World Cup 2010 South Africa

I was born in the year 1978, the year where the 11th staging of the FIFA World Cup was coincidentally held in Argentina, and the Argies went on to win it for the very first time. Of all the games that my father watched that year, he must have held me in his arms when Argentina lifted the Cup in the Final where they beat the Netherlands 3-1 after extra time. Perhaps that is the reason why I grew up supporting Argentina? Interesting and debatable eh. I can't remember a thing though! Nevertheless, I guess I started supporting them in the 1986 and 1990 World Cup where Diego Maradona was at his peak, performing miracles.

The next edition of the World Cup will be held in South Africa, in 2010 next year. All the big guns have already qualified and that includes England, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Argentina, Brazil and Italy. It will be interesting to see how Argentina fare in the tournament next year, after a less than convincing qualifying campaign which saw them earning South America's final automatic berth for next year's tournament during a do or die battle where they eventually defeated Uruguay 1-0 away. It will also be interesting to see how England cope with the mounting pressure of being seen as the best ever assembled England squad in recent years. The first and also the last time they ever won the prestigious tournament was back in 1966.

You can bet people from all walks of life will be glued to the TV from 11th June till 11th July next year. I have female friends who claim that they'd never watch a football match, but when it comes to World Cup, it's a different story altogether. You can hear them talking, discussing or even condemning referees who failed to award penalties to their teams. That's the beauty of World Cups.

I can't wait and I'm certainly looking forward to next June, but what could be different this time is I will have the chance to watch the games with my little one!!! Coincidentally, he will be born in a World Cup year as well. You can bet I will have him all nicely dressed up in an Argentina baby jersey (if there really is one), cradling him in one hand, with a can of beer in another. Milk bottle more like it...LOL

Parenthood Excites Me

I thought it was about the right time we announced it. Jan is now in her 16th week of pregnancy and we are expecting our first child at the end of March 2010. We have always thought of keeping a low profile, waiting for the right time, but deep within us, you know we always wanted to share this joyful news with everyone. So here we go.

The prospect of becoming parents for the first time is exhilarating, and at the same time pretty scary. We know there is going to be a big change, but we're excited about it. We are taking things slowly as they come, and at the same time, planning ahead where it matters.

It has been quite good so far, apart from some 'spotting' at the beginning which got us quite worried. Jan has since been experiencing terrible nausea and vomitting, but things are improving now that she's into her second trimester. She has also been complaining of stomach cramps once in a while, she just had to find the right position and it just eased off. I know it's not going to be easy though, but I will try to be as supportive as I can. Food craving symptoms are not seen yet though *phew*, but I'm sure the time will come.

Are we as thrilled to know whether it's a boy or a girl? Well we have no real preferences basically, but after few sessions of heart-to-heart talk, Jan likes a baby boy and myself is leaning towards a baby girl. Don't ask me why. Anyway, it's not all that important, what matters most is a healthy baby.

We're over the moon and truly thankful that God has presented us with this precious gift. I'm hoping for a smooth 2nd and 3rd trimester till delivery for Jan. Let us all pray.

What's Up?

Since coming back from the US, I spent the last 2 months mostly with office work, yes, now that I have to work on night shifts to support US and other IA countries. Lets be honest, it's been difficult having to suffer through the nights in the office and then sleeping through the next day. My 'young' age is not helping either. It's no fun at all, well, apart from the extra income that is. My life is as good as upside down now.

Anyway, looking at the brighter side of things, I have my loved ones close to me. A reason good enough to put a smile back on my face.

OK, work aside, I have been spending quality times together with my wife, making up for the lost time when I was away in the US for a good 4 months in the beginning of 2009. We have been going around eating like I've never eaten for ages! I like being back to my old self, now that I'm back here. Those football matches on Astro, futsal games, late night mamak sessions, those Friday night drinking outings with my buddies, early morning Dim Sums, playtime with Paris, jogging in the neighbourhood, well it really does feel good.

In just a glance, July is coming to its end and August is already calling! Things have been wonderful so far this year, and I'm truly hoping for more good stuffs to come our way. Till then guys.

