.

I am a bit impetuous, and looking back it was lucky he didn’t shove me out of the way or worse, smack me. But I strongly feel people shouldn’t think their time matters more than others.

The only time I held my tongue was when I was about to pay a parking ticket. I was about to tick off the rude man who cut my line, when I noticed his young son staring at me. On one hand, I could have politely reminded him that he was doing wrong. But I was concerned that witnessing his daddy getting reprimanded might somehow irrevocably scar the boy’s psyche. I kept quiet, and if the situation ever repeated itself, I still don’t know what I’d do.

While you might grumble when people cut your line, here’s what to do the next time it happens.

1. If it’s a case of someone letting his friends cut the line, then tap the person on the shoulder, and in the most friendliest, loudest voice, politely ask that since he’s being so generous, you’d like to be in front of him too. He will most likely be defensive. Smile. Ask again, and again, until he is embarrassed.

2. If it’s someone who is trying to inch into the line, then inform him where the line starts. During a warehouse sale my colleagues did this, when a young girl cut into the line of those who had been queuing for close to an hour. What bugged her was that while a pregnant lady and a mother with a toddler could line up, the young girl chose to cut in. The offended party immediately directed a volley of words towards the social sinner, throwing the line, “You don’t deserve a Malaysian passport.” It caught on as a catchphrase in the office for a while.

Oh, in case you’re the one planning to cut the line, then just remember this. You might just be unfortunate enough to do it in front of me.

Sujartha K.
Assistant editor, Lifestyle

Audi R8 Ciplak

2007-08-02T16:42:00.001+08:00

Left: Audi R8 / Right: Kia Coupe

I have always been a fan of Audi, their designs are always a step ahead of other car manufacturers. Like the latest Audi R8, a mean sleek looking piece of technology. If you have seen the Audi R8, you would want to own it. But after looking at the price, after our Malaysia Boleh taxes....you would just want to get the wallpaper for eye candy.

Wanting to compete against BMW, Lexus and Mercedes. Kia came up with their very own "supercar", a new 2.0L turbocharged engine that is being developed by Hyundai. A lookalike of the Audi R8 which cost only a fraction of it. The fact that the coupe bears some resemblance to an Audi is not by chance, since Kia tasked ex-Audi designer Peter Schreyer to design it.

So for all the Wira-Evo-Wannabe owners, soon you'll be able to own a Kia-R8-Wannabe.

A Day With the Fishies

2007-08-01T03:22:00.000+08:00

It was me gal's birthday a few days ago so I took her to a special place....somewhere different. The Aquaria at KLCC. I was surprised at how well maintained the place was, for a Malaysian tourist spot. The fishes were all fat! Which means they are really well taken care of.

We arrived there at about 3:40PM, hoping to catch the shark feeding but had just missed it. Anyways, we still got the whole place to explore. The entrance fee for MyKad holders is RM 28 but with e-coupons I printed out from their website, we got RM2 off per ticket. Nice.

Started the "expedition" with the DNA Pool, where 3 shallow tanks is filled with docile sea animals for visitors to touch. When I saw a pool filled with sharks....baby sharks to be exact...I immediately stick my hand in and stroke them little buggers. Soft, smooth and squishy! Me gal joined in the fun, she grabbed one of them long enough for me to take a snapshot.

First section is the turtle and terrapin tanks, with all our local variety of armored swimmers. Such majestic creatures, swimming gracefully with their calm look. Can't imagine people would slaughter them for their shells.

The rainforest section has little display cases with smaller and more elusive animals. Reptiles and Amphibians. 2 frogs caught my attention, one is HUGE! and the other is weird and slimy looking. Cool but weird!

Can you spot the geckos?

Lower level is the home of the fishies. A huge cylinder tank in the middle houses a bunch of fishes that really looks like piranhas! We spent most of our time here, there are so many fascinating animals here. Another shallow tank shows a few species of rays, box fishes and sharks. 2 manta rays were particularly playful, often coming close flapping it's "wings" on surface....managed to touch it as it glides off. Cool!

