Bitchings Galore!

Australian Trip

2007-11-11T21:35:00.000+08:00

I just got back earlier this week from a 12-day holiday in Australia. Actually it was a 6-day tour with my family but I extended it for another 6 days to chill (literally; on one particular Sunday) in Melbourne with my aunt and cousins. I was really looking forward to this holiday after getting stranded in the jungle for 2 months. I informed my boss about my holidays plans in July, 3 months before the holiday so that I wont be sent somewhere during this period.

So, my family and I left Malaysia on the night of 24th October for Sydney, Australia. When we landed, they brought us straight to the Taronga Zoo to see some of the local and not so local animals.

How can you not have a picture of a koala when you write about Australia?

That's his tail ok. Don't get overly excited.

This is the Tasmanian Devil having his siesta and no he doesn't spin to move around.

After the zoo, we went to a shopping centre (cant recall the name) to have our first meal in Australia, but to my dismay, we had Thai food for lunch. The food didn't taste Thai at all. The tomyam wasn't spicy and the rest of the dishes tasted more like Chinese rather than Thai. This meal would set the tone for the rest of the meals that we're gonna have during the tour.

Next, we were brought to the world famous Sydney Opera House. From there, we got on a cruise to go around the bay of Sydney.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The Sydney Opera House.

I like this picture a lot because it shows the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and the Australian flag.

A photo of the family sitting in Mrs MacQuarie's Chair.

Later that night, we were brought to the Sydney Aquarium to see the sea animals that can be found in the waters of Australia. The night tours were actually optional tours that we have to pay extra to go on. Since we're already there, we might as well make full use of our time in Sydney and see as many things as possible, right?

The Sydney Aquarium.

I dont know what fish is this but it surely is one hell of a weird looking fish.

The next day, we were taken to the Blue Mountains to see the blue mountains of course. The name Blue Mountains derives from the blueish tinge the range takes on when viewed from a distance, which is caused by the release of volatile oils from the eucalyptus forests. Sadly i dont have a picture to show you guys. I was a bit slow in taking out my camera when the bus slowed down for us to have a look at the mountain range when we drove along a cliff.

This rock formation at Echo Point is called Three Sisters. Read one of the few stories about it in the picture below.

On the second night, we were taken to the Sydney Tower to get a 360 degrees view of Sydney at night and also a Motion Master kinda ride which gives us a brief history lesson of Australia and the major attractions of Australia. After that, we walked through the Queen Victoria Building to see a beautifully restored 18th century building. It was once threatened with demolition in 1959 but it was restored between 1984 and 1986 by a Malaysian company, Ipoh Pty Ltd. However, in 2003, Ipoh Pte Ltd was taken over by GIC Real Estate Pte Ltd of Singapore.

Night view of Sydney from the Sydney Tower. It isn't the best quality but you can lebih kurang see the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

A replica of Queen Victoria.

The interior of the QVB.

So that was our last night in Sydney. The next morning, we got on a Virgin Blue flight to Melbourne. The LCCT of Sydney is much better looking than our LCCT and the Virgin Blue planes have individual LCD screens but you have to pay to watch. The most interesting thing is that it has live TV broadcasted to the plane. It cost AUD5 to watch TV on the plane.

The Jetstar counters. The Virgin Blue counters are at the opposite end.

The shopping area of the LCCT.

Just swipe your credit card to watch TV.

Saying goodbye to Sydney.

The first place we visited in Melbourne was Queen Victoria Market. This is supposedly the place where tourists visit to buy souvenirs. However, this is not the cheapest place to get souvenirs. I've found cheaper souvenirs in the souvenir shops along Swanston St. and the streets around Melbourne CBD. After that, we were taken to the Shrine of Remembrance. This is where they honour the soldiers who have died in service of Australia. On the stone slabs, you can find the names of the places where Australian soldiers have fought over the years and from the steps of the Shrine of Remembrance, you get a panoramic view of Melbourne CBD.

Anyway, i would like to take this opportunity to thank the Australian soldiers for their contributions during the emergency in Malaya and during the formative years of Malaysia. Your sacrifices are greatly appreciated.

The Shrine of Remembrance.

Horse carriages along Swanston St.

Federation Square, taken from Flinders St. Station at night.

