Election 2008

Malaysians will be going to the polls next Saturday 8 March 2008.

To check whether you are eligible to vote or where you will be voting, click here.

If you are eligible to vote, print out the details and bring it along with you. It may help you to prove to the registrar that you are at the right polling centre.

During the last election I used sms to check my polling centre. The registrar could not find my name on the electoral roll on that particular polling centre I was supposed to cast my vote at. I had to convince him that I was at the right place and helped him to find my name eventhough I had to look at the electoral roll upside down.

As a Malaysian citizen, do exercise your right to vote no matter how inconvenient the process is.

Leap Year/Day 2008

Today is Leap Year/Day, a day that comes only once every four years. So we all get an extra day this year. :)

Each time a Leap Year/Day comes around, it reminds me of a friend in Sydney. He’s BC, a Vietnamese Chinese. His birthday falls on today so he gets to celebrate the exact day only once every four years.

I knew BC through Internet Relay Chat (IRC) in Taiwan Channel when I first started using the internet in 1993. During winter of that year, some IRC friends came up from Tasmania and Victoria to New South Wales to meet up with BC, Alan Lee and I. BC and his family were very hospitable to us. There were about ten of us and we all stayed in their house in Ultimo, near Sydney Chinatown and University of Technology Sydney. We had so much fun eating fabulous food and visiting places including visiting Joanne Hoe in Canberra.

Road Tax

Today the car road tax expires and therefore I have to paste a new road tax on the car windscreen.



The problem is I have not even gotten rid of the marks left from the previous road tax which means I have to get rid of the marks left on by two road taxes at one shot.



It was such a pain in the neck and I had to use the Gillette blade for half an hour to do the job.





I hope in the future the Road Transport Department will be able to issue road tax that can stick well but at the same time can peel off easily from the windscreen.

Life is Short

This morning mum called and told me one of our family friend, Ar. Steven Chia Yuen Chung died after his car was hit by another car from the rear. I do not know the details but I am sure the newspapers would have something on it tomorrow.

Since I was young, my parents, Jeff and I often went to visit Steven’s family after dinner and each time we would spend a few hours in their house. Steven’s father was working at the Sandakan Airport Control Tower and there seemed to be so many topics these adults can discuss about.

Eventhough I was not close to Steven because he was studying in Singapore and subsequently in the United Kingdom, I feel quite sad after hearing the news. One of the projects he designed was the Radiant Tower and I heard he lived in the penthouse. He is in his forties and he left behind his wife who is from Hong Kong and a son. I was closer to his younger brother Ming Chung.

The last time I saw Steven and his family was during cousin Victor Chong’s open house during Chinese New Year last year.

Cool Weather

Kota Kinabalu has been experiencing nice cool weather for more than two weeks now (since 3rd day of CNY ie. 9 February 2008). Weather has been less than 30 degrees Celsius and usually the sky is cloudy except for the last two days ie. Friday and Saturday. (Temperature in my bedroom right now is 24 degrees Celsius without the fan or air-conditioner on. The hottest weather I have even seen was 38 degrees Celsius, a difference of 14 degrees Celcius in a room in a tropical country!)

Being inside an air-conditioned room in the office also means that it can be quite freezing.

Sometimes if it was raining before we went out for dinner and if I knew that we would be going to an air-conditioned restaurant, I would wear t-shirt of thicker material or long sleeve blouse/shirt. Some restaurants like for instance Supertanker and Mayflower can be extremely cold.

I used to love winter when I was in Down Under. In fact winter was my favourite season. Usually friends would be curious why I did not feel cold even when I was wearing minimal amount of winter clothings.

But my health has deteriorated since I had asthma in 1997 (I think). How did I get my asthma?

At that time I was working for my uncle-in-law as a computer supervisor for his computer centre in Tg. Malim (the border of Selangor and Perak states of West Malaysia, now called ‘Proton City’ (the place where the plant for making the national car is located)).

