Monday, August 28, 2006

Baldy Makes A Phone Call

I could hardly believe my ears when Tuan Haji told me this morning.

"Baldy called me."

"What does he want," I asked.

"He told me, Has-Been Dato' kicked him out" (exact sentence: "Dato' tendang aku la..")

"Aik.. how come ? I thought he is Has-Been Dato's numero uno adviser?"

"That's what he said. Complaining to me.. apalah nasib kita... how funny.."

"Yeah, hilarious.."

So, Has-Been Dato' will probably put his entirely family in. Perhaps his 10 year old son from his second wife can sit on the board...ye la, early training kan ?

stay tuned..

Konsert Irama Tanah Pusaka 2

I would have missed it if Honey Dearest did not tell me about it. A two day concert held at the Istana Budaya with the National Symphony Orchestra playing "lagu rakyat". Called the "Konsert Irama Tanah Pusaka 2", the first one was held last year at about the same time and featured the National Symphony Orchestra with Siti Nurhaliza and Aishah as the special guest performers.

We arrived at approximately 8.00 p.m. for the 8.30 p.m. curtain call and unlike the PGLtM, it was relatively easy to find parking. A sign of the number of audience, I told Honey Dearest. We booked our tickets for the upper circle but we were ushered to the lower stalls, apparently due to the low turnout. So unlike PGLtM :)

I truly enjoyed the concert, especially the opening number with the solo violinist backed the orchestra, belting out traditional tunes like Kenek Kenek Udang, Bunga Melor and Dayung Sampan. Honey Dearest especially likes the fusion of Indian instrument with symphony and it was a shame that not many audience were present. Perhaps due to minimal publicity or perhaps traditional music is still "uncool".

I will definitely watch Konsert Tanah Pusaka 3 next year!

Sunday Morning Workout

"Honey, I will come pick you up early morning on sunday. Sesudah subuh!"

Come sunday morning, it was raining quite heavily. I called Honey Dearest and she said it'll be better if I were to pick her up at 7.30am instead since the rain looks like its going to subside. The rain did went away in Subang Jaya and Kerinchi but as we made our way towards the city center, we realized that many roads were closed for a Larian Merdeka. To make matters worse, the area around KLCC park is still raining and doesn't look like its going to stop any time soon. So, we made a turn and headed for the Lake Garden instead.

I haven't been to the Lake Garden for ages and I am totally impressed with what they have done to the place. Definitely going to come here more often.

Academic Excellence ?

Overhead during a wedding on saturday:

"Anak you yang pergi ********* yang dapat 11A tu kan?

"No lah, anak I dapat 10A. Yang dapat 11 A tu anak ******** "

"Budak sekarang, dapat 8A pun ada yang suicidal. Zaman kita dulu dapat 2A pun dah kira hebat"


Whatever happened to 6 aggregates ? Below ten ?

Friday, August 25, 2006

It's Friday Night

It's 8.15 pm on a friday night and I am still at the office. I am actually waiting for a very important email and at the same time, killing time before my family join me here for dinner to celebrate my cousin's birthday.

Still no email... and boy, am I hungry or what!

30 Minutes a day, 3 times a week

I have a confession to make.

I haven't been exercising since.. oh, like... ages ago (unless walking from the buggy to the golf ball and back can be considered as "brisk" walking)

Yes, I do wanna look good but most importantly, I want to stay healthy. With medical history from both my parents not being favourable, I really don't have much choice.

Besides, I actually enjoy it... just that time can be a big constraint.

