Close Chapter...

I was pondering on whether I should blog this here or 'the other side'... I guess everyone can know how I feel so here it is, over here for all and sundry... but first, another movie and another phrase... The Scent of a Woman... when Lt. Col. Frank Slade (Al Pacino) said... “Now I have come to the cross-roads in my life. I always knew what the right path was. Without exception, I knew, but I never took it. You know why? It was too damn hard.”...

This morning my ex-wife Skyped me... it started off with some papers that needed attention to severe the last binding tie between us... the apartment... then she said she wanted me to know something before I found out from others. She told me she was 4 months pregnant. Tears welled in my eyes... here I am, last day in KL and in my office and at my desk... and I have tears in my eyes... they were tears of joy... pure joy... I felt so happy for her as she now has everything that she ever wanted in life.

I felt so relieved... I felt relieved because of the phrase in the first paragraph. We all have to make decisions in our life and the right decision is ALWAYS the hardest. Divorcing her was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my entire life. I knew the repercussions... emotionally, mentally, financially, socially, etc. But I went ahead... everyone... well, maybe not everyone... thought that I was an asshole to do what I did. Now... was I really? Sometimes in life you have to be cruel to be good. Was she the one who suffered the most? Think of my last post and Jimmy McGinty's phrase... what you see is not always what is.

Anyway... I am so, so happy for her and her husband. Now I can move to Langkawi with my conscience clear... clear that my sacrifice was not in vain and that she has achieved happiness and that I did the right thing for us and her ultimately.

Ok... enough... let's move on... Langkawi... the good news for today, the boss says she wants everything in the minibar to be on complimentary. Hmmm... nice... I like the direction we're headed.

It's my last day in this office and so far the people here have not seen me lose my temper... there was no reason to... well until today that is. This guy from Spritzer calls to tell me that I need a minimum of 6-7000 CARTONS a month on  a 1 year contract to be eligible for custom bottling. I told him no way I can consume that many lah. So, I asked him... are there any other options. I knew he was evading... he proposed that I used Spritzer as it is and he can give me a very good price.... hey, my mom did not drop me on my head when I was a baby lah... why should I advertise for you? He suggests that I put a tag around the bottle's neck. Urghh!!! He obviously has absolutely no taste to even propose that. I kept asking him for options but he kept evading and kept pushing me to use the readily available Spritzer bottles. So, I asked him if I wanted a one time production of 10000 cartons, what would it cost me? He says for 10000 I can only have stickers and not shrink wrap labels. Why? Oh, it is not viable for us cost wise. Ok... charge me for it. Oh, then it won't be cost efficient for you and it will cost you about RM18 per carton as opposed to RM14 per carton. You wouldn't want that. That made me lose it... I told him (not very politely)... you don't decide what I want or don't want nor do you decide what I can or cannot afford... I decide. You just do what I ask you to do and propose what I asked for based on my specifications... I am the customer and I decide what I want and need, not you. My colleagues were shocked as they asked me what happened after that. The cheek of that bugger... he'd better pray that we never ever have to meet face to face...

Tiring Sunday

I packed till quite late last night then hit the sack. I was up and about by7:00am... did my usual stuff... (not what you're thinking)... the first thing I do every morning is make my coffee... then I got ready to go to my mom's. We're going for All Souls Day prayers today. I got to my mom's by 8:30am and we were off shortly, as soon as my younger bro arrived. We went to two places... Klang for my late uncle and KL for my late grandfather. My late father and grandmother were both cremated. By the time we were done it was about 3:30pm. Oh... mom sat in my motorboat... and she didn't say anything about the noise... pssst... my mom's a wee bit short on her hearing... hahaha...

I had an interesting sms-thon with someone today... no details to share though as it was shared in confidence. Anyway... it got me thinking... yeah, I know... again... what to do? I had a haircut today so that's why... I thought about my life... I'm moving on yet again... leaving friends behind yet again... it is sad I must say... though I always portray otherwise... let's see... what do they say about me again? Muka ketat... control cool... poyo... etc... whatever... I don't show my weaker side but I am human after all... I do get lonely too... I miss good intelligent conversations... great company... and most importantly I miss the group of people who politely put up with me for talking cock day in and day out... they're so polite... they politely pay attention while thinking.... there he goes again... long-winded botak.

This move however is very different... scary in fact... kinda like Star Trek... Langkawi... 99 Islands. These are the voyages of the bullshitter Botak. His five-year mission: to open three resorts (fingers crossed); to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no botak has gone before. Scary man... this time round there are no familiar faces... no friends... sigh...

So, scary... ummm... excuse me... I need to go take a shit...

Preparing The Transport...

