Wishes granted.

Currently I'm in 14 days quarantine prior to go on board a drilling rig offshore. Less than halfway of quarantine to go. This is far from over, I'd be offshore for 5-6 weeks depending on my relief guy' day off plan. He'd be needing some extra days for some of his personal matter hence the needs for us to do this rather different hitch arise, else it is 4/4 rotation. 

Life under quarantine so far I have to say it is indeed much better than what I initially expected. I still find it hard to believe that am able to run 10-15km for about 1.5-2.5 hours every day in this hotel room. Watch some movies. Typically I wake up just before 7, have breakfast, take some rest watching movie or reading prior to start jogging. Jogging normally end around the time lunch arrives. Shower or have lunch, which ever I feel like doing first. Assessing myself on the mirror. Continue with movie or reading, dinner time and same cycle. Calling family or friends in between. 

Frankly speaking as am heading towards the end of quarantine stay, am starting to feel slight stress on the long hitch. My role offshore is a bit challenging as it is a one-man show kind of role. It is not a position with one guy working during the day and another doing night, in ideal 12 hour shift. It is kinda round the clock working when am on board. On paper the shift supposed to be 6am to 6pm, but how can I start working at 6 if my rather complicated report needs to be issued at 6.30 in the morning? So I normally start at 4. I never believe saying one' role is harder than the other. Everybody has their own kind of struggle. Easy at one part, hard on the other. Like some other roles offshore, also one man show but they don't work hard during their whole stay, but, when the time comes, they work like hell, hardest work once they are in action. For me, it might not as hard as that role but my role requires constant long working hour throughout the hitch.

Oh yes, back to this entry' title. Wishes granted, what and why? I noticed in previous post I mentioned about considering selling our house, and my wish of working in a rotational role? It is hard to be believe, and am so thankful that both wishes were granted, am having both. How beautiful is that? Sold the house at quite a margin, transaction completed and we have since moved out. A few months later, I got the much dreamed rotational role.

God has been very generous to bless us with this beautiful life, sometimes I question myself, I do concern about what kind of test is coming my way, for all these beautiful things He granted. I had quite a number of challenges in the past but still, I hope I would be able to face what ever coming.

Guess we are now on track for our global retirement plan. Living in Cote d'Azur for 1 month, back to Malaysia for few months, maybe next New Zealand for a couple of months and so on. We don't know where we would like to settle down just yet, no clear future in Malaysia, what kind of country it would be like after few decades or even years.

Blessing in disguise - good neighborhood and good neighbors

This is an achievement for me if this entry is posted because that means I posted 3 entries so far in 2020. Before 2020, my last entry was posted back in 2016.

So I moved to Putrajaya since Q4 2018. Remember many years before, I bought a house in Putrajaya, which was my 1st ever house purchase. Was? Well, I sold that house within less than a year of purchasing it because we both were not ready to move here from KL, and at that time I felt the house was quite a commitment. Funnily enough despite thinking that the house was a commitment, another reason why I sold it was to fund my next house purchase, which is the one we currently reside in. This current house cost 47% more than than the old house' purchase price, and 15% more than the old house' selling price. It was quite ridiculous in some way, that our small family of 4 now, living in a 3-storey house with 6 bedrooms and 6 bathroom. We live just 3 of us here for 1.5 years though.

I never really like the idea of living in Putrajaya after quite used to living in KL, in a spot very strategically located right in the middle of everywhere. Just 6km drive to KLCC, 7km drive to KL Sentral and 2.5km drive to my wife' office near Jalan Duta back then, imagine how convenient it was for us, plus the vibes there that we were so used to. Effortlessly reaching nice cafes within minutes, few Starbucks branches within 5km radius.. How I still miss that area.

Moving to Putrajaya was quite challenging for me for a while, not so used to the long drive to office and the vibe is a bit different. Somehow I managed to fall in love with the place. Managed to arrange my working hour with my employer where I start working early and leaving office early before bad traffic window. I just love the routine. And how easily for me to jog just from home. We still very frequently hang out in KL, almost every weekend.

As much as sometimes I feel like doing something else rather than paying for the house installment, like channel the money into some investment, topping up our entertainment and holiday fund, contribute more to parents and family, I found that buying this house, even at quite a premium price can be a blessing in disguise.

