Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Sacrifices for the job, starvation and cold

Along came a competition for young entrepreneurs, the HSBC Young Entrepeuneur Awards. Since we are young entrepeuneurs it should be right up our alley. And so the wheels are set in motion, in a quest that will hopefully only end next March somewhere in Hong Kong.

Since Sautern has 5 current members, but with Song Han, being the good and very hardworking top scorer that he is, choosing to study during the holidays, it will send 2 teams of 2. Of course this is just to facilitate the rules, as we are one team in anything but name. Perhaps in this case, divide and conquer is the way to go.

There is one minor con to being two teams though. Obviously, we will need to come up with two different ideas. Correction, two good, sensible AND original ideas. Believe me you, it is not as simple as sitting down in Starbucks for two hours and fart out a random business plan.

Thankfully though, Jupes is an environment freak. It was no time at all before the green haze inspired him to an environmentally friendly idea, complete with graphs, charts and numerous figures quoted from NGOs. Basically, things that will make the average Joe glaze his eyes and go into a mind numbing stupor.

As for my team, Tommy did come out with a plan. But after about two weeks of discussion, we were still stuck at the discussion stage. So we did the best thing for this type of writer's block, invade Starbucks for a few hours and generate a very good business plan. Even though we are kind of breaking out of the typical mould for Malaysian youth, we still try to adopt our Malaysian values whenever we can, in this case the Starbucks jaunt was scheduled for yesterday, which is the last day of submittion for the contest.

Being the typical workaholic, Tommy was already SMS-ing me at about 7.30 even though I was still very much in dreamland. After sending a few SMSes of my own in a hazy state, we established 10am as the time of meeting. Location was as planned, the WiFi hazen of Starbucks. Having bought the obligatory cuppa, we sat down to brainstorm. To recap, Tommy actually sent me an idea to flesh out a couple of days earlier, and we were going to send that in. Jupes had other opinions though, and he managed to convince us that it was too simple. A short check on the database of past entries also confirmed that it is also lacking in the originality department.

Unfortunately, that means that we will have to do a complete rewrite. So much for good Malaysian values, as we now only have a few hours to complete the job. With our backs to the wall, we fell back on Tommy's original idea. A few short minutes spent on finetuning it later, Jupes and me were ready to slug it out with the sands of time. This does not mean that the other idea will be abandoned. Due to its simplicity, we might implement it in the future.

When we go about brainstorming, it is usually in a very charged-up atmosphere, since we are very passionate about our ideas. However, we were feeling decidedly frigid after an hour or so in. The reason? We were seated under an air-cond vent, an uncovered one at that. It seemed bad form to move though, so we just stuck it in. How long could it take to write a fewer than 1000word essay right? I mean, Jupes and me regularly crank out blogs that long. Well, we were wrong on all counts. Temporary writer's block seemed to appear every now and then, and that's already with Jupes doing most of the typing.

Anyway, we did manage to complete the essay. Now all that's left is to send in both entries. Amid constant hunger pangs, we sent in Tommy and my effort in first, amid constant hunger pangs. Aside from the really long list of particulars to fill in, it went without a cinch. Jupes entry though, was an entirely different matter. The WiFi seemed to freeze the moment we clicked 'send', and then there was a wait. A long wait. Basically you have three ravenous teenagers staring at a blank webpage on a laptop waiting for it to load. Time just outshone room temperature in the freezing department.

A few frantic clicks on 'refresh' managed to coax the confirmation page to load, along with a collective sigh of relief from us. By then, we have just about hung on for the short escalator ride down to the basement cafetaria. Despite not having our intended foodstalls open, we were just too hungry to care. Equation of the day - food>(starvation + cold)

Sunday, November 26, 2006

A Very Meaty World Vegan Day

A bit of a foreword on this entry, you may read the same day twice from two different perspectives. This is due to a minor misunderstanding on my part regarding the status of my Internet connection. In short, I thought my ISP screwed me again.

However, I now owe said ISP an apology and instead place the blame on the dark, dank, rat infested attic in which two telephone lines in my humble abode snake through. Apparently, the one leading to the kitchen no longer function.

Anyway, here's a recap of yesterday's events.

The 25th of November company dinner is the second one held by Tommy at his upmarket bungalow. Just like the previous on, our chef of honour was the French cuisine master trained Ooi Chuen Theang, who while Chinese, has been mistaken for a Japanese in Thailand.

The day started with me waiting for my mother and sister to rise from the soft, bacteria and dust-mite infested graves we call beds.

After dropping me off at Tommy's house, they went off to a destination I wasn't interested in. Proceeding to the kitchen, I discovered Tommy and Song Han at work preparing the main course for the night, (correct me if I am mistaken) medium-rare beef. There wasn't much to do after the pieces of halal cattle were placed in a spice infused wok half-filled with water put to boil.

If my memory serves me correct, this step was to tenderise the beef and remove the strong cologne cows usually put on when they headed for their big prom at the abattoir.

Tommy then left us to our own devices to freshen up. There was still some mutton and people to pick up. I know, people are an acquired taste, but you will start enjoying them after your first bite.

Tommy emerged, and we followed his lead in smoothly sidestepping the various pieces of wood and metal lying on the ground. In a jiffy, we picked up Chong Yang before heading to... Oh dear, I can't recall what happened next.

Well, excuse my bout of amnesia and fill in whatever you will to the three missing hours of my life to the moment we had lunch in a dilapidated building serving sumptuous and slightly unhygienic chicken rice.

Ah... Now I remember, we picked up the mutton and various chunks of organic matter and sent them over to Tommy's home before departing for lunch.

We very much wanted Peter join us four for lunch, but he didn't seem too attached to his cellphone. Frustration and Boredom conjoined and Epiphany was born. I decided to 'miss call' Peter a hundred times.

Mischievous antics aside, we finally met up with Peter at Gurney's Starbucks for a long heated meeting about our business proposals for the HSBC Young Entrepreneurs competition. Peter set forth to blast my proposal with the usual “Malaysian mentality”, “Asian mentality” and “World apathy” which made my blood boil. Seriously, I felt the veins in my neck swelling with boiling blood.

After all, if the World doesn't even want to spend good money on safer alternatives to save itself, what more can I do? Then Peter will ask me how I will change them. Then I will answer I can't change them, people have to change themselves. Then he will go back in a circle and lament the utter stupidity of the loopholes in my idea, and receive my emotionally charged response before heading to the bedroom for some – Whoa! Angry sex is something everyone should try out with their spouse.

Fortunately, the people surrounding us prevented the latter part from happening.

The discussion was admittedly, fruitful, and a thorough rewrite of my proposal is in order, particularly after finding out the proposal must not exceed 1000 words, not fewer than 1200 words. Quite certainly, I went overboard.

After terminating the meeting, we were dragged into the mall because we still had some time before the pre-dinner preparation, and partly due to a calling some of us had to answer.

I finally picked up my first (discounted, thanks to Peter's Popular Card) Edgar Allan Poe book.

It got late, so we headed back to Tommy's home. Tommy, the chef of honour, headed right to the kitchen, while the rest of us hovered over his wide-screen laptop like drooling geeks over an undressed Alienware machine.

Occasionally, some of us headed to the kitchen as ambassadorial representatives to help Tommy out with the dishes.

Somewhere around 1830 hours, Peter piggybacked to church. Me and Chong Yang stayed backed to give praise to our own gods, Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb.

Soon, my mother and sister arrived to join us for dinner. They patiently waited while Tommy slaved over the first course, fish and cheese.

The fish was marinated in lemon tinged water, then infused with basil, salt and pepper before it was sent into the oven buried in cheese.

Now drool over the picture of juicy fish topped with hot, melt-in-your-mouth cheese.

I learnt to prepare a unusual appetiser from Tommy as well yesterday. Ever heard of boiled Pepsi with ginger? Health concerns aside, it was rather pleasant.

The fish was served half-an-hour earlier than the agreed time, which meant Peter would miss out on the fish. Fret not for you weren't alone - Tommy graciously skipped this meal too as there wasn't enough fish to feed everyone.

The beef was a different story altogether. Medium-rare, topped with gravy, served with mashed potatoes and vegetables, it was much more filling than the fish. In fact, my sister ate a Chinese teacup size worth of food for breakfast this morning because of the size of the meat served.

Desert consisted of strawberries with tiramisu. A sweet way to end the dinner.

Before nine, it was all over. And the guys sat down for an impromptu lecture on the facts of life from Dr House.

I fiddled around with Tommy's computer, experimenting with various add-ons for Celestia and installing Picasa 2.