The part I was looking forward to the whole trip was the 90metre underwater tunnel! It even has a travelator! This is a gigantic fish tank that houses all sorts of marine life that you will only see in documentaries. From Napoleon fishes to SandTiger sharks. We felt that we were really scuba diving and the sharks were so close that we can almost feel it.....creepy! There were a couple of sharks that are really big, up to 10feet long...or even longer! With rows of sharp teeth!

A little ways further, a section for the weird and wonderful. And it really is, there was a little cylindrical tank with floating seashells....to my surprise they were Nautilus...the living fossils! What a sight. They survived unchanged for millions of years! They look like aliens with tentacles and BIG eyes.

What an experience! I'm glad that I brought her to aquaria, something that we both can enjoy and experience. There were many more pictures that I didn't upload and many more things that we saw. Just a review and our little expedition.

Long Awaited Family Reunion

2007-07-29T04:43:00.000+08:00

Ahhh.....what a day. My brother came back last nite from Abu Dhabi, mom and dad have not seen him since February. He's been working there for almost 2 years but I have met him in Dubai occasionally.

But now he's back for a full month! Long holiday. At least I get to spend some time with him before I leave for Kazakhstan. Yeah, I received my LOI a couple of days ago....visa will be ready soon.

In addition, my aunt from Singapore is back too. Been going out makan and lepak-ing for a couple of days now. Lack of sleep! LOL. Supposed to be relaxing eh? Anyhoo, this is the best time. Being able to meet a close family member who is away for a period of time is......ecstatic!

Remember guys....treasure your loved one's company. Make the most of it everyday.

Mouse Transformers!!

2007-07-26T12:54:00.000+08:00

I just gotten a new gadget to tinker with and it's FREE! A gift from my gal which she got it from a Sony launch...Oh the perks! Checked it online and found out the price of this little wonder....RM 299!!

The Sony Vaio 2 in 1 Mouse and Phone is a very nifty piece of hardware. It sits on my mousepad clicking away but when there's a phone call coming in from Skype....the mouse "transforms" into a phone! How cool is that! Only problem is that now I can't do anything when the mouse is a phone. The designers at Sony must be fans of Transformers.

This little contraption is suitable for people on the go...like myself...who has a laptop. If I am talking on the Vaio Phone, I still can use my touchpad to navigate. The mouse looks very sleek and fashionable, as expected from Sony. The middle of it's body is a strip of chromed metallic finish with a scroll button as volume when in phone function.

When a call comes in, an LED at the top of the mouse blinks. It also has hands free mode, to activate it I just press a button on it's side and it automatically raises the handset to a 45 degree angle. And I just speak into it. Cool eh?

Hands Free mode

Anything and Whatever....

2007-07-26T12:30:00.000+08:00

What you wanna drink? Hmmm....whatever-lah. (sounds familiar?)

When you ask someone for suggestion on where to eat or a what drinks they want to order....the most common reply is Anything-lah or Whatever-lah. I find myself saying the same words frequently when my parents ask me what I want to eat for dinner.

And for those people who can't decide and love to use these words when asked on what to drink....beware because you might get what you ask for....literally.

A Singaporean company came up with drinks labeled Whatever and Anything for people that cannot decide their thirst quenching liquids. Upon buying these cans, you won't know what it flavor it contains. Sort of like a "tikam"....Haha. Randi brought back 2 canned drinks that surprised me....haven't tried them yet though.

Whatever...Non-carbonated / Anything...Carbonated

Counter Strike Clan member

2007-07-22T21:36:00.000+08:00

Many years of rigorous training and countless hours spent in a cybercafe paid off.....sort off. Was playing online today in a local server and was "scouted" by a local clan. The [MP.s] clan. Requesting me to join their clan as a member....and I did. It's not yet official though. And at the same time....my counter strike kaki friend....Mage...was also invited to join the clan. Cool!

