Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year 2010

Hi Chaps...

Just so you know...

I'll be on holiday (Sabah) for about 2 weeks from 18th Dec onwards and I hope every one had a great time during Christmas and new year celebrations...

I'll missed the engagement day of my ex-school mate in Penang (19th Dec) but I met him the day before (18th Dec)...spent some time with his families coming all the way from Sandakan earlier that day...Sorry but I will not miss your wedding day in the coming year!

I'll be attending a wedding ceremony of my dearest friend Helga+Norman some where in KK on 26th Dec...perhaps a perfect time to catch up with others (ex-USM) ; expecting to see those faces again (after 2-4 years) on that wonderful day!

I'll be spending my time with relatives in Tambunan during the first quarter of my holiday then Ranau with families during Christmas celebration then of course before leaving Land Below The Wind, I'll definitely be in KK...

I'll be flying back to Penang on 3rd Jan 2010...

I wish you wonderful Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year 2010

* Drive carefully and aramaitee!

Hot Spring Poring: Ultimate Relaxation

Third Day (14th Feb 2009)

….Yeah baby! Haha….I haven’t been to Poring for almost 5 years...that’s a quite a long period especially for someone who lives in Ranau…as the previous story goes….me, Mamai and Tom arrived at Hot Spring Poring couple of minutes before 6pm…first thing we did, house survey…and chose a room (a fully furnish 3 rooms house) then marinated the chicken wings along with sausages.....we bought 3 packets of chicken wing and 5 packets of sausage; 2-3 were prepped for BBQ respectively and the rest were kept for tomorrow…

Done preparing for BBQ and rearranged several items in the kitchen, we then went to have our early relaxation (Hot Spring)….it was past 6pm and people was already heading to their vehicles…couple of people were still there enjoying their relaxation though...we spent couple of minutes looking for available pond and finally found one spot..too bad the management doesn’t take care the hot spring ponds well enough….I had to use a piece of plastic cover (junk food’s) to avoid the water from going out through the drainage hole on the bottom surface….I couldn’t sit still and after a walk surveying around couple of ponds..I found 2 rubber pads meant to close the drainage hole…I took both of them..hehe…by that time, Mamai already enjoying his hot spring relaxation…swimming in the small pond? haha…kind of la sebab baring and tiarap….Tom however, enjoying a cold relaxation…haha…he opened the cold water tap instead of the hot water…well, he was enjoying his own kind of relaxation juga…what happened to mine? I had to wait almost half an hour to catch up with their enjoyment…haha…susah susah dulu ba….

Whilst waiting, care to have couple of cigarettes? Yeah...it must be great to have a couple cans of beer, couple of cigarettes whilst you’re in a hot water pond…huhu…finally, three of us enjoying our own kind of mind+body relaxation…spent almost an hour in that state…me, alternately having couple of cigarettes then called it a day when it was already dark…we were worried the others might be looking for us as we thought they might have probably arrived and wanted to get their stuffs in Mamai’s car….reached at the house, they were already there…the ladies were preparing foods for dinner, Sumpitz+Dogoes+Bopp were trying to lit up the fire for a BBQ and couple more were watching Astro…..I changed my clothes and went down to help the BBQ squad...haha…after couple of attempts...finally, we managed to make the fire up burning the charcoals….the others had their pre-dinner…whilst me make do as what necessary to the fire (making it bigger)…me, Tom and Mamai didn’t join because we already had our evening-slash-dinner couple of hours ago and….I was waiting for the BBQ…hehe….joining me in the BBQ squad were Dogoes, Sumpitz and Defoo…hehe..Dogoes as the QA assistant and Defoo as the passionate observer from the house…haha…slowly, Pinny, Bopp, Gurangak, Zi, Mamai, Nokurugia, Lumis and Defoo joined us…the others? Kuai was enjoying her Korean movie....Tom and Gidong had already entered their dreamland…I just wish we had a beer that night and more chilies….it could have been better but what would you expect ba kan if the entire members were tired…some had to walk “katam-katam” style to go-up the stair…as for me, my left leg was badly injured compared to the right one…although there were no beers that night…we had a hot Coffee+Kacip Fatimah that night…then orange syrup later that night…me, Mamai, Defoo, Lumis, Zi, Nokurogia, Bopp, Pinny and later joined by Dogoes spent couple more hours under millions of bright stars playing “lap-lap” using the K-box coins provided by Zi as tokens….

