This isn't the end, this is just a new beginning...

I think I have made my decision to leave Blogger.
It's not that I'll stop blogging, but I'll probably go for something else.
After much consideration, and after much trial and error.
Perhaps it's time to let go and open for other opportunities.
I'm still searching and learning, hoping to find my next stop as soon as possible.
Till then, see you guys in a short while.

iPad Air - From Funny Bunny Point of View

I have an iPad mini, and I like the size of it very much. I hesitated for awhile until finally I decided to switch, from 7.9" to 9.7" screen. It sure take a little getting use to, but I'll be okay real soon I guess. Anyway, this is not going to be the usual review you saw from other website, comparing soecs and comparing with previous generation iPad and etc. I'm just sharing my thoughts about this piece of gadget that I have been using these few days.

I really love the mini, but seriously, it is really slow. And I always have issue with it's wifi, the connection always seems weak. And after the iOS 7 update, the chipset's age gets even more apparent. So, why Air and not the mini with retina display, or maybe something else like the Nexus 7 or Galaxy Note 10? Well, seriously, in the market, currently there's only two tablet you can consider: iPad or Nexus. Oh, if you need water proof, Sony has something to offer. Other than that, forget it. So I decided to go for Air instead because: free iLife and iWorks suite from Apple, and the retina display for mini will surely hit by some production issue (and it's already proven with user reporting with image retention issue on their screen).

I wanted to start making full use of the iLife and iWorks apps, on a mini, with the limited screen estate, it is going to be hard and tuff. While I still think that the mini serves better in terms of reading books and playing games, but we have to compromise somewhere, don't we? So I trade in my mini for the Air. It's light, it's fast, it's slim. But that pretty much sum it all. I'm amaze by the engineering effort put behind this device, I'm already aware of the speed of the A7 chip as I have the iPhone 5s, the weight... Well, it's lighter obviously, but it doesn't have that WOW factor in lightness like the iPhone 5 during it's debut. No touch ID is really a bummer, I guess Apple is saving it for next year, otherwise there will be no new feature to talk about in their keynote. The speaker is too bassy to my liking, otherwise every other thing just works fine like the iPad you use to know of.

All in all, the hardware of iPad Air is amazing, really, no doubt. But there's really nothing much to talk about other than that. Is it because there's no innovation in it? Well, not really. I would say iPad was already a great and refined product to begin with during it's first debut, therefore there's really nothing much can be done to take a leap other than making it faster slimmer lighter. But one thing that I really can see for room of improvement is on the software side. Sure iOS 7 is great and nice, but seriously, on the iPad... A lot of times it just feels like a blown up iPhone. Apple really should focus on making iOS better for iPad, as currently there's a lot of potential in it that's got wasted.

So what's the problem with iOS on iPad? The waste of screen estate. On the iPhone, you get a 4" screen, I can surely forgive Apple for only allowing app icon to show on screen while we need to get into notification centre for other information that we need, but on the iPad, with such huge screen being used to just shiw rows of icons... It's a total waste. Well, maybe they have to make sure the OS is not that much different from the iPhone than on the iPad, but it really is degrading my user experience with it. On the androids, you can choose to put all sorts of widget to display info that you need, and now with KitKat coming, there's a home screen for Google Now which shows you all information that you want and need in a single page. That's something really useful, and if iPad can do that, it would have been great.

Another things that can be improve will be multi window or multi apps running simultaneously on screen. On a phone, this feature is rather meaningless, but on the tablet... It's going to be a whole new level of experience. It will make the tablet gets closer to replace your laptop or desktop. There are all sorts of apps that designed for iPad, which is one of the main reason I have switched from android tablet to iPad (yes, I used to own an android tablet until I fed up with it), and this is really good. If only Apple can improve the iOS for iPad further, otherwise we will probably be seeing just incremental upgrade for years to come.

All said, I have some plans on my mind to make my new toy really work it's ass for me. Even now this post was completely typed out and posted from my iPad Air, which is something I normally do only on my laptop. I'm exploring the possibilities of spending the money on an iOS devices (where you can literally get yourself a laptop with the same amount of money) and we'll see how things work out ultimately. And if android tablets really catches up someday in terms of overall product built quality and user experience, who knows I might even switch back to android for their "openness". Till then, I'll still enjoy tourturing my iPad while still hoping deep down in my heart that the iOS can really improve further on the iPad.

路过。球场

突然怀念起那些年

那球鞋和球场磨擦而发出的声响

那球拍在绑上新的网线后发出的味道

那被汗水湿了又干干了又湿的球衣

那球场上充满激情的呼喊声

那球场边充满欢笑的交谈声

那场内场外充满泪水的锻炼过程

好久没有拿起球拍了

也许人老了，常常腰酸背痛

再加上一次又一次的伤病更是让我开始却步

现在的我，也许就只能够在场边当个旁观者

现在的我，也许就只能回味过去的那段青春

现在的我，未来的我，也许再也没有机会回到球场上了吧…

Today

Sometimes I'll wonder... How long will I be able to remember today. Honestly, most of the time I just barely able to recall about this day not until it's almost here. Anyway, I'm glad that I still remember about it until now.

Maybe it's not that important after all whether or not I remember today as the day. What's important is probably having myself thinking about him once in awhile, remembering the past, dreaming about him, and get the little smile on my face when I do so.

In remembrance.

回家

不知道何时开始，在下班搭巴士回家时，我总会提前一站下车。
省钱？也没差。
当作运动？也许吧。
也许自己不知不觉已经爱上了那段路程的感觉
步行回家，看看周围的人，事，物
放空脑袋，退下一天的烦恼
重新调整自己的思绪
准备让自己回家好好的休息
以便能够面对明天更艰难的挑战...

In the air

It's been awhile since the last time I fly. I like to reach airport earlier, taking some time to stroll around the duty free shop, hoping to discover some hidden gems...

Going home

Going home tomorrow after almost 4 months here in Singapore. Nothing much, just to settle some stuff back in Malaysia, then take a short rest, catch up with some friends, that's all. Hope everything goes well for me for my short holiday.

她们结婚了

她，结婚了。
她，也结婚了。
最近身边的朋友一个接一个结婚了。
同时间，她们也结婚了。
希望她们和她们的另一半有情人终成眷属。
希望她们能够得到幸福快乐。

After 3 months

Been working for 3 months here in Singapore. There are times when I think back my decision for leaving my previous company and job, and come to a different place and a different jobscope. I can still recall my boss asking me whether I know what I want, if not, why not just continue to work until I know what I want. Until today, maybe I still can't be sure on what I really want for my career. Yes, and I believe most of us are the same. But for me, I don't feel regret for leaving. It's not scary to venture into something that you are not sure about, it's scary that if you do not know what you want and yet you did not do anything about it. 

For my new life, I'm starting to get used to it, and slowly I will plan out something to improve it. It's been awhile since the last time I really play my guitar, it's been awhile since the last time I really work on the photography. It's been awhile since I really read through all my books collection. For my new job, there are still a whole lot to learn. I'm lucky to have always been able to work for someone who is willing to teach and share his/her experience. Although I do complain from time to time, at least for now I'm comfortable with what I'm doing, and hopefully I can really gain something out of this. 

Hope that things will become better in the future. Take care all my friends.