Now it's gonna be serious. More training and planning.

Do you smelllll what is burning?

2007-07-20T02:51:00.000+08:00

Walked out of my room and in a single whiff, I smelt something burnt or was burning. I went and check the nearest wall power point....seems OK. Sniffed my way into my neighboring room and the smell was stronger there. Looked into my computer casing and saw that the fan was not moving....Uh-oh....there was soot everywhere. The whole PC innards was covered with it. Apparently my power supply blew up...literally...spewing black soot through both the inside and outside of the openings.

That computer has served me well, I never let it have a good rest for the past 2 years....and it has finally call it quits.

I hope that my hardwares were not fried in the process. So many downloaded....ummm....freewares in the hard disks. Will check it tomorrow for survivors.

Anyone seen the movie Borat?

2007-07-19T01:36:00.000+08:00

Ahhh....land of the best caviars. Just received an email from my boss today....telling me to get a visa for Kazakhstan....cos I'm going there for my training! Well, I have been bugging them to send me for some training....so I don't mind that. As long I survive there. Will be there in time for Autumn which will be a cold.

My Dell Inspiron 1520

2007-07-16T23:28:00.000+08:00

It has finally arrived! My spanking brand new Dell Inspiron 1520! They delivered it earlier than said, which is a good thing. I couldn't sit in the house waiting for it....so excited. I slowly opened the box and Voila!....White and smooth. Huge though.

With the 15.4" screen and the 9-cell battery, it is quite heavy. A little thick but this is NOT a business laptop so don't compare it with business or Ultra Mobile versions, with it's configurations....it is suitable for a replacement desktop and for gamers on the move.

My specs:

T7100 1.8Ghz 800FSB
2GB 667Mhz Rams
120GB SATA HDD
15.4" WXGA (1280x800) with TrueLife
NVidia 8600M GT 256MB

The only complain that I have so far is the LCD bleeding....it is quite noticeable from a certain angle. But not so bad. The brightness level is high....you can increase it more within the Nvidia control panel, practically turned my whole screen white with it. The viewing angle of the screen is quite good, I ran a HD quality anime and view it from the side angle and it still looks good. My monitor is just WXGA 1280x800, but to me....it's more than enough.

The bootup speed is blazing!

So far I've just installed FEAR and ran the test.
With both the CPU and Graphics settings on High and VSync ON....63% between 25-40 FPS, the remaining 37% is above 40FPS. Gonna test C&C3 and COH shortly.

Now I just need to get familiarized with the whole Vista shabang.

I have been Phished.....

2007-07-16T02:09:00.000+08:00

Click on the pictures to enlarge and read

I received a letter in the mail box the other day. A plain white envelope with my full name and address printed, I thought it is just another junk mail or another bill (sigh). Looking at the stamp, I was surprised to see it's from Madrid. Opening the mail thinking it's a penpal or something. In the envelope, there was a printed letter and an empty form or some sort.

After reading the letter, I was shocked to see that it was a scam. An e-lottery scam! It states that I have "won" Euros 585,510.00!! Woohoo...I'm a millionaire! Yeah...right!

I then realized that my personal details has been phished or being sold to a scam syndicate! What's worse is that the form that comes with the mail requires me to fill in other information such as my bank account number! I have been careful not to divulge any accurate details of myself online, except legitimate sites such as banking sites. They could've gotten my information from any source....even sold by Malaysian companies!

I will get this letter to the appropriate authorities and see what can they do about it. To everyone, just be careful not revealing any information of yourself online or anywhere else. I hope other people receive a similar letter will not be gullible enough to believe it nor respond to it.

My first Dell Laptop....on the way....

2007-07-11T21:22:00.001+08:00

Well, I have already placed an order with Dell this afternoon. The new laptop range by Dell, the Inspiron 1520. Comes with 8 funky colors. I originally wanted the Ruby Red, very catchy but the salesperson told me that there is shortage of that color and some other. So I chose Alpine White, which just arrived today.