Fourth Day (15th Feb 2009)

I woke up at around 7am and noted several of us already busy making a breakfast...some were busy watching cartoon (Si Defoo) and I think others in the room were still enjoying their early morning climax…haha…Kuai and Zi went to ‘pasar’ earlier membeli belah.….Lumis with her squad were busy in the kitchen preparing a fried rice and fried chicken wings….I helped by making a hot black coffee (Nescafe) although tidak sedap tapi habis juga kena minum…hehe…our breakfast was really nice…nothing more you could ask for when you have fried rice+fried chicken+chilies on your plate accompanied by hot black coffee then later a cigarettes…haha…thanks to Lumis and her squad….after resting of stuffed tummy, we then walked slowly heading to….kehaaa!!….mandi la….thing that had changed since the last time I as there is, there have an entrance fee for the new ponds compound….it doesn’t make sense to me when there have a rate per age range and there also have a an hour duration for each entry…does that makes sense to you? Do you think if you exceed the 1 hour duration, the life-guard will drag you out of the compound? That’s just ridiculous…siapa punya idea yang brilliant la ni????? Entrance fee was RM3…we were supposed to let the ticket attendant knows that “we’re with Kuai (bukan la kuai tapi nama sebenar la)” something like that la kenen so we can get into the compound without paying RM3 each…but no worries, the moneys can be used for the development of Poring juga….we spent almost 3 hours there…took several pictures, swimming and some main “hantu-hantu”…Kuai and Defoo had to give up their fight from being thrown over to the water…another great moment was when Kuai managed to get a private hot tubs in a small cottage…..Thanks Kuai... there have 2 tubs with toilet each…well, the tub is not quite big but enough to accommodate at least 6 people..well, macam sardine juga la but that’s the fun of it….sharing a bath tub with fellow friends…even mungkin ada yang kencing we wouldn’t know…haha…

Spent hours in the cottage then walked back to the Medang Rest House….I took another shower (I was sweating walking back to the rest house)…we packed our stuffs and had our lunch….again, a decent lunch but very tasty…chicken ketchup and sardine….less is best ba tu…hehe…meleleh air liur ingat tu makanan…haha…last final thing before leaving was giving out the certificates…I was truly honored to be invited (along with Gurangak and Lumis..macam tua suda pula..) to present several certificates to others…the man of the hours was Mamai…he was first to reach Laban Rata and Lows Peak…Congratulation!!

Wallaa….we were finally at the end of the journey…me and Tom in Mamai’s car back to KK…Sumpitz, Defoo and Kuai with Zi in Zi’s car then the others were in a rented bus….we reach KK after almost 2 hours journey and Mamai sent to my bro’s house in Kelombong…minutes after that my bro arrived from “jalan-jalan” in KK town….rested couple of hours at my bro’s…I had already made a plan that night with Mesh and Jerry for a short meet-up…but due to complication (injured which disallowed me to drive and tiredness), I had to cancel the meet-up…earlier I had asked my bro if he’s free and planned to bring him along…he was fine with that…but after hours of resting my body became weak…eyes were so tired and contact lenses began to dry…I even fell asleep couple of minutes whilst laying down on a hard rock semen in my bro’s living room..huhu…at about 8:20pm I sent a text to Mesh that I had to pass the meet-up this time….me and my bro went out to the HSBC bank for me to withdraw some cash then straight to dinner…Once we reached home…I received couple of text messages….I was flattered…still, I tried to ignore godaan iman yang sangat kuat…..4 persons sent texts to me asking me to come….finally, my iman fell apart….I decided to come and I did with my bro….Gurangak, Mesh, Junior, Gidong, Kuai, Zi, Dogoes, Lumis, Bobby, Sumpitz and Olsen (if not mistaken) were there….I was served a jug of beer as promised by Angak…thanks bro…well I wasn’t thinking of drinking that much that night so I guess having a jug of beer should be more than enough….I was wrong!! A problem with me though…I can’t stop drinking once it comes to me…haha….I was kind of dizzy that night…it might surprised others that I was a bit hyper when or after being charged with alcohol (pemalu jadi tidak pandai malu pula kan)….haha…thankfully though, if there were 4 more jugs afterwards…I’m afraid I’ll pick a song and sing without hesitation…haha….we were the last groupie that left the place named Terminal 3 that night; a really nice place to hang out…I might go there again…hopefully the place would not be tainted by unlawful and uncivilized acts….it’s a karaoke pub club…there have extended pouch outside, sofas as well as a pool table…I had a great time with you guys …there’s always next time and when that time comes, it’ll be my treat….haha….

