Dopod 838pro

21 December 2007

Bought myself Dopod 838Pro. I currently have 1 Celcom line and 2 Maxis lines. One Maxis line is for Blackberry (office line). Satu lagi Maxis line (personal line) aku pakai dengan N70. I don't quite like my current Blackberry hardware and N70 tu. Yelah, office punya. So, I decided to buy Dopod 838Pro with Blackberry function so that I can return both N70 and Blackberry back to my company. For Celcom line, aku pakai iPhone. Then, I can activate my personal line for Blackberry function and cancel office line yang satu lagi tu. I spent about RM2,000 on Dopod 838Pro.

I like this phone very much mainly sebab dia ada keypad which allows me to type faster. In addition, it has many other attractive functions. See the following article from HTC's official website on Dopod 838Pro.

Dopod 838Pro
1st 3.5G PDA Phone With Sliding QWERTY Keyboard

Dopod International is proud to present the 838Pro, the 1st 3.5G capable Windows Mobile PDA Phone with a sliding QWERTY keyboard. Housed within its business-like exterior is a sliding QWERTY keyboard in a form factor first pioneered by Dopod International’s earlier 838. The popularity of this design is testament to the commitment that Dopod International brings to PDA phone and smartphone markets in the Asia Pacific region.

As always, the features and benefits of the 838Pro are not just skin deep. This device also packs a macro-lens and comes bundled with WorldCard Mobile business card recognition software. This innovative solution takes advantage of the unique lens solution to simplify your business card scanning needs. From start to finish, you can scan, recognize and export to Outlook Mobile key information in a business card in about 20 seconds.

Additionally, the 838Pro is the ultimate connected mobile device – it being the first to come with 3.5G (HSDPA) mobile network connectivity, triband WCDMA connectivity, quadband GSM connectivity as well as high-speed WiFi (802.11g) – there’s no longer any reason to be disconnected while travelling.

What Raya?

20 December 2007

It has been some kind of tradition that I don't go back to Perlis for Hari Raya Haji. Lagipun cuti cuma sehari saja. I would rather spend my time in KL buat benda-benda yang aku suka or just lepaking. Tahun ni sembahyang raya pun tak pergi sebab bangun lambat...hmm apa nak jadi! Di sebelah tengahari, I promised HA to meet up kat Pavilion sebelum ke rumah terbuka KP di Cheras. I wanted to buy something nice for KP. Alang-alang orang jemput datang ke rumah for raya, I thought it would be nice lah kalau aku bawa buah tangan. I bought the Wisteria collection from Crabtree & Evelyn for KP. Harap dia sukalah...

Dalam pukul 2 pm, aku and HA dok struggle kat area Cheras mencari rumah KP. KP suggested us untuk tinggal je kereta kat tepi jalan and ambik taxi... aiyooo.... keji betul cadangan tu. Finally, jumpa lah jugak rumahnya. Cuma KP and her maid je ada kat rumah. Family members yang lain dah keluar menziarah. Rendang, lodeh, kari ayam antara yang dihidangkan... memang best.

Dalam pukul 4pm aku dengan HA bertolak dari rumah KP ke Midvalley nak ke MPH beli buku. Kat Midvalley punyalah ramai manusia... nak berjalan pun susah. I bought 4 books. Lepas tu terjebak beli sepasang lagi kasut adidas (memanglah I need counseling) and 2 track bottoms kat British India. Lepas selesai shopping, perut pun dah lapar...so singgah le Little Penang to have early dinner. From Midvalley, we made our way to the Curve. Hasrat hati nak cari Nintendo Wii. Pusing-punya pusing tak jumpa gak. Kat Borders pun takde buku yang berkenan. Singgah Starbucks sekejap for my favorite. Lepas tu chow nak balik.

Keluar je from the Curve, nampak macam ada concert pulak kat luar tu. Rupa-rupanya AZ tengah menyanyi. Rupanya ada opening ceremony of the nearby shopping complex. Terus berhenti kereta and keluar tengok concert. Poyo jugak la... Sambil-sambil mendengar lagu, aku pun menjenguk-jenguk barang-barang dalam kedai kat situ. Berkenan pula dengan 2 carpets on display. Dah le lewat dekat 10:30 malam, aku pulak insisted kat kedai tu yang aku nak beli carpets tu sekarang and nak bawa balik malam ni jugak... Gempar lah sekejap kedai tu dengan permintaan aku. Yelah... nak kena angkat furniture semua untuk ambik the 2 carpets. Dah le satu carpet tu quite big. 6-7 orang pekerja asing terpaksa tolong untuk lipat carpet and hantar ke kereta. Waktu nak bayar pulak, somehow the 2 carpets takde dalam system.... so the promoter dok sibuk bertekak dengan cashier on how to resolve the problem. Dah lambat sangat, aku pun masuk campur... aku siap berleter cakap..."korang ni, orang nak kasi duit RM3,000 pun susah... create la suspense account ke apa! besok korang reconcile lah balik". Nasib baik le bukan my staff... memang le kena haruk kalau takde customer orientation macam ni. Lepas aku berleter, problem solved. Ha! Boleh pon. Sampai je rumah, sibuk aku dok menghampar carpets ni walaupun dah tengah malam. Berpeluh-peluh aku mengangkat furniture. Y pulak called tanya samada ada kedai makan buka kat my area to tapau for his colleagues (ye lah hari raya mana lah ada kedai melayu buka). Kedai mamak kat area aku ni selalu buka, so I suggested that dia pegi tapau di situ. So aku pun ikut temankan Y cari makanan sebab aku pun dah kebulur sebab tadi dinner awal sangat. Lepas tapau he left. Aku balik zzz sebab besok nak ke office to clear outstanding work. Sekian.