My sister took a go at it too and all too soon, it was time to leave.

Me and my family would like to give a heartfelt “Thank You” to you, Ooi Chuen Theang aka Tommy Ooi and your family for the generosity you have shown us. Not many employers would invite their employees over to their bastion of comfort for a wonderful dinner.

Until then,
Live Long Prosper,
May the Force be with You.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Thousand Miles

In just a blink of an eye, it is almost 9 months since the birth of Sautern
Enterprise
. Anyone our age would have doubted the possibility of achieving such a deceptively reachable feat. Yet, along this uncertain journey, we are joined & fundamentally powered by a group of visionaries, determined to achieve what others find impossible in this business environment. I recall the days when Sautern was but a written draft on scrap pieces of paper, done during school ( Whereby I totally support the notion that the education system is definitely ineffective ), which progressed to currently become a profitable business. All this in just 9 months!

The starting of Sautern was to allow youth especially teenagers to challenge & experience the job and business market of the industries that we ventured in, providing opportunities for talented youth to utilize their talents & enhanced it to another level. Therefore we take the utmost pleasure in welcoming any talented individuals to be a part of our team. Other than that, Sautern aims to allow youth to indulge in some luxuries that are offered mostly to the rich. Activities of indulgence are occasionally organized as reward to our team who has put in extraordinary effort despite having to juggle their tertiary education at the same time.

Not many are willing to look on the flip side of the coin, specifically they are reluctant to confront the negative aspects of their business. Yet for us, we regard failure as a chance to learn, much more than what success offers, therefore any negative side of the company shall be discussed openly & frequently. If anyone has noticed, our website is yet to be complete & functional although it has been 9 months. Sautern apologizes for this awkward situation. Initially, Sautern was conceived to be a property kiosk in Malaysia. However, in the process of building the website, we received several projects for " Software Customization" from established property & banking firms. Unfortunately, this was also a double-edged sword, while giving us much needed revenue, it was an overload of work, since as a start-up, we have a lack of manpower. However, the company website will be up by December 2006.

Presently, Sautern will be focusing on its current " Software Customization" projects. Besides that, there will be a management reshuffle in a fortnight to ensure Sautern's clients a better service & positive growth for the company. Details of the shuffle will be revealed after it is announced.

Till then,
Tommy Ooi
Chief Executive Officer

Friday, September 29, 2006

It ain't all about the money

Despite the fact that we are an upstart company, our aims are not mainly about profit. Or rather more precisely, monetary profit, since what I am about to chronicle is about something that will profit the soul.

Following on from one of the meetings mentioned here in one of the previous posts, we had another meeting with the executive director of St. Nicholas' Home for the Visually Impaired, Mr. Ooi. Save for Tommy, this meeting featured an all new cast comprising of me and Ju Ping. The purpose was to discuss the extent of help Sautern can offer to the home.

The meeting was to take place at 3 pm. Since Tommy was involved in an auction earlier on, the plan was for Jupes and me to wait in school until 2.30pm. Unlike the previous meeting, the weather this time was decidedly gloomy, with intermittent rain since morning. Nevertheless, it sufficiently cleared up enough to not disrupt our transit to the meeting place, which was at the home.

Upon reaching our destination, it was apparent though that our arrival was not exactly that eagerly awaited since the secretary had to ring up Mr. Ooi to confirm whether we really had an appointment. That was soon cleared up and we were seated inside Mr. Ooi's office in no time. The other participant to the meeting was one of the managers there.

As the home was a non-profit organisation, it had to rely on generous donations to keep it up and running. Our meeting centred mostly on this. They had a few fund-raising efforts in the pipeline, and some of them were in conjunction with the home's 80th anniversary celebrations. Besides that, we also discussed the matter of the home's website which is currently very 'raw' to quote Mr. Ooi. Please feel free though to check it out.

On the other side of the spectrum, we also spoke about what we have already done, namely the new logo and slogan. Mr. Ooi requested that we send the whole presentation of the logo to him within the next few weeks, to facilitate the integration of the logo into the upcoming campaigns.

Although it did not feel like it, the meeting ended at about 4.45pm. Before we left, we were taken on a tour to the computer facilities of the home. It was certainly eye-opening (no pun intended) to see the visually impaired use the internet like any regular Joe. The most impressive of all was the screen reader software, or rather how the visually impaired made use of it. What sounded like rapid muttering to us, was ably utilised by them to go about their duties.

After leaving, St. Nicholas', we adjourned to a nearby mamak place to satiate our rumbling stomachs, especially Tommy, who has not eaten since this morning. We had a fairly light meal, with a 'Roti Bom' for me, a 'Roti Pisang' for Jupes and normal 'Roti Canai' for Tommy. The side dishes included squid, squid roe and some potatoes. With some time to kill, we spent the next 45 minutes or so reminiscing about old times. All in all, a regular day in the lives of teenage entrepreneurs.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Ambiguous Help

A spanking new laptop!

Tommy's impressive 80GB, Intel Core Duo laptop with 1GB of RAM could easily run circles around his old laptop.

Instead, I watched amusingly as an incredulous Tommy demonstrated to me and Chong Yang how a state of the art laptop can be brought to its knees when it is not showered with the love and care you give to a favourite aunt.

Placing both laptops side-by-side, we saw, without a doubt the old laptop booted up significantly faster than the widescreen successor.

Tommy recounted his tale:

His new laptop had been mistakenly delivered to another Dell customer - and coolly sent Tommy the bill.

Needless to say, hell broke loose, and Dell retrieved the laptop for Tommy.

Unfortunately, Dell failed to restore the laptop to its former factory setting.

There were more than 60 running processes with dubious names.

Evidently, eric (the username displayed) had been a naughty boy. Besides treating the laptop like a mucous ball, sucking every piece of tech dirt; he had been visiting the naughty Internet places too...

And that set the tone last Friday. My task was to kill and reincarnate the love forsaken laptop.

Starting with trying to reinstall Windows XP, I found myself stuck on the Product Key page. Mind you, this being a genuine copy of Windows, I immediately dived into every documentation I could find before Tommy suggested calling, the dreaded tech support.

It was nearly as bad as I thought, with the long pauses between different 'experts', monotonous classical music while on hold, and unreliable Dell people.

Not getting the help I needed from Dell, they subsequently directed me to Microsoft, where after heated clarification I was after the Product Key and not the Activation Code, curtly pointed out it might be stuck under the laptop.

So here's the summary.

I called Dell to get the Windows XP Product Key which was stuck under the laptop, that wasn't pointed out by the young, useless and oblivious Dell staff, but by an enlightened, no-nonsense middle-age lady working at the Activation Code department of Microsoft.

The only bright side, toll free 1-800 numbers.

The entire process required artificial grafting of my cellphone to my ear for half-an-hour.

Even after that ordeal, the Windows installation CD still failed to format the hard drive and remove every trace of its previous life's memories.

Apparently, karma works for technology too.

My resolve to never-ever install Windows on my new PC is strengthened.

Oh yeah, the laptop was a major distraction for the real task of the day: Making sure the database manager we are currently building for Palma Housing remains on the right path. At this resource-strapped period in our company, we can ill afford to waste time building something the client won't want later on.

Whatever needed to be said was said; and whatever that needs to be done, will be done.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Calling Chicken

It was one of those days.

It began atypically after a lousy morning where we were late for the clients stipulated deadline for arrivals; fortunately, he seemed to have forgotten about the dateline given to us.

This was probably because, R & U, as you may recall from our various reports, frequently cancelled and delayed appointments.

Today was the first time they applied a (our) dedicated auction presentation software, FusionCore; so it wasn't really surprising the way R & U's boss was raving about our product to some VIPs.

He then asked us to give a short presentation of our presentation to the VIPs, presumably to impress them.

Chong Yang and I ended up having to adorn R & U uniforms for the duration of the event just for a rebranding exercise they were carrying out.

These guys seem pretty serious about it, splashing out good money they wouldn't cough up for FusionCore a few months ago to a promotional team, who videotaped the entire event.

These were expert cinematographers, lining shorts artistically with the precision of a seamstress sewing a flag.

The auction event began more than two hours after our arrival, therefore (technically), we weren't late.

The important point of the entire exercise was to show the important people how much R & U has progressed from its herbal remedy roots.

The most salient point though, was the auction event itself - two of the three auction houses were using FusionCore.

The third will probably be weeded out by the process of evolution.

After the event, we went out for a typical lunch at a fast food restaurant.

Nothing fancy - it was just a RM 500.00 budgeted lunch at KFC.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Nowhere and Everywhere

Huge announcement this week!

