Proof The Weather Is TOO Hot

Was at site as usual today and I was feeling pretty sleepy at one point and I got the best wake up call. All of a sudden, and explosion came from the pile driver I was observing. A great deal of hydraulic fluid burst out from the pipes running towards the drop hammer and it all just evaporated in an explosive manner.

Even at a great deal of distance, some of the fluid sprayed onto my safety boots and my hand. Thank God that it wasn't hot. My supervisor said that thing can scald. *phew!*

Post explosion pile driver- Pretty much black

The spillage from the explosion

If you enlarge this picture, you actually can see the fluid (yellowish) gushing out

Urbanscapes 2009

Didn't get to go online yesterday night as I was feeling rather lazy after coming back from the Urbanscapes Art Festival 2009. Was supposed to go with gf but then she had to attend a wedding and couldn't come. =( So decided to call Ivan along with me as not to waste the free tickets.

Time: 12 p.m.- 12 a.m.

Venue: KL Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC)

Not anymore!

At first when we reached at approximately 11.15 a.m., there wasn't much to see and I was beginning to wonder how the festival would be like. There were a few booths selling designs and artwork, and a wall that had many creative-looking postcards on them. With nothing much to do, I just grabbed a couple of those and some art drawings (they were freebies!).

Artbook and Postcards

Something created out of plastic bottles which were lit later on

Stuffed dolls for sale!

Some creative (but expensive) badges

After that, Ivan and I went into a movie room and got conned into watching a weird documentary about the homosexual social issue in Malaysia. T_T After that, we decided not to walk into any movie rooms again! That was a pretty awkward experience.

But soon it started to get crowded. Then the show really got underway...

These fellas were walking around looking weird

The crowd started to fill the place

So much so that I couldn't get a good shot of the entrance!

Started out by watching The KL Stompers perform. This group was kinda inspired by STOMP the last time they came down to Malaysia. So they decided to get together and start a percussions group. It was a pretty interesting performance and it got people around cheering.

Performing the broom routine

Hyah!

Then we went over to the stalls that sold merchandizes and stuff. Tried to play this Japanese toy called Kendama. I really sucked at it so I just gave up after a while. LOL

Went over to watch a few good rock shows and disco stage performances. A few bands there were pretty techno and it was an eye-opener for me as I haven't much exposure to this genre. If you asked me I'd say a lot of them are influenced by Coldplay or Moby.

Then we went on to watch some acoustic performances in the "Stage Room", and we watched this pretty cool dude called Rashdan Harith. He has some solid vocals and he played with this skillful guitarist called Colin and a violinist who was equally skillful. He put up a good performance that got the people worked and asking for an encore. But the organizers didn't allow for it.

(from left) Rashdan, Me, Colin

Acoustic performance stage

From time to time we went back to the drama place and saw a few interesting acts. But there was this one that really stood out for me. They played this game about scenarios and they had a few costumed individuals to freeze in motion and form a representation of the scenario. For example, some guy suggested "Pak Lah in his most productive moment", this actor did a "sleeping at desk" action and froze.

The actors were dressed as Chun Li, Mechanic, Camera-happy Tourist, The Joker, Little Red Riding Hood and so on.

I forgot what this was! lol

One of the last performances we watched was from Pop Shuvit. They really did impress me even though I wasn't much of a fan due to watching some of their previous performances which weren't that good. But this time they seriously put the meaning into the phrase "Rocked the stage" and it was so crowded that I couldn't get a good shot of the stage with my phone. *grrr*

Went back pretty tired so I just read a little book before sleeping. Overall Urbanscapes 2009 was a wonderful experience, save for the fact that gf wasn't there with me. =( But it's okay! We'll be there at Urbanscapes 2010!! =D

The Man, The Music, The Legend

It was only a few days ago that I burned a compilation CD and 3 of the obvious choices were "Beat It", "Black or White" and "I Want You Back" (by the Jackson 5). Today I started my car engine and decided not to listen to mmy CD but instead switch to radio for a change. This is what I heard...

"At exactly 5.20 a.m. Malaysian time, the king of pop, Michael Jackson has passed away. He collapsed in his home at approximately 4.00 a.m. Malaysian time in his rented Holmby Hills home in LA and was rushed to the UCLA Medical Centre. By the time paramedics arrived, he had been in cardiac arrest and remained in a coma until authorities pronounced him dead."

I was stunned for a moment in my car. Not knowing what hit me. Did they just say Michael Jackson- the man that has lived a life blended with controversy and fame and brilliance- just died?

