Ah Khang

Life

2009-06-23T00:48:00.002+02:00

The are some moments in life

When you have to make a decision

To make a logic and wise decision

Even though it is against your wish and feeling

But you know it is a right thing to do

I have this moment coming now

No more hesitation this time

After the decision, It's a sunny day

With a wide path in front

And I am taking this path.

Definitely.

Ronron

2009-04-25T15:46:00.013+02:00

She left me in the morning of 7^th April without slightest indication. My cat Ronron, or I would refer as my best friend, as usual crept up early in the morning trying to open my bedroom door. She had this skill of jumping on the door handle and then swung with her body weight to open every door in the apartment. I was still in deep sleep as thus I shrugged off the noise she made. She did that every morning, so I was accustomed to her behavior.

10 minutes later, I woke up to start my day. It was almost 7:30am. I took a shower as usual and Luc suddenly came in total distress to tell the bad news, Ronron was found dead on the kitchen table. My first thought was that it was impossible, nor that I wanted to believe it. I followed him doubtfully and there I saw the warm body of Ronron lying peacefully on the table without any single heartbeat. The horror started to sink in, I tried hard to jolt her body hoping that it might bring her back to life, but in vain. She was already gone, just like that, leaving her adorable home just in a few minutes…

I was in total dismay the whole morning. Tears started filling up my eyes, I couldn’t accept the fact. I always said I would be in great pain to see Ronron leave me in 10 years when she would die of old age. But not like this, I just couldn’t imagine my cat who has accompanied me for 4 years, day and night, suddenly just walked out of my life. ..

I took her body to the vet, of course no clue can be given by the vet either, as she left too suddenly. Might be cardiac attack, or blood clot… I didn’t want any autopsy, that wouldn’t bring her back, and anyway there was no guarantee to find a cause either.

The rest of the day, I was unable to do anything. I only felt desperate, hopeless and terrible. I keep thinking of all the nice moments Ronron had given me in these 4 years, all the retrospects never stopped flooding my mind. I cried, and cried again. There is no Ronron sleeping on my hips now when I watch TV, no more Ronron crawling up my pant asking for foods when I cook, no more Ronron asking for tap water when I brush my teeth, no more Ronron gently putting her hand on mine when I work in front of my computer… I am so used to live my life with her, repeating the daily itinerary with her participation. Now I am left alone…

She was the reason of the absence of solitude in my world.

I just want to dedicate this post to her, thank you Ronron for giving me such a wonderful time and for sharing my life. Even though your life is short, I hope you had lived a good life with all my loves. I am still sad now, but I know one day the pain will disappear, and you will stay there as my best and most beautiful memory in my life.

I miss you!

Ronron in her bed watching me tenderly

She learned to kiss me by touching her nose on my nose

Her favorite spot to sleep.

And here finally a poem to express my thoughts...

If I had known that on that day our time was near the end,

I would have done things differently, my forever friend.

I would have stayed right next to you deep into the night, but I thought I'd see you in the early morning light.

And so I said "Good night" to you as I walked in through the door, never thinking of the time when I'd see you no more.

But if I had known that on that day our time...

Unhappy

2009-04-22T10:06:00.003+02:00

They say it's not a good year for those under the Chinese horoscope of Goat
I just didn't believe it....
I read the prediction every year but I disregard it mostly

Unfortunately, they have got me this year
The first day of the year started badly
Things are not progressing
Work is gloomy
My most loving cat left me in total dismay
Relationship is jeopardized
and me, I am unhappy...

I have been living with great contentment these years
I guess I have to compensate these happiness once in a while
I might loose more of the things that I care this year
but I will not loose myself

If nobody is going to love me, I will learn to love myself.
And I still don't want to believe the horoscope...

January Recap

2009-02-04T11:58:00.000+01:00

It has been some times since I last updated my blog. Nothing special really happened. January has been filled with works and badminton in general.

I have joined two badminton tournaments at B2 level. I managed to reached men single quarter final for both events, and reached final for the men double event. Seems to be a decent result, though I was physically not tiptop due to some muscle pains and tendonitis.

Chinese New Year was supposed to be the highlight of the month. The inner jubilance was always stirred up whenever this special day approached. After all I have always enjoyed the feast and gone through all the special traditions with my family back in hometown. However in Belgium you can't really expect any ambiance, not the slightest decoration nor news. Well of course I do realize I am in Belgium, not China or Malaysia…

So I had a great Dim Sum in Antwerp as the reunion meal on Chinese New Year's Eve, and then the next day a big dinner with a bunch of closed friends in Brussels center. I was glad to have at least laid my hands on great mahjong games with some friends. Love it :)

Had my yearly evaluation at work and it turned out to be outstanding. In the company many people are on the bench now without a project, so the rumor of large scale retrenchment is spreading wildly. I will normally be released from the current project early April, let's see what my destiny lies ahead…

More photos (South America)

2008-12-11T00:50:00.005+01:00

Just found a few portrait pictures that I have got from the South America trip. :)

On Amantani island in Titicaca lake in Peru: Wearing a local made hat before attending the dance

Posting in Santa Catalina Convent in Arequipa, Peru.

In the hotspring near the geyser in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Taking the train from Cusco to Puno.

Christmas Tree

2008-12-08T23:00:00.015+01:00

Finally it's Christmas season again! I have just visited the Christmas market in Brussels and I was totally stunned by the beauty of the display this year, not to mention all those lovely shops and foods and presents in sales.

And then it just struck me that I have not yet put up the Christmas tree yet! Normally I always did it around end of November. I just love to put up the Christmas tree while listening to my favourite Christmas song, it just makes it so festive and homey. Furthermore I am throwing a Christmas dinner party at home on 20th, so tonight I was just so inspired to have the tree ready. Here you can see how I put up the tree:

Got out all the items from cellar

First put up the basement of the tree

My cat was supervising me all the time... she certainly looked more excited that me!

Started adding branches...

The tree is all ready now for decorative items!

Topped the tree with silver star

Mission accomplished!

With two little Santa status beneath :)

Shinning in the dark

The sparkling snow men

Peru - Cusco

2008-11-24T20:46:00.008+01:00

Cusco city: Plaza mayor. This is one of my most favourite place in Peru. Amazing city with delicate cuisine, and friendly people!

Cusco city is surrounded by mountains, and it situates at 3300m altitude!

The cathedrale of Cusco, we spent 2 hours in it with an audio guide, it was a plesant visit.

I bought the delicious jelly from the lady, and her son was so cute!

Posting next to a peruvian lady and a few lamas.

Peru - Lima

2008-11-24T20:39:00.005+01:00

The changing guard in front of King's place

At the center heart of Lima: Plaza de Mayor

Santiago (Chile)

2008-11-21T23:47:00.005+01:00

Arriving at the hostel.

A walk downtown in Santiago.

Pictures in San Pedro De Atacama (Chile)

2008-11-21T23:22:00.006+01:00

A walk in the desert of San Pedro de Atacama in Chile.

Amazing desert landscape.

Giant cactus.

Visiting the Salar De Atacama

Lake at 4200m height! Really having difficulty to breath (and still need to climb!) there with so little oxygen!

South America Trip - Santiago Update

2008-10-26T17:13:00.004+01:00

Just some quick words here for update. I am now writting this from Santiago city, in Chile, South America. The weather is 27 degree out there, blue sky without single cloud, so I have tucked my jacket simply in my backpack while walking under the hot sun. Surprisingly the air here is dry and pleasant, so I don´t sweat alot, not like back in Malaysia.

I just started the trip on Thursday, flying from Brussels t0 Madrid and then Santiago, with Luc. We have done visiting Santiago on Friday, then yesterday we went to Valparaiso the whole day. Today again doing Santiago before taking a taxi to airport in an hour to leave to Calamar in the north Chile, where we will take a shutter to San Pedro de Atacama. There we are going to see the geysers from volcano and the salt desert, one of the biggest of its kind in the world. It is one of the dryest region in the world, and also the change of temperature day and night, not to mention its altitude at >2500 meter.

After San Pedro we will leave to Lima in Peru for a few days. Then going on to Cusco, Machu Pichu, the Lake Titicaca and Arequipa. All these places are actually Unesco Proctected Area, so I am really excited to go to visit this very precious piece of land in the world.

I will try to update more if I find a wifi, I have got a mini laptop with me :) Gotta go now to catch my flight!