也许

也许人就是需要学会爱上自己不爱的，习惯自己不习惯的，接受自己不接受的，才能如其他人一样普通的活着…

她的眼泪

那一天，看见她流下眼泪，但是我却什么也没说出口。一句安慰的话，一个温暖的拥抱，我...只是静静的坐在她的身旁。不知道该说什么才好，不知道该做什么才好。也许我能够说的，就是对不起。如果我不是这样的我，也许一切还会如常。如果我没有来到这里，也许一切还会依旧。现在却让她伤心了，让她哭了，让她失望了。如果能够重来，也许我会处理得好一些，但是结果还是可能会一样吧。过去…让它过去。现在只要专心尽力的不让她再伤心，再流泪，那就好了。

iPhone 5s - From Funny Bunny Point of View

Okay, I wanted the Gold iPhone 5s so badly. But sometimes we just have to bow to faith. I can't get myself a gold one at launch, instead the Space Gray version was offered to me. After much consideration, I decided to just take it. And now I want to share some of my thoughts of this phone here... I'm not going to review deep down into the specs and etc, you can get all these else where. I'm just an ordinary user who is looking for a ordinary smartphone that can meet my requirement, and my requirement is fairly simple: a phone that's convenient to use in one hand, fast and fluent, don't crash or hang for no reason, doesn't need me to worry too much about it and just get all the job I throw to it done.

Why iPhone 5s... well, I had a great experience using iPhone 5 with iOS 6 last year, and I have given the phone to my girlfriend. Then I've been using Xperia SP until I started to fed up with Android once again, and I'm so eagerly want to dive back to the gated garden wall. Obviously, iPhone 5s is the only choice for "upgrade" and iPhone 5c is essentially the same as iPhone 5. Anyway, here I am, with my Space Gray 32GB iPhone 5s and its sexy RED leather case from Apple... and let my sharing begins!

First, let's talk about hardware. 5s is identical with 5 from the outside, and since I like the 5 pretty much, of course I enjoy holding 5s in my hand. Aluminium and glass, it just feels solid and premium in hand. Particularly, I like the size of the phone which is extremely comfortable to operate with one hand, and the earphone jack is at the bottom, the only logical place to have the earphone pluck in. I'd always dislike the existence of the home button, but this time around, I'm glad that it's there, because deep down lies the Touch ID sensor. I must say the sensor is freakingly accurate and useful. Unlocking phone with thumb print versus with passcode... I would say thumb print is a little faster, but not really something to wow about. The best part is you don't need to key in passcode or your Apple ID password over and over again and all these are simply replaced by a touch of your finger. Pretty cool, but yet practical. I certainly want to see this to be implemented in the future for mobile payment purpose. Previously the 5 can last me more than half a day under heavy usage and a day under normal usage, the 5s betters that by giving close to full day under heavy usage and almost a day and a half under normal usage.

Now, let's talk about the grey area between hardware and software. 5s comes with the industry leading 64 bit A7 processor, first of its kind. There are tons of articles about how good a 64 bit processor can be, but does it really live up to the hype? Running iOS 7 between 5 and 5s, you can easily notice that it's smoother on the 5s. Apple native apps are all 64 bit supporting by now, and all of them are running nicely with no issue under iOS 7. Third party apps however, is a different story. Some apps have updated to support iOS 7, while some are not. Those haven't will actually causing problem once in a while... those already updated to iOS 7 but still in 32 bit, it still need some time in order to make full use of the processor. And the M7 chip... looking forward to see how developer can make full use of it too.

Another feature that Apple talks about is the camera. Well, it is obvious that the camera in 5s is better than the 5, especially under low light condition. Not to forget as well on all the new feature such as larger sensor, faster aperture, dual LED flash, burst shot, slow-mo video, live photo filters and improved panorama shots. One thing I like about iPhone's camera, is that it is all auto, and the result is satisfying for most of the time. It's so easy, you just need to swipe to get into the camera app and start snapping. For me, this is how a camera should be for smartphone. I find it no point to actually allow the smartphone camera to have the ability to do all sorts of setting for ISO, aperture and shutter speed... I can use a pro camera when I want to have full control, smartphone camera is just not for serious shooting, it should be fun and simple! Image quality wise, no comment as I didn't really care about comparing to other phone, it's just a camera from a smartphone, what do you expect from them?

After running iOS 7 for some time, I find it to be a really nice upgrade from iOS 6. A big step forward for iOS user I would say. I still don't really like some of the new icons as they are too flat, anyway I can live with that. Overall I like the new font, and the new implementation of gestures in controlling the software is simply amazing. I wonder why all these gestures are added only until today... Apple claimed that iOS is the most advanced mobile OS in the world, for me, I think that claim is a little too much. It may not be the most advance in the world, but it is actually the best OS so far for mobile gadget, at least for me. 

Okay, I have covered most of the user experience of running 5s. Is it the ultimate phone to own by everyone? No. Is it the perfect phone to date? Hmm, yes and no. I would really prefer if Apple can stuck a 4.5" screen and make it as slim and sexy like the 5s, and they can use a screen with lower power consumption (IGZO screen has been rumoured for so long...) to prolong the battery life further. Optical stabilisation would be added advantage, and if they can get more developer to dive into the 64 bit ecosystem, iPhone or iOS to be precise, will get to the top of the world in no time. For those who really prefer to slap a large plastic over your face, you know who you should look to. Those who want to use only pirated software or not willing to pay for quality apps, please continue to stay in your open playground. Other than that, I can't seems to find a reason not to love the iPhone 5s.

To sum it all up, in terms of specs, indeed the 5s is the most forward thinking phone in the industry as of now. Apple doesn't throw in 10 bits of features into the smartphone just to find them as a gimmick in the end and none of them to be useful, they certainly done enough research and engineering to come up with a solution that "it just works". iPhone 5s can really be the future of smartphone, but still, it is not there... yet. When developer started to flood in and support the 64 bit OS, when apps are optimized for iOS 7, when all the tiny bugs have been ironed out by Apple... the iPhone 5s will undoubtedly become the future of smartphone.

A day with iOS 7

Updated my iPhone 5 (well, used to be my iPhone) to iOS 7 and spent a day with it. Been taking some calls, snapping some pictures, browsing some web and etc. with it and so far so good... Let's sum up a litle abou the good and the bad I feel about it:

The good:
1. Overall looks good in terms of graphic
2. Still smooth as usual, but a few glitches now and then which should iron out nicely in next update
3. Camera app is better than ever
4. Seems to be some improvement in terms of battery life
5. Hiding the spotlight search is a welcome move instead of wasting a page for it
6. Like the new font very much
7. Control center is very neat
8. Multi tasking is good too
9. New gesture of swipe really handy
10. The new safari is freakingly good

The bad:
1. No toggle for cellular on/off in control center!
2. The battery icon looks like condom at first glance
3. The animation takes longer time than expected, looks nice but I prefer something faster
4. Parallax effect... Who will so free to look at the home screen...
5. The bottom icon row is not as nice as the old glass effect one...

Well, these are my thoughts so far. Will share more when I use it more over time.

It's all about iPhone this September

People tends to classified me as Apple fanboy, while actually I'm not. I'm not iSheep that says "if only Apple make this, this will surely be better". Although I do own an iPhone 5, iPad mini and Macbook Pro Retina Display, but the reason I bought all these gadgets are simple: they suit all my needs and requirement, perhaps desire as well. 

It all started with the Macbook Pro. My first ever Apple product. I have been searching up and down for the ultimate laptop which doesn't feel cheap with plasticky build, not bulky, packs with great specs that I can use for my video watching and photo editing. During that time around, 1080p Full HD screen is still rare in the market. Ultrabook at that time is still pack with moderate spec but hefty price tag. In the end, I got my eyes on the Macbook Pro and after some deep consideration and try out, I decided to go for it. It's not an easy decision to make as I need to jump from Windows to OS X platform. But in the end, I must say I'm glad I have made the correct decision. For the price I paid, is well worth every penny of it. Nice retina display screen, great track pad that you will not find in any other Windows laptop out there, simple OS environment and etc has made me so into it and forget about Windows.

