I Love My Job :-)

One of the things that I really enjoy nowadays is ..surprise, surprise .. is my current job. I have worked here for the past 8 months .. since Sept 07 and honestly, I don't feel that time has passed me by .. it was so quick. It is true ... once your work is something you love, it does not feel like work at all :D ... very cliche huh ...

Anyway, I just finished my first full teaching semester and marking the exam papers and giving out the sem grades. Ahh, not easy as it seems and makes me appreciate my previous lecturers ;-) .. it was a good experience and I plan to make next trimester even better ... this trimester I had a class of 40 students, while next trimester will be a class of about 100 + .. talk about a workload upgrade eh.

To the peeps who are looking for their dream job, actually you know it already. It is inside of you ... just listen carefully to your heart and the details will be there... :-)

For My Friends

The video below is dedicated to all my friends ... it reminds me so much when I had just arrived in the USA, around August 93, to continue my studies in DC ...

Laser Focus

For the past week, I have learnt that the myth about the power of focus is actually true. So, L & Gs, please focus and do not spread yourself out too thin.

I have decided to focus on things that really matter to me. Wont bother you about the details, but suffice to say .. I am letting go of some items which I thought I wanted to do, but are not really what I wanted to do.

In fact, successful people are focused in what they do, only now I have come to realize it ... or really realized it and actually see it. I tried to be jack of all trades but was just stretching myself too thin. I think the obsession to do everything is due to not wanting to be left out ..

So, my friend, changes will come .. and it will continue ....

ps / check out the book 'Awaken The Giant Within' by Tony Robbins ... an interesting piece of reading ... am nearly halfway through ...

The Jasin Chronicles : Cerita2 Dewan Selera

Dewan Selera or DS for short adalah tempat di mana makanan disediakan untuk pelajar2 Maktab. Makan Pagi, Makan Tengahari, Makan Malam, Minum Petang, Minum Malam.
Aku ingat lagi abang2 dan kakak2 pekerja .. bukan semua .. sebahagian aje la .. yang aku ingat is warna uniform mereka ( hijau tua ) dan boot Phua Chu Kang hitam mereka. Kadang2 fikir, pelik juga .. sebab apa ye pakai boot mcm tu tapi kerja di bahagian dapur ? ..oh well ... Ada 4 orang yang aku ingat .. dua perempuan dua lelaki .. nama2 mereka .. Abg Lembut, Abg Misai, Kak Garang, Kak Selamba.

Abg Lembut ni memang lembut .. tapi lembut yg membebel .. bila tgk dia buat kerja ( menghidang et al ) ... rasa2 ni dia ni garang kot ..

Abg Misai pula seorang yang santai je .. buat kerja muka sempoi ... pernah sekali aku kena marah sebab tercakap perkataan kesat ... actually, not to him tp dia terdengar .. menegur kot ..

Kak Selamba ni cool orangnya .. hmm.. bila dia buat kerja, muka tu la .. muka selamba seposen .. tidak ada emosi langsung .... mungkin dalam kepala dia , pelbagai perkara yang dia fikirkan ..wallahualam.

Kak Garang pula adalah seorang yang garang. Muka pun memang garang .. kalau cakap dengan bebudak student ni, nada kadang2 mcm nak mengherdik kita aje ... yg tak best is kalau dia bertugas menghidang untuk makan tengahari / makan malam ... nampak sgt kedekutnya bila meletakkan makan atas tray kami.

Di DS, tray yang digunakan adalah tray stainless steel empat segi .. oklah .. senang nak basuh ...

Makan Yang Disediakan di DS kira ok aja ... edible and fit for human consumption ... ;-) breakfast paling aku tidak suka is roti n telur. Telur tu dimasak style pressure cooker .... makan tengahari dan makan malam biasanya nasi dan lauk pauk biasa .... kadang2 lauk tu ada yg basi atau tidak bagus ... kalau nak tahu lauk tak bagus / basi ... bau lauk itu sendiri atau tidak ada abang / kakak DS untuk menghidang .... depa pun mcm tahu2 je ...

