Better late than never

22 days into 2019 and this is my very first post of the year. So I guess, I shall follow the norm of doing a look back at the stuff I have done for the past year in 2018... Kinda late, but better late than never...

To be honest... I only remembered several big stuff happening last year maybe because they were too overwhelming that it kinda overlapped the little things in my life which kinda makes me regret not blogging when these small things happened...

First things first... I hit the big 3-0... and a lot has changed!! Knots are starting to tie and I am finally getting to know what I want in life, the main objective that I want to achieve in my future... SECURITY.... regardless in whatever aspect in life, I need security... I am not someone who can settle with being healthy and happy, I need more, and I used to feel guilty about that, I thought I was being greedy but it turns out, some people just want more in life... I am one of those people... I am not saying that it is wrong to just want to be happy and healthy, just for me, being healthy and happy is not enough, I need to be in control and feel secure...

So, I made a decision... Quite a scary one... I decided to start a business!! In a different state, 2 hours away from home, everyone I have told will ask me, why?? Why did I choose a place that requires 2 hours of travel?? To be honest, I guess it's just fate... I have the chance of nearer venues but my indecisive nature cost me to lose them... So, this an opportunity that appeared after seeing a few slipped passed so before much consideration, I took it.

Then here comes the part where I had to become an adult, I had to meet with suppliers for renovation, sign contracts, learn about business, register the business and a whole lot of adulting stuff which includes bills and being organised... So, here's how it looked like...

Quite a huge space and minimal stuff to be done... but minimal doesn't mean zero... here's the con when the place is 2 hours away from home, you have to place 100% trust on your suppliers to do a good job... They didn't fail me though... At least I think they didn't..

Then... It's time to work my magic... had a personal assistant with me to work on the display bookshelves... These were 100% DIY-ed...

From wooden pallets that look something like this...

To these... attached some plywood to create the shelves and there you have it... A wooden pallet book display shelves...

A simple arrangement for the classroom setting and voila... A class is born...

The exterior of the lot... I haven't got a signboard yet... never ending of stuff to do, I need to apply a gazillion types of licenses...

Look out for our bunting... It's quite eye-catching... Huge shoutout to my colleague who helped me design this FOC!!! But I do respect creativity, I am gonna repay him with countless meals of his choice... 

Classes have started and here are some of my students hard at work... Doing great at every class... 

So that's my biggest achievement made in 2018... It was not an easy one... I started to worry about stuff like if I were able to pay rent... or do I have enough students to sustain... This stuff really bugged me to the extent that it will wake me up in the middle of the night having me wonder if I have made the right decision, was all these just a huge mistake?? Did I fairy-taled the whole idea to make it seem easy which in reality is undescribable times worse than it seems??

Besides that, being a licensee with a licensor who has principles that sometimes doesn't make sense is a huge PITA!! Not to mention, these requirements kept me from sleeping too... Restless days... Sleepless nights... What have I gotten myself into??

And sometimes I would think... Why didn't I start this 2 years ago when I was still in my 20s where I will still have the energy to push myself to the limit?? I always thought that 30 was supposed to be the age where people start settling down and build a family, instead, I am building a career... But I am still glad I took the opportunity and started... It's better late than never though... And this is a huge contribution to my future's security... In case I get retrenched or just got tired of working in an office, I will always have something to fall back on to without having to depend on anybody...

Well, I sure hope things could get better...

signing off!
Toodles!

Age Pressure

Oh wow, congratulations! 2 posts in 2 weeks, I should definitely give myself some credit as I know just like old times, this might be my last blog of the year. Anyways, I came across a video about age pressure by Jenn Im, if you are interested, here's the video:

I have never heard of age pressure ever before but after watching this video, I couldn't help agree that maybe because of the society, we have like certain "targets" to achieve at a certain age and will kinda feel guilty or left out if we don't..

I have certainly set several typical targets for myself which I guess not many of them were fulfilled because I made them without knowing the reality how to get it fulfilled. It seems to me like, when the time comes, a solution will just miraculously fall down from the sky and everything will be alright. NOT! and to be frank, I kinda forgot what were the targets I have made for myself besides getting wheels and a roof.

Let's not talk about life before work because we know what we have to do at  those ages, age 12, pass UPSR, age 17 pass SPM, age 18 start college or university, age 20s graduate.. I used to have some what to achieve before i reach 30 list but i guess, i was too stressed out, i don't remember what are those anymore..