Nota kaki: Happy 27th Birthday to my younger sister which falls on Hari Raya Haji this year. (tak sempat nak mail hadiah...so just transferred some money to her account)

Sekian Lama

19 December 2007

...to the one and only, you...
(mati larrr kena spekulasi lepas ni... :-p)

Sekian Lama

Dialah pujaan dalam mimpi
Yang senantiasa membuih hati
Tiap kali bersua
Ku hanya mampu senyum padanya
Ku terdiam


Sekian lama
Ku mencuba
Tak ku lafazkan perasaan
Berkubur saja
Namun dia ku cinta

Apa yang harus aku lakukan
Agar dia pun mengerti
Adanya cinta menanti
Oh sekian lama
Aku mencintai dia

Sukarnya membutir kata-kata
Menilai apa yang aku rasa
Tiap kali ku cuba
Lidah kelu dari bersuara
Ku berserah

Pearl of the Orient - Episode 1

16 December 2007

I was away in Penang over the weekend attending a conference. It was a hectic 1 1/2 day session. As usual, most of us had to work late hours to complete our group assignments to be presented during the plenary session. So peluang nak keluar merambu tu agak terhad lah. Aku sampai Penang dalam pukul 3:00 petang, Friday, 14 December 2007, together with CZ, NSY and ARG. Dalam pukul 3:30 petang dah sampai kat Zurina's (a butik selling branded goods in Penang). Baru tengah sibuk2 shopping, I received a call informing that there will be a meeting at 5:00 p.m. So tak sempat nak shopping sepuasnya, terpaksalah aku bergegas ke hotel. Sempat lah aku beli 3 helai t-shirt Lacoste.

Just when we arrived at the hotel, I was informed that the meeting has been postponed until after dinner.... Larrr.... Ponet den! So all of us decided to go out again after checking in and sembahyang. We went out at about 5:30 pm ke Teluk Bahang. Rupanya kat Penang ni ada Taman Negara Pulau Pinang. Nampak cam best. Maybe next time. We then stopped over at the nearby mamak stall and pekena mee mamak and teh tarik. Mee mamak dia ala-ala manis sikit.... kureng diminati oleh anak tekak aku.

Lepas makan, tetiba datang idea nak bangun awal to exercise besok pagi. So sebab aku tak bawa kasut...pegi lah beli kasut plak (RM150 for a good Nike shoes at 50% off). Memang lah aku ni hantu kasut... kat rumah bersusun-susun kasut yg tak dipakai pon. Lepas beli kasut we proceded back to the hotel.

Lepas Maghrib ada welcoming dinner...so terpaksa lah pergi. Lepas dinner aku ada meeting yang berlarutan sampai ke 1 pagi. Sekian!

Besok paginya, kasut jogging Nike yang dibeli semalam tak dijamah pon. I went straight to the conference hall sebab bangun lambat. Pukul 6 ptg baru habis discussion. After Maghrib ada another dinner, and lepas dinner sambung discussion balik. Aiyo..penat sudah. Aku sempat keluar jap dengan ARG for about an hour, shopping kat night bazaar di Batu Ferringhi. Takde benda sangat except I bought souvenirs for NM and NA. Then balik hotel sambung keje. Dalam kesibukan ni, sempat juga a few of us planned a surprise birthday party for ARG dalam pukul 11 mlm macam tu. At 11:30 pm, aku sneaked out sekali lagi to meet NM and MZ yang bermalam di resort Penang. MS pon ikut sekali... Hasrat hati nak cari Starbucks, tapi ended up kat Restoran Subaidah. Dalam pukul 1 lebih dah balik hotel coz memasing dah tak larat.

The conference continued on Sunday with a plenary discussion. Habis dalam 12:30 tgh hari. Aku, ARG and CZ chow from hotel dah dekat pukul 3 pm. Sampai KL dalam pukul 8 malam lepas adegan singgah menyinggah membeli buah dan sebagainya di sepanjang lebuhraya. I plan to come again to Penang in the near future....we will see how!

Alamanda

9 December 2007

Hari ni aku dah janji dengan NM and MZ untuk ke kenduri kawen our colleague di Taman Botani Putrajaya. Semalam, aku dah gigih membeli hadiah kat Sogo. All wrapped and ready to go. Entahle... for the past one year, for every wedding that I attended, aku kasi benda yg sama... this german made cutlery set. Selagi tak kena keji dengan sesiapa, I guess I will continue buying... or sementara stock masih ada ;-)

Aku janji nak jumpa NM kat office kul 12:30 p.m. Tetiba pagi tu Y pun ajak pegi dengan dia and family. Hmm...dah janji dengan NM, takkan aku nak kench plak kan? So aku pun menolak lah pelawaan Y. Jumpa kat sana je lah.

