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Kaizen (改善), is Japanese for “improvement” or “change for the better”, refers to philosophy or practices that focus upon continuous improvement of processes. Large corporations such as Toyota practices Kaizen, where Kaizen methodology includes making changes and monitoring results, then adjusting.

I think this philosophy is simply awesome. I for one is applying this philosophy as part of my daily life in order to improve myself. I’m a very result oriented person in nature and I’m constantly finding ways to improve myself every year. My version of Kaizen would be to evaluate myself every year; where I am at that point, and what needs to be done or improve in order for myself to be better than the year before. The rule of Kaizen is to never be stagnant and always move forward and be better.

So how does one do it? Well, for me it’s pretty simple. I set a goal I want to achieve, then apply Kaizen into it. Remember, Kaizen is never about instant results. It’s improving bit by bit, slowly but surely until you reach a goal you want to achieve.

What an eventful week I had. Last Monday till Sunday…

…I found out I was blacklisted
I went to KLCC Maxis Centre to separate my phone billing account as my brother is leaving for Singapore, it’s only logical that we split the billing account each to our own name as it’s more convenient for payments and other things to be made in future. Our current account is still registered under my late dad, which is why we should transfer the name to our own since he is no longer around. But before they can transfer names to a new account, they will cross check with other telcos to see if you are blacklisted. As it turns out, I am blacklisted under UMobile as there are 2 accounts registered in my name using my identity card with a total of RM3k worth of unpaid bills! WTF! I’ve never even used UMobile before! So I had to lodged a police report to state that someone has used my identity falsely to create these accounts. I’ve already submitted the report to UMobile, and hopefully their stupid excuse for a telco staff gets back to me sometime next week. I cannot transfer the Maxis account to my name without my name being cleared first. FML!

…my car break lights went cuckoo
My car breaks lights were on….permanently! I was about to drive away from my office car park when I realized my car break lights were on after I disarmed the alarm. For a moment I really thought there was someone in my car stepping on the break pedal! Damn freaky, but got it fixed on the same night.

…gotten a friend drunk on his birthday
It’s only Tuesday night, but a friend’s birthday falls on Wednesday. So like any other crazy birthdays, our mission was to get the birthday boy wasted. We succeeded after some shots of Jägermeister (Jäger Bombs), Around the World (through a tube and funnel), and Angelique Absinthe. It was seriously funny as hell after the birthday boy attempted to eat a pork burger with face and fingers half numb from the alcohol.

…went for a “Mad Hatter” themed party
It was a company “Start of the Year” party, and everyone have to come with a hat…everything else is optional. There was food, games and of course booze all courtesy from our loving clients.

…got an increment! :)
It’s always good that your company appreciates you in what ever you do. It’s also good that the company recognizes your contributions to the team and rewards you accordingly. Let’s just say if you had a 16.66% increment from your monthly salary, you will be happy too. Waiting for bonuses now.

…put a deposit for the wedding dinner restaurant
Yep, the venue for the wedding dinner is pretty much set. Deposit paid. At least one major headache to strike off in the long checklist of wedding “to-dos”. Next up will be finding a bridal house for photo shoots and wedding attire….the headache goes on!

…catching up with Samantha who came back from Singapore
Samantha came back on Friday night, and we were at Ecoba for drinks together with a few other friends for a catch up session.

…had an argument with the fiancé
Let’s not get into details but it’s all good now :)

…went Chinese New Year shopping
Went Chinese New Year shopping with baby and her mum. We bought household items for Chinese New Year. From food and drinks to even alcohol. Monetary damage was a lot…but thank goodness for a huge stack of Jusco Vouchers.

…had my first Yee Sang of the year
Had dinner with baby’s friends at Pantai Seafood. It was also my first Yee Sang session for the year. I see more sessions coming up in the upcoming weeks as clients, partners, media owners, relatives and friends will be inviting me to go for some.

…said goodbye
My bro and sis-in-law are already in Singapore as I’m writing this. Will miss having them around during the weekends, but I know they are only a stone throw away.

…had Japanese buffet
As part of my promise when I got my increment, I brought baby and her mum to Genji at PJ Hilton for Japanese buffet lunch. Needless to say, we all over ate and skipped dinner after that.

So…that was my week. How was yours?

I just got back from Hong Kong…and in case you are living in some cave and not up to speed…yes I’M ENGAGED! It’s still hard to believe that I’m engaged…it’s simply surreal. I planned it all along together with my mum-in-law to be, from choosing and buying the ring. Believe me..hiding it from her wasn’t an easy task, but nevertheless it worked…well sorta.

This is the bling-bling…nice no?

The proposal was nothing fancy. It was Christmas eve in Hong Kong…and if you’ve been to Hong Kong during Christmas eve or New Year’s eve, everywhere is packed to the max with humans! It’s not only packed everywhere, but you know how places and restaurants tend to jack up their prices everywhere. So my brilliant idea was to keep it simple. I ordered room service with an Italian menu and stayed in for dinner after returning from a whole day of walking and shopping. We watched a movie and when she came out of the hot shower…I popped the question with her lying on the bed while I was kneeling on the floor. The proposal started like this:

Me: “Dear, what do you want this Christmas?”

Baby: “I don’t want anything lah…save money”

Me: “If you don’t want anything, then I want something..”

Baby: “What do you want? I have not much money to buy you a really nice gift”

Me: “I want YOU!”

Baby: =.=  “…but you already have me..”

Me: “I want you forever and ever as in, I want to marry you…will you marry me?”

Baby: “Yea right…ok then..”

Me: “Really one!”

*whips out the box containing the ring*

Me: “Marry Me?”

Baby: *stunted-surprised-speechless*

Baby: “Ok…YES!”

Me: “I Love you dear!”

*jumps for joy….hug hug kiss kiss* <censored>

ring is a perfect fit! :)

Anyway, Baby said that she sort of guessed it would happened but wasn’t too sure so she wasn’t really that surprised…GAH! But anyway…mission accomplished! And…I’m happy that I even got the ring size correct too after doing some homework! Wedding date? Well, nothing fixed for now, but aiming for end of 2011…we shall see how it goes :)

Christmas is about a week away. This is would be my first ever Christmas without both my mum and dad. Every year without fail, we would celebrate Christmas together at home, and this is the first time, there won’t be any celebration. Our family tradition usually starts a few weeks before Christmas. Everyone would be scattering to do last minute shopping for presents to be exchanged with each other at the stroke of midnight on Christmas day. The Christmas tree will be up lilted up with gold lights and pretty ornaments. We would then have dinner on Christmas eve, and then countdown to Christmas to open our presents. Later on, we would proceed with delivering “goodies” to shelter homes.

Yup, those were all my best memories of Christmas for me growing up. Honestly, I miss those times and both my parents. This year, my brother, sister and sister-in-law will be spending Christmas in Japan, while I will be spending Christmas over in Hong Kong. Here are some shots taken on Christmas eve a few years back that I manage to find in my photo archive.

Our traditional Christmas tree

Opening presents at the stroke of midnight

Dad opening presents

Christmas 2002 with relatives. Can you spot my mum in this pic?

Christmas 2009 – Our last Christmas together with my aunt Elaine

Mum, Dad….if you’re reading this right now….MERRY CHRISTMAS! You guys are in the best place ever to spend Christmas…and that’s among the stars!