OK, the small fire in the office was in the morning… and our encounter with a train was in the evening after we had our tea at Kepayan Low Cost Housing Shop.

On our way back to the office after having tea, there was slight traffic jam before the Sebulan roundabout… just after the tunnel. My colleague was driving and I was sitting at the back… another colleague was sitting at the front. Our car has to stop on the rail track coz cars in front of us have to give way to other cars at the roundabout. Suddenly there was loud siren… the sound is familiar on TV… a siren sound of Japanese attacking. We don’t know where the sound coming from… we were guessing if it an ambulance of fire engine… but it just don’t sound like one.

We were looking around… then we saw the rail track light has turned green… oh crap… usually it is red… that means the train is coming… argggghh… my colleague started reversing, lucky the cars behind gave us room to reverse… then I saw the boom gate coming down… if we did not reverse, the bar will hit right on top of the car… lucky we have enough room to reverse… then the train appears… I open the window and started recording the incoming train…

I can’t imagine how the car gonna look like if it still on the track when the train arrived. The car is less than a ton and the train is like 1000 times heavier than the car. Metals will be crumpled… metal bars universal joint will dislodge… Lucky the train was only going at about 30 km/h…

In the video, the yellow-black bar is the boom gate which was right above our car… right above me. The siren is actually coming from the concrete box right next to the car… you can see that in the video too… but we were wondering, the alarm sound is not the standard railway crossing sound… normally it is the sound of bell… TING TING TING TING TING TING… that’s the reason we can’t figure out what the sound was… if it the bell, then we should’ve be able to identify it right away… But lucky nothing happen to us…

As comparison, here are the values of the top five companies as of yesterday closing stock prices…
Apple, $496 billion
Exxon Mobil, $383 billion
Microsoft, $250 billion
IBM, $229 billion
Wal-Mart Stores, $210 billion

I wish I have the money and access to the Facebook shares… one lot will be… $38 x 1000 shares… that’s USD$38,000… multiply that with 3 thus making it RM114,000… and that is just the price of initial public offering or IPO… I can’t even make that in one year…

Analyst said Facebook is less than $100 billion, but the banks helping it to go public put it at that value forcing everyone without choice to accept it at that value. That’s how shares being traded… if banker said the value of this piece of paper is $100 although its actual value is just $1, everyone have to accept it… that’s how powerful bankers are.

Well, only rich people can play this game… and they’re getting richer… they can give Ferrari as presents to each of their girlfriends… while those who can’t afford these expensive stocks can only afford wife gift to whet her whistle… that’s life… hahahaha…

But I still, don’t think there was fire… I still think this is just a fire drill… coz it was mentioned in one of the meeting recently that we have not conducted any fire drill for sometimes. I went inside the meeting room, inform the rest, grab my files and tablet… follows the flow of human through the stairs.

When I reached my floor, I saw my colleague, I asked where is the fire, she said 1st floor… oh boy, it’s below us… but the bell is louder on our floor, so I asked if the server room OK… she said OK… I went to my room and put the file on my table… peek into the server room, all seem normal. Went out with my tablet and locked my door… was wondering, should I bring my backpack which contain my notebook… I leave it behind… but after the whole episode, I realise I should’ve take my backpack and notebook together… must remember this next time. Probably the reason I did not take it was that I feel the whole things was under control… no big smoke… which luckily true.

After locking my room I went to the rest room to pee… only few people can be seen on my floor… and I still don’t see any smoke… so I took my sweet time to pee… hahahaha… after that I went to the stairs… and saw the chairman… walked down… reach 1st floor and ask one guy where is the fire… he said inside… we went inside and have a look… there was few people inside trying to break the wall… saw a lot of white smoke… actually it was not smoke, it was the fire extinguisher powder… the fire was already under control.

Actually when I found out the fire is below our floor, I stated getting worried coz usually fire goes up… if the fire is at the higher floor, it will be safer… will have some extra time to save important stuffs. And from this incident, I feel unsafe now… coz there is water pipe on our ceiling for our workshop pantry… the pipe is hdpe type I guess… we have lots of electrical stuffs… I just hope it never leak… I wish our water piping is this type of flexible metal hose… coz this baby can take more than 800 degree Celsius heat and more than 10,000 PSI pressure… I just hope all will be safe, no future incident, cross my fingers… and so far no official report of the cause of the fire.

Spending so much for our gadgets is already a burden… exposing them to tough environments is a heart wrenching experience… wrist watch is not a problem coz there are tough watches like Casio G-Shock or luminox navy seal meant for tough activities… they can be submerged under few meters of water and heavy knocks.

