Chapter 295 - Clean

Whamm!! Double post.

As I walked past the lobby of Sasana Kijang, I noticed a group of people at the sitting area. I straight away recognized they were there for job interview. Tucked shirt, necktie, neat hair and shiny shoes for men. And for ladies, they usually adorn corporate look; dark colored blouses and either skirt or pants. But hey, isn't that what BNMers wear? Well, they also have a visitor sticker on their shirt pocket and always seen holding a file which keeps their CV. I was one of them once upon a time.

I used to be enthusiastic and optimist on my chances of getting a job. Since 2007 until 2014, I aced my interview. What I mean is, for every interview I went, I landed the job. After graduated on 2007 until 2014, I went to 5 job interviews and I landed 4 jobs (I rejected one offer due to location which is in Klang). That gives me 100% success.

But that changed after I was discontinued with BAT in early 2015. Since then until now, I went to 7 job interviews but landed 2 offers. Heavy dip to 28.5%. It definitely affect my confidence, and my stand post-interview ever-since changed to "Berserah je la" or "Kalau ada rezeki ada la..". Which I don't put too much hope and therefore I don't get heartbroken whenever I didn't get the job. The most 2 infuriating moments for me were the BNM interview and PTD assessment. I was so positive I nailed my interview but to be rejected at the 11th hour. Since I had similar experience to this type of interview which is a group discussion, I knew what to do and how to do it. So, to be delivered the news that you didn't make the cut while your newly acquainted friends did make it even so they were not really great in the interview really ticks me. It is NOT jealousy, but when you did so good that you feel that you nailed it, then to be let down really eating me inside. It took some time for me to digest my failure. Right after I got home, I even emailed the lady whom coordinating us asking what went wrong, but I knew she won't entertain me. I do have a theory which I don't want to share the details as I will make a heavy accusation of certain interviewer abusing his power over family dispute.

Then there was this PTD assessment. My father-in-law was a government servant his whole life. Some of which in administration and most of them as an academician. From plain lecturer to full professor (with distinguished local and international journals/writings, books, dissertations and papers). He told me that he was so close in becoming a PTD during his early years, did he not accepted an offer from a local university and idly wait without pay at Wisma Putra. He did not regret his choice at all, but occasionally wonder 'what if'. So, knowing that I was called for a PTD assessment, he was so happy. I however was reluctant.

The assessment will starts off with physical assessment. Candidates passing this phase will get to stay on another day for further assessment. On the invitation letter, it clearly says that candidate must maintain within certain BMI range which I slightly fail (I think the margin should be excusable though). So, I don't want to waste my time and money driving 400Km to Kemaman, Terengganu just to run few laps and drive back another 400Km feeling like shit. I called the agency and the lady persuaded me to just go and try my luck. How silly I was. So I drove there, completed their physical test which some I did good and some not. I was confidence if they merit me on certain attributes, I would surely pass. And soon after lunch they announced the candidates who didn't make the cut. I was among them. Frustrated and heartbroken as I feel that I let down not only my wife, but her family as well. So, before I drive home, I chugged some sata, otak-otak, keropok lekor and sotong goreng tepung. Next thing I know, my gout flaring.

To them candidates, I wish all the best. Give your best and go with God's will.

Chapter 294 - Hello August

It has been quite some time now. I've failed in giving regular update. Even my previous post was way before Ramadhan. Hence I didn't get to wish all Happy Fasting or Happy Eid Mubarak. And now it's August and a month after Raya already. People are preparing for EidulAdha. There are already pilgrimages sent to Saudi for their Hajj. And for them, I can wish and pray for their perfect Hajj. One friend from my new work place already got the call; and surprisingly he is younger than me. But that doesn't count. Age is not really a factor. If you registered under Tabung Haji (that's the only way for Malaysian!) with minimal savings (when I registered 2 years ago it was RM1300), you automatically placed in the pool. My turn would be somewhere in 2047. Or maybe it was 2067? I can't remember and I don't think I live that long. Once you have completed the needed amount (minus government subsidy) of RM12k in the savings, then you are likely eligible for the random pick. So people, start prioritizing. I realized this late at this age, but nothing is too late. He registered in 2007, and surely his turn in 2030s. But since he filled up his savings in TH, he got the call. I sent a text to him wishing him the best. He was dumbfounded at first, but now he is making ready of his pilgrimage. He just taken back as his parent was not called up since they registered together with him.

So, coming back to prioritizing, there are few options for us. Few insurance companies already provided a policy whereby client can choose to direct portion of the savings to TH account. Some projected the savings will be completed less than 20 years time. So that is good. Other option is to directly bank in your monthly savings to TH. Of course is it not as glamorous as saving them in ASB (due to margin in dividends), but if you are looking into the argument on whether ASB is Syariah compliant or not, you might choose the answer you already know.

Chapter 293 - Never Skip A Day

March is looming, and I am set for a doom. Most likely my contract is not up for extension. I as pretty lucky that my contract was extended last December. Not for my buddy, Chintan though. We were hired almost the same time. Going forward with hope that this company (A) would consider they absorbed us sooner or later. Unfortunately, came December 2015, he was cut loose and I survived another 3 months of paychecks. Now, what pisses him off was, he supposed to complete his tenure on 9th December, but somewhere at the end of November, A told the vendor company (B) that they are not extending his contract. B then told agent (C) the same. Now, C figured out they can save few hundreds by saying that his contract was based on previous employee which cutoff date on 4th of the month. Therefore, C told him that his last day is on 3rd December. He's very much disgruntled.

