Jeremy got married!

Recently, a close friend of mind got married. I think he's both braver than me and stupider! Haha! Seriously though, it was a cool wedding. The food was delicious and the wedding costumes beautiful and exotic. The ceremony was insanely boring though. It was freaking long! I was already a bit sleepy since I had to wake up early to go for the wedding. I have to admit my parents were shocked.
Y'see, I happen to belong this this religion where it's sacrilege to wake up before noon on public holidays. If I'm awake before 12 pm on holidays, I go to hell. For this wedding, I actually woke up at 8 am. Man, you won't believe what elaborate rituals I had to perform to cleanse myself of this grievious sin!

Anyway, there was I, one sleepy sucker in a rather long and tedious wedding ceremony, in another Malaysia state at 10 am. The wedding finished at around 2 pm. Apparently, Indian weddings are like this, very formal and very ceremonial for the next 4 hours. Man...if I had to go through an Indian wedding, I'd probably elope!

Anyway Jeremy, congratz on the wedding! You're a braver man than most of us, and I think luckier too. Not many wives I know tolerates a bunch of suckers hanging out at your place, getting drunk, eating pizza and watching a stupid action movie! Cheers, mate! Tell me when you guys are expecting a baby. I really hope to the kid takes after the mother rather than you. God knows you're such an ugly bastard! Heh!

Sucks!!

This past 2 weeks, I've been busy with an update that is to be done on a network. I've now failed to update the node twice. Life sux...

PS: Don't bother trying to guess which network. Service is completely up so no one will notice anything.

Clubing 'scene'

I just had a fairly interesting night at Q-Bar in Sunway Pyramid yesterday. Me and a friend, feeling extremely bored, decided to grab dinner and catch a flick on that day. Both of us haven't had good fish and chips for a long time so we decided to have dinner at Fish Market. Ahh...the food there continues to be as delightful as I remember. Besides, seafood is probably the best food around to have with all the reports concerning bird flu and mad cow...

V for Vendetta was a pretty decent movie, though people who are looking for action-packed movies might find the dialog a bit lengthy. Anyway, after the movie, we both decided to just grab a few drinks and enjoy some scenic (ahem!) views at Q-Bar. Who knows, both fo us might even get a few new phone numbers! =)

Here I was, enjoying my drink when I saw this girl enter the bar. She seems to be alone and wasn't talking much to anyone around her. That was what intrigued me. Such solemn expression does not belong in a club. She was certainly beautiful, yet she wasn't smiling or laughing. Ahh...what can I say? She seemed like a damsel in distress and my knight in shining armour instincts kicked in. I vowed that before this night was over, I'd see her smile!

Of course, approaching the most beautiful girl in the club requires a bit of strategizing. I don't approach women just for the sake of approaching them. I approach women with the intention of getting a positive response! As I thought about it, 3 guys approached her. The first one got a polite shake of the head, the other had a very short conversation but the third guy was slightly better. He managed to get his arms around her but from the posture, it seems like he's unsure whether the arm is welcome or not. Besides, no real man would hold another girl around the NECK! Sheesh! No serious competition here. =P

I make my move. She seemed wary at first but after a while she was friendlier. Somehow or other, I managed to get her to smile and laugh. Ahh...a beautiful smile and a musical laugh! I was getting high and it wasn't from the booze. I asked whether she was alone. She said she was with some friends. Hmm...no mention of boyfriend! That's a good sign.

Then outta the blue I got grabbed from behind and pushed back. As I looked, it was the previous guy who had his arms around her neck! I mean, wtf? Is he her boyfriend or something? The way they were interacting that night, no way in hell would anyone think they're together! I love female companionship but I'm not such a bastard as to try for women who are already in a serious relationship. Besides, if both of them are happy, I have no chance anyway!

As I look at that guy, he pushed me again. He seems to be gearing up to fight. Me? Heck, I didn't feel anything. I'm a very non-violent person. If I don't feel that I or anyone I care for are in danger, I don't fight. Besides, it won't be an even contest. He's about 165 cm and a bit thinner than me. I'm 173 cm, 75 kg and I do go to the gym. I wasn't in the mood to put anyone in any hopsital but I was a bit annoyed. Why am I suddenly pushed by this guy outta the blue?

