Monday, 21 January 2013

6 Months Later

To start, this is a picture from my last post in November. The picture on the left was taken in July with me weighing just under 92kgs. My waistline then was 39 inches. On the right, was at 86.6kgs in October with my waist around 37 inches. Also note the body fat percentage at 19.8%.



Drumroll...
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This is yesterday, 6 months later. Weighing in at 81.9kgs and my waist at 34 inches. Body fat has dropped to 16.6%. 10 kgs in 6 months. No miracle pills, no miracle shake, nothing. Just eating 6 times a day, YES your read that right... SIX... and exercise

The weight goal has been achieved. I'm not too bothered about my weight now as long as I remain in the acceptable BMI of +/- 23. The focus now will be the inches and the body fat %. So it will be a lot of maintenance workouts from now on and more fat burning. 

Thursday, 17 January 2013

All Over Agedashi Tofu...

This entry was inspired (or rather provoked) by my very recent visit to AEON Jusco last Tuesday, my off day.  Took my wife out to the mainland to keep her sane. We ended up in AEON Jusco having lunch at Sushi King. It was pretty early, just after noon and I had breakfast at 10:30am. So, my next meal was supposed to be at 2:30pm. But since the boss was hungry we went ahead and had lunch. Or rather she had lunch and I ordered a snack. I ordered an Agedashi Tofu.

And that is where it began. It triggered some thoughts that I had which I had pushed aside but now it’s crept up again. My Agedashi Tofu was horrible.

This is how an Agedashi Tofu should be like... deep-fried tofu in some tentsuyu sauce garnished with daikon, ginger and spring onions. In some variations you get julienned seaweed and/or bonito flakes.

What I got instead was deep-fried tofu drowning in supposedly tentsuyu but tasted like soyu with water and garnished with spring onions. I was upset! This was the first time it came out like this.... even for Sushi King. I glanced over at the prep area to see who the idiots were preparing the food... as usual... young cikus. Sigh!

It seems like we are doomed... 

My wife and I had his discussion before... we no longer enjoy most fast foods as they no longer represent what they used to be... even KFC... and if we look closely at who the people who were preparing the food, it was the same... young cikus.

Before some of you start foaming in the mouth, the issue here is not so much the young cikus (although it is a big part of the problem). I was a young ciku before too but I never did produce substandard shit like these people do. And for the record, as a young ciku, at the very tender age of 19, I was crowned Master Bartender and represented Malaysia the following year... chewahhh!! Ko ada?

Anyways, back to the issue... society these days teach tasks and not results... 

The next time you’re queuing at McDs, take a look at the ‘factory line’ producing the burgers and observe. They just pile the accompaniments... how they do it is of no consequence and when you open your so-called burger, it is a mess. Of course, everything is there but generally just in a mess. McDs normally serve good fries as their turnover is pretty good and the facilities better. But try having fries at KFC... if you do get them as good as McD in KFC, please buy 4D!! They don’t give a rats ass anymore... even if it is cold and dry, they still dish it out. Just like how my simple tofu dish went awry... to the person who prepared it, the tofu is the main ingredient and the rest probably was not important... to him at least. So missing out on the daikon, ginger and seaweed was no big deal... to him.

Let’s take a look at it from another example. My wife got her driver’s license months ago. She was ecstatic about it and came home saying “I can drive!”... I said, “No, you got your license, you can’t drive yet”... obviously she was upset with me as she felt I was not supportive and did not want to give her credit for passing... but I was just being truthful... there was more to driving than she understood and I was sure she would learn over time... from me. What she didn’t quite understand then was that I knew driving schools teach you to pass the test... not how to drive... that is the problem. I am sure some of you don’t understand either.

Okay... in the driving school, when learning your parking they will tell you to count the poles when doing your parking. You reverse to a certain pole then maneuver in and voila, you are parked. 

When I was taught that, I asked my instructor.... so, when I go parking at the shopping mall or on my own, I have to bring these poles along and place them so I can count them before I park? Duhhh...

See what I mean now? They teach you to pass the test... not how to drive. 

My wife had to unlearn what she learnt to some extent. I taught her the use of the A pillars and B pillars in the car. I explained to her that these pillars are where your wheels are located and if you don’t know where your wheels are then you can’t maneuver your car effectively.

In school we are taught to pass the exams... that was the focus. Just like driving schools... maybe that’s why I am not messed up coz I was never in class while in school. Therefore, I was not subjected to the brainwash of memorising the answers. Yeah, believe it or not... the only class that I attended was Chemistry (you don't mess with Mrs Ho!!)... all other classes I skipped all the time.  I never skipped school but I skipped most of my classes.

Another example, close to home... my culinary team here. Frankly, I gave up on them. You can’t teach people to cook if they have no interest to cook. Just like the young cikus in McDs and Sushi King and whatnot. Cooking is a passion. As soon as someone tells you that it is a job, game over! Start looking for a replacement.

