H2W In Port Dickson : Part (II)

To all my friends in Penang, throughout Malaysia or oversea yg bc my blog ni; here are the pics of my Port Dickson trip yg I promised ari tuh; courtesy of Azmir’s camera (tima kasih!). There were beach football & volleyball and many more. And oh yeah, sebenarnya we have pool activities (nite swimming n polo). Luckily takda gamba nite swimming sbb x-rated sket (hahha). Above all, the memories are worthwhile =)

 

Independence. Emotional. Birthday.

Happy 50th Indepence Day everybody!!! My celebration is mediocre-ly subtle aka DUDUK RUMAH @ TIDO AWAL (ahaks!). I envy my H2W peeps for having good night (surely la) at Rashid’s place kat Damansara (huhuh..hehe). Well, what to do? I’m actually not living in  my own residence and having Ayah here for a week was an adding point to not do anything except stay-at-home. I always try to be a good son but it seems that I will never match up the expectation. As naive and goody2x I am appeared to be, I still don’t match up the GOODNESS HIGHEST HIERARCHY yg my parents’ expect from me. Growing up in a middle class orientation means children are not supposed to retaliate when their parents’ mad at you. But having parent who like to provoke until we start to fight back and then try to win over by using the FILIAL PIETY (mak bapak betul semua sbb they already makan garam than us.); it really suffocating!

• If I were to balas balik I will get " jgn dok buat kurang ajaq; baru nak belajar idop dah nak berlagak".
• If I were to be stoned cold I will get "bila org marah buat muka masam; tarik muka tunjuk sombong".
• If I were to straight thing right I will get "anak org lain bagoih tak melawan; org ja dok puji bagos tapi perangai suka melawan!"

I love them but it soffocates to have them coming up to me and to say WHAT I CAN DO, WHAT SHOULD I DO & DON’T DO. I need my own space in this age!

Anyway, done with the emotional part tu (actually kena trigger by a recent commotion tadi; whatever la) .On the 30th August tu, H2W semua berpakat to buy Heidi a cake in commemorating (erk? sound so official la plak) of her birthday hari tu jugak. Happy birthday Heidi ! Dalam celah-celah masa tea break 3.30pm (break from the o verpowering-ly BORING, DROWSY & SATURATING torpor due to the lecture pasal  banking rules & cheques procedures). And Oh ya, next week probably on Wednesday kot; all of us will be segregated to branches for a 10 days attachment-practical on credit bankings ni. Kinda nervous though… On whole, I enjoy the companies of my H2W team members. I think I will miss them if were to change any jobs ker,etc. Anyway, i’m glad that I chose to come here instead of submit myself to my parents’ anxiety. Although the living expenses in KL is quite expensive for a greenhorn worker; but the exposure you get is precious. Not that you will not meet the same experience in other place; it’s just the hub of variance. Itu yg membuatkan the life here is full of colors.

AFFIN’s Managment Trainees (H2W) In Port Dickson !

My trip to Port Dickson for AFFIN Bank’s Management Trainee "Get To Know Me-And-You" back on 6th of August was fantabulous. Cuma I’ve been busy takder masa nak recap everything (and still waiting pics from Azmir. Well kinda pushy last night reminding to transfer them so I guess you guys can tengok all the fun pics yg banyak2x tu; maybe dalam entry lepas August kot sebab kapasiti 50 pics in blog Friendster dah nak abes dah).

Anyway, I was a bit nervous initially ‘coz saya masuk lambat sebab contracted with dengue fever tu so there were few people yg I didnt know lagi masa tu. But it turned out that everyone was and is great and believe it or not, each one of us is strong in our own way (not just a matter of speaking tapi mmg real! I guess AFFIN senior management foresee that in us). Anyway, our batch is named H2W ( they picked it masa I absent with the dengue fever tu) to represent the motto of the batch = HAPPY, HEALTHY & WEALTHY. We are comprises of 18 people :-

