Sunday, May 24, 2009

It's Over A Year!

Spending five years in my previous company, I learnt something that changes me big deal. Already a skeptical person, I went down to the point where I could never be comfortable to feel attached to something (lucky I married before that ;p).
So my first few months in my current job, onto a year, I couldn’t really express how I feel with my current job. I got too cautious; I got too ready to move on and hanging on my saddle in case I need to topple my horse away. I’ve become super critical, a very different person I was, I give great effort but I detach my personal emotions, I wasn’t sure.

Well. I must say, two things have restored me since then. However, being 30+ is not the same with being 20+, look at how a fresh grad face the working world with all the ambition and dream, look at how a 30+ learn about realities. I never change, but I would never be the same. Hmmmm….cheeeeeem….

There is nothing in my dream that I would find unlikely friends I found with my current colleagues. I was always lucky to meet good colleagues, but the ones I got here are fascinating.
Me and my two immediate colleagues, we have quite an age gaps, early thirties (wave!), late twenties and early forties, with status of married, single and married with children. At a glance, we have almost nothing in common. However, come to know them well, which take a very short time, we have a loooot in common, we have good chemistry and click very well.

Who can imagine us squatting in between cubicle and cheering up the mechanical toys (for racing purpose), or we climbing up and down the cupboard to put up decorations for events? When we won the decoration competition, and had cash for afternoon ice cream break, we tried to find another way to win cash, as the ice creams are sweet.  So we arrange for running competitions with some fun task (short of amazing race concept) and we drag our boss along. He is a good sport and we actually the fastest, although we were not in first place because we lost in some tasks. It is also the coincidence that we speak the same dialect, the one that I only use at home with my family. Lately we found the new love of drawing some rubbish comics, that we passed one another to make a complete, well, messy story line.

They are people that I’m comfortable to be around with, who motivate me to come to work, and we are planning a trip together, four of us, in coming month. This is kind of unusual for me, but I’m looking forward to it. The amazing thing is, we were very spontaneous that it’s probably the quickest decision I made for planning a trip beside with hubby.

I also found that there are a lot of people sharing the same passion with me here. In the past, I was probably a weirdo in other people’s eyes. There is no one that I can talk about my passion of diving or other extreme sports. People would ask me to stay away from them, far far away if I ask them whether they are interested in doing some whatever..underwater hockey, skydive? Or go-kart, or sailing or rock climbing? Hell no. Leave me alone…But here, it’s just like common activities to many , divers, sportman, and so and so. I’m not saying that I dislike mingle with people who don’t share the same passion, but there are reason why people join organizations like sport and hobby, because it’s nice to be around those who share the same interest too. Even though no one else is active divers in my department, I can talk about fishes, names everything because animals are our interests. We also share running as past or present interest, hence the fun competition.

I was doubtful that I could run as fast as I did, but I think I did very well even though I had back and butt pain for the next three days, but it was nice to break the wind again, to run and remember when I was young (insert melancholic music here).
We also have pet fish together, we used to have tadpole tank, and it actually turned into froglet, although too bad, they mysteriously disappeared, I can’t explain that. But I’ll always remember that three of us scanning ponds to get the water plant, or searching quest to find volcanic rock for the aquarium.

Other reason I like it here are the smiles of the strangers. I probably came from alien world before, the last batch of people that I knew from my previous office, who were just merged with us, they hardly smile, they don’t even meet your eyes when you try to smile. Humph..only when they need help, they put in super sweet saccharine toxic smile,. I thought I was in crazy world, it doesn’t make sense to me. It’s either you are friendly, full stop. Or you don’t like to smile, full stop. I’m fine with both. Really. But if you only smile and suddenly so happy to see me because you need my help, it’s disgusting. Utterly disgusting.

So here, everyone smiles to everyone. Regardless you know them or not. Since we have very big number of colleagues and staffs all around, I probably haven’t even known 10% from all, yet, we always exchange smiles on greeting on the road etc etc,. I found it really nice. It doesn’t kill to say good morning, It makes the sun shine brighter , in metaphore of course, because this month is soooo hot that I wish the sun comes out less..

I also like the environment, every time I got bored; I just walk to natural setting or do a little photographic hunt in the weekends, take a walk with my colleagues, go to work or just to loosen the feet. I got to experience amazing thing that I’ve never imagine before. A bit spoiler here, but I was that surprise when I need to with elephant related work, the keeper actually brought the elephant for me, all I need to know is the height of them. Huhahahha, I can ‘t forget the look at the elephant face.

The environment, ah yes, definitely, even though is not jungleish, it’s natural setting. There is also one of the parks I can roam during midday with no one else to disturb me.

I know I’m still skeptical, but I’ve passed my first year anniversary here and I think I’ll write this to remember that I love being here now. I hope it stays that way, I really do.




Sometimes you put walls up not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to break them down.
-Anonymous

Monday, May 18, 2009

RIP my fish..

Coming to work today, I found that our fighting fish had died. Sniff…
It had been quite sick in the past, but recovered very well until last week, the condition went down again. This morning I found it sinking at the bottom.

