EMD (Early Morning Drive)

Whenever my dad goes to KL and leaves me here in Kerteh, AND I wake up mind blowingly early to catch Chelsea's games, I usually end up doing my habitual early morning drive to work. That is, going to work extremely early compared to my usual timing (7.40am).

Driving to work early has it's advantages. You don't need to jostle with other cars on the road, the road's all yours, signed sealed delivered. And since you don't have other cars on the road, or should I say "less" cars on the road, YOU CAN SPEED! colon capital D* There are no other cars that might ruin your apex while taking a corner at high speeds.



*So WHAT is colon capital D? My smarter readers would've got it by now. Why it's simply ":D" :D

At a place where the average time of arrival for most people is 8.15am even though the "official" clock in time is 8, me arriving at work at this time is bordering Godliness, if not already Godly.



Today's Thursday and the second last week of my internship here. Looking forwards to the weekend! =D


P.S. : Below are some pictures of where my 'office' is located. It's at the set of windows just to the left of the red coloured firewater pipes.

Shock and Awe Versi Sibu (Malaysia)

Author's Note: The author would like to wish his readers a very Happy Chinese New Year! May the Year of the Metal Tiger bring happiness, luck, health and prosperity!

This is the FIRST year I have internet while back at Sibu for the Chinese New Year holidays! For the past 19 years it'd been internet-less and disconnection from the outside world.




Thinking about the past 19 years, it's really a wonder how fast things change around us.



Last time I never met any friends while in Sibu. Then when handphones started emerging, I'd use my dad's cellphone and call my friends to arrange a visit. And then I had a cellphone. And then Internet, or more specifically, mobile broadband.






Anyways, this year the fireworks show was TOTALLY awesome, definitely one of the best ever. The fireworks started about half an hour before midnight. Sure, last time the firecrackers and fireworks used to come out as early as 8pm, but then again, hey, I don't care much as long as I have a great show at midnight.



Although I haven't seen other places yet on Chinese New Year's Eve, I am willing to bet you ANYTHING that Sibu's fireworks are amongst the top in the country. There is simply NO way in hell that Selangor or KL can come up with anything better and grander.

Just standing there while all the fireworks and firecrackers were going off around me, I felt like a helpless Iraqi when America launched Operation Shock and Awe on them, with bombs and artillery going boom boom boom around me. And the firecrackers sounded awfully similar to machine guns being fired.

The Arab

To top it all off, the roads in Sibu were FILLED WITH SMOKE. Driving through the smoke made me feel like I was in a foreign land where fog was a common sight on chilly days.

The Arab doing his part in the war by lighting a fuse.

Do note that NONE of these photos actually do justice to the actual thing. To get a rough picture of the actual thing, take a long hard look at my picture here, and then picture in your mind a thousand more of those things. Yeaah, it's really THAT big.

Economic recession? WHAT Recession?

The cousins (incomplete. The complete one would need four of these photos)

I like this shot because it looks abstract. What I picture in my mind is a ball of plasma.

Bachelor of Kroniism: Double Standards 101

Author's Note: The author wishes once again to say that this rant is NOT about the amount. It is about the unfairness that the author suffered and what the author thinks about it.


Until recently I hadn't really bothered about my monthly allowance during my internship period.

But since Chinese New Year is just around the corner, I wanted some extra cash to waste, I mean spend. And seeing as to my allowance was almost a month overdue, I decided to pursue the matter.

When I asked, Training (department) said they'd already forwarded the memo to Finance (department) but hadn't received any feedback yet. How true that reply is I shall not speculate. Anyways, I FINALLY got a reply when my department's (Engineering) clerk told me that my check was ready with Finance.

And so I took the letter and decided to open it back home, knowing nothing of the untold horrors that awaited my opening the letter.

Before I got the letter I was told by various sources that my allowance was going to be RM500 as it was a 'standard' among Petronas OPU's (Operating Units). So RM500 was flashed into my brain as the standard allowance I should be getting. RM500 is good good money, mind you. Some cheapskate corporations like Proton don't even pay! So being able to get RM500 while interning is a pretty sum.

Back home, I opened the sealed letter, looked at the cheque amount, looked at it again, stared at it, stared at it again, and SCREAMED and SCREAMED and SCREAMED like a little girl whose doll just got snatched away by the naughty kid in the park. Like LITERALLY S-C-R-E-A-M-E-D AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

If you want to scream along, please scream in the key of High C.

No no no, it cant be. This must be a mistake. Maybe it's only for the 16 days I'd been in the office at the end of 2009? Maybe the fucking accountants accidentally pressed "2" instead of "5" in the numpad?

Or maybe it is just fucking double standards showing its ugly fucking face.

Invoice dated 31st bloody January. They'd better not scam half of my month...

By that time I was feeling like an unwanted child. Like I got accepted unwillingly and now they're throwing a BIT of token to say that they've given something to me.

RM200 in glorious fucking macro.

Before I started the flame war, I needed to get my facts right. So started the Sherlock Holmes roleplay. When I asked Training (department), they said I only got RM200 because I'm a private student, and that only Petronas scholars get RM500. According to trusted sources, practical students or interns whom they knew all got RM500. Then I asked a fellow intern who was interning at another OPU about her allowance. RM500 was the answer. When I asked further, I found out that she is a private student too.

Ok, by now I seriously believe that even a CLAY BRICK would be able to see the emerging pattern, what more a genius like me.

Now get this right, I am NOT complaining about the amount that I'm getting, although I'm pretty pissed about the amount. The NUMBER ONE thing I'm fucking pissed about is WHY am I getting RM200 whilst other people are getting another amount?

NUMBER TWO. Why did the lousy allowance arrive so late? If I didnt already have a home here and had to depend on myself for everything, I might have REALLY needed the extra financial help.

And on a side note, I shall now attempt to prove to you that RM200/month isn't even enough for meals. And I mean ONLY LUNCH. For this to work we shall now assume that I am Superman and can survive on only a meal a day, thirty times a month. We take a meal to cost RM7.00, so

RM7.00 x 30 = RM210

I would still have to fork out RM10 from my pocket just to cover my lunches for a month. And I haven't factored in Petrol, Lodgings and the other two meals.

Ok enough about that, the main point is that this shitty incident really made me open my eyes towards the shitiness of our society. Talking about double standards and actually EXPERIENCING it is two totally different things. Those people dont know shit yet, only reading about it from anti-government sources.

So I would still have to thank my OPU for giving me this wonderful opportunity to learn some real life lessons and at the same time EXPERIENCE the wonderful feeling of being lowly paid labourer in Southern China. THANKS!..

...fucking not.

P.S: On a lighter note, I managed to conjure up this wonderful dish for breakfast! =) Healthier, tastier and a HELL LOT cheaper than Asia Cafe.