I Wanna Go Home

Just wanna share with you this lovely song by Michael Buble, Home. It truly sings my heart out. When you find yourself in that situation, the song suddenly becomes much more meaningful.

It's been like 3 months since I left home for the states, and it's really not fun staying in hotel for so long I can tell you, not to mention living everyday's life in another part of the world, totally new to me. Anyway, I'm truly glad I'll be going home next weekend.

Forget about the fact it'll only be for a week, in all honesty, the thought of being together again with my loved ones back at home is indescribable. I'm looking forward to it and I will treasure that precious 1 week back home before coming back to the states again.

Enjoy this beautiful song and the video I found in youtube. Could not find it's original MTV though.

Shopping Frenzy

Eight and a half hours of shopping is nuts, at least for a guy like me who rarely shops. And the results --> heavier luggage, weaker feet, weaker arms and definitely a weaker wallet.

Talking about self control? Discipline? I guess I lost them today!

ps: I am not done with that outlet mall yet, still half a level more to go...too tired for that today!!!

Customized caps, they do it on the spot...

Arrived at New Jersey

After spending almost 2 months in Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky (CVG), I will be based in Elizabeth (ELZ), New Jersey for the final month. You see, DHL has 3 Centralized Dispatch Offices in US, the one in Cincinnati being the largest, dispatching almost 90-95% of the service areas in US. Then we have ELZ and COP dispatching the other 5-10% of the service areas here.

Deployment in CVG has been a successful one, as far as my application is concerned. I believe I have done a good job deploying the application and sharing my knowledge and experience with the dispatch folks in CVG. Of course we still have a long way to go with more than half of the service areas yet to be deployed yet. I will still be helping with the deployment in CVG, although remotely from ELZ. Aim is now to help ELZ and hopefully we will have another successful one here.

Woke up at 04:30 this morning to catch the flight from CVG to Newark Airport. Was really excited as I could finally get my ass out of the not-so-happening CVG. I breathe new life here in ELZ, NJ. Feels like I have just arrived at the states, with sights of tall buildings and busy streets. Can't wait for everything to get started.

Anyway, I really like my new room. Cosy, comfy and above all, the HUGE Jersey Gardens Outlet Mall lies just across the street. With more than 200 branded outlets mostly with factory prices and plenty of restaurants, what better location could I possibly ask for? Courtyard Marriot is strategically located a few miles away from the Newark Airport and a 20-30 mins train ride away from the 'big apple'. Bring it on!

Shopping at Jeffersonville

It was one of the places, well perhaps the only one I wanted to visit during my stay here in Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky. Seriously there's nothing much worth visiting here than this huge outdoor Outlet Malls at Jeffersonville, Ohio. It houses like 100++ branded factory stores, all in one location.

One of my colleague was here for one week and so we rented a car for the day. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have done this alone, I'd rather stay in the room. Journey took like an hour and 15 minutes and with the rented GPS, it really helped. The experience to drive on the left hand side and on the right lane was really something.

You wouldn't believe how hard we tried to tell ourselves not to do anything silly starting to purchase whatever cheap we could find. Put it this way, for your pocket's sake, this is certainly not a place you would want to bring you girl to! In the end, I ended up with Coach and Oakley. 1 for wifey and 1 for myself, fair right?

Coach was super cheap, well worth the buy at least. They had up to 50-60% sales. Didn't get what wifey wanted actually but was happy she actually liked what I gasak for her instead. We were fortunate to be there in the morning as the queue was right up to the side of the Coach shop in the afternoon! Crazy shoppers.

Pampered myself with Oakley's Polarized Straight Jacket. 'Juliet' was really tempting but was way too expensive for me, so it's a no. Anyway, i was super contented with my carefully selected purchases for the day. Hehehe :)

Oakley's Polarized Straight Jacket

Camwhoring with my new toy, ahem.. Spring is officially here, but it still feels like winter

Petrol with lotsa LOVE

Dalmatian Pups

If I remember correctly, they are now 3 weeks old. Adorable little angels, too good to be true. This is the first litter for Snoopy, Jan's female dalmatian. Too bad I'm in another part of the world now, missing the chance to see them go through their younger days.

