2010 BlogFest.Asia (Day 0)

As mentioned previously, I was at the 2010 BlogFest.Asia event over the weekend.

There was barely any publicity at all, and if not for a chance sighting in The Star's Metro North section about the event, I wouldn't have known about it! Was it poor PR, or by design to prevent Malaysians dominating the event, I'll never know.

[Before reading further, I need to state clearly that I didn't go to the event with an eye to document it. So my posts about this event will be heavily skewed and biased to what I've seen. If I were a real blogger/journalist, I would have at least interviewed the organizers, but as you already know, I Am Not A Blog =)]

The event actually started the night before, with a welcome dinner at QEII (food review by Criz Lai) hosted by the Ministry of Tourism. This was easily the best meal of the entire weekend, as QEII can be considered fine dining. The buffet spread was tempting, with salads, mushroom soup (heavenly!), fried rice, NZ beef (I missed this), lamb, chicken, vegetables, and spaghetti bolognese.

I know "lamb, chicken, vegetables" made it sound like I'm having chinese economy rice, but I was too hungry to properly write down the names and take blurry pictures with my point-and-shoot. As you know, I Am Not A (food) Blog =) [Darn, I love quoting my own domain name in sentences]

You're just gonna have to take my word that it was awesome, delicious, and everything a decent buffet should be. And you can't beat free flow beer, although I restrained myself to a small glass.

I went there alone with the intention of making new friends, especially foreign ones. Mission Failed. People were in their own comfortable cliques and there was no ice breaking event (understandably quite difficult to do it there) to let us mingle. I'm not known as a social butterfly, so I was awkwardly walking around fluttering my ugly moth wings instead. (I did meet some old acquaintances and a colleague, but I didn't stay too long with them because, you know, I wanted to meet new people!)

Anyhow I went off at about 9.30 because I was going nowhere with the socializing and was really tired after my cardio class at 6.

[Day 1 continued]

I Am Not A Blog

There are mummy blogs.



There are food blogs.



There are travel blogs.



There are emo blogs.



But...
I Am Not A Blog. Dot com. =)

This weekend was spent attending the 2010 BlogFest.Asia event (full post later), and I was inspired to take up blogging again. This blog has existed under several names since 2005 and it's time to evolve it once more.



To get off to an auspicious start, I registered the obvious lie of a domain, www.iAmNotAblog.com. For now it redirects here while I decide what to do with it. But the obvious thing is to ramp up my posting schedule to thrice a week and get back my readership. I definitely have interesting things in the pipeline...

Upheaval

The attrition rate at my company has been horrendous since mid-2010. Good people are trickling out on a regular basis. It was actually a deluge, but thanks to a $$$ intervention, management slowed it down to a trickle.

But an outflow’s an outflow, and other companies are paying better. Plus, humans can’t be stuck doing the same thing their whole lives so it definitely presents an interesting change to their lives.

The worst part of this whole deal is that company management has been unwilling to get into a salary war. Experienced engineers are replaced with interns. Or contract workers with no loyalty to the company. Or no one at all (which adds to the burden of those who are left behind).

It ain’t a pretty sight, and it won’t get better anytime soon.

New bloggie coming soon...

This dead fish posing as a blog is so decomposed, even rats are avoiding it.

But, an exciting new blog will pop out soon within the next few months!

Stay tuned!

Sweetest Rambling I Ever Heard

There were days where the sun ceased to shine and all that's left are rain drops like tears,

when I look at the grey sky there's nothing but emptiness and fear,

wondering each day as much as I could pray, does God or anyone hear,

when I look back and realized I'm losing everything and everyone dear,

it is until that sweet day when you came into my life and held me near,

knowing you are quick and swift like a spear,

there would not be another day left where I have to fear,

it's because of you I see the reason to live as you cheer,

tell me that I'm the only one that will be for you from time to time and from year to year,

for its three words I want you to know that's I Love You dear.

Replacing BodyJam Classes

I'll be replacing BodyJam classes at Fitness First Island Plaza on 26 June (3.20pm) and 27 June (11.05am).

Update (10 Aug): I'll be replacing at FFIP 13 Aug (9.30pm), and 15 Aug (11.05am). Also FS 14 Aug (11.30am) where I'll be team teaching with Pauline.

Update: I replaced FFIP Jam class on 29 Aug, so that makes it 3 classes for August 2010. I know - it's pathetic I'm using Blogger to keep track of this.

Update: Replacing Alan's Sunday class again for 5th and 12th Sept at FF

I'm writing this down more for my own future reminder because Fitness First Malaysia has a pretty backwards system for paying their instructors. They're my employer so I'll refrain from commenting publicly, but if they would just spend a few cents printing payslips, it'll save so much trouble for everyone.

As a side gripe: In Penang, there are too many instructors with too few timetable slots. But on the bright side, we have slightly less drama and politics and backstabbing compared to Kay Elle.

23 Random Facts

It's been some time I have been meme-tagged. In fact, it's been some time since I posted anything worthy to be called a "blog post". Whoops! So I guess it's better than nothing... Sorry if I've blogged about some of these before!

1. Let's start with the gross. I've had permanent surgeries to sever the toenail roots because of recurring in-grown toenails. The family doctor tried non-destructive methods first, but by the 8th surgery (split evenly between both big toes), I've had enough and opted for the disfiguring surgery. So I now have weird looking toenails. This happened in my early teens. Was it caused by tight footwear? Bad nail-cutting? Predisposed with it? I'll never know.
    
