Loads of catching up....

Wow!! How time flies...it's now been nearly 3 months since I've updated my blog...have been super busy for the past 3 months and had many things to handle too..Some good and some not so good :( but it's OK now...everything is A O.K..here's what's happened over the past 3 months:

August 2010:
busy preparing for the VP of our new home and checking for defects! :)) 

September 2010:
busy sourcing for good renovators and getting quotes and re-adjusting the quotation to fit our budget..while this might sound easy, but for those first time buyers (like yours truly), it is a big headache!

October 2010:
finally managed to re-adjust the renovation quotation to the one that fits our budget! Been busy running thru and fro between our currently rented apartment and our new home! You gotta monitor those renovators so that they don't screw up in their job! Having said that, they did a pretty good job and the missus is quite satisfied with their workmanship! :))

November 2010:
Beginning of the month, something not so good happened...long story short, went to petrol station to pump a full tank of RON95..100m later, my car crawled to a stop, engine started choking and finally not able to start it up..had it towed to nearest service center found out that there was actually water in the petrol from the petrol station.. total damage ~ 3 Grand (had this claimed from the petrol station later on)

Second part of this month actually sees the completion of our new home's renovation!!! wohoooooo!! and of course lots of Gs spent :(( but in anycase, money well spent I'd say...

The next week or so will be super busy again. We'll be packing up and moving to our new home!

So there you go, 3 months' happenings cramped up into one update for you... :))

Will try updating some pictures of mi casa next week..hopefully :)

Till then...todoloooooo..

Reminiscing...

Just a quick blog post today to document my thoughts...Came into the office a bit late today and overheard my Korean colleague speaking over the phone to a Korean customer reminded me of my honeymoon trip to Korea about 9 months ago.

It was a really nice trip, we met a lot of nice people in the tour group. The Korean tour guide was knowledgeable, friendly and not to mention quite hilarious :D . My cold air-conditioned office also reminds me of the weather in Korea at the time of our visit, thankfully though, my office is not as cold as it was in Korea during our time of visit (it was blistering cold during the winter months in Korea, -15C + wind chill!!).

All in all, I'd say the sceneries are quite breath-taking especially at Cheju Island on top of Seongsan Illchulbong (Sunrise Peak). Took us 30 minutes to hike to the top. Although it's a paved path up to the peak, it was still quite tiring :/ . O2 ski resort was nice too (experienced my first skiing lesson here..and I did pretty well I must say :D) and oh yeah, how can we forget the food??!! :D .. loads of kim-chis and bulgogis and pork!! Wifey loved the food there by the way...

I hope we can visit Korea once more in the not too distant future, preferably during Spring so that we can experience Cherry Blossom.. :)

Stay Foolish, Stay Hungry..

Randy Pausch

Just over a year ago, a colleague of mine posted me a link to a youtube video of a certain gentleman by the name of Randy Pausch. He's a PhD holder by the way, so it's Dr. Randy Pausch. After I watch the video, I was a bit overcame by my emotion (nope, I didn't cry.. :) ). I was really touched and inspired on how strong this guy was, both physically and mentally. Physically strong for being able to with stand the everyday pains and suffering of having to live with Pancreatic Cancer (it's one of the most fatal type of cancer with one of the highest fatality rate) and mentally strong for being able to live out the remainder of his life in such jovial and with such bright outlook on life, eventhough his own is coming to an end. 

What I saw in the video clip is actually one of his last lecture in Carnegie Mellon University before his passing. He's still unbelievably positive on life and what it has to offer. He finally succumbed to Pancreatic cancer on the 25th of July 2008 after battling cancer for close to 2 years (the Doctor quote that he's only got another 3 months to live). 

What I have learned from him is that, life is a beautiful thing. Embrace it and take in everything that comes with it. Be it good or bad. If it's good, then we'll keep it in our memories. If it's not so good, well, there's always a lesson to be learned. 

Here's part of his final speeches that I find inspiring:

"..Passion, and you will need to find your passion, many of you have already found it, many of you will find it later, many of you will not find it until you are in your late 30s or 40s but don't give up finding it. Because if you do, then all you're doing is waiting for the Ripper.

Find that passion and follow it and if there's anything that I have learned from my life, you will not find that passion in things and you will not find that passion in money because the more things and the more money you have. The more you will just look around and use that as a metric and there will always be someone with more. Passion is something that must come from the inside."

In short, we need to live our lives to the fullest and not live our lives based on other's expectations. As long as it's not wrong in our own perception. That would suffice. Never stop chasing your dream and never stop looking for your passion. As the motto of an innovative publication called "The Whole Earth Catalog" that was published in the late 60's, which was later famously quoted by Steve Jobs goes... "Stay Foolish, Stay Hungry"

A short clip about Randy Pausch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIysXLiA5s0&feature=related

R.I.P Randy Pausch and may god bless your soul.

P/S: Steve Jobs suffered from Pancreatic Cancer too but was later cured.

My name is Choa and I'm not a terrorist...

I've just finished watching "My Name is Khan" with wifey just a while ago. Yes..yes..I watch Hindi movies and yeah...Tamil too.. Anyways, back to the story...I was actually quite touched with the story line. It presented a real situation in our current society where everyone is so caught up in what religion the other person is without even bothering to know what the other person is really like, his/her attitude towards life and his/her good deeds...if you are a "xxx", then you must be good and if you are a "yyy" then you must be nasty...In short, we are constantly stereotyping people that are around us. WE SHOULD STOP DOING THAT!!