Then A realized that festive season is coming up. Manpower resource will be scarce. Moreover, A just been took over by an alpha company (AA) and moved over to new office 7 weeks ago. A lot of instability in term of IT that need to be look after. Project that pertinent to crucial system is heavily underway and requires people to manage it. Only then, they figured that they need this Chintan to cover bit here and there. So, A told B that they need him to stay for a bit while. B told C the same. And C told Chintan that they want him until 31 December 2015. Disgruntle turned hate.

So he didn't give a shit and said his goodbye on 3rd December 2015. I would do the same if I were him.

New boss came mid January. He is from a competing company (D) and he didn't come alone. I was told that he tried to bring his people from D to A. He also hired this Indian dude which was here for a bit while before me and Chintan. He is from a competing vendor E. Apparently, in IT scene in Malaysia, there are few vendors are competing over support contracts and projects, this includes B and E. There are also F and G, but they do not matter in this story. So, this dude looks promising and he is supposed to replace me when my tenure really end this March. He knows both network and server. Which is a valuable skillset if combined. Unfortunately for this dude, he's being duped by his landlord. And after 2 weeks in the office, he went rouge. 3 days later, he emailed the boss and told him he can no longer stay in Malaysia as he got cheated badly. For me, either his story is true or he got other delicious offer which he couldn't refuse.

That has left me without anyone to second. I am grateful though, I had this opportunity to play with things I've never touched before, only the downside is that whenever I'm on leave, people still looking for me! Now, I do not know what this new boss's plan is, and I hope he has a good one as I only have 2 weeks left. Or rather I would like to see him crumbled and make all sort of wrong decisions. This reminds me of when I left BAT last time. The boss told me a month earlier and I never forget a remark he made; He told me to be professional until the end! Meaning to say he hope I won't perform my job half-heartedly. That was much of an insult to me. I told him straightaway, that is not how I roll. You don't have to tell me to be professional even after you cut my tenure 3 months short. I will honor my tenure and that is what I'll be doing coming 2 weeks.

Chapter 292 - Believe

Kenapa lah Malaysia tak boleh nak buat filem macam ni? Honestly, aku tak tengok lagi filem ni (My Idiot Brother); filem garapan negara jiran kita, Indonesia. Past two decades, kita sangat fall behind dari segi kualiti penceritaan dan sinematografi. Aku pun tak sengaja bukak YouTube yang ada autoplay feature, tau-tau dia pasang lagu ni. Dari tajuk filem ni, first impression aku rasa filem ni sangat similar dengan filem Korea lakonan Cha Tae Hyun, "Miracle of Giving Fool" yang agak bittersweet ending. Lagu Afgan ni pulak similar dengan melodi filem-filem syahdu Korea. Cuba tonton di bawah (ihsan YouTube). 

Tak salah kita ceduk Korea, they have the quality. Ni asyik pusing cerita seram, cerita rempit, cerita gangster, lepas tu cerita rempit balik, kembali semula cerita seram, lepas tu improvise sikit jadi rempit seram. Lepas ni confirm ada filem gangster seram. Lama-lama naik suriram aku dibuatnya.

"Tapi filem kita tak boleh buat aksi cumbu dan romen-romen macam Hollywood ataupun Korea", kata seorang pervert.

Tak payah jauh sangat la brader, tengok je filem Indonesia. Mereka pun bukan ada cumbu/romen ni. Penataan bunyi, sinematografi, garapan; itu resepinya. Memang la mereka pun ada hit-and-miss, tapi kalau dari 10 filem yang keluar, 6-7 daripadanya kualiti dah kira cukup bagus dari kita yang 10 filem keluar tapi 2-3 je yang kualiti.

To be fair, kita pun produce filem-filem yang baik. Gila kau tak puji industri sini, mau kawan aku yg kerja FINAS tak mengaku kawan nanti. Latest aku tengok "Manisnya Cinta di Capadoccia". Itu ada kualiti yang aku bagi 4.5/5 bintang.

Chapter 291 - Apa Kau Buta?

MAT TUDUNG?

Satu perasaan yang menyakitkan hati bila tengah flip channels, terbuka Mustika HD yang sedang tayang cerita Mat Tudung. Yes, ini cerita bukanlah cerita yang baharu, malah tak box office pun.

My only question is this, apa kau buta?

Sila lihat paparan dibawah dan bagitau apa yang anda nampak?

Jauh sebatu kau boleh nampak ni jantan pakai tudung. Macam mana plotnya hampir 2 jam filem ni, heroinnya ""one-of-the" Melrose tak boleh nampak hakikat ni? 20-20 vision yes, tapi sel-sel otak tak bergabung gamaknya.

Neil Armstrong boleh nampak ni dari bulan.