I watched many times as the guys here prepare a simple dish of Aglio e Olio. Very simple indeed but if you don’t know what and why you’re doing what you’re doing, the dish is gone. As the name suggests, it is about the garlic and olive oil. A chef who knows what he is doing would start with a low to medium heat pan, add the oil, then very quickly after the oil, add the garlic. The whole idea is to sweat the garlic so it infuses with the oil. The goal is NOT to burn the garlic as garlic is bitter when burnt or too brown. They are taught to sauté the garlic. If you ask them why and how it should be done, they have absolutely no clue. And when you try to teach them, they’re just to stubborn to listen. Just because you are employed as a cook, does not mean you cook better than me or you know more about food than me.

Likewise, just because you use a fancy ass phone does not mean that you know more about it than me. I had someone ask me... is your iPhone ‘jailbreak’? You mean jailbroken? No... I think it is comfortable in its jail. Then I asked... yours is I assume. Tethered or untethered? He goes blur on me... so I rephrase my question. If you rebooted your phone, does it remain jailbroken? Hmmm... don’t know... Hmmm... never mind then. I wanted to ask why he had his phone jailbroken but I thought I’d better spare myself the misery.

And on the flipside of this... one of my subordinates asked me a question the other day. I looked at him and said, Geesh, I don’t know... why don’t you go and ask Mr. X. He looked at me bewildered. And I said, what? Just because I am number two here does not mean I know everything! Tiu...

Back to the issue... ummm... what is the issue, really? Sigh...

There was a time when people used Job Description but we use Job Scope. What’s the difference? If you give a person a job description he or she will perform exactly as described and if not described then it will not be done. A job scope gives some parameters and anything within those parameters has to be done. Basically, one is task based while the latter is results based.

I guess the issue is that we do not teach to achieve results. We teach to accomplish a set of tasks. 

Is the issue with the parents or the issue with the children? Is the issue with the system and the teachers or is the issue with the students? Or is it the environment?

Then there is the issue of formula milk. There are those who swear by formula milk and that nothing else is good enough for their kids. Well, if you can afford it why the hell not? But if you can’t, what’s wrong with the normal stuff? I grew up with the blue and red Dumex. So, did a lot of others. The last time I checked my IQ was 131. What’s the point of providing formula milk to your kid when you’re not going to give your kid the environment to grow his or her mind? So which is more important? The environment to learn in or the formula milk? Ideally, both... but which is more important?

Enough of rambling for today lah... all it takes is one thing to make me upset and my mind starts avalanching with all this shit.


Monday, 14 January 2013

Bad Week

The last week has to be the worst week I have had since I came here last February. Solely because I was taken ill. Really, really bad... unfortunately though, I had to weather it out without taking medical leave as my GM is away on leave out of the country. It started right after my off day on Friday the 3rd...  there were many already sick due to the hot and wet weather with all the rain and I probably caught it on Saturday when I got caught in the rain.

When you're my age and you pay attention to your body you will know when you're about to get sick so on Saturday night I took some paracetamol before sleeping as a precaution as I could feel the mild body aches coming. By morning, when I had my shower, the aches were at full blast... toweling myself dry felt like my skin was tearing and I had developed a bad cough... just like that. I really can't remember the last time I had a cough... that's how long it has been. I headed to see the in-house doctor immediately and he gave me 600mg Ibuprofen for the aches and Prospan for the cough as it wouldn't cause drowsiness. 

The 600mgs of Ibuprofen (Brufen brand name) worked almost immediately and the aches subsided... they were still there but at least I didn't feel like I just got hit by a train.


The Prospan wasn't very effective or should I say not effective at all. It tasted just like maple syrup. I guess it's probably more suited for children.


By Wednesday, the cough was so bad that I decided to take the drowsy stuff. What I don't understand about cough syrups is, why the hell must it be so sweet? I understand that it needs to be flavoured so people will actually take it but really, does it have to be literally a syrup? Here's the problem... it's supposed to make you drowsy but then it has so much sugar in it that it makes you hyper at the same time... so, it actually makes me cranky and it is extremely annoying... your'e drowsy and wanna sleep but your body just won't allow you to sleep. Smart huh?

By Friday, I couldn't take it anymore... it was serious... the in-house doctor was away on leave... the panel clinic on Pangkor is closed on Fridays... great! Just great! I decided to take the boat out to the mainland to go to a clinic. The doctor says my lungs are okay and suggested that I get a jab... whatever dude... whatever... as long as you get rid of this fucking cough.

He also gave me this cough syrup which I must say is pretty good as it cleared up my phlegm... I didn't feel drowsy although he said that it would make me drowsy and it tasted of prunes... that's the good part. Good stuff. RM75.00 for a jab, some paracetamols, lozenges and antibiotics.

It has indeed been a horrendous week... feeling like shit... weak... unable to rest... need to work... and trying to stay away from others so I won't infect them as well. But, I'm much better now with the occasional cough here and there and hope to be able to hit the gym again this evening. That's a full week with no exercise. Sigh...

