Ho Ho Ho~!

Hey guys, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Christmas is my favourite season of the year. Although i'm not a Christian (who says only Christians celebrates Christmas?!!), but just simply love the hanging sparkling lights, xmas trees and decos in the city that gives this dreamy / fairy tale-like feeling~~~ ^^

What more with the year end sales around all major shopping malls, makes people even more excited in getting presents for gift-exchange sessions. I've gotten a traveller set (sharing with my dear lab mates) from Crabtree & Evelyn as a gift for my awesome supervisor whom I would really like to thank her in her guidance. And also as a congratulatory gift for her promotion to Sr. Lecturer in  Monash University (well, not sure if she'd like for me to post her name here.. so i guess not at the meantime. :) )

Xmas Decorations @ Mid Valley Shopping Mall

And thanks to my friend, who invited me to watch this wonderful musical movie - Les Miserables, it sparkles up my xmas even more. If you haven't watch it yet, please do go and grab a ticket! I love Anne Hathaway's acting, there's so much emotion in it, and while she cried and sing at the same time, there's just no words to it. But in terms of vocals, if I were to choose 1 that I love the most, that will be Amanda Seyfried's vocal tone. Well, my friend has wrote down his comment about the movie. If you're interested, you could click to the following link to his blog --> yeehoong

Les Miserables (2012)

Alright, that's all for now. Happy Holidays peeps!!!

Happy working day!

Just a short post today~~ it's Raya holiday season, lots of people are still having their holidays~ but of course not me! oh well, but this doesn't mean that i've to be sad about it. In fact, i'm rather please to work.. hehe..

First of all, it feels super good to start off a day without jam!!! The normal route to work took 45 mins to an hour could cut down to 20-30mins with smooth traffic.

And the weather is very cooling and breezy these few mornings. So good to start off a working day like this in the city of KL~ ^^

Oh oh.. and i'm gonna start planning for the climbing trip to mount Kinabalu (screams *FINALLY*). I'm all so excited about the trip although there's like 8 months to go before the climb. 8 months might seem so far.. but due to my busy work and research schedule, i hardly notice that 8 months has almost flew pass for this year..

I'm aiming to complete my masters research by end of this year. Keeping my fingers crossed, hope that everything will goes well. And then planning ahead, funding would be another issue to continue my research studies.

Of course, i'm also not too sure what would i do after my studies.. stay or not to stay.. probably i'll search for PhD opportunities overseas. All in all, i would still love to come out with something meaningful and be able to contribute in efficient waste management in Malaysia.

I guess what i could do right now is focus to finish up my masters. Tackle 1 thing at a time!

Okay, talking about my love life. I guess i've not been having any much of a progress since few months back. And perhaps he has a super busy schedule after joining the working society, that we have not been contacting frequently. The feelings i had at a spur of a moment back then has decreased over these few months. Long distance makes things even harder.. 

So what's next?? Just continue living life to the fullest. Enjoying every single moment.. until the special someone appears. It was told  that you'll eventually know he or she is the one..  =)

Buddha Quotes

It's the last week of June 2012~~! The end of another month. I hope that each and everyone out there has wisely used their time and doing great in whatever tasks that are parked with you. May July brings more happiness and luck (yes we need them.. LOL =P)~~

I have come across the Buddha Quotes which i find pretty interesting. And yes, i'm a Buddhist; No, i'm not trying to convince you to change your religion (if that is what running in your mind). Just quotes that is inspirational for anybody. Okay~ this is the link to it..

http://www.buddhist-tourism.com/buddhism/buddha-quotes.html

If you have read the book called "The Secrets" which explains and teaches about Law of Attraction, you might find that the Buddha Quotes is somewhat protraying the same concept and idea. 

The one quote i love❤ the most... 

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” -- Buddha Quotes

Alright, hope that you guys find the quotes helpful in one way or another!

☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻

Life Partner

And when I thought I'm ready to open my heart, I found that I'm holding back myself. Pondering.. hmm.. Well, I asked myself "Why???" Is it because of the past? I don't think so. So perhaps is the future that i'm worried about. I'm becoming more and more picky over the period. You know.. worried that i'm the reason, my "picky-ness", that the relationship doesn't work out.