Innocent looking

The liver-spotted baby All sleeping except 'spotless'
Aren't they just lovely?

It's Been A Month Now...

Not knowingly, it's been 1 month now since I left home for the US. It has been difficult for the first 2 weeks, trying to acclimate to the severe weather condition here and at the same time, trying to recover from the jet-lag, after travelling across many different time zones during the 20 hours transmeridian long distance flight. Those irregular sleep patterns, insomnias, dry itchy skin and digestive problem are no fun at all.

Now everything feels good again, though I still don't like the food and weather here. Colleagues and those from the hotel have been treating me reasonably good. They even offered me a microwave oven in my hotel room. And I found out that it is safe for us to drink water straight from the tap! Something I find rather weird and unsafe at the beginning.

Work has been silky smooth so far after one month, I am expecting things to start piling up for the rest of the 2 months. Fingers crossed, I am hoping for a rapid and successful deployment of our dispatch application all across US, allowing me to fly back earlier than scheduled.

I am missing home, missing Jan, missing my family, missing Paris and you can bet I miss the food back in Malaysia. Nothing compares to the variety of food we can get back in Malaysia, and also the availability of food almost 24 hours a day, of course I'm talking about our Mamak stalls. No doubt that I long to be back, but I am not counting the days as it will be ridiculously long and tiring. Lets hope I have a good time here, getting things done, savor the good moments and then return to where I belong.

My colls have a liking for this drink, tastes like Red Bull

We ordered our daily lunch online, very systematic

This is my office, with the QSS dept at the back

My DHL colls, nice people

Sounds familiar?

I do my laundry every fortnight

I've got prezzie for wifey!

The Pub @ Crestview Hills

It was one of those lazy Sundays here and I thought it would be a great idea if I went to The Pub at Crestview Hills where they actually show live telecast of English football games. Well, it's the only English pubs here where I get to catch these games LIVE, and Jan actually encouraged me to go anyway.


So off I went and I was accompanied by one of my colleague, Sven, a Belgian, currently working in DHL Singapore, and like me, was posted here for this project. We had a couple of Stellas and had our lunch there as well.


Nice sunny, chilling day here today, probably at 10 degrees celcius or so, and I enjoyed that. And of course, I enjoyed watching Man Utd trashing Derby 4-1 as well. Awesome.

Valentine's Day at Cincinnati

Today at 7am, the front desk called me, and said there's this Valentine's surprise from my wife and that they were gonna send them up. A little surprised, I said ok.

Guess what, I've got half a dozen of big red roses, chocolate coated strawberries and a nice card from wifey. Now that's sweet, ain't it.

My cold, lonely Valentine's Day in Cincinnati has all of a sudden turned warm, loving and sweet.

Thanks sweetie, you make my day, Happy Valentine's Day to you, I love you.

Happy Valentine's Day to ALL.

Greetings from Obama-land

Today is my 3rd day in here Cincinnati, Ohio since touching down on Thurday. Long flight from KUL, transitting at HKG - LA - ATL before finally hitting CVG, almost 24 hours on the plane.

Had a great time in HKG Int Airport, where I spent like 2 hours in the Cathay Pacific Business Lounge, during transit. Huge lounge they have there, so unlike the one in KLIA. I took my bath there, getting ready for another long flight to LA, for like 12 hours.

Touched down in Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Intl Airport at about 10:30am, Thurs. Weather was cold like anything, which I later learned that it was one of those unusual winter days in Cincinnati, where temperature went down to almost -10 degrees celcius. There was snow storm earlier and the whole Cincinnati seems to be covered in a thick layer of white cream, looking down from the plane.

Checked in to the hotel and was preparing to catch some sleep, having a hard time trying to adapt to the time zone difference here. Anyway, that was not to be, as I received a call from the DHL office here, requiring me to report for work immediately. Came back to hotel at quarter past midnight. Damn! I looked like a zombie with red watery eyes. The extremely cold weather was certainly not helping.

Check out some of the pics below

Scene from outside the hotel


DHL Hub Office
View from the office window

Overlooking the Ohio River from the plane

The whole Cincinnati covered up with snow