Big B

Big Ben, Big Brother, Big Boobs...

Everyone (almost everyone) came to office today with Big Grin on their faces. The Big B is already in, since last night and everyone is happy. They said, this year is the highest quantum in the company history but I've had better before but it was with a lower salary.

For those who gets more than the average Joe gets, well done keep it up. So, where and when the open table will be held? And for those who gets really really more than the average Joe, where are you from? UFO?! And I just dont understand how harder (or how hardest) you guys worked last year... emmmm probably like this huh?

So, there'll be lots of free 'makan-makan' and I guess the Secret Recipe downstairs will be full for the rest of the month!

My New Love

I just found a new love, which I wanted to have since middle last year. The one I previously had just couldn't handle my needs anymore, she just couldn't take it. Nevertheless, we still remain as friend. I still keep her within my reach and will use her whenever I feel like using her.

I was rather busy for the past three days, getting to know my new love much better, trying to understand what she can do for me and what I can do with her. Obviously she has so much to offer and I don't really know if I could utilize her to the max!

Finally, I got my iPod 80GB last Monday. Since I already have more than 1,000 mp3 songs (which translates to more than 5GB) and my old (1 1/2 year old actually) 1GB Sony mp3 player can just store about 400++ mp3 songs, it's just time to get this 'black beauty'. Before this, I was having difficulties to choose which songs to delete from my Sony in order to give room for newly-addes songs. Now, I could keep them all plus all the movies I have and my photos and my video clips... so cool huh!!!

It took me half-year deciding to buy it and of course some savings and cut-on-meals done (you're right...). Luckily Apple didn't come out with a new model and hopefully they won't for the next one or two years.

Anyway, I'm one of the proud owner of the Black Beauty:
Apple iPod 80GB Black..........RM1,499.00
LinkPlus AC Charger..........RM100.00
UltraClear Screen Protecter..........RM31.00
PodStar iPod Video Case..........RM90.00
Hours and days entertained by 20,000 songs, 25,000 photos, 100 hours of videos.... it's just PRICELESS!

Oppsss... better stop now, not much time to blog. Have to spend more time with my new love!

Ducks Fell Short to the Swans..

Oregon Ducks 77, Florida Gators 85

Oregon’s trip to the NCAA Tournament ended Sunday in the Midwest Regional title game as defending national champion Florida defeated the Ducks, 85-77. Inside, outside, early, late - the Gators find a way to get it done when there's a title at stake.

The win sends the Gators (33-5) on to the Final Four, where they meet UCLA in a national semifinal game in Atlanta on Saturday. It was their 16th straight postseason victory, a stretch that includes one national championship and two Southeastern Conference titles while the loss stopped the Ducks (29-8) one win short of the school record for victories in a season.

Oregon was trying to get to the Final Four for the first time since winning it all in 1939, the first year of the NCAA tournament. But the Ducks (29-8) were done in by foul trouble the entire game and Tajuan Porter going cold. Porter, the 5-foot-6 guard who went off for eight 3s and 33 points in Friday night's regional semifinal, didn't make his first field goal until there were 40 seconds left in the game. He finished with 10 points but was just 2-of-12 from the field.

Aaron Brooks led the Ducks with 27 points. Malik Hairston added 18 before he became the first of three Oregon players to foul out. Lee Humphrey topped the Gators with 23, including seven three-pointers. Three other Gators also scored in double figures, Taurean Green with 21 and Corey Brewer and Joakim Noah each with 14.

Next stop for the top-seeded Gators: Atlanta, where they'll play UCLA in the national semifinals in a rematch of last year's championship Game. Florida won that one in a rout, 73-57, for its first national championship - and the first half of what would turn out to be the Gator Slam.

When Florida beat Ohio State for the national football title in January, the Gators became the first school to be champs in both sports at the same time.Now Florida (33-5) would like to win both crowns in the same calendar year. And make a little history as the first team since Duke in 1991-92 to win back-to-back basketball titles - and the first ever to do it with the same five starters.

Anyway, Go Pac-10, Go UCLA Bruins!!

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Adios Brooks! Thanks for returning to UO and turned it to be one of the most entertaining year. All the best in NBA, I'll be rooting whatever team you're playing for

March Madness: Elite Eight

Third-seeded Oregon will take on top-seeded and defending NCAA champ Florida in the Midwest Regional Final in St Louis, MO. The winner of that game will advance to next week's Final Four in Atlanta.

