July

Havent had the time to update the blog about our trip yet. Been really busy with work since we got back from our break in Penang. This is my schedule for July:

Kch-Sibu-Kch-Miri-Labuan-KK-Kch-JB-Kch

Basically, I'll be in Kch for 2 weeks in July only. 3 days in Sibu for Fanny and Gabriel's wedding. About a week each in Labuan and JB for work!!

Debra Jill ... if u're reading this... start planning our dates!

Penang-Langkawi

Oh yes we are both in Penang!! Arrived last night at 11.15pm. Here to mess up Sue's apartment so she has to repack everything again before she returns to Kuching in July and say farewell to Penang. HAHA...

But now...we're back at the airport again. After less than 12 hours arriving. Suppose to be leaving to Langkawi but the flight got retimed due to operational problems. wtf. I think it's cause the plane hasn't arrived yet. Oh well...not sure where Alvin went. He said he went to take a walk.

Don't exactly know what to blog about. We'll be in Langkawi for the next 2 days, hoping and praying the weather there would be sunny. I plan to just lie on the beach all day as the beach is just a doorstep from the hotel. This is where we're staying: http://www.sungroup-langkawi.com/sunset/ Hope it looks the same when we arrive in there later. Will report back later.

Alvin's back from his walk. And here's a picture of us at the airport:

You're My Inspiration

Thousands of stars in the sky have now disappeared
I feel about in the darkness
The floating moon is now becoming gloomier
My inspiration fades without a direction

A moment of your face appears in the silence
There is a faint glow in the light
Is that the stars or the moon?
I wish Thank You

Let me to steal the shadow of your face
Let me to steal the imagination with you

Forgive me, oh
Imagine this song distracting the space in your life
You smile, oh
Just memories of us in this arena
You're my inspiration
You're my inspiration


Thank You Manbai.
Thank You everyone who have inspired me.

The Musical Duo?

If you asked us last month whether we play any instruments? I would have said no and neither does he. Well, unless you consider playing parts of The Entertainer (me) or Final Fantasy (him) on the piano counts.

Now we do.

Can't Believe It's April

The months are passing by so fast! Work has been more and more hectic, due to more and more responsibilities. Deadlines, Projects, Audits, and I'm not going to mention anymore. On a positive note, it'll soon be time for our break. Am so excited!!! We're heading up to Penang to visit Sue (and make use of her free accommodation before she graduates and return back to Kuching).

Anyway, the other day I had a short conversation with my GM while he was in another manager's office. I so happened to walk pass and he shouted from inside:

GM: Siaw jie, do you want to go to India with me?
Me: Are you kidding me?
GM: No for real
Me: For what?
GM: To check out the corn that they are loading into the vessel.
Me: For real?!?
GM: I've been trying not to go but the purchaser insist that we make at least 1 trip there.
Me: No problem for me. I've never been to India.
GM: No problem with your passport etc?
Me: Nope.
GM: Ok, I'll try to schedule a time for us to go! Sometime May/June. At least if we die, we'll die together.

Then again, I never thought I would have a chance to go to INDIA (of all places) that would be sponsored by the company. Not sure whether to get my hopes up or what. Am I suppose to look forward to going to India??? HAHAHA... let's see how it goes. Maybe boss will decide not to go again.

Oh btw, Sushi King's having their RM2 bonanza this month!!! (That's what it says on my sushi king table calender...hahaha). Yes totally random.

10 random things on my computer desk:
1. Sushi King table calender
2. Walkers cheese and onion (flown from UK by Malaysia Airlines)
3. An empty tin of Japanese Ichigo Milk Drop
4. Silky Brown colour nail polish
5. Alvin's G-shock watch
6. Nail buffer
7. Nail clipper
8. Air-con remote
9. A scrub shirt
10. Laptop cooler pad

CNY

Updates. Haven't been doing much lately. Swamped with lots of workload but both of us are doing well. Been almost 3 weeks since the last really short update. So anyway we all had a great CNY. Everyone was back and we celebrated grandma's 90th birthday. It was amazing...

We had a wonderful reunion with loads of amazing food!!!

Grandma and my nephews (Daniel, Linus and Conrad) had an amazing time as well.

We had the lions come to dance for the little ones.

Everyone came for grandma's 90th birthday. Our one big happy family.

And this is by far the best shot for the year.

Sick.

I am mentally and physically drained.

So much to do, yet so little time.

Feeling so sick and tired.

The sniffles.

Drowsy.

Snooze.

Financial Planning Tip #1

Tip #1 - Did you PYF?

Have you ever thought of saving money, but when the end of the month comes, you are left with a single digit dollar amount in your account? Whether you are a salaried worker, commissioned worker or a businessman, the most and very basic foundation in personal financing is something so simple yet underestimated by many. Something that has to be habitual or else any other financial plans that you do, you can throw them out the window. Savings.

