Author: admin

Don’t Go To University For The Sake Of It

Wanted to write about this topic for a while, but then I got carried away with work.

Weights (6)

Recently I had to interview a round of job applicants for some positions I was hiring.

I was looking for sales consultants and an administrative assistant to join my fitness centre. These are entry-level positions good for fresh graduates, and I was looking forward to resumes from – maybe – business or hospitality grads in my inbox.

Ultimately, I didn’t end up hiring any of the fresh graduates, but that’s another story altogether. *remind self to blog about the atrocity of fresh grads*

But what surprised me was that in amongst the 20 over resumes that I received, a few who applied were actually Bachelor degree holders.

Not only that, they were degree holders in… Engineering.

An engineering graduate applying to a become a sales consultant at a fitness centre. Are you kidding me?

Is he gonna make a robot greeting customers at the front desk?

It sounds almost as ridiculous as a blogger opening a fitness centre.

Not that I have anything against engineering degree holders. In fact, I am one of them. Lim peh right here holds a Bachelors Degree in Electronic & Communication Engineering, with Honours.

Which is really just a fancy way of saying "Hey look, I am holding a piece of paper that I spent 5 years in university working on, but acherly I donch really know what it was all about!" 😀

I got a theory with regards to students, in particular MALAYSIAN students, who study engineering at universities.

Kenny Sia’s Theorem On Malaysian Engineering Students: "99% of Malaysian students who do engineering at university do it because their friends/parents/government ask them to, not because they really want to."

I’m serious. If I could have a dollar every time I see an engineering graduate getting a job in something COMPLETELY unrelated to what he studies, I’d be so rich I could buy a fake $5-billion dollar boat made of gold and dinosaur bone.

I know it’s true. I am one of them.

My parents spent hundreds and thousands of dollars sending me to an overseas university, and I end up writing a blog and running a gym.

What a waste of time. What a waste of money.

I’m surprised my parents hadn’t disowned me after I wasted so much of their money on my university education.

It’s quite sad to think that the best thing I did in uni was joining the university gym. If I only knew which career path I’d take, I would never have picked electronic engineering. I would do something more related to what I am doing right now – like a commerce or hospitality degree. Why the hell did I choose to study engineering in the first place?

I blame it all on society pressures.

What to do? I was fresh out of high school when I was forced to make a decision on what course to do at university.

I was 17. How the hell do I know what I want to do for the rest of my life? I never had the chance to see the world nor explore my interests. Yet at 17 I was put in front of a university brochure and forced to make a AUD$100,000 decision.

My parents being parents are more than happy to comply. In Malaysia, there’s no such thing as a "gap year" like in Western countries, where kids after high school take a year off to do travel or volunteer work as a means to discover their interests, before continuing on their university education.

In Malaysia, kids must go STRAIGHT to college or university after they finish high school. Never mind the fact that most universities/colleges are privatised money-guzzling business entities now. In Malaysia, if kids don’t go STRAIGHT to university, they must be delinquents and therefore failure in life.

So what do I do?

I chose the so-called "safest" career option – engineering.

Why? Because back in the 1990s, Mahathir encouraged everybody to study technology.

Why? Because we got MULTIMEDIA SUPER CORRIDOR. And CYBERJAYA. And MULTIMEDIA SUPER TUALAMPA. And apparently everyone who study engineering will make a lot of money.

Bullshit.

Tell me which one of Malaysia’s richest men have an electronic engineering degree?

When you think about it, it is so sad. University is so expensive, so important as a pathway in a person’s career development. Yet so many of us rush into deciding on what course to pick when we really have no idea what we want to do straight after we finish high school.

In the end, all we’re really doing is going to university for the sake of going to university.

By the time we find out how much we hate the course we’re doing, it’s too late.

DSC_0344

Next time when I have kids, I’m gonna force them to take a gap year travelling or volunteering to find out where their true passion lies before they enrol into University. Aft
er all, if they are gonna be spending my money on their university education, they may as well do it right.

Don’t want them to end up like me – studying so hard for a piece of paper that I never ended up using.

