It's a beginning, not an end

Today is officially my last day as an employee.
Today is also the last day of a company that I've been part of for the last 8 years.

Many have asked about how I am and how I feel about the ending.  Some sounded concerned.  Most were interested to find out what I will be doing in future.

..what are you doing now?
..are you still working?
..what are your plans?
..do you feel sad?
..where are you now?

I think most imagined that I will be idling now, having coffee or drinks as a lady of leisure.  I'm not.  I've written in the last post, I've never been busier than this in the last 360 days.  Work is still on-going.  In fact I have things due on Jan 2nd itself and the rest of the month but I'd be office-less by end of today :D  Where do I work on the stuff ?! I wonder..


I personally do not wish see it as an end.  It's a new beginning.  A beginning of a new path.  New relationships.  New experience.  Whether it will be a smooth or rocky path, I'm not sure.

We shall re-visit in six months to a year :)


Happy New Year.

4 days to 2012

I don't have a title yet, neither do I know what I am to write exactly.

It's now 5.40pm, about 4 more days to a brand new year.  For some reasons, I've been busier than all of the last 360 days~

I did eventually catch a cold and was sneezing away during Christmas. It wasn't too serious so I managed to do what ever I needed to do / play over the long weekend but decided to skip coming to work yesterday :P
It was a good decision, had good rest and I'm fully recharged, sort of.

My fitness state had taken a toll since 'don't know when'.  Can't recall when was the last time I felt FIT.  Well, basically I can't remember anything before Vietnam ..haha.

Felt pretty good during the trip though. Good news is the back injury seems to have healed very well.  I haven't been doing any of the rehab exercises in Vietnam and there wasn't any soreness. But had some discomfort when I had to bend a lot to nurse the dog's wound over the last week.

Been trying to get back to gym regularly..but oh..so many holidays and eating.  They are still doing the latest les mills releases at the gym.  BC 50, RPM 52 - TOUGH!  Was breathless during warm up stage itself  =.=

Different people had asked me about half marathons and badminton recently.  I gave them the same answer, "I'm retiring".

Is this sign of old age?






 

Foodie Trail : Vietnam

For some reasons I was least excited with my food adventure here in Vietnam compared to other countries that I visited recently.

All meals were provided (part of the package) during the the first part of the trip (Hanoi-Sapa-Hanoi), so there's really nothing to shout about. Well, food were great, I don't remember ever feeling hungry.

We saw the largest buffet set up ever..not even in Malaysia's biggest hotels!  I've never seen so many many different kinds of food served in a buffet.

Many of these 'stalls', but we concluded that they all tasted the same, chicken, beef, seafood, all same taste.

 

I think I spent more time taking pictures than eating.

But I won't post much here cos the food were nothing to shout about. Typical buffet food.  

Vietnamese Spring Rolls - eat all you can..

I'm not saying that the food were unsatisfactorily.  They were just typical tour package food.  I guess they can't take the risk of taking us to road side stalls. 

So grand.

Lunch on-board - Halong Bay Cruise

Hanoi-Halong Bay-Sapa after some time every meal seemed pretty standard. Fried cabbage.  Clear soup with chopped vege.  Fried fish.  Pork. Prawns / Squid.


Well, we did go goo goo gaa when these were served after our visit to Mekong Delta canal.

But..the foodie in me was yearning for some adventure.

Saw these in a village in Sapa.. did we try?

Nah..we only opted for a pork skewer ..

And sweet potato

In Ho Chi Minh, we had more flexibility as only lunch was provided.  So we were free to explore at night.  A friend took us to Nha Hang Ngon, a great place for typical Vietnamese street food.  The total bill was about 1.4 mil VND!  That's about RM200+ for about 11 of us.  Pretty good deal.  Finally, I got to taste real Vietnamese food!  Nha Hang means Restaurant - I only found out towards the end of the trip :D

Some info about Ngon - HERE

Just in front of our hotel, we spotted this shop that serves BBQ seafood.  Different types of clams, snails, scallops, you name it they have it.  Ermm..actually we can't name anything cos they won't understand. So, we could only point to what we want :D

  
Typical Vietnamese way of eating..sitting on stools by the road side.  This is what I want when I travel..


We came here twice!  We even witnessed live, how the DBKL equivalent authorities came to 'perform their duties'.  In seconds, stoves, trays, stools, tables were moved back into the tiny shop.  We stood up from our stools to make way but were told to SIT.  Haha..apparently the authorities won't touch tables seated with customers.

At the night market, we tried Vietnamese popiah..so-so only for me.  I didn't like their strong coconut taste.

 

Also tried the baguette, something very popular amongst the locals.

 

Tasted quite good at first bite, but not something I will miss though.

On our one night stop at My Tho, we were on our own with nothing to do. Lonley Planet recommended two places apparently good for Hue Tieu.  Just did a quick internet search and found out that Hue Tieu actually means My Tho soup noodle.  Go HERE 

Definitely better than our version of Pork Noodle!

