Merry Christmas 2008

Well, 2008 is coming to an end and it seems that I'm still alive! I've been absent for a while in updating this blog so much so that the tag-board is spammed till I have to delete all the posts. Since I've been inactive for quite some time, I will hence put down some of the questions you will probably ask.

• What have I been doing?
  Well, I've been busy pretty much with work. Been going back around 8+ lately fixing up issues after issues in my workplace. As for entertainment side, I had the priviledge of watching Heroes and Top Gear S12 for the past few weeks but since Heroes is on a break, I guess I finally found some time to update this.
  


• What did I do for Christmas?
  I slept past the church morning Christmas celebration as I had a late night playing computer. I only woke up at about 12+ to have my lunch and then went to Sheraton Imperial in KL with my family as they had a free stay there. After watching Vantage Point with my parents, we headed for a buffet dinner at the hotel. I came home after that while my parents continued staying there as I had work tomorrow.
  


• How have I been?
  I'm pretty OK. Although work is tiring at times, it is expected and with the current economic situation, it is best to continue to perform my best to avoid being last and getting fired (if it happens). I bought myself a new computer not too long ago which enabled me to play the hottest latest games around without any frills. This also contributed in my lack of posting in this blog.
  


• Any new hobbies / interests?
  Other than my growing interests for tech / gadget stuff, the new thing which I might pick up next is cycling. Several colleagues have pursuaded me to pick it back up and although my first attempt did not go too well, it's nevertheless something which I could see myself do in the future. I am now contemplating in acquiring a bike to further the interest/hobby.
  


• First Attempt? Didn't go too well?
  Last weekend, I attended the Putrajaya Critical Mass cycling event thingy with 2 of my colleagues. Seeing that I had no bike or helmet, I hastily borrowed them from my friends. As I mentally prepared myself for the event, in my mind I thought it will be easy with little uphill and just go for the 20+KM route. Funny thing is that I forgot to take into account that 20+KM is a very long distance and hence did not fully prepare for it. My water supply was limited and my energy consumption was a little too high at the start. At about 6-8KM in the route, I found myself extremely tired and exhausted. I pushed a little further to continue but eventually my muscles cried out and then refused to move.
  
  I parked the bike at the side and then immediately had a cram on both my calves and was then no longer able to continue. The support cars and everyone else was too far ahead and was not able to return to get me. My colleague continued on to try to get to the car fast and then come and get me. It took about 30 minutes for them to reach their car and another 30 minutes to find me somewhere in the middle of Putrajaya. Being stuck in the middle of the highway with no landmarks, unable to walk and a almost dead phone battery was quite scary. In all I waited for about 1 hour before they found me on the opposite side of the road.
  
  The experience was definitely unpleasant as every slow moving motorbike looks like a snatch theif or something. But for some funny reason, I found myself passing the time somewhat quickly by playing with a ant nest I found nearby. I spent minutes just staring at the ants moving back and forth on the ground and occasionally place obstacles like rocks and sand on their path to see how they recover or unburrow themselves.
  
  Eventually I was rescued and I was unable to walk normally till about 2 days after where the pain finally eases and I was able to walk up and down the stairs easily. Despite the setback, I think I will continue to attend that monthly event and continue to train myself to be able to complete the event and take the wonderful pictures around Putrajaya.
  


• Am I seeing someone?
  If you mean by girlfriend, the answer is no. There may be a few interests but we'll see how it goes. Am not actively pursuing but rather taking a normal steady approach and see how it unravels. If it is meant to be, so much the better. If not, at least I'm not head over heels yet. One thing for sure, i'll keep my vulnerability in check constantly taking a 3rd person view of things to make sure that I don't do anything stupid that could potentially ruin anything/everything.