Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Shit! This is the 2nd post I'm writing up. Hit the refresh button and lost everything before I managed to copy it. Was up since 7:00 am writing it trying to get some nice pictures of my Christmas wishlist. Ironic that its because of these pictures that made me lose everything I wrote. Bloody hell.

Now I guess I'll just put up images of what I'd like to have and screw the rest of the descriptions =p Can't be bothered to write them all up again.

#1 - Motorola Razr V3

Very nice looking phone with a price to match, about RM 2800 or so. Unless I get to spend some time with a Motorola phone, I'll stick to the ever-dependable Nokia. Their latest design's don't really appeal to me though, abit too "square-ish" for my liking.

Nokia 6260 - Pretty weird location for the function buttons but I guess it works for the PDA style usage.

Nokia 6170 - Nokia's coming up with alot of clam-shell phones lately. This one I haven't really seen yet. Design looks so-so. Don't think there's any MP3 ring-tones on this one. At least the buttons are placed nicely.

# 2 - Apple iPod Color

Music on the go, 60 GB of storage plus it can be used as a back-up hard disk as well. US $599. Ouch! But who needs that when you can have.....

# 3 - Sony PSP

Isn't this a beauty as well. The PSP (Playstation Portable) hand-held console from Sony. The crazy Japanese lined up overnight to get their hands on one of these. Apparently selling very, very well. US version's coming out soon with a supposed price tag of about US $200.

It plays games, videos, music. Basically does everything the iPod can plus MORE! Only thing is that the media would come on UMD discs, plus the usage of Memory Stick duo.

And those are just some of the things that I wish I could have =D I guess all these gadgets are what they call big-boy's toys. Don't get me started on other stuff like cars. Saw some pictures of a very nice looking BMW 3-series here

Do I have anything that that costs less than RM 100. Not that I can think of any at the moment. The only thing that comes close is probably the "Return Of The King Extended Edition" DVD that comes up to about RM 180

Met FC at Pyramid yesterday. She's down in KL for a week or so for some meetings. Caught up on stuff. She let me try out her new Canon Ixus 40. Very nice. Small and slim - easy to cary around. Alot of sliding switches though. Don't know how it'll hold up for extended use.

She paid about RM 1800 for it about a week back, then when she took a friend to buy it recently, the price was down to RM 1500 and it seems he got a better deal with a bigger memory card! Ouch!

I don't know if it was the night shots that I took at the wedding when my hand was shaky or there's a problem with our Pentax Digital camera. I can swear my hands were shaking when testing out the Ixus 40. But the pictures were pretty decent. I'd need to try taking pictures at night before I can really be sure.

Got a reply from SW the other day when I sent her an sms greeting. She's in Kota Kinabalu now, like she said. Surprised when she said that my birthday and Christmas presents are with her, waiting to be claimed. She wants to meet up again when she gets back from KK. It's hard to believe but its already been about 6 months. Has it been that long already?


I never thought she'd bother getting me anything. I could only ask myself "Why?". Especially after our "fight". Not that I'm complaining, its nice that she still thinks about me. I still have one of her toys which I was supposed to give her.

Maybe its time to go shopping again.

I'd also need to send my Playstation 2 for servicing. It's acting up now. I think its time to send it in for a check-up.

I think its time for another hair-cut before the dinner tomorrow.

Good Guy or Bad Boy.....

Evil thoughts

Don't you just hate the kids who go around in shopping malls with their stupid Heely shoes? You know those shoes with the rollers in the heels. The little shits are a menace. There were many times when I just felt like tripping them, or just clotheslining them, WWE Wrestling-style.

They shouldn't go around in shopping malls like that. They'll get someone or themselves hurt. And I wanna hurt them real bad. Their parents should tie them up with a leash. Damn the person who came up with the idea for the Heely's! Damn him.