If I were to show you 2 formulas:-

• (1) INCOME - EXPENSES = SAVINGS
• (2) INCOME - SAVINGS = EXPENSES

Which formula do you fall into? (1) where you pay your telephone bills, gas, food, rent, entertainment etc, then whatever is left for the month you keep it as "savings". Or (2) where you leave aside some money first above anything else, then pay your bills?

PYF - Pay Yourself First (Inspired by Mr K.)

definition:- A way of saving by putting you, yourself as a priority to be paid first before paying anything else. Usually a % of your income salary.

You earned the money, you deserve to be paid first. Not your insurance company, not your phone service provider, not SESCO or LAKU, not Telekom. It's a way of discipline, a worthwhile and fulfilling one at that. It is what the title is. It is the ultimate way to SAVE MONEY. Every aspect of financial planning basics revolves around savings. Retirement, insurance, tax planning, investments or even estate planning. Pay yourself first above anything else, including debts (car, house, credit card loans), food, rent, entertainment, fuel, etc.

Whether it's putting 10%, 20% or 30% of your salary aside would depend much on your situation, debts, age, marital status, geographical area, spending pattern, living standards, and most importantly salary level You should put a percentage that is comfortable for you. At least by the end of the day, you saved something! Here are a couple of things that you can do to help:-

1. Use 2 separate bank accounts, where 1 of which is your money saving pool.
2. Once collected a decent amount, do something with it, either put them in an investment vehicle or at least locking it into a fixed D.
3. Not advisable to keep an ATM card for the bank account that holds your savings.
4. If by the end of the day, you find yourself not having enough money to spend, you know you've spent too much. Or revise the savings % ratio again for next month to a more comfortable level.
5. Set a "reward target" for yourself; eg. for every RM 4000 savings that you hit, you're going to treat yourself to a nice electronic gadget.

For working youths, saving more money is just as important as earning more of them. Avoid debts and monthly payment obligations as often as you can to gain financial freedom. If debts cover more than 50% of your net take home salary, you know you need some help in debt planning.

PCNYMS

Happy Year of the Tiger to all! Cheers to the fearsome Roar. May it bring wealth and prosperity to all other Chinese zodiac animals like Panda, Fish, Sea- Cucumber, Giraffe, Zebra, Abalone, etc etc.

The 2 golden characters in the jpg above... google-translated "double-jays". Hahahaha. I'll bet it makes no sense.

Yearly zodiac animal guides should not be taken seriously, but can act as a base on how to change one's self. Here's some of them extracted from a "reliable source".

Year of the Tiger for Pandas (Years born 1981,1987,1993,2000)

People born in the year of the Pandas are picky people. They only eat certain things and stay in a single area. Avoid debts and be more opened towards change to open more doors for better opportunities. For better wealth feng shui, place bamboos on top left corner of house facing north east. Be cautious of little girls or they might try to hug you fuzzy wuzzy. Compatible with mouse and tiger, as they can do kung-fu together.

Year of Tiger for Fishes (Years born 1982,1988,1994,2001)

This year for Fishes, be extra aware of your surroundings. Sometimes you might feel you are trapped in a bowl. Seek freedom upwards, but be careful to not jump too high this year, or you might find yourself in a ditch. Avoid rocks for good feng shui for better health, or else you might get stuck between them.

Year of Tiger for Sea Cucumbers (Years born 1983, 1989,1995,2002)

People born in the year of sea cucumber are normally soft, emotional, good thinkers and good listeners. Beware of people being born in year of brocolli and abalone, as they can mean trouble and may lead you the frying wok. For good health feng shui, drink lots of water to avoid being dried sea cucumbers.

Girls get PMS. I get PCNYMS.

PCNYMS

abbreviation:- Post-Chinese-New-Year-Mood-Syndrome

Chinese New Year has not ended yet officially, but unofficially for me it has since I'm back to work on 4th day.

It's quiet in the office though, as some people are still on their new year leave, allowing me to cam-bastard (not whore) myself without being noticed. PCNYMS is when you keep giving yourself the same reason when you're lazy to do something. eg. "I should be doing this...nevermind, it's still new year till chap go meh".

New year was fun in Kuching, where I got to meet LOTS OF NEW PEOPLE, which is a bit scary. I try to help around as much as I can, but seems like I got more in return in ways of ANG PAOS. I received more angpaos in Kuching than a CNY in Miri. Hahahaha.