OK, while we're at this topic, masalah aku dengan drama dan filem Malaysia ni hanya satu (selain plot yang over-the-cliff mengarut), suara pelakon-pelakon macam berbisik-bisik. Aku selalu bermasalah nak dengar apa yang diperkatakan mereka ni. Seolah-olah microphone yang berbulu-bulu tu letak di belakang punggung director dan kadang-kadang lebih parah letak 13 batu jauhnya.

Sila lihat contoh dibawah di mana microphone bulu-bulu tu patut berada bila penggambaran.

Ini baru betul. Dekat dengan pelakon.

Ini pula cara-cara menemuramah ikan. Dekat kan?

Ini pula dengan beruk. Nampak tak level of professionalism tu? 

Figure bawah ni adalah tipikal shooting drama/filem kita:

Chapter 290 - Roaches

Hola,

I don't want to make this a yearly thing. I should be more active since I'm jobless now. Yes, you heard it right. Dah beberapa bulan aku tak ber'boss. Banyak suka duka tak bekerja ni. Sukanya sebab selalu dengan anak-anak. Satu nikmat yang tak terhingga dapat bersama anak-anak. Masak basuh mandi mereka, sendiri yang buat. Dukanya, korang boleh faham-faham la.

Mungkin juga aku ni demanding, sebab refuse ambil support role. Dah 4 tahun lebih aku buat support, rasa dah tepu sangat. My lowest moment bila dalam change call dgn counterparts, aku tertidur. Tengah malam bai, sejuk pulak tu, change call tu pun sekali sekala keluar suara.. memang jatuh hukum tidur la.

Tapi, desperate time calls for desperate action. Aku sekarang ni tak kisah kalau dioffer support role. As long as the pay can match my expectation. Jobstreet, Monster semua aku dah balun. Lepas ni kalau tak jalan jugak, aku letak muka Remy Ishak dalam resume aku. Baru employer terpikat paras rupa.

Cuma Linkedln je yang aku tak berapa familiar dan malas nak familiarkan. Mungkin juga lepas-lepas ni aku update akaun Linkedln aku.

Makanya, barang siapa yang baca post ni dan rasa-rasa ada opening IT kat company korang, dipersilakan PM aku. Ngee..

Chapter 289 - Latest

It has been a while since my last update. Looking back at my previous post, I was dwelling on my career move. Now I'm already 6 months with the new company. Meaning that 6 months of my fans lusting for updates.

Getting old and blogging is much suited with younger lads. But that doesn't mean that I'm stopping, rather my post will be on an huge interval basis.

Much had happened in the past 6 months.

1) Started working with cig company.
2) MAS lost 2 planes. One was mysteriously lost and the other was shot down. MAS was taken out of KLSE board for restructure. Bad year for them and nation.
3) Struggling at work.
4) Brazil sucks at World Cup big time, and on top of that at their own soil.
5) Germany won 2014 World Cup.
6) Man United removed Moyes and appointed Louis Van Gaal. Coming to this in another post.
7) PKR own hero, Khalid Ibrahim was brought down from Menteri Besar post by their own people. Now Azmin Ali is on the helm. This comes after a month or so these guys shitting people with all kind of craps.
8) I had so-so holiday in Hong Kong. Weather was the culprit. Will also cover this on coming post.
9) The passing of last Bujang Lapok member, Aziz Sattar.

So okay.

Chapter 288 - Another Goodbye

After 2 1/2 years serving worldwide clients for a multinational company, concerning their network issues, I am bidding my farewell.

I have a sum of 4 years working in support industry and decided to put a stop. For several reasons like health and social life, I made the decision to throw away few luxuries and venture into something I considered "make it, or break it".

Thing I would miss the most is the working days. Given that I am working 14-15 days per month. However, was not thrilled to alternately working on weekend and weekdays, but again I do get off days during the weekdays for bank-run, lone time at home and other errands.

My upcoming position is more towards management, but unfortunately I wouldn't get any benefit as I'll be a contract staff. Weighing that I need to get credentials working in management in order for me to move forward in my life goals, I decided to accept this position regardless the no-benefit policy. Hopefully it'll turn out good to me. Anyone can suggest a good insurance company?

Well, I wish my colleagues all the best and hope the company to be better to them. For unknown reason, the company stop hiring my position a year and half now. Couple of my buddies had left and leaving holes in the team here and there without being replaced. I just hope things will get better.

Chapter 287 - Jelly Bean

What I regret most is that I did not do any backup in prior to my phone update. Macam biasa, release untuk android firmware di Malaysia (dan beberapa negara lain) adalah lambat. While Galaxy S4 and its up-to-date counterparts are enjoying it off the shelves, their predecessors as such S3 is in wait for the official release from Samsung (in my case). Commonly happened as their so called developer is taking their time to port the latest firmware according to the hardware capabilities of predecessor smartphones. Plus, manufacturers such as Samsung, HTC, Asus, etc not using stock android OS, instead, they have their own kernel underlying the android OS. Hence, you can notice different brands has a slight different on look-and-feel. Noticeably on HTC whereas you can find navigator panel on the bottom of the screen. Furthermore, when you unpack your phone, you'll notice the apps that came along with the brand, like Samsung Play, Samsung Apps Store, Allshare Apps, etc. Stock OS basically a phone running only on android. There are few out there already. Tak ingat nama apa. So, with different approach on how android is running on the brand's kernel, that explains on why the firmware release differs between brands.

