2017 achievements and 2018 resolutions

As usual, every end of the year, I will post an update of what I have achieved and what is my next year resolutions.

2017 achievements based on 2017 resolutions.
1. Saving more than 50k. Failed. Where got so easy. Haha.

2. Go to one foreign country for vacation. Yup, done. I went to Phuket, Ho Chi Minh and Taiwan.

3. Made at least 2 local trips. Done too. I went to Taiping, Penang, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching in 2 more days.

4. Learn one more foreign language (Japanese or Korean will do). Learned Korean, but can't really speak or remember any of it.

5. Reduce weight to 80kg. Failed terribly. Haha

6. Make one more website. Done this and the website is progressing well. :-)

7. Learn to cook better and more healthy. I failed this too.

8. Get a freelance project once every 4 months. Done this. Basically I got about 4 or 5 freelances project this year. 

So in total, it is 5/8, not bad for this year.


As of now, I felt a bit tired of taking freelance project while working on my full time job. So I plan to not take any freelancing project anymore unless the payment is really good. I also hope my income in 2018 can reach 5 figures because it is my wish since few years back. Health wise, I really need to get to 80kg as soon as I can. So in conclusion...

1. Accept less than 3 freelancing projects (only good pay). Those carried forward in this year won't be counted.
2. Diet to 80kg.
3. Go to 1 foreign country for vacation
4. Go to 2 local places for vacation
5. Get a girlfriend in 2018 because I wanna get married by 2019. Haha.
6. Learn to read chinese mandarin
7. Learn AI Programming (Python) for fun
8. Perfecting my guitar skill. 

Seriously, there are so many things I wanna do in 2018. I am not even sure if I have enough time for all of them but if not, I might have to sacrifice some like perfecting guitar skill or learning AI Programming (Python).

Hope 2018 will be a good year for me. 

Mooncake festival 2017

This year, is the year that I eat the most mooncake.

This is local mooncake but the Doraemon crafted on mooncake, is quite special. It's lotus with egg yolk mooncake, which taste really really good!

This is mooncake from Vietnam. I made a friend in Ho Chi Minh when I sit in Starbucks on my last day there and she send it over to me.

There are so many ingredient inside this mooncake like beans, nuts, egg yolk and also some meat.

Nothing big about mooncake festival but Darlie, the toothpaste brand, made a video advertisement, and I happened to see it when I was browsing youtube.

It is a bit emotional for me because the video started with a mother asking their kids to go home for dinner. This is something that I will never have chance to experience anymore. 

Taiwan 6 days vacation

Visited Taipei last week

Date: 19 September 2017 - 24 September 2017
Season: Summer
Temperature: Around 27 - 33 degree Celsius.
Number of people: 8 people
Accomodation: Airbnb homestay
Transport: Bus, MRT and one day of van rental.
Average conversion rate at this date: 1000 TWD = RM145.90


Day 1.
- Basically our day one end with us arriving Taipei city to our accommodation location.
- But we manage to get to eat our supper at Taiwan Niu Beef Noodle.
- Our accommodation is like 10 meter within this location.

Day 2
- We started off by eating our breakfast nearby our stay. 
- Then we continue our journey to yangmingshan. It's like a national park. There are few ways to go to yangmingshan. Bus is cheapest method. Bus station usually will have a clear notice on how to go yangmingshan. If you have extra money, just take cab or uber. It will be faster and more comfortable.
- This is the map in yangmingshan national park.

- We went to stop number 7, where we can see the smoke coming out from hill.

This is the entrance to start hiking.

Remember don't wear slippers. Hahaha.

- Readers, if you are reading this and planning your Taiwan trip, you MUST go to the top! The view will be spectacular and you will definitely not regret it! But it will require some will power and good stamina. You have to be physically fit. If not, I advise you start working out now. You can go to get some home made ice cream after the hike too. It will taste a lot better when you are tired.

- There are more several stops in yangmingshan. We went to niunai pond and lengshuikeng. You are free to visit anywhere you want.