Sebaik sahaja aku sampai kat office, dari jauh kelihatan NM persis 'air bandung bergerak'.... dengan tema yang sungguh pink. Rambut pulak begitu anggun setelah didandan oleh 'car wash' ternama di KL ni [private joke... tak payah tahu]. Si MZ pulak baru tengah mandi. Pukul 1:00 pm baru lah bertolak. Si Ali and family pun berkonvoi bersama. Aku yg tak lagi breakfast sudah meracun NM untuk isi minyak.... dah separa kebulur ni. Kalau lambat makan, nanti perut masuk angin... aku gak yang sengsara. Somewhere near Bangi baru berhenti untuk isi minyak. Aku ni pulak pegi memborong makanan segala, sandwich lah, corn, dan berbotol-botol air.... (and lepas ni nak pegi makan kenduri nih...sekian!!).

Sampai ke tempat kenduri, hari dah macam nak hujan. MS pun baru sampai.... so meriahlah jugak. Tetapi, mak ai, ramainya orang.... kena beratur bagai. Tapi adat kenduri kahwin lah kann... nak makan senang, dok makan kat rumah je lah.

Waktu aku baru beratur, Y and family dah tengah makan... cepat betul diaorang sampai. Aku lepak semeja ngan NM, MZ, RS, MS, Ros and family and some other colleagues.

Lepas wedding, aku, NM, MZ, Ali sekeluarga dan Y sekeluarga bersetuju untuk ke Alamanda. Jakun tak jakun, inilah kali pertama aku ke Alamanda. Ada sedikit sesat jugak larr... Alamanda is not as 'gempak' as I expected... tapi tak le keji. Cuma, some of my favorite shops/brands takde kat situ. Tapi, as long as ada Starbucks, I can survive. He he. So all of us melepak kat Sbucks.

Lepas Sbucks, we all berpecah. Aku dah terjebak beli standing fan that comes with a remote control. Tanpa diduga, aku terserempak dengan my ex schoolmate waktu form 4 & 5 dulu. Sepatlah berborak tanya khabar. Lepas tu aku ternampak someone yg aku rasa kawan baik aku kat sekolah dulu, tapi tak berani nak tegur sebab he looks unfriendly with jambang and all (Come to think of it, it was my mistake to prejudge him sebelum menegur... rasa bersalah plak).

Balik pun dah lewat, sampai rumah dalam kul 8 malam lebih. Dalam pukul 10 malam, Y datang rumah. We went out for dinner and borak-borak pasal issues surrounding us. Sebab mamat ni suka sangat kaler kuning, aku ada belikan something yellow that I thought would fit his craze for yellow things... We lepak for a while and he left at about 11:45 p.m.

Nota kaki: Selamat Pengantin Baru...you know who you are...

Perut Hijau!

8 December 2007

"Perut Hijau" is a description of me given by a friend from the North. Kalau kat utara, bila kita cakap seseorang tu "perut hijau"... maksudnya orang tu tak berhati perut... or some say hati kering. To a certain extent, that description is reflective of me.

As I sit by myself and ponder this topic, aku tahu yang aku ni "perut hijau" in 2 ways. Firstly, I can be direct and say whatever I have in mind which on a number of occasions have hurt people around me. Secondly, I can also be a "perut hijau" by totally ignoring the person as if the person no longer exists in my life.

At the onset, allow me to clarify yang aku selalunya tak ada prasangka ke atas orang. Aku cuba berkawan dengan seramai yang mungkin, try to assist in anyway I can bila diaorang kesusahan and selalu bersedia untuk mendengar dan memberi pendapat bila diperlukan. But I really cannot tolerate people who are pretentious and/or not honest in befriending me... ataupun yang berkawan semata-mata hendak mencapai sesuatu hajat. Aku juga cepat rimas, when someone is too clingy (baca entry on 'bila nak kahwin?') or needy. I may have hurt a close friend today bila aku bagitau dia yang aku rimas dengan SMSes yang tak berhenti-henti (I am to be blamed as well sebab melayan for the past few days... mainly to show my support sbb dia ada masalah sikit). Ada juga, a number of old friends yang dah bertahun tak pernah contact have suddenly contacted me asking for favors when they know that aku currently memegang jawatan yang agak penting. Hmm... I guess, life is like that.

I consider myself quite liberal and I don't choose my friends based on gender, religion, race, status or sexual orientation. But there must be mutual respect between us as friends. Most of the time, a friendship is lost because I can no longer respect him/her as a friend for the reasons stated above, or vice versa. I hope, for those of you reading my blog, that our respects for each other remain intact and this friendship have enriched us and allowed us to be wiser. For those who feel that our friendship has been lost, I wish you the best and hope somewhere, somehow and sometime in the future, the friendship bond we used to have can be rekindled. Wassalam.

Maybe, I am not so "Perut Hijau" after all... :-p

Bila Nak Kahwin?