The neighborhood and the neighbors in particular. The neighbors are nice, I even frequently hang out with 2 neighbors for weekend morning run and frequent coffee sessions discussion many things I love like about politics, finance and cars, among others. Both are 10 years older than me already in their 40s but we somehow click maybe due to our common interests and wavelength. Even though I am much younger then them but I feel so belonged, they appreciate my view on things and opinions. Guess it is because the way I look at things is up to their standard.

We are blessed with rezeki to afford this house at a very young age, purchased it at a tender age of 27. We are the youngest in the neighborhood, many of our neighbors are retired and have grandchildren.
I see that as a perk of living in such neighborhood, the "quite premium" price tag also brings good neighbors along. No annoying neighbors parking their cars in bad spot, everybody can park up to 6 cars in their porch.

Life is getting better, I have an upgraded job since 2019, and my wife too was transferred to a ministry located here which obliges her to be posted to Malaysian embassies around the world from anytime till she retires. We really look forward to that as it seems to be an experience we crave for. Never tired of travelling and living in new places despite the fact that I have traveled to more than 30 countries around the world across 5 continents except South American and Antartica.

The posting may be a bit delayed due to her maternity leave and current Covid situation but someday she will be, it can be next year or the following year. We started to think of the house, as it is not an interesting idea of keeping a house unoccupied for a long time. I look for a rotational role, something like 4-week work and 4-week off where I can be at the country where she will be posted during my off time. I will still work, even if I have to work in Malaysia, and if I live here alone I don't need that much space frequently.

To let someone rent it, it is almost certain we will still have to top some money up on top of the rental to pay the monthly installment to the bank. So I started to consider selling the house but it is not an overnight process. The market is bad as the country is in quite a financial crisis. And the market is also very competitive as it is quite oversupplied, and how there still are same units that can be purchased directly from the developer. They are still in the midst of constructing the new phases.

Deep inside I believe and hope that someday there will be interested buyer to buy our unit as it is quite a good unit. An end-lot unit with no house attached at one side. Our unit also face a green reserve area where the house next to the green reserve area is not facing our house, it is located at another street not really in front of our unit but running facing my neighbor' unit. So privacy is quite a selling point plus the extra windows on side wall of the house. Don't really feel like engaging agents due to the fee imposed and we are not in that urgency just yet.

Still don't know what the future hold, maybe we shall see while planning, working, praying and hoping for the best.

The way I think those days.

It has been more than 4 weeks the Movement Control Order (MCO) been imposed in Malaysia. We are now entering the 3rd phase of this bi-weekly movement, meaning to say altogether at least 6 weeks of MCO. Working from home for most people, myself included in this bunch.

Luckily for me my workload is not that bad mostly because if it is, it can be quite challenging as schools and childcare facilities are also closed. Which means WFH parents are also taking the babysitting or childcare loads over on top of their professional obligation.

As this morning my wife finally has to be on 12-hour duty at her office after 3 months of maternity leave, me left with my boys to be taken care of and they both are in control, I feel like writing after a while. What I feel like writing this morning is on how I planned my life ahead when I was a student.

Last night before sleeping, I had a random conversation with a friend who also used to study in France, triggered me to remember the way I think those days when it come to choosing for a town to live, what kind of residence to stay at and most importantly what course to take. When making decision with all these factors came into my mind, one thing for sure is they were all based on my life after graduation.

When most students prioritize on interesting course, I always opted for programs with most internship as possible. I already realized at the age of 19, that industrial relation is important as I always look to work with the company I did my internship upon graduating, at least I can build the relationship during my internship. It always tied back to money matters. Work as early as possible upon graduation to make money. I would also always opted for a small town for minimal cost of living and cheap rental. Once I knew the system, I opted for accommodation that can optimize my cash flow where I paid 240 Euros for rental and the French government provided 210 Euros subsidy so I ended up spending around 30 Euros for rental plus additional bills for utilities. It was important to fulfill my dream of having the most of what I wanted. I love travelling, I want a steady income and I want a good kick-start of life later.

Internship also brings allowance from company and additionally from my sponsor, provided the company located a distance away from my college as mentioned in sponsorship guideline. It has always been a habit for me to read guidelines or contract in detail ever since my student days till this very day, especially when it comes to claim entitlement and allowance.

