Doing Math On My Possible Tablet Purchase

Kinda a short blog today. Still recovering from my trip to Kuala Terengganu.

On Friday, Maxis announced the latest addition to their tablet collection and packages. This new tablet, the HTC Flyer, boasts a 1.5 GHz CPU with 32GB on internal memory, a stylus pen (battery operated) plus having HTC Scribe and HTC Sense technology all in one. Only drawback is that the Flyer is still using the Froyo, instead of the Android 3.0+ Honeycomb, which is the currently used OS. Well, whatever the specs may be, Maxis is now offering the Fyler (RRP: RM2499) bundled with an Internet package in which one can get the Flyer as low as RM195. That's like a 93% discount for the Flyer. But of course, the Internet package is quite hefty. To enjoy the Flyer at the aforementioned price, you need to subscribe to a 16GB quota broadband package. The cost? RM152 after a rebate.

So, is it worth it? Let's do some Math here. If I'm not mistaken, all internet and broadband packages are still excluded from the 6% government tax (I don't see it on my Streamyx bill)

24 months of broadband package

RM 152 x 24 months = RM 3648.00

Price of HTC Flyer (Maxis)

RM 195.00

Total price

RM 3843.00

RRP of HTC Flyer

RM 2499.00

Actual monthly internet package that will be paid in 24 months

(RM 3843.00 – RM 2499.00) / 24 = 55.96 (around RM60)

 

Considering that the 3GB broadband package from Maxis is RM68, this may be something that I might seriously think about. But then, there is the upcoming LG Optimus Pad which is able to shoot stereoscopic pictures and, like the iPad, having a dual core processor. So, a few questions popping up on my mind:

1. Will Maxis be offering this device as well?
2. When will be LG Optimus Pad be launched in Malaysia?
3. Is the supposed rebate (RM96 to be exact) be for the entire 24 months, or sooner than that?

Awww…….my aching head.

__________________________________________________________

Just found out that actually I need to pay the RRP price upfront, and that the rebate is actually taken from my full payment of the device’s RRP (some rebate )

And so, doing my math (not gonna bore everybody with the formulae again), I’ll be actually spending RM6147 to have the device with a 16GB wireless broadband package.

I should wait for the LG Optimus Pad then.

Gone….Even Longer

Mak aih……makin aku kata nak jadi rancak blogging, makin laju pulak aku menghilang. Setakat 2-3 bulan tu takpe lagi, alih2 dekat 7 bulan pulak. Makin teruk la habis blogging aku ni. Tapi apakan daya, mulut jer kata nak buat, semangat agak kureng sikit la. But ape2 pun, aku nak gagahkan diri kali ni untuk blogging sehabis baik mungkin.

So, what can I say about what is up with me in the last 7 months? What else……. RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. Maklum la, aku sekarang ni berstatus setuden masa penuh. So, itu je la keje aku. So, what makes me drop in my blogging frequency? The answer……. pure and simple MALAS. Mmg hilang mood aku untuk blogging for the last few months. Tapi bukan la itu aje pun ape yg aku buat.

Alhamdulillah, I’m now a home owner. Akhirnya tercapai la jgk hajat aku untuk menjadi pemilik rumah, walaupun bukan di atas tanah. You’ve guessed it right, sports fans. Aku baru jer beli apartment. Tapi x boleh la nak tunjuk lagi. Belum siap lagi pun. So, wait until one of my blogs next year (ntah2 next blog aku mmg next year nnt) and I’ll have the pictures to accompany my blog.

Aku penah blog dulu about my dilemma when I was buying a phone. Well, today’s a bit different. Sbb nafsu aku pun tgh beralih arah jgk ni. Sejak 2 menjak ni, tablet PC is becoming the new black, when it comes to techno gadgets. Masa phone technology advanced to a whole new level, mmg ramai org pakat berebut2 nak dapatkan phone with the latest addition of functions. And mmg dulu pun penah aku baca yang phone is slowly migrating to become a computer. And mmg best pun to have it all in the palm of your hand.

Cume satu je la masalahnye……brape banyak la korang boleh enjoy on the palm. Dulu takat SMS, MMS….dan apekebendentah, boleh la gune skrin 2”. Tapi slowly we decided that it’s not enough to have the hardware be of high end. The experience has got to be too. Jadi mula la start skrin phone ni jadi makin besar. Aku rase sekarang ni paling besar pun dalam 4.3” (not counting Samsung Galaxy Tab, as I feel it’s more of a tablet than a phone).

Hence, the tablet market is opened for business. Yang paling successful setakat ni….dah tentu la iPad. And at the time of me writing this, you still need to queue up on any day that new stocks arrive in order to have a shot at owning the iPad 2. Betul la ape yang aku dengar from kawan aku sorg ni, kalau nak beli iPad 2 dengan bersantai2, ko tunggu la 6 months lepas dia launch.

Tapi frankly speaking, iPad ni bukan la cup of tea aku. Betul…… menatang ni banyak advantages dia. Mainly the number of Apps yang go with the Apple OS ni. Part tu aku mmg x nafikan la. Tapi 2 sebab utama yang jadikan aku agak kurang bernafsu kat iPad ni. The lack of Flash support, and the limited connectivity with the outside world. Mmg Apple saje have all this untuk pastikan they can maximize their profit not through the actual iPad sales, but also on software as well.

