Catch of the day

Here's some interesting read that I came across in my daily trawl of the net:

• How much will it take for you to have a child? Love is no longer the only consideration when you decide to raise a child.

• On a similar note, China might actually have an underpopulation problem in the near future.

• Malaysia's top 40 Richest: Guess who's #1 in South-East Asia?
  

Cognitive Dissonance

Just the past weekend, we had this discussion about Chinese and Asian culture in general and our ability to find pleasure in consuming almost anything that's edible. A large portion of other races will take a pass on such culinary delights like Pig Intestine soup (it's really delicious!), Chicken feet in black vinegar, curry goat's intestines to mention a few that's easily found in Malaysia. South Koreans consume dog & cat meat; snake meat and even iguana curry dishes can be found within Malaysia if you look hard enough; and you can always head north of the border to Thailand if you have a craving for deep-fried insects as a snack.

A sampling of what's sold on Khao San Rd in Bangkok. Crunchy grasshoppers anyone....?

.....How about some juicy silkworms?......Or fried scorpions?

Heck, anything that has more than 2 feet is fair game to some people!. At first, this trait striked me as a survival instinct that's not all that bad.... It shows we're able to survive and even thrive on what's available in our surroundings....besides, why limit yourself to just specific poultry or cattle body parts? On the flip side, there's no way anyone's gonna persuade me to sample dog meat or even the feline variety. There's a limit to what I'm willing to consume; the thought of eating your pets just turns me off.

This morning, I came across this article that touched on the same topic. Interesting term, cognitive dissonance. It goes on to discuss biotechnology and our genetic nature relating to our carnivorous tendencies.

Food for thought eh?

Dreams

I always envied people who could remember their dreams upon waking up. During the daily breakfast sessions back in Penang, some colleagues will relate the weird things they exprienced and it fascinated me. Most of the times, all I can recall are small fragments which are quickly lost in the midst of getting ready for the living hours. I have an inkling that sometimes my dreams are vivid; strange mental pictures stick in my mind but rarely can I make any sense of it.

Surprisingly, the moment I was conscious this morning, the last dream I had was still fresh in my mind; I could picture what I was doing in Morpheus' domain. Started backtracking mentally and found that I could remember how the dream went; I actually could find a weird continuity to what occured.

Strangely enough, this cheered me up right from the get-go. While I'm blogging this entry from my cube, most of the recollection has faded into the background but the euphoria lingers....

-deja vu

On the spin-table: "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield. Great song; even better when I paid attention to the lyrics.

Silverworm corner: Still on "Motley Fool Investment Guide" .Spending less time reading these few days; the basketball sessions though invigorating induces an earlier sleeping hour.

p.s: I noticed I had loads of pics from my travels that I have not shared/spammed with most folks. Think I'll sprinkle some entries with random shots....Might write up a few entries based on the more memorable trips I had in the past year.

Memories:

A shot of the sweeping coastlines at Point Reyes National Park in California. The winds on that Spring day was surprisingly strong. If you ever had the chance to visit Point Reyes, remember to pack food; there's only 1 restaurant that does a thriving business at marked up prices.

Breath-taking

Boy, the day trip to Shasta county was an over-due break in the routine. It was a fun-filled semi-relaxing trip. We had a large group this time around, 15 of us split into 4 cars (3 Corollas/Altis and 1 Elantra)

As usual, the start of the journey was delayed. The lead car drove like a maniac to compensate and the rest of us basically had to step on the pedal just to keep up with him. On a 70mph highway, we averaged 80-90mph. The poor Elantra that I was in struggled just to keep up with the other Corollas initially, though once we hit cruising speeds, it held up pretty well. The 3 hour drive to the 1st vista point was sure fun when you're speeding along.

The first stop was the Sundial Bridge in Redding. It's name describes it well and it spans across a bend in the river known as Turtle Bay. The bridge actually reminded a few of us of the bridge and lamp posts design back in Putrajaya :) Based on some fast googling for this blog entry, the footbridge is actually designed by one of the world's best bridge designers, Santiago Calatrava.