8 December 2007

At my tender age of 32 (tender sudahnya!!), I can't run away from people asking, "Bila nak kahwin?". For example, harini aku ada kenduri kahwin kat Cheras Perdana. Yang kahwinnye adik kepada kenalan aku. Aku ended up duduk dengan this one Makcik, her husband dan mungkin juga dia punya 2 cucu(s). Dah le tak kenal sesapa pun kat wedding ni, except my friend.... tapi yang penting Makcik tu tetap tanya aku "dah kahwin ke belum?", and when I said "belum", she asked "bila nak kahwin?". Memang lah ini soalan favorite di tempat kenduri dan di hari raya. Besok, I have another wedding to attend... we shall see whether I'll get asked the same question.

My personal take on this is...

I'm happy the way my life is right now. I'm committed to my career and would like to do more kebajikan. Helping out anak yatim would be something that I would like to do more... (currently just buat periodic donations je).

I'm an extrovert... suka bergaul and all, but I always like to spend time alone doing things I like. I like having the freedom to meet with people I like, participate in many activities as well as having the freedom to go back to an empty apartment, be able to pick-up a book and read quietly or watch my favorite movies without interruptions. And I have no problem staying single (at least at this point in time lah....).

So, for those out there yang bersungguh-sungguh trying to help me out mencari jodoh... tak payah lah susah-susah. You know who you are. All these years, I've seen suka-duka perkahwinan...in my family, tengok sedara mara and sahabat handai. Banyak yang porak peranda, although ada juga yang bahagia sentiasa. At this point in time, I'm not even ready to consider when or will I ever get married. You are welcome to continue asking, but do not hope for a positive answer from me in the near future. I'm not even looking at this point in time. Nevertheless, we shall revisit this issue sometime in the future ;-)

Rempit!

8 December 2007

I should not be writing this... Oh! But what the heck... HA has been my good friend for a number of years and I'm sure he wouldn't mind (sebenonya dah minta kebenaran to write about this... takuuuttt.. hehe).

HA got a scholarship to do his masters in Sydney sometime early next year. As such, he needed to find a buyer for his Vios... yelah nak suruh aku jaga, I don't drive... kang bersawang pulak kereta tu. His bro is already maintaining 2 cars. So he decided to jual. Within a few weeks he found a buyer and he had to let go by end November. So, memandangkan he still needs, and he needs a car badly, to drive to work until early next year, he decided to rent a car from someone.

Sebelum aku sempat tengok kereta tu, HA had warned me times and times again that he is now a Mat Rempit. I thot he was joking. When I first sat my eyes on the car (Iswara, just so you know), I thot the car ain't that bad. But when you look closely, memang kereta ni dah lama with its paint peeling off, seat tak boleh adjust, broken side mirror, etc. HA took me once to Hartamas in his 'new' car... and I just couldn't believe the sound that the 'ekzos' made. Aiyoooo...so the 'Mat Rempit'. Here we are, two metrosexual men, sitting in car that produces the loudest and noisiest rempit sound in the whole of Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur. Try imagine that... it is so wrong!!. At times, aku yang tak pernah merempit seumur hidup ni, agak kerisauan takut the car breaks down ke apa.... tapi dah lima-enam kali naik....the car works just fine, except semuanya manual.

But as I said earlier, I shouldn't be complaining coz aku menumpang je.... Mati laa....

Encik Sri Siantan

7 December 2007

I remember the time when a local newspaper had a dedicated column for public to write in and seek advice from Cik Sri Siantan (CSS) on personal problems. Week after week, I would find myself glued reading every word that she said, thinking how intelligent she was, able to answer every single question posed to her.... so kelakar....

And now, as I grew older and more savvy (at least from my own perspective.. he he), I've noticed that people, friends especially, find me approachable for them to share their problems be it work related or personal problems. Some even shared their darkest little secrets with me ;-). And of course, in many of the cases, they put me under oath not to share their secrets with anybody else.

This month, someone I know confided in me with a little secret that shocked me to my core... All I can say is while rambut sama hitam...tapi manusia ni hati lain-lain. And I have a feeling that something will turn bad.... real bad....in the near future.

On a lighter note, my life has been busy as usual. There were times that I stayed very late in the office coz I just had too much on my plate. But, I must say that I started to love this job.

Apa lagi eh? Oh ya... I got very excited when I first heard that Ms Whitney Houston would be coming to Malaysia for the 'Live & Loud 07'. I grew up listening to her and "One Moment in Time" has been an inspiration to me. So wajiblah beli ticket kann.... I bought 3 RM263 tickets for myself, HA and RR as well. On the day of the concert, aku, HA and RR got there at about 4 p.m. Dina, Malaysian Idol Runner-Up, was performing when we got there. The concert started earlier at 3:00 p.m. with other performing artists. Banyak betul artists yang performed that day... the memorable ones include Kumpulan Pop from Indonesia, Elliott Yamin and Shaggy. But the most memorable of all was definitely the Diva herself, not because of her performance yang melathop, but because her performance sucked...and she was really...really... bad!...dah le pukul 12:30 a.m baru dia punya show started. I left halfway through her performance, and so did other people. And I totally agree with the review by mrmanager on his blog about WH's performance that night (except the part when he said - we all sat riveted to our seats - coz I was standing...hehe...and at that point in time I had been standing for more than 8 hours) as follows:

"The voice was shrill, strident in the upper chest register and when she switched into head, it was a whimper of a falsetto. The vocals just came across as being very tight at the higher end of the registers. Nevertheless, she tried very, very hard to up the energy but we all sat riveted to our seats as we witnessed the most embarrassing performance on stage by a song goddess, no less."

