Couple

Elisabeth and Trevor had visited KL, so naturally I embraced my second chance to play host and brought them around town for a bit, taking an extra day off as well.

After a botched attempt for Nasi Lemak Bumbung (it closes on Fridays), we had Bak Kut Teh instead.  Naturally, I over-ordered and taught the two how mixed Malaysian language command can get (I conversed with the waitress/boss in a mixture of English, Mandarin and Cantonese).

The following day was the customary KL day trip.  So we hit Central Market (Pasar Seni), KLCC, did the Twin Towers Tour (more on that later), Masjid Jamek (which was already closed for visitation), Merdeka Square, and back home for a mamak dinner (Liverpool were playing that night).

Back to the tour, we had reached all the way up to the 86th floor, which was a first time for me (previously, tourists can only access the bridge at the 42nd floor).  Although covered in the gloomy aftermath of rain, KL does look pretty impressive from this elevation.

After the customary Batu Caves trip, we returned the following day to check out Aquaria, which I have been away from for so long that I forgot almost everything about the exhibit.  This segment of the rainforest biome was really aesthetically-pleasing.

Monday was more relaxed, with a night market foodscapade at SS2 before I headed back to work (they went to Cameron Highlands the following morning, followed by another week in Penang).  So we said our goodbyes, gave big hugs, and I returned to corporate reality.

That Friday, I came back to the sight of this in my room:

After a shitty end to the week at work, this made it slightly more bearable.

Here's to hoping that I can be the "hostee" whenever I do drop by Norway.

D.N.A. - Kendrick Lamar

Race

(I'm backdating this, so memory recall might not be great)

My company's Sports Club has been surprisingly active this year, churning out events every two months or so, which is nice as I get to know my colleagues better outside of work.

This time, we had set out to do a Treasure Hunt, similar to The Amazing Race, travelling across Klang to Putrajaya, KLIA 2, and ultimately Port Dickson.

So below is a snapshot of our team ("The Evil Treasure Hunters" - not my idea) at the start of the race.

From left: Me, Ryan, Ya Houy and CK

Before we starting disliking each other (jokes!)

We did rather well for a bunch of newcomers (CK excluded), as we breezed through the first half with little fuss.  The second half saw us make some errors as we were rushing to finish the race (there was a time limit with penalties for late-comers).

Ultimately, we finished third!  Plus we got to spend the weekend in PD roaming about so that was great.  

The Mewah Dairies' Teams

I had also stumbled into Bryan and Celine when we were at the PD Waterfront post-event so it was nice getting to see them after two years.  Bryan recognized me from afar from my signature(ish) beanie.  And Ya Houy was giving me stick for it earlier that day...

Islands In The Stream - 

Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers

Python

Assistant Manager: "Leaving work so soon?  Don't you still have things to do?"

Arguably, it was past official working hours, so I've little incentive to stay back on a Friday evening.

Me: "Yes, I still have work.  But I need to be in Subang in an hour's time.  So I'll see you next week!"

I made a mad dash through the locker room at work, forgetting to collect my pendant from the locker as I keyed in the GPS on my phone to Sunway University.

I was meeting up with Miss Malissa, my Sunway lecturer when I was there some four, five years ago.  

She gave me a brief tour of the new facilities, the newly relocated, refurbished and renamed Center for American Education (CAE, formerly known as American Degree Transfer Program, ADTP) as well as the impressive new library and expanded canteen before having dinner at a nearby cafe. 

Conversations ran long as we covered a vast range of topics over the three-odd hours I was there.  But a few notably stood out, of which I should:

1. Really, really try to find time to talk to transferring students about to go abroad and 
2. To strongly consider the taking up a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) position with the university.

The former is rather tricky, since the sessions are held on the weekdays (to cater to students).  But I did submit my CV to her for the latter.  If that gets me into grad school, that would be great.  I'll just need to wait and see.

Lastly, there's a NASA Hackathon happening in KLCC in some three week's time so I was invited to form a wonder-team of fresh-grad misfits.  Here's the lineup:

Chin (Machine Learning enthusiast)

Roger (Game designer)

Danny (Aeronautical engineer)

Me (wildcard, coffee-grabbing, people-managing, presenter?)

As such, I'm starting to learn Python 3x programming.  But I'm a technophobe at times so this will probably amount to nothing.  Here goes...

