Malaysian working in Shanghai

Rain during winter

2007-12-17T16:26:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was raining almost the entire day, seems like today will be a wet day too. Do you know how it feel when it rain during winter? Even though the temperature is not that low, maybe just 10C, but when it rain, it feels like 5C. It is because of the humidity. Your clothes, sweater or jacket will feels like it is wet and cold, that's terrible. Needless to say, laundry will be a big problem too.

Pure bad luck

2007-12-11T15:06:00.000+08:00

First, was my grandmother passed away. Then, my secondary school teacher got really bad diabetic side effect, require eye operation. When I got back to Shanghai, I learnt that one of my close colleague was diagnose with leukemia. Later, Jlynnc's shop got burn down because of a short circuit. Back in office, the other colleague's father just passed away, while another colleague's wife was diagnose with a possible cancer. Last, but not least, another colleague of mine was suspended from work until further notice. All these happen just within the last month.
I really start wondering if there is something with me, or with my office?

Dinner talk

2007-12-10T11:08:00.000+08:00

I was out having dinner with some friends yesterday. It was my first time to meet most of them for the first time yesterday. Apparently, most of them are involved in the financial services.
Since they are having similar profession, obviously the chat topic over the dinner is around the financial investment. Shanghai's stock market is really booming and have a lot of potential, almost everyone is trying to get a piece of it. There is an estimation saying that 99% of the players are individuals.
Sadly, this is really not my thing. I really can not squeeze out any interest from myself during the conversation. Furthermore, most of them are professional in this area, so you can imagine the stupid look I had on my face. Well, at least the dinner was good. Maybe I should try to avoid this kind of crowd next time. Too much money talk for me in one night.

Laser tag, Counter Strike Simulation

2007-12-05T11:00:00.000+08:00

We were out for a team building event last Friday. It was a laser tag game, an Counter Strike Simulation. It is better than paint brawl, because when you get hit, it will not hurt.
The venue is actually underground. Although it's not as big as I thought it will be, the work out is still pretty demanding. As a result, my muscle still soar after the game. It was really fun.

Last month of the year

2007-12-04T11:09:00.000+08:00

Finally I managed to get a Cathay Pacific/DragonAir ticket. Looks like I will be spending more time in Penang this time that I expected. Will need to negotiate with my boss so that I get to work over there while not deducting so much of my leave.
Couple of colleagues came from US to do their Christmas shopping in Shanghai. Most of the stuff is way cheaper, compare to the living standard in US. Even though XiangYang Market has been forced to shut down, it has been separated into couple of other shopping places around Shanghai. One of the most easy to access location is the underground mall right below Shanghai Science & Technology Park. You can get to there just by Line 2 Metro. It's much more spacious than the previous location.
Recently, couple of my friends wanted to buy a laptop and asking me for advise. So I started to do some research. I am evaluating Asus's Eee PC. Maybe not everyone need a multi core CPU, maybe not everyone need multi gigabytes of storage. Eee PC is small, and relatively affortable. An 4GB SSD, 512MB RAM version is selling for RMB 3000. The LCD screen is 7inch only and the system weighted only less than 1KG.

Ticket for Chinese New Year holiday

2007-11-29T09:44:00.000+08:00

I have just started to book for ticket to go back to Penang during the Chinese New Year holiday. It is still at least 2 months away, and it is already almost fully booked. Only left some 1 year open ticket which is so expensive. Only Malaysia Airlines still have not started accepting booking yet. I guess that is my last try. Otherwise, most likely either I will be getting an expensive ticket back, or fly back only after the 1st day of Chinese New Year :(

Don't kacau me la, I want to sleep

2007-11-28T13:02:00.001+08:00

Temperature drop

2007-11-26T21:37:00.000+08:00

The weather was very nice over the weekend, around 18C. Today, the temperature drop by 6C. I guess winter is really here, nothing can stop it. I just hope that by after Chinese New Year, the temperature will be raising up again. Really worry if my wife and baby can stand the weather or not.
I really enjoy the weather back in Malaysia, especially when I was back home 2 weeks ago. To me, it is really the ideal kind of place to live. I travelled between Alort Setar and Butterworth by bus for a few times. That was the first time I really got to appreciate the scenery of a padi field. I could not find anything that is greener than it. I even wonder if it is possible to build a house near to a padi field? Must be a lot of mosqitos.

My Baby

2007-11-23T11:01:00.000+08:00

Nah, here is a photo of my baby. She is almost 3 weeks old now. 4kg and 55cm at the moment.

Weather change

2007-11-22T10:20:00.000+08:00

It was constantly between 25C and 30C back in Malaysia. Shanghai was 8C when I arrived. Luckily I brought my winter jacket back. Nevertheless, the change of weather still makes my nose and throat uneasy. Some says it is still consider a warm winter in Shanghai this year, but I really could not feel any 'warm'. I already using the air-conds in my apartment as a heater now. I have not got time to change my quilt to the thicker one for winter. It was a torture to get in and out from bed during winter, seriously.

New dad

2007-11-20T19:01:00.000+08:00

I was back in Malaysia the last three weeks. What for? For my baby, of course. It has been an extraordinary experience.

Spring/Summer 2007

2007-05-05T17:06:00.000+08:00

I am still in the middle of the May 1st holiday. We went to MoGan Moutain during the first two days. The place itself is very nice, but due to the peak seaon, everywhere was so crowded. Well, I just accepting the fact that I am in China, and this is a major holiday.
The weather is turning warm, I mean hot. It will be 30C in few days from now. I have not have the chance to really enjoy the Spring, and out of a sudden, seems like Summer is already here. This is the kind of weather in Shanghai, long summer and winter, very short spring and autumn. Wife is planning to go back to give birth. It will be too hot here later.

First post

2007-04-03T17:45:00.000+08:00

I have finally given up on Xanga. For some reason, I can't access to it via my ADSL in my apartment for weeks. I need to post, Jlynn need to post, it is just not acceptable. So we decided to convert.
I was thinking to get my own domain and hosting, but then it will cost me. I really rather not spending any money on blogging at this moment. Perhaps I will spend some on getting online photo album, but not for blogging. So we will see. I need to try out if this can link to Picasa Web Album.