About The India Trip

2008-09-11T00:11:00.012+02:00

Yupe time to update a bit of what happened in India. Friends have been wondering where I am since the return… Basically I am just busy with the project and some trainings. Oh yes all about work, and sport too (you know, I just love badminton) :)

How can I say about India… In fact I have extended my trip to stay extra 3 holidays in Mumbai in order to see more of the country. So here are some facts of my sojourn:

Took my flight on Sunday morning. I was flying on Business class, and I can tell you Jet Airway is not famous for nothing! Their service is superior, and the foods on board were just extraordinary! The seat I had can be adjusted to become a bed, I mean totally 180 degree in horizon! So I was half sleeping watching a film with a champagne… what a way to start a working trip :)
Arrived at Mumbai at 11pm, picked up luggage at a dilapilated hall. The indian smell immediately hit me to remind me that I was used to it in Malaysia... Then we took the hotel cab to Hyatt Royal. Frankly to say, never have I in my life stayed in such a luxurious business suite room, guess my company is quite generous :) I was so excited to explore the room that I only slept at around 3am!
Checked out at 8am and went to airpot to fly to Pune. The other group of colleagues missed the flight and joined us only in the evening.
Busy working in Pune from Monday 18th to Tuesday 26th. Everynight went out dinner with colleagues, crazy eating in restaurants with cocktails and 3 meal courses! (oh yes, gained quite some weight but am working hard to cut them down)
Went back to Mumbai on Wednesday by taxi. Colleague left to Brussels while I stayed on 3 more nights in Mumbai for some sightseeings.
First time took an auto-rickshaw to work in Pune, my experience was like riding a roller coaster, while my colleague insisted that it felt more like a suicidal ride!
Only had stomach problem in Mumbai, because I wanted to join in the local crowds to enter into their culture life and foods, and thus ate some fruits at road side which was rather unhygienic.
Crossing a road was like a combat. First you have to cross one lane, then wait for cars to pass by, then cross the second lane, then wait for other cars again, and finally you will reach the middle separation of the road, then you start trying crossing the other half.
Btw, 2 lanes' road in India means that there are 3 lanes of cars or even 4 lanes! (they just don't respect the lane!)
Indians are great driver, they drive with 5 cm distance from each other. Really, perfect without any collition, only got you scared like hell!
But they cannot drive in any other country because they just don't respect the regulations....
Everything you buy, you have to bargain. I have lost this ability a while after living in Belgium for years!
Most of the restaurants are vegetarian, so ask before you enter. Besides, Indians do not eat beef.
Pollution, pollution and pollution everywhere...
Construction was constant in all roads in India, and a big stone might popped up somewhere in the middle of a road, so be careful...
Drivers keep honking while driving, it's means "I am here, beware". So it is very noisy everywhere in this country due to the car horn...
Weather forecast said 2 months monsoon rain everyday, but we were greeted with 2 full weeks of generous sun.
I love the markets in Mumbai, visited Ali road, best market you can find to get anything you want, and it was ENORMOUS, you would get lost...
Lots of pirated stuffs too, can compete with Malaysia...
Didn't get to visit Bollywood!

Jet airway business

Royal Hyatt hotel

Crawford market in Mumbai

Guide in a market to show us different Indian spices

Mullawabah came at Church Gate train station everywhere to deliver foods

CST train station, the only building in Mumbai under UNESCO

Gateway of India

Sunset view of Mumbai

Enjoying dinner in a Mumbai vegetarian resto before catching flight back to Brussels

Farewell Pune

2008-08-26T09:35:00.005+02:00

Today is the last day working in Pune IBM, tomorrow morning I will take a cab with my Belgian colleague to Mumbai(180 km ride) as our flight will leave from Mumbai to Brussels. Anyway, he is leaving tomorrow night, while I will extend my India trip in Mumbai until Saturday night.

I did some visits on Saturday with the colleague. We rented a private taxi and went to stroll around Pune city. There were simply people everywhere, kind of the same impression as in China. However, infrastructure in India is much ruined and old. Roads condition is unbearable as they are not well planned, and small constructions scatter here and there to block the traffic. Anyway, we managed to visit the Pune Central Mall (though I didn't buy anything), the famous Laxmi shopping street (well see the pictures...), Shaniwar Wada Palace and Saras Baug park.

Sunday I stayed most of the time in the hotel watching movies, though I did take time to visit a few nice shops to hunt some local traditional clothes like Kurta. I missed the beginning of the closing ceremony of Beijing Olympic, but anyway it didn't look as glamorous as the opening ceremony, so I didn't really miss much.

Tonight we are going to celebrate with a big dinner for our last working day, I will certainly go for some cocktails again :) (they really have vast selections on cocktails and they are quite cheap compared to Europe!)

Laxmi road

Shaniwar Wada Palace

*Cow* on the shopping street...

From Pune

2008-08-21T08:14:00.006+02:00

Just a quick hello from Pune, India. Weather here has been quite welcoming, at least we haven't been greeted with thunder storm or heavy downpour. It's quite humid and warm here, more and less like Malaysia, may be a bit dryer though. Until now I still haven't got any chance to do sight-seeing or shopping, the whole group has been working very hard on the project from 8am to 8pm, but every night we managed to enjoy a big dinner feast in nice Indian restaurants before heading back to hotel and sleep. I am really looking forward to this Saturday to start spending my Rupees...

Oh yes, traffic in Pune is unbelievable, I have my international driving license with me but I would never dare to drive in this city! There's almost no sense of 2 way directions, you can drive in both directions on a one-way lane!

Anyway, I will narrate more of my sojourn here when I am back to Brussels :)

Visiting India!

2008-08-10T13:23:00.003+02:00

Just confirmed the flight... I will be leaving to Mumbai and Pune from 17th August to 31st August on business trip. This new project I am joining has intense collaboration with the development team in India, so I will be going with 6 other colleagues to India to understand their working environment, current progress, project installation, networking and to attend numerous workshops and conferences. Pune is the academic center of India with lots of universities and coroperate headquarters.

Normally I should be back on 29th, but I have prolonged the flight to go on personal trip in Mumbai. How can I miss this most populated city in India and soon to be second most populated city worldwide without paying a proper visit!

Mumbai here I come!

P/S:

Sorry for my good friend HHH who is coming to visit me from London in the weekend of 25th... Hope I can make it up in the next planned trip!
Also to Man, that I cannot come and fetch you in Brussels airport on your return from HK!
And to Alessio, because I promised to help you move house and drive you to get stuffs from Ikea!

New Project!

2008-08-10T13:17:00.006+02:00

I just changed my project on 1st August. Officially finished working with the team in Flemish National TV and Radio station, now I head towards the Ministry of Finance. It's a brand new place with 2 big towers, really modern setting and cosy working environment. It is located just next the North Station, which means a few minutes walk from my place. :) So no more morning driving and hasty traffic! Project is very challenging with lots of analysis works and control on the output coming from India development team. Let's hope for a smooth start and great end!

this is my new office :) Another twin tower after my previous adventures in KLCC

Some events in July...

2008-08-08T19:07:00.007+02:00

I have been lazy lately with lots of blogs lagging behind. Certainly there have been many events happening, if you don't know that it's summer time here in Belgium. So I will briefly list out what I have done:

4/7 - 6/7 A weekend trip to Butgenbach with all my fellow sportive friends. It's located at the picturesque Butgenback lake with great mountain view surrounding the site. I have done a lot of sports there: badminton, walking, kayak, swimming and etc. The best part was certainly the eye-candy thingy, but I won't tell you much here :)

trying out difficult challege to stand on the kayak...

photo session during the badminton games

me, dropped in the water due to technical problem... :)
I went to one of the biggest and well-known music festivity in Belgium: Gentse Feesten. Luckily I have a Malaysian buddy who lives there and was willing to give us a city ride. Nice music, live concert and people were everywhere!

river view at Gentse Feesten

one of the decades of concerts
Of course how can I forget the Belgium National Day on the 21st of July! Although I didn't really do anything spectacular. I went to have Dim Sum with a bunch of Chinese friends in Antwerpen city. On the way back we saw some army aircrafts scrolling across the sky in high speed and damn low. I was so distracted trying to watch the sky while I ignored the road in front of me! (mind you I was the driver...) Anyway at night I played badminton until 11pm, and when I was on the way back home, I passed by the Royal Park and was just in time to see the fireworks! So I quickly found a place to park my car nearby and went to watch the fireworks at closed distance. It was really nice, I was there in the crowds with my tight sportive short and a wet shirt. Didn't know if I really scared off somebody...

standing alone in the night street watching firework in sport suit...
Then 24th I took a day off to go to the famous Breden beach in Belgium to take advantage of a summer sunny day in Belgium (oh yes, sunny day is rare during summer in Belgium...). Mind you it's a naked beach, but I just camped at the beach next to the naked beach as I didn't prepare to get all naked for the sake of timidity. It was a great day out with nice tan skin as reward in the evening. We went to Ghent again on the way for the Gentse Feesten and had dinner there.