Tapi…..dengan munculnya tablet2 di pasaran sekarang dan tak lama lagi, the tablet wars is in for a fierce and cruel bloodbath. Already kita dah ada Samsung Galaxy Tab, Motorola Xoom, Blackberry Playbook, Dell Streak 5 (just naming a few). Next week pulak, HTC Flyer will join the carnage and mayhem. Tapi aku still nak tunggu LG Optimus Pad before actually making a decision (eh eh…mcm aku nak beli jer ni. entah la)

Kali ni aku nak buat something different pulak dengan blog aku. Korang tau tak Maharaja Lawak? Tak tau? Aisehmen, mmg agak outdated korang ni. Ramai oarang dok tengok, and ramai lagi orang yang dok sebut pasal benda ni. It’s merely a collection of all Raja Lawak’s finalists from the last 5 seasons, and putting them all in one humongous ring. Some remain their identity (Nabil, Sepah, Amir…), while some allied with fellow partners and create a new group (Jozan, WAI).

But aku saje nak cite pasal group yang aku rasa agak menarik jugak, which is Jambu. Jambu ni consists of Yus (Raja Lawak 1 champ) and Tauke (4th place on the same season). Seriously, aku mmg tak tahan lawak diorg. Mmg at some episodes, other groups perform better then them, tapi setakat ni belum lagi aku nak kritik pasal persembahan diorg. Tak percaye ke? Well, for the first time ever done on this blog, watch the videos of the performance over the past 7 weeks and decide for yourself.

 

Lawak ke tak, you be the judge k. Lagipun lawak ni subjective, so tak semestinya apa yang aku suka, korang pun suka jugak kan?

Going to a different subject, about my other hobby. Another addition to my Transformers collection, the Takara Tomy MP-09 Rodimus Convoy. For those who haven’t the faintest idea what the heck I am talking about (it’s normal since Japan models tend to name their collection a bit different from their American counterparts), it’s actually Rodimus Prime. The likeness is really close to the 80’s series. And the best part, it can transform to both Hod Rod (sports car) and Rosimus Prime (truck). Just sort of a teaser, here’s a picture of the box. Hahahahahaha…

Well, I have my plans for the weekend, tapi tunggu la next blog aku (tahun depan kot)

Kenavo

All That Glitters is Not Gold – Is It True?

Wow…i guess I’m trying to beat my previous record. And so, after a 6 month absence, here I am back again. Trying to blog like nobody’s business and this time, trying to make it stick.

The problem with Blogger (no intention of discrediting the place where my blogs are), is that sometimes you just spend too much time on unnecessary non-writing work. Adding pictures, adjusting them, replacing them to the correct location, text size and font that keeps changing as you fingers hit the <Return> key……all these are just simply hindrance that demotes ones enthusiasm to blog. Let’s be clear on one thing, when I blog, I just want to have my text written, my pictures up, and my words conveyed to all. And worrying about little imperfections that comes with the blog script is a big turn-off for someone like me, who prefers to keep simple, and neat.

Well, thanks to my friend, Yan, an idea was presented in allowing me to make certain shortcuts and still have the presentation of the blog to be as what I hoped it to be. Sometimes, you just need to be alert on what your friends or people around you are doing, because you might stumble upon ideas, thoughts and solutions that can make you breath a sigh of relief. And so, as my pilot blog written in Windows Live Writer (not sure if it’s in older version of Windows, but I do have it in Windows 7), and here it goes.

I think in the past 32 years that I’ve been walking on this great, yet temporary green Earth, I have seen countless scams with the sole purpose of others taking away things that belong to us. Let it be cash, identity, property, or even family members, people often seem to find some sick, demented, twisted way in obtaining what’s not rightfully theirs. In my family alone, my dad had been scammed, as did my mom, and not to mention yours truly himself. So, for those who actually read my blog (maybe about 1-2 of you, assuming you all are still silently and patiently waiting for my post), please don’t trouble yourself to entice me in all these programs that promise large returns of profit. Either its MLM, investment, vacation card, insurance policy, prize giveaway…unless in involves me forking out the RM, don’t waste you breath and time, because this sucker has been suckered more times than Najib saying ‘1Malaysia’.

But what did interest me in the last couple of days is an investment that does require some stack of cold hard cash, and does not guarantee a large return, but nonetheless I know that my investment will not be gone in smoke. What I’m talking about is the investment in gold. Maybe some of you have heard this before, and some may have even ventured into this much, much earlier than yours truly. But like King Ferdinand of Spain said “Get gold, if humanely possible…but at all hazards, get Gold”

I’ve been aware of this gold investment for a couple of years now. But it’s been only recently that I make a study of this form of investment. I’ve been reading up on various investment on gold, looking at the price trend over the last century (that’s right, the past 100 years), and I’ve been punching hard on the digits on my calculator to verify its validity. And one thing is for sure, even though your investment does not bare fruit, you’ll still end up with gold in your clutches, and for me, that ain’t bad at all.

Of course, by asking around close friends of mine, there have been doubts on the validity on the outcome. For that, I always have this in mind: Investment is like any other form of financial business, you win some, you lose some. But at least with this, I can rest assure that my investment will not be swindled by some con, as will it be a 100% loss. But not much that I can say about this yet, as I am still in the crawling stage. I’ll have more info as the days go by. But for those who are interested to start or beginning to foam in their mouth in enthusiasm and curiosity, I’ll be more than glad to share what I’ve known with you all.