To be continued...

Scaling down Mount Kinabalu

Third Day (14th Feb 2009)

……That morning.....after enjoying the sunrise and took several individual as well as group pictures…we slowly walked down the Low’s Peak…why la we penat-penat climb up then in the end kita turun juga..haha…I think it was almost 8am and the heat coming from the sun’s beginning to burn my skin…I had an experience during my 2nd trip when I got burnt…totally black…darker than black??..haha…charcoal la suda tu… there have this one particular person (a Japanese/Korean tourist I think)…he really appreciated his moment up there…I’ve forgotten the whole sentence…but it sounds something like this I guess..”… leave nothing but memories..” and that was exactly what he’s doing…he left his ultimate treasure up there…he wasn’t even cared about us around him…dengan selamba dia membuka dan menghembus meninggalkan kenangan “I was here..”...haha…I was leading the pack that morning as I knew how much it hurts to put too much strain to my leg/knees walking down the hilly mountain…I walked as fast as I could to and after 20 minutes I couldn’t even see the group behind….well, they were having another photo shot up there, weren’t they? Arrived at the Laban Rata stop after almost an hour and I began to feel the pain…hell with it…first thing I did once I’d arrived was, hang my clothes to keep them dry then cleaned the rest house…Pinny was there playing with her make-up..haha..and thanks Pinny, she helped me to clean the rest house…sweeping, washing the dishes/cups and re-arrange the beds to their original location….some of you might already knew that I’m no fan to messy place…yet I’m flexible…I was so hungry; good time to have a hot Maggie Mee and Coffee…I tell you, the feeling whilst eating the Maggie Mee up there isn’t something you can have everyday…haha…I went out several times to check up my clothes (if suda kering)….I didn’t wear any clothes (only jeans la..basah kena pelug) and it isn’t a good idea to open your clothes up there although you think the sun will keep you warm…once you’ve realized, you’re not a Dusun/Kadazan anymore…people might thinks you’re a pilak..hahaha…I was left no choice ba...there have this one uncle, a staff himself and I believe he has nothing to do other than waiting for his fellow guides to return to office and report their journey…I spent some of my time chatting with him about Mount Kinabalu and the new track called Via Verata…then there were several stories about missing climbers on Mount Kinabalu, unpredicted weather as well as numbers of climber throughout the years…I even asked him how one needs to do to become a guide and how does it feel to live there (10 days holiday per month)

Ini la kejadian apabila tersangat awal sampai di puncak... (me, Defoo, Dogoes and Mamai)

It was around noon, when the others arrived….some have gone straight to Laban Rata Café to have their lunch and some heading straight to bed…Mamai arrived and took his time to rest then began packing his stuffs into his beg….half an hour later, me and Mamai decided to walk down back to Timpohon Gate…Tom joined us and there were 3 of us…again, walking down the path we took the day before…susah-susah mahu naik, last-last turun juga…. All there of us were together until…I think it was after the 5th hut from Timpohon Gate when Mamai left me and Tom behind…me and Tom tried to catch Mamai but we just as strong as him…hehe…by the time we reached the 3rd hut from the Timpohon Gate, me and Tom had already lost all our absorber and spring ability in our legs….we slowly walked our way down and finally reach the Timpohon Gate…we were an hour behind Mamai (Tidur-tidur suda si Mamai boring..haha..) I was totally wet by my own sweat…changed my clothes then walked into the bus…resting and slept the whole journey back to Kinabalu Park main office…it is around 20 min driving but due to tiredness, I felt like I’ve slept more than an hours…so peaceful...haha….apparently, three of us slept the whole journey…huhu..

