Shahrin Fuzi Official Website : 2013

Why You Should Travel Alone At Least Once In Your Life

The first destination that I travelled alone was Yogyakarta, Indonesia. I still remember the first time my flight landed on Indonesia. The airport is called Adi Sumarmo International Airport. By the time my foot stepped on the airport, everything seemed to be so different to me. The people, the Malay accent, currency and bank notes, public transportation, letter on the signboard and almost everything were totally different. I was damn scared especially when the locals found out that I am a foreigner. Some of them might take advantage of you and cheat on you about the price, but some of them might help you and treat you like a best friend. Hehehe

I have learnt a lot from my solo backpacking experience to few countries such as Indonesia, Myanmar, and China. I felt like I'm the only one survivor in the jungle. I did everything by own. Renew visa, booking flight ticket, make a room reservation, rent a bicycle, ride a motorbike, finding halal food, read the map, learn local language and communicate with the locals and so on......

Frankly speaking, travelling alone could be troublesome if you do not take precaution steps. It's been my third time I travelled alone, so far I found myself easily adapt with different environment. So, I think travelling alone is not bad as I ever thought before. I could be so fun , challenging and exciting. It really makes me want to travel more and more. My journey of thousand miles was actually began with single steps.....

Finally, I already reached my goals in 2013 which is........ travel to 5 countries in a year! Thank you God for giving me such an amazing energy to travel to 5 countries non-stop.

What really inspired me to travel is actually the people. And I hope one day I could inspire other people to travel more. Indeed, it was such a wonderful experience by travelling alone. Therefore, I would like to share with you guys this article (from thoughtcatalog.com), why you should travel alone at least once in your life :

1. You will meet amazing people.

While traveling with friends or a significant other can be a lot of fun, traveling solo for a certain amount of time can prove to be one of the most rewarding things you’ll ever do because of the great people you’ll meet.

When we travel with friends or a partner, we tend to stick to that little group of familiar faces and even though you’ll meet new people, the dynamics and interactions won’t be as deep and fulfilling. While you’re on your own on the road, you’re much more eager to meet travel buddies, team up with other travelers and generally reach out more in order to socialize.

2. The overwhelming sense of absolute freedom.

When you travel on your own and you start meeting people and making awesome friends, you’ll probably team up with travel buddies and end up expanding your travel plans. You’ll probably change your plans once you hear about that amazing waterfall, that incredible desert beach, the opportunity to bungee jump from a high bridge, or taste a special delicacy you’ll only find off the beaten track.

When you’re traveling, you’re open to change and you’ll welcome it with open arms. The great thing is that you don’t have to fit into a group’s agenda, give explanations or disappoint anyone, you can follow your rhythm, desires and move like the wind.

3. Traveling alone challenges your fears and insecurities

This is a big one, especially if it’s your first solo experience. I remember the first time I traveled when I was 18 and moved to London on my own for 3 months to be an au pair and live with a local family. I was terrified of the unknown, but if I would have surrendered to that fear, I would have never get to know the strong, courageous and adventurous side of me. I was scared, but I did it anyways and by the 3rd day, I was really proud of myself. From then on I never let fear stop me. 16 years and many adventures later, I still have a little voice inside my head, asking: “What if something goes wrong?” “What if you get into trouble?” This is normal and perfectly human; fear exists for our own protection and boosts our awareness. But we shouldn’t let it control our lives.

Safety can be a great comfort, but common sense is the key. Read and research a lot before you travel, check out hostel reviews, and research feedback from other travelers in forums and blogs. Respect the local culture and I guarantee you’ll be fine.

4. Fall in love.

Everyone wants to find their better half and much is said about failed relationships while on the road. It doesn’t have to be like that! We find love when we meet someone who shares our interests, dreams, and goals. While traveling solo you’ll meet so many people from all walks of life that falling in love might just happen. Whether it will be a great summer love or end up at the altar, no one knows, but there are many people out there with amazing stories.

If you already have a partner, this time away can boost your passion and once you’re back, you’ll appreciate each other’s company more.

5. You can take the time to nurture yourself.

If you have a stressful life back home, either studying hard or working too much, traveling on your own can be the time to take some time off and nurture yourself.