Usually on Saturday afternoons after work, I would take a bus from Tg. Malim to Kota Raya in Kuala Lumpur and stayed at cousin Victor Chong’s condominium called Angkasa Impian at the heart of Kuala Lumpur (the Golden Triangle). The condominium is pink in colour and located behind Tong Shin Hospital and near Jalan Alor (a street filled with restaurants and hawkers stalls (food haven of Kuala Lumpur)).

One day I went to Sunway Lagoon with cousin Christopher Chong and one of his friends (her name is Chee Hooi). We went on quite a number of rides at the Dry Park and Water Park, and even went on the ship that rotates 360 degrees called Pirate’s Revenge.

I did not know what happen but after going on the rides, I started to cough non-stop. At that time all I wanted to do was to go back to Angkasa Impian to rest and sleep. My head was spinning like anything as well. I think I told Chris and Chee Hooi they could continue to enjoy themselves while I can catch a taxi back but they insisted to leave with me. I felt like a spoil sport.

The next day I went back to Tg. Malim and that was the start of my endless ‘coughing’ treatment at the private clinics. I went to see so many doctors and all of them said I was having normal cough. I did not go to work for a few weeks because I was coughing like nobody's business and was unable to have normal sleep.

At one time my aunty, cousins and I went into a cake shop to buy some cakes and I did not even know what had happened. I felt dizzy, fainted and dropped on the floor. (I always laughed everytime my aunty reminded me of this ‘puk kai’ (fall) episode. Well, of course I can laugh now but at that time, it was a serious matter).

One day my aunty brought me to a doctor who diagnosed me as having asthma. I was shocked when he told me that. (Incidentally my cousins who were born in Tg. Malim have asthma since they were born) That started the bout of different medicines as compared to normal cough plus the need to use steroid inhaler. The consolation was at least I knew what was wrong with me.

I was able to go back to work after being diagnosed as asthmatic. But I had to carry the steroid inhaler with me everywhere I went. Sometimes the asthma was so bad that my uncle had to bring me to the public hospital located opposite his housing estate on the way home from work after 10p.m. so that the doctor can give me more drugs to inhale in order to improve my condition. Altogether my medical bill must have added to about RM1k and my uncle paid every single cent of it. For that I am truly thankful to him.

As much as I needed to take medicine for my asthmatic condition and to use the steroid inhaler, I also prayed to God to heal me. And God did heal me completely. I have not used the inhaler for more than ten years now. Hallelujah!

I always thank God I do not have asthma anymore. I just get cold easily.

Some of the precautions I take in order not to trigger back asthma are as follows.

1. Take hot showers especially in the morning unless there is no current.
2. Avoid inhaling cigarette smoke.
3. Wear thicker clothing when the weather is cooler.

(But taking the steroids through the steroid inhaler had caused my bones especially my back bone to become brittle. Will blog about this some other day)

Implementation of Bank Negara Malaysia’s New Cheque Truncation and Conversion System (CTCS)

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) is Central Bank of Malaysia. (To find out more on BNM, please click here)

Recently BNM has issued revised guidelines on new cheque book w.e.f 1 July 2008.

To view the guidelines, kindly click here.

One of the new guideline is:-

COMPANY STAMP/CHOP/PERSONAL SEAL WILL NOT BE ALLOWED OR REQUIRED ON CHEQUES

The pro of this new implementation is that it would be less work for me. I do not have to chop the company stamp on the company’s cheque book anymore.

The con of this new implementation is that if the company’s cheque book is in the wrong hands, then the person can forge the signatures of the signatories and subsequently transactions can take place.

I would have still preferred to do more work so that there is still an extra security measure to deter forgery to happen. But alas I cannot have my preference. So I need to exercise carefulness and make sure I lock the drawer containing the cheque book if I am not at my desk in the office.

Light Sleeper

I am a very light sleeper and I cannot sleep with the lights on unless I am extremely tired. Every night before I go to bed, I have put my table clock inside the ensuite bathroom in order that the ticking sound would not prevent me from having my sleep.

This morning I was awaken by a motorbike honking in the neighbourhood at 5.38a.m! If this had happened on a normal working day, I would not mind and welcome it with open arms since I usually wake up at 6.00a.m.