Well, my travel mates will tell you that I was complaning ALOT about eating anything that starts or ends with Tieu or Pho.  Can't blame me... it had been over 10 days.

An Aussie Burger at a back packers joint in Can Tho called Cappucino...was heavenly!

Tried more hawker stuff at Can Tho.

Not sure what's the name of this food but his stalls was the busiest.  Locals come on foot and motobikes to take away packets from him.

It's glutinous rice with quail eggs and 'etc' toppings...taste wise..so-so only

And finally...our highlight in Can Tho was a hot pot dinner on-board a boat sailing along Mekong river!

I feel like an Octopus

Quite a few things are happening at the same time.  Can't believe Christmas is in a few days time.  I was still looking for presents at lunch time just now.  Hope I'll remember to collect them from the gift wrapping counter before I leave the building.

Next week will be the last week of the year as well as my last week as an employee...until I decide to rejoin the  workforce again.  Yes, I took the plunge.  Will be starting 2012 fresh as an entrepreneur or sole proprietor..whatever it is.. it's gonna be something new for me.  I can;t tell for now how fruitful it's gonna be.  Neither do I have concrete plans.  Lol.. yes, I know whatcha thinking....I think I'm crazy too.

The good news is I'm still busy with work.  There will be work from the current employment carried forward from now till end Jan, which means I have 'revenue' in Jan :)  I'm also in the midst of a small project, considered as the first job as a sole proprietor.

So, it gets a bit tricky. E.g. I have a few appointments and tasks for the weekend, some for project A under current employment and some for project B under my future setup.  Confusinng..I know.

Also been busy helping out the office with our version of 'year end' closing.

After next week I'd be office-less but I've on going work.  No idea where I'm gonna based myself!  Things are like hanging loose or floating in the air. Many open endeds.

Oh ya, I've also been bz playing nurse to my dog phoebe. She has a huge maggot wound in her right foot :s


So, I'm an octopus...I feel so.

And of course..I won't miss out the Christmas and NY celebrations, I'm coming down with a cold though =(

Life's a Journey

Source of quote : quotegarden.com

I noticed something when we were hiking in Sa Pa recently. It was drizzling, freezing cold at 6 degree.  

Some parts of the journey were extremely muddy and slippery.

So, we really didn't have a chance or need to look or think ahead about the destination but instead concentrate on each and every little step right in front of us.  

Every baby step counts. Where and how we step determines whether we slip, fall or stand ..or how much more mud our shoes accumulate :D

It's all about the current.  Not the future.

I also realised a similar mindset when the trail gets steeper, no point looking upwards and wonder when we will reach the destination and so on.  Just march on..one step at a time..and enjoy the journey.


So is living life.

Life's a journey, not a destination says Aerosmith.

Got it! - Nike Eclipse ll

How do you like my VND700,000 Nike :D

VND700K ~ RM105

I'M BLUE ♩♫♪

Sapa, Vietnam

Latte

After rounds and rounds of Vietnamese coffee we started to crave for a dose of latte.

So we wandered into a place called Cappuccino take a break from Vietnamese food and ordered Latte of course.

The Latte arrived and looked like this :s

Learning.. just stick to local Vietnamese coffee unless you see or hear a coffee making machine at work.


Guess where I am now :)

We were busy..

We were back in HCMC but haven't been updating this site cos we were really busy ... Shopping!

Christmas shopping done !

P/s: I found my Nike eclipse ;)


Check out santarina returning after her "harvesting"

Mỹ Tho

Pit stopped here for a night after visiting Mekong Delta. Mỹ Tho is the capital city of the Tian Giang province which is part of the Mekong Delta region.

We will be on our own for a few more days visiting a few more places before heading home.

The guide told us that we will have nothing to do in Mỹ Tho but we wandered out anyway and enjoyed our lil adventure^^

We saw villages boarding their version of ferry by foot as well as two wheelers.

Then we stumbled upon a super cool cafe cum jazz place. I think it's the hottest place in Mỹ Tho. May even be a hit in bigger cities too.

I'm so overdosed with Vietnamese coffee ...

Oh dinner was fun too with over friendly locals teaching us what and how to eat their food.

Heads turned to look whenever we entered a shop.

FAQs:
Are you Chinese?
How do you like Vietnam?

They always beam with pride whenever we tell them that we enjoyed ourselves very much ^^

Agent Orange

Today we learnt about Agent Orange, a type of chemical herbicide used during the Vietnam War.

The chemical was sprayed from the air to destroy forests and farms where the Vietnamese were taking cover.

Millions of Vietnamese as well as American soldiers were exposed to the chemical.

The war ended eventually but the highly toxic chemical left behind devastating side effects not only those directly exposed but also to their future generations.

At the war Remnants museum, we saw devastating evidence and photos of many examples of victims of those directly exposed as well as innocent children who were affected when they were conceived.

The stories and sights were heart breaking...

Some info here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/227467.stm

Our tour guide said that the younger generation had decided to forgive and forget, and is moving forward to better days.

But deep down every Vietnamese know that the history is here to stay and remains as a fact that has to be accepted.


