Jan 01, 2010 - Car Wash Day

New Year, New beginning... Everything has to look brand new, including my car! After working out for 20 minutes, I came out to the living room to have a rest. My dad asked me to get my car a clean new look, since I'm enthusiastic about the lose weight thing. Oh well, so I agreed... thinking that washing a car would help me to shed a few pounds.

Looking tired and haggard, long unruly hair covered my sweaty face... I filled up my bucket with water. Without thinking much, I walked out the door with a sleeveless shirt & shorts. I thought my neighbors would be out shopping, and nobody would notice my unshaved legs & armpit + untidy hair. But I was wrong! ... =,=" How embarrassing.

New Year Resolution

I measured my body weight today... and my weight has dropped 2kg. Probably because I haven't eaten anything yet. Anyway, I'm determined to lose more weight... at least back to the original 70kg :P

My definition of Romance...

Today, I went out with my best friend... and one of the topic we chatted was "Romance". She asked me what do I find "Romantic", and I said...
- Spending 1-1 together in a villa that has a private pool / Jacuzzi. Romantic candle-lighted room, aromatic rose petals around the room... with soft music playing when both of us are dancing together.
- Holding hands strolling along the beach in the evening, watching the red golden sun sank into the wide ocean.
- Sailing in the middle of the sea, on our private yacht... have a champagne & feel the soothing sea breeze.
...
She chipped in and asked: "Private yacht? that would be expensive...", and I said: "Well, if you want romance... don't think about money! haha."

Still Searching...

These few days, I have been feeling very lonely inside... I wish I could have someone to be with me, going through happy & tough times together. Someone whom I can cuddle & kiss every morning when I crawl up from bed... Crazy as it may seem, desperate as it may sound... I'm still searching for the right one to come into my life.

Love song for today...

I love this song, maybe because I feel that it's singing out my thoughts... :)

FB Games: Restaurant City, Country Story, Pet Society & YoVille

Restaurant City:
I've been playing restaurant city for almost a year now. I stopped playing after I reached level 24... then continue again when I discovered new attractive features/items have been added to the game.

I LOVE the design of my restaurant in Restaurant City. "Wish I could own one in future..."

This game is very addictive, just like the other playfish games like PetSociety & Country Story. Most people tend to compete with their peers to get to a higher level. But for me, I'm doing it for interest :)





My restaurant is simple - it comprises of "Dining area", "washroom", "Gaming Corner", "TV & Relaxation Corner", "Romantic Dance Floor", "Reading Corner" & "Woodlands".

I planned to get another expansion, but that will cost 15,000 coins, which I can't afford right now. I wish PlayFish would consider selling "Elegant Swing Seat", and some "Garden Statues/Totems", so that I can use them for the larger land.
==========================================================

Country Story:
I just started this game few months ago, and I'm already addicted to it! This game is very similar to Happy Farm & Farm-ville, but I prefer playing Country Story as I find the graphical characters more appealing.

==========================================================

Pet Society:



















==========================================================

YoVille:

Road to confidence...

I noticed that my weight has ballooned up to 78kg! Most of my clothes are either tight/not wearable... I need to change my eating habits.

The following is what I will do for one month:

1. Eat nutritious lunch
2. Eat less for dinner (1 slice of Chicken Sandwich)... dinner before 6 p.m.
3. Exercise at least 10min during weekdays, 20min during weekends (Hula-hoop)

Goal: lose 2kg in 1 month.
*I will blog again one month from now to report the effectiveness of this weight loss method. Hopefully it works! ... cross fingers & toes... =,="

Random...

It has been raining for the whole month, and almost everyday my emotions is just like the weather - moody. Basically I can't find a better word to describe it than the word moody because my emotional bank is now empty, and beyond words can describe...

The rainy weather makes me feel lazy, and I feel like sleeping for the entire day doing nothing! Nothing at all! But I still have to enter my weekly time-sheet :(

Yesterday I bought a new phone, as I thought that my old Nokia 6288 is no longer working. Only later did I realize that my charger was not properly fit into the power socket! I wasn't quite sure whether I'm the one creating an excuse for myself to buy a new phone... or it is something "coincidence" / "fated"...

