Work

I was asked if I could write something about my work or put photos of my office.

"At least we know how people in the UK work."

While I am adamant not to discuss about work in my blog, I wouldn't mind talking about life at work so far.

I also find it necessary to debunk several myths of what people thought I'm currently going through. But it's okay since I haven't spoken about it before.

1. I don't handle the entire project, you must be joking!

2. I don't deal with the Olympics events. Stop asking me for track event tickets for 2012!

3. If there's a comparison to what I was doing in Malaysia, I would give the engineering in Olympics -"Engineering - the Extended version". There are great emphasis placed on sustainability and legacy planning; two words which are still unheard of in Malaysia.

4. I haven't had to deal with anyone from Beijing.

5. I haven't met any famous Olympians in doing my work.

And finally, I don't use sophisticated softwares in my work. My tools of trade are a scale-ruler, technical compass set, mechanical pencil, few sheets of blank paper and a cup of coffee.

Proof that I was neither joking nor trying to be sarcastic to Japanese engineers

Malaysia's talent flight looms

The discomfort towards the high cost of living and weariness towards the unceasing political bickering are making a lot of Malaysians fed up with the country.

The Financial Times recently reported that there will be visa curbs to 11 countries because of continuous overstaying problems in the UK. Malaysia is listed as one of them.

For those who couldn’t work in the UK with the proper document, this is their only way in. If all fails, then Singapore that is.

For those who could, they have either gone or already preparing the documents. At least seven of whom I know have applied. Three are already here.

For those who are already here but were planning to return, they are now holding back their plans for the obvious reasons.

Taking the numbers of those who are here illegally out of the equation, those who are now considering a move out of the country are top talents and brightest people in the country. Some of them are people I had the honour to meet, work and study with and became the industries’ top-flights upon returning. They are now throwing in the towel.

While the political situation is in gradual crescendo, Malaysia’s talent flight looms. Whether it is long or short haul, KLIA will be hit. The beneficiary? Heathrow. If not, Changi.

NikePlus.com 10k Run

I hear it in the radio and see it in the papers. It's almost inevitable that I'm sucked into it now. Bloody Nike has managed to capture a lot of attention whether they are runners or not.

But that's typical of Nike. All runners know they're not in the business of running. They say Nike makes running shoes and everyone buys them, except runners that is. What irony! Haha!

Sorry if I'm hurting people by this snide remark. I hope none of my running mate bloggers have sold their soul to Nike for a pair of shoes in exchange for good reviews in their blogs.

I have already signed up and pledged to run 600km by the end of July. It's only today that I registered for a 10km race on 31 August 2008 at the Wembley Stadium. It's the most expensive 10k race I've ever signed up to - £30! (The London Marathon is only £26). Oh well, I've chosen a charity where the money should go, so that's not too bad.

I heard Singapore is charging S$45. Isn't that quite prohibitive for Malaysian runners to do a 10k race all the way to Singapore??? Judging from the Facebook update, there seems to be quite a few Malaysian runners who have already signed up.

Wondering what's the 600km and then the 10km?

You see, Nike has also made runners to pledge some mileage in the run up to the 10k race.

It's non-obligatory but I have pledged to finish 600km by the end of July. That works out to be doing 20k every day for the next 30 days starting tomorrow.

Can I do it?

Knowing that I can't do 20k everyday for 30 days back to back and refusing to break my pledge, I have started two weeks earlier, running 20k every time I hit the roads. So I buy more time doing so and thinning the daily distance on the double.

The weather has been superb - dry, warm and sunny. With such great weather, there isn't any point staying in the office because no one does after half five! (Well maybe 10% would. That's the beauty working in the UK). So I had been fortunate doing my 20k for almost 4 times a week for the past two weeks.

That's 160km clocked so far.

440km more to go.

Wellness 10k Run

Held at Crystal Palace, London it was one of the many "run and return" races in this country. I call it the no-frills race i.e normal road race minus all the pretty stuff like advertisement, promotions and goodies.

They did have a mascot run, an inflatable finishing archway, water stations and medals though! So it wasn't as no-frills as I thought. Good enough for a 10k race.

There's really nothing much to talk about the race. It's just a 10k race that took place in good weather and in a weird park with some funny looking dinosaurs in a vast area that looked like the Roman ruins. According to the BBC, this place is cursed by bad luck and financial crisis. The ruins I saw were the results of disasters that happened one after another.

Sir Joseph Paxton, founder of Crystal Palace
A place that looks like the Roman ruins

Number wise, I am quite satisfied with my performance and thank God, nothing that's indicative of a bad luck.

Time: 44mins 39secs.

Wimbledon 2008

I am not a tennis person. Am not even a ball person!

But I was at Wimbledon last week to see the matches. It was purely for experience sake. I just wanted to see what the hype was all about.


As soon as I reached and saw the queue, my mood level plunged. I was debating whether or not it was worth paying 14quid to get in! I conceded that I should wait since I would still need to queue even if I were to return the next day. Everyone queuing was given a queue card. I was number 12,836 for the day. Winson who came an hour earlier was 11k plus. So you can imagine the crowd.

Card number 12100, counter number 10 please.....

It took me 2.5 hours to get in. In Malaysia, you would only see people jostling for two things - one is when something is free or two, at the highways when someone is killed in an accident for the car number plate.

At the ground where I was queuing there were already many tents. People were camping to get in the next day! I could now understand why. More so if you're a tennis fan!

The tents and the queue

Once inside, I met up with Winson. He told me a friend had given him a pair of Court One tickets which cost £44 each. He gave one to me. I was really thankful and happy. Court One, Two and the Centre Court are where all the top matches are held. So I considered myself very lucky. It was Igor Andreev against David Ferrer at the time.

The ticket and Court One

Adreev against Ferrer

Surprisingly I found myself watching the games in rapt attention. It didn't take a tennis fan to know the nail-biting moments. Time whizzed pass just as adrenaline was pumping high. The next thing I knew was the time was 9.30pm when the matches ended and it was time to go home!

Wimbledon was a great experience. Court One made it even more special. Now when I read the papers and tennis talk with my colleagues, I know what's happening and who's who in Wimbledon.

What you don't see from ESPN is the preparation

...and that dressing smart is only half of what you see

Going to see a match and seeing it in the news are two very different experiences altogether. I have learnt something new too - the tennis ball is in bright yellow because it will appear the clearest in TV at ambiance temperature. Now for my next learning experience - a football match.