Sunset view on Breden beach

people dancing during the feest
On 26th I went to the Belgium fair not far from where I live. It's a yearly fair that takes place the whole August. Price of game participation is of course way too expensive compared to those in Malaysia. Besides, it's not easy to win, nor not that fun in my humble opinion. The difficulty level is high as the prizes given are quite valuable. I still very much prefer the fair in Malaysia where you can play cheaply with great fun for more simple prizes. After all you are going there for fun but not to win a fortune...

lots of excitements to be pursued

enjoying my favourite snails cooked in celery and spicy soup

American Movie Day

2008-07-04T10:23:00.005+02:00

It has been a while since I went to bed at such a wee hour in the morning during weekday. I glimpsed the clock on the bed before closing my eyes, 3am! Here's gone my sleeping beauty...

Anyway, I really enjoyed a great night out, alone, well yes alone, but technically, with lots of people surrounded me. It was the American Movie Day in Brussels, as to celebrate the American Independence Day on 4 July. So they have set up a big concert at De Broukere place, and invited Kim Wilde to sing for 3 hours from 9pm until midnight! So yes I went there to watch the open concert alone, since Luc has gone for a business trip in Berlin. It was such a fun, many people were electrified by the groovy performance of Kim. She sang so many famous songs, it was easy to echo to everyone because she didn't just sing about her own songs but those that people were acquainted with. Lucikly the rain stopped just on time to allow the concert to take place. I was basically moving along with the crowds, some little dances and sang along the chorus part :)

Then after 12 midnight the cinema UGC just next door offered grand preview on 13 new films! I was crazy enough to pamper myself a good film at 12:30am on a working day! There were Wall-E, Hancock, The Forbidden Kingdom, Mamamia and so on. I decided to go for Mamamia, as I have missed the musical several times when I was in London. It's such a popular show that I just failed to get a good ticket every time at West-End London! This year in June when I was there I watched The Lion King musical. So I have to make it up to watch my long awaited musical-to-movie Mamamia!

Already in the beginning of the film I was welcomed with great surprises, they have Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth featured in the film! Gosh, I know they are a bit old now but they are just so charming! Especially Colin Firth, I didn't know he can be so funny after his image in the Briget Jone's Diary. The fun part is absolutely to listen to their singing! You have got to know that these guys are actors, not singers, and I can't expect too much from their voice, but I salute their courage very much to take up the roles! I know almost every Abba song in the film, really felt like to sing along in the cinema room (but I just didn't want to shock people at this early hour)...

Overall it was a pleasant movie, I personally think it could have been much better, but well, I just wanted a leisured night out and I have it :) The previous musical-to-movie The Phantom Of Opera was much a successful piece. I have seen the musical in London and I liked what they have actualized in the film.

So here I am in the office with my big black tiring eyes trying to work... Furthermore this evening at 6pm I will have to drive a bunch of friends for 2 hours to Butgenbach for a sportive weekend with my sport club...

Let pray that I don't fall asleep while driving....

Proud B2 player now!!

2008-07-03T14:33:00.006+02:00

Yes I am moving up to B2 level! Finally I have won two C1 tournaments within one season, and I actually made it within two weeks time :)

This time it's a much bigger tournament that the one last week, so it lasted two days on Saturday and Sunday. It's at Soignies, quite some distance to reach there, took me nearly 1 hour by car! I was still given the privilege as second seeded player like last week. I started the tournament rather well, winning in straight sets every round until I reached semifinal to play against a player to whom I have lost last year. As expected it went tight from the very first point, but I managed to close the first set, only to lose the second easily. Third set was simply tense until the last point, I was lucky to grab the last 2 points at 19-19 and win the match!

Just like the Dragonbad tournament last week, I have to play the first seeded player in the final. What the heck, I won it last week against the top seed and I believed I could make it again. Anyhow it didn't go well in the beginning of the match, just after a few minutes later I found myself trailing 3-11. This young guy (ok I have to admit I am getting old...) was just playing at such incredible fast pace! Keep pushing the shutters very low and smashing whenever he can. It took me a while to get used to his shots but it was too late to do anything to turn over the first set.

Second set went better, I improved my defense and played 4-corners tactic to keep my opponent on the run. I tried to give very high clear shots to move him to the back of the court, as he tended to intercept shots and attack suddenly. Once the court was open up, it gave me more time to return to the center position and ready for next shot, in the meanwhile slowed his game a bit. I was also glad my net shots and cross cross-court shots were effectuated perfectly. A few counterfeit-movement to trick him on wrong foots. Anyway, stamina wise I was very tired but I kept pushing myself. I led the set until 20-17, before he came back at 20-21 with a match point! I didn't know how I saved that point, I was just so concentrated and eventually won the set at 23-21!

The third set, basically I have read his game and found my way to shut his attacking game, he started to get anxious and make mistakes, and I didn't give him much chance by winning the last set at 21-10. It was such a release at that moment that I sat down on the court laughing at myself! I was just proud that I pulled it through against a guy much better physically!

So now I am venturing myself in B2 tournaments. I have to start as a new challenger against those high rank players. Anyway, by moving to B2 I have actually achieved one of my 2008 resolution. I am so much looking forward to the new season of Team League starting in September, where I can again play in a team with my great friends!

Oh yes, I must mention this: I have broken my two rackets last week at Dragonbad tournament, and a kind friend lend me his Nanospeed 7000 which I have come to like it so much. I won the tournament eventually and immediately bought the same one the following days. Now I also won the Soignies tournament with my very own Nanospeed 7000! A good racket to recommend to everyone!

Wonderful Sunday!

2008-06-22T22:56:00.004+02:00

I am just so happy today. I have participated in the Dragonbad badminton tournament in Havré and I have won the Men Single C1 category! Now with one tournament under belt, I just need to win another Men Single tournament, then I can move up to B2 category! Actually I have already won another tournament in October last year but since the new season has just started, the counter was reset to 0!

It was such a tense beginning as I actually lost the first set in my first match, but then I managed to come back to win the rest of two sets, and just kept on winning in straight set until final. I always have this nervousness during the first match on the day, I was glad that I just managed to pull it through!

I was so contented that I have invited Luc for a wonderful dinner in our favorite Vietnamese restaurant. Still so full now, but it is good then to stay on the couch as I am watching Eurocup Spain – Italy at the same time :)

Oh yes, too bad the Netherlands has lost yesterday, I was supporting them the whole night, but I have to say Russia was just a better team on the field!

By the way, this morning Luc and I caught a white rabbit in our neighborhood garden. This rabbit has been eating flowers in our private garden! This white rabbit is really so cute but we cannot have it because our cat is rather territorial. So whoever wish to have it, do let me know!

Comme Chez Soi

2008-06-09T17:13:00.007+02:00

Wow... excitement is kicking in! I am going to eat in the best and (one of) the most expensive restaurant in Belgium tomorrow!

Yeah, it went back to 2 months ago when I participated in an Executive game organized by my company. It's called "Leadership in Action" game. Basically about 40 executives in my company would each organize an activity, the employees simply needed to select any activity and guess how many people would participate in that selected activity. It was actually a charity act, because each guess would cost you 5 Euros, and the money collected will be donated to some charity organizations.

There were activities like wine tasting, boat sailing, tennis match and so on. So out of 40+ activities, I selected 2 that interested me.

How to make Sushi + a Sushi dinner
Enjoy an executive lunch at "Comme Chez Soi", the renowned prestigious restaurant in Belgium

(Yes both are about foods as I am gourmand :P )

Frankly, I just put one guess on each activity, and I miraculously won both! How lucky! I have heard of "Comme Chez Soi" so many times for all the compliments it receives and its 'price', until that I wouldn't even dream to one day step in there and eat there! It had received Michelin Guide recognition as 3 STARS restaurant, and mind you there are not many restaurants in the WORLD that are crowned with Michelin 3 STARS! And Michelin is the most highly esteemed guide any restaurant would die for to put their name in their little book...