1. Rashid Brown  : A mixed parentaged guy who is the jester and drama king of teh batch. Very friendly chap and he mix well with everybody. Talkative and funny.
2. Azmir  : Seemingly quite initially but when he warms up, he cracks jokes like professional stand-up comedian (hehe). Loves photography.
3. Nik : The debonair of the batch. There’s an aura of charisma when he speaks. A kelantanese but he can switch to northern dialect convincingly ‘coz he studied at the Jenan school back in Jitra.
4. Zaidi : Most approachable. He is the tallest in the group and a MU fanatic. He likes playing brother figure and he has a robotic expression when crack jokes (hehe).
5. Kareena : Happy go-lucky girl who loves partying. She has warm personality and contagious laugh!
6. Rina @ Seth : Very approachable. She can switch her accent and dialect of northern, nogori (she is) and the american slang. She is also caring and really look up her as a mother figure/sis. She is also another version of Kareena = contagious laugh! Love her!
7. Fathia : glamorous girl who is fashionable. She has girlish personality that will make hot blooded males temperatures’ up (haha). But seriously, she is friendly and quite chatty too.
8. Deana : the cutest one with a unique sneeze. She is an X- Hitz.FM part timer and also a complimentary to Fathia in a girlish and adorable.
9. Yati : a mother-looking who is artistic. She can also speaks and writes in Mandarin!
10. Linda : A TESL-graduated who hailed from Tersang just like my bro-in-law. Firm with diplomatic aura.
11. Mida : Beautiful Kedahan with a mixture of Dutch blood. She’s  a manja girl with some unexpected layers =)
12. Misha : The yoga-crazed girl who is an observer. She’s very talented and she likes astrological and star enumerations. She’s also the founder of ‘main kutu’ scheme of H2W.
13. Heidi : The ex-beauty pageant contestant who looks like Ziela Jalil. Dominant with go-getter personality with a far vision.
14. Chen Chen : The lovable girl who always give me good advices and I sometimes confide in her.
15. Dalia : The only married member. She used to go to St. Geoges’ and she likes to play dress up. Like rina and Nik, she likes to alternate to northern dialect when speaking with me. Athlectic; used to be a gymnast.
16. Regina Mariah : One of friendlist member. A Sarawakian who dances to Rihanna’s "UMBRELLA" like no other! Like her!
17. Muna : She’s very energetic and friendly. She has the aura of go getter and very self-driven. She originally from Kedah.

Our first 3 days were confided with the inner activities like essential soft skill presentation; sharpening our interpersonal and objectivities. Each games is designed to suit with the values of AFFIN Bank’s work ethics. Kolonel Mohan and his daughther, Miss Dalita were friendly and approachable folks; they had us dancing to bhangra songs (you can imagine there were a lot of body grooving) and war-cries (hahaha, i enjoy them ‘coz my childlike insticnt) and corporate song singing.

Another 3 days were more of outdoor activities under the command of Kolonel Zainal. Wow, that was really exciting although we were scared initially. He was a funny guy as well as jovial and his comrades (more of his righteous men); Kolonel Rosli, Cik Azrul, Kak Putri were jovial lots as well. We did

• repelling-ceiling (yg turun dari atas ke bawah) at the cliff @ gaung tepi pantai;
• Kayaking (my body ached with blisters)
• Jungle trekking for nearly 4 hours (with bearing readings)
• pelampung testing
• Camping and Jungle Idol ( I had blast time; hahaha; I guess everyone agrees =p)

There were myriads of things yg tak dapat saya tulis secara details coz there were so many experience yg dialami. By the end of the trip, everyone learnt to appreciate everyone bcause we learnt valuable lesson that " we have to embrace each one’s strength and weakness".

p/s : There will be another entry solely dedicated for the PD pictures courtesy of Azmir’s highly-efficient RM3000 camera (hehe). Be prepared =)  

 

18th August 2007 : Convocation Day. My Graduation As A BSc (Microbiology) !!!

Life is so restricted with schedules these days that I hardly could any spacious days to update my life in this blog. There are actually sweet things (and of course sour) in my life yang tak tersempat nak ditranskripsi. Apa2pun, I’m glad I have chosen this path to embark. Anyway, I am about to recap about my Convocation Day on the fateful 18th August 2007 last week.

