A Quick Update of My Life Over This 2.5 Years

   It's have been 2 years and 8 months since I last blog about anything in this blog. Looking back on my record, I gradually reduces my post from 79 posts in year 2009 to 42 posts in year 2010, then 9 post in year 2011, 4 posts in year 2012, and 1 post in year 2013. After the post in year 2013, I have started a new chapter of my life. I take a leap of faith and courage to step out of my comfort zone. That is one of the reason why I did not take the time to blog anything, other than I totally set blogging aside. 

   In May 2013, I took a big change in my life by stepping out from being an employee to become an entrepreneur with Douglas. I used to work with him in the same company before, and we attend the same church, same cell group, and we are best friend as well. This changes have a huge impact in my life and it does grow me to who I am today. He still remains as a best friend and I do hope it will never change. 

   We started our coffee journey by taking up a local coffee brand as we have literally no experience in the art of making coffee. With their help, we learned that there is a lot to learn and work for to be an accountable and reputable café in town. Although we did not have a great experience working with them after half a year into operation, we are grateful because of that, we swore to be better that bring us to what we are today. 

   After about a year, we departed from them and built our new brand together with some new investors and partners. Since then, we have been operating under the new café brand till today for slightly over a year. A lot of great and bad experience throughout this journey, and I appreciate that the Lord keeps shining His blessing over me. 

   Since this post should be a quick overall update of what has been happening around me over the 2 years plus, I will keep things short and simple. Hopefully I can post more post in the future to talk about it and new stuff that happening around me. 

   In year 2013, I had an opportunity to visit London, England and Milan, Italy for the International Hospitality Exhibition - Fiera Milano (HOST) held in Milan itself. I got to visit Singapore for the Food and Hospitality Asia (FHA) Expo in 2014, and travel to Melbourne on the same year. This year, I got another opportunity to travel far, which is to Seattle, Washington, USA for Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) Expo and the World Barista Championship. Not to mention some local short trip to learn about coffee at Johor Bahru and Penang. 

   As for more personal vacation travel, I travelled to Siem Reap, Cambodia in 2012, Bangkok in 2013, Taiwan in 2014, and Hong Kong and Macau this year. Planning to go to Perth next year though. Since I have been in the café business for awhile, since 2014, my trips have include some café hopping in those places that I visited. I have tried coffee in several café around Taiwan and Hong Kong. 

   I have made new friends, meet back some old friends and reconnect with them, and I lost some old friends too. It's part of life that nobody is for sure to be there for you forever, except the Lord. My sister is finally in college, taking the course of interior architecture. My brother is working now with Honda service centre in Petaling Jaya. I traded in my old car for a new car this year. I think that's all about the major things happened around me this period of time I'm not active here. 

Car Crashed Again

I didn't know that I could be this clumsy. I crashed my car last year September, and I was already thinking that is the worst thing ever happened as I crashed my car for the second times since I got my car 5 years ago. It's like an average of one accident for 2.5 years.

Today, I manage to crash it again totally due to my careless and absence minded. I was feeling blur blur since I have slight headache and I was just recovered from yesterday fever this morning. I didn't notice the pillar in front of my, just at the blind spot of my right hand side, and I turn my gear to 'D' and it crashed gently to the pillar.

My heart smashed with the crash and I felt that is the most stupid thing I ever done and the clumsiest. This all happened in during this Chinese New Year, what a bad sign. It's the worst luck ever that I can get and there it goes all my ang pow money. Well, I only manage to get somewhere around RM200++. To fixed my car, I think I need more than that.

I will go on an official broke category again very soon after paying off the car repair bills and any other bills that coming my way soon. Not to forget that I need to settle all my credit cards bills. Now, I wonder how nice if my company pays out bonus and give me a pay rise. Well, all this can be dream but reality still reality.

I just think that thank God that there is still people I can rely on and ask for help. Without them, I think it is even harder for me to handle all this stress. So, I think I still should thank Him keeping me unharmed and physically safe all these accidents that happened to me. I would still love to praise Him for that. But if can, Lord, please do easy on me the next time you test my faith. Hehe. Just kidding.

Car Accident and Shean Ming & Lit Teng's Wedding Dinner

Yesterday consider a bad day for me. The rain cause so much trouble. Because of the rain, there is not many people come to KLCC. It's pretty sad to see Malaysian doesn't care about the environment, or even so, they care more about their pocket. Can't blame them.

