Singapore!

It was always planned to go to Singapore to work and to go for a holiday there. Somehow, the holiday plan didnt turn up well so I just ended up going for the work trip, but I wouldn't exactly say that it was all work and no play, it was partially a holiday for me..

I was working with Seed Communications running an event in Marina Expo and Convention Center, and yes, I did stay in The Marina Sands Hotel itself. Famous for its Skypark, it was always my dream to go up to that 57th floor and take photographs of the scenery there. Sadly, I didnt bring my camera because I expected myself to be working. It was my biggest regret. I settled for my phone camera but it takes quite crappy photos.

Thanks to boss for supper.. :)

The company did provide a Nikon D80 with an 18-135mm lens and I used it to take some good shots, but the camera is still with the company, going through processing because technically I cant take the photos of the event that was carried out. I'm just hoping that I can get my photos when I pick up my pay.

Speaking of pay, I had the feeling that, its ok if I was not paid. Food and lodging were all accounted for, and the rooms there was sweet! Before going to Singapore, I actually was misinformed that the it was a 2 day one night stay. Thank God Kelvin called me, telling me its a 3 day event. Clearly, I wasn't clear about the details and I wasn't expecting to stay in Marina Sands. I knew the event was there, but it would be too good to be true to stay there..

It was a dream come true.. 


I entered the room, first by walking all the way to the end of the room, unlocking the doors to the balcony. It was the freaking sea view and I looked outside, watching hundreds of cargo ships anchoring in the seas of Singapore. It was like a freaking armada preparing for war! Such an amazing scene.. The beds were so comfortable and although there wasn't enough time to sleep, it was purely satisfying.

Kelvin turned on the television, first time being in Singapore, he wondered what do they screen in their local television. The hotel provided movies, which cost about 7 Sing. Dollars each, which also included adult movies. Well, thats Singapore for you.. haha! We ended up watching MTV..

Running the event there was, tough. Marina Sands is such a huge place, it takes you almost half an hour for you to walk from the hotel to the convention center. Whats worse is that its another 15 minute walk to get to the food court. The place was nice, but running around there isint. Im sure I have gained more calf muscles after that job. If you were a tourist, one day would not be enough for you to shop there. The management can also run more than 30 events there at the same time!

After working, we got a chance to go up to the top floor and take a look around there. The pool overlooks Singapore's sky scrapers and the breeze from the ocean was warm and comfy. It was such a great experience just to get up there. Because of the limited time, we didnt get to swim. I did plan to wake up at 6am one morning to catch its sunrise and go for a swim, but this is what happened.

6am alarm rings.. Looked outside the window, it was so dark.. Back to bed..
6.30 alarm rings.. Looked outside, still very dark.. Got back to bed..
7.15 got up, Looked outside.. It was raining.. *sigh*

 Wet morning in Singapore.. Check out the mist.. 

But still, nothing beats being able to get up there. It's also all about the experience we gain there, the work and being able to manage your time to do what you want. Perhaps next time ill bring my camera no matter if its work or for no reason..

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D-Maniac Experience in Malaysia

So actually I was just with CoEx, A.Ron and SamSaw doing some recording for their new Beatnation promo video, and I had no idea where to head to at night. CoEx had a gig in Sunway University so we, Sam, Aaron and Damien decided to be his groupies, or just to give moral support.. I seriously had no idea where I was going, I just know it was some dance event..

Well anyway, we arrived there wondering where the multipurpose hall was.. It was our first time in Sunway University and it was big, but not enough road, seriously.. We headed to the main foyer where Aaron asked this hot girl for directions. In the end, she was also part of the organising committee.. She showed us where to park and we ran to the hall, because we were quite late for sound check..

I entered the hall hoping for a crowd, because I usually have a thinking that events should be, Big.. However, there were less than a hundred people there, it was really a small event, but that was no problem at all..

CoEx opened the stage with his "mouthblowing" beats, throwing dancers off their chairs and hitting the grooves.. Beatbox and Dance, what od they have in common? Well dancers dont dance because they like it, its because dance, is them.. Same goes for beaboxing, but in their own way..

Soon, dancers from Thailand began to take over the stage, showing their moves, keeping to the beat..

And soon, they opened up the dance floor and everyone just got crazy! It was great to see, though a small group of people, but its a cluster of people who are determined in what they live for, spirited and enthusiastic.. Yesterday's event was so hyped up, even I myself cant dance but the event got me moving.. Everyone kept dancing, doing what they love and showing the diversity of different dance cultures..

