First review of NY Resolutions.

1. Lose 15 kg. At least. (Am working hard ;la)
2. Get a job and enjoy it for a year. (Got a job now have to keep it)
3. Start professional certification studies. (Postponed to Dec)
4. Keep in touch with all my friends. (Erm realised this is hard to review but will do it)
5. Make new friends. (Done...will be struck out)
6. Save some money. (How much exactly should I save ?)
7. Go on one overseas trip. (Future is bleak)
8. Have a much cleaner house with more systems. (Succeeded. Strike out)
9. Improve my Chinese, and start on Japanese. (Going concern)
10. Try to make some effort towards world peace. (LOL)

CNY Resolutions

1. Prepare budgets to actually save some money.
2. Never lose my sense of humour.
3. Always work hard at my job.
4. Always look on the brighter side of life.
5. Never ever forget how to excel at taidi, mahjong and texas holdem.
6. Strict controls on clothing........
7. Never lose touch of music.
8. Never become an old boring uncle.
9. Always work hard at the gym.
10. Stay forever young....and possibly childish at the right times :)

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CNY is pretty much over. I got saved from the usual boredom by a sudoku that I found in the paper so I happily kept myself occupied until it was time to go. The reason I hate CNY is because I get stuck in a hot place meeting distant relatives I have no idea existed and do not particularly enjoy. So good it is over. But my measly collection of RM 78 is not very pleasing. I need to find some people to gamble with to make it a few hundred.. !!

The best thing about CNY is that I get 4 days off next week which means I only have to work on Friday and that the jam will not be as bad. With less people working, I also get a better view of the work I have to do as well as be able to take a longer break and hopefully go home early. Sam is extremely helpful and JoYo is of course a pleasure to be with. They might be upgraded to bear status soon.

Ohhh the most wonderful thing about today was that life is indeed fair. I found out the reason Amber Chia is beautiful. The reason is..... she cannot speak English !!!
I swear when I heard her talking on tv I almost laughed out loud !!!! She was like "Yea I have one mother one father and I think family is the most important thing in the world and is good I spend time with them".
Seriously, no wonder a model just has to take pictures....they might not be able to talk. Haha.

Oh did you know that they are selling microfibre undies now. I am so glad !! I love microfibre. It is definitely THE fabric of the future.

Now it is about time I played my annual monopoly game with my sisters.

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Yesterday I was so freaking tired I came home from work right away, without waiting for the jam to clear. Since it was almost holidays anyway, there were less cars so it was not so bad. But it still took almost 2 hours. I knew I was in trouble when I started to doze off in the car !! But then I turned on the radio really loud and then concentrated on singing EVERY song.....

When I made it home, I had some instant noodles and went straight to bed after a shower. I slept for almost 12 hours. Work is really killing me. To think I used to sleep at 3 or 4 in the morning.........

Wonder how it will be when I start part time studying ?

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Got my mail from XXBear today !! :) Will try to reply over my CNY holiday. Was so eager to read it, my ice cream melted because I forgot all about it !! Only one more day of work before the new year holidays. Luckily I have Fed Day on 1st Feb..so only need to work for one day next week !!

Meanwhile, my ATM card is here !! Am eager to try it out tomorrow. My credit card should be here too !!! And my first salary SHOULD also be in there haha !!

Tonight I went out again to celebrate Jessie's birthday. She sits next to me and she is a BA which is a Banking Apprentice. Which is slighly different programme to my GA Graduate Associate. It was really sweet as there were 20 of these BAs in the last intake and they are all very close. Just like a SAM class or an intake of freshers at IH. I felt like a guest among a group of friends. But somehow I still had a good time and even got to talk to some people. Especially BinBin who was quite cute and talked very fast. But after dinner at this little Thai place behind Lot 10 called Green Lotus, I drove home alone.

I started thinking about all the birthdays that I have celebrated in Melbourne. All the friends, the limited types of cakes and the presents. I miss those days a lot. And also started thinking how FionaBear, FredBear and SoBear were extremely nice to spend the last two birthdays with me. Thank you very much !! I miss them a lot too. Of course in 2005, SharBear and NiqBear were also present :) Thanks a lot. I am gonna miss a lot of people la. But am trying very hard to get used to the fact that people in Melbourne have their own life. I have my own life here too and I cannot be forever looking over at Melbourne and feeling sorry for myself. Actually this week I have tried very hard NOT to be 'desperate' and contact my Melbourne friends at all. Am trying really hard to be not so dependent on their love and care. But I will always treasure them of course. Am NOT looking forward to the 4th week of February. I have not had a single good hUgZ this week yet. But I will survive.

