My “Full Moon” Celebration

I had my “full moon” (end of 1-month maternity confinement) celebration on Sunday. It coincided with the Winter Solstice (Tung Zhi in Chinese) as I have been told that full moon celebrations should not be held after that day in the Chinese calendar.

I had a hot bath with herbs and flowers on that morning.

My first photo since my confinement.

Mom said I should go out somewhere to symbolize the end of my maternity confinement, so we went to the shopping mall later that day. I felt fresher and better after going out although I got tired after a short outing.

I went back to KL with Sze that night as I had an appointment at Serdang Hospital the next day. I’m back in Sitiawan now and I even drove the last half of that return journey as Sze was suffering from a 2-day migraine.

I feel more energetic nowadays although I still sleep quite a lot. I don’t mind sleeping more to reduce my eye bags. I was told that if I still continue to have eye bags months after my confinement, it is very likely to stay there permanently!!!

Meanwhile, Sze and I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

New Confinement Update

2 weeks have passed since I started my confinement and I am also feeling a lot better. During this time, I have lost weight despite eating 5 to 6 meals a day now.

Since the weekend, Malay traditional massage is also helping me to recover. Kak Rubee is an experienced massage lady who has been doing this for more than 10 years now. I have had 4 massage sessions with her so far and even Mom had her first session yesterday.

Kak Rubee also helped me tie the binder that I bought from Amway. This Tropical Herbs binder is supposed to help women get back to shape after delivery.

Meanwhile, Sze’s brother, Peter, was also back from Canada for an IEEE (engineering) conference. I met him for the first time before my confinement but had to leave most of the hospitality to Sze and his parents soon after, despite having made some plans for Peter’s visit.

From left: Peter, Dad, Mom and Sze

Peter (left) and Sze

PS: Our website is back online again. However, the Contact Us page (and some other pages) are still not fully functional due to unresolved technical problems with the new web hosting company.

Confinement Update

It's been 9 days since I started my confinement. The 1st week was really a challenge to me. I had fever and was unable to eat. I couldn't sit properly and couldn't stand. I was bedridden most of the time and it was a torture.

My parents and parent-in-laws were really worried about me. I knew I needed to recover ASAP as I looked pretty sick. I didn't even dare look at myself in the mirror because everyone said I looked bloodless.

I was really scared that I was gonna lose control over my body. For a few seconds, I was gonna give up. But fortunately, this week, I have gotten better. I could finally eat. Thank God!

I hope to get back in touch with you guys soon after I am back to normal. And I hope that will be sooner rather than later. Will keep you all posted. Adios!

PS: Our website is currently down due to a hosting migration technical problem. Hope to get it back online again soon.

Baby Has Left Us

Many of our friends are aware that Eunice was pregnant with our first child. Her pregnancy was into the 8th month (due on Christmas eve) and had been trouble-free... but 2 nights ago, our baby boy left us. He was recorded as stillbirth (placental abruption) in the early hours of 22 November 2008.

We will miss our baby very much...

I'm an Apple Certified Pro!

Yes, I'm now an Apple Certified Pro in Logic Pro 8, Level 2... woohoo! After waiting for 3 weeks (much longer than the standard 7 day time frame), I have finally received my e-certificate from Apple.

In addition, I have also been granted the use of an Apple certification signature.

Although the Apple Certified Pro certificate looks plain and simple, it is still a hard-earned certificate, nevertheless! As there was no Apple Logic certified trainer in Malaysia, ICOM (my employer) fully sponsored my trip to Singapore for the Logic 301 course and exam (Logic 101 was a self-study effort).

Due to the number of topics to be covered, I had a highly intensive 3-day course at iShop by Club 21, an Apple Authorized Training Center. Fortunately, my trainer, Roy Lim, covered the Logic 301 syllabus comprehensively, which was a big help.

From left: Ben Teng (iShop), Roy Lim (Logic trainer) and me (Sze)

I have also been told that the Logic examinations are pretty tough. So I was pleasantly surprised when I averaged 97% in both the Logic 101 and 301 exams! :):)

My Logic 8 Level 1 Score

My Logic 8 Level 2 Score

Currently, I am listed as the the only Logic Pro 8 Level 2 certified professional in the country (Malaysia, besides one other person with Level 1 certification). This listing can be viewed at the Apple Pro Applications site:
http://www.apple.com/software/pro/training/certifieds.php
and Apple Certification Alliance member directory:
http://www.apple.com/training/certification/certpros/index.php

I also found that Logic Pro 8 Level 2 certification is far less common (worldwide) as most certified users only have Logic Pro 8 Level 1. Perhaps Level 2 (i.e. passing Logic 301 course) is really that tough after all... hehe.

