All about us

I have the second assessment tomorrow after the first one ended in a failure. There are around 80 assessments so having to repeat one or two may not make it any easier.

Someone tweeted something about school just now and how a song became the key of his memories to the days as a student. Mine is the song by Peterpan, Semua Tentang Kita.

I don't listen to Indon or Malay on normal conditions but this particular song has a special place in my heart and mind. It was the first song I heard after I checked into the hostel. It wasn't played on a radio or an MP3 player instead its tune was beautifully plucked from the guitar strings of one of my dorm seniors. It turned out later that he was a decent guitarist and one of the best in school back then, having played for some events if I recall correctly. He was also a nice senior, like the rest in the dorm, he and another senior once tried to teach me guitar but after a few strokes either they or me myself conceded it wasn't my cup of tea.

Indeed we had all kinds of people back then in school. It was like Forrest Gump's chocolate box and getting to know someone is like taking a piece of choc out, you would never know what kind of person you gonna meet, which would dictate whether the conversation would only last a few words or a few hours, long enough for friendship to grow. I'm lucky I got to know and make friends with a lot of people from all walks of life that way. That is why I was able to open my eyes to the real world when I entered the school.

Talking about friendship, I think there is a line between friends and colleagues. I believe that though colleagues can be good friends, some of them should just be kept within work only. All that competition and politics at work may not bode well with friendships.

Off course

I am doing part time jobs every week now since the company needs more manpower with less cost so they hire apprentices. I, for one, wouldn't want to miss the opportunity as a means to fund a smartphone. Of course, that is the least I can get from this job since the main concern is always for the prosperity of the company. Pfft.

Anyways the job scope requires me to deal with a lot of people at the airport and me myself being a quite frequent flyer, I know exactly what a passenger wants and wishes of the airline. What we want is shorter lines at the check-in counters, better food than a small pack of peanuts, and comfy seats unlike the worn-out seats in MAS' B734s. All boxes left unticked.

Sometimes I think we should just let nature take its course and be done with something that lives only by feeding off us, in this case, the rakyat, who pay even more taxes nowadays that the government then uses on stupid things, like keeping a beyond-saving airline alive. Not that they know how to turn us back to profitability anyways. Or do they? Funny we have to ask the politicans instead of the executives themselves.

SNK809

Although I did plan to save some more money and buy a Seiko SKX007 instead I decided that a diver may not be a watch for me. Don't get me wrong, I like Seiko divers and I wish to own every offering in the line but for the time being, money is an issue. Plus when I fantasise of wearing them on my wrist, they are quite big against my lean wrist. Maybe if I work out on that, I can have arms like Sly or Arnie but that isn't gonna happen in the near future. Ha ha

Thus, I pulled the trigger and got myself an SNK809. I placed the order on the eleventh hour of 24 October, my birthday. Oh, to think that I also purchased my Liverpool official kit at midnight, I realise that my impulse for shopping is strong around that time. No more online window shopping in the bed.

Now came the hardest part, waiting. Every day after reaching home from work I'd rush to the mailbox and checked with anticipation for the package like a dog rushing to fetch the morning paper for his master, although in reference to my physique, I'm more to a bear than dog. Ha ha self-deprecating humour a la Conan O'Brien.

Finally on 4 November, the package came in. The size of the box fooled my housemates into thinking it's another aircraft model since I do collect aircraft models as well. That's another hobby of mine I have to put on hold or else I have to start eating leaves.

Anyways here it is, my first automatic and Seiko, the SNK809.

The watch in the flesh.

Side profile, quite thick and feels bulky but that may be due to the withdrawal symptom from cheap quartz watches.

The heart. The engine. The movement. Calibre 7S26C.

Undoubtedly Seiko.

Lume shot. Lumibrite showing its true colours.

The nylon strap didn't come to my liking so I pre-empted a simple modification. I ordered a leather strap from eBay. At first I thought being cheap meant it isn't really leather but PVC. Turned out the item was on promotion and is of calfskin from Speidel so I might've got it at a steal.

This is how it looks on leather. By the way I actually hope that it isn't in fact real calfskin because I feel so wrong of exploitation of premature animals. I have no problem with slaughtering adult animals for food and leather, praise God for them but calves? They don't even have enough time to live on this world.

Next target, G-Shock Riseman. I'm so in love with its barometric trend graph. May be handy when riding a bike.