Weekend during Ramadhan

Time moves so fast…unnoticed! Really!! I just realize it today after viewing my calendar. What to say, today is already 12^th of Ramadhan and raya is just less than three weeks more to go. Ohh, I really hate to think about raya; not because I have to spend a lot for the kiddos' ang pau but the traffic flowing out from KL will be so terrible and nightmare. Experienced it last year and years before. Stranded in the middle of the North-South Expressway; somewhere in Tapah I think. Stop it! I really hate to recall those bad experiences I encountered. They really haunted me….

Yesterday as usual, I went for outing in One Utama for movie before heading to Standard Chartered Tower for my workout session. I didn't plan to buy anything but since I got 40 bucks vouchers from Nike, I just used them all to buy another tee; look nice and I just spent less than 50 bucks for such a nice Nike tee. Thanks to Sportsland. Well, I have another 50 bucks vouchers from Studio R. Let see what I can get with that amount. J

Felt a bit tired during my workout time; maybe due to dehydration but it couldn't stop me from enjoying my sweet workout time!! Well, just to mention here that I assume my workout rountines as usual during this holy Ramadhan and I feel more enthusiastic doing so. Fasting month is not meant to freeze all the routines and activities we normally do in other months. Ramadhan, conceptually can be defined as a school (madrasah) that educates (tarbiyyah) us to be better persons. Its true and I always belive that we should become stronger, more enthusiastic and highly spirit during this holy month but unfortunately, majority of Malays (always referred as Muslims in Malaysia although it's not 100% true) have different definition on this holy month. It's the month to spend more and waste money and other resources. It's the month that weaken us thus we have to sleep and rest more. I don't think this is the spirit and objective of fasting in the holy month of Ramadhan. Definitely, it's totally wrong!! Watch out, dude! I'm giving tazkirah here. J

Back to the main topic. After my two-hour workout session, went to the night market in TTDI. Too many things there especially varieties of foods and colourful delicacies and made me feel a bit stimulated. Anyway, I didn't back home empty handed but with a few small bags/containers of look-good foods (I couldn't taste them what!!). Whatever it is, I still missed my "kanji". Very very much……

Hey, I make a comeback again!!

Damn it!!! It has been so long from the last posting…what a lazy me!! Not even a single line posting; wake up…wake up. Not to say I was so busy in the last couple of months but I would regard this as "laziness syndrome" and I am affected. Maybe I was overdosed by certain elements; something related to hedonistic culture maybe. I have to admit that I missed blogging so much but something seemed like tied me up from doing so. Nah! Just another excuse to put the blame on others. Well, this is what we always do rite?? Or prefer to do. Okay, enough is enough and I admit my weakness for being inconsistent on blogging and abandoned my 'baby' this long. What a great lost to me as many events took place in the last few months and I lost the chance to record any. Those memorable and unforgetful events just passed without a single acknowledgement in this blog.

Maybe some of you wonder what encouraged me to make another comeback this time. I resist to stop blogging at least for the time being until I get the mood back but as wise people said, once you keep on waiting and hoping for the mood, you are waiting for nothing. Whatelse can I do if people around me especially my colleagues are so passionate with their blogs. Last time as I could remember (my memory is getting bad these days!), only me and my senior in this blogging world. But now, it seems like mushrooms after a rainy season where everyone starts to blog. Not to name any but I can see colours around me. U name it!! Pink, blue, yellow, green are everywhere. Pink especially; seems like pinky waves invade my office as I can see pink everywhere. Anyway, when we pray, we ask from The Almighty to bless us with "pink of health". So, don't you agree that pink is everywhere?

I got so many things to mention here but my excitement, enthusiastic and eagerness made me forgot everything. What a weak memory again! I still need time to get back the pace and momentum as last time. Yeah, I need to continue blogging if I want to keep my standard of English. Else, the same thing will happen to me as what had happened to my French last time; saying "au revoir" without my own notice. A great loss to myself and the government who spent a substantial amount of money for me to learn the language.

Finally from bottom of my heart, I would like to take this opportunity though it might be a bit late to wish all my Muslim brothers and sisters, Happy fasting month of Ramadhan. May this Ramadhan brings us Rahmah (mercy of God), Maghfirah (forgiveness of God) and Najah (salvation) respectively. Insya Allah.

The Chronicles of Cacamarba: Part II

Cacamarba, a kingdom with full of vibrant, young and talented people are no longer the same as the previous Cacamarba. Since the new leadership changed and the helm was taken over by the Monstrous Queen, the kingdom is like in upside down; similar like Acheh after the great tsunami. The calm, harmony and peaceful Cacamarba is no longer exist and becomes part of the history. The democracy that all the while becomes the pride of this kingdom is totally dead with no tomb.

Under the dictatorship style of the new leadership, voices of people is never been considered and the decisions are made without taking the advices from all the ministers and barristers appointed in the cabinet of Cacamarba. Concensus decision as part of the strong culture in this kingdom is totally out of the box in the Monstrous Queen shallow mind and judgement. Not only that, most if not all of the good values inculcated and nurtured by the previous leadership are now been replaced by a new set of evil values introduced by this duplicate, inconsistent stupid queen. Nothing left except the anger, madness and demotivated people that still continue to live in this chaotic kingdom.

So pathetic as Cacamarba has all the resources - richness of ideas, numerous numbers of the smart, idealistic and enthusiastic young people who are willing to do anything to serve their beloved and highly respected Lady Queen for the betterment of the people in this universe. Other kingdoms in Merito have a very high regard to Cacamarba as their focal point to channel all the issues and problems they face because they have the trust that Lady Queen with the assistance of all the ministers and barristers will try at her very best to solve all the issues no matter what the hurdles and challenges are.

The understanding, caring, ability to listen and continuous efforts to improve her kingdom and others who directly deal with Cacamarba is again made Cacamarba and Lady Queen personally well respected by everyone including Lord of the Governance.

But now, all the nice things about Cacamarba are no longer exist and turned to be a nightmare like a bottle of unpleasant smelly fragrance formulated by The Monstrous Queen. People feel like puking whenever see her ugly scary face and not to say the time when she wants to hug others (ladies) like what Lady Queen always do before. People feel warm and comfortable when Lady Queen hugs them but the same feeling never exist even when The Monstrous Queen gets closer to them (don't say about hugging). The difference is like the sky and earth or a cute tame Persian cat in comparison with a fierce, mad and ugly Rottweiler dog.

People always said that Cacamarba under the leadership of Lady Queen is similar as Cordova, an active intellectual city before the Turk handed over to the enemy after they lost in a bloody war. And now, again, it is similar to the dead city of Cordova after the enemy ruled and governed. What a pathetic ending to the both cities, which at one time were glittering under the spotlight!

To be continued.....

Nice body; health comes first!

I think I become more health conscious now. Yeah, it's true and I think I'm taking a good move by controlling my diet. It works anyway!

After two months working hard in the gym plus having controlled proper meals, I can feel the difference now. Last time, my was line was measured at 32.5 inches approximately but now it's only measured at 31 inches. An achievement and a good result to me personally. As a reward for the hard works, a nice brand new Levi's jeans is now belongs to me! Look good is not for showing off purposes but it builds and boost the level of confidence in us. The most important is in whatever we do, we should at the first place satisfy ourselves and fulfil our needs and then only come other parties to be considered.

These few months made me feel so great. I managed to tone up my body (at least I got the basic shape), increase my stamina tremendously and most important I look better especially on my tummy size. Aha, it;s true cos last time I felt that I sort of carry a three months premature fetus but now it seems like I just got abortion with a slimmer tummy. It is yet to achieve my goal but I can say I'm on the right track.

The most effective way to loss weight is by controlling the amount of calories we consume in a day. How to know how much calories that our body needs?? The article said the simplest way is by multiplying our mass (weight) with 12 and the weight measurement should be in lbs. Let say for my case, my weight is 68 kg = 150 lbs x 12 = 1800 (the measurement is in joules I think). So, in order to control my diet, I need to ensure that the calories I consume is not exceed 1800 (joules). This can only be done by having a good plan; distribute the calories equally with number of times you want to eat.

