Going on low gear

It's been a long time since I drove a manual car. But I do know that driving on low gear can get you going through almost any hill.

You won't go fast by staying in low gear, but you still get there. Wherelse being on fast gear all the time, going up a steep hill may just kill the engine, and you stop going further. Other times, you're fast.

This metaphor (if I remember using this term correctly), kinda represents the 'efficiencies' in life. Many places, countries, even, are switching to everything rapid. Instant. Take ISPs for an example. You can probably find more than half the Malaysian internet users complaining about how slow our ISPs are. Yet it's still a vast improvement from those dial-up times I can still remember clearly. How our phones give a funny noise and not-usable while we're online. I remember having to ask permission to go online since it blocks the phone for a while.

But things change. Things do change. It's all in a matter of time. We see how technology rapidly evolves. Tech changes are often so welcomed. Other changes, not.

In the end, what I was imagining, what if we just stop and take a breath of fresh air. What if we take a little stroll or a holiday and leave all the 'instants' behind?

And while I'm feeling a little 'nostalgic' here, it doesn't mean going back to how things were, is all fun and easy. I do thank goodness for the internet and stuff. I prefer to just type out what I'm looking for than heading to the library or an archive, manually searching for information. But hey, people can still survive! Not to say people aren't surviving now, but I feel that the pressures and stresses have built up exponentially high with the advancement of technology.

Timeliness is part of being efficient.

I'm not that great with typewriters. (Used it before in a previous employment)

Hit Counter

Look Look on the right >>>>>

:D

Found this flag hit counter when checking out a link sent by mum.

It has somewhat brightened up my day today.

A Letter about Sydney

Yesterday and today, a friend came to me talking about his intentions of visiting Australia. He requested some input on places of interest, and I briefly told him what I knew of places in Australia. But for Sydney, it's a special case. Sydney's like my second home. There's so much I could talk about Sydney. Here's what I wrote to him:

Ok! And about Sydney!

After staying there 2.5 years, there are still some places I'm yet to explore. (tho funnily i can't remember what i haven't explored there now) Ah yes..

Now of course, there's the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. If you love sights and have some extra cash to spend, you may consider going for the Bridge Climb. You have to book a spot online, and rain or shine, you gotta climb! There are night climbs and sunset climbs too. I'm afraid of heights, so I didn't try! :p If you don't have the means to climb it, you can still walk on the bridge! There's pedestrian paths on the side, and the view is still pretty awesome! That's what I did, hehe!

There's this beautiful coastal walk I love, from Coogee Beach up to Bondi Beach. If you go really slow, it could take 3 hrs, if you brisk jog, about 1.5 hrs. At Coogee Beach, before the start of the walk, there's also a little rock pool you may wanna jump in. However, it may be cold due to winter, where the waters there are about 12-14 C. You pass many small bridges and places, and also a cemetery on top a cliff facing the sea! It's good to go in the morning, then have lunch at Bondi Beach, Sydney's most famous beach. Other popular beaches there include Manly Beach, located at North Sydney and Maroubra Beach. Around Manly Beach there are also walks like the coastal walk, but I've not tried it before (cuz I liked Coogee-Bondi and lived about 20 mins walk from Coogee). Annually they also have a sculpture by the sea somewhere along the Coogee-Bondi walk, but I checked this year's date and it's at the end of October :( There're also some popular beaches up north of Manly, forgot the name, but heard the sand there is best. Now, that's just beach :P

Sydney has... all sorts of food from everywhere. One rather popular place is the Fish Market. Everything there is like, super fresh. Should go in the morning as well, it gets rather crowded around 11 AM. Then there's those chocolate stores, japanese, korean, i don't know, Sydney's just super diverse. If you want western food like ribs and steak, you could try Hog's Breath and/or Hurricanes. Be sure to make reservations as they're usually pretty full. There's a 24hr place called Pancake on the Rocks, situated at the Rocks, near the Opera House. Ppl love going there too, and the line can be pretty long, but it's 24 hrs! That's just food...

(I'm rather skipping a lot of details :P)

Ah yes, for food, I forgot to mention, a short bus ride from Sydney town towards south, you can also have good fish and chips. The place is called La Perouse, and there's a few fish and chip places there.

Oh yea, I did not even manage to go up the skytower xD But anyways, in terms of places to visit, in town, people like to look at the Queen Victoria Building (QVB). It's a shopping place inside. Darling Harbour is also another place of attraction. Sydney Aquarium and wildlife centre is there, it's quite interesting, I went to the Aquarium at least twice. Across the harbour, there's the zoo and seaworld. The zoo is pretty neat, I didn't go to the seaworld, but I heard from my family who went, that the aquarium is better. If you wanna carry a koala, you should go to Cairns or elsewhere, not sure about Melbourne. Because ppl are not allowed to carry/touch a koala in New South Wales. In Cairns, they allow so, I have a picture of myself carrying one there. In Sydney, you can just stand beside it and take photos.

Of course, I'm not done yet, with Sydney :P more places to visit include Watsons Bay, Port Douglas, Hunter Valley and the Blue Mountains. Watsons Bay is scenic, overlooking the harbour and the ocean. Port Douglas is about 2-3hrs drive up north of Sydney, where there are dolphine tours and sand dunes. The sand dunes are spectacular, as it's right next to the ocean. You can go sandboarding there, ride camels and such.

Hunter Valley... is also a short drive out of Sydney, I've never been there myself, but the reason people go there, I can't say here :P

Blue Mountains is also another drive/train out of Sydney to the west. There's a rock formation there known as the three sisters. There, there's also the Jenolan Caves there, which is quite cool. Other than that there's a few quaint little shops that's quite interesting to some =)

That's all for now, I can't think of anything else at the moment :)

I even forgot to include the pies at Woolloomooloo!