Now I just have to wait 7 days for it to arrive. Oh, and added RM 52 for a Dell All-In-One Printer worth RM 298. Originally wanted to buy yesterday, but thank god I waited....today the new promotion is way better. FREE upgrade to 2GB Ram along with RM400 OFF.

What made me buy Dell Inspiron 1520? The thing that caught my attention was their new Santa Rosa platform, which gives me the Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT 256MB Dedicated memory!! This is a DX10 GPU! Also the 15.4" Widescreen....I like big screens. And definitely the FREE 2GB memory upgrade.

I'm not a plastic bag....yeah right

2007-07-10T22:48:00.000+08:00

Imagine getting a brand new Porsche for 10% of it's original price. Would you get even it comes with a 1000cc engine? I bet you would....just because it's a Porsche!

That was a kind of deal that Anya Hindmarch (a designer brand) had last week, and I was there with Randi and her colleagues. They caught wind of the limited edition Anya Hindmarch's "I'm Not A Plastic Bag" designer bag coming to Malaysia and selling for only RM 55. Everywhere else in the world was sold out the first few hours of it's launch. We were at KLCC at 7AM to queue up but there were already 150 people ahead of us. Everyone waiting for the boutique to open at 10AM.

By 9AM the queue was all the way to the other end of the mall....estimated 1000 people. When the store opened it's doors the queue began to move....inching forward. Some celebrities already gotten their bag and were parading in front of the whole line. Sort of rubbing it in your face. Pissing everyone off.

Within 1 hour after the store opens, it was already sold out. Guess what....we didn't get it! Worst of all, why did they let 1000 people queue up when there is only less than 150 bags available?! That's what smart ass management are like. Those ahead of us were making a ruckus, yelling to the security guards and the employees of the boutique. I was kinda hoping that someone would throw a punch and let hell break loose.

All the waiting for nothing. Only a handful of people manage to get the bag. So we head on home. Empty handed and sleepy. Never again we shall be the customers of Anya Hindmarch.

Oh, as I was looking through the newspapers the next day....I saw my face in the article about the event. Haha. Check out the first picture above taken from the Weekend Mail. See if you can spot me.

Common Courtesy is uncommon

2007-07-05T12:56:00.000+08:00

Define
Common [kom-uhn]
1. pertaining or belonging equally to an entire community, nation, or culture; public

Courtesy [kur-tuh-see]
1. a courteous, respectful, or considerate act or expression

Makes up Common Courtesy, something that people nowadays are lack...or may have forgotten. Remember what we were taught in our Pendidikan Moral classes in our primary school days? Much have been lost or forgotten as we grow up living in times of conflict and self-centeredness or insensitivity. Be it towards our family, friends or even total strangers that we meet in a mall. When was the last time you called an old friend and ask how he or she is doing? Or by simply holding a door open for a stranger behind you as you walk through a door?

If you were to call or leave someone a message, you would expect them to reply or response to it, but some people tend to just ignore or give a lame excuse "Oh....forgot lar" or "Aiya, very busy lar". People, a response to a message or a phone call would not take 30minutes of your time. That is what common courtesy has become...uncommon.

The lack of common courtesy in this society causes much conflict amongst individuals.
There are many of us that would like others to treat us with courtesy, but we ourselves do
not treat others with that same courtesy that we would expect others to direct towards us. I see this is very common among us Malaysians. It is due to this ignorant viewpoint that the lack of courtesy towards one another exists. Individuals expect to receive but not to reciprocate which further irritates the problem.

Common Courtesy: Suggestions and wisdom

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"

Starry starry Night

2007-07-01T21:10:00.000+08:00

The sky is clear tonight, at 8pm when I was outside....I saw 4 distinct bright objects in the night sky. 2 at the North-NorthWest horizon and other 2 at the SouthEast. I knew that they were not stars but planets, so I brought out my telescope for a better view.

At the NorthWest, it turns out to be Venus on the left and Saturn on the right. Such magnificent clarity and brightness. Even Venus is only half revealed, it still outshines everything else in the sky.