The next day, the tour took us to Chadstone, which is one of the largest malls in Melbourne. However, my cousins say that Mid Valley is bigger than Chadstone while my aunt asks why the tour brought us there instead of duty free outlets. There's a huge one not far from the Melbourne Airport (Tullamarine). After Chadstone, we went to a farm along the way to Phillip Island. There, we had the chance to feed the kangaroos, milk a cow and drink fresh milk straight from the cow's udders, learn how to crack a whip and watch a sheep shearing show.

Before shearing.

After shearing (habis botak kawan tu). The blue liquid is to prevent ticks from infesting the skin of the sheep.

A photo of me and my sister with our kangaroo friend.

A peacock trying to tackle my sister. Wahahahahahahahaha.

After that, we proceeded to Phillip Island, where you can watch penguins march back to their burrows while enduring freezing winds blowing from the Bass Straits (it feels more like from the Antarctic if you ask me).

We were told that the penguins will be returning at about 8:05pm (dont ask me how they know this...maybe they have a penguin forecast thingy to predict these kinda things). So we went out to the viewing area by the beach at about 7:50pm to wait for the little guys (these fellas are the smallest penguins in the world...an adult penguin is about 33cm in height). However, the penguins decided to come back a little later than their curfew. We had to wait till about 8:20pm before we had the first glimpse of the penguins. All you can see are a few moving white specks. After about 10 min, we decided to walk back to the visitor centre. It was a good decision after all because the penguin burrows are located along the pathway connecting the visitor centre and the viewing area. So, we managed to see many penguins walking back to their burrows alongside us.

The next day, we were brought to Dandenong (i think) to experience Melbourne's countryside. There we went to a place to feed the birds. All you need to do is put some bird seeds onto your hand and hold it up in the air. The birds will automatically land on your arm and will start eating the bird seeds. I got pecked a few times because their beaks aren't the best for eating from people's palms. Then, we went for a train ride along the countryside. The view from the train was awesome although i cant see myself staying in these kinda places at my age. It's surely gonna be very boring after the awe effect wears off.

Later, we had lunch at this place called Cuckoo. They serve buffet Bavarian food and it's really good. The entertainment was also top notch. That was the best meal i had in the whole tour. Notice that i used the word tour instead of the whole trip because during the whole tour, all the meals included in the tour was either Chinese or Thai except for the one in Cuckoo and another buffet at a casino in Sydney.

Next on the list of places was a lavender farm, vineyard and a gerbera farm. At the gerbera farm, we had the chance to see alpacas, which closely resembles llamas. For those who dont know what are llamas, just think of Kuzco of Emperor's New Groove. If you've not watched this cartoon, then you must be from a really hulu place. And if you look closely at the alpacas picture, you can see one alpaca with kinda normal fleece while the other one has a dreadlocks fleece. Cool eh?

Lavender.

Vineyard.

Alpacas.

Then, sadly for my parents and sister, their tour ended the next day. They flew home in the afternoon while i continued my holiday for another six days in my aunt's place. During the 6 days, i visited the Melbourne Museum (i spent 5 hours here and still couldn't finish seeing everything...and my cousin called me a geek for spending 5 hours in the museum), watched buskers perform at Federation Square, had a tour around Melbourne University courtesy of Jon, saw many people dressed up for the races (Melbourne Cup), met up with Seetha and her colleagues (their company trip was to Sydney and they extended their trip to go to Melbourne) and met up with Justin for lunch at a cafe for lunch (the fusion food is superb and thanks for lunch).

Royal Exhibition Building (opposite Melbourne Museum).

Melbourne Museum.

A busker performing his tricks.

Spaceman on Swanston St. Only available during weekends.

If you are ever in Melbourne, visit this place called Il Doce Freddo along Lygon St. Their gelato is simply superb. For chocolate lovers, try the Roche flavour. Snickers was also good but i didnt like the tiramisu though. If you go during weekends, there's durian flavour. I was told that many Malaysians eat this flavour when they have durian cravings. Wahahahahahahaha.

Finally, i've reached the end of my Aussie post. I think this has to be the longest post ever because of the amount of photos i've included. Enjoy the pics everyone.