I've in grown nail on one of my toe and it doesn't recover for the past 3 weeks. Been seek for doctor advice but I was only given antibiotic. I think I've to seek the doctor again. It's damn painful.

To make my day worst, I had an accident. I wasn't driving fast but I lost control over my car because the road is slippery. Partly my fault, I think my trees are not having enough air and I was thinking to pump it when I get the petrol station later. Who knows, accident happened.

I'm luckily that I'm physically fine. No damage to my body by my car is in very bad shape. Well, I think my car span for one round before it stopped. I was scares to death.

Ironically, I've to attend one of my ex-course mate's wedding dinner at that time. So after I've log a police report at the police station with the help of my brother to settle most of the stuff with the police, I went home.

Well, anything regarding to my car, I'll refer to my brother since he is a car mechanic and he has those relationship with those call man, I'll let him help out. If not, I think I'll pretty blur.

To attend the wedding dinner, I actually borrow a car from my uncle. I wonder how am I have the guts to drive just after an accident. Well, I did it too and back in one piece.

So Lit Teng's wedding was great. We have fun with meeting up some of our ex-course mates and catch up a little bit of their doings. We had some beers and crap a lot. It's really fun.

Well, I've to back to reality. Although I know that I can claim my car insurance, I'll have no more NCB for it. My next car insurance renewal will cost me a bomb. Well, worst is that I've to renew it next 2 weeks. I've to pay summon and etc., and that cost me too.

Worst, I'll have a few weeks time without a car. How am I going to go to work? My office, there ain't any public transport that I can use. No LRT, bus and even taxi won't want to fetch me there. It too far. I'm having the headache at first. Thank God that my uncle willing to lend me his car temporally. Hopefully, he won't want it back before I get my car back.

I'll be flying off on 23rd this month, so I'll at least need a car for this 2 weeks. By the time I get home, hopefully I'll be able to get back my car. But seriously, it's pretty painful to see your own car at the state. I've attached some photo of my car.

I Lost My iPhone

It's the worst day of the month for me. The precious iPhone that has been with me more than a year finally been kidnap by someone idiotic yet brainless people. Its my mistake that I left my phone in the first place. However, I quickly went back to the restaurant where I left my phone just 10 minutes I left the place, and it's gone.

I was hoping in the first place, I left it there, those staff might help me to keep it and give us back if we look for it later. I wasn't so worried in the first place. I tracked it with MobileMe.com, and it shows that my phone is at the exact same spot where I took my lunch today. So I went back and asked, and the answer I got was none of them realize there is a phone when they clean up the table.

WTF! I'm shocked. Maybe I have a good impression that such restaurant like Dragon-i or Tony's Roma, where the staff will return customer's belonging that they left behind. I had such experience before. Dragon-i's staff actually chase out to past me back my wallet and Tony's Roma's staff keep and return my phone when I claimed it bak from them.

This Wong Kok Restaurant at Sunway Giza is my nightmare or should I say it's not my Zen area. It always seems something is wrong there, and today is the worst scenario for me. I started tracking my phone since then via MobileMe.com, an application from Apple to track the location of your Apple products. It keep on showing the location of Sunway Giza and I'm able to call my phone without fail but no one is picking it up.

I use MobileMe.com to send a message to my phone to tell that someone to contact me as I'll reward him for giving it back to me. However, nothing comes back. I'm already have a bad feeling for it. I went back to that place to ask again the staff as I'm seriously want my phone back, not because it's an iPhone but all my information, data, company email, personal email, plans, contacts, etc. are all there. It's really troublesome to retrieve it back.

I can still track my phone when I'm already home. It's only after past 10.00pm, I can't track it and I couldn't manage to call my phone anymore. So I'm strongly believe that the staff took it, although I can't prove it. Now, I'm facing a great challenge and financial constraint. I'll have to get a new phone, barred my cellular provider service and get a replacement SIM card, and live with the fact my phone is gone.

It's very inconvenient when you depend so much on your iPhone on those amazing applications (where you call it apps in short). I'll have to start tracking back all my friends' contact number, emails, birthday (which is the hardest cause you would ask your friend their contact number along with their birth date), etc.