Ada bebudak ni kadang2 ambik lebih lauk ... esp kalau diberi peluang mengambil lauk sendiri ... bagi aku .. tak kisah sgt la ... tapi kalau Kak Garang nampak, dia marah oo .... siap tempelak lagi ...

Perkara terakhir yang tidak akan aku lupa is cara abang2 pekerja DS melap meja makan setiap hari selepas tamat makan malam. Selamba je, dia ambik mop ( tah dipakai untuk mop lantai ke ) dan terus lap meja.

Jadi malam2 masa Prep, students yang have to study di DS, akan menghabiskan masa 5-10 minit pertama, membersihkan meja yang mereka menggunakan sbb punyalah melekit meja tersebut selepas dibersihkan ;-)

The Jasin Chronicles : Roomate

Pada hari pendaftaran masuk ke sini, kami diarahkan ke Dewan Besar. Ramai rakan2 sekalian yang bersama .. berpakaian serba biru atau serba cokelat. Pelbagai perkara yang diselesaikan .. yuran2, laporan perubatan dan kalau ada yang mahu .. ASB dan Tabung Haji.

Setiap pelajar baru diberikan lokasi bilik mereka dan juga homeroom. Aku tidak ingat which one came first .. tapi aku ingat lawatan kali pertama ke asrama ku.

Blok asrama di mana bilik gue adalah blok di hujung kawasan blok asrama putera. Ground floor, pintu masuk dorm on the right side. Hmm... bukan bilik2 sebenarnya ... cuma kawasan2 partition dinding kau setinggi leher .. dua katil setiap partition. 'Bilik' gue was in the middle... dekat2 dengan pintu masuk ke kawasan bilik air ...

Oh ye .. nama dorm itu adalah Al-Biruni ;-) Al Birunians represent !

Kami bukan yang pertama sampai. My roommate sudah sampai dengan keluarga beliau. Agak hitam manis dan pendiam. Ayah ibunya agak berusia berbanding dengan kedua ibubapa ku.

" Azmir "
" Azri " ...

Ibu bapa kami berdua yang berbual sesama mereka. Azri datang dari Kg Changgang, Johol.

We didn't talk much masa tu .. sebab ahli keluarga2 masih lagi ada. Yang aku ingat selepas itu ialah percubaan PERTAMA ( first time ever ) memasang kain cadar putih pada katil. Oh man, what an attempt :)

Hmm.. little that I know that perjalanan kami akan menjadi menarik tetapi pendek. Beliau meninggal dunia pada awal Reformasi 98. Innalillah.

AlFatihah.

The Jasin Chronicles : A Shoulder To Cry On

Tengahari itu, genap beberapa minggu aku 'bermastautin' di Jasin ni. Hmm, aku tidak sangat merindui keluarga di KL. So far, hidup di sini, has been a minor culture shock. Hmm.. apa ye .. daripada campur lelaki perempuan kepada wujudnya student mostly Melayu di mana2 sahaja. Sebelum ini persekolahan ku di sekolah2 di mana wujudnya pelbagai kaum.

Makan di sini diadakan di Dewan Selera ( DS ). Dari blok asrama, ia adalah dewan terbuka , sebelah kiri dewan adalah untuk pelajar puteri manakala sebelah kanan adalah pelajar putera. Di kawasan tengah hadapan dewan adalah kaunter di mana makanan disediakan, di mana abang2 dan kakak DS meletakkan makanan untuk pelajar yang beratur. Di sini telah terserlah satu budaya , junior dan senior ... bukan mengikut tingkatan tetapi kemasukan pelajar, iaitu batch masuk Form 1 n batch masuk Form 4.

Ada sebuah tv di DS ini. Ia terletak di hadapan kawasan pelajar putera. TV inilah lifeline bagi pelajar putera. Kalau tidak ada TV ini, there will be no TV for the male student population di sini. Bagi pelajar puteri, tv terletak di blok mereka.