When most students only did 1 internship during their 2-year diploma-equivalent program in France, I did 3. When most students didn't have the chance to do even 1 internship when they continue their diploma with 1 year bachelor' degree, I did 1 internship for 5 months. By the time I completed my 3-year Bachelor' Degree program (2-year diploma plus 1-year of BSc in Engineering), I did 4 internships in 4 different organizations accumulating almost 11 months of industrial experiences with the following breakdown:

1. 4-week (1-month) during the 1st year of diploma at the beginning of 2nd semester
2. 2-month during the 2nd year of diploma at the beginning of 2nd semester (not full time basis, but it was 2-3 days per week at the company continuously throughout the period. It was a final year project.
3. 12-week (3-month) during the 2nd year of diploma towards the end.
4. 5-month during the final year of bachelor' degree after halfway thru the 2nd semester (after completed my 2-year diploma, I complemented it with a bachelor' degree in engineering for 1 year, entered directly into the 3rd/final year as France is like the UK, the Bachelor Degree program total program duration is 3 years compared to 4 years in the USA, Malaysia or Australia)

And it did serve the purpose! I eventually hired by the company I did my very final internship after few months upon graduation. It was well worth the sacrifice I made in opting for a big oil and gas firm in Malaysia giving me only RM350/month of allowance vs Euro 1,300/month if I accepted the offer in France. I could have been RM26,000 (big money for a student without rich parents like me) richer upon graduation should I choose the offer in France but I knew what I wanted back then, to work in oil and gas industry in Malaysia.

Yes I wanted to work in Europe so bad those days. But remember the recession in Europe circa 2010-2012 where Greece, Spain and Italy almost went to bankruptcy? France was also badly affected, lots of unemployment and they prioritize locals. So I had to go with my plan B of making money out of oil in Malaysia. I managed to make around 3-4 times what fresh graduates in Malaysia made that time.

For my sponsored studies in France, my path obliged me to take a couple of decisions. After my SPM result, I had to take the 2-year university foundation program in France instead of in Malaysia like most other programs(it was revised to a shorten 1-year program since around 10 years ago so I at that time felt unlucky as I thought I wasted a year doing the 2-year program instead of one). It was an A-Level or International Baccalaureate (IB) equivalent which was the minimum requirement to enroll in most universities worldwide. For this program, there were 3 options in 3 different institutions around France:

1. Universié de La Rochelle
2. Institut Universitaire de Technologie (IUT) de Blois
3. Institut Universitaire de Technologie (IUT) de Colmar

We could not choose the desired institution back then so it was our management company who assigned us to which one of the three. The company was appointed by my sponsor to facilitate our journey in France as it was not as common as in English speaking countries.

Challenging world nowadays.

It has been a very long while since the last time I wrote here. Judging from the last entry posted back in January 2016, that shows that it has been more than 4 years since back then.

I love writing. It has always been something I love since my 1st essay assignment back in 1997 in primary school year 3. We started with 50-word, developed to 80-word, to 180-word to number of words I can't recall anymore. Sometimes I can be a little too imaginative and it backfired at times those days, even though most of the time I was always among the top scorer when it came to essay-writing let it be in Malay or in English, and not surprisingly, not in Arabic.

To be honest, I don't really have topic to write today, but I somehow feel like writing. Thinking that life has been so interesting and challenging, where many things that we think almost impossible to happen still happened. Let us have a quick recap on such events.

How in 2008, BN won less seats in election, something not that impossible but happened anyway, not so soon after, remember Anwar Ibrahim was talking about forming a government by tapping-up opposition MPs, and it did not materialize, only to materialize after more than a decade later but not in his favor where Muhyiddin Yasin appointed as PM after Tun M' resignation, leaving PH losing its power after 22 months in charge, again after a historic triumph over BN in 2018 election. That happened after 60 years of BN' ruling, again something we never think would happen but we live through it to see that eventually happened.

Not so long after the power shift in Malaysia, the country is now being badly hit by the Covid-19 virus, shutting down lots of businesses, forcing a "Restricted Movement Order" a bit like a lock-down where only those with solid reason are allowed out in the street. Like a zombie attack I say, how people have to manage their food stock at home wisely. I did my household groceries 2 weekends ago and as there only are 4 of us in the house - myself, my wife, our 4-y.o and 2-m.o sons so our consumption is quite small. Especially we as a whole don't eat that much as everybody is concerned about their shape. My kids, of course don't think much about shape but we care about their'.