Whether you’re a backpacker traveling cheap or if the sky is the limit as far as your budget goes, you can use this time to pamper yourself. Indulge in rich and delicious local meals which will boost your energy and health, take long walks on the beach by sunrise, or get a massage. Do some yoga and relax a lot. Enjoy all the wonderful things you deserve, and understand that happiness is a birth right, not a privilege.

6. You’ll have a chance to recreate yourself and be who you want to be.

While traveling solo, you can leave your grumpy, tired old self behind and start to be a new you. Explore parts of your personality you are not very comfortable or familiar with. When on the road, you might be challenged by unexpected factors and be positively surprised how well you respond to them. Empower yourself by unleashing the wonderful, irresistible and intelligent person you are, but whom you’ve neglected in your everyday routine.

7. You can finally take time to leave everything else behind.

Just disconnect from the world for a while. Turn off your mobile, “forget” to check you emails for a few days… don’t think about the bills, the responsibilities, the duties and problems. Leave them behind.

Some of the most intense creative times or the ones where we find the solutions for all our problems are actually the moments when we disconnect and stop worrying. Have you ever tried to remember a name or a date and you just can’t spit it out, but after you quit trying it pops out? It’s the same for the rest of life. Sometimes our brains need to get rid of old thoughts in order to be able to create space for new ones, better ones. So just disconnect yourself from everything and you might be amazed by how fresh you’ll feel once you get back home

Mengembara secara solo ke Yunnan, China

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Asal Usul Bangsa Melayu

"Tak akan Melayu Hilang di Dunia?"

Anda semua mungkin familiar dengar perkataan "Tak Akan Melayu Hilang Di Dunia". Bila aku nak pergi solo backpacking trip ke Kunming bulan disember 2013 tak lama lagi ni, aku terdengar respon daripada budak office aku cakap bahawa ada bangsa melayu yang tinggal di Yunnan, China! Mengikut katanya , ada masyarakat di kawasan sana yang pakai baju melayu sama macam Melayu kat Malaysia. Terdetik hati aku nak kaji serba sedikit pasal asal usul melayu. Yang paling aku excited baca ialah keturunan bangsa melayu juga berasal dari Nabi Ibrahim. Search google, aku terjumpa artikel ni. Artikel ini pernah post kat facebook group Saya Sayang Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad .:-

Asal Usul Bangsa Melayu

oleh HELMI AFFENDI

Kebanyakan para pengkaji sejarah pasti bersetuju dengan saya bahawa asal usul yang paling pangkal bangsa Melayu ialah daripada keturunan Nabi Ibrahim. Rekod sejarah mencatatkan bahawa Nabi Ibrahim pernah berkahwin untuk kali ketiga dengan seorang gadis misteri yang bernama Keturah.

Daripada keturunan Keturah ini, lahirnya bangsa Melayu. Ibu Attir dalam kitabnya Al-Kamil fi Al-Tarikh berkata umat Nusantara termasuk Melayu bersalasilah secara terus dengan Ibrahim melalui zuriatnya dengan Keturah ini. Ada juga sejarawan seperti Ibnu Yusof yang mengatakan bahawa nama Melayu itu datangnya dari Malai-Ur, nama sebuah Kerajaan Chaldea, kerajaan tempat asal usul Nabi Ibrahim.

Bagaimana orang Melayu boleh sampai di Nusantara? Terdapat teori yang menarik yang saya mahu kongsikan. Berdasarkan rekod Bani Israrel, dikatakan bahawa Nabi Ibrahim mengarahkan keturunan Keturah, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak dan Shuah ke sebuah tanah yang dijanjikan tuhan di timur jauh, iaitu "Promising Land" yang dicari oleh yahudi pada hari ini.

Keturah masih didebatkan oleh sejarawan pada hari ini. Ada yang mengatakan bahawa terdapat kekeliruan para sejarawan menafsirkan tentang seorang isteri yang hidup bersama Nabi Ibrahim selepas kematian Siti Sarah. Mereka mengatakan bahawa Keturah itu sebenarnya Siti Hajar dan anak-anak Keturah itu bilangannya sama dengan anak Siti Hajar.

Daripada arahan Nabi Ibrahim, maka berangkatlah keturunan Keturah ini mengembara mencari tanah yang dikatakan. Pengembaraan yang panjang dialami oleh keturunan Keturah. Dalam perjalanan, mereka berasimilasi dengan bangsa-bangsa yang mereka temui dalam perjalanan.