And about Penang... It'll be on facebook :P So I'm not gonna talk about it here. Besides, pictures are worth thousands of words ;)

Do I hear a WHEE~?

So I got my chin up bar :D

my chin up bar! :DIt's now attached, and yet, I dare not use it yet xD Gonna wait till dad drills some support screws in :P

Quick overview on the Penang Road Trip. It was something really new, and really filled with food. A lot of things I envisioned it to be, was not to be. But it was still really enjoyable! :) Can't wait for my next trip!

And back to office again!

First road trip done!

Yep, at the age of 24, I've finally went through my first road trip with friends from the office!

However, as usual, story will come later, as it's almost 1 AM right now.

My first wishlist was done at last at least :D And now placed in the navigation bar ~ :D

Sweet dreams!

ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Food for the Heart & Soul

Things I'm saving up for!

Big things (cost exceeding 1000)
  1. A house on land in a good location or a unit in Titiwangsa Sentral, The Greens TTDI, Surian Condominium :D
  2. Trip to China/Italy
  3. Bathroom tiles & shower doors (basically to renovate my bathroom a bit)
Medium things
  1. A pet cat
  2. Bloch ® Adult Wave Sneaker (Silver/Graphite/Purple)
  3. A hot water heater tank YAYAYAYAYA!
  4. A new radio + speakers for my car I actually got a new car instead o.O
  5. Rollerblades!
  6. The oh-so-cute! new iPod nano (green/orange/red)
  7. A good squash racket Now I need the time to play squash o.o
  8. Day curtains for the room
Small things (costing less than 100)
  1. Food undeez/Foot glove :D such as Bloch ® Soleil Foot Glove or Capezio ® Unisex FootUndeez™
  2. Sailing knee pads! :D Now where did I put these...
  3. A small wallet. Don't like big ones anymore. And a card holder for the cards. Got my wallet here
  4. Travel items like padlocks
Immaterial things
  1. Happyness
  2. Sleeping in a couple of mornings weekly
  3. More patience
  4. Someone special with me always
  5. Assertiveness
  6. "true" friends?
Things I like to have
  1. Bed stuff: Quilt sets, bed sheet sets, etc.
  2. Chocolates!
  3. Magnets for the office cubicle
Things I usually don't like to receive as gifts =p
  1. Photo frames, albums
  2. Key rings
  3. Soft toys

Road Trip to the North!

I was planning to blog about @p, but the pace of life have picked up again, and in a couple of hours, I'll be off to Taiping and Penang. So can't write much now, as I've just began to pack :P

See you in a few days! ^^

Solitude

is the name of this blogger skin. I love it! :)

Found their site through April, and now fixing it up beginning with the 'about me' post which is the previous post and now linked at the navigation panel up there.

And this site even thought me how to upload a blogger skin without having to redo all my widgets! :D Previously, I'd save each widget individually, then reload them again manually.

Next, will be mah wishlist :D Which I decided to do not too long ago but haven't actually gotten round to doing it!

About the Ayinpire

As the address of the blog says:

Ayin is me.

Ayinpire is one of my newest online nickname, which ain't that new anymore. But it's uniquely me. Unlike my old yet still active kittenz. Sometimes paired with numbers, either 747 and 23. Well, this is the online me.

In the real world, I'm also known as Naz. Short for Nazreen. Let me explain about Naz and Ayin, since it's one of the mind bogglers to many about my identity. My family calls me Ayin, a nickname I acquired before I can even remember. The story is that, I could not pronounce my real name and kept on saying Ayin, and my dear family decided to call me just that.

As I grew up with my big brother myuu sailing the Optimist (yea, those times!), sailor-people who knew my family then knew me as Ayin. So in the sailing world, I'm Ayin.

However, academic-wise, at all levels except my degree, I was known as Naz. All the way from primary school, secondary school and then my first university where I did my diploma (which in Malaysia is somewhat between pre-uni and a bachelor's degree).

Yet it was during my diploma days, where online gaming and networking started to grow on me. Even though I've been exposed to the internet when it was nothing but dial-up, irc and playsite (where my first ever username online was paw) at an early age, it was now that I started to expand my network through online games, beginning with neopets (yes, I would readily admit it :P). I still enjoy mmorpgs better, but they're just too time consuming now. But anyway, back to the 'topic', in the online world, I'm Ayin.

This carried forward into my bachelor days in UNSW. My housemates called me Ayin because that's what was written on my messenger. It caught on to those people around and close us housemates, but not far enough to my coursemates. So I was half-half known as Ayin and Naz there.

Now that I've started working, my colleagues call me Naz. As that's how I'm introduced to people around there. However, there are some people in my office who has been introduced to me as Ayin from my uni days, so, it causes some confusion in others. xD

So that's the story of Ayin :)

I respond to Naz, Nazreen and Ayin equally well that I wouldn't notice at all if you switched calling me between Naz and Ayin.

What about ayinpire? I bite. So Ayin + Vampire = Ayinpire.

Stress and Moodyness don't mix well

Today's a good day.

But not yesterday, not the day before. And a couple of days before that too. I had a mix of being stressed out and moody at the same time. And moody here is pretty much being at that snappy kind of person who gets annoyed so easily at small things.

Moody is that time of the month.

For some funny reason I'm not moody today.

So far so good.

missed gym. work. lunch with awesome ppl. work. PRIME. drop by the shop for onions and garlic. cooked dinner. dinner. blog

now with Miss April uploading a new blog template, I wants one too! :D

She's mah super cool colleague, whom I speak lolspeak with almost on a daily basis. Posted aboutz me once too :o I certainly wanna return the honour someday. This post definitely is not enough.

