Well, here I am again, 2nd night in a row. I don't normally do this, but it seems that I've found the perfect spot to relax. It's quaint, quiet and cosy, and none too costly. On the contrary, imagine Starbucks serving kopi o. Yeap.. you got it. Where? Bingka Cafe.

You can locate Bingka Cafe at Plaza Astana, right across Shell Jalan Astana. Here's a map to get you by :

2nd nite here. I'll definitely come more often. It's actually a bakery, but just behind the bread shelves they have quite a big section of seatings. From normal 4 seater table, high stool pair table, couples settee and a 2 + 1 + 1 set rattan settee. Like a high end cafe.

Location wise, well not so much. As it is located in the suburb, I dont think a lot of people come here to sit. Not sure about the pastries tho. Not really our culture anyways. But, it is a plus to me as this is the second time I had this place practically all to myself.

I do hope this place holds up. Its close to my house, cheap, and very cosy. Definitely a place to bring a date. XD

I have mentioned before that I used to not drink coffee. Up to the point where I will only drink as courtesy - that is when visiting friends and relatives and they happen to serve coffee. 

Now here I am, at Starbucks, with a single shot Caramel Machiatto and a pump of vanilla syrup. I have my laptop on my lap, and on the 2 feet square table in front of me scattered notes and a novel. Been here for almost 3 hours now, alternating from reading the novel to going through the notes and finalising my assignment, and chatting on Skype (which consists of a couple of lines every half an hour). All the time listening to The Cranberries with my earplugs. 

The usual quietness of Starbucks has been replaced by the weekend crowd. I cant remember it being so loud the jazz music drowned in conversation (thus prompting me to put on my earplugs). Then again it's probably because I almost always come here with another friend, and our conversation joins together with the rest of the patron coming here. 

Really, I came here to have a quiet time. I got the opposite, but who can really complain. Glancing up from my notes every now and then to see a new face can be a good distraction. 

One of the things I promised I'd buy myself for my birthday is a Starbucks tumbler. Whatever design comes during which is fine by me. Considering I'd be spending a lot more time here, I'd say it's a good investment. 

Well, I suppose this particular entry has not quite a purpose. I just wanted to write something. The next one's gonna be better.. I promise. XD

I was never one to drink coffee.. until recently, that is.. Now I just can't seem to get enough. XD

If you're also an avid coffee drinker - or just generally enjoy western cuisine in a very western setting coffee shops, you'll love Bing! Here's a map of them on Foursquare. It is actually a neat place to just chill with friends, or a solitary coffee with a book and/or laptop (a handeld device - like a phone, is also good) for blogging and all. Quiet (at least on both occasions I went there) and very relaxed. It's almost like you're not in Kuching.

Chicken Panini

I've only been to 2 of the few Bing!s' here in Kuching, and not sure if it's strictly in Kuching or there are branches in other places. Since it's higly unlikely for me to travel anywhere anytime soon, I won't bother to check.

The first time my friend brought me to Bing! we went to the one at Premiere 101 Mall. It's round the corner facing the main road on the same building as the Korean Mart (i think). So I tried the Chicken Panini.. My friend had the Gourmet Burger.

Gourmet Burger

Food didn't take too long to come.. and they almost always come at the same time so we can all enjoy the meal together while it's still warm. They were very very delicious.

That was also the first time I tried a panini. Nothing too special about it really, but I do tend to exaggerate about stuffs. Especially food. And this panini, being the first, is just divine. The mustard was the best I've had so far.. Mayonaise and tomato sauce were nothing special. XD

I forgot what I had for drinks. Didn't snap it at the time.. probably something with caffein. I remembered it being served with a cookie on the side.. Caramel Machiato.. yeap.. that's what I had for drinks. I forgot what my friend had tho.. Hold on.. lemme think......... nope.. nothing.. XD

A few weeks later (last Sunday to be exact) we went once more to Bing! This time at Jalan Lapangan Terbang - opposite mainroad side of Fourpoints. I thought maybe I'll have the burger this time.. or something else.. When we got there, I went and ordered pasta instead. Like, I can't remember the name, but it was the healthiest pasta ever. Spinach chicken something something (I like to eat but never really bothered about the name of the food). Anyone know?

I had an ice blended to drink this time. Again with caffein. Loved the whipped cream topping! XD

I would really recommend Bing! as a good hangout place. Just have a rather deep pocket. Price range is comparable to that of Starbucks.

