A new posting, on Christmas day. I think my last post was about 11 years ago. Many things have happened. No, I'm not going to talk about ALL of them in this one post. :)

Why did I suddenly decide to post again? Hmm, an old music video for an old YouTube performer whose life was tragically cut short due to gun violence.

Christina Grimmie was an up-and-coming YouTube singer that I kinda of followed during that time. Hey, she was cute and she sang very well. I'm simple like that. Then again 11 years ago, I was also a simpler man.

Christina's life was tragically cut short when she was murdered by an obsessed fan. She was 22 years old at that time.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/voice-singer-christina-grimmie-shot-after-florida-concert-n590161

What amazing, wise and insightful words I have to share in this post? Actually, nothing. This post has nothing to do with learning something new. This post is a tribute to emotions that makes us human and the art that stirs those emotions. Perhaps also a way for me to come to terms of my own emotions as a man.

Christina, in another world I'd be streaming your music over Spotify while relaxing on this quiet Friday evening. Rest in peace.

Consistently inconsistent

I'm extraordinarily ordinary, with an amazingly mundane ability to talk circles on the subject of squares. I swear politely at wonderful idiots and am one of the many to be able to clearly speak gibberish.

My wonderfully articulate mumble has charmed many. Those who are angelically bitchy are treated to a graceful extension of my perfectly malformed middle finger. I then walk away, glancing back and ignoring their hurt expression at being praised.

I always leave them wanting to smother me with disaffection. On my bad days, I allow myself to treat them like the princess that they aren't. One of us always end up joyously unhappy but I can always figure out who.

First posting for 2009! Happy new year!

Ok, so I missed the new year mark by a few days (weeks, months). That's still not a good enough reason to not celebrate, so pop the champagne and drink up!

Yes, I'm extremely lazy to update my blog. Penning (typing) down my thoughts are not exactly high in my list of priorities. Heck, I do this mainly so I can laugh about what I was thinking a few days (weeks, months, years) ago!

Hmm...how about some updates, eh?

Let's see...Japan trip was an utter snooze-fest. There I was, a highly-trained network consultant (ahem!) and as I went for my first meeting with the project team, they provided me the detailed network design, configuration script and acceptance document. All neatly typed and formatted. My role? To do acceptance testing for 2 new network nodes. Timeline? Oh, about 3 months! To be honest, all projects should have this sort of buffer and I have to say that I was quite lucky since no major problems were experienced during the project phase. It was still boring though.

Important Japanese words I learnt:

kyukei = break (ie. let's take a break)

omori = large (ie. gimme large portion of food)

okawari = refill (mainly used for whatever free refills they give at that place)

kawaii = female human with wonderful personality (used when complimenting a girl, focusing only on inner beauty and not touching on any physical aspect at all)

With those 4 words, my stay in Japan was made so much more pleasant. I also didn't die of boredom (lotsa kyukei, conflict in middle-east and an Israeli Jew colleague made for interesting discussions in between those rare moments where I actually do work) and safely returned to my motherland where the first thing I ate was nasi goreng and some bbq stuff while surprising my dad with my return on his birthday.

It was awesome. I finally got to say "My presence is your present!" in real-life. That's one less item in my list of things to do before I die. I'm still having trouble with "Have a threesome with identical twins". Anyone here knows anyone who can help me with this?

No rest for the wicked though. About 1 month later, I'm off to Hanoi, Vietnam for some actual design work (instead of losta kyukei where the common topic of discussion was conflict in middle-east). Fortunately, a colleague of mine got married and I managed to satisfy my cravings for a decent nasi minyak before I'm stuck for 2 months in a country where dogs are considered a delicacy and pork's the main source of protein. For those who've never tried nasi minyak tanam before, I pity you. You have no idea how heavenly the taste is when the dish is done well. That wedding didn't disappoint at all. Succulent beef cooked in special gravy and spiced hard-boiled egg buried in special rice, all cooked together in one pot. Ahh....the aroma...

Bloody hell! I'm getting hungry! I guess I'll continue writing when my stomach's not complaining.

Cheers!

Disclaimer: Due to past track record of the writer's amazing ability to procrastinate, do not expect a continuation anytime soon.

I am evolving!

I just vacuumed my apartment. Ok...you may stop laughing now. C'mon! I'm not THAT spoiled! Sigh...

Anyway, I just cleaned up my apartment. Notice I said 'clean'. My apartment is still untidy!

I also bought fruits for myself. I have to admit that the quality of food I'm eating here is close to garbage. Ok...I'm exaggerating but seriously, I'm used to way better quality of food back home. The sushi's fine I guess but the good stuff is more expensive than I'm willing to pay. Sure, you can get a meal for 500 yen. However, that meal will consist of rice and some meat or fish (being cooked is optional). No vegetables, which means no source of vitamins and minerals. A really crappy diet. Hence, me with my bag of grapes. I'd buy apples or oranges next time once I find a nearer fruit stall to my apartment. I'm *not* going to carry a big bag of apples/oranges across 10 train stops...

As the food is generally cheap and horrible or good and expensive, I'm now spending my free time checking out search results for "cooking for 1" on google. Yup, I'm independent, standing on my own two feet and all that crap.

I think I might be succumbing to the dark side and actually become a 21st century man who cooks and clean. Holy shit...

Selamat tinggal Malaysia!! Konichiwa Japan!!

I'm now in Japan. Assuming everything goes according to schedule, I'll be here for the next 80 days or so.

The last time I came to Japan, I was 13 years old. I learnt how to use chopsticks and developed a taste for green tea while I was there.

15 years later and I'm here again. Time sure flies! This trip should be interesting. Hopefully I have some extra time to do some sight-seeing in between my work. Don't expect much photos though. I don't have a camera. I *may* buy one over the weekend though. :)

News quote of the moment!

Reaction of the world after Obama was voted as President:

Within minutes of the results, American television viewers were treated to what have become rare images from abroad: large crowds happily waving - rather than burning - American flags.

I laughed out loud when I read that paragraph! :D

Read the whole news article over here.

Sia - Breathe Me

I love music and I love discovering amazing music that is not well-known. Check out the video below. Amazing voice and atmosphere!