Nevertheless, even on good days, things can still go blah. But when it's a good day, it's a good day, where small things do not annoy you. Today's small thing that I can recall is my car's hand break not working :P It won't go up.

Hmm I have a bunch of random stuff in this post :D

BiO. Now HERE's the climb.

Back in Office.

I reckon that the remaining rest of the year, and the year ahead, will be a steep learning curve for me. Now I'm onward into attempting to finish my research paper the best I can, then there's some fill-in-the-job for someone who's leaving my team to further her studies (wishing her the best of luck and best wishes!), and then there's the Annual Report and Financial Stability Reports coming.

As for details about sailing.. Having two regattas back to back, my memory has jumbled itself up. When someone asks, 'how did it go?', I am unsure on which regatta to describe. 'Did i win?' is also.. subjective.

So I'm prolly not gonna describe about my experience and adventure until someone asks me about something which is 'blog-worthy' in my opinion :P

Here's my silliness from a few months back for not applying sunblock on some skin :P

Yes, it hurt. :P

Does reality bite?

It's a Sunday. And tomorrow is a work day.

It's been two weeks since I've been in the office, and away sailing. Now on this fine Sunday morning, I've just completed my laundry, and currently settling my bills. My credit card bill is > 1k.

Sailing can indeed be expensive. Thankfully the charges came mostly from the first regatta, and I had sponsors for the match racing the following week. So anyone looking for sails, do checkout Quantum Sails ;D They're amazing! Our team got some of the nifty items from this page:
  • Q Short Sleeve Cotton Tee Shirts
  • Small Sailcloth Duffel Bag
Thanks to Ai Li for the photo!

The expenses incurred during the Raja Muda includes and not limited to:
  • Accommodation @ Pangkor & Penang
  • Entry fee (RM300)
What other expenses did I incur during the month besides the usual phone bills and such? Car servicing: RM400

Nevertheless, I am thankful :)

I can afford it ;p

Back to 'normal life'

I arrived back in KL about 5 hours ago, and just finished unpacking most of my stuff.

By this time, I've pretty much forgot stuff that happened, whatever it may be, during the Raja Muda Regatta :P

Anyhow, updates later, I'm now gonna enjoy my loooovely own bed!

When the night has come

"Stand by me" was the one song that I kept thinking off while I sailed through the night. Especially the part 'when the night has come, and the land is dark'.

There's so much to tell about the Raja Muda Race that I participated in, but being a no good story-teller, I've no idea how to tell it in a non-boring way. So here goes anyway.

The facts first:
  • There's three main passages to race. Port Klang - Pangkor Island - Penang Island - Langkawi Island
  • In all three passage races, we started off around 1 pm.
  • We arrived in Pangkor Island at about 8 am the following day, Penang Island about 4 am the following day, and Langkawi at about 9.30 pm the same day (yay)
  • I sailed in a Hunter 49 boat
  • I threw up a total of 4 times: thrice on the first passage, once on the second, and none on third!
One thing for sure, is that I learned a LOT from my first offshore racing. I really don't know if I'll do this again. Not next year for sure. Nevertheless, I certainly do not regret going for it.

To be continued...

Here we go!

Just waiting for Rudy to come by in about 35 mins, while eating my breakfast and doing some quick browsing around the internet before I'm offline for a week.

Then fly back to attend BNM's annual dinner (50th anniversary, woohoo!) and then fly off to Terengganu Sunday morning (22nd) for match racing! (my first match racing competition, whee!)

Last night, I didn't sleep soundly. I guess the nervousness has turned into more of excitement now. Really can't wait to experience this off-shoreness stuff.

Off we go!

When's the last time I've been as nervous as this?

Next weekend (14th onwards), I'll be in a big race. It's gonna be my first off shore racing, and definitely will be racing through the night. I've already started dreaming about it when I sleep at night.

I'm so damn nervous about it.

Kinda sad that after all these years sailing, I've only started keelboat sailing this year. The sailing I did in Syd, even tho it has a keel, still felt more like a dinghy. (A very fun one that is! Wish they'd be available in Malaysia someday)

I'm quite anxious too, to get started. Part of the reason I'm rather nervous is that last I heard, there's only six crew altogether on board manning a 49ft yacht. Shifts? Perhaps none =p I reckon there'll be more people tho!

I remember while in Sydney, since training was from 4 to about 7 pm, I get a little nervous as the day starts to darken, and we're still out on the waters. Now I'll be sailing through the night!

Yet after this experience, I'm certainly eager to do more offshore racing. It feels like I'm 'completing' my being a sailor somewhat!

The world gets smaller and smaller

Today was the Festival of Sails @ RSYC. Something like a mini regatta that I attended and skippered a platu. Communication certainly lacked a lot coming into today. It was rather unusual that today was one of the days, when there seemed to be too many crew and not enough skippers. Or so it seems.

So today, I had 7 ppl on board. From 5 to 3 to 5 to 6 to 8 to 7. All change within 24 hrs. Anyhow, despite having more weight on board, I reckon we did fairly good, finishing first on the first race. However, on the pursuit back to the club, I forgot to keep some marks on port, thus marked 'DNF' (Did Not Finish), after I crossed the line second. Still, awesome effort! :)

Shortly after I arrived at the club and met Ian, he looked at me straight and said "I have something very important to ask you: Where you at a wedding last weekend? Mervin & Swee Fong's wedding?". (The wedding I mentioned in the last post). To which I replied yeah, and he asked "the bride's side or the groom's?", where I replied, "bride's". And then he proceeded to explain that his niece came back to Malaysia all the way from UK to attend the same wedding! She was both in the morning session and the dinner. I later explained that the bride's my cousin.