Enough about that, as it’s been a while since my last post, therefore do enjoy a pictorial summary of my life in the past 6 months.

My mom’s house undergoing a renovation

Playing ping-pong for my department

New addition to my collection - Blaster

2nd day of Raya with 3 A’s – Ajib, Alia and Ainun at Sg Buloh

Mini reunion of the guys from PPP/ITM

My second honeymoon in Redang

And since tomorrow is Aidiladha, Selamat Hari Raya to everybody, and embrace the spirit of Qurban.

ma'is salāma

After A 5-month Absence

Has it been that long? Well, I guess Mr Stephen King was not my best choice of an inspiration. No offense, but he writes for a living. Me? writing is just one of my job's long list of demands. And blogging is definitely not one of them. Anyway, I'm back again, and I hope that my blog intervals will not be back to usual. After all, I tend to blog a lot when I start writing. I guess the long absence has emptied my thirst in my digital diary (as I normally refer to this blog)

Well, what should I write? Definitely on the fact that I have committed myself to the deep dive that human call 'marriage'. It's been almost 4 months that I have been having a soulmate, and I have only one thing to say: that I couldn't be more happier being a married man. Sure, your budget is tighter, and you ever so lively bachelor life is already a closed chapter in your book. But to have someone to share your life with, and being in love is way much more in weight than living a lifetime of lonesome. And to top it off, I do really have a 'sporting' wife, and I am able to have part of my bachelor activities with my close friend. With her, it's like I have the best of both worlds (quoting Hannah Montana on this one).

These 5 months have been taxing on me. I have left my house that I've lived for the past 4 1/2 years, I made some major shopping in the furniture department, and I am going to continue on my Masters this June (I'm crossing my fingers real bad on this). Plus, currently my mom is extending the house for an additional 3 rooms. After all, her children are on the way to expanding the family, and my youngest brother will be joining the cause real soon, as he'll be engaged next month. So, there is a high chance that my mom will be having another wedding reception for a straight third year in a row.

I guess I'll just stop here for now. And I'm putting some pictures of my joyous day for those who didn't make it on that day.

Moment of truth

With the ring on, signals my life being hers

With my family at my wife's reception

With my new family, this time at my reception

Be Right Back

After almost 5 months of absence, I'll be back in a few days. For my readers out there, tungguuuuuuuuuuuu

Wedding Invitation

So Much To Do, So Little Time

Well, my last blog was about 3 weeks ago, and it was certainly a short one. As a matter of fact, it was more of the rantings of someone hitting the highest peak of his boredom. Oh well, one may just mouth out the feelings that was locked inside the mind.

Hence, back to my story of the week. In just little over two weeks, I'd be taking a big leap into the course of my life - changing my status from single to 'double'. And believe me, as the sacred date inches towards me, it seems like it moves like lightning. As I thought I have done all sorts of preparation for my wedding, there always seems to be another hugh pile being dumped atop of me. But then, this would be the time that I just simply have to pulled myself together and make it through. Thank God, I would say, for the support of my family and relatives. If it were not for them, I might not be able to do it all, even if I'm given more time.

Let's see, what happened to me during the month. Oh yeah......that's right. I've been around the northern part of Malaysia. To be exact, Penang and Langkawi. It was actually a training in Penang organized by Intel, hence the scream of absolute tense in my previous post. But Langkawi..........it was a whole different ball game.

I was there for a conference organized by UKM. But of the 4 nights that I spent there, I guess I was actually at 'work' for 5-6 hours. And the rest of my time? Getting myself pampered and sunk into the vacation mood. I guess it might be a wee bit too much to be all the way there and having 95% pleasure and only 5% business. But heck, it is an oppurtunity that I won't let slipped between my fingers.

And as I would normally do, here are the pictures from my trip in Langkawi. Won't be any digital memories from Penang though....... it was actually not that much fun.

 View from my room at Awana Porto Malai

 

 Another view, but this time towards the pool

A Chow Yun Fatt wannabe

 Hoping to be as rich as Steve Davis

It's too expensive to ride this on water, so I'll have to make do on dry land

Cover up, fellas.....you're on Candid Camera (or is it Wakenebeb)

At the beach of Pantai Chenang

A contest of who's the bigger idiot.....but I guess I am 'bigger'

At the Underwater World

Anything's possible with the right camera angle

At the Langkawi cable car, but never got on the actual cable car

I wouldn't know if this is appropriate or not in my blog, but I guess I could take the chance in giving a piece of my mind during my trip in Penang. On the final night of our training, we had a farewell dinner, similar to the first phase of my training back in June. This time around, we were treated to the sensuous delicacies from the land of India. We had some Indian food at the Kashmir Restaurant, and I would say, the tandoori chicken is one of the best I've had so far. But enough said about the things that could make my body round and bloated. What bothered me was the entertainment that the host prepared for the night. In a room packed with academicians (and obviously within the Muslim community), a belly dancer was what we had to endure with. And believe me, her attire was what belly dancers are usually donned with. The choice to opt for this type of entertainment was simply not amusing, especially when the she was circling around the tables, looking for people who would want to hit the dance floor. I just hoped that the organizers would be more sensitive on this issue, considering that there will a phase 3 of the training next year.