Venus

Saturn

At the SouthEast horizon, I could see Jupiter and it's 3 moons clearly! The largest planet in our solar system. At first I thought the 3 objects were distant stars. To look for Jupiter, look for the brightest object at the SouthEast, it is left to an orange star. The orange star next to it is Antares, part of the Scorpius constellation.

The pictures shows exactly how the planets are aligned as seen through my telescope. What you see here is what I saw just now. Tomorrow or the day after that around 8PM, just look towards these horizons and search for them, you will be intrigued.

Autobots....transform and roll out!

2007-06-28T22:41:00.000+08:00

Transformers! Now that is THE best movie of all time! Watched it at Gold Class 1U. Great seats and a fantastic movie......perfect combination. The movie was a blast, you have to give credit to minds behind the designs of the transformers movie. The robots, the transformation, the action....such great detail and finesse.

Comfy!

You might have noticed, all the trailers did not feature any voice from the transformers robots. But in the movie, once Optimus Prime spoke.....it blew me away! The same voice from the 1980s Transformers Generation 1 cartoon.....the voice of Peter Cullen. And he is 51 years old! Woohooo! Now let's wait for the sequel....

Ahhhh...peace at last!

2007-06-26T19:02:00.000+08:00

I believe everyone had already seen the Digi ads presenting the Yellow Man? To me, that is the MOST irritating thing I have ever seen. Been on my nerve since the day I laid eyes on it. And now, courtesy of tenjh0tenge...that annoying yellow blob has been stopped....permanently. Peace at last.

Enjoy!!

Yellow got pwned Part 1: Click Here!
Yellow got pwned Part 2: Click Here!

NewMan 4th Anniversary Party

2007-06-25T12:10:00.000+08:00

I believe most of you were waiting for this post eh? And here it is!
This is the day that every "new age man" has been waiting for...the NewMan 4th Annual Party held at the The Curve, Damansara. Those that attended both the day and the night event knows that it was a blast! If you don't, you need to get out more often.

Started out around high noon, with all the booth setup and ready. Gatsby, Nivea and TXN booth were ready for the day. The weather was sunny and we are praying that it will stay that way...better that than rain!

Being in between The Curve and Cathay Cineleisure, the event was exposed to everyone walking by there. Curious people ended up buying a copy of the magazine that comes with a goodie bag which contains a Diesel underwear, Nivea face wash, Fisherman's Friend chewing gum, Durex condom (made everyone laughed when I mentioned it) and vouchers. Not bad eh? All these goodies for just RM 8. And you get a spin at the Wheel of Fortune for more goodies like Puma eyewear which cost RM 500! See...told you guys to come early!

The first event on stage during the day were the J-Style boys, a contest by Gatsby to search for the Malaysian-Japanese campur hair stylo guy. They appear on stage to introduce themselves and had a little game. The J-Style winner will be announced during the night party. Alot of really lucky people brought home prizes from the Lucky Draw contest.

A short while after that, a catwalk show by the girls from The Extreme Nights. An event that you guys really really missed....should shoot yourselves in the foot for this.

After parading on stage, they came down for photoshoots with the cars and some goobers who were drooling there.

Nice car

While helping out with distribution of the goodie bags, I failed to realize that there were 2 girls all dressed up for Cosplay right at the Gatsby booth. One's a french maid and the other a japanese high school uniform. Can't imagine the attention they drew to their booth. Kawaii! LOL!

The day event went on with more prizes to be won and given away. And alot of proud owners of new Diesel underpants. Spanky!

Wild Night Party

Now this is the event that I was waiting for the whole day! A party with alot of VIPs and free flow of...umm...drinks. Man! I gotta kick myself in the butt for not taking more pictures of the party. Was busy with having a fantastic time with my buddies that I forgot to snap.

By 9:30PM, the place was getting packed with party animals. Both the VIP and Reader's section filled. Party opened with songs by our local artist (forgot his name...will check and repost). He sang some pretty good tunes.