We had a mission to buy some groceries for a one night stay in Medang Rest House, Hot Spring Poring that night….without wasting any more time, which was already past 4pm…me, Mamai and Tom in Mamai’s kelisa heading straight to Ranau….stopped at Kundasang to buy some roses…haha…betul ka ni??haha...we were trying to find chilies, lemon and vegy….then melencong mencari “International” as what Tom calls it….I really didn’t get it at first….and still I am until now why he calls some restaurants as “international”...Tom, cuba kenen kau jelaskan???I think what he really meant was, he was looking for something universal…which also means a restaurant that serves ‘halal’ food? betul ka ni atau yang sebaliknya.…haha…So we ended up at this one wooden restaurant (on the right hand side of the road if you’re coming from KK)…Mamai and Tom ordered Mee Tuaran and I ordered a Mee Konomin….the last time I had Mee Konomin was 10 years ago I think when I was still in Sandakan….we were satisfied with the foods+chilies+100Plus…superb!!! And thanks to Tom for his kind heart to pay the food…

We continued our mission in Ranau…I told Mamai to stop at the night market place where we could find chilies and lemon and he did…I took the chance to buy several packs of “lada putih” to be brought back to Penang and he found our chilies and lemon there…then we made another stop at the Sabindo Mini Market to buy more groceries for a decent BBQ, dinner as well as breakfast…unfortunately, Sabindo run out of Ajinomoto….we had to look for any retail shop and we managed to buy it on our way to Poring (a retail shop after the bridge to Lohan)…yes! Finally we arrived at Hot Spring Poring, Mamai collected the Medang Rest House key and we went straight to Medang Rest House……

To be continued...

I'm taking a break..

Hi chaps....I think I haven't visited my blog as often as I should these past few days...frankly speaking I was tied up with works and I wasn't feeling like penning down anything yet...Chinese New Year...Chap Goh Mei...I had them celebrated with dear friends...hung out,chatting and drinking...not much though as I was trying to reduce the amount of alcohol consumption for a rare trip to Mount Kinabalu...yes, most of you might have heard it from other fellow bloggers, especially from Lumis's blog where she introduces most of the coming-to-be-newly-acquintance-friends....I'm about to have another trip back to Sabah today at around 10:15 am from Penang International Airport...I was in Sabah a month ago and again..I'm going back to Sabah for a short+packed schedule....I wouldn't dare to say that I've prepped myself for this trip as I had just finished packing my stuff into my bag..I have not had any special gears (glove, ski-mask, torch light and etc) ready or anything....I was supposed to get them ready last weekend but I wasn't feeling like doing it...it becomes habit to me now and then...sometimes, I might change my mind about any trip at the very last minute..it happened once although I had bought the flight ticket for that particular trip...be it scary or wasting...I just don't care if I don't feel like doing it...

Still, this trip to Mount Kinabalu..I really don't know if it was my heart who agreed to join or was it just a desire to once again to feel/live the beauty of nature...I know it's going to be a fun trip and I'm hoping a good weather during the whole trip...last year, I told myself that I'm going to use this particular moment at a particular location above the sea-level to re-evalute my life..re-evalute things that had happened...things that I should be looking at or needing more attention in my present life...I just don't know how would it be but I do know that I truly need a break from workplace...I have not had any of my-moment at workplace since my return in early January...I was continuesly busy and pressured....good thing was, I wasn't even once felt stressed like most people would have, my mind is just tired...it sounds to me that I'm complaining huh...that's this crap that I've been trying to tell to myself over and over again to not ever fall off the track and just keep it up to my best...

It's now 6:25am..I'm not planning to sleep until I boarded the plane back to Sabah..there, I'll have over 2 hours of rest if I may....will be arriving in KK around noon and heading back to Ranau...spending time with my parents before the actual trip on the 12th Feb...I might try to look for all the 'missing' gears later in Ranau...well, this is not my first trip to Mount Kinabalu and there was once (2nd trip) I went up to the highest peak in SEA without any proper gears (not even a torch light..I kind of used my friend as a torch to light our way up as he had his torch light and we ended up as the first two human to arrive at the peak at dawn that day..still, arriving early was not a very good idea as we had to wait for others before we could walk our way down...silap sikit mati kesejukan menunggu..haha)....have the management installed any lights along the track? How would that be like?Would it still be adventerous?

I believe most Sabahan have not climbed the Mount Kinabalu..understandable la if you have a health complication but for those who haven't done it and you don't have any health issue...I would highly recommend to not to miss the chance to conquer the highest peak in SEA...I told my Tech Director about this trip and he's interested to know more about Mount Kinabalu...he's an out-door type of guy...cycling, rock climbing, kayaking, jungle tracking and conquering mountains around Europe...and he was kind of shocked to know the height of Mount Kinabalu (he has never climbed as high as Mount Kinabalu..)

A'ight peeps..I'm going to take a bath now and get ready before Jew wakes up....later guys!

