endroog

Another year goes by and we’re getting older. This year had been a great year for me and of course, my wife too. Many good things came our way and the intrinsic value of these good things are immensely priceless (not literally though).

We are blessed with a baby boy, Bubu G who is conceived this year and had been growing healthily in Szer’s “stomach”. A dragon boy is right on the way to play with me next year. Yay. That’s one of the happiest moment in my life so far. Preparation for his arrival is ongoing – shopping for the best baby stuffs, collecting hands-me-down stuffs from generous beloved family members, reading up on parenting, psychology, nutrition sciences, early education, toy technologies etc.

Next, the promotion which I dare say, a long deserved promotion. After plying my trade for 9 years in the same company, I finally moved a notch up the rank. The labour I’ve put into my work had gained recognition.

Then, it has to be the completion of my AMII (insurance qualification) which I’ve sacrificed 3 years to complete. It had opened many doors for me to move on from doing motor adjusting to non-motor, which promised better future career development. The completion of the course also got me a fat increment and monetary reward from the company. A win- win situation for everyone, they cover all study costs and in return for a contractual bond and huge monetary incentive for me. Not to mention the double tax deduction they’d get for sponsoring staff education.

People always say that life changes every 10 years. My life had certainly changed a lot this year. I turned 30. Got married before 30 (last December). So far it’s been a good start into my thirties. My wife also received many good things career-wise despite having joined that Dutch oil giant for just a year. The timely career improvement for both of us benefited lil Bubu G. That lil’ fella certainly brought luck to us.

So, I would like to thank The Lord Almighty for all that I have at this station of my life. May the year 2012 (dragon) be a better year for everyone. With a few more days to go, Happy New Year 2012 in advance.

Today is the 2nd anniversary of my official / legal marriage. Wow, it’s been two years already. Happy Anniversary, Szer.

My wife starts to make me jealous and kept singing the song “Just the 2 of us” by Will Smith. Why? Baby Bubu is tickling her in the stomach and only she can feel it. I can’t even feel anything when I put my hand on her bloated stomach while he was said to be tickling.

Argh. That means she have the headstart advantage with Bubu. Oh no….. but that’s why they have the “Mummy’s Good” (Mama Hao) song and not “Daddy’s Good” (Papa Hao).

I think I have stayed in the same job for far too long and the sudden change makes me feel relaxed. Well, the workload in the new department is heavier as I can see on the faces of my new department mates. I don’t have that much work yet but that doesn’t mean I will be spared. Politics aside, people in the non-motor are far more independent and opinionated than the previous department. I’m saying this very frankly and there’s nothing to be afraid to be talked about. Here, people are more progressive and you can see people strive to better their career. I’m not saying there aren’t such people in the old department but there are more over here now. Most of the people in the old dept are in their comfort zone and I was one of them before. I’ve been telling MC to go and take up insurance studies if he is going to stay in this field.

Its good to see competition because that’s the only away to propel forward.

Learning and starting all over again (not literally from scratch but the learning curve is there) is so far so good. With years of experience on motor, picking up non-motor is somewhat easier than from afresh. Hopefully could be able to master the art of loss adjusting is this few years. Thinking of taking up loss adjusting professional studies. Hmm… but thats not so soon. Still got a few more CII papers to complete first. Just gotta take it slowly. Adjusting to the work culture in hand is more important now. How many 10 years do we have in life?

With Bubu G coming soon, hopefully I can find time to juggle for family and studies+career so that I can give my baby son a stainless steel / bronze if not silver or gold spoon when he is born. Trying my best looking for a decent house and environment for my boy to grow up and have a great childhood. A comfortable life is all I want. I don’t need a Lamborghini or Ferrari. They are for jocks.

Being a first time parent, I’m damn excited. Of course I know of the commitments I need to address but the shopping part was fun. You would want to provide the best for your kid if you could afford it and I will look into ways to afford it.

Spent the whole day at shopping malls – Ikano and 1Utama buying stuff for little Bubu G. There are just so much thing to buy and selecting clothes alone can take up half a day.