So, I got to find out about the event.. It was called D-Maniac Experience in Malaysia.. D-Maniac is a Bangkok based Hip Hop dance crew.. If im not mistaken, they carried out a series of workshops in Sunway University.. To know more about the event or D-Maniac, check out dancedeets.com :)

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Simon's Restaurant

Well among my usual group of friends, I decided to create a rule. We cannot eat in a restaurant that we have eaten in before. Most of the time, were always indecisive on where to eat. I'm always looking for an adventure, so whats an adventure if I dont explore? Sometimes I wonder that, these restaurants have been here for long already and I'm sure thousands of people have already come here, but well, Its my adventure anyway right? :)

This time we went to Simon's Place in Taipan, USJ 10.. THey serve homecooked food from 6 ringgit onwards. It is a bit expensive, but that depends on how the food is. This is what we ordered;

Yong Chow Fried Rice-RM6 

Has an average taste, a bit oily but has good texture. Nice to eat with the nyonya sambal..

Nyonya Fried Rice-RM8

Looking at whats with the rice, you can expect your taste buds to go crazy.. Top is meat with sweet sauce.. This dish also has pineapples, onions, onion leaves, red chilli, dried onions and nyonya sambal.. A good sweet sour taste.. 

Fried Koay Teow 

Has a strong sesame seed flavor.. Tasty and chewy..

Ginger Beef Cantonese Fried Noodles

From the name 'Ginger', it has a strong ginger taste.. Beef is tender, savory.. 

In the end, then Nyonya friend rice is the winner.. I would suggest visitors to try this dish.. :)

Simon's Restaurant is located in Subang Jaya between Pizza Hut and Flower World;

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It's A Sarong Affair

An affair? Yes, to tell you the truth, I don't even own a sarong. But ask me, whats so great about this sarong?

Random Alphabets is a group of people who carry out random, of course with purpose, events around Kuala Lumpur to get people together. This time, they carried out Keretapi Sarong where about 500 people, Malaysian and not, has tied up their sarong to the waist to take a journey around KL via train.

With the theme, What is your Sarong story?, many carried paper showing captions of their own sarong story. So, what is my sarong story?

I was at my friends 19th Birthday at an apartment where there was a pool.. Popping a balloon of flour over my friend, who was a girl, wasn't exactly a good idea.. You know girls, they can control guys. And she sort of asked an army of guys, including my friends, to chase me and throw me into the pool.

So we ran around the whole apartment. I was surprised that I could run barefoot on tarmac, perhaps its because anything goes if your running for your life. haha!

I soon got caught, they stripped my pockets to make sure i didnt have my phone or wallet, took my glasses off and carried me to the pool. Splash! There I flew off into the pool.. We had no towels because we did not plan to go in to the pool at all.. Thank God for the birthday theme, "Kampung", some of us had sarongs. My friend offered me his sarong and that kept me warm for the night, yes, the cold windy night..

Anyway, this is abit of what happened there. Do check out the news article by The Star R.AGE. :)

For more photos, visit A Sarong Affair and tag yourself if you are included.. :)

Participants helping each other out.. 

Looking good on the streets.. :) 

 Zain coordinating the event..

Tourists also taking part in the event, trying the sarong for the first time..

RapidKL also took part in the, what was first small, event.. :) 

KL Street drummers making themselves comfy in Ampang Park..

Talk about overcoming human limits.. 

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My Goals for My 9 Months Break

2 months has passed since i completed my Form 6 course and I'm still waiting for my STPM results, which is also known to be the Higher School Certificate.Results should be out by the first week of March, but that doesnt mean I will start University then too..

Public Universities in Malaysia only start in September, which gives us 9 months to do nothing or everything. I choose the latter. Post SPM holidays was regretful to me, not to mention, my high school life was partly regretful because I did not take up everything I could. I regret not joining the debate team, i regret not doing public speaking, regret this, regret that. Not having to learn such skills or abilities has caused me to miss a few kick starts in my life. I screwed my interview to be able to be part of an exchange student program. Truly regretful..

Regret is all in my mind, some do say that we should not regret because it was the past, I rather say regret helps us to learn to do better next time, and a guide to set our benchmark to improve ourselves, which is what I have already done.

Many of us who completed form 6 take this 9 months break as a time to relax, some is to gain lots of money, and there are some who actually enrolled into private colleges early to get their degree faster. Im not chasing the world with the crowd, nor wasting my time. I believe this 9 months is essential for me to improve myself physically and mentally.

My aim is to try to take up different jobs to grasp knowledge of different fields. I could end up as the Jack of all trades, masters of none. But no, having little knowledge of something is still better than nothing. These little experiences are my building blocks, and I just have to put them together properly. Of course, I will still have a main skill, but its good to know a bit of everything..

