Talk About Samsung!! - SL102

I posted earlier about some of the items that I owned by Samsung.

Little do I expect that a day or two later, I would end up buying another Samsung product. The latest addition is a Samsung digital camera, SL102.

As mentioned before, the earlier digital phone (BenQ) k.o-ed. I was pondering whether to buy the DSLR camera from my best friend. Then he took it with him to Europe.

In fact, I would have preferred a small compact camera versus DSLR but then, it was a good offer to pass up. It was not to be though. I really needed a camera, so, the day before yesterday, I went camera shopping. I am just looking for something not too expensive and practical. The sales person recommended either Olympus and Samsung. Specification is almost the same but the pricing is about MYR 300.00 difference.

In the end, I bought Samsung due to lower price, hahaha. For 10.2MP phone at below MYR 500.00, it is really value for money. To think that I bought a 3.2MP phone (Minolta) for MYR 1100.00 last time, years ago, and a bulky one at that! I didn't used it in the end because the battery don't last (it uses a rechargeable AA battery!). As luck would have it, I won a free BenQ digital camera not long after that and it has served me very well, ever since, until last few weeks.

Project Runway

I have just recently downloaded some of the episodes of Project Runway. I find it an interesting watch. And the way the designers design the garments, it seemed easy, hahahaha.

Anyway, I have always liked cloth, clothes and fashion, not that I am very fashionable but it is nice to see normal cloths be turned into stunning garments, head turner even! Some people will get on their life with just t-shirt and slippers (flip-flops) but some people would not be caught dead with nothing less than a designer wear! As for me, as long as the piece of garments looked good, it doesn't really matter if it is not branded. I believed that as much as clothes maketh the man, (or woman), the man (or woman) must be able to carry it off well too. I believed in wearing clothes, not letting the clothes wear us, hahaha.

Ever noticed how, when you wear something new and well tailored, your self confidence soared sky high?? Probably, that's the reason why it is imperative that every festive seasons or special occasions, people tend to wear their most expensive outfits, it make a person shines.

I have a wardrobe full of garments, I used to rotate wearing them but recently, I seemed to be favouring the few made in Bangkok for my work and the long t-shirt bought in factory outlets. It just felt so me.... :)

Rain Keeps Falling

I love rain. Everything seemed so clean and fresh. Even the air smelled fresh and green.

The thing is, everytime if I water my garden diligently, it will rain. It makes the effort seemed useless. I mean, if it is going to rain, why waste my money on watering the garden with piped water? It is like wasting one of nature most valuable resources....

And after watering the garden yesterday, it rained whole day today, since morning and is still ongoing now! Talking about over-drink!

Most people would tell you, Malaysians that is, that whenever they send their car for washing, it seemed that chances are, the very instant their car gets washed, prim and shiny new, down come the rain and not two days later, the car would look exactly like the day it was sent for washing, may be even worse, hahaha. That's why, I will only send my car for washing when it gets extremely dirty. And everytime, after washing, my car looked brand new with all the accumulated slime and dirt washed away.

Samsung, The Sun Hunt And MyTeam

Firstly, look at this :-

One of THE HUNT of the year is upon us again. Most of the people who are avid hunters would not want to miss this hunt. Unfortunately for my team, due to some unforeseen circumstances, missed out on the registration. As fate would have it, we will have a second shot of joining the hunt, courtesy of the sponsor's generosity. But there's a catch, we have to tell the kind sponsors why we should be one of the teams to be sponsored!

Well, let's see, beside putting ourselves in the good light of the sponsor, we have to be honest to ourselves too, right? No right minded sponsor would want to hear lies, in fact, truth will help them in right directions, which will be more beneficial mutually too.

I think my team deserved to be the Samsung sponsored team because, well, we are slightly above average team, hunt quite regularly and well, that said, will have a shot at top ten finishing (I hope). If the sponsors took one inexperienced team, it is like throwing good money away. If it is the top teams, well, they are the top teams, why would they need sponsors??

Aside from that, my team mates and I are Samsung supporters too. I am still using Samsung washing machine, Samsung microwave oven - both about 10 years old and still going strong, honestly, I am glad that I made that choice ten years ago, if other brand, I probably would have to change already.

But the same could not be said of it's fridge, which, I also bought at the same time but it has stopped working 3 - 4 years back. Probably due to shifting house that the fridge, being more fragile was damaged at that time. So, in all honesty, could not say it is due to inferior quality.