There's only one supporting pylon for the bridge, at one of the bridge ends

Close-up of the pylon

We then made a quick stop by Lake Shasta. A few of us previously passed by the Lake (it's actually a few lakes inter-connected) on our way to the Crater Lake National Park in Oregon last year and the lake view was actually quite enchanting. This time round, the lead car (by virtue of accompanying GPS) bought us to a spot that frankly pales in comparsion to the view by the highway. Though the more-mundane view caused a colleague to comment that Lake Shasta is the "most real" view yet seen in California (she opined that Lake Tahoe's sapphire hued waters bordered by snow covered peaks of the Sierras is soo beautiful, that it's almost fake.... Cynicism at such a young age..). Naturally, we didn't spend too much time and continued Northwards to Mount Shasta.

Lake Shasta: Too real?

Though summer's officially just around the corner, Mount Shasta's peak is still snow-covered and will stay that way until early Fall. We drove uphill till we reached the marker called Bunny Flat and literally the end of the road.

Road side view of Mt. Shasta

End of the road at Bunny Flat

The sight of snow in Summer means only one thing.....

SNOW FIGHT!

The fun was cut short when it started to drizzle. As we hit the road, the downpour worsened and made the descent a mini obstacle course as a few rocks littered the road sporadically. The rain eventually petered off as we reached lower elevations.

The next stop on our list was the Fowler Falls in the nearby district of McCloud. The waterfall consists of 3 stages and we arrived at the Lower Falls. To reach the middle and upper falls and back to the starting point takes 3 miles of trekking.

Lower Fowler Falls @McCloud

Personally, I found the trek to the Upper falls extremely pleasant. The trees along the natural but well-maintained path provided great shade and the viccinity of the falls made the ambient temperature agreeably cool during a hot Summer's afternoon.

The mist at mid Fowler Falls is a great refreshener

Upper Fowler Falls...wish I can come here more often

This is the kind of trip that really perks you up... Great sights, a fun drive in a comfortable car and good, non-work related conversations. Smiles. As beautiful as Fowler Falls is, the final destination of the journey is reputed to be awe-inspiring. This fact easily drove most of us on even though it was touching 6pm and the trek nicely built up an appetite.

The last leg is the McArthur-Burney Falls, around 40miles from Fowler Falls. As we reached the entrance of the State Park, we were surprised we had to pay an day free of $6 per car...when the other stops along the way were without any charge..... As we made our way to the nearby vista point, the sight of the falls took away any thoughts and left me speechless.

Breath-taking

Closer view

The mists from the falls felt like you're in a shower even from a distance. Even the foilage around the falls seemed to benefit; they appear to be more vibrant and greener than usual......

I'm still alive

It's been a packed but seriously uneventful 2 weeks; my life revolves around work, catching the NBA playoffs, dieting, reading & zzz. Mostly work though, and definitely not enough sleep. On the brighter side, I'm making slow but steady progress on getting into a better shape...

Think I'm begining to get stir-crazy from my self-imposed exile. Thanks to my 2 major deadlines this week, couldn't do much to rectify my boredom. Luckily some of my colleagues are organising a trip to Shasta county. Due to financial/logistical issues, it'll most probably be a day trip instead of a 1-niter. Looking forward to the fun but tiring trip; it's a 4+ hours journey by car to Shasta from Folsom.

Will try and post some pics when I get back.

Silverworm corner: "Motley Fool Investment Guide" by Tom & David Gardner. Time to get a different investment perspective other than the Value Investment principles.

On the spin-table: "Mind, Body & Soul" by Joss Stone. Incredible voice, nice tunes

Routines

I'm not sure about other companies, but where I work, everyone sends a weekly report to the related people detailing what you did, raise issues, recognise people (guess which is the rare occurance? :) ), vacation plans.....you get the idea.