More EVIL thoughts

There's a guy at work who deserves to be beaten up. Real bad. He's lucky he hasn't met my other friends or there'll be no mercy. Knowing my friends, they'll put a gunny sack of his head (but he's so small he might probably fit into the sack), kick the shit out of him and leave him in a bloody and broken mess. Somebody ought to do us all a big favour and teach this guy a lesson.

This guy, let's call him Tommy, is a little guy. He looks kinda weird too (OK, so I'm not the best looking guy in the world but hey, I'm entitled to my own opinion). It's hard to imagine so much noise can come out of a little guy like him. Small guy with a big mouth. The worse thing about him is his attitude. He probably thinks of himself very highly. Thinks that he's some genius or something. Imagine hearing him saying all fresh IT-grads "know nuts". Wait, maybe he didn't put it that way, he said "they know shit and they're useless" or something to that effect. OK, so he's in HSBC's IT Dept, does that mean he's hot shit? I don't think so.

So what do I have against Tommy? It's plain torture having to take the same transport as him everyday. He just doesn't shut up once he opens his mouth! All sorts of bullshit will come out of his mouth. He talks alot of smack for someone who's not doing customer service work. He makes it seem as though he'll be able to handle American customers. His trademark phrase - "just screw them up nicely, just fuck them up, don't give face". Even the driver laughs at Little Tommy saying he just doesn't stop talking.

Urm, yeah right. Let's see you try it out. My impression is that he talks smack when he's not around them, even when he talks to our American VP. Heck, I think he's a pussy.

He always seems to insulting everyone else, I'd bet if I told you ladies what he insults you with, you'd probably get your own gunny sack and stand in line, waiting to beat this little shit up. I hardly speak to him. I don't want to encourage him.

I wish this shift would end soon. Not only is the shift tiring, I have to put up with Little Tommy's bullshit. Another 3 weeks of torture. But I think he'll be going for his annual leave soon. Thank god.

My original MGS3 disc finally arrived on Friday. It's not working the way its supposed to. Maybe I need a new Playstation 2. Then again, my collection is complete. And "Return Of The King" Extended Edition DVD is coming out on 14th December 2004. Ouch. Maybe the DVD can wait until....

ZT sms-ed me this morning, apologizing for not replying the sms I sent her earlier this week. I told her I got Friday off and asked if she wanted to meet. She didn't reply, so I didn't purse further. She sms-ed me this morning, saying she could meet me for lunch. I told her it was going to be a rush cause its going to be Dei's wedding dinner tonight. I called her and she said it was ok, we could make it some other time. I promised I'd make it up to her the next time I see her. Next time.

Yes, I don't think I mentioned it anywhere in my blog before. My kid sister is getting married. Congratulations. What else can you say to a sibling who's getting married? It's going to be a reunion of sorts. Relatives coming back from Australia, I'm going to meet a whole bunch of people I don't even know tonight.

Movie Magic

My first attempt at reading "The Lord Of The Rings" was back in 1999 when I borrowed the novel from TPC (I wonder how's he doing these days?Lost contact ever since he went to Singapore) . I gave up after a few chapters. Tolkien was long winded and I couldn't stand to read about how green the leaves were, and how the bubbly stream sounded as it flowed towards the river. The songs and rhymes were torture as well. I had not choice but to stop reading and returned the book to TPC after that. After hearing so much about the book and how good it was supposed to be, it was not something I could see myself continuing. I was never much of a reader back then anyway.

HBO had a repeat of "The Fellowship of The Ring" again on ASTRO just a few days ago. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen this movie. I happened to be watching (again) the ending of the movie. The part where Frodo decides to leave the Fellowship to complete his quest after Boromir tries to take The One Ring from him. Frodo gets ready to escape when he's confronted by Aragorn at the top of the hill on Amon Hen.

And then, my favorite scene from the movie plays out again. Aragorn resists the temptation to seize the ring from Frodo, remphasizing his vow to protect Frodo so the quest can be completed. Then he sees the glow on Frodo's sword, Sting. The music, the action, Aragorn's battle stance before he takes on the band of Uruk Hai. I thought he'd be killed in battle protecting Frodo.