The next day after I got back from Langkawi, I went on a shopping spree (and it was really a spree) with my fiancee in order to complete our wedding preparations. It was on a Friday, and it's the new Hijrah year. But I was just taken aback when I made my payment, and the cashier wished my a Merry X'mas instead. I guess that the year 1431 was not important for some people. But then, the decors surrounding Sogo has X'mas written all over it. Can I blame him for his ignorance, one can only tell....

Well, my next post will most likely to be another wait for you all. As my wedding day looms about, it maybe a little hard to find time in order to really sit down and get the creative side of my brain working in order to translate the content of my twisted brain into words that can be enjoyed by my readers. My only hope that you all can be patient for another chapter of my life. However, come to think of it, there's really nothing that you can do, correct? :)

Until next time......Nagemiseni

AAARRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!

Adoi......sengalnyer aku tgh dok training ni. Dh la seminggu kene training. Nasib baik la malam aku leh jalan2.

Heh heh heh

Fun Fun Fun

What a week. It has been nothing short of things to do, and datelines to meet. But in spite of time squeezing the life out of me, that will never stopped me from laying back, and enjoying what God's green Earth has to offer. Well, actually, it was the cold, steel, concrete jungle. Not much green that I got to enjoy.

Let's start with the steamboat for 2 that I had with my fiancee. She won a KIK (Kumpulan Inovasi & Kreatif) convention a few weeks back, and with the prize cut that she received, we treated ourselves to some fatless, yet full of cholestrol delicacies (because of the seafood). Well, I didn't mentioned it in my blogs about her winning the convention. So congrats, darling. All the hard work and sweat had finally paid off.

The next day, we treated ourselves yet again. Only this time, it was a feast to the eyes and ears. This time, with my soon-wife-to-be, we headed to Alamanda and saw what some people believed to be their future 3 years later. That's right, we went to see 2012 at the movies. It seems that people had thought of a lot of ways on how the world would come to an end. But for the devoted followers of our Great God, we should certainly know how the world will be shattered, right? Anyway, one question pondered my mind as I saw the movie. If they were gonna save themselves with arks, what makes it so different than being in a aircraft carrier that was shown in the middle of the movie. After all, the waves did tumble the gigantic man-made-structure like it was a paper boat. Did that came across your minds as well?

However, seeing the movie, it solidify my stand on Judgement Day. If mere mortals could have thought of various ways for the Earth to come to an end, one just might wonder what the actual destruction would be like. Remember, in this movie, some are still safe through air transportation. But what if all the destructions that Hollywood has served us (The Day After Tomorrow, Knowing, 2012, and others that I might have forgotten) happen all at once. Do we have a place to go?

Well, on the night after, again the two of us went for another treat. But this time it was with my other colleagues. And it was more of a treat to the ear, rather than to the eye. For the second time, I went and watched Alleycats performing at KL. I guess you can just read about my encounter with the legends from Penang in my previous blog, since it was basically just the same. However, this time we were treated to a song by the bassist of Alleycats, Jimmy 'Nelson' Lo. This was the first time ever that he had sing on stage, and to be part of it was simply amazing.

Me and Jimmy Lo

Then, came Aidiladha. As usual, our family tend to keep it simple for Raya Haji. After all, it was only a one day holiday. But that didn't stop my taste buds from the sensual ayam kuzi, and nasi briyani that my mom had prepared for the day. And on the second day, again I was indulging on barbequed chicken that my aunt hosted in Mantin. Too bad I missed out on the barbequed lamb leg. My aunt had it marinated for two weeks. And from what they say (obviously after finishing off the lamb, without any for yours truly....hehehe), it was nothing less of praises of how good it tasted. Too bad for me....

On Monday, I became a driver + porter for my mom and my aunt on their shopping trip to Jalan Masjid India, Sogo and Nilai. But how can I complaint. After all, it was for my wedding. Hence, I was only too glad in taking the day off in order to facilitate the needs of my elder generations. All in all, we got all that we wanted, and the 13-hour trip was really worth it.

And today, I am back at work after 6 days of rest (is it rest?) and the only bummer that I got is that my office hard disk has crashed beyond salvation. I feel like I want to scream at the top of lungs considering the huge amount of data that I have in there. However, I am still hopeful that I could salvage the data in my hard disk. Which is why I plan to go to Lowyat soon. If I am not mistaken, there is a store that specialized in data recovery. I'll just have to cross my fingers on this one.

And there, sports fans, was the story of my week. Pretty hectic, but still an enjoyable one. And one could only hope that future weeks will be as good as last week, if not better.

Alahimanet

Cars Hate Me

It might be a wee bit early for me to have a new blog. But considering my mishaps and ill-fortunes in the last 48 hours, the silent, evil call of exerting my frustration on the virtual world of digital age is just simply too much to resist. And since I have the spare time (not actually spare, but just a few minutes to kill), I guess I might as well succumb to the waning sounds of persuasion that my heart ravages upon me.

It all started in the beautiful Sunday morning. After all, it had rained the night before to a temperature that soothes the senses of your body. Plus I have the plesent company of my old boys in the 'hood' = budak Parit Buntaq. So that morning, I was going to leave to my fiancee's house, as we were planning to go to her uncle's place. After all, he's one of the officers in the Perak Islamic Department, and will be helping out in her registration to be married to your truly. And so, after warm 'goodbye's and 'see ya later's, I was already going to head out for an hour's journey.