Well, I believe I'll lost some of my old pals or old colleagues contacts forever if they don't have Facebook or any way for me to contact with them with. Especially those friends that you didn't contact them for ages, those are the hardest to retrieve back. I guess only fate can bring us back together and/or get contacted again.

In conclusion, I'm just have another worst day of my life, follow with loads of troublesome yet pain sticking things to do in order to get back my life in order (to have a phone again) and my salary this month will be gone. I think I'm doomed. Lord, thank you for all the hard time you have given me to learn to be strong. However, I need more of your blessing and love than all this unpleasant experience. I'm already broke.

Life Will Never Get Better If Without Faith

It's really a journey of life when you have a faith to rely on no matter what happened or going to happen in your life. It's definitely not an easy path but guarantee you will find peace with it. With faith, things eventually goes better in the future or somehow you will find it accommodating.

I'm relying on something that far greater in strength, far more wiser and powerful to help me go through things that I have no idea how to solve it. I just hope things eventually will find it's way to the solutions.

New Year, New Hope

Today is already the sixth day of the Year 2011. I don't feel anything special or must to celebrate about. As far as I know, I'm dealing with a lot of issue in my company. I don't see there is any possibility we are getting any bonus for last year.

Not to mention the other constant problems with my other department which slows down a lot of my work or even make things goes hay wired. Anyway, let's not talk about that. At least there is some new staff just join my department and he is my old friend. Welcome Boon Hein into the family of JASA Eco.

Well, since it's new year, I should have new hope. Just hope that my career will goes on smoothly, my family stay healthy and free from financial issues.

Side Mirror is Gone

May my side mirror of my car rest in peace. I just got a new replacement for it and it cost me RM200+ for one. I'm broke this month already. I will need to prepare some cash to change my tyres as the tyre is getting old already.

Next month I need to pay off my car insurance and road tax. I think all this cost me a bomb. I'm dying already. I don't have much mood to write about here at this moment. Headache hit back again. I need someone to take care of me totally. LOL.

Newbies

This week, 3 new recruits have join us and currently undergoing training by my team leader with some assistance from my colleague, Mei Teng and me. Well, I think I did nothing much than talking non-stop. LOL.

This time, 2 new guys and a girl. It turns out that all of them are from biomedical science background just like me and 2 of them (a guy called Jun Jie and a girl call Jing Jing) are my junior from my university. Such a coincident.

Training newbies is pretty cool. You gotta share lots of thing with them and it somehow make them interact with you. I feel somehow it's not that boring compare to facing that motionless and expressionless monitor processing claims after claims. Probably I am bored with my job right now and I'm starting to get lazy since this is my last month at my current company.

I'm still considering what small gift I will be giving my team mates before I leave the company end of this month. I have something in my mind but I think I don't want to share it here first. Don't want to spoilt the surprise. Anyway, it's such something small that many it's not even significant after I left.

I'm looking forward to my new employment at my new company and I'm thrill with what is awaiting me there. However, at the same time, I am worrying about the new environment that I will be facing next month and the new challenges that awaits me there too. Lord, please grant me strength to face the road aheads me. Amen.

Changing of New Environment Soon

Finally, I have tendered my resignation from my current employment at AIA Shared Services Sdn Bhd this week. I think I will definitely miss all the good time I have from this company depsite the pay and some other issues. It does took me quite some time to think over the matter of resigning and jump onto some other unfamiliar work field.

The day I tender my resignation letter, my team leader was like so blurred and not having the mood to talk more about it. He refers my letter to my manager and she was shocked that I plan to leave the company. She never thought that I would (maybe I have the look "I'm not leaving soon") and she gets a little bit emotional since many of us in my team are planning to leave. Not to mention my senior specialist who always being helpful to me was surprise over my decision to leave too.

Well, since I have better offer and yet the work nature of my current job is kind of stagnant compare to the new job I am offered now, which is far more challenging I would say. I am starting to worry that I might now able to work my best and thrive in the new company. That will be my concern right now.

Thinking of it now, I really will miss most of my colleague and seniors that helps me a lot throughout my term in the company. Well, I felt like I talking as if I am leaving tomorrow. In fact, I still need to serve two months notice before I can leave. I am waiting that stupid HR to sent me my exit interview schedule and my last day of term in the company.