My diet planning is quite simple. Breakfast is a must no matter what but never go for heavy and unnecessary/unhealthy breakfast like nasi lemak and other high LDL cholesterol foods. When it comes to lunch, I'll certainly go for rice but the portion is small. Green vegetables should be included in bigger portion plus a meat; better chicken or fish. Together with that, plain water is required. When it comes to dinner, I'm quite choosy and rice is never in my list. Normally, if I'm alone 'capati' with juice will be my meal. A slice of capati is enough as we do not require more energy at nite. Yeah, nite is only the time for us to rest and let the body replenish energy. Unless you are married, the you might need more energy at nite!! hahaha For my case, there is no need for that though it's a Friday nite. :p No offence arr!!

Through my reading also, I discovered that those who consume slimming pills or other supplementaries without doing exercises (burning fats naturally) or in other words better described as abnormal and extreme technique is highly exposed to many diseases and side effects. Doctors said that though these people have slimmer and nice bodies, but the fats are still inside cos they never burn the fats. That is why the doctors said that those who are slim and have nice bodies still suffer the heart diseases and other illness which normally related to the fat guys. The problem is, the fats are still there and never been burnt. The appearance is nice but the danger are still there. No matter what our goals are, we still should do regular exercises to burn fats naturally despite from taking other supplementaries.

From my point of view as a conservative guy, I am still strongly believed in natural process as there is no shortcuts for doing so. It is just some mediums to speed up and boost the normal processes. It is your choice to achieve your goals but there are things that need to be considered along the way of making the decision. Once the decision has been made, it is hard to turn it back!!

Think carefully, decide wisely and act smartly!

Blades of Glory

It has been a routine or maybe I should say it's a must for me to watch at least a movie during my weekends. So, yesterday after I had my favourite ''mee rebus'' (I think I'm addicted to it), I drove my car to One Utama; one of my favourite hanging places to spend my entire afernoon. Together with my friend, we decided to watch Blades of Glory at 12.20 pm show. A good choice actually!!

This movie is about two skating rivals; Chazz Michael Michaels (Will Ferrell), a sex maniac and Jimmy McElroy (Jon Heder), an orphan who's brought up in an orphanage centre but later was adopted by a successful talent searcher. In one major competition where both of them are competing, the judges give them equal points and they are tied to be the co-recipients for the gold medal. Unsatisfied with this, they had mouth war which turned to be an uncontrolled fight which resulted them to be punished by the sport's disciplinary board. The worst part is, both of them are banned for life in the sport and their gold medals were stripped away from them.

To make things worsen, Jimmy's 'adopted father' dumped him and left him alone to continue his life. Chazz on the other hand, works with a small production that producing threatre for kids. His life is considered as pathetic with no direction as he got drunk and was fired in one embarrassing occasion.

After three years, both of them accidentally met and had fight again. They were arrested and been put in a lock-up. Here came Jimmy's ex-coach who told them that they might have the chance to compete again in ther favourite sports despite the lifetime ban. They were actually banned from competiting in ther individual category but not the other categories in the game. So, the coach said they can still compete in skating; not individually but in pair category. This mean that they will be the first male pair to compete in the game.

I'd personally say that this movie is very funny and I really enjoyed watching it after Wild Hogs. As laughter is the best medicine, I'd suggest especially to my beloved colleagues to watch this movie as part of our stress theraphy and an option to get rid of the irritated cum insane 'monster'. Surprisingly, it worked effectively on me!!

Watch out, I’m back!!

Today, May 17 is a brand new day to me. I don't know why but it's kinda strange feeling in me today; more energetic compared to the same day in calendar last month. It's really a different mood once I woke up and get off from my bed. Whatever it is, I feel so happy and thankful to The Almighty God for giving me the chance to breathe in this beautiful world.

Many things had happened to me in the last one month and those things made me to understand myself better. I'd say the last 30 days were the hardest time in my life for the last few years. Maybe I should make flashbacks to remind myself and record all the major events and incidents I encountered in the past 30 days. April 16 was the day I hardly forget so far. The day when I got my first major accident in my life. It was like a nightmare as me, myself still figure out how could I be at the accident spot that nite as that area wasn't my normal route back to my Kajang home. Maybe it was a destiny and a big lesson for me not to forget myself and where I come from. Thanks to all my friends and colleagues for your moral supports. May God blesses each and everyone of you.

Starting from the day after, I used to adjust myself to a new life; life without a car. To me, it was just like my old days when I rode my bike before I own a car. Luckily, I used to it as I moved around with bike before but it became a challenge as the bike was not moving at all for the past eight months after I purchased the car. Again, I believe that in our lifecycle, there are ups and downs, which we never know when will it happens. After all, it's a cycle and that is the rule and nature of a cycle.

The incident taught me of being more careful and love myself more than the things I own because I can at anytime (provided I got enough money) buy anything I wish to but not my own life. We never know when is our turn to complete our cycle and get back to our creator but the main point is to enjoy every moment in our life. Enjoy here can be interpreted in many ways but I'd prefer to say we fulfil each and every moment in our life by doing the right things.

It's not complete if I don't mention how I moved around without a car. Yeah, I rode a bike but when I was in KL I used to travel by Rapid KL bus and other public transports like Putra LRT, KTM commuter and KL Monorail. Kinda funny cos I always said that the publis transports especially the public bus is not reliable. Now I know that once you pay RM 2 for the inter-city bus, you can use it as many times you want for the same route. Honestly, the last time I used public bus in KL was the time when I studied in a boarding school in Jalan Yaacob Latiff (formerly known as Jalan Tenteram). That time, they called it as Intrakota, owned by DRB-HICOM under the late Tan Sri Yahya Ahmad.

Well, it has been a very long time I never update my blog and I think if I don't do it today then my blog will be another useless garbage in this virtual world. I got many articles that I wrote half way but I saved them in my folder. Unfortunately, I don't think I will publish them as most of them are obsolete and might be not relevant too in the current context especially all my movie reviews. I watched a lot of movies in the past 30 days and the latest was Next. Aha, one thing quite funny happened to me was the Spiderman mania. I had to queue in Mid Valley at 10.00 am in a very long queue just to survive two tickets for 5.30 pm show and just the third row from the screen. What the heck!

I got many things to do in my list now and the list grows longer and longer. Definitely, my blog is one of the main things in the list. Yeah, The Chronicles of Cacamarba Part II is on the way to be published. Watch out guys, I'm back!!!

The Chronicles of Cacamarba: Part I

It has been more than two weeks since I last blogging. No updates and no articles posted. It was a tough moment to me considering I was trapped in a lost world called Cacamarba,one of the states in Merito. Cacamarba is governed and ruled by an ugly scary monstrous creature with split personality and inconsistent behaviours named The Monstrous Queen. Damn scary and no word to describe its behaviours. One thing is, this ugly and the most hatred creature and at the same time never ever been accepted in its own community is always talking nonsense with neither substances nor values. Not only that, to make it worsen she always made promises by promises to its Lord of the Governance. Unfortunately and too pitiful, all are empty promises to please Lord of The Governance.

Forget about Lord of The Governance (LOTG) as he is not involve in any dirty games, conspiracies or or any other bad behaviours as his loyal servant, The Monstrous Queen. Again, I have to mention that LOTG has no link or connection by any means to all the nasty actions and behaviours of The Monstrous Queen. Although LOTG has been nice to everybody but The Monstrous Queen feels that she is more calibre and has all the qualities to qualify her to be at the helm to rule Merito. Whatever it is, The Monstrous Queen always claim that she got all the orders direct from LOTG and not only that, she also claims to have direct access to the Lord of The Lords, the one and only who rules the Union of Glory that governs all the nations including Merito.

Her loyal assistant is an ugly virgin poodle (belongs to chien group) with bouledogue attitudes. This poodle together with the Queen's beloved pet, a Pekinese can be considered as judas in our community. For every Segunda-feira in Judaism calendar, the queen will call for a sitzung and everyone must with no excuse to attend this meeting. As usual and no shame at all, the queen will be late for the sitzung; made everyone wait like stupid idiots in the stanza di riunione. Although everyone feels stupid but they (*read as we) still have to wait with fear like rats as the queen is famously well known as the most cruel and inconsiderate but at the same time full of sarcasm in her manners. Once she steps in, the mood of in the stanza will automatically change to be so quiet, dull and unhappy as if everyone is in sorrow after a big earthquake.

To be continued….

Rule 7: Understand that wealth is a consequence, not a reward

Many things happened to me these few days. Got good and bad things but at the same time, got also in my term I called as "unpleasant things". Just by their nature; unpleasant! Whatever it is, i'm not going to let these things or problems affecting my plan. No way! I have no choice but to makesure that the masterplan I designed before will turn to be as desired.