Kerana itu, kita dapat menemui banyak jejak bangsa Melayu di merata dunia. Sejarawan yang menemui peninggalan bangsa Melayu di Yunnan, terus melabelkan bahawa orang Melayu berasal dari Yunnan padahal bahasa penduduk Yunnan bukannya dalam kategori Austronesia seperti mana bahasa Melayu itu sendiri.

Ada sejarawan yang menemui keris di dasar laut Jepun terus menidakkan teori dari Yunnan. Mereka mengatakan bahawa orang Melayu berasal dari suku asli penduduk kepulauan Jepun seperti suku Ainu. Namun, ada juga sejarawan yang menemui keris tanpa hulu ditemui di Russia pada tahun 1999 oleh para arkelogi.

Sesungguhnya, asal usul bangsa Melayu ini sangatlah rumit untuk dijejaki berbanding asal usul bangsa lain di dunia. Orang Melayu berpindah randah dari satu tempat ke tempat yang lain, meninggalkan jejak bangsa mereka di situ sehingga sukar dikenal pasti asal usul mereka. Selepas ditemui 'promising land' ini, mereka tidak lagi berpindah randah. Mereka kekal di situ buat selama-lamanya.

Hari ini, promising land itu dikenali dunia dengan pelbagai nama. Pernah dilabel sebagai "Semenanjung Emas" oleh orang Yunani. Srivijaya dan Melaka sekadar nama kerajaan hebat yang ditubuhkan oleh bangsa yang lahir dari keturunan Keturah ini.

Malayo-Polinesian Dan Austronesian (Rumpun Melayu)

Orang Melayu pada hari ini dikelaskan oleh para pengkaji dalam kumpulan Polinesian dan Austronesian. Dalam erti kata lain, istilah saintifik itu lebih kurang sama maksudnya dengan Rumpun Melayu. Serumpun maknanya berkongsi budaya dan bahasa. Orang Batak misalnya berbeza dengan orang Melayu tetapi masih serumpun.

Melayu terdiri daripada ratusan etnik seperti Sunda, Jawa, Bugis, Melayu Kedah, Melayu Kelantan, dan banyak lagi. Mereka berbeza etnik tetapi masih dalam rumpun yang sama. Sebab itu saya pening kepala dengan orang Indonesia. Acap kali dikatakan kita mencuri budaya mereka.

Saya mahu bertanya kepada rakan Indonesia kita, apakah kami orang Melayu di Semenanjung ini ialah bangsa asing yang tiba-tiba mencuri budaya kalian? Tidak! Kami berasal dari nenek moyang yang sama dengan kalian juga. Kita pernah sama-sama dahulu, sebelum dipisahkan oleh penjajah membina kerajaan-kerajaan hebat bangsa kita seperti Srivijaya, Melaka dan Majapahit.

Tetapi, kenapa kamu seakan-akan dirasuk menuduh adik beradik kalian sebagai MALING? Apa kamu ini dibutakan oleh media kalian sheingga tidak nampak perkaitan serumpun antara kita? Fahamkan bahawa budaya itu milik BANGSA bukannya NEGARA. Sebab itu orang India dan China dari negara mereka tidak pernah marah orang India dan Cina di Malaysia mengamalkan budaya mereka di Malaysia. Mereka faham sesuatu yang orang Indonesia tidak pernah MAHU FAHAM!

Dulu tiada BANGSA INDONESIA atau BANGSA MALAYSIA tetapi NUSANTARA atau RUMPUN MELAYU!

Sifat Bangsa Melayu

Orang Melayu ini mempunyai satu sifat yang masih diwarisi sehingga hari ini. Iaitu mereka mampu survive dalam lautan sejarah walaupun bangsa yang seusia dengan mereka sudah lama pupus seperti Bangsa Qibti yang membina Tamadun Mesir. Seperti bangsa Mayan, Aztec dan Olmec di Amerika Tengah.

Walaupun orang Melayu telah dijajah oleh banyak kuasa dunia, namun bangsa ini masih liat berdiri hari ini. Kenapa? Kerana orang Melayu suka berkerajaan. Kerana melalui kerajaan, orang Melayu akan survive dalam lipatan sejarah. Sebagai contoh, ketika Srivijaya jatuh, maka orang Melayu pantas mendirikan kerajaan Melaka.