At the peak of Samsung's handphone mania, the few of us even owned Samsung hand phones! But then, hand phones are very fast-changing and regrettably, presently, we were smitten with other makes....

Naturally, being a regular Samsung brand user, don't we deserve to get a shot at one of the slots?

Six Words On...Boredom

Stared at wall, stared back, bored.

Sunshine In My Photos

There are many things that I wanted to blog but none come to mind when I sit down facing the computer.

Lacking the inspiration, vanity kicks in. So, here it is, some photos that I took while driving back earlier today. Just having fun with the camera phone while waiting for the traffic lights to change colour. And wanted to see how the sunlight will show in the picture. Cam-whoring to the core, or rather, fore???

Sail Of Dreams

Actually, it was a literal translation. I loved this song, even to this day. I used to listen to it very regularly, about 20 years ago?? Is is that long ago?

I just come across it over some site and pasted it here to share.

It could be Screen Of Dreams or Sail Of Dreams. Either way, just enjoy the music.

Heading : East And West

This morning, it suddenly occurred to me that my two best friends were both travelling overseas at the same time!!

One of them is in Europe and the other one in China. And suddenly, I felt like, life is so so strange without people to banter with. I guess, in life, you will have to get used to being left to your own devices. I need my own private space but at the same time, I need to be in the presence of good company. Very oxymoronic, right??

Same goes for my friend, when he is here, we communicated probably once every few days but when away, he has to buzz me everyday. Strange huh??

Chicken And Egg : Crime Level

I read a post from one of the blogs, the link here.

One thing that can be deduced is :- the more police is ineffective in their job, the more crimes will happens and the dominoes effect will continue, the police will be swamped with even more crimes.

In the end, it is the citizens that have to pay the price for it. I remembered how in our younger days, we can roam about without any worries. My mum used to walk back alone late at night, sometimes midnight. I too used to walk everywhere, alone. But it seemed, walking alone nowadays posed a very high risk of :- injury, mental trauma and loss of personal belongings, if not outright limbs and lifes.

After so many crimes committed, the police still in deep slumber and they have the cheek to collect their salaries every month!! Don't they feel any shame? I know for Muslims (let's face the fact, 90% of the Malaysian Police force is made up of Muslims) that they believed that if they don't fulfill their responsibility, that when they are dead, they will be questioned in their grave why did they evade their responsibility and will pay for it there and then. But then, corruptions entails the same questioning too and it is still rampagnt. I guess, people tend to forget that they WILL die someday. Probably they don't believe in all this retribution anymore...

I wonder if the head honchos, be it in the police force or politician can sleep at night with the conscience that they have innocent bloods in their hands?? If they had at least tried, then, their conscience should be clear but they don't even bothered!!

When Everything Goes Unhindered

Got up pretty early today, had an appointment with the dentist at 11.00 a.m. Would you believe it that I got up at 7.00 a.m?? I have set my alarm clock at 9.00 a.m.

After tending some in my garden, I left at about 9.30 a.m., figuring that I might get stuck at the road construction work at the town centre. Well, I was pleasantly surprised when I reached the critical juncture, all is smooth sailing, not many cars in sight and I was able to clear that stretch in less than 3 minutes when, at times, it will take all of half an hour or more!!

So, I got to dentist's neighbourhood before way before 10.00 a.m. and lo and behold!! There were ample parking for my picking!! There were times when I had to drive around 5 - 10 minutes, just to find an empty spot!! Well, I got to the dentist by 10.00 a.m., with minutes to spare, and sat down, expecting to wait for another hour, wondering, how to kill one hour with nothing to occupy my time?? Again, I was pleasantly surprised that I was called into the dentist's in less than 5 minutes time! Another surprise!! I used to wait for 15 - 30 minutes, irregardless of whether I turn up early or late. So, for an appointment at 11.00 a.m., I finished everything by 10.30 a.m., which is great! I got back into office before 11.00 a.m. (another wonder, as the traffic was not heavy) and would you believe it, that the traffic at the opposite lanes were jam packed!! What a difference an hour made!! If I had left home a bit later earlier on, I would be caught in the jam that was happening at the opposite lane that I saw. And it looked bad, I estimated that it will take at least half an hour to one hour to clear the stretch that took me less than five minutes, an hour earlier!!!

