Tuesday, October 31, 2006

About me

The person behind this so-called blog is a 23-year old electronics engineer, working in a multi-national company located in Petaling Jaya. In other words, he is just a minute little bug in the entire corporate ecosystem.

He is chinese-educated and proud of it, although his preference is for english-written material. He graduated from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in May, 2006 after five years of toiling under the public education system, which is a miracle to say the least.

When he is not occupied with his day job which revolves around making Beamers work, he can be found sitting snugly in front of his battered laptop reading and writing blog(s). His other passions include reading, health and fitness (or at least an attempt to be passionate in it), and munching on snacks all day long.

This blog is a screenshot of his life, a collection of thoughts on just about everything that goes on around him. Posts may contain shameless narcissism, illogical metaphors, excessive sarcasm, undulating affection and sometimes crude vulgarities. You are advised to read these posts without taking them too seriously. Failure to do so could possibly result in a psychological damage, of which the author takes no responsibility for.

He aspires to have a wider audience for this blog of his, knowing that their compliments and criticisms are what makes him improve on his style of writing. Most of the time, he just writes for the fun of it.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

What the hell am I doing referring to myself as a third person?

Now come on in and be entertained ;)

thought completed at 12:56 AM | 0 comments

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Sunday, October 29, 2006

A timely reward

I used to hear this from some of my friends back then: "Study so hard for what? First class honours degree got special treatment meh??"

Frankly, I was sort a believer in this too. Nevertheless the competitive side of me kept my results from going down a negative slope.



And now, after all is done and our studies are complete, I look back in contemplation and come up with this answer: "Getting good results do not guarantee special treatment in the corporate world. But hey, it sure gives you a moment to be proud of...and a break for your bank account too."



I was a recipient of the Academic Award during convocation, which came together with a check. Although not a considerable amount of money, it'll probably buy me a new Swatch (which I have been putting off for a long time).

Paying attention to your studies does have it's rewards after all ;)

Technorati tags: utm

thought completed at 11:53 PM | 9 comments

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Friday, October 27, 2006

KL - cheapest city in the world

This is good news for Malaysians...or more specifically, those who live in KL.

A survey of 71 cities worldwide by Swiss banking giant UBS found that Malaysia's capital has the most competitive prices when it comes to food, electronic goods, clothes, public transport, hotel rates and entertainment.

Source

Which makes me feel extremely lucky and grateful to be staying where I am now because it would only cost...

• RM551 for a five-star hotel room, per night.
• RM5.88 for a 5km taxi ride within the city.
• RM44 for a three-course meal in a good restaurant.
• RM1756 per month for a 3-room apartment, unfurnished.

That would be great only if...

• I was a guest at the Hilton, Renaissance, Marriott or some other swanky posh hotel that would rob me of a quarter of my monthly pay, per night.
• I had the privilege to be chauffered here, there and everywhere by a personal taxi, which incidentally would be pointless because of the traffic jams.
• I could afford Friday's 3 course menu for all my meals, day in and day out.
• I rented a service apartment in Mont Kiara like what my operations manager does (they don't call him the operations manager for nothing).

Now excuse me while I rejoice by eating chinese take-aways and taking public transport back to my very affordable RM200-a-month apartment room.

thought completed at 3:14 PM | 0 comments

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Friday, October 20, 2006

Out of office reply

This is an auto-generated message:

Dear reader,

I will be away from my blogging office from 21st to 25th of October due to the observation of public holidays. During this period of time I will have extremely limited access to the cyber world. Hence please adhere to the following procedures when attempting to contact me:

-For generic blogging issues (eg compliments, constructive criticisms, bitchings and rants), you can always leave a comment by clicking on the Comment link below.

-For issues pertaining to stuff that has no concern to me, you can always keep it to yourself.

If it is absolutely necessary to contact me due to emergencies (eg Blogger shutdown, blog hacked), you can get in touch with me at daredevil_tyn[at]hotmail[dot]com. Will try to get back to you as soon as possible.

Cheers!

Best blogging regards,
Deriku

. . . . . . . . . . . .

This is what you DO NOT want during the long drive back home this festive season.

