POW this week will bring to you on eof the most unique and specialty in Johor, what it is famous of, and it is the....
Nasi Briyani Gam!
Most famous in Batu Pahat, nasi briyani gam can also be found in other parts of Johor. In Johor Bahru, one of the most famous nasi briyani gam can be found in Restoran Pondok MS Briyani, Jalan Padi Emas 2, Bandar Baru UDA.
So, I leave these pictures for you to salivate and drool over :-p
Saw an interesting article this morning which I can relate to myself. It also help answers question why I keep on moving around. Well, I'll be in my 7th job (since February 1999) this July or 7 jobs in 11 years and 5 months or 11+ months per job. That sounds quite bad, probably because I add up two 11-week stints in 2 banking jobs. Taking those out of the equation, I actually spent 27 months per job. That's not so bad.
Why job hoppers make the best employees?
Because...
1. They have more intellectually rewarding careers.
In almost any job, the learning curve is very steep early on. And then it goes flat. So by the end of two years at the same job, you often have little left to learn. If you change jobs often, then you’re always challenged with a lot to learn — your learning curve stays high.
2. They have more stable careers (this is especially true in Western countries).
The stability you get in your career comes from you. If you’re counting on some company to give you stability, realizing this is scary. But if you believe in yourself and your abilities and treat your career with this understanding, then it’s no problem. You can create career stability — you just have to do it on your own. The way you do that is through networking. Because you can be sure you’ll need to find many jobs in your lifetime, you want network as efficiently as you can.
3. They are higher performers.
If you know you are going to leave your job in the next year, you’re going to be very conscious of your resume — that is, what skills you’re tackling, what you’re achieving, whether you’re becoming an expert in your field. These issues do not generally concern someone who has been in a job for five years and knows he’s going to stay another five years. So job hoppers are always looking to do really well at work, if for no other reason than it helps them get their next job. You can’t job hop if don’t add value each place you go.
4. They're more loyal (hmm???)
Job hoppers are generally great team players because that’s all they have. Job hoppers don’t identify with a company’s long-term performance, they identify with their work group’s short-term performance. Job hoppers want their boss to adore them so they get a good reference. Job hoppers want to bond with their co-workers so they can all help each other get jobs later on. And job hoppers want to make sure everyone who comes into contact with them has a good experience with them; it’s not like they have ten years on the job to fix a first impression.
5. They're more emotionally mature.
It takes a good deal of self-knowledge to know what you want to do next, and to choose to go get it rather than stay someplace that for the moment seems safe.
It takes commitment to personal growth to give up career complacency and embrace a challenging learning curve throughout your career — over and over. And it’s a brave person who can tell someone, “I know I’ve only been working here for a month, but it’s not right for me, so I’m leaving.”
Read the full article from BNET.
A week full of personal satisfaction.
Aku dah mula packing sikit-sikit untuk balik Ipoh since Monday. Aku tak plan nak bawak balik barang banyak pun, just a backpack dengan shoe bag aku je. Tapi, macam dah agak penuh, dengan tiga pasang kain batik untuk mak dan kakak-kakak aku yang aku beli kat KB hari tu lagi, pastu dengan charger gadgets aku, dengan toiletries aku yang sebeban tu.
Pastu aku terfikir, kalau macam ni yang dah sendat dan berat, tak payah laa aku bawak balik laptop lenovo aku yang dah tentu berkilo-kilo dan bersaiz lebih besar daripada kertas A4 tu. Tapi, tak boleh lah pulak nanti aku nak update pasal pre-race and post-race larian Bidor aku pulak kan? Nak tunggu balik JB baru nak update, dah tak best pulak.
Tiba-tiba je aku terfikir why not aku beli netbook je? Kan senang bawak ke sana sini. Lagipun laptop lenovo office aku ni dah slow macam lahanat! Then, aku tak sure dekat Emerald nanti aku entitled for laptop or not sebab obviously kerja aku takde keluar-keluar. Beli je lah sendiri punya kan?
Isnin malam tu meronda lah aku, survey netbook or laptop kecik. First thing yang aku decided, aku tak nak beli netbook because orang ramai cakap it's f**king slow. Bila aku tanya orang kedai, dia kata processor Atom tu asalnya processor untuk handphone. Hmmm... so I told myself, I don't want to spend more than a netbook normally costs around RM1200, I want a notebook with a size of a netbook.
