Thursday, December 04, 2008

c h a n g e

It's been only less than a week since I'm back home in PJ, yet I feel that I have changed to a different person.


What do you mean by 'changed', you ask?


Let me explain it from an incident today which, kind of, ignite this sudden reaction.

I just got home after visiting the popular Cheras 'Hong Lok pasar malam' (for your information, 'Hong Lok' is the common name in Cantonese for this night market, which many people claim is one of the longest night market in KL). Got there with an old primary school mate & his girlfriend. That guy, let's just address him as G. G drove me to the night market, and also back home afterward. On the way back home, he passed through the Cheras highway & cut through LDP to get me back. G is driving a Perodua Myvi, and as he is driving through both highways, he's driving on a constant 130 - 140 km/h. Let me repeat that again, 130 - 140 km/h on a Myvi, Cheras highway, which coincidentally have lots of sharp corners. For the ordinary me, I would just leave G be as it is and deep inside my heart, I will run, jump & scream my @$$ out with joy as me myself love to speed like what he's doing during that time. Instead, I feel a totally different reaction during that time. I feel...


F e a r.


This feeling is something I've never felt before, all the while during my driving days in PJ / KL. As mentioned above, previously I am a speed demon myself, and I like to 'fly' my car in highways, sharp corners & what-so-ever on high speed. But just now, while G is nicely hitting the accelerator on 140 km/h, I feel fear. Fear that we might be involved in an unexpected accident (*touches wood*). During that moment, I asked G a simple question, "Wei, is it that you're driving really fast or am I getting slower ever since coming back from Ipoh?" He replied,"You're getting slower-lah! Last time I sit your car, you drive fast like this wert! "

I was stunned for a brief moment after getting the reply from G. For that particular moment, I began to start thinking whether have I changed to a different person, with a different personality & habit ever since returning from Ipoh. Come to think of it, there are really several other things besides this, that have already undergone change in myself. They might be minor changes, but they are also changes that I never, ever, expect myself to undergo.


Previously...

- I absolutely HATE eating vegetables, drinking Chinese herbal teas' (chysanthenum, bitter tea, 'luo hon guo', etc.) & tend to eat non-stop as long as my stomach still have space (which kind of explain my rapid weight gain at such a short period previously)

- I always give coins & small change to beggars/uncles/old aunty/granny/etc. when I see them as I feel that coins are useless, lowly money.

- I spend money like there's no tomorrow & don't bother to save, as I have my monthly salary to cover up my expenses.

- I tend to always talk without much thinking, which kind of offend quite a number of people.

- Ever since getting my motorcycle license, I always thought that motorcycle is better than cars in the sense that motorcycles will never need to worry about parking & PJ / KL's ugly traffic jams.


but now...

- I began to start eating vegetables, although not much, but starting off little by little. For Chinese herbal teas', I began to start enjoying it as well due to the fact that once, while in Ipoh, I got cured of a minor fever / flu, thanks to Chinese herbal teas' only and not Western medicine! Miraculous! Also, I start to take only moderate amount of food and not too much fast food as previously there are simply too many good food in Ipoh! Who needs McD's when you can have chicken rice with Ipoh beans sprout? (for your info, chicken rice with Ipoh beans sprout is a very popular local Chinese food as many people claim the beans sprout is much larger than the ordinary ones)

- I don't simply give out coins to beggars/uncles/old aunty/granny/etc. anymore as I learnt that these people do not deserve the donations. 1st thing, coins are not useless money. 2nd thing, most of them are still capable of doing other more beneficial things rather than begging by the street and relying on other people.

- I began to realise that saving is really important due to the fact that I get a much lower salary in Ipoh and things are getting more expensive these days. As such, I become a much more thrifty person rather than a big spender.

- Ever since working in Ipoh, I feel that we should think carefully before saying something, because we will never know when will the things we say, offend someone. This is due to the fact that majority of Ipoh people, who coincidentally are Chinese, are very careful people in their speech. Moreover, the Customer Service background of my Ipoh job teaches me to be more careful in speaking.

- No doubt that motorcycles are parking & traffic jam immune, but a simple Chinese verse that my girlfriend, L, told me, made me realise a fact. She said, "For the motorcycle, it's the human who covers the metal. For the car, it's the metal which covers the human. Now tell me, which is safer?" As expected, I couldn't give her an answer.


Which is why now, I'm a bit confused. Have I change to a better man or worse? I remember I heard from someone that a change doesn't mean that it's going to change for the better good. Sometimes a change will make you a worse person than before, sometimes a change will make you change your original personality and wreck the h*ll out of you.

I still remember clearly the words I told my parents before I left to Ipoh. I said, "You all look out! I will show some results to all of you; I will succeed in my career, I will also succeed in securing L as my official girlfriend!"


But now...


I have failed everything, and now here I am, back to square one.


Together with the confusion caused due to the sudden spark of change.


There goes my self confidence.


Already so late? Off to bed now. Have a job interview waiting for me later in the afternoon.


Haihz.

Monday, December 01, 2008

a w e s o m e

WARNING : Long post ahead. Crap included. Please be informed & thank you for visiting.

We are .... F . I . R !!!

One word to describe F.I.R concert that I went last Saturday at Genting.


A W E S O M E !


Yes, it was that good until I have to admit it was the BEST concert I've ever been to in my entire life (up to now, that is), even better than Sammi's, even better than S.H.E's, even better than Jay's, OMG!

To cut a long story short, yeah, overall the whole trip was kind of tiring. REALLY tiring (which kinda explains the delay of this post). After packing off all my stuffs before leaving my ex-Ipoh home on Friday, i moved out officially on the same afternoon itself & reached KL by evening. By the time I land my foot at home, not even after breathing some of the much needed 'homely' air, I rushed to take my bath & start unpacking stuffs I don't need in order to clear out the bag for the next day trip to Genting for F.I.R concert.