They have this cute pinyin on their direction board. Shouldn't it be milk pond or niunai hu?

Ok, this one is very straight forward, leng shui keng.

- We went to tamsui old street for some food first. They got some nice crispy bak kwa selling it at TWD 200 each packet but if you buy 5, they give 2 for free. So basically it's 1000 for 7 packets.

- Next, Shihlin night market at night. Plenty of food and things to buy. Remember to try out their famous sausage and chicken chop

Day 3
- Started the day with breakfast nearby.
- We rented a van for 8 people (Mercedes brand van) but it is quite small and packed. Not comfortable at all. At the cost of TWD 5000 for 8 hours. (Later on we find out, other people charge at lower rate, with more comfortable van ... VW brand at TWD 5000 for 10 hours. If any readers want the contact, just comment on this post.)
- We go straight to Yehliu geoparks. This place main attraction is the Queen's head. The rock that looks like the Queen's head. (You have to walk a bit to see her)

This is it. You have to queue there to take picture with this queen's head. Sounds like she is main player here.

- We went to jiu fen afterwards. Main attraction there is the taroball desserts, that looks like "Snowflakes" in Malaysia where you can find some in Paradigm Mall. If you walk along jiu fen old street, there are so many food you can try.

It tastes really good at this hot weather (33 degree celcius). Most of us, share one bowl with 2 people, while I eat one bowl alone. Hehehe.

Homemade meatball. This is a must try in jiu fen too.

The popiah skin with ice cream and peanut in it. Taste real good too.

- After the short walk in jiu fen, we went to shi fen. Shi fen become famous after the movie 那些年，我們一起追的女孩 being aired worldwide. So we go to release some lantern there, like how it's done in the movie. 

My brother said "You said health is the real wealth but your point form there write earn more money first then only write stay healthy". Yeah, it contradicted. Hahaha.

Bye bye 200 taiwan dollar.

- We went to Raohe night market after that. This is the place I spent the most money (Bought 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shoes, souvenirs, food and drinks). There is one thing you must try here. The Aiyu Jelly. It's the greatest I have taste until now.

You can ask the auntie to add the boba pearl.

It is made in big size, then the auntie will use the big round head spatula to cut it into smaller pieces.

Day 4

- We have a more free and easy day on day 4. First we went to some highly rated breakfast place. 五湖豆浆. The review is 4.3 over 5.0 from google. I would have to agree with google review this time. It really serves good breakfast.

Their soya bean is homemade and fresh. Taste really good that I had to have 2 glasses.

They basic food is just few but the way they wrap it together become another food makes them have more variety.

- We went to zhongshan memorial park next. You can do a lot of things there like taking picture, watch a team of few people doing some drills. Going further into the museum got a place for you to practice your brush painting.

The park got all the nice building that you can only see from tv most of the time.

Everyday at certain hour, they will do this drill.

- We went to Lao Wang restaurant for some nice beef noodle at reasonable price. Some people might consider another beef noodle restaurant that had been promoted by celebrity before but it is too expensive. Starting from 200 taiwan dollar which is about RM30 

:'-(

This is the restaurant.

I would say the soup and the beef is totally awesome. The noodle is quite normal but the portion is very big. Definitely more than enough for those who eat a lot.

- Of course we don't stop here. We went to eat Mango Snowflakes. Located not too far from Lao Wang and definitely worth the walk.

Very easy to find it.

I ordered mango snowflakes with panna cotta. Cost 210 taiwan dollar. Shared it with a friend because of the big portion but actually I can finish it alone.

- After this snowflakes, we went to the underground shopping mall. Be careful when you buy here. Some stuff is being sold at higher rate than other place. You can go in from Taipei Main Station for this underground shopping mall.

- We went to ximending night market after that. I didnt manage to get any nice picture there because I am busy looking at iPhone 8 that had just been released in Taiwan on that day. See here for some update that I got from there.