Bought a nice book last few weeks from MPH but until now, I still can't finish it. Sigh. The problem is, I'm not only doing the normal reading process but for every sub-topics I'll do an analysis based on my knowledge. Doing the analysis requires me to think a lot and this will take longer time to completely reading the whole book. It's totally different than reading fiction novels or magazines. I just need to browse through and read at glance.

This book is entitled The Rules of Wealth by Richard Templar, the international bestselling author of The rules of Life. There are 100 rules covered in this book and divided into five chapters: Thinking Wealthy, Getting Wealthy, Get Even Wealthier, Staying Wealthy and Sharing Your Wealth. Honestly until now, I just managed to cover until Rule 7. I think I'm too slow and even slower than a snail.

Last nite when I read the Rule 7, I was so excited and already made up my mind to share this nice thought with all my blog viewers. In his 'Rule 7: Understand that wealth is a consequence, not a reward', Richard Templar came out with a nice thought and concept about making money. Below is the excerpt from the book:

"If you work hard at making money, you stand a better chance of becoming rich. You have to accept that money is a payment given to you for clever thinking and hard work. The harder and smarter you work, the more you will earn. You don't get given the money by a committee who examine whether you deserve it or not, whether you have been good enough or not. It is a direct consequence."

There are two key points here; clever thinking and hard work. By applying these two approaches in our life, I can guarantee that we will achieve all our dreams. Let us start now; stop dreaming, shift the gear to the future and stay focused. May all our dreams come true! Amen.

MATTA Fair: March, 16 -18

Got the chance to visit MATTA Fair in PWTC last Saturday. Honestly, I have been waiting for this event since last year; not because I have excitement to travel but just my interest to have a look and make comparison between prices and what the travel operators offer.

As expected, PWTC was packed with numerous numbers of visitors and hardly to find empty parking space. Luckily, I got a space by the road side; at the road shoulder actually. No parking fee and even better, it was quite near to the entrace from Seri Pacific hotel.

The organizer still maintain the entrance fee of RM 3 per person (adult) and we were given all the brochures, pamphlets etc together with a green bag. We started with a quick tour in Hall 3 (domestic/inbound) and proceeded to the Hall 1 & 2 located across the contaminated Klang River in Jalan Ipoh. These 2 halls were allocated for outbound operators; mostly focused on China ( from my observation). Yeah, Chinese community is the major target by the organizer as they always travel in groups and more willing to spend their money for travelling compared to Malays. For most Malays, travelling isn't their priority and considered as something luxurious. If they have extra money to spend for travelling, they will choose to perform Umrah (little Hajj) in Mecca and Madinah. Unless they have more money to spend, then only they consider to travel elsewhere. Else, hi hi bye bye to the travel operators.

Honestly, I really wish to travel somewhere this year and actually the place was identified earlier; Europe (London-Paris-Amsterdam). I got my relative who married to an Englishman staying there and I have a close friend who's working there too. So, accommodation is no longer an issue. Just need some cash to spend there for foods etc. When I checked the ticket price during MATTA Fair, return tickets to London will cost me around RM 3K. Royal Brunei is slightly cheaper but have to transit for 10 hours in Bandar Seri Begawan. Ohh, I'm too far from my initial intention for this posting. J

I spent few hours walking around and asking questions and feel so guilty to the one whom accompanied me. Sorry yea! Too many questions to ask though I can't afford it. To me, having information in hand is very important for future planning. Who knows what will happen in the future, rite?? From now on, I'll double my effort and work harder to get more cash and extra money to travel. Pray hard and work smart.

For those who missed the chance to visit this MATTA Fair, don't worry cos another round will be held in September (if I'm not mistaken). You can update yourself from this URL; http://www.matta.org.my

Let us travel together, enjoy to the fullest and make ourselves free from our irrational, irritating and bossy bosses!!

Bridge To Terabithia

I dunno what happen to me last week. Was very lazy to blogging but I think that was resulted from too much of thinking and strategise on uncertain things. Well, uncertain things can become certain too. Just a matter on how we handle and manage them. I'm thinking too much maybe!

Watched this fantacy movie early last week but only manage to update my blog today. Not a big deal as this movie is still on show in most popular cinemas in Klang Valley. I'm not too late then.

Bridge to Terabithia, another movie by Walt Disney is a fantasy and adventure story of true friendship, family relationship and the power of imagination of two young school kids who live next to each other. Jess Aarons (Josh Hutcherson) is an odd/isolate at school and even in his own family. He is the only son in the family and get less attention my his financially unstable parents. He always feel abandon by his parents and hardly to get attention by them compared to his other siblings especially his own cute younger sister. During the summer, Jess has trained himself hard to become the fastest kid in his class but his goal is unexpectedly thwarted by the newcomer in his class.

Unluckily, that newcomer is a girl and that really irk him. Leslie Burks (Anna Sophia Robb) is the only child for her artist parents. She overtake Jess and win the race and that really made Jess feels uncomfortably irritating. Well, I guess this is the feeling of any boys who lost the race by a girl. Haha whatelse can I say about this as guys have our own ego higher than Taipei 101 building in Taiwan! As a guy, I admit this as a genuinely true fact!

These two kids quickly become best friends as they stay next to each other, study in the same class and in the same yellow school bus. Leslie is a girl with high imagination and loves to tell stories of fantasy and magic. This is maybe because she carries the same trait as her parents. She opens the new world of imagination for Jess and always asks him to open his mind as wide as possible. At this point, I'm totally agree with her that we should open our minds and look beyond the norms. Together they create the kingdom or Terabithia, a magical and imagery place that only both of them know.

From that, they start their adventurous journey everyday after school. Jess changes tremendously in his attitude and become more positive towards life. His parents sense this and they are happy for that. At least Jess is no longer a quiet boy with no friends. There are many events and plots that take place during show and got morale to learn behind each plots. The ending is a bit sad that's what we call life. Not everything we dream to be will turn to be as our dreams.

My honest review on this movie is it's not up to my expectation as an adventurous journey of two kids in their fantasy and magical imagination. I'm expecting more but again it's just another typical fantacy movie. It should present more on the adventurous journey and the fantacies rather than focusing more on the real life. If we are looking for a real life movie that narrates on human behaviours, then this isn't the right movie to be considered. Anyway, I still enjoy the visual effects and the graphics but those are not enough and I'm excpecting more and more.

Suitable for the whole family and I think kids will enjoy this movie! Happy viewing!

Four-part of Apology Approach

Just to share about this practical approach on apology. The next time you make a mistake, apologise by this four-part apology approach. It is used to "look beyond the actual incident to the consequences made by the choice of behaviour."

It is a way to take a responsibility of the action rather then put the blame on the other person. By saying those consequences and choosing a different behaviour, "everyone remains thoughtful and supportive rather than angry and resentful".

Acknowledge

Take responsibility for your actions and behaviours by using "I" statements. For example, say,
" I acknowledge I received your email and you reminded me about this and I ignored"

Apologise
Acknowledge the "cost" of your behaviour to others. If you are unaware of the "cost", ask. For example, say,
"I apologise and I realise that you might be hurt when I scolded and yelled at you in front of public".

Make It Right
Deal with the consequences of behaviour and ask the other person what you can do to make it right. For example, say,
"What can I do to make it right? Should I admit that I always think that I'm the only one on earth who is right in everything? Or should I admit that I always blame my staffs when something goes wrong and claim it is my work when it goes right?"

Recommit
Make a commitment to appropriate behaviour and commit not to having the same behaviour again. For example, say,
"I agree to check and verify first before I blame you." Or "I agree to change my stupid, arrogant and annoying behaviors that make everyone angry and hate me".

It is good to make an apology for every mistake we commit. I hope and pray hard that the "disgusting ugly monstrous woman/man" who claims to know everything in the world can at least once in his/her lifetime practices this four-part apology approach. Let the time witnesses the miracle!

More and More Movies

I would say that last week was my movie week. It was the first time I watched six movies in a week; each movie for each day. I guessed it was resulted from my boredom and lost interest of many things. I really don't know; lost my focus, no direction and de-motivate. Anyway, let me recap and summarize these four movies; here they are:

It's a Wonderful Life

This Cantonese comedy movie is about Thunder, a God who likes to boast and use his intelligence to help innocent people. One day, he was reminded by his girlfriend, the Saint of Nine Heaven that he had pledged his guardianship to a fat boy that he had saved thirty years ago. The boy will face the end of his life on New Year's Eve and it is now the time for Thunder to fulfill his pledge to resolve the boy's trouble.