Mulanya aku teruja dengan Acer Ferrari One, this is a so-called the most powerful netbook, guna processor Athlon. So, termimpi-mimpi lah aku malam tu yang aku beli netbook ni. Alihnya, bila gi kerja hari Selasa tu, mind aku mula shifted to Dell 11.6-inch notebook, yang obviously more powerful than a netbook lah. Harga pun within budget aku.
Aku pun ke Danga City Mall punya IT Valley. Rupanya Dell tu is an online model, takde jual di kedai. Dan harga tu pulak just basic punya harga, kalau nak tambah itu ini, dah mahal jadinya. Siot! Aku round-round, ternampak laa HP Pavilion ni, hmm walaupun simple je tak nampak menarik tapi best lah bagi aku. Terus bertakhta di hati aku, love at first sight gitu.
Dan tertangkap lah my first ever notebook or laptop whatever you want to call it, HP Pavilion DM1-1018TU. Walaupun aku dah pakai notebook since year 2001 or 2002 ke aku tak ingat, tapi aku tak pernah ada notebook sendiri. Bukan notebook le, pc pun aku tak pernah ada sendiri punya. Hehehe... dan tidur malam ku hangat laa lepas tu, peluk notebook aku tu, nasib baik tak short circuit je.
Nothing happened for the rest of the week, except for Friday night bila aku balik Ipoh for the weekend. Naik bas KKKL Ekspres, best! bas dua tingkat, first time aku naik bas dua tingkat. Aku nak je tweet yang aku first time naik bas dua tingkat tapi risau gak nanti tu jadi tweet terakhir aku kan, then kawan-kawan cakap kat Harian Metro, "last tweet deo - happy naik bas dua tingkat for the first time..." Hiks!
The weekend was spent with my parents in Ipoh. Diorang sibuk jugak lah dengan persiapan wedding adik aku. Dengan bapak aku pun siap glue kan riben kat bekas telur or something. Adehhh... Dan Ahad pagi, aku dengan adik aku ke Bidor to take part in Bidor Half Marathon. Ceritanya ada di sini. Dan aku rasa I'll be coming back to Bidor in 2011!
Ahad malam, aku naik the same bus departed Ipoh at 10.15am, aku tidur je dan tiba di JB pagi tadi jam 6.45am. Looking forward next weekend aku balik KL ada Double Trouble!
I didn't get to enjoy nice Johor dishes in the past week, except for Sunday when I went to ITRoo Cafe in Jalan Dhoby, JB for the best chicken chop in town. The chicken chop comes either fried or grilled and with mushroom or black pepper sauce. My favorite is fried with mushroom sauce. You may ask for additional bowl of sauce if you like lots of gravy.
At times, when my friend(s) and I were really hungry, one portion of chicken chop would not be enough. So, we would order a plate of fried rice to share among us and the fried rice is nice, too! you don't need to have sambal or any other lauk to go with the fried rice.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take the pre-eating picture of the chicken chop. I only remembered about it after finishing it all except for the skin :-p. Oh, I considered it's still lucky as if not for my cholesterol, I would have eaten everything including the skin and leaving nothing to capture. Heh!
So, I present to you the skin of the best chicken chop in JB. Look for it in Jalan Dhoby (near Masjid India or Plaza Kotaraya) in the JB city center. Enjoy!
There wasn't much happened last week. The earlier part of the week was centered around my resignation from Smokey Grey which was official on 12th April. Soon after, almost everyone I met asked me whether what they've heard is true? And I guess news about someone's resignation is the most sought after and talked about thing and damn it travels so fast even someone who was out of office attending training asked me to confirm the news as soon as he got back. Gila!
Anyway, I'm still waiting for the resignation acceptance letter from Smokey Grey. Our HR can't release it yet as it requires the CEO's signature who was overseas last week. As soon as I got the letter, I will need to hand it to the Emerald for determination of my reporting date.
Talking about Emerald, almost (if not all) everyone I met who knew where I'm going couldn't argue that it's a better company and it'll be a good move for me. One EVP (a director equivalent) even said, "Baguslah tu, pergi pergi pergi... Smokey Grey bukan ada apa pun!" hehehe....
That's about my resignation which is interesting to tell while it's still hot but by the time I finish serving my notice period on 28th June, bosses and colleagues in Smokey Grey would puke looking at my face.
More interesting part of the week came on Saturday. It was the Lefthanded show in CT Cafe JB. I was really looking forward for the show as there wasn't much quality entertainment shows in JB and that I haven't watched the band performing live before. And it was only the second show I watched in JB in as many years since I moved here. The other show was Samson & Meet Uncle Hussain.
