Resume

When was the last time you update your resume?

Today I was digging through my laptop, folders in the clouds as well as hard disks and pendrives looking for the most updated resume I have. I can't remember when was the last time I updated mine. The most recent one that I manage to find was dated 2007. That was over 13 years ago! Wow

This must be the one I used for my first job. I have been a loyal employee. Why did I say that? Since I graduated from Uni, I have only had employment at 1 company. I worked for a MNC for almost 8 years. After that I run own business for the next 5 years. That basically sums up my working life.

After the end of the business, I have been at a cross-road, still are. A bit lost at what to do next. It's too early for retirement. I have lost most if not all, the technical knowledge required for an engineering position. I am not interested in managerial position, am more of a technical kind of person. So what kind of job can I do? Most importantly, the job must be something that I would wake up every morning eager to start the day at work and not dread waking up every morning. To make it worse, the world is grappling with the horrid Covid-19 virus and we have not seen the end of it after more than 6 months.

So much has changed since my 2007 resume. Time to prepare an updated version to look for a suitable job.

Haze and the weekend

It's the weekend again.

We have an event to time on Sat, albeit a small one of less than 600 runners. It's just a 10km run, so we should be able to wrap up pretty early. The run was flagged off at 6:30am with just one outside checkpoint.

There was a bit of haze in the morning, I'd think it is quite a bad haze to be running 10km competitively. If it was me who had signed up, I'd really be on the fence whether to run or not. After all, registration fee had been paid. Anyway, true enough, we manage to wrap up everything before 9.30am.

As always, after completing an event we always reward ourselves with a hearty meal. We went for western breakfast at Macallum Connoisseurs. I opt for the Connoisseur's Breakfast which consist of a sausage, 2 pcs of bacon, salad with passion fruit dressing, poached eggs, 2 slices of bread with avocado spread and my favourite of all, portobello mushroom! No coffee for me because I was trying to cut down expenses saving money for the up-coming Europe Trip. Save RM10 :P

Verdict: Portobello mushroom is the best. Huge and juicy in its original taste. Perfect! The salad is nice as well, I especially love the passion fruit dressing. It is unique. The passion fruit taste really nice and refreshing. The poached eggs were very well done as well. On the other hand, the rest on the plate are only so-so. The sausage and the bacon are tasty, but they were too salty, The avocado spread were not original, they added something that makes it very sour, not to my liking. I'd prefer avocado in it's original form with just some pepper and salt. The toasted bread were too hard.

All in all, it was a filling breakfast at RM25.

Connoisseur's Breakfast

Then it was back home to get a much needed nap. I only managed a 3 hr sleep the night before. As I step out of shower and look out the window, the haze has suddenly become so much more worse than in the morning. "Oh no, there goes my LSD plan tomorrow morning". I am supposed to run my one and only 30km LSD in preparation for Amsterdam Marathon.

Can't see much of the condo in the distance, and the hills are totally out of sight

When I woke up at 3pm, the haze condition only becomes worse. I decided to stay indoor and eat whatever I can find in my kitchen, which is just maggi mee and some biscuits. And I found out that the gas of my stove has reach its end of life. I'll just have to settle for coffee and biscuit then. I spent the rest of my day in bed, alternating between COC and FB on phone and reading Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl. This book belongs to Leang, she borrowed me few years back and I still haven't flip a single page! Since I am most likely going to visit Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam, I think it'd be nice to start with the book.

And so my Sat and Sun were spent mostly on the bed. Haze condition didn't improve any bit. I was not inspired to go out at all. I had maggi mee in the morning, went out to QB for lunch with Liza and Kenneth, and spent the rest of Sun again in bed. And I still haven't finish the book....

I'll be traveling...

I have always love to travel from a young age.

I wish to travel the world one day. So far, I think I'm making good progress...

Starting Aug, I will be backpacking in New Zealand traveling under the working holiday visa.

I am very excited at the same time anxious about the uncertainties that may happen there.

Things at work has a 360degree change. Initially worried about my financial situation upon return, but now I think this has been resolved...i think lar...things are still not firm yet.

Another 3 days to last day. Then Port Dickson Triathlon in the weekend. Then it is packing time.

Can I fit everything in a 50 + 10 litre backpack? *Scratch head

I've decided

Tendered my resignation letter today.

Made an important decision in my life to leave this comfort zone and pursue what I want in life.

Call me immature. Call me brave. Whatever it is, I am glad that I've made the decision. I wanted a change in life, and so I make the change.

I am grateful to have a supportive family. Thanks to my dear friends who shared your thoughts with me, spending time listening.

Free stay at Lone Pine Hotel!

Waking up Friday 3rd Dec, I had a lucky feeling and decided to pack up my gym bag consisting of a set of running clothes, swimsuit and goggles, a set of clean clothes and sleeping clothes.

Today is my department's annual dinner at Lone Pine Hotel in Batu Ferringhi. Check out Leang's blog for some really nice photos of the hotel here.

