Hazman Halid

Bertakhta Di Hati

2012-03-03T09:07:00.001+08:00

Sedetik Lebih on Your Birthday

2012-02-29T13:59:00.002+08:00

You know I love you more than anything.

When You Say You Love Me

2012-02-29T13:55:00.001+08:00

A mysterious lady sent this to my Blackberry, and I responded with...

Also received today the set of photos taken in Jogjakarta last couple of weeks. I feel proud somehow wearing what represents my heritage.

My New Investment Manager

2012-02-27T20:59:00.000+08:00

I call him Adik Comot. You can call him Shahbani, and at +6011 1515 7459, if you want to buy Public Mutual too.

He helped me to calculate my past investments, transfer the funds around, reinvest bla bla bla...

I don't care. Let me think about the programming, and hire someone else to think that for me.

Irreplaceable Moment

2012-02-27T03:16:00.003+08:00

Gym

2012-02-27T03:13:00.001+08:00

Spent some time toning up. Getting huge is not the idea but flabby is a no-no.

Dance with My Father

2012-02-25T14:38:00.003+08:00

For my father, who passed Feb 1998

Beauty and the Beast

2012-02-25T01:51:00.002+08:00

How to Dress for Under RM25

2012-02-25T01:38:00.000+08:00

Bought some stuff from budget store Mydin yesterday while waiting for stuff to be fixed with the car. Red singlet RM6.90, sports trousers RM15.90. Total RM23.80.

That's like 1/30th of the green Christian Audigier worn in Pangkor, and still as comfy.

... called up a friend in Jakarta. He'd been under distress from having his wallet, laptop and the whole shebang stolen. He's ok now, with support from friends.

Singing A Thousand Years

2012-02-25T01:31:00.000+08:00

as requested for in the fan page...

Selamat Malam

2012-02-25T01:21:00.001+08:00

The Prayer

2012-02-23T12:23:00.001+08:00

Dance with My Father

2012-02-21T22:50:00.000+08:00

童话 (Fairytale) / Ombak Rindu / Hero

2012-02-21T22:44:00.001+08:00

Weekend in Jogjakarta 2 : The Temples of Prambanan

2012-02-19T21:55:00.000+08:00

Without regards to which faith one subscribes, these majestically beautiful structures beckon nothing but respect and awe. I found myself out of words when I reached the site.

Took me a while before I could say something, and it was, "wow".

Weekend in Jogjakarta

2012-02-19T20:35:00.005+08:00

An absolutely memorable weekend. Indonesia, as usual, never fails to thrill with the hospitality of her people.

And the overall cuteness all around.

I brought (by accident) this shirt. Fully realizing it was a suicidal thing to do, I decided to wear it anyways. With little surprise, I received rather cold service that night compared to the other times when I just let them assume I was a local. ;-)

Alun-Alun Kidul, a sacred site where one is supposed to take a walk of faith, blindfolded, and - with a pure heart - manage to meander in between two large trees.

Took me three tries. Had to admit, it was rather hard maintaining a clean mind with so much distraction around.. LOL!

Sipped a hot bowl of ginger concoction by the street.

Had a little studio session on the second day. Felt very excited that I was wearing Javanese costume for the first time ever.

It would take them a month to process the photos. Will publish them later into my Facebook.

but here's a couple of previews that I have stolen (they assume people would actually do that, I think, judging by that self-promoting email address at the monitor).

Then off to Cinnamon Bistro. I had put my photos on the FB and the manager saw it and invited me and my friends to come.

The manager of the place.

I had a lot of fruits while there. The one on the right, tropical fruits in a 'soup' of milk, was indescribably mouthwatering.

The steak was so good. Never in my life had I eaten two steaks in one go.

Zuhur was at this rustic little mosque near the restaurant:

Beautiful Girl

2012-02-14T16:52:00.001+08:00

A beautiful song to remind you that I love you every day.

Singlet from Cambodia

2012-02-13T10:13:00.002+08:00

Photoshoot in Subang

2012-02-13T03:07:00.000+08:00

Hazman Halid's Photoshoot 1 - Free Slideshow Maker

Training for Karangkraf Concludes

2012-02-12T15:54:00.000+08:00

The 5-day object-oriented software development training I was conducting ended yesterday. I asked them for a photo just before saying good bye and good luck with their future endeavors.

