DSA and NATSEC 2024

Posted on by Edmund

My first time attending a local exhibition on Military firearms, vehicles and tech.

It was a fun few hours going booth to booth, floor to floor, like a kid in a candy store. Even though it was Day 3, there were lots of people and finding parking was a challenge. Good thing I carpooled here with Chin Chin.

Took a lot of photos and videos while I was at the exhibition, and this is just half of them for show here.

EDIT: not sure if it’s my website, hosting or just not-so-good Internet connection to this server, but I’ve got trouble uploading all the images into a single gallery, so I’ve broken this into two parts. Here’s a continuation…

P.S. DSA = Defense Service Asia and NATSEC = National Security, not “nut sack”, lol

P.P.S. Some of my friends asked how I got to know about this event and how to register. It appears to be annual or bi-annual. You can find out from their official website at https://www.dsaexhibition.com/. I registered early this year, though it appeared that they also welcomed walk-ins as long as you register on the spot via QR Code. Admission is FREE and to the public (despite the mention of “only individuals and organizations related to security”), and make sure you’re dressed appropriately i.e. business attire.

Minor Renovation And Paint Job

Posted on by Edmund

Finally! This was something mom and I wanted to do since late last year: have the tiles outside the house repaired, and a long overdue paintjob inside.

Despite living in Johor for 2 decades, my mother doesn’t know a lot of people here. Even for me, after having moved here permanently a year and a half ago.

My mother had a go-to guy for this kind of handiwork, but he didn’t seem to be that reliable in recent years. So I secured a contact from an Agency friend, who happens to be a “turnkey” contractor. Work started after Chinese New Year.

The workers started from outside, first removing the old and broken tiles and then installing the new ones we bought from Jubin nearby. This job took two weeks to complete.

The next one and a half weeks was spent on wall painting inside the house. I think this is the first time we’ve given the interior a new paintjob since we moved here in 2009!

While we were at it, we also had the new ceiling fans installed in all the rooms, and new switches and lights in some of them.

My own room is given a facelift: I bought a new sofa bed and some new drawers to complete the home office setting.

Oh, and I bought a new PC Rig a month ago! The last time I bought a custom PC was in 2016.

I’m glad I’ve finally gotten this over with, and have the rest of 2024 to look forward to.

Super Scaling 2024 In Singapore

Posted on by Edmund

Thanks Stuart Tan for inviting me again to his Super Scaling event for the second time! It was amazing to meet familiar and new faces at the event, and this round was more fun for me compared to last year’s.

For one, I got to bring along 3 of my Mentorship students (Ron Bes, Edward Loh, Bryan Wong) and my friend and Client, Nicholas Ting, who himself hasn’t been in a networking event for a few years.

And that I received a ‘flash’ sale of RM30K while at the event so yes, I was really happy. 🙂

To top off this time’s two-day trip in Singapore, I was treated to two dinners of generous Thai Mookata!

See you next year (if I’m invited again)

Petaling Jaya Catchup 2024

Posted on by Edmund

It’s been nearly half a year since I went up to Klang Valley.

Now that I’ve gotten a relatively new car, I drove up to PJ and stayed here for 4 days 3 nights to catch up with a bunch of people.

I’m pleased to choose Greystone Centrestage PJ Hotel as my stay this round. It’s quite convenient, situated just 5 minutes walk from Jaya 33.

And at a nightly rate of RM110-ish, the room quality is quite decent as can be seen in the photos! Usually, that kind of hotel rate lands one in a rinky-dink room like Sun Inns and OYO. When I come to PJ next time, I’ll most likely choose this hotel again.

I did most of my meetings at 1 Utama, that I last visited at the tail end of 2020 (if I’m not mistaken). Compared to the somber mood back then due to the fake pandemic lockdown, I’m happy to see the mall teeming with life once again – also in conjunction with the upcoming Chinese New Year festive.

I thought of checking out the newly opened TRX Mall but I’ve been talked out of it – apparently, it’s difficult to find parking, the shops are “too high end” (not that I wanted to shop for anything) and expect it to be very packed over the weekend.

To round this trip, I took my Yemeni guest to a game of pew pew.

It was a fun and fulfilling weekend to kick start the year!

Prey 2023 Thailand Airsoft MILSIM

Posted on by Edmund

Just got home here in Johor, Malaysia from the much anticipated Airsoft MILSIM game in Thailand (this time in Takhli District)!

Thanks to Tum JT Hobby and the TKL Airsoft Activity staff for again hosting and organizing this event. I’m already looking forward to next year’s, if there is.

Also thanks once again Palis Luckananurug and Gunn Bhatrakarn for offering us to tag along and drive from the DMK airport to game site.

And MARU Combat Gear for rental of the Airsoft guns while we were here.

Day 1

Day 2