I LOVE YOUs !!

This time I mean it of course.

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I guess I have begun making friends. Yesterday a group of us, all younger people...by which I mean only 2 or 3 years older than myself, went for a movie at KLCC. It was Memoirs of a Geisha. The movie was alright but the best thing was I got to talk to JoYo a long time ! Also of course that I am making friends. Heehee.

The surprising thing is that there are more cars on the road at midnight than at 9 pm.

CNY is coming and most of the staff is on leave soon. Since we only have one working day next week (Friday) since there are actually 3 public holidays... I might end up the ONLY one working next week. So sad cause I have no leave yet. On the plus side I get paid today I think. But then again, my ATM card has not arrived so I cannot take it out anyway.

I LOVE YOU.

LOL. Not to anyone in particular. I just wanted to say it. You know. Just in case, it comes out by accident I want it to be perfect. :P I wonder how long you have to know a person before you can say it to her ?

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You know you have had a bad day at work when :

1. Parking fees go up 40% overnight.
2. You need 6 cups of coffee to get you going in the day.
3. And then you get a super migraine when you decide you have had enough caffeine for one day.
4. Your boss catches you dozing off twice in a row.
5. Your table is full of files waiting to be read and then information transferred to the computer.
6. You have not enough money for lunch and your ATM card has not arrived yet.
7. You start to watch Maria Sharapova play at the Aus Open at the office television and then the electricity to the building is cut.
8. Everyone else in the office has left for the company CNY dinner.
9. 4 trailers overturn at various points on different roads on the way home.
10. You fall asleep and knock your nose on the steering wheel.

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There must be more than life than waking up half dead at five am, flopping back for an hour, turning side to side like a pancake until the alarm rings at 6, and preparing to go for work.............

On the plus side, I discovered what one shot of coffee plus one shot of milo can do for your brain. It keeps you awake for an hour and then kills you with a blinding headache until you take another.

Rain fell in KL today and had to wait till about 9 before heading home. Of course it means that after a dinner and a shower it is almost 11. And that means bedtime soon before the whole cycle repeats itself.

Had more interesting things to do today, basically because I know more things. But was still dead tired and I am pretty sure that Patrick caught me dozing off once. Shy. I think Fuad did too. That is how tired I am.

After the late night Saturday, had a pretty full day on Sunday when I met some of my SAM friends at 1U which was basically driving around for parking, eating Thai food (I miss YingThai) and then having desserts at a place called Delicious!.

Today's lunch was tofu and vege. I lost 2.5 kg already. A lot more to go !

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Phew. Busy day today. Zipped off to meet SherBear for a visit from work experience from Singapore and of all places went to Bukit Bintang where I work 5 days a week. Hot day. Walked around the place and eventually reached StarHill where they were having the launching of the new Porsche Cayman S. After hanging around to look for any celebrities, we got satisfied with an ex Miss Malaysia and left ford dinner at Planet Hollywood. A good thing was I met SJBear who I have not seen for a year. Now an IT consultant in KL too. Oh also found that JSBear is a IT Auditor at Sime Darby so can meet up for lunch. Anyway, PatBear, both KimBears, JinBear, JessBear and KaiBear were all there too.

Then had to go all the way to Kepong, which now I know how to go, for DanBear and KenLiBear's birthday celebrations. :) Was pretty funny especially the cream incident and how DanBear got us laughing at his mad men jumping over the wall game. Tried a scooter and it is not as easy as it seems.

Then it was back to SS2 for supper with SherBear. Very oily and am a bit sick. LOL. Finally made it back home at almost 3. And tomorrow still have appointment with SAM friends. !!!

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I will try to put as little words as possible since I am devastatingly tired.

Friday - SUPER JAM - die - try new road - lost - Segambut - Lencongan - halfway to Ipoh - Penchala - roundabout - saved - TTDI - LDP Jam - dinner - home at 11 - now on - gym every night - or study - night classes - Ug - Ug - Ug - Ug - Ug - Sucks

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I tried to mentally telepathise these pictures to friends today but unfortunately due to weak reception from certain antennae, they did not go true. People should update their receivers. As you can see from the first picture on, this is my beloved cubicle and corner. It may not look like much but it is my home in the office. Looking closer at my stuff you can see that I put my calendar and mug at the right so that people know that I sit here since I am still lacking a name plaque for my cubicle. Hope it comes next week !.... This little black fella is my friend. I tell him all my troubles in life whenever I am too bored at work. As you can see, he can be quite a devil at times. And that is my Book of Knowledge. I write down everything that I have learnt so far. It has actually finished both pages by today since the knowledge gained at work is exponential. So technically I have learnt more than I needed as I have even filled up Sunday's column. That is fast. But I guess learning must go on. Incidentally, I just want to say that once you start work, there seems to be a time when one would feel that he has lost his purpose in life. That is me. I feel so lost right now. Yea, I know I gotta work, but then towards what goal ? What will happen in 2 years ? Would the world go on without me ?