Couple months back, I rooted my phone. Sole reason is that I want to minimize the battery utilization. To do so, I need to remove all the unnecessary apps. Like the one provided along by Samsung. To install few apps that can help me to remove ads from the games. To allow my phone root access on doing stuff. So, I rooted my phone to Jelly Bean 4.1.2. Stable version back then. There are 2 types of Root. Normal Root and customize root. The normal root just void the seal and give root access to your phone. While the latter provide the same but comes with customize UI. Reface to every extent. However, I opted for a normal one because the latter will flash your ROM and will wipe clean your data. Just for precaution, I made a backup. This was done when I was in the office. The downside are, root version will never get to use the Kies and receive normal update from Samsung.

Yesterday, I decided to roll my S3 to Jelly Bean v4.3. As few countries has release the official firmware. I took things for granted, taking my previous experience into account, I didn't make any backup prior to it. My first attempt was failed. I know, if I'm not able to fix this, I need to factory-default the phone. Lucky me, my 2nd attempt went through. But to my disappointment, it wipe my data. I'm not worry though about the SMS, contacts and apps, but my private data as well as pictures and videos that made me gazed emptily into the sky. My previous backup on my office PC also lost due to re-image. There's no way I can recover them. Lesson learnt.

For those who want to manual update your phone, do backup and properly find the firmware files. Tips: Search for the right firmware using your baseband version, and look for international instead the one made for proprietary such as Vodafone, AT&T, etc.

Chapter 286 - The Notebook

I'm keeping close a notebook that I like and usually scribbled stuff in it. First few pages, I jotted things like itinerary and budget ledger on my Seoul getaway 2 years back. I remembered how I diligently wrote down the program and plan for me and wife. How much this and that will cost us then. I did that because we opted for backpacking style holiday. Figured that tour holiday is much expensive than backpack. Backpacking is so much fun. Getting up-close and learn lots of things. Tiring but fun. All in good memories.

Now I'm planning on our house moving. How excited I am as I jotted down all the things needed, what are the plans, budget, sketches of how things will looks like, blueprint of the apartment and stuff. If all in God's will, me and family will completely move in to the apartment by next weekend.

Next should be the highlight of 2nd quarter of 2014, a getaway to Hong Kong. How I yearn to bring Fahim to Disneyland. The ideal is Disneyland in States, but figured the closest one should be more than enough. Flight tickets already bought, what's left is to find a good hotel, plan the trip and pretty much what I did for Seoul trip.

Looking forward for more entries in the notebook.

Chapter 285 - On Solid Ground

Manusia bukan sahaja memerlukan tempat untuk berteduh kasih, tetapi juga tempat untuk berteduh dari hujan dan panas.

Kos sara hidup yang tinggi di KL membuatkan kita rasa sesak nafas dan sesak poket. Cukuplah dengan makanan mahal, rumah pun tak mampu kita nak beli. Sekitar 4 tahun dulu, rumah PKNS di Setia Alam hanyalah sekitar RM350k. Dengan ansuran bulanan selama 35 tahun, dia perlu membayar RM1700 sebulan. Beberapa minggu lalu, aku round area situ dengan harapan SP Setia mahupun PKNS ada buat projek baru. Apakan daya, projek yang baru-baru semua dah sold out. Future development pun disasarkan untuk rumah bangalow dan linkhouse. Rumah 2nd hand di Alam Nusantara (projek PKNS) paling murah selepas aku call sana dan sini dapatlah dalam RM560k. Rumah intermediate pulak tu. 20x70 pulak tu. Phase lama pulak tu. Kalau datang dengan harapan cari rumah harga RM400k - RM500k, harap lupakanlah. Aku pun masa tu datang dengan harapan bawah RM600k. Kalau ikutkan, dah molek sangat, tapi fikir punya fikir, aku tak rasa boleh commit ansuran RM3k sebulan. Kalau nak murah, kena mula cari di luar KL. Lupakanlah Lembah Klang, tapi Lembah Beringin masih boleh lagi. Hahaha. Aku pun tak nak cari rumah yang lebih kearah selatan ni, misalnya Kajang, Bangi, Nilai, Dengkil. Walaupun dalam Google Map distant'nya sangat relevan dangan situasi aku yang kerja di Cyberjaya dan isteri aku kerja di KL. Tapi, pernahkah kau datang berkerja di KL dari arah sana? Kalau ya, semestinya tau macam mana jalan jem nak masuk ke KL. Masuk je Sungai Besi, kau dah kejang. Lagipun, aku macam tak feel nak cari rumah di sana. Tempat di sana tu macam tak masuk dengan jiwa aku.