So, I bought Toto this morning, since Lady Luck is being very generous with me and let's hope she will continue to be generous all the way...

Yesterday, I went to Shogun for some Japanese food again. I think I am really losing control over my eating plan, seemed to be eating a lot recently!! Anyway, after eating, we went to a jewellery shop and looked at diamonds and such again. I am thinking of getting another diamond earring, but a much much smaller carat one, for casual wear, keeping the bigger one for special occasions like dinners and such. My wife bought a pair of pearl earring and we looked at quite a number of diamond rings. There were some good bargains but after considering that the design is practically the same with what we already owned, we end up didn't buy any of the diamond ring. But, it's still very tempting though....

Shedding Skin...

At the risk of sounding snakey, I have been pondering for the past few weeks, tweaking and playing and trying for new skins for the blog but in the end, I still use back the old one.

Many of the newer ones are very beautiful and tastefully done up but, when I "put it on" my blog, it inevitably looked not that satisfying, it is either wasting the two sides' (left and right) space or the colour is wrong or when everything else felt right, I have qualm about losing the existing widgets I have already installed. Bother, bother!!

I am still tinkering with it and still considering whether to change or not to change.

When It Pours, It Pours In Torrents

You know, I am a firm believer of Murphy's Law. I also believe in fate and destiny. And obviously, karma.

You know, I sometimes wonder, how people can get through life without a teeny weeny bit of conscience but I do noticed how at times, it catches up with them.

I had a staff who, when he worked for me, was always short of funds, probably due to weakness in managing his money. When his motorcycle broke down and beyond repair, he wanted to buy a second-hand one from his friend but he didn't have the cash, I can't remember exactly how much but I think it about MYR 1,500.00.

Well, he asked for a loan from me and knowing how exasparating it is not to have money and transport to boot, I loaned him the money in goodwill, interest free and repayment period of 6 months. He left without notice after the 3 months, with about MYR 800.00 still unpaid. My admin staff still held on to the motorcycle grants and told him to pay up before we give back to him but there were no actions. 3 - 4 years has since passed and out of the blue, he called me today and said he wants to pay me the balance to get back his motorcycle's grant. The reason?? His motorcycle was detained by the police for not having a valid road tax.

I told him that as long as he settled what is dued me, I will just release the grant to him back, as per our agreement, I am not angry, in fact, I am just glad that the outstanding will be resolved finally.

Down Memory Lane

I was updating the Facebook and came across my wedding photos. At the time, digital photography was at its infancy, so, we had the conventional types. I scanned these photos some years later but I totally forgotten about it until today. I am uploading some here, just for fun sake. But the file was reduced, so, it might not be that clear. I got to find these photos and re-scan them, now that I am more familiar with all the digital thingy.

Be The Change : Follow Up

Further to my post about Be The Change, I have posted one of the photo in the original post.

Following is the few that I took.

The Famous and Fofular Sales Queen, +sizekitten (just to be clear, the Queen is the spectacled one, not the Beattle haired one!!)

This was where I parked my car, can you believe it, all their parking lots were full, everytime!! Just collecting parking fee will make them rich beyond words.

+sizekitten with her Fans and Friends and Favourites and all the other "effss".

Noticed the paper bag?? She went shopping FIRST while waiting for the function to start!!!

You can take Miu away from shopping, but you can't take shopping away from Miu!

That's for sure...

Cam-whoring In Study Casually

Just fooling around with my handphone camera. My digital camera konk'd, so, for the recent "look" and "change" - unable to take good photos due to non availability of cameras with tripods. So, have to make do with handphone for the time being.

The result, err, well, I guess, that's why people invested in expensive cameras. They make even next door joe or jane looks like supermodel..

Well, noticed the highlight on the hair?? It would have shown better if there is better lighting and better camera. And the earring is not the one I blogged earlier. This photos were taken about a week ago, way before I bought THE STUD, ehemmm....

The Bloom In October

Here is some photos of the flowers taken this morning, 13 Oct 2009.

The Diamond Stud

Okay, I finally went over to the jewellery shop, the one I mentioned last time having the diamond sales.

Well, after looking for quite sometime, I finally bought ONE piece of the diamond earring!! They actually agreed to sell it on per piece instead of per pair!!