That is why I have decided to go on studying. Unfortunately, not in Melbourne. I hope to be able to do some professional course probably CFA. That would also take my mind all these people below.

Sigh. Miss them already.

On a brighter note, today went to KLCC during lunch time because CKBear picked me up. The occasion was that RayBear was in town. So had lunch along with DanBear, MayLBear and GraceBear at California pizza. Food was alrites, iced tea was great but the prices were quite negative to the brain. Anyway, KLCC is walking distance to my building but then it is about 15 minutes walk in the hot sun. So I refused. CKBear wanted to kidnap me for 4 hours too.....Luckily managed to convince him not to.

Anyway SherBear is coming on Saturday and I am meeting up with some SAM friends on Sunday. SO even my weekends are busy now. And the week will start again. Ug.

Incidentally (everything is very incidentally today) I walked to Lot 10 and then Sungeiwang after work. First I needed to pass some time before the jam dispersed and it was also good exercise since I cannot join the gym until I have my credit card. And I almost died. I have NEVER seen so many ugly people in one place before ! Just like one of my friends said, where did all the pretty girls go ? They were so ugly...it was like the city of ugly. UGLY. I am no model, but at least I do not think people will call me ugly. These people were ugly. But now I am just being mean. But seriously also, I was quite traumatised. But I will get used to it right ?

Incidentally did you all know that there is a sixth floor on SungeiWang that caters to the HK/Jap/Kor looking clothes and shoes ? Also the RedBox and CosmicBowl is there too so if anyone wants to meet me there after work, it would be great ! But although I just loved the clothes and those on girls around me too, somehow in Sungeiwang...everything seemed really cheap. So, just forget it. Also, buying these cool clothes poses a problem for me. I have almost nowhere to wear them too. As it is, I spend five days in work clothes. And my weekends are hardly long enough for me to wear all my casuals !???!!!

And, after spending all my time talking in the office, I miss my peace and quiet that I have grown to love in Melbourne. And my privacy. So I would really appreciate it if my mom did not keep asking me questions and telling me things and wanting to converse. I want to be quiet and alone. But she has been staying at home alone for the past few days and it is not like I can tell her off. So more tolerance. Life is about tolerance.......

Life sucks quite a bit at this moment.

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It is rather official. I will be going to work every morning from 7 and will return at 9. It is not that I do not want to go back earlier but here are 3 big reasons.

1. Noone else goes back at 6. Serious !!! They are all still busy doing work and stuff. Some might relax a bit and then work again. So if you are gone, it is SO noticeable.

2. The jam is terrible at 6. It takes me almost 3 hours to go home. So that is 3 hours of my life wasted. So I would rather stay. Just like everyone else.

3. There is actually LOTS of work to do. If you do no stay back, you cannot get them finished.

So there you go.

Well by this time I have met a lot a lot of people already but I guess the best ones are still the ones I sit close to. That would be Jodie, Chua, Joanne, Yit Hui, Jessie and Mabel. But then again...I guess the older guys are very friendly too and helpful and very eager to teach. William, Albert, CK, Fuad, Peter, Gary, Gooi and even Patrick. They are great. Not like high school teachers at all. Very cool. At least I feel that I am learning something and actually today was given work !!

What is cooler than that is that my group is actually specialising in Jap/Kor/HK companies !! Yay. So fun. LOL. Might be a chance to learn Jap. At the same time I found out that I would have to take a couple of exams.. Hm. Downer but on the other hand...this will keep me from boredom.

I have decided to put my gym plans on hold since I was not sure of my schedule. But now it seems that I would go home late every day any way. But then again, if I start studying, how much time would I have ? HMmmmmmmmmm

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Firstly to all those who took offense to the last post, sorry. And that is about all I want to talk about it. LOL.

Today was my second day at work. Did not learn as much due to my immediate seniors going to Seremban to meet clients. Applying for my SC credit card though. I tried to go to work later and come back earlier too. Going later was alright, since it was only about 15 minutes difference, parking was still available. Leaving earlier however was no use. I reached home after a 2 hour journey. So might as well have stayed at the office for 90 minutes before going on the jam free 30 minute journey home.

