Have you tried watching a movie in Malaysia that's worth $40? It's called Gold Class. First class seating, drinks at your request. Seriously awesome! Why? It's not even $18 in new zealand. Now that's serious entertainment!

I wish I could watch one more again. Has anyone watched 'The Protege'? I am really keen on watching this and it would be good to have a good company again to watch this. :)

Saturday (yesterday) was all indoor for me. Friends from high school came to visit me. Apart from that it was a very low key weekend in my perspective.

Maybe I should tell you this. I haven't had a bad dream for ages and this afternoon I had one: I dreamt that I was paralysed and couldn't move or talk. I could only blink my eyes.

Scary.

How could I ever have a dream this bad?

It's been a quiet time (comparatively) in Malaysia for me.

I'm contradicting with myself. I wanted total rest. Yet it's just not really me. I like to keep myself on the go at any minute. This is kind of slow.

I am the person who goes out at the break of dawn and comes home late. Maybe I gotta slow down a bit.

You know, every second my brain is working non stop. There's just so many things in my mind that when my body's resting, my brain wouldn't.

Maybe that's why the nightmare came into the picture. Seriously disturbing.

7 more days. counting down.

Not really counting down. Because there's just so much I want to do in Malaysia.

One: Family. Not enough time. We only see each other probably around a month in a year.

Two: Home. This is home. This is concrete home. No treated timber, no wooden walls. No crackling sounds of floor as it's a concrete floor slab. This is a real home. Solid home.

Three: Friends. High school friends are especially close ones. There's just probably 30 to 40 of them you can call close at any one time. But these people spent the innocent days with you when you're in your teenage years. Everything was so open. There were so many memories together.

Four: Network. I'm not being racist. Networking here is easy. Maybe people think i'm a bit too approachable, especially in the Malaysian environment. I'd like to change this. I'd like to make people more like Kiwis. I've yet to achieve that. I've made some friends here by following locals (I don't consider myself a local as I don't stay here that long anymore) to hang out places. You guys are awesome. I'm lucky.

Five: Opportunities. I see opportunities everywhere I go in Malaysia. There's just so much going on here that Auckland seems a bit too slow.

I'll quit moaning.

At least I know that I'm making maximum use of my time here. At least 8 hours of sleep is a good and useful one in every day here. At least when I'm awake for the remaining 16 hours I know I'm doing something good. Something worth doing. I live with a purpose.

At least when I go back to Auckland I'll still have a few close friends. Those who make it happen day by day for me. With me.

You guys know who you are.

It definitely rocks. To live. Live life full.

A loud ring from the telephone in the top floor. 4AM. Geez. That's rude.

Rude it may sound but it's a hell of a call. Lawyer from Christchurch rang up dad to inform him that the paperwork has not been delivered. Still.

Implying: ???

There might be a big delay to our moving into the new place in New Market. Bugger.

Right now all necessary changes will have to be made to make sure a smooth transition to the new place. Important one is to get a place to stay when I touch down. Where can it be? It will no more be Freemans Bay. We've moved out of there.

Just an option: Backpackers? hmm...

Anyone kind enough to take me in? :)

Plan B in the making.

Happy Chinese New Year to all. Just came back from Malacca last night. Took just some photos but I've just posted them on my Flickr at www.flickr.com/photos/lcevinteh

(I took the chance to upload some older ones too. after my birthday ones)

Have a quick browse.

Maybe I'll find some time to blog later.

Pictures could tell a thousand words. Maybe I'll shut up in this post. Eh?

Too much words for you to read is hazardous. A browse through the photos could do a bit of freshening up.

i'm pretty busy lately since i last blogged. ...
manglish was my previous post? that's ages ago! but too much has happened that i don't think i can be bothered to blog about everything but i'll try my best: for the people who have been keeping tabs on my life.

Since I last blogged I've done three days of shopping with parents at 1 Utama and Mid Valley. Crazy traffic, crazily cheap merchandise. If only I have 10 thousand ringgit just to shop I'd use them all because they're bloody cheap! and to think that it's a waste of money it's not. for 10k ringgit I can only afford probably 6k ringgit worth of stuff in nz.

Not to be greedy, I'll save some for my next trip back here to malaysia. It ain't a bad place to live in if you don't have the bloody traffic and the muggy weather.

Air quality's so bad that I wish I'd stay home if I can. In my bed. Sleep...

But it would be such a waste if I just sleep throughout my stay in Malaysia. Have been hanging out with a few buddies in high school: a coffee with Kaho, a dinner in Klang with Jacq and Ronnie, a trip to KL (yes it's a trip cos I am never a regular in KL streets) to buy cheap electronics.

So far I've gotten myself probably a box full of necessities. They seem like luxuries but I use them on almost a regular basis.

