60+ Earth Hour 2014 @Penang

Didn't expect it to go the way it did...  Although WWF reported it was a "major" success, for me it was hardly a success. Why? Because noone cared.

Honestly I chose to join the walkathon because I was bored and it looked like an interesting social activity to be a part of. Of course, I am a WWF supporter coz I once had a weird fetish towards pandas and stuff. Plus, I needed something to brag about on my network besides complaining about my daily 8.00-5.00 routine.

The 60+ earth hour sucked but the trip to Penang was awesome. Not only did I get to spend the whole day with my buffy, I also got to shop books! The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale was held in Time Square, Penang and for sure I wouldn't miss it. After the booksale, we googled places to hang out while waiting for 6pm and Gurney Plaza was our choice. And I can conclude Gurney Plaza was the highlight of the day. Penang wasn't as fun as it used to be when I was 10!

Ok back to the Earth Hour event. The concerts were horrible. Honestly, for a high-profile international society like WWF, they could have done better. I could sing better than the singers who literally croaked the whole 3 songs. The only decent show was by the musicians. They rocked and saved the stage. The dancers define awkward. The emcee was cool. He managed to control the lameness of the event by his jokes and impromptu activities. But as the countdown to lights out ended, the event epicly failed.

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2...1..!!!! Yelled everyone in hopes of a miracle to save the day.

Nothing. All lights were still on as though it was just another day.

Then the walk began despite all awkwardness... All along the route, lights from shops were switched on brighter than ever. People stared at the walkers probably laughing at the effort and as though it didn't sucked enough, it rained. Yep. All 500 (yes, they lied saying there were 2000 participants) people were drenched wet as half of them ran to their cars and half ran for shelter. As we reached the finish line, we did what sane people would do. We drove home!

But like I said, even if the event defined what 'failed mission' means, the fact that I spent it with Mr Awesome made it worthy. I had a great time squished by Ironman and Panda. And, it was time and money well spent :)

HAPPY EARTH HOUR!!!

My adventures in Sunway Lagoon

It's been a while (as usual) since I last updated my blog. Accept it. I'm lazy. And also I was recovering from a (almost) high fever, having a temperature of 39.4 celcius (103 F) so please God... NEVER AGAIN. It sucked. I don't know how people can post FB status about being sick. It's something I NEVER want to go through again and let people see me in that condition. EVER. Anyway, 3 weekends ago, I went on an awesome date to Sunway Lagoon, Selangor. It was AWESOME. Seriously, extremely awesome. Although I didnt get to Bungee jump or even get on the G-Force as planned, the day was one to remember.

Entrance was RM90.00 for Malaysians for ALL the parks except Extreme, Bungee and G-Force.

 SUNWAY LAGOON SCREAMPARK

I am famous for being a true scaredy cat. The last time I entered Sunway's Screampark I ended up crumpled at a corner while screaming hysterically. That time the theme was Prison Break. So yeah, I'm scared of prisoners, if not the prison itself. The theme park that day was zombies. Something about World War Z. Luckily, the girl in front of me kept screaming at everything. Including the poor old empty wall. So the ghost actors decided to pick on her all the time. And all i did was laugh and laugh and pretended to be cool. It was freaky. Especially the area where they put up statues and covered them with white sheets. (even in Insidious 2 that part freaked me out). And one statue ended up being alive. I hate pocongs.

Here's a picture of a fake supposed to be scary graveyard at the entrance guaranteed to quench your intestines to wish they try harder.

 SUNWAY's TOMAHAWK.

Two words. Barf Avenue. The one ride that managed to leave me speechless. It would prolly be awesome if i wasnt approaching 30, but at this age, sitting on swings to the extent of turning u upside down and your guts inside out, is really a bad idea. Good thing I managed to not throw up but it left me exhausted and dehydrated, hence I decided I couldn't bungee jump. Went halfway on the suspended bridge and decided I'm too old for this sh** and went to the tiny animal park instead for a break and recovery

SUNWAY's WILDLIFE PARK

First of all... "WILD"...??? Honestly I don't know where they got the idea to collectively label rabbits and tortoises and guinea pigs and parrots as wild animals. I.. just... don't get it... Though there were pythons and ostriches which okay, a little on the wildside, Sunway should just settle with "Sunway Animal sort-of interactive Zoo". But for animal lovers like me, this tiny part of the theme park was heaven sent (minus the smell). I played (litterally) with the fluffy rabbits and watched the tortoise struggles with their heavy shells and stared at some parrots. And most important of all, I recovered from the sickness Tomahawk gave me. The rabbits were friendly. I stayed away from the goats though it seemed like they were calling "Anne... anne....". Creepy as they really almost sounded human. 

As soon as I recovered, we decided to give up on dry entertainment since many were on maintenance (Pirate Ship and Gold Mine etc...) and proceeded to change into swimming attire and started with water parks.

SUNWAY's WATERPARK

Honestly I didnt expect this to be the highlight of the day. There were so many rides in the waterpark that we forgot about plain old wading. Every ride was awesome and worth the 20 minute line. 20 not more of course. Thank God it was the end of school holidays.