That leaves me with a big problem of what to do between 6 and 8. Since I am quite new, I do not really have anything to do after hours. That leaves me the gym. But since I have to pay with a credit card which I will not have for a few days until the application is resolved, I have to think of something else to do first. So taking advantage of myself being in the centre of the city, I shall get myself better acquainted to the city of KL. What better thing to do than that ? I am also walking so that is a form of exercise too. I just wonder if I am liable to stop gymming... I guess not, since I am paying and since I cannot go home anyway. So those are just some plans.

Had lunch with JeanBear today at Planet Hollywood. Am never going there again unless I am trying to impress someone. There is really no point in paying those kind of prices for not great food. Company was great though.

Met more people today at work like John and Ian. Note that these people are not bears....they are co-workers. So therefore no bear attachment. Bear attachment will only be given to friends. Anyway. They were planning CNY parties as many of them live by themselves or with housemates...seem pretty fun. They wanted to have some mahjong and texas holdem. I thought I was dreaming. What fun !! Now I just hope I get invited... !!!

Meanwhile I have also started decorating my cubicle. My beloved square of workspace. So far have a crystal decoration in place with my own calendar and 2 files. Files have never seemed so decorative before in my life. You never know how decorative they can be until you find that your empty cubicle looks horrible and bare without anything on the shelves. So I requested for 2 files and now they stand importantly on my shelves. I also brought my KeeWin mug, the brown one from Tasmania. I plan to stick up the huge foi family photo and the sign I have on my door too.

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Working is seriously hard work.

I woke up at 6 today. It was like going back to school. Had to leave by 7. But turns out that I was a little bit early anyway and sat around 7-11 reading newspaper like some Datuk who lost his driver. Luckily met Jodie (my HR person) who took me up and set me up with a whole bunch of reading. Not much use, really since it was quite a lot of inspirational stuff. Anyway by 10 am, I had my first division meeting. Quite like tv. Ideas. Easy banter between co workers. Teasing of new father. Talking about administrative stuff.

Henceforth I was busy. Looking at clients stuff. I am currently working with client relationships with multinational companies under global corporates. So basically am very concerned with multinational companies and the services that we offer them la. Simple right ? No not really since there are like hundreds of things that a company can actually get from a bank. Nuts. So spent some time deciphering some of the products. Then it turns out that I also have to watch out for clients which misuse their facilities, overuse their facilities, underuse their facilities, want more facilities, want to change facilities, do not know how to use their facilities and so on.

Also have to watch out for clients who use more than what they have. Naughty.

I left office at 8. Tired. At least it was an interesting day. Went to the gym downstairs to look and see. Costs RM 138 a month. No registration fee. But DanBear was right. Too many gays.

PS I am not pleased with my fantasy football team. Obviously I have no time whatsoever to research. Hmph. Not fair.

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Things making me unhappy today :

1. My house does not appear on Google Earth. In fact, the whole Subang does not appear. This is sad as the line stops just outside the airport. Level of Sadness : 5 Tears.

2. The local store did not store Champong noodles when I went to buy it today. Had to get NongShim instead. Sigh. What happened to the good old days when you can get anything you wanted ? Level of Sadness : 3 Tears.

3. Saw the cookies on sale and wanted to eat but have to restrain because I am on diet. (Hehe). Level of Sadness : 2 Tears.

4. The bloody lion dance people dancing around me blasted my eardrums to the earth. Arghhh. Hate lion dancers. Level of Sadness : 7 Tears.

5. Hmm. People ask for durian again. Well, I told you the rain destroyed all the durian right ? Haha. Well, they ARE destroyed. No durian till July. Level of Sadness : 1 Tear.

6. Have to start work on Monday. No more free time and meeting up with friends or bowling or badminton. In fact nothing can be done during the day on weekdays. Level of Sadness : 8 Tears.

7. Youth is gone. Some website noted that people over the age of 21 will start to feel old. Which means me of course. Level of Sadness : 9 Tears.

8. Miss my wicked wings. Level of Sadness : 8 Tears.

9. Cannot play O2Jam during the day. This will greatly impede my level growing especially since anyone who helps me grow is quite lousy at the game. Level of Sadness : 4 Tears.

10. Fixing the car costs almost 1000 ringgit. Argghh. Am broke. Level of Sadness : 6 Tears.

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I am all grown up.

I mean it.

I will be starting my employment on the 16th of January 2006. No more time for kiddy things or childish games or unresponsibilitiness or or...or.... I am not really sure. I thing it just means I am adult.

But in some ways, I find that it is not that easy to grow up. For one, right now all my bones hurt and my right arm feels like it is dropping off...(which would incidentally get rid of my extra arm syndrome disease) and I just want to drop into bed and sleep for 2 days.

But I cannot. There are too many things to do.

