"Grass is always greener on the other side..."

"The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence"

Haha... How true! Within a week of moving to ATG, I'm already burned out from the excessive stress and pressure to meet deadlines. This is hardly the 'heaven' I thought it'd be... sigh... oh well, it is the weekend now and for once, I decided that I need a break from work!

So, here I am blogging again. Finally got some time to look thru the photos we took during the Friday nite out at Autocity. This was the first time I hang out with my colleagues from other groups. I was tentative at first, new group mar. Dunno whether will click well or not. Anyway, here are some photos taken in Soho:




Pretty gals, handsome guys, drunkards, more drunkards, making every gal's dreams come true and an interesting gift from buying a bucket of Heineken.

A dream come true... but for who?? Hahaha.... ;)

Group photo!

It was really fun! I'm really glad I decided to join that day :P Ok, time to go home... and then I realize why the bar wasn't packed: It was raining! Haha....

"You are free to go"

Yesterday, suddenly the boss came and told me, "You can start moving your things over to ATG. I will complete the paperwork soon".

..............

I was speechless...

..............

Still speechless...

Then started to think. What happened? Coz my transfer has been on and off for several months until I didn't think it would happen... and now suddenly they are saying that I can go?

Am I happy then? I'm not sure myself. Right now, a bit sad lah.... :(

I admit that I have a fear of change. We all know change is inevitable. It's like what Anakin said to his mom, Shmi, in

"But I don't want things to change."

To which his mother replied, "Oh, but you can't stop the change, anymore than you can stop the suns from setting."

How true! Some people take change in their stride, some people take a little longer to adapt. I *will* definitely be needing some time to get used to it! New place, new people, new tasks. Just have to remember that I *need* to move out of this comfort zone to save what's left of my stagnant career........

But just as Anakin thought he was ready to leave, he broke down and said, "I can't do it, mom. I just can't do it."

To which Shmi said, "Now be strong. And don't look back. Don't look back..."

"Happy Chinese New Year!"

Here's what I remember of the CNY holidays:

Karaoke, Carlsberg, Dim Sum (at 3am!), Karaoke, Carlsberg, Sunshine Bar, Carlsberg, Sunshine Bar, Carlsberg, Sunshine Bar, Chivas................. u get what I mean!

For CNY countdown, we decided to go Pure Bar. But that day Pure Bar was choking with people so we ended up counting down in the car! Finally decided to go to Red Square for karaoke, even though just went the previous day... :P

Cukup 'emotional': Everyone singing their hearts out!

First visit to Sunshine Bar, it was full but we managed to get a place, thanks to Adrienne's 'persuasion' skills :D But I agree, it's has a very nice setting (by the sea) and it's open air! Nice change from the ultra-stuffy Pure Bar ;)

This is on the 7th day of CNY, "everyone's birthday" they say. Went for loh-sang and a nice dinner by the sea...:)

Su Wei, this is why I was late on that day... my gf n I were watching the Open House celebration in Hang Tuah Mall on TV1. Hahahh..... actually, it's pretty interesting. Was planning to go there to see it, but it's so much more convenient to watch it on TV (no jam, no need to find parking, and no pushing).

Ahh, Sunshine Bar again... This was one crazy night. 2 bottles of Chivas... :S I drank too much until head spinning....... hangover kau-kau! Heh, but still I wasn't crazy enough to dance on the chair! ;) ;)

Hmm... notice that almost every pic got the 3 gals punya pictures?! Oh ya, Annie, your hair is not *that* bad la... Although I prefer the straight hair (I always prefer straight hair anyway), I think it's a nice change for u! :)

That's it! I think I'll lay-off the beer and wine for a little while first. Till the next time, CHEERS! *with a glass of water*

"Nervous Wreck!"

Today I had to give a presentation to an audience of around 50 people. My goodness! I've never really been good at giving speeches, apa lagi to so many people! I'd get so nervous, my mind would go blank, and I'd keep stuttering! (Umm... ahh.. what was I going to say??)

A few weeks earlier I had presented an earlier draft to my team mates. It was a *total* disaster... I couldn't get my message across to them, I put too many slides in my power point... In the end, you just know that it didn't work out... :(

Luckily, my team mates were kind enough to point out what went wrong (Spoke too soft, the slides are cluttered with words, too many unnecessary slides).

