93. Cheng Beng

Last nite, we actually went to a wine place in Batu Lanchang instead of SOHO. Surprise surprise. Quite a cozy little place. There was a pool table and a dart board as well. Everyone is kept occupied :) However, being a wine place, u'd expect the wine they recommend to be good. But alas, it wasn't so. I didn't know how to appreciate it anyway, so can't comment on it :) But since everyone is bitching about it, i'll take it as it wasn't good.

Halfway thru, Lorna suggested to go SOHO because she has to meet May to celebrate her B'day. U can imagine the effect that suggestion has on Seng and Wee especially after having bad wine. So u guessed it, we're off to SOHO :D Spent the rest of the evening there. Daniel was there as welll and we discussed some business and continued partying.

After partying we went over to get supper and went home. Had a 3rd party at home. We realised that sleeping now would mean we won't be able to wake up for cheng beng tomorrow. So just hanged out in Seng's room and ate our supper and chit chatted till 3ish. Then spent the rest of the "nite" reading my book.

didn't sleep at all and finally left the house at 5am. Gosh, slept all the way to Sitiawan. Like a baby.


The first cheng beng stop

Reached Sitiawan and the cheng beng starts. We're done by 10am. Off to visit our relatives and buy specialty food items exclusive to Sitiawan. First, was the infamous "Kong Piang", then "Mee suah" and finally the Kampung Koh garlic Chilli sauce. :)


Kong Piang

Mee Suah

Kampung Koh garlic Chilli sauce

Reached Penang abt 2ish. Basically slept like a log after that and woke up only abt 9pm and watched F1 and just chilled at home.

92. Sloooowwwwww day

Finally caught up with my sleep, but as always, that means I'm groggy. D'oh! Like i'm drunk or something. Tonite will meet up at SOHO to celebrate Raine's pregnancy! :D Any excuse at all to go there I tell u.

Was watching Astro last nite and there was a preview of Bruce Willis' interview on Parkinsons. Bruce Willis said something like, "You have to allow yourself the possibility that people fall out of love too!"

I think he has the gift of noticing the obvious :)

91. I was right!!!!

It was a prank! The HITZ fm morning crew's fiasco was actually a prank. :P Anyway, did go and watch "BE COOL". Still trying to figure out if I liked the movie. Interesting show, dunno what to make out of it.

Found out that Raine is pregnant!!!! :) Wee is really happy. Looks like I'll be an uncle again soon.


The family celebrating the good news :)

Rather poofed, so will call it a nite.

90. HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Normally, I'll be out there thinking of pranks to pull, but figured against it. :P Personal reasons. Heh heh heh. Anyway, wonder if I'm right about the Hitz FM morning crew's prank. Well, I guess I'll know when I turn on the radio later.

Just realised that it's been a month and I still haven't finished my book. Luckily only a a bit left. So i'll be just slightly behind schedule.

Been a crazy week. It seems like KL friends week. :) Joanne, Danny and David are all in Penang. So it was fun going out and catching up :) also it's a good excuse to just stay out late. heh heh heh.

Took the second half of today off. Too tired and will just chill. Perhaps i'll go catch a movie. Be Cool is showing! :)

89. Up to date :)

Today went to collect my car. Good job on the tints :) i can see clearly again, Heh heh heh. Rushed back to office because I have stock take today. Will spend the rest of the day in the company store :P Boooring.

Wonder wat's going on tonite. Hmmm, my bet with Chong ends tonite :P Tonite, I regain my freedom. Muah har har har har.

Oh forgot to mention, there was a fiasco on national radio this morning. The Hitz FM (I normally don't listen to Hitz FM, but I followed Seng to work this morning) morning crew was having an arguement on air with their program manager, Mesh. Sad. Well, the morning crew has been suspended ;)

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My Random Thots:

hmmmm, it is April Fool's day eve. The morning crew comes in to work 2 hrs late TOGETHER. The Morning Crew has an arguement with their Program manager ON AIR. The mike is ACCIDENTLY switched on. Hmmmm, sounds like a perfect plot for ratings. HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!!!!!