I have a tonne of forms to fill up. A bank account to open tomorrow. Send the car for servicing. Pore over the KL Map and find my way around town to work tomorrow. Clean up the car. File all my important documents. Figure out what to wear on Monday. Clean the house. Make sure house chores are all done. Buy more good underwear. Buy a pair of good shoes. Call up some old friends who I have not met for a long time. Bake a cake.

Sigh.


I guess being adult just means having to do more work without complaining.

It is not fair.

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I am so exhausted today. After a late night last night and then an early morning because I wake up at 7 every morning to go on a morning walk with my mom.

By nine, I had also done some house chores and cleaned up my room. Then I was driving off to Bangsar to meet IzyBear, JeanBear and CKBear for some badminton at some obscure place. Armed with my new map which I bought yesterday I set off. I made it to Bangsar. Then I got lost. But with the help of a map and lots of rounds I made it to IzyBear's house. Then it turned out that we had no court so had to go all the way back to Subang to play at 3K. On the way there, I was countlessly hopeless behind the wheel with IzyBear's stressful directions not really helping the situation. After all, it was my virgin Bangsar trip !

Anyway we played badminton for 2 hours !! And I was quite tired, the knee was hurting a bit and my right arm was really throbbing. But after some lunch at the nearby A&W, we decided to bowl at Pyramid but the stupid Interstate Competition was being held there so we had to go to Summit instead after me swearing that I would never go there again. But surprise surprise because it the daytime, Summit is half decent. 2 games well over my average of 133 was great news but it was IzyBear who stole the show with a very good second game. And he says he has not played for a long time. What a showoff !! Haha. But it was a very fun day. Although I must say that I am dead knackered today. I took a bath and I did not want to leave. It felt so good to have water everywhere, releasing tension in the muscles and washing away the sweat !

Tomorrow I have to go to Standard Chartered to sign my contract for employment. It will mark the moment that I grow up. Hopefully not too fast !!! I need to find places to park as well and get into the working mode. I start on Monday !! Stress. Well a bit. I am also quite excited to start and learn. I need to get ahead and this is a good head start. JoeBear is here and I am also meeting him tomorrow at SS2 apparently. Should be good fun.

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A mosquite bit me on the lip today and now it is all swollen !! Crap I hope the swelling goes down soon because it is quite uncomfortable.

Today I went to the new house at Pahang. It looks alrite but I will post pictures of the house and my room later. The painting still has to be done and other odds and ends...but the building stands... for now. If you are interested there is a website for the place and it is - http://www.orchardheights.net/

Yep so if you want a piece of the action, and have money to do so, get your own.

Meanwhile I believe something is being planned for IH-ers 2005 group for a party or something, I wonder who is nuts enough to organise it. I hope it goes well though ! It would probably be my last party for a long time !!

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I am sooooo sick of Malaysian Public Transport. Today is my account of my Malaysian Public Transport Nightmare II.

I was at Pusat Bandar Damansara because I was attending an interview (second round of EY). Since I finished at 3 and my dad could only pick me up at 4, I thought I should try to go home by myself. I took a cab home the other time, it cost me RM20 and took 20 minutes.

Using public transport this time, I waited for the bus. Although it was meant to come every 15 minutes, I waited for 45 minutes. Argh. Then it weaved around the outskirts of Bangsar until we came to the Bangsar LRT station. I was alrite then, just a little bit frustrated. But then at the LRT Station I found that to take the LRT to Central, it cost RM 1, one station away. But the trip to Kelana Jaya, about 10 stations away, cost RM 1.40. OMG>>

Anyway I had to since KTM only went to Central. So I took it to Central. Where I bought my KTM ticket for Subang. I had to wait very long again but this was about my fourth time so I was pretty used to waiting a really long time for the train. So I waited a really long time. It was a hot day and I began to sweat. By and by the train came. But it stopped for a really long while on the tracks due to some failure near the Bangsar LRT station. I was thinking that it took me one hour to get back where I came from. Gosh !

By and by after 2 hours, I reached Carrefour in Subang. But I still had to get to USJ. OK take the bus then. Bloody bus waited for 15 minutes before it started, and then took a long detour around Pyramid and then waited there too. Then took a big turn around USJ before reaching Taipan. I had to get out and still walk home for about another 10 minutes. What a bother.

So it took me around 160 minutes and cost me RM 4 to travel home using public transport. 5 times cheaper but more than 5 times the time used as well. ARGHHH. I should have just taken the cab.

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I guess the biggest news I have today is pretty tame. I managed after a few tries to attain level 12 for my o2jam character. For those of you who do not know, it is a like a computer game, DDR format, for fingers. It is the thing that is my current obsession now. It is really fun too. The weird thing is that I find that I like the classical pieces the most cause it is almost like playing piano.