Makanya, aku mencarilah di belah-belah sini. Kota Damansara dah mahal dan tak ada projek baru. Ara Damansara lagi lah syaitonirrajim. Denai Alam pon dah mahal. Cahaya SPK pon dah mahal. Kalau budget kurang RM800k, jangan nak sebut tinggal kat sana. So, tinggal la ceruk-ceruk sana di Puncak Alam. Itu pun aku tak berapa berkenan. Sebab jauh dan harga yang tak berbaloi dengan value. Yang tinggal hanyalah Ijok, Bernam dan Kuala Selangor yang affordable. Alhamdulillah aku dah mula mencari. Ketika ni, memang keadaan mengizinkan. Kalau disebut, 'kalau 2-3 tahun lepas aku start cari, mesti dah dapat yang murah-murah', memang la sedap, tapi hakikatnya, keadaan tak mengizinkan untuk kami cari rumah sendiri masa tu. Terfikir juga macam mana budak-budak yang fresh grad nak survive? Mungkin jawapan sementara adalah menyewa. Tapi sesudah kahwin, perancangan mesti dah lain. Ketika tu, mampu ke mereka ni nak berumah?

Salah siapa rumah mahal ni? Sebab harga tanah mahal ke? Sebab harga barang construction mahal ke? Sebab developer tamak haloba ke? Sebab investors ke?

Semua ya!

Budget 2014 yang PM bentangkan tempoh hari memberi nafas baru kepada pemilikan rumah. Biasanya yang perabihkan rumah ni adalah investors yang beli dan beli dan beli, lepas dapat kunci, gantung banner 'Untuk Dijual'. Time tu harga rumah tu dah increase >30% sebab orang sentiasa nk cari rumah. Dengan pelan untuk naikkan kadar penalti dari 5% kepada 30%, mungkin investors ni pikir 2-3 kali untuk main beli-jual sesuka hati mak bapak derang. Dengan cara ni, mungkin memberi peluang kepada mereka yang betul-betul nak beli rumah tu. Kerajaan juga nak bagi subsidi untuk developer yang buat rumah kos sederhana. Bagus begitu.

Aku pun dalam usaha mencari 'rumah' kami sendiri. InsyaAllah, kalau diperkenankan, ada lah rezeki kami.

Chapter 284 - Why Celcom, Why?

So freaking pissed with this telco. Shitload.

Almost 2 months back, my wife received a bill amounting RM1000. This bill was separated from the monthly bill for a reason. Surprised, she called the customer service and lodge a report. Days later she called again for progress and the only explanation she received was the charge is upon her contract breach. Now we got more confused. She stated that, not in her knowledge she breach the contract. She only upgraded her iPhone 4 to iPhone 5. Package upgrade included of course. We urged them to investigate further.

We called almost once a week, because we get the idea that calling everyday would not give us the answer we seek; as every time we called, the answer always 'in progress'. A month passed, we received 2 bills again. Somehow I noticed the differences in account number, even for the same phone number. I called again for confirmation, and I found out that there are 2 accounts registered under my wife's number. One has been disconnected, and the other still active. Now, you can pretty much guess which account is being billed with the penalty.

3 days ago, my wife received a letter from a lawyer firm representing Celcom urging us to settle the penalty within 7 days or further legal action will be taken. Now I started to get so pissed. I went to Celcom branch in Jalan Ampang. Note: Don't go to HQ in Jalan Tun Razak. There only got their bigshots and they don't entertain over the counter customer.

Met a customer executive, and she said that my wife is being billed because she disconnect the account within contract period. I raised my concern to the executive as below:

1) Why is there a contract breach? The iPhone 4 was purchased on 8th June 2011 and the iPhone 5 was somewhere in middle of July 2013. Does it make any sense that if the purchase is on 8th June, the contract ended on middle of July 2 years later?

2) With mine and wife's phone, no such disconnect is needed when upgrading the plan or package. My wife had upgraded her normal plan to iPhone 4 plan before; and mine from Samsung Galaxy S plan to Samsung Galaxy S3. All without the need to disconnect. Why now?

3) Who did the disconnect? Celcom BlueCube in Kota Damansara or Celcom Exclusive in Curve? I suspected the earlier due to bad experience we had with them, and this might their vengeance to us. But later I learned that this was done by the latter party.

4) We didn't authorize any disconnect. Does it make any sense to disconnect a number then registering the same number again? Why the hassle? Have any proof and signature of allowing such activity?

The executive explained to me that these kind of dealer always finding ways to get the commission by registering new user. Hence, the trick of disconnect a number and registering it again. This is kind of bullshit and shouldn't be allow to happen in future. They are raking in money with the expense of the telco's name and reputation. Telco should closely monitor and set policies on how they should operate. Her advice is to come over again with the contract and proof of purchase at the outlet as they will expedite to their head of service.

Yang melayu (BlueCube) membohong lebih, yang cina (Exclusive) gila duit nak tiaw je. Menyusahkan orang.

Chapter 283 - Kurus?

Perlu ke seksa-seksa badan sebab nak kurus? Terpaksa tahan makan, kena paksa badan bersenam. Depends pada pendapat masing-masing, tapi honestly aku berpendapat at some point kita kena maintain badan kita dalam keadaan yg sihat. BMI boleh jadi benchmark. Tak perlu lah nak kurus sampai keding, sekadar dalam radar BMI yang sihat. Calculate your BMI by using this formula: weight / (height * height)

Below 25 = Good
25 <--> 30 = Fat
Above 30 = Obese

Dalam kes aku, bila usia dah cecah 3 series, plus berat badan yang dah boleh guna metrik tan (bak kata Ammar), aku kena consider longevity jasad ni. Tak perlu nak cover-cover, aku dalam kategori Obese walaupun kacak. Tapi tujuan aku beriltizam menguruskan badan ni sebab nak cuba avoid ubat-ubatan bila usia mencecah 4 series keatas. Surprising aku sepatutnya kena commit ubat kolestrol dan blood pressure. Takkan nak tambah ubat diabetes?