So, maybe i should tell him straight on, that what would i be expecting from someone that i take serious consideration of more-than-just-friends or lifelong partner. Telling him what qualities that i'm looking for. But deep down, i understand that humans are not perfect. I AM NOT PERFECT. haha.. but there are certain things that i really hope the other half has.. 

For instance, people skills. This is something really general. But i find it rather important. If a person can't generate a healthy conversation without awkward stoppages, this will eventually be a hinder to a relationship. Not only among lovers, but also among friends, or getting to know a new group of people, especially close friends of hers (that's the biggest error that most guys missed.. get into the good book of her close friends, and you're at least 50% in the safe zone).

Secondly, leadership. Every lady, no matter weak or strong, would always love to be leaded in a relationship. It showed that you've got things in control, and it gives a sense of security. Yes, sense of security is very important. If a guy who swayed like a lalang (a type of weed in malay), just blindly following the wind.. then that'll not be a good sign.

Thirdly, career stability. This strongly relates to security. Having a stable career, means stable income. And also  showing interest in climbing the career ladder or showing eagerness in self improvement (i.e. further studies/ get a professional cert), always means that you're constantly improving yourself, lifelong learning, with strong will power to endure and pass through obstacles. 

Fourthly, be an outdoor person. Mainly because i enjoy outdoor activities as much. Of course, would love to spend time doing it with the person i love, right? ;)

I guess those are the major qualities that i'm attracted to. What about you other ladies out there? What kind of characteristics that you're looking at for a guy to be the special one in your life? =)

Happy Sundae

Just a short one. McD's new Sundae that catches my attention. Totally in love with the sweetness of Caramel Sundae~~ With this, i'll always say diet starts tomorrow! lol~~

Sleep deprivation

Is it because of me aging?? Recently i felt that my energy got drained off pretty quick! Well, that's not a good sign.. ~.~  I need to at least hang on this work-study life until next year. I'm dying for long breaks.. I want and i know that i NEED rest. I've been sleep deprived ever since god-knows-when until today.. Average sleeping hours per day, ~4-5 hrs.

And i think with all of the lack of rest days accumulated, it's affecting my emotional control and cognitive thinking too. Why i said so? ahh.. i'm way more "daring" in conversation with certain people. I talked boldly, straight forward. IT's good only when one doesn't speak-out-loud on things that one shouldn't be speaking. hahaa.. And..... some days, i'm too tired to the extend as if my brain doesn't function properly, i went blank, just can't seem to think at all, as if i'm daydreaming whole day long. LOL~ Not sure if any of you had these experiences after an extended period of sleep deprived.

 My solution is always coffee and i'm changing with tea (as suggested by my lil sis that coffee does no good to my teeth due to its acidity, while tea having fluoride which protects them). But anyway, even if i'm wide awake, i'll still take coffee, not for its instant "wake-up" effect, i just simply love its aroma, and bitter taste. Solution 2, would be music! Playing pop songs works to make me focus.. yeap.. i know it's weird.. ^^"

♥ Starbucks! My all-time favourite~ ♥ 

My target for this year, to finish up my bench work by year end. And so that next year i could focus only on writing for publication and thesis. Well, my current progress is reaaaaally slow *stress*. I doubt if i could pull this off, but no point whining, it wouldn't do any of help. So.. all i can do now is to focus and work hard! ^^"""

Any recommendations on time management?? Or methods to keep you awake??

Intuition & Big Ideas

So I've come across this article from CBS money watch, and thought it might be useful for some of you out there~ It suggests that intuition is the main factor that leads to ideas. Well, i've to agree to that. Often, we're so tied down to norms and believes, and those are what everyone has thought so or implying that how one should behave or respond.

New ideas, are those that nobody has come out with. So follow your heart and put some creativity in it. It doesn't matter you'll end up being a laughing topic, at least you have tried right? I always tell this to myself, "it's not about being correct, it's all about having the courage to face failure.". Every mistake made is an important lesson learnt. =) so people, dare to lose. ^^

Following link is the article that i was talking about. Enjoy reading!
Where do big ideas come from?

First post of the Year!