The Ducks have advanced to the regional finals for the fourth time in school history (1939, 1960, 2002, 2007) by virtue of a 58-56 first round win against Miami (Ohio), a 75-51 second round win over Winthrop and friday's 76-72 regional semifinal win against UNLV.

This will be first meeting between Oregon and Florida. The Ducks are 3-11 all-time versus current members of the SEC. Vanderbilt was the last SEC team Oregon played. Florida won the 2007 SEC tournament and will be the fourth straight conference tournament champion the Ducks will face in this year's NCAA Tournament. The top-seeded Gators (32-5) are the defending NCAA champions. Florida scores nearly 80 points per game (79.7) and is among the nation's rebounding leaders at +8.1 per game.

Into the Elite 8

Oregon continued its magical run through the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Elite 8 of the Midwest Region Friday with a 76-72 victory against the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels in the Sweet 16.

Tajuan Porter, the little guy nobody wanted, has Oregon one game away from the Final Four. The 5-foot-6 freshman tied an NCAA regional record with eight 3-pointers and finished with 33 points, and Oregon withstood a frantic comeback to top seventh-seeded UNLV 76-72 on Friday in the Midwest Regional. He is also third on the NCAA list for three pointers by a freshman with 108.

Malik Hairston had 14 points and 11 rebounds for Oregon (29-7), which has not reached a Final Four since winning it all in 1939. Maarty Leunen hit three 3-pointers and added 11 points.

Oregon dictated the tempo from the beginning, turning it into an up-and-down game and relying on the 3-point shot. The Ducks shot 56 percent from 3-point range (13-of-23) against a UNLV team that had held Georgia Tech to 27 percent and Wisconsin to 24 percent 3-point shooting in the first two rounds.

The victory sends the third-seeded Ducks (29-7) to play the defending national champion and the top seed in the Midwest Region, Florida on Sunday for a berth in the Final Four.

Go Ducks!

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Game time on Sunday will be 2:40pm Eastern time (2:40am Monday, 26-Mar Malaysian time)

It's 6.00pm..

It's time to go home!
10 reasons why you should leave office at 6:00pm...

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unless you practically live in office (my CEO and GM do! they even call for meetings at 8pm.. duh!!) or your secret admirer works in the same office and 9am-6pm is just too short of time to spend time together...

March Madness: Sweet Sixteen

Third-seeded Oregon will take on sevent-seeded Nevada-Las Vegas in NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game on Friday, March 23 in St Louis, MO. Oregon is now 11-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 5-3 under current coach Ernie Kent.

This will be just the third meeting between Oregon and Nevada-Las Vegas. The teams split the first two meetings, with the Ducks winning 94-77 on Dec 13, 1975, in Eugene and the Runnin' Rebels winning 78-67 on Dec 1, 1977, at Las Vegas.

UNLV won the 2007 Mountain West Conference tournament and will be the third straight conference tournament champion the Ducks will face after Miami (Ohio) and Winthrop. The Runnin' Rebels were one of the hottest teams in the nation the second half of the season, winning 16 of 18 and nine straight coming into Friday's game.

The Runnin’ Rebels are riding a nine-game winning streak and are 4-2 against teams that made the NCAA Tournament, excluding UNLV’s two tournament games. UNLV is led by 6-foot-6 guard Wendell White, a high-school teammate of Oregon senior Adam Zahn. White averages 14.6 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game. He’s had a few monster games this season including a 30-point outburst against Wyoming and back-to-back games with 12 rebounds.

Go Ducks!

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The game will be live on CBS, Friday 6.40pm Pacific Time (Saturday, 3.40am Malaysian time)

#3 Oregon 75, #11 Winthrop 61

Solid guard play by senior Aaron Brooks and freshman Tajuan Porter propelled the Ducks past the Winthrop Eagles. The third-seeded Ducks (28-7), who have won more games than any Oregon team since the 1944-45 squad won 30, will play seventh-seeded UNLV in the semifinals of the Midwest Regional in St. Louis.

Diminutive but destructive Tajuan Porter, the shortest man on the floor at 5-foot-6, broke open a close game by making his first four shots of the second half Sunday, all from long range. That spurt, Aaron Brooks' 22 points and a smothering defense led Oregon over the frazzled Eagles 75-61 and eliminated the last remaining double-digit seed from the tournament. The 11th-seeded Eagles (29-5), who upset Notre Dame in the first round, lost for the first time in 20 games to end their most successful tournament in seven tries.