The show was set in ala-Hard Rock style where people were sitting at their tables eating and drinking while watching the band performing. Nash wasn't there. And I don't know who the singer was but he was ok, not bad at all. Bassist Yan was there and of course the heart of Lefthanded, Man Keedal was there.
They performed about 10-12 songs in 2 hours, songs like Ku Kehilangan Cinta 3 Dimensi (watch it here), Ku Di Halaman Rindu (watch it here), Seruan, Semangat Lamina, Debunga Wangi, Kenangan Bersamamu and a solo by Man Keedal. Then I realized Lefthanded is all about Man Keedal unlike other bands which strength lies in their vocalists. Who cares if Nash wasn't around, people still enjoyed the show unlike if there's no Amy or Awie for Search and Wings.
And I strongly believe Man Keedal can perform solo by using Lefthanded banner and people would still come to watch. In all, I really enjoyed the show, got a chance to take picture with Man Keedal and got him to autograph his Rockestra CD cover.
Now, am looking forward to watch Konsert Double Trouble Wings-Search on 1st May. Hopefully the show will not be postponed and will be one heck of a rocking performance by both bands!
Sempena minggu-minggu terakhir aku di JB, Picture of the Week (POW) akan menampilkan gambar-gambar dengan konsep "The Best of Johor". Dan kalau nak cakap apa yang best kat Johor ni, of course lah bab makan. For a start, I present to you...
Chakoi Bakar di Gerai Ayong, Medan Selera Tepian Tebrau, Johor Bahru
Nampak tak kuah kacang yang so juicy?! Selain daripada chakoi bakar, Gerai Ayong juga menyajikan menu ikan bakar yang sedap-sedap, favorite aku adalah ikan pari. Ada juga disajikan makanan sampingan lain seperti tauhu bakar dan kerang rebus. Minumam yang istimewa pulak kat Gerai Ayong ni ialah ais jelly. A must try!
(picture taken using BlackBerry Bold 9700)
Just wanna share this with all friends, also for reminder to self. Sebanyak mana rintangan dan halangan kehidupan di dunia, banyak lagi rintangan dan halangan yang harus kita tempuhi di akhirat kelak Semoga mendapat hidayat dan rahmat.
To those who congratulated me for the new job and also to those who've prayed and wished me to get the job at the Emerald, I can't thank you all enough. May you'll also get what you wish for.
Dah masuk hari ke-100 tahun ni ye?
Hari ni Ahad, hampir nak masuk waktu Maghrib. Aku tengah baring atas couch, kekenyangan sambil tonton preview/review show of the Masters. Kenyang sebab aku baru lepas makan breakfast cum lunch cum tea cum dinner aku - nasi kerabu yang aku beli dari Pasar Malam Larkin. Lauknya, daging bakar, telur masin dan ikan kembung percik.
Pagi tadi lepas berlari, tak ke mana-mana aku. Penat satu hal, takde mood satu hal. Cuaca pulak panas terik, so macam tak daya aku nak redah. Malas nak masak apa-apa pun satu hal, walaupun bermacam-macam jenis ikan masin ada kat rumah aku ni. So, makan buah je lah, lepas Asar baru lah menggagau ke pasar malam.
Ok cerita pasal minggu lepas. Minggu yang ada down dan up nya... semuanya bersagkutan dengan the Emerald Co.
Yang down nya dulu lah ye. Aku masih tak dengar apa-apa perkhabaran dari the Emerald walaupun pada 31hb Mac hari tu, diorang kata aku punya medical status dah ok. Dan aku pun tertanya-tanya lah apa yang payah sangat ni sebab condition untuk diorang offer aku kerja tu ialah kalau aku dapat turunkan kolesterol level aku je, which I did!
So, Selasa petang sikit aku call the Emerald Co. dalam perasaan berbelah bagi antara nak call ke tak nak? PIC tu cakap, dia mintak aku sabar sikit, dia tengah tunggu black and white dan ini semua involves management decision. Aku tak pasti samada it means good or bad. Member aku pulak kata, mungkin diorang bagi alasan je dan tak offer aku post tu.
Dan yang lebih meng-down-kan aku lagi bila I had a good conversation dengan member aku Rabu lepas, pasal the current state of Smokey Grey Co and it's future. Dan seperti yang aku dah rasa pun sebelum-sebelum ni, banyak sangat yang tak kenanya dengan Smokey Grey Co. ni, bak kata member aku, "the company is bleeding to the max!"