The next thing I got was the iPhone 5. I was hunting for new phone that time around when it was announced. I have been using Android phone from Froyo to Gingerbread, from Gingerbread to Ice Cream Sandwich. The phones I bought are from the mid range, and I must say I really fed up with the lag, hang & glitches of Android, not to say the lag of software upgrade and the same app can be so different in feel and usage between different devices. Talk about fragmentation. So with my good experience on Macbook Pro, I decided to get a try with Apple on the phone as well. And yes, once again Apple didn't disappoint me... well, maybe they did, but I can tolerate with that. Sure iOS has a lot of limitation, you can't customized everything, you can't easily get pirated apps, you can't do this and do that. But still, ultimately I'm sold to iOS for it's performance. Despite iPhone always carries lower spec that other competitor, it never fails me in terms of software operation. Everything is just buttery smooth, and those iSheep would say: "it just works!". Hardware side I'm also enjoying the thin, light and aluminium casing of the iPhone 5, although I do would comment like others: if only it can be slightly stronger in resisting to dent.

And I got myself an iPad mini as birthday present from my sister (thanks) in order to replace my Galaxy Tab 2 7". It's not a tablet with high end spec, so I must say I can forgive it to be a little slow at times. But once the Jellybean update comes to the tablet... everything starts to become broken, so broken that I decided to revert back to Ice Cream Sandwich through custom ROM. During that time of purchase, there isn't much choice for a table with 7" in size. So I force myself to live with it for about a year until I finally can't stand it anymore... and just nice for the timing when I get the iPad mini as present. This is not a perfect tablet either, but the build quality of the tablet and of course, iOS environment has made me forgive some of it's shortcoming (slow processor & low res screen).

Fast forward to today, I just gone through the Apple Keynote. I must say the presentation is boring. I can't feel any energy from what those guys from Cupertino delivered. But the new iPhone 5s indeed is a great phone on paper. Whether or not it will live up to expectation, I shall only be able to tell after being able to get my hands on one. Yes, I'll be getting one since I have given my iPhone 5 to my girlfriend. Currently using a mid range Android Xperia SP, I must say the more I use, the more I miss iOS. Yes, indeed there's a lot of so called "feature" in Android, but at the end of the day, with so much feature but the phone can't perform and live up to the standard... there's simply no meaning on it. Well, maybe because I have never own a high end Android phone before, but if you can only get the best with the best specs inside (just like running Windows PC), then I'll probably pass and stick with iOS, which can run smoothly and get the job done as well.

Like I said, I choose my preference based on my requirement and priority. And it happens that iOS is the better choice for me, so naturally I can only go for iPhone and iPad since no other things on earth run this software other than them. There are still many products from Apple which I think is not worth to get (yet) such as Apple TV (which I really hope they can do something about it, this is a device with such great potential but now it only has limited functions), Apple Magic Mouse multi touch is great but the design of the mouse is simply not ergonomic, iPod Touch is a bit "redundant" for me as everything it do, it can be done on iPhone... Maybe there will be some improvement in Android KitKat, but for now, I had enough of Android's buggy, laggy and sluggish operation and going back to my gated garden wall of iOS ecosystem...

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is my direct boss's last day... I just been working with her for almost 3 months, she is really a good boss. I still can recall the first time she interviewed me, I really thank her for giving her trust on me and short listed me for another round of interview, and ultimately giving me a chance to work in Singapore so soon. There are still a lot of things which I wish to learn from her, but too bad time is just too short. I do wish her all the best in her future endeavour.

This makes me think of last time when I first joined my ex-company, the guy who interviewed me also left, later follow by my direct boss also. Well, maybe I'm the one who carries a curse on those who interviewed me or those who are my direct boss... anyway, for all of them, I do enjoy working with them, and all of them are very knowledgable and how I wish I can spend just a little more time with them to learn more from them.

Anyway, life goes on. Just hope that when the new boss comes, he or she will be a good one, and I can continue to learn from him or her.

Making Sense on the "Smart Watch" Craze

Recently there has been a lot of hype regarding smart watches, first Sony released the Smart Watch 2, follow by Qaulcom and Samsung to release their own version of Smart Watch. Also there's Pebble which is a kickstarter project that turns out to be reality. Furthermore, Apple is rumoured to release their iWatch next year as well. Generally, all these smart watches are having functions such as reading SMS, email, facebook or twitter update, pedometer and etc. Sounds familiar? Yes, these functions are basically what you are having in your smartphone now.

I tend to agree with a journalist who mentioned that every gadget/gear must have a clear and distinct usage of it. If not, it will just be a merely geek toys with no purpose. Smartphone exist for a purpose, and tablet exist for a purpose as well. You can live with a smartphone for general usage, and move to a tablet when you need more screen estate or more processing power (although smartphone nowadays are having advance chipset just like tablet). But smart watch? Something that's having smaller screen plus low end spec. Hmm.

After going through some readings, forums & articles, I must say that I really can't find a purpose for smart watch to exist, at least for now. Now they are having similar functions as smartphone, and they are being marketed as a "companion device" for your smartphone. Seriously, do I really need to carry two devices which are having the same functions? Some may argue that it is "convenient" that they can get something directly from the watch without the need to take out the phone. I'm not sure whether I should classify this as "lazy". Some may say their "phablet" is kept in the handbag and it is not convenient to take it out and put it back again and again. If that's the case, why don't you get a smaller phone in the first place?

When mind arrives here, all of a sudden I think I have found a purpose for Smart Watch to exist. Nowadays people tend to have a smartphone and a tablet. So people are going to have a smart watch plus smartphone plus tablet soon. Smart watch and smartphone are virtually identical in feature and functions, but not tablet. So my idea is simple: merge the Smart Watch and Smartphone together as one device, so in future people will only need to use a Smart Watch plus a tablet. 

The future of Smart Watch is that it will turn into something great that it can replace the Smartphone's core function, mainly calling, sms, email etc. When the screen size of Smart Watch is limiting, turn to a tablet, be it 7" 8" or 10" as long as you are comfortable with it. Of course in order to achieve that, voice control needs to beef up as you can hardly type using your watch. But if this is really going to be the future, I guess someone will be able to crack the seamless integration and usage between Smart Watch plus Tablet.

Since people are "craving" for larger screen nowadays, I guess Smart Watch + Tablet can really be a good direction to go for. But as for now, I would rather spend my cash on a high-tech looking conventional dumb mechanical watch than a half-baked & yet not so smart plus redundant watch. Looking forward for my prediction to come true someday.

ひまわりと子犬の７日間

It's been awhile since the last time I watched a good movie that's both touching & meaningful. Just watched this movie, "Himawari to Koinu no Nanokakan", it's a bit of slow pace movie, but it is very meaningful to watch till the end of it. 

It's a story about stray dogs that are being kept by the government agency. If they are unable to find a new owner in 7 days, those dogs will need to be put to sleep forever. One day a stray dog was found, and together there are 3 puppies in the wild. In order to save these dogs from being killed after 7 days, Shoji who work for the agency tried everything he can to tame the mother of 3 puppies, so that they can found their new owner and do not need to be killed.

If you owned a dog and you love your dog, this story will certainly bring you to tears. If you do not owned a dog but planned to own one, think twice before you decide. You must really commit yourself to be with it until the very end of it's life. And if you are planning to buy one, why not consider adopting from your local agency. Hope you will enjoy this movie as much as I do.

Working in Singapore Part 2

Generally there are two types of Malaysian working here, one being those who work here but continue to stay in Malaysia, and those who work here and stay here for as long as they wished. There are significant differences between these two types of people. Their life style, their needs and their problems are all different. 