It's Been Quite A While

2007-09-30T13:35:00.000+08:00

I just realised that it's been 3.5 months since I've written anything. Actually, my sisters told me to write something new back in July so that the previous post wont be the first post on my blog. They say that every time they see that post, they'll start crying. So now I can fulfill their wishes and write something new. However, I dont really have anything new to tell because for the past 2 months, all I did was sleep, eat and work in some remote area of Indonesia. That place is so boring because there's no where you can go or visit in your free time as it's bordered by the sea and jungle. The nearest small town (more like kampung with a small airfield) is 1.5 hours by boat away. In addition to that, the camp subscribes to Indovision who lost the rights to Astro Indonesia to broadcast EPL matches this season. So, when every Astro subscriber in Indonesia is enjoying football every weekend, we have the priviledge to watch motorcross, baseball, X-Games, etc. Damn bodoh sial! This is one of the reasons why I'm so glad to step on to Malaysian soil again. I guess that's all for now.

Rest In Peace, Bro.

2007-06-19T21:04:00.000+08:00

Dear Wafi,

I got a call from Gary at 3:40pm today telling me that you've left us. His words left me in shock for a few seconds as i dont know how to react to such news. I was actually planning to visit you this Sunday so that we could hang out together like we always did after gym. Even though the circumstances have changed, i'll still visit your family to pay my last respects to you. I just need to find the way to your house in Rawang (which you always called "the great city of Rawang").

I didn't expect you to leave so soon as you sounded so positive the last time i visited you (although Manika said the doctors gave you 9 months to live). You even asked me when are we going clubbing at Zouk again and if i've asked my company if you could do your internship there. Then, I promised you that i'll start rehabilitating my knee again so that when you recover, we can play football together again. Although we wont be able to do that now, i'll still keep my promise in your honour. I just realised how short life is and that i should do everything i can to do the thing that i love most again.

Anyway, it was great having you as a friend. Ever since Alpha, you've provided us with so many good memories; always saying "ape tu" when giving presentations in Sharimllah's English class, having fun in the same drama group as you (that's because each group had to lose a member to form another group with you as you didnt manage to find yourself a group), playing football beside the tennis courts almost every evening, bowling at Golden Bowl with Zhao, Jason, Fun, Gary and Ashwin, movies as GSC Mahkota Parade, making fun of lecturers during class, skipping class during the half period break, playing pool at Senyum, BBQ-ing at Soon Khong's place after final exams, going for mamak at Daud or burger at Kota Laksamana, gym sessions (where you'll tell me about the chick you are trying to tackle) and so on.

So, rest in peace, bro. Maybe we'll meet again in another lifetime. This lifetime was certainly too short for you. Thanks for the friendship and the memories.

Best regards,
Glenn
Alpha Group 9 Class of 2001-2002

Laundry

2007-05-06T17:20:00.000+08:00

I just realised on Friday night that it's been some time since I hung out at Laundry with my friends. Can anybody explain why did we suddenly stop going there to chill? I came out of Italiannies on Friday night to realise the amount of superb scenery I've been missing the past 2-3 months. Maybe we can hang out there sometime after I get back from my trip.

I watched Spiderman 3 at Imax in Times Square yesterday just to try out what is it like watching a movie there. It certainly was a new experience cause the screen was bloody huge and we were sitting 6 rows from the back. I was only able concentrate on the centre of the screen and the sides were completely neglected. I think i shall stick to the conventional screens (GSC@1U) for future movie sessions.

Anyway, is anyone looking for a notebook mouse? I bought a Logitech V150 laser notebook mouse on Wednesday and after using it for about 2 days, I found it to be rather small for my hand. It becomes a little uncomfortable to use after an hour. So if anyone (I think it's more suitable for a girl or kids) is looking for a laser notebook mouse, please let me know. I bought it for RM78 and you could have it for RM65. It's still only 5 days old and it comes with a 3-year warranty.

Man Utd Are Coming To KL

2007-04-17T22:22:00.000+08:00

Manchester United just announced their Asia Tour dates yesterday and they'll be right here in KL on July 27th. I'm hoping and praying that i wont be sent somewhere during that time as it'll be my first time watching MU play live at a stadium. It would be even better if they arrived here as double treble winners.

On other news, i've listened to Snow Patrol's Eyes Open and The Fray's How To Save A Life albums and i surely recommend these two albums to everyone. I'm currently hooked on these albums, together with My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade album. So if you have the means, do consider buying these albums.

In response to Stella's post, i would like to say that all the best things in my life begins with the letter F, Family, Friends and Football. :)

Notification

2007-03-30T23:54:00.000+08:00

I would like to inform everyone that I wont be in Malaysia for the next 2 weeks to a month. I dont really know the exact duration i'll be away because when you are at site, anything can happen and you'll have to solve the problem before you can go home. So please dont sms or call me as i wont be using my Malaysian mobile number when i'm overseas. Thank you.