Sautern Enterprise has successfully closed a deal worth about RM 6000.00 this morning.

R & U (with a herbal treatment centre subsidiary), one of the major players in the property auction industry have finally decided to take the Sautern option: FusionCore.

The courtship of R & U has been a unnecessary prolonged process, with negotiations breaking down during the previous meetings over the pricing of FusionCore.

Things took a dramatic twist however, when some criticisms from important organizations criticized R & U's method of running the business. This sparked a undisclosed spending spree to re-brand themselves.

Consequently, FusionCore became a much demanded item as it will most likely revamp the entire process of auctioning in the near future (think half-a-year).

Although there were a few add-ons to the program, we have already been partially paid for our software, with the rest to be paid upon successfully integrating the software into their company.

With the deal virtually sealed, we carried on to our other client, Palma Housing, to restore their database (a server crash had knocked out and removed a vast amount of valuable property auction reports).

The database was restored within seconds, however, we were then tasked with solving a generated report mystery. Briefly described as a huge amount of wasted paper.

The problem turned out to be a mistaken field entry, which was quickly pointed out.

Our affairs at Palma were finally completed with the issuing of an invoice for FusionCore.

We then sped of to Pizza Hut where we received this interesting receipt:The picture says it all doesn't it?

Our next auction event is on the 23rd of February, 2006, as a result of the sale of FusionCore to
R & U.

Whether you wish to see us run the whole place down, or catch a few deals of your own, come join us at the City Bayview Hotel, 9.30a.m.

Until then,
Be a dear,
Say simply nuclear!

Friday, August 18, 2006

Full steam ahead

Due to the unfortunate circumstances of Form 6, most of the Sautern team, ok all but one, have been shackled from doing our normal activities for the past week. The reason? The school test of course, and a minor one at that. Nevertheless, that is all in the past now, and clear skies are projected for the next 2 months or so until the next exam rears its ugly head.

Not one to waste time, Tommy scheduled a long overdue meeting immediately after school today. And for good cause too, as the goalposts have shifted during our two-week sabbatical. Things have just gotten a lot complicated and the few projects that were in stasis pending the completion of our exams have just gotten more crucial. Due to the sensitive nature of these projects, I am of course not at liberty to divulge the finer details.

Once again though, we are really looking for capable and enthusiastic web designers and programmers. Those interested can leave a message here.

Friday, August 04, 2006

Between Two Paths

Tommy is having a hell of a time in college, in a good way. Chong Yang, Peter and I are also having a hell of a time in Form Six, in a hot-coal caressing your cheek way.

While Tommy has flexibility and time with his college schedule, we Sixth Formers are pretty much stuck in a rut, facing our first challenge - the first Sith, um I mean Sixth Form test.

With exams barely two weeks away, and Palma Housing breathing down our necks, we are finding it very hard to choose sides (some of us anyway).

If we prioritize Sautern Enterprise, we are set to not only receive the biggest payday in company history, but to cement our unconfirmed position as the best software solutions company in Penang.

However, if we should forsake this coming test, we risk being grounded by our parents, whom we still live with - whereby we are still bounded by an unwritten contract that stipulates if you do badly in your exams, you will be tortured.

That said, we have decided to pursue the middle path - find additional programmers to temporarily take over Chong Yang's place.

We are prepared to pay a portion of the profits generated from each successful project completed.

Unfortunately, no one seems to have seen our request for additional personnel.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Project t-shirt

Thanks to our resident computer programmer, and now designer, Chong Yang, we have now managed to finalise the design for our company t-shirt.And guess what, in spite of his expertise with graphic programmes, this design is hand-drawn, talk about being talented.

First, a low down on the design. Being innovative pioneers, our shirt will incorporate ohmegawd-ish features that will blow you away. You will even write home to mum to talk about it. I mean, there's like a freaking MP3 player incorporated into it, and it's so small you won't even notice it. And here's the clincher, it has red collars, what could be better?. All right, I was kidding, there is no MP3 player in case you haven't figured that out. But we did toy with the idea of incorporating a small ____(classified stuff)____ into the design. And the part about the red collar is true. There is also a small detail of the tee that is a little unusual, I mentioned it up there in passing, let's see if any of you caught it.

I would prefer to dispense with all the secrecy but the threat of commercial espionage has forced us to be more cautious. On a more sombre note, we at Sautren would like to extend our condolences to the family of our ex-schoolmate Khoo Seng Kong, who unfortunately lost his life last Saturday. He will be in our prayers (for those who have a religion, anyway), and may his soul rest in peace.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

When the Shirts Come Marching On

Greetings. Here are some new announcements from the good people at Sautern Enterprise.

On Monday, the tech team went over to Palma Housing for a Q & A session regarding the database management software we would be building for them.

As expected, the process was a lot more painful than it should have been, seeing as the database management software, like the auctioning software we first developed for Palma Housing, would soon become another complex software suite with added features such as a billing management software.

  1. This wouldn't be so bad, if we had more programmers on the team; because more work means a better pay, and we are talking a major growth in revenue here Mac.

Speaking of which, here's a list of preferred requirements applicants for the programming job at Sautern should have:

For web programming purposes, applicants should be

  • Comfortable with PHP and MySql;

  • Well versed in HTML, XML, Javascript and CSS.

Interactive graphic design is also an integral part of our software development process. As such, applicants must have

  • Appropriate knowledge of any graphic editing software, e.g., Photoshop, Gimp, CorelDraw;

  • An understanding of web designing software, e.g., Dreamweaver;

  • Effortless mastery of Flash animation and action scripts.

Since our major source of income is based on a project-by-project basis, programmers working with the team will be paid based on a negotiated percentage of any profit made.

For a historical example, read up on Alec Guinness on his paycheck for Star Wars, in which he was paid a percentage of the profits (aka the biggest paycheck he ever received in his life).

In a related development, we have decided on a motto for our clothing line, which will be introduced soon to close associates of Sautern.

We are holding on to the motto for now to prevent any stealing of ideas pending our trademark application.

That's all for now. May your days be slightly less hazier.

Friday, July 14, 2006

Priorities

So here's the latest take on the comings and goings of Sautern Enterprise.

Rarely do you encounter a company with too much business to handle; because that usually means you are making enough profit to bleed money from your nostrils to hire additional staff.

As unlikely as it may sound, that is the very predicament we are currently facing.

Though we have enough projects to generate enough profit to sustain the company for at least (and I mean the very least) 2 years; the dearth of competent and reliable jobseekers matching our needs has left us no choice but to postpone some very lucrative deals.

As such, we have decided to concentrate all our efforts into our clothing designs, which is another business avenue we will be pursuing in our overall empire-making plans.

Okay, allow be to anchor myself back to Earth.

Visitors may have noticed our property kiosk website has not budged since I returned from my National Service training stint. That's because of our heavy workload due to the custom software division of our company - essentially depriving resources to build on the website.

No business, especially a tech business, wants its forefront product to be put on hold. But in this matter, due to our understaffed and overworked situation (not to mention the fact all three triumvirs and the Chief Intelligence Officer are currently pursuing tertiary education), we simply have no choice but to finish projects based on datelines.

To further clarify our company's current situation, we have decided to embark on a few measures; one of which is to place our company blog in a more prominent position while we relegate our main site's preview to a lesser site.

Anyone out there who happens to be skilled in building websites or happen to be very proficient script kiddies are encouraged to contact us.

A list of skills we are currently looking for in future executive staff members will be posted soon.

Until then,
May your trees stay green.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

The Amazing Race 53446435: The Hunt for the Funky Cloth

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned the futility of our search for a suitable material to make our running jerseys. Guess what, Tommy gave me a ring two days ago, apparently he managed to get a contact which might lead to someone who might be able to help us. (If the above sentence seems to be filled with doubt, it is, since I decided to adopt a wait and see attitude just so I don't get disappointed)

The next thing I know, I am prepping for a pseudo road trip through some obscure Penang roads. Ok, we didn't have to exactly prepare anything, but we kind of braced ourselves towards the possibility of getting lost. The nether regions of Penang are that hard to navigate.

There is another thing I need to get round to though, which is the actual designing of the jersey. After cracking my brain and dozens of prayers to God for inspiration, a light bulb flashed in my mind and a brilliant design (to me) just popped into my mind.

After labouring through the night (ok, until 12.30 am), I was eager to show my design to my associates, this morning. The first person I showed it to was Jupes, and let's just say I didn't get rave reviews. I waited until school was over before unleashing my monstrosity on another unsuspecting impromptu reviewer. The initial look on Kenneth's face was good enough to qualify him to appear on one of those slasher flicks. Even though he tried to mask it by offering a 'The colour is too eye-catching' comment, I knew my choice of colour combinations stank.