Thunder arrives in the human world and disguises as Don's cousin. Thunder lends his magical powers to Don without Don's knowledge. Suddenly, everything is going Don's way, while Thunder without magical powers is hit with a streak of bad luck, both causing havoc with comedic consequences. Meanwhile, Thunder also tries to help Don's family and Fon feel in love with him. Meanwhile, Thunder finally gets to know Brad's evil plan which will put Don to his doom. But at the same time, the Emperor of Heaven along with the other Gods comes down to the human world to arrest Thunder.

I'd say that this is one of many stupid movies I ever watched and a bit regretful. Not worth to spend RM10 for this 2 hours movie.

Norbit

This is another very funny movie by Eddie Murphy. This guy really knows how to make us laughing all the while. So cool!! Eddie Murphy plays the role as a meek guy who is pressed into marrying a monstrous woman. When he subsequently meets the woman of his dreams, he has to figure out a way to be with her.

Well, nothing much to expect from this movie as I expected many slapsticks jokes and humours. The values portrayed are not so suitable for kids.

Protégé

This is another Cantonese film I watched last week. It is about a well-intentioned narcotics agent, Nick (Daniel Wu) deep undercover on the lucrative heroin trade in Hong Kong. He is forced to deal with the hypocrisy and despair in a life of drugs and crime, as he plays protégé to one of the key players of the game, "Banker" (Andy Lau). In the eight years he has been infiltrating the heroin industry, he finds himself corrupted by the easy money and his new found power. Unable to separate himself from his undercover persona, he immerses himself into his role as a drug trafficker.

Nick also meets Jane (Zhang Jing Chu), a single mother living in poverty who has fallen prey to the dangerous narcotics that has also claimed her estranged husband (Louis Koo). Her brief affair with Nick, gave her hope for a new life, an escape from the past, but the re-emergence of her husband brings with it some dire consequences.

My comment for this movie is worth to watch and got its own values. Though many say that we shouldn't watch movie for values but I think sometimes we can indirectly learn many things and understand our society better by watching movies. Now, I can imagine how hard to be a uniform guy. Thanks to our genuine cops for ensuring the stability of the country.

Dreamgirls

Dreamgirls is a movie about three close friends from Chicago; Effie White, Deena Jones, and Lorrell Robinson who form a singing trio called The Dreamettes. Accompanied by their songwriter C.C. White (Effie's brother), they travel to New York to compete in a talent show at the Apollo Theatre. Although the girls lose this first bid for fame, their talent attracts an ambitious manager by the name of Curtis Taylor, Jr., who uses unscrupulous tactics to move the girls from backup singers of superstar James "Thunder" Early to superstars of their own.

Well, I enjoyed all the songs in this movie; superb vocals. Who says Beyonce can't act??

I'm looking forward to watch other nice upcoming movies like Bridge to Terabithia (showing now) and few others to be listed here. Sometimes, it's not all about the movie. I just need a good time for myself or maybe better if I say that I'm on my movie therapy!

Music and Lyrics

Oh yea, another movie in my list to share with you guys. Two movies in two consecutive nights; doesn't it sounds cool, huh? Maybe to cover back those movies that I should been watching in last two weeks. What to do as AOR has only lousy cinemas like old Cathay, Capitol and Metrowealth and I won't ever spend my money in those cinemas. No way!

Okay, let me introduce the movie I watched last night in GSC One Utama; Music and Lyrics. This romantic comedy movie is mainly about Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant), a washed-up 80's pop singer who is no longer in the spotlight and glittering world. In order for him to maintain his life, he is doing shows in county fairs and amusement parks. Apart from that, he is a very talented and charismatic musician.

His life starts to be in sparkling again and he gets a chance to make comeback when a young pop diva and a rising star, Cora Corman (Haley Bennett) invites him to compose and record duet with her. His problem is he hasn't composed songs for many years and he never write any lyrics before but Cora needs a hit song in a very short notice. Since this is a romantic movie, we can't run away from the typical storyboard; the presence of a girl to complement the character of the hero.

Here it comes the character Sophie Fisher starred by Drew Barrymore, who used to be a plant lady in Alex's apartment, whose flair for words. She then writes the lyrics for Alex and they work closely to each other in order to write a hit song for Cora. Throughout the movie, there are scenes and plots to show how the feeling in both of them grows. It's very nice as both of them got the chemistry, a term in relationship dictionary to describe how close and click they are.

There are a few supporting characters in this movie like Rhonda, Sophie's sister, Sloan Cates, a famous novelist that used to be Sophie's sweetheart before but the character that really makes me smiling is Alex's manager, Chris Rilley (Brad Garrett). If you ever watch Everybody Loves Raymond, you will absolutely familiar with Brad Garrett as he is Raymond's brother in the series.

For those who are in cloud nine in their relationship especially those who just get married and happy couples, I'm strongly encourage you all to watch this movie but for those who are not belong to both categories also can watch this movie as it's just nice for everyone. I'd say it's an entertaining movie; really enjoy the two hours show. Not to forget, the songs are nice and soothing.

Well, relationship needs commitment and the commitment comes from both parties. It cannot be one hand to clap and making sound. Both are complementing each other just like Music and Lyrics are meant for each other to produce a nice and perfect melody.

Ghost Rider

Well, well, well. Finally, I got the chance to update my movie list since the last before CNY and the latest is Ghost Rider. I think I'm a bit late to watch this movie compared to my normal practice. Not a big deal! Actually, I'm attracted to this movie after saw the preview last time. Luckily, I managed to get the ticket last night for a nice show time.

Ghost Rider is an action movie by Columbia Pictures that adapted from a famous Marvel Comics. It is about Johnny Blaze (Nicholas Cage), a motorcycle stunt rider who later turned be a superstar. During his teenage years, he made a deal with a devil named Mephistopheles to save his beloved and only alive family member; his own father who suffered from a chronic and acute cancer. In return, he gave his immortal soul to Mephistopheles. The deal was done in a split second and in my point of view, he unconditionally made the deal unwillingness.

The devil then saved his father who turned to be so healthy the next morning but passed away after a tragic accident during his show that night sweetheart, Roxanne (Eva Mendes) waited for him to run away from her father and live together with Johnny. Unfortunately, Johnny was so heartbroken and few plots took place during the time.

Because of the deal, Johnny Blaze is forever destined to be the Ghost Rider, the powerful supernatural entity that ride night after night as a slave of Mephistopheles to achieve his mission. He is now the host of a "spirit of vengeance". At night, Johnny will be transformed into a fiery demon with superpowers to chase bad guys. There are a few main characters that giving colours to this movie apart from the three characters mentioned above like Blackheart, Mack, Caretaker and The Hidden.

Honestly, I'd say that this movie is not bad in terms of the screenplay with nice plots, characters, effects and graphics. To be frank, I'm not into horror movies but I think this movie should be in your list to be considered.

What I can learn from this movie is, for every single thing we do, there is a price for it! The choice is yours; you ask for it, you got it!

Hometown with love

It is my intention at the first place for not putting any pictures here. I reserved to do so as my intention is just to share my ideas here and it never come across my mind to give a full reporting on any news or events that have taken place; else I will be an unpaid journalist with low credibility. But I will consider giving comments on current issues. Definitely, my major interest!

So, I have to take opportunity here to ask for apology from all my viewers for not satisfies them by posting pictures here. I just wish to remain as an undisclosed writer. There is a quotient in Arabic means "words are sharper than swords". Please enjoy my writing and feel free to give your comments but don't ask for pictures anymore.

Just to share on my activities during CNY. I drove back home on Friday nite after giving a lecture in BSN Training Centre in Bangi; it is just opposite PERMATA (Petronas Training Centre) and adjacent to other training centers. Actually, I knew that the traffic won't be as smooth as before but I never thought it was that bad. Damn it! The traffic was so bad and the cars were not moving at all or at least moving with not more than 40 km/h. PLUS highway was crammed and congested with cars flowing to the northern region especially to Perak and Penang. I admitted that I wasn't that fit to drive on that nite with my sleepy eyes. Felt to sleep for few times while driving and considering about my safety, I decided to take a nap at Tapah R & R at about 3 am in the morning; ended up until 6 am. After had my prayer, I continued the journey and reached home around 10 am. Finally!