Day 5

- From 8 people, 3 of us agreed to wake up at 6.30am to go xiang shan (elephant mountain). But only 2 manage to wake up on time and really go. This xiangshan is tougher than yangmingshan because each step is very steep. Be prepared and bring water because you will definitely need it. It will definitely worth your time.

This is the map. You can don't need to go all the way, because the best view only like half hour hike. The rest is just hiking trail.

(Do note that there is one uncle that will hike here everyday in reverse mode. He is quite famous in Taipei, I believe it's because of social media, maybe a certain website had wrote about him before. We stopped by when some local hikers asked, is it him who hike everyday in reverse mode, he said yes. He also mentioned hiking in reverse mode only pressure ur leg 20% of original pressure, make u less tired and your leg can last longer. You also have to keep looking back make u alert all the time, reducing the risk of getting Alzheimer's)

This is the view from the middle.

When you reach another milestone, there is one big rock, you can climb onto it and take picture. But it's quite dangerous because there is no support to hold onto. Be careful if you wanna take this kind of picture.

- After the hike, it's only about 9.30am, so we meet up with the group at Beitou to go for outdoor footspa that is free. Many aunties and uncles sit there to rest. It's like a healing fountain, that regenerate your hp after walking whole day long. 

- The party splitted into 2 groups, the hikers and the shopper. The hikers went back home to shower and the shopper went straight to 101 tower. We meet up again at 101 tower and continued our picture taking.

There are no other way to take 101 tower picture in full unless you are at a very far place like xiangshan where you can see it in full, so this is the best way.

- Went to Raohe night market again at night to continue shopping, some of us went to Shi Da night market. 

Day 6

- This is our last day, but we managed to wake up on time to go church. New Life church, a well known church for a lot of celebrities and artist there.

- We are quite lucky to see Huang Mei Zhen (Jane Huang) and Ah Qing (FIR main guitarist) on stage sharing their testimonial.

- We asked the helper in church where is the best place for lunch nearby, they suggested 大宅门乾锅鸭头. So we went and eat to our heart content since it's our last day here.

Ordered the normal 3 in one. Got chicken, charsiew and siuyuk.

- We sit in McD until our transport arrive and fetch us to airport.

Summary of this trip

Number of people going: 8

Number of people coming back: 8

Number of people sick in Taiwan: 0

Number of people sick after coming back: 1

Number of people got darker skin after coming back: 8

Total amount spent: RM 500 (flight) + RM 350 (homestay) + RM 1900 (expenses) = RM 2750 but I have leftover of around RM150. So my total amount spent is only RM2600.

My advise is if possible, try not to go during summer season. You will feel like staying in your homestay or hotel only because it is really hot. Everytime I step out, I really feel like going back into the homestay right away.

Investing in property from 2017 onwards.

I am no expert but I feel that investing in property nowadays is not a good idea.

I went to see a property few days back and the agent told me the average percentage that the property will appreciate is 8-15% a year. So let's assume it is 10% a years. A pre-launch property priced at 510k have 9% discount, 3% pre-launch discount and another 16k rebate if I don't take the furniture. So total amount to be loan is about 430k. 

In 3 years, the housing price will raise to 130%. So from 510k, it will go to about 660k. 

660k - 430k, you will earn about 230k.

Here's the problem, there are many assumption here.

Assumption 1 - First thing of course, you will need to get the loan to be approved by bank.

Assumption 2 - The developer doesn't run away. Unlikely to happen if the developer is famous one.

Assumption 3 - It really raise 10% a year.

Assumption 4 - Someone will want to buy the unit at 660k. This is the hardest because 3 years from now, there will be more condo or property being developed. There will be more discount, rebate or voucher to be given if the new property is being launched. I have seen many weird marketing strategy like

- buy house, free car
- buy house, earn 200k
- buy house, no need to pay installment for first 3-6 years
- buy house, free vacation voucher
- buy house, free furniture and 10k voucher.

I believe more and more strategy will be implemented in future to attract people to buy pre-launched or new condo. Second hand condo, doesn't stand a chance at all. 