For the past last 2 weeks, i was really workin’ my ass non-stop as in went back and fron to Penang-PD-KL-Kedah. I was travelling and it had become my routine naik bas ekspres. Anyway, arrived at the  Sungai Nibong’s Bus Station around 4.30am sebab pushed off from Pudu around 11pm (hari jumaat lepas kerja. I was so damn exhausted that day! Luckily I ter-dozed off in the bus). Sampai sana, Muzem tolong amik using NIZAM’s (ahaks!) motorcycle. Thanks Muzem for being a helpful hand during my Convo period. Around pukul 6am, woke up    to prepare the jubah and all convocation essential paraphernalias; around 7am started walking to USM; mendaftar diri at dewan kuliah yg sepatutnya. Meet up with couzy Ween around 7.30am; Muzem has being very helpful (again I have to thank him for really make my task quite ease that day). Frankly speaking, I was VERY TIRED and PENING & BERSERABUT ‘coz I was scheduled to meet up with my parents jugak nak bagi tiket konvo. Imagine both parties (me & my parents) hailed from different direction of Malaysia (Me from KL while they from Kedah) and hanya berjumpa on the day of Convocation itself! Alhamdulillah, everything went well although there were minor glicthes over here and there.It was fantastic experience meeting old acquaintances and friends back! I miss them so much and I have to say I appreciate what my parents did to me. On that day itself, Ayah demam but they still came and that was a token of their love towards me. I didn’t quite spend much time with them as they had to hurriedly went back. Anyway, I really appreciate each thoughts and gifts from all of you. Frankly, I don’t expect anything ‘coz masa konvokesyen previous batches I tak bagi apa2pun. Anyway, Kat you still owe me the gift yg tak sempat bagi tu (ahaks!).

But I was a bit dissapointed tak dapat jumpa Zulherly when he called me ‘coz I was on the way with my parents to Dewan Pelajar to collect my frame gambar. Imagine having your parents nagging at     you for ‘putting your friends as first priority’ and at the same time your friend called you up saying he was tehre just to meet you and asked of ur whereabouts?! Anyway, we didnt meet up (takda rezeki) instead I bumped into lotsa other friends. It was also a very nice feeling meeting the Al-Idruses’ (Couzy Ween’s clan) and Kak Bujie, etc (I’m expecting pictures yg banyak2x tu!!); siap tumpang duduk kat RED CARPET VIP la since Ween’s bibi, Syarifah Munirah was in charged for teh convocation routine! Ahaksss!

Balik to KL pukul 8pm malam hari tuh jugak after dinner with my ‘it’s complicated’ dear and her friends. Thanks dear for the gift and hantar me to bus station. =)

Crying In The Restroom.

IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU.IT’S PERSONAL MYSELF & I. WE’VE GOT SOME STRAIGHTENIN’ OUT TO DO.

Life as a banker is not a bed of roses. During this past week we are having a lot of self-potentials workshops like sharpening the presentation skills and yesterday + today is the grooming. Grooming as not just your attire should be color matching but your your whole body. And just now, we had to pretend that we are some professional from a certain company and we are to sell ourselves; make the customer believing in you to sell the product. I get the WORST review among all and were made as an example of someone who knew nothing of his goal/passion and just rambling in front of the audience.

The instructor, Miss Isabela Roy said I’m more suitable for the Customer Services Department (still rather hesitated with that tho)rather than HR (which I confidently told when was asked). We were asked to list out what are the criteria we think we possess and a few friends evaluated us. Since I have listed that I’m a ‘persuasive; person, I’m suppose to exhibit that in front of the audiences (today). The result was a disaster. At first I thought I would like to do it alone, pretending I were from an Insurance company (to project out my ability of persuasion). But then, Yati came along as suggested that we collaborated; so the initial was scrapped and now we were this Consulting Firm doing research on the unemployment rates among the fresh graduates in Malaysia. I was rambling gibberish (that’s what Isabella labelled me) as I had no passion for it while Yati was smooth-flowing. Good for her. I’m not blaming her but I’m so sad because I obtained the WORST review and were amde as BAD EXAMPLE among my cluster; and most of my team members were getting praises. I felt so stupid, so dwarf, and not to say so left out. I felt I’m not belong here with my scientific background while others are just so economic. I also feel that Isabela was not giving her full attention when it was my turn but to others was the otherwise.