By 5.57a.m., I still was not able to go back to sleep when the motorbike honked for the second time. Since this had happened on the only day where I could sleep in, in the whole week, I really detest the person on the motorbike.

Today's Sunset in Kota Kinabalu

Warisan Square

Warisan Square was one of my company projects. And hence we were given free vouchers.



I like to eat the chicken and mushroom pie available at San Francisco (SF) Coffee. They are second best to the meat pies I ate in Down Under.

Please do not let the SF word deceives you. My cousin who lives in California, USA said that she has never seen this chain operating there.

Hair Clip

I had been using this brown hair clip for at least the past seven years if I wanted to put my hair up. But I broke it on the eve of CNY.





Today I bought two to replace the broken one for the meantime. I will search for better ones in Kuala Lumpur.

Audrey Kamijan commented that it is difficult to make business out of me, seven years to buy more hair clips!

Big Apple Donuts & Coffee

After Audrey Kamijan and I were done with our shopping at Baleno, I saw people queuing up to buy donuts from Big Apple Donuts & Coffee.

For those who do not know, there is another outlet in City Mall. I saw people queuing up there as well the few times I passed by the shop.

Warisan Square RM50 voucher

My boss gave each of us a RM50 Warisan Square voucher during our payday for January 2008 salary.



Stated on the voucher are the following conditions.

- Valid from 26 November 2007 – 28 February 2008
- Not exchangeable for cash
- No cash refund should the purchased amount is less than the voucher amount
- Applicable only at the participating shops above (ie. joan, Island Shop, chamber, Eve, Satine, Salabianca, Baleno, BLay and colours) in Warisan Square.

Last Saturday I wanted to go to Warisan Square after work but the heavy rain not only prevented me to do so, but I also had to cancel my lunch appointment with Audrey Kamijan.

Seeing today’s weather was better, I decided to ask Audrey again since I only have five more days to shop before the voucher becomes obsolete.

We met at Times Bookshop and proceeded to Yoshimi Japanese Restaurant for lunch. Audrey had Gyuniku Udon (Japanese noodles soup with beef) while I had sushi bento which included steamed crab roll with egg, soup noodles, miso soup, half a dozen of cucumber sushi with a dash of fish roe on top, cabbage salad, raw sushi of cuttlefish, salmon, beef and fish; and two pieces of fruit.

After lunch it was time to shop and use the voucher.

The first shop we went to was Factory Outlet Shop. They have clothes of a mixed range of prices but we did not find anything we like. Moreover, this shop was not stated in the voucher.

We then proceeded to Baleno and since my colleague Nanie Enggam gave me her voucher as well, I gave it to Audrey. Both of us managed to get two T-shirts each and I had to add on less than RM10 for our selections.





We walked around to other shops and both of us managed to buy other things before going home.

Cute Angpow Envelope

Today someone gave me three of the same cute angpow envelope (of course with no $ inside). A yellow sticker is provided to help in fastening the opening so that the $ put inside would not be able to fall out.

But I reckon the envelope is too small to accommodate any amount of $.

Chap Goh Mei 2008 (Photo)

Chap Goh Mei 2008

Today is ‘Chap Goh Mei’ (Hokkien (one of the Chinese dialects) word) meaning the 15th or last day of Chinese New Year. It is still a full working day for my company. When I left work after 6p.m., there was no traffic jam and driving home was smooth all the way.

This year the angpows (Hokkien work for red packets, with $ inside given by those who are married to those who are not married) I received were in the denominations of RM100, RM50, RM10 and RM5. For the first time in my entire life, I did not receive any RM1 at all. That is really a record.

Altogether I received a few hundred Ringgits, an amount that can cover my buffet meals for maybe the whole of 2008. Haha! A big thank you to those who will be sponsoring my buffet meals this year.

This year the angpow envelopes are nicer and more colourful as compared to previous years.

Goodies from Penang

Aderick Chong from Weida Environmental Technology Sdn. Bhd. gave me a nice table calendar recently.




And when he came back from Penang after two weeks break, he brought for me a box of Him Heang Biscuits (also called Tambun biscuits).