Honey dear, when we are married, can you at least make sure I don't sleep past 7 a.m. on sundays ya :)

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Nostalgia: Madison, WI - Prt 2

I was quite excited to read Deya's blog as I was able to get a snapshot of the place I left almost ten years ago. Gosh, has it been that long ? If anyone were to ask me, kampung kat mana, I would answer this (in no particular order):

1. Subang Jaya (my ACTUAL hometown, so to speak)
2. Pengkalan Chepa, Kelantan (my dad's)
3. Masjid Tanah, Melaka (mum's)
4. Kuala Kangsar, Perak (you-know-why la, hehe)
5. MADISON, WI

I really love the place, although I have to admit I wasn't really excited about it when I first got there. However, as the days passed and after several visit to my other friend's place in DC, NY etc.. I began to appreciate Madison... truly the quintessential midwest town. What is not to like about a town located right at the Isthmus of two lakes, with winter practically stretching until May and where ATM's are called TYME machine ? :)

... wonder if they still have Michael's Frozen Custard ? :)

Lunch with old friends...

I was extremely late for lunch with some of my ex-MCKK buddies, well, it would've time out well had the Damansara toll not as congested as it was. We are meeting, of all places, at Devi's Corner in Jalan Telawi, an area not to be known as a parking-friendly area (unlike my office, where I can take up two parking space and there are plenty more available for the lorries and whatnot:)

I ended up being almost 20 minutes late (thank goodness there were plenty of parking at the Bangsar Village) and joined the rest for lunch (food was hardly memorable.. and they made a big fuss about the drink, but let's not waste our time there). It's great to be able to catch up with the guys during lunch break like this. I did realized though, that I was the only non-banker/VC around.

Anyway, the conversation steered towards my upcoming wedding (all four are married, with at least one kid) and as expected, one question came up.

"You sure about wanting to get married ? You really sure ah ?"

To which I answered resoundingly, "Yes"

Of course, there were more follow ups which I rather not print here... hehe :)

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Nostalgia: Madison, WI

I was actually reading Fizzy'z blog (still waiting for the Akok, with K Ruby) when I came across the blog for Dheya, who happens to be Fizzy'z batchmate in TKC. What makes it interesting is that Dheya is a fellow Badger (University of Wisconsin, Madison - yours truly is an alumnus there!). I was able to catch up on a lot of happenings there via her blog - the flood (back then, I was more concern about tornado. Flooding was the least of my concern), the heatwave and of course what's hot and what's not. Gosh, I was suddenly swept in a wave of nostalgia, though I was there like ten years ago...

... and I could remember all as if it was yesterday. The Dane County Airport on the first day of our arrival. The blizzard on our very second day. My first job at Red Oak Grill and subsequently at the Social Science Library. West Towne Mall. Farmer's Market. Espresso Royale. Memorial Union. Memorial Library. Camp Randall and Field House. The Autumn leaves in the park. The frozen Lake Mendota. Trips to Wisconsin Dells.

...Honey dearest, I am gonna take you there one day!

p/s yeah, I did study and got a degree, in case you guys are wondering :)

Has-Been Dato' ex-Politician...

The problem with Has-Been Dato' ex politician is that he cannot grasp the concept of company directorship and fiduciary duty of a director. Enough said.

The Move

I have almost lost count of the number of times I have to move office, whether out of neccesity (expiry of lease) or due to some ill-intention by Mr Baldy (who, despite having qualified as a lawyer still can't muster anything coherent when it comes to doing the "dirty job" like evicting you from the office, or firing the Chairman, for that matter. But when it comes to condemning people, aha... you the man!).

Truth be told, I am actually quite tired of moving. Not only it cost you a bomb (but hey, I do OWN a moving company, heheh) but its tiring. However, I like this office the best. Where else can you get an office where a laundrette is the floor below you and a restaurant next to it. If the company do well this year, the staff can always walk across the street and place a booking for a new Satria Neo (hmmm, the orange coloured Neo looks good la...).

We decided to do away with rooms and have an open office concept. Well, thats just another way of saying we are quite low on renovation budget... :)

Still, I believe many great things will happen to the company. Hopefully, in two years time we have to move out again, this time to a place we can truly call our own.. :))

109 days...

In less than 109 days, I will sit in front of Honey Dearest's father and take an oath before Allah that I will love, guide and protect her for the remainder of my life. In less than 109 days, I will finally experience the joy of matrimony and taste the sweetness of wedded bliss. In less than 109 days, I will finally be able to mark the box "married" in all applications form, heheh...

