Week in review (29/6 - 5/7)

Hello everyone out there! So June has come and gone and soon it will be my holidays. As the month of July dawns upon me, I realised that I got another 2 weeks or so before going back to Singapore to get ready for my 2nd year of tertiary education. Sob sob =(((

Anyway, it's kinda of unbelievable that I rediscover my interest in blogging during this holidays. 15 posts(including this one) in the space of less than one month. Compared this to 6 posts in the last three years, it's really an amazing feat for me. I can't be sure whether I will blog as frequent once my 2nd year in university resumes but I do hope I could manage some satisfactory number of posts for my own(and my close friends') leisure reading.

As the title of this post suggests, I want to do a little review of last week because it's been quite an interesting week for me, at least in terms of my working and leisure time.

28-30 June
I began last week with the thought of these two days might be my last couple of days in my current job. This is because a small mistake on my part the previous week caused Michelle(boss's wife) to inform me I will only stay on the job until the end of June. Although William(the boss) did not give any hints of anger regarding my mistake and my colleagues reassured me that Michelle's words were out of anger, I took Michelle's words for real(albeit with a little doubt) and so I wasn't really feeling that focus at work.

Monday's work began with a big shouting and argument between William and Michelle in the morning. I wasn't sure what they were arguing about but it was ugly. The shouting went on for about 10 mins and the whole office was in a tense mood. First time in my life witnessing such shouting at work.

1-2 July
Went to work on Wednesday morning and met a new colleague. Her name is Chiew Wan. I know it's pathetic to feel as such but I was disappointed to see her because I thought: Oh, she must be the new staff that is going to replace me. Sure enough, Michelle told me to teach and pass on my duties to her and William told me I will work until the end of the week. I must say I was rather impressed with Chiew Wan as she seemed ready to learn and work right away when I was teaching her. Not to self praise but she have me to guide her and pass on the duties while I came into this job with no predecessor guiding me.

To my surprise, Chiew Wan is a very talkable person and I shared some personal conversations with her regarding my work in the office. On Thursday, when she and I went to AIA headquarter(part of the job routine) at Jalan Ampang, she told me the job did not match her expectation and she was having second thoughts about continuing the job. Again, it's pathetic to feel joyful at this but I definitely prefer to continue working until I go back to Singapore and earn more money, though I plan to focus on my university ECA if indeed this is my last week at work. Lols

3 July
After the morning meeting between the agents, Chiew Wan had a discussion with William and Michelle regarding her decision to leave the job. Obviously William and Michelle would have prefer Chiew Wan to stay in the job and replace me for long term, but Chiew Wan secretly told me she made up her mind to leave(she did not say this to the employers, of course). The day at work turned out to be rather free as I spent the hours after lunch not doing any work in particular and reading random articles about various famous CEOs.

At night, went to play basketball with Jeff and Koon Thong at Ampang. Finally got to meet Koon Thong this holidays after he came back. The three of us had some fun shooting hoops for practice, especially teasing Koon Thong because he shot badly(lots of air balls) in the beginning. The first game we played, we were behind very early on as we struggled to find our chemistry after such a long time not playing with each other. We did not lose too badly in the end as I was able to score a couple of baskets in a row late in the game. Overall, the night was fun enough(for me at least) as we had a great time and Jeff praising me for being the one with the hot hands. Hahaha sorry for the self praise.

The night ended with me and Jeff eating at mamak at Pandan Indah. Ordered two pieces of roti naan butter and again I was wrong to order two pieces as I never expect the roti to be so big. I was able to finish most of the two pieces(Jeff ate one quarter of one piece for me) anyway.

4 July
In the morning, I went to a political forum at Corus Hotel, Jalan Ampang together with Ming Yang as well as his father. On a side note, his father said that I seemed fairer and I was really like lmao. Anyway, the political forum was organised by the Institute for Democracy and Economics Affairs(IDEAS). The title of the forum was 'Is Malaysia Ready For A Liberal Political Party'. The panelists included President of Liberal International, Dr Juli Minoves and two local politicians, Mr Khalid Jaafar(PKR) and Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad(PAS) while the moderator was the Chief Executive of IDEAS, Mr Wan Saiful Wan Jan.

I did not record things mentioned or discussed in the forum on my smartphone like what Ming Yang did. To sum up my experience attending this political forum(my first, incidentally), it was certainly an eye-opener for me in terms of being introduced to the concept of Liberalism and learning more about the place of liberalism in Malaysia's political scenes. I was very impressed with Mr Khalid Jaafar's response to several audiences' questions because the way he answered questions is certainly much more sensible compared to the statements made by some Barisan Nasional's politicians who must competing to see who's more idiotic. As Ming Yang put it, Mr Khalid Jaafar can't be Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's press secretary for 10 years for nothing.

