things i will missed: food

i will miss the following:

kajang sate haji samuri. quite possibly the best satay in malaysia

kampar fish ball noodle (i like the dry noodle)

klang's chee cheong fun (minus the sweet sauce)

penang char koew teow

subang wanton noodle

half boiled egg with toast breakfast at henderson hawker centre










maxwell road rickshaw noodle breakfast











hougang ave 3 char koey teow










amongst many others. -sigh-

weekend in malaysia

i spent the long weekend in malaysia visiting my parents. i normally pay them a visit twice or thrice a year but in the last 4 months, i have been there 3 times.
my mum told me that i should take a day trip to kampar, my birthplace to pay my respects to my dearly departed grandparents and great grandparents. we kept an ancestral tablet on the house where my late grandfather stayed. now, the huge shop lot has a sole occupant, my father's step brother, or my uncle.
kampar is a small town in perak. her best days are clearly over her but she tries to stay graceful and now attempts to reinvent herself as an education hub for perak. one can wiki `kampar' and find interesting history about the town. of course, the kampar food deserve special mention. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kampar,_Perak
i also visited some relatives who are still staying in kampar. the one thing i noticed is all of us aged. where once upon a time, we were all kids playing catching, etc., now we all live our own lives with families in tow. i bidded farewell to them all. no one knows when i will next set foot in kampar again.
the short day trip was purposeful. it was a good trip. (i promised to post some pictures of kampar the next time)
of course my mum showed her exasperation when i told her that i might move without a job. she said i was out of my mind and that i should postpone my move until i can secure a job transfer. i told her it might be `never'; and in any case, i paid for the airtickets, down a deposit for the accomodation, bought the aussie bank draft, arranged for a container to ship my things over, told my employers about my plan, and not the least started packing my things in boxes already. to undo all these, it is going to be real hardwork, unproductive and not to mention expensive. I have timed myself well this time in breaking the news to her (about potentially being unemployed) ;-)
i guess everyone is holding it well. my father said he planned to come to singapore to see us off, but my mum is non-committal. just like her.
in any case, the trip was time well spent. i stayed with my loved ones, visited relatives, bought some of the stuff i wanted to buy and last but not least, pigged out on food that i know i will surely missed; but that is a story for another time altogether.

why some might call a folly

i wrote earlier about moving in uncertain times. this is compounded by the fact that i do not have a job secured there (yet). the winds of change put paid to my initial transfer plan but i guess i still have a few months to go as i will get to hold on to my present job till end jan 09.

i have since updated my resume and in fact sent a few job applications out. i am not hopeful for the simple reason that the present environment is not exactly fertile hunting ground for jobs. compounded by the fact that i am still here in singapore, face-to-face interview will not happen till a month from now, so any interests from prospective employer will cool off by then. lastly, i was told nationalistic fervor rules in australia. unlike in singapore, locals do get preferences for job openings. it makes good sense since having a local knowledge is an advantage. (hence, the sooner i immerse myself into australia-lizing myself, the better it is for me)

i think the most important thing for me is to get used to the motion of job application first and stay positive. this is definitely better than doing nothing and brooding over a can of beer.
the possibility of not finding anything there within a prolong period of time is real. this has crossed my mind many times. essentially, i need to make adjustment for me and my family on a lifestyle we are used to now, which is pretty comfortable. i am sure my mum prefers my conservative side winning over me on this one. however, i think we need to act now. next month is as good as any a time to move. otherwise, we will forever be stuck in our comfort zones.

i also received a lot of encouragement and good wishes from friends and relatives, so that kept my chin up.

post #1: the decision and the prep

in 30 days, our family will embark on a new life down under. i am both excited and worried at the same time because we are moving in pretty uncertain times. up to a couple of days ago, my wife cecilia and i were still contemplating if we should wait out a little. in the end, we decided that we will proceed with our plan. after all, we planned this for almost a year. to be sidetracked by this little nagging irritant called the "worst financial crisis since the great depression" is not going to do justice to our plan.

hence, today, we booked our singapore airlines tickets for the family, got a friend in melbourne helping us with booking of temporary accomodation and finalize the arrangement for a 20' container
to bring along our stuff there.

we arrive in melbourne on the 23 november 2008, exactly a month from now!