I am thinking how will I be getting along with new colleagues there soon. In my current company, we are like friends and we tag along kind of like a family. We chit chat, gossips, play and eat together at times. I wonder how is the new environment will lead me. Will I feel more lonely at new company, new environment? Till then only I will know.

My 24th Birthday

Well, I just back home from dinner and movie with friend since it's my birthday. I did take some time to brush up myself and clean up some of my stuff before started blogging here. It's a simple yet not that simple birthday celebration. Well, at times not to have a huge celebration is not a bad thing.

Anyway, I do prefer small kind of celebration. At least you can enjoy it more than you can think of. Birthday nowadays seem to be telling us that we are older, however another year older means another year wiser. LOL. I just hate people say that you are older now, which makes you feel like you are outdated or 'expired'. Well, I don't keep those in mind anyway. So it's still okay.

On Wednesday itself, Choon Hing has already gotten to my place to treat me at Secret Recipes. We have the so-called brotherly chat. I do enjoy that kinda hang out. It's great and it feel comfortable compare to hang out merely at Mamak stalls. Do I sounds like I am so good in enjoying myself at those so-called high class places? Well, it just a preferences, does not mean that I always have the budget to hang out like that.

At office, my colleague, Siew Yin and a colleague from HK team, which is Siew Yin's friend got me Ferrero Rocher chocolate as present. Although I am not that fancy that chocolate, but since it's still chocolate, I still like it. LOL. Thanks Siew Yin and Ya Yin.

Mun Choon did called me just now. I think he mentioned that wanna hang out to celebrate my birthday later. Probably tomorrow. LOL. Douglas get me some chocolate from HK since he just back from HK this week from his business trip. Now, I think I need not to restock my chocolate for the moment. My sister also got me a bar of Meiji dark chocolate.

In Facebook, I received so many friends wishes. I'm so happy about it. I think I would drop tears looking at the amount of people that actually do take the initiative to write on my wall. Well, I know that Facebook have the application that reminds us on someone's birthday, it still need ones to write it. So I need to thank all of you that have written something on my wall, text me through phone, call me to wish me and even those that come to me directly to wish me birthday. I appreciate all of that.

Finally, this is my little birthday cake for my birthday celebration. I think I love it better than the whole damn cake from Secret Recipes since not many of us are eating it. It just a small little celebration. I love that cake so much because of 2 things. First, it's chocolate cake. LOL. Secondly, it have ice cream on top of it. Hahaha.

Bumping Into An Old Friend

I think there are lots of people encounter this scenario, where most of our friends that we got to know them fade through time. Some might be getting closer as time goes and some in the opposite way. Those that you are not close in the first place tends to get even further apart as you are no longer seeing each other that often.

For instance, today I met with one of my high school mate, Tan Choon Keat in LRT. It is just coincident that we bumped into each other. It's funny, I can still recall his full name. LOL. We work almost the same area which I have no idea till today. He has been working for almost 4 months here and I never see him boarding the same LRT as me. Today, it's just out of luck, we bumped into each other.

Seeing an old friend should be cool. It's cool but the feeling as well is pretty cold too. I mean as we did not manage to pick up some topic to talk about. Maybe I am not close to him for start even back in high school. So we just asked each other where we work and that's it. LOL. We did mentioned about the past of our high school friend as well. That's all I can recall what we spoke about the whole journey back to Bukit Jalil.

Well, not much high school mates that I am still keeping a very good contact with. Only a handful of them I am able to keep contacting them like Boon Hein, Choon Hing, Chee Yuen and Mun Choon. Anyhow, I guess we still need to maintain our friendship as much as we can.

Anyway, thinking back the time, time passes so fast. Like a blink of eye it's already a year and my birthday is around the corner already. I guess I have to wish all my friends that born on the month of April happy birthday - Ching Fui, Sheng Szan, Weng Foong, Voon Yuke, Mee Ken, Kim Fah, Jaeger, Sze Mun, Julie and Kah Teck. I hope I did not miss out any of my friends here.

Not So Much of My Day

Today is not a very good day for me. My neck is killing me since Monday I have the stiff neck, as if I took Viagra and got it stuck on my neck. It painful and I can barely turn my head to the left. Feel so irritated. To make the matter worst, my muscles soreness is still not in recovered. Literally, I feel as if my whole body is aching.

