Positive Mindset

Never thought that little brother has a better perspective of life than me.

His advice is, do not complained about your work because you won't make it better by doing so. (But at least i feel better emotionally).

His annual leave is more than me now.

He is 25 years old (i was 27years old) and he already traveled to London without having to fork out any money for his transport and accommodation. That kid is truly blessed. And he didn't even have to take any unpaid/ paid leaves for his 16 days trip!

He told me he work round the clock all day. He has his full time job and his part time job to do.

I am happy that he has people with the right and positive mindset around him.
 

Dreaming Again

Well i have got to start somewhere.
There is only 5 days left till the end of 2014, and i am craving for an adventure.

I know that i have just came back from Bangkok, but it felt more like a babysitting job. I didn't mind traveling with my mom. But i have to worry about a lot of things when traveling with the moms/ aunties/ cousins. I'll give you a few examples, i worried about if they can walk so much, if they would agree to fork out RM200 for a hotel tour package (transportation to Floating market-include motorboat ride, Kwaei River Bridge war Museum, lunch & Tiger Temple) , if any of the Thailand deities would want to communicate with them (yes, this did happened when we travel to Hanoi, Vietnam), worried if they would stray and got separated with the group, worried if they have enough money to enjoy the shopping, worried about finding a kosher restaurant, etc..do you see what i mean..? How can i have my own fun? When i did walked off on my own,after waiting for hours for them to shop just in one shop, i worried about if my mom will have enough money from overspending. And i just sat down on a bench hoping to see any one of them passed by so i can rejoin them. An old lady talked to me in Thai, i just smile and nod. Until she asked me a question, then i told her i'm sorry that i don't understand her. Then she switch to english and we got to talking. I found out that she is a rich lady who owned a resort at South of Thailand, she owned a boat and bungalow on top of a hill. She was with her daughter shopping at Platinum Mall.


Back When i was in Korea..  (yes Korea), a lady also talked to me in Japanese while we were on the elevator. She might be asking me a question because she looked like she's waiting for me to answer. So i said 'Er...Wakarimasen, :), coupled with some hand gestures'... She just smiled and said something else.

Anyway, I think i need to develop a strategy next time we go on a trip together. A strategy that would enable everyone and myself to have fun and enjoy our family trip together.

The highlight of the Bangkok trip was petting and taking pictures with big tigers at the Tiger sanctuary/ Tiger Temple. We were told to change to long pants to go to the tiger temple. The legs will be too tempting/ too juicy for the tigers i guess.

I think it is compulsory to hold the keeper's hand while you are in the tiger enclosure. My guy was cute, so i don't mind. It felt like holding hands with your boyfriend. He will take you where to crouch (which is always behind the sleeping/ resting tiger) and another guy will take your picture. The guy took some really nice photo. It took a really long time for all 6 of us to be done with the pictures. All this while mom, the aunties and cousin Uya (Gloria) were waiting for us at a hut near the entrance.

Our hotel 'Citin Pratunam', has a complimentary Tuk-tuk which we can take to anywhere nearby. We took it to the train station (BTS). We did not have any problem of finding food. It was a night market at Pratunam Market. The only problem we have is buying too much food and can't finished it. So wasteful. Also the hotel only provided 1  :)key card per room. This is troublesome, when one person wanted to stay in and the other one wanted to go out because you need the keycard to go up the elevator. Otherwise, the elevator won't budge.

P/S: No pic attached with this post. Just go to my FB photo album if you haven't already.

Somersby- there's a new animal in town

We got another T-Shirt from my boss while he was on his holidays.

I sometimes thought that, i was still in the picture (like getting t-shirt) because i am very close to both my senior and junior and there is no way that they could hide anything from me.

Job title- is it important?

My senior has been promoted to Engineering Design Manager. My junior has been promoted to Deputy Engineering Design Manager. Where does that leaves me..? I am still a Project Engineer. 