However, despite my Apple Certified Pro status, I am still not a certified trainer. My next step is to achieve the Apple Certified Trainer qualification for Logic Pro 8 Levels 1 and 2. This will then enable me to train my students to become Apple Certified Pros themselves and ICOM to be Malaysia's first Apple Authorized Training Center (for Logic music production software). :)

Offsite Meeting @ Avillion, Port Dickson

Microsoft Malaysia's SMS&P (Small and Midmarket Solutions & Partners) team had an offsite meeting last week at Avillion Resort, Port Dickson. As I was also in that team, a few colleagues and me made car pooling arrangements to travel together from Puchong.

We arrived at Avillion PD before 9am on Friday and started the day with a presentation by the HR Director, followed by a seminar from an external consultant. This seminar was quite fun. We had to identify our own personalities and understand how to deal with different types of people. After analysis, I fell into the "Goal Oriented" category, which is typical of managers and directors... hehe. It's amazing how different types of people can form a better team than only having people with the same characteristics.

Angel and me.

After that, we had a scavenger hunt. This was pretty fun too, although my team didn't win the prize. We ended our day with a delicious 10-course Chinese dinner at the resort restaurant. I also had a small, surprise birthday cake too! :)

It was not easy to fall asleep in the evening despite being very tired. We were staying in the water chalet and the waves kept hitting on the rock wall, producing a natural sea wave sound in the background. It felt as if I was lying on my bed, floating on the sea. However, I managed to fall asleep eventually.

I got up quite early the next morning to catch some fresh air. Avillion at dawn was a picturesque scene and looked beautiful.

Avillion at dawn.

We started the day's SMS&P meeting right after the breakfast. It wasn't too interesting and finished at about 12:30 pm. We checked out of our hotel rooms right after that and headed back home. It had been a fun company meeting and we had an enjoyable time :)

Creative "Sign Language"

Is this Malay or English?

The above photo was taken just outside the Serdang Hospital building.

What's an alternative spelling for FREE GIFT?

This photo was taken at the recent PC Fair in KLCC.

My New Job!

It has been some time since I wanted to change jobs. I tried to leave my job last year but the plan failed due to one of my boss' power of persuasion... hehe.

However, a year later, I finally made up my mind to go and I was determined not to perform a U-turn again this time. Since I had to give my employer a 3-month notice, I had to do it with a lot of courage, as I didn't have any job offer then when I handed in my resignation letter.

I had a few options in mind on my next step:
Plan A: Apply for a job in an MNC (multi national company).
Plan B: Take up a Masters degree.
Plan C: Start my own business.

I kept all my options open until the fuel price increase in June. After a review, I felt that the most secure path would still be Plan A. So I called up Microsoft and met the Inside Sales Manager for an interview. I got a job offer a week later and accepted it within a week.

So now, here I am sitting on the 29th Floor in Tower 2 of the Petronas Twin Towers building. I am the Inside Account Manager and it has been a comfortable 1st week working in Microsoft (Malaysia). Wish me luck!

My new office is on the 29th floor of Tower 2 (right tower).

Philippines Trip

During our holiday recently, we went on our latest trip – to the Philippines this time. Our primary destination was Vigan… but the standard response to this place was… “Where???”

Vigan is actually located in the northwest of Luzon (the northern island of Philippines). So the next question would then be, “Why Vigan?” Well, from the pictures I found on the internet, Vigan looked the most interesting – it is one of the UNESCO World Heritage historical sites that claims to be “… the best preserved example of a planned Spanish colonial town in Asia” and has “… no parallel anywhere in East and Southeast Asia.” The only tradeoff was that it’s really far, far away…

So how far away is Vigan? After arriving at Clark airport, it would take another 8 hours in the Partas bus before we reached our destination! But before that, there would be a 2.5 hour wait for the next bus, so we had to join the big crowd at the outside waiting area…


While waiting for our bus, the Pizza Hut booth ran out of pizzas twice and had to wait for their own pizza delivery… hehe. The size of the crowd was partially caused by flight cancellations due to Typhoon Fengshen (aka Frank), which sank the MV Princess of the Stars just 2 days earlier! Phew, talk about timing…

Most of our almost 8-hour bus journey to Vigan would be along a single-lane (per direction) trunk road.


