Good bye 2008

Year 2008 has come to an end! Time flies and I did not know how I spent the 365 days this year.
I did not make big breakthrough in life this year but my baby certainly did. She grew from a 4 month olds little baby to a 16 months little girl now. Changes had been tremendous for her as she progressed so rapidly with her physical and mental abilities.
We were just back from a 4-day holiday in Singapore and I am very certain that Wen Jia enjoyed it so much. I must say that time was well spent with her and that was the only time in this year bsides the Bali trip in Sept where i can have time off to be totally with my family.
Wen Jia will probably enter her toddle schooling time next year. We are searching for a suitable nursery for her at this moment. I believe that she will grow even more contented with this new learning environment next year.
More to be shared in year 2009.
Happy New Year!

Holiday

Only now I realize that I haven't got a long holiday for myself for quite a while already.
My last "long" holiday was in Sept where I visited Bali. But it had never been enough as I was only there for 4 days! How I wish I can have a long vacation, without worrying anything about work.
While I am still busy with my current project, and voila, Christmas is just round the corner. Well, the good news is, I am forced to have my leaves cleared before end of the year and this is the only time I can have long days off. I am hoping that I am able to enjoy my 1 week off beginning Christmas eve.
I am heading for Singapore, maybe.

Jerudong Park

I was having dinner with my local partner in Brunei while he suggested to bring us around famous places in Brunei.
It was sad to find out that Jerudong Park was closed down for good due to financial issues.
I was about to go for a tour at the infamous Jerudong Park one of these days but unfortunately I am not able to, and won't be able to visit there anymore as it was closed down months ago.

School Holiday

It's school holiday again!
Students are having a 7 week break until Jan 09 and the road traffic in now better ever than other days of the year.
In this part of the year as well, we can see a lot of employees are taking leave. For those who are having scholling kids at home, it is probably time for a longer holiday somewhere in Malaysia or abroad. For other people, it could be time to clear the annual leave before it is forfeited in end of 2008.
Regardless of what reason it is, this is the best time to call it a break and regain our energy before facing another challenging year of 2009.

Recession on its way?

Malaysian stock market tumbled again today by more than 25 points before noon. This has been the 5th consecutive falls in the market this week.
I have started to worry about the share market now. I am in total dilemma now as to exit or to remain in market. With the index keep dropping, my paper loss has increased and I am not able to predict when it is going to stop.
With stop loss mechanism come into place, I should have cut the loss by selling some counters way long ago. But i failed to do so..
I haven't seen the bottom but it is now way too hurt to cut loss by selling off the shares.
Some people believe that it is worth accumulating stocks when market tumbled as there could be some bargains out there. But dilemma again - I do not have money to enter new markets without gettng rid of the bad stocks.

Wait and see...

Bali Trip 18 Sept - 21 Sept

My family and my sister in-law's family went for a 4-day 3-night vacation at the Bali Island last week.
This is also our 1st overseas trip with Wen Jia along.
We have in fact quite hesitate in bringing Wen Jia along for the trip as we knew that we were going to enjoy less with her around as it is not easy handling a baby while on trip.
Things turned up to be so as bad as we thought. Though her presence created some incovenince to us but we know that it is worth while after seeing her enjoying the trip so much. She is at the stage where she loves to explore new things; enjoying meeting new people, and most likely enjoying the scene as well.
Here're some of the photos taken during the holidays.

相约在916

916 这组号码自308 过后便成了红字。
我深信安华是搞政治能手，所以才有他言之凿凿的916。 我本身不是太欣赏以向国阵挖角方式达到改朝换代的手段，但却也不抗拒换个政府来试试。我觉得现在咱这里的官爷们好像没有改革的决心，把国家经济弄得一僦不振，乏善可成。
不论怎样，衷心希望916过后，大伙儿重新振作，为打造美好家园尽一份力。希望若变天不成，国阵及反对党真能兑现大选承诺，干一翻大事。五年过后，再让人民用手中一票来定胜负。

Monorail During Puasa Month

I like the traffic condition during Puasa month as it is indeed less crowded on my way to and back from office.
I have no poblem getting a seat in the monorail enroute Hang Tuah station which would have been proved impossible during the non puasa month.
Now, the peak hour of 8:30 - 9:30 is now no longer a peak anymore as our muslim friends commute to work much early in the morning.
Overall, i enjoy this very much.

Wen Jia is 1 year old now

Wen Jia celebrated her 1 year old birthday on yesterday.
We had a birthday party for her, together with our niece, Ee Lyn. (they born on the same day!)
It was indeed a very memorable moment for us and Wen Jia.
I have a few photos uploaded for the event.

Should Chong Wei happy with his achievement?