Feeling envy.

Sometimes I really envy my friends. Specifically those who are born or the whole family is in KL / PJ and they are staying together.

Main reason is because, their life, seems like so systematic, consistent, full of joy and always happy. I try to be happy always but sometimes it's hard. I think main reason I will feel this way is because I lost both my parent at young age. Feels like there is no one else that I can depend on. 

Many people, when they have problem or when they wanna do something, they will decide on their own, but if problem arise from there, they still have their parent, they can seek for advise from them. They are like the last wall behind them. However, for my brothers and I, we have none of those. We basically swallow everything on our own. Whatever problem we faced, we need to handle it on our own. 

Life is getting harder and when we grow older, a single mistake in decision making, will cause a big problem. So usually we will try to play as safe as possible. I am not willing to take big risk, if I do, it will be a risk within safe boundary. I don't dare to quit my job, and go to travel for 2 months without any income. I also don't dare to go freelancing full time. These are all a risk for me. While I envy those who dare to be full time entrepreneur, starting their own business or company, be it selling clothes, opening a restaurant or IT solutions company and so on, I know there are risk to all of that too. That's why I don't dare to do that.

Man.... sometimes, I really miss my mom..... a lot. I don't even remember when is the last time the whole family sit down properly at a round table to eat together. That's why I envy my friends because, most of them, still have chance to spend time with their family.

So if you are reading my blog..... please.... please spend more time together with your family. You never know when it will be the last time you eat together with them.

Hard work paying off.

Some people might not agree because no matter how hardworking they are, they couldnt get what they want. Sometimes passion and talent comes in different package. You might have passion in teaching but your talent is in pottering. What should you do?

I have no answer. This post is about myself, so I dont have answer for you. Hahaha. 

Since young, my talent is in maths. I am good in math to a point where pure maths test, which is considered as hardest test in school, form 6, I manage to get full marks. But good in math doesnt mean I am passionate in maths. I discovered my passion in programming after a bit of struggle after form 6. Since then, I didnt practise maths a lot. I just used it wherever needed in my passion. 

Programming doesnt require a big talent in maths. Logic is more important. Formula can be googled. However, I recently discover, why not I program a website where it can generate maths questions. It will require a further step of maths knowledge because instead of solving it, I need to know how to generate it and provide the answer at the same time. 

It will be fun for sure. Since then, I had started this small project and found a partner to work together with me. My partner who work together with me is really smart too. 

It is really exciting seeing where this thing will go. I really hope we are able to change how Malaysia education system works. Revolutionalize it and make it online. 

Back to Senior Web Developer.

My current job position is Application Developer, sometimes it's misleading. Some recruiter thought I am Mobile Apps Developer but I am not. And there are no senior title in the current position.

Accepting this new job "Senior Web Developer" is definitely something that I want because of few reason.

- It's doing backend programming.
- It's senior position
- Slightly better pay
- Potential startup with brilliant boss and colleagues.

So I had decided to accept this offer. I am quite excited now.

Getting another job offer

I had been continuously being headhunted by job recruiter. I ignored all of them.

But recently, my friend from first company, approached me and told me that his company is hiring Web Developer. They need someone who is proficient in Laravel framework. As for front end, I am not sure what database are they gonna use but anything should be fine.

After the interview to discuss about benefits and remuneration, I was offered an amount that was not to my liking. So I rejected on the phone call. I told them my final stand of the offer that I can take on.

Yesterday, they called and agreed to give me the amount that I requested. Now is the time to do some thinking and decide whether I should take the job or not.

Getting to know more about myself.

After today's incident, I find out more about myself. Definitely not a good habit that I found out of myself.

I realize I slowly become more and more perfectionist. I want everything to be planned properly and go through according to my planning. 

So today, I messed up a bit the plan that I made on Friday..... I feel so bad.... so bad that I feel like throw up..... so bad that I don't feel like doing anything else today.... aih....

I feel a bit emotional now....

Generating one image from multiple image using Imagick.