My gf was my worst critic... She basically said it was BORING. Too 'loh-soh'. At the end, she really fell asleep! And this happened just a night before the presentation... OMG, I'm gonna screw up, BIG TIME........ :'(

Then I checked out some websites. "Presentation skills", "How to Overcome Fear of Public Speaking". This one particular site helped me gain back some confidence:

http://lorien.ncl.ac.uk/ming/Dept/Tips/present/comms.htm

Then I went on a massive editing spree! Cut out all those words and slides and kept in mind these reassuring words:

Enjoy yourself. The audience will be on your side and want to hear what you have to say!

Guess what, it turned out okay! Many people told me I did an interesting presentation, which I take as a great compliment. The hands-on exercise that I added in at the last minute also helped keep everyone interested :)

So, here's a big thanks to you all who helped me out! CHEERS!

"MOTOTRBO and a little place called ATG"

It's no big secret that I am pushing for a move to the Advanced Technology Group (ATG) in Motorola. The "why" of it has been spoken to the death. For me, the project that I have been working on, LTD a.k.a. MOTOTRBO ended a looong time ago.

Still, while infinitely frustrating, LTD also brought me moments that I will look back with great pride. I list developing the first LTD prototype (waaay back in '03), being a core member of the first ever Matrix Digital Talk and Listen demo (in '05), going to Florida as part of Plantation LTD (in '06) and finally developing my "co-patented" algorithm: the Stochastic Slot Drifting Algorithm as the crowning achievements.

But those times are over and done with. No point basking in past glories while new adventures await! Although LTD has future projects waiting (fixing General Postponed Bugs, hahahha), that's not what I would call exciting... :(

However, ATG is a whole different story. Wow, when I heard they were evaluating the new TIC6xxx for Software Defined Radios and are working on a prototype for APCO P2 (H-DQPSK!) that when I realized "That's where I want to be!" (like the KFC advertisement! hahahhah :P)

After communicating my intention to my less-than-amused manager, I was told that after LTD has shipped, I would be given the green light to move to ATG.

Yesterday LTD finally shipped. Good, that's over with. So how about my move to ATG?

"Nothing is crystallized yet. We are still in discussions."

What?? It's been 2 months since then wor...

Sigh... Oh well, just goes to show how things are being played around here.

Well in the mean time, click on the link below to see exactly what MOTOTRBO is about...

(no, I wish I get paid for doing this, but I don't. But after working on it for close to 4 years, you do get a little sentimental)

MOTOTRBO website: http://www.motorola.com/governmentandenterprise/contentdir/en_US/Images/Microsites/mototrbo/index.html

MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. © Motorola, Inc. 2006.

"More Star Wars!"

Non-stop Star Wars!

*THOOM! THOOM! THOOM!*
What is it??


*It's the Imperial Walker!!*

*Look at the size of that thing! I placed a battery as a reference point :P*

Can fit 2 AT-AT drivers in the driving seat. As well as Darth Vader, General Veers and a Biker Scout in the compartment!

And *gasp* look at the price tag! When I first saw it in Toys R Us Gurney, my heart nearly stopped... RM499.95!! No cash in hand but I really really want it... :( Apa lagi, use credit card la....think of it as paying in installments! :P

Not only that, in Jan, another heart-attacking vehicle came out!

*The Imperial Shuttle!!* Another must-have item!!

Luckily this one is just RM249.90...*Darth Vader kneeling down to prepare for the Emperor's arrival*

Coming at the same time were these nice 'cinema scenes' packs:

Republic Commando Delta Squad (RM149.90) and Imperial Death Star Briefing Room (RM99.90).

Also I saw this irresistable bid on eBay... the ultra-cool Commando Scorch! RM50 including shipping to Penang... I like it so much that I gave it a protective clamshell to prevent dirt ;)

Oh ya... on Dec 1, Penang's new 'premier' shopping mall Queensbay, opened. I drag my colleagues there on the first day itself! Why? Coz they have a new Toys R Us! So..? So, they have new stocks! Went there at lunch time and quickly grabbed these rare items and at cost price!! Luke Skywalker in Endor Gear, Sora Bulq and the Ep V Commemorative Pack and a Titanium TIE Bomber!

There, I met a fellow collector from whom I purchased another 3 figures from his collection. His stuff wasn't that good (not well preserved) so I just grabbed these 3 from the 2002 series: Boba Fett (Kamino Escape), Count Dooku (Dark Lord) and Clone Trooper. RM30 each. Also at cost price :P

Ok... what's for Feb??