Philip Khor

This weekend is gonna be mad.

Across the weekend, the whole family will be at Kampar for my bro’s in-law’s wedding ceremony. Swiftly after that, it’s a quick stop in Penang for the foodie and then boarding a little ship for a one night cruise. Not sure what the fuss is, but there are gambling tables and other “entertainment” abroad. I guess I need a getaway after working non stop for close to 4 months straight without any holiday.

AS 2012 draws near, my colleagues and I get to chart out our annual leave. The only two Chinese in the group *should* get the full 2 weeks of CNY holidays. Then I’m thinking monthly one day leaves from March – year end to enable me to visit my hometown Bukit Mertajam.

I keep telling myself that planning ahead is great, but let’s just take one day at a time. Starting with, today’s Biggest Loser Competition final weight in! I started at 95 kg, dancing around the the low 90s, and I hope I end with.. 90.0 kg. Tough ask, but dreams don’t turn to dust! =P Some say I look slimmer. Problem is, the mass just got shifted, some to the muscles, mostly to the thighs, but strictly speaking my weight did not disappear. It took a different shape or form!

Lastly, as we look around the world today we see problems. The Greek and the other PIGS in europe have the financial crises. 1/5th the world have food and sanitation problems. Many have job problems due to emerging economies and outsourcing, or simply the crash of a particular industry. Steve said “As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. don’t settle.” It is a bit hard to swallow and digest in these times of, great depression of sorts. And not to mention, mother nature is hitting us hard, subtly! Look at the weather and the adverse effect on us. Thai flooding means higher rice prices and hard disk and car prices (haha!) The jolting of crusty the Earth crust, means a chain reaction of uncertainty. Either people get sick of the temperatures, or sick worrying!

So how has your 2011 been?

Aidilfitri is on Tuesday — but my manager has left and will be gone for 2 weeks. 3 of my colleagues will take turns to Raya — as the 7 or 8 of us tackle day-to-day tasks as the world continues to operate.

This Raya I’ll be watching the TV Series FRIENDS. It consist of 10 seasons full of life lessons, and pop culture of the 90s. Thing were so different back then, although some practices and culture remains til today — backstabbing, sitting in coffee houses (ala Starbucks), friends moving on to “more than just friends”, and the likes!

Home cooked dinner tonight — something to look fwd to. And Queens Park Rangers playing tonight at Wigan. The team seems like a Malaysian team where Malaysians come together to support.

Over the past 3 days, I had splitting headache. Thank God it’s almost over.

It is almost September, last 1/3 of the year. Moving to the holiday season is epiiic =)

Need some exercise now — and the first step in accomplishing almost ANYTHING, is to get my ass off the bed! Ciao!

“There’s Nothing Else I can do Now”

…

It could go downhill from here — but we’ll have to wait til end of business on Friday to find out the extent of the damage. My brain thinks it is reversible, but the gut feeling is… full blown investigation, finger pointing, lecturing, and the works!

There really is nothing else I can do now.

update: found a TED video a friend shared: on.ted.com/9XXg

Totally relates to my situation today!

Friday Update: Haha! It wasn’t as bad as i feared. My mistake was totally unnoticeable.

I guess fear is self infused – :) all is well and will be enjoying my Friday night peacefully !! Whee.

No. 5 – Why do men go to the gym? If they really wanna “work out” they’ll go to the serious small scale ones like Push More where they give intensive training ala millitary style! Guys who throng Celebrity Fitness, Fitness First only have one objective in mind ;)

ANYWAYYY… on the treadmill. Warming up at 3 kph.. a buff dude came next to me. iPod plugged in. I started jogging 7 kph. He matched me. With both of us being fat, there was a loud *thump* thump * thump * sound as we jogged. The race WAS ON!!!

10 minutes in, we both break a bit. I glanced over. He = 1.0km Me = 1.2 km…. ok, quick water break.. THUMP THUMP THUMP again.

Then he cooled off.. glanced over.. he? 18 minutes, wan tan. I did my full 20 minutes! AHHH… satisfaction to beat another dude in the gym! Seldom this happens, weih…

No. 4 – Dance class with the Brazillian “new daddy” Luciano was epic. The crowd at Subang Parade was nice. Very friendly, we had a good time doing Hip Hop!

No. 3 – Pork Mee SS15. Still as “lan si pa pai” as ever, but tastes as good. Maybe another bowl next week, mmm??

No. 2 – My cough subsided. Although intermittent but it is very much better now :) Praise GOD!!!

No. 1 – At the end of the Barclay Premier League weekend of 6th March, the standings are:

MANCHESTER UNITED – 1st – 60 pts

LIVERPOOL – 6th – 42 pts

And that’s that :D

Have a GREAT GREAT week of 7 – 13 March peeps!

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60 days has came and past, and we’re into the testing month of March. January was to recover from the December holidays, and February was mostly dominated with CNY celebrations. March is where I plan to “pedal to the metal, foot on the floor” my life.

