Into 2016

Dear bloggie,

Time flies... noes?

I always get this feeling especially when at the start of the new year. I feel it's because I have the tendency to review what I done within this year and when I review it, I tend to relive the whole year and having that 1 year experience flashes through you mind in a couple of minutes tend to make it feel as a year flies... Theory of relativity?

Anyway, time to look at the past and present so I can plan for the future...

2015 new year resolutions

• Visit Japan - Yes, I finally set foot upon the land of the rising sun 
• Write a short novel - Nope
• Achieve 15% body fat at minimum body weight 65 kg - Nope
• Run 3 10K runs - Nope, but I did ran a 21K in the Penang
• Build/Program a game - Nope
• Land 1 date - Nope
• Visit Penang - Yes, not once but twice
• Update my English slang vocabulary - Nope
• Go on a juicing diet - Nope
• Try out 3 new hobbies - Nope

So overall, an epic failure in terms of new year resolution. I blame most of it due to busy work schedule. I guess in terms of project wise, my team got roped in 4 different projects this year. I had to lead one of them which I have to say is perhaps my most stress project I ever done, mainly because I had to play so many roles: requirement gatherer, scrum master, tech lead, mentor, troubleshooter, developer... I learnt I need to be more cautious and make sure the responsibilities that is assigned to me is defined properly and bodes well with me before I say "ok". And if I don't agree or like the responsibility, just say "no". 

Unexpected surprises this year? I got send by my company to Hong Kong for 1 week for training. The trade off, my work schedule no longer abide the normal 9-5 rule as I have to follow a more shift like schedule. I expected to maybe have maybe 1-2 days less interaction with the team members but instead find myself working extra on weekends and public holidays, mainly because it's hard for me to find a replacement day for the weekend or public holiday I worked on. I feel the over burnt feeling on a rather frequent basis, which is not really helped by the sad state of productivity of my team at the moment (1 guy resigned and his protege is often assign under me, which I DON'T enjoy mentoring). 

I already had a lot of thoughts maybe it's time to find myself another new job, as I already see signs my current job has already run it's full course. I just don't see a future I envision myself with in this team any more. 

My 2016 resolutions: 

• Resolve team issue or find a new job
• Focus more on personal goal rather then team goal (1 man can't save a sinking ship unless the other crew play their role)
• De-attach my personal life from work
• Start re blog
• Start a personal programming project
• Land 1 date
• 2 overseas vacation
• Try out 3 new hobbies
• Finish reading Edward Bono books
• Improve my facilitation skills
• Java certification
• Redesign this blog

Genting 2015

Dear bloggie,

A long time ago... I visited Genting after I secured my 1st job... Now, 8-9 years down this road I walked, I finally step foot upon the misty hot Genting hill again.

Spelly for some odd reason (probably want to bring his gal here quah) wanted to test his Almera's hill climbing capabilities hence I setup the short trip to Genting. MFR whom has avoided any Monk Inc related trips this few years strangely decided to join us for this trip. Cutting short the long boring trip up Genting, Spelly's Almera managed to scale the Genting hill with not much problem.

Genting Highlands

Well, Genting outdoor theme park is still under renovation hence we spend most of our time in the casino instead. Goh Tong decided to donate to me RM 300 via a few games of Bacarrat. MFR chalked in a RM 200 deficit while Spelly raked in RM 200.

Easy come, easy go as they say... I spent this unexpected windfall by treating the gang for Starbucks and combined with Spelly to treat a dinner at Soon Wah Seafood in Klang (Must try: Watermelon Paikut, Avoid: Sotong Ball Special).

Watermelon Pai Kut

Upon reaching home, I discovered I was supposed to attend an ex-colleague wedding (Didn't receive any official red bomb).

Next day aka today, I decided Goh Tong was gonna buy me a new running shoe which I wanted for quite awhile to replace my ancient New Balance one I been using for the last +4 years.

Bye bye my old friend that ran with me for +4 years

I did a shoe hunting in Sunway Piramid and realized the price of running shoes now day seem f*ckin expensive (All ranged around RM300-500). I managed to spot a a cheap Asics Gel Impression 8 which cost a good RM 265. The color is abit too blackish and reddish for my liking since I really wanted to try a different color palette of red, black and white which my old shoe also had. However the sales gal told me it's a new model and they only had this color. I did search other shoe shops but sadly had only the same color only. A brief moment of hesitation but at last decided to settle for another red, black and white shoe when the sales gal told me they were giving away a free shoe bag at the moment

My shiny black and red new shoe

It's funny really, how fast times flies... and how money seem to come and go...

1505!

Dear bloggie,

Wohoo!

Finally breached the 1500 barrier in chess.com for blitz category...

McD Breakfast Day

Dear bloggie,

Free bugger from McD today

Saw the ad in my papers today, and since I'm on leave and McD is just a 5 min drive from my house, so might as well try my luck... And walah!

Got my bugger in around 10 mins, a lot of aunty/elderly and kids queueing. Had to stomach some bad manners elders queueing and rushing macam tak pernah makan bugger.... *Sigh* Thought of snapping these species of mankind in action but decided I was too lazy to do it...

MixFM Do it like a man

Dear bloggie,

Heard tis on the radio these last couple of weeks. There's this dude that won a contest that entitles him RM30K to organize his so called dream "Pokemon x Gundam" wedding that will be held in another 2 weeks time.

Now, usually if 2 people have tis weird idea on how their dream wedding should be like, I would just say "Just do it, the f*ck with how other people thinks your dream wedding should be like". However I have to say I'm pretty pessimistic on this particular wedding. For starters, the organizer/bridegroom seems a bit too "blur f*ck". He just seems too "high" and not grounded enough to the earth when trying to organize this wedding. And with a low budget of only RM30K and due date of 2 more weeks, how the hell is he gonna pull of a customized "Pokemon/Gundam" wedding makes it to my "Mission Impossible" list. A giant gundam head on the stage? Flying pokemon decoration? 3D animation? Tuxedo with Gundam wings?

Another thing that strike my chord is this wedding doesn't seem like the dream wedding his "soon be wife" envision. I'm not convinced she's into it because she dreams of wearing a pikachu wedding dress. I'm more convinced she's into it because her "high" hubby is into it. This is where I have a problem with this whole thing, it just seem to much of a publicity stunt rather then a real wedding. I find it a bit hard to stomach how a wedding is conceived by the younger generations now days. As if they're doing it because they get the free RM 30K to do it. Feels like it's cheapens the knot they're about to tie.

Anyway, my prediction will be the wedding will most likely not take place in 2 weeks time, and if it does, the true cost of the wedding will exceed the RM 30K budget. I also don't think it will be a memorable dream wedding the couple envisioned as well.

However that's just a still single bachelor thoughts on the matter. Given to me, I prefer a small and simple shotgun marriage and spend more dough on honeymoon instead of a "publicity stunt".