Winthrop trailed by only 33-29 at halftime, after reserve DeAndre Adams stole the ball from Porter and made a runner in the lane just before the half ended. That was Winthrop's only field goal over the last 5½ minutes, but it restored the Eagles' hopes. Then Porter ended them. His third consecutive 3-pointer of the second half put the Ducks up 48-35 just 4½ minutes into the second half.

UNLV beware: This season, entering Sunday, Porter had shot better from 3-point range (a team-leading 43) than from inside the arc (41 percent). When Brooks made yet two more 3s -- to go 5-for-7 from deep -- Oregon led 57-42 with nine minutes left -- and Winthrop's dream was dead.

Go Ducks!

Saying Goodbye - Tiada Lagi

Sia-sia sudah, kita jalin cinta, bila hati selalu berbeda. Sampai kapan lagi, aku harus menahan, rasa kecewa di dalam dada. Seandainya kita masih bersatu, tak mungkinkan menyatu, walau masih ada sisa cinta, biarkan saja berakhir sampai di sini. Tiada lagi yang ku harapkan, tiada lagi yang ku impikan, biar aku sendiri tanpa diri mu. Tiada lagi kata cintamu, takkan lagi ku bersama mu, biar ku simpan semua kenangan ku bersamamu

March Madness: Midwest 2nd Round

#3 Oregon will take on #11 Winthrop, of the Big South Conference, this Sunday where the winner earns a trip to the Sweet 16 in St. Louis, Mo. Oregon is now 10-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 4-5 in opening games.

Oregon and Winthrop have met once previously, and many players who saw action in that game will be in uniform Sunday. In fact, nine of Sunday’s 10 projected starters played in the previous meeting, a 71-56 Duck win on Dec. 22, 2004, at Eugene.

Winthrop are currently riding a school-reord 19-game winning streak. They went unscathed in Big South play before going on to win the conference tournament. The Eagles' four losses are noteworthy as well: playing North Carolina (73-66), Maryland (71-60) and Wisconsin (82-79 in overtime) tight and also losing at Texas A&M (71-51).

Winthrop is a good rebounding team, carrying a +6.6 average on the season. The Eagles are led by Michael Jenkins' 15.0 points per game. Winthrop defeated Notre Dame 74-64 on Friday for the first NCAA Tournament win in porgram history.

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The game will be on CBS, live on Sunday 12pm Pacific Time (Monday, 3am Malaysian time)

#3 Oregon 58, #14 Miami (OH) 56

The third-seeded Ducks rallied from their early deficit behind the 18 points of Aaron Brooks, and Oregon matched the RedHawks' grinding style to pull out a 58-56 win on Friday. While Oregon (27-7) is still an offensive power, its defense that has been the key to a late season resurgence, and now seven-game win streak.

Tim Pollitz scored 21 points and Bramos added 18 for the RedHawks, who were in the tournament for the first time since 1999 when Wally Szczerbiak carried a 10th-seeded Miami to the round of 16. Bryce Taylor added 14 points and Marty Leunnen added 13 points for the Ducks.

It was expected to be a matchup of styles, but the Ducks were willing to play at Miami's pace. That's because of the confidence in their own defense during the last seven games. The RedHawks are the fifth team in the last seven games that Oregon has held under 60 points.
That may not be such an accomplishment against Miami. But the list also includes Arizona, Washington State and Southern California.

Seeing the RedHawks taking advantage of their size on the interior, Oregon's coach went to an attacking zone defense. That move forced Miami to the perimeter, where it went cold, going almost 10 minutes of the first half without scoring. Miami ended the season as the only team in the country not to give up more than 70 points in a game.

Living On <$2/day?

The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than US$1 per day, and moderate poverty as less than $2 a day. It has been estimated that in 2001, 1.1 billion people had consumption levels below $1 a day and 2.7 billion lived on less than $2 a day.

Koffi Anan, UN Secretary General, in a speech on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, 17 October 2000, said “Almost half the world’s population lives on less than two dollars a day, yet even this statistic fails to capture the humiliation, powerlessness and brutal hardship that is the daily lot of the world’s poor.”

Here's LV's Spring-Summer collection...

And look at these people...

Anything similar?!

What if they get some, well let's say 1% royalty from the sales of LV bags. Will they still earning <$2/day?! Will they still live in poverty?

This brought me to the issues of Petaling Street traders selling fake branded items, LV included. If companies like LV can 'steal' someone else's potential revenue, leaving them earning <$2/day, why don't we 'steal' back something from them? It's payback time, Go Petaling Street!! After all, all the spending stimulate our economy!