I gave the entire performances that day - 3/5 STARS

Another Hectic Day

9 November 2007


Busy sangat harini. Di sebelah pagi ada meeting dengan satu association ni… petang pulak ada meeting dengan this guy yg beria-ia nak jumpa sebab ada hal besar katanya. Takde issue pun sebenarnya dia ni…hampeh. Habis appointment dengan this guy, bergegas to clear my in tray + kena buat several calls to resolve some issues.


Tadi, lunch pun keluar lambat. Dah pukul 1 pm lebih. Ke Masjid India je jawabnya. Then bergegas balik lunch kat Kupang.

Nampak gayanya harini pun aku gagal lagi turun gym. Nasib baik hari Ahad ni dah janji nak main badminton dengan gang biasa.

Sebab aku ada lagi outstanding work yang perlu diselesaikan malam ni, I decided to go for early dinner (yang tak berapa early ni) and to come back to office after that.

Before aku keluar dinner, aku called Mr Tan dulu, aku punya dedicated taxi driver. Besok nak kena pegi Sunway Lagoon pagi-pagi buta. Nasib baik Mr Tan free besok.

Aku ajak si RS dinner. Cepat je dia setuju sebab dia pun nak keluar hantar images to be printed kat Pertama Complex. Lepas pegi Pertama, aku ngan RS ke Gerai di bangunan Mara tu. Tetiba aku teringin pulak nak makan nasi lemak daun pisang kat situ. Katanya, berlaukkan sambal telur dan ikian bilis. Aku dengan RS pun ambik lah sorang satu. But of course, takkan nak makan itu aje… mau kebulur malam karang. So we ordered bubur nasi as well + ABC.

Nasi lemak tu rasanya OK… tapi yg karutnye tu… adake ikan bilis dia ala-ala sprinkle kat atas je…? Dia ingat daun bawang ke? Memanglah cepat kaya kalau bisnes macam ni.

After dinner, aku balik ke office and sambung keje sampai 10 lebih. Sampai rumah dah dekat 11:30 p.m. Besok nak kena bangun awal pulak… Alahai!

The Age of Turbulence

8 November 2007

First of all, let me apologise to Alan Greenspan for borrowing the title of his latest book "The Age of Turbulence" as the title of my entry today... sorry ye Pak.

Secondly, allow me to wish all of you Muslim readers "SALAM AIDILFITRI 1428 HIJRAH". I know it's already late, but I was just too busy managing mini turbulence in my life.

Thirdly, Happy Deepavali to those celebrating this "Festival of Light," where the lights or lamps signify the uplighting of darkness and victory of good over the evil within.

Okay... Let me begin.

It has been more than a month since I last updated my blog. Life has been challenging, but interesting, as I transitioned to a new portfolio in October. Since then, my schedule has been hectic. As a Director of a department, this new job comes with added responsibility and accountability. Nevertheless, as we approached the end of Ramadhan in the first and second week of October, I still managed to take a break and have fun attending numerous buka puasa get-together with friends and colleagues. Raya came and passed by quickly as I only balik kampung for 2 days. Then , I flew to Washington DC on fourth raya for a series of meetings at the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Post US trip, I've been busy with work (meetings, brainstorming sessions, etc). As a result, this blog was left unattended, 'bersawang' sudah sekian lama.

Today's entry aims to resuscitate my blogging practice and I hope this time around this practice will last...he he. For the past 1 month banyak juga lah benda yang berlaku. Penghujung bulan puasa dihabiskan dengan berbuka puasa with friends...Tamarind Springs would have been my favorite buka puasa venue for the year if not for its 1 major weakness; kat situ takde surau! You would need to drive all the way to the nearest masjid for Maghrib. How leceh was that? Nevertheless, the ambience was superb and I truly enjoyed myself in the company of RM, NAMN, AAA & wife, and HA. Other memorable buka puasa events include the one at Bora Asmara with RS, NA, NM, MZ and NAAR. We also celebrated NA's 28th birthday (ekh ke yg ke 27?). I bought her a set of goodies from Crabtree and Evelyn. On that night, RS also made an important announcement regarding his future... semoga berbahagia lah hendaknya.