Drive safely and happy holidays to everyone!

thought completed at 5:44 PM | 0 comments

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Wednesday, October 18, 2006

My office phone

The cubicle I'm sitting in now once belonged to another girl, PP, from the assembly department. She's moved away for more than 2 months now and I have the luck of using her extension number, which apparently she did not update in the system.

Hence I'm being reminded of PP nearly every other day no thanks to the incessant phonecalls meant for her. 90% of the calls are the usual "Hello is PP there. No? It's ok thanks" type. However, there have been some interesting calls and one of them went like this.

Caller: Hello, can I speak to PP please?

Me: She's moved to another cubicle and she's not using this number anymore.

Caller: Oh...do you have any idea of her new number?

Me: Sorry but I don't. Why don't you try her speed dial instead?

Caller: Er...I don't have that either. Can I know which department you're from?

Me: Oh I'm from the business group, Microcontroller Division.

Caller: Oh I see...does you department need any microscopes? Cos we specilize in supplying quality microscopes...

Me: I don't think we need them. Even if we do, I'm not the person you should talk to.

Caller: Are you sure? We're giving this promotion, it's a one time offer and you won't get anything like this from other vendors. If you buy now, you'll be entitled to a discount and a lucky draw. Our microscopes even come with a 5 year warranty and free service for up to 10 years. It's really an amazing deal. You sure you don't need one?

Me: Yes I'm quite sure. (Fakes a foreign accent) By the way, I'm the janitor. I just happened to pick up the phone cos no one was around and the ringing was giving me a headache.

Caller: Okthanksbye.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sometimes I wish I had an answering machine that could automatically filter out the misdirected calls and salesmen.

"If you're looking for PP, she's no longer here. Please hang up and good luck in searching for her new contact."

"If you're trying to sell something, I'm not interested. Please hang up and call my boss at 03-7873xxxx."

"If you're calling for reasons other than the above, please hold on and I will be answering your call in approximately 5 seconds. Five, four, three, two..."

Think of the efficiency I'll have in answering phonecalls...

thought completed at 8:25 PM | 3 comments

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Tuesday, October 17, 2006

I'm a Mandarin

My colleague forwarded a link the other day and I went on to waste 15 minutes of my working life searching for my true personality. I wasn't sure what criteria was the test based on but soon found out after I'd completed it.

Apparently, this Nicholas Lemann guy introduced the idea of three paths to success in American society - that of Talents, Lifers, and Mandarins. To cut the story short, Talents tend to value individuality and boldness, Lifers tend to value loyalty and caution and Mandarins tend to value intelligence and education. He even went on to publish a book about it so I guess he means to have us take this seriously.

So this was what I got.

I'm a Mandarin!

You're an intellectual, and you've worked hard to get where you are now. You're a strong believer in education, and you think many of the world's problems could be solved if people were more informed and more rational. You have no tolerance for sloppy or lazy thinking. It frustrates you when people who are ignorant or dishonest rise to positions of power. You believe that people can make a difference in the world, and you're determined to try.

Talent: 44%
Lifer: 46%
Mandarin: 62%

Take the Talent, Lifer, or Mandarin quiz.

Let me just comment on some of the apparent 'traits' that I'm supposed to have as a Mandarin.

"You're an intellectual, and you've worked hard to get where you are now."

18 years of non-stop, cheap education and a 1-hour interview. Gee, that was really tough. Especially the 1 hour interview.

"You're a strong believer in education, and you think many of the world's problems could be solved if people were more informed and more rational. "

I believe the education system in our country should be given a makeover. Fire the minister, hire someone with more of an 'intellectual' mind instead of political, eliminate the need for all those crappy exams and the world will become a better place. End of story.

"You have no tolerance for sloppy or lazy thinking."

Who does?

"It frustrates you when people who are ignorant or dishonest rise to positions of power."

It frustrates me alright, but as they say, without corruption, where would our government be?

"You believe that people can make a difference in the world, and you're determined to try. "

I do believe that people can make a difference, if only they'd stop driving out to work every morning and NOT cause traffic jams. I'm determined to try NOT to drive out to work every morning but public transport sucks and I have no choice.

"I'm a Mandarin!"

I'm a Chinese...of course I'm know Mandarin. Duh.