Me and my friend had a great time talking and hanging out here. So far it's just a mellow pair of dudes, but I look forward to a time when I could collect everyone and hang out in a big group we came across the second time we hung out. Maybe y'all could join in too!

If there is one thing that I don't do as much as I should, it has to be to pick up my phone and snap away! I have a gorgeous HTC Butterfly with 8MP camera on it, barely using it to take pictures. By no means I'm a professional photographer, but I do believe everyone of us has some sense of photography in us having been exposed so much with so many styles. Plus, usually camera, even those on phones, are equipped with auto features that can make newbs like me shoot an almost pro photo. XD

When I do use it tho, I think I did a good job. Here's one of my favourites, taken on an impromptu trip to Damai Central one afternoon.

Yeah, don't focus on the feet alone. At that time my phone was almost out of juice, I snapped this without really thinking about. In fact, I'm almost certain I pressed the shutter by mistake. I only realised when I got home, plugged the phone to the charger and gone through the pic and noticed how well composed it actually was. 

At first I thought - owh look, my feet. They're ugly. Haaha!! But then I notice there's a guy mid air skimboarding, and I caught it on camera by chance. It actually looked cool.. (at least to me it does)

Then another time I went to Samajaya Natural Reserve. Or was it Samajaya National Reserve.. Either way, I went with a rather camera shy person who actually blessed with looks. I did snapped a few shots, but I won't include them here. However, this is another feature quite common to phone camera nowadays : Panorama shots.. 

Well, if u click and enlarge it, to a certain point the image just self-destruct. However if you look at it as a whole, from a comfortable distance, it's actually good - do take note as well this is my first panorama shot on HTC Butterfly. I haven't got the hang of it yet. A third of picture looks like it got paste from another picture but if you zoom a little bit you can see the jogging path and trees connect perfectly. Like I said, little to none knowledge to produce a decent picture. Imagine this on an amateur photographer. Imagine this on a pro! XD

The second shot was better, I think. Well composed, nice distance.. What do you think?

I'll show you more in future entries when I get the hang of it. Don't expect too much tho. It is only a phone camera, and I am not a pro photographer.. XD

"The Notebook", "P.S. I Love You", "Harry Potter", "Lord of the Ring", "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo".. yeah these are all (quite) successful movies shown in the cinema over the years. Something you may or may not know is that these movies were based on novels of the same title. Yeah sure Harry Potter and LotR are famous (fine... I'll include Narnia and Twilight too.. uurrgghhh..) but whoever actually thought of reading Nicholas Sparks' The Notebook? Cecilia Ahern's P.S. I Love You? Bookworm much? hahaha! That's me!

On the right is part of my reading list. I've already read some of them : actually the one's I haven't read are The Girl Who Played with Fire, Angel in the Dark and Life of Pi.. Also The Hobbit! (I know some will bash me for this : I have yet to see the trilogy of LotR - saw bits n pieces but never the whole movie. I havent watched the Hobbit too. Buuuttt... I like to think of myself as having the privilege of reading the book first, let my imagination roam, and then watch the movie.)

There's actually some more on the shelf - one from Sophia Kinsella (author of the shopaholic series.... no? Confession of a Shopaholic? a.k.a. The Girl with the Green Scarf? OMG!!! LOL!!) I think another one from Tom Parson.. Dan Brown, author of Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol (brilliant books those are!!).

I don't read John Grisham (The Pelican Brief, The Juror? are among his famous novels turned into a movie) because it seems you need a brief knowledge of the law system in America(?) to be able to fully follow the storyline. Nor do I read the Bourne trilogy (bet u didn't know it was from a book). I don't read Narnia, or Twilight.. or The Hunger Games.

I'll want to own and read The Digital Fortress soon.. after I finish my current reading of The Girl Who Played with Fire.. Maybe I should read The Hobbit first, then the LotR Trilogy.. owh I should get the trilogy first.. but then Life of Pi is still somewhat fresh out the movies.. Owh I haven't even watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo yet.. heard there's 2 versions of the movies.. but then a friend told me Sidney Sheldon's novels are not longer published.. I should start collecting those too.. Nicholas Sparks novels are rolling out like river to the sea - I swear every visit to the bookstore there's always a new book by him.. OMG!! I'm a freak!! hahahahahaaaa!!