Couple of stimulus package being introduced by the government, trying their best to help everybody especially those who are badly effected. Imagine street sellers cannot go out selling their good, having to support family. It really is a bad time for the world. This really is a global-scale crisis. Crude oil price down from around $60-70 per bbl to now below $25/bbl as of time of writing.

This is the thing that I worried the most as I am one of the workforce in Energy industry, in Oil & Gas in particular. To make things worse, I involved most in Exploration & Production (E&P), drilling to be precise. As there is oversupply of oil in the market, why would the oil companies drill for more oil?

I have seen it before. Not so long from today, and not so long after I started working. Back in the end of 2014 to late 2017, it was really a tough time for the industry. Lots of personnel got laid off, many turned to e-hailing drivers. Not to forget how heavily this country is depending on money from oil business. Remember how I observe the situation improving, activities picking up due to steady raise in crude price, from below $30/bbl, all time low at that time around 2016 to up above $80 at the end of 2017 to 2018, many companies hit accidental profit.

Sadly it did not last long. This time around, it was not as bad as back then. Back then, services procured based on $100/bbl crude, so when it reached the low of below $30/bbl, imagine how bad the impact was. At current situation at least the services procured based on below $50/bbl, it is yes, not as worse as before but still very much penalizing.

What a time for the country, what a time it is for us. I have got like around 30 years prior to my retirement age of 60, it is such a long non-predictable journey ahead. What can we always do is prepare for the worse, but to what extent? I always dream of wealthy and healthy retirement days, globetrotting around the world. It has always been a pleasure when ever I am at EPF web page, I will always play the retirement savings calculator, smiling at the amount mentioned by the simulator, with housing debt settled by that time. Due to how uncertain things are, all I can do is just smiling and dreaming. It will not always be rainbows and butterflies, quoting Maroon 5' She Will Be Loved ahead.

The world that we currently living in is challenging enough, I sometimes wonder how further challenging it can be, not only to us but to generations ahead. Talks about overpopulation, but I don't think that is an accurate term as there are lots of land around, but people are concentrated in certain areas mainly due to economic activities. Current model is not sustainable, the world has to find a sustainable way.

It has been almost 14 days since the 1st RMO announcement by the government and they already decided to extend it further to another period of 14 days till the middle of April. Nobody can tell what the future holds, how and when will this be stabilized again. All I can do is just pray, and take care of ourselves.

How life has been so far? Graduated with a Bachelor's Degree back in 2011 and started working since, for couple of companies. Got married in 2014 before arrival of our 1st son in 2015 year-end, just got another 2 months ago. It has been beautiful, thanks to the family.

Aiden & Adrian, daddy and mommy love you both so much. Till next entry.

My life, so far.. And some tips for Malaysian road tax and auto insurance renewal, among others.. Myvi 1.3 service

Happy new year 2016!


Where has the 'an entry a month' promise? We see, for me it is not that easy to maintain such record. Really, I should have write here more often. Maybe I should keep a note in my phone, telling me what to write when ever I think about it. It could be useful to me or any one else. Sharing experience, it is quite a way to give back to community. Like sharing knowledge about things.


Actually, I wanted to write a summary of year 2015, about what happened. Put that next time. Now, some maintenance knowledge sharing :

1. Malaysian Road Tax and Auto Insurance renewal

Nowadays, I am a person who always try to optimize things. Some thing we should maximize, some we should minimize. Best balance is to optimize. I like to maximize my cash earning, among other. Road tax and auto insurance in Malaysia could cost up to more than RM1000. Like for my Volkswagen Golf, it is around RM1500 for now. Rather than splash RM1500 just for that, I prefer to put it in ASB, FD or anything that can generate some money.


So, a couple of options left to me. Pay bay credit card, and use balance transfer facility, still 3% fee will be imposed. After some research, I found that Maybank credit card user can use interest and charge free EzyPay facility if we renew auto insurance with Etiqa, at their counter in Bangsar or Jalan Melaka. Online, it is not possible. If you are not rushing, why not. Better still, Etiqa offered lowest sum insured without being under-insured, compared to other provider. According to Lowyat forumers, Etiqa service is pretty decent in case if we involve in accident. For me, this sounds like a deal.