2. I've never played a single Facebook game and have no intentions whatsoever to try. So stop inviting me!
    
3. I have extremely tight hamstrings - the bane of every dancer and fitness instructor. Tight hamstrings can also cause back injury as it "pulls" on lower back muscles - which I suspect has happened. It's a bit too late for me to fully extend myself. I have sometimes wondered if there's any surgery to loosen hamstrings - but have decided against it as it would probably lead to muscle weakness.
    
4. I have white hair since I was 12 - mom's genetics! I have alternated between dyeing my hair, being proud of my flaws, and dyeing my hair again for vanity :-) Recently I found a white nostril hair. Wondering if it could "spread" down south anytime soon?
    
5. I was born on the Winter Solstice (22 Dec) which complicates which star sign I really am - Sagittarius or Capricorn? For most of my life I've leaned towards dependable Capricorn, but I recently found an old notebook containing an astrologists calculations. And it said there that I am born in the age of Sagi.
    
6. I secretly bought a razor when I was 12 out of interest to be a "big boy" and began shaving. I still remember hiding in my aunt's toilet and trying to shave without a mirror! Some say that the more you shave, the faster it grows. Is that why my beard grows frighteningly quick? I have to shave everyday to avoid looking like a hobo.
    
7. I am not fond of dizzying heights and cramped spaces. I don't get phobic as my rational mind prevails, but I do get a sinking feeling in my gut if I have to look down or crawl in confined caves.
    
8. Despite playing computers since 13 and working with computers everyday, I still have strong eyesight! I'm truly blessed in this area.
    
9. The only other body part I feel blessed is.... my set of nice teeth. They grew pretty well without major deformaties. There was a period in my childhood where I loathed brushing my teeth, but somehow I didn't do irreparable damage. Only had a few fillings in my teeth. Started learning to floss recently to make sure I take care of this asset! Dental care is freaking expensive and scary!
    
10. My mom loved making mixtapes and I also grew quite competent in dubbing tapes and making compilations for friends and family! We used to buy our albums from the pirated guys. They'll have photo albums of the cassette jackets where we pick what we want. I think it was around RM10 per cassette.
     
11. None of the toilet bowls in my house are working properly. One of them doesn't have water supply so we need to fill it up manually. The one in the master bedroom and my old room has a broken handle and a faulty ballcock. Consequently we have to flush it very manually (reach in the tank and release the stopper) and also take care that we stop the water supply once it is full. Finally, the one in the guest room (my new room) is the least problematic with just a minor leak. Sure, we could get them all repaired, but I guess Dad doesn't place a premium on pristine waste disposal facilities.
     
12. Dad and I have much love for Panasonic products. We have a National fridge that is almost as old as I am, but it has never failed once! Our top-loading washing machine has been operating faithfully for more than 3 years without issues too. Recently we changed 3 faulty air-cons to Panasonic models as well - 2 of them were Carrier (died of old age) and the other Hitachi (died prematurely). Our 29" TV is also from... OK, I'll stop now.
     
13. I'm currently wearing a Swatch watch that was originally bought by Dad for himself. It's more than a decade old but still ticking well with only minor scratches. Surprisingly the design still looks modern after 10 years!
     
14. I don't decorate the house for Chinese New Year because no one visits and (mainly) we don't really bother. That's what you get when the residents are a bachelor and divorcee. If not for the feng shui mirror above our front door, people wouldn't know there are chinese people living inside!
     
15. On the theme of CNY, I don't bother with buying "new year clothes". I shop throughout the year. There have been many instances where I liked a shirt but it was sold out when I went back to the shop a few weeks later. So I'm more willing to give in to impulse buys nowadays. Somehow though, Mum will make sure I have some new clothes to wear on the first few days on CNY...
     
16. After SPM, one of the courses I was interested in was Biotechnology but Dad steered me towards IT instead. Looking back, it was a very logical reason. Biotech today is a growing field, but locally it hasn't really taken off.
     
17. I've never traveled outside Asia and further than Beijing. A few years ago I declared that I have had enough of visiting developing South East Asian countries!!  Bring on the Caucasian-majority countries! Alas, the financial damage expected is a bit too high to make it worthwhile.
     
18. I wear US Size 11 shoes (*hint* *hint*).
     
19. Thanks to my height, it's not obvious that I have a size 34 waist. Some of it is from midsection flab, but mostly it's from my wide hips. I will never be able to get thin enough to fit into size 30 skinny jeans unless I shave off a few inches from my hip bone. Which is a very, very, stupid thing to do.
     
20. I'm pretty much an ectomorph - I have trouble gaining muscle! But I know that I can have a buff body if I devote more time to the gym, measuring everything I eat, and maintain a strict lifestyle. Too bad, I don't place that much importance on looking like a Men's Health model. A beautiful body and a healthy lifestyle are mutually exclusive. I'd rather enjoy what I have rather than stress what I don't have (or what the media wants us to believe we need to have).
     
21. I'm so gonna get flamed for saying that I think Lady Gaga doesn't have particularly strong vocals, songwriting capability, or beauty. But I still love her music and videos for her sheer "in-your-face" creativity. No one has ever come close to matching Madonna's queenship, but I believe Gaga has a fighting chance. A true entertainer! Let's hope she keeps re-inventing herself over the next 20 years.
22. One of my interests in IT is in the field of usability and user experience design. My final year project had a huge emphasis on usability and I still pay attention to making delightful software in my work. Unfortunately, I'm way behind the curve when it comes to picking up new design technology like WPF.
     
23. I'm allergic to an antibiotic called bactrim. I apparently had a reaction when I so young that I don't remember it. But the name has been drilled into my head! Though, I doubt I'll come across it again. With my frequent tonsilitis in my teens, I have gradually upgraded to stronger pills.

OMG that was freaking hard to complete! Well, back into blog hibernation for 2 months.

As a public service, I'm not tagging anyone.