9/11

Last Friday, I found out that the company where I used to work in New York had just gone through a second round of layoffs. This time, a former immediate colleague of mine was given the boot. We used to keep in touch constantly right after I left especially during the December CFA days, which we both failed.

During lunch break, sometime last year, we talked about 9/11 and I was surprised to discover a previous work experience of his. He had stints at smaller hedge funds before joining our former company including one at had an office on the 80-something floor of one of the World Trade Center towers. He told me the story how he was slightly late for work on that fateful Tuesday morning. Had he came in earlier, he said he could have been stuck inside the elevator when the airplane struck. He became a witness to a tragedy that included desperate office workers who chose death by jumping off from the buildings instead of death by fire. He was reluctant to talk more about it although I was pressing for details.

Here are some photographs of the WTC site which I had taken from the PATH train station situated right inside Ground Zero. The photos within these photos are lined against the wall of the station. The site continues to evolve. When I was there in December 2003, you could still tell that it was a site of collapsed buildings once. In May 2007, it looked like any other construction site.





I wish JY well in these tough times. Hopefully he'll secure a job somewhere else soon.

Life on the Beach

Was I inspired by Alex Garland's The Beach to leave city-dwelling life? Not exactly.

Here are some of the things that have kept me occupied in life post-New York.


Getting into grad school - admission and now, finding the funding.



Reading.



And unexpectedly, lots of SMS! =)

Marriage

I was visiting my maternal grandparents at the beginning of the month. A friend of my dad's passed away several days before and he left behind a young wife and three children. The eldest being only 10. We were talking about how young his kids are and how they would miss their father. In the midst of the rather sad conversation, my grandmother suddenly quipped "That's why you have to find a wife and get married soon!!". She sounded pretty serious too. To some of you, this may not be amusing but it is to me and my immediate family. My parents never brought up the topic of marriage. My mom was there. She could not help herself but giggled especially on how the topic of conversation swayed. Lost for words, all I could say "Tell that to Apai Amin first".

Apai Amin is the affectionate nickname of my youngest uncle and my grandmother's only unmarried child. About a year ago, he quite confidently told us that he has plans to join the priesthood but now the plan is off. There are rumors going around that he is pretty steady with a girl.

I don't usually put much thought into the topic of marriage and had little urgency to do so. But after looking at the picture of the three little children standing over the father's coffin on that weekend's BorneoPost, I come to realize that there should be a cutoff age for marriage - age x or never! Men's health gets shaky from the mid 50s onwards and you would want to spend some time knowing your children before you leave this world.

Old Bible

I picked up the second hand bible from a used books store in Cleveland during a visit in Spring 2006. It was probably a gift from a mother to her child upon receiving one of the sacraments in 1959.

Personality Test

We approach personality tests with some kinds of expectations, don't we? A little bit cheesy but I like the questions which looks unrelated.

Thanks to Ms. Godsister for putting up her results.

Your view on yourself:
You are down-to-earth and people like you because you are so straightforward. You are an efficient problem solver because you will listen to both sides of an argument before making a decision that usually appeals to both parties.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:
You like serious, smart and determined people. You don't judge a book by its cover, so good-looking people aren't necessarily your style. This makes you an attractive person in many people's eyes.

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:
You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you might that person.

The seriousness of your love:
You are very serious about relationships and aren't interested in wasting time with people you don't really like. If you meet the right person, you will fall deeply and beautifully in love.

Your views on education
Education is very important in life. You want to study hard and learn as much as you can.

The right job for you:
You have plenty of dream jobs but have little chance of doing any of them if you don't focus on something in particular. You need to choose something and go for it to be happy and achieve success.

How do you view success:
You are confident that you will be successful in your chosen career and nothing will stop you from trying.

What are you most afraid of:
You are concerned about your image and the way others see you. This means that you try very hard to be accepted by other people. It's time for you to believe in who you are, not what you wear.

Who is your true self:
You are full of energy and confidence. You are unpredictable, with moods changing as quickly as an ocean. You might occasionally be calm and still, but never for long.

State of the Body

I had a blood test at Gribbles last week after 5 years of not having one. Cholesterol and sugar levels are on the high side. Received a terrible scolding from my mom. "Do you understand what it means to have high cholesterol?!" I blame it on reckless lifestyle I had in terms on what I ate. Huge portions and corn syrup in almost every sweet food. KFC and McDonald's were just across the street from the apartment where I lived. There was also this hispanic take out that serves the best roasted pork leg on yellow rice.

Hopefully the current Lenten diet will bring the numbers down.

I took some sort of a urea test together with the blood test for which I had to pee into a little cup with my name on it. The lab technician simply instructed me to do so in the dingy toilet at the back on the lab.

Perhaps it wasn't a drug test but still I was expecting a little more strictness. Before I joined my former exployer for full time, I had to take a drug test just like any new hire. The technician who administered me was a stern-looking African American lady. The toilet was right in the middle of the lab. It was specifically built for collection of urine samples and not for the staff or visitors to take a dump in. She warned me not to wash my hands or flush the toilet before giving her my warm little cup of beer-colored pee. She even turned off the water supply to the toilet.