The day before yesterday, I woke up realizing that my old phone could not power up as usual. Without thinking much, I plugged in my charger to charge my phone... and to my surprise, my phone did not show the battery signal as it usually does during charging. Immediately I assumed that my phone has reached its end-of-life, as I dropped my phone several times on the ground causing the handset to dissembled multiple times. The last time I dropped was Thursday evening, which was the time before I had a meeting with my Team Lead in Paris. I was thankful, as the phone did not "die out" during the meeting!

I rummage through my boxes, and found my Nokia 6288 warranty card. It has passed its one-year warranty period. I wasn't feeling anything... I thought probably it is time to change my handphone for a better one. I always wanted to have a new cool phone like the iPhone btw... However, I don't plan to spend too much money on a piece of technology that will obsolete within one year or two. Call me a scrooge, but I'm not the kind of person who's likely to spend something that doesn't last!

I was looking through the Internet for my "future" phone... and spent quite some time on it. I haven't been doing this kind of "research" for quite some time, ever since I bought my 6288, so it took me quite a while to look through the budget phone that has the features I want. Finally I found "Samsung Star WiFi". It may not the
best phone in the market, but it seems perfect to me.

After dinner, I went to the digital mall to get my "dream" phone... but then, my mom was not very supportive over me getting a new phone. Instead, she insisted that I should get my old phone checked to see if it could be repaired. For whatever reason, I did not ask about the new phone that I intend to have. Instead, I asked the phone seller to check my phone! The phone was diagnosed fine, and the real problem was in-fact due to the battery mounted in the phone! Apparently the battery has passed it's lifetime, and its "swollen" exterior is the proof. Without much hesitation, I bought the original battery for RM 170. I was relieve (for not spending money for a new phone), at the same time feeling a little disappointed for not having what I initially planned to have.

The battery was working perfectly, till the next day... My phone did not show up the "charging" signal when I tried to charge it. Again, I immediately assumed that it was 100% my phone problem! I went to the shop again, with my old phone and told them what happened. So they plugged their charger into my old phone, and it was working! So, the immediate conclusion was that my charger was not working due to leaving my charger on for a long period of time. Though my old phone is still working fine, I was determined to buy a new phone. Even though my "Angelic side" told me not to spend unnecessary money... My "Devilish side" seems to prevail in the dilemma of whether or not to own a new phone! The excuses was:
1. The old Nokia 6288 has been giving me some problem
2. Bonus is out
3. I should motivate / reward myself for working so hard (have been working during wee hours and weekends)
4. The new phone has WiFi which allows me to browse Internet at the Cafe, airport, home, even in the toilet! Haha...
5. I can blog online more frequent than ever, and enrich myself with the resources from the Internet.

So yesterday, I have been spending the whole day playing with my new phone! .. and yes, the previous post was uploaded using my new "Samsung Star WiFi". There are a lot more functionality to be tested, and hopefully I will not feel regret for buying this phone.

I really should be working after blogging this. Otherwise, I'm going to have big problems catching up later! ...:)

my samsung star wifi

I'm tring to post a blog using my new Samsung Star Wifi. Hopefully it works... and yes! ...it works like a charm.

I bought this gem today for only RM888. I don't think other brand like Nokia or SE phone with similar specs could offer an affordable package like this.

This phone seems to be a perfect phone for me, as it has the features I want, such as WiFi & a document viewer. I encountered some minor issue with the wireless feature at first due to my WPA security setting. Apparently the phone doesn't support WPA, and therefore I've to set it to WEP 64 bit to get it to work! After I have made the changes on the router, I've to restart the handset so tht the 'dns failed' message would go away!

Apart from allowing me to blog, this phone also allows me to view videos in youtube. however the quality of the video was not as good as the one on the pc.

Rainy Saturday

I decided not to logon to my regular "spaces.live.com" blog account via my company laptop, though I knew there is a way to forgo the secure connection. I noticed that my current laptop had a spyware in it already ... I'm sooo screwed!