The day before, an email was sent out to everybody that one of the attractive prizes to be given out is a one night stay at Lone Pine Hotel and the stay had to be on the night of the annual dinner itself. Anybody who feels lucky is advised to pack some clothes so that they'll be ready for the stay that night.

We reached Lone Pine at about 5pm. There were already quite a number of people there, while the organizing committees were busy getting the registration counter ready. Lone Pine is an old hotel in Batu Ferringhi, had recently been renovated and just re-opened in November this year. The hotel had a simple design but looks very elegant. The cheapest room rate had an unbelieving price tag of RM880 per room!!

Outdoor dining: The tables are ready for us!

While waiting for the dinner to start, a few of us were sitting around in the Lepak Corner of the hotel, talking. The topic of conversation then go to the lucky draw prizes of the night. We've got some pretty decent prizes up for grab such as the XBOX 360, LCD monitor, pillow, blender and not to forget a one night stay at Lone Pine hotel. My supervisor then said that even if she won it, she will not stay because she has to go back to her family. She then conveniently point to me and another colleague, "I'll let you girls to stay if I got it". I was feeling really excited when she said that, especially when I had everything packed in my car already. And, that's also how my free stay come about :)

Prizes up for grab

I think it was about 7pm when we start to queue for the buffet food. Ladies were given the privilege to take the food first; the rest of the gentlemen had to stand in line, stomach growling and saliva dripping waiting for their turn.

Half way through the food, it is time when the MC will be giving away the free room. They pick 4 lucky people up to the stage and each of them were asked to sing a pre-selected song. The song were played once for them to listen, and then they need to sing. 2 of the songs were Lady Gaga's, 1 from Katy Perry and 1 from Taylor Swift. Best singer get the room. My supervisor is a karaoke lover and she has a sweet voice, she easily won the game even though she has not heard of Taylor Swift's Love Story before (i am puzzled though, how can anybody not heard of Love Story??)

With the room key card

The room had a King size bed, it was huge!! 3 can share the bed without getting in touch with the person beside. At the balcony, there is a sofa and a jacuzzi-like tub. It's just a small tub, only suitable for dipping the feet.

Big bed. That's my supervisor in the middle. Thanks for the room.

From here onwards, my phone battery died and there's no more photo that I can share. Forgot to pack phone charger and I didn't bring camera.

After the dinner was over, we had a walk at the Batu Ferringhi pasar malam. Then off to bed. As usual, like a pig, I slept like a baby that night. But the other 2 friends who shared the room said the bed is uncomfortable, it's noisy and they didn't sleep well. Overall, they are not very happy with the experience.

The next morning, I woke up early to do an early jog along the Bt. Ferringhi stretch. I contemplated for awhile whether to run or not because it was drizzling, but I end up running anyway. I ran from the hotel heading towards Teluk Bahang Dam, turning back as I reach the winding road. That's actually the nicest stretch to run but because I was alone, the winding road is narrow and there were big buses using that road, I decided not to go further. It was a short 30mins run, but a satisfying one.

I reach back at the hotel dripping, not sure of sweat or rain. Went back to the room and found my friends were up and ready, so I quickly change into dry clothes and went to breakfast with them. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, spent one and a half hour eating! The food is actually quite good, and a lot of variety too. I rate them 8/10.

My friends went back after breakfast, and I get the room all to myself. I love hotels :)

Rest for awhile, waited for breakfast to digest a little before I go for a swim in the pool. At 10 sth, the pool is still empty. I did laps in the nice empty square pool. Weather was cool and nice, cloudy and not much sun. Love the lazy chair beside the pool, they are really comfortable. Wish I could lie there longer, but I had to check-out soon. Went back to the room for a shower, pack up and it's time to leave :(

I had a really great day and a good experience staying at the expensive hotel, until when I stop to fill gas on the way back to learn that petrol price was up 5 cents the night before.

Another side note, I think my friends officially label me as crazy cause I packed along running clothes and swimsuit everywhere I go, and I run + swim in the same morning at a foreign place, alone...haha.

Another incident in the pantry

I acted impulsive and told someone off in the pantry this morning.

The Background
Since a few months back, my company has been actively hiring. At about the same time, they change the water filter/dispenser to another brand. If that is not enough, they also change the Nestle Nescafe coffee machine to the current one called Bevanda. Honestly, the Bevanda coffee sucks. The black one is so bitter that however much water I add to it, it still taste so bad. Whereas the pre-mixed one is overly sweet that there isn't much coffee taste but just sweet.

The few changes created a situation where there is shortage of hot water. We either ran out of hot water or the hot water isn't hot at all. Sometimes when I forgot to check before filling my cup with 'hot' water, my coffee becomes very geli because the mixture wouldn't dissolve properly. Yuck! There goes my morning coffee.

The Effect
First, the hiring increases people that use the pantry. Then there was also cubicle swapping. A non-engineering department was switch to my level where they consist of mostly aunties. I know I will be an aunty very soon, or maybe already is aunty by now and I shouldn't call them that way but sometimes I can't stand them. So I am going to be bad and call them aunty anyway.

Secondly, the changing of the coffee machine cause a lot of people to make their own drinks, mostly 3-in-1 drinks. This cause more demand for hot water.