When he gave it to me, my boss was there so I shared with him and my colleagues. The rest I took home for mum and Chloe Chong to try.

Normally I do not like sweet things but these ones are not that sweet and I like them very much.

Next time I will ask another friend to bring back for me all the way from Penang since my favourite Penang Laksa is out of the question.

Dinner at Shakai Restaurant on 20 February 2008

(Clockwise from top right: Sweet and Sour Chicken, Mixed Veges, Prawns Coated with Oats and Hainan Chicken)

Today is Alistair Ng’s 4th Birthday. He chose to have dinner at the Shakai Restaurant located on Ground Floor, Star City Complex. He wanted to have deep fried noodles with lots of sauce (‘yee mien’). His brother Barnabas and Chloe Chong also had the same noodles.

The rest of us (brother James, Rosalind and her parents, mum, and I) had Hainan chicken rice which was very nice. The dishes were Hainan chicken, sweet and sour chicken, mixed veges and prawns coated with oats.

All the dishes tasted quite nice except the Hainan chicken was not very fresh.

James paid for the bill of over RM110 which was a bit expensive as compared to the night before at Winner Hotel Chinese Restaurant.

The rain came pouring before we left the restaurant around 8p.m. We had to walk around the shopping centre for about half an hour before the rain stopped.

They all went home in one car while I drove to Kyrugma House for Canaanland Celebration Committee Member’s Meeting until after 10p.m.

Dinner at Winner Hotel Chinese Restaurant on 19 February 2008

(Clockwise from top right: Ostrich meat, Veges, Swweet and Sour Prawns, Chicken Pieces and Lamb Steak)

Winner Hotel Chinese Restaurant is located on the 1st Floor, Kg. Air. Before we went to the restaurant, Jeff fetched Aunty Shirley Chong.

This is cousin Christopher Chong’s favourite restaurant and was my first time to step foot in that place. There were mixtures of small, medium and big tables in the restaurant. When we arrived, brother James and family and his parents-in-laws had already arrived. Then Marianne Ghani arrived followed by Chris.

The menu consisted of sweet and sour prawns, steamed grouper, chicken pieces with dry red chillies, veges, ostrich meat with ginger and shallots; and lamb steak.

We were quite disappointed with the steamed grouper because we did not like the way it was steamed. The ostrich meat was quite soft. The lamb steak was very well marinated while the veges had lots of broccoli and mushrooms. I did not like the chicken pieces because breast meat was used for this dish. The prawns were ok. The leftovers were the fish and veges so we took away.

Jeff paid for the bill of around RM200.

When we were leaving the restaurant, Jeff gave Alistair Ng his birthday present since it was his birthday the next day (the day Jeff was going back to Kuala Lumpur) and I helped both of them to take a photo together using Jeff’s mobile phone.

When we arrived at the entrance of the hotel, some of them were still waiting for us. Alistair commented he did not receive any PS2 which followed by sound of laughter from everyone who heard his comment. Alistair decided to join us in our car to go home.

While inside the car, Aunty Shirley and mum started to tease Alistair on the present he received. He did not want to give to them and even said to Aunty Shirley that he will buy another present for her. When Aunty Shirley said he must remember what he had promised, that was when he replied by saying ‘I do not have money’. Such a clever boy.

Work Like a Dog on 19 February 2008

Not me but someone else. I would never refer to myself as a dog. I may be hardworking but I am certainly not a dog.

This week the drafting department has some deadlines to meet. One of my colleagues was chasing another for some work. The latter (without the hearing of the former) said he had been working like a dog all day and started to complain about it.

Anyway, to relief tremendous stress and without the knowledge of the latter colleague, my colleague Nanie Enggam and I started to make dog sounds. She suddenly asked me if I have any dog license. (Yes, the dogs in Kota Kinabalu need a license from Kota Kinabalu City Hall to exist and owners have to register their puppy/dog). I told her I need the office boy to get the form for me from City Hall before registration can take place.

After a while, I made the dog sounds again and I asked Nanie ‘Who let the dogs out?’ We laughed and she mentioned the name of another colleague.