And I don't even know who the 2 blokes in picture are. If they represent the epitome of classic Mandarinism, this test obviously has something very wrong. Very, very wrong...

thought completed at 7:25 PM | 0 comments

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Monday, October 16, 2006

Petaling Street

I've wondered why the PPS blogtal was named after Petaling Street. Of all the colourful roads in Malaysia, what made them choose a street that was synonymous with bustling stalls and pirated goods?

I got a taste of Petaling Street during the past weekend. Not the usual 1 hour stroll along the sidewalks, but I was practically staying there for 2 days. It was an interesting experience living in the midst of Chinatown, where people from all walks of life converge to be part of the whole cultural phenomenon.

Everything here is so lively. The hawker stalls selling fruits and all types of food, the Ah Bengs with DVD catalogues in their hands, vendors of pirated handbags and clothing and even the old lady who sells mua-chi at the roadside...all of them made the place unique in its own way.

I''m starting to grow fond of the place. It's so much different from where I'm staying now, but I think it would be nice to be able to visit a place that paints such a vivid picture in my mind.

Well...scenes like this wouldn't hurt either :D

Technorati tags: petaling street, malaysia, chinatown

thought completed at 12:12 AM | 0 comments

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Saturday, October 14, 2006

Huh?

Remember the colleague of mine whom I absolutely detest? Looks like he's got himself into some tight spots with some of the team members. Not only are people boycotting him in public, he's pretty much ridiculed everytime he attempts to utter a sentence.

A typical conversation with him would be like something below.

Bull: You know how to access this database?

Me: (Puts down work) Yeah first go to this webpage (opens a web browser and clicks the link), login (shows him how to login) and choose the type of data that you want to view.

Bull: Huh?

Me: You need to go to this webpage first...

Bull: Er...I don't have the link wor...can send it to me ah?

Me: Didn't the boss send out a mail containing the link to everyone?

Bull: Huh?

Me: The link.....the boss sent out the link.

Bull: Umm...I think I deleted it.

Me: Ok nevermind I'll forward it to you later. So what kind of data are you looking for?

Bull: Er...I'm not sure also. Just want to try try.

Me: (MCH you don't even know what you're looking for still wanna ask how to do it. How much of an idiot are you anyway? 9 years working experience with who? The garbage company collecting rotten fruits that emitted hazardous gases and messed up your brain? Bug off lah fucker.)

Bull: Huh?

You gotta love Bull's vocabulary. The single most used word in his pathetic life must the word "huh". Every single time a conversation strikes up with him, this magical word never fails to appear. Coupled with a dumbfucked expression like a mentally retarded patient, the situation is disturbing and amusing at the same time.

Sometimes I wish he'd go kill himself by stuffing his fist into his mouth, after I've had my little laugh.

thought completed at 9:47 AM | 1 comments

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Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Recreation plans

I've been spending some 12 hours at the office for the past few days working my ass off. Being a product engineer sure ain't easy, and it definitely isn't beneficial toward my mental health / work-life balance / whatever shit the psychologists like to call it.

Hence I have in my mind a few activities scheduled for the coming weeks to compensate for the hectic working life.

• Parents are coming down to KL this weekend, nothing special about that but this time they're spending one night here. Huhu spending one night at a HOTEL mind you when home sweet home is just barely an hour away. Damn those vacation clubs for imposing a one year validity period for hotel stays.
  
• Will be going for an outing in Gua Tempurung with colleagues. We're taking the one day tour yay! Initially planned to go this week but the event was postponed due to unforeseen meteorological reasons. Damn the haze and the parties causing it.
  
• Trip to Damai Laut Resort Lumut with Gurl. Sort of a little present for our anniversary, since I didn't buy anything for her this year. Looking forward to visiting the place again, I had such a great time the last time I was there. Sun, sea, surf and your partner...life does not get any better.

During this period of time I expect my frequency of posting to be less, so please have some sympathy for this blogger and do come back to visit even though updates are seldom. (Better still, you could donate to my "Sanity in Check Fund")

Hey, everyone needs a break ;)

thought completed at 9:58 PM | 0 comments

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Monday, October 09, 2006

API levels redefined

Yes the haze has come back to haunt us again. It was not long ago that I posted an entry about it, and thought all would be well after that short spell of smoky season. But boy, was I wrong.