88. Blogger.com was down

So I was locked out of my account and can't update my blog. Since I'm gifted in the RAM (Random Access Memory) and not HD (Harddisk), i can't retain the memory of what has happened yesterday. :( I'll try to recall as much as I can.

Well, basically Wednesday started off the same. Finished my paper work in office and decided that it's about time i got the tint on my car fixed. The front tint on the windscreen has turned yellowish and the 2 rear window has delaminated. So, it looks really ugly. Enough is enough :P

Went for lunch with Chuwy before going over to Penang to drop off the car. We decided to have Mee Kuah at a very ulu kampung somewhere deep in Juru. We haven't been to that place for more than a year. Thot it'll be a good idea to rekindle something. :) we both ordered Maggi Goreng (Fried Maggi) and flower crabs. Both Maggi and the crabs were brilliant. The Fried Maggi came with 9 prawns. Yummy!!!! We were both stuffed to the brim :)


The Flower Crab, forgot to take picture of the Maggi coz it was too delicious :)

Dropped off the car at Neuton Auto and Seng picked me up. We were suppose to rush back to office for an important meeting, but alas, there was a terrible jam on the bridge. By the time we reached the office, the meeting is over. :P

Evening is collegue bonding time and we went with the Production Manager and several production executives for minum at Roxbury in Butterworth. Since they have to work early the next day, we were home by 10ish. Wee and Seng decided to go SOHO to end the nite. Surprise surprise! To SOHO it is then. Now you guys know why SOHO is called our second home :P

Joanne, Shen and Daniel is suppose to be there as well. Surprising news, Rommel is Joanne's cousin. How an Eurasian can be related to a Muslim, it's beyond me. As always, what matters is, we all have a good time. :D When we reached SOHO, turned out that Lorna, Eric and the rest of the Intel gang is there as well. Gee, there goes the notion of an early nite :P

87. Morning after……

…the quake. Woke up late, so decided to go see my customers first before going to the office. Pretty uneventful. Dropped by my mechanic’s shop to pass him the leftover engine oil and transmission oil for my car so that he can start to work on my car. Went back to my office to clear up all the paper work.

Went to town for dinner and spent the rest of the evening alone at Segafredo. Jack and Zakri is in Gurney Plaza but I’m too lazy to go. So I’ll spend my quiet time in Segafredo. Hmmm, this be a good time to update my Blog. :) bought a few DVDs (Lady Killers and Seoul Raiders). The Phantom of the Opera is still not here.

Seems like a few hundred people lost their lives at Nias Islands due to the quake according to CNN. These tragedies makes me wonder if the end is indeed nigh. At least there’s no Tsunami. Learnt that there are many different forms of earthquakes and only certain types cause Tsunamis. The earthquake has been upgraded to 8.7 on the Richter scale.


The epicenter of both the boxing day quake and the recent quake

Many things to ponder on this week.

86. Monday blues

Slept late again this morning and am zombiefied. And to make matters worse, I can’t go out to see my customers coz my car’s road tax and insurance has expired. That means I’ll be stuck in the office the whole day :P This is gonna be a "mind-over-matter" day I guess. I’m not sleepy, I’m not sleepy. Just take 1 minute at a time. Can’t wait till lunch.

Lunch was rather uneventful. Economy rice with curry stingray and some vege.

Bad choice for lunch, gave me diorrhea, dunno if it’s because of the curry stingray or not……hmmmm…on the bright side, it added some colour to my day. Instead of feeling sleepy at my workstation, I can be feeling sleepy in the toilet!!!! :D heh heh heh.

In the evening, attended the funeral wake of Joanne’s grandfather. Went to the Church of Immaculate Conception in Pulau Tikus. The moment I stepped in, there was this big party in the main hall with live band and food catered by Eden. I was thinking, “Wow! They sure know how to have a good time. Turned out her grandfather’s funeral wake was at the other hall and the "party" was remembering the 1st anniversary of Nigel Samson death. It was a rather grand event with our chief minister attending.