People who read this might not understand coz this is merely words; it can’t illustrate the whole emotional upheavel in me now. Everyone’s gone for lunch but I don’t feel like going; skip lunch to write this blog as a remedies. Everything is in English these days; so you can see how it goes. I felt so embarassed because almost everyone get praises except me.. I’m the loser one, I’m the weakest one, I’m the outcast one. God, I HATE this! I’m not used of being that and suddenly now here I’m being the loser. I hate to write this but I even cried in the toilet just now after try to tahan menangis in the room. Why do I feel like a misfit? Isabella’s exercise just now was to point out where our strength and which department suit us best. Looks like I had no credible to be in anywhere. She bluntly and brutally (she acknowledge that) I’m not fit to be in HR but Customer Service. Even Azmir (he reminds me of Zhafry; the way he speaks is classic Zhafry.) who is a quite quiet person is getting praises and Isabella was over the top with him. I felt so secluded in that big room. I’m so sad….=(

NOTIFICATION UPDATES

My teammates of H2W (Happy, Healthy, Wealthy)= My AFFIN Bank batch; have been very supportive and I’m really touched by some of the caring shown by some of them. Misha for example had given me a nice advice as well as Chen Chen, Nik, Zaidi (although he was having the same dilemma like me), Rina, Dalia and all. generally, everyone has been darlings by being supportive towards me (even the implicitly snapping back at Miss Isabella Roy). Anyway, I just wanna put everything past behind me. It’s the future and what I had gained from the terrible experience of ’soul-searching’ had taught me.

Anyway, I’m now at CC MindMaker Penang after my Convocation Day. It has been nice meeting everyone. I hope to make a special entry for both my Convocation Day and Trip to PD (still waiting pictures from Azmir,Mida, Rina,etc).

* Since the song is Big Girls Don’t Cry, I re-phrase into "Big Childs Don’t Cry". *sigh*

I Need Some Shelter Of My Own Protection. To Be With Myself In Center. Clarity. Peace. Serenity.

My New Jukebox Song is by Rihanna = "SHUT UP & DRIVE" !~

” Which Came First; The Phoenix Or The Flame? – A Circle Has No Beginning.”

" Which Came First; The Phoenix Or The Flame? – A Circle Has No Beginning."

The title of this entry is to imply the endless circle of life *(TAKEN FROM ‘HARRY POTTERS & THE DEATHLY HALLOWS’ RAVENCLAWS ENTRANCE QUIZ); symbolises by the kitaran hidup of Phoenix who always rise back from the ashes after the Burning Day. The process is a continuous chronology; same like our journey of life on this planet. (For those who do not understand what I’m saying about this Phoenix, do make a research first about the life cycle of phoenixes or you can simply read Harry Potters if knowledge about mythical creatures is limited). This title as the matter of fact relates to my immediate families these days.

I just went visited Wan (my grandfather) and it seems his condition is getting worse. He is going senile and keep packing his belongings in this bundle of cloth and a ‘parang’; urging people that he  ‘wanna go back to his home’ although he is actually at his own house! It’s kinda sad thing to see (and a lil bit mixture of humorous) seeing him looking very feeble and frail when boarded down the stairs but he went into this energetic Tok Mat ‘Gear’ when he is about to roam around leaving his house to ‘go back to his house’ (he even sesat; lurking at the nearby madrasah; luckily someone found him).

He has been going on in this state for nearly 2-3 weeks (the last time I went to see him he was in a good condition; that is before the dengue fever). Tok (my grandmother) is quite distraught yet sometimes cracking jokes because partially, all these shenanigans seems a little bit humorous = Wan insisted that he wanna go back to his ‘house’; lurking out from the house in the neighborhood in wee hours (12am-3am); and packs himself a ‘parang’ and a metal stick; bare-footed; make a roam around the area nearby then go back to own house; asuming he already ‘arrives at his own house’!