So now, I'm 'like' family to them. Hehehe ^^

We had the prize giving for the whole series of sailing this year. Ai Li's team, in which I crew for and sometimes helm, clinched 2nd place :) First place went to Tom, third to Jeremy. And that's for the One Design (Platu) series. As for the cruisers, Rapscallions earned 2nd place too! We'll totally do better next time!

Sailing Teams

Here's the crew on board Rapscallion:

Standing, L-R: Nicky, Jeff, Ian, Ayin
Front, L-R: Rohit, Chris

And here's the AY team for the Malaysian Match Racing Championship which doubles as a qualifier to the Monsoon Cup:
Standing, L-R: Arif, Nicky, Ayin, Lan (manager), Ai Li, Fariz, Geng

I still recall that I wanted to talk more of what happened last Sunday, but I forgot what it was. I think it was a day of doing all sorts of undone chores. Haha, sorry, I forgot!

Yesterday was my cousin's wedding. Now that, is another blog post :P

Right now I have to try and do my h/w x)

Lack of Interest

Shedding Skins

Yes, scoured around for a new template. But I'm not really settled with this one.

Lots of things to mention about from today, but it's not over yet. So next post perhaps ;)

Something what I think, may be...

My first luxury item I bought since I started getting paychecks. No doubt I've spend a lil here and there. But today, I finally officiated my first luxury item: 340 threadcount, 100% cotton sateen, fitted sheet from Aussino. I love it.

(As I write this, I just thought.. I should've taken a picture of it before I unwrapped it)

Almost immediately after I unwrapped it, I laid it out on my bed, spread it, fitted it in, and lie on it. Yes, I'm totally in love with it. It's so smooth, so fine, so... lovely. I just had to blog about it immediately. Haha!

Now I just realised, that it may not be my first luxury item afterall. Perhaps it's my first long-lasting luxury item, as other stuff... more like indulgences. Such as hair-dos, spa visits (twice ever so far), and fooood. Which reminds me, I had a new haircut yesterday :P My hair's so so short right now.

<3 Aussino

Other unrelated matters: I seriously need new clothes... I've measured my waist, and I'm now about 28-29 inches, as compared to 24 inches when I left for Australia. 25 inches when I got back. It's no fun at all trying to fit into my old and not-so-old clothes in my current condition.

Nearing mid-October

And things are as busy as ever. Can't wait till the end of this month. Another wedding to attend, which seems like I am unlikely to (it's in JB), and there's a Festival of Sails.

And there's still classes, and training, and homework, and work itself. In addition to the busy October, there's workshops, and presentations to make.

*tries to stay low*

And right now, I'm not even feeling well. I don't know if I can go to work tomorrow.

September Stress flowing into October

Sometimes, being the pioneer of something can be so messed up. Expectations too. I got a feeling I'm going downwards in the 'up and down' cycle, if I've not already reached the bottom.

All my weekends, pretty much devoted for sailing. It's one of my priorities, and something I would not let go easily. I believe it's my right too... Which may result me in performing below expectations of other things.. like work.

Often I do wonder if I have too much on my plate. If me doing several different things stretches my time too few. Or am I not being efficient enough with my time at work? While in uni, I experimented with several different things. I remember letting some go in the end. It feels like I have to let more go soon. This makes my mind think of culture.

With the swirl of several cultures around us, how do I respond? Do I create/follow my own 'culture', whatever that may be, or does culture shape me? Some parties ask for change, and hope that we newbies can facilitate that change, but at the same time, we are already absorbing what is culture currently is. (Despite the numerous complains)

I wonder what's it like to be freelance o.o

Becareful what you wish for..

Funny, just about two days ago I was wishing to have a day off to sleep in. Yesterday, I overslept :P Usually, I'm off to work by 7.15AM during Ramadan. I woke up at 7.20AM.

In addition, I had to drop by the ATM to get some cash to exchange for new notes, which was something I had to do between 8 - 10AM. The new notes is for raya. What's raya? See here.

Yesterday evening was rather interesting. We (the new trainees) were having some buka puasa event, and there were VVIPs. So we were assigned places onto three tables, where one VVIP was seated at each. I'm not assigned to the most VVIP of them, and I felt rather funny and somewhat underperforming. That's because sometimes.. or most times, I'm rather critical of myself and always want to look the best. (One of the ways is like being assigned to the most important table). Anyhow, blessing in disguise, since my table's VVIP had to leave early, and most of the others too, except the most VVIP, I get to leave early too :D

So? Becareful what you wish for ;)

Cats make me jealous

Something "serious" for a change. ;D

funny pictures of cats with captions
see more Lolcats and funny pictures

*pokes my latest twitter about wanting to sleep in*

Random Thoughts

There's always something in my mind. At times, I'd think of something and tell myself, I should blog about it. Then at the time I come on the computer, I totally forget what it was.

People make me wonder a lot. Especially on why they do things. How they view the world. I believe in empathizing with other people to understand them. Yet there are times I still can't.

In some ways, everyone needs help. For any kind of reason. Some people can easily receive help, while others are more resistant. Eventually I think it all comes down to them, whether they want to help themselves.

Like sometimes, I get upset. And I stay upset. And during that time, sometimes no matter what anyone does to cheer me up, I reject that effort. Many times I'm being stubborn or more demanding, feeling that the effort is not enough. It has happened before. But perhaps, I did not want to let myself be cheered.

So when it comes to self improvement, it's eventually up to the person itself if he or she really wants to. Though still, outside factors and motivations still play a big role.