Initially, I was planning to 'balik kampung' early considering that aku akan ke US on raya ke-4. Unfortunately, I was required to attend a meeting on 11 October. Sekian lah jawabnya. Flight tickets on 12 October ke Alor Setar pulak semua dah habis. Memang hanj. The only ticket left is on 13 October at 2 p.m. which is on the raya day itself. Mau tak mau, beli jelah...kang tak beraya pulak. Return tickets to Alor Setar nowadays costs RM472. Tu tak termasuk taxi from rumah ke airport and airport ke rumah both kat KL and Perlis. So all in all, transportation costs alone dah RM700 lebih... It will definitely be cheaper kalau pakai kereta sendiri. Maybe it's time to get myself a car... (some of you will be happy to hear this :)

On the last day of Ramadhan, aku berbuka puasa kat Ratu Sari...errr ke Sari Ratu? Located in Bukit Bintang. Dengan sape lagi, if not HA. By this time semua orang yg dah berkeluarga would have balik kampung...so tinggal kengkawan bujang je lah yang sanggup nak gi buka puasa buffet and using-pusing kat area Bukit Bintang tu. I wanted to do last minute shopping, cari baju raya, sebab I had not done any shopping lagi this Ramadhan. Tapi, I only managed to buy 1 white shirt for Raya. Nampak suci sikit la (poyo) ... baju melayu yang aku nak beli tak muat pulak seluarnya... dah tau XXL still berangan nak beli ready made baju melayu...I rest my case. Kasut Lacoste yang aku nak pun takde size... malang betul. Ended up beli SDs ajee...... (SD = barang yang dipakai di badan, tapi orang tak nampak)

HA and RM were kind enough to invite me beraya kat rumah diaorang. Tapi aku segan sikit lah nak ke rumah RM, di pagi2 raya pulak tu. Ke rumah HA ok sikit sebab aku kenal some of the family members. Lagipun, by 11:30 am, I should leave for the airport. So I accepted invitation from HA. Keesokan harinya tatkala orang sibuk bersembahyang raya... aku pulak sibuk mengemas baju untuk balik kampung. HA datang jemput aku at about 10 am untuk beraya di rumahnya. Siap ada nasi beriani bagai...makan besar aku pagi tu. Lepas tu HA and his brother hantar aku ke KLIA. Jalan jam ya amat.... nasib baik tak terlepas flight...or else beraya kat KL je lah jawabnya.

Raya this year was uneventful.... boring!!! Aku sampai rumah dah pukul 4 pm. Lepas beraya dengan family members, aku ke rumah paksu aku which is just next door. Kenalah tunjuk muka... kang dituduh kekwat pulak. Makcik pun ada...she is a divorcee with 3 kids. Kesiann...tragis sikit la dia punya life story. And now with her ex-husband already passed away, she is on her own raising her kids. One of her kids is very much talented in sports and has a chance to be accepted to Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS). I offered her my assistance to take care of Amir financially if he decides to join BJSS. Petang raya tu, hujan turun dengan lebatnya... I ended up duduk kat rumah je melayan sedara mara yang datang.

Every year aku dengan cousin aku will take turn to belanja family sebelah arwah my mom pada malam raya pertama. This includes family Wa (Maklong), family Paklang and family Makcik plus me and my sister. Yelah, selalunya dah tak larat nak makan ketupat, rendang, lemang, etc di malam raya, lagipun takde sape yang sanggup nak masak malam tu. So for the past 3-4 years memang this nightly activity dah jadi routine. And selalunya about 20++ of us akan ke Restoran Rosnani Tomyam, the only restaurant that opens on hari raya.

This year pun plannya sama. Unfortunately, cousin aku lambat sampai balik from KL and because of hujan lebat, semua dah malas nak pegi. Malam raya kedua aku tak free pulak coz dah janji nak keluar dengan a friend. The following day i.e. Raya kedua, I visited all of them (bapa and mak sedara) kat rumah masing2 mainly sebab dah jadi tradisi aku kasi duit raya kat my younger cousins. And memang bebudak ni pun tunggu aku je coz I give quite subtantial amounts, RM50 each untuk 16 orang kesemuanya. So kalau aku lambat balik kampung, memang lah bebudak ni risau and asyik tanya bila aku nak balik aje... hehe

Sebab tak jadi dinner, aku just give a few hundred bucks to my cousin so that they can have dinner on their own. Malam tu aku keluar dengan YA. Saje lepak kat Kangar minum2 and sembang2. Besok tengah hari, I was already on my way to the airport to catch a flight back to KL.

I went out shopping kat the Pavillion malam raya ketiga. Bought a few things for myself. Late that night baru kelam kabut packing for my trip to DC. As traveling is something that I do quite often these days... I already have a checklist of what to bring on this trip. So packing up was quite a breeze.

16 October 2007. As usual, Tan picked me up at home untuk ke airport. Aku singgah office untuk ambik documents. Dalam pukul 1:00 pm aku dah sampai kat KLIA. The trip to Washington DC this time around was packed with meetings. Meetings started on Thursday sampailah Monday. Penat gilerr... I did not have much time to go out shopping ataupun sight seeing. Tapi sempat le menjengah the White House as well as pegi ke Pentagon City. I bought myself an iPhone....yess... iPhone people!! It is such a cool gadget... (ada incident gak waktu nak beli iPhone ni... tapi tak nak lah aku cite kat sini). A good friend of mine, si AAA was also there in DC for some benchmarking studies. Dia pun joined aku ke Pentagon City. On our way back, we stopped over kat Hard Rock Cafe sebab 2 of my neighbors kirim suruh beli t-shirts. I also bought for HA and his bro. Memang lah aku stressed out sepanjang minggu tu sebab banyak meetings dengan jadual yang hectic.