If you plan to stay in Johor and enter Singapore everyday, you will probably need a car. And you will need to deal with the traffic jam as a lot of people doing the same. So you have to plan your travel time nicely. If you are driving Malaysia car, you will need to pay “entrance fee” everytime you enter into Singapore ($20 per day if I’m not mistaken). If you are PR and driving Singapore car, you don’t need to pay such amount, but you can’t pump RON 95 petrol back in Malaysia. The rest like ERP, parking should be more or less the same, doesn’t matter you are Malaysia car or Singapore car. 

Then if staying in Johor, the rent or installment for your house loan will definitely lower compared to staying in Singapore, as you are earning Singapore dollar and convert it and use it in Malaysia. Same goes to children’s education fee and etc. Sounds good right? That’s why there are many Malaysia staying in Johor and work in Singapore. 

I personally won’t do so as I just don’t want to waste time travelling everyday. Furthermore, Malaysia is simply not safe. I don’t want myself one day being rob or rape or shot by some one for no reason. So, I’ll most likely be joining the later group, those who choose to live in Singapore. 

If one choose to live in Singapore, does it sounds like a bad choice? Not really. As I have mentioned in my previous blog post, the cost of living in Singapore is actually not as high as people are expecting. So if you are renting a room, taking public transport, basically you still get to save quite some money at the end of every month. If you need to buy a car, you will still be able to afford it, but your saving will be less. To own a house… you will probably need to take a little longer. If you are earning a lot, you can just buy private condominium. If not, try to get PR and then buy HDB which is much cheaper than private condominium. 

Why people choose to live in Singapore… well, I haven’t done enough study on this area yet. But based on my personal opinion, I would rather stay in Singapore as over here everything is more… organized, civilized, advanced… and so on. If you need to take care of old family members, the environment in Singapore is more suitable than Malaysia. Everything from clinic, mini market, food stalls are all within walking distance from your apartment. Basically one can virtually survive without even require to rely on public transport just to live the daily life. If there’s anyone who is disabled, again Singapore is friendlier in providing all sorts of support for them. 

If you have children, education system here should be far better as compared to what we have back in Malaysia. The quality is simply no match. So for the sake of development and future of my children, I would rather work harder to earn more money just to get them to school in Singapore than sending them back to Malaysia. Better public transport system, more quality life style (I can easily afford all those branded clothing and gadgets here, but not back in Malaysia)… 

Well, there are thousand of reasons to stay. And of course there are thousand of reasons for those who choose to stay in Malaysia as well. Either way, we are just an ordinary people who want to earn a better living in order to have a better life and improve what we have at the moment. So we have decided to work oversea. Both types of people have their own difficulties and reasons behind the scene that one may not know. To wrap up my 3 days ranting, we choose to work oversea because we want a better life & future. At the moment when we make the decision to leave, we simply have no choice, as there’s no such option in Malaysia at that point of time. So we left, but it doesn’t mean we don’t like our homeland. It doesn’t make any of us to be different from those who continue to stay and work in Malaysia. Ultimately, one should live his/her life to the fullest with no regret. With everyone’s requirement and goal set differently, of course people will get diversify. This is the beauty of human society. If everyone were the same, then it would have been too dull. 

Sorry if I offended anyone in these ranting posts. Sorry for my bad English as I just type whatever comes out from my mind without further thinking and editing. For those of my friends who are in the middle of deciding whether to leave or to stay, hope these posts can give you some help into thinking deeper and making your decision easier. There won’t be a perfect answer and solution. Just do what you think is right and appropriate. Listen to your heart’s whisper. And last but not least, all the best to everyone for your future endeavor.

Working in Singapore Part 1

There are many things I can share about when talking on working oversea. But since the obvious choice for Malaysian to work oversea will be working in Singapore, so I’ll talk a little bit on that. Again, this is just my point of view. You are welcome to disagree with any of it.

There are these myths regarding working in Singapore which people believe in, and ended up going against working in Singapore. So let’s try to clarify them one by one.

1. It’s not worth to stay away from your family 

If you are those who value family more in your life, yes, this statement can be true. But it is not to say that when I work in Singapore, staying away from home, it means I don’t like my family or so. Come on, it’s not that far anyway, if there’s anything one can always drive back or take a flight to get home in the matter of hours. You can always go home during the weekend if you wish. Otherwise, your family can pay you a visit once in awhile. The best of course would be getting your family to move in to Singapore and stay with you together.

2. You are not earning that much anyway 

This is the part that is a little “grey”. First, let’s talk about ringgit vs Singapore dollar. An ordinary Malaysian graduate engineer can at most get paid around RM2800 to RM3000 for their first job. For a school dropper without any qualification, who work in retail store as promoter can get at most $1500, which is around RM3900. See the difference? Of course this is unfair comparison, when talking about your earning, we should always view without looking into the currency rate. So, a typical Singapore engineer job can land you in somewhere around $2600 to $3000. So it seems like what you are earning is more or less the same anyway (considering earning RM3000 in Malaysia and $3000 in Singapore, without taken into account on currency factor). Let’s take a look on the next factor: living expenses.

3. Living expenses in Singapore is very high 

Again I remind you that we are comparing the value of living cost, not the currency conversion. First, let’s look at food: a simple chicken rice in Malaysia cost about RM4.00 (which is a price that’s already dirt cheap and you can hardly find it anywhere). In Singapore, they range from $2.00 to $3.50. I can get it around $2.50 at the stall near my office, which is not within the town center. Already there are savings here. Generally foods are cheaper in Singapore as compared to Malaysia.

Next, clothes or other daily living necessity. You can get long sleeve G2000 shirts at $19 in Singapore, in Malaysia after discount probably you will be getting one at RM40 or RM50. Iphone 5 cost RM2000+ in Malaysia while it is $1000 in Singapore. You can apply a general rule of thumb that the cost of daily necessity in Singapore is half of what you are paying in Malaysia (again, just focus on the value). So, more savings coming in. Sounds pretty good until now? Let’s look at the next big thing in our spending, house and car.

4. You can’t afford to buy house or car 

This is rather a “yes” and “no” question. You can’t afford to buy house or car… hmm, but there are a lot of Malaysians who buy cars and houses here. So it really is depend on your financial ability. It’s not like you can guarantee that you will be able to afford house and car loan in Malaysia anyway, so I’m a bit neutral in this regard.

For sure it is not easy to own assets in Singapore, as the government has tight law in controlling foreigner to purchase property here. Well, at least they care to protect their citizens. In Malaysia, the property price hike like crazy due to those rich fella buying and selling property like nobody business, and the government is doing nothing to control this kind of behavior. So if you really are looking into getting a house and settle down in Singapore, you really should consider getting a PR here (which again, is not that easy to get nowadays). Well, I can’t afford to buy it in Malaysia anyway, so I don’t feel that there’s any great impact on me for now. But for those who plan to have his/her own family and children in near future, this is something that should really be taken into consideration. Just for your record, I saw some advertisement recently for private condominium (outside city center of course) which cost $1000+ per square feet in Singapore, and the last time I saw a new development in Petaling Jaya was calling for RM1000+ per square feet.

So if you rent a room, how much will it cost? A room for two cost around $600 to $800, staying in normal HDB apartment (not within city center of course), usually inclusive of water, electricity, washing machine usage, internet and etc. Well, I don’t think you can get anything that is far cheaper in Malaysia also. So I would call it a tie here.

The price of car in Singapore is actually more or less same like in Malaysia (both countries having high tax for imported cars), just that you need to pay for the COE before you can own a car (which is expensive). So ended up the total cost of ownership is higher. And the tight loan policies making things even worse. Well, again this is something good and bad at the same time. The good is that people will only buy a car if they really can afford it, unlike in Malaysia, one can simply go in a showroom without paying a single cent for down payment and drive a car away in no time… The bad of course will be for those who really need a car but having financial difficulties, things will be almost impossible for them. Well, if you don’t have big head, don’t wear a big hat. I always believe in this Chinese saying and it is really true. I don’t really want to build my life on top of mountains of debt, well, I know it is unavoidable, but at least I want to minimize it as much as I can.