So tomorrow I will have to wear a costume (oh yes, dress code is applied to enter the restaurant) and join 2 other executives for lunch + another winner too (there are 2 winners of us). It would be interesting to have lunch and share conversations and learn from these experienced colleagues :)

Ok, got to go to Dutch class now, I have a final writing exam this Wednesday, but I am so obsessed by the food now and totally putting behind the exam!

London Trip 1/6 - 6/6

2008-05-29T10:08:00.004+02:00

Still not quite yet settling down in Brussels after the holidays, now I have to again depart to London for a week of work. While seeing that I am not there for holidays, the excitement somehow is greatly reduced. Moreover I just came back from London in the end of March (I think I still owed a blog post for that, gotta write that down soon).

This time around I will stay at Southwark, not familiar with the area, but my company's center is located close by. It will take me around 30 minutes to walk to Leicester Square and China Town area but I think that is bearable. Hmm whenever I mention London, I automatically link it to Malaysian food, I guess that's the frustration being longtime deprived of Malaysia food in Belgium! So I foresee a few extra kilos around my waist after the trip... But no complaint! :)

Anyway, I have the whole Sunday for the visit, then 5 days of work before coming back on Friday night. I plan to watch a musical, most probably The Lion King. But if I cannot get a ticket from Half-Price Booth, I guess I will have to settle for other musicals for the sake of my wallet....

Oh yes better don't forget to meet up Jimmy! My best buddy during the university days in Malaysia :)

Picture: Malaysia renowned dish - Nasi Lemak

Finally Back!

2008-05-27T21:50:00.011+02:00

I have been back to Brussels since last Sunday but I didn't quite manage to find time to update my blog here. Blame the work and the night school and the oh-I-love-to-play Badminton games! Anyway, I am safely home and just finished a presentation for the night class, so I am gladly updating my blog for the amazing European trip that I have just experienced!

Basically the whole trip was going all well, out of 7 flights I only had 1 delay, which was my last flight from Vienna to Brussels, only 20 minutes though. :) Other than that I think I have prepared the trip really well, departure and arrival to new country/city and find the way directly to the hotel, and did the visits I wanted to see. Thanks to Internet! Oh yes and I met many new backpacker friends as well!

I shall introduce every country one by one here in my next posts. Out of the 7 countries/cities, my first choice would definitely be Venice, such a charming and romantic place! (click on the pictures to view a better quality one)

Picture 1: Venice in early morning

Picture 2: Feeding pigeons in Piazza San Marco, Venice Italy.

Picture 3: Horse carriage that you can find everywhere in the city of Vienna

Picture 4: Guard changing event at Stockholm old city Gamla Stan

Picture 5: Cycling around the city of Lausanne in Switzerland

Picture 6: The old city of Valletta in Malta

Picture 7: The famous manhole statue in Brastilava, Slovakia

By the way, I look rather dark in the pictures, thanks to my parents' gene that I would just get tan over 10 minutes under the sun... But I so love sunny days during the trip!

Europe Backpacking Trip

2008-04-30T22:31:00.005+02:00

It's 10:30pm and I have just finished packing my luggage, or I should say my backpack. Oh yes, I am leaving alone on a long-awaited Europe backpacking trip! After having settled down 5 years in Belgium, now I finally make the dream come true to depart on a round-trip in this majestic continent!

I still have to load my ipod with songs, charge the battery of my phone and camera now, but otherwise everything is in place to go. The itinerary looks like this:

1 May - 4 May: Geneva (Switzerland)
4 May - 6 May: Venice (Italy)
6 May - 10 May: St Julian's (Malta)
10 May - 12 May: Valencia (Spain)
12 May - 15 May: Stockholm (Sweden)
15 May - 16 May: Bratislava (Slovakia)
16 May - 18 May: Vienna (Austria)

Right, it really sounds packed and rushed, but hey I guess that's just what the backpackers would normally do! Besides I am taking flights for the inter-country connection, so relocation from one city to another should be rather quick!

Long live traveling! I am truly excited now after these weeks of long hours at work! Anyway, I better go and get everything ready now as I have to wake up at 4am to catch my flight to Geneva at 6:30am!

And happy holidays to everybody!

21 March - 24 March Amsterdam Tournament/Trip

2008-04-09T10:05:00.002+02:00

I went to Amsterdam for a badminton tournament during the Easter weekend. I have mixed feelings in the trip, however I must say I quite enjoyed it. A few things to highlight:

There was absolutely no way to drive in the city, the parking fee was hillarious. It costed 6 euro an hour! So I had to settle with public transport, which turned out not too bad.
I could't believe that they had assigned me a host who lived like 50 km away (well I exaggerated of course). And since I could't drive to the town, I had to take long rides everyday forth and back with a heavy badminton bag!
Well no luck for the tournament, quarter final for both single and double matches. Anyway, I play in A category, the so-called highest category in this tournament. Shall I be contented with the results? No... not really, I do believe I could have done better.
Knew really a lot of friends, especially those came from London. We exchanged contacts so that we would meet up again during my trip to London in a few days time!
The best part of this Amsterdam trip must be the gathering with all the great friends since years! KC was absolutely welcoming as the host in Amsterdam. He brought us to many pleasant places and restaurants, took care of us between tournament and dinner time in his house and cook us some best meals!
On 24th I went to have dim sum brunch with my best buddy Man, and drove him back to Brussels, before surprising him with a birthday party that had been planned since weeks together with other closed friends in Brussels!

I have a new handphone!

2007-12-27T16:36:00.001+01:00

I had been looking around for a new handphone. My old Sony Ericsson T610 that faithfully accompanied me since Feb 2004 was declared dead in September and I received a temporary replacement of Motorola M1. However there were 1001 reasons that I didn’t like M1 phone and so I started my hunt again.

Initially I was intended to get myself an Iphone, well nobody can just resist that cutting edge gadget right? But that idea was abandoned soon after I saw the price at 900 Euro in a Brussels store!

Several considerations for my new phone search are:

Not necessary the latest model, as it tends to be 2 times more expensive, and after a few months the value will drop anyway with more new models to come out…
although not latest model, it should not come with old technology either.
Either Stick phone or Slider phone
Has speaker and can play music
Camera

So after some intensive studies on the internet review sites and some magazines, my initial favourite was Sony Ericsson W610i. Several reasons are:

It is both mp3 and radio player
Can take picture and video
Great features
Impressive experience with the simulator on Sony Ericsson website
Nice look
And most of all, it’s Sony Ericsson!
Reasonable price at 269 euro

I was also attracted by Nokia 5300. It also has mp3 and radio player, bigger screen resolution than W610i and most of all, it only comes at a cheap 169 euro! However I dislike the bulky size and weight of the phone. Besides, the review mentioned that the music quality is less good than S.E. phones. It is slightly older phone since it was already out in 2006. Furthermore, I am always impressed by the phone software in S.E., it’s richer and more complicated than Nokia but you receive lots of functions and goodies in return.

Just when I was rather indecisive between these 2 models, I came across Sony Ericsson K550i on a review website. To my amazement, it has EXACTLY the same features as W610i, slightly different look but the same size with lighter weight! Above all, I found it at 159 euro in a big shop nearby! (other shops that I have visited tagged it at 179 euro)

Without hesitation, I tested the simulation on S.E. website and it is just too enticing! So my decision was confirmed and since last week I am a proud owner of K550i phone! Oh boy, it really worth every penny spent. The music quality is just so good, no wonder S.E. is always the leader on music phone! I am also captured by many new functions in the phone, and the navigation too! The picture quality is acceptable at 2Mb, and it comes with many useful features!

An example of a night picture I took in a Christmas market without much light (and it still yielded good result!):

Another picture taken in the next morning when I was doing ice-skating:

I have been listening to radio day and night, and whenever I went out on the street, to do shopping or cut my hair today… always with my earphone plugged to my previous K550i. I don't need to transfer many songs into the phone (besides I have an ipod for that), with radio channels I have basically access to endless songs!

If I have to point out some defects, it would be the default built-in memory. It comes only at 64mb. Well, that wouldn't fit many pictures, videos and mp3 in for sure. The second thing would be the auto internet connection. I just have to be so careful to avoid any connection to internet with a wrong click on a button, especially when I put the phone in my pocket and forget to activate the keylock!

Oh yes, Luc offered it to me as my Christmas present!