Cockroach

2007-03-23T21:20:00.000+08:00

My sister found a cockroach in her room on Wednesday nite and the next day she was wondering aloud to herself, "why did the stupid cockroach go into my room ar?" Overhearing this question, i cant help but reply, "when the cockroach reached your room, he said to himself, "ahhh! smells like home."."

Busy

2007-03-18T08:32:00.000+08:00

Looking at the date of my previous post, i noticed that it's been a whole month since i've blogged about anything. I know abandoned my blog for quite some time but somehow i dont have anything interesting to blog about anymore. All i do everyday is wake up, go to work, come home from work and sleep and since i do not blog about work related stuff, i'm left with nothing else to blog about. Maybe i could blog about my rehab session but it's taken the back seat for now as i dont have time to even go for physio. I used to go on saturdays but now i go to work instead. This is all i have for now as i'm getting ready to go to work soon (yes, i work on sundays too).

Gong Xi Fa Cai 2007!

2007-02-18T18:20:00.000+08:00

I would like to use this 100th post of my blog to wish everyone Gong Xi Fa Cai and may the year of the Pig (my year) bring you good health, wealth, prosperity, luck and happiness.

Football Shorties

2007-01-25T23:35:00.000+08:00

The defeat by ARSEnal was really hard to swallow. Losing to a goal right at the death was really heart breaking but that's football. Life goes on and we're Manchester United, we never do things easily. We let Bayern think that they're going to win the Champions League only to beat them at the end. Muahahahahaha.

Anyway, I caught Sportcenter on the telly this evening and they aired a very interesting news clip. So, there's this bloke in the UK who did a research on the origins of a football club's song. This would be the song that the supporters sing at their stadium. Apparently the song You'll Never Walk Alone that those Liverfool supporters so proudly sing was originally sang by Man United supporters first as a tribute to the players and staff who perished in the Munich air crash in 1958. They stood outside the grounds to sing the song in the days following the crash. Liverfool supporters only started singing the song in 1963. Very interesting indeed.

I also managed to watch the last 20 minutes of the Malaysia v Singapore-dan-lain-lain match on the telly last Tuesday. Is it just me or is the pace of the game in this part of the world rather slow? Anyway, that's besides the point. Malsysia controlled the match but fell victim to a goal that appeared out of the blue. The ball was lofted into the box and it looked like this guy came from nowhere to head it in. I say this because the defense didn't even bother to look/pressure/challenge/tackle/kick him when the ball was sent into the box. Totallly hopeless defending. The best part of the game was when the ball hit the corner flag and it broke into two. The referee had to stop the game for 2 minutes just to get a new corner flag in. Hilarious.

P/S: The best part of the Chelski v Liverfool match wasn't the scoreline. It was when Drogba nutmeg Ballack. That was the first time in my life watching a player nutmeg his own teammate. Priceless.

Books

2007-01-24T21:15:00.001+08:00

If any of you want to buy books, Citibank credit card holders are given 15% discount when you purchase normal priced books at any Borders bookstore.

If any of you want to buy The Reluctant Politician, there's a 20% discount coupon in The Star's StarMag book review section last Sunday. The coupon is valid at any MPH bookstores.

Good Customer Service

2007-01-18T23:31:00.001+08:00

I had dinner with my sister at this restaurant named Devi's Corner in Taman Tun on Monday night and I encountered a restaurant manager who provides the best customer service I've seen in a long long time. Here's a list of things that he did for his customers that would go a long way to ensure they continue to patronise his restaurant.

He has a cheerful smile when entertaining his customers (I've met some who look as if some one stuck a foot up their asses).
When he saw us waiting for our food, he came over to our table to look at our order list and told us he's going to take a look at what's causing the delay.
When my mee goreng came with taugeh, I told him that I ordered without taugeh. He asked the waiter who took our orders if he had categorised my mee goreng as "special order". The waiter said yes and he summed up that the mix up could have happened in the kitchen.
My new mee goreng came with more mee that usual.
I went to the kitchen to get a lime and he told me to take a seat while he went to get one for me.

So due to the excellent customer service provided by the boss, I'll certainly make more trips there in the future. The fact that their mee goreng is damn sedap is an added bonus.

