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| Month to reflect |
| 11.30.05 (5:19 pm) |
It's the last month of 2005 and I've started reflecting on the year gone by.
It was not a really great year. Honestly speaking, it was a year where I saw some major downs but I weathered it through. It was the year my son, Ryan, turned one year. It was a year where I also heard that number two is on the way.
2005 was also the year where we got so many false alarms as to when we'll move to a new workplace. To the point I now don't really care if we move at all.
It was also a year of near misses. One hit and I'll be the latest new-money-guy on the block. I'm still hoping for that major break.
It was the year that I've decided to pursue writing seriously. It was also the year where I find that writing novels may not be for me. I get confused just imagining the characters. I'll just stick to a more simpler form of story-telling: the first person view.
So what's in store for 2006? I've no idea. I've given up on making resolutions yonks ago.
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| Blurry-eyed cubicle slave |
| 11.28.05 (2:55 pm) |
There was a tonne of bills waiting for me once I reached home on Sunday evening. My flight was delayed by about an hour and I felt so tired but still had time to blast away minions in Star Wars - Battlefront II on the ps2.
I stepped into work on Monday and sat blurred eyed in a meeting. I have a two week empty spell in my work-life and a massive catch-up game to play. At least noone disturbed my cubicle. My month old soda-can is still sitting there un-molested.
Caught up to all the office news by two that afternoon and I still managed to play several round of Resident Evil 4 (ps2) last night before hitting the sack.
I am still in blurry-mode.
Wifey and Ryan are still with mum-in-law. We'll meet up again on Christmas Eve in KL and off on another holiday with the family. So my life for the next three weeks is one where several Star Wars characters will be blasted away and zombies get their heads blown off.
I'm still haven't got round to settling those bills. Huh, burning them will not have an effect so I better start sorting them...
Shopping Tally for 2005 Holiday
1 pair of sandals (fell apart on second day of use but fixed already)
4 t-shirts (2 for brothers, 2 for me)
3 trousers (Jeans, slacks and khaki shorts)
1 shirt
1 vintage Adidas jacket
3 PS2 games : Resident Evil 4, Star Wars Battlefront II and Shining Force
3 DVDs
2 books
SPAWN #1-#12
SPAWN/Batman Crossover (I found it)
Batman/Judge Dredd Compiled Comic Book
2 Malaysian comics
1 Motortrader magazine
1 document holder (to keep SPAWN #1-#12 & crossover)
2 watches (SEIKO Diver and Titus Automatic)
600g of barbequed pork slice (for parents)
1 small carry-on bag (it's tiny)
You never know how much you've bought until you actually list it down...
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| A Collection of Sorts: SEIKO 7002-7000 |
| 11.20.05 (10:08 pm) |
7002-7000 with Timex velcro strap. Photo by Kevin Chan.
Image is from makestudio.com
Folks, I managed to get my hands on the above Seiko. Yup, the Seiko 7002-7000 Scuba Diver's. Production ran from 1988-1996 so these watches can be considered hard to find. I got mine from a collector here in Penang for a fraction of what they are really worth online. Apparently among collectors here; Japanese watches sell for a cheaper price compared to the European watches.
But I have a bone to pick with this collector, the caseback is from a 7002-7001. Huh?
Well, the 7002-7001 is a Japan market version of the above watch. There is one obvious difference between the 7001 and 7000; an extra line of text "17 Jewels" under the "Water150mResist". What I plan to do is to look through his other two 7002s and see if they too have this caseback problem. Then I may have to trace which caseback belongs to the one I bought.
If I am not able to do that, well he'll have a history lesson from me. Apparently he has low knowledge on Seiko watches but huge info on Rolex watches and his collection is impressive. Either that or give back some of my money...
But this watch is totally awesome! I love it to bits the moment I saw it. Wifey is not that impress since this brings my tally of watches to 5 or 6. This is my third Seiko and well probably the one I'll wear the most.
Except for the caseback; it's actually the real deal. I've seen imitation watches and there are certain things that they can't imitate like the small prints that you can find on the watch face. The watch face itself is a dead give away on imitations. The band itself, Seiko Diver's bands are stamped with the logo and band type. The metal clasp is embossed with the Seiko brand. Such details are what collectors look for when looking at a vintage watch.
For all that, I still missed out on the caseback for the fact that I was too giddy with excitement on my find.
Time to get myself a small magnifying glass...cheers!
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| Don't you love it when you're needed? |
| 11.16.05 (5:25 pm) |
Ok, I've been checking office email while on holiday. Yup, it is one of the deadly sins (after bringing along your credit card) of what-not-to-do-on-holiday . Seems that some people are really looking for me now. Only when you're not around do you actually become really important. For the most part when you are around, you're a mere shadow in the window.
It's fun to see what's happening at the office and actually not doing anything about it. But I did reply some emails cause I felt guilty.
My holiday is going along fine. Honestly, I've seem to have lost the shopping bug of yesteryears (hurray!) and merely find myself flipping through stuff. Unless the item sends a tingle and lightning strikes me; I will not buy it. Wifey...well she is another story in itself.
Wifey has gone on maternity dress shopping spree. I'm amaze that even maternity dresses come in fashion all in itself. I mean you can now mix and match colours and patterns. All to show the glory of the beautiful being that you are carrying. The poetic sparks disappears when the bill hits you and that is just the first shopping mall. Wifey plans to raid several malls within the time frame she has.
But wifey is happy and that is good, both for her and for the child within. A happy mum means a happy baby.
Penang, for the most part, has not changed since last I was here. Though the sky-line has expanded with new buildings popping up. Most are apartment buildings and the occasional shopping malls. I begining to see that Penang has some-what lost it's identity. The Pearl of the Orient has an identity crisis.