Setelah mengambil makan tengahari, nasi dan lauk, aku mencari tempat untuk duduk. Aku ingat lagi .. aku sedang berdiri memegang tray dan di belakang ku, terdengar suara tv sedang berkumandang. Aku lihat ramai pelajar yang sedang makan menumpukan perhatian kepada tv. As usual, the tv was loud. Ada sebuah lagu berkumandang and agak menarik lagunya ... rupa2nya, sebuah lagu balada. Aku lihat sekilas ke arah kawasan pelajar puteri .. waduh, ada yang dengan duduk dekat2 kawasan pelajar putera pun sedang tekun melihat tv kami.

Later, I found out that his song was the current 'in' song of the moment. Lagu Tommy Page " A Shoulder To Cry On " ... later in my Jasin life, I will understand the words better ... but that is another story :-)

The video is posted below ..

Introducing My New Biz

I have another blog .. you can check it out here ... it is for those who wish to lose weight effectively and safely :-)

Liverpool N Life

On a high note, Liverpool beat the Gunners 4 -2 at Anfield, with 5 - 3 aggregate. Match reports can be found here and here :-)

Ah, the Champions League ;-) since 2005, Liverpool have appeared in 3 out of 4 semis, not bad, that is way excellent. Compare to the other English clubs, Pool seem to do better in Europe than England.

However, it is going to be Chelsea ( again ! ).

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One thing that Liverpool teaches me about life all the time is you have to move on and take action, even though things are not going well.

You'll Never Walk Alone !

The Future is What You Make Of It

The Future is what you make of it. :-)

Itulah kata - kata keramat yang diutarakan oleh Doc Brown kpd Marty McFly di penghujung Back To The Future III.

In the pursuit of the future, one thing clear is there is no shortcut. Tidak ada short-cut. That is the lesson learnt and relearnt recently.

I miss my friends. What I miss is the camarederie and simply just catching up with each other. I will be the first to reach out from now on.

I love my wife n daughter. Sometimes, they drive me nuts ;-) but they are the apple of my eye. It does help to see their pictures everyday, scrolling around the desktop.

Whatever that needs to be done, must be planned. Then it is all easy from there. And incorporated into all plans, the delay of instant gratification. Gratification is only accepted when the plan has been executed and succeeds.

A chat with Tiger

Check out this conversation with Tiger Woods. You can listen and understand what fuels this great golfer...

For Manchester United Fans Only

To MU Fans Only :-

I am selling two magazines that featured Manchester United's Champions League Glory during the 98/99 season, part of the Treble, on EBAY UK.

The link to Shoot Magazine is here.
The link to Match Magazine is here.

Please go there for further details. If you wish to buy either or both, Happy Bidding :D

Hung Up On Memories

For the past few days, memories have come back again. Memories of Jasin especially and DagangNet.

I am still hung up on these memories , at times, dwelling on the what-ifs, etc.

*sigh* it is time to the let that ship sail. I will let it go,.. as I have the rest of my life to live.

A current photo of Zara :-) cute eh ... taken at a friend's wedding...

The Big Duhh

Although the news here is US-based, I think a Malaysian perspective should apply :D

Dah Lama Tak Blog

A Haiku

Lama tak blog
macam2 dalam kepala
semua nak keluar
tapi semua tunggu siapa dulu

bagaimana ?

Letting Go

This post has two songs...

More Than That

This song below was for this lady that I had a major, major jones for. The day she told me that she had a bf, I went into a funk. Penangan power beb .... I still remember her love for Weezer ;-) .. she would complaint how her bf didn't treat her right, bla2 ... while not knowing that in front of her was this guy who was willing to take care of her. She married her bf..yes, I went to the wedding. I know that she is happy so far. I have not met her for a long time, but we talked via phone or sms once a blue moon. And when we do ... the butterflies that I had for her is still there ;-)



Where Do I Go From You ?