I was a little taken aback by their sudden promotion, especially my junior. How can she be promoted when she used to always be late for work and took sudden half days leave? She has made a great effort to change though and it shows. I really have nothing against her. I do agreed that she has strong theory. It was always apparent that my boss favours them. I said that i didn't care, but sometimes he made it too obvious and i did get a little jealous.

I sometimes think that part of it was because i don't try hard to suck up to him. I don't do small talk and i don't have a warm personality. What do you expect from a Capricorn who is socially awkward and raised a loner. 

At first, i do not really care about the title. But today, it hit me hard how important a title was when i went to lead a tender interview with my other junior (replacing my boss who is outstation). They asked me, am i the next in line after my boss? And i said 'no, we also have a Tendering Manager'. Then they asked, 'then after that it's you?' I said 'no'. 'Don't you have another Director?' I said, 'We do have another Director.' They asked'And he couldn't make it to this interview?' 'Yes.' 'Don't you have a Project Manager?' 'We do, but our Project Manager does not usually attend tender interview. He is mainly in charge of Site matters.' 'Are you a QS?' 'No, I am a Project Engineer.' 'A what?' 'A Project Engineer', i repeated. They took a second look at my card and nodded.

I do think that it is better to just be a Project Engineer and are able to answer all of their questions. While stil have an excuse for not being able to answer some of their questions. Not that i wasn't able to today. 

My heart beats at a weird pace while writting this post. It Felt constricted. 

My senior has actually told me that i used to really show my emotion whenever i do not agree with my boss' instruction. And i have also improved a lot in controlling them. She even used me as an example in dealing with my boss. My solution, keep my mouth shut. My boss also always compared my senior with my junior telling my senior to take my junior as an example in how to deal with people.

I noticed that everytime when my boss is comparing attitude or personal traits of his employees, he would always take others as example and never me. Never. 

I don't think he knew me very well. He still thought that i am a Dayak.*face palm.

When i told him that i have planned my Chinese New Year Holiday for 2014 without following the company's approved date. He said, 'waa.. Might as well don't come back.' *sigh. I ask him, 'are you sure?' And he just laughed it off  And didn't answer me. My senior told me not to put it to heart. 

Why is he creating all these office hierarchy? To create competition? 

When i first joined my company, i always thought that he hated me. 

I love that my senior giving me all these motivational talk. And my junior has her own problem in dealing with office politics. 

But It won't matter what your title is, as long as he knows who is pulling their own weight.

I still need a bossom for a pillow..:(

Love this! My first lappy.

My new handme-down lappy. Yay! Thanks G. Just so you know, I did most of my online reading on this baby.

Are we adults yet?

Okay.. We are all in our 30s except for my younger brother. But we are all working adults. 

Just now, my older brother texted me saying that his toddler baby was accidentally scalded with hot water and suffered a 1st degree burn on his left foot. This all happened while the son was in the care of my SIL sister.

And here we are worried that my dad would find out. We can tell our mom. But not our dad. This goes to show that dad is still the man around the house. Or the man of 'The family'..

When we were little, My dad used to scold us when we get mosquito bites. This is the same way he treated all my niece and nephews.. So naturally, scalded with hot water is a serious thing. 

When i was in secondary school, i fell on the rough cement court and scrapped the whole left or right side of my calf while playing basketball.. I had to hide it from my dad and wore long pants everyday in my house until it heals and scab free.

Hard Rock T-shirt

I received my first 2 HardRock T-shirt yesterday. 

Oslo and Copenhagen

Though both in L size. But the grey one looks bigger on me. I can't really advertise it on Facebook. Only 4 of us got these with different designs from my boss when he went to 11 days trip to Norway and Denmark.

Fortress of Solitude- Missing

What would you do if the place you considered home for almost 6 years is no longer a tranquil and welcoming place? Feeling like an intruder more and more each day.

I used to be able to do almost anything at home without having to bother about, is there someone in the bathroom, if there isn’t anybody in there why is the light still on? Why is the door locked? I’m almost late to get ready for work and the door is still locked. I had to go out of my room to see that they have left their room door open for me to go into their room and to the bathroom and use it. Why is there hair in the sink? Why is the toothbrush and toothpaste wedge between the tap and the wall? I can’t turn the tap with ease.