2. Be extra careful with Perodua authorized Service Center (PSC)

As I am now a husband, I also take care of my wife' Myvi for servicing etc. When it was still under warranty, the car has been always serviced in Perodua Center for the sake of keeping the warranty valid. Since the car now is no longer covered by Perodua' warranty, I started to service it outside Perodua SC as I came to realize that PSC labor cost is high and they do change things unaccordingly.


- ATF : According to Myvi service manual issued by Perodua, ATF / Automatic Transmission Fluid / Gear box oil must only be checked every 20,000km and ONLY be CHANGED every 40,000km. What they did to my wife, they change it at 22,000km, 44,000km respectively. For me, that is a rip off, unnecessary change because it still costs RM46.20 for the fluid.

- Spark plug : According to manual, check, clean or re-gap accordingly every 30,000km. What they did once, they change it every 20,000km. Each time it costs around RM50 for 4 plugs.


Don't get me wrong, I just want you to verify and make sure of what has to be done each time you send your car for scheduled maintenance service. Cross check their suggestion with your service manual. Before proceeding with service, normally the service agent will discuss with the client about what will be done to the car.


Why spend on something we don't have to? Total for both ATF and spark plugs are around RM90, not to mention the extra labor cost. Better spend that money on Tony Roma's ribs.


Side note :
Workshop in Batu Caves quotation :

ATF 4L : RM96
Auto filter : RM65
Oil filter : RM12

Random update...

The last time I wrote, been ages it has. How could I miss to write about my wonderful marriage?

Well, day is the day when our wonderful, blessed marriage turns 1.

Happy wedding anniversary I wish to my wife and my self. What a wonderful year it has been to us.

Marriage can be easy, it can be hard. Just take a deep breathe, take it easy, be rational, discuss things and trust me, all will be good. Marriage is a good thing in my eyes, because teaming up with wife makes me stronger. In everything.

Looking at my previous post, I talked about year 2013 and house I bought early 2014. Guess what, the house was successfully sold. With such a handsome profit of course. At the end of 2014, I just contacted the property agent to see how is my house market value doing. He ended up finding a cash potential buyer, and the rest was history.

For me, it was hard to let it go. We have been dreaming of moving to our very own landed, corner unit house since ages. Of course, there are reasons why we decided to let it go ;

1. The offer was to good to turn down - good price with cash buyer, less bank hassle.

2. If we keep the house, we don't have much cash. Sell the house,get extra cash to save and also extra cash to pay deposit for new house. Means having house and cash at the same time.

3. Not really ready to commit due to bad job market. Hey I might lose my job any time due to this bad oil price!

Of 2013, and 2014 benvenido!

Today I feel like writing. After such a long hiatus. Am trying my best to maintain at least one entry per month. So lets see how 2014 has been to me so far.


Luckily I ended my 2013 on a high note, not that high but at least it was not that bad. 2013 was full with uncertainty, at times at turbulence. What doesn't kills you makes you stronger, I found that makes sense. It almost killed me last year, but thanks to that thing it somehow managed to bring me back to life.


Why should I say I ended my 2013 on a high again? I found a better work, a very ideal work for family men, with a very promising prospect, a position that a lot wanna be in. It is such a blessing in disguise I would say. The skyfall brought the limit to go up as high as the sky again. Allah doesn't give me what I wanted but instead He gave me something I need.


Better thing is we finally bought a house!! Am so glad to have the search finally over. I have been looking like mad dog since nearly 2 years. Call this and that person, see this and that house or condos. Only God knows how tired am I of the search. I almost met my target of owning a house by 25, but I was late for half a year. But at least we did it in damn damn style :)


It hurts a lot, even now am still thinking of the massive amount of money I lost to pay the house deposit and legal fees. It is crazy, the savings I made all these while. Peeps out there please buy a house before the construction is done, just pay the bloody RM5k booking fee. I missed such opportunity in the past because I played too safe.


What else for 2013? No, I don't forget the big news. Yes it is the engagement. Finally after 9 years in love, we are now engaged. Am so sad of my beloved grandma was not able to see that happened, to see her very 1st grandchild getting married as Allah loves her way much more than we do..