Other than that, I went to pasar malam today for the first time. Not too bad since I went at 3.30 in the afternoon and it was not hot too. So it was pretty good.

Meanwhile I have just written up a huge list of things to do before I start work next week. It is pretty daunting and includes people to see, things to clean, household minor repairs, appointments for eyes and teeth, as well as entertainment.... I had no idea I have so many things to do.

In other news, there will not be a new purchase of a new computer at my place. Grrrr. Therefore, will have to tolerate the publicness of the current computer in use....ug. Not that I hate sharing it, but it is so .. MESSY....I itch to clean it up. Just like mine in Melbourne, I would like to keep it sleek and full of memory instead of filled to the brim. Not flexible at all. It is quite stressful living with people who do not think the same way as you .. even if they are family. I guess especially when they are family since they should be the one to know you the best right ? But sometimes I feel that certain friends would know me better. But then again, which is the real me ? Because I know very well that with different groups of people I take on different personalities. Which is also a problem. Since I also want to know which is the real me.

So I took a few of those dumb online tests. So things I found out about myself.

I am more intuitive then a sensor. (Meaning I do not follow rules strictly but try to improvise and am
flexible).

My inner colour is 'blue' which means I am very cool and unemotional on the outside like a piece of sky but inside I am all raging full of emotions and feelings and creativeness....(like the sea).

I am a cook. Obviously relating to the fact that I like to cook as compared to being a gardener, plumber, shopkeeper...very stupid test.

So. I am an intuitive blue cook. Crap. I am confused.

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Today was an alright day to recover from the fiasco of yesterday.

In the morning went off to Klang, CKBear drove and was followed by me, KenBear and CCBear. We were supposed to reach EdBear's place by 10.30 but reached 10 minutes late. No problem though since noone else was there and even EdBear was still asleep. But apparently, GraceBear, IzyBear, JeanBear, KaiBear were at PatBear's place while we picked up YenBear, ElaineBear and KenixBear from a church nearby. Missing people included DanBear and KeeBear. Oh HarvBear showed up too.

Food was good. I do not think I have ever had Bak Kut Teh for such a long time. Probably a year. So it was good food and good company. Though the amount of people present meant that I could not possibly overeat which was also a good thing.

Later I had dinner with KWaiBear, AmyBear and JoanneBear. It was at Victoria Station at USJ 10. I used to only go there for special occasions. How times have changed. Later we went to Summit USJ to bowl. I am never going there again. The shoes are dirty, the balls are chipped and it was just as expensive as MidValley. It was also very smoky and dodgy. No never.

And that was about it for a very alright day.

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Let me PLEASE blog about my totally horrible experience with Malaysia's public transport system. And my day. And my alter ego is also out on a mission to put smartass remarks for some of my posts.

Well let me give you some history. Went for a medical checkup for Standard Charted and it took like freaking 200 minutes. But somehow I did not get very bored as I was talking to two moms about kids going to Melbourne to study. (Yes, I pretended I was very knowledgable). Other than the usual blood test and urine test...I had other tests such as heart, lungs....BUT I DID NOT KNOW THAT I WOULD NEED TO BE NAKED AT CERTAIN TIMES......Ug..(As it was, I was very glad that I had on very nice underwear...I need to make a note to myself that I need to have on nice underwear on any important occasion...since I had my lucky red ones on when I was having that Standard Chartered interview :) ) A little bit traumatised, I left as soon as I could. I sorta hated the doctor as well.

Found a STAR LRT system to go to KL Central. Switched to KTM to go to Midvalley. (Let me explain that the Malaysian stupid transport system is very stupid. In the city, we have 3 modes of trains or train like things. There is the KTM which I need to bring me home. There is the STAR LRT which goes around the city. And lastly there is the Monorail which also to my knowledge, goes around the city. And of course they are not connected at all stations but only at special stations like Central. Very very stupid. Why 3 systems ??)

Anyway at MidValley, I met JeanBear, CKBear and EugBear. Also there were KevBear, ElaineBear, KenixBear and CharleBear. Anyway, the four of us went bowling where I am glad to say I managed to keep up my average of 133 with a high game of 151. After a drink I had to get going to Wisma Genting for an interview with ECM Libra, an investment bank, and I planned to go by KTM then Monorail. Luckily JeanBear managed to drop me there. Phew. Fastforward to the interview and it was quite crap. Basically they told me if I joined there would be lots of work 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Not much rest. The guy was 27 and he lost almost all his hair. Hell no I was not going to work there. Fine.