After the wake, went over to Sega Fredo at Bellissa Row to meet up with Yew Peng, Jack and Zakri. Joanne and Shen joined us as well. We were just minding our own business and suddenly this bunch of drunkards from the next table jumped up and proclaimed that the ground is shaking.

“Bloody hell, of course it’s shaking. With the amount of alcohol they consumed, I’m surprised he didn’t jump up and proclaimed he’s flying!” I thought to myself. :)

Then Jack said, “Yeah, it is shaking!”

“Look at the (Ford) Ranger swaying!” added Yew Peng

Only then did I realize that the ground was indeed shaking. We start seeing people running out to the streets. Wow! My first earthquake. Then I began to wonder, would there be another Tsunami? Where’s the earthquake? It was rather exciting. Tried calling my friends to see if they’re ok. Lines are congested, so couldn’t get thru. Later friends started calling me and telling me that it was a magnitude 8.2 quake off Sumatra. No tidal waves spotted (wonder how they spot tidal waves in the dark, but will find out later that it’s thru a global network of seismometers, buoys and relay devices ….i read on CNN.com). Everything is ok, stayed up till abt 4ish watching CNN and BBC. It seems that it’s safe to cross the bridge to work tomorrow. Damn!

CNN's Tsunami resource

85. Easter Sunday


MD and the 10 Years Service award receipients

Well, the company dinner last nite (Saturday nite) ended surprisingly early. We were home by 1145pm!!!! Everyone was surprised. Oh well, Seng and Wee wasn't satisfied, so we decided to head downtown to Soho. Actually it was my idea :P

So head down to Soho we did and met up with my friend. For the first time, Wee actually couldn't finish his pint of guiness. :D Some of the usual guys was there as well. But we mostly end up playing pool and dart and foosball. Seng is the best foosball player among the 3 of us, but unfortunately my friend was even better and Seng got his ass kicked :P he was bitter and demanded a rematch when he's more sober. Oh! i kicked both Seng and Wee's ass at pool (but mostly coz they're drunk and couldn't even cue straight). heh heh heh. I also scored 2 consecutive bull's eye at dart. I'm invincible. Not gonna play foosball with my friend though :P

And that was that, the nite finally ended at 3:30am

Woke up at 8am when Penny called. She reminded me that church starts in 1hr 30mins. Plenty of time, i'll take a nap :P i woke up 1 hr and 30mins later and realised i should've been in church by now. heh heh heh. I jumped out of bed and got ready. Took the normal way thru batu lancang road, but alas, it's cheng beng season. So it was badly congested. Made a U turn and head back using the main road. Guess i'm not the only "smart" one, so there was another jam on the main road coz everyone that could do a u turn did :P back to square 1. Finally arrive in church an hour late. Asked the pastor's wife calmly,"isn't service at 10:30am?" :) she wasn't very amused. especially since her sister called me and reminded me it's at 9:30am. heh heh heh.


Pastor Edward and posse in action :P

Service went well, the play and the message was intergrated well. After Service there was this member's meeting. I was invited to join for the fun of it. I wasn't too sure what to expect. Turned out it was an AGM because this church is officially registered as a "club" and all they're required to have AGMs and all the accounts needs to be audited, bla bla bla. I was curious why they want to go thru all the trouble. The pastor explained to me that it's because of accountability and such. I understand.


Shot of the RGBC's "Prospectus"

So that was church. Rather interesting Easter.

Went back and got ready for basketball game in the afternoon. Was ready to go when Wee called to confirm the numbers attending. It seems that I am not as lazy as i thot. Everyone has a lame excuse why they can't make it except for 5 of us. So we obviously can't play basketball, so Wee decided to play tennis instead. I can't play tennis for nuts. So i better go do something i'm good at. I crawled into bed and slept.

Chong and Yew Peng called, they wanted to see Nicholas' wife and baby at the confinement center in Paya Terubong. Met up with them half way and they wanted to go makan first. So Yew Peng took us to this seafood place. On the way there Nicholas met with a minor accident. The food was good. Met my high school science teacher. Amazingly after more than 10yrs, he still looks the same. Mr Lim Zong Hong a.k.a Zorro. :) Anyway, after that Zakri called and said he's on the way to Penang. Wanted to meet up. The rest wasn't too enthutiastic, so left Jack & I. We met up with him at Segafredo, Gurney Plaza. Got news that a friend of mine just lost her grand father. Hmmm, another death. This is happening too often. A sign that i'm getting older i guess.