We got to see a lot of the countryside where dwellings resembled villages and squatters (which were very close to the road), punctuated by small townships every now and then.

We arrived in Vigan at 9.30pm and took a tricycle (motorbike with a passenger sidecar) straight to our hotel.


Upon check-in, we found that not only was Vigan Hotel a budget hotel, it was poorly maintained as well. But since it was already quite late - the city sleeps (becomes very quiet) before 8pm – we decided to just stay there that night.


The following morning, we had to endure a 1-hour wait for the hotel breakfast:
8.00am – 1 staff woke up
8.15am – heard gas stove switching on
8.30am – hot water arrives, with DIY instant Nescafe coffee
8.45am – heard gas stove switching on again
9.00am – breakfast arrives… we ordered 2 American breakfast meals but what came was 1 American breakfast and 1 Filipino breakfast (Longsilog)… hehe.

Vigan felt very much like Spain. Its old, colonial charm and heritage has been preserved and restored to maintain the uniqueness of its UNESCO World Heritage status.


A ride on the Calesa (horse cart) is a must in Vigan. We had never sat in one before and had good fun trying it out on 2 occasions touring the old city, which brought us back to the 16th century!


We also found a better place to stay in after our 1st night in Vigan… we checked-in after lunch at the nearby Cordillera Inn, which is on Calle Crisologo (the cobblestone heritage road).


Food in the Philippines was generally not to our taste – we had to rely more on western fast food. Pork (including the fat) is used extensively in Filipino cooking but we were not really fond of that meat :( Their typical breakfast is Longsilog (with Longaniza/sausage) and Tapsilog (with Tapa/beef jerky).

Longsilog

For lunch, rice will be eaten with various dishes of meat and Pinakbet (mixed vegetables). Other common food includes the Siopao (steamed Pao with fillings tasting like soy sauce pork), Balut (egg with embryo), Chicharon (pork rind/skin) and maize, among others.

We visited many places of interest such as St. Paul’s Cathedral, St. Augustine Parish Church, Illocus Sur Capitol, UNESCO Marker, National Museum, Plaza Salcedo, Plaza Burgos, City Hall, Pagburnayan, Public Market and Hidden Garden. More photos of these places can be viewed in our Photo Gallery.

We spent 2 days in Vigan, which was more than enough time to see most of the city attractions. We then decided to take the night Partas bus to spend a day in Manila, although this was not in our original plan. Along the way, we passed by a huge 24-hour wholesale wet market around Cubao in Quezon City – this was our 1st glimpse of big city life since we touched down in the Philippines.

We arrived in Sampaloc, Manila shortly after that (5.30am). We took a cab to Malate and tried to check-in at the Pearl Lane Hotel but it was too early. So, we left our luggage with the hotel and took an early breakfast at Jollibee fast food. Even here, it felt like yet another Longsilog meal… haha.

After breakfast, we walked around the city and came across the Manila Bay waterfront. It was quite dirty after Typhoon Fengshen (Frank) had passed by there just several days earlier. Behind the retaining wall were some of the locals selling fresh fish they just caught from the sea.


After checking-in to the Pearl Lane Hotel at 11am, we took a badly needed shower and a short rest before lunch. We saw the Penang Hill Restaurant at Robinsons (new shopping mall) and decided to give the Malaysian restaurant a try. The menu did not look very Penang at all as there was no Laksa, Char Koay Teow nor Prawn Mee. We both ended up ordering Nasi Lemak - it came in big portions and was somewhat different (served with fried kangkung and very spicy sambal anchovies) but tasty. However, the waiting service was rather poor and the staff needed retraining.


After lunch, we took a walk to the historical Intramuros. We visited the San Agustin Church (another 16th century UNESCO World Heritage site) and Manila Cathedral (which was hosting a church wedding at that time).