As soon as I backed up the car to leave my friend's house, DANG IT! The right front tyre was stuck in the mud. Apparently the rain did not just made a number on me, but on the soil as well. I had known that the soil in front of his hourse is slightly soft, but this was wayyyyyyyyy past 'slightly'. And so, after a few presses on the gas pedal to rev up the car, all I had accomplished is sinking the tyre further deep towards the Earth. A couple more revs, and the front spoiler would be grazing against the road tar, and I'm pretty sure that will not bode well with my soon-to-be-wife. In fact, she called asking for my current whereabouts, since I'm supposed to be there at 10am. Guess I'll be late.......big time

Time for some creative solutions. Therefore, I used the car jack (which in fact was the first time that the jack was used ever since she bought the car), and tilted the car up in order to fill the void on the ground with rocks. Not only that, we even had a sack placed underneath the tyre in order to prevent it from slipping. As I went back into the car, all I could do is pray thatmy efforts were not in vain.

Well, one could only hope. And with that, the left front tyre is now the one that's slipping. Hence, we have to do the exact same thing all over again to the left tyre. And guess what.......after that, the right tyre slipped again. Oh well, back to square one, it seems.

So, for the third time (and the second time for the right tyre), we jacked up the car and put more rocks underneath it. Unfortunately again, to go against nature, it is just a losing battle, and the right tyre is still slipping. And by then, we're just simply our of energy to tango with the car jack for a fourth dance.

Thank God (or should I smack my friend in the forehead for his late ideas), my friend finally called his friend nearby, and he is available. So, with his car's help, and his trusty rope, we managed to pull the car out of the muddy ditch. And all they asked is that I pay for the car wash for his car, as his car was tainted with muddy soil as he was being a good Samaritan in getting my car out from the mud.

 This was after the first jack. It was way deeper at first

 

 After the 3rd wrestle, we finally gave up

 So, I finally reached my fiancee house at 3pm - a 5 hour delay. But they knew about the situation, and they are totally supportive with my condition and state at the time.

Owh, did the title say 'CARS' with an 's'? That means the story didn't end there...

On our way back to KL on Monday, it began to pour heavily from Ipoh onwards. And believe it, when it poured, it really did a number on us. However, I don't think it was us that really got it. Somewhere after Tapah, I was just being overtaken by an Avanza (at least I think it was an Avanza), and then came the next suspending moments.

Just about 200m after the guy had overtook me, suddenly his car spun real bad. I think he did a 2 3/4 turns on the road. And there I was, looking at the guy mimicing a spinning top. My fiancee was definitely in a state of frenzy. And frankly, so was I. But in things like this, you just have to keep your cool, or you'll end up just like him......or worse. So, here I was, gently stepping on the brakes, while steadily swerve my steering wheel slightly to the left. Praise be to God, he didn't spun onto my lane, and he didn't hit the road dividers. And from the looks of the other cars behind me, I believe that everyone made it with a breeze. Had the guy spun off course, things might turn out to be rather ugly. Sorry guys, no pictures this time. Hey! I may be an aggresive driver, but I ain't a stupid one.

And so, my memories with cars this weekend was certainly not all sweet and roses, but all in all, I;m just glad that I reached my home safe, unscratched and unharmed.

Fins ara

One Step Closer

Funny that I'm blogging from a restaurant, and not from the usual comfort that my desk at home offers to my rather enormous rectum. But considering the fact that my home is actually 350km away from my current position, I'll just have to make do with the cold, hard steel chair that I am sitting on right now.

Let's see......what should I write now....

Well, my readers will just have to make do with my 'oh-so-usual' weekly report. After all, yours truly has had a rather normal week, much like most of the weeks that I have been going through in my past 31 years. Well, here goes...

Had a second barbeque at my cousin's house in Shah Alam last Saturday. Well, it wasn't much, and not many were invited. Just the ones that assisted her in packing her stuff the week before - something I forgot to blogged about. My cousin had moved to her new house in Shah Alam. Well, she had already moved a few months back. But some of her stuff was still in Putrajaya.So, some dedicated cousin, including 'the-ever-so-helpful' me. So, as a token of appreciation, she held a barbeque at her place......again. Since I was in the 'zone' of having a tango with the barbeque grill, I didn't have the time in capturing the moments of me and the grill. But you get the picture, right? After all, it doesn't vary much from the first barbeque.

This week I have been devoting myself in preparing to be someone's husband. I went to the Pej Agama Islam Daerah (PAID) Hulu Langat and applied to get married. Something that you guys from Selangor might want to read about, should you intend to do the same in the near future. Well, in not dissapointing you, here's what you need to do in order to get married (Guys only. Not sure about the girls, since my fiancee is going to register in Perak)

• Go for your pre-marriage course.
• Get the forms from PAID, or just download it from the website (just Google it, and it's there)
• If your IC is not from Selangor, get the form of residentship (you must have stayed at least 4 months in Selangor). Find a witness and his photocopied IC, and verify it at any Penghulu, Ketua Kampung, JKKK Chairman that is available at your place
• Take the HIV screening test. It's free, and only can be done at government clinics. But first make sure the days that these clinics are conducting the test. For Bangi, it is on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. In Kajang, it's on Wednesdays and Fridays.
• Get the supporting documents, and bring two witnesses to your local 'jurunikah', or PAID if there's none at your place, and sign in front of the appropriate personnel.
• Wait one more day, and 'presto', your letter of approval will be issued to you.