Since I had my sleep in the afternoon, i'm rather awake. so will just buzz around until Mr Sandman calls. by the time i actually answer that call, i think it was abt 5am d.

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My Random Thots:

It's amazing that there are so many people in the church sanctuary and all have different experiences based on their beliefs. Some are totally swept away with worship, while others are busy feeding their baby and yet others are just observing people. :P

84. So far so good

Still awake even though i've only slept for 4 hrs. not bad. Won't be going back home to take a nap since i have to make a delivery to Kepala Batas. So will hang around until dinner time. Wonder how long will tonite's company dinner last. :) It can last till 3am if previous annual dinners are anything to go by. Hope not.

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My Random Thots:
If yesterday is called Good Friday and tomorrow is Easter Sunday, What's today called?
Mediocre Saturday?

83. Good Friday

Decided to go to church (RGBC) since it's Good Friday :) After dropping off my car at the workshop, i proceeded to church. Service was alright except for the fact that I couldn't understand the speaker. Went for supper with Yat Por, Sally, Marcus, Adriel (incidently it's Adriel's B'day today) and Godzillion other church members (Penny, Kenny, Edward and Selina and their 3 children and the rest i totally cannot remember their names, there's also this really really tall ang moh). then went back home. time to sleep. tomolo is a long day, with work and company dinner.

82. Today is a lazy day

Just lazed around in the office. Later in the afternoon, will have to go to an exhibition in PISA. After that, will head home and sleep. Will probably go to church in the evening. The question is, which one...........

81. My love life according to Myer-Brigg

This is What the "The Myer-Brigg Personality Test" says about my love life. Was contemplating if I should put this up here. Then I reckon, I might as well. Need to remember these things :D

The Pygmalion Project: The Teacher
excerpted from The Pygmalion Project: The Idealist, by Dr. Stephen Montgomery
Copyright © 1989 Stephen Montgomery

The Idealist most committed to guiding others through the doors of life, or along the pathways of learning and understanding, is the type that Keirsey has named the Teacher (Myers's "ENFJ").

Teachers are natural facilitators in all their relationships, encouraging those around them, urging their personal growth, and taking charge of others (particularly of groups) with an extraordinary enthusiasm and confidence. Indeed, Teachers are so expressive and charismatic in their leadership -- in a word, so inspiring -- that they seem in some ways less coercive than the other Idealists. Keirsey says that, though Teachers are both expressive and role-directive, they manage to "command without seeming to do so," not by means of explicit orders, nor through saintly patience, romantic longing, or mute withdrawal, but by kindling in their students and colleagues their own passion for self-exploration and development. Teachers are masters of the art of positive expectation (or "front-loading"), and they communicate their belief in the evolution of the "self" with such a glow of promise that quite often, as Keirsey tells us, their optimism "induces action" in others, and the "desire to live up to [their] expectations."

Teachers bring all this infectious energy to their intimate relationships as well, and they make passionate and delightfully creative companions. However, at such close range the intensity of their wishes for their loved ones can create interpersonal conflict. Teachers can overwhelm their loved ones with their exuberance, and with their Pygmalion presumption that everyone wants to be helped along the path of self-discovery. Then, when their loved ones either resist their pressure or fail to meet their idealistic expectations, Teachers can feel frustrated, disillusioned, or even betrayed by the persons they care most about.

______________________________

My Random Thots:

Is it true? It's interesting that humans can be simplified into 4 major temperaments and then sub catagerized into further 4 dimensions. Oh well. I guess whatever helps eh. Feels like I'm paying them to blow sunshine up my.............errrr......place where the sun don't shine.