Aku sampai KL on 25 October. Since then aku memang busy with work. Gym pun belum turun lagi sejak Raya ni. Dah put on 2 kg dah...sekiann!

Hari ni NM's beloved and I must add...'cute' daughter celebrates her birthday yang ketiga. Aku janji dengan Y to go together. We met dekat Sogo....Lepas breakfast kat Sogo (walaupun dah pukul 1 pm), aku pegi beli gift. I bought Yaya a cuddly teddy bear...yang hampir sama besar dengan Yaya. Hope she'll like it.

Sementara nak sampai ke rumah NM ni... aku dah sesat barat beberapa kali... taxi driver pun tak tahu jalan... aku, lagilah tak tahu jalan kat area Setapak ni. Nasib baik kawan si NM tu guided me on how to get there over the phone... Sampai ruma h NM dah pukul 2 lebih. Mak ai! Gayatnya...rumah si NM ni kat tingkat 18. Aku punya apartment, tingkat 2 jek... Kalau lift rosak, mau tidur kat bawah ... hehe. Selepas buat kechoh kat rumah NM...aku paksa pulak MZ atau sekarang lebih dikenali sebagai AM untuk hantar aku balik ke Bank.

Aku sambung keje kat office for about an hour. Lepas tu aku gi lepak kat Starbucks Maju Junction. Ada mamat lepak sebelah aku ni. Aku rasa he's watching porn, sebab semacam je aku tengok. Buat bodoh je lah. Sambil2 update blog ni, aku tengah seronok baca buku Greenspan yg aku mentioned earlier. Best la buku ni. Kalau korang a central banker, this book is a must...!! Kat DC pun aku dapat berdiri sebelah Greenspan in person. Something I'll cherish ...

OK lah...malas nak tulis dah. I will update some images later. Taaa for now!

Dari 'Legend' ke 'Legend'

23 September 2007, Sunday

Today I had another round of negotiations in the morning. Walaupun semalam tak cukup tidur, aku gagahkan juga ke 'that virtual hotel'. Hari ni ada joint session. All went well. Negotiations ended at 1:00 p.m.

Lepas tu aku ambik cab ke Suria KLCC. Heran pakcik cab tu bila aku cakap aku nak ke KLCC sebab jarak antara hotel dengan KLCC tu cukup dekat. Perlu ke aku nak jalan tengah hari rambang ni... ambik cab larr...

Takde benda pun yang nak dicari. Saje pusing-pusing. I quite like this one jacket and bag kat Zara. Kat Isetan pun ada a few items yang menarik. Seperti biasa, aku terjebak beli bag. Kali ni kat GAP. Lepas tu, aku balik rumah.

Petang ni aku janji nak berbuka puasa dengan RS. Lagipun aku nak buat keje sikit kat office. Besok ada brainstorming session dengan pihak atasan. So kena prepare sikit. Sampai rumah, aku nap kejap sebab dah letih sangat. Kat luar hujan lebat, so lagi nyenyak lah aku tido.

Lepas sejam tido, aku mandi and bersiap ke office. I also wanted to send my shoes for repair and polishing kat Sogo. Lepas singgah Sogo for about 15 minutes, aku masuk office. Walaupun petang Ahad, ada 2 colleagues yang sibuk berkerja... rajin betul.

Memula aku ingat nak pegi Quality Hotel for buka puasa. Tapi hati ni berat nak ke Legend Hotel sebab haritu I quite liked dia punya spread. I called the Legend Hotel to make reservation. Dalam 6:25 p.m., aku dengan RS ambik LRT ke sana. So minggu ni bermula dengan buka puasa kat Legend dan berakhir jugak dengan buka puasa di Legend. Lepas ni pergi tempat lain lah pulak...

Aku makan sikit je sebab aku rasa perut aku dah masuk angin. Aku cuba serba sedikit, dari kerabu, murtabak, popiah basah, beriani gam and dessert. Bila nak makan lagi, rasa dah tak boleh masuk. Nak muntah pun ada. Rasa macam nak demam pun ada. Gelak si RS tengok keadaan aku. Sembahyang pun rasa macam tak sempurna jek.


Then we went back to Sogo untuk ambik kasut aku. Aku masuk office and buat keje sampai 10:30 malam. Takut gak sorang-sorang kat situ...kot-kot lah. 10:30 sharp, aku ciao.

Quiet stay at home

22 September 2007, Saturday

Harini aku sepatutnya ada negotiations kat that 'virtual' hotel. Tapi ada hal pulak disebelah pagi. Lagipun, selalunya substantial negotiations take place in the afternoon. So tak perlu lah kalut. My staff pun ada kat sana, so it is not urgent for me to be there. By 1 p.m., aku dah bersiap sedia nak pegi hotel, tapi belum sempat aku keluar rumah, KR called cakap that negotiations for today dah selesai, sebab tak banyak issue. Terus tak jadi aku nak keluar rumah.