This will lead to another point: why bother getting a car when the public transport in Singapore is so reliable? So if your job does not really require a car for travel purpose, I would suggest you to live with the bus and MRT services. They are reliable, on time and cheap. You can get to almost anywhere within Singapore with them. As a contrast, in Malaysia the public transport is a total mess, rubbish, and yet still cost you so much just to get from point A to point B.

5. The food in Singapore sucks 

This is typically a point given by people (I strongly believe especially people from Penang who always think that whatever “Peneng” is always far superior) who either get themselves to the wrong place eating at the wrong food, or they are just plain picky on food. Generally food in Singapore is acceptable and ok. There are nice food here and there, you just need to find it out and enjoy it.

6. Singaporean kiasi and kiasu, their culture is bad 

Well, I can’t really comment on this, as I also found kiasi and kiasu people in Malaysia. In terms of culture, I would say people in Singapore are more demanding, work pace is faster, they value a lot in your work quality (and complain a lot at the same time, well, who doesn’t complain in this world anyway). So for Malaysian who are used to our “cincai la” or “minum teh” or “slow and steady” culture, you will find it hard to adapt into the working style in Singapore. Well, if you want to work in a “cincai la” way, of course you will get a “cincai la” pay.

Wrap up: 

I haven’t really touch about other cost such as entertainment and etc. Well, generally they are more or less same like in Malaysia, some maybe slightly higher, some maybe lower (depends on what you are interested in), but all in all, they are considered to be acceptable.

So, do I still need to do the math for you on how much you can earn and save working in Malaysia and Singapore? I think you already have a basic idea on it. Please bear in mind that I’m not trying to portray working in Singapore is superior as compared to working in Malaysia or the other way round. I’m just trying to give you a brief idea what you need to consider and start calculating if you are thinking of leaving Malaysia and work in Singapore. As everyone will have different goal in life, different requirement and needs, so in the end one have to factor in everything and make the best decision for himself/herself. And if you don’t plan your financial well, you will end up with nothing, doesn’t matter you work in Malaysia, Singapore, or even you own the Bank Negara Malaysia.

After clearing most of the myths, next time I’ll share a bit on the concerns you need to taken into account before making your decision.  

Working oversea, why?

Recently there are many friends of mine who asked me why I decided to work oversea. Some asked me on some details and they are considering doing the same. Some debated the reason to work abroad. So I decided I’ll just scribble something in my mind here. What I say is just my point of view, it is not a fact or something that one must follow. I just hope at least by sharing what running in my mind during this period of time may helps others to think and decide on their future. 

I must say I’m blessed to be able to work in so many different places in the world for the past 3 years of my career. I’ve been to Italy, Pakistan, Qatar, Oman, Jordan, China, Papua New Guinea and etc for short term business trip, while also working in Dubai for 1 year and now I’m working in Singapore. It’s not hard to find that people works oversea. You can find a lot of Indians working in Dubai, Philippines in Papua New Guinea, Chinese in Pakistan and so on. For some, there isn’t enough job opportunity in their country, so they got no choice but to work elsewhere. For some, they simply need to earn more money to support their family living, and that amount of money will only be possible to be earned if they work somewhere else. 

Spending time talking to them and to understand them during my previous travel really opens up my eyes and mindset. Me, as a Malaysia, there’s enough job back in my homeland, we are not considered to be poor or rich, but at least we are able to earn a living to continue our life. But why many of us choose to work elsewhere or live elsewhere, and we never look back? 

I personally fed up with the politics in my homeland, and with all the ridiculous policies going on which drains all my hard earned income for no reason (actually there is a reason, which is to fill up “their” pockets), I decided to escape from it once and for all. For others, there are reasons such as currency exchange rate, better job opportunity, better offer, better life for their family and etc. Reasons, there’s always one when you need it. But deep into our heart, who doesn’t want to stay and work in their homeland? But we have chosen to do the opposite, this may sound ridiculous to you, but really, we got no choice. 

Of course it is not as easy as it says for someone to decide working oversea. There’s a lot of consideration going on. For single, mainly one will need to juggle between his current commitment (car loan, house loan, parents and family) in his homeland and what he really wants in the end. For those married or planning to married and start a new family in near future, there are more consideration to be taken in. Other than the usual commitment, they’ll need to think about their children’s future as well. It’s not cheap to raise a child, doesn’t matter where you are in the world. 

I’m a single man, currently without any commitment (car loan cleared and I can’t afford a house in Malaysia anyway) other than insurance, my family is not depending on me to survive the day, and I’m not planning to start a new family with children in near future. Therefore, my point of view is simple. I want to work for different jobs, experience different culture and gain as much work experience as possible while I’m still young, energetic and able to do so. When I’ve gained my experience, and I’m comfortable with the place and job I’m in, I will settle down and focus in growing further on my career, and perhaps starting my family. Owning a house is certainly not in my priority list for the moment. 

Some may argue that you won’t get to high position without staying in a company for long enough. This is “yester-year outdated” thinking. Nowadays, seniority is nothing in most company. If you are capable, you will be hired. It’s that simple. Considering the currency factor, this is the time where I can really work hard to earn and save money for my future usage. If I do come back to Malaysia one day, at least my hard earn money will be more valuable. If I don’t come back to Malaysia, at least I’m sure that I’m living a life with better quality elsewhere. 

So, with nothing to lose and everything to gain, I set off on a journey in pursuing what I want in my life, and what my homeland can’t offer. I’ll talk more specifically about working in Singapore next time.

八月尾声

最近工作忙碌，虽然很累，虽然每天加班，但是时间与日子都过得充实。发现大老板的学历也是Technical的，然后现在左右兼顾Service和我们这contract sales部门。突然觉得，啊，将来可以向他那样也挺不错的。除了有技术经验，有拥有商业头脑。从他身上学了不少东西，希望能够继续学到更多吧。好像很久没有尝试过这种满足感了，希望能够继续努力下去，然后有一番小作为吧。

过去

发觉最近的自己常常在缅怀过去
想起小时候穿上的白色校鞋，每个星期洗刷后涂上鞋粉的过去
想起从前在学校里的早晨，每一天都在欢笑胡闹中的曾经
想起大学时候躲在麦当劳里吹着冷气读着书的回忆
也许人老了就会开始缅怀过去
也许人寂寞了就会开始缅怀过去
也许人即将离世了就会开始缅怀过去
想着曾经，回忆过去
许多的甜酸苦辣，情绪顿时涌上心头
偶尔会微微一笑，偶尔会叹气，偶尔会眼湿湿的
也许人是应该在记忆仍然犹新时就开始学习回忆
这样将来才不会把自己的过去给渐渐忘记...

循环与轮回

又一个失眠的夜晚，啊，到底是怎么了

曾经听说过，人生就是一个循环，一场轮回
从出生，成长，成家，立业，年老，离世，这就是一个循环
但是，我觉得人生并不只有这一个循环
人生中有着无数的循环与轮回
现在的我，工作常常加班
突然让我想起了从前的我，在刚离开大学开始工作时也是这样
也许是因为新的工作，新的环境，人比较有冲劲
这样的循环，也许将来还是会从来几次吧？
身边不断的相遇，相识与分开，又是一个不断重复的循环
一买再买的电子产品，衣物等，又是一个没完没了的循环
在这循环中，如何保持自我，如何活出精彩
看来才是大家都在努力修炼的东西
不然，我们将会沦落到成为这循环与轮回中，没有灵魂的躯壳，孤魂野鬼
我也还在努力的修炼着，希望有朝一日，能够得道成仙就好了...