1- She said she was with friends. There was no mention of any boyfriend.
2- Based on previous observation, he doesn't know how to or is unsure of himself when he holds her. He has short conversations with her, she lights up his cigarette and he wonders around the club with her sitting alone at the bar. They don't dance together, they don't drink together and all physical contact seems awkward. Any guy watching this would think she's out with a bunch of friends and that she's single.
3- She was smiling, laughing and did not tell me to go away when I was talking to her.

As I took a step towards him, another fella blocked me and told me to let it go. Hmm...should I make a scene? Let's see, 5 guys against 1 and the girls was looking a bit scared. Sure the odds are not so good but who cares? I'd probably go down, but I can guarantee all of us would be sporting bruises the next day. I'm not that small nor am I that weak. Still, my non-violent personality and the girl's scared look made my decision to let it go.

I have to admit that after all that has happened, the main thing on my mind is puzzlement. I have my own ethics too and I don't entertain girls who are already in a relationship. That guy's probably the boyfriend but the odd thing is that he sure doesn't seem to behave like one, at least the way him and the girl was interacting. On whole though, it was a pretty interesting night. I got the most beautiful girl in the club to smile and laugh (too bad no phone number, though to be fair, my conversation was cut short!) and I'm apparently such a threat that the other guy, instead of pulling me aside and telling me politely she's his girlfriend, began to push me and asking me what the fuck am I doing.

Man...I didn't think I was THAT good! =P

Crap...

Petrol prices goes up again. Sigh...

Damned if I know...

One of the hardest thing about writing a blog for me is choosing an appropriate title. How exactly do you condense an entire thought that covers a wide-ranging subject and come up with a one liner. I took Comp Science, not Journalism! Perhaps there's a secret to this blog thing that I haven't figured out yet. Hmm...damned if I know...

Anyway, I've been a bit busy lately. Hence, the lack of blog postings! =)

I just finished a migration project. Man...that was tiring. All the work was at night and the next morning I'd get phone calls asking for a short report on how's the migration going. To make matters more interesting, it was a multi-vendor migration so there were *ahem* special interests to take care off. Sad to say, I kept being handed the short end of the stick. Due to some difficulties, most of the blame were sent to my direction. Certain parties claims that due to problems in the IP Core network, the migration results were not too impressive. Let me set things straight. There's NOTHING wrong with the IP Core network. It's been working fine for the past 2 years. It'll continue to work fine. Of course, convincing the parties involved takes some work. I had to show network traces, discuss RFC documents, highlight 3GPP implementation methods and debate how GTP protocols are being implemented on a router. Still, it's an interesting experience and will be an invaluable part of my professional growth.

Next up will be an update of a network application backbone. 4 Solaris node patching in a 4 hour maintenance window and it's all on a live network. Fun! And that's only the first phase of the update! Should be ok though. Initial testing indicates that patching should take around 2 hours and I'll be patching them all at the same time and monitoring it via a terminal server. Next phase is a bit easier. I'll be transferring update packages to each node of the application backbone and it'll be using some sort of GUI. It's all about clicking the mouse button.

There's one upcoming project that I'm a bit excited though. A trial network is being planned and I'll be handling every aspect of the IP Core network. Now THAT should be fun. Every single node in the IP Core will be set up by me. Switches. Routers. Firewalls. GSNs. All of it. Me. Yeah!

Of course, with all this stuff happening, I haven't really had much time to go out to party. I'm actually amazed at how much extra money I have by NOT going out to party! I kinda miss partying though. The drinks....the chicks....well....mainly the chicks!

Things should settle down by first week of March though so I'm sure my partying will start again!

Oh, I've finally succumbed to temptation. I'm now a member of the MPH Reader's Circle. Since I've started working, I no longer rely on my parents to buy me books. After spending a total of a few hundred bucks on books, I figured it's only wise for me to join the MPH Reader's Circle. At least I get to accumulate points!

I've also recently bought 3 new books. Heh, I know. I could go to gym, I could party all night long, I could play guitar and I could go to rock concerts but deep down I'd always be a geek. I can just imagine myself. I'd be 50 years old, white hair and all that and I'd still head to the bookstore and pick out a few books, with at least one of them being either a science fiction or a fantasy book. Hell, hopefully by that time the 7th book for Dune would be out!

