I am still here

I've decided to check out my own blog and realised that my last posting was more than 4 years ago!

How time flies.

My last posting was at the time that I took up a new job at a US based IT multinational company - it was IBM actually.

Coincidentally I have just left IBM for another job in October 2009.

Baby O is now 9 years old and in Standard 2 now.

Mummy O is still is an IT project manager but in a different company. She's didn't change her job though, the company got acquired!

"All good things ...

…must come to an end.”
- An ancient proverb that dates back as far as 1374.

My Dear Friends

It’s been 5 years and 6 months. It’s been quite a ride. But my journey with this company ends here and today (18 Nov 2005).

In all of those years, I’ve been through many ups and downs and this, is by far the most difficult thing to do – saying “goodbye”.

I wish to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to all of you for your support, teamwork and friendship.

A very special thanks to our Group CEO for the opportunity to start up this business.

You can still reach me at my mobile or you email me at xxx@yyyy.com.

Do keep in touch and I wish all of you good health and god speed.

Yours truly,

---

With the above email, I have officially left the company I co-founded more than 5 years ago.

Thus begins a new chapter in my life ...

Time Trek - Part II

If you have never bought salted fish, you have never visited Kuantan.

In all my years there as a kid, everytime a family friend comes to visit us, they will undoubtedly leave with at least one or two salted fish. So, on our last day in Kuantan, all of us went shopping for you-know-what. Grandpa O really knows how to choose salted fish and it was good to have him around. According to Grandpa O, back in his days (read: the 1940s and 50s), the salted fish used to have worms in them - that's becuase the flies used to lay their eggs when the fish are being dried in the sun. He could still remember my uncle having dinner while little worms were creeping out at side of his mouth! Nowadays, they put some pepper in the fishes to prevent this and they will dry them out on a boat in the middle of the ocean - no flies over there!

We left Kuantan at about 1:00pm and made a detour to visit Grandma O's hometown of Mentakab. It is exactly half way between Kuantan and KL. When we used to live in Kuantan, we'd go back to Mentakab every Chinese New Year and spend at least 3 days with my Grandpa i.e. GreatGranpa O. His wooden house is right on top the the hill and next to the water tower. All our aunts, uncles and cousins would congregate for the dinner, it was a great time, my brother and I had many wonderful times there playing with our cousins and the neighbours. There were more than 25 people in that small house at the time and by night fall, all of us would cram in to 4 rooms to sleep. My grandma used to have all chickens, ducks and turkeys in her back yard. Cooking was a challenging task then - they were using wood fire instead of gas. There were no fridge in the house. Mind you - that was in the late 1970s! The place is now deserted and the house is barely standing. Even the neighbours are different now, none of them knew who we were.

We left Mentakab feeling nostalgic which Mrs. O and Little O have very little idea of what we were really chatting about ....

Time Trek - Part I

I had an exciting weekend. I went back in time - some 30 years back. Actually it was more like a trip to a small town that I once lived and grew up - Kuantan. It was still very small when I left it back in 1976. I was barely 8 or 9 years old. The best part is not only Mrs O and Little O, but grandpa and grandma O came along too!

We spent 3 days 2 nights at the Hyatt Kuantan. It was wonderful, the Teluk Cempedak beach was just as I remember it. I almost drowned there! With Little O around I made sure that she stays close to the shore! That beach has been know for its strong under currents. Grandma O used to be a teacher in Chung Ching School and one of her students drowned there.

We went to visit our old house - No. 586 Jalan Kemunting. Grandpa O used to be in the civil service and that was one of the government quarters provided when Grandpa O was transferred to Kuantan from KL. I can still remember our first ever telephone and the number - it was 22616, yes it's was only 5 digits back then. The shops I used to buy stuff from was demolished but the telecoms tower behind the house is still there. Back then our little bungalow was the only house in the large and open field, no gates, no fences. Grandma O used to be terrified to be alone at home, especially at night, it sooooo quiet. Our home got burgled not once but twice. The crooks wiped us clean - they took Grandpa O shirts, shoes, undies - everything! Including my piggy bank!