Anyway, as mentioned a the video, in some places, women are considered "expired" if they don't get married by 30. I guess because women have to give birth so maybe it's our internal organs that are expiring?? If that's not the reason, then this whole married by 30 thing is just bull.. Why is there an age limit to get married? Especially Asians, when you reach a certain age, having a significant one becomes the hot topic of the century.. You have lived more than 20 years working hard to be who you are but to other people, all that matters is whether do you have a significant one and when are you planning to settle down... I am not going to lie, regardless whether I have a significant other or not, I feel super irritated when people asked me when do i plan to settle down. To make things worse, whenever I say i have a lot of plans but settling down will not happen in the near future, i get responses like, "are you aware that you are getting older?", "what are you waiting for?", "why aren't you planning on settling down, you are 30 already?"....... "SO?" unless you are worried about me having trouble conceiving when I get older, other than that, why do you even care?? I do have a lot of plans for my future..

Speaking of plans.. I may not be affected by the age pressure for relationships.... or maybe I am since i am writing this.. anyway, reaching a certain age does make you question your direction in life.. so I have to admit, i do face the age pressure when it comes to career. When I started working, i did vow to be an employee forever, since i'm not a risk taker nor do i have a brain for business so being an employee promises a fixed monthly salary and benefits that i might or might not get with my own "business".. But now, i reconsidered my decision.. Working isn't fun,, i can't say for everybody but it has lost its fun for me.. I am having second thoughts about what i vowed to be several years ago. What am i supposed to do now? Should I start a business?? but i don't know how.. I have been toying around with some plans and never actually executed any because of fear.. fear of failing.. people said to me, if i don't find what i'm doing fun, why am i still there? life is short, too short for people to just bear with it.. but what about life? my bills aren't gonna settle themselves, the roof i dream of aren't gonna build itself.. these need chips, and chips are what i get for getting up at 6.30am every weekday, thumb print myself in and out. And, you see it right, i am not a risk taker.. i can't just let go my supply of chips just because it's not fun anymore, i need a plan.. a plan to find the same amount or more chips elsewhere.. but i am still swimming blindly.. unsure if i'm heading the right direction or am i just wandering around the sea of chances not knowing what to grab hold of.. I see friends who started out from the same starting line has now seem to have done a few laps and are on track with what they are doing.. Oh well, that's the downside of social media, everyone seems to be so happy, so fulfilled, leading such meaningful lives while people who are watching or reading it feel like failures.. well, i have to admit this too, i am affected by social media.. which i will write another blog post someday about this.

Anyway.. at this age, there are so much that should have been done in the typical world that haven't been done and it stressed me out.. BUT, some people would say... you live your own life so you get to control what come first and what to do at which time of your life.. true though.. i am still trying to fit the bits and pieces together to hopefully form a whole for my future career whatever it may be.. at least that's what i think i should be doing at this point of time..

I hope that nobody gets affected by the age pressure like I am but if you are, no worries, you are not alone, you may leave a comment and we can share our stress and maybe help each other out..

Signing off for now
Toodles!

First day at work

Disclaimer: I am not talking about my first day at work... Just a random thought about the typical first day experience..

It's your first day at a new company. You step into a completely unfamiliar place and someone led you to your seat that will be your nest in this company. You look around, and of course, you know nobody, nobody looks familiar... so you sink further into your seat and play around with your PC, if you have one... sometimes, newbies don't get their own PC until they have been around for a week... Anyway, you try to look busy, although you know you have absolutely nothing to do... You explore the buttons around outlook and realise there are a few incredible functions that you will forget later.. I always forget where is the "recall back email" button and found it when it is too late..

So, you sit at your seat and bond with your PC and chair, they are gonna be your best companion throughout your days here... You look around at your current colleagues, wondering if you could get along, are they the chatty type or the mind-your-own-business type.. You check for earphones to determine whether listening to music while working is allowed.. And then, your manager or the person you are reporting to arrives.. they are usually late.. so be prepared to hang around for at least an hour because you will surely be early on your first day..

We shall just call that person the manager, since he/she will be managing you.. The manager greets you briefly and walks off to his/her seat/room settles some "urgent" stuff which might be scanning through emails, FB or just switch on his/her pc...

After the manager thinks you have settled in, here they come gesturing you over and introduce you to the company, this might have been done by the HR.. so the manager will also be telling you about the business.. how it works and how they work.. then they will show you a bunch of their previous works and here comes the golden question...
"what do you think we should change to make it better?"
"Any ideas you would like to suggest? Since you are new, we need some fresh ideas..."