Still, the price is about 30% higher than the one without any certification. For own vanity, I probably shouldn't have paid the extra premium but after long consideration, I might as well get myself a certified stone if I can afford it, right?

So, here it is, my very own 0.31 carat, VVS1 earring stud. I have not wear it yet. I felt like it is a bit too expensive to be a casual wear kind of thingy. But boy, it really sparkles. As it was taken by using handphone camera, I guess the beauty doesn't really show, wait till I get my hand on a dslr camera, I should be able to do it justice. Heck, it is even more expensive than a dslr!!

I looked at the 0.5 carat and didn't really liked them, because they looked too big, loud and exaggerating, whereas I always wanted something quiet, demure and understate.

I am going to wear them tomorrow, hehehe. Just for a few days. Then, I will decide whether to wear them or to keep them in the safe, but then, if I were to keep them in the safe, I might as well don't buy them, right??

Upcoming Halloween

The upcoming Halloween Party at our neighbourhood is beginning to create some buzz. I don't know about others, but Isaac's and Iona's costume are ready, made by the grandmother.

Here is Iona's. I don't have Isaac's one but I will sure take the picture on the party day itself.

Activities Day

Today seemed to be pretty busy.

Had an appointment with an ironsmith fella, I need to do something in my garden which needed something special to be arranged. So, I have no choice but to engage outside help.

Then, had to attend an open house of my staff. Stayed for an hour or two, got back, rest a bit and off to collect a document from KL, silly customer made mistake but we have to go through all the hassle. Why some people is so uncooperative, even when it is they themselves who made the stupid mistake? So people just take advantage of people....

Bought some food for my wife and kids on the way back. Then our neighbour Mary dropped by, they just got back from England and bought some souvenir for my kids. Such kindly and thoughtful people.

My wife is baking chocolate cookies and I ate a lot. Seemed to be fasting days ahead after this uncontrolled eating.

Chatted with a friend over FB. Also chatted with my wife's friend, who planned to visit during Deepavali. There is three more open houses tomorrow but all at the same time, so, I guess, I will only show my face at one place only.

I do plan to sleep in tomorrow, hopefully, I can sleep till lunch! That would be divine!!!

BFF sms'd me and told me that there is diamond sale at DEGEM and asked me to take a look. We planned to buy diamond earrings and split the cost, since the both of us needed only one each, hahaha.Will try to make time to shop around tomorrow at DEGEM.

My Classmates And I At The Reunion Dinner

This is taken last week at our class reunion dinner.

Dinner For Two

Had a very early dinner with a very dear friend. Not so much of a dinner as compared to having crabs as appetiser, conversation as the main course and noodle as the side dish. Time taken? 5 hours. And some toddy and stout.

We did that quite often last time, but not recently. Missed the good old time where one have more time for company. But, it's better than not having it at all.

As we aged, we find that we have less and less tendency to have close friends and we must hold on to the one we already forged, dearly. The journey that we have travelled together, the ups and downs, the tears and laughters, it is priceless.

We shared the same fear that our circle of friends will be getting smaller, what with friends moving away and some, moving on, if you know what I mean...

So, it is best to savour and treasure whatever little opportunity we were given to enjoy each other's company. Same goes for family, same goes for friends, especially those genuine and who have been with you through thick and thin.

Aftermath Of Reunion Dinner

As per earlier post of reunion dinner, the facebook and emails has been going to and fro, to and fro, not to mention phone calls and smses. It's like magic. But like everything else, the initial excitement will die down to inertia again, after awhile. Meantime, we are enjoying every moment of it. Here is some of the happy memories for sharing.

The outcome of it all is that, we are now only a phone call away from everybody, or an email away, or a facebook away. The coming Sunday, one of the friend will be holding an open house to celebrate the Hari Raya and those in Klang Valley will try to make an effort to join in. I know I am going.

You know, it is strange, how most people don't bother to keep in touch but once they were put together, there's no stopping them, huh??

Reunion Dinner On 03 Oct 2009

Some of my old classmates arranged for reunion dinner last Saturday. I attended.

I left at about 4.00 and my car sounded cranky and not feeling very confident for the 2 hours drive, we went back and changed car. I took my wife's car instead. We reached my sister in law's place at about 6.00 p.m. and I left my kids there for the duration of the dinner.