Night walk @ KLCC

I went out for dinner with Honey Dearest last night and it was a unanimous decision : Little Penang Cafe @ KLCC. I am crazy over the cendol while she's absolutely nuts about the Ice Kacang (no puns intended, hehe), not to mention the keow teoy too. Pick her up straight from office within 15 minutes we were ready to order. Not many patrons this time around, so our food was ready in less than ten minutes (though in the menu, it said that the Keow Teoy takes 20 minutes to prepare... hmmm, ada orang lain punye ke ni ? :)

After dinner, I remember that I have to make some deposit into my Citibank account (read: pay credit card debt la) and we decided to walk from KLCC to Menara Citibank. It was quite a distance actually but truly the sight of the buildings, especially the magnificent Petronas Twin Towers is truly breathtaking. Quite a few high end condos are taking shape around and even Honey Dearest remarked that we only notice all these new buildings if we were to actually take a leisurely stroll. Most of the time when we are driving, we tend not to notice but that night, I counted at least two buildings which to me, came out of nowhere.

Truly glorious KLCC...

Monday, August 14, 2006

The Letter


....dengan itu saya sendiri akan mengambil alih jawatan Pengurusi dalam semua syarikat dalam kumpulan. Ini termasuk jawatan Pengurusi yang di pegang oleh tuan.....berkuatkuasa Julai 15, 2006......digugurkan.....ucapkan terima kasih di atas sumbangan.....

Excuse me you moron, the letter was dated July 15, 2006 and it was delivered to him on August 11, 2006. Backdated.. huh ? What you think this is.. a bloody board resolution ? You terminated someone and you had to do it by letter. Dont you think I don't know about the numerous times you asked the despatch "Dah bagi surat kat Tuan Haji?". Don't you have the decency to face him and explain the situation of the company to him personally and why it is in the best interest of the company for the Has-Been Dato' to takeover the chairmanship of the all the companies? You, who literally asked him for financial help when things were tough (remember the '97-98 crisis).. did he ever asked you to repay him back ? He felt it was his responsibilty to help you since he is part owner. Don't you think I don't know that it's about the medical bill that you refuse to pay?

But you know what pisses me off the most ? It is you and your Has-Been Dato' who acted as though you own the company 100%. Remember the arrangement before we did the buyout ? Remember the 80:20 thingy? What happened to the proceed from the sales of shares ? At RM3.80 per share for 450,000 shares, that's close to RM1.7 million. What happened to the money ? The proceed from the palm oil ? The red soil ? I guess truth is what's convenient to you. I do not wish to say more because I can dedicate a whole blog about you and not even sure if that's enough.

... I leave you with this. When you take something that does not belongs to you... well.. you know the rest....

... and I am not done with you.....yet

Venting off some steam...

I could barely contain my anger when I found out about it. This has Boldy (bukan nama sebenar) written all over it, although the letter itself was signed by the Has-Been Dato' cum expired politician. Only Baldy would hatch something as dispicable and low as this, though there must be some assistance from Tommy. These so-called "management guru" must have played their parts well to influence Has-Been Dato' to "reorganize" and "restructure" the company...

.... that letter was a big mistake Boldy... atlhough it wasn't for me but you have hurt a very very dear person in my life...

This is Final, I promise..

This is the third title change and I promise that it'll the be last..

Instead of maintaining the three blogs that I currently have, I decided to combined everything into one. So, please be prepared for my ramblings on everything Malaysia, business and my upcoming wedding (specially for K Ruby and Fizzy, ;)

Let's start...

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

The Big Day revisited...

I should have started this blog from the day we got engaged but since here we now, two months AFTER, I will need to once in a while back track and go into the "nostalgic mode" (just like the typical Malay cerekarama... lots of flashback:). It's quite easy to tell as I will write in Italic if the event is before today (August 2, 2006). Gosh, I wonder if I can put one of those countdown clock on this blog :)

... enjoy !