Well, since just before I took my home trip, I haven't sent a weekly update for various reasons. It started off innocently; it was an extremely peak time and I work closely with my counterpart and he knows precisely what I'm doing and my progress, so it wasn't a priority item on my plate.
As time went by and since all my work is reported in my counter-part's weekly, time flew by without me writing an update.

As such things tend to do, it finally caught up with me. My Penang manager asked for an update this week. When I checked, it's been 12 weeks since the last update. Hahaha, I wonder if anyone would have noticed if I just dissapeared off the face of the earth? It goes to show how big the project team has grown and my place in it :D At least someone finally noticed; it showed my progress report was actually read!

Well, it was fun while it lasted. Managed to "save" 10 minutes each week for something more "productive"....

-Do you believe in Karma?


On the spin-table: "Where'd you go?" by Fort Minor. One of the current hits making the rounds. Not a bad chorus.

Silverworm corner: "Value Investing made easy" by Janet Lowe. Slowly making my way through the book. Think I need to sit down and really digest the book.

Sad state of affairs

There's democracy, and there's Malaysian democracy. It's depressing to actually read in the mass media (yes, even the Star printed this) that the PM has issued an edict that all BN (Barisan National, the ruling political party) members MUST toe the party line, and that they can't ever support an opposition party's motion in Parliment. In Prime Minister B's own words,

“We have our own democracy. We have survived on the basis of what we have been practising before, and we will continue with this practice.”

“That has not caused us to suffer any kind of problem. I still believe party discipline is very important, and all party members have to observe it.’’

My brain's still in shock; I can't believe my home country has actually reached a stage where we actively and knowingly declare to the world that we will not abide with democratic practises; principles where common sense rules.

How can we not allow a particular party to support an opposing party's motion when it makes sense to do so? Does this mean that one party holds the monopoly on truth? Do they know-all and see-all, whereby discussion or an investigation into any area by others are not allowed?

Finger on the pause button

As some of you might be aware of, I was sent by my company on a 1 year relocation to the states last October. This relocation was immediately following a 3 month business trip assignment starting last June to pick up the skills/exposure in order for me to contribute efficiently to the project.

It's been nearly 11 months since I started this journey, and it has been a great experience. I've seen sights and visited places which I'll never have the chance to do so on my own expense. I've had the chance to mix with fellow colleagues from different groups and meet a diverse set of people (it's hard for different functional groups to really mingle around in Penang; everyone quickly forms a clique within their own working group; it's sad, but it's a fact). Plus the fact I have a great chance to build up my savings if I'm disciplined enough in my daily expenses.

Having said that, there's a part of me that feels like I'm basically putting my life on hold for a year. This sorta hit me after seeing how things have changed in Penang when I was recently back for a short home trip after a 6 month stretch in California.

There's some things that are either hard or impractical to carry out when you're physically away from your home base. You can't really change your status quo, and you miss out on what your family back home experience. I realise my parents are not getting younger, and that I should try and spend more time with them when I still can. You can't really invest much if you did not have the foresight to set up all the necessary account and paperwork prior to the assignment. Even in this online age, there's still some limitations, specially when your country has yet to fully embace the paperless office concept. There's only so much you can ask your family or friends to do; they can't sign on your behalf after all.

The fast 2 weeks back home was practically spent running around town, trying to complete errands that only I could have done. Signing forms, setting up stuff so I can manage it online or preparing the essential things that I will require when I eventually reach home, etc. Add to this the time I allocated away to renewing ties with family and friends; it's no wonder I was not really productive while I was in the office :P (but that's another story).

What am I trying to say in this monologue of mine? That this trip away from home is a mixed blessing. Any regrets? Not really. I guess it came at the right time, when I can still afford to spend a year away from home. It's a once in a lifetime experience and I really learnt a lot working with my US counterpart; he's a swell guy. I wouldn't mind extending my trip for a few more months. It'll definitely help my personal bottom line:) I guess these thoughts makes me appreciate the chance I got and also, what I had back home. It also adds another consideration if I ever am offered another relocation/long term assignment away from home.