First of all.. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! May Year 2012 brings us happiness, prosperity and good health to everyone in the world~!!! ^^

It's an unusual way to start off a new year by sitting for an exam paper.. OH YES! A paper~ of advanced statistics.. had a hard time figuring out the different statistical methods. But eventually, i did just alright for the test. hope that i won't let my lecturer down this time, as he's a great Prof. First time in my life feeling statistics is pretty fun~ (well, if you understand them.. else it's really a pain in the ass @.@").

And so, it's the first week of 2012! despite from the exams, I've been delaying my research work for quite some time now. After today's announcement and good chit chat session with my boss, never have ever in my life that i'll think that the research which i'm conducting now, has got so important to an extend that it'll determine the direction of my company. And so.. i'm so much more powered up right now~ have to really utilize my time more efficiently.

Our company is still very dependent on our "sister" company, i'll called it our client. It's really complicated and i wouldn't want to bore you with how did the company i worked for, was created in the first place. Being the first staff joined, it's really interesting to see how this company has grown into.. It's been 2 years, 2 months, and 6th days, I've worked under my boss.. he's an awesome guy to work with.

This is another post to him, to thank him that what has made this job, a near to dream job for me as a Scientist in Malaysia. I use the words "near to" is just plainly because the pay is not as attractive as what others might offer, with the amount of time and effort i've put through to make things work for the company. But well, put that aside, i'm still very driven to work here, all because of my boss's character and the way he lead this company.

Given that i've joined this company at year 2009 right after graduating from UTAR, the job description for the position of Microbiologist is challenging enough. Because i'm not tied down to laboratory work, and it requires me to go to the site, with estate environment, to deal with people of all levels and different nations from time to time, and to setup a QC lab and its standard operating protocol.

During the interview session, what really went through my mind is that, "ARE YOU SERIOUS THAT YOU'RE GETTING A FRESH GRAD TO HANDLE ALL THESE?!?!!! He must be out of his mind.. lol~!" and "well this is really interesting, let's just get started and see how it goes..". And yea, whatever will go wrong eventually will went wrong, and without any scientific guidance at all, i'm relieved to be able to pull through.

Second amazing thing to happen while working in this company, my boss gave his second bet, bet that the research i've proposed will work out for sure. Well, any of you running research will know, research is to test and to understand processes that we don't understand. And whether the test is favourable or not favourable at the end, that is also considered as a result. So, with my boss's support and believe, I've managed to run my one-man research till today.

Now, he's telling our team of 3 (Yes, there's only 3 of us in HQ - boss, me, accountant) that the company's direction very much depending on the grant application, the success of my research product, and his effort on other certain things (non-disclosurable). At that instance, i've just realized that he's really serious in believing the success of my research. And again, i really admire him for investing the setup of this company, given that this is not his core business or core area, he's only the CEO, and yet, he put a lot of time and effort here, to set a better direction for us, only with one reason.. his interest lies in here.

People sometimes might think that i'm a workaholic. But to say the truth, i'm a dreamer, a person who's driven with dreams and passion. I believe in what i'm doing will benefit the society in a way. I believe in transferring my knowledge to application on field, i believe in the importance of experience than the money i'll be able to earn. And i've never thought that my first job will be my dream job, with such trust, faith and support from my boss and colleagues. Well,It's almost near to impossible for a freshie to get bosses listen and trust in their thoughts these days. Especially with our asian culture, most of them will go like "i'm the boss, you should listen and do what i say". Here, there's always room for discussion, room to share thoughts, faith, trust and teamwork given to me to complete a task that's uncertain, a work place which requires creativity skills applied to research and work..

This job is filled with hell lot of excitement from time to time. Challenges of dealing with different people with different background, qualifications and attitude. With all of the good and bad, I'm just simply loving my job. I've learnt a lot through this job, especially to appreciate every single minute as time has always not been enough. Learnt to multi-task, to scold, to hire and to fire, to get a team together, to plan ahead of time (as far as months ahead which i never managed to do it during study life), to lead, to have a higher EQ while dealing with idiots, and to gain trust. Hope that this dragon year will bring us more successes, and all of us might as well get a rewarding bonus by the end of this year~!!! ;)