Ok..I'm lazy to continue. Seeya guys and enjoy the rest of the new year! (Whats left of it)

February

I know it's only the 3rd day of February but there's so much to talk about. Am feeling so excited. And no it's not because of CNY. Talking about CNY, it's about time we had a new wallpaper. So outdated. Alvin's working on one now as I am writing this. Anyway, this is what's happening that's making me so excited:

• My brother's coming back this Saturday (for 2 weeks!).
• Cousin David and wife Grace will be back from the UK together with my little baby nephew Conrad this Friday until 4th day of CNY.
• Cousin Gillian and husband Barry are coming back from the UK too! Together with baby Linus & Daniel (Am seeing the 2 babies for the first time!) They'll be here till March.
  

Pic 1: Koko Conrad with little baby cousin Daniel
Pic 2: Koko Linus feeding cousin Conrad (how cute!)

• 
  
• Cousins Susie and Vincent with their other halves would be here together with their "little" ones too (Tricia, Julian, Timothy, Chloe).
• Melanie and baby Melvyn will be here too with Mummy Alicia.

Pic 3: Grandma's other great grandchildrens - Chloe, Julian, Tricia, Timothy

Pic 4: Melanie with baby brother Melvyn

• The house is going to be cram up with so many people!!
  
• We'll all be celebrating grandma's 90th birthday on the 3rd day of CNY.
• There's going to be a mini reunion karaoke with my good old friends (Khang, Alan, Elaine, Diana, Bryant and whoever else is coming!).
• And I'm moving to a new office (my very own room...this Saturday).

BUT what's more exciting is this ...

"OMG What happened to your hair???"

Frustrated and Confused

I always knew what I wanted,
Since the first day I stepped foot into GCS,
No, it was not about the money,
More of a good job,
And experience? Maybe.

But after eight months of highs and lows,
I felt so lost for the first time,
Questioning and doubting myself,
He also saw it in my eyes.

I felt so frustrated,
Confused.

I fought hard to get back on track,
I knew what I wanted,
I knew what I needed to do,
He was happy, but undeniably concerned.

He told me not to get too involved,
This was so unlike him,
Again, confused.
Does he really want me to progress?

And just yesterday,
He stepped down from his position,
My future just became blurrier,
The seas just got rougher.

The other told me to wait for February,
Be patient as the tough times will pass,
Everything will soon be sunny.

Just be patient.

Or.
Maybe the grass is greener somewhere else?

Even dogs know it

**Picture abstracted from some random people in Facebook.

"Why do you look at the past, when the future holds infinite possibilties?"

I have done many life changing decisions in the past, without realizing it's life changing. Even deciding whether to eat chicken rice or economy food for lunch today could be life changing. You never know who you're going to meet while eating or what happens to you if you chose the latter. Whether it's studying something I know absolutely nothing about after form 5, to going abroad to further my studies, to close down a shop, or even starting a job revolving around the stock market. We all just have to be like the dog. Looking into the horizon awaiting what the future would hold for him during the sunrise.

"You have at your command the wisdom of the ages" - A phrase stuck to my colleague's monitor

Happy New Year!

,It's finally the new year, and man it was such a great way to kick off the year (or not!). Looking back, 2009 was an exceptional year, starting my very first official job, Alvin moving to Kuching to work, and definitely, not forgetting to mention the main highlight, the 15m free fall jump I took in Sentosa.

I am not going to bore you with our event log for 2009, just on what we've been up to since Christmas.

Christmas: We attended Christmas midnight mass at Holy Trinity Church, Kenyalang. Mass starts at 11.15pm but we were there at 10pm and no we were not that kiasu just to go there early to get front row seats!! They were having caroling 1 hour before mass. We had a small simple family christmas dinner. I made mashed potatoes and salad. A lot of food for just 5 people!! My mum cooked fried rice, fried chicken and lamb chop. Alvin helped make the mushroom soup.
New Year's Eve: Went out with Brandon, Belle and Huilin for dinner at Sharing Planet. The cabonara that night was over salted, my 2nd time there. Later we decide to head down to travillion to watch the countdown. When we arrived our reaction was "OMG...this ppl aint our crowd at all. They are so YOUNG!!". Anyway, on the way there, we received a msg from Debra. Congratulations to her on her 2nd baby girl, Danielle!! We are so proud of you girl!!

New Year: After watching 4 countdowns at form different pubs/bars, we decide to go back to our favourite Jalan Song and drown ourselves with beer. It was awesome!! No side effects till...

2nd-6th January: until Saturday. We got sick..flu, cough and a bad case of diarrhea !!! And what's worst, I had my company annual dinner that night!!! Did not really enjoy myself but tried my best. Theme was Wild Wild West. The picture below is currently the only pic i have of that night...need to get the rest from my GCS Ah Kong. I look so drowsy. hahah..

Happy new year everyone! And hope it'll be a fruitful one =).