This point I am not sure but it may be a contribution factor to hot water shortage too. The new brand of water dispenser may not be as efficient as the old one. Maybe it takes longer time to boil the water or maybe the capacity is smaller.

Last but not least, we have more inconsiderate people using the pantry, which I blame the aunties.

The Situation
I tested the hot water from multiple water dispenser in the pantry. Found one that is still giving out hot water. So I move to the side and empty a packet of 3-in-1 coffee into my cup. While I was doing that, 2 aunties ladies came in and started filling their thermos with hot water from the dispenser I tested. 1 filled and done, ok, fine. "She better leave some hot water for my coffee", I was thinking to myself. So did the 2nd lady, she filled up her mini thermos. Ok, fine too. What boils me up was when the first lady started filling up her 1.5liter of Tupperware water bottle from the hot water tap. There is the normal temperature water and the hot water option. By then, can see that the water slow to a pee pee drips. And the 2nd lady said in Hokkien to the 1st lady while looking around at the other water dispenser, "Oh, no more hot water". What is the purpose of filling up your 1.5liter water bottle with hot water? Didn't you already have a whole thermos of hot steaming water? Filling that big drinking bottle is of no use, by the time you want to drink it, the water would have been cooled to room temperature anyway. I just had to said something then. "Wah, the way you are filling your bottle, big and small bottles, no wonder we ran out of hot water", I said in Hokkien. I walked away as I finish my sentence, not waiting for response from any of them.

The Reflection
I know I should have just shut up, not said anything and go get my hot water from the pantry at another floor, but I just can't hold it anymore. We'd be seeing each other again in the pantry and it would be awkward. But then again, I can't remember their faces anyway. So even if we come face to face again, I won't know it's them, is this consider good news or bad news? It is people like that in this level that are causing all the hot water shortages. We don't see this problem in the pantry one floor below although they have just as many people in that level.

Water bottle incident

Something funny happen at work few days ago.

It was a usual morning, coming into office, put my bag, dock the laptop and head to the pantry with my coffee cup and water bottle to be filled up. I use a 1.5liter Tupperware water bottle at work. And as usual, level 3 pantry is out of hot water to make 3-in-1 coffee. My lousy company is too poor to provide enough hot water for it's level 3 employees. So, I left my Tupperware water bottle in the pantry and head down to level 2 with coffee cup for hot water.

When I went back to the pantry, I found that my water bottle was gone. And in another corner of the pantry, there was another look-alike water bottle left around. By then, I figured someone must have mistakenly took my bottle. The person must have been quite blur, although the bottle was of the same type, the color was a bit different. Plus, the bottle left there has faint marker writing on it.

Hoping that the person would realize it soon, I didn't do anything but keep going back to pantry to check. By lunch time, I got really impatient. I wrote a note on a post-it note and stick to the bottle left in pantry. It sounded something like this

"Somebody mistakenly took my water bottle. Please return it to me. This bottle belongs to you".

And I left my name and phone extension on the paper. I also mention about the marker writings on the abandoned bottle in the pantry.

As much as I hate doing this, I have no choice (I live by the policy of keeping a low profile status, displaying my name publicly in the pantry is not my style). With that I think almost the whole level 3 people knows that Lie Wei lost her water bottle.

It was not until the next day after lunch that I got my water bottle back. It was placed at that corner where the previous water bottle was. There was no sorry note or anything at all and my old post it note was still there.

For the next few days, when I met people in toilet or pantry, they will ask me if I've got my water bottle back...haha..so yea, I'm sure everybody now knows that Lie Wei lost her bottle and got it back. Way to go in maintaining a low profile. To this date, I don't know who took my bottle.

I'm back

After 2 months of absence, I am back here writing crappy stuff that comes to my mind.

The past 4 months plus was a difficult time. It felt like the longest 4 months of my working years in the company. My past projects rarely exceed 2months but this one lasted 4! What's worse is that during these 4 months, a lot of long and enjoyable holidays past through with me sitting in the office working my head off. From Christmas to New Year through Thaipusam, followed by Chinese New Year and Nabi Muhammad.

My principle of not wanting to have a work-only life had me squeezing vacation and workouts into my already time-deprived life. I sacrificed a lot of sleep time in order to achieve that. In addition to that, I don't online, don't read newspaper, never watch TV, almost never logged-in to FB and I don't go yamcha with the gang.

I am so glad that it is all over now.

I have another one month or so before I need to start to worry if the silicon comes back working or not. *Wish that nothing would go wrong**

Many things happened during these period of time which I never get to write them down here. Like the one where I completed the Putrajaya Night Marathon. Or the Langkawi trip, being there to support a friend who participate in the Ironman. I was there in Langkawi physically but the constant SMS about work had my mind back in the office. What about the family vacation? Thought the project would have tapeout by the time I came back from vacation, and I won't have to worry about it anymore. But turns out, the project is still around and haunts me with even more critical issues.

All in all, it is really over now. Nobody can be happier than I am...

I am tired...and old...