Couldn't rest much as I need to attend my friend's wedding at noon on the same day. Both of the bride and groom are friends of mine so I have no excuse for not attending the wedding. At least show my face, so that they see me and will turn up during my time (When will it be, huh??) :p To make it better, I took some photos with the couple as strong evidence for my presence. I wish the loving couple, MHH and RH to live happily ever after with their own family. May the tie of knots will be as strong as the moment of ijab and qabul forever. Amen.

The next day was the ceremony for the groom but I'm so sorry for not attending it. I spent time with my family and we went to Padang Besar for sightseeing or maybe 'shopping'. Yeah, shopping is a better word to describe activities in such places. Nothing much to shop cos I'm not a fan of imitate stuffs. Just had a good time with all my family members. Oh yea, we had a barbecue party on that nite; celebrating birthdays for those who born in February, including me for sure. Thanks to everyone who organized such a nice family gathering!

My Monday Thought

It has been quite sometimes I didn't update my blog. There are many reasons behind that such as long holidays in my hometown and attended a workshop in PD. Really feel so lazy to start working today, after a long break. Whatever it is, work is still work and have to carry out the obligations and duties no matter what. Sigh.

When I woke up this morning and after I had a phone conversation with a friend, I really felt of taking emergency leave today, something I rarely do and I'm against it actually. Emergency means a sudden event that needs immediate action and in my point of view, it is something crucial and can't be avoided. But people always tend to misuse the term by making their own interpretation on EL; for their own benefits obviously. Well, I'm at work and in front of my PC now. No issue of EL anymore.

After a long break, I had to attend a regular meeting this morning. A slightly different than the previous meetings cos we have a new agenda in the list; public speaking. Starting from today's meeting, each and every one of us has to give a public speaking for about 5 to 10 minutes each; free topics. It's a good idea to have such thing as this will build and boost the level of confidence among the staffs. My colleague talked about some useful tips for interview but maybe due to her nervousness, she couldn't finish it well. Anyway, it was a good start and can be improved.

Actually, my mind was thinking about something else when the chairperson called my name and asked my comments on the speech. At first, I was stunned and surprised but just act cool as if nothing happen and started to give my comments. Honestly, it was my genuine and sincere comments in general about public speaking. To me, the most important that need to take into account when we are asked to deliver a speech is to choose the right topic; topics that we are comfortable to talk about. It has to be something familiar to us and we don't have to follow the script; line by line. Yeah, it's a good point here! Giving a speech is totally different than reading a full script. We can memorize the script but once it lost, we have no idea where to start and continue. Nevertheless, public speaking is a speech that shares our ideas, views, thoughts or opinions without any restrictions. It's a very good platform to share our ideas with others. I have more tips on public speaking but I don't think of listing out everything in this posting; maybe in the next.

Now, I can absolutely agree with my friend who said Monday is always the most hatred day among all days in a week. However, on the other hand I'd say that today is a special and meaningful day as someone is back in town after a long holiday. J

An Annoying Call

While enjoying reading my new book on the shelf; "The Everything Personal Finance Book" (a gift), I received a phone call from a lady who claimed that she made the call from Celebrity something (Celebrity Card I guess). I tried to reconfirm with her about her company cos I was thinking that she called from Celebrity Fitness (who knows!). From the moment I answered the call, I smelled something fishy especially the way she spoke and introduced herself. It sounded very unprofessional and unethical from someone who claimed to make the call from a private company. If you always or ever receive any calls from corporate sectors, you know how polite they are while communicating to you as you can feel warm and nice to talk to. I'd personally encourage this lady to join my communication class cos I do cover the topic of 'Using the telephone/Telephone Etiquette'. Please ask my students (a private uni in KJ) or much better if she got time to join my class on Business Communication (I cover almost everything!)

This uneducated lady with non standard Bahasa Melayu command started the conversation by asking me whether I'm currently using any credit cards. I answered yes for that question. Then, she asked me from which banks my cards are issued? Excited with the question, I answered confidently that I have cards from all banks that operating in Malaysia; local and international bank. She didn't satisfy with me and asked me again the same question. Again, I gave the same answer but added that I have cards from all banks in Malaysia except Al-Rajhi Bank, the biggest Islamic banking from Saudi Arabia. Honestly, I don't think the lady ever heard about Al-Rajhi Bank. So pity for her! Read more please before making any calls!!

Then, she asked me whether I ever received any such calls before and promptly I answered; "Yes and all the calls really annoyed me!" So satisfied! Shame on her and all irresponsible operators who try to cheat innocent people like me. She got so angry with my answer and replied to me that I should terminate my phone line if I don't feel of answering her call. Well, I'm a consumer and I have my rights!! Who are you to ask me doing so?? Seriously, I feel so annoyed and her call was the second I received this week. I really can't understand how they manage to get our numbers and I do hope that all the mobile operators in Malaysia (only three) take immediate and prompt action against those who misuse the technology.

After few minutes nagging, she put a stop and hung off the phone. Seriously, I felt pissed off but too pity cos she is a Malay lady who supposed to be more polite and well-mannered. Maybe this is the new way to communicate in the 21^st Century…maybe. Let us ponder.

Micromanagement

Chinese New Year is coming soon; just in four days from now, all the Chinese worldwide will celebrate their New Year. So, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my Tionghua friends "Happy New Year", "Gong Xi Fa Cai" and "Xin Nien Kuai Le". Not to forget, I also would like to wish my friend (ex-housemate during my uni years), MTG "Happy Birthday" as today is his birthday. Just coincidentally happen that his birthday falls on Valentine's Day.

Forget about the Valentine's. I just recalled back the discussion between me and few of my friends regarding the micromanagement during our coffee break. One of my friends told us during the meeting that his CEO in his speech to the staffs mentioned clearly about micromanagement. He mentioned that he and his management team will not micromanage the organization as this will lead to disaster. He mentioned clearly that everyone should play their roles and the managers shouldn't in their position to micromanage their subordinates. Micromanage here means go into details and sort of intervene in every move that needs to be made every day.

He added that all the managers should give some space to their subordinates as everyone needs breathing room. He ended the speech by saying that, "Nothing kills the spirit of your subordinates quicker than a boss standing over every move that needs to be made".

In order for us to understand better about this micromanagement, let me gives some quickie and simple explanation. The word micro by definition means too close for comfort. In a business term, micromanagement is a management style where a manager closely observes or controls the work of their employees. Normally, macro-managers will give general instructions on smaller tasks while supervising larger concerns but micro-managers in contrast monitors, assess and intervene in every steps involved. This can be related to the term commonly used by Malays as "Gila Kuasa" (in can be right or wrong depends on the context).

Another friend of mine shared her views on this micromanagement. She told us that her boss is practicing this micromanagement concept in their organization. The boss (a guy) is controlling everything until the extent that everyone feels hard to breath and gets fed-up with their routine works. Everyone feels de-motivate, no mood to work and this definitely leads to poor performance of the organization. They feel threatened, unwanted and less appreciated when every move they take has to go through the manager. It seems like the manager has no trust in them and they have no rights to say though the manager claimed that he is open to opinions/views. My friend added that the office environment is no longer as merrier as before. No more happy faces, no more proactive moves, no more enthusiastic working styles and many other no more thingy to be listed. They just work for the sake of working and earning monthly salary.

In one case scenario to prove about her annoying micromanage manager, my friend said that during the preparation for a farewell party (her VP was promoted as a Senior VP and relocated to the Asia Pacific HQ in Australia), her boss monitored and controlled every single items such as type of foods, decoration styles, seating arrangement and even the font of the invitation cards. We couldn't imagine how suffer she is and other colleagues of her. While enjoying our hot coffee, we agreed and made our conclusion that micromanagement can lead to disaster and a manager should be a person who is well respected for their leadership qualities and one who gets consensus among his/her subordinates.

A week without rice

Had some discussions with a Fitness Pro yesterday during my workout time. I know this guy quite well cos I always asked him many things related to fitness and workout routines. From him I learnt on some new techniques and equipments. The good thing is, I don't have to pay him anything cos he gave me free consultation every time I asked him so. This is the good part of him; share his knowledge. Out of all Fitness Pro and Personal Trainers there, he's the only one who has a degree in Sports Science. No wonder he sounds so good in this.