Ok, that's 2 questions.. but don't you think it is ridiculous to ask someone on their first day of work?? Well, firstly, this is my first day, I came here to fit in, not to change the company, if I would like to change the company, I would have started my own company... I came to learn about your company and now you are telling me that it is not as good as I thought and I should do something to change it?
and then, about the "fresh, new ideas"... I just came here, my ideas are bound to be "new" and "fresh" to you but they are not FEASIBLE because I won't know what is good or workable for the company as it is my first day here.. obvious not??

alright... just some random thoughts..
signing off~~
Toodles!

[U]h, so you know...

If you happened to stumble upon the blog for the past 3 months and saw the latest post was dated 3 month ago... I'm sorry to disappoint you.. I thank you for putting the effort on clicking my blog link or typing my url or maybe chose my blog link as your search result...

The past 3 months has been busy... and this time I am not kidding or just trying to be busy... I work all 7 days!! Mon to Fri, my full time 9-6(technically... the door is sometimes quite reluctant to open for me to leave at 6pm) job which requires me to travel via train aka ktm that has improved a hell lot since when I first tried riding it but still pisses me off at times... Travelling from home to my workplace takes more than an hour.. approximately 75 minutes, provided I didn't miss any trains and no delay (5-10 minutes late is not considered a delay for ktm) so that's almost 3 hours travelling... thank god for smartphones!! or at least a handheld player that could keep my eyes busy with TVB dramas, k-dramas, The vampire diaries or Gossip Girl (yes, I am re-watching). Work is fun but it's a shame that logic doesn't work out.. anyway, let's not get into that... coz I am BEING WATCHED!!! Shhhh... prying eyes.. *nervous shifty eyes* (whispers) they are everywhere! but... if you really are interested for gossip or just to hear me rant.. leave a comment below and I will keep your ears hot... muahahahahaa

and then people will reply.. "still got weekends wad... saturday sunday"
weekends?? what weekends?? oo.. the days when I have to work till 1pm? My current company requires me to work on alternate saturdays so.. fml.. and since I am already working alternate weekends might as well fill it up.. so on those not-working Saturdays I help out as a teaching assistant at the language centre.. On Sundays, I will transform student-tutor tutor-student like how the hulk transforms when he is angry, i transform when someone asks a basic question that my teacher thinks that i MUST know the answer...
So, there goes my days.. I dont even have time for anything else omaigot...

I havent been updating since I started working... and just so you know.. this time.. I am a copywriter!!! for English and Malay!! Owh woah??!! you can scroll back up, you'll understand.. scroll right up to my blog header... saw it??

and then... when I logged into my blogger dashboard.. i saw this!!!

Oh yea.. since my job revolves around Malay too and half of my copy are written in Malay, this is just so... cliche.. I already have a separate blog which is in chinese that I forgot to include the link here for like the umpteenth time...
So, should I separate another blog and try blogging in malay??
NO!

Oh well, that's all for updates.. if you have been following, i am sure you are used to with me updating and blogging just for the sake of updating...

Signing off
Toodles!

The start of the month.... throwback the end of my PE days

I remember always having a post during the start of March... and it just strike me that I have not written anything since the start of 2014... 2 months has passed and not a single blog was posted.. Good thing I did not make any blogging resolutions or any resolutions at all... I will try my best to complete my travel posts before I go off for another trip... which I guess won't happen any time soon...

The first 2 months of 2014 just shot pass me... I have no idea what I have achieved during the past 2 months besides being busy at work... I think I have mentioned, I left my old comfy workplace and venture into a new field.. again... when i change my job, i tend to change my entire work field... I'm currently writing articles for an education company... Life has been going okay recently.. no particular ups or downs, I am still trying to adapt to my somewhat "new" workplace although it has been 4 months since I started... some places needs time for adapting... I am still working on it...

oh well, since i have nothing much to write about... I shall turn back time to my last day in my previous company... I was really happy working there and the place was great, the colleagues were nice and the benefits were fine too... so... you will be wondering, why did i resigned?? well... it was too comfortable.. i settled in nicely that i kinda felt that i am stuck and will stay stuck if i don't move somewhere... there are still things I would want to achieve in life, this is an early stage to be settled and comfortable.. and hence, i handed in my letter... of... resignation...

I had a 2 months notice so I only told the people that I am close with about my resignation and decided to break it to the team when I had 1 month left because it seems kinda weird when people are anticipating you to be gone and you still keep appearing.. 2 months notice seems kinda long to me...