I guess I qualify to call myself a responsible person. Despite the fact that I complain a lot about work, manager, management and company, I continue to spend so much energy and time finishing the task I was given. WITHOUT ANY EXTRA INCENTIVE, BENEFIT NOR OVERTIME PAY!

Sometimes I'd question myself, why do I still do it? Satisfaction? No, I don't have that kind of feeling doing the shit I'm doing now. Interest? Nope, I've got better things to do in my free time than to sit in the cold and deserted cubicle. What else? I can't think of a valid reason why I work so hard, sacrificing my precious much needed sleep.

The only thing I know is that, I was given a task and it is my responsibility to complete it. I just couldn't bear to close one eye, go home, and let the project rot. "There is always tomorrow to finish the job" - so not true in my case. Every minute, every hour is very important. Schedule, date line, flow continuity...these are the words I live by whenever a project goes live.

Things aren't this tough in the early years with the company. Yes, working extra hour is common once in awhile, but they only lasted at most 2months. And things are simpler that time, communication wasn't so messed up, I report to angmoh boss over only 1 level of local manager.

I don't want to start a whole long list of grumbling about work (ok, although I've started a little but am going to stop very soon). But I wish I could get at least some incentive for all the (lack of) sleep I have sacrificed, or at least compensate some petrol allowances for all the trip back to office during non-office hour due to the stupid slow VPN connection they provided, or at least buy me dinner when I need to stay back in the office till late at night wayyyy pass my dinner time, or they can even subsidize my internet connection so I could upgrade to a better broadband provider when they constantly need me to log-in from home.

Why do I still do it when I don't get any of these? Whats add to the demotivating factor is the fact that last year, there was 0% increment policy :(

So I was saying, I'm a person with responsibility. Given a task, I make sure I do my best in completing it. Can I say that it is like a relationship? When 2 party involved in a marriage, even when love has faded, there is the sense of commitment to maintaining the relationship. Hrmm...ok, maybe I am out of scope, think too much. Anyway, I'm so tired now...when is this going to end? Working at least 12hrs a day, almost 7 days a week for 2 months already.....

Cut, slash, reduce

I was off to a one week vacation after work last Tuesday. Little did I know about the shocking news that my company is announcing the next morning.

Chipmaker Altera cutting 3 percent of workforce

NEW YORK (AP) - Chipmaker Altera Corp. said it's cutting about 3 percent of its 2,700 person work force, according to a filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Nearly all the 87 layoffs are expected to made before the end of the third quarter.

Read more here...

I didn't know anything about it until I was back in Penang the next Tue evening. I took an extra day off on Wed, even then I still didn't know. It was on Wed night that I went to check the company stock price on Google Finance when I saw the article. It came very unexpectedly because I thought the economy is already on it's way to recovery.

Luckily I was still able to scan my way into office the next morning.

Is it good or is it bad that I was not around when they announce the decision? Absent means I missed all the explanation from the management team. Oh well, I think you can roughly guess what they're going to say...'it's a difficult decision bla bla bla', 'we wouldn't do this if we have other option bla bla bla'...maybe it's a good thing I was not around.

Another thing is that I am grateful to be spared from the worry and stress throughout my vacation. If I were to leave one day later or they were to announce the news one day earlier, I would have been thinking about work and job security throughout the holiday.

I had a great time being away from work. I needed it very much. The last time I had vacation was during Chinese New Year back in Jan.

Here's a clue of where I've been:

They are within touching distance

6pm is early?

When I was leaving office this evening, my boss came out from the pantry and saw my back and he called out to me aloud.

"Uh no...something about work that he wanted to talk about? I don't want to be late for my appointment..."

I turned back and walk towards him.

Boss: "Wah, you're leaving early ah..."

I check my watch. It's 6pm! Didn't know what to say, I simply say whatever that come to the lips (not going through the brain)

Me: "No lar...where got early. Already OT lor"

Having nothing else to say, I turned and walk my way out to the stairs.

For your information, my working hours is from 8am to 5.15pm.

Mr. Boss, should I stay in office and play Wii in the clubhouse until 7pm then only go home? Just to show face that I'm staying late in the office?
Should I purposely come into the office at 9am so that when I go home at 7pm you won't say that I go home early even though my duration in the office is still the same?
Why is it that when I come into the office at 7am, you never ask me to go back at 4.15pm?

Wa bosong liao...

Life and work imbalance

There is nothing new nor special happen in my life lately. Life = work. Life IS work.

If I were to look back the past 4 weeks, I can only see myself sitting in the office working away. Whether it was Labor Day, Wesak day, weekdays or weekends, I would be spending time looking at the VNC Viewer. If not in the office, it would be at home logging into the server.

I honestly do not know what is wrong with me. Yes, work load has increased, especially after the economic downturn. No, we don't get any salary adjustment in the most recent performance review (no pay cut as well). And definitely NO, we were not paid OT for working over-time. But still I'm working like a slave.

I have considered about getting a balance between life and work. But as time pass, I found that there is nothing much I could do with life without money. I like photography, but look at the price of those DSLR cameras. I like to play game, but look at the price of PS3 and a decent LCD tv. I like to travel too, which no doubt involves money.