Of course all this was before I read the book - so I had no idea that Aragorn was one of THE main characters in the whole trilogy. So in the end, it wasn't Aragorn that fell in battle, but Boromir instead. The music in the scene where he was struck down by 3 Uruk Hai arrows was good as well.

Because of this scene, "Fellowship Of The Ring" has secured a place as my favorite of all 3 movies in the trilogy.

I promised Ryan I'd go get his game this past weekend. It had already arrived and the "pirate" version didn't work so he's been waiting for it for ages. I knew I had to be going to 1U to collect it. I sms-ed ZT to see if she wanted to meet up. I didn't hear from her for the rest of the week, so I assumed she didn't get my message, or was out of credit: until Sunday. Just as I managed to get a parking space. She sms-ed saying she was on the way to 1U and wanted to meet up. I replied "No problem, I'll see you" but there was - I brought Ryan along with me.

ZT sms-ed me when she arrived as I was trying on some pants that I needed to get, while Ryan was impatient, waiting to get home to play his new game. I met up with ZT after I got my pants, she needed help with a decision - to get a briefcase or a handbag for her female AMO. And all this while, Ryan was tagging along, still dying to get home to try his game. We went around a few stores trying to decide what to get her AMO. I invited ZT to have dinner, but she said she might have to have dinner with her brother, whose car she was using.

Some other time then. What a waste though.....a case of bad timing?

It's Monday again, work's going to be shitty with the holiday season coming up. I'm now officially in another AMO's team now. I asked for the transfer because the rest of my team will be in her team now. It'd be easier for arranging transportation. Seating positions won't be scattered as well once we switched to a different shift time again. Almost ALL of her group has handed in their resignation. More group reshuffling.

Time to get some shut-eye before work tonight, then to slave on for another week. But wait, I have this Friday off, so that's something to look forward to.

Addicted....

Some of you might not believe how a person can be addicted to a video game. But its true. Its fucking insane. I have to say this "Metal Gear Solid 3" is one piece of killer software. Hideo Kojima is a genius. No wonder some people worship the ground he walks on - he's probably like a god to them.

Then again, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was THE reason I bought my Playstation 2 in the first place. Now's there's another game to add to my collection of games. It's my new favourite in the series, which I'm ranking as MGS3, followed by MGS1 and finally MGS2 (which was a letdown cause of more movie cutscenes and less gameplay)

The genius himself, Hideo Kojima

What the hell is Metal Gear? This masterpiece is a video-game/movie hybrid. Beautiful graphics, excellent music themes. It's like a playable movie, in simpler terms. This game is an achievement, unlike other games - not just a run and shoot game. The game is defined as a "tactical espionage game". It's got hi-tech gear, lots of guns which equals action. You've got to think to complete the mission-objectives. You have to hide from the enemy, use force only if necessary (or if you're feeling sadistic). It's realistic (to a certain degree). Hideo Kojima once said he wanted to be a film director. I can see where the inspiration comes from now.

It excerises more than the finger muscles, the brain gets a work out too :D And then, there are the Japanese chick posters and the sexy female characters to ogle at as well. That's always a bonus.

I'm turning into some kind of nerd/geek now. Basically, this game is taking up alot of my free time which I don't use for sleep now. I'm just waiting for the original to reach the shop. But don't take my word for it read more about Metal Gear Solid 3 - here .

Can't get enough of Metal Gear Solid? How about clicking here ? And while you're at it, check out the official Metal Gear Solid 3 website.

Can someone buy me this limited edition figure? It's only RM 600 or so I heard. Only 5ooo pieces made.

Come to think of it, I haven't updated my wishlist for a very, very long time. So many things, so little money. The XBOX was acting up, giving problems. It wasn't loading some discs. And now the PS2 is acting up! It took me one-bloody hour to load MGS3 last night. I guess I won't be having problems like that if I have the original copy.