But good things never last for long. Yesterday, during my workout time he told me that he just got an offer from the government as a sports officer in Ministry of Higher Education. His new role is to oversee and monitor the performance of Malaysian athletes under the government scholarship program. I wish him good luck in his new career!

When we met yesterday, he gave me some tips to control my diet. The first one is, he asked me not to consume rice for a week. Wah, so extreme! What a good suggestion; a week without rice. He told me that if I really do that and discipline myself, I can see the difference. Obviously! Well, I can give myself a try but a week without rice sounds a bit difficult to me as I'm a typical Malay who consumes rice in most of my heavy meals. This will be a great challenge to me but I told him that I can't start next week cos got a few wedding invitations to attend and furthermore I'll go back to my hometown. He laughed at me and said that I'll gain some weights after the holidays.

His advice is simple. Avoid rice consumption for the whole week and try to practice fasting on Mondays and Thursdays. Apart from practicing a healthy lifestyle, fasting on these two days also is a part of sunnah and strongly recommended by Prophet Muhammad. To cover the rice portion, he advised me to take some meats and vegetables and at the same time avoid those oily foods.

He also asked me to drink 100 plus before I sleep at night and in the morning when I wake up as his second tip. I argued with him that 100 plus contains excessive amount of sugar and this can lead us to the diabetic problem. At least, this is what I heard before but he argued back and said that I'm wrong in my argument. I have nothing much to say as I'm not expert in this. Maybe I should ask a dietician to clarify this.

So, a week with no rice huh? Dare to take this challenge?? Let us see the result together!

Sunday Workout

I went to my gym yesterday after for so long never been there on Sundays. Well, actually I enjoy going there on Sundays as not so many people are there. Giving me more spaces to move around and try all the equipments there. During weekdays, the gym is always packed especially during the peak hours; 6.00 pm onwards; after office hour.

As usual, I started my workout with running on the treadmill as my cardio exercise. Not bad as this will let myself sweating. I was thinking of joining cycling class (in the cycling studio) later as not so many people there. To me, this will make me more comfortable as I consider myself as a beginner in cycling. Too bad cos the class started a bit late. So, without wasting time, I went up to the resistance area to do other routines. Honestly, I never join any classes there although they offer many classes like cycling, yoga, pilates, body pump, body combat, dancing and many more to be listed. The good part is they have separate session for different levels; beginner, intermediate and expert. Actually, I'm too shy to join alone unless there is a friend or someone whom I know joining together. :-P

After 2 hours in the gym, I went back home and had a nice balanced healthy meal while listening to soothing music. Planned to go to MPH Mid Valley for reading but too tired until I felt into sleep. What a nice if everyday in my life is Sunday…..

Stranger Than Fiction

I think I should update my movie list after concentrating on other topics. Honestly, I have no time to watch movie these days and furthermore no nice movies on show so far but I think those nice movies are coming to the cinema next month; Ghost Rider, Norbit, Music and Lyrics etc. At least got a few in my checklist! :)

So, for those with kids you might consider to watch Norbit; another comedy movie starred by Eddie Murphy. I guess it's funny from the preview but certain values and elements shown are not so good or suitable for kids. Anyway, it's just for fun!

Well, got the chance to watch another movie last nite; Stranger Than Fiction. When I bought the ticket, I had no idea in mind about this movie. Just the title caught my attention.

This movie is about a guy, Harold Crick (starred by Will Ferrell) who is working as a tax agent with IRS (better known as IRB/LHDN is Malaysia). In one morning, he starts to hear a female voice that is narrating in detail his every action, thought and feeling. He feels so strange cos he's the only one who hears the voice. This female voice is actually comes from a lady author who are at the same time writing about him; without her knowing that the character is alive and totally affected by her writing.

The life of Harold Crick turns upside down after he gets to know that he's facing death sooner from the female voice. From that point, he starts his searching for the author in his mission to ask the author to change the ending part. Yeah, he is taking the right move as not only him but also everyone will do the same when knowing about own death. During the time, there are many events happened and you have to watch on your own (the director warned me not to do so!) :-P

A for me, this movie is quite bored as I was almost felt into sleep for few times during the screening. Nothing so special though the subject is quite nice and interesting. The subject alone can't make this movie special unless supported by nice scenes and characters. Not to say I'm disappointed but actually my expectation is a bit higher for this type of movie.

Santai Kitchen

According to Maslow's Hierarchical of Needs, one of the basic needs for every human being is food. No matter what, we still have to eat and consume something for our body. Simple analogy to relate with this is a car and energy (petrol etc.). A car cannot move without energy and commonly we use petrol as the source of energy. So, food acts similar as petrol; to give energy to our body so that we can still survive to carry out our duties on this earth.

Actually, I have no intention of giving lecture on the human basic needs or whatsoever related but just to share about nice place to eat. As I always mentioned about the concept of sharing, so here is another info sharing or better I regard this as my recommendation on nice places to eat in Klang Valley.

I was supposed to go to my gym and doing my regular workout routines last nite but since the meeting was only adjourned at 7.00 pm, I had no choice but to cancel my initial plan.

Instead of sweating myself, I turned 360 degrees and totally changed the plan. My friend and I went for our dinner at 'Santai Kitchen' in Tesco Mutiara Damansara. Well, this posting is the first in my new label, place to eat. I'll try my best to give some quick reviews and recommendations based on a few criteria such as the price, type of food, ambience, cleanliness etc.

Santai Kitchen is located at the lower ground of Tesco Mutiara Damansara. It's opposite Madam Lim Restaurant and just next to D'Kayu Restaurant. It's just a simple shop with a mini playground next to it (the playground isn't belong to them). Perfect for those who come with small kids. When you are enjoying your meals, your children can play at the playground within your visibility and monitoring. For those who are looking for affordable food but particular in the cleanliness and hygiene, you won't be disappointed with this Santai Kitchen. It's clean, neat, organized with friendly service. They just received the award from Bernas as 'The Chosen Restaurant of Bernas'.

This restaurant offers local cuisines and Thai Food. Just the taste of Malaysians though most of the workers are Indonesians. I think even the cooks are also from that neighbouring country but they can cook Malaysian and Thai styles foods nicely. You can have variety of foods like rice with different dishes; just mention any and they will not disappoint you (as long as you order the local cuisines). Besides the Tesco Mutiara Damansara branch, they have another two branches; Santai Restaurant in TTDI and Warung Santai in Tesco Ampang.

So, finally my reviews are:

Taste : Excellent (just my type)

Ambience : Good (a very simple concept)

Price : Reasonable and affordable (value for money) ; definitely a bit higher in comparison to the hawkers/street foods

*Please noted here that my recommendation on the price is based on my income and it differs from one person to another (based on your income and budget).

If you wish to try this restaurant, please check this address out!

Address : Santai Kitchen

Lot 210, Ground floor

Tesco Mutiara Damansara

Gong Zou Yu Kuai

Now, I can put a smile whenever I feel of blogging from my office. Last time, I couldn't do much except saving all my postings as drafts in my hard disk. This was happened due to the network policy and certain restrictions implemented in my office environment.

I just discovered a new way of publishing my posting; using Microsoft Office 2007. It's cool, man!!! I never think of publishing my posting straight away from Word as my normal practice is saving everything in Word and transfer it in blog editor. Now, I can cut short the steps and make my life easier. What to do, no turning back for me anymore once I started my ramblings here. Since then, I get attached already. J

Well, I should take this opportunity to openly thank my colleague (senior is the best word) for sharing and giving me this idea. Her idea is to publish through OneNote; another product of Microsoft. She's a hardcore fan of Bill Gates' team. No jokes, it's true! Anyway, thanks again for opening the door for me.

Before I forget, just to share with you that Bill Gates is no longer the CEO for Microsoft and he's now a full time philanthropist; managing his own foundation. What a nice for the richest man on earth now.

Hmm, let me think where to start. Okay, just to share my diary yesterday. I was attending a meeting until 7.00 pm and considered late to me (my definition of late changes after getting a new boss). Last time, I don't mind to work late and I really mean it! 8.00 pm or even 10.00 pm never considered as late to me but the definition is no longer exist and was taken out from my dictionary of life. Now, late for me is when I have to leave the office after 6.00 pm. I'm still giving myself half an hour to settle down any backlogs or anything that I should complete on that day and that's it. Thirty minutes is more than enough and I'm too generous for that. I have to be stingy and calculative. Yeah, I'm very calculative now!