每逢佳节倍思亲

2007-12-20T14:40:00.001+01:00

雾
白茫茫一片
荒洋无际
身在缥缈
独自身一个

家
遥远的一端
望却而不及
佳节的祝福
仍不比亲人的寒暄

心
盘旋.蟠曲
游子声
水滴涟漪起

Pollution

2007-12-20T13:37:00.000+01:00

Including today, it has been 6 days consecutive with negative temperature in Belgium. This morning I could see the screen panel in my car clearly marking minus 4 degree.

Due the to dry and cold weather, the dust has accumulated everywhere in Belgium. The increased air pollution level has urged the Flemish government to impose a speed limit of 90 km/j on highway, but this is not obligatory in Wallonie region. Since my project is located in Flemish region, so I have fully obeyed the rule to avoid any unwelcome summon.

Nevertheless, I could still see many cars overtaking me on the route this morning, they must have driven at around 120km/j! I simply hope that they were just unaware of the new imposed regulation. It would be too shameful to disregard it because coping pollution is the responsibility of every citizen in this country!

Come to that, I reckon that this is another reason why I like so much to live in Belgium. The country has shown a lot of examples being the forerunner in many international actions, including the opposition of war in Iraq, Kyoto Protocol and so on. Global warming is no longer a scientific hoax, regretfully George Bush is too concerned about his country's economy, or should I say his own wallet, to be ignorance on this global treaty!

However, I am excited to hear that Australia has finally rectified the Kyoto Protocol, thanks to their new prime minister!

Oh Cooking

2007-12-19T12:22:00.000+01:00

I don't know since when I started enjoying this hobby, but really, cooking is just the most wonderful art human has come to possess!

First I must admit I eat a lot, to a level that you may say I am gourmand (that's why I have to do so much sport to keep my weight’s balance!). I have been in Brussels for 5 years now and yet my cooking skill is really limited, it's like every 2 weeks I will have to repeat the same recipes again. I learned most of the recipes from Luc, so they are mostly western, except a few like chicken curries or fried noodles.

Anyway, last Thursday I just grabbed an Asian Wok cooking book during my weekly grocery shopping in Carrefour. Christmas is coming and thus I told myself I must be able to pamper Luc and me for a nice (gala) dinner. So the next day I went to a Chinese shop nearby and bought lots of Asian ingredients that I had always been neglecting. So with a book and all the ingredients, I was set to start my experiment in the weekend.

On Saturday afternoon, I prepared San Choy Pao (生菜包), it’s a typical Cantonese dish with beefs wrapped around by a piece of salad leave. The beef was cooked with bamboo shoots, beans spouts, baby onion, garlic, ginger, and some seasoning sauces. That was a complete success for my first essay. The taste was really good that I didn’t even need to add any salt or pepper to amplify it!

Then in the evening I cooked another 3 new dishes – Lemon Chicken (with baby corn and pea), Caramel Prawns with Coriander, and Asparagus Beef. I stayed more than 2 hours in the kitchen to prepare these dishes! A little too long but I am sure I will be more efficient by next try. Anyway they were rather delicious! Except the Lemon Chicken that I thought it could be better, the other two were just finger-licking-good :) Normally the amount would be enough for a dinner and a lunch next day, but Luc and I just finished anything that was left on plates!

Yesterday again I tried 2 new Thai dishes – Tom Yam Scampi Soup and Phat Thai Noodles. There were enormous preparations for these dishes, so I spent again 2 hours in the kitchen. The soup was extra spicy, just suited Luc and me well. Miraculously the soup just unblocked the blocking nose of Luc that had troubled him since months! The Phat Thai noodle was quite a disappointment for me. I tried exactly the ingredients stated in the book but it ain’t the same taste like the one I ate in Thailand. Luc did like it but that still couldn’t convince me!

Then I had a HK friend visited me at night for dinner, so I spent another 2 hours again to do the cooking, but this time I didn’t try any new dishes, just repeating some dishes in order to further improve my new-learned skills. He is a cook here in Brussels and thus he gave me lots of valuable advices on how to ameliorate my cooking.

Tonight the school where I attend Dutch lesson will hold a small Christmas party, with everybody bringing a dish from their country. I will bring along the Phat Thai since I have cooked in a large quantity. I hope they don’t know the original Phat Thai and thus cannot judge on the taste! :P

Hope it is going to be fun tonight!

Amazing, how careless can I be!

2007-12-11T21:11:00.000+01:00

Today I received an email from the project manager, joyfully declaring the first pilot deployment was a complete success! Client’s technicians are happily using the applications we have been developing for 2 years without a single failure! (I guess that must be the first good news I read from him since months…)

Then I was flooded with emails from project executive, executive manager from Global Business Service department, country manager...… With all these congratulation lines, wow, frankly, that just made me a proud member to have joined this project!

Then came all the employees at client site at 5pm sharp, with wines, champagnes, various juices, chips, chocolates, sweeties… That was hell a celebration in the office room with all computers lying around! Another surprise was loaded when the client lead manager gave each of us a bottle of champagne as recognition towards our hard work! So nice of him ;)

Oh did I mention he is kinda gorgeous too? :D

Ok, that basically was the festive atmosphere at this very Christmas season, until I packed my office bag and went to toilet before rushing to my Dutch course…. Well, I couldn’t just hold my laptop bag and a bottle of champagne and open my zip and piss right? Imagine you that?! So I just put the champagne aside on a window sill nearby. Before I could even turn my head, I saw the bottle drop down…. Before I could even scream, “SPLANGGG”… MY GOD, Here vanished my plan of getting drunk in one of these nights in the end of the year! I was just having this image of holding a champagne glass at Brussels Grand Place square with fireworks on New Year’s Eve!

But you know, I was still feeling fine, happily went to study Dutch. Yeah, because I know that IBM will send their employee another bottle of champagne, so I just need to wait for a big parcel from the postman ;)

KEBAB

2007-12-05T12:56:00.000+01:00

Friday November 23

My company has this KEBAB event organized twice a year. It is a technical sharing session where we have specialists within our organization coming to do presentation and elucidate some very interesting technologies that can be beneficial to other IBM colleagues. It's a also one of the best chance to meet other colleagues that you don't normally know because the company is just too big!

I have never been to this event, practically missing the last two occasions due to I-also-do-not-know-why reason... Anyway, I made it up this time, and even more, I volunteered to be a presenter!

So voilà, I came back from South Africa in the weekend and basically I have 5 days time to prepare an hour powerpoint sheet and speech! And you have got to minus those 8 hours daily project work and Dutch courses and badminton training sessions!! Furthermore I needed to take Dutch test on Wednesday night because I had missed it during my holidays!!!

Anyhow, I still survived that :) The event was really **COOL**. I joined a few fascinating sessions, encircling the J2EE technologies like EJB 3.0, Maven and etc. I did my presentation at 4pm on the topic of AJAX. I was glad that quite a number of attendees turned up to my session, including some architects that I have come to know. Gladly I didn't have a stage fright and I took it up quite well actually! There were a few tricky questions from the geeks but hey, guess I am also a geek to be able to answer them :)

I finished at 5pm, didn't even have time for the Q&A session. Overall I was rather satisfied with my performance. Besides, taking up this role allows me to have a better contact with other colleagues and of course, to build network, which IBM also encourages. During the drinks session, people came to congratulate me, and I was even offered an opportunity to work on an interesting project! So let's see where will I belong to after the completion of my current assignment in December :)

I am SO looking forward to 2008!

South Africa Trip 26/10 - 16/11 2007

2007-12-02T12:37:00.000+01:00

Finally added another continent in my visited list. Africa has never made to the top of my favourite places. I guess being born in Malaysia we do not have much information about this gigantic continent. Anyhow, I must now say I am glad to prove myself wrong. South Africa must be the most beautiful country I have ever seen with its well preserved nature and wildlife!

Three weeks in this country in south hemisphere has been an enriching experience. I could have taken hours to write this blog. In fact I have spent almost an hour each night during the trip just to write the diary (pardon me but I am no longer used to write with pen and paper)! Nevertheless, it's going to a short blog now with general summary. I will elaborate more may be in my future blog entries...