Holiday life in Sabah - Part II

I've been drinking a lot these couple of days..I reckon, that's the only activity I've been doing whenever I return home to Sabah for a holiday..huhu...

I went to Ranau (mentioned in previous post)..purposely to attend a family gathering (dad's side)..some of my cousins, I have not met them for almost 10 years, and some over 15 years..."besar-besar sudah kamu o kan...suda kahwin lagi..ada anak lagi..." that was some of the conversation I had with most of them...it was kind of a culture shock to me to see them with kids....haha..looking at them "mengendong" anak and taking care of their child was a great memory.....I spent couple of days in Ranau then went to Tambunan to reunite with mom's side...I've not visited them for almost 4 years...again "tinggi juga kamu ni.." yeah..that's how I reacted when I met my cousins...with a height of 6 foot tall..that's tall compared to me..haha....the main objective to visit tambunan this time was to attend my cousin's wedding ceremony..(I met Delasagos at the church's entrance but we didn't have a chance to chat; he's the bride's relative) there will be another 2nd celebration at the Sutera Harbour on the 2nd Jan..also to pay a visit to my untie/uncles after almost 4 years not coming to Tambunan...apparently, I missed a family gathering (mum's side) in Tambunan...well, my mum was kind of forgotten to inform me...if I were informed I will certainly attend that gathering as well because this is a problem we had been having..not knowing your own relatives..nanti silap sikit terjatuh sinta sama sumandak/tanakvagu...risik punya risik...saudara pula kan..putih mata cinta terhalang..haha...

The scenic view from my cousin's house in Kg Kituntul Ranau..the house is built on their land, located at the middle of a hill...you could almost see the whole pekan Ranau..

House in Tambunan..the kolam I used to pancing ikan dulu-dulu...years ago, the fishes were fed with baja ikan..now not anymore...the padi field where saya mengatam padi (linggaman atau sabit) also mencari katak di musim hujan selepas mengatam...decades ago, there was only a big bamboo house..

The new house next to the above house..4 years ago, I had the chance to see its foundation and I was quite surprised to see the outcome; a very big house for a family of 4...my uncle (tauke) punya rumah..huhu..


I'm so attracted to one of my niece...I can't really remember her name but she's so cute..adorable...well, it is not too much to say that my sis's daughters are all cute..a mixed marriage between [Sungai(+Suluk)]+[Dusun(+Cina)].....pictures were taken using my mobile phone..

New year..celebrated with friends..stayed at Fab's house, BBQ'ing and drinking...he was born on 1st Jan and it is timely to have a great but decent party at the right moment..hehe...a year ago, we celebrated his birthday in Penang and now we had it in Sabah...there were plenty of things happened on my way to his house..earlier I went to HSBC bank to withdraw some money and pay my debts (credit card la apa lagi..haha)...they were now settled although there was one left; CitiBank (i just realized there is no CitiBank in KK..walawei) returned to the car (my bro's previous car before he bought a new one) and darned it! The car won't start! Battery was weak and after several attempts, the bat run out of charge....I called my bro and he came and helped me to re-charge the bat using a jumper...yeah! we made it.haha..left the car idle for couple of minutes and drove heading to Fab's house in Putatan....then suddenly...I saw smoke coming from the front bonnet...I knew there was something wrong....I then stop and managed to park the car on the road side..coincidentally at a dark area somewhere in Putatan...next to a signboard of "Amaran..dilarang membuang sampah.." and next to a hutan bakau....the whole place was dark..no street light at all...I called Fab and asked him to come with lots of water...guess what..haha..the radiator was already dry...empty!(I had refilled the radiator with lots of water a week ago) Fab came couple of minutes later (with his bro in-law) with a bottle of water and a big jug of water....we then re-fill the radiator with all the water we had....then again, the car won't start! Using a jumper we managed to start the car (no wonder there's a jumper being kept inside the rear bonnet)...arrived at Fab's house, I left the car idle for over half an hour...to ensure the battery is being re-charged...the next day, refilled the radiator as I saw water dripping at the bottom of the car then ignited the engine without problem....yeah! we certainly had a great new year and birthday celebration last night although I was kind of tired...that was a very rare experience I had (New Year's Eve)..haha...I'm grateful it all went well...Thanked god!

Happy New Year 2009!

Holiday life in Sabah

It's already the 5th day I'm in Sabah....