Review: 2006

2007-01-02T22:44:00.000+08:00

Studies
2006 was a defining year for me because it marked the end of my studying life and the start of my working life. I'm truly blessed because I managed to graduate with the kind of grades that I didnt think I could achieve back in Beta Trimester 1. After much hard work and perseverance, everything worked out real well for me. I'm glad my Final Year Project received very favourable grading from my supervisor and my moderator. It really helped push my CGPA higher. Overall, I graduated from university with many funny memories of lecturers (Elvis Koay, Lembut Ibrahim, etc.) and fond memories of my uni mates.

Travelling
My first trip for 2006 was the KL-Penang-Cameron Highlands-KL road trip I had with Ashwin, Choo and Keng Mun. We started the trip right after our final exam papers. We stuffed ourselves crazy in Penang with ikan bakar, char kuey tiow, cendol, dim sum and had a great time staying by the beach at Batu Ferringhi. Then, we enjoyed the jungle trekking in Cameron, filling our lungs with fresh highland air and black diesel exhaust from the 4X4s. That's also where I had my best ever cup of teh tarik, which is at the Boh Tea Plantation cafeteria.

The next trip was the Genting trip with Ashwin, Choo, Gary, Siew Lin, and Siew Har, right after the end of the World Cup. We spent the time there playing Uno, sharing stories, singing karaoke till our throats got sore and screaming our lungs out playing the outdoor rides. Genting was also the place where we noticed that Choo spent most of his time sms-ing. Something must be on with the guy and our guesses were correct after all.

Then I was off to South Korea with my family. The autumn temperature was very cool and refreshing, away from the haze affecting Malaysia at that time. The scenery was beautiful, the people were not (those handsome guys and pretty gals you see in the TV are a real rare species). The food was great for the first 3 days, then I got tired of it. There's no beating the wide variety of food you can get here in Malaysia.

The last trip was just 10 days ago. I went to Singapore with Ashwin, Allen, Choo+Alyssa, Chek, Stella and Wei Lee. Siew Har was our tour guide there, taking us to Suntec City, err...that's all I guess. We went to the Science Centre and Orchard Road by ourselves. Hahaha. The Science Centre was really good with so many interesting stuff but sadly I didnt manage to see every exhibit. Counting down Christmas at Orchard was wet and "snowy" due to the fake snow that everyone was spraying on each other every other minute. The lightings and decorations were nice but I think when you've seen it once, you wouldn't need to come back every Christmas to see it again.

Work
I started job hunting after the World Cup ended and was targeting only a specific industry, the oil and gas industry. After more than a month without any replies or interviews, everyone told me that I should try looking at other industries. I took their advise with a heavy heart because the oil and gas industry is the most exciting engineering industry out there. However, I'm lucky I finally landed a job in a company that provides services to the oil and gas industry. I'm really enjoying my work now and I'm looking forward to learning more things everyday.

Football
Football was a sensitive issue to me in 2006. Rehabilitation was a long and arduous programme and it takes a lot of patience, hard work and perseverance to go through it. However, the thought of playing football again gave me the strength and focus to continue with my rehab. Watching Man Utd, the World Cup and especially watching my friends play was really hard for me. The lowest point in my life happened in October 2006. After completing 1 year of rehabilitation, I decided that my knee was strong enough to start playing football again. My first game was a futsal game between a group of my friends and Audrey's cousins. Unbeknown to me, the muscles surrounding my left knee were still not strong enough for contact sports which require rapid cutting and twisting motion. I injured my knee again 10 minutes into the game. The pain I felt was so familiar that I couldn't believe I was experiencing it again.

In the days following the injury, I was at my lowest and I even contemplated walking away from football. I thought of giving up the game that I loved playing, the game that I fell in love with when I was in primary school, completely. I was prepared to give it all up so that I wont have to go through the injury again. However, a simple sentence, uttered to me by a friend of mine, managed to save me from my depression. So, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Siew Lin for saying "the Glenn that I know wont give up so easily". That sentence still rings clearly in my mind and I now use it to motivate myself when I exercise my leg. Looking back, I couldn't believe that I actually contemplated giving up football, one of the 3 things that mean so much to me (the others being family and friends). Thankfully I have friends to help me through that difficult time and get me back on track again.

So, my only target for 2007 would be to return to football again after a slight delay in 2006. Hahaha.