Parents, please don’t rush your kids to go university for the sake of going to university. If they decide wrong course at University, die lah.

 

Might as well go Uneverstudy.

ADV: Hong Kong Disneyland 5th Anniversary

Regardless how many times I visited Disneyland, it never gets old. 🙂

I first visited Hong Kong Disneyland when it opened its doors 5 years ago. I even blogged about it here.

Although I went alone that time, I still remember having lots of fun. After all, Hong Kong Disneyland is the closest one to Malaysia, and there’s just something magical and fantasy-like about Disneyland that keeps luring people back.

This time round, I was lucky I wasn’t travelling alone…

Everyone says hi to Ming!

It was Ming’s first Disneyland experience and our first time travelling together, so we were both doubly excited. Throughout our 3 days in Disneyland alone, we were both running around like two overly-excited overgrown kids.

Proof.

We flew into Hong Kong two days earlier, and went around exploring the big city for a bit before spending our next two days in Disneyland.

Getting to Disneyland is super easy. The park is linked to Hong Kong’s MTR train network, complete with their own Disney-themed train.

Even their handle-bars have Mickey ears.

I half-suspect the train driver to be Mickey too.

A short shuttle bus ride later, we reached our accommodation for the next two days… Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel!

What an amazing hotel!

The entire hotel is decorated like a Victorian-era fairy tale castle with grand golden above your head and plenty of sunlight seeping through four floors of glass windows.

Checking in at the front counter.

We were supposed to have a sea view room but it was all booked out. The receptionist was quick to upgrade us to a ‘Fantasia’ room without the sea view, but equipped with a Jacuzzi inside the bathroom.

Can’t complain about that!

The attention-to-detail inside the Hong Kong Disneyland hotel is incredible. Almost every single decor in the room has a either a Mickey Mouse silhouette or a Disney character drawn on it.

From the Seven Dwarves on the toiletries.

To the frame on the bathroom mirror.

To the "Do Not Disturb" sign.

Even the pillow cases have Cinderella and the Fairy godmothers printed on them.

The Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel also boasts a large heated indoor swimming pool and an indoor gym, all decorated like they come right out from 19th century England.

Well, except their gym equipment.

Guess what’s playing on their stationary bike TV?

The hotel I stayed at has nice romantic courtyard and a beautiful buffet restaurant called The Enchanted Garden.

This is the best place to have breakfast in Disneyland!

While we were munching on our food, all the familiar characters started coming out to shake hands, take photos and interact with us! We didn’t even have to fight with other people or queue for ages under the sun.

Goofy!

Pluto!

And of course, Mickey himself.

In other restaurants, the presence of a rodent would’ve shut their business down. Lucky The Enchanted Garden is not like "other restaurants".

Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel is one of two hotels within the vicinity of the theme park. The other is Disney’s Hollywood Hotel.

If Disneyland Hotel is old English, then the best way to describe Disney’s Hollywood Hotel is "old-fashioned American".

I love it! It even has a jogging path behind the hotel named after all the famous streets in Los Angeles.

 

Although we didn’t get to try the breakfast buffet in Disney’s Hollywood Hotel (someone woke up late mah), we managed to catch a glimpse. All I gotta say is that the presentation and array of food is simply mind-boggling.

Gotta love the Mickey Mouse chairs!

Anyway, after check-in, we headed over to the Chinese restaurant inside our hotel to have a dim sum lunch.

It was the cutest Chinese dim sum lunch I ever had in my whole entire life.

This is our appetizer – Steamed Piggy Mask Buns. Cuteness overload. How to eat liddat?!

I actually felt kinda bad when I sunk my teeth into the pig-faced BBQ pork bun.

If pigs were to look this cute in real life, I’m gonna feel so guilty that imma curl up in a fetal position, swear off pork for the rest of my life and change my religion to Islam.

What is this?

Tasmanian crab meat fried rice stuffed inside a golden crab shell.

Lucky they did not use Sebastian The Crab from The Little Mermaid.

After that (highly emotional) dim sum lunch, we hopped on the shuttle bus once again. This time – to have fun in the Disneyland theme park!