I just read that the air in PJ hit API levels of up to 130 today, an indication which probably not many people will comprehend, assuming that most of them aren't properly trained to grade the air quality, people like me.

0-50: Good
51-100: Moderate
101-200: Unhealthy
201-300: Very unhealty
>300: Hazardous

The problem with this scale is that it is overly simple, if not utterly boring. How unhealty exactly is the category "Unhealty"? Does it mean you're going to get a cough, a mild sore throat and should probably stay indoors for most of the day? Or would it be some serious shit like developing chronic bronchitis and having your lungs collapse?

Based on my observations of the current situation, I'd say there would be a totally different class of definitions to differentiate between these varying API categories, which I humbly present below.

0-50: Indonesia's being nice. Either that or their entire forests must have burned down and they have nothing else to incinerate. Air is breatheble, no masks required and children are encouraged to go out more. Adults stay in and work, as usual.

51-100: Our gov must have pissed off the neighbour, resulting in a large amount of their petroleum being used for suspicious purposes. Occurences of coughing and sneezing increase. Doctors get more patients, face mask vendors get brisk business, and air filter dealers have a killing.

101-200: Indonesia runs out of water. Respiratory diseases strike like a plague; shortness of breath, wheezing, asthma. Companies get a record high MC's and the doctors themselves are sick from the air. Outdooor activities are cancelled, football fields are empty, and tourist attractions are giving amazing promotions.

201-300: Now we're really in for it. Years of abusing Mother Nature and now it's coming back to us. Chronic diseases start to develop, hospitals see a higher intake of patients. Visibility is approximately the distance between your porch and the backyard, nothing beyond. Genting loses its attraction as people are literally living in the misty highlands.

>300: We declare war on Indonesia. Schools close down, parents get even sicker due to the constant need to tend to the children. Outside the streets are empty, shops are closed. Vacations are cancelled, medical appointments made. The nation gets ready for the next catastrophe.

>500: Whee! Declaration of emergency stage. Everyone stops working and stays at home writing wills. Indonesia is bombed and ceases to exist.

Doesn't that make you consider the haze more seriously from now on? :D

thought completed at 9:43 PM | 1 comments

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Friday, October 06, 2006

Bahasa-Malaysialization of signboards

I read with amusement when our Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister gave approval to Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka (DBP) "the power to advise and fine anyone not using the national language correctly on signboards". Apparently, this is to make sure that the national language is not sidelined in any way.

Rais said for a start, DBP would advise anyone found using the language wrongly.

Anyone refusing to follow an order by the DBP director-general can be fined up to RM1,000.

Rais also gave some examples of commonly used terms such as Touch ‘N’ Go and Boulevard that he would like to see changed to Bahasa Malaysia terms.

“The word for ‘Boulevard’ should rightfully be ‘Lebuh Perdana’,” he said.

Source

Wtf Lebuh Perdana? Why can't a simple english word be used? The logic is simple; le-buh-per-da-na, 5 syllables, bou-le-vard, 3 syllables, easier to pronounce and it doesn't even matter if it's pronounced correctly or not. Lebuh perdana might sound like a classy word, but I sure do think that it's a crappy translation to emulate western civilization. We might as well stick to the good 'ol "Jalan" for that matter.

If the minister gets it his way, soon you'll be seeing "Sentuh dan Jalan" signs at toll plazas all over the country instead of the familiar "Touch 'N' Go". Sounds weird? Try asking a foreigner who's having a driving trip around Malaysia, I bet he'd be lost before he even knew it.

They must be very afraid that Malaysians are going to lose their grip on BM. Very afraid. Hello? What about that learn-english-because-it's-an-international-language campaign? Sometimes government programmes get really, really ironic around here.

If this keeps up, I'm gonna cross my fingers so that this does not happen...

TMK = TEMPAT MELETAK KERETA. No parking, get it?

thought completed at 12:38 AM | 4 comments

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Thursday, October 05, 2006

Fashion for an engineer

Fashion has caught up so much among people nowadays that even the engineering professionals have shed their image as one of the dullest looking geeks in the workforce.