The second is for my best lady friend who got married a few years ago.  
Truthfully, we were buds since we were 13. She is my longest serving friend ;-) ... I think when she told me she was getting married ... I kinda had a lump on my throat a bit. We had a friendly wager that if we were single by the time we hit the big 3-0 then we would hook up. Heheh... she beat me by a few years. She has a little girl now and is a teacher. Still geng lagi after all these years ... :D




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I have a few friend weddings this year and a lot of memories ...

First Post Poem of 2008 Part I

In the honor of a certain 'Datin', I would like to write an inspirational poem in BM.

Inspired by this and that and this, baby ... it's like this ...

Part I


Ada orang kata dunia ini akan menggulung saya

Saya bukanlah alat paling tajam di bengkel

Makwe tu nampak bodoh dengan jari2 dia berbentuk L di dahinya

Tahun2 mendatang dan mereka tak berhenti2 datang

Mengikut undang2 dan saya berlari2 gila

Tak masuk akal untuk tak hidup untuk seronok

Otak semakin bijak tetapi kepala jadi bodoh


Banyak nak buat banyak nak tengok

Jadi apa salahnya ambil jalan belakang

Kalau tak pergi, tak tahu la pulak

Kalau lu tak terang, lu tak glamer la weii

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Part I tidak ada kena mengena dengan kumpulan Mulut Hempas ... kalau ada persamaan pun, sungguh2 tidak disengajakan ... nak makan Cake ?

Datin oh Datin ... dah le masa kahwin buat hal ... ini pulak sungguh la blatant bengongnya ..

what a colorful 2008 so far ...

Last Post of 2007

The theme of this final post is " The More Things Change, The More It Seems Normal" :-)

Well, the last day of 2007 is upon us. 2007 has been a very momentous year for yours truly. So many things that I have done. So many things I wish I did. So many things I wish I didn't do .. ;-)

I am still a work in progress. However, this year I have been brave to try some new things

Family

The arrival of Zara :-) Our precious princess ... life has been different with her around for us .. but she is a joy and a blessing. I am still learning on my role as hubby and daddy ( something yg I think will never end ) ... overall, I am grateful for mi familia.

Personal

I have in some part achieved some of my personal goals 2007, overall I give myself a passing grade. But I will do better in 2008 in the major areas of my life.

Career

Earlier this year, I set a goal that I was to be in the academia by September 2007. Honestly, it was a minor joke actually, to begin with. I just started work at my previous workplace as an Account Manager and probably leaving there was the last thing in my mind. It was a nice place, but my soul was not in it in the end. When I received my Masters in May, I knew academia was my calling. For a while, my efforts were really fruitless, but I stuck to it. Getting my current gig is a minor miracle and syukur alhamdulillah, it is a blast so far. Honestly, it is not work I( cross my fingers ! ) so far. I am blessed with a good boss and loads of people around willing to help.


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Ladies and Gentlemen, if there is ONE lesson I learnt this year and wish to impart to all of you is this simple statement : YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN LIFE :-) No one else is ...

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May 2008 lead us to bettr things :-) My thanks for being a loyal reader to this blog :D

You're In Love

This song was flying in my head today. I guess because it is due to the news I heard and the future that might be.



Let it go, my dear Ome.

My Future Crib

Below is the video to my future crib :D

Check it out kay ! He is renting from me at the moment :D

So Many Happy News

Today has been a good day ( personally ) for good news of friends.

To Acat n Cookie, the fruit of their offspring is on the way. Even though it is still early, take care okay !! The story on her and his blog about the news is quite interesting ... hehehe .... I am still reminded the day my wife told me that she was positive and carrying Zara. The first word that came out was " Alamak ! '  hehehe .... but I didn't get morning sickness ;-) Acat apparently is ... :D

To Binxie, this piece of news was really good ! Imagine, her rezeki and to top it off, she is going back to her old place with a better position ( and better pay ). This lady deserves it, after mcm2 that she has been through .... ACCA, her old office bla2s ... it's true kan Binx, what does not kill you makes you stronger ;-)

Both news helped to cheer up my day a bit. Especially what happened earlier in KL ... but that is another blog.

ps / more musings to come ...