Aku tak nak cerita lebih-lebih kat sini sebab banyak spy Smokey Grey Co baca blog aku tapi to say the truth, aku dah lama losing my faith with the company and it's future, each day that goes by, lagi banyak hilang kepercayaan aku. Dan aku tak surprise kalau in the very near future, one by one of the big bosses will leave the company before being sacked or what.
Yang sedihnya, dalam aku losing faith with Smokey Grey Co tu, the Emerald pulak seems like shying away from me dan aku dah takde options lain dah buat masa ni. Jadi, aku beritahu diri aku sendiri, aku bagi sampai 15hb April, kalau takde apa-apa berita dari Emerald, aku kena recompose dan fokus balik kepada Smokey Grey, kena suka balik, kena ada kepercayaan balik.
Khamis, Jumaat... takde jugak berita dari Emerald Co. Sampaikan setiap kali aku doa lepas solat, doa aku satu je, dapat kerja dengan the Emerald. Dan waktu solat Jumaat tu, memang aku pulun habis berdoa.
Lepas solat Jumaat, aku ada discussion dengan boss aku. Dalam tengah discussion tu, masuk pulak satu call dari the Emerald. Aduuhhh... aku tak jawab. Dalam kepala aku, samada a good or a bad news. Dan kepala aku dah tak boleh concentrate dah kat discussion aku dengan boss aku. Lepas discussion tu je, aku return the call.
Punyalah kencang dada aku ni berdegup. Dan jawapannya..... Yes! It's a Go! It's a Green light for me to join the Emerald! Dan aku nampak keliling aku semua hijauuuuuuu je.... heheheh.... aku pun terus tanya HR pasal procedure, diorang kata, kena beritahu boss aku then bila boss accept, HR will take care the rest.
Hmmm yang payahnya, part nak beritahu boss aku tu laa. Aduhai, boss aku tu boss yang paling sempoy, yang bijak, yang best dan kalau ada satu je alasan aku tak jadi berhenti kerja, mungkin sebab boss aku tu. Aku gagahkan diri aku jumpa dia petang tu jugak. Aku melangkah masuk bilik dia je, aku cakap, "I've something to discuss with you... am planning to move back to KL."
Dia tanya, "what's the plan?" Aku pun story. Then, dia kata, "Aku can't stop people from leaving especially if you're going to a good company with better pay and package." Fuuhhh lega aku mendengarnya. Pastu dia tanya lagi, "when do you plan to move to KL?" Aku cakap, "I've never really moved to JB!" and we both laughed. Dan dalam aku tengah draf notis resignation, boss aku tutup lampu office, dan dia blah. Belum pun pukul 5 time tu. Aik? Takkan merajuk kot?! Hahahah...
Anyway, that was the UP for last week. Aku kena serve 3-month notice period which will end sometimes in early July. Bila tolak cuti, aku rasa my last day with Smokey Grey will be by end of June.
Dan yang bestnya, aku tak payah pening-pening fikir pasal team building Smokey Grey Co (yang diorang plan last minute) yang akan clash dengan any one of the events aku dalam bulan Mei nanti, samada clash dengan show Jamal atau larian New Balance atau Candat Sotong. Dan tak payah jugak aku fikir pasal nak buat PMS/KPI untuk 2010. Dan yang paling bestnya, bulan Jun nanti aku nak tengok semua game World Cup dan tak perlu risau kalau aku masuk office lambat ke atau mengantuk time kat office nanti, aku peduli apa kan? Hahahaha....
Time aku taip entry ni, aku masih lagi di Shah Alam, bermalas-malasan. Entah bila lah waktunya aku akan gerak balik ke JB, mungkin sesejam lagi, atau dalam empat-lima jam lagi. Sedangkan esok aku ada kena attend presentation jam 10am. Hmmm... kalau gerak jam 5am pun sempat lagi nak attend presentation tu, unless aku berhenti tidur kat R&R lah. Hehehe...
Anyway, minggu lepas adalah minggu penantian. Lepas aku berjaya turunkan cholesterol level aku, aku ada communicate dengan the Emerald Co. Ada aku dapat feedback dari diorang jugak. Last sekali pada hari Rabu, diorang kata, they're clear on the medical side, now they will do necessary follow-up internally and advise me accordingly. Day by day sampai Jumaat lepas aku tunjuk, masih tiada jawapan. So, tunggu next week lah pulak.