After the forum, Ming Yang and I went to eat 'dai bou mee' at Pudu nearby Pusat Tuition Martin. We had a short chat and also saw Jeff and his family driving pass by us along Jalan Pudu. After Ming Yang left, I went to Hoops Station to check out Air Jordan shoes as I received my salary just a couple of days ago and intend to buy after my mother gave the green light. To my disappointment, all the Air Jordan models(the older models) that I wish to buy is for display only and not for sale. I did saw a couple of nice Air Jordan 29 but I decided to try my luck and search in Singapore before I make the decision to buy.

At night, my family(including my sister-in-law) and I went to Sunway Pyramid to have a late parents' day dinner at Shogun Japanese Buffet restaurant. I began the dinner by eating aggressively the salmon fish as I love it so much and my mum won't let me eat raw if it is eaten at home. Too much for my own good, I ate until I was feeling a bit sick of the salmon fish and my mum prohibited me from eating more. Nevertheless, the other foods were good and I ate until stomach a bit uncomfortable. So much so for eating fast that we ate and left in less than two hours. Lols

After the dinner, we went to have a ride on the new Bus Rapid Transit(BRT). Since BRT is still free until the 2nd of August, we took the ride from end to end to have a view on Sunway. It's certainly amazing how Jeffrey Cheah developed Sunway into one of the most popular place in Selangor. Caught a glimpse of Sunway and Monash University and I must say the two universities look too good from the outside not to be attracted to study there.

5 July
The morning began with a chit-chat session with Yu Han, Yan Chun and Kah Yee(all Xue Ji) at VIVA Old Town. It was great chatting with them and listening to their stories about their university life. I was listening to the three of them talking about economics and finance as I am the only one studying science-related course there. After that, Kah Yee and I went to Wings Cafe to meet up with the rest of the gang. Those that came(all Xue Ji as well) include Wei Xin, Yan Ting, Siew Hui(25), Yong Yi(24), Mun Xuan, Ah Weng, Seng Yang and other 26s that I not sure the name. Had a great time chatting there too and we attracted lot of attention since our table is the loudest in the whole cafe(thanks to Wei Xin, Yan Ting and Siew Hui). Haha.

After meeting up with all the fellow Cheras Xue Ji, I went to play basketball at Pandan Indah with Jeff, Koon Thong, Adrial and Kai Hoong. Kai certainly still have his moves although he did not play basketball for a long time due to knee injury. I did not play too well as I couldn't find my rhythm at the Pandan Indah court. The shots just don't fall in. Still we had fun and then went to One Shamelin Wong Kok Restaurant to have dinner(minus Kai) after that. The chit-chat session was even more enjoyable as we had fun talking about girls, relationships, basketball and football(guys' topic).


That's all for the review of last week and I'm signing off. Night fellas! =D

Holidays

Greetings to the readers who accidentally stumbled upon this blog after a long period of inactivity. Here I am back again for another update on my holidays. =D The last update is about my work life ramblings. This one will just be a snapshot of what has been preoccupying me, except my working life, since my holidays began until now

Basketball

Since I came back to Bolehland, I certainly played quite a lot of basketball, mostly with Jeff and Adrial. I guess having a nice pair of basketball shoes certainly increases the appetite for more game time. Most of the time I play at night, usually at the basketball court that has shelter nearby Ampang Bowl, with Jeff and me fetching each other alternately. And everytime after we done playing at midnight, Jeff and I usually went to mamak stall to eat and talk. 

As it turns out, I'm getting more and more confident with my ability on the court. It seems surprising at first because I certainly did not play as well in university. I have been shooting the ball well but only when I'm shooting alone instead of having someone guarding me. I guess playing frequently helps to get me into nice shooting rhythm. I also realised it's easier to score when I get the pass from teammate and step into my shooting spot, instead of forcing the action. 

Besides, I'm trying to increase my arsenal by learning the fade away jump shot. This idea came to me during those time when I'm playing alone in university because my jump shot had not been doing great. It's definitely a great offensive weapon when I'm backing down a smaller player guarding me. However, it becomes less effective when someone who is about my size or bigger is guarding me. I guess I need to practice more on the fade away jump shot when I'm playing. 