Although not being a Michael fan, being one who was born in the 80s and lived through the 90s and loves music, you can't stray very far from the influence of his music. His music defined many significant changes in the Billboard Top 100 era and influenced many famous artists who are making waves in this generation.

Never mind all the controversy, the rhinoplasty surgeries and the pedophile allegations. This was a man who was viewed as a prodigious talent from young and continued to sustain that success all the way into his late 40s. He will always be remembered for his still-record-holding sales album, Thriller, which sold upwards of 109 milllion copies worldwide, remained in the Top 10 of the Billboard Top 200 for 80 consecutive weeks, 37 of which were at the peak. At one point, Thriller wasn't just a leisure item, it was as common as a household stapler, as observed by an MJ biographer.

Anyways, hours after his death, his records are already selling like Elvis Presley's after his (Elvis) death. Highly versatile in singing, MJ has used his voice and dance moves to electrifying results. Capable of changing different vocal styles to project different emotions into his varying experiments, his vocal prowess is rarely, if not never disputed. The Moonwalk, which he popularized will be part of his legacy in years to come. Prior to his death, he was supposedly practicing a move "so revolutionary that it would make the moonwalk look like child's play". Now I will never see that move. =(

Here's to a person who influenced many and will be missed.

The Things That Tempt Me

Everyday at sight there is something I see that really tempts me. As you know piling is very boring, so sitting around there are many things you will notice. For example, racist dogs, unethical contractors, and plenty of foreign workers walking about.

However there is something that really tempts me and makes me hungry.

This makes me HUNGRY!

This really tempts me to catch one home! =)

There are LOADS of chickens though. When you are on site, you get hungry really fast and seeing those chickens just make you wannna catch one and cook them! *carnivorous instincts*

However, those baby chickens are really adorable and they just keep jumping around. Would like to catch one back but the mother hen would probably attack me as they're always with her. =(

Funny how none of them are yellow though

Steamboat Gathering

Had a little gathering with the old school gang the other day: Desmond, Eng Jiun, Wai Hoe, Kee Siong and I. We went to some steamboat buffet place in Bandar Sunway called "Restaurant Yuen" (well, I dunno if I'm speling it right, but that's the way it is now! lol)

Anyways, I don't really know if the food is really that nice, but I just know we ate there from 5.30 p.m. to 9 something. Besides that, the highlight of that place is the "Chicken Wing Rush". I'll just let the pictures explain it all.

enough to make you makan til muak!

just kept eating non-stop

This part needs a little bit of explaining. The chicken wings are seriously "laku". They come every 10-15 minutes or so. Before they can even come, the people (mostly uncles and aunties!) stand in line to wait for the wings to arrive. The moment they arrive, within 2 seconds the queue dissipates and there is NOTHING left to prove that there were any chicken wings there, nor was there a queue at all. Seriously I'm not exaggerating!

The violent chicken wing mob

This malay waitress who brought the wings had to fight her way out of the crowd!

Three Cheers For The MAN!!!

Well it's that day of the year again. Here's a tribute to the first person I have known to be a man since the day I was born. =D

1. You have been the best provider and planner I have known up to date.

2. You have never failed to keep your promises to anybody before.

3. You have taught me everything I know about life and gave a me a solid spiritual foundation.

4. I have always been a fan of your vast knowledge about just about everything under the sun.

5. You have taught me what is means to be a man of integrity and honor.

6. I love the Hawaii tees that you buy for us every time.

7. You are the coolest dad (got facebook even before me and invited me!).

8. You have always been the most understanding and have given the best support any dad can.

Lastly, may God bless you continually and extend your circle of influence and most of all continually serve Him without growing weary, just like Moses! =)

I love you dad!

A Rather Weird Day

After days of sitting next to a piling machine, my piling work has come to a short stop as we have completed the final piles of the area. So today was rather unusual as most of my activities had nothing much to do with my work.

As usual, got to the office and immediately took a seat at the place that I rarely see except during lunch breaks and early in the morning XD...

Took a look at my "personal" file cabinet...

... Which isn't so personal after all!

So I grabbed my trusty helmet, and headed off to supervise the piling work.

After the short day of work at the piling site, I headed off to do some animal protection! Well here's the background story. If you look at the pictures below, you will see those 2 harmless-looking animals. One is called Bobby (brown), the other (black) I dunno. LOL

Anyway, those dogs were rescued by my supervisor (from the rain post and the cracked ceiling post). He rescued them from being eaten up by foreign workers, so they're strays actually. Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA) were hunting them down today and the smart dogs ran behind my supervisor, causing him to jump like a monkey (that's literally what he said!) and narrowly avoid being tranquilized by what he described as "10 needles" flying at him.