Now, all that's left is for my beloved fiancee to do the almost exact same thing in her place in Perak. Hence, that's where I am right now. On Monday, she'll be applying to get married, and we're one step closer into the wacky, wacky world of marriage. Owh, did I say wacky? It might be wacky, but it's something that I'll be ever more than delighted to be a part of.

Sorry......no picture in this week's news.

Zbogom

Really Busy, Busy, Busy Week

By far, this is one of the busiest week that I've been in since I started working in UKM. It took all the strength that I could muster in making through the day. Physically, and mentally, I'm just plain beat. The the bad news is, it'll only a downhill fall from here onwards.

At least, I could take a breather by writing things up in my blog. It gives me some soothing sensation towards my already cramped up brain here. But as much as I want to write and complaint about how busy I am in here, I'll just have to make do with making a summary of what I did, just like my usually busy blog entries.

Well, here goes.

• Have to study on the new Agilent Function Analyzer which we got last month.
• Write up a paper for my congress in Langkawi in December. And it's still not finished yet.....sigh
• Marking logbooks for students' industrial training.
• Teaching a class and a lab.
• Chair 3 final year project presentations.
• Reviewing 2 of my colleagues papers (also for the Langkawi congress).
• Attended a funeral of one of my colleagues who passed away on Tuesday (Al-Fatihah for En Ali)
• Drafting the final exam question paper, which will be held on 17th October.
• Monitoring my department's publication by verifying the papers that they have entered in the system.

And with that, sports fans, will not be the end. I still have a tall stack of lab reports, itching to be tainted with red ink. Plus I still need to grade another final paper which had been done earlier. Let's put it this way, I can't take a day off, even if I wanted to. And that, is the story of my week, and my month.

Till all are one...... (quoted from Rodimus Prime from Transformers: The Movie)

Jaws, Crocs and Cats

As I mentioned in my last post, this is the one where I'll be talking about my trip to Surabaya. It's been a while since I left the muddy soil of Malaysia, and I really had a rejuvinating yet meaningful trip, even though it was on official business.

However, this blog will go futher beyond that. As the week goes by, I had some nice events that I just feel like keeping in a digital form. Hence, forgive me if this blog will be a rather lengthy one.

The idea for this trip had sparked becaused of the ROBOCON competition that we participated in. Since my boss has an ambititous target (becoming national champs), that it is only fitting that we go to out counterpart in Indonesia who has never lost in the competition there. Hence, on Sunday last week, we hopped on a Boeing 737 and haul butts till we touched down in Surabaya.

If you like to know, the mascot of Surabaya is actually a crocodile and a shark. Probably the 'Baya' in Surabaya means crocodile. Well, they have more than one statues symbolizing the animals that represent this city. I wonder if all the big cities in Indonesia have multiple statues as they have here in Surabaya. Guys who have been around there, care to share some info with me?

This one was taken right in front of my hotel

First thing we did there? Went for dinner at KFC. I was really hoping to have some local delicacies there. But then, majority rules, right? In my case actually, bosses rules. So, all 14 of us went for a nearby KFC, which is only a 5 minute walk from our hotel.

The next day was our trip to Politeknik Elektronika Negeri Surabaya (PENS). There, we get to see their 'robot culture' among the staff and students. And believe me, I was really amazed on how they could create electronic wonders from piles of scrap. Here in Malaysia, people are spending hunderds of ringgit on robot kits for students in universities and schools. Yet here, they managed to do it with 'junks' that we might throw away. Imagine, the front tyres of the robot kit is only made from roll-over deodorants. That's right, sports fans. ROLL-OVER DEODORANTS. Kinda wonder what other junks that we can use to make robots. Probably Arnold in Terminator will be made from clothes hangers and aerosol cans if the film is made in Indonesia.

See the rollers there?

Not only that, but PENS are also involved in a military robot project with the government. Unfortunately, we're are not allowed to take pictures there. But the end result really put me in awe. But then, they are an electronics institution of higher learning. While we're only a small department in a multi-disciplinary university. I don't think that we'll have a big funding as they are getting.

Fortunately, robots are not the only thing we were able to do there. Found out that there an attraction nearby, the 'Monumen Kapal Selam'. And the good thing is, it's only 10 minutes away from our hotel. So, we spent some time in the steel belly of a 1958 diesel submarine on the dry lands of Surabaya.

Going up....or down, anyone?

Ensign, babe alert at 1 o'clock

In the battle of the bellies, I lose.....big time

We finally got to indulge ourselves with local cuisines that Surabaya had to offer. Among them were Nasi Goreng Jawa, Fuyung Hai (never knew what it was until the next day), Es Teller and Es Campur. But as nice as these meals did in stimulating my taste buds, I'd go for my very own Malaysian food.......anytime, anyday.

Finally reached Negaraku on Thursday night and took the Friday off. Had planned to go back to my mom's that very morning. But my brother wanted to tagged along for the ride. So I had to wait for him before we headed south, which was at 8.30pm actually. Therefore I spent my holiday by working at the office. pretty lame, huh?

Wish that I had a restful weekend, but that didn't turned out to be. Had only one day in kampung, and on Sunday morning (5.30am to be exact), I was already driving my brother back to KLIA for his flight back to Miri. Then I have been busy with work ever since. But that didn't stop me from blowing off some steam in between the harsh environment of desk jobs.