2013年8月。雨

花了一个星期的时间，终于把我的短篇故事写好了。写得有些仓促，所以不要抱太大的期望去看。有兴趣看的可以按这链接去看看，或者可以按部落格上面“私のストーリー”的tab进去浏览。
钢の心

最近工作开始更加忙碌了，还是有许多需要学习的东西，希望可以早日学会吧。这几天不知道为什么就是睡得不太好。希望会快点改善过来。

八月开始，雨就不停的在下。刚好又是七夕和中元节的到来。希望一切顺顺利利就好了。在马来西亚的朋友和亲人们，好好的照顾自己吧。

Sony Bluetooth Headset SBH20 - From Funny Bunny Point of View

Sick of the stock headset provided from Sony together with my Xperia SP, so I decided to get a new headset to replace it instead. There are of course many choices out there in the market, but still, I'm more towards using wireless option. Sony has always been making some good bluetooth headset, so I decided to stick with Sony and get a SBH20. There's another offering at the moment, SBH50 which shows caller ID, track informations and etc, but I don't really need those, so I opt for the cheaper SBH20 instead.

First up, the connectivity. You may connect this headset through Bluetooth 3.0 pairing, or you can tap it to your phone through NFC for immediate pairing. It is a great idea, but there are still some hiccups once in awhile on the NFC. In ideal condition, you just need to tap your phone on the headset, and it will automatically pair the devices in a few seconds. Sometime it takes a little longer, and sometime it doesn't pair after the first tap, and you have to tap it again... but once it is connected, everything seems to be working well so far without signal dropping halfway through. Anyway, I believe all these are more towards software refinement, it can certainly be better and improve in the future.

After pairing, now let's enjoy some music. You will get the usual play/pause, next track and previous track, and volume control on this headset. So there's not much a problem to navigate through them. The sound quality of the headset is very good. I would say great if compared to the stock headset bundled with my Xperia SP. Nice quality sound with balance overall output... which is just what I wanted as I don't want to use bass heavy headset. The body itself act as a clip, so you can clip it anywhere on your shirt while leaving your phone in your bag, or you can enjoy using the phone without the need to worry the wire tangling here and there, extremely helpful when you are travelling in a crowded bus or train.

Next, the hands free talk quality. While it enjoy some amazingly sweet sound when playing music, receiving a call through it is another story. It's not to say the quality is poor, but as compared to listening to music, you can definitely feel the difference. The voice quality is ok, although it can definitely be better. It's not that loud, but at least it is clear enough to be heard... All in all, the scoring for this part is just average. The battery life is fairly acceptable. I have been using it daily for at least 2 hours a day listening to music and receiving a few calls, it can last me almost the week with one charge. All in all, I'm very happy with my purchase and I have been enjoying this headset very much. I really would recommend people to get one of these instead of tangling all the wires here and there on your phone. It's time to free up yourself!

Ex company vs Current company

In ex company, we are a bunch of guys working with only a girl in the whole department
In current company, there are a bunch of girls working with me the only guy in the whole department

In ex company, lunch always whole department go out and eat
In current company, lunch usually settle by your own... or maybe with a few colleague

In ex company, need to receive call from people everyday and getting scold by them
In current company, I need to call people to let them scold me everyday...

In ex company, everyone taichi all the shit away making it none of their business
In current company, everyone sit down and get the shit wipe through properly

In ex company, everyday also meeting and meeting and no conclusion comes out
In current company, still a lot of meeting but meeting is very effective and always got some conclusion

In ex company, have to thumb in and out everyday
In current company, no one give a damn what time you come in and leave the office

In ex company, my 1 month salary only can afford me to buy a 16GB iPhone 5 from Apple store Malaysia
In current company, my 1 month salary can buy me 3 16GB iPhone 5 from Apple store Singapore

In ex company, my boss run away not long after he hire me...
In current company, my boss also runs away after hiring me...

In ex company, I'm forced to use a cheap lousy laptop
In current company, I'm still forced to use a cheap lousy laptop...

In ex company, IT department everyday do nothing only...
In current company, IT department is outsourced, even worst...

In ex company, I drive to work everyday and have to wake up at 6am to avoid traffic jam
In current company, I still need to wake up early at 6am to get ready myself and take bus to work

私の物語 Ver. 7.0

Should have posted this long ago since the upgrade or overhaul of my site is usually associated with some changes in my life... So now since I have moved to Singapore and started a new life here, I have updated the blog a little, and should have now make it the version 7... just like Apple realising iOS 7 this year as well... haha... talk about coincidence.

Anyway, still need some time before fully settle down with my life and job in Singapore, but now at least things seems to be going the right direction. Hopefully everything will be fine, it doesn't necessary to be smooth all the way, a few ups and downs are acceptable, but really hope that it all ends up well. If I enjoy my job, I might consider getting a part time MBA as well if it helps, since company will sponsor for the tuition fees, so why not... will see how everything unfolds.

Recently everyone is asking about the same questions to me, like when are you going to buy a car, are you going back KL every weekend, where do you stay, why your name is like that etc. Getting tired to answer the same old question over and over again... I guess there's nothing much you can ask about on a foreigner working in Singapore...

Still planning to improve my guitar, get some photography done, write at least a story by the end of this year... I'll try my best to make sure everything goes on schedule... till then, hope I'll enjoy my stay in Singapore... god bless, and take care for all my friends and family back in Malaysia.

Sony Xperia SP: From Funny Bunny Point of View - Extended

Battery life is considered OK, light usage of calls, sms, browsing and facebook-ing generally will allow almost 2 days usage period. So even if you abuse it more, I think it shouldn’t be a problem for it to last for a day. But one weird thing that I notice is the battery percentage indicator is rather inaccurate. For example, at the moment it shows 70+% of battery, after you put it to sleep for awhile and come back to the phone later, it may shows 80% this time around. The bundle earphone/hands-free is really low quality in terms of make. Last time around Sony has bundled a great earphone for the Xperia Ray, not sure why they can’t do the same here this time. Well, anyway the earphone still manages to do what it should do, but the sound quality is really average. 

One particular annoying problem with this phone is on the wifi reception. Since Xperia Ray, the wifi reception of Sony’s phone has always been below average. Imagine I’m sitting in front of the fiber broadband router, and I’m only getting 2 out of 3 bars of signal. Sony really has to work hard to improve their wifi connectivity. I have also found some software glitches from time to time, like unable to connect to LTE, or music play through the walkman app will pause for no reason by itself. Well, all these glitches can be solved by a simple restart of phone, but it sure hinders the user experience. So, in order to get a “smoother” experience all day, restart your phone daily. 

Google Now can be access by holding the home button down. This is one of the selling feature for Jellybean software, but coming from Ice Cream Sandwich & iOS 6, I’m pretty much new to this new feature Google introduced us. I’m still exploring what can actually be done with it. For the moment, I’m just running the weather card and some transit info on it. On a side note, if you are looking for similar spec mid range phone out there, you may take a look at Lumia 820 if you are willing to hop into WP8’s garden. For the Android side, Samsung Galaxy S4 mini and the rumored HTC One mini can be in your shopping list as well.

Sony Xperia SP: From Funny Bunny Point of View

Just got myself a Sony Xperia SP when signing up a new corporate plan in Singapore... anyway, the reason I got this is just because it is dirt cheap. Anyway, for those who may or may not know, I started my smart phone journey with first device from Asus, which is running Froyo... follow by Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray (from Gingerbread to Ice Cream Sandwich), follow by iPhone 5 running iOS 6. In between, I have got myself with Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7" which runs Ice Cream Sandwich initially and then get an upgrade to Jellybean, which was the worst gadget purchase I have ever made in my life... and now ended up with iPad Mini running iOS 6. So I'm reviewing this Xperia SP from the point of view of a person who used and lived with different OS and brands before this... so let's see what this device has up it's sleeves...