There was a time when I was in Genting Highlands and I attempted the Rock Wall. I did not complete it. It was maybe because I was afraid of heights, or afraid to take risks, afraid to push myself to discover what I can actually do. So now, I change. I want to try as much as I can. Early this year I wanted to take on the Rock Wall again, but sadly it's no more available in Genting Highlands. Perhaps I can outrun it next time, but it will remain as a memory for me to keep trying in other things, for example, Paintball..

Paintball is a really fun but painful experience. You can get bruises for months, can bleed for days and have scars for years. But why cant I take up the challenge? Why am I afraid? Because I do not want to regret again, I decide I will take up the challenge. I will be going for paintball in March and I do hope that it will be a great experience.

Some ask me, why you dont want to earn money to sustain myself. I came up with this theory. Now im still living under my parents roof, I dont have to pay for rent, no car to pay or petrol to pay. So I decide to use the little money I make from temporary part time jobs for leisure, trying new things and travelling. If I hold all my activities till I graduate from University (If I do), I dont think I will have the chance to try new and different things.. When I have a degree, my career will be fixed based on that degree. Its like having a plane ticket to Singapore, and trying to use the same ticket to go to USA, no it wont work. So this is the time I try different jobs, no matter how the pay is.

Recently, I worked in a call center for about a month, which I stopped to work full time doing a production business with a friend, where I make videos and get paid for it. Soon I hope to try to take on F&B and sales in Machines. I'm hoping to also join another friend of mine to help his uncles business by being a photographer.

At the same time, I also am brushing up my guitar by playing for church. I started doing push ups daily at home, going for jogs and also started dance classes. I am also starting to learn mandarin from my friends, which I find essential because the Chinese language is the most spoken language in the world, followed by English. Oh, and I'm reading more these days.. :)

I am hoping that these 9 months of learning will be very fruitful to me. I hope many others also make good time of their breaks.

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Degradement of our Future Generation

Today in the local newspaper, they mentioned about how smart phones and tablets have begun to widen the communication gaps in our society. I totally agree about it because from what I observe, they are all not exactly enjoying themselves nor feeling happy. Firstly, I am thankful to be in a group of friends who know how to prioritise and put a fine line between socialising for real and socialising virtually. We spend most of our time meeting up, going for sports, laser tag, bowling and just anything. Ask us, Angry Birds? no way..

Teenagers and young adults being glued to technology is bad, but whats worse is that children aged from 4 to 12 years old have already become addicted to such virtual realities. With no doubt, you can see at least a kid holding an iPad 2 or a Galaxy Tab in a restaurant, sometimes each kid in that family has one, and none communicate with each other. Firstly, the effect is that the family relationship can be broken. When the kids grow older, they can be rebellious to their parents because they don't realise the importance of family ties and treat parents like a friend or a stranger. Moral values will fade among our society as children did not get the proper guidance since young. Parents have depended too much on technology, hoping that it can take over the roles of parenting.

Speaking of parenting, maids have also become childrens new mother. I have a friend of my parents, who once told them that they regret having a maid because their own children look away from them. They prefer to get a hug from the maid and not to the people who gave birth to them.

In the future, the standard of education too may drop drastically. Many give excuses saying that these tablets are essential for learning because it's interactive, but I strongly disagree. Real education still comes from books as its information is much more dense and accurate compared to a graphic. If the children of today do not practice reading, the percentage of youths who cannot read and write in the future may increase as their minds will just be flashed with pictures and graphics that are unexplainable. Teenagers in the future will have a lower self esteem, be timid, have low self confidence and will not be able to present themselves well.

To be honest, I myself was a very timid person before. I never had enough confidence to approach someone   or to talk in front of the camera and because of that, I failed in an interview to be part of an exchange student program. It was a very regretful scene and i do not want that to happen again, especially when i apply for a job or to a university. A friend of mine helped me spark my fire, to be confident in speaking in public and to start conversations with anyone, including youths and the elderly. Being able to speak to people of different age groups has helped me open up my mind to the world, finding out its differences and realising the diversity  of everything in life.

Technology is essential in our life, but too much of something is never good. We always have to keep moderation in most things to have a balanced and a more rounded personality. It will be good to put that tablet down and start a real conversation with someone.

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Dragon in the Sky

Every year, I would take a stroll down Jonker Street as my dad gives his offerings in the temples nearby. Jonker Street is usually the same every year, but this time, for the year of the Water Dragon, there was really a Dragon in the sky.

Basically, a balloon maker which I notice every year at Jonker Street has successfully created a floating dragon by just using balloons, and it was an amazing scene.. It swayed in the sky, being anchored by more than 5 people, roaring over the sky of Malacca..

Not to miss out, The God of Prosperity! Maybe you should drop by Jonker Street to have a photo with him, and maybe you can be more prosperous.. =)

Have a Happy Chinese New Year and may the Water Dragon shower all of you with prosperity and good fortune.. =)

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