Yes, it’s just a fish. But it’s my fish, our fish, me and my colleagues take care together. This fish always happy to see me every morning when I turned on the light. It would swim up and down, left to right and look right at me. Whenever I slide my chair near the tank, she would recognize me and come happily waving her tail.

I guess.. all fish go to heaven too..







.

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Mini Aspire One

I want to dedicate this post for my notebook. This is my very first personal computer that is not inherited, borrowed or shared with other people.

The purchase was made because we are sick to keep changing our external hard disks, those hard disk with card readers we bring on trips to transfer and store pictures for backup or when memory cards are full. They are unreliable, break easily and on many occasions, the pictures stored inside can’t be open or damaged. In my new, not so new anymore, job, I also happen to have 25 minutes bus ride each morning and evening and I can’t read in the bus. If I don’t do anything, I would fall asleep and got giddy afterwards. Anyway, I also hardly have time to write anymore in my work, so my journal and blogs are being neglected. So except for data storing, I need this for my bus ride that come in handy to write anything. It had performed much better and hardy than I expected, it also cost much less than high-end handphone. The minor inconvenience, it doesn’t have cd-rom, hence the size.

I’m impressed because in the past, I almost always had bad records with computers. Somehow, machines always work up on me, well, I’m not the most patient person to start with, and I hate it the most when machines start to give me troubles, it irritates me to the point that I would curse and throw fists to the air or beat-up something that can’t fight back, like chair or table. Coward you say, but if I beat up something that can fight back I would have add another thing to piss me off!

Month of February, March and April, I was extremely busy with computer. I need to get my Final project done, get it over and done with. It has been more that half a year since I suppose to start. I gave myself deadline to finish it before my diving trip in March. But again, you must know, I also gave myself deadline to finish it before my September, then October, then December trip but nothing was done.

So again, this time I got the deadline I’m not really sure I want to honour. However, just a mere two weeks before the trip, I lightly talked about it and ended up with my two colleagues, placing up a bet that I wouldn’t be able to finish. So, for motivation, I work day and night hahaha..and even though I missed out quite a lot of thing, which I didn’t bother to add in anymore because I’m sick of it..I managed to hand in the project few days earlier than my deadline.

To connect it to the story, what happened was, my computer at home, inherited from hubby, died even before I started. It was one of my excuses for delayed project. We changed the hard disk, it was up and running, but few days after, it crashed again.
To add salt to the wound, my office computer also crashed, I couldn’t rely on anything but the notebook. Setback that, it was so tiny that it’ss not comfortable for working long hour with words and researches. Luckily, I could just plug in the desktop monitor, put in mouse to replace the touchpad, network cable or using wireless and speaker in home or office and it’s ready for long battles. Didn't have chance to do in office thought, except for final read-through..

Beside heavy researches and programs, It also handle my month long photo editing with big files. Amazingly, it didn’t give me any kind of trouble, which is very unlikely as long as I dealt with machine.

So, dedicate this post to my mini Aspire One….exactly almost one year age…you survive me. 
No many do.. ;p

Monday, May 04, 2009

Natural Tanninnnnnngggg

P.S: I always wonder, why someone need fake tan? In tropical country?
To get it even and orange? So?
The sun is out there!!


Just after I lost my tan from my March trip, I got another dose in my work, and another one on Saturday, 25th April. The annual Dive Expo was back, this time they combine with Boat Show in Marina Keppel Bay. Asian Dive Expo (Adex) was not held in Singapore last year, but year 2006.

Costing $10 for the admission fee, we could get half price with either any Dive Certification Cards, Dan Membership card, sailing card if we have, for all water related type of cards and some certain platinum2 credit cards. Leo had gone there a day before, he was kind enough to bring us there again, with another new diver from his ex office.
The exhibition itself only opened its door at 1 o’clock, which is a lazy mistake because we started our day early. Anyway, with the harsh hot weather nowadays, opening at one means bright sunny day on top of our head.

Adex itself was not fantastic, smaller than the previous one but quite compact. There are a lot of new equipment players in the market, especially for black flotation Bcd, but the main players like Dive Rite, Halcyon, Scubapro were there to stay. I surprised that I didn’t see many, or none? Mares product, just as the time when we were looking for the bag. Our equipment are either vintage, discontinued or broken. I still can’t believe that we are that old, well, it’s quite a fast moving industry I suppose. We no longer able to find our classic Travel and Venture Wing (new version of my Travel has so much less lifting power and new version of Venture is so much uglier, with big butt), our fins classic Twinjet and Longfin Apollo has changed to ugly colorful version or shorter version quite long ago. The regulators Apex has whatever XXX version, my Mosquito and hubby’s Atom dive computers are no longer in production. We are actually happy with the fact, it means we have more unique gears, kaka. Our one and only set sets worth every cents and still are.
Replacement stuffs that we were looking for were glove and bag. We had been shopping before the trip yet we still need these two. My gloves had become ‘sailing glove’ because my thumb, index and middle fingers are peeping out . Two knuckles each. Left and right.