Downstairs was raining !! Ok fine. I was not driving so not much hope of being stuck in the jam. Was I wrong. The next 2 hours would be the worst of my life.

I climbed upstairs to the Raja Chulan station of the Monorail. Whoa. I thought "Look at the crowd of people". No matter. Then the monorail came into view. It was quite packed. Hmmmm. Tried to be a bit more thick faced and walked to the front of the line. Lucky thing that I did it turned out. People pushed on both sides of me. I managed to squeeze in and this Caucasian tourist just made it too. What he did not expect was like a wall of people pushing him from behind into the tiny little two car monorail cab. Poor thing. I was so sorry that he had to experience that bit. I was wondering if the DBKL increased the frequency of the monorail during peak hours because there were so many people around the stations especially at BB and Times Square. It was totally nuts. At this point I had started sweating because it was really hot with walls of people all around you. It was then that I thought I would remove my tie and sms my friends of my situation...they might find it funny and it gave me something to do for those 5 stations to KL Central.

What do you think happened ? The rain was still pouring down like cats and dogs... (more like elephants and whales..) Since the stupid KTM left from a different building across the street from the Monorail KL Central I would have to cross a road in the pouring rain. OK . I was not that afraid of the rain falling from the sky..... However I did worry about the water on the road. It came up to my ankles in some places and I was really glad that my shoes were not expensive cause they would have been totally ruined. At this point I was praying that Moses would be around so that he could part the ocean of water so that I could walk without getting too wet.) Fat chance. Although I tried to be as careful as I could it was a waste of effort. Kids from school jumped around in the puddles and wet me up to my chest. How disgusting was that. It was getting pretty dark too. Finally I saw the KTM station in front. Hmph. The roof was leaking !! WTF !~!!!

Anyway safely into the KTM terminal the train was due to arrive in 5 minutes. At this point I a bit wet in places but overall still in an alrite mood. Then the train seemed to be late. Wait wait wait. When there were only 200 people on the platform now there were like 500 !!! It was crazy. It seems that the Malaysian plan is to have less frequent transport during peak hours. So the train was late by 20 minutes which is a lifetime if you are wet and stinky and wanting to get home and have been trying to do so for 40 minutes.

And it was time to play sardines again. The wall of people moved in on the train like 1000 cats just saw a goldfish jump out of the bowl. The best part was the people inside could not even get out. It was so cramped ?!!! Before all of them came out, people were already squeezing in and at one point it seemed that they would be stuck there because they could not overcome the wave going in. I was pushed in. I also did my bit squeezing in once I found out that people behind me were hell bent on getting on the train. This was partly due to the fact that I did not want to wait for the next train which could arrive 5 hours later !@!

At this point I decided that if I worked in the city I would drive or kill myself. But of couse as IzyBear put it, "The karaokes, photograph shops and teddy bear shops would go broke". Or something like that. Hmph. IV.

It was really cramped in the train. There was no place to move at all !! It reminded me of stories of the Japanese trains. At least, I think there was a lot of tolerance going on since we were all different races. The only problem was that since it was so packed it seemed that you were either being molested or inadvertently molesting someone. Urgh. I swear you cannot tell. And the hands ! They came from all directions to hold on to a pole. I swear it seemed that there were a lot of wild octopuses which you can only see their hands, as hands came out from the crowd in all directions to hold on to the poles.

As we passed a few stations, the people trying to get out had a very hard time as it was raining very hard and noone wanted to go out into the rain. So crap. The weird thing was once it was less packed, people swore more and pushed around more. It just shows how selfish we are. The whole atmosphere inside the train was as bad as a slum disco. It was dirty, stinky, sweaty, wet and really hot and humid. You could almost vomit except that it would make it smell worse. Also some people brought food onto the train and this smelt up the whole train especially some oily food which became cold. Ug. Double Ug. Triple Ug.

I could understand how people became zombies on the daily commute to and from work. I almost became one. I had to drive to work. So what if I had to leave much earlier and left work much later ? I had to drive. Even if you were very rich, you would not have gotten much more respect on the train. It was a survival mentality out there. Anyway, by and by I reached the Subang Station. It was still pouring. Having no choice, I braved the rain for 2 minutes to run to Carrefour. By this time I was totally soaked. As I got into the car, I wanted to just die.

Well sorry if this post is so long..but it is just a bit of my feeling for the public transport system of Malaysia.
Yuks. And do not take it if you can help it. And if you like it, you have a mental problem.

Ps...I think I have pretty much decided to go for the Standard Chartered job.