Where you would once see pyjamas and practically no make-up, now exists people who flaunt labels like Guess, DKNY, Levis et cetera and some well groomed faces. Mix-and-match seems to be the in word(s?) nowadays instead of phrases like 'cost-reduction', 'trouble-shooting' and other technical terms.

Why, even our company has come up with its own board of fashion designers. First out of their design board, a hip looking sling bag that comes in chic coloured white. While it may look somewhat oustanding, the lack of fancy designs tones down the flashy image.



Worn in the conventional way, it gives the owner freedom to move around. The lightweight material also means that it wouldn't be a burden to carry around.



Forget cowhide or alligator skin or some other material made from dead animals, anti-static synthetic material is THE most sought after material nowadays. Though lacking an adjustable strap, it is built with a mechanism that protects the owner from snatch thefts.



The sling bag is also designed to be functional and user friendly. A simple flap with a button on the front means you wouldn't have to go through the hassle of zips and multiple pockets. Capacity wise, it has enough space for you to chuck in all your tools, make-up kit, water bottle and even a packet of junkfood or two.

You can also wear it in any whacky way you like.

Simple, elegant and practical enough for everyday use. Best of it, it's FREE to all employees working in Company X.

Now do you still think engineers look like hags and trolls?

Engineer's note: In reality, the sling bag is meant as a storage device for people who frequent the production floor. Normally one would find a smock, shoe covers, miscellaneous tools and maybe a notebook inside. The anti-static material is made from the same material used to make smocks, and it prevents chips from getting fried from accumulated static charges.

thought completed at 12:10 AM | 3 comments

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Tuesday, October 03, 2006

The showdown: SE vs Nokia

If you find any similarities between this post and this, it is purely coincidental that the same incident occured to us. So let's just leave it to destiny and marry me, FA? :D

Barely 2 months into using it and I'm starting to find some problems with my Sony Ericsson W700i. First things first, I'm still desparately praying for an evolution of sorts for my brain and fingers, just to get used to the SMS function for the phone. In simpler words, "IT TAKES MORE than the patience of a SAINT to fucking get used to it."

Another thing that sucked was the camera module. I'm perfectly satisfied with the quality of the pics that the camera taken under most circumstances. However, when you have a lightish coloured background, the flaw jumps out at you.



Picure of a perfectly white wall. Yes, it is WHITE!

Some experiment pics I took with the camera proved this. The guy at the service centre told me that I had to just accept the camera's sorry state. And no it's not a screen problem as the pics look the same when transferred to a PC. I guess it's definitely not a shit stain on the lens either cos I'm sure he'd be smart enough to check for that.

And so the days without my phone left me with limited options. I had to use the ancient Nokia 3310 that was once my prized possesion ages ago.



The showdown: Old man vs new kid on the block.

Honestly, it wasn't that bad going back to the old phone. The keypad was large enough and the SMS functions were absolutely orgasmic compared to SE phones. Of course, the 3310 didn't have a camera or walkman function or a colour screen for that matter, but it pwned SE in user friendliness. And it is one, tough, phone, period.

Will their offspring inherit a black & white camera function?

All in all, though a 3310 would be good enough, I just couldn't go without a colour screen. As the saying goes, once you go black colour, you never go back.

As for the Nokia, I'll keep it as a spare phone in case the SE goes nuts or something. It might even fetch a hefty price at some auction one day. In the next millenium, perhaps.

Technorati tags: sony ericsson, W700i, nokia

thought completed at 4:34 PM | 3 comments

---------------oOo--------------- Update on the lack of updates

My apologies for the lack of updates. Weekends are meant for relaxation at home, and Streamyx is currently down at my place. (You don't expect me to blog from work, do you? Which I am doing now.)

Just got my phone back after sending it for repairs. Apparently, all W700i models have this glitch in their camera module which results in a dark brown patch appearing at the top left corner of the screen when taking pictures. W700i users, care to confirm this for me? Try taking a picture of a piece of blank, white paper and notice the results.

It might not be a major issue but it sure has dented my faith in SE phones. I'll probably stick to a Nokia the next time I need a new phone...which will be a gazillion years from now considering my budget and expenses.

Will update once broadband is up and running at home. Meanwhile, have fun!

thought completed at 12:22 PM | 0 comments

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