Am looking for a good baby cot which is of industrial strength and can withstand the five elements – fire, water, wind, earth and wood. Where can I get such a cot? Graco’s Travel Contour cot seems to be value for money but can it’s matress provide a good sleeping posture for the baby?? The plastic frame looks kinda flimsy. But the good thing is that it comes with a playpen and a diaper-changing panel. 3 in 1. And it’s foldable and can be carried for out station travel.

Milk. What brand is the best ? Scandinavian brands or Down Under? According to Ng’s mom, she’d recommend or prefer Scandinavian due to their scrupulous business practice. Hmm..is that true? China brands are obviously NO.

Toys, for early years, if possible, please get the baby toys of better quality as they may be putting the stuff in their mouth and you don’t want colours to fade and dirty the mouth and stain their tongue.

Whoa, too much to read up about buying essential stuff chapter alone in the parenting bible.

The first Apple experience I had was at primary school. That time I was maybe about 8-9 years old. The computer class started with a few Apple II and Macintosh computers. We learned BASIC programming then. Then when the invasion began, Intel-MS Dos PC invasion that is, everyone were so excited. The game Karateka that was available on PC was a treat for us if we finish our work. Everyone just loved Karateka.

From there, many of us defected to the other camp, the Intel-M$ cartel.

Back then, only the priviledged few could afford Apple computers. There onwards, Apple computers were just another expensive boxy beige personal computer….until the iMac came around 1997/98. That was the start of Apple coming back to our lives.

Everyone were so crazy about Apple and I always wanted to own one since the iMac… although I have been saving to buy one till now. Gosh. The first Apple product I owned was the iPod Nano. It really revolutionised the way we listen to music. Walkman? Discman? So dinosaur….

Fast forward to early this year, I bought the iPhone 4 after seeing the success of iPhone 3 and 3S. My colleague JK and BIL Alvyn were somewhat the culprit, infecting me with the Apple virus. When bonus was announced, I signed-up DiGi plan rightaway just for the iPhone. Did I regret? Yes and no. DiGi line sucks but for the phone, no choice lah. Stuck with the carrier for 2 years.

Just when you almost got enough of iPhone, the iPad came along. Not long after that, the iPad 2 I bought online for my wife arrived from Shenzen.

And here today, the architect, visionary, designer and innovator of all these gadgets that changed our life for the better has passed on. Many of us may not know him personally but to me the iPhone that he brought to us is something so useful and handy in all kinds of situation. Of course thirdparty software developers also played a major role, the Appstore idea that is the brainchild of Mr. Jobs has made it so revolutionary and changed the landscape of software as well as music business.

The BSD-based iOS that runs the iPhone and iPad is considered robust as compared to other mobile OS. The decision to derived their OS from BSD-based Darwin kernel had always been a wise decision.

So, RIP to Steve Jobs the legend. May his soul rest in peace. Let’s hope his successor Tim Cook would do some magic and churn out better innovative products.

Ok, by the time you read this I am very sure I have told the world that I’m going to be a dad next year. I don’t care already. Good news meant to be shared.

Bubu G is conceived and is due next year. Enough said about it. That post a few weeks ago.. ‘A raspberry was formed’ was actually a hint-dropping post to my readers. As I was not allowed to tell anyone not even my closest family members…wtf. Well, I should respect my wife and respected I did. So now I’m finally allowed to break the news to the world. I’m happy for I’m going to be a Daddy. Not Papa or Appa. I’m gonna be a Daddy soon….

My wife’s been asking me what would you want the kid to call you? Daddy of course. She then asked ” why not Papa ? “. I replied ” I like lah !! “. Daddy or Dada. Period.

I call my father Daddy. My kid gotta call me Daddy. I don’t want it to be like Aaron’s case where he calls his father Papa and his grandfather Daddy as my wife and her sisters call their father Daddy. Aaron was so confused at that point of time. He was like ” why can’t I follow what my mom calls this grey-haired guy??!! Why “.

Happy days, and also uncertainties all lie ahead. So, why can’t we just be happy? How many 10 years are there in a lifetime?