With the sound of less than glowing reviews ringing in my ear, I went home to prepare for the big Search. Before I knew it, 4 pm rolled by and Tommy and I were making our way to some obscure market in Jelutong, where the shop is located. True to expectations, it took a while and a couple of phone calls before we managed to step into the place. The owner was very helpful and tried her best to answer all our queries. She was kind enough to search for samples, and even let us keep some of them, unlike the previous T-shirt, who was stingier with scraps of fabric than Scrooge with money.

At the end of it, we managed to find a possible fabric for the jersey, and left with a sense that this trip might not be a waste after all.

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Extra Time

Just some fillers until the next major breakthrough.

We have finally generated some income from the first sale of our property auction software: FusionCore.

Our first client, Palma Housing, has bought it for roughly (since I don't have the security clearance to give you the exact number) RM6000.00. This will give them a noticeable edge over their competitors due to the much more elegant presentation of auctions as well as an integrated report generator custom-built for auctioneers.

There are other plug-ins for FusionCore we have also added according to the demands of our clients so that our products may serve them dependably for many years to come.

At the end of Saturday night, the day Germany defeated Argentina, the triumvirs were treated to a lavish and extravagant dinner at the Bella Italia by Mr. Ooi of Palma Housing; where I ordered more food I couldn't pronounced correctly.

The food was a bit too rich for my tastes, having been raised on a diet of simple and cheap family cooked meals.

Tommy though, had a different take on the meal, in which he wagered he could whip up a better lasagna then the highly trained Italian wannabes in the kitchen.

It's not a lot of hot gas. I have eaten what Tommy bakes in his kitchen and it's good. It's damn good. It's bloody-makes you-wish-he-were-cooking-for-you-everyday-good!

Still, isn't that the definition of parents?

We ended the night trying out a few droplets of grappa (Italian alcoholic drink), which came in a small, thimble-like glass.

It wasn't because the restaurant was gratuitously over-charging us; the thing stung the back of your throat like liquid nitrogen on exposed skin.

While me, Chong Yang, and our dinner hosts contented ourselves to a few droplets of the liquid fire; Tommy guzzled it down like a refreshing glass of apple juice.

Kids, don't drink and drive.
,

Friday, June 30, 2006

toasted dine, fruitless find

After going our seperate ways, Tommy and I decided to re-enact our own version of the Amazing Race. Our first pit-stop of the day, a t-shirt printer based in Jelutong. This guy is a popular source of t-shirts among school societies and clubs, so hopefully he will be of help.

The address given turned out to be the one to a single story house, smack in the middle of a housing estate. The porch area was tacked high with loads of t-shirts and cloth. Unfortunately the quantity of shirts there did not match the number of staff around. The only living human was an Indonesian maid, who promptly informed us that everyone else was at the 'office'. When asked on where exactly is the 'office', she could only give us a sheepish smile and a shrug of the shoulders.

Faced with this road block, we took the only option open to us. We called one of the numbers on the business card, which incidently bore only the name of the company, not even the name of the owner/proprietor/whatever. After speaking to the guy on the other end of the line, we still couldn't get the address of the other 'office'. No matter, since he promised to swing by the house in 10 minutes time. So, for all aspiring entrepreneurs out there, when in doubt, phone.

Having resigned ourselves to waiting outside the gates until the owner arrives, we were pleasantly surprised when the maid ushered us in. The owner kept his word too, and we didn't have to wait long. Right off the bat, we enquired about the availability of polyester as a material for our jersey and singlet, only to be told that they make only t-shirts. There goes item number 1 on our list then. We proceeded to thrash out details about the pricing and material of the t-shirts before leaving for our next stop.

Actually, there was no next stop, since the only other card we have states the address of the company as somewhere in Bukit Mertajam. So again we did the increasingly common next best thing, call. As per standard business procedure, Tommy addressed the other person in English. What followed had us in stitches. The lady obviously wasn't proficient in English, and she was only too eager when Tommy finally offered to use Chinese. But it was probably a no deal though, since the minimum size of an order for this company is too big for us.

The Amazing Race for a T-shirt over, Tommy had to fulfill his other obligations to his college mates. Off we were then to TAR college. After dropping two of them off at the jetty, it was time for me to complete the final part of today's task, checking out whether there were any t-shirt making businesses based in Gurney Plaza. It was ultimately a futile search, and I had to abandon it due to the arctic air-conditioning.

With stomach rumbling and cellphone ringing( from mum), I trudged back home.

Toasted Dine, Over Time

For the moment, all core members of Sautern Enterprise have to juggle between not only between demanding clients and overly-protective families; with the beginning of the tertiary education season, school work has to be thrown into the pot of caustic soup too.

Which was where I found myself spending the after-hours of a brutal Form 6 session, doing whatever I am suppose to do – odd jobs.

Tommy treated us to a sumptuous lunch at a local medium-high class restaurant – where I finally ordered a meal whose name took longer to comprehend than to eat.

What the bloody hell does “beef schnitzel” mean?

After the meal, which we incidentally used to reaffirm and redefine some company goals, we divided into two teams; Chong Yang and I went over to Palma to fix some nasty software issues, while Tommy and Peter went hunting for tailors who could produce sports-worthy attires.

Which left the unglamorous and rather unappreciated debugging work to us.

It seems there were some residual pools of toxic leaks in a database software created by a freelance member of our team who has recently departed to a place beside the sea.

Its pretty hard trying to communicate with a departed person... Or rather the Creator of the program.

Yes, the programmer of our database software has left us mere mortals to sort out any kinks with the mostly-functionable software. The debugging process is greatly hampered by the lack of access to the source code, which as any self-respecting geek would know, is vital to any software debugging process.

After slogging it out for what seemed like an eternity, only one of the many glaring problems was solved. It's a pity our company doesn't have more capable programmers (which currently number only one) to write these software.

After running overtime reorganizing some data for the employees of Palma Housing, we went into extra time for a important discussion regarding the creation of a website for the said client.

Details will be disclosed in due time.

Monday, June 12, 2006

A long awaited return

This blog has not been updated for quite some time, and for that I am truly sorry. The intervening period between the last post and this one has been a little unstable in terms of Sautern activities. True, there have been some happenings, but since I wasn't personally present at said happenings, I cannot post on Sautern's behalf.

However, I am glad to say we did have a meeting today, which coincides with the return of our stalwart Ju Ping from National Service, complete with shiny NS belt buckle and shaven head. Unfortunately, he couldn't personally attend the meeting in the school canteen due to a lack of notification, so to speak. In actual fact, Tommy did try to get through to him, but the SMS bounced back. Just another feather in our local telcos' cap of screwing people over.

Today's get together was basically to update Ju Ping on Sautern, but since he couldn't make it, Tommy, Chong Yang and I got on with our discussions anyway. The first agenda was about how to solve some software problems. It's a vague description, I know, but we can't just divulge confidential information without the permission of our clients. Well, that and the fact that I don't know much about the software part of our business.

After that, we had a discussion on our prospective clients, specifically an upcoming meeting to be attended by Chong Yang. Overall, there was an optimistic air. With that being said, we moved on to a more nascent part of Sautern, our clothing line. Yes, you heard that right, a clothing line. We are looking into making a line to appeal to the youth. It still in the planning stage though. Nevertheless, we plan on making a limited run in time for the Penang Bridge Run. It's nothing official of course, just to get our name out there. So if any of you out there who is planning to take part in the run and is interested to wear our stuff, please feel free to send an email or leave a comment here.

The sky may be overcast, but Sautern's future is anything but. If anything, I am feeling positively sanguine. That's it for now. Till next time, have fun and enjoy the World Cup.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Hot and Cold

Today was another regular, humid day in Penang, except for the fact that we have another big auction to attend. Personally speaking though, I don't think I had the best of preparations for my first foray into the world of property auctions. For starters, I was kept awake until 4.30 am in the morning by a very important event, namely the UEFA Champions League match between Juventus and Arsenal. To compound my fatigued state, I ended staying up in vain because the team I was rooting for, Juventus, lost. After snatching a few hours sleep, I had to stumble out of bed at 8 am to get ready.

According to Tommy, we were supposed to be at Cititel Hotel, which was the venue of the auction, before 9 am. Tommy duly came by at 5 minutes before 9. Even though I was still bleary eyed, I can see that Chong Yang was already hard at work in the front seat, furiously tapping on the keyboard in an attempt to iron out any perceived errors. In spite of his efforts though, some potentially major problems still managed to manifest, but I will get to that later.