Will continue the post later.....sleepy leh.....

Ok, let's continue shall we. After awhile, one by one the gang arrived. All hot n sweaty but eager to party! Everyone had a Guinness in their hand and we enjoyed the events happening on stage. The J-Style boys had to run around collecting signatures by asking party guests to sign on their shirts....sort of like votes. They even did the Limbo on stage! It was really entertaining. When it was time to crown the new J-Style icon....it went to 15 year old Anderson from JB.

Throughout the party, there were lucky draws with prizes like Puma sunnies, AirAsia vouchers and lots of goodies bags. Emcees were throwing out questions to guests and the first to answer gets prizes too. Vince is the luckiest guy that night, he went home with 2 Diesel underpants (spanky again!) and a 1 year NewMan subscription lucky draw prize! And Eddie who manage to "answer" the last question from the emcee and got a Nivea goodie bag.

Late into the night, we found ourselves a nice spot with 2 tables and we continued with our "kanpei"....sadly Randi was very busy that night, barely had time to stop and take a breather. At least we managed to grab her to take a group photo.

The gang with their "Or Kau"

Ahhh...what a night...what a party. It has been awhile since we had such a gathering of friends, enjoying each other's company....getting wasted. Haha.....not really. All thanks to Randi and NewMan. *Yammmmm Sennngggg*

Trigger Happy

2007-06-22T01:03:00.000+08:00

Ever played Counter-Strike or watch any movie that has gun action scenes? If you were like me, I believe most of you are....you would love to get your grubby hands on a gun and go at it like a John Woo movie. Blasting through dozens of goons without a scratch on you. Well, today I have experience first hand on discharging a real firearm...with live ammunition. Thanks to Eric and his friend, I got invited to our local firing range.

There were a few choices of small handguns to pick from, so we went for the medium .38 caliber Taurus Revolver, which is a six-shot revolver....which looks like the gun commonly seen in cowboy movies and policemen on the beat. Got us a box of 50 bullets and off we go to the firing range. Oh...and the ever important Ear Muffs for those delicate ear drums.

We stapled 4 white paper targets on boards some 10meters away. Uncle Policeman gives me some few safety pointers while he loads the revolver. Taking turns to fire the pistol, I was 3rd in line. My turn came and I was kinda excited, spread my feet apart for stability, placed a firm grip around with both hands....I pulled the hammer back until it *clicked*......set my eyes dead center of the target through sights.....held my breath.....and pulled the trigger....and....BANG!!
Man! It was exhilarating, the recoil wasn't that bad....just a little snap back. The gunshot was more like a firecracker going off near you....a big firecracker. First shot hit the center circle of the target....i'm a natural! Ahem...!

After emptying the chambers into the paper targets, took off my ear-muff and instantly my ear drums were shattered by a loud bang. It came from another handgun being discharged by another fellow member, he was using a 9mm Glock 19. I wandered over to his table and ogled at the handgun, after some small talk. He offered me to take a shot with the Glock. That was so cool!

At first glance, the Glock looks kinda fake....with it's lower part plastic and it's upper metal. It fits perfectly in my hands, like a glove. With the magazine loaded, I pulled the Breech back to load it....just like the movies! Took aim and BANG! The recoil was much harder, kicking my hand back. The gun spits out the empty casing after the bullet took off. Whap! Hit the target dead center again! Now that is what I call a real gun.

With 50 bullets all spent and paper targets peppered with bullet holes....we left with only the ringing in our ears as a souvenir. And I am definitely coming back for the bigger guns! Guns Akimbo!

Guinness 9 Ball Tour at Genting

2007-06-17T23:27:00.000+08:00

This weekend was quite a blast! Spent a night at Genting, watched the 9 Ball Tour and got invited to the Guinness Black Party with VIP passes! All for free! That's what I get for having a girlfriend who works in the media industry....all the perks. Free flow of Guinness draught!