Let's see what i've got:

A pair of Adidas running shoes (which I use every day back in nz);
A pair of work shoes (I work every working day duh)
A pair of casual shoes (we need to have a pair of casual shoes for weekends don't we?)
Some polo shirts (Hallensteins don't really stack up if you're seeing ppl down Queen Street wearing the same shirt as you everytime you're there, even the posh Ponsonby Road right?)
A mini Mouse (i need a decent mouse for my laptop, touch pad wouldn't work as fast)
DVD's (Legal? You do the math. Renting an overnight dvd at VideoEzy is $8/night and it's not yours at the end of the day. Mine's 8 ringgit per disc)
G2000 work pants (good enough for working as a bloody engineer in a big company aint' it? cos i'm a site engineer after all)
Belt (I only have one for myself since the birth of Jesus)
.....

YOu see these are all necessities. I wish luxuries will come into the frame somehow but i've spent more than 1k ringit.

Maybe I'll save it for next time. I'll come back to Malaysia in a year's time for more....

More to blog soon.

Damansara.

Simple name ain't it?

But do you know there are so many other areas that have this word in it?

Take for example:

Damansara Jaya
Damansara Utama
Damansara Heights

Easy? Have a look further:

Kota Damansara
Sunway Damansara


Confused? There's more!

Taman Kota Damansara
Taman Sunway Damansara
Mutiara Damansara
Taman Damansara Indah
Kampung Damansara Baru
Desa Damansara
Bukit Damansara
Taman Bukit Damansara
Pusat Bandar Damansara
Bandar Sri Damansara
Kipark Damansara
Damansara Damai

The list goes on.

Simple to differentiate?

I have second thoughts.

was thinking about meeting up with Ronnie yesterday. He's only free after 10pm. Maybe just meet up tonight.

Was thinking about meeting up with Karen today. Maybe not.

Ronnie's got a gf to go shopping with; Karen's got a bf to hang out.

Kevin's got himself to be busy with. With what? Who? Busy. Just busy. Self Improvement we call it. Who? Everyone.

Keep it real.

It's Valentine's Day today.

It's time to love myself more.

Malaysia. Manglish.

FYI: i'm in malaysia now if you're wondering what I'm about to talk about.

Woke up pretty early on Sunday for Church (St Ignatious in Kg Chempaka, the usual one that I used to go to). I can't be more impressed with the technology they use for a Sunday mass: Projecion Screen at both sides of the stage. Power point slides. Even fans are everywhere. I don't remember feeling too warm in the church. Maybe it's early in the morning. Maybe they've got too many fans around.

The priest was a bit too soft. Maybe he isn't old enough. I couldn't really understand him. Maybe I just gotta try to get used to the Manglish again. It's hard. I'm kind of torn between so many English accents.

I used to just got myself exposed to American English when I's a little boy. Got hooked up to tv shows, movies etc. People in high school thought my english was good but heck it's just plain watching bloody american tv shows and movies that kind of juiced up my english. If i was in a government high school my english would've been normal in people's eyes..

Later I went to college, got mixed up with Manglish speaking govt school grads. American English -> Manglish.

Second year in university (first year was in a college in Malaysia) got me mind mixed up with the Ali G's in the UK and somehow me got myself a Brit-ish accent tongue and Manglish became English English or we so call it Brit-ish English (note the hyphen in the word British, it's done on purpose). Blooody English got me talking like nobody. I mean nobody because my identity got mixed up: I talk like a Malaysian (Manglish) to my fellow Malaysians in UK and I talk like a Brit-ish to me fellow Brit-ish bros. Pretty fucked ya?

Graduated in 2003 and there me wuz in the sheep rich no sky scraper little town of Christchurch and took me a few months to get rid of my 'ya's and 'quid's just to fit in to the kiwi culture. no more posh becks english but some accents so weird i thought i'd abandon kiwi english for the sake of getting my own identity back. But no. Kiwis didn't understand my Manglish and me trying to be posh speaking Brit-ish English didn't help.

Since then i've been trying hard to learn English the kiwi way. Have not really turned back since. Apart from speaking Singlish to Singaporeans, Manglish to Malaysians it's all different English to suit different 'markets'.

That's what makes us Malaysians superb: we like to mix and match. We (Malaysian Chinese) were born as Malaysians, we know Malay language, we have Indian neighbours, we watch HK Drama thus the Cantonese fluency, we swear in Hokkien, we listen to Jay Chow thus the Mandarin fluency, our ancestors are from China, we learn Malay language because it's the National language, we eat roti canai (mamak food) and we watch Astro Supersport for English Premiership matches (go red devils!).

Multi cultural we are. Savour that.

ok guys i'm still alive. dont' call my cellphone in nz. i won't pick it up. in the meantime just email me (find my email from friendster) or txt me. I'll try to grab a prepaid sim in malaysia. hopefully within the next 24 hours.

tired.

blog again in 12 hrs.

had half my shopping list done today. wonders of 'plastic surgery'.