After dropping us off at the Cititel, Tommy had to rush off to entertain a client, leaving me and Chong Yang to figure out the exact place the auction was going to be held. Armed with the knowledge that it is on the third floor, we tentatively navigated the unfamiliar hotel. Thankfully, there were some signs showing the way, and as they say, 'X' marks the spot, which in this case the 'X' happened to be the bustling crowd milling in front of Perdana III hall.

Right from the get go, it was all business. We were ushered into the auction hall, and Chong Yang was confronted with some last minute changes that needed to be done. The poor dude was very nervous, and constantly cursed his bad luck of late. True to his words, the programme did act up and he spent the hour before the start of the auction troubleshooting. Some of those problems he couldn't get rid of though, like some of the property pictures looking like, in his words, ghost houses.

As I mentioned above, the worst was yet to come, one of the bigger problems concerning our the bidding info, proved to be a stubborn customer. With 5 minutes to go, Chong Yang was forced to give up in exasperation. As a fail-safe, we decided to also record the winning bids by hand. Ironically, in spite of all the high tech equipment, we couldn't even get hold of a pen. It was only after some frantic searching that this brush fire was put out.

At right around 10 am, people started to file into the hall, and this was when Tommy chose to make an entrance. Right on time too, I should say, since the auction started soon after. Even though things look to be on the up and up, we were feeling chilly, literally. The hallway and the inside of the hall were like Hawaii and Alaska. The air cond was too cold. How anyone manages to survive in there for an extended period escapes me. After sitting there for about 3 hours, my fingers were numb and I was feeling pins and needles. What I was feeling though, could not compare to what Chong Yang experienced. He didn't have breakfast and he was in the igloo longer, since he had to sort out the report.

The temperature aside, I find the auction quite interesting, even amusing at times. From out prime seats in front of the crowd, we got a good view. There were some beginners to austioneering, but from my untrained eye, most of the people there knew how to bid.I guess I was too influenced by the movies though, and the dramatic last minute bids and phone calls didn't exactly happen. Most of the time bidding was done between a handful of bidders who had registered to bid for that particular property, not the free for all we usually see on the silver screen. In fact, most of the property sold came from sole bidders, who got the property for the reserve price.

The auction ended at about 1 pm, and none too soon too, since I feel I was starting to shiver. Seizing my chance, I quickly ducked into the relatively toasty confines of the hallway, where I tried to regain my body warmth. As I mentioned above Chong Yang wasn't so fortunate, having to spend more time in the freezer coaxing a report out of his programme. In the end, we resorted to manually upload the bidding info, but we did finally turn out a report.

Even though the bidding was over, the auction was not, since the successful bidders were entitled to a lucky draw. Consequently, we had to wait until 2 pm before we were able to grab a bite or a drink, for that matter. Our patience was finally rewarded though, and we were given the all clear to 'makan'.

After freezing for several hours, stepping into the hot midday sun was unpleasant, to say the least. My residual chilliness kept me from melting though. Tommy brought us, along with his aunt to a nearby restaurant, the Green House. It was a small establishment, run by Australian expats under the 'Malaysia, My Second Home' project. Chong Yang and I had fish and wedges, while Tommy selected pasta, and his aunt settled for lasagna. After that Tommy ordered some of the dessert pies for us to sample. All in all, it was a satisfying meal, especially having endured sub-zero temperature without food.

Our job done, it was time to go home, so about 7 hours after leaving my home, I was dropped off.

Monday, March 20, 2006

The Strange Outing

After a night of celebration (for the launch of Sautern.com.my ) which lasted until dawn, it was no wonder the three of us would want a whole day of rest. Unfortunately, that was not to be as we were required to inspect the auction properties in Kedah & Seberang Prai.

Nevertheless, Ju Ping and our computer mastermind Chong Yang still had an opportunity to sneak in some rest and relaxation, staying back at home to enjoy Jon Steward's Daily Show. I, on the other hand, started my day in the office gathering some information of the properties to be inspected.

After gathering all the information needed, we set off to our first destination - Lunas in Kedah. As usual, taking the ferry was our first option. Lunas was a 45 minute ride from the port, by the time we arrived, it was already lunch time and we treated ourselves to a sumptuous lunch of their renowned Roasted Duck. I was once told that hundreds of roasted duck are sold in Lunas every day and this is achieved only within lunch time! It only makes me wonder if the owner has joined the millionaires club and (sly smile) if I'm able to replicate his success by introducing my own delicacy. ( Who says you cant earn your fortune by being a hawker? ). We ordered a half roasted duck, some tofu, duck eggs & a bowl of salted veggie soup. The duck was oozed with juices as we poked the extraordinaryly thick and tender of meat with our forks. No wonder it is a delicacy.

Trying not to waste anymore precious time as we were unfamiliar with the roads there, we rushed to our first destination at Taman Serai Setia. Ju Ping was wondering why on earth would people want to buy a property area consisting of deserted shophouses and even a coffee shop with no apparent patrons in the vicinity. ( Beats me, as long as the property is sold, our mission is accomplished ).

Then came the problem, getting from our current location to our next destination was a major conundrum ( It was actually the first time I drove there without guidance). Taking out chances and rationalising that I'm can only gain experience from this, we scrambled our way to our next destination, Bukit Mertajam. On our way there, we passed by Permatang Pauh which is the home of two large universities - Polytechnic of something and Mara U. It's unbelievable that taxpayers are paying for these mega infrastructures which bring only limited benefits to most.

On our way there, we unexpectedly noticed that Bandar Perda was near where we were heading. We decided on the spot to take a detour there to view the Condominium Mutiara. The government offices are moving there and with colleges located nearby, it is one of the investments favoured by investors.

Upon reaching the Bukit Mertajam town area, we stopped and received some instructions to Taman Bidara at Machang Bubok. At the Machang Bubok new town, we noted that several of the houses were beautifully designed and the prices seem much cheaper compared to the property prices in Penang Island. Then we went to the old town which was almost deserted to inspect the properties there. Upon finishing the inspection, we rushed back to Penang island as I have an appointment with some clients at E-Gate's Starbucks regarding the sale of a property at Coastal Tower.

The clients, both buyer and seller spoke their mind before coming to an agreement on the terms and price. The deal was closed after 2 hours of negotiation. Later, we took our dinner at Pizza Hut in nearby Tesco before ending our day.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

The Pig Out

Tonight - by Peter
To celebrate the launch of Sautern.com.my, Tommy as our ring leader decided that we go for a buffet dinner. I don't know if all of you think the same way, but when I hear the word 'buffet', 2 words immediately come to mind, 'pig out'. In this case, the restaurant that was to be our victim is an establishment called Fusion (Restaurant), situated right next to Gurney Hotel.

The place was surprisingly empty when we first arrived, with just a few patrons milling about. I would put it down to us being early though, as we arrived just before 7 pm. After making sure the wine was safely chilled (yes, we brought our own wine), we ambled over to the spread for the first round. Typical of most gluttonous youth, we went straight for the red meat and fried food. As I later remarked to Tommy, we should have ate some vegetables and 'milder' food to optimise our eating potential (impressive huh, see how I can talk the business talk after mixing with them).

Anyway, we committed another much more major error in flocking to the food all at once, we left the laptop alone. Fortunately, I guess the crowd there was too well heeled to take an interest in our machine. But it surely makes you wonder, we have some of the supposedly brightest minds around, yet we are absent-minded enough to commit such an amateurish mistake. This will prove to be one of two 'smart people, stupid actions' incidents of the night.

Ok back to the dinner, after wolfing down the first wave with gusto, we took a breather to observe our surroundings, carefully surveying the types of food laid out. The next spread to receive some serious damage was the sushi bar. I think between the five of us, we managed to finish a few chunks of succulent raw fish. I don't know why, but we all seemed to go for the gentler taste of sushi after the initial influx of oily food. A particular favourite of mine was the salmon. I know it's cliched, but it really melts in your mouth. Oh yeah, Ju Ping found out the hard way not to mess with the wasabi. After boldly, proclaiming that he can stuff mouthfuls of wasabi down his throat in his childhood for the fun of it, he was literally made to choke back his words. I am inclined to agree with him about the potency of the wasabi served there. My few dabs of the wasabi was enough to bring a tear to the eye. It was more like tear gas in food form that the mustard paste that it is.

The third wave was definitely the knock out. I can safely say for all of us that most of us were starting to feel the food. Even Lee Xin who was the biggest among us had nearly enough, heck, he was practically the one who ate the least. We took this opportunity to take a short rest. Meanwhile, Tommy took this opportunity to outline our agenda of the night. He talked about a couple of probable IT projects and his targets. Being a newbie in IT, I can only give my opinions from a layman's perspective.