Object-Oriented Software Dev Training

2012-02-10T00:03:00.001+08:00

Heitech's Appraisal system went live this week, together with the Training Requisition system. The ERL's Goods Received / Goods Issued system was similarly completed end of January. Which means, I'm done with all the major systems I developed through 2010/11/12.

While waiting for the next thing to do, I am giving a short 5-day training on object-oriented software development (OOD and OOP) to a major publishing house here. I'm charging RM1,800 per day for this training, which is different from any standard software development training you can attend. At the end of the 5-days all the students will walk away with a set of sample codes that they can use to build their next system on their own. So my training isn't just pre-cooked theoretical material. I used the first couple of days to cover the fundamentals (inheritance, polymorphism, database access, etc.), and then move rapidly into getting their problems and showing them how these are solved.

In actual words of one of the students: "By the third day, I would usually have fallen asleep, but not in your course.".

Talking to the Moon

2012-02-02T01:44:00.001+08:00

Putrajaya

2012-01-29T18:03:00.000+08:00

Beauty and the Beast

2012-01-25T00:06:00.003+08:00

Went for Japanese today...

Medley

2012-01-24T13:52:00.002+08:00

Played a few songs during the long weekend...

My Heart Will Go On
Kisah Hati
Kiss the Rain
Sedetik Lebih

A Thousand Years

2012-01-22T14:01:00.003+08:00

A couple of friends from Indonesia visited Kuala Lumpur and passed gifts passed by my friend Ade Unay in Bogor.

In the Spirit of the Dragon

2012-01-21T02:44:00.000+08:00

Here's wishing a Happy New Year to all Chinese friends.

Another Psycho Case

2012-01-21T01:59:00.010+08:00

I don't know what it is about me at attracts so many attention seekers. This particular one on Twitter got upset after his attempt at giving really strange advice: "if you're not careful with those grey contact lenses, they can make you go blind." was unheeded.

First off, he's not even a medical practitioner - or has the professionalism to dispense advice objectively, as shown above. Secondly, I'm sorry, who the hell are you again?

And thirdly - and most importantly - was that advice even sincere at all? I don't think so, judging from all the swearing that came with it.

I responded aptly with an F word too. It's fair.

Unplanned Television Interview

2012-01-17T22:46:00.001+08:00

Spent the day doing the finishing touches before user testing Thursday. And just as I was leaving to return home, some TV crew called and wanted to do a short interview about technology.

So I turned back the car and waited for them to arrive with all their equipment.

It will air next month. Exact time and date still unknown.

Grey Lenses

2012-01-17T17:09:00.002+08:00

... just for fun. Busy like crazy these past few weeks finishing the ERL system and regardless of the work pressure, keeping healthy and happy remains important.

*Other than lighting adjustment, and occasionally mending the accidental appearance of nostril hair which is my big problem (I have a special battery-operated trimmer for scraping inside the nose, LOL), I do not photoshop or otherwise edit my photos.

But of course I clean my face first.

Why I Disabled Commenting in this Blog

2012-01-17T09:06:00.000+08:00

Two short answers to that:

This blog is personal in nature. I want to do what my heart tells me, uninfluenced by what others say, whether it's praises or the opposite.
Because I'm already strapped for time to read and answer the comments in the fan page, in youtube; if I opened this blog for commenting, I would just add another place to read and reply, which I wouldn't be able to accommodate

So there :-D

Watched Keramat

2012-01-17T08:47:00.001+08:00

Long day at work, and night too for that matter. System UAT scheduled tomorrow. Took a break every now and then. Keramat - the movie I watched - had quite a few "Boo!" surprises, but in the end it did not leave any lasting impression.

Except for that eye candy ;-)

Photoshoot with Petronas

2012-01-14T14:45:00.001+08:00

Had a commercial photoshoot today for the Petronas Science Centre in KLCC. it was for some kind of print ads, I think. Or maybe banners.

Pulangkan

2012-01-13T18:47:00.001+08:00

Buying School Bags

2012-01-12T00:07:00.008+08:00

Went out tonight buying school bags for the kids.

Which brings me to something. Always give your children the best of your love and the best happiness you can afford. No I don't mean to spoil them into brats. I mean, be there when they need you, but don go breathing behind their necks. Respect their privacy and treat them like responsible young adults, and they will react in the same way.