I really did have great team mates... they even planned a surprise farewell for me on my last day when I actually weren't expecting anything and thought I will be leaving quietly... Besides that, I had a surprise farewell lunch with my FUN INC mates... I didnt manage to get the photos so I can't post them up here.. and also, another farewell lunch with my lunch gang... which... again.. I don't have a photo of...

It all started when my team leader made a "final catch-up" meeting appointment with me... and that's when my other team members started to get ready by sneaking off to the cafe preparing this...

We had food...

A cute sign...

And even a doll as my farewell gift!!

And then my team leader led me to the cafe where they were going to surprise me~~ It's was really heart warming to know that all these people cared for you...
 

 And, we had games too, which I never won... I got enough presents already, i guess....

Thanks Team South Asia for preparing all these for me... I will miss you dearly (I already do..) when I am gone... Thank you so much!! I really enjoyed being part of the team~~

 

And that's all folks!!

Signing off

Toodles!!

[H]appy times has come to an end

I shall just start this post by saying I am back in Cyberjaya... I have always liked Cyberjaya since I started working here despite the long drive and empti-ness of the area... but being back in Petaling jaya made me realise that there were a lot more advantages working close to home... the only main concern about PJ is the parking but since parking was provided by the building, it was not an issue at all... so there nothing to worry about.. the journey is shorter.. occasional traffic jams but as long as you have the grasp of time, you will manage...

Leaving PJ was like leaving a place that I have felt comfortable with... Not to say that CBJ wasnt comfortable but it was closer to home.. a 20 minute drive from PJ compared to a 40 minute drive from CBJ is a huge difference.. especially seeing the fact how much I love staying at home... the sooner I could see the rusty gates of home, the better it is...

Okay, besides that... one of my favourite games in Facebook is shutting down.. It's actually already shut down.. you now know how long i took to write this post.. Pet Society had its last day on Facebook on 14 June 2013... I am going to so miss my D-Ken.. he has been my pet for almost 5 years already... here's proof!! I can't imagine something that has been accompanying me for 5 years is now going to leave me... That's like a fifth of my life!!!

I fed him full every single day and dressed him up nicely.. Bought some nice furniture from the shops to redecorate the house.. Oh ho ho ho.. this is all so painful... All the time spent playing with him, feeding him, buying stuff for him... and now, it's time for him to go... sobz...

Here are a few of my favourite photos from Pet Society...

I saved a whole lot of Pet Society Cash (the ones you need to buy using REAL money.. or like me, would never spend money for something i could not touch.. you can log in everyday and earn 1 PS cash after every 5 consecutive times you log in) for this... The seven dwarfs that were so cute.. I spent all my hard-earned PS cash on them...

My Harajuku room... Although D-ken is a boy but i assume Harajuku is unisex although it's all pink and purple.. I even added the harajuku frame for the photo...

Oh, the wizarding theme once happened in Pet Society... I thought I had more furniture and decorations but this is all I could find in my 99 pages-long storage... Oh well... can you see the Dumbledore-alike doll on the chair?? and the Voldemort-alike doll on top??

The furry-Flintstone room... A crossover between the Muppets and Flintstones...

The fruity-citrus room... and the jello-thingy that d-ken loves to bounce on...

There were even more furniture for more rooms but I didn't have time to redecorate using all of them.. so these are a few of my favourites.. Feeling sad already for not being able to see my D-ken anymore... sigh.. Goodbye my little friend.. I hope you enjoyed the house and all those stuff I bought for you.. I really enjoyed your company.. BYE!!



Signing off!!
Toodles

random update: random act of kindness

My team has came up with this random-act-of-kindness week.. which means we would each pick a member from the team and do at least 5 random kind acts to them within 2 weeks... It's something like secret santa, just it's not Christmas yet...

since I have just gotten into felt wool stuff.. i decided to give my recipient a felt wool thingy every day.. that will be 10 of them... feeling the generosity of kindness here... hahahahahaha...

here are  the felt wool stuff i have made...

Thursday: a "heart" to start your day

Friday: some luck that will last till weekends

Monday: A smile to chase away your monday blues

Tuesday: an  inside joke within the team... the answer is Roll Call, by the way...

Wednesday: Feeling Cheerry???

Thursday: I doughnut know vot to say today~~ (Feeling Russian here.. hahahaha)

Monday (The previous friday was a public holiday.. hehehe)

Tuesday (Just fyi, my team mate's name starts with a V)

Wednesday: have an egg-cellent day!!