Other than that, I'm getting greater awareness of good team play. After all, basketball is a team game. In the past, hot head dominated cool mind and I tend to play with little team awareness. Now, my vision on the court opens up more and I play with a mentality of locating my teammate that has better scoring chance. The confidence of feeding others with better scoring chance certainly increases when I'm playing regularly with Jeff and Adrial, both having better offensive game than me. 

Lastly, I want to comment a little on my defense. This is because there was once I was pissed at my teammates' mediocre defense that I increased my defensive pressure and aggresiveness while defending Jeff. Afterwards, he sort of complained that sometimes when I'm playing defense, I'm doing some "xiao dong zuo" which he finds irritating. My only retort is that if you feel there is a foul, just shout it out. Otherwise, that's the way I play defense because I don't react to what the offensive player does but I go at them. Period. 

Meeting up with friends

The first person that I met since coming back to Bolehland is my cadet reporter senior, Yu Jun xue jie(Shireen Wong). She is the first senior that guide me during my days as a cadet reporter. We frequently try to meet each other during holidays because our holidays are often around the same time, usually at our favourite mamak nearby our houses. It's great meeting her because I can always complain about life and hardship with her listening and offering valuable opinions.

The second time I met up with Yu Jun xue jie, we had another two person joining, both also my xue jie: Yan Xin(Hazel) and Yee Ching. It was a surprise to see Yee Ching xue jie because I have not see her for a very long time. We chatted about university life and love topic, occasionally poking fun at each other. I also sort of offered some relationship advice(macam yes) to Yan Xin xue jie, offering her insights on what and how guys expect from their girlfriend in a relationship. As it turns out, my advices worked and she was able to "tum" her boyfriend. Haha. I guess being free from relationship enables me to have a clear mind with regards to relationship problem, though of course I highly doubt that I can still have a clear mind when I myself is in a relationship. Lols

From left to right: Yu Jun, Yan Xin and Yee Ching xue jie

Just last night, I met up with my high school buddies: Ming Yang, Kanesh and Kar Leong. It feels great to spend time together with all four of us in attendance.

 The Big Four: Ming, Me, Teo & Kanesh

We met up in Berjaya Times Square and had dinner at some Chinese stall. There we discussed a little about planning a trip although I wasn't really into the discussion because I don't feel like having another trip. Still, we ended up deciding(TBC) to go Genting(AGAIN) just to chill out and spend more quality time together. OH! Just remember that we're all 21 now and can go inside the casino together. Ngeh ngeh xD

After that, we went to play bowling. The price for one game has increase until it's just slightly cheaper than the Genting rate and I must say it's rather expensive considering the average quality of the lane and occasional problem when the pins are reset. =.=" Nevertheless, we still played because it has been more than two years since we last played bowling together. Of course, everyone was rusty in the beginning. In the first game, I started slowly but picked up my form towards the end as I edged slightly ahead of Kanesh, winning 129 against 122. The second game I started with a bang as I striked three times(no Turkey though, still in my life) and spared another one in the first four pins. In the end, I cruised to another win, this time scoring 154 pins(YAY!).

Next, we went to Murni mamak stall at Taman Sri Permaisuri to have supper and talked somemore. There, Kar Leong gave us several surprising news and I'm only sharing the one that he had completed his first year law degree part-timely. It was certainly a great news and I'm so glad that he is back among us again in terms of studying for a degree. =) We also discussed a little about Pauline and hope to hear more from her when she is back from Russia. Lastly, we ended the night playing darts nearby Ming's house. 

Social media

Several people have realised that I have been rather active in Twitter and Instagram since I went to NTU. They are like what's wrong with TC suddenly with so many selfies and updates on Instagram. Well, I decided to adopt a new lifestyle in terms of social media and intend to utilise the usage of my Iphone 4 before its lifespan is over. I decided to document my university life through Instagram because Picture-Perfect-Memories. 

Moving on, the reason that I decided to join Twitter is I found out my circle of friends no longer share too many things in Facebook anymore, probably because of privacy issues. Also, Twitter allows me to speak my opinions and feelings without getting backlashes from certain assholes easily.

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To sign off with this post, I will be going to a Penang trip with my university coursemates this coming Tuesday to Friday. To be honest, I join this trip more for diplomatic reason, rather than because I really wanted to go. I just don't think it's a good idea to miss this trip and when university resumes, my coursemates will have something to talk about and I will be left out again. But as my mum puts it, it's still a trip nonetheless and I just hope I will enjoy this trip.

Goodnights, fellas! 

From TC, with love. =D