With my first month pro-rated salary safely in my proverbial pockets, I am very contented at HSBC. The hours are a little odd, 2-11pm shifts mostly but the people there are supportive, helpful and friendly. Looking forward to a company dinner end of this month, as well as training to be reunited with my batch of 30 odd friends from the same induction class.

Last month, I planned to join renren.com, the China facebook. I somehow managed to enter my name, select the right gender (fingers crossed) but stumbled on the CAPTCHA. I once came close by identifying the 3 character’s pin yin, but that wasn’t enough~!

At 4am this morning, I caught the Man United game vs Chelsea. It was a disappointing defeat, but as the boss said (Sir Alex) the performance was brilliant, the referee wasn’t good. But I believe it’s a pre-arrangement between the Clubs. Say, if we draw two games (the Old Trafford encounter in May) with CHELSEA, then we go home with 2 points each. But if we let each other win our home games, we walk away with 3 points each. A draw is, suicidal for both clubs. MAN UTD chalked up 9 this season. It’s not really9 points gained, rather 18 points lost!

I will take a block of leave 13-22 July. And a short weekend at end of April.

Survivor and Amazing Race is back. And it’s good. And those two are the only ones I’m following right now. Any suggestions?

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Here are some general Chinese New Year 2011 observations I made. Really good food for thought!

1. Angpow collection is my lifetime best. Outside of family, RM 10 is the “standard price” nowadays. Gone are the days of RM 2, RM 4 and such! That also means friend’s weddings no longer is RM 100, but maybe RM 200 at a good hotel? Ouch!

2. People are more opinionated.

3. Voices are raised as the annoying CNY songs play on the TV in the background. Question: Why not shut it off?!!?

4. I wonder what is the cut off age for receiving angpow? I mean, after say, 25 yrs, we would be shy to collect as we are expected to marry and be handing out and giving angpows to kids? Yea?

5. Common dishes we need to have for “Reunion dinner”: Salted vege duck soup, Jiu Hu Char (available at Little Penang Cafe) & lotsa PORK!

6. To prevent family conflict, try scheduling for good “nasi kandar” or exotic foreign cruisine on Day 3 of CNY. I mean, after the CNY celebrations with close friends and family on the first two days, naturally you’re gonna go out for some outside food yourself. Unfortunately, all Chinese Shops are closed. There are a few “sell-outs” ahem, BM YAM RICE!! :D But get ready some good food options.

7. Cameras. Please. We can’t smile for 2 full minutes as everyone wants the group shots on so many different cameras. We need an assigned photographer who is responsible for the family photos who will e-mail to everyone. I guess the problem in wealthier families, is, whether it’s the Nikon D90 of third uncle or the RM20k canon XXX SLR camera of forth aunt!! Le Sigh~

8. Surprisingly though, video is not that popular despite YouTube reportedly archives 24 hours of content every single minute!

9. Weather in Penang is heavenly. Sorry for the guys in the other areas having flooding issues.

10. It’s near impossible to snatch the TV viewing rights from kids :P If they want their Barney, they will get their Barney!!!

We had 14 people at our peak:

Dad (Peter Khor), me (Philip Khor), bro & wife (Alex & Pauline) + kids (Samuel+Daniel) + maid (Joyce), sister & husband (Joy & Peter), sister 2 & husband (Olivia & Anthony) + kids (Gabriel+Joshua) + maid (Maria)

It was memorable.

Day 4, Year 2011 in the year of our Lord

5,760 minutes has elapsed into this new decade, this new 2011!

Saturday and Sunday were a typical weekend. Nothing much to say other than a great time serving with Living Vessels (LV) Dew Crew for Media duties. This weekend I’ll be “on” again with Julia’s team (@qver). New faces, new styles of handling things. Exciting indeed.

Taxi to church costed RM 18. Painful? Yes, but it’s a small price for getting free accommodation at sister’s place! Owning a car will eventually add up to sometime similar on per trip basis! Let’s get a job first before thinking about house and car.. :P

Exploration

I explored a part of KL I haven’t really been to. The Jalan Ipoh area, Chow Kit, PTWC and beyond is quite a bustling area. Mostly foreign workers, but a nice huge bunch of seniors as well. I learnt a few things: Humans aren’t so selfish after all. I see a foreign dude helping his fellow countrymen to handle the paces of Kuala Lumpur. Tens of busses ply by every few minutes, as a mini-community form from within the commuters. Situation is similar to Puduraya / Pasar Seni / Masjid Jamek area. Once a while, you see a local college freshie pass by with the “Golden ticket” from a famous employer! ;) While a few blocks away, a plethora of wandering foreigners dart here and there looking for a job opportunity.

I guess my point is, we really gotta explore K.L. in depth to see the things that we seldom see.

Through my 5 years in Subang Jaya, PJ area, OUG, KL City, all I see is one thing, the same thing. My judgement tend to be one-dimensional, concentrating on the top 95% of the wealthy society.  Bring out a map, and travel the road less traveled, and you’ll be amazed.