I know it is not good to laugh at other people but when you are working in my company and under tremendous stress, you just want to have a bit of fun.

Crabs on 18 February 2008

That afternoon Jeff and mum managed to buy over RM50 worth of mud crabs near Telipok. Mum took a few hours to clean and cook the crabs in sweet and sour sauce for Jeff to take back to Kuala Lumpur on 20 February 2008 (Wednesday) to give to his friends. He divided them into four plastic bags and put the name of the friend he wanted to give to on each of the bags. Lucky friends!

Chloe Chong and I managed to eat some small pieces and Jeff complained that I took too many.

Dinner at Yun Hin, Hilltop on 17 February 2008

Tonight cousin Christopher Chong treated us for dinner at Yun Hin Coffee Shop (if I remember correctly), Hilltop.

When we arrived, people from two small separate tables left and we had to wait for the worker to clear up and connect the tables so that we do not have to sit separately.

Aunty Shirley Chong and mum ordered rice while Chris, Marianne (Chris’s wife), Jeff and I ordered noodles. There was a side order of pig trotters as well. Chloe shared in our rice and noodles. Our orders took about half an hour to arrive.

I have not tasted ‘Beaufort’ (name of a country place in Sabah) noodles for a while now. So I enjoyed the noodles very much that night. That was also probably because the time was already 8.20p.m. by the time we had our dinner.

Lunch at Damai on 17 February 2008

I hardly join church members for lunch after Canaanland Celebration on Sunday. This is because the weather is usually too hot for me to have lunch in coffee shop.

But since the weather was cool last Sunday, I decided to join some church members for lunch at Damai Plaza Phase IV. When we arrived at the ‘Pan Mee (noodles)’ (forgot to look at the name) shop, there were so many people and we waited for about ten minutes before a small table was available for 8 of us – Sharon Lai, Monica Leong, Mr. & Mrs. Chew Chong Bin, William Chew, Ivy Voon, Clive ? and I. Our order took more than 45 minutes to arrive and the cook made a mistake on William’s order. While he was eating the mistaken order, his correct order arrived and so he had to take away the correct order.

(While I was sitting there waiting for our food and conversations were going around the table, I saw many Glory Christian Church members passing by but they did not see me. They were Marc Soon, Felix and Lily Morris, Daniel and Jocelyn Lee, and May Lee).

Ivy had to finish her lunch quickly because she had to go back to work at 2-6p.m. I also found out that the person who gave me the 29’ Sony television happened to be Shirley Chew’s sis-in-law ie. her brother’s wife Rosalind Lim. The reason Rosalind’s name got mentioned was because Shirley was telling us that Rosalind and her family were transporting her late mother’s body back from Singapore to Kota Kinabalu on that same day and it cost around RM8,800.00.

Mr. Chew treated all of us to lunch. He and Shirley are such generous people.

Before Sharon drove Monica and I back to Kyrugma House to get our car, we went to Watson so that Monica can buy her hand cream.

Before I came home, I went to Giant Likas to buy bread and some goodies for mum and Chloe for afternoon tea and to Food City to take away dry noodles for Jeff.

‘Tarap’ (Malay word) Fruit

As far as I know, this fruit (Tarap) is only available in Sabah. Correct me if I am wrong.

The smell can be quite pungent but not as ‘bad’ as durian. You either like it or hate it.

I like to eat it best when it is taken out straight from the refrigerator. But the problem is it will leave a smell in the fridge.

I am not able to describe how it tastes like because there is no other fruit that tastes like it.

I remember cousin Henry Lee from Hong Kong liked it very much when he tried it but his wife Michelle did not like it.

Steamboat Dinner at Home (Photo)

Steamboat Dinner at Home

When mum, Jeff and I were having dinner at Gaya Seafood Restaurant a few nights ago, mum said she wanted to have steamboat dinner at home during one of the weeknights. She preferred to have steamboat at home rather than outside because she said the food will be fresher as compared to outside. I told her we should have it on weekend so that I can enjoy it more. Hehe

I bought the steamboat and teppanyaki set while vacationing in Singapore in 2001 at Giant Hypermarket located in a former turf club. Mum and I had to take a shuttle bus from a bus station located somewhere to go to this Giant. When I laid my eyes on the set, I told myself I had to buy it no matter what, even if it is kinda inconvenient to bring it back because I had to go back across the causeway to Johor Bahru to take the plane back to Kota Kinabalu.

