Car broke down in the middle of the road =[

I have long suspected that my car was having problems and I was delaying the service. The most notable reason would be to prepare for CNY. The week before, my car did stall in the middle of the road and thankfully there was no car behind me at that time. It managed to start again but I just let it be again thinking that I would do my service this week.

I was heading to Sunway Lagoon for an event and fortunately/unfornately my car stalled permanently just before Guinness Ancher Berhad factory. Since I am not too into cars so I cannot really comprehend what went wrong but I did suspect the battery is flat because my car alarm went cuckoo.

I managed to get a foreman to come check out the problem and at the same time called for my insurance's auto assist for towing services. Initially I thought I would just send it back to my place and get a mechanic which I went to before to hopefully fix it but not really knowing if the shop is still open. When the foreman came, he said he could fix it at his shop in Shah Alam so I asked the tow truck to send it to his place.

It was hard to find because its NOT really a workshop for normal cars! It was a workshop for expensive cars namely Rolls Royce. Before he got down to do his work, he showed me around his place knowing quite well that not many people would drop by not to mention want/going to hang around this place. I was quite awestruck by his collection of cars. I think there were around 10 Rolls Royces, a couple of old Mercedes and some beat up Cadillacs. These are the cars which on TV shows, those people who are into these cars would drool all over the place for.

One would normally see this car used for weddings

I wonder how it feels like to drive it

The steering is not really that well maintained

The signal is not on, my flash must be too great

I wonder why the owner does not paint it metallic

The hats shows that this car is really only used for leisure

Nice plates btw

More RRs collecting dust

New plates on old car

Different part manufacturers

Not too shabby insides

The famous logo

The owner claims that Dr M used this

Very old plates

Most likely these guys only go out on parade a few times per year

More familiar models which we see in HK movies/dramas

Better looking colors IMHO

Another good shade, 2 toned

Jumbled post

Been quite busy with work and I sure as hell need a break IF I can get it. The projects are just rolling in and gets more and more complicated that it takes up so much time and my other work will have to be pushed until after office hours. Other than that I have to go the datacenter and most of the time, I am only permitted entry after 9pm. By the time I finish, its late night if not almost dawn.

I recently met up with my old boss and he seems to be doing pretty well. I hope he does do well so that he may offer me a better paying job and perhaps ride high again like we used to. In one of our topics he did plummet me into deep thought and depresssion on a personal matter which had been left pending for ages. In a way, he is right and oddly enough it seems to be what I want but then again I don't really know what I really want. Not making much sense there huh?

I am supposed to have get a training in Hong Kong. I wished that I could go in November but its been dragging and now its mid December already zzz. My friend there is telling me that there is a sale now going on BUT I am still left with no clue when I might be headed there for my training and a MUCH needed break albeit free flight and a few days of accomodation.

My colleagues tell me that I do not need many days in Hong Kong for sightseeing, something like 3-4 days would cover many areas. But when I fire up a trip planner, I can't get too all the places which I am interested in even if I had a week ... Perhaps I am overambitious, then again I do not know much about which places are worth to visit. I would definately want to visit Disneyland, shop for IT stuff, visit the famous places and surrounding islands, shop for some clothing.

I think that I have changed a fair bit but it still feels like I am still miles away from how I want to be seen. Is it because I am not putting enough effort into it? I am not trying hard enough? Maybe I did not do anything at all ... Status quo, like the many work updates which I get.

Not that I want to blame the weather but it is kind of a depressing feeling now is lingering inside me. 了解我的人呢？在哪里？If only ...

As you can see, I do not have the luxury of time nor energy like I used to focus on a topic and pen a long post. SIGH ... I am getting too old for this shit ...

A date with Gary Pallister and the Premier League trophy

Today, there was a launching event. I thought I was late for it when I got out of my meeting but to my surprise, I saw a couple of my colleagues linimg up before the time is up. However there was too much commotion for it to be just a line and then I saw them! Gary Pallister and the Premier League trophy!!!

Not long after I got in line, the queue was closed. WOOT! I am the lucky few who will be honored to shake hands with the great man and of course have pictures with him and the BPL trophy. The line moved quite fast and halfway to my destination, a crowd started singing "Glory glory Man Utd" and I joined in of course and cheered loudly.

The trophy from afar

Still quite far

Fred acting dumb, standing behind the table and not really allowing us to take pictures with him =_="

Just 2.5 meters away from it, so close yet so far

The temporary setup for Gary to offer his signature

Get on then, NEXT!

Less than 10 people ahead of me now ...

Thanks very much Gary Pallister!

I is the CHAMP19N!!!

NO ONE WAS TO TOUCH THE TROPHY!

Some genius decided to take advantage of taking pictures from another angle and at the same time not disturbing the line

The banner behind Gary Pallister after he left

Rooney is at the side, I find this very quiet strange ...

Giggsy with Ronaldo behind

Becks and Giggsy

Cantona pointing the way forward

Man Utd's Holy Trinity

Each fan was also given a Man Utd metal badge. Im a certified Devil now :p

What is recommended for your Android device?