When I completed this feature in Laravel PHP frameworks last night, I got so hyped up, feeling so achieved. Then I thought, maybe I should share my excitement with someone. But then I realize, not many people understand this kind of excitedment, in the end, it is just a syok sendiri things.

So this Imagick can put many images into one image dynamically. You can set the image size (width x height), then decide which image to be the first in the code, the margin from the left and top. Once you tried one or two, you will feel it is very easy. If you need save, let say 5 images in first row and 2 images in second row, some condition checking need to be done for the minimum width of the whole image being generated. 

So first step
- check which row has more images
- use that max images count times the width of each image
- then the total had to be add with the gap size of each image. 
- After that, calculate number of rows (in this case it's 2)
- Then use the number of rows times the height of each image and add the gap of each image again.
- After setting the height and width of the main container, create new imagick object with the image that wanted to be input into the main container
- Attach it into the main container with the margin.
- Continue attach more images and in the end, just export it as a file name.

I will share some code and example in my next post. :-) 

Few days trip to Kota Kinabalu

So I went to KK with my brothers. We wanted to go to Kundasang and island hopping.

Sorry, I got no picture in this post.

Luckily we are driving there, so going anywhere is also quite easy. But even if without car, you can pretty much travel anywhere in KK nowadays. Lots of people doing Grab and Uber, especially when there are a lot of discount or promocodes from Uber and Grab.

So we stay at nearby Jesselton Point, which is the place you get the package for island hopping (snorkeling, parasailing, zipline, jet ski, banana boat, flying fish, diving and so on). Don't straight pay for the amount displayed. Ask for discount because they usually will give discount.

Our accommodation is called The Bunk. It's cheap and located at good location. Many tourist and foreigner stays there because it is a cheap and strategic location. However, 2 nights of our stay, I got bitten by quite many bed bug. So we requested to checkout and get our refund back. So we moved to another cheap hotel nearby called Little Gaya Hotel. It's cheaper than many other hotel but it's clean and spacious, at least enough for us. Of course it is a lot more expensive than The Bunk, but I really rather pay extra than suffer.

The Bunk: RM 22 per bunk

Little Gaya Hotel: RM160 for 2 single beds, we add extra beds cost RM65. Total RM225 / 3, it will be RM75 each. 

For our island hopping, here's the price breakdown

Boat to go and back for 2 islands hopping : RM 35 

Parasailing: RM 70 each

Snorkeling equipment: RM 10 each 

Diving: RM 180 each 

Zipline: RM 68 each

Each of us take different combo.

Elder bro: Parasailing + Snorkeling. Total only RM 35+70+10 = 125

Me: Parasailing + Snorkeling + Zipline. Total only RM 35+70+10+68 = 193

Younger bro: Parasailing + Diving: Total only RM 35+70+180 = RM 285

There are 2 big shopping malls here called Suria Mall and Imago. If you have anything that you want to know more about this trip, just leave me a comment.

A little update about myself.

Pass few months, had been the most hectic month in my life. Receiving a lot of freelance request and only pick up few projects that I think worth my time. Now I am still engaged with the freelance project but manage to free up a bit of time to update my blog.

While writing this post, I stumbled upon a song sing by Sandy Lam in The Singer 2017 called 我最亲爱的. 

Many people feel this song is for lovers but when I heard this song, I think of my mom. Really wonder how is she doing in heaven and what will happen if she is still alive.


More people around me is getting married soon. Among my colleagues, I am the only one left that is not married. Even so, I don't feel the rush of it. Life should be taken seriously and I don't want to repeat the same thing happened last year. Haha.

Going for vacation is my next big thing. Then after that should be getting my house ready and enjoy my life more. 
 

Start of 2017

This year will be the most challenging year for me in my whole 29 years of living. Main reason is because I have to start worry about my housing loan. Even though I haven't need to start paying in full, but I can already feel the pain of paying it. Hahaha.

Anyway, this is a short update, because I am too busy on a new website lately. There is a possibility of totally neglecting this blog too.