Big Issue

despite the title, there's no big issue that i wanna write about. i just have nothing else in mind to put as title. hence.

so, what's new?

last week, i just bought my second biggest personal purchase since i started earning money. in fact, in terms of value, it's bigger than the first. recall that, my first big buy was sweetheart Tina. this time, i bought a computer.

a computer purely custom-built for gaming purpose. not as glamorous as Alienware. but serves its purpose. and cheaper too.

some crucial details about my lowyatware specs:

• Intel i7 2600
• Asus P8Z68 V-LX motherboard
• 1gb GDDR5 Sapphire ATI Radeon HD5870 graphic card
• 8gb RAM
• 1TB HDD
• then 550W power supply, CM Elite casing, dvd-rw etc.

all for mere RM2600. okay so it's not 'mere' RM, as you can get a laptop for less than RM1k nowadays. but, compare that to my brother's Alienware X51 at RM2988 (i5, GT-545, 4gb RAM), i think i got myself a good bargain for a desktop set.

(oh, i had to add windows 7 home premium in as well, as they didn't give me any pre-installed OS, not even the pirated ones. that's RM270)

so, some of you must be wondering, why on earth did i spend that much amount of money on a computer? am I that avid a gamer? what games do i play? isn't playing sports all i do?

all in the name of Diablo 3. a family pastime. 4 siblings in the family played this game, some since Diablo the first series. it's only logic that we all jumped on the bandwagon when Diablo 3 was released only last week. my 2nd brother repaired his long broken laptop display, my 3rd brother bought the Alienware 2 days before the release, while i bought that a day after i got my hands on the game set.

it's insaaaannnneeee!!!

it's totally mad, because we found ourselves allocating time for it everyday. i somehow managed to squeeze in Diablo every night for at least 2 hours. my brother who's married with 3 kids (and expecting one) also managed to keep up with my levelling. and my supposedly workaholic brother is now leading the family race of being the leader among all in terms of level.

of course, that means less time for something, right? in my case, there will be no social activities in the evening. i'm a bit fortunate that Diablo was released just after i am finished with my busiest period at work. otherwise i think i wouldn't be that crazy about it. my running schedule so far is uninterrupted. but it could very well change in the near future, who knows.

and that, despite we're having StanChart half marathon in less than a month time. and i still haven't ran 10km by myself. i only have 4 weekends to try do 16km... or more than 10km, basically.

run-diablo balance. tough.

oh, so the reason why suddenly i have time to update, is because the office the past 1 week has only 8 staffs left out of 24, due to them taking study leave for their CFA exams next next week. i'm gonna take that too next year i think. SOA? what SOA?

so, because of the many absentees, i sort of can do whatever i want. and most of the time i feel sleepy when i wanna do my work. so, to cure the sleepiness, i do anything that's non-work related, like blogging. so now i'm not sleepy. but i may be sleepy again in 5 minutes time.

will get back to you later when i get dizzy again.

oh, call me!

makanan berkhasiat dan all his friends

i've got back my running mojo. now all i need is to start eating healthily.

from today, i will only eat bread/buns for breakfast, except for one day in the week. so called cheat day.

and for lunch, the rice portion will be controlled. MUST!

as for dinner, the current setup can be maintained. at home, i always eat at a reasonable portion.

and i must be more disciplined as to not eat more than the 3 times we usually eat in a day. supper is the most problematic.

towards fitting back the old jeans that i bought just last year!

pembetulan.

what is the difference between this paragraph:

Despite the continuing downward trend in the illicit trade percentage, it is still considered high and remains the key issues for BAT and other players.

In addition, BAT’s earnings are highly susceptible to any unfavourable change in regulatory directives.

On the positive note, BAT has been proven successful in its effort to maintain and increase market share with the introduction of its Dunhill Switch 2.0 and supported by strong uptake of its VFM brand.

Furthermore, BAT will also benefit from its continuous productivity saving as a result of cost cutting, localisation of supply and subcontract manufacturing facility.

and this paragraph:

BAT is optimistic that current momentum of increasing TIV as a result of absence of excise duty hike and stronger enforcement against illicit trade and illegal pricing can be sustained until the next Budget announcement, resulting in stronger revenues until 3Q12. Operating Profit shall also continue to improve on the back of the contract manufacturing facility. However, beyond Budget 2013 announcement, the future seems to be bleak, with duty hike imminent, and consequently the issues of illicit trade will resurface, and will affect volumes from 2013 onwards.

But it is good to know that the company is being proactive to overcome all these obstacles by having plans to introduce new range of cigarettes in 2012. Dunhill Switch 2.0 was launched in April, to strengthen its grip on the premium market. There will be a few more new launches coming soon, likely to be 'capsules' versions of Peter Stuyvesant, in line with their aim to become industry leader in VFM segment.

just a note. one is by a supervisor, the other is by a junior staff.

so, which one is which, and which do you prefer? and why?

* * * * * * * * * * * *

oh, here's another one.