In many books I have read before (i.e Rule of Work and many others), all suggested and agreed that the leadership is the de-facto that motivate or de-motivate all the members in any organization. Oh, before I get more forgetful, let me share with you excerpt of an article sent by one of my colleagues entitled "Why Employees Leave Organizations? By Mr. Azim Premji, CEO of Wipro". In that article, he mentioned clearly on this:

"If you are losing good people, look to their boss. Boss is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he/she is the reason why people leave. When people leave, they take knowledge, experience and contacts with them, straight to the competition."

One ever said, "If you work for a jerk, you basically want to get him/her into trouble. You don't have your heart and soul in the job".

So, what say you? I have nothing much to comment but for sure I'll say "Yes, definitely and I'm totally agree with that!"

Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone "Gong Zou Yu Kuai!"

The Boomerang Philosophy

In my previous posting, I did mention about the rule of karma. I stated clearly that whatever you did to others will go back to you. Besides the karma, I mentioned another principle called the wheel philosophy. The concepts of both are almost the same and the morale is, don't be cruel to others.

What I want to share in this posting is something related to the above mentioned philosophies. It is in my term, I called it as The Boomerang Philosophy. Before we get to understand about this rule, let us have a snapshot and overview on what boomerang is. With a brief understanding on what a boomerang is, it will be much easier for me to discuss on the philosophy behind this traditional 'device'.

Okay, let us start now. I don't want to waste time here cos I got lots more to discuss in this posting. A boomerang is a simple wooden implement used for various purposes like hunting, religious and recreational activities. It is synonym to Australia, the world famous "country of the boomerang". However, the origin is still not clear cos almost the similar but in other forms are also found amongst peoples of Africa, Europe and Egypt. The Australian Aborigines have used boomerangs for many thousands of years. The name of the boomerang itself comes from the Indigenous Australian Turuwal tribe of aborigines who lived south of Sydney, Australia.

How the boomerang works? A boomerang is an aerofoil (shape of a wing or blade or sail as seen in cross section); air travels faster over one surface of an aerofoil than the other, as the air is accelerated. Traditionally, boomerang is in a flat shape. When the boomerang is thrown with high spin, the wings produce lift. Because of its rapid spinning, a boomerang flies in a curve rather than a straight line. When thrown correctly, a boomerang returns to its starting point or called 'return gracefully to the thrower'. What a nice if you can capture the meaning behind all these!! Or you have the same idea as what is in my mind… J

Never mind if you don't. I will try my best to give a thorough understanding on this Philosophy of Boomerang. Please bear in mind that the paragraph above is the most important cos I will give my explanation based on that. The whole idea of this philosophy is summarized as below:

A boomerang is an aerofoil; air travels faster over one surface of an aerofoil than the other, as the air is accelerated.

He/she can talk a lot, dominate, say whatever feels so, do whatever wish to because he/she is in power. Nobody can object and all the subordinates have to listen and do whatever been directed. The helm is theirs. Because they are in power and have the authority to do whatever they wish to, they feel arrogant and blaming their subordinates if anything bad happen but when the thing is doing well, they will claim that it is their work; giving credits, appraisals to themselves with no shame. All the blames go to others and all the credits go to them. This is what they believe. Please be reminded that The Almighty God is just and fair to everyone!

Traditionally, it is in a flat shape

This means that he/she is closed minded, narrow and very much self-centric person. The flat shape means he/she cannot accept others' opinions/views/comments/arguments/justifications and always think that others are wrong and only he/she is correct in everything! He/she is obsolete; uncle or auntie type with old school of thought that is no longer acceptable in today's community. In easy way, he/she has nothing; flat. Talk with no substance or better regards as "talk cock!"

When the boomerang is thrown with high spin, the wings produce lift

When he/she keeps on crediting and praising oneself in front of others, this makes them become arrogant and extremely over confident. In Malay culture it is called as "angkat bakul sendiri" (lift your own basket). When he/she feels great and over confident, he/she will simply look down at others and at the same time downgrade them or even worse, insulting and embarrass them. They will try their best to show off and portray themselves as 'Mister or Madam Knows Everything'. Stupid!

Because of its rapid spinning, a boomerang flies in a curve rather than a straight line

Because of the non-stop talking nonsense and praising themselves, he/she is seen as someone who cannot be trusted. His/her talk is regarded as rubbish; no substance and no credibility. People make fun of them and laugh at the same time instead of giving their respect. A straight line is always been regarded as a trustworthy and straight-forward person whereby a curve in contrast is someone who cannot be trusted and always make things complicated. This kind of people always go beyond their territory and assume that they are the one who should lead and do others' job but ironically at the same time, they always mention to others not to do something across the border or beyond the territory. So ironic!

When thrown correctly, a boomerang returns to its starting point

So, as the result of their own behavior, whatever they do, their talks, actions that really annoy others will by God's will return back to them. They pay back whatever they ought to. The boomerang will return perfectly and gracefully to its own thrower. And during that time, everyone will laugh at them or at least put cynical smiles to their stupidity. This kind of person deserves such behavior, so that they know that people feel so disgusting and their presence is very unwelcomed and annoyed. Another thing, they are the most hypocrite people who are still alive on this earth. With their hypocrisy and pretentious attitude made them look so ugly and they themselves are too confident until cannot sense that everybody around them is actually realized their unwelcomed behaviors.

Well, I think now you are very clear with my idea and the whole concept of Boomerang Philosophy based on my descriptions and thorough explanation above. Or at least you know how the boomerang works and relates it in our life. I am not saying that boomerang is bad but please be careful if you are practicing this boomerang philosophy. It can easily and silently kills you with no mercy. Don't ever play with fire!

Finally, before I wrap up this posting, please bear in mind that boomerang once been thrown will return gracefully to its thrower and remember of the Boomerang Quotes below:

"Remember, you are the target!" a traditional warning to beginning hurlers.

Consumer Rights

Yesterday, I went to my gym for another workout session. Reached there around 6.00 pm but couldn’t get any space to park my car; ended up driving around for three times until I get the desired parking space. I felt like doing ‘tawaf’ ; one of the Haj and Umrah pillar but in a modern context. Yeah, I was driving but for tawaf, you have to walk around the Kaabah for seven times. Last time, I never encountered any parking problem as I was on bike.

While walking towards the entrance, I saw Rizal, the sales guy of Cali and asked him about my membership upgrade. Just to share the overview about the membership. Currently I hold a gold membership, which is one club membership. Since I chose SC Tower club, I am not entitle for other clubs like Mid Valley. Since my one-year term is going to end this month, I was thinking of upgrading it to the Platinum membership, which giving me access to all clubs and branches of Cali. The benefit is much better but my idea is, I want to have a better monthly fee as other friends of mine are enjoying now. Can you imagine, I have to pay almost RM 150 per month for one club whereby other friends of mine enjoying Platinum membership with monthly fee of only +-RM130. Wow, what a surprise!! As a consumer, I felt cheated and demanded them to give me the same price as my friends.

Last time, I had an argument session with former GM of SC Branch, Julian and he introduced me with another tricky plan called Infiniti. Rizal, the sales guy strongly didn’t encourage me to join that plan. Now Julian is in Mid Valley branch and the new GM for SC is Helen; a nice lady. I had another minor argument session with her last week after been approached by another sales guy with another tricky plan. :p Why I said tricky…let me explain. When the guy approached me, he told that I can upgrade my membership to platinum and my monthly fee is just RM 95. Wow, so impressive!! But, I have to sign up in advance for 3 years. Means, I have to pay for three years; RM 95 x 36 = +-RM 3420 Nonsense!! I complaint to Helen, the new GM and surprisingly she told me that the plan is her idea. Creative marketing as she claimed. Sigh.

So, when I was with Rizal yesterday, Helen saw us and she came and joined us. Out of my expectation, she could still remember my name and called me with the name. I was stunned cos we just met for once. I think maybe because of my strong characteristic and the way I argued with her and others there made her to remember my name. Maybe I made their work harder. Hehe Well, I just practice my right as a consumer.