That’s teh circle of life. I told Ayah that I’m kinda sad to see Wan in taht condition and he said this is a normal process; everyone would eventually experience this; the adults becoming senile and acting like a child again. It’s all rooted to the basic. I hope Wan will be OK although deep down we all actually ready to accept the fact that his age doesn’t contribute much to the senile-occurence. Pray for his health~…

Tinseltown’s Scandals & Self Fetishes.

Hollywood never shy away from controversies, scandals and the latest gossips of what’s hot-and-what’s not. As an entertainment freak, I am an avid fan of channel 76’s E!News and E! Daily Ten and these are the few line-ups of the Tinseltown’s latest.

The talk of Hollywood these days would definitely be the pregnancy of Nicole Richie with boyfriend, Joel Madden of Good Charlotte (Hilary Duff’s ex). After all the hushing-ups and denials being made, the twosome finally confessed to news anchorwoman Dianne Sawyer that Richie is 4 months pregnant. Besides the baby-in-the-belly news, Nicole also is targeted for her upcoming sentence of reckless driving under the influence of marijuana. She is set to be sentenced a 4 days-in-prison (which is like totally ridiculous!!! Whatdaya expect? They are celebrities after all). While Paris Hilton has somehow shed her bimbo-ness accent when interviewed, Nicole Richie can still be traced with the bimbo-esque attitude and nasal-voice-"That’s HOT"- accentuation! Well, we’ll see what becomes of her unborn child~

The publicity hunger Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears are raising eyebrows again; the former drove recklessly after minutes of hiatus from rehab stints while the latter was spotted doing a lap-vulgar dance aka pre-striptease. Personally, I wonder why people ever like or craze over these two STUPID celebrities; they keep lamenting that paparazzis ruin their lives, invading privacies and all that; yet they themselves DELIBERATELY  invite those attentions! Totally attention seekers! I mean, Britney Spears especially; for heaven sake she’s a mother of two and yet she still hanging out with all the party animals socialiates; dancing on pole bar, forget wearing her underwear, shaved her head bald, getting tattoos = PUHLEEZE, SHE’S NOT EVEN A GOTHIC! IT’S ALL ABOUT THE ATTENTION~ Scums!

Mr Jon Voight, Angie’s enstranged father is trying very hard to re-patched with Angie (again!) but we know Angie could never forgive this man who walked out from Angie’s life when she was a toddler! In The View; hosted by Barbara Walters, Elisabeth and the newly welcomed Whoopi Goldberg, Voight tried so hard to convey his plea. Erm, fat chance!~ Angie never walks out from her principle Johny~! To top it off, Angie also made the E! Best Dressed list, securing No.2! You go Angie~! I hope she will have another tatoos.

Anyway; When I was admitted in the hospital for dengue, I was injected several time with needles for medications and water-supplement. Everytime the needles pierce my meat, I would imagine what Angie must have felt when she’s doing her tattoos. I dunno whether it’s weird or vice versa but I’m not gonna lie.. it felt INTOXICATING and I literally enjoying the slicing of the needle on my meat. Kinda crave that in sense of bila the nurses announced it’s time to inject, I felt exhilarated and excited. Geez~ Hope it is not a fetish-ism.

Avada Kedavra ! : Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows

With a lot of stuffs went on in my life lately, I don’t even have an ample time to finish the latest installment of Harry Potters novels series, "Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows". Fortunately now that I’m quite ‘unoccupied’, i have managed to finish reading it. What can I say about this J.K. Rowling’s final mega masterpiece? Truly enchanting!~

In this final novel, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley & Hermione Granger sama-sama merantau mengembara, meninggalkan pengajian mereka di Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. Mereka berhasrat to accomplish the mission left by Dumbledore sebelum kematiannya, iaitu mencari dan memusnahkan 7 Horcruxes (objek-objek yang mengandungi serpihan roh Lord Voldermort yang disembunyikan dalam setiap satu untuk memastikan immortality). Novel kali ini menyaksikan lebih banyak karakter yang terbunuh :-

1. Hedwig (burung hantu putih kepunyaan Harry)
2. Fred Weasley (semasa battle finale di Hogwarts)
3. Remus Lupin & Nymphadora Tonks
4. Ted Tonks (bapa Nymphadora)
5. Dobby (house elf yang telah dibebaskan Harry)
6. Colin Creevey (pelajar Hogwarts yang fanatik dgn Harry)
7. Professor Mad-Eye Moody