Saturday (1st day) the flight from Penang was alright..I met an old acquittance of me from Tambunan..well, she's a stewardess...earlier I noticed that she's been looking at me several times then right before we landed, she came to me and said.."you look so familiar..are you from Tambunan?" I replied.."No.." I was kinda rude I thought for not giving a proper response to her question..I should have said.."sorry..no.." she then said sorry and still with the look familiar sentence before she walked away...once we landed, before I went down from the plane..she stopped me and asked if I remember a girl who's staying next to our house in Tambunan...of course I remember and she then asked "bukan nama ko wel ka?"...then a short conversation occurred leaving me the only passenger on the plane whilst others had already entered the main building...we had to stop the conversation and hoping to meet in Tambunan later on as she will be home in a couple of days later to attend a wedding in Tambunan..I gave her my card (coincidentally I have 2 cards in my wallet...) but I totally forgotten to ask her name and number...better luck next time then...the funny thing about the memory she had was..."suda la ko jadi doktor?" I was like..kind of blur..then another steward came and interrupted our conversation.."dia cakap ko mau jadi doktor bah masa ko kecil...masa kamu kecil punya cerita" I then laugh kecil kecilan..haha...what a memory huh...she kept on "pukul manja" my hand...yeah, she always came to our house at that time...haha...but i never really remember what I had said during that time...perhaps you might want to hear one funny story about child hood memory...an old friend of me during child hood...she came to me and reminded me of what I had told her when we were like Primary 1? I said that I will marry her when we're old enough...how can she remember that and I can't????

Arrived in KK (Saturday)...Fab fetched us (me and Jew) and straight away heading to Kepayan..4 set! then went to airport again to fetch Brandon and Fab's gf..headed to Cempaka..it was already around 4pm...from that time onwards....we were drinking as if there's no tomorrow...haha..there were me and Jew (Penang); Brandon (KL); Johnny, Fab, Nelly, Helga and Norman (KK) drinking...I was completely lost that night...drunk like crazy..beers kept on coming non-stop...I can't remember what had happened to the second quarter of the event...once i was told..I was like...what was I thinking?...we then adjourned at around 10pm...Jew's bro sent me to "somewhere" I still don't know..and my bro fetched me from there on and brought me to his friend's house....I was already drunk..but funny was, my bro also drunk and he didn't remember he drove to fetch me...haha....again, I can't really remember about the party there...still, I drank couple of cans...the next day, I woke up laying on the floor...moved onto the sofa and saw the wedding picture...(eh..I recognize the lady on the picture.) She was a student in USM..same batch as me...when we went out that afternoon for a lunch she then asked me if I still remember her...obsolutely I remember her...she was thinking of asking me that question the time I came in that night but there was no point of asking with the condition I was at that time..haha...she married to my bro's friend...haha..what a small world huh...nice meeting her again with a bigger tummy (pregnant)..went home to my bro's house and resting..my body was "sick" the whole day..thankfully I didn't kogutan (headache due to hang over)...resting the whole day..worst..I left my hp with Jew and the phone is already in Ranau...on the other hand, Jew left his jacket...so we're going to meet up for an exchange..hahaha..thankfully I brought with me the other hp (Digi) and use the hp until we've made the exchange...hehe..Thanks to Johnny (Penampang guy) who is one of my best buddy since in Penang..he took care of me that night..well I was drunk like crazy..haha..thanks!

Monday...went out to Putatan meeting up with Fab for a lunch...I was still blur about that night in Cempaka...he opted for not saying anything further..haha..he just laugh at me and suggested to speak with Johnny...we had our lunch somewhere nearby the Maybank Putatan...thankfully I still remember most of the roads in KK..hehe...Fab left to work and me drove heading Centre Point..what a massive jam there...plus with the heavy rain..I was stucked there for almost an hour...due to the rain and jam, I decided to cancel my plan to jalan-jalan cari pilak di CP...drove straight to 1 Borneo...yeah..still raining and there also a massive traffic jam along the way to 1B...reached 1B and I was excited to see and explore the great shopping mall in Borneo...parked at the basement and walked into the entrace...once I was in the building...I began walking..from right to left and forth...ground floor, 1st floor, 2nd floor and 3rd floor...in my mind.."??????????????..Is this the great 1B mall that was rumored to offer a good place for shopping and spending your leisure time????????" Sorry but I am disappointed with 1B...my Bro was one of the RA for the project..(when he was working with a company that was involved)he told me a lot about its defects there and here...I totally see where and what he meant by that....I'm sure most of us knew what is that thing that causing such good project become a waste....hoping to see more development and improvement by the time I come to visit it next time...at around 7pm that night I went out to meet up with Fab again at Donggongon..just to accompany him meeting up with the Pusakag Production's owner...Fab has been working hard whilst he was still in Penang to produce his own Dusun album..we've heard several of his songs and we believe, he has a very good voice, lyrics and music for the market....before we left, we had a couple set of beers at the Pusakag Cafe..Fab sang couple of songs..as for me, I preferred to observe the new place and enjoy the music..that was for the night...

