the silver lining...

the longer i live, the more i believe in the idiom "every cloud has a silver lining". crap happens, yes, but i believe everything happens for a reason. and tho we may feel really bad at the time, there's always something good that comes out of it. even if we can't see it then, the good part will nearly always be revealed later on, if not sooner. so bad experiences are just a platform for the good ones to appear!

staying connected...

is it weird that i seem to find comfort in seeing my friends online in any of the chat application, even when i'm not actually chatting with them? for me, it's good to know that my friends are just a click away, and even when we're physically apart, i'll still feel their presence just by the "green light" next to their profile name... and i find solace in that.

now tell me, am i weird?

packing off for a new land...

it's funny how some people are so surprised when they hear that i'll be flying off to seek my fortunes in another country. i mean, hadn't mankind been doing that since the beginning of time? and yet there are still people who are so afraid (and some even opposed) to this idea...

if u're a malaysian reading this, chances are u're a descendant of an immigrant too! unless u're of the indigenous people lineage, that is... so our ancestors made the move a long time ago. they packed up their belongings, kissed their relatives goodbye and set off for the unknown in search of a better living.

and now, in this time and age, where a lot of things, people and places are not so "unknown" anymore, there are still many who view going to work/stay in another land as something utterly outrageous.

ah well...

read also:
1. leaving on a jet plane!

the long and short of it all...

ok, seeing that a lot of stuff are pretty much confirmed now, i feel i should put up a post about it all... coz everything is like linked to one another!

it all began when i applied for a position in the place where "now everyone can fly" (NECF for short). that was in mid may this year... but after the interview, they took so long to get back to me! at that time, i was looking for a new place to move to, so it was kinda frustrating. should i look for a place near to NECF? but i don't want to be staying at somewhere too ulu... so i need to be near enough to the new office, but still be around the proximity of kl for me to continue my gakkai activities in kl as well as in the orchestra. but what if i don't make it to NECF? i'd then have to continue to commute to the heart of kl daily, so that means i can't stay too far away from the city too! argh!!!

by mid june, i've yet to find my new place, coz there were some changes within NECF and i need to go thru another series of interviews... bla bla bla... i was in a bit of a panic by then, as housemate P and i were scheduled to move out by july! so to be safe, i decided to look for a place in the same area i was before, because it's sorta like in the middle of everywhere.

and so, i quickly found a place and was in the midst of packing up my stuff, arranging for movers, settling all the outstanding bills etc (not forgetting the trauma from all that's happened to chewie!) when i got a message from lynette. lynette was the girl whose position i took over in this current company, when she resigned to fly off to dubai. in the message, she informed me that she's flying off again, to beijing this time! so her position in dubai will be vacant very soon, and asked if i'd be interested.

of course i'm interested! but what about my new studio? i'd just only signed the 1 year lease! argh!!! but what the heck, i still sent in my resume, coz it has always been my dreams to experience living and working abroad. and so the wait began...

i still moved to my new place, as most of you know... and continued to wait, saving up all my carton boxes, only unpacking all the necessities with the rest of the not-so-important things still in their boxes, controlling myself (i did try!) in buying new furniture and stuff for my studio... but i didn't get any news from the land of the shimmering sands for the longest time. after a while, i thought, ah well, maybe i didn't make the cut and wasn't even shortlisted for the interview. so i resigned myself to be staying in kl... oh and i finally got an offer from NECF in beginning july, so i thought ok, maybe there's where i'm supposed to be. so after my 1 year lease is up, i can move closer to their office.

and i began to really settle down, unpacking the rest of my stuff, going shopping, putting up curtains, organizing and making my new studio a home. and THEN! nearing the end of july, lynette sent me another message! "hi, are u confirmed for NECF? another hotel in the chain in beijing is looking for a right fit. wld u like to try? u can send ur CV from the website." i was like, wth??!? every time i resign myself to be staying back in kl, something will crop up to tempt me! and i was really really tempted! so again, i sent in my resume and waited...