Send Them Off! - Bastille

Shut

He fucked up.  And it was clear to see.

A moment ago, he was cruising back home to family, football talk on the radio, hand on the wheel.  He was tired: work this week involved more running around the factory than normal.  All he sensed was the discussion on player form, and the warm lighting illuminating the highway.  He was calm, floating for a brief moment...  then it turns dark...  silence.

BANG!!  

A slamming thud sends his nerves pulsing, his eyes widen to readjust to see the roadside barrier too close to his left side.  Horror sets in, as he immediately realigns to his lane.  His heart sank into the pit of his stomach as he glanced at his now-bent side-view mirror.  Beyond that, a 20-metre drop onto a separate highway.

He can feel his face flushing now, heat spreading to the back of his ears and temple.  He fucked up, big time.

Shortly a petrol station comes up as the driver pulls over to assess his wrongdoing.  Black streaks run across the side chassis, as he pushes his mirror back in place.  No dents, but what the fuck?! he retorts.

He tries to calm down as he returns to the driver seat.  Screams drown out the radio announcement as he curses his idiocy.  He'll hold onto this secret for the time being, unsure if it'll ever see the light.

The sound of bent sheet metal would accompany his sleep for the coming weeks. 

Don't Like.1 - Kanye West, Chief Keef, Pusha T Big Sean, Jadakiss

Radioactive

Minor update from my visit to the endocrinologist, my thyroid hormone levels had not just regressed, but actually was at an all-time high (triple the normal value of a normal human).

Thus, I'm back on meds and will see the doctor a month from now to re-evaluate... aaaand explore/prepare for radioactive iodine treatment OR surgery to excise part of the thyroid gland.

I'm going through some spurts at the moment, but the procedure will be done in mid-year (I requested for it to be done post-KK hike).  Mentally I'm unaffected yet, since it's still a few months away.

I'm sure I'll feel very different then.

But if it helps me get better, I should do it.

Dessert - Dawin

Stasis

Last Tuesday, I took the day off and visited Pathlab to check my thyroid levels. Having been off medications for over six months, I needed to check on my progress.

Unfortunately, the test results indicate hyperthyroidism instead of the normal levels seen last year. Perhaps it was denial, but I forked out another payment and had me retested last Saturday (results will be out tomorrow).

Unfortunately, this morning I had another episode of muscle weakness. Not as bad as relapsing, but I had trouble lifting my legs to put on my pants. My arms were shaking as I rinsed the hand soap off. That was concerning.

So I called in "sick" for work, as I feared that my condition would be exacerbated. Four hours later, and I've regained most body strength.

Assuming I've a heap load of work to do from today's absence, I guess I'm coming in pretty early tomorrow.

But it is a terrifying feeling, having your own body turned against you. And I'm only in my mid-twenties. How long will this struggle continue? Sigh

posted from Bloggeroid

Rain

I got un-creative for the title (it's raining now).

As though I didn't learn better from past experience, I bought XCOM 2 and the DLC bundle through Humble Bundle to try out the Long War 2 mod, which overhauls most of the game mechanics, to a more realistic approach.  So here's to recreating the entire squad roster with added customization options through the Steam Workshop.  My Steam program had a minor blip earlier so it has erased my recent saved files, with the last one taking place last Saturday (which is why I'm reluctant to dive back into it right now).

Besides that, I've finished all four seasons of Samurai Jack (to prepare for Season Five's release in early March) and have just started BrainDead, part political satire, part comedy show with Mary Elizabeth Winstead (God, she's beautiful).

Finally, I (finally) begun my training for hiking KK by hiking Bukit Gasing earlier today with Pauline, her colleague, Chee Hao, Sunshine.  We're aiming to try again next week, and I'll aim to add more load to carry for this practice hike, and more importantly, be less of an idiot and not try to scale a wall and get gashes on the way back down.

I haven't seen Sunshine in some 5 years so it was a good opportunity to make up on lost time.  One of the more "serious" topics was on checking our privilege, having both been able to pursue our studies abroad, and how that realization keeps us somewhat grounded to issues that matter.  At least, that's what I'd like to think.  You can check out something similar like this.  

Oh, and work is a sack of shit so I'm not going to talk about it.  I'm taking on more and more duties and yet, we're having to deal with avoidable errors and equally dumb breakdown in communication.

Law - Yo Gotti ft. E-40