San Agustin Church

During our 5-day trip to the Philippines, we found both Vigan and Manila to be pretty safe places – I felt secure carrying my handbag around unlike in Kuala Lumpur, where there is a high risk of snatch-theft. The people here were soft spoken and polite but we also saw several very poor families sleeping by the sidewalk, just a few blocks away from a big, grand casino.

After breakfast the next morning, we took a 2-hour Philtranco bus to Clark airport. It felt good to be coming home once again :)

More pictures from our Philippines trip can be viewed in the Photo Gallery.

My Euro 2008

I have always resisted blogging about football. Even though I am a big football (aka soccer in the US) fan, I also considered that most of our blog readers and friends probably don't give two hoots about this game anyway... haha.

But given the current Euro 2008 fever, it is hard to ignore it altogether. So, what do I do then? Well, jump in on the football bandwagon, of course. The biggest problem is, however, staying awake to watch the games live on TV. With matches starting at 12 midnight and 2.45 am, I will usually doze off even before the 1st game starts... haha. So, I will end up having to catch the replays on TV after work the following evening.

Like many football fans, I regularly follow the EPL (English Premier League) since I am an MU (Manchester United) fan. With England failing to qualify for Euro 2008, some EPL fans will turn to supporting the teams of their club's players while others, especially the girls, will simply go for looks. One of Eunice's girlfriends asked her, "You actually see how they play?" Err... guess the friend just watches the guys instead of the game then ;)

Despite Cristiano Ronaldo's record breaking, 42 goal heroics for MU (he is also the 2008 European Golden Shoe winner and PFA Player of the Year), I remain a neutral fan of the Euro 2008.

MU and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (photo: creative commons / ayahabd)

However, I do have a few favorites - my semifinal predictions (after 2 rounds of group matches) are:

Portugal
vs
Croatia

Netherlands
vs
Spain

And my predictions for the final are:
Portugal
vs
Netherlands

And the winner of Euro 2008 is...
NETHERLANDS!


Haha... I will probably be wrong, but let's just see how far away my predictions turn out to be :)

Skyline Quest

Recently, we launched a website for our new company called Skyline Quest. We had both been very busy and had to delay the website several times. But we are glad that we finally got to finish and upload it online.

So, what is Skyline Quest all about? No, it has nothing to do with Nissan Skyline, but rather, it is a registered business that takes advantage of both our backgrounds in IT and music technology. Skyline Quest is an ICT solutions provider that specializes in business productivity applications, multimedia hardware and software products, music technology tools as well as various types of web-based services.

And if all that sounds too technical (haha), in other words, it simply means that Skyline Quest is a company that supplies a wide range of products and services – computer hardware, software, audio equipment and web services, all at competitive prices.

Our aim is to provide our customers with the lowest prices without making losses. Thus it becomes a win-win situation. So, if you are looking for any IT products and services or audio production and musical equipment, primarily in Malaysia, then please feel free to contact us.

For more information, please go to:
www.skylinequest.com

Meeting My Ex-Student

Robin was my ex-student at ICOM from about 10 years ago. He continued his studies after that at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA and is now a music producer, engineer and drummer based in New York city.

I was fortunate enough to learn of his holiday trip back to Malaysia this month and I "took advantage" of him (haha)... I asked if he could do a seminar for my Digital Audio class and Robin, just like the cooperative and exemplary student during his ICOM days, obliged (despite his very tight schedule in KL) by coming in to share his knowledge and experience in recording a live jazz trio.

Just before he left for NYC, Robin managed to squeeze in a little time to meet up with me and Eunice over dinner last Saturday. We met in Thai Express at The Curve. It was an interesting catching up session and exchange of stories, including how Eunice and I met. Although that story is also available on the About Us page of zenetlife.com, Robin had a 1st person account from us on how it happened, with quite a few more details, of course (than the summarized version on our website)... haha.

Another ex-ICOM student, Cecilia, later joined us at Thai Express. I have not seen her since her graduation ceremony about 5 years ago, and we caught up with each other too.

* From left to right: Cecilia, Robin, Eunice and Sze.

Towards the end, the air in Thai Express was getting hot and stuffy and it was time to go. But it had been quite an enjoyable evening for all 4 of us.

* Photo courtesy of Robin.

My Parkville Townhouse

Dad had frequently advised me to buy a house for investment since I have always had a place to stay in. In fact, Dad was more like pestering me about it... hehe.