I got to the venue with my wife and some of the classmates were already there. I can barely recognise them!!! Gosh, some have "grown" and some grown side way, some grown round way and some grown wise way. And suddenly, we all feel old and young at the same time.

Not meeting for 20 years really brings back many fond memories of our school days. Too many catch up to do. Time were a bit short, coupled with some speeches, which I sincerely thought ought to be done away with, before many of us realise it, it was late and many of us, who decided not to stay overnight have long drive back. Many of my friends wanted to stay overnight and continue with the chat but have no choice but to abandon it. We are so looking forward to having another round of reunion.

As it is, we have already established many long lost contacts and emails and chats has been quite busy this past two days. Time flies and if we were to wait for another 20 years, I guess, may be half would be gone from this world by then???

Meeting long lost friends bring certain excitement that is very hard to contain. Many were not best of friends during school time but the shared childhood bring people closer than they ever thought would be possible. There is a certain familiarity and openness that is very rare in friendship forged at later stage, barring a few special ones, of course.

Overall, I had a very enjoyable night. Talking in our school language. Jibing each other. Admiring and respecting and gossiping, all in a night's work...

Stubbornly Stubborn

I was mentioning that I am currently reading the series by Sergei Lubyanenko. Hmm, I can even spell his name without referring to the book!!

Anyway, in the book, there is the main character by the name of Anton Godensky. Throughout the series, I noticed that this character is very, how shall I put it, mule?? He is kind but he just can't seemed to see the other side, or at least pretend to understand. His one tracked mine really irritates. His philosophy is like, "Either you are with me or you are my enemy." And there is no two way about it.

I mean, in real life, can one be so stubbornly stubborn? Your enemy deed is evil all the way? It is just like some of the religious fanatics which simply refused to acknowledge any good deeds just because it was not done by someone from the same order as theirs. Even when deep down their heart, they know that it is a good deed but their stubbornness simply refused to let them accept it at face value, they have to find something to taint it.

I mean, a good deed is a good deed, right? People can say all kind of things but when it come to the very basic, everyone is same right? Like, how pork is not kosher (halal) but what about people who consumed them? What what if the one who consumed pork happened to be a donor (blood etc) to the one, whom port is not kosher?

This type of questions, obviously has been asked by greater people than me but I always looked at the basic, a good deed is a good deed, no matter how you want to paint it.

Lantern Festival

Today is the Lantern Festival. It is believed in the Chinese lore that today's moon would be the roundest and biggest of all the full moon days all year long.

There are also many stories about this special day, mostly myths and legends but I liked this "farce" better, written by one of the more talented blogger, who have since retired. Here is the link. It was written in 2005 and I still read it every now and then. Such were the allure of this writer. Personally, I feel he is more a writer than a blogger.

If you don't understand Hokkien, a dialect of Chinese Language, probably the joke would be lost. You would probably have to think very "Chinese" too, ancient, wuxia era kind of Chinese. Otherwise, enjoy and have a good laugh or two.

Enjoy the moon tonight and probably wish upon it, who knows, it might comes true.

Happy Moon Cake / Lantern Festival to all Moon lovers....

Cantankerous Car

You know, how sometime, after you sent your car for servicing, or lend it to someone else, it ALWAYS come back with funny quirks??

I sent my car for servicing this morning and though I only serviced the engine oil, now when I drive the car, it felt like something is the matter with the wheel instead. Going through bumps produce sound like the whole thing is gonna fall off.

Need to send the car for another checking, which, I honestly believed, will solve this funny sound but will again produce another peculiarity at another area. Such is car!!!

I Walk Alone In Darkness

How do people write poem? I have no patience for poem actually. But this morning, a phrase keep on playing in my head, "I walk alone in darkness" and it seemed such a nice sentence to go to waste. It plays in my head over and over again, and I had to unload it somehow, lest it become permanent fixture in my mind!! God forbids!!!

So, I thought, why not start with that particular sentence and see how it goes? And the silly thing ended up as below.


I walk alone in darkness
Treading the path of wilderness
Leaving behind all that is known
In search of something elusive

Do I see the flicker of light?
There!
There is hope
There is destination
There is where I ought to be.

I walk alone in the darkness
But fear left
Loneliness left
Confusion left
Though I walk alone in darkness
It will not be darkness
That greets when I complete this journey


Silly eh? Meaningless babbling and no artistic value whatsoever. But it still qualify as an entry to the day, huh? Ciao...