... which brings me to a recent case where both my personal and fan page on Facebook were attacked by a 13-year old boy from Indonesia. He originally asked me to add him up. After thinking a few times, I did. And since then, my inbox was flooded with messages. Also my phone - which fortunately is a spare phone that none of my associates and friends use. It kept beeping with SMSes from this boy, who pressed for an answer to his messages.

One message? No. Two? No. Many, many many many messages: Thankfully they all go into my cheap phone's 'blocked messages':

The attention-seeking behavior was disturbing, so after several warnings, I eventually blocked him up. That was before I found out he had been adding up my friends and doing the same to them - flooding them with messages and questions of stalking nature, that are not proper for a 13-year old to ask.

I wrote this status in my Facebook after learning he had been adding and bugging my friends, and explaining why having him in my friend list was not a suitable choice. For him, as well as for me:

After being blocked, his SMS basically read, "hey my father can afford all the international SMS charges, and I'm a straight A student in school." Yea, right. My kids, who are the real straight A students - Nuri and Ahmad - aren't 24/7 on FB and Twitter. They actually have lives.

... and posted a reaction:

No, kiddo, you may Tweet, FB and spend as much time online as your father - who is clearly absent from your life - allows you. But you're a child. You responsibility is to spend time studying, not hunting for a father figure, especially from online strangers like me. That responsibility lies on the man from whose balls you have come into this world.

To keep things short, one of my friends attempted to give some motherly love to this boy and slow-talked with him. I was like, "well up to you if you want to trouble yourself". And 3 hours later, I was right. She came right back saying she too had blocked the boy after he started abusing her with vulgarity. This friend of mine, by the way, has just been diagnosed of cancer.

I grew really upset over this. I programmed my computer to bombard the boy's phone with repeated phone calls to render it temporarily unusable. Then he started sending SMS with his mom's phone (I knew because when I called back, a woman answered).

And he tried contacting me with a fake FB profile, writing in fake Malay and claiming to be from Petaling Jaya... which was the exact thing he had written before when he asked me to approve his add. I could tell within a second it was him because this one sounded exactly like him - with the same approach as before (the laughable "I'm from Petaling Jaya") and the same linguistic mistakes ("juge", wrong placement of "I").

He tried hard. But how real can an Indonesian sound trying to fake it?

There is something in these messages that concerns me a lot. When it was first sent last august, I didn't know it was from this boy. Now that I do, it confirmed my suspicion from the start.. In the hands of a pedophile, this boy would be in deep shit real quick.

Accepting friendship from kids so young is a risky business. More so if the kid is too mature for his age. You scar his emotion, and he can easily cry wolf and point his finger at you in front of his guardians. Or, worse, the legal authority. I would hate to quote what has happened recently in our country's political arena. Or what had happened to the late Michael Jackson.

Yet, he would stop at nothing to try to get my attention, even if it did not make any sense at all:

Used his mom's phone, and then claimed victory in his FB. (Huh?)

... then ganged up to bombard the fan page with his school friends ...

My whole point about all this is this:

Love your children adequately, before they turn into obsessive attention-seeking, love-seeking trolls on Facebook. Sooner or later, some psychotic adult might catch them.

Especially with such provocative Tweets like this: Oh yes, he's on Twitter too. I wonder when the boy takes a shower.

Lelaki Ini

2012-01-09T07:47:00.002+08:00

Lelaki Ini yang selalu mencinta diri mu....

Went Shopping

2012-01-08T21:49:00.003+08:00

I like this dark blue shirt from Raoul. It has a cute little collar with flowers on.

and it goes nicely with the jacket from Uniqlo I got earlier, a casual ensemble to wear.

Cinta Harus Memiliki

2012-01-06T12:23:00.002+08:00

... I like this song.

So much that I made a full arrangement of it...

On New Year's Day

2012-01-01T12:59:00.000+08:00

One More Time

2011-12-28T23:20:00.002+08:00

Nothing I must do

Nowhere I should be

No one in my life

To answer to but me

No more candlelight

No more purple skies

No one to be near

As my heart slowly dies

If I could hold you one more time

like in the days when you where mine

I'd look at you 'till I was blind

So you would stay

Busy day at the office today, with the new urgent project, and taking some new changes in the completed system.

This will easily keep me busy as a bee for another month at least.

Hujan

2011-12-28T02:00:00.000+08:00

Had just finished programming at the office when Nuri called all of a sudden. Like any teenage girl already in her own world, she almost never calls my phone, so when she did, I knew she had something to say.