I don't really know what I'm going on about here right now. Can I believe, that on top of all the outside factors and our surroundings during our upbringing, the moment where we can start thinking for ourselves, we are responsible for our own living, and how we choose to live life?

I think, that's the thing that makes me wonder...

Personal Time

I was out for buka puasa with my friend/colleague, April. We always have lots to chat about, no matter when. Hahaha, if it's not about work, it's about something crazy or funny like lolcat and FML. There was this one topic we talked about: Personal Time.

To me, Personal Time is pretty much my private time. For me, myself and I. It would be the time I spend doing whatever I feel like, even if I feel like doing nothing, in my own personal and private space. My room. Of course it can extend to other parts of the house, but you get what I mean (I hope :P). But, when? While I'm still waiting for the opportunity to have personal time for a full 24 hrs, mostly it's at night after the daily rituals. Work, dinner, training, etc.

But do what? Sometimes with that personal time, people don't know what to do. Nothing good on tv, no books to read, etc. I'm rather thankful that I'd always have something to do. Besides my tendency to play games, I've started reading books again, thanks to the discount I've received from BNM's Knowledge Fair. I'd list down the books I bought, but Adik borrowed one, and I can't remember the title name (it's a long title! :P). So I'll list it later.

Of course, there's the physical and mental factor. Sometimes we're just too tired to do anything in our spare time. For some reason, I tend to feel that way every night. That really limits my socialising time. I guess that's what working life is all about. (*sob sob* haha)

I'm certainly looking forward to my personal time always. Not that I'm pushing everyone away! I still need to try harder to strike a balance with everything.

Meaning of Doing what You're Doing

This sorta stems out from having a goal. Now, when given a task, I try to find the meaning of what I do. Sometimes things seem so.. basic, and we feel like doing something 'more meaningful'. But is the other something really more meaningful, or is it just us failing to see the reason and meaning behind doing something basic.

If only I step back and give it a thought. What is this basic thing I'm doing, and what is it for? Is it something I can improve on, does it require more technical skills? Sometimes, I actually wish I did programming :P I know it's not too late to learn. And I'd hate to say this, but there is a need to have more hours in a day xP

I don't like saying 'no time' as an excuse, yet I do that all the time. Thus I have this urge to manage my time well, so that I have ample personal time to make me happy with how I'm living. Sadly, I have very very limited time for family and friends. Hmm, maybe it's my diet. If I maintain a healthier balance of diet, perhaps I won't feel exhausted too easily and be able to stretch the day longer. Maybe!

Attachment begins

And it feels really weird to be away from your office, but in the same building. I reckon I'm still trying to adjust to work culture in general. Seems like school again, the introvert-ness in me is sticking out a bit.

I often wish I'm back in my dept. I miss the times I head to the gym in the morning with April. Breakfast, lunch, at HQ as well as training centre. Right now, I miss a lot of things...

MR, I wanna MR

No, I don't 'wanna Mister'.

I wanna Match Race.

Just went for a course in match racing in Putrajaya. Despite the heat and the weirdness of the accommodation being so far and stuff, I wished the course was much longer. Though that would not be good, given that I have an 'exam' this Friday on central banking stuff.

Nevertheless I'm so thankful to be given the opportunity to participate, with many many thanks to Asian Yachting. I was even mentioned in the papers :D

No doubt there are still plenty of obstacles ahead, but I will do my best no matter what.

<3

The Routine of Life

Hm. What's new? Nothing really. I'd like to think my life is rather routine-ic. Yet uncertainties remain plenty. One thing remains the same tho: busy.

Of course, there are the human needs that would certainly require time.

Staying at the training centre helps a lot, as I have lots to worry less. But that does not mean I have more time. I quite enjoy spending some time after work doing some sort of physical activity with my friends here such as squash, badminton and swimming. And after that, or more specifically, after dinner, I wind down while watching tv, or just staying in my room by myself. Just spending time with myself was starting to be difficult, so I'm definitely pleased to be able to do that here.

Over the weekend, I also bought some books using the discount given to us. I've started reading one, but am yet to go far. It's not even a thick book, but yeah, issue of time is still a factor.

Now, time for my quick lunch nap :D

Turning "PR" at HCDC

Haha @ me only posting once last month. Where on earth did July go?

Yet the joys of the month will still linger long... If only time goes much slower when you're having fun.

If only I can make everything in life fun. Actually, I can.

Looking for: more time!

Now that August is here, I've moved to staying at the training centre for many reasons:
  • Food
  • Hot Water
  • Friends
  • No transportation hassle
=D

Yezzzzaaaa I'm still alive!

Where have I been?

One word: BUSY.

I've been on my work's 6-month training programme (in week 4 now), sailing on weekends, and entertaining a special guest. Technically, I have no time for anything else.

To top it all off: I forgot my pw to this acct. So it took me a while to fix that :P

But as they say, a new broom sweeps clean. This blog may be turning into an old broom now. But regardless, it's still my channel for random blabber. ;D

Sick

I am.

Still.

High temperature

Today I'm not at work due to a fever. Last night I apparently reached to 38.9 C

(ok, so technically i stopped writing after that and saved it as draft, and only just looking at it now, on Sunday 9.30 pm, but continuation after this)

It was one of the days, where time in the office feels like forever. Often it passes by rather ok, not too fast, not too slow either, but feeling sick since lunch-time made me keep a close watch on the clock, waiting for it arrive at going-home time. Tho unless I'm mistaken, I could take time off to see the doctor... But I felt like, it's just the second half of the work day.. I can manage.. Don't know when I've ever felt that cold because of sickness xP

And because of that.. I've totally lagged in doing some stuff I wanted... And still having the aftermaths of the illness still drags this further... Oh well, I get to rest for once! ^_^

Effective Communication

comes by talking!

