Team Building @ PD

I came back in one piece... but in the words of Michelle, I looked so beaten up. I could hardly lift my arms for 2 days... both swollen... but IT WAS FUN! It was 2 days of pure physical exertion and came back totally wasted. From archery, climbing ropes, sliding through muds, mud crawl, etc, etc... and the last day, canoeing for 6.6KM!...

I can say the activities wasn't tailored for short, heavy guys. After the first day my arms and legs were already literally like jelly. The company hasn't release the photos yet but there's just some photos from my friends camera... and the aftermath!...

Our rooms...

Just clowning around... the lectures was too boring... :P

It's not what it looks like!...

With colleagues...

I'm not singing... just a presentation...

The aftermath...
Hopefully can get the pics from the official company photographs soon... on the last 2 photos... there was a skin layer that that build up on the wound... so I had to cut it out and dress the wound again!... I'ma home made Nip/Tuck!... :P

What Will Matter

Micheal Josephson is the founder and president of the Josephson Institute of Ethics (www.josephsoninstitute.org) and CHARACTER COUNTS (http://charactercounts.org/), both dealing mainly with the mission to improve the ethical quality of society. Read more from the web links. They run character education classes in various schools throughout the US.

Anyway I was forwarded a poem written by Micheal Josephson and I think it clearly articulates the society as a whole at this point of time.

It strikes home to me as I've been contemplating on things... beyond playing music or saying things from the stage... organizing an event... or just sitting quietly at the corner slipping in and out and just observing... I think what really counts in my life is how can I personally be a positive effect on a person's life... it could be simple things said... or teaching someone something I know best... the list goes on... well more things to think about...

What Will Matter by Michal Josephson

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.

There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.

All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.Your grudges, resentments, frustrationsand jealousies will finally disappear.So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire.The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

It won't matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end. It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter?How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought but what you built,

not what you got but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity,compassion, courage, or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew,

but how many will feel a lasting loss when your gone.

What will matter is not your memories but the memories that live in those who loved you.

What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

Choose to live a life that matters.

Another musical...

My niece Leanne loves the movie (she's only 4 ok...), she likes the song Mamma Mia so much but she remembers only the first line of the chorus... so she'll go like...

mamma mia, here i go again... (repeat 100x) ...

ANYWAY... I'll be catching the musical... WOOOHOOOOOOOO!


Can't wait... will be catching it on the... ermmmm... not sure what's the date for the tickets we got... but just so looking forward to it!...

End of investments...

I opened my blog and I just decided blogging abt investments is boring...

Day 1... I made this much and that much...
Day 2... I lost this much and that much...
Day 3... I lost most of my hair as I made much more loss than I gained...
Day 4... I lost my apetite...

Other than that... can talk abt MACD, bollinger bands, hair bands, candlestick, Fundamental analysis, hair loss analysis... bla bla bla... ermmm so what?... who wants to know anyway... :P

So *hopefully* this is the last post on investment... by the way... gold went up again... keke :D

Not bad...

Bought Gold at RM95.47/gms on Monday...
Today's selling price is RM99.11/gms...

Not too bad... gonna leave it till there are solid indications of change in the economic environment...

Investments?

Have always followed the economic news and recent developments aren't good at all... although it should have been expected... when KLCI was about 1150 I already chopped off all my shares... took quite a huge hit financially but looking at things at the moment... it's better to hold cash...

Gold anyone?

Just to share some ideas on where u can invest during these times. I *think* GOLD is quite safe to invest in. Have been following news/thoughts and monitoring the gold price for the past 2 months. It hit a real low about 2-3 weeks back but have been recovering, and right now dropped a little due to the US bailout plan. As of writing, Gold spot price is about RM93.20 per gram.

How to invest? There are various means to invest. Physical gold, ETF's, brokerage that deal with precious metals. But all these are not easily accesible by the man on the street. And definitely we don't have that much capital to invest in huge amounts.

Here's the deal: There's a LOCAL bank that has a gold investment account. I've been monitoring their prices for a month and on average... they would buy somewhere near the SPOT price... and sell about RM3 higher or 4% higher (I'm not too sure how they calculate). So you can open an account with a pass book... and trade in gold. Definitely it's not as easy as having something online or going through a broker... but I think it's quite a good alternative investment for the current climate...

Anyway this are just my PERSONAL thoughts... it's not a recommendation to buy or sell. But I think I would want to give it a shot... haha... :)... will let u guys know if there are any developments on this front... :)...

Selamat Hari Raya!...

I was contemplating to write this post in the malay language. But was reminded that several of my readers would understand nuts of what I write... :p... juz an excuse of my ever decreasing skill in WRITING in malay... I still can converse in malay well though... *I think*... my colleagues say I'm much more Malay than Chinese in terms of my food likings and also with my extremely embarassing grasp of the chinese language... Hei I really tried ok?... I even got an A- for basic mandarin language back in Uni... (yaya the teacher really tried hard to make me pass the test.. :P)

Anyway I was undecided whether should I head back to Melaka for the Raya holidays as my parents aren't around... they're still enjoying themselves back in Oz... but suddenly thought of lemang and rendang... and that decided for me... gonna head back and eat LEMANG! (it's sticky rice stuffed in bamboo and cooked bbq style)... and I was really glad i did... just for this one experience of buying the lemang...

Once I reach Alor Gajah I started hunting for lemang sellers by the side of the road. I stopped at several places but none of them was selling lemang with rendang. Until I came across this seller. So at first I ordered one and as they cut open the bamboo and sliced the rice... they realized it was a "special" lemang... called "lemang lemak" which they actually made for themselves to "buka puasa" (breaking fast)... at that time they haven't "buka puasa" yet... but they actually offered me to try... and it was superb! :P... I was really amazed at their generosity and their warmness... we then strike up simple conversation on how to make lemang, where we're from... etc... etc...

YUMMY LEMANG!

The next thing they did really caught me unaware... they actually offered me some apple juice that they made for them to 'buka puasa'... initially I politely declined as it was their personal and private meal... but they insisted on me having it and they went inside their shop to grab a plastic cup and poured out a cup for me to drink... I was really humbled by their kind gesture... sharing their food and drinks with a total stranger...

In recent times we've been bombarded by endless negative news... political personalities trying to gain advantage by driving a wedge between different races in Malaysia... both the majority and minority races harping on racial issues in the media and alternative media... to a point that it create an environment of suspicion and fear of each other.

Experiencing the warmth and hospitality of this Malay family brought a lot of my thoughts to reality... and it brings back memories of my time in Alor Gajah... playing together with Malay, Chinese and Indian neighbours... all MALAYSIANS.

Before I left I just took a picture... too bad that it was really dark and that the faces are unclear...

The "buka puasa" spread...

Malaysia is not perfect... but we do not need to conform to the perspectives of our political masters and form our thoughts according to the news played out in the media... we ourselves can make this place a better place to live in...

SELAMAT HARI RAYA MAAF ZAHIR BATIN...