"Papa, I feel sick."

"How bad is it?"

"Well... I feel like sh*t".

That said it all. Closed the laptop, rushed home and picked her up. Ahmad was made to come along by his sister (he charged an ice cream after that for his time - nothing comes free with my scheming little devil of a boy).

We drove around to the clinic where her mom usually takes her. No parking spot in sight, and besides it was full with patients. There were other clinics, the only problem was trying to find a parking lot at 3 am in the middle of Subang Jaya where parking time has to be restricted to an hour per coin deposit

And then a lightbulb flashed in my head. Earlier in the morning, my mother casually mentioned that she had sent the maid to a clinic inside the mosque behind our house. It's like a community clinic for the mild sickness. And because it's run by (I assume to be) volunteer doctors, it's dirt cheap.

A typical visit to any clinic around here costs RM50, by the way, for which you get a course of panadol, piriton, amoxycillin .. pretty much budget-priced medication. (Still much cheaper than the US$450 I was charged in Boston for visiting a doctor with terrible flu, and just to be told to go home because there was no "bacterial infection").

So we tried going there. It surprised me that nobody -- nobody -- was ahead of us in line. In many other places, anything cheap would draw people from all corners. Not in Subang Jaya, home of the affluent and fashionable. I remarked the other day how I was able to have dinner in a KFC (considered cheap food), in a virtually empty restaurant, when all the other high-end outlets in the Subang Parade mall were jam-packed with diners.

Doctor was a friendly lady, who immediately recognized my daughter because she knew the grandma. The whole thing was quick, and the total bill came to RM10. That's as little as one-fifths of the other clinics within a 500m radius. And no parking hassles.

I asked my daughter to drop an additional RM10 into the donation box, then I went inside the mosque because the zuhur time had almost run out.

May God bless the people who run this clinic.

Sometimes When We Touch

2011-12-27T14:30:00.000+08:00

Spent Christmas and the extended weekend building the new project... and one of the features I really liked was programming this feature that automatically pastes data that has been copied straight from Excel, into the web page. I love things like this, things that add a lot of value in usability but not too much of a headache to code.

New Project

2011-12-24T04:22:00.001+08:00

It happened much earlier than I thought it would.

Got into a new project, a short one in duration but no less complicated in programming, trying to cramp the logic of 8 screens into reusable classes and user controls so that I can reduce it all to just 4 and fit into the kamikaze timeline.

But I can do this. I've never failed to deliver and the client counts on this.

Did my work into the late evening...

... and when the mind was oversaturated with code, went down to the pasar malam for a much-needed bowl of laksa.

By this time, they've already recognized me. LOL.

Nuri Gets 8 A's in PMR

2011-12-22T12:35:00.002+08:00

Oh my God, I am crazily happy with all my kids' achievements this year. 5A's for Ahmad, 8A's for Nuri. I am so frickin' happy they are getting somewhere!

Anees was tired and sleeping...

We went to tapau some pizza home...

... the boy insisted on pepperonni, which he could not wait to take home.

Congratulatory messages poured in fan page, and in the FB. I just want to say, "Thanks!" :-) :-)

2011 Zakat

2011-12-21T15:54:00.001+08:00

Paying less this year than what I paid last year. But it is enough and I hope next year will bring in a new project for me to do.

Everytime I Look at You

2011-12-21T08:30:00.001+08:00

... I see nothing but all your beauty that glimmers from inside.

New Jackets

2011-12-20T23:44:00.001+08:00

One for me and one for the boy.

Second Project Passes User Tests

2011-12-20T09:21:00.004+08:00

All I can say is this...

... and thus ends my year and a half engagement with the team in this project. It has absolutely been an honor to serve them, Taking two months of break, or shorter, in case a project becomes available from the same company.

It has been quite a ride, with the second project especially.

But I really hope there will be another one, because I love this place and despite all its inherent chaos, it was a great place to work.

Went out for a movie later in the evening.... Ghost Protocol.

It was nice to have some private space :-D

Present for Shariena

2011-12-19T03:12:00.001+08:00

Her surgery has yet again been delayed by the doctor, by more than a week this time around. I could imagine the agony of waiting for something you wish would simply pass. So it was my duty to keep the dear sweetie a little motivated.

We snapped some pics.