Rude Awakening

2006-12-17T20:32:00.000+08:00

I went for brunch yesterday with my aunt at a restaurant nearby and encountered the ugly side of human beings. My aunt stood up to walk to the stalls to order some food and some joker took her chair away and put it at his table. This was done while she was still standing next to the chair and asking me what i wanted to eat. At first i thought that he was taking an extra chair, but i found out later that he actually took my aunt's chair. Too bad i didn't know that at the time cause i would certainly have given him a piece of my mind.

Today, i went for breakfast at another restaurant nearby with my aunt and encountered yet another episode of rude behaviour. The restaurant was full so we walked to a big table but was only taken up by an guy and his son thinking that we could share the big table as there was only the two of us and the two of them. My aunt said "excuse me" twice or three times but the guy only looked down at his food and continued eating, totally ignoring us. I dont know about you people but i find that really rude. Some would argue that maybe he's deaf and couldn't hear my aunt. He could be deaf but he certainly wasn't blind. We were standing right opposite him trying to get his attention.

If these two guys were children, the question that would pop up in your mind is "your parents didn't teach you ar?". Maybe their parents really neglected to teach them some courtesy and respect to others. Some kids you see nowadays are really rude. They shout at their parents when things dont go their way. Somehow, their parents think that it's cool and doesn't warrant some sort of reprimand. Maybe it's the new style of parenting, but i believe the old rotan style is much more effective in instilling discipline and good manners into your kids.
___________________________________________

I had Taiwan mee for lunch on Monday and the amount of mee given in the 'small' bowl has really shrunk a lot compared to the last time i ate it. After finishing the bowl of mee, i wasn't even half full. I had to order another 'small' bowl of Taiwan mee to make myself considerably full. To show you how much smaller the portion has become over the years, i could finish my barley drink and a bowl of cendol after the two bowls of Taiwan mee (Cendol was at another place in Jonker Street, and no, it's not the shop in the middle of Jonker Street which has damn thick gula Melaka. It's too sweet for my liking. I found a better place at the beginning of Jonker Street) Maybe in the future, i shall just order a 'big' bowl of Taiwan mee and hope that it would make me at least 1/2 full.

Thanks Again

2006-12-11T22:50:00.000+08:00

muchas gracias to Midori, Daryl, Choo, Ash, Stella, Allen, Audrey and ~~Chek~~ Chris for the present in the picture below. Terima kasih to ~~siewharong~~ Siew Har for her present too. It's one of the more unique presents that i've received so far in my life.

Thanks A Lot

2006-12-04T23:30:00.000+08:00

I would like to say a big thank you to all of you (family & friends) who wished me Happy Birthday last Thursday (and the subsequent day or two later). Thanks for all the calls, smses and personal wishes because they really made my day. Sorry to those who called at 12am but couldnt get me, i was really sleepy that nite so i offed my phone and went to bed. I'll try to stay awake on the nite before my birthday next year ok.

Anyway, i went to PC Fair yesterday to buy my thumbdrive, blank DVDs and camera. Oh yes, i finally have a new camera to replace the kaput-ed Nikon. It's a 50-50 co-ownership deal with my elder sister and the picture below shows the camera that
we bought. So it's time to start capturing beautiful moments in life again.

P/S: For those who cant figure out what is the camera in the picture, it's the Canon Ixus 800 IS. Yeah yeah, i know that the Ixus 850 IS is the latest model with a new processor (Digic 3) and wide angled lens that replaced the Ixus 800 recently, but i still have a budget to work along with. So, the Ixus 800 is sufficient for me.

Overacting

2006-11-25T23:05:00.000+08:00

After watching CSI:Miami for the past few years, it has come to my attention that David Caruso's acting is getting more and more lebih now. I know he's been acting melebih-lebih since the first episode but it's become so clear now because he had to adjust his pose just to pass a key to a detective to open the door. I was like "WTF man. Pass key also need to pose ar?". Chek downloads CSI:Miami and he's now counting how many times Horatio Caine needs to take off and put on his sun glasses in an episode. According to Chek, Horatio needs to put on his sun glasses before shooting the baddies. Probably he couldn't get a good shot with the bright Miami sun shining in his eyes.