Sorry, no photo available. Didnt have time to carry my cam everywhere. This is googled.

We started with the 5D water cinema. Well, honestly, they could do better. The idea was great but there were bloopers such as workers walking everywhere in the auditorium and some water sprays not working. Basically it's an interactive cinema where they show you a video of a water coaster, and spray you with water in a super cold ACed hall.

The next ride was the African pyhton slide. There were 3 to choose from. Fully closed, partially closed and fully open air slide. We ( me and my bf) chose the partial one. It was all right but too short. The opposite of python ride was some straight slide that went awesomely fast. Forgot wat it was called but it's only fun if you went on with a partner coz riding it alone is... just... sad...

The most awesome ride which i went on TWICE was the Vuvuzuela. Now that is what you call a water ride. Just do not go on it after a meal coz u would end up well... you know. It gives 5 people a go so be prepared to share your moment with strangers. Just had to grab on tight so i don't end up on some strange guy's lap... in a tight speedo... Oh God...

Okay enough with the crazy imagination... The Vuvuzuela was ultimately the best ride of the day. And last.

We decided to end our Sunway Lagoon tour and head home. After all those rides ESPECIALLY the Tomahawk, I found myself seriously dehydrated and exhausted. We postponed the G-Force project to "someday" as I surely didn't want to end up throwing up my lunch. Also decided not to go the the Western theme park. (Cowboy towns and stuff) And that was the end of the day...

A free Promotion for Sunway Lagoon :)

ho ho ho...! Jadual Gaji 2014

Mark your calendars...!!! 

*Nasib baik takde yang awallll gilaaa... mcm 8 November lepas... :P

Si Kucing dari Sabah ke Semenanjung

Usually I'd post things in English, but this is an exception as the point of this blog is to be a guide for animal lovers out there who wishe to bring their beloved cat/dog/tigers from Sabah to Semenanjung.

As an example, I will tell you how I exported my little Diva, Nugget from KK to Shah Alam.

Sila mulakan urusan import/eksport ni at least 1 bulan before you travel.

This is Nugget.

STEP 1
Pastikan vaccine kucing update. Kalau nak bela kucing jangan malas and kedekut. RM30 aje pun skali vaccine. Mula2 setiap bulan (3 kali) and then setahun sekali. Make sure ada Pet Health Record yang updated dgn semua jenis vaccine.

STEP 2
Insert Microchip. Ini BUKAN GPS. Bukanlah bermakna kalau dah inject microchip boleh detect dia senang2 mcm ada GPS tag tu ala-ala animal planet punye documentary. Microchip ni untuk registerkan kucing tu milik anda. Untuk identification. Contohnya manusia ada cap jari, so kucing ada microchip. Harga utk implant dia dalam RM45. Depends on ur vet.

STEP 3 
Apply Permit IMPORT. As an example, Nugget nak dibawa dari Kota Kinabalu ke Shah Alam, so mesti apply permit import dari Shah Alam dulu. Google Jabatan Haiwan Shah Alam, dapatkan nombor contact and tanya tentang prosedur untuk apply import permit ni. My experience, orang di Jabatan Haiwan sana ada poyo sikit so kena byk bersabar. Dia akan suruh u pergi sendiri hantar semua dokumen (health record, nombor microchip, maklumat you, etc etc...) ke ofis dia.

Kalau tak boleh hantar sendiri, ask a friend. Kebetulan encik bf saya di Shah Alam so I asked his help. Postkan SEMUA dokumen berkaitan kucing and hantarkan ke Jabatan Haiwan. Jangan pos terus ke ofis because diorang pemalas and takkan tolong you.

Next, officer sana akan applykan permit tu online, u have to bayar dlm RM11 and they give you a resit. Resit ini haruslah dibawa ke KLIA (bahagian Kastam) untuk dapatkan permit tu. So dengan susah payahnya encik bf saya ke KLIA pula menguruskan hal permit import. PERMIT IMPORT VALID SATU BULAN SAHAJA.

The Import Permit.

STEP 4 
Apply Permit EXPORT pula. Pergi ke website Jabatan Haiwan Sabah DAVETSA dan register an account. Kalau pandai buat sendiri, masukkan semua detail kucing tu, termasuk nombor permit import pada link "permohonan eksport haiwan"... lebih kuranglah... And sila tunggu 3 hari. Rajinkanlah diri FOLLOW-up pada officer Jabatan haiwan Sabah tu. Kalau dah Approve, boleh ke Jabatan Haiwan Sabah, Wisma Pertanian di Jalan Maktab Gaya tu and buat pembayaran RM7. FYI, officer di jabatan tu saaaaangatttt friendly... so berbaloi la tunggu 3 hari tu. PERMIT EXPORT VALID SATU BULAN (ikut tarikh permit import).