More Than Everything

2011-12-18T06:51:00.001+08:00

Embok has been with us from the days Nuri, the eldest, was an infant. She's seen pretty much everything that I've been through long before blogs were even invented.

Embok had flown back to Jakarta for a month to meet her family. We waited for her at the airport yesterday. We could not find her because her phone had been swiped while she was back there.

Almost an hour later, the girls spotted her.

... and what else is there to be said about the lady that treats my children as her own flesh and blood?

Didn't We Almost Have It All

2011-12-18T02:28:00.005+08:00

Almost. About one-inch almost.

Then I lost you, to reality.

The Most Important People in Our Lives

2011-12-17T13:22:00.002+08:00

... are the kids. Remember this always.

Thanks Everyone!

2011-12-17T12:28:00.002+08:00

Fan count reaches 160,000 this morning in Facebook.

Number 1 in the national pop chart of Reverbnation.

and climbed up to number 6 in the overall chart along with some real artists (I consider myself an engineer, not an artist).

Breakdown by country:

Untuk Kamu

2011-12-16T10:48:00.001+08:00

Played this song two days ago just before going to work. I really like it...

Di Persimpangan Dilema

2011-12-13T13:16:00.001+08:00

Work contract got extended through the next two months for retention, accepting a reduced salary until a project is available (and I hope there will be one before the extension ends).

Not many companies will actually be willing to pay for bench periods like this to contractors. They are the best. I won't mind getting less pay and living frugally for a while.

Untuk Kamu

2011-12-12T11:29:00.002+08:00

What has happened to Elly? I wonder...

Ombak Rindu - Piano Solo

2011-12-06T19:49:00.001+08:00

Got back from work and needed a piano therapy.

Back from Office

2011-12-06T17:23:00.001+08:00

Tomorrow is the big day for our second -and final - system delivery.. the user acceptance test. And I hope everything will sail smoothly like the previous one.

The past few days have been quite exhausting. But I know, months from today I will be looking back and smile.

Ombak Rindu (Piano & Strings)

2011-12-04T04:18:00.001+08:00

I finished what I started - a rearrangement of this song with strings and guitar.
.

Ombak Rindu - Piano Solo

2011-12-03T17:45:00.000+08:00

When a movie reflects your reality...

KFC

2011-12-02T21:23:00.001+08:00

My kids have a father. It is what's important. :-)

Ahmad's UPSR Present

2011-11-25T20:27:00.000+08:00

Ahmad receives some cash prize for getting 5A's.

We bought a little something for him, but the rest is to be saved for his future education.

We divided the prize equally with the sisters... happiness is meant to be shared.

Ahmad and Me

2011-11-21T14:15:00.000+08:00

He is growing bigger.

B&W Photos

2011-11-21T01:12:00.002+08:00

Pavilion

2011-11-20T18:12:00.000+08:00

Lunch with Shariena

2011-11-19T16:43:00.000+08:00

Ahmad Gets 5A's

2011-11-17T21:03:00.001+08:00

My big boy gets 5A's for UPSR.

Masjid Sultan Ahmad Shah I, Kuantan

2011-11-13T07:27:00.002+08:00

Spent zuhur there amidst a blazing hot day outside. Beautiful white and blue theme inside.

Espikay Hotel Kuantan

2011-11-13T07:19:00.001+08:00

I found a cosy and relatively cheap (just under RM100 nett) hotel that does not even have an internet presence to speak of. But it is almost brand new and is *the* place to stay if your travel budget is as shoestring as mine. For ultimate lavishness, go to the Zenith instead.

A : See Details(Google Map)

A Weekend in Kuantan

2011-11-13T07:13:00.001+08:00

Got a free ticket to Kuantan from a friend who works at a local bank here. Well, not exactly free, Firefly does quietly slip in RM72 of 'administrative charges', which is still fine by me anyway. I just rode my motorbike to the airport 20 minutes away from home, got caught in a heavy storm along the way, dried myself up at the toilet and brought a plastic bagful of drenched outfit into the cabin.

Starbucks Party

2011-11-13T07:07:00.001+08:00

Got exclusively invited there, along with a mob of 5 gazillion people, I should fairly add. Nice time to meet with friends though.

Ahmad's School Registration

2011-11-11T10:55:00.001+08:00

I let him do all the talking and filling. He's a big man now.