I was feeling nostalgic, I bought a copy of the Sega Megadrive Emulator. I was ecstatic when I saw Streets Of Rage @ Bare Knuckles (for the Japanese market) on the cover. This game had excellent music. One of my favourite games back in the early 90s.

Streets Of Rage @ Bare Knuckles Intro Screen

This disc has got hundreds of SEGA games, the kind of video games I used to play in the arcades on on my Sega Megadrive when I was much younger. The memories. Maybe one day, I'll do a blog on my obsession with video games. Any requests?

Today, Y told me that she's gone for an interview and she might be resigning soon. Another one leaving. She's probably going to read this, so I'll remind her that "You owe me a big makan! TGIF's or American Chilli's!". All the best to her of course.

AMO S told me the night before to take the day off yesterday cause I had to work this coming Saturday, reason being "alot of people have resigned and there's not enough people to cover the shift". And today, its Thanksgiving in the USA so more free time for me.

I think its time to carry on with my "Snake Eater" mission. Over and out.....

Lady luck shines on me.....

Once again, time passes by so quickly. It's hard to imagine its been one month since I last updated this blog. Things at work have slowed down abit. It got abit out of control at one point, but everything seems tolerable for now. It seems another 5 people have handed in their resignation letters. Rumours that Mr. Automate himself (another one of the AMO's) have tendered in his resignation. Come to think of it, the AMO's had no idea they'd be taking up a Call Centre job when they applied for it.

Everyone's got an issue with management. We seem to have incompetent people managing us. All of our annual and core leaves have been frozen just because "there have been low service levels and we need all the manpower that we have". I don't think freezing everyone's leave is going to help the service levels, we're already de-motivated as it is and then taking our leaves away is supposed to help? Seems to me the VP doesn't know jack-shit about managing people. It's no wonder more people are leaving for higher pays PLUS regular working hours.

I hear the "banding" has been approved. If all goes well, that means we'll be getting our raise early 2005 *Fingers crossed* There hasn't been any confirmations just yet. Early talks and meetings with the MO revealed that it could be anywhere between a 10 - 20% pay rise, although that was just his guess. Of course the higher the better but we'll just have to wait to see what those figures would be. Hopefully the shift-allowance would be taken into consideration as well.

The past weekend wasn't too good. Had some sort of sudden insomnia. Lack of sleep. Too much excitement going on lately. Our shift from 1am - 10am has been switched again(!!!!!) starting this week. For the next couple of weeks, we're back on the 9pm - 6am shift. It's a good shift - its just the sudden changes that's taking its toll.

The only good thing (other than a monthly salary that pays my bills) to come out of this job is I've won a competition. I don't remember ever winning any prizes so far. Nothing of value anyway. I signed up for a HSBC credit card when I started work and a couple of months back - I got a call. Now I normally curse and swear when I get calls in the day while I'm sleeping. But on this day, it was a call from HSBC and I was one of the "pre-selected", lucky ones who was short-listed for a competition. I had to answer a couple of questions and I'm surprised I managed being in a half-asleep state.

Fast forward a few weeks after that, I get a call from HSBC again (in the morning when I'm sleeping as usual) telling me that I've won a handphone. All I needed to do was to fax in the receipt of credit card purchases of RM 120 or more. The problem was - I didn't really use the credit cards of mine. Spoke to some people who asked be to call HSBC to verify that it was a legit contest. When that was done, I went shopping. I actually spent more than I needed to. Damage: close to RM 300 on 3 work shirts. Ouch.

So the conclusion - I received a letter in the mail the other day for me to claim my prize. It was from the Samsung Distributor.



Not too shabby. A Samsung SGH-X600A. Retail price - RM 950! Sisters were hinting that I should try to get a different model, pay abit of money to top-up the difference. Too bad, can't do that. I know what they wanted - or at least what one fo them wanted.

http://www.samsung.com/my/products/gsm/gsm/images/sgh_e700a_m.jpg">

Well, I wouldn't mind this phone too if I could, still going for about RM 1500 now. But oh well, still a pretty good prize for someone who hasn't won anything before!