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So. After having gone for 3 interviews with respectively, EY, HongLeong and Standard Chartered, I find myself offered the Standard Chartered job, awaiting a call from HongLeong and a second interview from EY on Monday. I also have a scheduled interview with ECM Libra on Friday. Going for interviews are quite fun actually, you get to talk about yourself, and then see what people's reactions are like. But it is also tough when you have to write essays or when you get asked IQ questions. Luckily, I like both. It is like some exam you would have had in school.

The Standard Chartered job is actually my second choice after the training programme thing with HSBC but since they rejected me I guess SC it is. Although it is a bit early to say so. I have to go for my medical checkup on Friday morning at Jalan Ampang. Which means I have to reschedule my eye checkup and I have yet to schedule my dental appointment. And all this comes at a time when I have not met most of my friends back here at all ! Of my high school friends I have only met SahBear, GaryBear, PhilBear, RabBear.....and JustBear which does not really count.

As for the IHers, I have met a few more of them but still not a number to be proud of. Will of course be meeting NickyBear tomorrow night for the first time in almost 3 years since he has been far away in UK while I was in Australia and I never came back for the winter holidays. Interesting to see what changes have occurred.

Anyway so back to the job. It is actually the Standard Chartered Graduate Associate Programme which places graduates into fast track learning programmes. Globally they are accepting 240 people but in Malaysia only 8. Which was good. Since they told me I was the first one to be picked. Apparently a lot of people did not get past the online tests. But my interview went well, and when they asked when I could start, I said tomrrow. SO they had the second interview straight away instead of in two weeks as per usual. So I met another head of department and had the interview there and then. Luckily he was a very nice man. We got along well and before I knew it, it was over and I was being handed forms to sign. Stress ! But I just need to go for my medical on Friday first. Then I would have to start on the 16th which is really too bad since it cuts short my holidays by a lot. I had expected to have at least until Chinese New Year.

16th ! That is only like 10 days away. Only 10 more days of being unemployed ??

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It is a new year ! Although I did not really have any celebrations for the new year just like any other of the previous 20 years, I did something different. As both my sisters were having separate parties at home and my parents were not in, I decided to go out. But most people were already out...in places like Bangsar or KL or at 1U..but then thinking about all my high school friends whom I have not met since I came back, I called a couple of them and somehow managed to meet up with GaryBear and SahBear at Rackx (?? I think that is what it is called) and proceeded to catch up on all the gossip while playing 2 hours of pool. Later at about 12.15 we went all the way up TBS at Subang Square and then watched the fireworks. Since it was a high place, we were able to watch fireworks all around the Klang Valley even the ones at the Twin Towers. Then later we sat at a mamak near Subang Square and talked some more.

In the new year, it was a Sunday and therefore, there was church. But after that, I went to pyramid to meet YeeBear. There were so many cars and so many people I had to go until Level 9 to get a parking spot. Then after lunch at Yik Kee.. (I did not even know the place existed) went home. After some dinner of pizza, I went for some Dota-ing and found that I am still very much crap at the game.

By now, my family have just had our annual general meeting. As usual, it was a whole 2 hours of laughs and arguments and finger-pointing and organisational twitches. Some of the highlights included :

A proposal of two times of morning wake-up calls, HardCalls and SoftCalls. Where one had to be up in 10 minutes after a HardCall else the service will no longer be provided, whereas a SoftCall requires no further action.

Creation and Destruction of several duties and jobs - the most exciting of which was the duty of Cleanliness where one had to clean up parts of the house at certain times of the year. Worth a grand total of two duty points, I had to do it. ( I was cleaning up anyway.)

An amendment to allowances given to university level members of the household.

A new bill passed on shoes and clothes where it was decided that members of the household should have a ban on all new purchases until such a time when the council thinks it suitable to be abolished.

An amendment made regarding parties and curfew times, in regard of the changing ages of affected members as well as the start of the school year.

An agreement signed between parties to split phone bill costs.

All in all it was a very funny and entertaining AGM as usual. I find it somehow surprising that my family is the only one I know having all the systems and traditions in place. I plan to do it when I have kids too. But looking at the year ahead, there is much to do, and much to experience.

My 2006 New Year Resolutions. And I will have a monthly review of my progress too.

1. Lose 15 kg. At least.
2. Get a job and enjoy it for a year.
3. Start professional certification studies.
4. Keep in touch with all my friends.
5. Make new friends.
6. Save some money.
7. Go on one overseas trip.
8. Have a much cleaner house with more systems.
9. Improve my Chinese, and start on Japanese.
10. Try to make some effort towards world peace.

Phew. Big list which requires lots of commitment. But I think I can do it. After all, I am an adult now am I not ?

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