Tapi sejujurnya, tak perlu nak tahan makan sangat dan xperlu la senam hari-hari bagai atlet padang. Yang penting adalah :

1- Will spirit. Sebagaimana will spirit yang bantu aku panjat gunung Kinabalu. Nak ikut tubuh dan bisik hati kecil, aku dah berhenti kat Laban Rata. Cliche, but the will pushed me up and up despite the tired legs and body. Bila datang bisikan syaiton untuk aku makan dan malas senam, kena gigih la lawan. Jangan buat bende half-hearted.

2- Letak target yang reasonable. Jangan ingat boleh nak kurus 15 kilo sebulan. Unless boleh commit jaga makan dengan senam kaw-kaw. Target aku just nk BMI normal saja. Alhamdulillah, aku target 10 kilo sebulan ni, dan dalam 3 minggu aku achieve almost 8 kilo reduction. Aku tak timbang pulak latest weight, tapi aku saspek dalam 9 kg reduction dalam 4 minggu. Nak tahu rahsia? PM saya. Hahahaha.

3- Jaga makan. Yes, ni penting jugak. Google calorie counting. Nak makan xde hal, tapi kena aware dengan apa yang anda makan. Varies on each person, but usually the body needs ranging 1000 --> 2000 calories. Secara simple otak aku ni fikir kalau aku boleh survive below 1000 calories per day, surely ada kesan yang effective. Jangan ingat roti yang anda makan pagi-pagi tu makanan diet. Actually sekeping roti Gardenia packaging merah tu contain 156 calories. Compare dengan Gardenia yang packaging kaler purple tu cuma ada 60 calories sekeping. Cuba-cuba la kawal nafsu. Bagi aku yang gemar makanan dan makan, hati kena kental la jugak. Tapi jujurnya, aku pun ada day off dalam menjaga makanan. Reward thyself.

4- Senam. Again, an useful tool to get your waist shrink. Tak perlu dasyat-dasyat, bagi aku kalau dalam maintain seperti yang disarankan KKM, 20 minit setiap sesi untuk 3 kali seminggu, kira dah cukup bagus.

Selamat menjaga badan.

Chapter 282 - Matrimony

Tahniah Ammar Abd Halim atas penyatuan zahir dan batin anda dengan pasangan anda, Wahidah.

Ngee.. Please excuse the unusual wish above.

Memang kawan baik dunia akhirat aku. Fakta yang menarik.

1. Ammar ni 2 tahun muda dari aku.
2. Jumpa 1st time dalam kelas accounting semester 1. Aku ni student khas, kena join econ & accounting walaupon most subject dapat exemption.
3. Kami lahir di klinik yang sama di Jalan Ipoh. Of all the hospitals and maternity clinics, kat situ jugak kami dilahirkan.
4. Ammar gagal mencapai benchmark yang aku tetapkan, iaitu berkahwin pada usia 27 tahun. 
5. 2 tahun menyewa bersama di Shah Alam.
6. Tak berapa hebat bermain DOTA berbanding aku.
7. Kereta pertama kami adalah dari jenama Proton. 
8. Kami tak pernah menyaksikan dan mengesahkan kewujudan ayam Israel seperti yang digemburkan rakan serumah kami.

 Selamat belayar dalam bahtera rumahtangga. Kalau nak saksi atau alibi, boleh panggil aku. Hahaha.

Chapter 281 - Eid Mubarak

Salam Eid Mubarak.

My Aidilfitri was not as I planned. Fahim went down with fever and it kept us on our toes for 3 days. Pergi hospital dan balik dengan keputusan yang sama. Demam yg biasa untuk kanak-kanak, sangat dijangka. But as parent, of course we always blow things out of proportion. Especially when we find the temperature went over 38 Celsius. I dont think the nursery is good for Fahim. He tends to come home with some sort of illness every 2 weeks. Plus I dont think the nursery is compliance to the JKM's guideline. It suppose to have a healthy air circulation, not cooped in a closed hall. Yeah, a hall. there is no partition or room. Just a hall, with baby rugs covering the marble tiles, and air-cond blasting full-force. That is one of the reason I believe. They should change the air-cond filter more often as it might catch and trap the bacterias, hence giving an unhealthy air quality. This kind of setup might be normal for corporation's nursery. But to expect this from a health institution. Poor them.

Anyway, just a good wishes to all for a happy Eid.

Chapter 280 - Ramadhan Mubarak

Wishes all Ramadan Al-Mubarak. Selamat berpuasa semua.

I'll leave my special project update for now to give way to my Ramadan special. Special la sangat.. Alhamdulillah, sekali lagi Allah izinkan aku dan keluarga untuk bertemu dengan Ramadan. Might be a small deal to everybody, but it is something more than fasting, month of bless and forgiveness, and deeds. Ramadan tahun ni Fahim berumur 1 tahun 8 bulan. Challenging age for any parent. Anak dah ada kaki ni memang tak duduk diam. Umur sebegini anak dah pandai mengekspresi isi hatinya yang biasanya opposite dengan apa yang ibu bapa hendakkan. Tapi itulah asam garam parenting. Syukur, Ramadan ni aku sambut dengan anak dan isteri tersayang. Doanya kami akan ketemu banyak lagi Ramadan.