Date: 26 Oct 2007 to 16 Nov 2007
Travelers: 2 (with Luc)
Type: Self organized throughout the whole trip! As always we have well planned ahead before the trip :)
Countries visited: South Africa, Swaziland
Natural reserve parks visited: Kruger park, Milwane Game reserve, Hluhluwe-Umfologi park, Botenbok reserve park
Transports: one flight from Durban to Cape town, and rented two cars: Nissan and Honda for a total of 3 weeks
City/Town visited: Johannesburg, Nelspruit, Hazyview, Kruger, Hoedspruit, Graskop, Milwane, Manzini, Hluhluwe, Durban, Cape Town, Stellenbosh, Franshoek, Oudtshoorn, Knysna, Mossel Bay, Swellendam, Hermanus, Simon's Town, Cape of Good Hope / Cape Point, Robben Island
Animals seen: Whales, Lion, Cheetah, Leopard, Buffalo, Elephant, Rhino.... Too many!

Here a photo in front of the famous Table Mountain!

Just a lunch...

2007-10-01T09:47:00.000+02:00

Well as you know Belgium is tri-lingual country with official languages of French, Dutch and German, it certainly adds spices to everyday conversation. Let’s take an example by looking at my experience:

Last week I had a lunch with my manager Pascal, colleagues Bram and Peter at the cafeteria just around the project site building.

Bram is a native Dutch speaker, but manages English very well, and French rather mediocre. So I always speak to him in English. Then Pascal joined us in the table. Pascal is native French speaking, but manages English and Dutch just fine. Naturally I would speak French to Pascal since I am good in French (well if you don’t know my profile, I can also speak good English, Malay and three Chinese languages, and basic-medium Dutch as I am currently attending Dutch night course in school).

Fine, but Pascal would speak in Dutch with Bram since they both speak good Dutch. I couldn’t catch everything they were talking about, since my Dutch is not that sophisticated yet. So in the end we all switched to talk in English. Sounds a better solution no?

Not until Peter joined us though. Like Bram, Peter is native Dutch speaking, but he speaks good English and OK French. Since Bram and Peter are Dutch speaking natively, it would be weird to talk in English, so they would converse in Dutch. As this went on, Pascal and I would then do it in French. Then I would talk to Peter and Bram in English, while Pascal in Dutch with them.

Right, so it was a lunch with three languages switching non-stop around the table. For god sake we were just 4 people. How funny it is this petite country of Belgium. Frankly I quite like its richness of language culture. However to the people here, it means a lot of annoyances. No wonder after 176 years of independence, there are still so many language-related disputes going on in the country!

拼音输入法

2007-08-08T10:26:00.000+02:00

I have always wanted to write a few blogs in Chinese but am always halted by the inefficiency of input method that I am using right now. I use the PING YING input, which is based on the alphabetic pronunciation of Chinese words.

Chinese is anyway my mother tongue and I guess I can be more expressive in my writing fiddling with the words.

Really thinking of learning a new way of inputing Chinese characters… any suggestion out there?

Know a way to get sponsored for travelling?

2007-08-02T16:48:00.000+02:00

It’s amazing, I really envy this guy. Can you imagine having the luxury to visit every corner of the world while having somebody to support your trips and expenses?

And this guy Matt just had that clever feat. Basically he just dances badly, but he is witty. He dances in front of every picturesque scene and monument you can find on our earth, then make a movie and post it on his blog. Now everybody craves to watch his latest adventure and to trace his whereabouts. Soon enough he has gathered enough spectators for his blog’s traffic, and thus come all the diverse sponsors, including Google!

Damn, I would do more than dancing if somebody is paying me to travel around the world!

Here I come Malaysia!

2007-05-22T14:40:00.001+02:00

Yes! After an absence of 1.5 years from my homeland, I will again set my foot in the country where I have spent my 23 years of youth!

Well I have actually prepared the trip since 3 months ago, all the hotels and transports were properly booked. They are just there waiting to be executed by me. :)

I didn't contact many friends about my return, just a few closed buddies and ex-coursemates. I gotta need to spend a lot of time with my parents, since I am going to bring them to visit KL and Singapore. Besides, I am inviting my sister on a trip to Bali island! It's a my long due birthday present for her, but I hope she likes it that way. ;)

The excitement however doesn't kick in as much as I wanted to savor, but I know I am going to be in cloud 9 once I step in the airplane with all the malaysian fellows heading home too!

Right, before that I still need to deliver my project, too busy to think about my trip, or even to pack my luggage (how come I still have time to write blog...)! OK, don't forget to set the out-of-office notice, and to my fellow IBM-ers, happy working and I shall join you guys again in 3 weeks!

Sunshine

2007-04-30T15:07:00.000+02:00

Just came back from UGC today, finally watched the not-sure-to-go-or-not film of sunshine. Well, I have read a lot of negative reviews on this film and that certainly has restrained me substantially, but I told myself I have to support Michele Yeoh at no cost!

Anyway, it is well worth my 2 hours investment. Strictly it is not a 'A' film, but it did certainly entertain me. That's the purpose of entertainment, right?

I can see that the director has high ambition, trying to put a lot of different elements into the film. At certain stage I thought it was going to be another Alien film... Well, the story plot was kinda branching here and there, but it does eventually go back to the main narration. Thank god!

Back to my main intention: Michele was not very striking in this film, just a character that can actually be removed. :(

Roi Du Soleil

2007-04-30T14:20:00.000+02:00

I finally went to see the famous musical show of Roi Du Soleil. It was a bliss to see the original crew from France playing it in Belgium. I have bought the tickets since 3 months back as a birthday present for Luc. Time for him to unwrap the present.

Anyway, it was kinda rush to reach the venue, finding a parking around Forêt National was certainly a laborious task, lucky me that Luc was the driver yesterday. I was just too lazy to setup the navigation system in my car. :)

Back to the musical, I was indeed truly impressed. Having seen several musical shows in London, I tried to convince myself not to put high anticipation on it, afraid of any disappointment that might ruin my degustation. However to my greatest delight, Roi Du Soleil was not only well worth its costly ticket price, but also surpassed all my expectations.

First thing to highlight has got to be the choreography. Kamal Ouali as usual did not disappoint me. Sticking to his glamorous and luxurious decors and dance, it suited the whole narration perfectly. It definitely beat all the musical decors I have seen in London to date.

The actors were too of high adept. Thanks to the early booking (still only was I sitting on 24th row after having purchased the best ticket), I have a great view on the whole scene at direct angle. Absolutely no complain on the voices with those enchanting melodies. I particularly like the part of female singing. A few male voices were rather too harsh or if I can put it, the vocal was not controlled perfectly. Well an exception would be Emmanuel Moire, the Roi Du Soleil of course. He definitely demonstrated his talent and indirectly told /everybody why he deserved the principal role.

A defect would be the actors on second principal roles. They didn't seem to be very professional on the stage, making fun and laughing all the time. Well some scenes deserved happy ambiance, but they definitely went too far at certain stage.

Another point to bring up was the security in the theater. Forêt National was a pure disappointment. For the price we paid, we clearly deserved better seats. It seems like they have squeezed a lot of chairs in the VIP zone. Besides, no control was imposed to prevent people from taking pictures. Those flashes from camera were really distracting me. To my dismay, before the end of the show, all girls rushed to the front stage hoping to shake the hands of their beloved stars. By stamping hard on the temporary set-up wooden floor, they created noises and blocked the view for people at front row. This certainly would not happen in London I reckon.

Well, as a whole this is still a musical that is a must-see for everybody. It was a pleasant night for me and Luc after a long walk in Waterloo around the wheat farm. Adorable day with generous sun in mid Spring, and cultural night with unforgettable play. What more can I ask?

View My Pictures!

2005-04-26T11:26:00.000+02:00

Yes! I have uploaded some of my travel photos and finally I am able to share with friends all the wonderful voyages I have made!

Click here to see

Turkey, where East meets West (26/3 - 2/4)

2005-04-25T23:11:00.000+02:00

Turkey, where east meets west. Just never a better reason for me and luc to visit this country. I must say I was truly glad to revisit Asia again... (though I really felt I was somewhere in Europe still). It had been a week long trip and we were really visiting the maximum of places in the minimum of time frame. Yeah... 2900 km journey in 7 days, make it an average of 400km per day. Gosh, I doubt I would have gone if I had known that beforehand!