The trio journeyed to various places untuk mencari Horcruxes tersebut dan bertemu pula dengan misteri yang bakal merungkai segala persoalan iaitu misteri "The Deathly Hallows". Ia merupakan misteri melibatkan 3 objek yang sekiranya berjaya dikuasai, dapat menganugerahkan kuasa mengawal kematian kepada si pemiliknya (master of death). 3 objek berkuasa tersebut adalah :-

• The Elder Wand atau The Deathly Stick – yang berupaya mengeluarkan curses yang powerful
• The Ressurection Stone – memanggil roh-roh yang dah mati
• The Invisibility Cloak – kain halimunan

Novel ini juga menjelaskan latar belakang Dumbledore yang selama ini menjadi misteri dan juga menceritakan tentang the legendary battle between Grindelwald dan Dumbledore yang pernah disebut dalam novel Harry Potter pertama "Harry Potter & The Philosophers’ Stone"!

Tapi walauapapun, babak yang paling menyentuh hati ialah karakter Professor Snape. Memang telah diduga bahawa tindakan Snape membunuh Dumbledore merupakan rancangan kedua-dua mereka tetapi apa yang menyentuh hati ialah all these while, Snape was   protecting Harry for the sake of his love towards Harry’s mother iaitu Lily Evans. Rupa-rupanya, Severus Snape & Lily Evans telah berkenalan semasa mereka masih kecil lagi dan Snape sejak itu sememangnya menaruh hati pada Lily. His unconditional love tidak berbelah bagi walaupun he hated James Potter ; sehinggakan his Patronus Charm (mantera untuk menghindari Dementors) berbentuk rusa betina (doe); yang juga merupakan bentuk Patronus Charm Lily!  Snape teguh memegang janji kepada Dumbledore yg dia akan melindungi Harry demi cinta kepada Lily; sehinggalah dia dibunuh Voldermort; Snape memberikan memori ingatannya kepada Harry untuk dilihat dalam Pensieve. I sincerely felt quite touched by that…..

Above all, novel ini tidak mengecewakan and it’s good to know that Harry akhirnya survived the curse and Lord Voldermort was doomed. Epilog-19 tahun-kemudian yang disisipkan di pengakhiran novel merupakan suatu farewell finale yang bijak oleh J.K. Rowling kepada peminat2x novelnya ini. Di sini saya ingin menyenaraikan a few incantations mantera-mantera yang saya ingat daripada ketujuh-tujuh siri Harry Potter :-

• Wingardium Leviosa – menerbangkan objek
• Expelliarmus – to disarm objects
• Expecto Patronum – untuk menghalau Dementors/memberi isyarat kepada ahli-ahli persatuan yang lain
• Lumos/Nox – menyalakan & memadamkan cahaya tongkat sakti
• SectumSempra - mencederakan lawan dengan zigzag berdarah
• Levicorpus – menggantung lawan di udara
• Reparo - membaiki objek yg musnah
• Accio – summoning objek yang berada jauh dari lokasi
• Muffliato – mantera untuk perbualan privasi
• Legillimens – memasuki fikiran lawan dengan melalui mantera Occlumency
• Avada Kedavra, Cruciatus – Mantera The Unforgivable / Killing Curse
• Engorgio - Membesarkan objek kecil

Apa2pun, Harry Potter is THE BEST!~ I’m really proud to join all these madness of Harry Potter-ism. Maybe it sounds ridiculous but hanya orang yg membaca novel Harry Potter sahja yang faham apa yang saya maksudkan.. Menonton filem tidak sama dengan membaca. The experience is more fulfilling when you read !!!

* NOTIFICATION UPDATES

Yesterday Regina messaged me asking about my being and she also told me that next week AFFIN Bank will conduct a kem kepimpinan at Port Dickson. Most probably from Monday-Saturday. Geez~ Looks like really have to boost up my immune system coz there will be campings, etc. (macam PTD la plak). Looking forward for that but at the same time hoping my immune system would not be meddled !