As a saying in the movie goes, "there's only 2 kinds of people, the good ones that do good deeds and the bad ones that do bad deeds". A person should not be judged by his/her religious belief but rather in the merits that he/she has done, on his/her's integrity and principals in life. A person should be judged based on his/her character and moral values.

Speaking from a Malaysian point of view, I truly feel that we should be matured enough to put religion aside and start living together...as Malaysians. If you were to ask a German, "what are you?", he wouldn't reply, "I'm a German Jew/Muslim/Chinese/Indian". He just say "I'm a German". Shouldn't we have the same approach as well? I, for one, whenever I get the chance to meet a foreigner who asks me what am I?, I'd always tell him "I'm a Malaysian". Eventhough, for most of the time they wouldn't know where Malaysia is but they know where Singapore is...Can you believe it? :))

Things get even sadder when politicians are manipulating the masses based on their religious belief/racial background.  They are constantly chanting the racist chant. Bringing back the ghost of the past by constantly hammering on about the May 13 incident. It's time we forget about the past and move on. Move forward as a country. Move forward as one people. For a better Malaysia!

P/S: Wifey pass the exam she's sat for today..so 3 Hoorays for her. Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray! :))

Publish Post

Life's little hurdles...

We can't help but to wonder sometimes, what on earth are we doing here? Why do we even bother about that next certification that we're planning to take? or what about that next job that we're aiming for? This does cross my head once in a while (particularly when I'm all stressed out with work and the happenings in the office...) but I find it comforting to know that my other half is always there for me no matter what...and more importantly, life goes on!! :)) Sometimes, it's just good to take time off once in a while to really evaluate yourself (...and I'm talking about honest evaluation here :) ) and see what have you done and what have you achieved..that way we can know where we are and where are we headed for..walking/living aimlessly is as good as getting lost and getting lost in life is no good..One good example I see in being focused with the task at hand is, wifey, :) ..she's been extremely busy this whole week juggling between work and the examination that she needs to sit for tomorrow.. I feel really bad for her as her work is already occupying most of her time but she still manages to take timeout to revise albeit burning the midnight oil and staying up late until 2am+ and wake up 6.30am the next day..let's pray that she passes her exam then :)

I guess what I'm trying to say is that sometimes we just need to hang tough because that's what life is about...when the going gets tough, the tough gets going...Till next time, hang tough and stay strong!! :)

Old Andersonian's trip to Cameron Highlands...

Just came back from fantastic trip to Cameron Highlands with some of the old Andersonian boys. This is actually the 2nd trip that we planned. The first one was at Pangkor Island. We planned to have these kind of get together every year or so but let's see what happens :D

Anyways, it was a really nice trip. Drove around Cameron Highlands basically. Visited some farms (I don't really fancy them farms but there's one particular lad in our group that seems to love it...Balamooooorrrrthyyyy) and we went to one of the tea plantation too, Bharat Tea Plantations to be precise. I particularly liked the tea plantation, it's cooling and windy. I felt really serene and calm too, good to clear the mind of the hustle and bustle of work and city life. Lots of food, a bunch of guys talking anything from the current politic (Sodomgate and rusikandan anyone?), economy ( 2009 FDI down 80%???) to just good old "cock and bull"..and not forgetting..lots of booze!!!...

All in all, a really really good time with the lads..Thanks guys for making this one a good one, for those who can't make it too bad for you :P ..Looking forward to the next one then.. :))

Before embarking up Cameron Highlands..Bala, stop smelling my armpit!! hahahhaahaha :))

 

Another group photo with the lads

Mandatory photo before each reunion/gathering

Looking more and more like Mr. Muniandy with each passing day... :P

Penolong Ketua Pengarah Jabatan Tanah cum organizer...hehe

Need I say more? Balamoorthy..

Somewhere near Kuala Woh waterfall..

Stuck in between a Tiger and a Lion...

Me and Ganeshabala..old buddies..

Really nice waterfall...

A visit to the Agathians Shelter, PJ

I or rather we (newly baptized Catholics) have made a visit to the Agathians Shelter in Petaling Jaya recently (June 2010 to be exact) as part of our Outreach 2010 program. It's really heart-wrenching to see those kids, especially the smaller ones being left in a home, without the love of their parents. On the bright side, the care takers of the Agathians Shelter did really well to keep these kids off the streets, send them to school and gave them a home and some love too. Kudos to you guys!! Also Thanks to all the RCIA facilitators from Jesus Caritas Kepong and not forgetting Mr. Jelly from Jelly and Frenz Entertainment for the food, clown and goodies sponsored!! You can visit www.jellynfrenz.com to contact them for events!!

Below are some of the pictures taken during the event..

Beaten up Agathians Shelter's main building..

   

Clown entertaining the kids...

Lunchie....yay!!! :)

Cake cutting...

Group photo...oii clown, what are you doing there? :D

Another group photo...

Hello World! This is my first post!! :D

After much deliberation (I'm talking about a few years!!), I finally started my blog! :D Stay tuned.....