On Tuesday, I went with my buddies to Royale Chulan to see Alleycats performing there. And boy, weren't they the legends. Since 1970 til now, the group certainly has the charisma in being one of the top performers in Malaysia. It was not my first time watching their gig, as my first one was in 2007 in Shah Alam. But this time around, David (ops.....he's a Datuk now) came down and talked to me. Not just a simple 'hi' and 'bye' chat, but a real nice conversation. In fact, when I requested a song, he insisted that I went up the stage to sing with him. Obviously, i declined. Hehehe. Well, it was mainly because of stage fright, and the fact that I have a terrible sore throat and cough. However, after their show ended at 1am plus, Datuk David played his charm and as a result, I will be there again. And this time, I won't miss out the oppurtinity of being up the stage with the legendary Alleycats. But that has yet to happen, and I really, really do hope that it will.....soon.

Alongside Datuk David

Anyway, just now marked another chapter in my house here in Kajang. My housemate has finisheh his last paper for his degree. And on Tuesday he'll be reporting for duty at TNB Melaka. My landlord was kind enough to throw a farewell party for him, and he even asked that my fiancee to come and enjoy the cheerful, yet saddenning occasion.

Although he didn't get to go back to his old office in JB (his family is there), but he is hopeful that when he gets his engineer's post, he'll be back to his wife and kids later on. To Fadhil, you have made an impact be being the most senior member of out small 'community', and that you absence here will be greatly missed. Thank you for the 4 years that you have spent with me, Kamarul, Zaman, Khairul and Haizal. We wish for all the good things waiting ahead of you.

Tomorrow morning my mom will be on a flight to Jogjakarta with her siblings for a holiday trip. I'll be picking her up from at airport on Wednesday, hence I'll be taking a leave on that day. Have a safe trip, mom. Enjoy your stay there in Indonesia.

Nakemiin

Papa + Dom = Papadom

Adoiiii.....letih jgk aku arini. Br jer lps conference, and kene present. Dh la lewat dh ni. Tapi nk buat mcm mane, dh keje kan.

It's been a while since I last blogged. Tapi nak buat mcm mane, tahap kesibukan yang maksima. Dh la budak2 nak final dh minggu depan. So, bertambah la lg sibuknye aku ni. Tu belum campur grading, training, teaching, dan ape2 '-ing' lagi la. Sabar jer la....

Tapi last week aku berjaya la jgk mencari sedikit masa lapang dengan menonton wayang dengan tunang aku. Our choice of movie?......Papadom. Cite ni actually dh menang anugerah a few months back, even before it was shown to public. Memandangkan cite ni dh menang something, elok la jgk aku g tgk.

Well, one thing is for sure, Afdlin Shauki berjaya la jgk membebaskan diri dari kepompong norma dia sendiri. At least xder la nampak muka Awie ker, AC Mizal ker, Hans Issac ker.....not that I'm against them, tapi skali skale nak la jgk tgk a set of people different than the aforementioned above. Mcm la xder orang lain kan?

Tapi aku agak respek jgk kat lakonan Liyana Jasmay tu. X la kaku. Not bad for someone who's just been in the industry (ye ke? Ntah2 dia dh lama kot....aku jer yg xtau ni). Cite ni ader la jgk part yang serius. Tapi biase la Afdlin, mesti ader klaka punye. And aku boleh kate yg aku agak enjoy la jgk tgk movie ni.

Actually, aku skg ni ader kat Surabaya. The conference that I just attanded tu mmg kat sini. In fact, I am already in Surabaya for 4 days now. Bukannye aku xnak blog pasal conference aku ni, tapi aku ni jenis nak letak gambar2 aku kat sini. Problem is, the internet at my hotel sucks real bad. Konon la ader broadband, tapi more like limited broadband jer. Download punagak slow. Rupenye mmg hotel ni bagi limited bandwidth pun. Kalau nk faster access, kene la bayar. And memandangkan diri aku yang mmg tahap 'taik hidung masin' ni, aku pun terpaksa la bare with my current crawling pace. Tunggu jer la aku balik ke Malaysia nnt, I'll tell more about it in my next post.

Tonight is my last night here in Indonesia. Aku baru jer buat major packing. Nak tgk mcm mane aku nak stuff barang2 aku dalam beg aku. Nasib baik la aku dah supersize luggage weight aku. Btw, ni la 1st time aku akan naik Airasia as my choice of flight. Well.....bukan choice pun. Mslhnya flight balik ke Malaysia cume sehari sekali jer from Surabaya ni. Dh la tu, siap penuh sumer flight back to KL sampai la ke minggu depan. Jangan harap la aku nak stay lg selama tu. So?? Airasia la jawabnya aku.

Tapi kalau nak ikutkan, pandai betul diorg ni dalam bab nak mengainaya org. Dh la kene plan travelling aku, siap kene xtra charge lg kalau nak ubah apa2 at the last minute. Masa aku supersizekan baggage aku aritu, aku kene baya tambahan RM75 jer. Tu pun after travel agent dh buat booking. Tadi masa bos aku try tanye Airasia untuk nak supersizekan luggage, diorg kate kene bayar RM97 and kene bayar sebelum kul 4 ptg ni, which is 24hours sebelum flight kitorg. Kalau la tetibe besok x cukup 15kg yang mmg diorg dh setkan, gamaknye brape la kene bayar nnt. Tu yang aku nak tgk tuh.