Today, I took my motorboat for it's overdue service in preparation for its 439km journey to Kuala Kedah next Wednesday afternoon. Yes... motorboat... the story behind the motorboat... there was a hole in the mid bullet of my exhaust system due to corrosion. I then took it to the so-called exhaust specialist who recommended a replacement mid bullet. He then suggested I change the piping and the muffler as well. I agreed provided that it was not noisy. He assured me it that it won't be noisy but we all now know what happened to his assurance. So... my car now sounds like a freaking motorboat... and I won't be surprised if my car can actually make a dive into the sea just like James Bond's ride in The Spy Who Loved Me... but it's quite fun too as the low drone does trigger off some  car alarms... heh-heh-heh... I think I shall leave it for now until I start showing signs of deafness.

Anyway... back to the service. The timing belt was due. The car has clocked 122k kms... so it is 2k kms overdue for its service. The last change of timing belt was done by the ex and since I couldn't find the service booklet, I couldn't tell for sure whether it was changed at 60k or 65k or 70k. Rather than be sorry, I decided not to take the chance. I had a cracked engine mount as well but it was not in stock so I'll have to send it back in on Wednesday morning before I make my trip. The bill came to RM1100... which got me thinking... again... as usual... maybe if I grew my hair back I won't think so much (wishful thinking).

I spent RM1100 this time... RM500+ for the change of exhaust.... the last service was about RM350... I did aligning, balancing and changed two wheels about 3 months back and also all 4 rims as they were all dented and  that cost me about RM1500... road tax and insurance costs about RM1500 too and with the upcoming engine mount. So, I was thinking... with about 4 services a year and what I spent it would be about in excess of RM7k a year just on the car excluding petrol. I earn a decent salary yet this hurts my pocket just doing very BASIC maintenance for the car. Hmmm... how do others manage? I know someone who used to work for me who drove a Honda City... and the Duty Manager drove a Vios... my Sales Manager drove a Vios too... the Assistant Financial Controller drove an Altis... the Assistant Housekeeping Manager drove a Waja that could fly... and moi, a motorboat...  sigh... I must be doing something wrong, no? Or am I?

Enlighten me please...

Moving To Langkawi

I started this blog for the benefit of those who are keen to know what this old boring, botak dude was up to in The Jewel of Kedah... Langkawi. I still maintain the other blog where I vent and say bad things about people. That will only be accessible via invitation or if you are well versed with the net, you will eventually find it... depends which kepala you uselah... kepala lutut confirm cannot... and THAT other kepala of course should ONLY be exclusively for sextisfaction.... so it leaves just one kepala to use.

Anyway... I will begin my journey to a new chapter on 31st March 2010. The plan is to drive to Kuala Kedah, put up a night there and then send the car via cargo vessel while I catch the ferry. So, I begin my new chapter on April Fool's day. Accommodation has been arranged. I have a one-bedroom apartment waiting for me and I will be staying there for two months and when the resort has water and exlectricity, I will move into the resort and stay there for approximately 6 months... after which I will get a better apartment. The car can only be picked up the following day so I will hire a car for a day.

So far, things have been  good with the new bosses. I don't feel stressed out. My arsehole... oops, I mean opinion (an opinion is like an arsehole, everyone has one and some really stink) carries a lot of weight.  People say I am full of shit so maybe that explains why my opinion carries weight... the Malays say, berat tahi. The three Sales person here who have been actively selling the resort for the past one year are quite happy to have me on board as I have won battles with the boss which they had lost.  I don't get questioned at all on what I do or how I do it... which took a bit of getting used to at first compared to the restraints that were imposed at the previous place.

I can tell that this company is quite tight with their cash flow but I'm not too worried about it... YET. I am confident that if I build a good product then there will be nothing to be worried about. But I am going to need help... help from KL as the work culture in Langkawi is so poor. So... any takers from KL? Buzz me yeah?

I have sourced accommodation for the staff last Monday when I was there. I will seal the deal when I get there next month. I will take two apartment units for the staff, Male and Female. The apartments have 3 bedrooms so I think I can fit 6 persons in there at the minimum. The apartment block has a pool, gym and also for those who like to 'strangle the cat' there's karaoke facility too. 

There's so much to be done. Sometimes I just end up in a daze... I need some help and it will come soon hopefully. Ads have been done online and I have over 80 applicants so far for 5 positions... alas... 90% are wannabes with no experience or close to their 'expiry date'.

I will be traveling back to KL every fortnight for now. I have booked my flights for the 12th and 26th night... I will arrive in KL at approximately 10pm. The plan is to spend the night in a hotel close to the office so it will be convenient for me to get to office. Then in the night, fly back to Langkawi. the frequency of my travels might change... it depends how things pan out.

The next few days are going to be a real blur as I still haven't started packing. I need to send the car for servicing and a change of timing belt, discontinue my Streamyx, take my mom for All Souls Day prayers, move stuff from the old apartment... so little time bit so much to do. 

Ok... till the next update... Botak out...