Endless Love

2011-11-08T23:48:00.002+08:00

DVD Sweepstakes, November 2011

2011-11-07T12:59:00.001+08:00

Win my limited edition piano DVD! Just click here http://www.facebook.com/hazhalid?sk=app_165675160160302 and enter your details. Be sure to click the Invite button after that and tell your friends about it.

Contest ends 30 November 2011 (selected countries only)

The fan base has climbed to 144,000 anyway, thanks for your support from all over the world, from the bottom of my heart.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha

2011-11-06T14:07:00.001+08:00

Ready made rendang and lemang saved the day for me. LOL. Still, it was a very nice meal to have with my mother, and that's what counted.

Fan Page Reaches 140,000

2011-11-02T01:56:00.004+08:00

The fan page has been growing steadily with support from fans from all over the world. Yesterday morning, the fan count hit 140,000.

As I never fail to do, I thank all the fans for their support.

Ahmad Wins Award

2011-11-01T02:35:00.001+08:00

It's one of those proud moments when you truly feel your kids have grown the way you had hoped they would. My son gets a trophy from his school. The teachers think he is examplary in a way or two.

Shah Alam Mosque

2011-10-30T22:08:00.001+08:00

Photos of its serene ambience captured as I went to do my Zuhur there today.

Amazon.Com Carries My First Single

2011-10-21T03:33:00.001+08:00

My single, Lonely Tears has been released internationally through Amazon.com and Simfy.de

Please give your support for my future compositions by purchasing a copy

1. Worldwide - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005TRTZRS
2. Japan - http://www.amazon.co.jp/Lonely-Tears/dp/B005TRMWXM
3. Germany, France and the Netherlands - http://www.simfy.de/artists/1371950-Hazman-Halid

Buying New Shirts

2011-10-20T21:41:00.001+08:00

Shirts selling cheap at the FOS shop. The fabric is soft and good.

I did not take the Mickey Mouse nor the hamburger one though.

Then it was time for ice cream, coffee and a donut.

And a new mouse that can be stored flat in my equally flat laptop bag.

And an HD cam, also on sale for two weeks,

Then gym...

Working on the Second System

2011-10-18T11:14:00.001+08:00

Now that the first one has been successfully implemented last week, it is time to get busy again with our second - and last - system before my 18 month contract expires this December.

I wrote out the tasks on the whiteboard. It looked worse than a prescription.

Blog Mention

2011-10-18T11:11:00.001+08:00

http://setitisdakwat-luvlyriena.blogspot.com/2011/10/siapakah-gerangan-jejaka-ini.html?spref=fb

Friday Prayer and Lunch

2011-10-14T14:46:00.001+08:00

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

Blog Mention - Hafizuddin Jasmi

2011-10-13T03:23:00.001+08:00

http://apaijas.blogspot.com/2011/10/hazman-halid-keyboardist-engineer.html

Thank you :-)

Maghrib in Kelana Jaya

2011-10-12T00:30:00.001+08:00

Had yong tau foo in the Giant mall, then maghrib at the nearby mosque next to the notoriously infamous lake.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

First System Completed

2011-10-10T07:08:00.001+08:00

All in all, our 10 month project got delayed by 10 days, mostly due to the server hiccups. But wow I am really happy we fixed all 60 defects and enhancements the users found during testing, in just a little over a week.

We've got a pass from the UAT :) :)

My First Single

2011-10-03T16:57:00.001+08:00

I composed this song myself and am very excited about it! I hope for this to be a good start of releasing my album in the near future.

http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/song_10454098

It is available for download now from my Reverbnation store for $0.99:

http://www.reverbnation.com/store/artist_1202177

It will be gradually released in online stores worldwide through the next few weeks.

Downtown Office

2011-09-30T14:14:00.001+08:00

Worked at the Kuala Lumpur office this morning, a good hour away from my place.

A : See Details(Google Map)

User Testing on Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

2011-09-29T11:16:00.001+08:00

Although totally unplanned, our software works on the Tab too! But with some odd glitches when it comes to the AJAX popup calendar control.

One Hell of a Crazy Day

2011-09-29T11:09:00.001+08:00

Najib and I had one of those days, yesterday. And it had nothing to do with how complex our software is. Just one particularly demanding person...

Had chicken rice for lunch...

And simple rice with canned sardines for dinner...

The kids were busy with the computers back home.