I probably joined thousands of Malaysian to be one of the badminton fans who weren't so happy with how Chong Wei performed in his final against Lin Dan on the 17th.
It was one of the worst game that i ever seen on TV! Lee CW did not even give a fight. Easily satisfied (or easily gave up), that's all that i can say.
I watched Lin Dan vs Peter Gade days before and i can see Gade's quality play by not giving up points easily. Gade did it very well and I believe Lin Dan was having some tough moment conquering the game.
But what happened to Chong Wei? Was he really clueless seeing how well his opponent has performed? Isn't it part of his homework that he understands and strategizes himself to play against this strong opponent of him? Didn't he realise that it was Olympic that he was playing at? And I doubt that he is going to have 2nd chance ever to win a Olympic medal, I am sure.
As a Malaysian, I have no reason to feel happy with our Malaysian team for bringing back only 1 silver medal back. After so many years of participation and millions of dollars of investment in sports, we would have expected more than that. Indeed.

Malaysia's 1st Olympic Gold Medal?

I am looking forward for tonight's match between Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan, not just because it is our only hope for history-making 1st olympic gold medal, but also purely for my interest in badminton sport.
I was delighted seeing Lee went through semi final match by beating Lee Hyun Il. I watched the repeat and i must say that Chong Wei has performed very well over this strong opponent.
Well, i hope Chong Wei will do the same by beating a far more competent Lin Dan. Lin Dan is in its top form and I reckon that he will fight till the last drop for this gold medal.
Good luck to Lee.

Good-bye my tooth

I just have one of my teeth extracted yesterday after a three-week fighting with the sensitive and infected tooth.
The tooth is a big one at the upper jaw. It took the dentist about 10 minutes to pull and twist the tooth before it was finally extracted.
For the entire of my life, i have not got my teeth extracted by dentist before. What a painful experience!

Launched Finally

After 7 month into the project, the project has finally launched on 17/7.
It was a long project with 7 month duration from inception to launch. Thanks god it has finally been launched.
A lot of hard work has been put in by the team in getting the project rolled out. And as my first ever customer project in the company, it carries a heavy weight in my working life. This was indeed a cross culture project with me as Malaysian working with people from Taiwan. It has never been easy though we speak the same language!
Thanks god it has over. I think I need to have a good rest.

Wrote in Taipei.

Project Launch

At this moment, I am working on a project launch in Taipei - my first ever project launch in my new Company!
The jobs started at 2:00 am on 17/7 and it is still on-going.
Hopefully we will have a successfully launch.

I am on Facebook

I joined facebook about 2 weeks ago and I am now connected to a few of my old friends like Sherine, Chan Chin Boon, Yong, and Foong.
Frankly speaking, I have very little knowledge on what i can do with this social network and do not expect to spend a long time hanging out there. But I know, I need to stay connected one way or another in this information age.
By the way, I joined another social network called LinkedIn about a year back. It all started when the recruitment agent who introduced me into my current company invited me. Ever since then, I built the biggest network ever with colleagues and friends with the number standing at about 16 of them.

Back to facebook, I posted some photo of my family - especially our little daughter Wen Jia's. I am yet to explore other facilities there but will certainly do so one day.

雯嘉成长记录 （一）

女儿以快十个月大了，也该是时候报告一下她的成长进度了。

身高：80 多 cm
体重： 9 公斤
牙齿：八颗， 上下鄂各四颗。
开始爬行：08 年 5 月初。
开始站立 （当然是扶着站）：六月中。
牙牙学语：08 年 5 月 中。
最常叽咕的话：爸爸，妈妈， 蛮蛮 （吃的意思）。
开始握奶瓶：08 年 6 月 中。

星云大师的一段小故事

昨天在报章上看到星云大师的一则故事，是关于“比较”这回事。
五只手指在比较谁较重要：
拇指说：当然是我，我排行第一，也生得粗壮，　我是最棒的！
食指说话了：你没见到人们总是用食指指示别人做东西吗？
轮到无名指了。无名指说：我最伟大！我见证每一段伟大爱情的结合，君不见每对恋人结束爱情长跑的方式就是以戒指互套在对方无名指上吗？
最后，尾指才徐徐然的说：我最大，因我最接近菩萨。当其他兄弟丈八金刚摸不着头脑的当儿，尾指说：众人膜拜时，我永远都离菩萨最近。
众兄弟都哑雀。 原本看是平平无奇的尾指，却会是最最伟大的啊！

高油价时代的来临

政府于今天凌晨开始将油价调涨至一公升Rm 2.70， 我们也正式迎向高油价时代。
这78仙的涨幅也未免太大了，真觉得有点吃不消。以后每打一次油，自己就得多付RM20， 真难以想象。
生活的压力可真是越来越大了。油价大起的连锁反应将陆续有来，好多商家肯定侍机调高物价，这叫我们平民百姓日子怎么过？
看来要想办法了！

Started to track spending

I tried to pratise back what i used to do in the past - tracking my spending. For the past few weeks, i have been searching around for the best tool to record my spending and earning. And finally i settled down with a website called myspedingplan.com.
I have worked out with Siew Wei to track our financial record in a more organised way so that we at least have an idea where did all our money go. For a start, we are tracking our cash outflow and credit card statements to gain some idea on where do we stand financially. Then, we shall be looking at our total assets on hand and total cash flow. I am also collecting some spreadsheet to analyse future financial needs so that we can start planning for Wen Jia's education as well as our retirement.