Hong Kong Disneyland isn’t too big nor too small. It is the perfect size to explore on foot and the entire park can be done in one day, but ideally two days. Staying at one of the theme park resort hotels overnight is highly recommended to get the full Disney experience!

Immediately after entering the park, we headed off to Main Street U.S.A. to watch the Flights of Fantasy Parade.

This is a must-see! It is Hong Kong Disneyland’s special 5th Anniversary parade and no other Disney theme parks around the whole have it.

All the popular Disney characters are out in their marching band uniforms!

My favourite Disney character – Donald Duck!

I’m always amused by the fact that Donald Duck never wear pants, except when he goes swimming.

Woody popped by to say hi.

Then I told him I have one of my body parts named "Woody" too.

A HUGE swan with all the well-known Disney princesses on top of it floated past us, which HUGE smiles on their faces, arms floating, going all princess-y and stuff.

Eeyore – one of the very rare occasions he actually smiles.

It was the middle of summer and the temperature was soaring hot. I think it was close to 35 degrees? All I know is that I was standing on the sidewalk desperately fanning myself.

Although I was having fun myself, I felt kinda sorry for the dancing cast members. I hope none of them fainted halfway through the parade.

After the very happy parade of dancers and Disney characters, we went on to explore the rest of theme park.

Navigating Hong Kong Disneyland is easy.

As with all other Disneylands throughout the world, the park entrance takes us to Main Street U.S.A. It is where we watched the Parade in the morning, the fireworks at night and also where all the shops are located.

From there, it branches off into the three smaller themed lands.

Fantasyland – where rides like the Mad Hatter Tea Cups and Cinderella Carousel are so slow and gentle they are suitable for those who do not come to Disneyland for an adrenaline-induced heart attack.

I met Merlin the Magician here!

He was so funny. I jokingly asked, "Merlin! Show me some magic!"

Merlin pondered for a while, then suddenly he shouted "LOOK! OVER THERE!" as he pointed to the opposite direction. While I was momentarily distracted, Merlin pulled some stickers out of his pocket and gave them to me.

"Ta-da! Magic!"

 

Adventureland – modelled after the lush remote jungles of Asia. As a resident of Borneo, this feels like home to me.

Better not let Taib come here, later he chop the trees and build palm oil plantation all over the place.

 

Tomorrowland – a futuristic land where some of the most exhilarating theme park rides can be found!

I’m gonna try to summarize my favourite Hong Kong Disneyland attractions here.

it’s a small world

It’s a ride around the world on a boat. Most importantly, it is inside an air-conditioned building which makes it perfect on a hot day like this!

Along the way, hundreds of brightly costumed robot dolls in different cultural costumes of the world sings "it’s a small world" in their native languages.

I had fun testing Ming her geographical knowledge.

Me: "Where is this?"

Ming: "Holland!"

Me: "Good! Now, where is this?"

Ming: "Thailand?"

Me: "So smart! Ok, now tell me where is this?"

Ming: *excited* "I know! I know! KUALA LUMPUR."

Me: *BIG SWEAT*

 

The Golden Mickeys

It’s a sing and dance stage performance show, exclusive only to Hong Kong Disneyland. There are awards up for grabs like "Best Hero" or "Best Romance".

Just like in actual award shows, a small snippet of the nominees in each of the well-known Disney movies are shown. Unlike in actual award shows, no winners are actually announced in the end!

I remember watching the same show 5 years ago. It still is just as entertaining!

 

The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh

Very similar to it’s a small world except it’s a ride through the Hundred Acre Woods. Judging by the queues outside, small kids seem to love this place to bits although I personally find nothing earth-shattering about it.

Don’t bring your kids here if you want them to spell properly.

 

Festival of the Lion King

Definitely not to be missed! It’s a musical that uses songs from the movie, dance and special effects to re-create an African savannah animated with lions, elephants and giraffes.

 

Tarzan’s Treehouse

We took a raft across the river to explore this attraction while waiting for The Lion King show to start. The walk through the Treehouse tells the story of Tarzan and Jane. For me, the tree is worth climbing up only for this view.

Doesn’t feel like Hong Kong, does it?

