A new beginning and other stuff

Ladies and gentlemen, as of Friday 22/07/2005 I'm no longer a systems engineer. I'm now a network support engineer in a new company. I leave my previous company with many fond memories and experiences. I'm gonna miss those jokers! =)

As for my new company, I have to confess that I'm slightly overwhelmed. I'm now in a large multi-national company and to make matters even more interesting, apparently I'm the youngest engineer in my department. The second youngest is 4 years older than me. Heh, everyone here is a veteran in the industry. Man...I can't wait until I'm no longer clueless! Still, I'm looking forward to the new challenges I can expect to face in my new role. I'm now in the global arena. That's so freaking cool to me! =P

A while ago, a friend of mine introduced me to the music of Damien Rice. Essentially, she said that 'The Blower's Daughter' is a bloody amazing song. After listening to it, I have to agree. The raw emotion that Damien Rice manages to pour inside the song is absolutely amazing! Such bittersweet feeling when you listen to it. The rest of the album is also quite good. Songs by him that you should also check out are 'Amie' and 'Cold Water'. Anyway, I found out that the song 'The Blower's Daughter' was the theme song for this movie called 'Closer'. I've finally managed to get my hands on it about a week ago. After watching it, I have to say that the movie was amazing. It's a beautifully crafted piece of cinematic masterpiece in which you can actually identify and feel for each of the character in the movie. Natalie Portman's performance in that movie was simply...magnificent. If you ever get the opportunity, please watch it. While your opinion might differ on whether the movie is good or not, you will agree that acting (especially by Natalie Portman) was amazing and this movie, at the very least, is different from the standard Hollywood fare (which are all crap, IMHO) which we are inundated with in our daily lives.

While we're on the topic for movies, 'Garden State' is also another movie in which Natalie Portman acted (and performed beautifully). It is also a debut movie for Zach Braff as a director. While I feel that 'Closer' was the better movie, 'Garden State' is also a decent movie. Maybe I'm just so sick of the usual Hollywood crap that anything that's different is good to me. LOL! Oh yeah, the soundtrack for the movie 'Garden State' is also quite good. I really liked the songs by Frou Frou. I know, I know! Frou Frou is electronica and I'm a rocker. I have to admit though. The blending of Imogen Heap's vocals and Guy Sigsworth's musical arrangement is hypnotic and has an ethereal feel. I guess you could call it a mood music and the music defnitely fit the mood of the movie! Check out 'Let Go' and 'Shh' by Frou Frou for some electronica music which doesn't sound like music for robots. =)

Back to work

The worst part of any holiday is when it ends. Sigh...

Still, the holiday was quite fun. I spent my time constructively in UK by sleeping at least 12 hours each day (sometimes 16!) while in Greece, I took a tour everyday, covering all the nice tourist spots in Athens and nearby areas. Time well spent, I'd say!

London continues to be my favorite city. It's probably the most metropolitan city in the whole world. You can find literally every single major ethnic group in that city. Regardless of where you're from, I'm sure you'll feel right at home once you reach London. My standard activity when I reach London is to buy a few books and enjoy a reading holiday. Heh, I guess I'm an avid reader. For those who are interested, Alistair Reynolds is a BRILLIANT sci-fi writer. He's also British so if you plan to improve your spelling (since Malaysia uses UK English), his books would be a good choice for reading. Check out his book titled "Revelation Space". Brilliant imagery supported with a strong cast of characters.

It is sad that some people feel the need to destroy the soul of London by detonating a series of explosives recently. I weep for the innocents lost, yet wonder what sort of madness would drive a person to do such an unspeakable act. Again, due to this event, fingers will be pointed to the Muslims around the world. I just hope the course of justice is not swayed by propaganda and emotions and the real culprits behind all this are dealt with following the rule of law.

Greece is a unique country of beauty and ugliness. I've travelled quite extensively and have visited many places. I can't remember an uglier city than Athens. The city is rather...worn down is the word, I think. When you look at other modern cities, you see skyscrapers, shining steel-and-concrete buildings and astonishing architectural designs. None of that are present in Athens. Heck, KL looks more modern than Athens. Move beyond Athens though and Greece will showcase a mesmerising vista of beautiful landscapes. From rolling hills and rugged mountains to crystal blue lakes and expansive flatlands. I think Greek islands are amongts the most beautiful in the world. I know for sure I enjoyed the island-hopping cruise the most compared to the other tours I took while in Greece. As for my souvenir, I bought a mini statue of Aphrodite, the goddess of love according to Greek mythology. I now have a 12 inch tall statue of a naked chick in my room. I know, you're all jealous! Hahaha!

The workload after my vacation is madness. I've got pending projects wherever I turn my head. Actually, I even got a few calls while still on vacation about work. Sigh...I didn't think I was THAT important! The 2 weeks after my holiday is the busiest 2 weeks in my entire life. I didn't even have a weekend for that 2 weeks. I'd say my stress level at that time was at an all time high. Still, I'm proud to be associated with those projects. Each successful completion gives me a sense of accomplishment. In fact, when I look back at what I've learnt and achieved for the past 1 year, I myself am amazed. 1 year ago, I'm a clueless fresh grad. Today I'm still clueless but somehow people think that I'm an expert in Solaris, DNS, DHCP, RADIUS, data protection design and implementation, clustering design and implementation, enterprise storage design and implementation, NTP servers, SGSN, GGSN and 3G networks. Go figure!

All this work is cutting into my free time though. I miss my college days where I can go to the cybercafe with a bunch of friends and play Dungeon Siege for 12 hours straight and skip class the next day! Heh heh!