How should Penang brand itself?
It is a huge mix of old and new but (sadly) lacking any clear direction. I mean Melaka has branded itself as the historical bed of Malaysia, KL is the all-in-all asian city but Penang? Some are begining to say that Penang is turning into Singapore. Imagine that, "Penang - the Singapore of Malaysia".
That is something to watch for.
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| SPAWN Issue #1 |
| 11.16.05 (2:36 am) |
I admit it, I squealed like a girl. Who wouldn't when they are holding SPAWN Issue #1 in their hands. In fact I was holding SPAWN Issues #1-#12.
SPAWN Issue #1 was first published in May 1992 debuting with 1.7 copies sold. The first 12 issues were drawn by the creator of SPAWN, Todd McFarlane and they are hard to come by especially in Malaysia. SPAWN has become the hottest independant comic to date. It's Batman on a bad hair day; getting high on wacking baddies.
Well, Wifey gave her consent and I parted with $$ to purchase the comic books. I noticed that the store owner had no idea what they were; I was too excited I didn't even ask for a discount. Man, what a day!
What would even be sweeter is if I can come across the Batman/Spawn cross-over issue; where you have both Batman and Spawn saving the world.
Gosh, I can't wait to go hunting again tomorrow for stuff noone wants but are treasures waiting to be discovered.
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| Great start to holiday |
| 11.14.05 (4:33 pm) |
I'm now seating at StarBucks - Berjaya Times Square. Ryan is running around making new friends and Wifey is chatting away with a tourist.
Me? I'm blogging.
Yup, breakfast cost RM50 but at least the internet access is free. I might just sit here while Wifey goes shopping.At least I don't end up spending money on impulse-bought-stuff.
The trip so far is great. I even managed to go for an hour foot massage. Painful (not to mention being ticklish) but great relaxation feeling. Ryan is enjoying himself cause he has the whole mall to run around in while Wifey and I clock in mileage chasing him. Great way to loose weight.
Our flight on to Penang is at 5pm so we have roughly 4-5 hours to burn before we making our way to the airport.
Times Square is not as big as I thought it was but it's got glam. I noticed the all the expensive stuff in on the first 3 floors. The other floors tend to look like a normal middle class mall. This is purely due to rent. Its cheaper to rent the higher floors. So if you are looking for bargains go to the higher floors. Some areas are still empty owing to the fact that this place has only been open for about a year or so. Probably the biggest draws are the iMax cinemas, the amusement park (indoor rollercoaster) and Borders (big book store).
Items are bit on the costly side compared to the same items at the malls just down the road. I have yet to find a computer shop but that is probably because I have yet to cover the upper floors.
The building is divided into East and West wings which means htere is a lot of ground to cover. I noticed that Wifey and I spent most of yesterday walking at the East wing. Yup, the vicious spiral of escalators kept us at that part of the building.
Generally its a great place to hang out but bring along cash or plastic if you're buying.
Well, Wifey is bugging me to take my nose out off my iBook and to start our shopping-roadtrip.
Cheers!
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| Tis the day before |
| 11.09.05 (5:17 am) |
I still have not packed. Wifey is reminding me for the 100th time. I've managed to pack my camera and have a vague idea of the amount of clothing that I would actually take.
I've also planned out the the pictures that I will take in old town Penang. Tried last year to take a particular shot but failed. This time I'm determined to take it, once I muster enough courage to actually take it.
Finally got my modem back from my friend. My 5 port hub was fried too, so this time round I'm planning to replace it with a wireless switch with normal 4 ports. Will also be sending my iMac to the vendor tomorrow morning. Hopefully I can fix it up but if it gets too expensive, then I'll just remove the hard-disk. Don't you just hate lightning!
I'm amazed at how different I am from wifey. Tonight she had a micro-tantrum because she can't find some documents that she keeps on her desk. She throws the fuss, sits down, sulk for a good 30 minutes and I'm playing CSI- looking around for the document.
Here's where we are different. I'm the one they brand emotionless. She's the sensitive one. Yup, it's beauty and the caveman.
Men are so like trees. The older we get the stiffer we become. The harder it would be to actually change us. The sad part is, old trees rot within and in most situations the rot goes un-seen. Only to surface itself when something breaks. So I can either be an old tree or bamboo. Either way, termites will still eat us...
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| Roadtrip Home |
| 11.06.05 (7:03 pm) |
It's that time of year again when I take my family back to Penang. Well, we're leaving this coming Friday.
I've yet to pack and I've got several assignments to finish off by Wednesday so I can go off in peace. So it'll be a crazy 72 hours. I'm at odds to which bag to bring this time round. My checklist includes my camera equipment, iBook, a baby stroller, baby equipment and goodies for mum-in-law. That and also I need to leave room for the stuff which I may bring back. Which could include a tonne of books, provided my November pay comes in earlier then I expect.
As with last year, this year I'll be hunting for bargains in Penang - camera lens, books, antiques or whatever that seems valuable to me. This time round I may end up with watches which I find sells well online.
Ok, I signed up with a forum of watch collectors and noticed that there is a market for Japanese watches especially those that could date back to the Jap occupation (kidding).
Don't you feel it?
Christmas is just round the corner. I'm already humming christmas carols, partly because this year I'm in the church choir. I get nostalgic at this time of year. Maybe its Christmas and maybe because you feel the year is coming to an end.
It's a mix of leaving the year behind and looking forward to a new one. Where you pray that next year will be better then this year. Well, I've got a lot to look forward to next year. Something that will occupy my mind during this trip.
O well, I'm going to crank up my iTunes and listen to some Christmas carols.
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