Despite the many recent positive news flow from the company such as 1) growth in their revenue and net profit figures, 2) increasing amount of enforcement against illegal pricing and illicit trade, and 3) strong market share numbers across their line of cigarette brands especially Dunhill, the bigger picture still does not look very exciting, with many issues still concerning the tobacco industry such as uncertainty on excise duty hike, high level of illicit trade, and total volume slowing down.


versus this one:

Although BAT is a well-managed company with good corporate governance track record, its earnings are highly subjected to regulating directives and dampened by high levels of illicit trade.


ha. what say you?

The Avengers... ok la.

you see. there's nothing to be proud of with going back home late. especially my record of going back late, which is peanuts compared to those auditors or some sell-side brokers who basically "live" in their offices.

and also, the reason why i'm staying up late is not because i'm hardworking or something. hence, those fb statuses where i put up is nowhere near showing off like i'm the next in line to be promoted in the department. i had to stay late because i was so slow in doing my work, i couldn't finish my work on time.

it's not because of the amount of work. basically i do the same job as everyone else. everyone is the same. except i only have 2 months experience, when the rest has abundance of that.

this is my first round of results season. started last Monday, with BAT results. and then, it's consecutive after-8pm, the stuff in the red box. then i struggled to finish my first report, and after i finally submitted it on wednesday, i had to prepare for my next result (Daibochi), which was last Friday.

today is Sunday. i'm now at the office, finishing Daibochi's report. which must be submitted (self-imposed deadline tho, this one) by Monday. because Tuesday is Labour Day.

oh, if you noticed, i went back early on Friday, despite it being the day where results were published (compared to Monday. same scenario. but one, i went back at almost 11pm, the other before 6pm). heh. that's because the boss gave us a break, and the whole department went to watch The Avengers. for free.

the perk of being in the buy-side. all those brokers really know how to appreciate you... i mean, me. us. thanks RHB, for the free go-kart (3 rounds of that, babeyh!), the Isetan vouchers, and The Avengers with free popcorn and drinks. gimme more!

:D

okay enough with appreciation. boss still expects those jobs to be done. bye, gotta work.

7 payslips

as per the title. so i've got 7 pay slips. which means i've worked for more than half-a-year.

what has that done to me? well, one thing, i'm now okay with staying at the office way past the working hours. maybe not everyday, but once in a while. why not, right?

and then, there's this blog. as you may have already noticed, it's been ignored for quite some time. except for some short posts. well, there's a very good reason for that. namely, because i have not much time for that.

okay, so actually i do. those days when i don't have to stay in the office until past-7pm, i have the time to watch some tv series. but... compared watching tv to sit down and write about stuff that's writeable... well, first thing is, you have to have something to write, right?

but when all you do everyday is just clock in, do work, have lunch at either Darby Park, Ampang Park or Citibank, do some more work, and then you go back, then... what's there to write about?

well, i could write all those. and i just did. but i can't be re-writing it again and again everyday, can i?

ohh. last weekend i ran the Energizer Night Race. 15.5km of treacherous route. no kidding. posted 2 hour and 13m across the whole murderous, hilly route. at the 10km checkpoint, i posted 1h 20m, while my best record was 1h 2m. gile.

granted, i just recovered from my foot injury, which is not fully healed yet (or is the damage permanent?). and i only re-started training a month ago. on 26 march, i ran 5km in 35 minutes. now? sub-30 is achievable.

now what i need is to do that more consistently, and continue to improve, both speed and distance. and to workout more, now that i've sort of found my rhythm with work and all. parents have been nagging about me gaining weight. not that i want to.

okay shall write more when there's more to write about.

doom

i qualified fifth fastest for the day, among around 60 people.

minus the polesitter, who's a proper, albeit amateur, racer.

for the race, i jumped one position on the start, survived any first corner incident, and managed to maintain the gap to the 2nd and 3rd cars (the proper racer kid has long gone, doing almost 3-4 seconds faster than us in each lap)

was hoping that their on-track skirmish would result in something that i can capitalize on. so i waited, and maintained my pace to match them, or maybe go just a little bit faster.

one lap gone. so far so good.

2nd lap. closed in, and on the final long turn before going to the third lap, the throttle didn't respond.

kn the start/finish straight, i stopped the car, waving frantically for the marshall to maybe restart my car.

they asked me to get out of the car. can't believe it. another car passed.

a few more did, not much later than that.

i was gutted.

they prepared me a spare car, ready to go. but i was just too distraught to want to have another go at it. not after soing such a good start, a good job, in a promising position, without committing any mistake.

i just walked away from the track.

eventhough there were still 9 more laps to go, where maybe, just maybe, i can climb my way back up the position.

but i did not. i just felt like throwing the helmet. i wanted to kick something, someone. i wanted to lash it out. i was so furious. i haven't done anything wrong up to that point.

but all i got to do is to grab a can of pocari sweat, and throw it down my throat. and keep my head in my hands.

i'm totally gutted. still am.

dari tempat kerja

nothing. just thought that this was kinda funny. like, so not representing KB kot, the photo.

ok now i can delete this from my work computer.

hihi saya mahu pulang awal~ waktu sekarang ialah 5.25pm.