I had been thinking about heeding Dad's advice but houses in KL were just too expensive and beyond my financial capability. So I asked Mom to look out for a cheaper piece of property back in Sitiawan (where Dad and her were staying). After a long wait, Mom found a single-storey house for RM98K. However, Dad wasn't too keen on that house as the value of property there does not increase as much as in KL/Klang Valley. So, I started hunting for a place here in KL after Dad indicated that he would help me out financially.

I looked at several places and found Desa Coalfields in Sg. Buloh. As it (Sg. Buloh) is a rapidly developing town, it seemed to be the new boom area. Rental rates and house prices there would surely go up then. A new, double-storey terrace house in Desa Coalfields would cost around RM238K now - other similar houses that I have seen elsewhere are in excess of RM300K. But when I asked several friends and colleagues for their opinions, many were not keen on that area as it was further away from the city.

Based on that feedback, I started looking for houses nearer to where I live here in Puchong. A friend of mine took me to see a new house nearby which she bought recently, and along the way, I spotted an interesting block of showhouses - they were the Parkville Townhouses in Bandar Bukit Puchong. It had already closed for the day, so I went back there the next morning with Sze.


Being a townhouse (duplex), there was the lower unit and the upper unit. Many house buyers might like the lower unit but when I saw the upper unit, I fell in love with it immediately... hehe. The interior was beautifully designed and was very spacious. At 1560 sq. ft. (24x60 ft.), it was priced at RM239K, which was about what I would have expected to spend.

I went back to see the Parkville showhouses with my younger sis later that same day and she loved it too. We compared it with a few other places after that but none could measure up and impress us. So 2 days later, little sis and me booked 2 upper units of the Parkville townhouses :) We paid an extra RM8K each as we wanted the end (corner) units.

Election Day

8 March 2008 marked the date of the 12th Malaysian General Election. Soon after the Prime Minister dissolved Parliament on 13 February 2008, we could see flags and banners of various political parties appearing all over the city.

Campaigning fever then gripped the nation after the nomination of candidates on 24 February 2008. The political candidates in our area are:

PUCHONG (Parliament) -
Lau Yeng Peng (BN-Gerakan, incumbent) vs Gobind Singh Deo (DAP)

SERI SERDANG (State) -
Datuk Mohd. Satim Diman (BN-UMNO, incumbent) vs Ahmad Idzam Ahmad (PAS)

Come election day, we arrived at our polling center at about 9.15am. There were many cars parked by the roadside and 3 political party booths set up nearby - 1 for BN, 1 for DAP and 1 for PAS.
Strangely enough, the DAP booth was closed (on election day!!!) while the other 2 booths were busy trying to woo the voters.

We had previously printed out our voting info (from the Election Commission’s website) but a BN party worker requested us to re-check our info at their booth as there could be mistakes. Our printed info turned out to be accurate while the voter info distributed by BN earlier contained a mistake!

After that, we proceeded into the school compound where we passed by yet another booth – this time, the Election Commission’s booth. We didn’t stop as we already knew our polling streams. An election worker gave us directions, and we went towards our voting rooms.

I was in Stream 7 while Sze was in Stream 4. I didn’t know where I was, and when I asked a policeman, he said that I was standing right in front of the Stream 7 room… oops! Everywhere else, there were many people lining up to vote… except me - I just walked into the room, got my polling slips and casted my vote. I think I was the fastest voter! Sze had a longer queue but he was soon done with his voting too.

While waiting for my parents-in-law, we saw a “gentleman” arguing loudly with an election officer and a policeman, who threatened to arrest him and subsequently pulled him out of the building. Apparently, the man had wanted to change stream to one with a shorter queue. The police later released him and peace was restored. We left the polling station after an hour.

And oh, the winning candidates in our area are:
PUCHONG (Parliament) - Gobind Singh Deo (DAP), won by a majority of 12,593.
SERI SERDANG (State) - Datuk Mohd. Satim Diman (BN-UMNO), won by a majority of 45 only!

Hat Yai Trip

During the recent Chinese New Year (CNY) holidays, several of my family members organized a trip to Hat Yai for the whole family (err… actually, it was me who asked Mom to plan for the trip). As we had planned to leave for Hat Yai from Sitiawan on the 2nd day of CNY, Sze and I left KL for Sitiawan after lunch on the 1st day of CNY itself. Although it is a tradition for the Chinese to visit the wife’s family on only the 2nd day of the new year, people are more flexible and practical in this 21st century.