Tuesday...went out to Sadong to meet one of a fellow blogger...who? for the sake of keamanan kerajaan Sabah..I have to keep it secret..haha..and several other coincident things happened...Johnny was having lunch there with his colleagues...(I never know that he works in Maybank, Sadong) my ex was also there having lunch with her colleagues or friends or I don't have any idea at all..haha...once I arrived, I went to Maybank to take out some money yang semakin kering..haha...then went to meet Johnny..too bad I didn't get the chance to meet or say hi to my dear ex...chatted few minutes with Johnny also a simple hi with a hand shake introducing myself to Johnny's friends..left him and went to meet that fellow blogger...first time meeting and it was just a short period of time...enough for me to eat nasi ayam and drink a glass of milo ice..hehe...nice meeting you "tagalog"...hehe...we adjourned after almost an hour chatting as "tagalog" has to work...pekerja berdedikasi..I then headed back home...that evening I went out again to meet up with my sister and her bf...we went to Lido for a dinner...I arrived 30 mins earlier so I had to wait them for the entire time..huhu..it was planned at 7:30pm but she was shopping in Karamunsing with her bf...it was the first time for me to get to know her bf..so, the dinner was just kind of a catch up chat among me, my sis and him...couple of hours after, we then headed to our own direction....once i arrived in Kolombong, I saw lot of cars were parked along the road....then I realised they were actually stopping by to watch the fire...a shop lot was burnt down...I saw one police car and NO FUCKING FIREMAN!!!! Although it was dark...still, I was able to see there was no one trying to stop the fire from spreading into the other shop lot unit...but the day after, I saw it's only that one unit..others are saved...thanked god..few minutes at home, I received a call from Johnny telling me he's with his friend drinking in Donggongon...I went there and joined them...there were Johnny and Don (Douglas if am not mistaken)..drinking with Don that night was the second time for me...so we knew each other..chatting and laughing continuously...we didn't drink that many as Johnny has to work the day after and I have to drive back...so we ended up with 5 set of beers...went back at around 1am...

Wednesday...I'm going back to Ranau..I'm currently waiting my bro to fetch me after sending his gf...till then hope you had a great holidays...going to meet up with Jew later in Ranau for an exchange..I might be in KK on the New Year's Eve...

For the good cause...

Thursday I was rescheduled to work for a half day shift…I left the office at around 9:30 pm where I was supposed to leave at 8:00 pm….due to some request I then stayed in for another 1 hours plus…well I wouldn’t leave the office if there’s still unsolved task...

Friday morning…8:26 am, I received a text from one of our developer who is married saying that she’s sorry that she has to bring her daughter to the office today….obviously I can’t reply “No, you can’t” to her after she mentioned that something happened early in the morning...I wondered what had happened but rather than troubling her...I ignored the text message and continued my sleep… then at around 9am something I received another text message...it was from my mum saying my dad was sick last night and she had to send him to a hospital right away…he’s 63 to be exact and he has high blood pressure and a lung problem….he complained a chest pain last night and my mum then sent him to a nearby hospital (Ranau)…he was given some medicine...thank god he is OK...his annual health review is on 29^th July then another one is on 27^th August….nothing could I do other than sending some money to pay the expenses….pokai lagi but this is our responsibility as a child…I don’t mind to fork out some of my pocket money or my saving if it would do good to some people especially my parents…I love them…but my mum said, she would hope that I could contribute some for his second review as he is going to be reviewed in one of the private hospital in Kota Kinabalu….replied to her that I will and I will reserve some fund for that…

Today, in-conjunction of a conference call between UK-Malaysia-Oz at 3:00 pm local time (5pm in Oz and 8am in UK)….I was rescheduled to work half day Oz and half day UK…in case there were things needing clarification/guidance from me...there was one actually…a customer said there’s a glitch in our software...I then accessed to their server and found out it was due to human error…the software works great it just that someone had setting up things wrongly…took all details and forwarded to my Technical Director…I came in to work at 12:00 noon and left the office at 9:30 pm...again it should have been 8pm..