OK enough with Horatio Caine. I'm currently listening to My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade in my car and The Killers' Sam's Town, Evanescence's The Open Door and Jet's Shine On in my mp3 player. I'm really enjoying all 4 albums and I recommend it to everyone who listens to alternative rock music. I'm also enjoying streaming Christmas songs from Yahoo! and Accuradio (thanks to Midori who recommended this site) to get myself into the Christmas mood. Muahahahahaha! My recommendation is to listen to Holiday Jazz as that's where you get Christmas songs played on the piano. :)

On other news, i went for my company's team building last weekend in Eagle Ranch, Port Dickson. It was an awesome 2 days because i got to meet almost every employee in my company. I got the chance to know them and that really helped me settle into my new working environment. Going through the Obstacle Course (although i didn't complete all of it because of my knee) was very tiring as well as challenging and it really teaches you what teamwork is all about. Go-kart was great because you get to experience what racing is all about although it's in a small car with an engine that could be from a lawn mower. Hahaha. However, the best activity was Paintball. I don't know how to describe it but the experience of shooting your opponents is just damn bloody good. To put it simply, it's real life Counter Strike. Of course it cant replace the feeling i get when i play football but it does come close. So if any of you guys/gals is organising paintball session, please let me know ok. That's all i have for you all. Toodles.

Siewharong

2006-11-13T22:57:00.000+08:00

We had a BBQ at Audrey's place last Saturday to celebrate her birthday. The food was superb and the equipments for BBQ-ing was top notch. It was by far the simplest BBQ-ing experience i've had (not to say that i've been BBQ-ing for a long time). Anyway, when we about to start the cake cutting and happy birthday singing ceremony, Allen started chanting "Siewharong! Siewharong! Siewharong!". Well, you gotta admit the chant is damn catchy and soon everyone (ok not everyone, but members of our gang) joined in the fun. Later, after filling ourselves with the birthday cake, we were sitting around in Audrey's dining room making a lot of noise when Allen (yes, him again) started singing the Tokyo Drift song but with some lyrics changed to fit Siewharong's name. It was freaking funny and it got everyone in stitches. Midori cant sing a few words without bursting out in laughter. Anyway, i've modified the lyrics so that everyone can learn to sing it. Wahahahahahaha!!!

"I wonder if you know,
Who is Siewharong,
If you've seen her, then you'll know that,
She's as blur as a sotong.
Siewharong!!!"

P/S: Since i'm the one who did the lyrics, u guys/gals should be the ones doing the singing. Muahahahahahaha!

Random Updates (2)

2006-11-08T21:44:00.000+08:00

This is my second week of working and work is getting more interesting now. Weekends fly past at warp speed nowadays and i'm missing my chilling days very much. I miss reading the newspapers (real ones, not the online version). I miss waking up at 10-11am everyday. I miss going to the gym every Mon, Wed and Fri evenings. But i guess everyone has to move on and assume working responsibilites. It's just another step in a person's life. On another note, my knee is healing fine (i hope) but i still cant bend it fully. The good news is that the ligament is still intact and i would just have to strengthen it to play sports again. After it heals, it would be another round of gym work and i would have to find the time to go for gym after work. I could start swimming again after this rainy spell in KL. It rains almost every evening and yesterday's thunderstorm was one of the worst i've seen. The lightning flashes that i saw on my way back home was really scary and it just makes you want to reach home ASAP to get out of the bad weather. That's all the updates for now. Till next time.

Trip Updates

2006-10-28T18:40:00.000+08:00

I got back from South Korea last Saturday nite. The trip was awesome but i got tired of the food after about 3 days because the food was similar for almost every meal. Other than that, the scenery was beautiful because it was autumn and the air was fresh as there was no haze there. Hahaha. I got sore throat on the 5th day of my trip and that progressed into a fever. So i didnt manage to fully enjoy my last 2 days in Seoul. All in all, i had a great time holidaying there and now i look forward to a new chapter in my life - working. For pictures from my trip, please proceed to my webshots page.

P/S: For those who are curious, no i didnt see many hot chicks in Korea. I only saw a few chicks but most of them had some weird-looking face. There is also a possible explanation for this, i didnt go to the right places to see hot Korean chicks. If only we had time for some clubbing...

P/P/S: I saw a really hot chick at Starbucks@The Curve last nite. However, my sitting position wasnt the most strategic so Allen did most of the hot chick ogling last nite. Hahaha.