Anyway, it was rainy the whole day... and luckily the suite provide me with free breakfast, and I still have abundant supplies of instant noodles in my suite. I cooked the "American Breakfast" - "2 hot dogs with 2 porch eggs" for lunch!!! Not too bad to have a 'breakfast' for lunch =)
After the lunch, I crawled back to bed again, under my warm cotton quilt blanket. Think I'm gonna get myself a few more extra pounds when I'm back to my home country =,="

Later in the evening 5:00 p.m. the rain stopped, and I figured that I have to get something for dinner (at least a light one) before the weather becomes gloomy again. I surf the Internet to see if I could find any salad dish from the Chick-Fil-A... and viola! I got myself a garden salad, vanilla milkshake and an ice-tea (sweet). The Vanila milkshake is so yummy, and that is nothing that I can find from Malaysia! McDonalds and KFC would have to stand aside for Chick-Fil-A, and I'm a fan for Chick-Fil-A in face book now!

Since I move down to Woodlands, I'm happier... the suite is modern & well decorated plus no more creepy feelings! Furthermore, there's a lot of shops and restaurants around here where I can walk around to explore... There's even "Borders" down a few roads from where I'm staying, where I could spend time reading books during the weekends. Initially I planned to spend time at "Borders", but then I canceled the idea since it will be rainy throughout the weekends =(

There is a bunch of stuff that needs to be completed... and on top of all, I've not done my timewriting (which will be due in 2 hours time!... =,=")!!! Ever since I arrived in Houston, I'm not as hardworking anymore... I'm so hook-up to the TV movies & feel so comfortable in my bed that I find it hard to concentrate on my work.

I've spent > RM1000 so far on Coach bags, Victoria Secret products, Levi Jeans, GAP shirts, ... etc, and I'm still thinking about spending money!!! I wanted to buy an ebook (coz it's soooo coool), but then it leads me to thinking about getting a mini-notebook, and eventually thinking about getting an iPhone instead! haha... It's gonna be a huge bill for me to settle when I'm back, if I keep spending money like water! Anyway, I feel that the most practical thing to get is to buy a digital voice recorder - at least I could record some important points during a meeting... juz in case I could not catch "their" words.

I have to admit that my English is bad, as a Malaysian who received "Chinese" education during the early education, who do not learn much about English until Standard three... and who does not speak English at home on day-to-day basis... I just wish I could improve myself further!

I tried to look up the universities in the website these days, as I really feel like getting a MBA. If I could get a scholarship, that would be better! There used to be opportunities for me to study at UNSW and NTU... but I turned them down, coz I need to earn a living to support my family. Sometimes it makes me wonder if my sacrifice is worth it??? My dad never pays for my education - basically he never pays for anything (but the expenses for himself)! I pitied my mother, as she is the only one supporting the family! I'm fortunate, as I was able to gain scholarship for my tertiary education.

I feel like taking up an MBA course overseas, as I wanted to gain more exposure. Furthermore, I'll have a better prospect if I could study in an established university. I am in a dilemma right now, as I'm paying for all the household expenses, and I'm wondering if life would be difficult for my folks if I stop providing...

I'm 27 this year... and time does not stop ticking every minute, every second...
I'm thinking to myself, maybe this is not the right time to study - due to bad economy (a lot of people went back to college - and getting a scholarship/an entry to a good university overseas would be difficult). Furthermore, I've two major project coming my way... at least I should get them completed by the end of this year!

Am I thinking logically? Should I procrastinate? Should I buy a house first before obtaining my MBA??? Decision, Decision, DECISION... life is full of decision, and they often leads us to different path of our lives.

Argh... wish I could strike a million-dollar lottery! Or the next day when I open my eyes, I'm already a millionaire!!! Haha... I just wish that life could be that easy =)

Get, Set, Work!

March 23, 2009
===============
This is my first day at Houston office, and I got a big warm welcome from my team lead and colleagues. My morning passed by quickly, and not long after the "re-union" we headed for lunch at "Potato Patah". "Potato Patah" is known to be a bread throwing / tossing restaurant. Interesting? You bet... but u better watch out a "potato bun" flying at you when you spot somebody around the corner waving for potato buns!


March 24, 2009
===============
I Woke up at 1 a.m. today, as I can't put myself to bed. Instead of staring blankly on the ceiling, I turned on my laptop to work. Soon after that, it's time to get ready to work. I was feeling dizzy at work, as I believe I'm still suffering from jet-lag. However, it was not as bad as the first day.