In an effort to soften the blow of the punchy food we took earlier, all of us had tea at one point or another. When it was Ju Ping and my turn to submit to the tea, we had trouble finding any cup or the tea mug. Cue the second 'Smart people, stupid actions' moment of the night. We went a full round around the food island, and we still couldn't locate the cups. Eventually, we did manage to find the troublesome cups, which turned out to be right in front of us.

After being satisfied that we could no longer take in any food, Tommy decided it was time to pour the wine, a 1995 Sauternes (pronounced Sau-turn) specially ordered from France. According to him, the name of the wine means 'liquid gold' and is a dessert wine. Having poured the wine (extra for Chong Yang, and less for Lee Xin), we had a toast to Sautern.com.my and Ju Ping's impending birthday. All in all, the wine was quite good, and we managed to retain clarity of mind, though Ju Ping and Chong Yang were a little red in the cheeks.

We adjourned to Gurney Drive, but not before having settled our bill which amounted to a little less than RM200. To make sure we don't misplace the laptop in our slightly tipsy state, we stowed it in Tommy's car boot. At Gurney Drive, the sea breeze was rather nice though I can't say the same about the smell that came with it. The atmosphere proved to be conducive to small talk and we had a hilarious time recounting back the good ol' days. From dredging up the past, we managed to envision the future. Tommy talked about his plan for some investment (which I don't think I am at liberty to divulge :p).

It was getting late, and it was time to leave. The sea breeze did wonders in helping to clear the wine induced blur I was feeling. After checking to see if the laptop was still safely in the car boot, we went for a final walk around the area before saying 'bon voyage'.

Earlier Today - by Ju Ping
Before eating back my words regarding my proclamation that I have before swallowed a spoonful of wasabi just for the heck of it, me, Tommy, and Chong Yang went out for lunch after another game of basketball much, much earlier in the morning. This time, I wisely avoided playing the game while wearing long pants - which could cause my legs to cramp up.

We didn't venture to the usual coffeeshops though, this time, we decided to go Indian.

While I had pretty low expectations for lunch sites, the dining place was far worse than I expected. This place was on a sidewalk, under the hot sun, without a fan.

READ: SIDEWALK-SUN-NO FAN.

Surprisingly enough, after chowing down one Roti Hong Kong, Roti Taiwan, Roti Jepun, washed down with iced "teh tarik" and "milo ais", we (okay, at least I) forgot about the ovenette (disguised as an umbrella) which was baking us alive.

We then decided to try out more "countries".

Tommy ordered some Roti Mexico and Roti Chicago. What they have to do with the geographical locations they were named after, only the father of the young man manning the stall knows.

Overhearing someone order an extremely politically incorrect cuisine, we decided to purchase an additional bread - Roti Saddam.

The dictator, ahem, I mean bread was quite delicious - juicy and sumptuous.

Overall, rather than stuffing myself with raw fish and pricey wine, I would very much prefer to chow down on some Roti Bush and Roti Osama.

P.S. Tonight's wasabi was the real authentic thing. Not the tube stuff you buy at the supermarket or the cheap overpriced green paste they serve you at Sushi King. This one really blew my nose off - and I hope to experience more explosive condiments like this in the future.

P.P.S. I had a minor flu - it has been cured.

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Of Basketballs and Turkey

I don't suppose anyone expected a blog so early after the lengthy description of a potentially haunted hotel last week. However, this also means our company is getting more active.

Today's entry will be short and sweet, as it should be for something as frivolous as a meeting with Lee Xin regarding advertising for Sautern.com.my in Chung Ling High School's canteen.

Before that meeting at 1030 hours, we - or rather I accompanied - Tommy to a scheduled informal basketball game with some ex-Chung Ling classmates (some of whom will become my classmates once more in Form 6).

The game was absolutely enjoyable. Granted, I didn't even make one shot but hey, we were just having fun. It's not as if a multibillion dollar industry will collapse if your shooting average per game is 0%.

Tommy though, had an absolute scorcher of a game. In one of the sets we played (each set being the first team to reach 20 points or above), he scored 18 points!

Kobe, eat your heart out.

After bidding farewell to our friends, we used five minutes to make our way to Chung Ling's canteen.

Catching Lee Xin while entering the remodeled building (thanks to benevolent donations from the ex-Chung Ling members), we set down and literally gorged ourselves on the unbelievably cheap food while holding our meeting.

If Chung Ling can still sell barley and kopi-O for 30 cents a glass and still make a profit, I fail to understand why the hawker stalls outside (let's not even mention Starbucks) have to raise their prices into eyebrow burning prices.

Anyway, the meeting went rather well with a cursory marketing plan being the agenda of the day.

Here's the advertisement plan with the first three only open to professionals involved with the property business:-

  1. Login Page Banner - RM1500.00;
  2. Site Banner - RM2500.00;
  3. Sidebar Ads - RM20.00;
  4. Free Ads for Donation.
Regarding the free ads, their are free in the sense we provide free space online for their ads, however, to place their ads on the site, they have to sponsor a specific amount to the donation page, 100% of, will be contributed to non-profit organizations we have chosen according to their availability of funds and diversity of help they contribute to the community.

For each viewer who visits this particular page, 1 cent will be deducted from the accounts of each sponsor - so, visit this page for free once a day every day to donate for free!

After our successful meeting with Lee Xin, I accompanied Tommy to Gurney where a property preview was being held.

Nothing impressive about it really except the fact that you can play garden games on the top floor of the building.

Well, nothing much happened really - except Tommy bought two turkey drumsticks, which were deliciously edible.

Till then,
Live Long & Prosper,
May The Force Be With You.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

East West East

In a little over 30 days, our team has now conducted three auctions in tandem with the auctioneers of Palma Housing. Yesterday's assignment, number three, was held at the rather spooky Hotel Berlin, Butterworth.

As usual, I started the day by arriving early at Tommy's house, under false pretences of wanting to be early, I proceeded to watch online uncensored-unedited streams of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Global Edition and some upcoming movie trailers using Tommy's DSL connection.

I also fired off a letter to my WWF Malaysia contact.

Guys, please! Cut me some slack, I am going to have to last THREE MONTHS without television, the Internet, and computers!

After one hour (approximately) of online videos, I shared breakfast with Tommy before we made our way to Palma Housing central.

There, Tommy pointed out a few mistakes in the database Palma sent us while I busied myself writing an e-mail to The Star regarding "unused alternatives" in light of the increase in the cost of energy.

I was pleasantly surprised when my contact in WWF Malaysia replied my mail that very morning. As you (don't) know, we are setting up a special page for the pure purpose of donating to non-profit organizations that are short of funds and resources.

Using the information gleaned from the reply, we immediate arranged a trip that very morning to Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM), who were said to be in need of funds and volunteers.

A few turns later down Solok Emas, we were greeted by a non-descript rather worn down residential building (which, according to Tommy, wasn't bad) with the number nine stuck to the gate pillar.

Grimmauld's Place this wasn't, but it could be with a little imagination. About five paces from the doorway, an enormous bookshelf rising all the way to the ceiling lined with nature references, biology tomes and other stuff stood imposingly and menacingly to our left with multiple duplicates of it further to the left made its presence known.

We stumbled upon one of the employees of SAM to the right of what would be the parlour of a normal home, who led us upstairs to meet the big honcho of the organization.

On the top floor, we carefully probed the honcho without revealing our true motives as Tommy suggested because, if anyone offers cash, you aren't going to say no, right?

To my surprise, we were told SAM wasn't cash strapped at all and weren't even looking for volunteers! We found out that SAM's work was actually to represent and tie together different environmental conservation groups and to press charges against entities that have caused great grievances to Mother Earth.

In other words, they are the Malaysian environmental equivalent of the United Nations. This also means SAM is looking for activists, not volunteers.

Let's say your town area doesn't have a recycling centre, you decide to set one up for the betterment of your community and the environment - you contact Uncle SAM - Uncle SAM will then send reinforcements, strategists, and experts to help you wage war.

This brief detour was terminated and we went around to Chong Yang's house cum shop to pick up the best computer wizard Chung Ling has produced in 5 generations.

The otherwise routine wait for Chong Yang was interrupted by the largest chicken I have ever seen in my life.

It was HUGE! Even world wise Tommy conceded it was the biggest chicken he had ever seen anywhere.

Here's an idea how big it actually is: One of its drumsticks would be as large if not larger than a regular chicken breast in KFC; Chong Yang's family cat is afraid of it; the monster chicken hunts human children for pleasure.