Not exactly a fan of pool but since we were invited, what the hey....we went and checked it out. The tournament was a Live broadcast at Astro Star Sports channel for 2 days. Anyone caught a glimpse of us on TV?

The tour sees the best pool players around Asia competing for the grand prize of USD 36,000. Taipei, India, Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia sends their best for the tournament.

After the quarter finals, a friendly match between Cheri, Taiwan Pool Champion (left pic) and Ronnie, 2 times Pool World Champion from the Philippines (right pic). First round was funny match won by Ronnie, and a rematch was won by Cheri....close win! During intermission, a group girls clad in super tight black outfits called the Black Angels were entertaining the crowd with their dance.

Just click on the play button, ignore the Image coming soon message.

Guinness Black Party

After the tournament, we went back to the room to get into our party attire...heh heh...and we head down to the Arena of Stars for the Guinness Black Party. Featuring DJ Nash, DJ Gabriel and our very own home girl Camelia.

Camelia on stage

DJ Gabriel spinnin'

With the VIP pass, we got access to the podium and free flow of Guinness....not my taste but since it's free....why not. Left the place close to 1AM, tanked my belly with the black beer and partied. Time to turn in. What a night.

4 Sekawan and the Surfer Dude

2007-06-14T17:12:00.000+08:00

Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer....that my friends, is one the most anticipated movie of the year! If you guys know your comic books, you would definitely know the surfer. He's one of the most powerful Marvel comic hero! Empowered with the Power Cosmic by Galactus. This guy can really give a whooping! To know more about the surfer click HERE

This movie will launches today! With sneak preview last nite....I couldn't catch it though cos of Randi working. So got tickets for 6pm show on friday! Oh...and they are free! Muahaha!

Checked your tangki air lately?

2007-06-14T16:31:00.000+08:00

Last week there was a water cut for half a day at my area, must be SYABAS up to their diggin'. It's never ending, there's no proper sewage and piping planning in the first place and when things go south....they bring in contractors to dig up and replace somewhat larger pipes to carry water away. Guess what? A few months later....same thing happens again....with the same pipes at the same area. That's money being put to good use! Tax payer's ringgit!

Anyhoo, after the water interruption, the water from my tap still has a slight tinge of brown despite changing the water filter outside. So I decided to clean the tangki air. Wanted to take a look at our water tank above the 2nd living hall ceiling, pop a ladder and up I went....it was dark up at the "attic", had to bite on to a flash light. Removed the lid and peered into the slightly murky water....stick my hand in it and scraped the bottom of the tank....It sent shivers down my back....I pulled out my arm and my fingers were covered with brown icky gooey stuff. Bleahh! That's what 6 years of Klang water will do to your tank.

Water through the tap after the tank's been "kacau"....all the icky sediments!

It took me 6hrs to remove and clean any goop that is in the tank. What a chore! Had a sore back the next day. But the effort was well worth it....knowing that the water I bathe and wash my face with is clean!

Have you checked your tangki air lately?

Sony PSP and it's mine!

2007-06-13T16:16:00.000+08:00

A little something I got myself this month, as a reward or a little pat-on-the-back for my return from the desert. Took me quite a while to think about committing myself to buy this little baby...and after much consideration and "persuasion" (thanks Randi :P ), I went out to KL and bought it. A little shop I got to know through the forum.

And this thing here? ROCKS!! It plays games, and I mean LOADS of games. Obviously it plays PSP UMD discs, after firmware modifications it plays even PlayStation 1 games! Homebrew games a.k.a NES, SNES, SEGA, N64, MAME...all these are the golden era of consoles and arcades....Mario Bros, Metroid, Contra, Mappy, Street Fighter, Golden Axe, Altered Beast....and hundreds more! I have been searching through my boxes for old PS1 games to rip and convert to play in my PSP. And it all works fine!

Like movies on the go? This little gadget can do it too....just convert any movie to PSP format and voila! Instant Mini-TV! MP3 songs can be played with a proper plugin installed. With it's built in WiFi, surfin' the net is possible but using the keyboard is a real chore....gotta select character by character.