I had several cups of coffee yesterday to keep me awake. But I'm just getting myself a cup today, as I want to cut down the caffeine in my diet. Again, my morning passed me by like a gust of wind... not long after, it's lunch again. This time, my colleagues bring me to Piazza. I remembered the last time I went to this place was about two years ago (July 2007). I ordered "Pasta with Spinach", and it was yummy :)

After the lunch, we proceed to have a meeting with the Project Manager. It seems that my day was pretty much packed with none other but meetings! Argh~ wish I have more time to work than attending crazy meetings...

Finally at Houston

I always have this phobia of not able to reach the destination or miss a flight due to my lack of alertness/cues in traveling. But I'm glad that I'm able to reach the destination by myself! This is in-fact my first time traveling so far away from home, and I'm very proud of it... At least I get to prove to my parents that I'm big enough to take care of myself! Ashamed to say that I am a working adult now, but my parents are still treating me like a 7-year-old kid... Maybe because I'm their only precious child.

There was a slight delay in my flight, as the plane encounter turbulance along the way to the destination - no thanks to the weather! I reached Houston on 21 March, 10:20p.m, and I was glad that I don't have to wait for a shuttle to the hotel & I have a limo driver who is willing to wait for me at the airport for 1 and half hour. I get to know his name is Ali, and my hotel was not really far away from the airport. I gave him $10 dollar tips, and end up regretting as I wasn't sure if the tip I gave was claimable! - Feel like an Idi*t.

I was not able to go to bed till 2 a.m, and when I looked out of the window... it was pitch dark out there! I realized that there is another door next to my bed and I was not very comfortable at it, so I placed the dining wooden chair right under the knob pressing against the edge of the bed so that nobody could ever try to invade into my room.

The next day, I woke up 7:30a.m in the morning hoping that I could cope with the local time and fight against the jetlag. Breakfast at the hotel was free, and it was not too bad. The things that borders me:

1. I could not logon to the Internet via my VPN connection to my company network;
2. There is no nice view looking out of the window except woods & bushes (which is kinda creepy);
3. There is no where I could go to shop/explore/dine at the restaurant as it is fairly remote here;
4. I heard strange sound coming out from the door next to my bedroom + ceiling & the room has this coconut oil smells - which sort of reminds me of my Indian neighbours =,="

Dinner was not provided at the hotel suite from Thursday till Sunday, so I was figuring real hard what to eat for dinner! I went out from the hotel, hoping to spot a nearby place that I could dine-in, but unfortunately I couldn't spot any cafe/restaurants/stores that are near enough for me to walk over to grab some foods/groceries!

I end up ordering delivery service, from the number provided by the hotel. I called for Chef Lin Hunan cuisine Delivery, and a Chinese lady picked up a call. She couldn't seems to be able to understand what I was saying... and she asked whether I'm a Chinese/Japanese. I felt a little bit hurt, as she's indicating that I'm not speaking English!!! and when I speak Mandarin to her, she asked me if I could speak Cantonese as though my Mandarin is really hard for her to understand~! So I spoke Cantonese to her... It makes me wonder - Did I just fail badly in my language!!??? I wonder... "The feeling is kinda su*ks in me".

There's nothing much in the TV channels, and most of the series / movies that I found interesting are crime investigation -CSI & reality ghost stories! To make things worst, the compressor (which I discovered was actually located behind the small door that is right next to my bed) is making a lot of noise most of the time - and I figure out that's the source of where the strange noise were coming from!

Feeling lonely, hopeless and afraid in a foreign land... I just feel like crying out loud. Instead, I laugh out loud to myself - shaking my head miserably.

My 2nd Trip to Houston =)

Feeling a little bit nervous... though this is my second time flying over to Houston. Probably it is because this time I'm traveling alone - all by myself.

This is my first post here at blogspot.com. I've an existing "cool" blog in spaces.live.com, but my company laptop had blocked my access. I'm going for a business trip, so my company laptop is the only PC companion that will be with me for the next 5 weeks! How boring... I won't be able to msn, YouTube with this @$#@ laptop... :(

*It's getting late now... Gotta catch a flight early in the morning tomorrow. Will try to update the blog later...