But not talking alone. Trust, sincerity and openness helps build effective communication. Oh, and also respect.

Without respect, it's hard to be able to listen to the other speaking.
Without trust, it's hard to believe what the other is saying.
Without sincerity, it's hard to bring the message to the other.
Without openess, it's hard to accept what the other is conveying.

But having full open discussion ain't simple. For myself, I have to gather the courage to speak out, and hear what others have to say about myself, be it nasty or nice.

But to be able to do so in the end.. feels like an achievement for me =)

Musicals, musicals~

I have Phantom of the Opera stuck in my head at the moment. Triggered by watching one of the finalist on Britain's Got Talent through youtube. I remember mentioning at one point that I went to watch the musical while they performed in Sydney. Can't recall if I posted about it.

Anyway, loves it!! =D If I had the chance, I'd so go to more!

Sunday's racing wasn't so good (was really bad in fact). I still need to get used to the boat. And to communicate to the crew. Anyhow, seems like we're gonna start training again soon =)

Star Trek

So I finally watched the movie last night under Nan's recommendation. I enjoyed it ^_^


edit: whoops i totally forgot to talk more about this and published it. so here it is :P short.
(posted 7th June 2009 @ 9.30 pm)

Finance & Economics

Thinking can be fun. Really.

Thinking about finance and economics, is like thinking about siblings. They both come together, they both influence each other. Like organs and health. Like :P

Anyone can easily figure out general economics. Put yourself in a small economy (let's say maplestory or even neopets), and you'd be able to tell if prices will go up or down, what the demand and supply forces are like. Then lots of people engage in these economic activities. So there you have the basics. In a way, you could say it's a simplistic economic model of real economy. (As in, real life, not net/gross/per capita whatever). The main/huge difference, is risk. Think about it. (Srsly, thinking can be fun!)

What is not so fun about what I'm working with at the moment? The law part of it :P

A dose of Ayin's randomness

I received my new lenses on my spectacles today!

Today's jam was bad, but not so bad.

Had really really early dinner. Well not that early, was around 6.45 pm maybe?

I'm tired.

I ended up wearing a combination of office clothes that I didn't quite like.

Anuar was asleep when I dropped by at P16.

I cut my toenails today.

Hmm.. maybe not as random as it seems. Mebbe more like snippets of the day :p

I like to move it move it!

Yesterday was full of rawr. Today, despite having a headache all day, retail therapy has helped lift my general mood up.

Spent the afternoon at 1 Utama till evening, and at one place they were playing Madagascar on some of the TVs at the electronic section. Their song is now stuck in my head.

Anyways, my target was to get more clothes for the office, and gym pants, since I found out that my sailing track pants are not really suitable.. xP No suitable gym pants found, focused more on office clothes. Ah well =)

Then staying at P16 now, I get to try some of my mum's old clothes. They fit well! Tho actually a bit tight to put on o.o

First full paycheck coming soon! :D

Time, work, play...

I have a rather not so happy thing about working. The problem is not that I hate work or the having to go to office daily. It's being rushed into starting work. Being told again and again to hurry up and start working and hearing rants about how slow my employer is, in absorbing me into office.. just so that I can start earning.

It's just like about cooking. For a long time, I avoided the kitchen, hated the kitchen, hated being pushed to know how to cook and prepare stuff... just because I'm a girl. I don't see my brothers being told off all the time to be 'kitchen-savvy'.

And, it doesn't end there. Tho, that's life, isn't it? Having ppl put all sorts of expectations on you and pushing you to do things they think you should be doing. But for me, passion does not come from there. Instead, it just makes me reject it more.

I'm 24 now. I do need my space to make my own decisions. Not that I'm going to make rash and irrational judgment. Not that I'm going to totally shun away advice and such either. So much I could rant about, but something's pulling me back. Anyways on the bright side, it's Friday ^_^

Time passed by and it's about a month since my last update. What happened since the last time? I don't know. I may remember, but I can't be bothered to think. Not now, not on a Friday night.

What I do know, is that now everyday there's something. There's no day of doing nothing. Either work, or 'play'. Is it a complaint? Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps it's not something complain about. Perhaps, you don't know me :p

Officially a Graduate

5 days, 4 nights, 15 hrs of flight, morning/noon flights.

Seriously not enough. I only managed to squeeze in 3 full days in Sydney. It wasn't a holiday. It was a trip. I wished I had more time, but it's ok, hopefully it pays off.

Most of it was spent on campus, surrounded by my dear friends, whom I really miss. Given my short time there, it allowed me to reflect back of all our friendships, and makes me ponder of how it's gonna be like from here onwards.

Nevertheless, it's a blessing. :)

Pics have been uploaded on facebook, tho it's not all of them. I wanna post one here sometime soon tho, once I find a fitting one for here xD

I wanted to type a lot more, but.. I keep getting distracted o.o *blames having 5 convos and tonnes of tabs open on firefox* :P

The Week After

Work has begun, and my focus is to get into the groove of things. Waking up early, having little home time, thinking how to solve problems and more. I hope it doesn't take too long to get into the flow of things, but it does take a lot of effort. Thankfully things are going well so far, friendly colleagues, interesting tasks, lovely environment and more. (I shall not elaborate :P)

The only *really* bad thing that happened is having my foot stepped on with force by someone wearing thin heels.. and not thin as in short heels, but more like, the ones that can possibly pierce through solid matter (ok, I exaggerate a bit ;P). But nevertheless, it left a mark on my foot: a huge bruise that made walking painful.

I can still feel it right now, a lot less, but still there.