Lunch in Yemenese Restaurant

2011-09-27T21:36:00.001+08:00

A new middle-eastern restaurant opened behind our office.

The day, otherwise had been super hectic with user acceptance test still underway and the server failing every now and then, sending Najib, the boss and especially me into frenzy.

User Acceptance Test 3

2011-09-27T00:07:00.001+08:00

The morning was totally screwed by the web server deciding to go down all of a sudden. If I were a pilot, it would be akin to getting an urgent nature's call just before you must take off. Or something.

Glad the later half of the day was productive though.

Out for Supper

2011-09-27T00:01:00.001+08:00

There isn't much that I can write in this entry. Some things best remain in containment. :) all I want to say is, I was happy beyond words.

Work Hard, Play Hard

2011-09-25T13:14:00.001+08:00

Gym last night, then to the movies. Johnny English was enjoyable.

Kursani Hari Raya Buffet

2011-09-25T13:12:00.001+08:00

Found some time to go to to Kursani yesterday for a good body massage, and was pleasantly surprised to find a nice buffet waiting...

Canon in D Major, with Score

2011-09-24T03:07:00.001+08:00

Played and transcribed by Hazman Halid

Shopping Time

2011-09-23T19:18:00.001+08:00

Whenever I buy any item of clothing these days, I keep one thing in mind - that whatever I buy and wear will only be mine for two weeks tops. After that, my son Ahmad raids my wardrobe and anything he fancies becomes shared property.

Actually, 'shared' is stretching the word too far. It's literally his. And he knows papa will not mind it. So I try to think about what might fit my son when picking something for myself.

Like this body-fit striped tee, it definitely isn't what he will even consider myself wearing.

Not this either.

This hoodie is a definite yes. I am certain it will be gone as soon as my son sets his eyes on it.

So the hoodie it is. For both of us.

Code Fixes

2011-09-23T18:00:00.001+08:00

Found out the SAP connection was still behaving erratically, so I dropped by the office and implemented some safety nets in the code. Will have to upload and try tomorrow.

A : See Details(Google Map)

Haircut and 7-Eleven Incident

2011-09-23T15:56:00.001+08:00

Took my son out for a haircut today... I needed to get a proper shave too. It was a great day, despite being extraordinarily hot after days of heavy rain.

Then the boy wanted a drink. We dropped into the 7-Eleven next door. A Slurpee for each of us sounded like a good idea. So anyway, while squeezing the lever on that Slurpee dispenser, some of it got onto my hands, which made them sticky. No choice, I had to grab a small bottle of water and use it to wash my hands before touching anything else.

Since I hadn't paid for any of them, and didn't want to be caught shoplifting, I quickly signaled the cashier, someone's whose age indicated that he either belonged to his kids' home playing mahjong or the cemetary, whichever. I swiftly went just outside the door and poured it.

Stepped back inside, ready to pay. The guy was mad. "You should wash further away, you made my shop dirty." It surprised me. Old man, first of all it wasn't your shop. It was a Seven Eleven. Secondly, cut the drama, it was just water and not more than 200ml of it. In a climate as hot as hell, that kind of mess, if that's what you want to call it, would be gone in a jiffy.

So I told him, "it will dry, right?"

"You made my shop dirty."

Gawd, talk about being petty! Allright, I said I was sorry, and he repeated that line. I rephrased my word, and said I apologized. But I was really pissed because the intonation that he used over such trivial shit amplified it to a crime. I told him, do not scream next time. And he went back to the dirtying my shop whine. At which point I truly exploded, and blasted him with a piece of my mind.

What the hell was it really? Guy woke up on the wrong side of the pillow? Guy thought he was working for a five-star establishment when in reality just dispensing rubber and lube in the middle of the night? Wake up! Or he just frickin' needed to retire, and save himself from further aggravation. Where were his kids anyway? If I were them, I wouldn't even think of letting my father sell condoms.

It isn't that I do not respect the elderly. In some Asian cultures, filial piety goes so deep that the elders are allowed to behave like everyone else are dumb kids. Trouble is, you caught the wrong man.

Time for Haircut

2011-09-22T17:33:00.001+08:00

Am not particular with the styling, but I think I want it short and fierce this time so the salesladies and cleaner ladies can stop calling me 'Adik' out of sheer innocent ignorance.

Really.

A short gap in work pressure took me downtown today.

Got a protector for the new laptop.

And a lovely cone of handmade durian ice cream.