Dalam menunggu jawapan dari the Emerald Co., Smokey Grey Co. pulak keluarkan surat bonus. Ok-ok je bonusnya, lepas lah nak buat itu ini, nak tolong-tolong kenduri kahwin adik aku nanti. Dan tahun ni aku dapat penuh lah, berbanding pro-rated 9 1/2 bulan tahun lepas. Walaupun banyak kena potong dengan Hasil, aku don't mind sebab aku rasa Smokey Grey Co. memang estimate baik punya so that, at the end of the year, PCB tu macam ngam-ngam je, tak terlebih atau terkurang potong.
Jumaat, aku balik semula ke SA sebab last week aku tak bawak kereta ke JB. Lepas konsert Amy hari Ahad tu, aku balik sekali dengan member aku. So, aku balik SA naik coaster company je. Bagus juga balik SA weekend ni, boleh juga aku habiskan saki baki duit bonus aku, kan? Ekekeke... sebab kat JB tu, macam tak confident juga aku nak beli barang-barang high-end ni. *mamposlah kena buang negeri nanti*
So, Sabtu memang penuh gak jadual aku. Pagi, gi Prince Court, sign GL yang last week. Boleh pulak nurse/doctor lupa suruh aku sign. Hmmm... nasib baik result ok, kalau tak, hangen jugak aku kan? Then aku ke Low Yat, nak tengok DiGi BlackBerry roadshow. Sebenarnya, until last Thursday aku still indecisive samada nak angkat iPhone or BB Bold or SE Satio. In the end, aku decided to go for BB Bold lah. One of the reasons sebab BB bold multitask, e.g. sementara tunggu webpage loading, boleh minimize that window and buat task lain macam baca email, etc, macam working with computer jugak lah.
Ingatkan nak angkat Bold 9700 dengan DiGi tapi DiGi lembab, diorang tak jual lagi Bold tu to public. Nasib baik lah jugak Celcom ada buat F1 promo, so aku checked it out kat Sg Wang, dan ok lah pricenya, terus aku angkat lah. Mulanya nak convert DiGi number aku to Celcom tapi it takes 2-3 days, which means aku tak boleh lah nak enjoy the F1 promo rate. So, aku register a new line je lah, habis cerita. So, aku terus angkat BB Bold 9700 at RM888 dan kontrak 2 tahun dengan Celcom at RM188 per month.
Dah settled Bold, aku gi Sunway pulak nak angkat iPod. Aku teruja gila nak angkat iPod ni sebab 1) iPod Classic 80GB aku yg lama tu dah entah ke mana menghilang, 2) nak ubat hati aku sebab tak angkat iPhone dan 3) Aku nak sangat guna Nike+iPod sensor tu, yang boleh track aku punya larian (distance, time, pace). Nak tahu lebih lanjut, check it out kat Deo On the Run. So, aku angkat iPod touch 64GB dan puaslah sangat hati aku shopping dua benda Sabtu tu, macam dah complete life aku ni. Ekekeke...
Oh... aku hampir jugak terangkat netbook HP Mini 5102, yang touch screen tu. Nasib baik laa aku control jugak, aku fikir kalau aku dapat kerja kat the Emerald Co dan diorang tak kasi aku pakai laptop, baru aku angkat netbook tu. Tapi kalau aku angkat jugak hari tu, sure lagi lengkaplah hidup aku. Ekekeke....
Hari Ahad pulak aku kena babysit Kembar Kecoh. Aku bawak diorang gi Times Square je, tengok 3D movie "How to Train Your Dragon". First time ni aku tengok 3D movie kat Malaysia ni, ok lah. Then, ingatkan nak masuk theme park tu, si Along nak naik coaster, yang si Angah kecut-kecut tak nak naik. At last, bila nak beli tiket tu, bila ukur ketinggian, si Along pulak yang tak lepas. Setakat bayar tiket mahal, nak main bumpy car je, tak payah le.
Petang tu, tetiba semangat nak berlari. At the same time, aku nak try Nike+iPod sensor aku tu. So, aku ke tasik di Subang, yang belakang Sheraton tu. Dan with the Nike+iPod sensor tu, aku boleh lah track distant keliling tasik tu, which is 1.3km. Power juga sensor tu, so lepas ni aku boleh lari kat mana-mana je lah dan still tahu berapa jarak larian aku.
Itu je lah cerita aku sepanjang minggu lepas. Dan by the time aku publish entry ni, aku belum ada clue nak balik JB pukul berapa. Tak bersemangat langsung seh......