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Thanks Bush (not 'that' Bush) for the 2nd pic, it was supposed to be funny but I'd rather take it seriously

March Madness: Midwest 1st Round

Both #3 Oregon and #14 Miami, of the Mid-American Conference, qualified for the NCAA Tournament by winning their respective conference tournaments. The Ducks are now the only team to have won the Pac-10 tournament twice since it was brought back in 2002.

Oregon and Miami met previously in the Ducks’ 1938-39 NCAA Championship season. Oregon beat Miami 74-38 in a game played on Dec. 20, 1938, in Cleveland while the Ducks were on an eight-game road trip through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Iowa.

The Redhawks gained entry into the NCAA Tournament by defeating Akron 53-52 in the MAC tournament title game. Defensively, Miami holds opponents to 40.6% shooting from the field. After starting the year 5-10, Miami went 13-4 in posting one of the NCAA's top records the last two months of the season. Miami has felled some Pac-10 giants in recent NCAA Tournaments, most notably #2 Arizona in 1995 and Washington in 1999.

CBS will telecast the game live on Fri, Mar 16 at 2p.m. pacific time (it's Sat, Mar 17 5a.m. Malaysian time).

Go Ducks!

Saying Goodbye (part IV)

...bukan ku cuba tuk melarikan dari kerumitan cinta, tapi waktu ini perlu untuk ku mengupas segalanya; kadangkala pedih ini mencabarku melupakan semua, tapi kau bagaikan tak mengerti perasaan kasih padamu melebihi diriku...

...mengalah bukannya ku kalah, ku berlalu membawa hati sarat luka agar tak lebih menyakitkan jika ku masih di sini...

Saying Goodbye (part III)

...cinta dalam diri seseorang kepada seseorang tak mungkin punah tanpa bekas, andaikan cintaku dalam dunia ini hanyalah untuk permainan bererti hidup ini tiada maknanya buatku; memang cinta dalam hatiku itu ada, hanya aku harus menunggu kapan untuk cintaku terpadu dan bersatu dengan cintamu yang tulus itu; hanya aku harus bersabar dan kapan rembulan akan bersinar terang dalam hatimu...

...suatu saat cinta ku akan bersarang dalam lubuk hatimu yang sedang menunggu tibanya cinta yang tulus dari hatiku tanpa paksaan dari mana-mana pihak; cintaku padamu tak akan hilang walaupun badai besar telah menerjangnya, itulah yang ada dalam perasaanku...

Saying Goodbye (part II)

...mana mungkin terjadi, terpadu cinta kita berdua, diriku dan dirimu menjadi satu; kau ada yang memiliki, kau ada yang mencintai, walau kita masih saling menyayangi; namun hanya kau yang ku sayangi, mungkinkah terjadi, terpadu cinta kita berdua...

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for as long as I can wait, I'll wait for the day to come when we'll be together again

Saying Goodbye (part I)

...ku masih mencintai mu, walaupun kau menjauh, daku masih mendambakan mu walaupun kau berlalu; kau bagaikan udara yang memberiku bernafas dalam dunia ini...

My First Love

I still remember back in 1999, after securing my first (real) job and travelling on my Honda EX5 from Ampang to Shah Alam, I fell in love, my first love... since then, my love keeps changing but nothing compare to the first one..

It's Ericsson GH688, which I bought around RM600. Don't know how much it costs today and not sure if any stores still sell this model. I nearly accept a job offer from Ericsson Mobile (in Bukit Jelutong, now Flextronics) just because I'm so fond with Ericsson phones and was so proud to show the interviewers that I was using the phone.

Still remember, it has a 2-liner screen with eye-soring green LED. Luckily SMS hasn't taken place those days. Then, came the shorter antenna, blinking one later, white LED screen and thinner battery to make it more modern and sophisticated.

And now, my love is with my 7th and 8th mobile phone, Motorola Razr V3 and O2 Mini PDA. In between, I had Nokia 3310 (under-water one and has changed housing may times!), Nokia 8890 the aluminum one, with slide function (feel like James Bond), Ericsson T28 - the slimmest in those day but still with the long and hip-poking antenna, Mitsubishi M320 - my first one with truetone feature, and SonyEricsson K750i - the one with really good MP3 player and camera function.

So, what's your first love?

TGIF

This comic is taken from The Star, 2nd March 2007. The modification was done for personal consumption.

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RM10 bil projects identified during Abdullah's trip (to Syria and Yaman) - The Star.