Oh, random things, I bumped into Zaid's family at Ikea, wow the children have grown up a lot :o They're still so cute and adorable tho! ^_^ Doubt that they remember me tho.

The next couple of months will be really busy. I'm hoping training will be done by then, so I could take time off in July...

Still, it's some time till then. So till then. Till then.

Next week I'll be off to Sydney. Feels kinda weird, for some reason.

Tomorrow I report to work

Thus, I've been lazy to blog and doing all sorts of other things. Among them, gaming.

Yep, how typical of me :P After the interview and medical checkup, which has stories of it's own, rather personal, but nevertheless, makes me go o.O Too personal to write here :P Sorry!

I've diverted from playing maplestory cuz the regional stuff just sucks, and it's so time consuming unless you have some spare cash. I have neither. From being cut off from allowance since the completion of my studies, to the waiting time before I am able to start work. Seriously, it's beyond my power :P

So instead, I've been playing a bit of Left 4 Dead, and Zombie Panic! Source. Been trying it out on my bro's account, and seems fun, I might invest it them someday.. someday :P after there's more cash inflow.

Of course, it's not all games. Besides the many never-ending chores in between, I watched "Confessions of a Shopaholic" yesterday. I've also did a bit of shopping (for work clothes, k?) and exploring... as, after all this while, I've never actually fully explored the malls at Mutiara D'sara. It's interesting to discover some "handy" shops, like the 'all rm5' shop, consisting of stuff from Japan, which I'm guessing came from the 100Yen shop. The size of the shop is impressive too, as it has... maaaany maaaaany things! On the 3rd floor of The Curve.

Now, back to tomorrow.. I start work. I think I'm very intimidated because of my unfamiliarity with the organisation. And its size :D Yet at the same time anxious to know what I have to do, what's to be done, and what can I do to be the best :D

Kereta Kecil Warna Merah

Bolehku bawa ke sekolah~

Yesterday, involved in the second accident this year. This time with my kelisa. End result:
This happened after my interview, as I was heading off from the bank. No, I wasn't driving :P

Now I'm car-less while it takes 3 days to fit in a new door and fix a bit of the body and repaint. At least, in this accident, the car need not be towed away, and I'm not stranded on the highway for 3 hours. The door is still somewhat functional, able to open and close, but the window can't go all the way down (who needs that anyway), and it does not shut tightly, thus, if I park in an open area, rainwater may flow in. We decided that it's probably best to get it replaced now, while Anuar is on school break, thus, we have an extra car to move about.

The interview was alright, not as nerve wrecking as I thought it would be, rather, pleasant, despite my lack of knowledge on anything.

Technical Blues

It's still the first quarter of 2009, and again, my computer decided to be naughty. This time, the C: drive did not like the idea of being a good harddisk, thus becoming corrupt. My attempts to correct it was in vain and so I turned to the computer expert of the family. Together, we tried to fix the errors, but it only became worse, and ultimately, it crashed under pressure and refused to function properly anymore.

Reformat :P

Reinstall windows :K

Reinstall everything else T_T

Slowly now :P

Thank goodness I've backed up everything.

Stupid computers :K

Oh, today the bunch of us went to Tanjung Tuan for this Raptor watching event. We hiked up to the lighthouse there in an attempt to get a better view of migrating birds from Sumatra towards Thailand, until its final destination in Siberia.

There wasn't much luck, but as we descended back to the event area, there were lots of 'em hovering above us. Thank goodness there were no droppings :D

Btw, Tanjung Tuan is near PD. And apparently it's in Melaka o.o (wasn't aware that PD is that close to Melaka already)

That was today's trip. Now gotta focus for tomorrow's placement interview.. wish me luck!

Improvement and Challenge

Our sailing as a team has improved, our handling our own jobs more efficient and such. :D

And I still miss dinghy sailing.

At least, I'm still sailing on the bow position, quite fun, but I still need my strength back. Someone please make me go to the gym x)

Mandarin classes have commenced last week, and it's going fast. Now I have to brush up my vocab and stuff again. Ppl, try talk to me in hanyu plz. xD

Placement interview next monday, yikes.

Wedding Photos Uploaded

Standing: Ryan & Me, Sitting from Left: Sheera, Jan Nee, Amy, Hui Chien

After slacking a bit, I've finally took some time to get the photos up on facebook.

Random: I noticed that in the previous year I blogged less, and three years before that XD Like a pattern, so I guess this year can expect me to be blogging lots.. xD Even tho I've missed blogging much on the first two months of 2009 already.

Random Change

Being as random as always, on the spur of the moment I decided to change my blog skin, since my previous one seemed to have some weird problems of making my posts disappear. Not sure where to start, I looked up the page of skins for the previous layout, and also the other designs for Sheera's and Bal's blog ;D

I came on this, and decided to use this. For now ^_^

Back In The Water

Previously, I've been looking for entertainment.. Instead, I created chores for myself. Pondering on old photos, in need of an album, sorting out paper-type material strewn all over my room, making sure I have clothes, stuff, ready for anything... o.o

In addition, I'm starting Mandarin classes again next week.. Looks like it's back at level one T_T 你好。。。

Weekends are now occupied with sailing again. Last week, I got back into the sport, ever since my long break due to my "misadventures", familiar among my friends. For a start, I attempted to skipper the platu. Prior to that, I've *never* skippered anything bigger than an International 470 or Elliot 6's. Oh, and the platus have engines too, that's another first.

(The engine is stowed away during racing, don't bother looking for it in that pic :P)

Then I tried trimming. But my strength keeps failing me. In fact, I'm yet to even start my strength training for my right arm.. xD *hides*

Lots of things have changed back home, with sailing. I'm usually doing dinghy sailing, and now I'm venturing onto the bigger boats. So the faces, while some are familiar, most are unfamiliar. I do hope to have some fun dinghy sailing again someday.