Rooting it of course! When I first got my phone, I had my doubts about doing this. But as I explored more and more, many things can ONLY be achieved by rooting it. Being an IT person, having control of your electronic device is essential because ... its our field DUH! What made me quite skeptical was the fact that not many developers on my version of the phone ie I9100G. The G is what made it cheaper and it seems to be more exclusive to Asia. Fret not it seems, our Chinese friends managed to get the required files and with some somewhat easy to follow simple steps, we now have a rooted device =D

Taking reference from here, you should download all the files before you start. Install Samsung Kies first because it takes quite some time to finish installation due to the fact that it will still need to download something else during installation. You will get quite used to rebooting your phone in download mode. For me, I find it easier to slide my finger that was pushing the volume down button to slide up to push the volume up button before releasing the home and power buttons. Follow the instructions to the dot and hopefully you will NOT have the yellow triangle warning and get a new cute icon like below :p

I is SuperUser nao

The Android world will open up much wider when you have this icon because there are some really good apps which can only run properly with root access aka SuperUser. Eg. if you do not wish to pay for PapaGo but would still like someone to guide you to places which you are not familiar, you may use Google Navigation which is disabled by default outside of US. If you want to get that follow these steps which I adapted from here :

1. In Titanium Backup, select Maps and make a backup.
2. Select Maps and wipe data, then uninstall.
3. Select Street View and wipe data, then uninstall
4. Download map5.11ownhere.apk & map5.11ownhere-signed.apk from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1007132
5. Copy the map5.11ownhere.apk to /system/app using Super Manager (requires root BUT free)
6. Mount system as R/W when asked
7. Install Google Maps 5.11 ownhere-signed.apk
5. If you wish to reinstall streetview, download it from here: http://www.freewarelovers.com/android/app/street-view (doesn't work in Msia, as you should know)

I am still playing around with some apps so no recommendations yet because those of you who have this phone already would have installed your required apps.

My white Samsung Galaxy S2

After much consideration, I have finally bought a new mobile. I chose the white Samsung Galaxy S2 because it is the rated phone which was not too highly priced after rebates from Digi that is. Having a very able phone without data plan would be very stupid and that was what made me changed my initial plan of just purchasing the phone only and stick to my prepaid.

My phone looks like this BUT the language was Malay =_=|||

Its been roughly a week or so now that I have used this phone and I am still getting used to many things. My initial thought of it was that it felt like a toy because of its plastic exterior and its also super light which just further strengthens that feeling.

Still playing around with it for the moment but so far so good except for the battery life BUT from what I know 1 day seems to be the average of these smartphones. Perhaps I am not yet able to customize or enhance the battery life by "rooting" it because this version of the phone (GT-I9100G) is still quite new.

Digi's infamous not so good coverage is really doing a good job, UNFORTUNATELY for me.

Chengdu : Land of Giant Pandas and MaLat Spiciness

I was recently asked to perform a site certification for the company in Chengdu, China. The reason behind the choice was fairly straightforward, there weren't too many candidates who is able to converse in Chinese in my team. Initially, I thought it was just a 1 person thingy but later on I found out that my boss would be joining me =_=

Anyhows, its not a trip, its for work and its supposed to be huge. I have handled big projects before so this is not really that difficult although it is my first time doing a site certification. In my mind, it is an easy job and it should not take more than 1 day. Boy was I wrong and in the end it actually took around 2.5 days to complete =_=|||

This coupled with the initial confusion on flight dates, it was chaotic. After the dust have settled down, I went 2 days before the actual work started so that I have at least some time to do some exploration of the city. Since my boss would be there, we could go and visit the Panda Research Center together and that would of course cut down on the travelling cost but it would seem that transportation would be provided by our host and that worked out perfectly because that way we would not get cheated by the taxis.

The driver brought us to have local dishes and other places of interest like Kwan Zhai Xiang Zi, Jinli Street, Shu Ma Guang Chang (its Chengdu's Lowyat). These places are the most accessible and not too far out of the city. If you ask for my opinion, I would suggest for you to visit Jinli Street in the city and Panda Research Center. I did not get the opportunity to visit Leshan Buddha or Er Mei Mountain but I think this places would be of interest as well especially for those who like to take pictures. The further place would of course be JiuZhaiGou and HuangLong if you have a couple of days to spare not to mention be willing t0 pay for the flight tickets.

All in all, the foods are filled with spices and almost unavoidable and the sceneries at the tourist attractions are wonderful. The roads will be an eye opener, 3-5 lanes highways and 2-3 side roads just beside the highways to turn off. Visibility varies from 200m to over 1km. Most of the time the city looks to be covered in a haze. I suppose pollution is quite bad there but I did not get breathing difficulties so it should still be acceptable.

One thing which I cannot get used to would be driving. Their cars are like Americans, left hand drive and drive on the right side of the road. When I sit in the front passenger seat, its like the car is missing the all the driver's things where its supposed to be. Almost all the people there drive like the road belongs to them, move and stop at their fancy. Using the horn as if they are the police speeding to chase after fugitives. The traffic lights do not need to be put up because cars can stop in the middle of a major 4 land road and try to make the turn while avoiding oncoming traffic. I was scared stiff and nobody would volunteer to sit in the front.

I declare I is alien
Shuangliu Airport
Panda Research Center
A real live panda upclose
Cute little cubs!!!
Jackie Chan donation plaque
Panda supply truck
Panda bus, additional RMB10
Wooden-like bus
Kuan (Wide) Alley of KuanZhai Alleys
Zhai (Narrow) Alley
I don't think she is model because she ain't that pretty but look at the amount of photographers she attracted
Blown up candy
So many brands of ciggarates
Chengdu's 三大炮 (3 big cannons)
Police, the car reminds me of Japanese police cars
McD, its real
MaLat Hot Pot
Chengdu's Lowyat aka ShuMaGuangChang
Street food : Fried stuff, the pork satay is DELICIOUS!!!
Street food : Fried potato
Jinli Street
3 kingdoms
Traditional building designs at Jinli Street, I love them
Zhang Fei beef
A souvenir from my host