Acap kali ada kerajaan Melayu yang tumbang, maka orang Melayu akan cepat-cepat menubuhkan kerajaan yang lain kerana sifat mereka yang suka berkerajaan. Sebab itu hari ini, kita dapat melihat bahawa orang Melayu mempunyai banyak raja sedangkan bangsa lain di dunia hanya mempunyai satu raja.

Hebat bukan?

Orang Melayu juga merupakan seorang pelaut yang hebat. Mereka suka mengembara dari satu tempat ke satu tempat yang lain membawa barangan dagangan. Kerana itu Asia Tenggara sehingga ke Kepulauan Pasifik kembali ke Madagascar digelar sebagai Benua Melayu oleh pengkaji.

Jejak bangsa Melayu boleh ditemui di sekitar kawasan itu. Di Madagascar, rumpun Melayu iaitu Malagasy walaupun bukan penduduk majoriti di situ namun merupakan pemerintah dan raja. Kerajaan-kerajaan yang didirikan oleh orang Melayu bersifat maritim.

Pernah dengar nama Awang Hitam aka Enrique? Dia ialah orang Melayu dan merupakan manusia pertama yang mengelilingi dunia, bukannya Magellan. Lautan bagi orang Melayu merupakan mainan sahaja.

Living in a fantasy life

Honestly, when I was a small kid I wish to be like Peterpan. I really want to keep playing and flying, don't want to grow up as an adult . As I grow older, I slowly realize that I'm no longer a kid. But somehow, I can still live in the fantasy life and make kids happy and laughing by becoming a Santa clause. Hehehehehehehe Have a great december everyone!

Cinta Pada Ibu dan Ayah

Kali ni adalah kali pertama aku berlakon dalam videoclip. Rasa macam kekok pun ada sebab dalam kehidupan sebenar aku, aku belum kahwin lagi, apatah lagi nak ada anak. Apa-apa pun , aku nak ucapkan tahniah kepada Talent agency aku , Calice Lam kerana memberi peluang kat aku untuk berlakon dalam videoclip.

Sebenarnya aku tak pernah pun jadi ayah betul-betul, setelah jadi pelakon secara sambilan, jadi aku terpaksalah berlakon menjadi ayah kepada budak dalam video clip ni. Budak dalam videoclip ini memang merupakan penyanyi kanak-kanak yang betul. Beliau adalah orang Malaysia yang berbangsa cina, selalu menyanyi lagu-lagu cina.

Walaubagaimanapun, kita layan je videoclip ni, supaya wujudnya kesederan kita tentang pengorbanan ayah dan ibu kita menjaga kita sewaktu kita kecil dulu.

Full-time, part-time, and volunteer

When I was doing my pre-university programme in Malaysia, I spent my leisure time by reading a lot of motivational books. I still remember the first book I borrowed from my dad titled " Success is a choice" written by an American writer.

The hobby continued even after I further my studies in Degree in Computer Science.

I also read self-development books when I have free time. And then when I graduated, I worked as a System Designer for an IT company. I was busy with company projects, and I found out I had less time to read books.

So, I hardly found time to read books. I was so into reading quotes because it saved my time, rather than finding time to read the whole book to complete.

This is the best quote which I like most.

“When you're young you have time and energy but no money. When you get older you have money and energy but no time. And later when you finally have time and money, you no longer have energy.”

And then, I come out with my own philosophy about life.

To be a successful person in his career, everyone needs to have full time, part-time and volunteer jobs.

1. Full time job

When you are in 20's, you must have at least one skill which you are very good in. Some people call it as profession. Find a job which requires professional and technical skills. Example of professional jobs are doctors, architect, accountant, mechanic, businessman, engineer, and interior designer. You will pay your house rental, car monthly installment, electricity, phone bills, food and drinks by using the money you get from the salary. I work as engineer specialize in High performance computing and servers. So far, this full time job is the only work that I get highly-paid as compared to my previous jobs that I have done. I have Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science (majoring in Computer Systems) and I already worked in this industry for 5 years and I never quit from this field. I specialized in supercomputers, servers and IT infrastructure, but I do not have professional skills in computer hacking, software developer and IT gadgets.