At least I was happy yesterday after signing for my membership termination. Both Rizal and Helen asked me to do so as this is the best option for me at the moment. Once my membership is terminated, I can apply as a new bird and enjoy a better deal. Thanks for their creative thinking!! :p

I was about to put a full stop for this article but a call from another sales person stopped me from doing so. This had nothing to do with my gym membership. This young lady I supposed called me and said I was chosen as a lucky person to enjoy some privileges under the Visit Malaysia Year campaign. The modus operandi is very simple. She asked me few questions on my credit cards to confirm that I am using it. Luckily, I read about this and mentioned to her that I am not interested. She then hung up the phone with no words. So rude!!

As for the conclusion, I strongly encourage each and every one of us to practice our rights as consumers. The choice is with us and as consumers, we have the buying power. We can always say no to them.

Babel

I tried to publish this posting last week but due to the network problem, I didn't manage to do so. Just to share about the latest movie in my list; Babel. Classified as 18PL with the running duration time of 2 hours 24 minutes, Babel is another movie to be considered in your movie checklist.

This movie has been nominated in 7 different categories for Academy Awards and won several other awards in different categories. Although we shouldn't consider about the number of awards received to consider any movie, but this movie has its own values that differ from others.

Starred by Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, this movie used the background of mainly 3 different countries; Morocco, Mexico and Japan. Babel is all about a married American couple with a pair of cute kids who is on holiday to Morocco with the mission of saving their marriage. The two kids are left home with their Mexican nanny.

While the couple and their tourist group are on a bus tour across a remote Moroccan desert, the wife was shot by two Moroccan boys with a rifle bought by their father for own hunting purposes. These two boys with no intention had involved in an accidental crime that created chaotic and led to a strained diplomatic relationship between The United States and Moroccan Government. Throughout the movie, there is a chain of events on the struggling of the couple to survive. This movie shows how a loving and responsible husband tries his best to save the life of his wife with the help from local Moroccan people.

The western media made the incident as their hot news and broadcasted all over the globe with the mala fide accusation that the incident was another crime committed by Muslim terrorists. Since the incident happened in a Muslim country, the westerners start to put the blame on the Muslim separatist groups; their old propaganda.

Far away from Morocco, the nanny who is in charge of taking care of the two kids (the American couple's kids) illegally crossing into Mexico from The States with the two kids with her. She made a stupid decision to attend her only son's wedding in Mexico. Initially, Brad Pitt in his phone call asked her not to go anywhere and take care of his two kids while he is struggling to save his wife. Her stupid decision had threatened the safety of the two kids.

Another nice character in this movie is about a rebellion deaf and mute Japanese girl whose father is sought by the police in Tokyo. The link between all these three backgrounds/plots comes from the rifle been used to shoot Cate Blanchett. The rifle is owned and registered under the name of this Japanese man. He then gave the rifle to his Moroccan driver after his hunting trip in Morocco. That driver was then sold the riffle to another Moroccan man, whose son used to shoot Blanchett.

It might be complicated with three different backgrounds but the genius director; Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu was able to make it harmony by his own directing skills.

Anyway, if you are not someone who has the passion in heavy humanity subject, this movie will not be your choice and I’m pretty sure that you will suffer while watching it.

The choice is yours! Happy viewing….!

Old Sweet Time

I am so happy today after publishing my posting on Assyura. The article was done since Tuesday but I couldn't publish it due to the network problem. I really don't know what happen but I take it as a challenge for me to write more and more. What I need to now is to write offline in notepad and then transfer it to my blog. This is the most effective way that I can think of at this moment. I just want to keep the pace, momentum and consistency in blogging.

Okay, enough. Let me start with something else. Yesterday I went to my fitness centre for workout after for quite some times I do not go there. I have to admit that this is related to the momentum and consistency that I mentioned above. Maybe I got my problem to manage my time or maybe I was so lazy for past few weeks. Because of that, I got a big tummy now (this is what I feel) and I think that is a clear warning message to me to do something and get back in shape. I have to say that I really missed the time when I go for jogging twice a day in "Taman Rimba" everyday; once in the early morning and another one in the afternoon, around 6.00 pm. It is a nice place to jog as it is surrounded by Royal Golf Course, State Administration Office, Palace of State's Prince (DYMM Raja Muda) etc. I just put it very general so that it is not obvious where I jogged last time. Never mind, it is not a big deal though!

I enjoyed doing workout yesterday; made me recalled the moment when I rode my bike everyday from office to SC Tower just to maintain my fitness level. My friends said I am crazy for that; riding a bike for about 30 km+ just for workout. Because of that also I knew an Indian guy who is working at the convenient shop there. That Indian guy is very nice to me and we are friends already. I don't have any problem to read all the magazines and newspapers there and he always offered me to take back any magazines I prefer and return back to him the next day. How nice he is although we do not know each other very well and furthermore he is not the same race as me. Luckily, both of us are not racists. :)

I just realized yesterday that I did not go to my gym for quite sometimes already. The indicator is very simple; the development project next to SC Tower. The last time I went there, the progress of the project only on the ground works; piling etc but yesterday I was so surprised to see how fast the construction is. Yea, such a big project in a strategic location; golden triangle of KL with a lot of money been invested, for sure they are really serious about it. If it is another public project by the authority, I don't think the progress is the same though both projects: private and public start on the same day.

This is what we call efficiency and transparency. For private sector, efficiency and transparency transpired by the progress of the work and it speaks on its own whereby the same terminologies in public sector are indicated by rhetorical speeches and empty promises. Well, I shouldn't elaborate more on this topic. My Tionghua friend always uses the phrase "sweet talk" to describe about this rhetorical speeches and empty promises. I have nothing to say but to agree with him. :)

Assyura Day; Muharram 10

Monday is always been a busy day. What to do as it is the first working day of a week, so many thing need to be done and things to start with. Well, I got a morning meeting today followed by another meeting. Sometimes, I wonder whether we are on the right track or not because of too many meetings to attend but the results are still the same. Nothing much to expect from these time consuming meetings.

It is not too late for me to wish all my Muslim brothers and sisters "Happy Assyura Day" as today is 10th Muharram in Hijr Calendar. For those who are fasting today, I wish a barakah fasting day and may all of you get the blessing from Allah s.w.t

Actually, I thought of writing on something else but after talking to my colleague, she asked me to consider writing something on Assyura Day. Frankly speaking, I have a little idea on this but it is good for me to read more in order to have better understanding of my faith. As I mentioned in my previous posting, I always believe in information sharing as the critical success factor. So throughout this posting, I will try my best to share something on Assyura Day.

According to the history and what the scholars said, when the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings upon him) arrived in Madinah Munawwarah in 622 CE, he found that the Jews there fasted on Muharram 10 and he asked them the reason for their fasting on this day. The Jews answered, “This is a blessed day. On this day Allah saved the Children of Israel from their enemy (in Egypt) and so Prophet Musa fasted on this day giving thanks to Allah." The Prophet Muhammad said, "We are closer to Musa than you are." He then fasted on that day (Muharram 10) and commanded Muslims to fast on this day. (Al-Bukhari)

In the following year, Allah commanded the Muslims to fast the month of Ramadhan, and so the fasting of Assyura became optional.

It is also reported that the Prophet intended to fast on the ninth and tenth. Ibnu Abbas reported: The Messenger of Allah fasted on the day of Assyura and ordered the people to fast on it. The people said, "O Mesenger of Allah, it is a day that the Jews and Christians honour." The Prophet said, "When the following year comes, Allah willing, we shall fast on the ninth." The death of the Prophet came before the following year. (Muslim and Abu Dawud)

According to scholars, we can choose to fast Assyura on:

i. three days (ninth, tenth and eleventh);
ii. two days (ninth and tenth); or
iii. one day only (the tenth).

The Prophet said, "Fasting the day of Assyura (is of great merits), I hope Allah will accept it as an expiation for (the sins committed in) the previous year." (Muslim)

Traditionally, Assyura commemorates two major events: The day Prophet Nuh left the ark and the day Prophet Musa was saved from the Egyptians by Allah. Apart from that, Shiites, however celebrates Assyura as a major festival called the ta'ziyah, which commemorates the death of Hussein, son of Imam Ali and grandson of Prophet Muhammad, on the 10th of Muharram, 61 AH (October 10, 680 CE) in Karbala, Iraq. For Shiites, Assyura day is celebrated in rituals and observances consist primarily of public expressions of mourning and grief.

May the day of Assyura brings us a step closer to The Almighty God and may also we are blessed to carry out our duties as Caliphs on this earth. Insya Allah.