Thursday, hashtag and a cheeky face inspired by the LINE stickers... some notes, seaweed rolls i bought from Thailand (oh dear, that's another chain of travel posts to be written) and some chocolates..

That's all for kindness...

Signing off!!

Toodles!

[C]areer talk

Speaking of careers... I have always dream of a career in showbiz, being a scriptwriter has been my life goal since I was 10... So, I was certain that I could adapt to the life of showbiz, write stories and deal with the productions crew and actors, seeing them present the stories that has been rolling around in my mind into real life images that everybody could see and understand, instead of me being the only person enjoying the story...

However, due to unforeseen circumstances, I had to leave the showbiz industry and venture into another field that I never thought I would venture into... although I do not hate the work that I am doing now... but I still miss productions... most of the times.. To get back in, is kinda impossible... so, the current situation, I accept..

Then.... some things that were not in my initial career plan eventually appeared... I believe many of us have thought of being a teacher once when we were little.. Since I saw how problematic some students may be, i have ditched the idea to be a teacher... However...... I happened to be one now...

I am currently teaching my first batch of students... halfway through the syllabus now... So far, I think I am doing ok...

That's all for now..

Signing off..
Toodles!!

[A]pril Fool??!!

Exactly a week before, I got something that I thought was my first April fool's joke of the year.. which turns out it was not because it became serious and landed me where I am now... In PJ instead of Cyberjaya, sitting in an arm's length cubicle with 2 PCs because I am sharing the cubicle with the night shift people... I miss my super wide and spacious cubicles, i miss my 3 drawers and 4 shelves that stores all my stuff...

Back to why am I here... Last wednesday, as usual, i got ready for work and was waiting for my car pool buddy to come pick me up from work.. while waiting, I picked up my phone and start playing with it.. Good thing i did because I had 2 unread messages.. the latest one was from the car pool buddy asking me if i have heard that the office is closed because the internet and phones were down... the first thing that came to my mind was... April Fool???? but it's 3 days after 1st of april... did this prank got lost somewhere?? Ignoring it, i read the next message that came in 6 something in the morning.. it was from my team leader saying that a fire broke out in the server room and we are not allowed to go to work.. OWH~~~ so it's real... and by that time, I was awake already...

Then, I stayed home for 3 days.. since I am not allowed to go to the office.. the home office software thingy can be installed into my computer so all I can do is check emails... paid to stay at home.. how nice!!

However, my company managed to find a temporary place for us to work... and guess what, it is right next to my old uni block, the place where i did my foundation~~ See how fate brings me back here... At least I know where to have lunch and there are much more choices here than Cyberjaya.. the best thing is, I can reach home within 20 minutes!!! Yay!!

That's all for now

Signing off~~
Toodles!

Cubi-workmates..

Heyo... Before I compile my photos from my trip.. I would like to introduce my cubicle workmates...


This is GuestJack.. He's not my MoJack, he is my colleague Lily's Jack-Jack.. She knew I love Jack-Jack Parr, so she lend me hers to put at my cubicle..




Bear and BearBear.. They were the first few workmates who stationed at my cubicle.. They came all the way from Taiwan~~




BearBearBear.. yes, my brain was quite dry for names when the bears got here... He is also in the first batch of workmates at my cube..





The latest member to the cubi-workmates gang.. Churpie!!!


This is just a random post to fill up my blog...So, that's all folks!

Signing off~~
Toodles!

DeePOWraya

I found some photos of our DeePOWraya(22 Oct) celebration in the company's common drive.. so I might as well grab some to share.. first, let me explain the meaning of DeePOWraya... Deepavali(which is the coming festival) POWerful(the main force of the celebration) Hari raya(the previous celebration that took place not long ago~~)






check out the food... catering from big rajah... sluuurp... yummy~~







After filling our stomach... there was a sketch from the Australia and North Asia teams.. They were imitating Petronas Commercials.. Hilarious and very entertaining...

North Asia... the balik kampung petronas commercial...








Australia B, a very significant deepavali commercial... the muthusamy and grandma








Then, we have the inter-teams Kolam competition... our design were prepared a day before.. and this is my very first time doing a Kolam... and, it's really hard~~~ wooo...




Team member explaining the meaning of our Kolam... reminds me of impromptu presentation.. really miss those.. hahah...




Our end product.. although we didn't win.. but it was fun altogether...


Alright... that's all folks..

Signing off~~
toodles!