But how about smart phone or media players like iPod?… well there are water proof pouch for these. Last year, I bought a waterproof arm-band for my Samsung Galaxy S2 from H2OAudio… it cost a lot… I bought it online and it was shipped form US. When I tried putting my SGS2, it was quite tight… very hard to put inside… end up I never use it… it supposed to be used during my hiking training and also for the two Mount Kinabalu climb last year… to protect my SGS2 from rain which come unexpectedly.

Actually there is a cheaper waterproof bag to protect gadgets from water… the waterproof bag in the photos which can fit-in the SGS2 nicely was bought in Pavilion for RM50 only… it’s not an arm-band type, that’s why it cost 6 times less then the H2OAudio. It has a good sealing… triple seal… roll… then lock it with the velcro… The plastic is so clear and the touch screen work effortlessly with it… so now I can protect my SGS2 from water when I’m doing tough activities…

This week, 13th to 15th, went to KL for study tour… and from 24th to 30th, I will be flying again… for 6 hour flight… I don’t want to tell where I’m going yet… For 7 days, I will be off from my usual internet coverage… I’ve research about data line… one cellular operator is giving unlimited roaming data connection for RM38 a day… my cellular operator is offering RM18 for a megabytes… The unlimited data for RM38 a day is very attractive, but I have to register to get it with contract… there is no prepaid… Looks like I have to survive with my operator for RM18 for a megabytes…

I’m also wondering about the power supply… I’m will need to charge my smartphone, tablet and cameras… my chargers’ plug will not fit their power socket outlet and I don’t have a proper traveller adapter yet… so last night while on air, I checked the MAS brochure… and they have the Lifetrons Worldwide Travel Adaptor with 2 USB Charging Ports for $36 or RM108… it comes with 1 year worldwide warranty… cool, this is exactly what I want… so I press the ‘calling’ button… TUNGGGGGG… about a minute later the cabin crew came to answer my call… I asked if the item is available… he said, he has to check first… 5 minutes later he came with bad news… no stock… dammm… what’s the point putting it on the brochure if they don’t have it… probably if I ask for montecristo cigars or any of the many perfumes in the brochure, I might have a better luck… but unfortunately, I’m not looking for all those… looks like I have to get the adapter from Karamunsing Complex instead…

I did not manage to check-in online coz the system can’t find my particulars when I tried web check-in service at home. So when I check-in at the airport through the check-in kiosk the next day, I was given a random seat at the back which I forgot coz I changed my seat so that I can seat next to my colleague at 27D which is almost at the end of the aircraft.

The aircraft was Boeing 737-800 with the bended wing tip… this 800 series is much quitter, wider and smoother on air compared to the older 400 series. The seats are normal, nothing fance… just the same as my few previous ride on 800 series. But the aircraft I rode back has different seats settings although it is also the 800 series.

The return aircraft seats have LCD at it back, credit card reader and handset for making calls or playing games. The last time I saw this was inside Boeing 777. Unfortunately the system is not functioning… it’s OFF! So I can’t play games with it like the one on 777 I rode before. But I was not that bored during the flight coz I have my tablet and phone to play with… I have lots of apps in my fon and tablet but I played Sudoku most of the time… it’s good to have electronic entertainment gadget for long journey… like PSP or smartphone or tablet… any tablet will do as long it is loaded with playbook apps… well, I was alternately playing and sleeping throughout the flight… which is only two and half hour…

I’m sure kids in the 80s or earlier must have enjoyed swinging under the big tree… this simple playground is a real memory for these kids… just need a pair or long rope and a plank or an old tyre… and hang it under the tree with the ropes… that’s all needed for old timer playground.

Compared to that during the 90s where playgrounds are no longer in the woods or under the tree… but on the open field with metal playground structures. Housings are popping up everywhere… no more jungles or bushes or big trees… but more families… and more kids… so bigger playground and more games are needed for each housing area.

Structures for playground are easy to build… or can get them ready made… like those playground equipment at PlaytimeUS.com… but today, playground is getting empty… today’s kids are not interested with outdoor… they are not tough anymore… they stayed indoor and play computer games… well, that’s the price of modernization…

Probably gonna buy some trousers and shirts… maybe rj classics, wait that for ladies… hahaha… so it’s gonna be Dockers… Dockers trousers are great… I like it very much coz they have good fabrics and easy to iron…

And for sports, need new sports shoe…sneakers…for casual, gym and running. I also need more  sweat wicking t-shirts… and Adidas is the favourite name

Hope I wont fry my wallet while I’m here…

The state government has been embarking on online applications for many years already… for HR, accounting and many other type of online apps. Probably accounting is the closest app to those who are doing works for the government… getting paid online. The government accounting system or procedures are different from commercial accounting. Commercial accounting applications can be bought or can hire accounting firm like raleigh accounting firm to process their account… good for auditing.