Anyways, thanks for the photos Ai Li and Glen =D

L > Entertainment

and many more...

Escape.

Just killed in WW, that's been entertaining at least

Result of Two Homes

One week prior to the wedding, up to yesterday, I was staying in Rudy's old room in P16. Now that things are more calmer, I opted to stay in Surian yesterday. So, tonight we had tickets to watch Red Cliff 2 at 9.10 pm. Since Rudy lives nearby, and it being a late movie, I wanted to hitch a ride with him, as I rather not drive alone at night. At about 7.30 pm we talked on the phone to reconfirm our plans, and he told me that they're planning to leave the house at 8 pm. So at about 8 pm, I got ready, and was pretty much ready to go at 5 minutes past 8.

Events:
8.13 pm (approx)
Fai nee-chan called to say that they're arriving soon. So I went downstairs to wait.

7 minutes later
Still no sign of them, I wandered back an forth around the lobby.

8.20 pm
Rudy called.
Rudy: Where are you?
Me: Where am I? Where are you?
Rudy: Downstairs lah.
Me: I'm also downstairs, near Block B. (at that time I wandered towards Block B, while in Surian I stay in Block C, but Block B in P16)
Rudy: Why aren't you near the benches?
Me: What benches? (There aren't any in Surian)

It didn't occur to me right away, but they just realised that they were picking me up in P16 while I was at Surian...

Lesson learnt, we're not gonna assume things anymore xD

Weddings Done. Now I'm like, totally unemployed~

On the 7th of February, Rudy & Faizah's wedding reception was held. After that, it's all done, all the preparations, and stuff, all led up to that night. It went pretty well, I reckon =) It was truly tiring tho, and for the next few days after that, I simply refused to budge from comfort, especially under the quilt in an air conditioned room.

The whole week after, passed by rather quick. I can only recall making all sorts of plans, and then procrastinating them. They include going to the post office, paying my internet bill, checking the mandarin and dance classes. I've only did half.. this week :P

At least in the meanwhile, I managed to go out with some ppl. Actually, only two ppl ;o Most others have sorta flew away :(

There has also been an outbreak of sickness :s lots of people around me getting sick. Today my lil bro just started feeling fever-ish. Me? I just continue having my headaches @_@

I reckon my blog posts are relatively uninteresting as of late :P I had some stuff in mind to share, but laziness has taken over.. mebbe some other time ^o^ (procrastination mode: on)

Ruth Sahanaya - Kaulah Segalanya

One of the song mentioned in previous post...

Lagu-lagu

Kau tahu betapa ku sayang pada muuu

Saje nak jiwang :P

Menjeling, menjeling ku bertentang...

Kaulah segalanya untukku

Lagu esok nanti

3 days to go

and then all the wedding stuff will be done :o

however.. so much to do still, in between o__o

anyhow, things are looking upwards again at least :) I miss Sydney tho.. aside from the heatwave in Australia xP

For some reason, I keep feeling sleepy x.x even after sleep ins, or long naps, I'm still sleepy...

Zzzzzzzzzz...

funny pictures of cats with captions
more animals

Thoughts of Conflict

I think I tend to create all sorts of complications within myself, and stuff around me. Now I'm filled in conflict, as half my mind says this, half my mind says the other. It's always hard to be simple, as much as I yearn for it.

Now comes to the two hardest issues to create compromise. Yet instilled in my mind, one factor easily reigns over the other. But the consequences? Am I gonna sacrifice something I've always wanted? My mind feels so at loss, it seeps endlessly through my thoughts and takes away my appetite too.

Are the differences finally catching up? Saying that it's not gonna happen? I really hope not. Is this how it's gonna be like? My mind has loads of questions wanting to come out, but I woke up too late today. I'm hoping to ask, if not now, but when we meet later, and I hope he'll be there and willing to answer.

Into Week 3 of Home Sweet Home

January.. where did January go? It totally flew by. Just beginning of this month, I was with someone special far from home. At the end of the month, I'm without a laptop, I have a new sister-in-law, I have appointments to schedule, people to meet, stuff to purchase, internet to install, and so on.

In addition, I have mum attempting to ensure I start work as soon as possible. (So I kinda messed up my assessment, as I rushed to the office barely five days after my arrival)

In my first week at home, I had Amy keeping me company. Thanks for the helping hand ^^ Sorry I couldn't be more hospitable, rather than dragging you around for my chores.

Seeing my big brother getting married created mixed feelings within. Knowing that he has found his happiness and love makes me feel happy for him, that now he's like, a husband :o Sometimes it's hard to believe too, haha. It was only 2.5 years ago or so, when I left for Australia, while he's still being a bachelor hooked onto his computer thingamajigs (still is hooked anyway). On the other hand it's like, awhh, he's now settled down.. how often will I see him now? How often would I enjoy doing things together with him? Needless to say, the house is indeed a lot quieter without him (remember the occasional sudden loud noises of World of Warcraft coming from his room).

Finally it was only 3 days ago when I got the opportunity to meet up with some friends, from my secondary school and two of my ex-housemates. I can't believe I spent about 9 hrs at the mall xP (including watching Underworld 3)

Just in a day, and it'll be February. One of the most interesting months of the year. o.O

ik mis je

Now back home after almost a year away, things are as hectic as ever.

Straightaway got home and caught up with all the happenings of the wedding, and also pushed to report to work as soon as possible. Assessment happened yesterday, it was alright, but I was definitely unprepared.

Day off plz o.o

Ik ben hier!

Ik mis je.

I'm back in Sydney. For now.
 

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