i gave myself, or rather beijing, 2 weeks to come back to me with any news. if not, i'd really REALLY settle down in kl. all this waiting is really very frustrating, as i was like hanging in the middle... it's so hard to plan anything! actually around that time, i've started scouting for a new place to buy, coz i reckoned all these renting and moving about is not a good solution and it's dem tiring! and i very nearly put down the deposit for a place that i liked... so i had to put the purchase on hold for 2 weeks, to see if i have any shot in beijing.

but when that 2 weeks is up without even a breath of a word from beijing, i sorta lost interest in that new place that i wanted to buy. hehehe... very fickle, right? and was just putting the whole idea of buying a new place on the shelf, until i can find a place that i really like.

by mid aug, i was set on starting a new career path with NECF. i thought surely dubai would have already found a replacement for lynette, as she has left for her new posting in beijing by then. so i happily went to get myself a queen size bed, coz i've been sleeping on a single size mattress on the floor all these while at my new place (previous apt came with beds, but not this new place).

and THEN! not one week after my brand new bed was delivered, i got the call from dubai for an interview! wth??!? must this happen every time??? just as i'm resigning myself to settle down in kl, something must come along to disrupt the balance! argh!!!

so anyway, i went thru 2 sessions of tele-interview in a span of 2 days... and then waited again. but this time i didn't have to wait for long, as i told them outright that i already got an offer from another company and am just trying to delay signing their offer letter, so i'd really appreciate it if they could get back to me as soon as possible! and so, in less than one week after my first tele-interview, i got the job! :)

so that's the story... *phew! i know i named this post "the long and short of it all", so please forgive me coz there's nothing short about this post at all! oh, and everyone can heave a sigh of relief when you next get on an NECF plane, as there won't be any chance of you hearing my voice over the PA system now! :P


read also:
1. leaving on a jet plane!
2. anything is possible... the sky's the limit!
3. moving again, but in career this time...

leaving on a jet plane!

i guess i should announce it here... since quite a few people know it already, and it's quite official by now. so here goes...

i'm leaving for dubai, or as i like to call it, the land of the shimmering sands! :)

it's quite official, coz i've already received the letter of appointment, signed it and sent it back to them. but i said "quite" because there are still other paper work and documentation to take care of, which if not done properly, may stop me from entering the country... so keeping fingers crossed that everything goes well!

so what will i be doing there? well, i'll be joining the dubai outfit of another hotel chain... a major move, i know! uprooting myself from kl, which i've spent the last 11 years of my life, and from m'sia! the sentimental me will surely miss everything here, esp since i won't be able to be back for cny next year... my first cny away from home and family! *sob*

as excited as i am with this current development, there's also the slight sense of panic within... all the things that need done before i take off! and all the uncertainty of packing off for a totally foreign country... but deep down inside, there's also this zen-like certainty that everything will turn out ok, that i'll be settling down and adapting to my new life just fine! wish me luck, people! :)

read also:
1. anything is possible... the sky's the limit!
2. moving again, but in career this time...

1st roll of film in lomo: failed!

so sad... of the 36 exposures from my first roll of film, i only managed to get 2 photos! the rest of the film turned out blank... not black, not blurred... just BLANK and TRANSPARENT! means they're not even exposed! haiz...

taken facing the bright morning sun...

i took 2 of the same shots, a habit with most digital cam users, i'm sure!

this first roll is from my uws cam, without any additional lenses. and these 2 pics were the only ones i took under bright sunlight. i remembered i took a few under fluorescent lighting, which i thought was bright enough... but apparently not! so lesson learnt from this is, uws can only be used in the outdoors under bright sunlight for the films to be exposed properly... hopefully the results from my tlr and my 2nd roll of film from my uws will be better!

read also:
1. 2nd toy: gakkenflex tlr
2. new toy!