Why is the rag not hung to dry properly? It’s all twisted set on the tray with the rest of the products. 

Can I use the bathroom now or the others would want to use it when I was using it.

Can I use the washing machine now? Can I hang my clothes to dry today?

They ate my food and drink my drinks. Fine, I resorted to storing some food in a container in my room now. 

But I can’t use the fridge anymore and that’s where I put my Vitagen/ Yogurt drinks/ Chocolate milk.

I could not find the solitude that I seek after a hurricane pace day at work. The time when I use to be able to sleep soundly interrupted with banging of doors, hinges on door being latched on, talking voices almost to a point of shouting, lights turned on, smells of food prepared in the morning. Some of these may seem miniscule but to me it amplifies whenever I am on verge of sleep and wakefulness.  

My heart races when it is suppose to be calm and dreaming instead of anticipating when the next time when the hinges latched and the door banged shut and again when the latch unhinges.

I have done what I can on the hair on the floor trap and clumps of hair stick to the wall. And thank goodness that they left the wall all alone. They still left some hair on the sink and on the floor trap. But I can turn a blind eye on that.

I never had this problem living in the same room as LP for 4 years! Why is it so hard now?! We only shared bathroom.

3 days activities in 1 day

I don't go out much. But when i do, i like to write about it.

I went out yesterday with my colleagues for the 1st day of the 3 days long weekend. Apparently, America is also having a 3 days long weekend.

It was suppose be like a company get together. We went bowling. Only 4 of us showed up. And we were spontaneos in our decision of what to do after the game. 

So after the game, we went and have a look around Endah Parade. The place is like a recreational place for youngsters. It is an old building, but it has indoor rollerblading, badminton court, karaoke joint etc. They don't have any cinema though. So after a brief walk to Endah Promenade, we stopped by a coffee place to quench our thirst. The afternoon was so hot and humid. 

On the spot, we decided to go and watch a movie. When we saw that it was about to rain, we ran off to my car parked around the corner to my colleague's house.

We barely made it, and it started pouring heavily while we were on our way to Desa Petaling's MBO to watch a movie.

I can barely see the road while i was driving. So we made it to the place and were in luck as the next session won't start in another 30min. One of my colleague wanted to watch StarTrek, the the 3 of us went on to watch Furious 6. The time difference is only 15min. So it was perfect. In the cinema, again a kid kept crying all through the movie and annyed a bunch of us. Parents, please don't be selfish by again subjecting your

child to the loud action sound and also subjecting the rest of paying customer by your child's scream of attention. I think they left 15min before the shows end.

It was already 8pm when we left. And again spontaneously head to Wester Cowboy Restaurant. We had a bad experience there the last time i brought 2 of my colleagues there. So we went again the 2nd time to write a better memory. And we did have a great time all through the day. I managed to get everyone back safe and sound.

Stranger

I was having breakfast today at the local fast food joint. While i was taking my own sweet time reading the paper, some african guy sitting behind me asked me if i was done with the paper. It was so obvious that i was not. I was rude in my head saying 'Can't you see that i am still reading?'. But what came out was, 'No i am not done with it' and turned my back on him. Funny but i thought i heard him said 'Haiya...'

Then i heard him said something else like wanting to share the paper and i turn around again saying 'don't they have other paper there at the paper stand?'. And about the same time i said that, a waitress came over with another english paper for him. And i thought that he will leave me alone after that. But again he ask if he can join me? I was thinking that 'what the hell is this guy's problem? Can't he see that my table is a small table and all the space is taken by the paper and my tray? But again I said 'No' and just smile. 

I didn't feel comfortable reading then. I packed up my things and gave my stack of newspaper to him and left. 

There goes my much anticipated weekend breakfast. May be i should come out earlier for breakfast.

Long Overdue Karaoke Session

I had such an awesome time hanging out with new friends, old friends, cousin & aunty last saturday night.
I didn't read cousin Grace's text clearly the other day and only found out that it was a belated birthday celebration for Aunty May when the cake showed up at 10pm.