Right, I know I am rather impatient in writing, I ain't going to put thousands words here to elaborate in detail all my encounters. Quick notes:

26 March 2005 Saturday (Sunny)

I just remember packing and singing the whole morning
Afternoon train to airport. 2 hours in advance to check in, luc's idea, never know why he always prefers to be so early. I don't
mind the seat, my bums can support the 2 hours journey in any kind of situation anyway...
Right, 1 hour delay, and the roller coaster flight, kind of thrilling me for an exciting trip...
We arrived in Izmir only at midnight, plus the bus and the wait for the group, we left the aiprot only at 1am and arrived in hotel
at 2am. Guess what, daylight saving time was over, so we had to advance the clock 1 hour, means it's 3am when we finally went
to bed!
And the guide just showed that branded smiling face: "we will leave at 7am for the first visit"

27 March 2005 Sunday (Sunny)

Visited Efesus in the morning， Nécropole qnd Pamukkale in the afternoon, before heading to a 5 stars (must rate it high, cause I have my first turkey bath there, and it's free).
Efesus, the best-preserved classical city on the Mediterranean, and perhaps the best place in the world to get the feeling for
what life was like in Roman times, simply one word to discribe it: stupéfiant (french, means stunning). I could even see romans'
toilet, and that was dated back 2 thousands years ago, they already had a sewage system! (glad I was born later, I still dont feel
comfortable to go to shit with 10 other people in the same room together...)
Nécropole, ancien tombstones lied across the mountain site more than 1 km long. People at the time believed that the dead would one day resurrect, and thus they kept the bodies in the huge carved-stone graves.
Pamukkale, might be the best site we have visited in Turkey, purely white mountain with hot spring water. The scientific explanation is that hot thermal springs pouring down the hillside deposit calcium carbonate, which solidifies as travertine. The so called "cotton castle" really lives up to its reputation as one of the wonder of the world.
The dinner in the hotel was superb, I couldn't even count how many starters or main dishes or desserts on display! Definately I didnt fail my stomach, felt like a VIP :)

28 March 2005 Monday (Sunny)

7am and we were off on road again, direction: Cappadoce, distance: 900km!
Along the journey, we went to a caravanserai for a lunch, superb ambiance, totally Turk, totally authentic!
At the dusk, we visited a underground castle. 7 floors in total, reminding the world how the christians lived in the hide of wars.
Finally cappadoce welcomed us at 9pm. Needless to say, a big Turkish buffet and then faire dodo! (faire dodo: sleep)

29 March 2005 Tuesday (Mostly sunny)

7am and we were already on the bus to visit the amazing landscape of cappadoce. The chimney-looked stones stood up at every corner of the city. We walked in the dessert land and visited some troglodyte castles and churches. We even visited people that actually lives in a troglodyte house!
We were a bit bourgeois the night to dine in a chic troglodyte restaurant that presented various traditional dances while serving foods. Of course, I was most interested in belly dance, and I was really having fun seeing how the dancer mocked with old men carrying the real big belly....

30 March 2005 Wednesday (mostly grey and rainy)

The long waiting day - direction: Instabul, left 8am sharp!
I got a bit sick that day, but in the afternoon, a dalfagon just killed all the germs. A happy me is back :)
We visited a national museum in Angkara(capital of Turkey) on the way. No much surprise to me, though it was named the european museum of year 2003.
Lunch in a nice hotel in Angkara, I started to get a bit bored with the same foods everyday.
I managed to stand 3 hours inhuman wait before finally released myself in a toilet at a freeway stop. Gosh, the dalfagon just
stimulated the peeing process!
only after 9pm that I grab my first glance on the renown city Istanbul.
After settling in in the hotel, Luc and I went for a little walk down the town. Gosh, that was freezing cold! Couldn't possibly stay long with my spring jacket. On the street there were people everywhere, the Turks seemed to work late, and it's a lot more animated than Brussels, I just like the shouted bargaining voices here and there, reverberated in the chilly air. And of course, the various food stalls, just embalmed the whole street. I noticed people in Instanbul were a lot more aggresive than those from the rural areas... well, that's logic anyway.

31 March 2005 Thursday (Grey x2 and Cold x 10!)

At 7 am we were droved to a mega store that manufactured leather clothes. They presented us a fashion show, and I was amazed that they managed to get the models to work that early! I almost bought a jacket, Luc stopped me as he thought leather is useless... I shouldn't have listened to him! Now I missed the nice jacket (I really thought I looked great in it!)
We went to visit the famous Sultan Palace + Church/Mosque Saint Sofia, and of course, the trademark of Istanbul: The Blue Mosque. The morning was just super cold. Anyway, I managed to survive somehow.
In the afternoon, we finally visited 'Le grand Bazaar', the biggest market in Istanbul. It was too big and I only had 1 hour to shop, consequence: I bought only one t-shirt. Not enough time for me this slow-decision-maker person at all.
We took a boat trip to visit the Bosphore strait. Lots of nice buildings along the sides, and regrettably it was too cold to be outside, it would have been a better trip in Istanbul if the sun was kind enough to show some mercy!
After a dinner in the crappy hotel, I went out with the tour on a town excursion. Luc stayed back in hotel as he was starting to feel sick. Glad he did, cause it was darn cold outside. We visited a hotel, a shopping street and a bar... nice, full of smokers, I should have stayed back too!

1 April 2005 Friday (Grey)

we left istanbul early at 7 and in an hour we were already on a boat crossing a peninsular to get to Bursa, the third largest city in Turkey. It's a nice city, favorable price for souvenirs, and wonderful snow views. Yeah, still snows in the mountain in April, no wonder it has always been the winter sport city here.
we visited the Green Mosque before lunch. The Iman even sang the 5 prayers song to us. Now I really know what these songs were, they were just the same lyric with different melody! Shame on me living in Malaysia for 22 years and never ever paid a single slightest attention to any tiny voice coming out from any mosque! Well, the Imam in Malaysia won't sing it to me like that anyway. The Islamic concept in Turkey is a lot of mild and friendly towards other religions and races I would deduce.
We drove another 800 Km today to arrive at Selcuk at 9pm. Selcuk is totally a touristic city, nice beach, nice hotel, nice holidays building. Nothing turkish at all, glad that we were here just to stay overnight before taking the flight the next day. I definately don't like the town, I have no intention to visit Turkey like visiting Bali.

2 April 2005 Saturday (Sunny again)

After a quick breakfast, I went for my first professional turkish bath + soap message + oil essential massage. Anyway, I was rather dissapointed, as the venue was too cold, and I was in a rush to catch my flight. Didn't really enjoy it...
10 am and we were on our way to airport. 1 hour delay again, but I was glad we arrived safely to Brussels.
Oh yeah, I managed to take a glance on the mediterranean sea... the turquoise water and astounding rocks just reminded my extraordinary trip in Craotia last summer...

The next day Sunday... I was just playing sleepy pig the whole day....

Blessing April

2005-04-25T21:34:00.000+02:00

It has been a while since my last post here. Laziness is part of the culprit, other than my unbelievable overloaded work. So I am going to sum up a few big events happened recently, just to prevent me from forgetting this important month of my life.

26 March 2005 - 2 April 2005
A week of nomad trip to Turkey

4 April 2005 - 21 April 2005
The last 3 weeks of my job

22 April 2005 - 24 April 2005
Romantic weekend in Prague (oh yes, it's P-R-A-G-U-E!)

Today 18 March

2005-03-20T00:28:00.000+01:00

I have worked in the morning, trying to accomplish a few tickets Greg has assigned to me. I was busy the whole morning working with web interface and java webwork framework. Somehow I was so concentrated that I felt it was going to be the last few tasks to effectuate in this project.

In fact, that's true. I have applied for a half day leave in the afternoon so that I would go to Atos Origin to discuss about the new contract. Yet, I still worked until 1pm instead of noon. The meeting was at 4pm, so I took my time to go down town and have a nice Durum in a Turkish shop that I frequented a lot. Then I strolled around the street aimlessly in the sun, trying to set myself free, knowing that it's going to be day of turning point in my life. I stopped by the biggest shopping street and listened to a wonderful voice of a French guy who was playing guitar at road side. The sun was marvelous, every ray of sunlight was like an energy stream that would stimulate each nerf inside my body, reminding me a guy who came from a tropical country.

I would have listened for the whole afternoon to the voice if I was not in a rush. 4pm sharp, I found myself in the headquarter of Belgium Atos Origin, the office resides more than a thousand employees. I was rather thrilled, excited and anxious at the same time, as long as the contract was not revealed and signed, I was still in the croasroad.

5pm, standing in the big car park of Atos Origin, pumping my heart heavily, I started to smile. Yes! I have the contract in my hand, and I am going to work for one of the five biggest IT consulting firm in the world! the contract was gratifying, all the offers were fine,some even surpassed my expectation. I will have a car, and petrol is included. They will even order a new car for me after 6 months probation period.