2. Part time job

You cannot 100% depend on your full time job for the whole of your life. As you grow older, you will have no time and energy. Everyone should have hobbies and interests. Part time job is what you do for the sake of finding extra money to support your expenses paid monthly. You must do part time job based on your free time left, and you do it for fun which matches your interests. Examples of part time jobs are tuition teacher, baking cake & cookies, working at restaurant during weekend, selling paintings, data entry, promoter and many more. Even I'm an IT engineer, it does not mean that I have so much money. Therefore I must also find extra money to cover the monthly car installment and house rental. I like acting, modelling, and travelling. So, I do part time modelling and acting, and writing a blog an article on magazine, be a tour guide to foreigners during my free time. The best part doing part time job is you do it , you get paid, and you enjoy it. There are so many part time job website on the internet, and why not you just give it a try to apply for one. But, please remember that your only intention to get part time job is getting extra income, not more than your full time job, and do not spend so much time on this compared to your full time job.

3. Volunteer job

As you grow older and older, you will find yourself less interested on your daily professional career and part time jobs, even though the pay is good. God does not create a human living alone. We need to live in a harmony group. Everyone should have healthy social life. You must also spend your time with social activities related to humanity and religion. During my free time on the weekends, I volunteer myself to non-profit organization programme and activities such as Aman Palestin and couchsurfing.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Plan your work, work your plan

Today, while working I recall back these two important quotes which are important in my working environment............. Plan your work, work your plan. and If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Planning is crucial for meeting your needs during each action step with your time, money, or other resources. With careful planning you often can see if at some point you are likely to face a problem. Plan also is like a map. When following a plan, you can always see how much you have progressed towards your project goal.

Planning is also important because it prevent bad things to happen at the end of your project. Planning is easy and gets your ideas clearer for better formation of your final product.

One of the important aspects of planning is that it eliminates bad habits and the fear of failure. When one makes a plan and sticks to it one is likely to break bad habits he or she has and this means you are less likely to fail. Planning also allows you to prioritise, focus on what is important, it reduces crisis management and it provides the framework for informed decision making.

Therefore, everything needs plan. If you are still studying, you must plan how to complete the assignment.
You must also plan what do you want to be after you graduated. By the time you are in the working environment, you must learn how to plan your work and complete the tasks given by boss. Then, you also need to plan your career path. One day you will become a project manager, and planning is very very very important.

What do you want to be in the next 5 years?

You must have second plan as a back up plan. We call it Plan B. Don't worry too much if the plan does not go well. Remember this quote, If plan A doesn't work, the alphabet has 25 more letters.

So, let's plan your work and make sure you work your plan. Good luck!

Working as an IT Engineer for 5 years

Today is my 5th year of becoming an IT Engineer! There are 3 job positions that I hold in 5 years of working experience and there are also few private and government agencies projects that I participated in.

Grid Computing / Linux Server Support Engineer

• Serves as an escalation from Level 2 server support in MIMOS Berhad.

• Perform complex Linux systems administration tasks in a virtualized hosting environment

• Troubleshoots, configures, and tunes systems. Installs software, patches, upgrades, applications within SLA/escalation guidelines

• Fulfill provisioning orders for new cloud servers and perform website and application migrations on new and existing cloud servers

• Resolve technical and logical support inquiries via phone, chat, and tickets

• Script automation tools to make work faster and more accurate

• Continually identify efficiencies for systems, processes and procedures

• Perform other various duties as assigned

• Installing, configuring, troubleshooting, testing, and managing over 1000 virtual machines by using VMware products, KVM (libvirt)

• Handling user incident problems by using Marvel Software Ltd ticketing system, dedicated to delivering the best ITIL/ISO compliant ITSM software to its client.

• Assisting Software Development and Central Engineering department in improving existing server inventory listing by suing several programming languages such as PHP and Linux Bash Scripting.

• Install, configuring, troubleshooting, testing operating systems such as Redhat , CentOS, Ubuntu, SuSE Linux Enterprise Server, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008.

• Monitoring servers by using monitoring tools such Cacti, Nagios, Xymon.

• Performing daily check up on physical servers in data center, provide technical support for hardware maintenance, making log case to hardware supplier, contractor or vendor for hardware replacement such as SGI, Hewlett Packard, Dell, Sun Microsystems, IBM.

• Configuring HP integrated Lights Out (iLO3) for HP servers for system administrators to remote access and server monitoring.