These dogs are highly active and for some reasons they are kind to chinese people but chase the others. Racist dogs la. Haha. So anyways, to get them out of the radar for a while, my supervisor decided to send them to a remote storage area where they will take care of the stuff there.

We took chained them up and loaded them onto the back of a Toyota Hilux pickup and zoomed them off.

That crazy dog in the Hilux

Ganas fella bullying a puppy

When we reached, there was a little puppy there who was really adorable but really dirty. She climbed onto my trousers and left some dusty paw prints. Anyways, when the 2 rascals arrived, they immediately started to bully the poor puppy. They barked at her until she ran away. I guess they'll be having a hard time with one another. But anyways, glad we managed to save them. =D

Puppy yang dibuli

You Wouldn't Want THIS...

My supervisor from that previous rain post inspecting the crack

Deadly piece of remaining slab finish

... To happen when you are in the house. The entire ceiling finish of a particular house in construction crashed this morning. Good thing it only happened after my friend went to inspect, or he would have been crushed underneath it.

And if you think that this isn't dangerous, take a look at that second picture again. Note how thick that remaining part is (At least 2-in). When the worker pushed that part of the slab down, it crashed so hard that another worker from outside the house came in because he heard it.

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By the way this has nothing to do with the rest of the post, but this is somehow something that we learned in RC Design. Now I see with my own eyes! =D

"Scolded" Someone On The Job

Been on site for about a week plus now. Getting darker. =( Yesterday was the hottest ever I experienced for months. Not even UTP was that hot!!

Was taking care of the piling again today in the afternoon after a long morning doing defect inspection. Everything was going so peacefully that I started to feel drowsy. Before I knew it, I was nearly asleep.

Suddenly I became wide awake. Believe God woke me up because immediately something caught my eye. One of the contractors was trying to record an unset pile as SET. Okay, I know this might make some people feel a little lost. LOL, but anyways what the contractor did could potentially make a house collapse if he continued doing that.

Immediately put on my hard hat and went over and tried to look professional *ahem*

He decided to kesi kesi pretend and keep his setting equipment aside (could almost imagine him whistling like in cartoons. LOL). They placed another pile on it and hammered again but this time he took the readings when it didn't set. That was the last straw.

Questioned the person who took the records.

me: Pile tu ada set ke tak?

recorder: (cuak) tak tau...

me: (suspicious look) kenapa tak tau? Nampak macam tak set je...

recorder: (smiles awkwardly) tak tau...

me: (walks away)

Moments later my supervisor came and asked me if anything was wrong and he went over there and scheduled the pile for re-testing. He said I should've scolded the fella and made them redo the thing. I was thinking that is gonna be kinda harsh so I just smiled and agreed with him. Haha

Feel guilty though. =P

A Day of Rest

Tomorrow, for the first time I will be having a little break from all the piling work. Today I was the only person on site supervising the whole place. Not even one of the site supervisors were there because they were too busy. But really thank God that the contractor and the workers didn't try anything funny when I was around.

Anyways I just did what I could and from what the senior supervisors taught me, just main hentam saja. But I believe that God allowed the day to pass without any incident, and to top that the weather was awesome today.

This reminds me, I need to share this. It started to rain the other day while the piling work was going on. Common sense will tell you that once the rain comes, it's a no-go for piling... Not unless you wanna get the bones electroculed out of you!! And once it rains, there goes a whole load of precious time from your hands.

So I shot up a prayer that God will hold back the rain clouds. My supervisor was saying earlier in the day, "It's definitely gonna rain... *some other expletives*," the rain got a little heavier from a drizzle when he repeated that. I shot up another prayer, and suddenly the rain stopped! My supervisor jumped from his chair and said, "What? That's weird... I thought it was raining," I tried to hide a little smirk. God had done it again. =D

Oh well, anyways tomorrow is a day of being in the office due to some world environmental day or something. Will be boring but I'll be counting down the hours to the time when I get off work and off to pg!!

Internship - The First Few Days

Have been pretty busy in the office, after a pretty much unproductive first day. Been following some site supervisors around the sites to supervise the ongoing construction activity all around the area of Setia Alam.

It's all about going under the hot sun and looking at people do the same thing. After a while it gets kinda boring and you just feel like sleeping. But it sure beats staying in the office! XD

Well, just in case you are wondering, this is what I'm going to be looking at for the next 3 months:

Some truck delivering Piles

More Piles

The two pics above are piledrivers. haha