In Melbourne.... again :)

So I'm back. And now I have some house moving to do.

With classes just starting too, there's just so much to be done. Time to dig in and get some work done :)

Off

So..... I'm off to Melbourne in 3 days, and that means leaving this country behind. Some days I wonder whether that's the right thing to do.

Channel

Malaysians are a passionate, energetic lot. We care a lot about our ideals, that I'm sure of.

But why just stop at trying to name and shame the poodle abuser? Why not go on and try to achieve greater deeds with the power of the people? The French did it with the storming of the Bastille. And now in the Middle East, with the Tunisians and the Egyptians doing it too, isn't it time for us, the humble rakyat of Malaysia, to stand up and speak out? We don't have to talk about ousting the present government [if that's what Najib is worried about], we should probably start with cleaning out corruption first.

Stand up.
Speak out.

I guess that's what Malaysia needs, a knowledgeable and vocal public.

Just waiting

2 weeks to go now... Hopefully the weather in Melbourne clears up, otherwise we'll all be walking in summer thunderstorms for the first few weeks of classes.

Can't wait to get back to Melbourne :)

"bzzzzzzzt..."

And that was the sound of the arrow of time zipping by your ears.

So it's been 2 months since I got back from Melbourne, and a month and a half since I went back to work. That leaves me with about a month's worth of time left here in Malaysia.

I wonder what I'll do with that remaining time.... any suggestions?

Books

After working amongst books for a month, I've been doing some amount of thinking about all the books - English and Malay books in particular.

English books: For some reason, the bestsellers are books that were turned into films. Good examples of such books would be Eat Pray Love, and Norwegian Wood [written by some Japanese author]. Conclusion: Get a movie deal, you'll be able to become a bestseller in no time.

Malay books: It's not totally true that they only have one theme. They actually have two major themes - religion, and romance. Does this accurately reflect what the Malays read most? If it's an accurate reflection, then it says a lot about their mentality and psyche.

That's all for now I guess. Will get round to more reflections when I have time.

Coffee

I once said that the Internet was the most useful thing invented. Well, the discovery of coffee should rank as the third most useful thing then. [I forgot the second most useful thing.]

It's pretty much the only thing that actually works to keep me awake nowadays :)

Managing people

It's a life skill. Without it, you suffer hard. Especially if you're in a managerial position. And you won't see it, but people will start talking about you behind your back. It's an unenviable position to be in.... having power, but not having the support that you'd need to stay in power.

"Sorry, can't afford to go overseas"

Apparently there are plenty of people with that dilemma. One wonders how the misconception of the "rich Chinese" really came about.

Suzuki Cup Champs

So we won the AFF (Suzuki Cup) final, even though we lost 2-1 to Indonesia in the second leg. Did the lasers from the first leg do the trick? You'll never know.....

yawn

It's only a month into this summer break, and I'm already bored...

Christmas Eve

I'm sure I've memorised where the wrapping paper in Popular is: At the back, in the stationery section.

And you wouldn't believe how many people prefer to let trainees do all the Christmas present wrapping for them. I won't tempt fate by saying "How hard can that be?", but I really do feel that present wrapping should be part of a person's life skills. Not handed over to somebody in a shop to do for you.

The Dark Side...

... is always pretty cool.

-QotD: Come to the dark side - we have cookies!-

Christmas shopping

So everyone's coming out in full Christmas shopping mode. Everywhere you go, you see Christmas decorations [you know, loads of snowflakes, Santa going round with goodies for the kids, powdered styrofoam pellets on some plastic evergreen Christmas tree replica], reminding you that you should buy something to avoid disappointing people who actually do celebrate Christmas. Which in turn translates into plenty of income for retailers. Whoopee :)

Work

So I'm enjoying being behind the counter at Popular in Empire Subang. It's nice to be able to choose what songs will be played throughout the day in the shop; it's interesting to see what books people normally buy; and it's intriguing to see how much money Malaysians are actually spending on books.

Fun stuff.

Dust

So the neighbours decided to overhaul their living quarters. Sadly it's left us trapped in the middle, breathing in dust and paint fumes. I suppose it's the only disadvantage of living so close to colleges, everyone wants to rent their place out to college students.

Subang

Things have certainly changed around here. More high rise buildings and apartments dot the skyline.. Neighbours have changed too.. Even the great leafy tree in the park opposite has been pruned back.

Mmmmm.. lovely to be back here though. Lots more stuff to be done while I'm here :)

Holidays?

Fun times have started :)

One to Go

Yay final paper on Monday. Then one week of glorious rest!

Speed/Accuracy tradeoffs...

... should never be done during exams. Everything should be done with maximum possible speed and accuracy :>