1 Utama rocks.

Had an early sleep at Warren's place. Why? My flat's empty and I have no mattress at all. Luckily I didn't have to walk all the way to his place. Thanks to his flatmates for letting me park my car at the car porch.
Woke up at 7 in the morning and drove home. Started work pretty early today.

When I checked my mail I found out that Warren's car got fucked. Some bugger broke into his rear window and stole his subwoofer and tennis gear. Bloody Auckland. It's in a safe suburb in Central Auckland and still a decent harmless looking car like his got broken into. Maybe it's the mags. Maybe it's that his woofer's pretty awesome and someone noticed it. Strange that the head unit's not taken ya. Anyway I feel sorry for him.

BUT if you're to break into my car there's nothing u can take away. it's all fuckin factory head units. no modifications at all. If you wanna steal it you might as well take the whole car. Get it?

Had a pretty hectic day today at work. Attended to owners and did some routine site visit. Nothing out of ordinary but it's a shame that the day ended with a pretty low note. No matter how much you do you'll still be squeezed and criticized for not doing enough. Another kick in the teeth.

I resorted to some stress relief at BC. I had a haircut. Martyn my stylist/friend did a good job. Thanks for spending 2 hours on my boring hair. Lol. You shouldn't need to do so. But it kinda made my day cos at least I appreciate the hardwork and it's good to feel valued as a customer.

Maybe at work we should have the same approach. Not a good way to criticize without valuing what's been done for you. Aint' it?

After haircut I went to Upper Queen Street for another Korean dinner with Martyn and Warren. Can't remember the name of this restaurant but this was the restaurant where I met Marcus again after a year (this is a sidenote anyway). Had BBQ Beef, Squid, and Pork accompanied by Yogurt Soju. Awesome!

We went straight to pool with Michael, till 11pm. It's late. I know. About time to sleep.

Thursday is one last day I'll be working hardout and pack all my stuff.

Friday will be a half day for me with as much entertainment as possible before I take off on Saturday.

Can't wait.

Currently listening to a few albums randomly but being played in my head: Justin's albums (chinese Justin that is) and Janice's (another chinese) and Jay Chow's.

Don't ask me why.

Friday's an ACG Dinner with karaoke at K Box rounded off by pool and margies. You up for it? :)

Here I am. Alone. In the dark. In an empty flat. Just me. And my laptop. ....

In the complete silence around me for once I feel so alone. What's happening?

I've basically moved everything out of my flat. My Freemans Bay flat.

With the certainty that I'll be moving to New Market with Carol it's inevitable that this flat will no longer be the headquarter of all parties, gatherings, dvd sessions, sleepovers, etc from Friday onwards.

In fact it has not been one since the day smartbox came over with its container two days ago.

Reason that I have not been really blogging is the hectic schedule i've had. Now wait a minute: When have I ever been free anyway? hmm..

It's 3am. NZ Time. A few more days I will be blogging in Malaysian timezone. God it feels good when I will be off for my home. Let me count: 1,2,3,4...

4 Days. Off for Kay-El. Geez. That's fast. Yet it's a long way to go....

Why am i blogging now? well, it's Waitangi Day for god sake. One of the few days I get to relax a bit and catch a breath from the overloaded work as an engineer in this company.

A break is good. Rest is necessary. It's considered a luxury for the past few months. If you've been involved in my life in some way you'll understand how stressful this can be. It ain't easy. But I'm getting there....

Moving flat... It's painful. It's stressful. At least it's one last time I pack and will be the only time I get to fully unpack in Auckland.

Good one. Finally.

Waitangi Day. Relax? What have you got in mind?

Today (or yesterday?) I woke up at 8am to start my work after a 10 hour sleep (it's definitely a luxury). Had been working hardout, non stop till 3pm. Got a quick lunch at New World and started sending boxes to Container2 from Smartbox. Did it all within 2 hours. Cleaned up the house with Carol and Jengis. Met up with Warren and Yan for dinner at No.1 BBQ in downtown.

Straight after that we had to move the damn TV to the loyal Harrier. Fuck it was damn heavy. Much heavier than the fridge yesterday (yes we moved the fridge yesterday). TV was supposed to be put into Container2 but in the end we couldn't find a space thus we dropped it off at Fahreen's in Avondale.

It was a long drive to Henderson to pick up May Ho's stuff (May Ho: if you're reading this you must be crazy! how many kg's in total??!... do you remember you have two more boxes with me?) before we dropped off the TV and it was nice of Fahreen's mum Fatimah to invite us for dinner/supper.

Then we headed off to Orange to round off the evening at 2am.

Back to the question: What do you have in mind for Waitangi Day? Groove in the Park? I'm thinking about that but fuck it I'll sleep as much as I want and take it from there. Maybe a visit to Yan's place and a walk at the Howick beach should be awesome.

A Karaoke session for the evening. Any takers?...

I'm sleepy now. Good night.