Physically condition is not that good, I think I still coping with it. However, to make my day worsen, my bag just give up on me. On my way back, just before I get my car, it snapped and fell on the ground. Well, it does served me for almost 5 months. Probably that is the life span of a not genuine "branded" bag. LOL.

Right now, I have no money to get a new working bag. I guess I have to use one of my old bag temporarily till I have the budget to get a new working bag later. I wonder when is the sales coming again.

My First Pita Bread Failure

Today, I thought to try out the Mediterranean starter called Hummus, which consist of pita bread and chick peas paste. However, I do not want to make things go too far, so I started with the pita bread. Since it is the first time I try out this recipe, it is like trial and error baking session.


As predicted, I failed to make the pita bread I wanted it to be or as good as the one I ate at the Mediterranean cuisine restaurant. I follow the whole recipe, probably the volume of water or something goes not too right, the bread turns out to be slightly tough.

The worst of all is that it does not pop and having the pocket shape in it. Only 2 pieces seems do the trick but still tough or slightly dry. I guess next time I need to add more water. Anyway, it still edible. LOL. Still consider some achievement. At least I learn something from this failure.

If my bread work out, then it's time for me to try out the chick peas paste and it will be perfect then. I can't wait to the time to come. However, I also need time to try out my recipes and sharpen my baking skill since so long I did not bake.

The only problem I am facing is that stupid oven I have. It does not bake evenly. Probably that is why my bread does not work out well. LOL. I am seems to be blaming the oven for my failure. When I successfully bake a good pita bread and preparing the Hummus, I will let the one who inspire me to make this food to try it first hand. ^^

It Have Been A Busy Weeks

It have been so busy for me previously for almost 2 to 3 weeks already. We have overtime at worst almost everyday. The most worst scenario was that we need to be coming back to work even on Saturdays.

So tired after working for long hours for such a period. But cannot help it because too much claims were submitted during the end of last year and everything piles up like mountain. We have to clear it up as soon as possible.

Finally, today the queues are empty after seriously few weeks of hard work from all the team member trying their best to clearing up all the claims. For myself, I felt something good and not too good at the same time.

The good point is that we need not to worry sick of clearing up all those claims and having overtime to do it for the moment. However, emptying the queue also means that there is nothing much to do temporary.

Everything also have pros and cons. For me, need not to do overtime too often will be good enough already. I need some time for myself to relax and do else stuff. I need to have my life. I can't be doing claims 24/7. LOL.

By the way, today I went to Mid Valley for the chocolate fair. It just a small fair I feel. However, it was crowded and I did not really enjoy the entire fair all about. Not much nice chocolate that I can find there. There is a few, but since my budget is limited, I did not get anything for myself. So sad. LOL.

New Year, New Resolutions

It's 2010, it's new year. New year should have new resolutions. Actually I have a few, but then I did not list it up officially. So I guess it's best to blog it so I can read it back later and see how much I can and will be achieving later.

Planning to get a new set of skin care. I found a product which seems pretty good for me, at least I try out at their booth and it seems pretty good for my skin. Still considering of getting it before CNY.

Next will be going to get my facial this month, perhaps end of the month. I guess everything must be done before CNY. LOL. However, the facial routine I planned for this year is that I should be going once every two months or at most almost three months once.

I'm planning to get my dental scaling done this coming April perhaps. Somewhere around my birthday. I'm trying to save some for my birthday month as well so that I can get myself something that I like during that month hopefully.

There are some other plans that in my mind which I do not want to share at the moment. So I guess that's it is for now. Maybe the last one I can share with everyone is that I'm want to focus on my dancing class. LOL.

Working Life

After working in my company for more than a month, I realised that I'm still learning things around. Seeing some of the senior batch (where they join the company earlier than me of course), they still need to ask around at times regarding the claim cases.

Like what I had mentioned in my previous blog, life when you step into the working world is really different. We will never know how is the true feeling if you are not in the shoe of those who already working at the moment.

I realised that we do not have that much of time for ourself when you started working. Perhaps those who work as salesperson may feel slightly different, but for me, who work in office, I personally feel that my time for my ownself reduce greatly.

Less time for me to go shopping, catch a movie, online chatting, facebooking, reading, etc. That makes me treasure even more the spare time I have. My schedule become pretty tight for the whole week.

