A Great Honour

It certainly is an honour to be invited back to your school. I have been back to Terendak on a few occasions before, giving career talks and the likes, but this time it would be something different. I was invited to give a pep talk for the coming exams, and to officiate a program there.

I would be given a couple of hours to talk, answer questions as well as officiate the event. Talking is never a problem and being a lecturer to 8 years certainly helps. The only problem would be the medium. It seemed like it would be in Malay. A potential disaster. I was also asked to prepare some slides.

When it come to slides, those who had been in the audience at my talks soon learned that I am a minimalist when it comes to slides and lectures. The maximum number of works on the projector at any given time was 10. And I would be sticking to that. Hopefully I could keep the audience enthralled as I would be relying on anecdotes most of the time. And there would be plenty of those in store.

There would also be a serious part to my talk, and in the end there would be three parts - the past, the present and the future. The past would mostly be about me, and how I got to where I am today - which is not very much …….

The present would be some exam tips - mainly the importance of studying in group and to strategies. And thirdly, what I would have hoped to have known if I was back in their shoes. It should be interesting.

So, the slides are done, though I could do with a few more pics. I have a long drive tomorrow, leaving KL at 6.30. I would have to be there by 9 am. Hopefully, it would be a day to remember …..

Back in KL

After being held up behind an accident just after Kulai - an overturned lorry blocking both lanes - we finally arrives in Gombak just after 8. Unloading, shower and then dinner, followed by uploading and sorting of my photos from the trip.

All together, I took more than 500 snaps, mostly on the X100. The photos I've uploaded so far on Facebook and blog were taken on the iPhone. Now, I may need to reedit the posts to resize the photos and insert new ones. That would take some doing.

It would be a busy couple of weeks. After going back to work, I will be traveling again on
Saturday. This time, back to my old college - MRSM Terendak - for a session with the students.

Then, on call on Sunday ......

The Morning Has Broken

So, it was finally the morning after. We hardly done any packing last night and the check-out time is 11 am. A long drive back to KL to follow. It had been a nice stay, though the boys as usual were wining a lot. As I mentioned, it would have been better if they had their friends or cousins with them. Maybe, that would be the plan for the future.

Their toys were still strewn all over the place. I had just woken up to stretch my legs. A quick shower coming up soon, followed by a quick walk to 7-Eleven to charge up my toll card for the drive to Tuas.

If everything goes according to plan, we would be leaving after breakfast - a late one as usual - then would be having lunch in Johor. Anita did mention about stopping at a designer outlet in Johor, but not sure if she has the energy - but you'd be surprised how women can always find energy to shop though.

So, finally, bye-bye Marina Bay Sands .....

Sunday Afternoon

A spare couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon. The children were doing their homework as tomorrow would be a school day after a week away for the Chinese New Year break. There won't be much school in the next couple of weeks however.

Next Wednesday would be a day off for Hari Wilayah. Then there would be another long weekend, with Thaipusam and Maulud Rasul. The boys would be absent the an extra day as well since we would be traveling to Singapore for the long weekend. Our first real holiday traveling abroad, and the first time their passports would be stamped!

Puan Anita as usual had been sorting out the packing all weekend. As for me, I am trying to sort out a quick way to blog on the fly and I was really impressed with the new version of Posterous. I had been using them since 2008, and it had been kinda lame for a while. The new revamp at the end of 2011 really did wonder for the product, and better still, they were still free of charge and now the API is much more durable.

I will write more about Posterous after the field trip …..

The Route

So, I'm getting used to the journey into work and sensibly speaking, 45 minutes seemed to be the time required. I have tried a few route, and finally settles with the route via DUKE, toward Sprint Highway via Hartamas, cutting past Kerinchi Link straight onto Federal Highway just before UMMC.

From then on, it would be another 15 minutes as the ramp at Sunway can be occasionally congested. A left turn after that and I would already be at the carpark.