80. Thursday 24th March 2005

Started of normal enough. Went about seeing my customers and will be headed to Baileys after work to meet up with Wee and also some friends. Was happily eating and drinking away at baileys when Wee got a call from our customer. Drats, have to make delivery. Drove all the way back to the office. by now, i'm pretty grouchy :)

Wee decided that we'll go over to Soho to meet up with Seng and more friends to compensate for the "pain" of abandoning Baileys. :P While at Soho, Yew Peng & Jack called and I ask them to come over. They went for soup first and then joined us. Played a few rounds of Pool and darts. Wee & Edmund are still unbeatable at pool but i managed to be the first to hit the bull's eye for dart and took the RM20 prize money :P

Pix 1 & 2 - While we're at Bailey's
Pic 3 - Yew Peng playing pool @ SOHO

Went for supper after that at the mamak stall next to Soho. They serve the best soup kambing in town :) bought supper for all using the prize money and had to top up some more. Crappy deal, but we all had fun. Guess dat's the most important part :)

79. My Temperament

TEST RESULT TAKEN FROM
The Myer-Brigg Personality Test

Free report for: WH



Idealists, as a temperament, are passionately concerned with personal growth and development. Idealists strive to discover who they are and how they can become their best possible self -- always this quest for self-knowledge and self-improvement drives their imagination. And they want to help others make the journey. Idealists are naturally drawn to working with people, and whether in education or counseling, in social services or personnel work, in journalism or the ministry, they are gifted at helping others find their way in life, often inspiring them to grow as individuals and to fulfill their potentials.

Idealists are sure that friendly cooperation is the best way for people to achieve their goals. Conflict and confrontation upset them because they seem to put up angry barriers between people. Idealists dream of creating harmonious, even caring personal relations, and they have a unique talent for helping people get along with each other and work together for the good of all. Such interpersonal harmony might be a romantic ideal, but then Idealists are incurable romantics who prefer to focus on what might be, rather than what is. The real, practical world is only a starting place for Idealists; they believe that life is filled with possibilities waiting to be realized, rich with meanings calling out to be understood. This idea of a mystical or spiritual dimension to life, the "not visible" or the "not yet" that can only be known through intuition or by a leap of faith, is far more important to Idealists than the world of material things.

Highly ethical in their actions, Idealists hold themselves to a strict standard of personal integrity. They must be true to themselves and to others, and they can be quite hard on themselves when they are dishonest, or when they are false or insincere. More often, however, Idealists are the very soul of kindness. Particularly in their personal relationships, Idealists are without question filled with love and good will. They believe in giving of themselves to help others; they cherish a few warm, sensitive friendships; they strive for a special rapport with their children; and in marriage they wish to find a "soulmate," someone with whom they can bond emotionally and spiritually, sharing their deepest feelings and their complex inner worlds.

Idealists are rare, making up between 20 and 25 percent of the population. But their ability to inspire people with their enthusiasm and their idealism has given them influence far beyond their numbers.

The Four types of Idealists are:
Healers (INFP) Counselors (INFJ) Champions (ENFP) Teachers (ENFJ)

Which one are you?
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• An in-depth interpretation of your temperament and type
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Wonder if it's true :P sounds too "idealistic" :D har har har. I guess external party will be more objective in their judgement eh. I'm biased towards me :D

"Idealists are incurable romantics who prefer to focus on what might be, rather than what is."

This is somewhat true, but I feel it has been a negative quality which has caused me much grief. It seems that reality is what most people prefer to look at, guess that means i'll have to conform............ Nah! I'll just be me. Muah har har har har

78. Boring!

Was stuck in a traning/meeting with supplier. He's explaining things which i already know. Only after the training, things get slightly more interesting. Discussion on some new materials and all.

Need to do something interesting this evening to compensate. Plan to go over to KB to kacau Chong. Jack just came back from Chang Lun so he'll join us to Kepala Batas. Basically just hung out and surf the net to see if there's anything to buy :) heh heh heh.

back home and it's time to sleep. Am I making any sense?

77. World Toilet Day

I Sh*t you not! :) There is actually a "World Toilet Day". It is actually endorsed by the United Nations. :D check out their website. From there, you can see what other bizzarre days UN endorses.