Our first pasar malam trip with Wen Jia

On last Friday (23 May), we have finaly got a chance to bring our daughter to Tmn Segar for pasar malam.
It has been a long long time since we last went to pasar malam. Our last pasar malam visit was before Wen Jia was born, which is at least 9 months back.
This visit to pasar malam was fun despite the fact that it was not easy to carry Wen Jia to walk in that crowed and warm condition. Wen Jia was a bit curious and like to look around on people as well as all kind of new things around. I must agree that at this stage in life, Wen Jia is very curious and eager to explore different things around.
We were very happy for being able to make our first trip to pasar malam with Wen Jia and is defintely looking for more trips in future.

五月了

时间过得好快，转眼已是五月了。 零八年也快过一半了。
零八年是不同的一年，自己的人生也经历了变化。家里多了各女儿后，每天放工第一件事便是回家陪女儿。 女儿确实为我们小两口带来了蛮大的变化。 看她一天天长大，我们就越想多把握点时间陪她 ，深怕错过了她生命中某一段旅程似的。
有了女儿，自己对父母多年来的养育，似乎多了一层感恩。爸妈想必经历了不少艰幸，才把我养育成人。我得更加孝顺父母，以报答他们。
五月了，双亲节又到了。我在此祝天下父母：身体安康，快快乐乐！

On business trip next week

Siew Wei and I will be having business travel almost at the same time next week. This will be the first time that we have to leave Wen Jia at home. Fortunately, Wen Jia will not be at home alone with the maid as we are sending her and the maid to Siew Wei’s sister home.
I have faith at Siew Wei’s sister that she could do her part by ensuring Wen Jia is well taken care of. What we are worried the most is whether they will be able to cope if Wen Jia cry at night. She has been doing it quite often recently and she indeed did not sleep well since last week.
Well, we are just hoping that everything will be fine during our 1 week out. I am certainly going to miss her during my stay in Taipei.

Wen Jia turns 7 months

Time flies and Wen Jia is now a 7 months old baby. She has grown from a tiny baby into a nearly 9kg, 80cm tall girl now.
I have seen her going through her cutest moment of all in these two months. She responses to us when we tease her; she mumbles a lot and smiles even more these days.
Since our maid's arrival on 3rd March, mum was able to enjoy greater flexiblity as she could go back hometown more often. We just need mum to be here every now and then to ensure that the maid is doing well in carrying out her duty as caretaker for Wen Jia.
We are fortunate as we have my mum to take care of Wen Jia sometimes, and in her absense SW's sister is kind enough to let Wen Jia to be at her house when we are at work.
We just want to be very sure that Wen Jia will be brought up in a condusive and healthy environment.

人民展现力量 － 历史改写

昨晚陆陆续续听到反对党在大选中告捷的消息，心里有说不出的感慨。于是我便赶回家守在电视机旁追踪大选成绩。
截至零晨一时，反对党已夺取槟吉打吉兰丹雪洲， 以及成功否决国阵三份之二议席。 这不能不算是一项大突破。
终于人民力量抬头了！这真是可喜可贺的一件事。

Wen Jia's 6-month old photo

Wen Jia has started her new journey by taking solid food on her 1st day of 6th month.

Wen Jia has started taking solid food

Wen Jia has taken solid food since Sunday 24-Feb.
In chinese calendar, 24-Feb was Wen Jia's 6th month. So we decided to get her to try her first bite of solid food - some kind of cereal porridge that we bought from the supermarket.
We have taken photo of her first few bites on this new food of hers. I will get them posted in my next posting.
She is now taking 2 meals a day, 2 tablespoon each.
Well, this marked another development milestone for Wen Jia.

Happy Chinese New Year

Today is the 12th day of Chinese New Year. We celebrate CNY this year with different spirit as this is our first year celebrating with Wen Jia around.
Our daughter is turning 6 months very soon. With year and this year alone, we have celebrated a few occations with her - Christmas, New Year, Chinese New Year, and Valantine.
Though she is not able to appreciate so much the of celebrations, but i must say that we certainly enjoy having her by our side on all the celebrations.

Happy Chinese New Year. Gong Xi Fa Cai!!

Mum is taking care of Wen Jia

We have since 6th Jan got my mum here to help taking care of Wen Jia.
I was so worried that Wen Jia may not like mum as she has been recognizing people since 3 month old. She disliked the maid especially during night time.
Fortunately, she clicked with mum so much so that we believed that the initial days of mum taking care of her (during Siew Wei's confinement) counts as she seems to smile a lot with mum. Wen Jia became a happier child ever since mum was here.

We have started our first big challenge when Siew Wei went abroard for business two days ago. I have to take two days off just to ensure that mum can cope with the load alone. This is also to adjust myself for a lesser sleep time as I need to take care of her at night.