I've currently a fan of this author by the name Alastair Reynolds. He's British (spells armour instead of armor) and he writes DAMN good science fiction! The book I just bought is called "Century Rain" and next on my list would be "Pushing Ice". I already have all his previous books before that. =)

As I get older, I also realized that my reading habits have...for lack of better word...matured. I'm no longer exclusively reading science fiction and fantasy novels. These days I'm exploring different authors, some which I've never heard before but which the synopsis at the back cover of the book looks interesting. I'm also more into non-native English speaking authors. My recent favorite book was by a Spanish author by the name Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Check out his book called "The Shadow of the Wind". It's REALLY good!

My latest book by a non-native English speaker is called "Out" by a Japanese author by the name Natsuo Kirino. As an added bonus, the author is a she! In one book, I get a different cultural AND gender perspective compared to the one I'm used to. I haven't started on the book yet but the premise looks interesting. It's about a woman who killed her husband, the 3 friends who helped her conceal the body and the inevitable consequences. Sounds fun and it's the type of book I'd never picked up 5 years ago.

Finally, looking for a good drama, I picked up a book by Wally Lamb which is called "I Know This Much Is True". According to the book's synopsis, its a story about a pair of twins, one who is schizophrenic and the experiences they both go through as they go about their daily life. Yeah, yet another type of book I'd never touch 5 years ago. Heh!

New Year!!

Ok, so I'm about 2 weeks late. I guess I spent more time living life rather than writing about it, these days!

New years eve was rather excellent. Celebrated the countdown at Heritage Road, next to Sheraton Imperial. Can't remember the name of the bar though. Me, Seng Leong, Anand and Anand's relatives from Singapore were all there, getting drunk and celebrating the new year with gutso. I was a bit tipsy that night, I think. The vodka lime wasn't so bad but the graveyard was a killer. I'm definately ordering the graveyard again! Heh heh! Hmm...need to look for an excuse to party again though. I need to remember to check the events calender for this year and plan my partying!

Oh yeah, always party responsibly. Do not drink and drive. =)

The year's been starting rather slow for me. Not much work yet. Companies everywhere are still in the planning stage I guess. Unfortunately, that means I spend most of my time at work feeling utterly bored. I fill that time by reading up design documents on mobile networks. I'm almost embarrased to say that I find them rather interesting. I know...despite my best efforts, I think I'll forever stay a geek! Still, I find it fascinating to discover how all the network nodes inter-operate with each other and provide the service that we all take for granted. Next time you use your mobile phone, spare a thought to all the people who worked hard to make all of it work. It ain't easy! =)

My new years resolution this year consists of 3 simple improvements that I feel I should undertake in my life.

1. Arrive to office earlier (and leave earlier, hopefully to avoid LDP jams)
2. Save more money in the bank (rainy season and all that)
3. Engage in more cultural events (my pathetic attempt to stop being such a geek and an excuse to tear myself away from the computer)

Resolution 1 is currently an abject and utter failure. On average, I'm now in the office 5 minutes earlier compared to last year. Heh, so much for leaving earlier and avoiding the LDP jam...

Resolution 2 is also currently a complete failure. After gym, I no longer go to mamak. These days I go for steak at TGIF or something. Well...my personal trainer did say something about the importance of protein!

Resolution 3 has a slightly brighter outlook than the rest. I'm currently going through the list of events in MPO to see whether there's anything interesting. Anand has also introduced me to Actor's Studio so I guess I'm going to support the local performing arts scene soon enough! Oh yeah, I was watching the play Pune Highway earlier tonight. It's a pretty good play actually! Good story and good acting. The only thing that wasn't so good was that they had some dialogs in Hindi or something like that. While I can insult like a native, understanding civilized conversations is beyond me. Heh! All in all though, it was quite a good play. I definitely plan to add Actor's Studio in my list of places to go regularly. =)

G Rock Radio!!

Lately I've been getting my rock music fix by listening to this Internet radio station. Apparently this station is a real station somewhere in New Jersey. Check out http://www.grockradio.com

Wonderful rock music and great DJs! If I'm living somewhere in New Jersey, I'd definitely be going to this Kringle Rock concert they've been advertising lately. C'mon, it's Staind performing LIVE!!

About the only other radio station I listen to these days is FlyFM. The music selection is far superior compared to Hitz and Mix by Astro. Too bad FlyFM broadcast reception is not as good as Hitz and Mix. I get 'blurry' sound sometimes from FlyFM. Maybe it's just the area I'm listening in. Still, the music selection makes tuning in to FlyFM worthwhile! Tune in to 95.8 fm. =)