Anyway, if you made any claim from the government, don’t expect the payment in check form… but check in your bank account. Payment are credited directly to your company bank account… the reason I wrote this was I received a query from someone asking if government pay through bank… the answer is YES… to save paper… and it is much efficient…

Hiring the grass cutter can be eliminated if we cut our own grass… but laziness rule I guess. At the same time when they cut the grass, it’s very noisy… the grass cutter machine is very loud and it uses petrol… not good for the environment.

So the best thing is to get a mechanical lawn mowers… or better known as reel lawn mowers. It doesn’t require any sparks… no petrol… just your pure energy. Reel mower is widely used in US but not much in other part of the world, especially here.

Finding reel lawn mowers here is not easy… although I did saw once in one of the hardware store in Karamunsing sometime ago… seems everyone prefer to call the grass cutter. I guess if I start importing and promote this reel mover over here, I might get lots of orders… emm…

OK, it’s less than 14 hours before I hop into the plane for KL… yet I still haven’t started packing!… If I minus 6 hours for my sleeping, that makes it less than 8 hours… Well, I don’t really like packing early… coz I’m scared I forget what I’ve packed… so by packing late, I will know and remember what I put into my luggage or bag… but it’s not fun actually, coz I have to do it in a rush… and I will feel very hot and sweating before I start my journey…

I’ve done this many times, and every time do it, I promise will not do it at the very last minute… well, I’m doing it again… But to be on the safe side, I will list out what I need to bring and at least put them aside where I can see them clearly so that I won’t miss them when packing tomorrow morning…

After writing this piece I’m gonna sort them out… shirts… t-shirts… trousers… pants… underwear… socks… shoes… estee lauder cosmetics… errr ok, not cosmetics… but cologne or perfume maybe… hair gels… chargers… YES, chargers… must not leave these behind… charger for hand phone, tablet, notebook, camera… and of course multi adapter… yes, I carry multi adapter coz most of hotels only provide one or two free power outlet or wall sockets…

OK, enough for now… need to do some sorting and sleep if I can sleep early, else will be back in front of this screen again…

But fist thing first… need a cool, uncluttered structure or mounting to hang a large display panel on the wall… for public viewing… it can be on flat wall or at the corner of the wall… so the mounting must be flexible enough to be shifted to any type of wall.

Googling for  a corner TV mount is easy, but to order the one you like is difficult… coz they usually don’t ship here… just like the mobile TV rack I was searching the other day… found a good one… cool and space age design, but unfortunately can’t place an order coz they don’t ship it here… So the same goes with TV wall mounting… found a nice one but seem not shipping here…

Becoz of the action of some who went overboard, the police have to return with water canon and smoke bomb. And now, all parties are pointing finger at each other. Evidence of brutality from both side are all over the net to be seen… but was it sabotage?… The authority have to investigate all parties at all corners… be fair and clean.

Even the bar council are now asked to be resolved… some said they are no more professional body… politic is just crazy. Those who are injured, protestor or authority, are taking legal actions at each other. Even the business owners around the place where water canon and smoke bomb were let off are taking action… they want to sue the organizer… maybe they gonna get commercial litigation lawyers raleigh nc coz they don’t trust the bar council any more… Anyway, I just hope everyone will get a fair trial at the end…

In less than 3 hours, the most anticipated smart phone, the Samsung Galaxy S3 will be unpacked to the whole world from UK… to be exact, 3rd May 2012 at 7 PM in UK.

I’m really looking forward for this smartphone… it’s not that I want to buy it straight away to replace my less than one year old Samsung Galaxy S2, but I foresee this phone will rule the world… well let’s put it this way, if Samsung give us something out of the extraordinary today, Galaxy S3 will shape the world’s smartphone future … meaning Apple iPhone 5 will bow to it!…

What am I expecting from this new smartphone?… I have a few… First, I expect it to have quad core processor… second, it’s gonna have 2GB of RAM… third, it’s gonna have 12 megapixels camera… fourth, it’s gonna have 5 inch Super AMOLED multi touch screen…  curved screen…

What else I expect the smartphone gonna have but chances are slim… waterproof… stylus…  package in silver bars casing…

OK, let’s just wait for it to get unpacked… but I’m sure I’m not gonna stay awake till 2 AM… yes it’s gonna be 2 AM here when UK is 7 PM… I really want to stay awake, but I have a meeting tomorrow at 8.30 AM… so I will just read the news when I wake up tomorrow…

I was not even energized, but I just keep going coz I feel that my muscles are growing faster than before… so I was like exited but not really… coz body building was never my intention, I just want to be fit and healthy… while the age keeps ‘increasing’ without reversing…

If I want to build muscles, I can take more proteins like the p6 extreme…  but since I have extra fats, I used that to turn them into muscles instead… But my advice to those who are skinny and trying to build muscles, you must take protein… which they called muscle builder protein or weight gain protein… it’s not cool looking at skinny people lifting 100 KG iron bars…