I guess all things other than 'work' is consider 'life' right? If that's the case, then I think I have some life. Although it is a very small portion, but I think I HAVE LIFE...

I spend the little night time I have reading the 3rd Twilight Saga book. 20mins a day before I sleep. I spend one and a half hour, 3 days a week on exercise. I think exercise is very important, no matter how busy ones are. I make sure I spoil myself with some good food at least once or twice a week.

All is not bad. At least I have some plans to look forward to in the next coming months. Next week I'll be going to Genting Highlands. I don't care what is the status of the project by then, I'm definitely going. And I'll tell my boss firmly that I'll not be logging into the network throughout the whole weekend. I don't want to bring along that bulky heavy laptop while I'm having fun in Genting.

And then next month, I'll be going to KL for the Standard Chartered Marathon. Gonna meet Wen and Hui again, and Hui's cute baby. Definitely looking forward to that.

Haven't been taking photos for some time already. Here's the latest one:

It's amazing what stress do to a person. This is my cup in case you're wondering.

Morning rain

It was raining this morning when I was awaken by the alarm clock.

"Ah...raining, nice! I have excuse to be late...".

With that, I automatically snoozed it and went back to sleep for another 9mins before the alarm started ringing again. Snoozed it for the second time. I finally crawl out from my comfortable nest on the third call. It was 7.30am.

Proceed to the clean up routine and was in my car by 8.10am, which was 10mins later than my usual time. Missed out the morning news on the radio. It was still raining quite heavily.

I would never have imagined that a morning rain session can cause such a massive traffic jam on the coastal highway leading into Bayan Lepas. Maybe because it has been a long while since we've had rain in the morning and I've forgotten how bad it is, or the number of cars in Penang had increased significantly.

The jam is so bad that it started to crawl from the Queensbay roundabout. From that roundabout, I can see hundreds of cars all lining up to as far as the eye can see along the coastal road. At that exact moment, I have the urge to park my car by the road side, climb on to the middle of the roundabout, which is on a higher ground (and can see surrounding clearly), take out my DSLR and take a photo of the current traffic situation. Maybe a panoramic shot.

Of course that only stays as a thought, because first, it was still raining at that time, second, I do not own a DSLR and lastly, I wouldn't climb up the roundabout with all those people in the car staring at me.

Today's journey to work takes 50mins compared to the usual 15mins drive. It's just unbelievable how bad a jam can be :( Some parts of the road are flooded, but still managable. It could have been worse if there are car breakdown or accidents but luckily, that did not happen. When I reach office at 8.50am, the multi-storey car park is surprisingly, still kind of empty, just like how it would be filled at 7.45am on usual day.

Office = home?

Lately, I've been spending two third of my time in the office and only one third at home for sleeping. Everything has a reason, and I have 2 reason for this.

Reason #1
There are still many things to wrap up before the end of my loan period. Need to get those task done before this Friday. I was loaned to another team for 8weeks and this Friday will be the last day. Team leader is thinking about extending the loan period, but my immediate boss do not want the extension. They have not talk face to face yet, I do not know what the results might be; extend or no extend?

Reason #2
Work aside, we now have a 'Club House' in the office. Even with the bad economy outside, we still have many tight schedule to meet. Due to this, the management decided to create a club house for employee to de-stress.

In this club house, we have a Wii game with a 42" LCD TV. There are 4 controllers and Tennis is the most popular game out of the 5 Wii sports game. Personally, I like Golf the best because the rest of the game is just too action-pack. Besides this, there's also a Foosball table. Some of the guys are really good at the game, but some looks like they're BBQ'ing chicken wings. I am surprise to learn that the Foosball table is more expensive than Wii. We also have UNO and Jenga for a 'sitting' game.
For those not into games, there's a variety of magazines and daily newspapers in English, Chinese and Malay. We have 2 long colorful sofas too.

I'd usually go to the club house around 5.30pm to relax a bit, maybe play a game or 2 if Wii is available. Half and hour break later, it's back to work until about 9.30pm when that's about time I start to lose focus. Sometimes earlier, maybe around 8. After that, I'll make my last visit to the club house for another half and hour or more for newspaper before going for dinner.

For the past 2 weeks, I've been staying back in the office until late at night. I only reach home around 10~10.30pm, in time for 11pm drama on TV (half and hour to clean-up before the movie starts)

Before the form of club house, I'd be home by 8.30pm. Now that I spend some extra relaxation time there, my working hours also extended. I wonder if there will be one day when the management decided to charge people who stay late for the extra electricity and coffee consumption, and the toilet paper and hand towel they used :P

This new routine explains the lack of blog updates.

New year, New task

After months of working with China man on their project, working even on holidays and weekends, I am finally free. Officially wrapped-up the project early this week. Hafta wait for about 2months for the silicon to return, hopefully no bad news to return with it *pray pray

Before I get to eat snake surfing in the office, new task is pass down again. Due to the re-org in the department, I was assigned to something new, not the usual thing I do for the past 2 and a half years.