Now that Jeff is working in Kuala Lumpur, we usually only have steamboat while he’s back in Kota Kinabalu twice a year.

Today mum went to the market to buy most of the food for tonight.

The menu consisted of chicken, pork, beef, meatballs (pork), cuttlefish balls (I bought them for a barbeque on New Year’s Eve), tofu ‘pok’, prawns, fishballs, dumplings, ‘yau char gwai’, veges, tofu and ‘lai mang’ fish (from Sandakan).

This time mum managed to marinate the meat very thoroughly as compared to half a year ago, the previous time we had steamboat.

Everyone had their own preference.

1. I liked the chicken.
2. Mum liked the veges.
3. Mrs. Lu (my sis-in-law’s mum) liked the ‘lai mang’ fish.
4. Mr. Lu (my sis-in-law’s dad) liked the dumplings.
5. Barnabas & Alistair Ng with Chloe Chong liked the cuttlefish balls.
6. I think Jeff liked the red chillies as condiments. Haha

At the end when everyone was full, I finished the pork, beef and meatballs (pork). The only leftovers were ‘lai mang’ fish, veges and chicken liver.

I thoroughly enjoyed the dinner tonight. Plus with the rainy weather, what better way to eat than to have steamboat? We do not even need to switch on the air-conditioner like we normally do.

Lunch

Normally I do not like to go out for lunch on working days especially when the weather is hot during lunchtime. I want to avoid having migraine while at work. Since the weather has been kinda cool for the past week, for these two days I had been going out for lunch.

Yesterday I went with my colleague Nanie Enggam to a shop nearby our office called Fook Heng. Previously it was called Cheery but the person who operated this coffee shop had gone on to greener pasture. I heard he is now a chef working in a foreign country. If I remember correctly he is now in Russia.

The first time I had something from Fook Heng was the day before Chinese New Year. I took away my breakfast to have in the office on that day. I reckoned the food was ok. So I suggested to my colleague to go that shop and she willingly obliged.

We arrived slightly after noon but half of the tables in the shop had already been filled up. There were quite a lot of varieties of dishes to choose from, more than ten. I chose to have chicken, four season rolls and cabbage. Soup is FOC and the meal costed RM3.50.

Today before lunchtime I asked Nanie where she wanted to go for lunch. She told me to decide and I decided to go to Fook Heng again since it is nearer to our office than Giant Kolombong Foodcourt and the food is quite good.

So we were back to the same shop as the one yesterday. This time there were less people but by the time we left before 12.30pm, the shop was filled with people.

Today I chose ‘yok choi’ (herbal) chicken, deep fried pork slices with a slight dash of mayonnaise and Japanese tofu.

While I was enjoying my food, I told Nanie that the food tasted like the shop I tried a few years back with an ex colleague Francis Wong. But at that time the shop is located at the same row as the shop Zai Zai, the row of shops behind where Kwong Tung Chai Roast Shop and 66 Bakery & Café are located in Kolombong.

Nanie then told me in fact it is the same shop. They had moved from that place to nearby our office. This place is cleaner and more conducive to eat in. I was so surprised with myself and that my tastebud is not bad at all. I can differentiate or distinguish people’s cooking even if I have not tried the food for a few years.

Crabs and Fish

Sweet and Sour Crabs


Steamed Crabs


'Lai Mang' Fish

Mum can cook a gastronomic meal out of mud crabs. Usually everyone likes the sweet and sour way of cooking prepared by mum but Jeff prefers his steamed. He said he can really taste the ‘real’ taste of the crab whereas the sweet and sour way can mask the ‘real’ taste.

A few times when my cousin came for visit from West Malaysia, mum cooked the crabs for her to take away back over there to enjoy.

We also like to eat ‘lai mang’ fish. I don’t think it is available in West Malaysia or Kota Kinabalu. They came all the way from Sandakan.