Weekdays of course I have to work and weekends, I have my dance class, my work out session with my gym buddy, some time to spare for family, or even to do things that I wanted most such as catching up a movie.

So, this working life will be with me for at least around 30 over years. I guess I have to cope with it and hope to strive better in the future. Planning is the most important thing for our future. I think I am going to focus myself on my career and my life. I am gonna save enough for my future Japan's trip. LOL.

Things I Wanted To Do

It's been almost a whole month I have been working with AIA Shared Services Sdn Bhd. Basically, I feel like I missed out a lot of my own sweet time of catching some great movies, doing things that I wanted to, and worst of all is that I lose some weight.

Just in this short period of time, I am able to lose 2kg. I felt so guilty and sad even though I do not think that I eat any lesser than I used to be. If Douglas saw what I wrote here, he must be feeling so bad. He will wanna be me. LOL.

I have been working most of the time, I mean only weekdays, however most of the day I got to stay back a little bit more late to finish up my work to meet my daily quota. It actually kinda stress at times as well.

Anyway, work is work. I have to take it as an experience and hope I will learn something from it. I might not be (most probably) working with this company for ages. It may be a stepping stone for me. This company of mine soon will be moving to Cyberjaya. So, considering a better offer job is not a bad choice too. LOL.

After started working, seriously I feel that lack of contact with the world or friends too. Everyone is busy with their life to attent to. Push aside this, I even feel that I have less time to do things that I wanted to. For example, I wanted to self-learn my Japanese language, spent some time to read my magazine, etc.

Life is kind of miserable at times. We can't have all the things we want. We can only pray to God and hope that with His grace, everything will goes well.

Third Week and Things No Longer The Same

This is the third week of my employment with AIA Shares Services Sdn Bhd. Thing changes (not drastically) over time. My job scope is still the same but then it does not seems to be as easy as it is to be. Moreover, I'm kinda often make mistake here and there. It makes me feel pretty bad.

However, I have to take time to learn it. Well, I'm a slow learner. I'm a kinda worry about this. I do not hope to be always call by those senior colleague regarding the claims that I processed which have some mistake here and there. It makes me feel so stupid, and mostly careless mistake.

Anyway, this week pretty lots of changes, even on Monday, I have experience going back home pretty late. Today already Wednesday, and I'm looking forward to the weekend for my rest day. Hopefully this Saturday need not to work overtime. This Sunday I need to help out in a charity dinner. I do not want to collapse before that. LOL.

Gotta Aim High

These few days been working like a cow. Well, it is not really that bad actually but then I'm handling about 40 cases each day these two days. Mentally exhausted if you got to ask me. It's not that simple yet not that hard. Thank God the cases I'm dealing now is pretty easy.

I have been dealing with out patient cases and most the clinical for last week. This week, kind of dealing mixture of specialist and some daily surgical cases. Well, I know most of you will not understand what I am saying here but that is okay. That is not the main point anyway.

This Saturday, it seems most probably I will have to work OT already. It was told by my team leader this morning during the briefing and meeting with our team manager. Well, she just kind of introduce herself and let us introduce ourselves as well. Nothing much special except she mentioned about the shifting to Cyberjaya next time. Hopefully there is transport allowance for us. LOL.

Now, I think I have to focus myself. I have to pick up my skill quick and adapt with the environment. I have target to meet as well. The most important, I have to reduce my mistake and increase my accuracy, which I think pretty hard in the sense of increase productivity at the same time. So, 'gambatte ne, Takumi-san', I have to say it to myself. LOL.

So Lost

Today is my second day working with AIA Shared Services Sdn Bhd. Basically, I'm still pretty blur with my work. I do not really mean my work but how to deal with my work. The system that we are using I should say pretty easy to handle. However, there is so many things to be master.

Just in the matter of two days, I have been loaded with plenty of information on how to use the system and so on. Maybe I'm kinda slow in catching up with things. I felt like data overload kind of feeling.

However, today still not that bad. At least I need not to work OT. Anyway, what surprise me in my department is there are so many UTAR'ian. At least for now, there are 5, which including my ex-course mate and me.

Hopefully things goes on smoothly and I will catch up things as quickly as possible. However, I know it's kinda impossible as one of my colleague have been working 3 months there and still learning. Gosh, I feel the fear of working now. LOL.