Yeap I read classics too. Though I'll admit that I get bored very easily reading classics.. (Mom has a two rows of 2 ft wide shelves dedicated to classics.. or was it three?) Generally because I know how the story goes from the many many movies aired on TV or in cinema. And the language is also a bit more complex I'd end up googling word definitions every few lines.. (If at this point you start assuming that my whole family likes to read, you're wrong.. I'm the only avid reader in the family - mom just loves to fill shelves with books)

Reading in itself is actually a form of art. I don't have friends who read as much as I do. In fact I don't think they read at all - excluding magazines and social network posts.. Dunno if they even read blogs! Love them just the same tho.. Aaaannnyyywwaaaaayyysss... (LOL?) there is an art in reading. I know some (like me) take their time to read.. every few pages of a book while waiting for an appointment or a date, or just as a company to a solitary coffee.. some readers tend to finish a book in just a few days.. some skim through the first time and then re-read thoroughly the second (or third) time.. then if you get the chance to actually see someone reading, there is this expression on the reader's face - of either pure concentration when he gets to the serious part of the storyline, sometimes a chuckle when a funny line is read.. I've even had misty eyes while reading too.. Like I said, in reading itself is an art, just as much as the material you're reading, is an art..

Owh wow look at that.. another long post.. I hope you'll be able to gain something from it. Reading is satisfying. It can be fun if you make it.. it can be sad, it can be challenging.. Try it.. pick up a book and read.

Tuning back my routine to blogging feels pleasantly weird.. For one, I barely have any leisure time to write an entry (most of which will either be filled with reading books, assignments, and/or just relaxing). I do have free time before work starts at 8.30 - I usually come round the office 30 to 45 minutes early because I have to drop my brother off to his workplace - which began at 8 - so I have to get him there before 8, hence the earliness (owh yeah, drag that point like a bisch! LOL!) - but I like to read while waiting for the office to open.

I guess that's the point of my entry this time. If you're an avid blogger, with daily 8 to 5 job and having to attend classes 9 to 5 on weekends, among sorting out your daily house routine (i.e. clothes, cooking, cleaning, car, etc.) when do you have the time to sit and blog about something? Moreover, if your life is running on such tight schedule and generally a routine, what do you blog about?

They say all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Well I might as well go to JPN and change my name to Jack (but then I wouldn't have the time.. LOL!). Far from complaining, I like my current situation. It's only for another year or so (until I graduate, at least) that my life is going to be of schedule and routines. I suppose it's high time for me to get my ducks in a row. (of course, if that's the case I should probably allocate a certain time to blog too...)

I would like to get your feedbacks tho, on how do you allocate your time to blog. Give me some insights. Like, do you have a proper time to blog, or do you do it on the go? What do you blog about? Is there a theme or do you randomly blog about stuffs? What sort of readers are you targeting? Where do you blog? Stuffs like that. (I should come out with a sort of questionnaire.. LOL!! Better yet, do an independent research about the blogging habits in Malaysia! That'd be useful!!!)

P/S: I'm not sure why I put my own pic there... just for the sake of it? LOL!!

-- this is contest entry no. 2 --

Hooolo!! Here's another credit card design I made. 

I call it "Shot to the Pop!". Vibrant colors against plain white background - simple yet captures the energy of today's youth. The lines symbolizes technology, connectivity and advancement, all of which now very much rests upon the shoulders of youths. We shape the development of the future!

Bring your attention to the youth in freeze motion. Hip hop is never dead, it just evolves, just like youths nowadays. The splatters are not just there to fill space. I think of them as the versatility and evolving nature of a maturing youth to become a unique individual. 

Hope you like this too. 

Thanks!!

PS : Good luck to all other contestants!! (*fingers crossed!*)

--- this is a contest entry ---

Big shoutout to everyone reading this blog entry!! Love y'all!!

So I read Nuffnang opens up a contest for credit card design, it's almost a sin for me to not submit my entry! I've read the first few entries, and wow.. y'all are soooo good!! I'm gonna go ahead and step up to the challenge too! *fingers crossed* here goes!

My concept is "Here and Now". I considered alternative spellings that can reflect trendy, hip, style etc. i.e. "Here & Now" or "Here n Now", but I'm gonna consider the hipsters and grammar nazi whom (ehem ehem) are annoyed by the many grammar raping common in social networks nowadays. Also, I used vivid and lively colors to reflect the youth's energy and potential. 

Speaking of social networks, that is the main theme of the design. At the bottom right, I depicted the stage of life a youth is currently at. Following the current trend of social network, I designed it so that social networking, connectivity, communication, is part of the youth's everyday life.

I used parts of the design to reflect a short excerpt of what is being a youth all about. Important as it is, I do not want it to impose by highlighting the description, but chose to fade it into the background instead because I believe no matter how hard one tries to define a youth, he or she may never capture the essence as each youth is unique in their own. 

