Archive for March, 2008

Apparently something is brewing over the horizon in April. My last post mentioned that I had a busy April coming about but I have this nagging feeling that something fishy and familiar is looming. What could it just be?

anniedarth I better start taking the bus in April

That mask looks so familiar to me, I wonder who used to wear it. Perhaps if I asked this guy if he knew what was going on.

tattoospiketv I better start taking the bus in April

Or maybe this guy might know something.

spiketvwingman I better start taking the bus in April

Wingman? Whose wingman is he? How can you go about picking girls up with that hairy suit? Well I guess with that, it does start a pretty interesting conversation. With that feeling in my head, I guess it would be best to take the bus to work in April. Why do you ask? This is why.

wars I better start taking the bus in April
Image source: Gizmodo

Thats right, in case of emergencies, please break glass and arm yourself with a lightsaber. Still not convinced? Perhaps this would change your mind somewhat.

star1 I better start taking the bus in April
Image source: AmNY

Now I better run and hide from them Siths.

For more info, visit this site.

April, oh April.

March 25, 2008

March is soon coming to an end but I am really looking forward to an exciting month of April. Why is April so exciting for me? Well, that is because I have three upcoming workshops in April, which I anticipate that I will learn a lot from it as well as make full use of it to propel me forward in both my passion and my career (sad to say sometimes that my career may not be my passion).

First up would be the “From Ordinary to Extraordinary” workshop from the 11-13th ofApril held at the Pixel Media centre in the new DAP state of Penang. I will be flying off to Penang over the weekend via AirAsia in hope of learning from the awesome Louis Pang. I definitely have to thank my mum for being able to arrange for me my accomodation in Penang. Because of that, I feel a little more at ease about acommodation

From Ordinary to Extraordinary
Note: There is also another session in June held in KL. Do visit this site for more information

Right after that workshop, I will arrive in KL on the 14th of March and the next day I will be off to Bandar Utama for another workshop from the 15th till the 18th of March. This time it is an SAP workshop held at IBM. Also interesting as I will be considered rather fresh in that topic in regards to DB2 usage but I am always eager to learn more.

At the end of April, I would be attending the annual Charge Up conference which I attended last year. Really looking forward again for this year’s conference where Louis Pang will be conducting the Photography stream for 4 days! This format is slightly different as compared to last year where it was held from Friday night and over the weekend where I actually missed the ending of the conference. This time, I am making sure that I am available through all 4 days.

CUC2008ad01 April, oh April.

Photography

Louis Pang
1st place winner of the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) 2007 8×10 print competition, Louis is a highly sought after photographer & educator in Asia. Louis travels to Australia, Hong Kong, India, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and all over Malaysia for wedding assignments. He was also appointed an Epson Stylus Pro, an elite fraternity of top professionals who are selected for their artistry excellence and technical know-how in digital imaging.

April is definitely a month that I am really looking forward to. I must polish up my skills and my knowledge to be a better photographer in both the artistic and technical sense. I wonder if I will be able to get my laptop by then, who knows?

Early today, someone came up to me and wished me, “Happy Easter”. I for one am not particularly used to being wished that. Then it hit me that how far I might have been from the whole truth about the resurrection of Jesus on this day some 2000 years ago. Why has it not been that significant in my life right now, these very thoughts came about me and I sat down and realised that I have been filled with too many things other than God. Career mindedness has crept into my inner most thoughts as well as photography and the mixture of life and where is mine moving towards.

Most of today was spent in church, shooting the dedication service where we finally dedicated the Dream Centre as well as shooting the dedication dinner as well. There were plenty of people and a huge crowd. The sheer number of tables available were far more than that I have seen at any wedding so it was a huge thing. It really didn’t start well when I arrived at church as the clouds were turning black and thunder was echoing about but God was in definite control. I said to Ps. Mike when I walked into the church compound, “Looks like rain, huh?” and his reply hit me back, “Don’t believe what you see”. He was absolutely right, God was in total control. Not only did it not rain, there was a slight hint of a drizzle during dinner and when a group started praying, even the small drizzle stopped. God is totally awesome.

After dinner, I had the wonderful pleasure of getting teased at because Liverpool was down by a goal against Man Utd and by the time I finished watching the entire match at my cell member’s condo, it was absolutely horrid. Liverpool lost by 3 goals to nothing and all I could do was sulk in a corner. Well, I didn’t really sulk that much but I guess it was what I expected from a 10-men Liverpool team.

As I drove home, rain started pouring down like there was no tomorrow. This is what is expected from a God who is almighty, everything is in accordance to His timing. I sit down now in front of my computer, while I write this, all I can think is that God sent us his one and only son, Jesus to this earth who died on Good Friday and rose again 3 days later on Easter Sunday. It is not about chocolate eggs or the easter bunny but how God has sent His son to save mankind. This is what needs to be in my head and everything else will definitely make more sens.

Its going to be a busy week, plenty of work to complete and meetings to catch up. Doubt I might have time to take a couple of swings at some golf balls at the driving range though but hopefully I can find the time to exercise as the KL International Marathon is next week! And no, I haven’t been training at all.

The title says it all but what it doesn’t say is that Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, has teamed up with IDEO to come up with the ULTIMATE cubicle, for Dilbert, that is. Anyway I thought it was rather cool, I looked at my own cubicle at work and wished it was this funky.

cube Happy 40th Birthday, the unwanted cubicle!

Image source: http://www.ideo.com/dilbert/index.htm

Personally I have sat in 3 different types of cubicles in my career. The first one was based off an open office concept where by I wasn’t surrounded by any partitions but the amount of electronic reading equipments (oscilloscopes, spectrum meter, etc.) ended up being the partition instead. The 2nd one I sat in was the best, Herman Miller chairs were available and a never-ending supply of wonderful coffee and an incredible view to boot.

My current cubicle is the largest of the 3, a not so comfortable chair and plenty of space for me to make a mess. Although the only problem is that the central air-conditioning system doesn’t seem to reach my area of the office so I am rather warm most of the time.

Head over to this site and check out it’s cool features.

Phuket was awesome!

March 18, 2008

I had the priviledge of travelling to Phuket, Thailand, over the weekend for an assignment and it was equally taxing and enjoyable as well. The last time I was in Phuket was over 15 years ago and much has changed since then. The most noticeable change was that you can hardly see the aftermath of the tsunami which struck the area back in 2004. Much of the things have been rebuilt and resorts are springing back up everywhere.

The number of tourists were incredible as well and I always wondered to myself, “Why can’t any place in Malaysia can be this popular?”. Langkawi? Redang? Penang? Pangkor? Who knows, are we not that attractive enough to offer the tourists the same things?

Anyway at the same time, I managed to snap a couple of pics while I was on assignment there.

0803_Phuket_004
Sunset at Surin Beach

0803_Phuket_003
Ice melting by the beach – Think seafood being chilled on ice before barbequeing it and then these are the leftover ice

0803_Phuket_002
Bright sunlight from Surin Beach again

0803_Phuket_001
Senget shot of a senget horizon – Note, riding this without insurance is scary!

I have a couple more photos sitting in my hard disk but in total there are about 14Gb of data to go through. I definitely need to delete some of them as I am really running out of available space now in my PC!

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