Goodness, why Daniel ?

That's was Mrs O repsonse when the Malaysian Idol results was aired.

Nita is clearly the better qualified in terms of skills and capability, I guess Daniel was what the young school girls wanted to be their Idol.

Come to think of it, it should not come as a surprise since Daniel has had a strong fan base all along.

Comparing this year's Idol with last year - I would prefer last year's anytime.

Jac is clearly the most talented, experience besides the point but last years' voting atmosphere was also different. The message we got was that Jac is suppose to represent Malaysia for World Idol, and of course the whole nation wanted somebody capable to represent the country.

But this time around - no World Idol bid. So the cute looks and all takes a higher priority. That goes the same for Akademi Fantasia, while I did not follow that show but I am told that Mawi can't sing for nuts and yet he still wins.

This phenomenon reflects that Malaysia is very much a young nation, moreover people who watch these types of show and actually vote are the younger people. Generation X and Y people are definately for tech saavy compared to their parents.

So that's why Daniel won - my 2 cents.

Hornets

It was 9:46pm Saturday night, Mr. O was reading his book in the master bedroom and upon seeing her daddy reading, Little O went downstairs to pick up her book to join her Papa.



It was when she walked into the room, she started screaming and when Mr. O looked up, a HUGE hornet had just landed right on her chest. Mr. O leapt out of his bed and swept the hornet off the terrified Little O with his bare hands, it fell to the floor and Mr. O smacked the 2 inch long insect with him book. Paralyzed, it laid motionless.

But it was already too late - the hornet had stung Little O on her hip and she crying or rather screaming on top of her lungs. Mr. O checked for the sac of venom left behind by the hornet but it was not there. Papa O gave her a firm hug and tells her it's OK and hornet has gone away. At that moment Mrs. O dashed into the room. Little O kept on crying - the pain and the shock is really getting to her. She started asking for mummy.

20 minutes @ 150kph later we were all at the emergency room Subang Jaya Medical Center. Little O cried all the way there. I made it a point to put the comatose hornet is a plastic bag and showed the doctor and she confirmed that it is a hornet and a very big one.

Our Little O keeps saying "pain pain!!", "ouch ouch!!" and was at the verge of crying. To make matters worse, there was this little boy right next to our corner at the room crying his lungs out for whatever reasons. The curtains were drawn so we could not see what was happening. Upon hearing such painful wails, Little O started to panic and cry again. It was unbearable.

15 more minutes passed and finally the doctor gave her an injection (probably tetanus jab) on the other side of her hip. She laying face down and was not expecting the jab. She jolted and that made it all the more painful. She must be thinking "hornet stung me and it is so painful but when I go to see doctor I get another sting."

The doctor prescribed antibiotics (liquid form) and 2 more medication. We were advised to watch for allergic reactions such as breathing difficulties, people have known to die from allergic reactions from a bee sting. All of that cost Papa O RM122. But Little O was still complaining about the pain (both the sting and jab) all the way home, crying off and on.

At home, she couldn't even lie down on her back and had to sleep face down. We have to keep distracting her from the pain and she finally fell asleep at about 2am.

Poor thing.

Pussy – it’s name of a place.

Yes it is and it’s not where you think.

It’s a small village in France actually.

For the uninitiated, “pussy” is also an English slang for the human female genitalia.

The name of the place was derived from the word “Pusiacum”, a Gallo-Roman name. But if you read between the lines, it becomes “Pusia-cum”. The root word is “pusus” meaning “little boy”. As an English speaking fellow, this IS the part that I don’t get – “pussy” = “little boy cum”?

As with most European towns, this place has been around for hundreds of years – in 1561 it had 1455 people, in 1776 548 people and in 1979 only 276. Why is everyone leaving Pussy?

In recent yeats it got so small that Pussy and a few other small villages were merged into the La Léchère commune for administrative purposes in 1972.

Now that we’re done with Pussy, we’re off to Intercourse, Pennsylvania.