World Toilet Day

By the way, today is World Meteorological Day!!!! Woo Hoooooo!

76. Proton complains of 'dumping' by foreign automakers

Mar 23, 05 6:49am

National carmaker Proton has complained that foreign cars are being "dumped" in the domestic market at below their true value, amid a slump in national car sales, a report said today.

Proton's chief executive Mahaleel Ariff was quoted by the Bernama news agency as saying that such "product dumping will affect the market."

He did not elaborate on his remarks but the Proton Edar Dealers' Association (Peda), which groups national car dealers, said some imported cars were being sold in Malaysia at 20-50 percent below their true value.

Peda president Wan Ahmad Sepwan Wan Abdul Rahman told Bernama he had received information that the cost, insurance and transport of some Korean-made cars were under-declared in order to secure a lower price tag.

"With such a declaration, a lower tax is imposed and this enables the distributor to give discounts to customers," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said over the weekend the government would give serious attention to the issue of dumping by foreign carmakers in Malaysia because it could lead to unhealthy competition.

Malaysia's top two state-backed national carmakers, Proton and Perodua, jointly control more than 70 percent of the domestic auto market.

However, they face increasing pressure from Japanese and Korean carmakers as the auto market gradually liberalises under a regional free trade pact.

Last year, Proton's market share dropped to 44 percent from 48 percent in 2003, while Perodua's share dropped to 30 percent from 35 percent.

Improve sales abroad

The government, which has been pushing national carmakers to boost their competitiveness, earlier this week said current export levels were unsatisfactory and urged them to take steps to improve sales abroad.

Deputy trade minister Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah told parliament that Proton's exports accounted for only 6.1 percent of its total production while Perodua's accounted for only 1.7 percent.

Proton exported 10,916 units in 2004, compared with its production of 179,700 units while Perodua exported 2,180 out of 125,820 units.

Separately, total vehicle sales in February rose 20.4 percent year-on-year to 36,904 units as customers rushed to buy in anticipation of higher car prices under a new tax regime, Bernama quoted the Malaysian Automotive Association as saying.

Of the total, 61 percent or 22,419 units were national passenger cars and commercial vehicles, while the remaining 14,485 units were non-national cars, it said.

The association said the uptrend in sales was expected to continue into March, as market sentiment and consumer confidence remained strong.

- AFP
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My Random Thots:

So it's ok for Proton to "dump" their low quality cars locally (while exporting the higher specs), but other manufacturers can't sell their their cars here cheaper? My goodness. Is it just me or are these guys complaining about free trade? Talk about spoon feeding. Gosh.

75. Skipped a day

Didn't manage to write an entry yesterday. Mainly becoz nothing much happened and I'm plain lazy :) The whole day was slow and I didn't even leave my office. After work basically just went home, had dinner and slept. Was on the phone a bit after i woke up from my nap. :) ahhh, felt good.

Yew Peng called later in the evening. He has a few complains about his car. Some high pitched scratching sound when travelling at high speeds and he's also not happy with the way his Air Filter Box turned out. Went for supper with him at Jelutong. The infamous "Leng Lui Tong Shui" (Beautiful Girl Sweet Water). Well, over the years, the name is no longer true! :D All the beautiful girls have since grew up or left. Now, there's an old lady, 2 girls and a guy. Hmmmm, wonder if I can sue for false advertisement. They have, however upgraded from a roadside stall to an actual coffee shop. The shop is called MYT if I'm not mistaken. :P Heck. I Don't know and I don't really care as it doesn't change my life. Woo Hoo, Ignorance and apathy reigns supreme :)

From my schedule, today is gonna be rather hectic.

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My Random Thots:

If ignorance is indeed bliss, then why am I not as happy as I should be?

74. Sleepy

The more I sleep, the sleepier I get. A vicious cycle. I think I'll stick to my 4 to 5 hrs sleep per day "policy". Seems to work for me.

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My Random Thots:

Just noticed a few events in my life - What goes around, does indeed come around :) Beware of the circle of life ;) I know it's obvious, but hey! it's my blog. I can write watever I want :D