Wherever I go....my PSP is always in my pocket....threatening to pull my pants to my ankles. Har har har. It's kinda heavy but it's worth carrying it around. Waiting in line to pay bills? Girlfriends' taking her time in the beauty shop? This little tyke will be your best companion.
I believe you guys are already drooling eh?

This is what I got in the package:

Sony PSP (Metallic Blue) Console
4GB Sony MSPD (Memory Stick Pro Duo)....crammed with games....
Hori Screen Protector
Charger and 3-pin plug
Logitech PlayGear hard casing
Soft pouch
Headphones with remote
Original UMD game
A DVD of games

Games away....

Well well well...it's still here! So am I....

2007-06-13T02:18:00.000+08:00

Seeing my friends with their blogs reminded me of mine that I made last year when I "was" planning to keep a diary or autobiography or some sort of my travels. Guess what? I searched through Blogspot.com and found it! Thinking that this is an interesting thing to do with my free time and being encouraged by my girlfriend and my friends to blog....and voila! Here I am!

Feels kinda weird writing this, as if anyone would read it. Or maybe feeling a bit "paiseh" with my England and such. Haha...

Well, it has been a year since my last post on my blog. For you who have just visited my blog for the first time, let me do a recap. Initially this blog is meant to be a memory stamp of my travels and journey towards my next steps in life after getting my job as a Wireline Engineer. Which requires me to be travel and work 6 weeks at a time in Libya....North Africa....in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Cool...no? (pun intended)

So now, on with the jabbering. Will try to keep this piece of real estate of mine chuggin'.

Shalom!

Day 1 - May 22, KLIA Farewell Malaysia

2006-05-29T18:37:00.000+08:00

Leaving the house in the car at 9:30pm with my dad, mom, aunt and my girlfriend. Its only an hour drive but this particular time...it seems like forever. Sitting in the car, talking. As we near the airport, my heart seems to get heavier....confused. Knowing that i'm leaving for good this time....and my first time leaving home for a long time. Held on to my gal in the car as tightly as possible. *sigh*

Reached the airport quarter to 11. Unload the luggage unto the trolley, find my way to the check-in counter. My flight's at 2am from KLIA to Dubai, a 7hour flight. Then a 5hour transit for a flight to Tripoli, Libya. Another 7hour flight.

After that we stopped by a cafe to get a drink and wait for my boarding call. I can already see the sadness and loneliness in my girlfriend's eyes. Makes me feel worse leaving her behind...but i know that I must do this ....for our future and my family. Gotta give them a good life. I think that's what's giving me the courage to leave. And also with God's blessing.

We chatted till it was already 1am...time to go. Just before heading to the checkpoint, we took a short walk around...she held me close....tears started to form in her eye....i almost cried. I hugged her, kissed her and told her that it will be okay....that i will be back very soon. After she gains her composure, we walked back to my parents.

Grabbed my bags, gave my mom a big long hug....she was already crying. I couldn't hold it in...tears flowed. Then my aunt, then my dad. Lastly my gal, I held her tight....like i'm not willing to let her go....we both cried...saying our last goodbyes and kisses for now. I whispered some words to her in hopes of soothing her heart.

Then I took the escalator down.....waving as I walk towards the immigration gate. They're at the balcony above....waving....i waved back. After passing through the gate....i looked back as image of them slowly dissapeared....my heart sank.

Farewell my love....

Beginning of a new journey

2006-05-29T18:32:00.000+08:00

Well, this is my first time blogging. It doesn't matter whether anyone reads it, just want to keep a log of my travels and my journey of becoming a field engineer. Before I begin, just want to let you know that I got a new job as a Junior Field Engineer with Precision Energy Services Inc. Which deals with wireline services for the oil and gas industry. Pretty major player. I am to travel the States for my official training at Fort Worth, Texas on June 5 2006. It's a 6 week gig.