After dinner and a night’s stay in Sitiawan, we left for Hai Yai at 6.30am. There were 10 of us and we went in 3 cars. Upon reaching the border checkpoint, the Thai immigration counters were already pretty crowded. There were long queues but fortunately, some of the lines were moving along quite fast.

We finally arrived in Hat Yai at about 12 noon local time. It was Sze’s first time here and his first impression of the city was that Hat Yai, being less developed yet feeling somewhat familiar, resembled KL 2 decades back.

Hat Yai city.

We checked-in to the Siam Center Hotel and had lunch in a coffee shop at the corner of the same hotel block.

The Siam Center Hotel.

The coffeeshop around the corner.

After a quick meal, Dad and (my sis) Fiona’s boyfriend went for a golf appointment with a few Thai friends while the rest of us headed to our 1st shopping destination – the Old Market.

On the way to the Old Market in a tuk-tuk.

It was very hot and stuffy in there but then again, shopping is a girl’s favorite pastime! So, all the 5 ladies in the group were buying things like nobody’s business while the 3 guys just tagged along for sight seeing. I bought 2 pairs of shoes soon after we arrived and helped Fiona with her shoe shopping after that.

Shoe shopping inside the Old Market.

That night, we had dinner with Fiona’s new Thai business partner. After that, we went for a walk, wondering where to shop again. On our way to the shopping malls, we saw some lion and dragon dances on the street. Sze had never seen lion dances on poles before and we were both very impressed as the performers jumped very high and very far too. During our short time there, the lion fell off the poles at least 3-4 times while attempting those very difficult jumps and it would then restart its jump sequence all over again!

Lion dance video.

Following the lion dance, the same troupe performed a dragon dance. That was also quite interesting, with the dragon climbing up a very tall pole, a little boy on another equally high “rocking” pole that falls to the ground and fireworks from the dragon’s mouth.

Dragon dance video.

After the performances, we walked along a night market on a very busy street where Naomi and I got ourselves a couple of wire keychains. Mine had the letter “Z” attached to a wire butterfly while Naomi’s 2 keychains had her boyfriend’s and her name written on them. We went back to our hotel after that.

Keychain with the letter "Z".

The keychain lady.

The next morning, we had a buffet breakfast at the hotel. The buffet spread was quite limited in choice but we still ate heartily. Right after our meal, we went to the Odean shopping mall. We bought quite a number of sundry goods as they were a lot cheaper there compared to Malaysia (tip for the ladies: Whisper sanitary pads were much cheaper in Hat Yai than in KL).

After leaving all our shopping bags back in our hotel rooms, we went for lunch. Both my sisters and Mom were skipping lunch and had already gone to the Central department store for more shopping. The rest of us proceeded to a nearby restaurant just opposite Central.

The South Thai Bird's Nest restaurant.

The entrance to Central department store.

After our meal, we joined the 3 ladies at Central and I managed to grab myself a good pair of Levi’s jeans. Later on, Sze and I continued to walk around the city on our own. That’s when we came across Boots! So far, I’ve only seen Boots stores in Thailand, apart from England.

That evening, we had dinner at a local Thai restaurant. This place had previously been patronized by the royal princess but it still remained as humble as ever. However, they serve very authentic Thai food where some of the dishes were quite spicy while some others were sweet… There was only 1 word to describe the food – DELICIOUS!

The humble restaurant serving authentic Thai food.

After dinner, we took a walk downtown and saw the lion and dragon dances again. They continued to impress us and I decided to give them an ang pow this time as they were very deserving performers. We went back to the hotel after that.

At 6am the following morning, we checked out and went for a very early breakfast. However, the hotel’s breakfast trays were not ready yet. After waiting for about 15 minutes with no air-conditioning in the building (since the middle of last night), we had a quick breakfast and left for Malaysia immediately after that to beat the expected “back to KL” traffic rush.

Bon voyage sign at the Thai immigration checkpoint.

We had enjoyed visiting Hat Yai and look forward to having more trips in the next few months. More pictures from our Hat Yai trip can be viewed in the Photo Gallery.