 

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

 

Stich Encounter

By far the most hilarious show in Disneyland! When we read the description saying "no two shows are alike", I wondered how they were gonna accomplish it. Stitch appears on screen to actually talk and interact with the audience in real time – complete with facial expressions and animation!

The show would have been bland if it weren’t for Stitch’s mischievous smart-alec responses.

 

Space Mountain

The ultimate thrill-seekers ride of choice. It’s a high speed space-themed roller-coaster ride, set completely indoors with hard-hitting music as soundtrack.

Apparently, it was so scary they had to put this warning notice outside. Personally, I have sat through scarier rides, so this was a walk in the park for me.

Just look at how calm and collected I was in the picture.

 

Disney in the Stars Fireworks

No matter how many times I watched this, I feel like a wide-eyed little boy everytime I watch the fireworks in Disneyland. Something about the sheer magic of colourful lights exploding over the skies set to the soundtrack of Disney movies never fail to send my heartstrings tugging.

I want to go back to Disneyland again.

 

I guess Disneyland does that to you – it makes everyone feel like a kid, living in a plac
e where fairy tales and dreams come true.

Taiwanese Show Girls

Computex is the second largest computer expo in the world.

Coincidentally, I was in Taipei for holiday when this year’s Computex was happening. Knowing Taiwan is the largest computer manufacturer in the world, I expected nothing less than a full-scale pasar malam-type buying and selling, a full-scale price war and a crowd of nerds 100 times worse than at PIKOM and SITEX PC Fairs.

When I got there however, I couldn’t help but to feel a little let down.

There wasn’t anyone selling anything. In fact, most exhibits there are just by companies I have never heard of, showing off products that were not even available on the market yet. It does not matter how much cash you bring, nobody is gonna sell you anything.

Not even if you’re a monk.

So really, in the end all Computex achieved is essentially: showing off a bunch of cool stuff to a bunch of sweaty nerds and tell them they can see, can salivate, but too bad cannot touch.

There was also one more thing those nerds can see, can salivate, but cannot touch.

The Taiwanese showgirls.

Everywhere you see a Taiwanese showgirl, you definitely will see a bunch of pimply fat kids and middle-aged men hovering around her like vultures with their Nikons and Canons EOS pointed millimetres away from her pretty face.

Because really, who cares about the computer products anyway?

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not all about the girls.

There were male models there as well, but generally they were not as popular.

Dunno if you can see why.

I noticed that there was a big difference between the Taiwanese showgirls and the girls at our Malaysian PC Fairs.

The thickness of their make-up is one thing. But in Taiwan, instead of just looking at the camera and flashing a bored smile, the girls are generally a lot more game to do something extra when they pose for  the cameras.

"Look, I’m a flamingo."

Like raising a leg.

Or maybe wearing a computer modem on their head.

Doesn’t matter if they look stupid, as long as they are getting paid.

With hundreds of cameras pointing in direction of these girls, I was wondering what the photographers are gonna think when all the photos turn out exactly the same.

Fret not, these show girls have apparently mastered the art of posing cutely for the camera.

Everytime the shutter goes off, they would automatically tilt their heads a little, or display another finger.

In the process, they make themselves look more and more ridiculous.

"I punch myself. Bish!"

"Aduh! Headache."

"Five!"

"Four!"

"Three!"

 

"Two?"

Oh wait.

"Two!"

"One. I think?"

"PEEK-A-BOO!"

ADV: Lagi Best

Perodua has come a long way since the release of their first Kancil.

Gone are the days where their cars are named after small animals.

From being the manufacturer of the first car we drove when we got our driving licenses, to becoming Malaysia’s best-selling car brand, Perodua has definitely grown its fanbase since their inception 20 years ago.

Since then they have moved on from compact cars and now to producing bigger MPVs like the new Alza, Viva and MyVi, which is today the the top selling car in Malaysia.

So when the country’s most popular car manufacturer wanna hold The Perodua Auditions to look for their biggest fan, you can expect them to throw out a big carrot.

Like, RM10,000 in cold-hard cash for the ultimate Perodua fan.