One of my colleague asked us to go karaoke one saturday, i was so excited but then she organized one with her friends instead. :(.

Same as one time she asked me to consider if i want to go watch Iron Man on Friday, i was also so excited about that and asked her if we are still going on Thursday. But when Friday come, she went off to watch the movie by herself. I asked her about it the next day, and she said because she was so stressed with work and had to get away from everyone! Not a really good friend/ colleague to have but that is all i have. A pity party for me huh..? Anyway, i was so used to people changing their mind at the last second that i was hurt for a while but got over it. But don't worry, i won't do that to others.

Back to the title, i saw my old college friend Tasha! I was so surprised to see her there. I knew that Aunty May knew Tasha, but i didn't know that she was invited.

I hijacked this pic collage from the only kid there, Herma.-18-5-2013

 Aunty May looked so young. Amy reminded so much of LP. And Tasha is still a strong supporter for basketball. She even attended a match the night before.

O, one more thing these group of people are huggers. They don't shake hands, they hug.
It does seems awkward at first, but it really did strengthened the connection with everyone.
The only people i hug are Nenek Umpil, Shenaiah (niece), Eden (nephew) & Kim Loong (nephew).
And i hug all dogs. :D

The mentality of “Embracing the positive vibration in turns brings positive outcome”.

I’ve been thinking of what makes me happy?

And I was reminded of the times I went out clubbing with my cousins & brothers.

I always have fun being around my cousins. It doesn’t have to be clubbing. I would be happy by just sitting somewhere and drinking iced tea.

The first time I ever went out with them as ADULTS/ YOUNG ADULTS was at Shenanigans right after dad and I were supposed to attend a Lo’s Family wedding. We went to the wrong hotel/ restaurant and dad decided to skip it. So I went back to change from my elegant dress into white t-shirt and faded blue jeans while waiting for Cousin Isut/ Induk to pick me up. We had BEERS!

We all grew up together, from climbing trees, having pop2 ice-cream slowly transitioning to the town iced tea and then graduated into cold beer tower. And let’s be honest - smoking too.

The other time I was out with them was in Seam Reap, Cambodia. Catch phrase for the night was “…And tonight I’m shuffling..”- singing along while shuffling our feet off on the dance floor. I told this story before in my other blog entries ‘coz I had so much fun! So moving on..

The other time was right after my brother Wai’s Wedding Dinner followed by a Karaoke session. After that, we went to a couple of clubs that I could not even name. Not because I was drunk, but because we were club hopping and I haven’t been spending time in KK so I was unfamiliar with the scenes there. Come to think of it, I think one of the clubs was R&B. It was so crazy fun being surrounded by all these cool cousins/ relatives in a place where you normally don’t trust any of the people around you. People had different identities when they were at a club. We were like the cool gang. And I like it. I hardly had time to spend with them now that we are all doing our own stuff. So I really cherished these rare moments together. That night, I saw my elder brother Khiong getting drunk and start talking and laughing more than he normally would. He is always grumpy and mumbly when he’s not drunk. I saw how my little brother got so drunk he just sits there with his head on the table almost passed out. And I saw my handsome cousin being groped/ taken advantaged by a young girl. We were like ‘Oh..ok..Hm.. O, Yeah~.. That a Boy..!~~, we just stared and laughed at them. He made us so proud- Strange. My ass was grabbed a couple of times while dancing in the crowd. And Urgh~!.. Now I remembered, that all the DJ had to say through-out the night was ‘Put your hands in the air..!!” I was really annoyed by it after constant repetition.

While we were on our way out, one of my cousins (Kelek) shook hands with the DJ who was standing next to the stage near the exit. This resulted in a chain effect where every one of us shook hands with him before we went out. The DJ even told us to come again when they are having events. Funny thing was that my cousin didn’t even know that guy. They were acting all friendly like they knew each other. 

Awkward~~~….

