Triple Highs At Carlsbad

It has got to be a triple high week.

High #1 : Me and Diego & Team
I was one of the two in my team to present to the Accenture CHT Operating Committee, the top 15 people running CHT global in Accenture, including the CEO of the CHT group. We were the first team to present, and I opened the session. Although I presented only 30% of the presentation, it was a high. Even my bosses have never gotten this opportunity. It opened a world of higher level issues within Accenture I would never had the chance to encounter if I did not have a chance to participate in this leadership development program (LDP). It also gave us a chance to mingle on first names to our leadership and identify with them, and enabled me the passionate old-timer to give them my two cents worth from the little kampung of malaysia.

High #2 : Saw Tiger, Go on, Be with Tiger.
I watched one day of the Accenture World Matchplay championship! It was a once in a life-time opportunity to be standing in a golf course, about 5 feet from Tiger Woods, when he is teeing off in a matchplay. Even better was that it was an Accenture sponsored matchplay, and that in a dinner function, I had the chance to attend, we had an opportunity to hear him talk about his success.

High #3 : Met Bill. Bill Green, Accenture CEO
Introduced ourselves - Hiro (Accenture Japan), Peter (Accenture Sydney) and Allen (Accenture Shanghai) to Bill Green during the dinner function. Only those of us will appreciate this. We took initiative, us who has little interaction opportunity, the minority. What is wrong with saying hello to your CEO, after all we travelled over many thousand miles to be with the LDP group....

The three highs are both career and a sense of personal standing.

San Diego and Tiger Woods has been eventful.

Sub-High #4 : Stayed at Four Seasons
A feeling of how it is at the jet-setting league. I wished the week never ended, even though the presentations were very tiring!

San Diego and Tiger Woods

Got to travel this weekend on Saturday to San Diego for the development program "training". All the way across the Pacific Ocean to Carlsbad California, for 3 days of workshop, then 1 day of golf championship attendance. The golf championship is world top 64 golfers, the tournament is match play format (one against one knockout), and sponsored by Accenture.

http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/tournaments.

I'd get to see the first day of matchplay as well as attend a dinner function on Weds nite, which hopefully our Tiger Woods will attend!!! I hope my new Nikon D70s camera can capture him, without flash.

Although its tiring to travel and got to prepare stuff for the workshops, it is a different week.

Life is exciting.

Thaipusam

I was at the Thaipusam festival celebrations on 10 Feb. We went there started from Sentral Station at 9:45 pm, and finally reached Batu Caves at around 11 pm. Took two trains - the Komuter which changed in Sentul - the Komuter was packed!!! I have never been squeezed in a train before in trying to get through the door.

The celebration at the Batu Caves was quite grand - there were so many people there especially to look at the newest status of Lord Muruga which was the largest in the world. We actually trekked up the steps and reached the top temple and then trekked down in the crowd. Watching people performing their vows and some in a trance was quite an experience, one that we will never forget.


We finally left at around 2am and arrived home at 4am!



To view all the photos click here






About Thaipusam - excerpts from a local site
THAIPUSAM is an annual Hindu festival which draws the largest gathering in multi-racial Malaysia - nearly a million people in 2000.

Several hundred devotees spear their cheeks with long, shiny steel rods - often a metre long - and pierce their chests and backs with small, hook-like needles in penance. Tourists watch in awe as metal pierces the skin with hardly any bleeding and, apparently, no pain as the devotee stands in a trance in the dawn light after weeks of rigorous abstinence.

Over the years, curious British, American and Australian medical experts have come to observe and speculate. Some think the white ash smeared on the body, the juice squeezed from the yellow lime fruit or the milk poured on the pierced areas may help to numb the skin. But most admit they have no answer.

The devotees say it is faith.

There are plenty stories about what Thaipusam is about. Among the most popular is that it commemorates the day Lord Siva's consort, the powerful goddess Parvathi, gives her son, Murugan, the vel (lance) to vanquish three demons and their large army which were plaguing the world.

Thaipusam falls on a full moon day in the auspicious 10th Tamil month of Thai when the constellation of Pusam, the star of well-being, rises over the eastern horizon.

In Kuala Lumpur, the festival is celebrated on a mammoth scale at the Batu Caves temple on the outskirts of the city. It began in 1892, started by early Tamils who migrated to colonial Malaya.

Love is in the Air...

Happy Valentine's Day!

I thought the beautiful occasion deserves a revisit to the blog, one of my love of live is driven by passion - passion for writing, running, and now currently photography!

May this Valentine's Day be celebrated with appreciation of love, both given and received, and for us to cherish the loved ones by our side.

About Me

I have been called a pre-amateur photographer.

I admit, pre-amateur years are most agonising but at the same time, most inspiring, as every shot is taken with enthusiasm and excitement. For the one who named me a pre-amateur, I forgive you, you give me more energy to pursue my interest!




I felt it a necessity to introduce myself in photos.

This is me - the most natural shot of me, the first shot of me using my newfound love - my nikon D70s. I was at Foto Shangri-la - this photo was taken by Jeffrey the supervisor of the store. I did not pose, and the photo when enlarged showed all my facial defects!! But I loved this photo, because it was natural, cropped, and also my newfound love's first sight of me!!




The second photo here, in a very condensed mode as I downloaded it from a site, is one where I am in my next greatest passion - running. My dream is to run the marathon next year, and subsequently I'd be a travel runner - to be honest, I felt the urge in London from Greenwich to Westminster - the London Marathon, to be precise. It was one of those love at first sight things when I saw the route.



The third - my newest love - photography - at the rate I am going, I'd likely be king of nite photography! Just can't find any time to do any day photography. This was one of the first few shots someone took of me in front of PB building.






The fourth here, also related to running, is also a downloaded shot, where I was almost famous! I am pictured here carrying one of my retired partner's photo in the token award ceremony for the KL Rat Race. The KL Rat Race is my most enjoyable racing outing for the last two years!!





The fifth photo, indeed is my hidden talent - I love to pose for photos in addition to taking photos!! This one is one of me being conned into lying on a foot of snow just for the sake of taking a photo.






Last photo - added post-edits - taken by Mum!!! Cool!!! Mum can take photos, I look very natural here!









Last-last photo - added post-edits - my bird photography "skill"!