Systems Engineer
• Installing, configuring, troubleshooting, testing and on-site support for most Linux-based operating systems such as RHEL, SLES, OpenSuSE, CentOS, Ubuntu, Fedora, Knoppix, and Solaris.
• Contribute 90% of total research and development of total company projects in dealing with bioinformatics application.
• Experience in installing and configuring supercomputer with capabilities more than 120 CPUs and 1TB
memory, and cluster with 40 nodes.
• Enhancing system performance by configuring load balancing, network bonding, RAID setup, server virtualization, LVM.
• Installing, configuring and managing Email server for a research institute with 100 users.
• Conducting Linux System Administration Training and open source tools for more than 100 people from government agencies and private sectors.
• Assisting technical team on physical installation for servers, storage, tape library, network cabling, Fiber channel, SAS cable, rack mounting, and hardware spare parts.
• Troubleshooting hardware and software failures and provide on-site technical support for company’s clients.
• Managing IT infrastructure and user management for the company (workstation, servers, web, Mediawiki, Samba, NFS, NIS, LDAP, VPN, DNS, VNC, router, access point, modem, printer server).

System Designer

• Designing and developing web-based application by using J2EE, Java, and Oracle database.
• Participating in user-requirement study, assisting in the preparation of requirement specifications in accordance to users’ needs.
• Implementing Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
• Provide production support and resolve issues for company’s clients.

Training Attendence
• Attend Knowledge Grid Forum 2009
• Attend SuSE Studio Training 2009
• Attend online Training of ScaleMP product 2010
• Attend short training of Storage EMC VNX and VNXe 2011

Achievement and Project involvement
Asiatic Centre of Genome Technology (ACGT) Sdn. Bhd
• Installing and configuring Rocks Clusters (Linux distribution) for high performance computing
Cluster for Bioinformatics operation purposes.

Flexcale Systems Sdn Bhd.’s office operation setup
• Installing and maintaining VMware ESXi server and VMware Server, configuring DNS settings, Installing and configuring mail server (Zimbra).

Jabatan Alam Sekitar
• Installation, configuration and testing of VMware Esxi, CentOS, Load Balancing with Balance, DRBD, Heartbeat, MySQL .

Ministry of Agriculture (MOA)
• Installation and testing for SuSE operating system and Database MySQL.

Toll Group
• Corrective maintenance of Linux OS Server (CentOS 5), Troubleshooting, Installation of components/ softwares (Webmin, VNC), troubleshooting sendmail.

Flexcale Systems Sdn. Bhd.’s Research and Development
• Research and development of Quota and Traffic Bandwidth Manager to manage user internet
access speed control.

Malaysia Genome Institute (MGI)
• Deliver, installation, configuration, testing, and commissioning project for Openfiler Operating
System for NAS server
• Setup RAID-0 for 3.5Terabytes Storage.
• Configuring Quota Management for users in NAS Server

Jabatan Alam Sekitar (JAS)
• Conducting training of VMware ESXi, Introduction to Linux, MySQL for government servants at department of Jabatan Alam Sekitar.

Jabatan Meteorologi Malaysia (JMM)
• Setup RAID-5 hardware level
• Deliver, installation, configuration, testing, and commissioning project for NFS server.

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, UTM
• Setup RAID-1 hardware level for Application Server (CentOS 5.4), setup RAID-5 hardware level for Database server (CentOS 5.4), configuring NFS server and client.

Malaysia Genome Institute (MGI)
• Upgrading existing Rocks Clusters, Installation of Bio informatics software (Blast, Mira, Fasta,
Artemis, Gromacs, Crossmatch, Emboss, Bioperl Iprscan, Stackpack), Installation of Redhat 7.3 server , Setup DNS server (dnsmasq), Installation and configuring Zimbra Network Edition Mail Server

Asiatic Centre of Genome Technology Sd. Bhd (ACGT)
• Cloning Disk image for High Performance Computing server using Live CD and Ghost for Linux
(G4L).

Malaysian Nuclear Agency (MINT)
• Installing and configuring Rocks Clusters. Installation of Sun Server product (Sun Fire X4140) .
Sun StorageTek Installation and Configuration by using Common Array Manager. Install MPI- based software (MCNP)

Sekolah kejuteraan Teknologi Maklumat, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS)
• Deliver, installation, configuration, testing, and commissioning project for High Performance
Computing Rocks Clusters (Linux distribution) for high performance computing Cluster

Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM)
• Deliver, installation, configuration, and testing for ScaleMP, RHEL, Bioinformatics softwares
(Blast, TCoffee, Perl, Emboss, Clustalw, Hmmer, Fasta, Glimmer, Cap3 & Pcap, Mr Bayes, Phylip, Staden Package, Biopython, Velvet, Samtools, Maq, Bowtie, Act, Oases, Bioperl, GeneMark, SSR Finder Module, CLCBio Workbench)
Jabatan Meteorologi Malaysia (JMM)
• Upgrading existing storage system using Dell Powervault MD1000 and MD1000. (up to 25TB
each server )

Malaysian Centre for Geospatial Data Infrastructure (MACGDI)
• Data collecting for research purpose on server CPU performance and user accessibility rate by
using VMware capacity planner.