I was a little rude today to one of my developer…he was given a task to develop a customized report 2 weeks ago and the due date is on 25^th July…that was yesterday…it is my job to ensure our developers to complete they task in the time scale given…but it is not my job to teach them how to do this and that….he had received all the requirements as requested by customer and all the explanation had been given straight away when I allocated the task to him…I was pissed last week whilst I was working for day shift (Oz shift) and he wasted 2 days due to injury….his ankle was swollen after a football match…what am I supposed to do?! He went to see a doctor and was given 2 days medical leave…if that didn’t occur he might have extra 2 days to ask for my guidance or any vague requirements…most of the requirements have been fulfilled except one…this whole week alone he tried...I don’t know hard or what…but he failed to deliver…before he left the office at 6pm today...I asked him to write a formal email to me to explain his reason of failure…told him that this is needed as I would forward the email to my manager as well as our Technical Director in UK...he did what I asked for but not really as what I would expected…he only explained the fault on the report and nothing more.....well to be honest with you...as a team leader I should have covered up our weaknesses, I’ve spent around RM300 since last month providing them 2 books which were ordered via internet…I went to couple of the book shops around major shopping complexes for these books but to no avail…I was hoping that they can benefit from these books and there would be no more excuses for failure in future time…again, I was a little disappointed with his attitude these couple of days...probably he has some personal problem that I didn’t know of…he is due to get married this coming 10^th August and obviously that is bugging his mind all this time...making sure the ceremony would go as planned…I can’t really get involve into that and the best thing I could only do is giving him a lesson that any task given must be completed as requested…books and guidance have been provided (he has problem in communication...he’s the typical type of Malay that doesn’t really know how to communicate in English (sorry for any Malay readers)...and I wonder how he got this job where English is a major requirement….)I’ve been trying to compromise with him….but this must be done…hopefully he wouldn’t take this too personal…if he does then he’s not mature enough to get married…..not enough with that...I was really pissed due to the baby presence in the office….I can’t concentrate on my job due the baby’s noisy screaming…crying and shouting…I wanted to warn the mum (the developer) but I just couldn’t…she told me that early in the morning...the baby fell down….although the baby didn’t cry but it was weird that the baby was so quiet and weak...she was worried then decided not to send to a kindergarten where she would usually do…unfortunately due to that…she and I can’t function well…she had to take care of the baby….accompanied the baby...played with the baby when the baby was crying……since my job still requires me to consult our customers via phone….I had to ignore several calls…. Unfortunately (wrong timing la ni..), my manager (in UK) was monitoring the calls that went to our office and found out couple of calls were not answered…he then called me and asked why I didn’t answer the phone….I told him that I was with the other developer trying to help him…and at some of the time...I can’t really answer the phone when the baby was crying in her mum’s arm…the ending of the conversation was not really good….I tell you…I knew this guy for almost 3 years...and he is a jerk when it comes to this matter…I think she (the developer) understood my situation and said sorry to me….she’s mature enough to stay in the office until 9pm to finish her task….he husband came in to the office to fetch the baby and said sorry to me at around 5pm that evening…..couple of hours later...my manager sent an email expressing his compliment after he overheard several of the staffs in the UK office gave out their compliment towards me that they received some good feedback from our customer saying my consultation to their problems were good and friendly….well, I’m currently the resident expert in Malaysia…I shall perform up to my standard…before leaving the office...I spoke to my Technical Director and we decided to allocate the task to our new developer in UK as a test hoping that he could crack the report and provide the final fixed report…

At home…I had a drink session with my housemate...Mr. Jew and Mr. Jab...just a couple of bottles and a small chat….we just finished 1 hour ago and now I want to get a rest….mentioned to Mr. Jew that I’m planning to have a small drink and karaoke session tomorrow...I missed singing….I can’t remember when was the last time I sang a song….if things go as planned then we might have a crate of beer...some chicken wings for a small BBQ as well as karaoke…..where’s all my karaoke CDs??!!!! May you all have a good weekend and do not drink in drive…..