I cooked flower crabs (using mum’s sweet and sour recipe) when I was in Down Under and my friends loved them. (In fact when I was there I cooked things like Hainan chicken, satays, roast turkeys, etc)

Valentine

Someone sent me through sms the following last year. I received the same thing through email yesterday and this morning I read the same thing in my daily devotion – Our Daily Bread.

For God So loVed the world,
That He gAve
His onLy
BegottEn
soN
That whoever
Believes In Him
Should Not perish,
But have Everlasting life.

VALENTINE

Milo Supporter

Since I was young, I always enjoy drinking Milo. In fact apart from Milo, I do not drink much tea or coffee. If there is no Milo available and I have to choose between tea or coffee, then I would choose tea. But I do not really like tea at all. For instance if a set meal includes tea or coffee, then I would usually ask the waiter or waitress if I can have Milo instead. There were some rare occasions where I would get to drink my favourite beverage during those set meals.

A lot of people think that Milo is created in Malaysia but it is not. Nestle, the company behind the Milo brand is a Switzerland based company. I heard that some people purchase Milo on their way back from studying or vacationing in Australia because the Milo there tastes better than Malaysia. Can it be that ingredients there are fresher?

Today I had three servings of Milo at work. I always have a cup of Milo with my breakfast. Then at 11am I was getting hungry so I had my second cup with some biscuits for morning tea. At 3pm my stomach was getting hungry again and I had my third cup. I never add any sugar with my Milo. I like the original taste. I have not taken any sugar in my Milo since twenty years ago. Also, I like my Milo hot with no ice added. I cannot remember the last time I had ice Milo outside. If I am home, then I like to add some fresh milk in it. Besides Milo, I also drink at least 1.5L of water during office hours.

If I did not have enough sleep, I cannot take coffee to help me stay awake. When I was young, I was not allowed to drink coffee. And I never bother to find out how coffee tasted like until one day before my Higher School Certificate examination. I was determined to burn midnight oil and in order to be able to stay awake; I decided to drink coffee. I only drank a few sips and the whole episode backfired on me. Instead of staying up, I had severe headache and ended up going to sleep early. Since that time, I never try taking coffee ever again.

Milo still suits me anytime!

(I digress – talking about burning midnight oil, the other and only time I managed to do that without the aid of coffee was the night before I had to give a presentation during my study days. I was not well versed in the topic I was supposed to present and I think I was given the hardest topic in my tutorial class. I did not finish typing my presentation until early morning and after my shower, I went straight to my department to photocopy my presentation to give out to my tutor and fellow tutorial mates.

The tutor happened to be the Head of Department and after my presentation, he fired me with so many questions that I just made up most of my answers. I could see my tutorial mates really pitied me because I was one of the unlucky ones who was queried when others did not have to answer many questions during their presentation. I felt so humiliated.

After my presentation, I decided not to stay for another class in the afternoon and went straight home. Yes I decided to skip my class because I would face the same tutor/lecturer again eventhough it was for another subject. I was in no mood in seeing him again that day and I wanted him to know no matter how conscientious I was, I still had feelings.

But the most unexpected thing happened at the end of that session, I was the only one who got an A for my presentation. I could not believe it. I was so happy!)

Dinner at New Gaya Seafood Restaurant (GSR)

Shells and Poached Prawns


Veges


Wet Buttered Crabs

When I arrived home from work today, there was no food on the dinner table. Mum said we were going out for dinner and I had to decide where to go.

I tried calling GSR while I was resting and all I got was engaged tone. I assumed their phone must be out of order. Then all I can think of are the restaurants which we can go to for dinner.

When mum, Jeff and I were about to go out, I told mum I could not reach GSR by phone. Mum then suggested to me to call Supertanker Restaurant. I had to call the recreation club beside GSR twice before someone answered the phone. I asked the person whether GSR is open for business and was glad when she said yes.

When we arrived at GSR, the carpark was almost full. The recreation club beside it is undergoing renovation. But still someone could answer the phone.