And heck, they aren’t even giving out cheap plastic pen holders as consolation prizes. 5 consolation prize winners from the Perodua Auditions will get the brand new iPad 2.

This is how you WIN it.

‘Like’ them on their Facebook page, upload a video showing why you are Perodua’s biggest fan, then share it with your friends. Simple as that.

Doesn’t matter how you do the video. It doesn’t even matter if a Perodua car ain’t shown. As long as the words "Perodua, Lagi Best!" can be heard or seen clearly – that’s all that matters. 🙂

On the other hand, if you are my biggest fan and you wanna do a special video for me, can also lah.

But better send privately to my email hor.

On The Air, In The Air

Meet Johan Farid Khairuddin.

Otherwise known as JFK.

You may have heard him on the radio, giving out Justin Bieber concert tickets and such. Whether it’s talking on the air, producing albums or hosting TV shows on Astro, being a media personality is really what defines JFK for the past ten years.

What most people probably don’t realise is that being a radio host is only his part-time job. Like me, what we do part-time for fun has somehow eclipsed what we do full-time for a living.

JFK’s actual full-time job… is a TAXI DRIVER.

No lah!

Not the ones you see hanging around KLCC charging RM30 for a 3-minute journey because "bradderrrr, road very jam woh."

No no no. The cab that JFK drives will never encounter traffic jam at any hour of the day. Because the vehicle JFK drives is…

… an airplane.

*cue Hayley Williams and B.o.B.*

Just like how blogging is and will always remain a hobby for me, flying is a hobby that JFK takes very seriously. So serious in fact, that instead of flying commercially for Malaysia Airlines or AirAsia, he saved up whatever money he has to purchase his very own aeroplane.

And now that JFK is a pilot-for-hire, his job is to take people on trips across the Peninsular, or on private sky tours around KL for as little as RM500 – just enough to cover his fuel and maintenance of his flight.

During one of my trips to KL recently, JFK took me for a whirl up in the air to see what KL City is like from the skies above.

We met at Subang SkyPark around 7:30am.

The airport isn’t the same since the main international airport was moved to KLIA. The huge terminal is now virtually empty with mostly private jets owned by billionaires.

P1040480

Or wannabe billionaires.

I wanna be a billionaire so freaking bad. 🙁

Subang Airport has no queues, no annoying kids, no noisy announcers blaring over the speakers. Security was such a breeze that for the first time in my life, I saw airport security actually have the capability to smile.

After some gibberish back-and-forth between JFK and the air traffic control, we’re off!

IMG_1349

Most of us are used to sitting in the backseat of a passenger plane. But to take the front seat of a Cessna with a radio personality next to you piloting the flight, pointing out different points of interests into your earphones – man, that’s a completely different experience altogether.

With the bumper-to-bumper traffic along Federal Highway snaking beneath us, an indescribable feeling washed over me. I think it’s called… freedom. 😉

At one point, JFK allowed me to take over the co-pilot’s control.

A lot of people have irrational fear when it comes to flying, let alone piloting an airplane. As scary as it sounds, I actually felt extremely safe manoeuvring the Cessna. The tiny aircraft is extremely responsive, and without any obstacles in the way, I need not worry about traffic lights, knocking into a divider and scratching my bumper.

In fact, it felt exactly like driving a car. Except there was no brakes. You don’t need brakes when you’re flying in the air.

Just like that, we went from Subang to KLCC Twin Towers in less than 10 minutes.

And that’s the closest I have ever been to Twin Tower on an airplane without being labelled a terrorist.

It’s easy to write KL off as an overly-congested metropolis when you view it from the ground. From the sky though, the view of the silhouette of the bustling city being enveloped by the morning mist is hopelessly romantic.

Made me wish I was next to my loved ones when I was up in the air.

Yeah. That’s the only downside with JFK’s private sky tour.  He may not look like
Amber Chia, but there isn’t a better valued private airplane pilot in the county.

If you wanna book a flight with JFK as your taxi-driver-in-the-sky, just e-mail him at jfk@hitz.fm

I promise he won’t say, "Cannot use meter lah bradder. Traffic jam!"

Navigation