Anyway, the dive exhibition was not so impressive, there were less participating operators, however, it seemed like there were more variety of stuff to sale. I also notice the number of participating Indonesian destination operators were almost dominating the exhibition. Bali, Menado, Komodo, even Thousand Island. We found Timor Leste also, the brand new country that got their independence from Indonesia, is also a diving destination near Alor, Komodo, with the highlight of Dugong. Dugooog!!!

Anyway, it was nice to talk to fellow Indonesians. The surprising thing was, we met our Dive Master in Komodo back then, Made from Bali. We were quite sure he wouldn’t recognize us, it had been three years and as a DM, he must have met hundreds of divers. Surprisingly, he greeted us first by name, waw, I think that’s very nice for him to remember us. We had a short chat and he might be the person we can look for in case we want to do budget diving in Easter part of Indonesia like Wakatobi and Rajah Empat. Dream destination but budget diving. That’s is what we always live for. Great!

I ended up buying a bloody expensive book, Nudibranch Ecycopedia from Neville Coleman, the guy who is great in underwater naturalist. Personally signed and it’s not in sale in common bookstores. We could find it from Song, the guy whom we dealt for underwater housing but I might as well buy it there, although it’s heavy, but I’m happy to own it. With that, I could identify the nudibranches that we saw, including the latest bizarre hairy one. If one day I found something that can’t be identified from this book, I suppose I can name it, maybe something like Chromodoris Ping. He he he.. Why not. ;p

We didn’t find the bag we want. It’s difficult because our criterias are: big but not bulky, cheap but good, have wheel but not heavy, slim but fit two sets. Nah.! The one that we have we got it for only 70 bucks, Nike brand, bought from someone who never used it. We tortured it for almost five years and still usable but the wheels are already a bit out of direction and almost fell off. I ended up buying Akona the frog glove on sale and a small cute whaleshark soft toy.

From the diving booths, we proceeded to outdoor boat show. The weather was killing, as weird as it is, this year we had our rainy season until February, but starting April, the weather is already more unbearable than usual June, it’s hoooot, with no wind or hot-air wind, the sun was like burning the skin by piercing it, it’s even unbearable to walk barefoot for very short distance when we stepped in the boats.
We visited and entered around eight maybe ten boats. Except for sale, the boats were rented for short excursion. Some boats can amazingly fit in three bedrooms and two bathroom, recreation room, kitchen, open deck or sundeck. We were all drooling there imagining if we owned the boat, where to do giant stride, how many people we can bring in, so on and so forth.

There was one catamaran, probably forty-five footer? I’m not familiar with the sizing, had a huge master bedroom with king size bed and separate toilet and shower. It also had open sundeck in front, sunken seating with fridge and mini bar to enjoy the sea and the sky with friends. Catamaran normally comes with net in front where you can lie down. Regardless, regardless. How nice it is to have one..ha…
The cost of these luxury bat surprass the cost of a flat anytime. Not only that, the real killing parts are the maintenance and the docking fees.

We went around until our head couldn’t take the heat, then we sat down and had a ‘tea’ break. We then met up with the rest in Tcc, although we actually only know Darien, Sharon and Sharon. One of the Sharon is the owner of Fisherman Dive Operator, it’s amazing that she still remember us, 2003 is six years ago… perhaps she remembers us from the trouble we gave her that time, for postponing our Open Water Class for one year.

Darien just come back from Sipadan, staying in Sea Venture oil rig in front of Mabul, the one we always looked at and dreamt to stay, imagining doing gigantic gargantuan height giant stride directly to the sea. Ha.. Although the giant giant stride might not be possible, just below Sea Venture we could find the resident pygmy sea horse, which amazingly, still there. Or maybe other generation of pygmy sea horse. Of course. Anyway, they saw whaleshark, wow...! Sea Venture is quite close to the shore and the water should be quite shallow. How fun it would be..We haven’t got a chance to see whaleshark while scuba diving, I’d love to. I’d love to. How I love to…!

Anyway, except from that weekend and the trip, the on and off tanning happen almost every weekend. Weekend before that, taking boat trip and ‘sun tanning’ in the deck during a voluntary work and week after, hunting land photographs with hubby and friends in the park.
It’s coincidentally full of outdoor related activities together with the madness of the unusual April’s sun.

So, what is my color now? I don’t know. Some say I’m just as fair. Damn.. They can’t see under my watch, and even so, that’s only a mere gradient from all gradients..



Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while, nine out of ten people couldn't start a conversation.
- Kin Hubbard

In Scotland, there is no such thing as bad weather - only the wrong clothes.
- Billy Connelly

On cable TV they have a weather channel - 24 hours of weather. We had something like that where I grew up. We called it a window.
D- an Spencer

When all is said and done, the weather and love are the two elements about which one can never be sure.
- Alice Hoffman

Weather forecast for tonight: dark. Continued dark overnight, with widely scattered light by morning.
- George Carlin

Folks, this is perfect weather for today's game. Not a breath of air.
- Curt Gowdy