The Export Permit

STEP 5
Medical Check up. Ini ada tricky sikit because health certificate kucing hanya VALID SEMINGGU sahaja. Tempat Check up : Jabatan Perkhidmatan Haiwan di Kepayan. (Jalan nak ke KKIA) Jadi kena adjust time check up tu supaya tak expired bila dah beli tiket balik ke semenanjung. Contohnya, kalau pergi check up 3 Disember, sijil tu hanya valid sampai 10hb Disember. So mesti fly dalam masa tu. Dah settle, bayar RM20.
*Remember, checkup & ceritificate tertakluk kepada availability doktor... 

Hanya sijil dari jabatan KERAJAAN saja yang valid untuk flight.

STEP 6 
Ok you must have 3 dokumens di tangan. (Permit import, export, health certificate) Time to fly. Pada Hari kejadian, terus ke Kaunter Check in and check in macam biasa. Stakat hari ni hanya Malaysian Airlines (MAS) sahaja yang terima kucing on board. so jangan beranganlah nak bawa naik Air Asia. Di kaunter Check in, tunjukkan semua dokumen kucing and kucing akan dicas sebagai "excess baggage". Minimum 5kg so walaupun berat Nugget+bekas hanya 3.5kg, tetap dianggap 5kg. Jadi, RM15 per kg, total RM75. Takpe. Worth it. Hantar Kucing ke "oversized baggage" and KKIA akan handle dari situ.

STEP 7
Sampai di KLIA. Selepas ambil bagasi, silalah berjalan ke KUARANTIN HAIWAN. Be warned, anda akan jadi perhatian sbb semua org curios nak tau apa ada dlm bekas tu. Kat situ plak, bayar RM15 untuk final check up. Kalau ada sakit, kucing tu kena kuarantin. Kalau sihat. Lepas. Dengan ini, Nugget adalah kucing yang pernah naik kapal terbang.

The Nugget 

That's all. Only 7 Steps to bring your beloved kitty home. Tiada alasan kecuali MALAS. Total semua RM203 sahaja. But worth it. Nugget is here everyday with me making me happy :)

Self Motivation : How to Survive in a New Workplace

Illustration by Andrew Joyner

Extracted From : Excelle's Website : Networking for the career-minded women

First day at a new workplace. in my case, AGAIN??? It was ONLY 3 pathetic years when I first reported duty in Politeknik Kota Kinabalu and today, once again I become the "new girl" in the office. So many people have been asking WHY i applied for a transfer since I was already so happy in the old polytechnic. Here's the thing... Get off my case, mind your own business! I do things for reason and I do not have to explain to everyone why, what or how.

So here's what I do in my first day : I google for survival tips. 

Everyone needs time to get settled in, find his or her place, learn the culture, speak the jargon, and know who’s who. Smile, ask lots of questions, write things down (especially names), and be patient. Understand that your new company or assignment may be very different from where you had worked before and is a world different from college life, even if you interned.

Try to understand and accept the differences. Never say, “When I was at my prior company, we did it differently.” I had one coworker who said that so often that the other employees suggested he go back to that firm. If somewhere else really did it better, slowly suggest some changes without saying where they came from and be sure they are better, not just more comfortable.
(Ok noted. Jangan gatal2 nak announce kat semua orang "dulu masa kat PKK, saya ni.. tetttttt...")

Network. Be professional. Observe. Find ways to get to know your coworkers. Join them for a coffee break. Put candy in a dish on your desk (I used to have a jar full of tootsie rolls). You’ll meet people as they stop by to have some. Attend meetings and learn how decisions are made. If there is a problem or serious issue going on, get involved.
(Hmm... I used to have chocolates and candies on my desk... So I guess it's a good idea...)

Spend time with each coworker as well as your boss to understand what they see as major challenges, strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. It will take time to win their respect so start earning it right away by listening.
(Urghh... tau tak saya ni pemalu..???)

While first impressions may be made in minutes they fade away just as easily. Impressions that last are the ones that count, and they don’t happen instantly. Those first day horrors will be something you will look back and laugh at in the years to come.
(Okay, remember Anne, you will survive. Hang in there and be strong. Be good. Be patient.)

Also, here are 10 tips to being the new girl at work as listed by http://shenow.org

1. Make the most of training
2. Take notes
3. Ask questions
4. Accept help from other people
5. Help someone
6. Prove your value
7. Use your transferable skills
8. Don’t be too hard on yourself
9. Be friendly
10. Be prepared

Okay... too long of a post. To be continued...

Cabaran baru... Politeknik baru...

Seems only yesterday I posted the previous blog. Who ever noticed it has been 6 months since? Today I "lapor diri"ed at my new Polytechnic, PUO, Ipoh Perak. Supposedly a Premier Polytechnic which I have to admit I am not ready for. Before I go all judgemental and irrasional about the new workplace, allow me to paste a picture of my new time table.

The question is... What does "BREAK" stands for? are those the only times we are allowed to take some rest? And... why is the time table up to 6.00pm???

Cabaran Semester baru... Jun 2013

Okay so 5 semester have passed since i became an educator and i'm still loving my job as is :) Sadly, there will be no semester 3 classes for next term which means new courses for me to teach... which also means preparing lecture notes and assessments all the wat from ground zero.

CC503 - Traffic Engineering
CN301 - Geo-environmental Engineering

Challenge Accepted :)