Anyway, this week I tone it down… coz my body was a bit worn-down… I feel my back muscles are all aching… lucky not my spine… so this morning around 11 AM, I went for acupuncture. After getting the pins for about 15 minutes, I feel my whole body lighter… I feel like flying… it was amazing…

So tonight, I went to the gym… looks like I can only make it one or twice this week… further more I’m busy with office work at the moment… but I will still try to squeeze some time on Saturday and Sunday, if I can… will see how…

The Sabah Foundation College was setup there for almost a year if I’m not mistaken… they are renting the the whole 2 floors of the 3 floors commercial block. They have been expanding their courses till their existing college behind my office at Sembulan is no longer enough. In fact they are in the process of building their University on their field in Sembulan… behind my office… and it is already 5 floors tall… I guess it will be completed by next year.

Sabah Foundation or YS for Yayasan Sabah, has been providing community services since 70s… they expanded their skill training school to college… and soon to University.

From the info I get from their website, currently they are offering multimedia, ICT, automotive and building construction courses. I believe they will introduce medical teaching course or medical management course once they start their university since one of their main community service is Flying Doctor Service to rural areas.

The courses they offering are in collaborations with other universities such as University Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), University Petronas and few other colleges. Collaboration or twining programme is good since YS do not have the full fledge college or university before… so it is like technology transfer or teach the teacher course before they build their university. Anyway, I’m looking forward for their university behind my office… probably I can do some part time tutoring if I’m qualified… maybe have to go through their consultant interview course first before I can join them…

If you are ready to move to level working, it’s time to start writing your resume… if you don’t know what is resume… emmm… you better start googling it… there are lots of resume writing help on the net.

And since you are just finishing your level study, there is no working experience to put into you resume… unless you did some works during your semester break or holiday. For those still in level study, my advice is to apply for work which is related to your course during holidays… working in KFC or McDonald doesn’t count… unless your course is related to business or marketing, but it still won’t help to impress your future bosses… so good luck to those graduating soon… happy job hunting…

1st May is Labour Day, so today is public holiday… I guess many people were resting today. For me, I slept almost half day… or maybe almost 12 hours… I slept around 1 AM and woke up just before  8 AM. I was still very sleepy… I went to pee and continue sleeping… and I woke up the second time around 12 PM… I was enjoying my sleep as if I was relaxing on wicker swings and wanted to sleep more… I was still very sleepy but hungry… so I forced myself to wake up.

I had my breakfast… yes breakfast although it was already 12 PM… after that, I continued relaxing in front of the TV while surfing on the tablet. I wanted to do some work which were worrying me… but I didn’t… instead I continue surfing in front of the TV. I read loads of news and articles… world news, national news, local news, technology news etc… I was just lazy to do anything.

After a couple of hours, I went outside and walk around the house… I wanted to wake up my brain and muscles… but I was still feeling lazy and sleepy… so I decided to go out… I feel that if I drive, my brain will wake up… called friend to have a drink… and indeed my brain and muscles did wake up… feel fresher… went back home and continue watching TV… had dinner and now in front of my computer writing this piece… once I finish this piece, I’m going to do my office work which I need to submit tomorrow…

According to the report, the blackout affected some 500,000 consumers and caused traffic jams at certain location in the city… I did not encounter any traffic jam this morning and the one traffic light I have cross to office was functioning as usual.

The report said, the blackout was caused by an explosion at the main power distribution station at Jalan Bundusan, about 3 km from my house… Immediately Sabah Electricity SDN BHD (SESB) scrambled to repair the fault and gradually restored the power to most major town from 7am.

I guess SESB service has improved since I did not feel the blackout… even at the office. If their service in restoring the power was slow, I guess a lot of people will be unable to make it to the office on time this morning… and a lot will complain with the heat. Actually my office was a bit warm but it was not that so bad… and the water supply is normal… meaning the air-conds and water pumps are still working… probably not at 100% but OK for it to make the people inside the office building comfortable.

Photo copied from Facebook shows the parts exploded at the Jalan Bundusan SESB Distribution Station.

It all started as the boring log pole with lantern hang on top of it, and that concept of a pole with lamp hang on top of the pole survived until today. But that might change very soon. Recently a group of people including city planners and architects put a challenge to Dutch electronics company Philips to design a new concept for outdoor lighting system… all because they feels that the streets are cluttered. They want to get rid with the lamppost.

So Phillips decided it is best to remove the vertical streetlight poles and turn the street as FreeStreet by replacing it with horizontal lighting system. They did it by hanging clusters of horizontally-strung cables with leds lights built into it. What makes this design interesting is the lighting system looks invisible during the day. With that design they won the 2011 Dutch Design Award… and it will be available for use in Europe this month…