Actually, I was quite anxious to get the results. Hehe.

Small World

I was up surfing the net last night when SY whom I got to know in New York IMed me asking whether my father is a lawyer of this and this name from this and this part of Malaysia. Yes, that's my father, I said. Conversation ended prematurely there as she had to leave for somewhere.

So I asked dad for details and yes, he does know this and this lady who, with another fellow air stewardess, was dating his friends when they were bachelors in the roaring 70s. In fact, dad claims that both him and SY's mom had gone out on several dates but those dances and dinners never evolved into a relationship. Dad was constantly out of town for work and was already dating another girl. She later became an item with dad's good friend who had just passed away recently. Her fellow air stewardess friend went out with another of dad's friend too.

We always claim how small the world is. I'd say there are several levels on which such social phenomenon happens. The more common one is that we know of a friend who knows a mutual/common friend. Not too much hype here as the odds of people of similar age and similar educational background to know another's friend is pretty high. The more amazing one is how you get to befriend someone who is the child of your parent's long lost friend.

Lost Photos

I had a laptop for four years which broke down within a few months after graduation. The only part that I could salvage was its hard drive.

All along I thought had that I have an extensive collection of photos in this hard drive. So I bought a casing yesterday to cloth this little piece of device. I am particularly interested in the pre-uni photos taken mainly by my first digital camera. D reminded me of the Bundu Tuhan photos when we met last week.

But the photos aren't there. The disk is only littered with programming assignments and assignments of first year students I tutored. I might have burned them into CDs but could have thrown them away. Now, I am left checking every pile of CDs in the house in the hope of bringing back some sweet, old memories.

HSS

It was a splendid weekend. I was the driver for the female members of the family for a weekend trip to Miri. Naughty sister had to be returned to her rightful place in Curtin Miri while mom was attending a women-only church conference centered on the development of holiness. The men's version will follow suit in about two weeks. Dad decided to hear Anwar Ibrahim speak so he stayed back.

I must admit it was a date regardless whatever the situation. In my opinion, it was one because:
- the meeting was only between a guy and a girl
- the guy was a nerve wreck throughout the day
- the guy spent the morning at a car wash (the female equivalent is to spent the day at a spa or a hair saloon, no?)

I like how we got lost trying to find our way to the Miri-Lutong highway. I love the way she warns me not to knock down the mat motor who was trying to merge into my lane. The music at the stone-bowl restaurant where we ate were of the late 1990s and early 2000s (i.e. music that dominated the airwaves of our secondary school days). There was no John Mayer, Kanye West or Justin Timberlake but hits from MLTR, N Sync, Boyzone and BSB.

Glad to know all is not lost.

Steelers Did It Again

Photo by NY Times

With this win, the Steelers is the best team in NFL history. Six Superbowl titles in 7 appearances. Last night's last two minutes is epic with the lead changing hands twice.

How did I become a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers? Four years at CMU in Pittsburgh. Anyone who had spent time in Pittsburgh, even as a foreign student, would in one way or another be a Steelers fan. Steelers Nation is not bounded within the city of Pittsburgh but across America and throughout the world. The fans travel well too.

I argued with my dad who does not think American Football is not a real sport with all the technicalities and safety gear. He prefers rugby.

In its defence:

- AF is very much about team work. There is little opportunity to show off one's skill unlike dribbling in soccer.
- Like other American sports such as basketball, baseball and hockey, American football is filled with technicalities. The commentaries are heavy with statistics.
- AF players do not live the celebrity lives of the soccer players in Europe. There is no TV show on AF players' wives.

I was in my junior year when we won the Superbowl in 2006. I remembered as soon as the game ended everybody poured into the streets which in turn developed into what I call mini-riots in different parts of the city. I am sure last night was similar, if not worse.

LSE

Just got an offer to do an MSc. in Operational Research (a.k.a. management science with concentration on applied maths) at the London School of Economics.

Stay tuned.

Children Books to Donate

My family minus my brother are in major spring cleaning mode right now. Tonnes of belongings have to be moved temporarily to allow some kind of experimental, partial DIY renovation to be performed on the house. Yes, we are extending the height of the house by 200 ft by building a minaret.

There are painfully so many things to move - from books to glasswares that were my parents wedding gifts 25 years ago. Among the books is this little paperback titled "Your Child and Sex". Not sure which of my parents bought it and had the balls to shelve it among Enid Blyton's books.

Anyway, there are tonnes of children books including an encylopedia set that I want to get rid of. Thinking of donating them to some primary school libraries. I wonder if you had done this before. I would appreciate any sharing of experiences.

-C

Reset

I am back home and I felt like I had just pressed a reset button. The past 5 years passed like a flash. I do enjoy it here currently with the little stress. Alternatively, I could have been in NY worrying whether the software release that I made would generate phone calls from London and India in the wee hours.

Attended mass on New Year's Eve. I felt like I had just left secondary school yesterday with the memories suddenly as vivid as last night's dream.