1-5/4/2014 - Dili, Timor Leste

When I told my friends that I was going on a business trip to Timor Leste, the first reaction that I got was.. "What.. Where??!!"

Indeed, Timor is a less renowned country probably due to its under development as it attained its independence only in 2002. Located north of Australia, Timor forms part of the southern outer archipelago of the Lesser Sunda Islands.

When I touched down at the airport on Tuesday, my manager was a bit worried if I'd suffer from cultural shock. Well, at that point of time, I only recalled a sentence told to me by a friend. He said, "if you can survive in Malaysia, you can survive in any 3rd world country!" and the place which Timor reminded me of was actually.. Sabah.

Anyone who's been to KK would find this familiar..

It looks so much like the view at Tanjong Likas, don't you think so?

Throughout my 5 days there, my manager and I actually stayed in a hotel called Esplanada. Boring repetitive breakfast menu aside, I have nothing to complain about the hotel. It has decent rooms with pleasant staffs to serve us whenever we needed anything. Some photos of the hotel..

Of course, since we were not there on a holiday, the facilities and the views that you just saw were "only for display" as we did not have much time to appreciate or utilise them anyway. To give an idea on how people in Timor live their everyday life, here are some of the random pictures taken while I was driven around Dili for work.

As you can see, Timor is actually still very far behind in terms of development. When I was there, I kinda imagined myself travelling 30 years back on a time machine. There were even stalls at the road side selling diesel / petrol in used mineral water bottles like this.

Can you believe it? and yes, some vehicles would just stop by, pay and pour petrol into their vehicles instead of going to the proper petrol stations to top up their fuels. Interesting.

Everyday on this business trip, we talked about work from 8am to 10pm.. though there was not much time to tour around and enjoy what the country could offer for a foreigner like me, I was fortunate enough to have met people from exotic backgrounds during my stay. They were so open-minded and fun I felt like I was the only introverted species left on earth! hmm... looks like there's a need for me to polish up my social skills already...

Some pictures of my personal encounter during the trip..

Like I told my friends, five days in Timor was really a physically taxing but mentally enriching experience for me. Just by observing the trainings and discussions held, I've learnt so much from my new direct superior.. and I know there are a lot more that I can pick up from him in the near future. I guess the statement "the more you know, the more you realize how much you don't know" is quite true after all. 

Timor Leste, checked.
Career progression, in progress.
How I like my new role, TBC.

Toodles.

28/2/2014 - Just Do It

Ever since I quitted music lessons to pursue tertiary education, I thought that was the end of my connection with music. I thought I could never sing or perform like before, I thought all my stage experience were converted into distant memories.

When my company decided to organize a singing competition lately, various thoughts came playing in my mind. Should I go ahead and register myself? Or should I not embarrass myself in front of the public? I certainly missed the feeling of performing on stage, but what if I sang out of tune? To tell people that I was from the national team in my home country would only be a joke!

It was again the encouragement that came from people around me that got me registered on the very last minute. Of course I was nervous as hell before going on stage, of course I had butterflies in my stomach. I could barely focus on my work on the day of the competition. I had to calm myself down for the whole day!

During the rehearsal, I was shocked when the sound system didn't turn out to be as good as expected. I sounded like I was muffling through, my vocal lacked power, aaahh shit I thought I was gonna screw it. Until the MC for the evening turned up, he made some adjustments to the sound system, told me to let my voice out, don't worry and just sing!

Yes, just sing! Isn't singing something I enjoyed doing all these while? Since when it has turned into something I fear doing? Fear should not get in my way. I was there to perform, I was there to experience, I was there to do the thing I loved doing all these years!

and there I was, singing on stage like it was all coming back to me. the touch, the sense, the passion!! I felt connected to music again. aaaaahhhh! I loved the crowd who cheered for me continuously, I saw the faces in awe, I saw them standing up to clap for me! If only I could sing another song for them, if only I could touch their souls with my voice again.. The experience was priceless. So priceless that the result of the competition didn't matter to me any more. I just wished to be given a chance to sing for them again. I wished to be a better singer for them.. for now I know, no matter how many years have passed, no matter how busy life has become, I can never get disconnected to the sphere of music I've grown up with.

Thanks daddy, mummy and my music teachers, for sowing the musical seeds in me. This is certainly one field I have grown up learning how to appreciate and fall in love with again and again.

Congratulations to all participants for the competition. We were all winners for fighting through our own fear, we were all champions for making it a memorable night to all.

and last but not least, thanks NOCS and the organizing committee for offering such encouraging rewards. This competition has taught me a lesson:

If there's something we wish to do in life but something else is holding us back, just let go of our fear, let go of our ego and do it! We are not born to work, breed and die, we're here to enjoy our life. So throw away our fears, throw away our worries; do what we want to do, and be prepared to witness how amazing things might just turn out to be! YOLO - You Only Live Once!