Although the carpark was almost full, there are still a lot of tables available. We had to wait ten minutes before one of the four captains came to take our order. My favourite captain, Peter is on leave.

We ordered 300g poached prawns, half a kg of shells, two wet buttered mud crabs, veges and two bowls of rice. Jeff did not want to eat any rice. After taking our order, I asked the captain whether their phone is out of order and he said yes, just went out of order.

The shells came first followed by the prawns. We finished the shells before the veges came. Lastly, the crabs were taking a long time to make it grand entrance.

As usual everything tasted great and the chef had improved a lot in the way he cooked the crabs. Tasted better now than when we first started order this way of cooking.

When we were about to go home, Peter (one of the captains) appeared eventhough it was his day off. He seemed to be busy so I did not want to disturb him.

Jeff paid the bill of RM61.xx. Mum said next time we go to GSR, she wants to eat abalone and oysters. So I said we do not have to wait for next time. We can go again next week since Jeff won’t be leaving until next Wednesday.

Encounters with Morons

Today I had three encounters with morons at work.

1. A SESB (equivalent to TNB in West Malaysia) (electricity company) staff (let me called him Mr. L) demanded that I go to see him so that I can sign and cancel an invoice I issued for some reimbursements for tender drawings we printed more than half a year ago. He said he has two of the same invoice. But how would a moron be able to differentiate? The reason he has two copies was because my company did not get paid for the first invoice and subsequently there was a change in the person in charge (and this second person in charge may not know anything about the first invoice). I wanted to tell him that but I did not want to waste my breath. I also did not give into his demand of going to see him. I instructed my office boy En. T to do it for me. When En. T went to see Mr. L, Mr. L gave him a lecture on being a goalkeeper. Only a moron can do that! When I told my boss what had happened, he told me Mr. L is kinda crazy. So I gave him the correct name.

2. A man called up my company and asked whether my company had put an advertisement in the newspapers for the post of Resident Engineer to be based in Universiti Malaysia Sabah for one of the buildings to be constructed there. Why ask such a question? If you can see it in the newspapers then it is there. Otherwise no. I had to be polite to the caller (which I suspect is one of my ex-colleagues. I can recognise his voice but I did not bother to ask his name) so I said ‘Not that I know of’, since every cash or cheque payment has to go through me. Then he enquired whether my boss is in the office. I told him no and he proceeded to ask for my boss’s mobile phone number. After giving him the number 016 813xxxx, the moron then ask me ‘is that it?’ Oh for goodness sake, did I miss out a number or what? I hung up the phone.

3. At about 5pm I went inside the toilet to relief myself. The moron/s who went before me did not bother to replenish the roll of toilet paper. This is not the first time and it won’t be the last eventhough my boss has lectured so many times regarding this common courtesy. But people in my office are too selfish, they do not care about the welfare of others except themselves. The moron/s who always do this need to be shot. But then again, I told one of my colleagues. If they do not do that at home, what makes you think they will do it at work? It is not in their so called scope of work. To them it is the job of the part-time cleaner. Well, wait until the day they go in and they need to pass motion and there is nothing to use except their hands and water!

Moron moron moron!

(I learnt the word moron during my time in Down Under.

A few years back when Tun Dr. M was still the Prime Minister, he used this word to refer to George Soros. At that time, the reporters did not understand what he was talking about and asked him to explain. His answer was ‘someone from Moronia’. And they believed him! I laughed until my stomach ached when I heard that.)

Canaanland Celebration 10 February 2008

Anthony Chang Wee Kuong was the winner of the Malaysia Astro Talent Quest 2006 held on 29 July of that year at the Arena of Stars, Genting Highlands.

Prior to joining the Talent Quest he was a piano teacher and he attended BCCM (E) KK. He was also one of the backup singers during the 7.30am Abundant Life Celebration.

In April last year he sang at the Astro Super 50 Party and the song he sang was ‘Qing Fei De Yi’.

This CNY he came back to Kota Kinabalu to celebrate the festive season with his family and friends. This morning during the Canaanland Celebration, he shared and sang two songs for us.

Third Day and Night of CNY 2008 (Photo)