The night ended with Kelek (Cousin) driving us -Karen (cousin), Aping (younger Bro) & I to Karen’s then Fiancée house. He then drove Aping & I back to Big Bro’s house. Aping was so wasted, he slept in the car. Kelek and I had to drag his ass into Big Bro’s house. We dumped his ass on the living room couch. I turned on the fan for him to ward off blood sucking mosquitoes.

Withdrawal of KWSP account 2- housing downpayment

I haven't even had my house repayment to pay yet. And i am already worried about it.

So far, i have already signed the bank loan offer, bank loan agreement, sales and purchase agreement, tenant agreement and a whole lot of other documents that i can't even recall.

Now, i have prepared the copies of 1) my IC, 2) S&P agreement, 3) House buyers confirmation letter/form, 4) Bank loan offer and the last one is 5) bank confirmation statement for me to take the next step for EPF account 2 withdrawal. The KWSP operation hour is 8.15am to 4.45pm.

Hope i have all that I need to process the withdrawal.

My Fruitful Day while On 1 Day Leave

I've had a pretty productive day today. I took a day's leave from work today to take care of my housing loan.

I am a novice on this subject. Nevertheless I did all that i can. I went to the KWSP/ EPF Puchong branch in the morning to print out a clear copy of my 2012 EPF statement. I then check my nominee for the EPF. And no surprise that there were none. I took a nominee fill up form from the front counter and ask about house loan withdrawal from account 2. The guy gave me another number. There was no need for me to que since there were hardly anyone there. I was told to take another form to fill up and then told to come back once i have the bank loan offer.
After that, i went back to the kiosk machine to get/activate my i-account activation code. That was the first part of my fruitful morning.
The next thing i did was go to the RHB branch to meet up with my mortgage consultant Branden. Signed all the necessary documents and gave him all the required documents.
I thought i did all that i can for that day and it was only 11.30am!! I thought about going back to work. But i went to the mall instead to plan my next move and relax at Wong Kwok Char Chan Teng. I need a witness for my EPF nomination form. So i just filled up my details and that's when little brother called up saying he wanted to get his EPF statement now. I texted the other mortgage consultant - OCBC-asking where is his bank branch. He said Damansara. So i told him it's inconvenient for me and it's better that i deal with Puchong branch bank. Since that guy is also on leave till Friday!
So, that's what i did. I drove to OCBC bank and texted my contact when i was already in the bank. The counter guy actually told me he'll help me called up someone to assist me. But it took a really long time and i decided to take matters in my own hands and Ms May also a sabahan called me saying a Mr Huang will assist me since she was at KL at that time. So Mr Huang, a Sarawakian fella helped me through the whole process.
Around 3pm i was done and i continued driving to my brother's office. Reached there around 3.30pm. We wasted our time at the Uptown Maybank trying to use the EPF kiosk machine but the bro's IC chip is kaput. Tried a few more times and gave up. So we drove to the Bangunan KWSP at Jalan Gasing at 4pm. I looked up the internet and saw that they close at 5.15. So i figured we still have time. We reached there around 4.30pm. And bro' got his statement in zero time. I asked him to sign as witness on my nomination form and told him to do his nomination as well. I was the only one who managed to do my nomination because they actually close at 4.45pm. Same as the Puchong branch. *Sigh.. The bro' also did not know what is his own house address!! And it was already past 4.45pm and his form is still not complete. The people even started to barricade the main door. Tough luck bro'.

FYI: They do not require any IC copy for the nomination form even though the front note says they do. And you can do the thumb print at the counter when u do your thing.

Drove my bro' back to his apartment/ condo. Took the wrong turning towards Shwu Yuan's house and end up in Kesas road instead of LDP. Reached home around 6.30pm.

Changed to a more comfy shorts and took niece Xiao Hui for a little run to the playground. We played for around 10 minutes and head back running trying to outrun the coming rain.

I've showered and It's raining now, i can hear numerous thunder booming outside. But my room is warm from the day's hot afternoon sun. Lots of pent up sensible heat here. Now let's see which loan i am eligible for. Hope everything turned out as positive as i hope it would.

1st home

30 years old. In process to own my own house when i'm 33. Hope my home loan is going to be approve.