Anyway, we soon found ourselves on a ferry sailing to Butterworth through surprisingly clean waters. The last times we made our way to Butterworth (both times on a Friday), the water was muddy brown; yesterday, it was bluish green!

It makes you wonder what shipping companies do on Friday.…

Butterworth is a strange city.

The place is on the mainland yet, doesn't have half the number of trees lining the roads to provide shade. The roads are also rather confusing as one wrong turn is the difference between Kulim and (Hotel) Berlin.

To park in Butterworth, you must also purchase parking tickets, which unlike the island, allows you to park anywhere in Butterworth. The downside, it works like a prepaid card, you must buy them in advance.

Hotel Berlin's design harkens back to the America's of the 1960's. Its outward appearance lent it an aura of a cheap motel, yet, once you stepped in through its modern motion detecting sliding doors, you were greeted with the redolent wafting of a hospital reception area.

Even the reception desks and counters reminded me of Lam Wah Ee. The toilets were situated at the end of a short maze of passageways after crossing the threshold of an imposing hardwood door. With each step, I felt more and more like a character in Silent Hill (with Chong Yang making disturbing comparisons with every step we took) instead of a run down cheap motel.

The two doors marked with BAHAYA messages and an unmarked door at the opposite end of the maze leading to the toilets didn't exactly helped to relieve us of the image of a haunted hotel.

In the hotel's conference room, an aroma highly reminiscent of a drug filled sterile clinic greeted us through two hardwood glass installed doors that wouldn't be out of place in an operating room.

In fact, the table upon which we were given to set up our stuff was covered with a smooth cloth seemingly lifted out of an episode of ER.

And to add to the spook factor, the lighting was exactly the kind you see in hospitals and the larger table big enough for a surgical procedure was accompanied by a smaller table lined with the above said operating cloth which, as we all know, is used by surgeons to place their beloved scalpels.

Who would have thought a place like this existed in Butterworth! I am definitely NOT looking forward to a revisit to this creepy institution for the homeless WITHOUT a camera or a video recorder!

As would be expected in a strange setting like this, the bidding was also somewhat surreal, with exactly one bidder each for ten out of about 45 properties on offer. That means no bidding, just buying, which wasn't much fun.

The event ended without incident. But as we were about to leave, all the lights went out and luminescent gas clouds suddenly invaded the conference room, maiming and suffocating everyone above the age of 20.

Yeah, you got me there.

It was a boring finish so I added that last part. Next time we do an auction at Hotel Berlin, I hope everyone dresses the part - if you know what I mean.

The day ended with us sailing back towards the sunset illuminated Penang island ala romantic movie, where I spent the night watching Seekers, Charmed and A Haunting on NTV7 and Discovery Channel respectively. So I got my supernatural thrills after all.


P.S. After some deliberations, punch-ups, altercations, threats, blackmail, curses, executions, abductions, and a killer chicken, the Triumvirate has decided to use catchier titles for our blog.

Monday, March 06, 2006

Entry Five

Sautern, I am glad to say, is composed of some very talented youths. I am however probably the exception to this. I am the newest recruit and this is my first post on behalf of this nascent venture, and I am to be Ju Ping's temp when he's off to fulfil his obligation as a Malaysian.

As Ju Ping blogged about in the previous post, I was a part of last week's meeting in Gurney. Today however, the guys decided to conduct our meeting in a traditional coffee shop in Balik Pulau (owing to the fact that Chong Yang and Ju Ping live around that region, making it more convenient). The place was certainly a 180 from the swanky confines of Starbucks (and no WiFi too), nevertheless what it lacks in style and packaging, it more than makes up in charm and quaintness. We literally went over mountain and dale to get to Balik Pulau, and as Tommy commented, we will probably go through more strange routes in the future to accomplish our goals. I figure this figuratively describes what we are trying to accomplish here.

Since we had no WiFi access there, our discussions were basically updates on Sautern (they were mostly filling me in). Possible and imagined problems were also brought to the table and thrashed out. Tommy also gave us some examples of some scenarios and we managed to extract some ideas about what not to do. Some suggestions about the website were worked out with Chong Yang.

The business end over, we went over to Ju Ping's house for a short visit. First appearances doesn't do his abode justice. Upon closer inspection, it revealed a few experiment Ju Ping is working on. Seems like our friend here is quite the mad scientist qith plants. He also showed us his staff collection and gave us a staff twirling demonstration that sent us scrambling for cover. As if a staff is not intimidating enough, he even has a big bad dog, and a black one at that. Ok, it wasn't bad, just big and black, and surprisingly approachable.

As I said though, it was a short visit, and pretty soon Tommy was ferrying me and Chong Yang all the way to the other side of the island in the trusty Myvi (the guy doesn't even mind the oil price increase). My day with the founders of Sautern officially ended with me being dropped off at my place.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Entry Four

Yesterday, the 28th of February was a historic day, especially for us. Then again, it was a historic day only because of us come to think of it.

Our final task of the two assignments we have taken on was finally completed yesterday, and the 28th was memorable in a lot of ways.

Unlike last week's assignment where our team handled the entire auction event for 3 different property auction houses, it was every man for himself yesterday. Each of the auctioneers had their own methodology of doing things - politely speaking.

Truthfully (as I prefer), it was nothing short of an opportunity to rub it into our client's rival auctioneers gangrenous wounds that our presentation software was classier, cleaner, and (with the airy pretentious voice of a Victorian era courtesan) incomparably sophisticated compared to theirs.

While they are stuck with static, inflexible and ugly PowerPoint slides, which meant the entire auction would depend on the auctioneer's charisma; we showed that the auctioneer need not even be human with FusionCore - as we could easily display the bidding price for the audience and even proclaim the winner's bidding number on screen.

Yes, I concede that is a less than usual anecdote.

Yesterday was a thorough and complete victory for us. Not only did we not so quietly indicated our superiority to the opposition, I finally managed to do an air guitar scene in front of two people - one of them whom I didn't notice until Chong Yang told me I had frightened away one of the early bidders. Ah, The joy of youth.

Before the event was over, the three of us left Dewan Sri Pinang (as our turn was over) and made our way to Palma Housing to print out the auction report for them.

The laptop was hooked up to its charger (this would come to haunt us later) followed by the menial task of report printing using an ancient HP LaserJet printer. After handing over the report to our client, we were pretty much done for the day - except we had two other important activities yesterday; namely two-directional interview with Peter Chong, and last minute shopping for yesterday night's celebration dinner.

As Tommy was attempting to secure a deal with a potential client, we had to postpone Peter's interview by half an hour.

Since me and Chong Yang had time to kill, he opened the source code of FusionCore for some further improvements - namely, picture resizing.

Somehow, I got dragged away into Tommy's car and found myself (for a while) in full control of is car. Until that is - he realised I had never driven an automatic vehicle before.

Yes, it sounds as ridiculous as a worm preferring parched sand over brown earth; but in defence of myself, I have become very much accustomed to clutch control.

So there I stood watching, outside Palma Housing's security-enabled glass door, as Tommy conducted a masterful display of perfect harmony between man and machine - reversing the MyVi between the Honda and the wall.

Joined by Chong Yang, we picked up Peter and conducted the interview at Starbucks - because of the free WiFi.

A lot of stuffed was discussed, and basically, here's what you might see in the coming months:
- Peter substituting me as Sautern's blog updater and English columnist;
- Peter become Sautern's Chief Marketing Officer;
- Peter finally becoming a millionaire.

We dropped Peter of at Batu Kawan Stadium at about five yesterday. He explained he was there to give moral support to his younger brother who was running in the 4 x 400 Relay.

After saying our goodbyes, we made a u-turn back to Gurney because there were still a few hours before dinner for us to spend.

The Apple Center was one of a few places we did what I presumed to be window-shopping. There, I finally had my first real iMac experience - and as they say - there is no turning back.

I solemnly swear I will never use Windows again in any future computer I might purchase.

Wading through shops selling mobile phones, card games, figurines, and such, the triumvirs finally settled down at MPH - which was where we spent the remaining hour before dinnertime.

There, Chong Yang as always, looked through thick programming manuals, Tommy browse through the business and self-help section, while I salivated over The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy that was retailing for only RM 59.00. This would be expensive under normal circumstances - but seeing as it was being sold at RM 159.00 a few months ago.

After the literature sojourn, we continued our hunt for the elusive mozzarella cheese block.

The signs weren't good however, when we found our cheese, but passed a line of patrons lining up in front of one of three hole-in-the-walls. The other two were out of service.