Comes Ramadan, I will always remembered my old friend, Asif Zaman. Arwah dah dia ni. Kami bukannya kawan dari kecil, sekadar kenal hampir 3 tahun belajar di sekolah menengah sebelum aku sambung belajar ke asrama penuh. Arwah meninggal di Jalan Pahang akibat kemalangan jalanraya. Walau pada mula aku kenal dia sebagai budak nakal sekolah, tapi agaknya dia seronok berkawan dengan geng-geng aku, dia sedikit sebanyak berubah dalam 3 tahun tu. Dalam nakal tu, antara sifatnya yang aku boleh describe adalah setiakawan. Banyak ceritanya, tapi biarlah aku simpan. Entah kenapa, mesti teringatkan arwah bila Ramadan. Bila teringat, aku rasa bersyukur sebab Allah masih izinkan aku berjumpa dengan bulan yang mulia ni. Tapi arwah tak ada rezeki sedemikian. Sesungguhnya Allah Maha Mengetahui. Setiap kali lalu di Jalan Pahang tu, teringatkan arwah. Al-Fatihah saja yang ku sedekahkan.

Bila dah berkeluarga ni, hati ni dah tak berapa hard rock. Things that I didn't give a shit, do matters now. Mungkin aku melihat sesuatu dari perspektif yang berbeza. Harapan aku semua saudara dan sahabat dapat menyambut Syawal nanti dengan gembira. Bukannya apa, menjelang Raya ni banyak sangat kejadian yang kita tak ingin. Berhati-hati dalam memandu. Kita tak mahu tengok permandangan seorang ibu, ayah, adik, abang, kawan mencangkum tepi jenazah di tengah jalan raya. Menangis, meratap atau membaca surah Yassin. Nauzubillah, mintak-mintak ianya dijauhkan.

Terbaru ni kejadian anak 2 tahun meninggal setelah ditinggalkan di dalam kereta. Enough said, aku tak boleh nak ulas. Tak ada hari yang aku tak teringatkan perkara tu. Dari perspektif ibu-bapanya, mahupun kanak-kanak malang tu. Sebab aku ada anak yang sebayanya, setiap kali terbayang, aku doa agar kejadian sedemikian tak menimpa keluarga aku mahupun sesiapa saja. We can judge the mother, but we need to put ourselves in her shoes too. Share your pity and forgiveness, as for the mother, she'll feel not enough forgiveness and regret in this world to atone her carelessness. Kita kalau geram-geram sampai cubit anak pon cukup menyesal lepas 2-3 minit kemudian teringatkan cubit tu, apatah lagi bila kita ni yang menyebabkan sesuatu yang lebih buruk berlaku pada anak kita. Nauzubillah.

Be safe, give loves. 

Chapter 279 - Human Engineering

Damn it. I accidentally dropped my Samsung Galaxy S3 on a pavement and the screen got cracked. The crack is visible and most of the hairlines are at the edge of the screen. Lucky me no crack in the middle part of the screen. Warranty ended about a week before the incident. But I was told that screen is not covered in the warranty. That is a blow. So, I'll keep using it until the crack is at its worst. Those who are asking, the dropped was from my waist height. Gorilla Glass not so gorilla-tough after all. By the way, I'm not looking for a phone change now as I'm on a different project.*wink*

Dated as of now, Malaysia is so much in haze. Just a friendly reminder. Take care of your health. Avoid outdoor and drink a lot of water. Remembered last time we were in the state of emergency, I was enjoying the days off from school closure. Now, ada darurat ke takde darurat ke.. sama saja. Kena pergi kerja, asap sedut saja.

Coming back to the special project, if God's will, I'll have this updated by the weekend.

Chapter 278 - Earth Hour

What is this?

I frown upon the catchphrase of save the earth with Earth Hour. We recently celebrated or how should I put it into words.. appreciate the earth by turning off electricity for an hour (8PM to 9PM) on last 23rd March. I was at a mall when I heard an announcement that they'll shut some of the lights for an hour. Takut jugak aku sebab aku park kereta kat rooftop yang dah sah-sah kurang lighting'nya. Aku tak pasti mana lampu yang dia nak tutup, mau dia padam lampu kat rooftop tu, risau jugak akan keselamatan aku. Risau aku di'harass oleh gadis-gadis yang sexual predator. Yelah, muka kacak, badak ketak.. siapa yang tak gigit bibir. Dengar announcement tu cepat-cepat aku beli barang dan cabut. 

I don't see how we can save the earth with this campaign. It is just an hour of 8760 hours in a year. Earth is dying. Imminently. With the way we scavenge the earth's resources, tarah bukit, balak tak hingat, increasing number of carbon footprints, minyak tumpah dan banyak lagi faktor-faktor mempercepatkan kemerosotan bumi kita. Same as human, as soon as he/she is born, he/she is dying. Death is imminent, may it be in 70 years, 50 years, 20 years or even days. Faktor-faktor seperti merokok, pelahap dan bangang mempercepatkan lagi kematian. Ya, hidup mati itu di tangan Allah. Contoh yang aku berikan ni hanyalah persepsi secara umum. 