I won't talk so much on the technical spec sheet, for me, user experience is always more important than the spec sheet alone. You may have the fastest processor and the best spec out there, but if people don't feel comfortable using your device, there's no point at all... yes, Samsung, I'm pointing this towards you. So let's begin with the outlook of the phone, this will usually be the first thing which attracts you anyway. From the outside, Xperia SP comes with Aluminium frame, glass front and plastic back. The glass front will be more or less standard for all smartphone nowadays, the Aluminium frame is a nice touch. It feels solid in hand, giving it a "premium" feel. The plastic back is matted, and feels a tiny little bit of rubberised, which again is very nice and comfortable to hold, touch & grab. The other noticeable difference, or perhaps the signature of this device would be the transparent band at the bottom. This band basically flashes different LED light which serves as notification purpose. An iconic identity for the Xperia SP. In terms of physical buttons & port, you'll get your USB port on the left, earphone jack on the top, volume rocker + power button + camera shutter on the right, nothing at the bottom, 8MP shooter + LED flash + speaker on the back. All in all, buttons and ports placement are ok and accessible, although I do prefer the headphone jack to be at the bottom, a more sensible location for me, but it's nothing major here. Speaker on the upper part also prevents your hand from blocking the sound. This device is not to say slim in profile, but all in all it feels solid in hand. Only complain would be the width of the device is a little too much to my liking... sometime it feels uncomfortable to navigate the touch screen with only one hand. If Sony can reduce the width, or maybe the thickness, by a little, the ergonomics should feel much better.

After mentioning the outlook, let's look into operation wise. As I prefer single hand operation, the 4.6" screen is a little too large for that purpose. If the screen size is something like 4.3" to 4.5", I think it would be the best size for single hand operation smart phone (Apple, this is for you to take note). Talking about the screen, it's 720p, so it's crystal clear for sure, but he viewing angle is really poor and the screen do appear washout as compared to other competitors. Anyway, touch gesture is responsive enough to register, so overall it is acceptable. The speaker delivers loud and clear sound thanks to xLoud from Sony. The camera is the major downside of this device though. Picture quality is moderate, most of the time you will get noisy shots, and the camera app is a little slow and sluggish at times. Although you do get tons of settings customization, but all in all it is surely not the camera that you can rely on as a replacement for point & shoot camera. Well, for this price point, I would say it is acceptable, but still it can be better as the competition is fierce in this segment. The transparent LED notification band is nice to use to stay alert with updates, but if omitting this band can reduce the size and weight of the device, I'm more than happy to let go of it. Anyway, it is still pretty cool to have the LED flashing and blinking while you are listening to musics & browsing pictures. The back cover can be removed to insert micro Sim and micro SD card, while battery is non-removable (with power bank getting cheaper, I don't see the need to really have removable battery, it's pointless).

Now, let's move on to the software part: the Jellybean. The Sony's version of Jellybean skin is by far the "lightest" skin I have seen. HTC's are ok, with a home screen dedicated for blink feed, while Samsung is the most heavily customized skin. It's not to say it is not good to have a heavily customized skin, but the problem is if the customization ends up with a phone that constantly lags and having glitches here and there... what's the point of doing so? Anyway, people who knows me knew that I dislike Samsung, well, it's not because I like Apple and therefore dislike Samsung, it's more like the company is pissing me off with their product and services... Alright, back to the topic. You will standard Android Jellybean stuffs here... I particularly like the "tasks" button which opens up recently used apps plus a few short cuts for those gadget we will use from time to time such as notepad, timer, voice recording and etc. This really improves the smoothness of operation and getting into those apps. Other than that, Sony also throw in some nice Apps addition like Walkman, Album, Movies and etc, which user may or may not even use it. Other than that, lock screen shortcut, widget, notification center with shortcuts all are standard Android features that will be more or less the same on all other Android running devices.

So, let's wrap up. All in all, I would say this is by far the best mid range Android phone I have tested in shops and used up to date. With the mid range price point, you are getting dual core processor, reasonable camera, NFC, LTE, Jellybean... what else to expect for the bang of the bucks? The Jellybean here is running acceptably smooth (at least for now), with some glitches and lag once in a while (which is acceptable and not to the point of annoying), pretty much thanks to the lightly skinned Jellybean software. Samsung's version, although there are some features like split viewing of multiple windows at once and etc, which might be useful (the keyword is "might"), but in the end makes a device to be running slow, lag and sluggish resulting in inferior user experience, which is something I can't tolerate or compromise on. I'm not completely stating they are bad, but in the end it is up to you to decide what compromise you want to make, based on your preference. For me, I need smooth, stable, almost zero lag and one hand operable device over functionality and features, that's why I ended up with iPhone 5 before this. And Samsung really needs to start copying Sony on the choice of material used, they are really good at it. Since the days of Xperia Ray, the material & build quality of Sony's phone has been pretty satisfying. For now, I must say I miss the build quality of iPhone 5, with iOS 7 coming soon to address some of the shortage in terms of software side, I believe the next iPhone will be even better and greater to be beaten, in terms of my own preference of course. But I think I might start to miss the slightly larger screen on this Xperia SP when I jump back to iPhone. As often Android device will become slower and slower as time goes by, my personal preference might change with time & technologies may advanced faster than we can imagine, so we'll see what is going to happen in the near future. If I get myself the new iPhone, I'll share with you my experience as well.

Settling down...

After 2 weeks here in Singapore... slowly started to settle down with my job and life... although still need some times to get everything straight, but at least things are working out slowly...

Getting used to travelling by bus to work everyday... so far everything seems to be working out fine. It's quite convenient to travel around Singapore by public transport anyway, so nothing much needed to worry about. As of job, currently still slowly picking up the pieces here and there... hopefully will start to really work on my job soon. Relationship with colleagues still need to take some time to build up... other than that I believe I have a good boss to learn from...

Managed to get myself a room... will move in starting August... hope everything will work out fine here as well... guess where's my room...

Got myself a new phone after signing the corporate plan... iPhone package even though got discount, but still a bit expensive for me to buy it for the moment... so I opt for a cheaper Xperia SP instead... this will be my work horse for the moment before... maybe the next iPhone release... we'll see... anyway, I'll put up a short review of this guy next time, so stay tuned...

Bought myself a few stuffs... and slowly there are more things that need to replace... first up I got myself a new water bottle (I can't bring my ex-company's bottle over there...), then got myself a small notepad (I can't bring my ex-company's organizer either...), shirts, pants, socks... the list goes on and on... wallet and shoes are on my waiting list... when things worn out at almost the same time, it really is going to break the piggy bank... hopefully there's nothing more than this for the year of 2013...

Been busy with all sort of things like getting my employment pass, medical checkup & bank account in July due to just moving into Singapore... and will busy with all sort of things as well in the August due to moving into new room... really don't have much time to relax and live a proper life... hopefully everything will start to settle down soon. Then I can start going around taking some pictures, lazying at home continue reading my books, watching all the movies I had downloaded once upon a time, and perhaps start writing my first story this year... so, all in all, hope everything will be fine for me for the days to come... take care for all my friends back in Malaysia.

最近的自己。

最近的自己，感觉上仿佛有些过于急躁
也许是在新环境下的不安
也许是对未来的不知所措
也许是急于证明自己的决定是对的
也许是希望能够尽快安顿下来然后习惯这里的生活
也许我应该暂时放缓自己的步伐
让自己慢慢调整回来后才全力冲刺
希望一切会慢慢的好转吧...