So that's a little bit of a background for you. I hope you like it! (*fingers and toes crossed, hope for the win!)

So a spontaneous plan cropped up last Monday in the family to have a small bbq. I invited a childhood friend and another good friend along to share the moment.

I went for a quick jog and aerobics session (consolation to myself for preparation of a rather heavy dinner) and got home a little before 7. Prepped up the grill, and showered n let my brothers take control of the bbq. (Pffttt.. a man will mind the grill proper even if he cant cook. It's an ego thing. But my bros can both cook.. so..)

Snapped a few food shots and was thinking I should also snap a couple of shots of my family and friends. The thing is I'm not an avid photographer and I can easily forget that my phone (owh I should blog about it too..) has a camera. So, I leave u with food shots instead. Have fun drooling!! XD

2 posts in a day! WOOHHOOO!!! XD

The past few weeks brushed by like a cold breeze, leaving the usually up-beat me to shiver and stutter. Normally anxious and dramatic, I find myself more withdrawn than ever. Stumbling upon my old blog really helps me get back (and thus proving the fact that if you don't help yourself, no one will).

So I took a step back. We need to do that sometimes, right? Get our bearings, set thing straight and make sure we don't lose ourself.. I went back and took a personality test (which I do from time to time ever since I discovered Myers Briggs Type Indicator - MBTI). It has been a while since I took the test, I don't remember my type indicator back then, and not sure if much has changed (personally speaking). Got the result : ENFJ

What does it mean?

It means that I am an energy sucking intuitive feeling matter-of-factly extroverted person. MUAHAHAHAHA!!  No, this does not define who I am, it is just one part of me. The tests and indicators are mere tools to determine your preference, and from time to time, place to place, people to people, your own preference change.

Seeking more confirmation, I looked up Keirsey Temperament Sorter and took the test too. Came out the same result (surprise surprise!). A little more reading I discovered some now info regarding my personality indicator. I am what is classified as the Intuitive Teacher who's generally comfortable being out and about to help guide people around me through their lives. Funny that, cuz I ultimately want to end my professional career in the education line. (Currently serving in the business and professional environment to equip myself with needed knowledge and experience before guiding the young ones - yet another common trait in this personality class).

Well I could blabber much about my personality trait, but bot here, not at the moment. I prefer others to view me in person, and the dynamics of who I am, rather than having a certain pre-conception based on what they read beforehand.

In any case, dumb as it may sound, I was feeling rather depressed lately (having turned down by a crush. You'd think you're man enough to handle it at 27, but apparently the older you get, the more it hurt). Aaaannnyywaaaayyss, I found myself slacking, lagging, forgetting the day of the week (woking 5 days a week and attending classes on the weekends does not help) etc. etc. until I read about Nuffnang's credit card design contest which led me to find my old blog still up.

I read up some of the entries that I wrote, reminded of who I was back then and how far I've actually gone in life. Had a few heart-breaks that healed and scarred, but those are experience none the less. My experience.

As I wrote this, I feel relieved. Finally, I think I can be positive about life again. It's simple as it is, I'm alive, I'm thankful for the friends that I have, sad for those that became strangers, and at the same time wholly excited think of strangers becoming friends.

So yeah, I think I'll be alright.

P/S:

• If you're interested in trying the MBTI to find out your personality preference, you can try it here. 
• Next, the Kiersley Temperament Sorter here. 
• Don't worry if you find that you need to register or pay a certain fee to get a complete result. What you need is really the 4 letter result, and use Wikipedia to get more info. I'll put a widget in my blog to help you out. XD

Wow.. I find it amazing that my blog is still alive.. hahaha! It's been 2 years and 4 days to the date since my previous post. I have to admit the motivation this time is the credit card design competition that Nuffnang is organizing. 

I was going to create a new blog when I stumbled upon this blog (yikes!!). I mean, c'mon.. U all have to admit at one point of your life u googled yourself, right? LOL!!

Skimming through the old posts, reading a few in particular (generally to see if any of them can backfire on my current situation - *double yikes!!*). Found none. (pssshhhh we all have skeletons in our closets. That's part of being human, yeah?) 

Anyways, my goodness.. I sure surprised myself. I had flare back then. Life! I've almost forgotten how to enjoy them. The ups and downs, being busy with work but still playing around with friends. Enjoying the moment while it lasts. In a way, I have to thank Nuffnang for indirectly reminding me who I once was. I needed that. *big hugs*

In any case, I'll start blogging again.. I suppose.. hahaha!