Seeing as we had ran out of funds for our cheese and a last minute addition of Campbell's Mushroom Soup, we reluctantly climbed back into the car, zipped through traffic, and withdrew cash directly from Maybank, before the now ingrained trip back to the cheese section of Gurney.

Dinner at Tommy's.

Skipping all the trivial parts, the three of us basically made aromatic spiced-up oven cooked lamb chops and hot and appetizing pasta filled mushroom endowed lasagne in a kitchen measuring one metre at its widest.

But it was cool.

Hey, how many of you out there have actually attempted to prepare a RM 500.00 five-star dinner out there?
We also found out that Tommy once worked in a French restaurant under a genuine French chef - who incidentally, once prepared cuisines for presidents and prime ministers.

Dinner ended with 10-year-old red wine (which was too bitter for this ones taste) and a glass of fresh milk.

After dinner, a minor problem threatened to foul up our night.

Apparently, we managed to somehow leave behind our laptops battery charger at Palma Housing - thus explaining the great regret above.

However, I have since been notified earlier on the 2nd of March that the charger was right there on the table where Chong Yang had set up the laptop for some last minute work.

Must be that darn red wine.

NOTE: Due to technical issues (for further details, check out this coming week's edition of A Stray World) publication of this entry was postponed by 24 hours. Any complaints or deaths as a result of the tardiness of this entry is sincerely regretted.

Minor Update: Sautern's main site is online.

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Third Entry

Welcome one, welcome all! Sautern Enterprise has successfully completed its first assignment for at a property auctioning event this morning!

What are we doing now to celebrate our success? Well, Tommy and Chong Yang are asleep right now while I am updating this blog.

The reason for their impromptu siesta is due to the little known fact by anyone outside of the triumvirate that both of them only slept for two hours yesterday (technically it was 0600 hours today) trying to weed out all the bugs and complete our company's auctioning presentation program. Yup, both of them stayed up all through the morning while I enjoyed a good 6 hour rest... How unfair is that?

Seriously, I really do feel like I contribute the least of all out of the triumvirs.

Which is why I am updating this blog today, I suppose.

Anyway this was how I started the day:

I woke up at six and made my way to the company headquarters - Tommy's home. By coincidence, his mom was sending his sister to school so I walked right through the opening vacated by the gate. Unfortunately, the inner sanctum of the fortress was locked, so I stood there by the door giving embarrassing looks to Mrs Ooi and Miss Ooi until the latter summoned the maid to open the door.

I made my way to the hall outside Tommy's room and proceeded to alert him of my presence - by phone. What I said was: "Hello Tommy, I am at your door."

He however thought I was at the door outside his home, not his room - which he explained later.

After some time, we decided it was time to awaken Chong Yang too, fifteen minutes before our assignment begins at 9 a.m.

Here's the lowdown on what happened.

As soon as we got there, Chong Yang proceeded to weed out more bugs using the laptop. Attached the sound system the hotel staff kindly provided, and assigned our posts of the day.

Acquiring the Native American name:
The-One-Who Did-Not-Join-The-Other-Two-In-Working-All-Night-Long,

I self appointed myself to the post of soundman while the other two manned the laptop, hence, the auctioning program.

There I spent all morning, balancing out the background music with the auctioneer's microphone... Occasionally walking close to the auctioneer to remind him to state the bidder number as our program requires a bidder number to display the sold message - as the auctioneer requested.

After the long-drawn event, we printed a few hundred reports that were to be given to the auctioneers and bankers. We then tucked into a sumptuous lunch paid for by Mrs Ooi at a not so nearby restaurant.

Before you know it - Presto! We are back at headquarters.

All in all, it was a good day for us as nobody in Penang had ever used a dedicated auctioning software before. Naturally, we hope the Malaysian kiasu attitude among other auctioneers will surface soon...


UPDATE: I wish to apologize for leaving out the name of the hotel we went to, which was Cititel Hotel. Any misunderstanding as a result of this lapse in concentration is deeply regretted.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Entry Two

So this is what it feels like to have your own start-up company. The dreams, visions as well as the uncertainties all mixed into a great cornucopia called doing business. If our school results are anything to go by, we certainly have the greatest chance of success because we are the classic businessmen (at least, two of us). I hate physics, additional mathematics and chemistry (failure rate exceeding success rate) while the other two guys of the triumvirate aren't as keen as I am to make a fool of myself.

Nevertheless, I can only say it is an honour nearly unparalleled in my universe that Tommy Ooi (founding member, marketing man) would choose me, eccentric and extreme atheist, Ju Ping (Jon Stewart wannabe) as his business partner. Together with the very gifted Chong Yang (computer wizard, highest possible level in geek speak), complete a troika of one of possibly seven business partnerships in the world where a smooth-talking egocentric but generous and charitable realtor contacts the only known atheist in Chung Ling who grows bonsais as a hobby and wishes to retire poor who in turn calls up quite possibly the most gifted computer wizard Chung Ling has seen in five generations with a reputation (not without good reason) for creating the most elegant programs and websites anyone has ever seen or expected from a high school graduate.

For those who just wish to ignore the human aspect of the company and get to the fuddle duddle business we do, start reading from paragraph four.

First and foremost, we are an advertising company for property dealers. Our online presence is at Sautern.com.my which we hope to develop into the number one property kiosk in Malaysia. In other words, we hope Sautern becomes synonymous with buying your dream home.

Our secondary business is selling a property auctioning program that also doubles as a simplistic property database manager.

Our tertiary business is website publishing and software customising.

However, to reach even the first goal, we had to register our company first. The reason is any company wishing to use the .com.my suffix has to be a Malaysian registered company first. This is where I take you on a trip across the Penang Bridge to Butterworth with fellow triumvir Tommy. And please, I beg of you, try to use your imagination to visualise the trip instead of requesting a video or podcast of my journey.

The day started with me waiting outside the Hotel Equatorial. I was feeling especially tired... after watching the Torino Winter Games till early morning the night before, I guess anyone would.

Tommy picked me up and we made our way to the jetty, where we took a free trip across the channel on a ferry. Yes, you read that right! A free trip from Penang Island to Butterworth. It turns out they only charge for the trip from Butterworth to Penang.

Using a few clues given to us by our respective acquaintances, namely: we should make our way to the Registrar of Business; it is near the EPF building; and we should see it immediately after the ferry docks; we made our way to the largest building in sight after leaving the Butterworth side dock.

As soon as we got there, imagine, if you can, the extreme shock we felt when we saw the Registrar of Business everyone was referring to was a conservatively dressed lady sitting behind a creaky old wooden desk that was plastered with words like “Company Registration” and the like right on the sidewalk of the building.

It turns out they were referring to agents (which were very abundant in Butterworth).

For a starting fee of only RM 130.00, she promised to help register our company. Naturally, we declined her generous offer, and asked for directions to the Registrar of Business. Luckily for us, she wasn’t one of those vindictive types who turn into Mr. Hyde when they lose potential clients and gave us directions to the building. So, thank you lady on the sidewalk..

Throughout Butterworth, we observed that the road was quite unforgiving. One wrong turn, and you would find yourself in Kuala Lumpur, or Kulim. To prevent this potentially disastrous event, we asked for directions from everyone we met.

They include: Guy behind the counter in Shell; Girl behind counter in McDonalds; and my driving instructor.

Say what? Your driving instructor!

Yup, somehow, my diving instructor who lecture me on the Undang-undang, was on holiday on that very day, had returned home, and was on the sidewalk of a shoplot was available for inquiries regarding the roads of Butterworth while I was there to register a business and had took a wrong turn.

Please, can anyone calculate the possibility of that happening on that very day?

Anyway, we got the directions and made our way to the EPF building; where we saw to our amusement, special agents, peppering the pavements around the said building. Yup, we saw Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.

Ignoring them altogether, we made our way into the building where we took several detours before finding the right level – Level 6.

There, we met a vivacious young woman who helped us through the registration process. As if this weren’t strange enough, she turned out to be an agent. Whether it was our boyish innocence or our charm (I highly doubt it), she guided us through the entire process.

Here’s the prĂ©cis of the process:

  1. Choose a company name;
  2. After approval, fill in the A Form;
  3. There, we swore (after paying RM 10.00);
  4. After that, we had lunch (beef turned out to be cheaper than chicken);
  5. Then we passed in the form for approval and paid RM 70.00;
  6. We then received a receipt and promptly went home.

Hopefully, we will become the proud owners of Sautern Enterprise sometime this week.

For now,

Live Long & Prosper,

May the Force be with You.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

First Entry

Just to show we are on the map. Expect further updates.