The baby girl below was born without proper limbs in 2008 ...

Arrived : Ho Chi Minh City

Touched down via Vietnam Air around 14:05 local time today.

From 6 to 31 degree in under 36 hours!

We are missing the wilderness in Sapa for sure.

Population of HCMC is 9 mil and there are 7 mil motorcyclists. Total chaos!

Our very first night dinner venture turned out to be a hilarious adventure but it was quite worth it .

Sumptuous dinner for less than 1.5 mil Vietnamese Dong ~

Xin Chao from Vietnam

It's only been three days but it felt like i've been here so long.

Departure to hanoi was in the wee wee hours Wednesday .. straight to city tour upon landing, didnt check in until late night. It was over 36 hours without bedtime.


2nd day was packed with Hanoi-halong bay-Hanoi then boarded the overnight train to Lao cai then another 1 hr by bus to Sapa. That was abt 24 hrs without shower...

Today is the 3rd day and it's freezing cold at 11 degree may be even lower. What have we been doing ? Trekking to villages, waterfalls ... Brrrrrrr

I've gotta love my holiday planner friends ^.^

Maxis Listens

Somewhere around the Q2/Q3 this year I encountered major difficulties with Maxis data services  both 2G/3G) inside Amcorp Mall, Petaling Jaya. Thinking that it was only in the LG, I accepted the 'flaw' since it's quite common to have weak mobile / data coverage in more 'secluded' areas.  

Towards end September, I discovered that even the upper floors did not have coverage.  The internet were totally inaccessible when I was on the 1st floor, 3rd floor, everywhere.  That was totally unacceptable.  I decided to place a tweet at the Maxis Listens tweet wall. I was told that they react faster when a feedback or complain is formally logged.

True enough, they were responsive. My tweet was acknowledged in less than 2-3 hours.  I received a call shortly.  The caller was good at asking all the relevant questions..from which shop I was in to what app I was trying to access.

In a day a two I received another call to inform me that there was indeed a technical fault in the area..and the repair is estimated to take a few weeks (if I remember correctly).  

I was happy with the response team.  

Unfortunately..come mid October..about 2 weeks later, I tried to access again on the 3rd floor..it wasn't working still.  I tweeted them again..providing the previous reference number.

This time the follow through wasn't that good.  The person who called this time didn't seem to have check the records before calling me.  I can't remember what transpired in the conversations.. I think the last call I received was to tell me that they have revisited the site and solved the problem.  They've asked me to inform them immediately if I have problems again.

Well, my occupation is not to go roaming around the mall to test data coverage but the few times I tried over the last two months has been...satisfactory.

The 2G seems to be working fine...albeit slow.

But whenever I switched to 3G..this happens:

I'm not gonna complain anymore..I'm tired.  I know..we pay so much a month for faulty services..?

I'll bear with 2G for now...still bearable.

I've a typical Malaysian attitude.

Facebook Family

We just had a little-big family do to welcome the latest addition to the family.  Sis extended the invitation to most relatives, some we haven't met for a long time.  Despite not meeting for so long, we were not totally lost touch, thanks to Facebook.

We attended cousin A's wedding some years ago.  We were never really close, I don't think I've ever spoken to him.  His wife, however, took the initiative to befriend with us in Facebook.   Months later, he added us too.  We don't really interact though, but by being connected virtually we came to know that they had a baby boy three months ago.  They also have an elder gal not long after the wedding, again we have not met the gal but because of Facebook updates it seemed like we've met many times.  So..when the family came by, it wasn't that hard to break the ice.  

I was talking to one of my Uncle (late 60s) and asking him about his grand kids, how cute they are, how they have grown..he went.."oh..you saw in Facebook?"

Had a similar conversation with the Aunt..she said the same thing.."oh Facebook ah"

Most of my aunts and uncles are not savvy.  They have just caught up with carrying a mobile phone :P  They may not live long enough to ever understand what social networking is all about but..Facebook is definitely part of their lives now.   I was having lunch with another Aunt and she was asking me about my running and telling me that she saw a video of my youngest nephew on the 'internet'.  Her daughter has been showing her stuff on Facebook ..haha.

As with all gatherings,  especially in this era with smart phones and digital cameras, everyone will be busy taking photos ...of kids especially.  Snap snap snap ....

The same Uncle called out from his car while leaving.."Remember to post pictures in Facebook!"

Lols...

What we Eat vs. How we Work

Sure..we can eat, life is too short? But..make sure you work it out after eating
I just had McD :(

Mc Donald's burger = at least x1 RPM class and a CXWORX class

Subway = at least x1 BODYATTACK class

KFC = at least x1 BODYPUMP class and a CXWORX class

Pizza Hut = at least x1 BODYCOMBAT class and a  x3 CXWORX class

Taco = at least x1 BODYSTEP class and CXWORX class

Starbucks & donut's combo = at least X1 BODYPUMP class and a RPM class

Source : http://andstaywiththefight.blogspot.com/2011/12/dont-eat-this-food-if-you-want-to-loose.html