Moving on

Last day, last night, last dinner, last moment

On my bed, looking around my room
Wondering how many times do I need to say good bye to my beloved room
Over and over again

On my guitar, playing my last strum
Wondering how many times do I need to say good bye to my beloved guitar
Over and over again

Updated my blog's template to mark a new chapter of my life
Clear off almost every single things I can ever think about before leaving
I really have no idea about what is going to happen in the future
But still, I'll move on...

Sorry once again, and thank you all once again...

Packing up for departure

Packing my stuff in order to move to Singapore and start my new life...
Surprisingly get everything done in just an hour time...
Maybe I'm just too used to packing up stuff...
Not sure it is some good skill that should be proud of...
Ever since young, been traveling here and there for day trips and packing...
Follow by studying in Sabah, more packing to do...
Then back to KL after finish study... more packing...
And 1 year stay in Dubai... even more packing...
Finally back to KL and now to Singapore...
Not to mention those business trips in between...
Oh boy, feel like spent half of my life just packing and unpacking my luggage...
Just hope that I can really settle myself down soon...

Counting down the days...

Yes, currently am counting down the days before I head to Singapore to start my new working life there. These few days I am busy in clearing some books I bought last year... Got to finish them as I don't plan to bring them over... Also clearing my last box of Gundam plastic model... Those are very old kit bought by my aunt long time ago and she didn't even open the box before, so she gave it to me and I got them all assembled up nicely. Since they are old model, the quality and the end product really differs a lot with the current generation of Gundam model selling in the market. Well, it was the past anyway, technology changes, design improved, so when building them, I just got this thinking in my head: when we look back our old days now, we will laugh at our stupidness, how silly we are back then, and thank god that we have improved now...

Indeed. Looking back my old self these few days, I get to see a lot of things. A lot mistake I have made, a lot of mess I have created, still I don't regret and will not want to change my past. These made who I am today, so live with it and make sure I'm doing better in the future, just that simple. Well, not that simple actually, but I'll try my best.

Leaving next Saturday. After clearing my debt, I really got nothing more in relation to my beloved country other than being a citizen. Without burden, without any other debt, and I shall leave with pride. Gotta finish those books these few days. Then have to clear off every last bit of left over and restart myself, hopefully as a new and better me...

失业中的我

这一个星期来，在家里都是无所事事
难得让自己懒一下
偶尔上网，偶尔看书，偶尔看电影
但大部分时候还是让脑袋在不停的转
想着许多的事情
六月的最后一个星期将会是我离开的时候
必须把该完成的完成，才能了无牵挂的离开
还有几本书打算把它们看完
还有几个模型也打算把它们砌完
当初定下的目标还有写作和摄影
那些得迟些才去完成了
其他还有一些手续要办，希望都能赶得及办好吧
剩下的两个星期，是时候停止懒散了。

言の葉の庭

新海诚的最新力作，再一次的令人感动。
一对男女，一对师生，他们之间的爱恨情仇，他们各自怀抱的梦想，他们各自承受的孤单，相互依偎，相互扶持，最后结果会是如何？
续“追逐星星的孩子”后，新海诚这一次回归了“秒速五厘米”的制作风格，简短明确的把他想表达的故事呈现出来。非常不错的一部动画，记得不容错过！

Jobless

4th of June, 2013. It's 1pm in the afternoon, and I'm staying home, lying on my bed with nothing much to do. When was the last time I have such a moment on the weekdays. Yes, long time ago, probably some days when I'm on leave, but even when I'm on leave, I'll have to check on emails and answering phone call from time to time. Today, I just got nothing to do, and I don't feel like doing anything either.

Yesterday was a little special and emotional to me, as it was my last day working in my company, a company I started working for since I graduated from University for the past 3 years. Time really flies by so soon that now I'm already 27 years old, standing in yet another junction where I need to make my decision for my life & for my future. 

People asking me whether I'm not happy with my current job. Well, a little, you can't find a job which you can completely satisfy anyway. People are wondering why I'm leaving, and everyone is giving this "surprised" kind of look on their face. I wonder do they expect a person to start working for a company until the day he or she retired. It's not that my current job is not good, it's not that my current pay is low, it's not that my company is treating me bad. It's just me, I have made a bold decision for my life and I'd decided to take on the road not taken. It's that simple.

Some may say that be grateful of what you have now and live your life with what you are given with. I would really like to try living a life style like this, but will I be happy with myself? Maybe not. I'm just not the kind of person that will feel comfortable staying in the comfort zone. Maybe I'm just too young to get myself tied up. There's a whole world out there, it will be a waste if I choose not to explore it right now when I'm still able to do so. I want to test my limit. I want to go beyond the horizon. I want to continue demanding and challenging myself, so that I will continue to grow, to learn and to become a better person. 

And so, I have decided to leave my homeland once again. I know I had some bitter memories in Dubai, therefore this time around I'm heading to somewhere closer to my home, Singapore. I'll try my luck and see if I can survive in this fast pace country, and I'll see how far can I evolve myself to coupe with all the changes in my life. I've spent a lot in renovating my current room, it's a bit of waste to leave it behind, but I know there are sacrifices that need to be made in order for me to move forward.

It's not about the money, it's not about the company, it's just about me who want to live my life to the fullest. I'm sorry if my selfish decision has brought any trouble or harm to anyone. Forgive me, and I wish to receive your blessing to build up my strength and courage to continue live on.

未来的路

经过重重波折，来到了这里
会在想是否是上天给我的指引，让我知难而退
还是上天想给我一个考验，以判定我的坚定心
无论这趟旅程的结果如何
看来我的心已定
这也许真的是唯一的出路吧
但愿一切顺利渡过。

6th of May

Again, there's no song for today, only cries and tears from people of Malaysia. I have always been neutral about politic, and so am I going to continue be. This will probably be my last post about my thoughts of my first (and probably last) general election voting experience.

I belive most of the Malaysian are dying for a change, and they are expecting for a change to come this time around. Honestly, I have never thought of the opposition will win this time, the most they can do is closing the gap and that's it. The outcome is more or less as what I have predicted. And the following things that happened is also just as what I have predicted... People start to call for help from the USA and even the Queen from UK... If we Malaysian are not helping ourselves, are you going to expect others to help you out?

So whether or not the result is legit, I don't really want to debate into that, as I don't know the whole story, so I choose not to comment. But for things that I know and I saw by myself, it really disappoints me. The way the election been carried out, I wouldn't believe this same process has been done for the past 12 times, as the way it operates really doesn't shows any system and discipline. This is the place where I was born, the place I have stayed for the past 27 years, and the place which has independency for the past 56 years, and I really couldn't believe that after such a long way we come, we are still like heading no where.

I can't see a future here, and I can't imagine my future here, which is a very sad thing to happen. I almost didn't sleep for the whole night, thinking about is this really how I would end my life. Something is clear though, I have made up my mind that I'll not be having any children even after I'm married. Honestly, I don't want to send a child to this world having the need to worry about him or her being kidnapped, raped, robbed or killed everyday. I don't want to bring a life to this world and make him or her to suffer what I have suffered.

I love my country, so much that the pain it generates from the love is killing me. I'm seriously looking for a way out, once and for all. Leaving the country is an option, be it for you to call me for running away from the problem but not solving it. When your heart is dead, it will never come to life again. Staying and continue to fight is another option, but how long can I continue to stand and fight, I wonder...

Sorry my beloved Malaysia, I have tried, maybe not tried my best, and maybe not tried hard enough. Sorry for the pain you are enduring now, as I am enduring the same with you for all my life. I really hope that one day I can stand proud to tell everyone I'm a Malaysian, as for now... I'm still fighting to make this dream come true...