In a way, I am happy that I get to work on something else. This would translate to new knowledge and it should be beneficial to myself. But on the other hand, working on something new would means I have to work harder to catch up on what I don't know. This task I was assigned to, it has a very tight schedule. I have so many things to study; new block, new tools, new language, new people.

What do you call those feeling, helpless? What ever the feeling is called, I don't like it. It makes me feel stupid. I'm sad that I couldn't help the block lead much, he must be in stress working towards the date line. I am worry that I might be incapable to deliver what they are expecting.

Work life balance? I'm not sure if mine is balanced...

Year end dinner with mask

Prologue
If you've been following my writings, you'd have notice that I seldom, or maybe never, write things that touch too much into my personal feeling. Sometimes I may rant a little about being busy, about being not rich enough, about our government, maybe express my anger on something but mostly it'd be about happy stuff like where I went for holiday, the good food that I had, expensive stuff that I bought and things that I achieved. I have never touch on how sorry and regret I am when I did something to somebody, how sad I am when something bad happen or things that I am not proud of. In short, I never share things that touch my inner feeling.

These unhappy thoughts/unproud moments are ought to be forgotten. With my short-term memory loss illness, it'd be easy to forget them.

I am about to write about some thing I do not intend to write initially but ended up typing it here after all, due to some reasons.

Content
2 weeks ago, my newly formed department (a merger of few other departments) organized an annual dinner. The theme of the annual dinner is "Masquerade Party with fancy/formal dressing". One would need to have a mask, pair with a formal/fancy attire to attend. The venue is at Bayview Beach Resort, some where far far away near Batu Ferringhi beach.

I was super busy during the week prior to the event. With the Qurban holiday, Poi Lam's wedding and tight project schedule (I am listing these down as an excuse for my un-prepare-ness). Everything is at the last minute for me. I do not have a mask until Wed (the dinner was on Fri), I do not have a make-up kit until Fri morning (borrowed the make-up kit from a colleague). The mask was sponsored by my boss, he bought a pack of those cardboard mask meant for party and distributed it among the group (aww...my boss is so nice!).

On Thu before the dinner, I get very worried: Should I put make-up on? But I don't know how!! Where should I find a make-up kit? Can I still fit into the dress? Do I know how to walk with the heels on? I totally fail as a female human being...n i am not proud

Finally, D day arrives. We're allowed to leave office at 3pm in order to prepare ourselves. I left at 3.30pm, had to finish something up before leaving. Registration starts at 6.30pm, dinner at 7. It takes an hour to drive to Batu Ferringhi.

Because I do not know how to make-up and not wanting to look like a monkey's red ass, I put on only very very tiny teeny little make-up on, hardly can be seen at all, hair was at the usual, no special time spent on that. And that is how I have attended the department-wide annual dinner.

Bayview Beach Resort, Grand Ballroom. We have a Zorro-like camera man

My policy that night? Sit diam-diam at my table, stay low-profile, no/less photo policy. Yes, that is how I have been the whole night.

The food served is similar to Chinese wedding dinner. Everybody sit in round table.

This is the first dish served. The white color one is salad, very nice...

The second dish is as usual, shark fin soup minus the fin.

And then I lost count. But here's some photo of the food.

Chicken

Black pepper prawn

There are more food but no photos available

We had 2 funny MCs. Then there were some games, lucky draw, making fun of bosses, voting of best dress and performances such as hip hop dancing, group singing, solo singing and Christmas caroling, all performed by engineers in our newly merged department. In between those slot, there were singing by a band, which I think is we hired or they're with the hotel, I'm not sure.

The professional band

Lucky draw prizes were good, iPod Nano 8GB and Sony PSP is some of the prizes people are drooling over. None of it falls into my hand, not even the Starbucks voucher or the RM200 TGI Friday voucher :(

Conclusion
It was an event planned up in a short period of time, maybe about one and a half month, maximum 2. And everybody had only a short notice about it, the official invitation came about 3weeks before the annual dinner. But everybody were able to prepare themselves so well, some was well prepared with very nice mask. Most of the female engineers who are seen with jeans and T-shirt in the office most of the time were transformed into beautiful women on that night. The annual dinner was a success.

Sitting quietly in my table, it might not be too fun for me but nevertheless, I still enjoy myself.

These are the young people in my sub department, HCDC
3 people with the same mask, sponsored by BOSS :)

Among the 6 person here, I'm the most senior, joined Altr one year earlier then the rest. Luckily, based on age, I'm not the eldest (is this self comforting?)

Last but not least, a photo of ME!

Me -_-

All photos are taken by other people and are shared out in the company Intranet. None of the photos belong to me as I did not bring along my camera.

A morning that started not-so-good but turn out good eventually

Sitting in my messy cubicle. My purpose in the office on a Sun morning is to get some work done. Time is running out, especially with many holidays coming in the next 2 weeks.

