Category: General

I just came back from Hatyai for a night at Lee Gardens Hotel and tonight will go to KL with my colleague. There will be an interview to attend and a visit to another site. I also have to withdraw money to pay for my apartment in KL for the balance 90% amounting to RM 261k. It is a very small apartment of about 620sq ft, enough for 2 persons or 1 person ideally. My second sister is now is Jogjakarta, Indonesian and visited the temples there. Then she will go to KL and then spend 1 night in Ipoh to have dim sum before coming back to stay with me for the rest of the days she will be in Penang before returning to Southampton to continue her PhD studies for another 1.5 years. She plans to work in Singapore after graduation and I wish her all the best.

I am a firm believer in living life to the fullest and to make the best of your potential. We should strive to work hard and play hard. By striking a balance, then only can we fulfill our potential to be the best in whatever endeavours we pursue – be it in our careers, relationships, hobbies, social work, etc. As they say, ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained.’ Also be true to yourself as you deserve it and love yourself before you can pass the joy and love to others in this season of Yuletide where presents and joy abound. It is a time for giving and receiving. Be generous to others for Blessed are the generous in heart. During this Christmas season, I hope you will enjoy your holidays with closed ones and friends.

I woke up at 6:30am this morning, had simple breakfast of Chinese tea with vitamins and then I promptly logged into the computer. Did some editing on Photoshop and learnt from Youtube video how to draw a line in Photoshop which is different from Illustrator where is a tool for direct line drawing. In Photoshop, you have to select the Brush tool, then hold down the Shift key while clicking on a dot to position the line and then click on a second dot to finish off the line. The result is a straight line from point A to point B. It was easy peasy if you know how after watching the video. Then I typed 2 quotations for different clients and emailed them out this morning. Voila, my job is done for the day, unless of course, then is more incoming work from my boss.

One of the company account had to be closed because the cheque bounced 3 times already and I agreed to be the sole proprietor and had the names changed yesterday into mine. Then I opened a company bank account and it was immediately approved, where previously, under the former owner, 2 banks rejected the application due to outstanding issues. Hopefully, I will get the cheque book next week after the bank does a background search. This sounds complicated but such is the nature of things after stringent ruling from Bank Negara. So, always check if you have sufficient money in the bank before issuing out cheques haphazardly.

I just added a new plugin to this blog called ‘let it snow’ to remind me of my last winter tour to Europe during Christmas. It was super chilling with extremely strong winds blowing me off, literally. It was the first time I experienced such strong chilling winds despite my thick winter jacket. Well, it as an experience to remember and I can resonate with my second sister’s stay in the UK for the last 3 years studying for her PhD in English Literature. She hopes to become a professor in a university someday and hence enrolled in a first class ivory tower in Southampton University. Hopefully, you like the snow theme in this blog.

Even during weekends, I can sometimes earn a little here and there from the internet if luck is on my side. I try to save up for my retirement in years to come and without kids to turn to, I have to rely on my hard-earned savings to tide through the golden years and hopefully not woeful years. Taking surveys, doing micro jobs, writing articles, are some of the things that I can perform via the internet during my free time. I guess, as I get older, I get to be a little lazier as compared to the time when I was a fresh graduate, all fired up to attend interviews and work for my employer.

I started applying for GST 2 weeks ago and encountered some difficulties such as alien terms and what to enter. But nevertheless, yesterday, I updated the company details on GST online and managed to successfully apply. It was approved at night the same day and today, as I log in again using the confirmation code given, I got my GST number or id. It is not direct but nevertheless not too difficult and now about 1,000 companies are registered every day to beat the deadline at the end of the year. GST will be implemented on 1 April 2015 – on April Fool’s day – and that is when goods and services tax come into play.

Christmas is coming and I shall not be going to Genting Highlands this time around. My second sister will be coming out with her boyfriend from Southampton, UK. Sometimes, I feel like making a last minute booking somewhere for Christmas just to get out of the routine of work. Last year, I spend Christmas in Europe during winter for 18 days that stretched until the following year. It was an experience but I will not throw money away again paying for 3 pax. It is just unfortunate my spouse’s passport is stuck with the customs and he is unable to get out of the country.