-Am I thinking too much?


On the spin-table: "Remember the name" by Fort Minor. TNT plays this song a lot for the NBA playoffs. Nice catchy chorus, the violin piece makes a nice counter point.

Silverworm corner: "Value Investing made easy" by Janet Lowe. Need to get my hands on BG's actual books; in the meantime, explanatory books on him by other authors will have to suffice.

Full tank, empty wallet

Found this e-book (sorry, couldn't find an English version for those whose grasp of Malay is not
something you are proud of) that presents an alternative take (to those of the mass media) on the rising cost of living in Malaysia.

You might have been aware that recently the Malaysia goverment increased the subsidised petroleum price by 30cents (~20%) to slightly less than RM2 per liter. This caused a waterfall effect where by the general cost of living went up (food, services, basically everything). There was even a case where the roti canai sellers increasted the price of roti canais by 30cents before the government issued an edict that prevented the prices of food from rising and forced the price back before the petrol price hike. But, the natural order of things prevailed. The food hawkers just worked around this by reducing the portions while maintaining the price. Shrug. Welcome to Malaysia.

As a result, the CPI (Consumer Price Index, generally used as a benchmark of inflation) rose to 4.8% in March, when the average Fixed Deposit (FD) rates was 3.8%!. In other words, you actually lost money if you kept your hard earned income in FDs....And guess what? The government just increased the interest rates in late April; cars and houses just got dearer if you need a loan. Sadly, the FD rates has yet to increase in a similar fashion (correct me if I'm wrong).

It's sorta depressing to come across these few facts from the e-book:

• The richest 10% controls 38% of the total Malaysian wealth
  
• Malaysia has the largest Gini coefficient (a measure of the income gap between those who have and those who don't) in the ASEAN region.
• 43% of the population has a household income of less than RM1500 and 58% has less than RM2000.

Read the e-book with a pinch of salt; it's someone's interepration/opinion based on selected facts; rarely do you get the whole picture from 1 source. It does raise some interesting thoughts though...

-I was happily drunk, till life made me sober

Living in a material world

*Warning: This is an emo-blog entry. Read it at your own risk of being bored*

No matter how you look at it, money's a huge part of our lives. Yes, spirituality is essential, and yes, having boat loads of money doesn't guarantee happiness.Let's not forget bout health and love and friends. Where would we be without the support from your inner-self, friends and parents?

Having said that, it sure helps if you have the means to be financially free or even better, financialy wealthy**. It's already so tough to reach financial freedom, let alone to be wealthy. Sometimes you just have to make sacrifices in the short term with an eye on long term goals. Be smart about what you need or want. Plan out your finances; invest wisely. Achieve a balance.

Forgive the monologue, guess I'm in a reflective mood. Been thinking and spending a lot of my time reading up on investments and personal financial management. One thing about the line of work I'm in, there's not much personal time left after a 10-12 hour work day. By the time you're reached home, your brain's drained from all the mental aerobics or you just wanna chill with friends or just plant yourself in front of the idiot box and not think. Guess you just have to be disciplined and spend some time to read the books you need to instead of Dilbert Comics. Grin.





** p.s: By financially free, I'm a follower of Robert Kiyosaki's definition whereby the interest from your passive income (investments, etc) is sufficient to cover your annual living costs. By financially wealthy, I'll go with with Stanley & Danko's definition in "Millionaire Next Door" for a lack of a better standard; find your level of wealth by multiplying your age with one-tenth your annual active income (annual income X age /10). You're considered wealthy if your net worth is greater than twice your level of wealth.

-On the spin-table: "Sugar, We're Going Down" by Fall Out Boy. Forget the lyrics, the melody is just so infectous. Simply a fun song to listen to.

-Silverworm corner:
1) Half way thru Janet Lowe's "Benjamin Graham on Value Investing". Finally, his investment principle's summarised and there's more techical meat to the book.
2) Dilbert comics :) Fun stuff