There was a server move which was scheduled from 5pm Fri to 5pm Sat (US time), translated to 9am Sat to 9am Sun Penang time. Yesterday, I was in the office with the same purpose, to work. Ignoring the small yellow envelope at the bottom right corner of the screen (indicating there's new mail), I get started. When the server did not respond as expected, I go to the yellow envelope and there it is, the reminder about server move activity in US. Because the licenses that we source in Penang point back to US, it affects Penang too.

Oh well, if I was not able to work on that it's still fine because I have other (paper-less) paper work to do. And I have to clean up my Inbox as well, for the past 2 weeks, I've been ignoring un-important mails, keeping them for later check (which explains why I have forgotten about the server move). The paper work is related to the up-coming focal review.

So yesterday (Sat), I was in the office from 11am till 6pm. With the paper work done, but no progress on the project, which explains why I'm in the office again today (Sun).

Why am I blogging instead of getting some work done? Because I am still not able to check out the licenses although there was an email indicating that the server move had been completed. I don't know why that is happening.

**Update
Oh yay!! After I finish typing this, I was able to grab a license. Luckily I sit here and type this and not just straight away head home :)
Let's get to work...

Altera Bowling Tournament 2008

Altera continue to sponsor the bowling tournament this year despite the financial turmoil out there.

Held annually, this event took place at Pacific Megamall in Seberang Perai.
FACT: Megalanes Bowling Centre is the largest bowling centre in Malaysia consisting of 50 lanes.

I missed out last year's bowling tournament (2007) coz not in Msia. Since the 2006 Bowling Tournament, I have not been in touch with bowling at all. After such long absence from the game, I had a terrible first game. Only manage to get 45points.

To help beginner players, handicap system is apply during this tournament. A minimum of 50points will be given if player get below 50points and a 9pins drop is consider a strike.

At the second game, my team members (and my neighboring team) gave me some advice to improve my throw, at the same time motivated me. Thanks to them, my throw improved significantly, no more drain cleaning. Points increased from 45 to 133points...hehe, I am so proud of myself.

In the last game, I manage to maintain a similar pin drop of 122. Hands were already tired because I had to use a 11pound ball, which I consider it to be heavy. Bo pien, my stubby fingers couldn't fit the holes on 10pound ball!

As team members are gathered by draw lots, it is totally random. Players can end up with other people from any departments. It is a very good way to know more people in the same company, also providing a chance for communication that may not have a happen in their line of work.

Lucky draw and team event prizes did not get anywhere near me. Went home empty handed, but with a few new found friends, and the chance to play free bowling :)

Some comments:
The condition of Megalanes Bowling center is very bad. Technical problem keeps occurring and re-occurring throughout the event.
The TV displaying the pin counts are not in proper condition.
All the bowling balls there have very small holes. There are a shortage of balls.
There is also a shortage of shoe. I was forced to wear a size 7 shoe, I wear it like a slipper with my heals protruding at the back of the shoe -_-"

Related post:
Altera Bowling Tournament 2006

Work, health, diet and a wishlist

Work
For the past 2 weeks, work has taken away a very big portion of my time. I worked from Monday to Sunday last week...plus over time after weekday office hour, the earliest time I left office was 6.30pm, latest till 10pm. 2 weeks ago, I actually planned to work too but because the IT department scheduled a system maintenance on Sat and Sun, I canceled that thought and went to Jusco Seberang Jaya instead. Colleague told me I was doing ok, but I'm not sure about that myself. Maybe I am just stressing myself too much, a lot to think about lately :(

Wish list --> more like a dream
There's a couple of things I'm hoping to get my hands on:
1. Plasma/LCD TV RM2.5k
2. LazyBoy Chair RM3k
3. DSLR camera RM2.5k
4. PS2/PSP RM600
5. Suunto D4 dive computer/watch RM1.5k
6. King-size bed RM2k? Not sure
Looking at the list, it just proves that I'm materialistic. I obviously cannot lay golden eggs, so where to find $?

Health, fitness, diet
Have not step into the gym for almost 3 months already, ever since I fell off the bike and hurt my ankle. It is just lately that I started doing some outdoor jogging, usually at Botanical Garden. I like that place because I feel safer there with many people going about doing their own activities. Jogging alone at a deserted place is scary.

Have not been keeping a healthy diet. Meal time is not regular. Sometimes I'd take my dinner at around 9.30pm because that's the time I came back from work. Late dinner is unhealthy and very fattening!

1am now. It's way over the recommended sleeping time. Signing off~

Cameron Highlands

The month of June, 2008 celebrates my 2 year anniversary with this company. 2 may not be a big number if I were to compare it with many other old bird (no offense, just a direct translation from Hokkien :P) in the company. But still, it has been 2 years!!! It is not easy to survive in the same place; a place where you spend 8 or more hours a day, 5 days a week for 104 weeks; if you did not enjoy the place and the company and the people that you work closely with.

I would like to take this space and this opportunity to thank my company for providing a good working environment for me and a shaded parking space for my car/motorcycle. I'd like to thank my boss for giving me the opportunity to grow and to expand my knowledge, last but not least, to my colleagues who are willing to share knowledge whenever they are approached.