Well, anyway, to be frank, flight MAS aku ke Surabaya ni actually lagi murah dari Airasia. In fact, it's about 66% more than my MAS fare. So soalan aku skg, betul ker now everybody can fly with Airasia? Hehehehe

Ok la, aku pun agak letih jgk ni. Besok kitorg akan bertolak from hotel about 10am. Tapi subuh lak kul 3.50+. Gamaknyer tido la aku lps subuh nnt. Dh la sepanjang aku kat Surabaya ni, mmg aku xdpt nak tido lepas subuh. Asek bnyk keje la genggggg.

Saje bagi sneak preview of my next blog. Tungguuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

One Busy Week

It has been one week since I got back rom Sabah. And boy, was it an amazing experience. Even though I didn't flex my muscles in hiking to the depths of Sabah's rural areas, but I heard that it was a blast. Thanks to my colleague, I have some great info on what it is all about. Maybe one day when my back is a bit better, then I will be trudging into the great, God given wildlife and having my own stories to tell in the future.

Well, I reached KLIA at about 10pm last Sunday, and my housemates were already waiting for me at the main entrance of Peninsular Malaysia. However, we didn't go straight home. In fact, they were actually enticing their charms in making me stay for the night in Mantin for a karaoke session (which I believe will go on till late at night). However, due to my state of being lack of sleep and rest, they finally ceased their efforts in luring me on the mic, as I believe that they know would be a losing battle. Therefore, we finally reached home at around midnight and I went to bed almost immediately.

Didn't get much sleep though. In fact, the same goes for the night after. I only had a good night's rest on the third. Maybe it's because I am already back in reality......and it sucks. I am already 4 days behind on work, and it's gonna be even more when I go for my conference next week. Therefore, I have been straining my eyes and hand on the computer, preparing for my conference, class notes, final paper, and not to mention my paper for another conference (it's in December, but the paper's due this month). And not forgetting that I have tonnes of meetings that I need to attend this week.

Oh yeah, I also took the role of a PRO (PRO.....not GRO) for an Intel speaker who gave a talk to the students on their elite program. On Thursday, I attended another meeting for a collaboration between UKM and UEM for a school program in Gelang Patah. Somehow, I managed to screw myself up by accepting the role as a mentor for this program, which requires me to be in Johor every month. But hey, at least I'll get travelling allowance for my efforts, right?

Well, at least I got my pay this week. Maybe it's not exactly a good thing, since I need to survive for 6 weeks plus before my next paycheck comes in. Therefore, I wasn't actually much of being in the 'getting-your-pay spending mood' this time around. Plus, with the money I spent in Sabah, and the one I need to spend in Indonesia next week, I don't have the luxury of being in my usual financial state just yet.

However, that didn't stop me from having some kick-back time of my own. Managed to go for karaoke with my Uniten gang on Wednesday, after taking a break during Ramadhan. We even had a catchy theme for our night out: Rise of BBCS - with or without Dass. But in the end, we spend almost half our time on Raya songs rather than ruining our vocal cords on songs that are usually the choice of Dass - Indon songs. And as usual, it'll be 5 guys on Sanisah Huri, Fazidah Joned, Saloma, Aishah and other male Raya songs.

After work on Friday, I took my fiancee to Downtown Cheras for a foot massage. She's been complaining about her sore feet and regular cramps that she's been getting. Once, she even had a cramp while driving. It was her first time for a massage, and I can imagine how painful she must be in when the pressure points of her feet are being pressed upon. But thank God she felt much better after it, and I'm just happy to see that she was okay and well.

Yesterday wasn't so relaxing. In fact, it was a total opposite from relaxing. Washed my clothes early in the morning. Then went to KL to get my HTC phone. One nice thing that they did to my phone was to repair my screen from the Newton Ring effect. For those who are actually trying to push the limits of their mind in figuring out what I said, the Newton Ring occur on phone screens when too much pressure is applied on it. Probably it was during many occasions when my car keys and the phone are tightly pressed against my pockets. Initially, the service center said that it was not covered in my warranty. But since it was a minor problem, and that my initial problem with the phone was because of the screen, they rectified it anyway. Hooray for HTC (but I still think that slide phone sucks, though)

Reached home and 'express packed' my stuff before going to Bandar Tun Razak for a wedding. Met my family there, including my mom (who tagged along with my uncle and aunt from Pilah), along with my brother and his wife. After that, we went to my cousin's house in Ampang to see his 1st child (he's 4 1/2 months old, FYI). It's nice to see him after years of absence. In fact, the last time I saw him, he still hadn't plunge into the world that we all mere mortals define as 'marriage'

Nice pelamin

Then we headed to Shah Alam to another cousin's house for a Raya-BBQ-potluck thingy. Had our usual BBQ menu - lamb, chicken, potato salad, hotdogs, garlic bread, etc.

Hotdog! Who wants hotdog?!

 

Chef Podek at work

Bon Apetite

So I'll be sending my bill later, k

Would've stayed longer, but I know what my limits are. After a tiring week, plus a not so kind Saturday, I simply could not have stayed much longer at Shah Alam, and drive back to Pilah soon afterwards. So, me and mom left at 9pm, and we reached home at 11pm (wow......that was fast).

Today, at last, I have some rest before another cruel and non-forgiving week ahead of me. But that didn't stop me from getting my haircut, doing some work and getting my cash polished. And tonight, going to do some more work before I call in it early for another Monday blues.

Oant sjen