I hope I won't have to go through this again... it normally happens once every 18 months or so... just hope it doesn't anymore.

Monday, 7 January 2013

An Abbreviated Life


Today, I used this article in my presentation to address one of the diseases plaguing our society. I've been meaning to write about this for sometime now so here it is.

Before I continue I must make a point though... just like I did earlier in my presentation. I am profiling based on my observations... probably just like how the Deputy Prime Minister made his own profiling. Generally, the use of abbreviations are more evident in Bahasa Malaysia than in English and acronyms are more evident in English. So, I think you can get the drift on what I mean without me elaborating more and be accused of being a bigot.

The first time that I came across an abbreviated SMS in BM was back in 2006. I had absolutely no fucking idea what it said no matter how many times I read it and eventually passed it to my subordinate to find out what it meant. I was uninitiated at that point so I had no freaking idea what all the abbreviations were unlike now... I can read it in a breeze. That particular message was something like this... "Alng... sy x dpt dtg kja hri ni sbb sy x chat. Sori". Go figure! Leave me a comment below if you can't figure it out.

It never ever occurred to me to abbreviate. In fact, my boss and I did the opposite... back then, an SMS would cost you 15-20sen per SMS as opposed to the 1sen now or first 100 free SMS and whatnot depending on your package. My boss and I would try as hard as possible to maximize the 160 character limit per SMS. Hahaha...what fun we had!

I started to ponder on the 'abrreviating' trend... it was bad... everyone who spoke BM was abbreviating.  Okay...so they reckon that it saves time and/or effort to abbreviate... I'm not convinced though... then I get even more confused when they started the trend af alternating the 'caps'...KiNdA LiKe ThIs... iT jUsT dRoVe Me NuTs. I don't get it... I seriously don't! You abbreviate to save time and/or effort but put in the time and effort to alternate caps. Hmmmmm..... makes perfect sense! (sarcasm)

So? Why do I call it a disease? Well... just like the DPM, I feel that it is a threat to the language as this will eventually become such a bad habit that people will eventually be unable to spell the actual word itself. It is also a reflection of personality... it reflects laziness... it reflects impatience... it reflects messed up priorities. Of course, probably no one will agree with me now... but we'll see...

Today's generation wants everything fast... absolutely no patience at all... it will one day effect their sex lives as well and I really pity them when it come to that. Hahaha... imagine... Gone in 60 Seconds in a porn parody!

Just my 2sen post for my 2nd post of the year... Happy Abbreviating!!! WTF!!!



Tuesday, 1 January 2013

2012...

The past few years of my life has been a real roller coaster with the exception of 2012 which has been pretty good for me and I am very sure that it is the start of many more to come. The past few years saw me rebuilding my life. It was like 20 years ago... starting from scratch... the only difference is the age and the existing liabilities...


I started 2012 by quitting on cigarettes, yes... yet again. I needed to justify my need for a MacBook Air and RM10 x 365 seemed like a good way to start saving.



On 19 January, I bought my MacBook Air... after many years of waiting and contemplation for the right moment. This acquisition was co-sponsored by the Autodome team... they contributed half the price.


Then two days later,  I proposed to my wife... every woman's dream... to be proposed to properly. I learn from mistakes...













Then I made the leap of faith and Ammar Kevin Eu was born on 26 January 2012.


On 1st February I started my new posting on 'Alcatraz'. I made the request for the move. I had one more year to go on my agreed term with the owner but my request was granted. I had rejected the move here many years ago so when I accepted the move with no questions asked, my boss was surprised. He asked me, "How come?"... so I told him... for the same reason I rejected it the first time... gut feeling... I am trusting my feelings.

I have learnt to trust my instinct 100%. The last two times that I ignored it, I paid dearly... and after the second one... there will never be a third. I will always trust my instinct here on.


On 21.02.2012... in one breath, we were solemnly sworn in as husband and wife. My wife did most of the arrangements as I was working in 'Alcatraz'. She did an excellent job, I must say. Simple, elegant, memorable and within our simple means.  


Our first Hari Raya as a Muslim couple and I am proud to announce that I completed one whole month of fasting officially as a Muslim.

In October, I received notice that my case was set for mention in the Industrial Court. I was really happy as my colleagues received notice stating that their cases would not be represented. I guess it was probably because they did not request for reinstatement.


We only managed to go for our honeymoon in October. It was the longest holiday for me and also my wife... we did Ipoh - Cameron Highlands - Tanjung Jara - Kuantan - Kuala Lumpur - Morib - Ipoh over a span of two weeks.

November was not too good coz that was when I learnt of my high cholesterol and pre-diabetes condition.

But we closed the year with a bang... literally... with fireworks... the new year was ushered in with fireworks but we also set an all time high in revenue here. I seem to be setting records everywhere I go. Something I intend to continue doing and in 2013, we will break the record we just set and make sure nobody beats it for the next few years.

And to complete our lives... there's only one item left that my wife and I wish for... and In Shaa Allah, with everyone's blessing it will materialise soon.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!