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2 years in the company, I had been through various team building activities. If you still remember the last few team building events, they only revolve between eating good food and karaoke session at RedBox (except the team building while I was in SJ with US counterpart). After much discussion and persuasion this time around, finally we've got something more fun.

We had a 2D1N trip to Cameron Highlands, made possible by combining the budget for Q1 and Q2. In the end each member still need to chip in a little lor...

Departing Penang early Sunday morning, we first make a stop in Ipoh for the famous Ipoh dimsum. My department of 13 ppl fits nicely in 3 cars; 4 + 4 + 5.

Taking the new road from Simpang Pulai to Cameron Highlands, which is nearer from the north instead of the old one from Tapah, we were at Cameron Highlands by noon, making our very first stop at a small tea plantation.

Nothing grand to talk about this place, just a normal looking tea plantation. Wait till you see the next one.

This tea plantation belongs to Cameron Valley, so they only sell tea leaves with this brand

After that we continue on to the nearby Bee Farm. Here's the beeeee.......

Oh, and here comes the must-go in Cameron Highlands. I love this place the most and I promise myself the next time I'm in Cameron, must re-visit this place.

Jeng jeng jeng, it is the Boh Tea Plantation in Sungai Palas.

That is the platform hanging out at the top of the hill. You can sit there, relax, enjoy the greenery with a cup of hot Boh Tea. How does that sound?

This is the first time I landed in this place after so many trips to Cameron Highlands.

The tea plantation is so huge that it covers the whole hill. ENORMOUS! They are so green and so nicely planted. I just love the greenery so much!

As green as New Zealand :)

At this Boh Tea Center in Sungai Palas, there are also a factory showing visitors on how the tea leaves were processed. Also available are multiple signboards on the history of Cameron Highlands.

The problem with this place is the road leading into this tea plantation. It is a narrow and winding road (winding until cannot see the car coming from opp.), at some place only one car can go through at a time. To make things worst, smaller buses (those very classic looking school bus) also drive into this area. If not careful, car might plunge down the hill.

Flowers at the Tea Center, background is the factory building

After much consideration and re-consideration, I've finally decided to post this group photo of my team here. What is a team building post without a team photo rite?

I chose a photo with the smallest people available :P

Next on the list is Brinchang for lunch. Very delicious lunch indeed. We ordered a few dishes to eat with rice. Yummy!

Lepas itu, we go to Villa Dahlia to check-into our 5 bedroom 2-storey penthouse. Villa Dahlia is a 6-storey high apartment located in between Tanah Rata and Brinchang.

Taken from the second floor down onto the living room

And this is the misty view from our apartment

Without wasting time, we left for our next destination after checking into the apartment and put down our things. Rose Center is next on our list. Entrance fee is RM4 per person.

Can spot me anot?

There are all sorts of beautiful flowers at Rose Center. And you get to hike to the top of the hill too, with nice scenery awaiting you at the top.

Bee found sunflower, I found bee and I found sunflower too

Various cactus can be found here too.

Cactus in the shape of flower, niceee!

Rose rose I love you

As we climb higher and higher in Rose Center, we exited the flower farm into the open air. We had to climb stone steps.

Steps made of small stone

And greeted by this perfect hilltop view of Cameron Highlands!

That big white building with many smaller white buildings surrounding it is the Equatorial Hotel

It is worth the climb even with a knee pain striking me with each step I take.

In the late evening, while we were waiting for our steamboat to be served, it rained very heavily outside. The sudden splash of rain make the already cool air even colder, it's just perfect to have steamboat as dinner. For RM14 person, we had a satisfying steamboat.

Went back to the apartment after dinner. It was about 8++ when we reach Villa Dahlia. The live telecast of F1 in Monaco had already started. Boss, an avid F1 fan straight away sit in front of the TV set. 2 other guys joined him. 3 other colleagues went for the 3-kaki mahjong set, 2 others went upstairs for their dancing class sharing, and the rest take turns to bath. We play, eat, drink and talk about F1. We also have fun playing tumbling blocks, or some people call it Jenga where you take out wooden blocks that built up the tower, making sure that it doesn't fall and put the block on top of the tower to make it higher.

After all the games and F1 race ended, some of us sat in the living room chatting, and the topic get personal. I might have over-shared on my side, must be because of the alcohol, anyway, it helps me to understand what I want more clearly. They have make me answer to questions that I have never thought about all this while. The talk went on until 3am in the morning.

Check-out time was scheduled at 8am the next day. This was the first time, out of countless group trips I've been to, that I experience people being so punctual in getting ready to check out. By 7.30am, everybody was ready and were carrying their bags out from the apartment. Usually, if there is a need to check out so early, and especially when you're in a big group, there tend to be delay here and there. Us being so punctual, it surprised me.

Take breakfast at Brinchang, go to a temple to see look and take photos, went to market for some fresh vege and that's it. That's our first team building happening out of Penang Island.

Saying goodbye to Cameron Highlands

Stop by Ipoh again, this time for bean sprout chicken. Reach Penang at 3.30pm in the evening. Everybody heads back home early, and HAPPILY on a Monday.