Would this make him looks sharper? I guess not, he's already like a pencil kontot, you can't sharpen it anymore.

See You Next Year

I remember in 2001, working on preparing the country for the SEA Games, 12 years since last hosted the region's biggest sports event. And what an event would be without corporate sponsorship. Hence, the Government identified these 4 GLCs to become the Official Partners to the Games - Petronas, Proton, Telekom and TNB - with a minimum sponsorship value of USD1 million in cash.

Well, talking about the 4 GLCs... lots of things happened since then, including Khazanah's direct participation in running their day-to-day operations, including identifying who sits in their Board and Management team.

And talking about the 4 GLCs, 3 recently announced their financial results. TM announced a RM2.07 bil net profit for 2006. TNB also announced its profit of RM1.25 billion for Q1. Well, no question about Petronas' performance. What about Proton?

Well, 5 quarters of losses out of 7 quarters post-Mahaleel's era. Emm... I'd rather wait funtil the next 12 months as promised by Syed Zainal (I've put reminder on my scheduler to remind me 12 months from now). Introduced enhanced and new models? An insider told me that they're going to roll out sub-RM30,000 enhaned Iswara to commemorate Malaysia's 50th birthday.
Good luck!

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With or without Agusta, they're still in the red.
Aaa... I heard they're going to launch some Indonesia thing in Jakarta. And, TT DJ would be the emcee besides someone in-house. The strange thing, even the 'in-house' emcee gets to recce Jakarta for the event. ?-)

Who's Acting?

One in Syria/Yaman and one in Saudi Arabia. So, who's the acting PM for the country?

I guess, it's too risky to name an Acting PM as he would be perceived as the next DPM (very soon, I guess) and probably by naming an Acting PM, it would create several quarters of people in the so-called Malay biggest party. And no one wants that to happen especially when the GE is around the corner.

Why we need either one of them in the country at any given time? One of so many reasons, according to Sang Kelembai:

"Kenapa tidak diambil iktibar kematian Tun Dr Ismail Abd Rahman pada tahun 1973. Dimana Tun Razak Hussein berada di Canada kerana menghadiri sidang Komenwel. Akhirnya untuk beberapa ketika menjadi pertikaian siapa yang layak untuk mempengerusikan mesyuarat kabinet bagi istiadat pengkebumian Tun Dr Ismail Abd Rahman, walau pun Barisan Nasional belum wujud tetapi kerajaan ditabir oleh parti campuran selepas Perikatan, ada PAS dan berapa parti di Sabah dan Sarawak.

Akhirnya Datuk Asri Hj Muda dari PAS terpaksa menjadi Pengerusi mesyuarat kabinet tersebut kerana kerusinya di Parlimen dikira lebih banyak selepas UMNO dan UMNO pula tidak boleh mempengerusikan kerana Naib Presiden berjumlah tiga orang dan jika salah satu dilantik bererti dia akan memangku jawatan Timbalan Presiden UMNO. Ini bereri Datuk Asri Hj Muda pernah diterima sebagai Pemangku Perdana Menteri.

Malang selepas keputusan dibuat untuk Tun Dr Ismail Abd Rahman dikebumikan di Makam Pahlawan dan lubang lahat digali sebelah luar kawasan berbumbung dan bila Tun Razak Hussein kembali dari Canada, beliau mengarahkan semula penggalian kubur ditapak yang sedia ada sekarang, maka terpaksalah mayat itu ditunda tanam untuk beberapa jam bagi membolehkan pihak JKR menggalinya."

Maybe they want Lim Kit Siang to feel how is it like to act as PM in the event if Samy Vellu or anyone dies.

And looks like Najib has planned his trip earlier but Lah still decided to go ahead to Syria, even when he knows that the DPM also will not be around in the country. Why Syria? Sang Kelembai said:

"Khabarnya dari cerita orang, Kerajaan Syria semenjak bertukar dasar luarnya hendak mengeluarkan tender membeli atau menyewa kapal tangki LPG yang banyak jumlahnya dan antara syarikat yang masuk dalam tender itu adalah Scommi, sebuah syarikat milik Kamaludin."

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Who actually cares whether there's acting PM or not? I dont think there's so much really really important things to decide in this country. Even when he is around, the decisions made are all PALOI!

note: PALOI can be found in Bahasa Sarawak. It means BODOH. Do you understand?! If you understand, applause applause... like you applaused to his speech even when you couldn't understand what was he talking about!