Malaysian Palm oil Board (MPOB)
• Database migration from Informix to MySQL server.
• Conducting MySQL training to MPOB staffs

Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM)
Conducting training “Introduction to Linux” to FRIM researchers

Malaysian Palm oil Board (MPOB)
• Deliver, installation, configuration, testing of RHEL and VMware server for SISPEN (IT
department )

Asiatic Centre of Genome Technology (ACGT) Sdn. Bhd.
• Installing and configuring Rocks Clusters (Linux distribution) for high performance computing
Cluster for Disaster Recovery server

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, UTM
• Installing Intel Fortran® Composer XE 2011 compiler for server.

Malaysian Nuclear Agency (MINT)
• Deliver, installation, configuration, testing, and commissioning project for MCNPX on Sun
Microsystems server..

Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB)
• Migrating database from Informix DB to MySQL.
• Deliver, installation, configuration, testing, and commissioning project for MySQL server and server.
• Editing Power Builder script at MPOB Hulupaka station
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, UTM
• Deliver, installation, configuration, testing, and commissioning NFS server and database server.

Malaysia Genome Institute
• Upgrading HPC server (Rock clusters) and installing bioinformatics tools

National Hydraulic Research Institute of Malaysia (NAHRIM)
• Deliver, installation, configuration, testing, and commissioning project for High Performance Computing, Back up server, storage server, tape library, HPC resource manager, and HPC performance monitoring. Tools.

Universiti Malaya Faculty of Dentistry (UMFD)
• Deliver, installation, configuration, testing, and commissioning project for High Performance
Computing, NFS Back up server.

Meet up with travellers from Indonesia, Spain, Afghanistan

After I came back from Yangon (Myanmar), I had a chance to meet up with foreigners from around the world again!

I managed to meet with an indonesian guy, Pram. He is from West Java, Yogyakarta. He was the one who hosted me during my stay for 5 days solo trip to Indonesia in early 2013. I was lucky to meet him again in Malaysia.

On the same day, I hosted a girl from Spain. Her name is Alicia. Working as a yoga teacher in Koh Samui, Thailand and she came to Malaysia to renew her visa. So, I hosted her for 2 days and brought her to few places in Kuala Lumpur such as Batu Caves, I-City Shah Alam, and KLCC Petronas Twin Tower.

When Alicia and I were walking at KLCC park, there was an afghanistan girl came to me asking to take her photo with background KLCC Petronas building. Then, we had a very long short conversation. Her name reminded me about this planet called, Zuhal. She is a freelance technical writer working in Canada. She was born in Afghanistan and was brought up in Germany. She then moved to Canada living with her family.

Alicia and Zuhal joined me to go Masjid Jamek, China Town, and Pasar Seni. They had opportunity to try local foods such as Nasi Campur, Tosai (Indian Muslim food), and seafood.

So far, I have hosted and meet up 35 travellers and couchsurfers from all over the world including The United States of America, Spain, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Mauritius, India and more.

For more information about couchsurfing, kindly visit this website www.couchsurfing.org

Travelog - Challenging solo backpacking to Myanmar

Myanmar map

Myanmar is the second country that I went to for solo travelling and backpacking! Travelling to Burma is not as easy as it seems. The country is ruled by military, and in my mind I already expect there are so many barriers to enter. But, it doesn't matter for me, so i proceed with booking the flight ticket last 3 months back.

One of the reason why I chose Yangon is because of the cheap flight ticket. I bought the return flight ticket for RM122 only!

The challenge started even when I was in Malaysia. My flight was on Saturday, but during Friday (one day earlier), while I was in the office checking Myanmar information on the web I just realized that to enter Myanmar, foreigners need to apply for visa!

It was 11:30 a.m , and I called my friend Jojo to reconfirm whether do foreigners need to apply for visa to enter Myanmar or not. She said she applied for visa last year during her trip to Yangon.