Next day, off I go to Genting with both my parents. Wait a minute, WTF?! Both my parents? What in the world are they following me up to Genting for F.I.R? No, actually they're just joining me to go up Genting as my dad claim they have some 'Magic Mirror' play a.k.a 'Kuan-Yin-wannabe-&-co-live-in-a-play-kinda-thing' showing in Genting at the same time as well. Oh well, no harm done, moreover initially I have no place to stay in Genting anyway...now that my parents, aunty, cousin bro & grandma (notice the number of family members who followed me up to Genting, zzz..), I get a free place to stay in Resort's World, thanks to my aunty who collected tons & tons of WorldCard points from her 'friendly' casino friends.

Also, I have to sacrifice my own privacy to enjoy the F.I.R concert alone, as I was 'forced' to bring my cousin bro together to the concert. Haihz, & I thought I can finally watch a concert alone, all alone in my own world & no nonsense, no need to feel shy & 'pai seh' especially if you're shouting Faye's name like some insane lunatic or if you're on 'high' mode after hitting on some fast tunes. Also, you can have the ultimate flexibility to take your own sweet time to come early to the concert 1 freaking hour earlier & go back to your hotel room 1 hour after the concert & no one will say a thing. Haihz....I miss my lovely loneliness. When shall I see you again, my dear 'friend'?

One more thing...check out the difference between the 2 pictures below, and tell me which one looks better.

This one,


or this one?



Obviously the latter looks SO MUCH better, right? As expected, the first pic came from my good ol' lousy Canon Powershot A460 camera who keeps 'auto-shutdown-due-to-forever-low-battery-regardless-of-whether-using-new-battery-or-not' & 'it-takes-forever-to-recharge-the-flash-after-each-shot', and the second pic, oh well, taken by pro photographers using DSLR's who are either rich fellas forking a few more hundred bucks for the VIP seats or media staffs who, well, obviously use high-tech DSLR in which the lens are as thick as 10 roti canai's stacked together & is freaking long & hard enough to knock someone (or should I say, anyone? ) unconscious. I wouldn't say everyone at the VIP area uses DSLRs', but if I ever get myself a seat there too, I guess I can take a picture much nicer than the first pic above. Seriously.

Anyway, they deserve the credit for taking such nice & insanely professional pics for us mere humans to savor, and here comes the credit list for the nice pics posted here :

http://www.myfirclub.com (Member - ahloon)
http://www.kwongwah.com.my
http://imnotthatskinny.blogspot.com/2008/11/fir-arena-of-stars.html
http://crystalismz.blogspot.com/2008/11/fir-live-in-malaysia.html

For the pleasure of viewing, here are the lousy pics I've taken during the concert. Yeah, they are kinda lousy, blur, shaky & unprofessional, but hey, it was taken by me myself on a crappy camera & on a PS2 seat area. Which makes me d*mn proud as I've been to an F.I.R concert! w00t!~ And yeah, just in case you took /copied any of my lousy pics here, please provide the link back to my site. A little credit is more than enough, thanks in advance.


View from my seat at the concert.

Planets? Hanging here in Genting? WTF?

Ugly Malaysians being late for the concert...as usual.

1st song & you're already facing your back to me, Faye? I'm hurt!

Real a.k.a Ah Ching doing the thing!

Sometimes rockstars do get tense like us, hmm.

Stoning & cooling down for the moment.

Still stoning? Well, maybe they are too tired with all the casino activities last night.

"Use Rexona & clear off unpleasant smells!"

Faye doing acoustic...& gosh, her voice kills!

We are F.I.R...err, where's Ian?

Faye singing some high tune part...really professional voice controlling!

Hey Faye, I'm here! You're blowing the kiss at the wrong direction!

Thank you Malaysia...emo betul.

Ian shouts "My mic for sale!!! Going once..."

& now....the nice, professional pics which are taken by other people. But still...they're nice! Credits mentioned as per above.




Oh gosh, still high even after returning back home. Oh well, need to start returning to reality and face the cruel fact to look for another job. Haihz, reality hurts.

This concert is definitely worth it.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

l e s s o n

I have submitted my resignation letter this morning.


Finally.


After almost 3 months here in Ipoh, I've finally decided to let it go and face the cruel truth. Facing the truth that being here in Ipoh & in this work place is DEFINITELY not bringing me anywhere to success in my career nor guarantee me a secure place in L's mum mind. Talk about maturity at my age, hmm....


Now I finally understand why did both my parents didn't stop me from coming all the way from KL to Ipoh to work.

Now I finally understand why everyone's convincing & telling me the same, exact thing again & again that coming to work here in Ipoh will do no good.

Now I finally understand why L are not that happy although I'm already working in Ipoh & can get to see her so much more frequent than before.

.

..

...

I've finally learnt my lesson.


After submitting my resignation today, basically my last day of work will be on 25th November, which runs on a 2 weeks' notice. After that, where am I heading to? This question have been pondering inside my head for several weeks already before I made the final decision to call it quit on my current job. Will history repeats itself again after I resign from this job? Don't think so, just that the similar mentality of 'resigning-before-you-get-a-job' prevails in my head. Just in case you're wondering...


Yes.


I haven't get a job yet.


Not that I wanted to quit my current job without looking for a new one 1st, but quiting a job in Ipoh & going for interviews for a new job in KL / PJ sounds ridiculous, right?

Yeah right.

Will be returning to KL for good by end of this month, and will be back to active job-seeking mode by December...any vacancies for me?


I guess I've finally grown up after this lesson.


This journey isn't wasted.