I just lepak at home. Did some reading... + membongkang je yang lebih. Nak keluar berbuka puasa pun malas. So I just ordered Domino's Pizza. Malam pun just lepak kat rumah. A quiet day indeed!

Nobody else to blame!

21 September 2007, Friday

At 9.00 a.m. aku dah terpacak kat that 'virtual' hotel for the trade negotiation meeting. The meeting went quite well walaupun tetap bertelagah among a few member countries. We finally managed to agree on key issues at about 12 noon. Aku and NN bergegas balik ke office. Aku janji dengan AHA nak pegi sembahyang sama2 kat Masjid Wilayah. Dengan jam and all, dekat 1.00 p.m. baru sampai. Lepas sembahyang aku sepatutnya ada meeting. Cancelled lah pulak. So I had some free time to clear my in tray.

After contemplating for 2 days, I have decided that I will still go back for Hari Raya. Tapi sekejap je lah sebab nak ke US. I sought my secretary's assistance to help me book return flight tickets to and from Alor Setar. Malangnya semua ticket dah habis, and the only one left departs from KLIA on Hari Raya pertama at 1:55 p.m. and balik to KL on raya ketiga petang. Padan muka aku. Lambat sangat buat reservation. There's NOBODY ELSE TO BLAME OTHER THAN MYSELF.

Late this afternoon, I received a Poslaju letter from University Malaysia Perlis. Terpinga-pinga gak aku coz I have not dealt with anybody from the uni. In fact, I don't even know that such university exists... aiyooo. The content of the letter is even more shocking. The letter says that Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi telah mengenal pasti aku sebagai salah seorang tenaga professional dalam bidang perbankan dan kewangan and as such aku dijemput/dikehendaki untuk menjadi pensyarah/penceramah jemputan di Universiti tersebut. However, I'm free to decide on the topics for my lecture. Terkebil-kebil gak aku, bila masa lak aku tersenarai sebagai tenaga professional? mana diaorang dapat contact aku? sape yg recommend kan aku? dan macam2 persoalan lain. Tak boleh jadi ni.... so aku pun menjalankan tugas perisikan dengan membuat panggilan to a few people yg aku rasa would know pasal hal ni. True enough, memang company aku yg recommended my name.... tapi ntah macam mana aku tak diberitahu. Nasib baik aku tak call and reject the invitation... tak pasal-pasal je nanti.

Anyhow, malam ni aku berbuka puasa di Ginger, Central Market. I quite like this place sebab ala-ala romantik dengan mood lampu yang agak gelap... (kalau ada tikus besar kucing lalu bawah kaki pun tak nampak sebab begitu dimmed sekali). Dengan dekat 10 jenis lauk tak termasuk dessert, makan kat sini memang berbaloi. Sedap juga, except for the cuttlefish yang rasa macam selipar jepun. Kelakar tengok NM, MZ and RS terkial-kial nak minum limau barli (ke barli limau?) sebab tak diberi straw. Nak minta segan pulak diaorang ni... haha.

Dessert pulak ada element durian yang memang tak dapat diterima oleh sistem pemakanan aku. Ada yang kata lempuk, ada yang kata lempung... setelah berhujah selama 5 minutes, we agreed that the correct term is lempuk, sebab lempung = paru. Betul ke? Aku terpaksalah ordered dessert yang lain sebab tak makan durian.

Lepas makan, pegi sembahyang kat surau di tingkat atas yang agak terbiar... the last time aku datang surau ni, aku rasa 10 tahun dulu. Lepas sembahyang aku jalan balik ke office dengan RS. Kat dalam Central Mall ada orang jual toys. Terjebak beli remote control helikopter sebab nampak macam best. MZ pegi hantar NM balik kat taxi station. Aku sambung keje sikit, then ciao!

Coaching for Impact

20 September 2007, Thursday

Today, I attended the Coaching for Impact course conducted by Ms Alice at our training centre which is part of the overall leadership development programme. The programme aims to ensure that participants achieve the following:

• understand the importance and benefits of coaching
• be aware of how your subordinates perceive your coaching style
• understand the skills involved in coaching
• able to use the 5-step process and the GROW model

The session was highly interactive with individual and group activities to foster greater understanding on the subject matter. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the session tomorrow as I have to attend a trade negotiation meeting at one of the hotels in KL.

After the session, I tumpang RMM back to office. Thanks RMM. Tonight I have another get together for buka puasa at the Cozy House, Great Eastern (GE) Mall. After Asar, I tumpang NSK to GE Mall. MNH and HA will be joining us as well. Aku memang suka makan kat sini coz makanan dia memang OK. Cuma service nya kadang-kadang lembap sebab ramai sangat orang. Malam ni pun sama, dah nak habis makan, baru lah ikan yang dipesan sampai. Minuman si HA pun dah berejam baru sampai... nasib baik lerr that poor soul tak tercekik kat situ.

Lepas makan and sembahyang, HA singgah kat cold storage nak beli kentang (don't ask my why...) while aku and NSK singgah kat Signature Kitchen to admire the interior design for kitchen, dining area and living room that they have on display there. Bila lah aku nak buat renovation untuk condo aku tu, aku pun tak tau. Lepas tu HA sent me home. Sekiann...