I straight away went back to my house in Equine Park (8km away from the office) to take my photos and passport. Then, rushed to Myanmar Embassy at Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. As I arrived at the gate of the embassy office, the guard told me to look for agent details posted on the notice board.

I called the agent, but sadly they said the visa already closed, and I can only apply on the next monday. Next Monday? Oh no... So, I felt like the chance to go Myanmar was little. :-(

I went back to the office and looked for Visa On Arrival (VOA) on the web. Luckily, there was a website which allow you to apply for visa. It costs me RM320 for urgent application. I paid by Paypal.

I managed to get the visa at night. Fuhh........ Thanks to myanmarvisa.com . What a miracle! Sometimes, I feel like God always give opportunity to people who would never give up.

Visa On Arrival from Myanmar

The next day has arrived, where I was supposed to be at the airport. I checked in my flight at LCCT. When I passed the ticket check, i faced another difficulties. The baggage was too big and I didn't realize the weigh was 16 KG! When I arrive at the baggage counter, the officer told me that luggage gate already closed. She even told me that I need to postpone my flight to Saturday.

I did not even give up.

So, I decided to take my small backpack only. I left the huge bag at the nearest restaurant, then I continue passed through to the boarding gate! The flight from Kuala Lumpur to Yangon Airport took me about 2 hours and 30 minutes.

View from the airplane to housing area at Yangon International Airport

I arrived at Yangon airport around 8:30 a.m. As soon as I arrived immigration check point , I was welcomed by the Myanmar travel agent, Mrs. Khin who managed my Visa On Arrival (VOA). I waited for 20 minutes for the visa upon arrival process to complete.

Mrs. Khin is also working for Tourism Myanmar Co-op Limited. I queued on the foreigner lane, waited for 15 minutes and finally I passed the visa check. Then, I was guided by Mrs. Khin to change the money at the nearest money changer.

Ringgit Malaysia is not saleable in Myanmar. Therefore, I exchanged RM300 and I got USD100 when I was in LCCT airport.

The currency exchange rate was 1 USD = 1000 Kyats. (October 2013)

I took a taxi to go to the hotel named "Triple H Hotel" which costed me 8000 Kyats , or USD 8 . It took about 20 minute-drive from Yangon airport to the hotel. I used agoda.com to book the hotel for 3 days and 2 nights. The price was USD30 per night. I was slightly disappointed because the pictures shown on agoda website are different with the real hotel. The pictures look like 5 star hotel, but the real one is actually like 2 star hotel.

But, everything was fine with me as long as I can access the internet. The hotel staffs were very helpful and friendly. I could even had coffee with them at night and they treated me like a friend instead of foreigners.

Finding halal food is one of the challenges that commonly encountered by a muslim traveller like me. Based on the blogs and reference written by traveller who came to Yangon before, there are only 2 halal restaurants in Yangon downtown area. The place where I stayed was quiet far from the downtown. So, I plan to find any halal food near to the hotel. I finally managed to find a halal restaurant near Triple H hotel, in Pazundaung. The restaurant is called Seven One Seven, located at No 92, Anaw Ra Tha Road, Pazundaung. In myanmar, they put sign "786" in Arabic numbers which means "In the name of God."

Based on history, this pagoda was built 2600 years ago making it the oldest pagoda in Burma and the world! According to tradition, two merchant brothers, Taphussa and Bhallika, from the land of Ramanya, met the Lord Gautama Buddha during his lifetime and received eight of the Buddha's hairs in BC 588. The brothers traveled back to their homeland in Burma and, with the help of the local ruler, King Okkalapa of Burma, found Singuttara Hill, where relics of other Buddhas preceding Gautama Buddha had been enshrined. According to some historians and archaeologists, however, the pagoda was built by the Mon people between the 6th and 10th centuries CE.

The next night days I spent my time at Yangon city. I stayed at a budget hotel named "Agga Guest House". The price was cheap as low as USD10 (about RM35) and suitable for backpackers and low cost travellers who want to save money.

I was busy taking photos and I asked for help from a local guy to take my photo. He helped me to take my photos and we had a very long conversation. He invited me to come over to his house in Tharkayta. We also went National Races Village.

I shared the room with 5 other travellers. I managed to have a short conversation with Taiwanese , German, and swiss guy in the room.