After two years in Belgium, I know I am moving up steadily in the hierarchy. It was not an easy path, though I have a lot of chance and tremondous help from Luc. I am grateful, not only to those who lent me a hand, but also those who have pushed me and insulted me. They were the force to keep me moving and striving even harder. I may not be the best, but I will not be a loser, that's why I always exige and prove myself that I can achieve one day.

We will see, a new journey is waving to me. For what may come, I know my choice is made. Smiling, I am writing this post, knowing that I am going to kick some berks in the company before I leave.

Intersection

2005-03-16T22:41:00.000+01:00

Finally I have a lighter and smoother week. Lots of things have happened recently, and again for my life in Belgium, I am going to board a new adventure to work in aother company.

I have attended four interviews in the last 2 weeks, and I have more to come in my agenda. Yet, I will have to stop all these potential interviews, because the company that I am most enthusiastic into has given me a nod.

I went to two interviews on last Friday, spent 6 hours on these interviews, not to mention the journey hours by public transport. I started the first interview at 9am and only found myself home at 9pm. I am truly grateful that my French has been rather beneficial to my performance. All these interviews I have attended so far were carried out in French. Of course, they were all amazed by how fast I have learned the language while pursuing my professional career at the same time... if only they have known the efforts I have put in to succeed in this foreign country.

Now one of the biggest company in the world is offering me a lucrative contract (I hope so, I haven't seen the contract by now, plan to sign it on Friday). The salary should be augmented, I should have a company car, with group insurance, meal check, and extra months salary.... if all these are included in the contract as what I have expected.

Strangely enough, i don't feel much excitement about it tonight. I know I am going to sign this contract, which will signify a big leap in my career path. To have this company in my CV is the greatest reference I can ever ask for. Yet, in fact I do like my current job, I adore working with Java + Web. Too bad that I am leaving all these behind because I encounter communication problem with some people. I know that I have to overcome this obstacle before I leave the company, I have to confront the problem and solve it, else no matter where I go, I am not growing anywhere.

Truly, the lesson I have learned is that: working with westerners, you have to be blunt and let them know what you think. If you are not happy with some acts, you have to tell them in a diplomatic and pleasant way. Being too polite and too generous is not a right way to communicate, as in the end, people will take advantages of you, and you will have no more influential parole. Don't be fearful, they would respect you more if you show your assertiveness.

Anyway, thanks to my current company, I have learned tremondously. Besides technical knowledges, you let me know what is the real working environment, and how I should have the correct attitude to work. I have been stranded by my attitude rather than by my competence (which actually the attitude does lead to incompetence as it's an important element for work) in my professional life. Hopefully I can grow up and avoid the same mistakes in future.

I always remind myself now:
With no fear, I shall succeed
Be more assertive, I shall gain

Million Dollar Dog...

2005-03-06T00:13:00.000+01:00

Just watched the film Danny The Dog tonight. I don't understand why Jet Li would take up this role, for he a super hero well known to asian community, now suddenly appears as a human dog on big screen

Is Hollywood that important? That he would capitulate before the million dollar contract. Please, for the sake of dignity , don't turn into a Hollywood Dog!

发牢骚

2005-03-03T23:31:00.000+01:00

今天又面试了
忘记了在这陌生的国度，这已经是第几次了
才找工三天就有面试，算是很欣慰了

我在布鲁塞尔的第一份工找了足足两个月
使尽所有口才托尽老妈每天为我求神拜佛的福
才给我遇到一个慧眼识英雄的日本伯乐

那份工，我没得弹，那时我巴不得每天都上班
同事都是朋友老板每天请吃
我简直吃篇布鲁塞尔和安姆斯丹的美食佳肴
工作方面得心应手人也变得开朗和英俊 ...

好的东西总不会给你霸太久
公司迁移了我的工作准证只容许我呆在比利时
还好，有了工作经验，这时找工容易多了

这第二份工让我知道什么是真正的篇写员生活
午餐都是三文治+电脑银幕
什么是messenger都忘了
其他人好像是吃喝睡电脑的
我还真怀疑他们是不是在家上香拜电脑的...

日渐久了，同事们都目露狰狞的面孔了
f字简直当诗咏呐喊是说话重金属音乐是代表宁静
以我这种性格我知道我不会待久八字生辰太相克了
过了六个月试用期已经是期限了

现在边工作边找其他机会没几多选择了
或许我也应该臭气相投入乡随俗说f字学霸道学争辩
但就是不行我爸妈就是没这种基因
还是他们父母教养太好总之我已决定寻找另一片绿荫

想起在马来西亚的时候，找工还真容易多了
这里即使我已说得一口流利的法文
那荷兰文我还是一概不通
两年要我精通两种语言，当我是牛顿呀？

看吧，我现在还有钱收暂时就呆住一下
给我找到另一份工时
我说过的，我会走的给你好看！！

Another night with Java

2005-03-01T23:14:00.000+01:00

it looks to me this is a never ending story
once you get acquaintance with a library
the next day a new version emerges

endless packages out there to reach
repetitve searches never yields the desired results
which one am I supposed to pick?

language itself is a beautiful doorway
once you step in you are stucked with despair
so many vendors each with their own benchmark
leaving me suffocated in this world of open source

who says windows is bad
at least it simplifies things
I am still haunted by this unix monster
hiding little java creatures in its arms...

忿

2005-03-01T22:54:00.000+01:00

真的，

这次我已忍无可忍
多少次无眠的夜晚
多少次梦怀中惊醒
我好歹都算是精英份子一个
呐喊轻视嘲笑我都一一受了
能干的能帮的我都全心做了
别以为我不哼一言
你就可以胡匪作歹
东家不打我打西家

等着瞧，
我肯定会走
不过我会走得给你好看！

他和她

2005-02-22T23:21:00.000+01:00

又是学期短休
她，又来他家相聚
正如往常一般。

法国的马塞尔到比利时的布鲁塞尔
九小时兴奋的车程
期待着十四个浪漫的日子
却不知道等着她的
是在一个歇在他怀抱的早上
才发现他的床原来不专属于她

愤怒占领了她的思考
妒嫉一泄不可收拾
她收拾了行李
渡步到我家
勉强的笑容企图掩饰她欲夺眶而出的眼泪

我无从挽留
她倔强的耳朵根本没法腾出任何空间来听我
更妄想能作出理性的判断
找我只不过是想有个人能聆听她的凄境

两方都是我好几
想帮两方面说话结果两头都不到岸
我只能让他们知道
相爱的两个人因一个庸俗的第三者而分开太浪费了

如今的她又回到了马塞尔
布鲁塞尔已经隔离了一个大西洋了

a BIG day for my job!

2005-01-31T23:15:00.000+01:00

BRAVO!!! I am assured of my job!

Finally today the last day of my six months probation period. Ever since I signed the contract six month ago, I never thought I would survive this duration. This job has been very, very labourious for me, but thanks to Luc who keep encouraging me all this while, the perseverance eventually paid off!

We have celebrated it tonight with a delightful dinner in a renowned fish restaurant. The taste is still lingering while I am writing this post!

starter: aperitif of the house + scampi à l'ail (scampi with garlic).
main course: 8 different grilled fishes.
dessert: Dame blanche.
Accompanied with white wine of the house.

I am SPOILED!

Dreams are also multi lingua?

2005-01-31T23:00:00.000+01:00

It was not the first time already when I heard this question:"What language do you speak when you dream?"

It's true that this question can get the head out of those who speaks several languages.

But alas, it's a no-brainer type of riddle.

"Of course it depends on who I am speaking to, I don't remember in my dream that I ever speak french to a chinese friend..."

My blog, at last!

2005-01-31T22:07:00.000+01:00

There has been constant questions about whether I should create a blog to share my story with unknown public. I was rather reserved, may be still now, thinking that it's rather intrusive to let people peek into my personal life.

Recent chat with Jimmy has changed my opinion. Actually a blog can be a convenient way to record everyday's diary, of course it's not going to be like Bridget Jone's diary. This, is a public blog, I shall remain scrupulous, for me have been someone who tend to keep his screets deep in mind, just because there are some matters I could hardly explain to others.

Let's hope this is going to be a new start to set free the chains that has been restraining me from my friends. So here come my adventures in one of the smallest european country, a land unknown to me when I alighted from the flight on the 22nd November 2002...