Sunday night balik Penang! Thursday 13th balik K.L. lagi!

“Presenting everyone MATURE in Christ” Colossians 1:28

Three things:

1. Check this out [SS2 Wai Sek Kai pork burger stall]. When Ninja Joe first opened in Tropicana City Mall, everyone (of my friends) flocked to the outlet and sung high praises. Later, Sid’s Pub Pork Burger was touted as of better quality (but of higher price).

2. Why is it so appealing? Pork. Our Muslim friends are barred from enjoying this delicacy. Is that why we like pork so much? Yang Wei once said, “We feel good if others can’t have it.” Of course he was referring to the other oddities in life, and yes I’m misusing his quote.

3. Competitive advantage. If you think your product is so special and no one has done it before, chances are: People have done it before, and failed miserably. Or, the barrier to entry is so easy that your competitors can easily set up a store next to your turf and offer something more for less. Your competitive advantage is mostly very fragile. Marketing Strategy 101.

Last night at the Celebrity Fitness, Subang Jaya branch at around 9pm, I danced with a nice girl Valarie who was Chinese but dark skinned. She was a good dancer. The first thing was the race issue. “What race are you?” I explained both my parents are Chinese. The next words that was uttered from her mouth were: “Dim Kai Kum Hak?” That immediate wiped the smile off my face; and spiraled me down to a week long depression :(

Video Music Award 2010, and Lady Gaga does this:

We all know Owl City did this like.. last YEAR??!?!

At about 6:30 mark [Youtube]

On the VMA, no surprises that Eminem, Lady Gaga were the big winners. Kudos to my favourite peeps!

Looking forward to watching the show later ;) and hearing snippets da of new song.

New iPod Touches?

By 2nd September, Thursday, our mouths will be drooling and frothing for yet another Apple product. This time round, it probably will be refreshed iPods. The Touch with FaceTime will take center stage. Potentially it can do VOIP via Skype, so essentially it is a dumbed down iPhone 4

Dinner

Yesterday whilst having dinner with a bunch of college kids (heh, I feel so old) I saw how culture has changed. Got to the restaurant, sat on the table and everybody whipped out their smart phone. Small bursts of conversation still goes on, and laughter aplenty. But the main center of attention is all about their iPhones and Nokias and Touches.

No longer is there eye contact. Maybe briefly, but much of the conversation is filled with “huhs?” because they were engrossed with the gadgets. It’s funny how we make a point to meet up but spend time more on the clickety-clack of the keypads.

Getting Married?

In cell group, I had too much laughter. The charades 2.0 game was awsm and the lesson that day was how to look good, presentable, and how to give a good first impression. Now, that is some practical advise! And I have a sense the cell is pushing for members to get married asap. Cuz, if not, it would be an “unhealthy relationship”. THEY DIDN’T SAY THAT, but I’m guessing it is implying that young adult’s current stay-together arrangement brings more problems in the long run. And as with the church’s position, a strong community begins with a strong family.

Meaningful conversations

Spoke with George (Twitter). He’s a guy with interesting stands and views. I like people who push the limits and has a different perspective to the norms. One thing to keep in mind: It is important to keep your feet on the ground, and know when to back off.

Character

I’m the argumentative type. Just like a trouble-maker, I find joy in poking people. I like to challenge their beliefs, to un-reason their reasoning and to make them subscribe to my beliefs (haha, nah, not so much nowadays…) For a long period, I was an Apple Evangelist.

I still believe in Apple; but now that they’re this big bully in the playing field, I tend to shy away!

Efficiency

Signing off with one of my favouritetopics. Three tips I’d like to share with you:

1. When walking, walk straight. You may seem like a robot. Your path may not be conventional. But trust me, you’re doing a whole world of good. “Take the RACING LINE“

2. Decisions. Some decisions might not be time CRITICAL, but it sure is time sensitive. Example: Choosing where to go for dinner. Whilst I won’t die waiting 10 more minutes for you to decide, (or what to eat) I’d really appreciate some form of “orderly decision making process”  where we are accountable to one another, considerate to the budget constrains, yet make a compromise so that the least amount of members of the party is inconvenienced. Phew. That was a mouthful.

3. Prioritise. We all have 24 hours a day and x amount of salary per month. 53% of the world lives on under US$2 a month. In every sense of the word, we are all filthy rich. How do you spend your time? How do you spend your money?

That’s about it lah.

Here are some old posts:

http://philipkhor.com/i-dream/2009/how-many-times-you-say-ha/

http://philipkhor.com/i-dream/2009/predicting-trends/ (same situation 1 yr ago)

http://philipkhor.com/i-dream/2009/see-you-soon/

[When the current iPod Touch 2009 didn't come with camera, you can feel the rage half way around the world. Let's see if Apple fixes that problem; and give us one or two more surprises!]