If we are really serious in saving the earth, we should think of ways to convert our conventional living to more eco-friendly and dependent-free of earth's resources. Membeli mesin basuh dan peti ais yang eco-friendly tidak termasuk dalam kategori menyelamatkan bumi, kerana anda masih lagi gunakan letrik. Marilah kita mulakan dengan membeli kuda seorang seekor. Bayangkan anda pergi kerja menunggang kuda, cukup sebulan, bukan sahaja anda bebas carbon monoxide, tapi anda lebih sihat dan fit. Mungking kangkang anda akan kebas sikit, tapi lama-lama anda akan biasalah. Di mana kuda anda berak, campak saja benih pokok, tunggu sedikit masa, tumbuhlah pokok. Bukankah cara ini lebih baik dari membeli kereta hybrid. Maaf cakaplah, ada yang sibuk nak beli kereta hybrid, padahal nak eja hybrid pun tak betul.

Tapi, fikirkan dari persepsi yang lain, ibaratkan "melihat sebuah kemungkaran, selemah-lemah iman, hendaklah kita membencinya andai kita tidak mampu untuk menegahnya". Usaha Earth Hour ini ibarat selemah-lemah effort kita dalam menyelamatkan bumi. We can do better than this. Instead of one hour, we should lengthen the period. Or have it done every week. Force the electricity to be shut off. No compromise.

Chapter 277 - Short on Legs

Hola.

It is raining outside. 30 minutes more to head out for work. And I'm listening to Jamie Cullum's remake of What a Difference a Day Made. Don't blame me if I'm feeling a bit mushy and mellow. I'm away from my wife and son, and I miss them dearly. For some reason, I have this mixed feeling about moving out. Wife is working in KL and it is easier for her to get to work from Kota Damansara, but it is 50 km from my work place. Commute back and forth for me is getting tiring. I just wonder and baffled on how insufficient a public transport to and from Cyberjaya.. or even Putrajaya. I just feel that while the state administration and government offices are located in Putrajaya, we should have some sort of MRT or LRT going there. Not an option for me and maybe for some to go by the RM 9 per trip from KL Central to Putrajaya over the ERL. It is just too expensive. Plus, Cyberjaya will be overflow with offices in future, due to the spaces and infrastructure offered. Meaning to say, a lot of people will work in these 2 neighboring cities in future. This should be made into the city planning, I hope. Well, a short one this time. Gotta work!

Chapter 276 - Internet

Moving requires lots of money, time and energy. I'm just drained out from what I consider as a 'soft' moving. As mentioned before, my family and I are moving out from Kota Damansara. Our temporary loft is in Puchong. Yes, we're renting the place. I was skeptical on the location earlier. This was due to the fact that my eldest brother used to live there, and it was not the place nor the environment I am looking for (no disrespect). Contributing reasons are the apartment was poorly maintained, surrounding area and the density. But, after series of surveys and visits, this part of Puchong is totally different that my brother's. What is more, the place is very secured, superbly maintained, cozy and secluded.

Funny thing was, when I was busying myself looking for a place especially via iProperties.com or propwall.com, most of the pictures provided are the pictures of swimming pool. I wonder on whether they assume that we decide on the place based on swimming pool? Or do they assume we are going to sleep in the pool? What I want the most is to have clear picture on what's inside, whether there is a kitchen cabinet, how the layout looks like, the spacing and etc.

Now that's done, we got ourselves our own furniture. Very basic indeed, as we are not intend to splash on everything. We are after all running on a tight budget. Internet access is compulsory! There are 3 major players in fiber to home service. We have Unifi, Maxis FTH and TIME FTH. We do have another package coming in from Astro which is Astro IPTV, but they are using TIME's infra. I would like to subscribe to the Astro IPTV, but the place don't have the infra ready yet. I might save RM50 if that the case (IPTV subscription is RM240 which includes 10Mbps and Astro Beyond). On separate bill, Astro bill is RM140 and Internet bill is RM150. In fact, everyone there are still on Astro SD. Then I shifted my interest to Maxis. 10Mbps at RM148, again I was disappointed by the fact that the place is yet to be covered. My only choice is Unifi. 5Mbps at RM147 (after auto-billing).







Internet installed yesterday. The day before, I got a call claiming they are doing a survey. She asked me on my Internet access I had before while I was in Gombak. I told her, that has been terminated. She then asked on current connectivity status. Told her that Unifi is coming the next day to install. She asked where, and I told her in Puchong. Survey done. 5 minutes later, I received an email from TM saying that installer will come in 6 days to install Unifi for address in Puchong. The username registered is the same as the one I used while I was in Gombak (I'm using different username for the one in Puchong). Meaning to say that the asshole who called me for the 'survey' purposely registered me for another Unifi subscription. I had to go over the trouble to call the TM and straight things up. Reseller punya tahi, Customer Support kena bersihkan. To TM, jangan bagi kuasa lebih pada reseller ni. Xpasal kelak CS kena maki. Nasib dapat aku yang sopan santun.