Anniversary

2006-10-11T23:42:00.000+08:00

No it's not my wedding anniversary. It's the first anniversary of my surgery. It has officially been a year and i spent the day at Mahkota Medical Centre again this year. No it's not for a checkup on my knee but it's for a routine checkup for my employment purposes. Yes you've read that right. Yours truly is no longer unemployed come the end of the month. Wooohooooooo! However, before i start work i'm going off for a short holiday somewhere in the north east of Asia with my family and i'll be back in time for raya. Bring on the ketupat, rendang and sambal ikan bilis! Muahahahahaha!! Anyway, this is gonna be a short post and before i end it, i would like to wish a very Happy Deepavali to all of my Hindu friends. I'll see you guys/gals when i get back.

Horrified

2006-10-02T00:21:00.000+08:00

The gym at MMU will be closed for the next 2 weeks. Bummer. And i wont be here for the week following those 2 weeks, i'm looking at 3 weeks without gym. It has been such a routine for me for the past 8 months that it would be weird not going to the gym for 3 weeks in a row. I guess i should get used to it cause i wont be able to do much gym work when i start working. Wait, that's IF i start working. If anyone actually wants to hire me. Yes, you've got that right. I'm very much still unemployed and i have to admit it, it's starting to get to me. I've had so many questions (You still jobless ar? Aren't your parents worried?), advises (You should try finding a part time job while waiting. Just apply everything. Dont be choosy.) and suggestions. The problem now is that i'm looking for a job that i would enjoy doing. The one that would make me feel happy to go to work in the morning not some clown job in a Mickey Mouse company. Probably i should just take everyone's advise and accept the first job that's offered to me, doesn't matter if it's a clown, juggler or quack job.

That aside, Midori was horrified when she found out that she's heavier than me. 500 grams heavier than me to be exact. However, her argument is that i'm lighter because i do not have boobs. That was when everyone went "Wtf kind of argument is that?". That got us ~~imagining~~ wondering how heavy her boobs actually are. So to satisfy our curiosity, we told her to get the weighing machine that she uses to weigh her flour for her muffins with to weigh her boobs. Muahahahahahaha!!! I wonder if we are going to get an answer from her.

I went jogging with Gary and Auds this evening. It's also the first time i managed to jog for 2 rounds non-stop. Gary went one better and jogged 3 rounds non-stop. Then we waited at the top of a small hill for Auds but after 3 rounds, we saw her jogged by for a forth round. We thought that was her final round so we chatted for a while and waited for her to finish. But then we saw her jogging past us for a fifth round! Yes siree, she left us with our jaws on the ground, in awe of her stamina. It was amazing.

Those Words Bring Sweet Music To My Ears

2006-09-26T19:27:00.000+08:00

I went to see my doctor last Thursday for my last checkup to get my clearance to play football again. My regular doctor had to attend to an operation so I met with his colleague instead. He said that at 11 months plus, I am all clear to resume football again. "Alright, your knee feels stable now. You can start playing football again." Oh, how sweet it is to hear those words. So if anyone is organising football/futsal, remember to call me ok. But take it easy on me first, dont simply tackle me and just give me way to score goals ok. Muahahahahahaha! I'm sure i've not lost my scoring touch. I think. :)

On Friday, i drove up to KL with Chek and Ash to go for the Matta Fair. Ash actually had an interview on Friday afternoon with a company which is in the same building as where Allen works. We planned to go to the fair on Friday but we missed the turning to PWTC so we headed straight to my aunt's place instead. Friday nite, we met up with Allen, Stella and her friends at The Laundry at The Curve. Note to self: when Stella says 10:30, she actually means 11:30.

The Street at The Curve is really happening at night and we managed to wash our eyes secukup-cukupnya that night. Stella introduced a few of her friends to us and now i cant remember their names. I'm not very good with names and faces. Ash sat next to them but he didnt talk much to them and spent most of his time sitting quietly in his chair. I asked him how is he going to tackle a girl in the future and he said when he meets the right girl, the moves will come naturally.

We eventually made our way to the fair on Saturday after brunch. We took the LRT there as it is the most convenient way to get to PWTC and we dont have to endure the traffic jam. We managed to catch a performance by Kris Dayanti at the fair and some lucky guy got to dance with her (pegang her pinggang some more ok) and he got a coupld of kisses at the end of the song. The spectators there went really wild and i was half expecting some minister to make some noises in the papers the next day. Out of the 4 songs that she performed, i only recognised one song which was Mencintaimu which was sang by Dayang when she got voted off OIAM.

Then, we left the fair and headed to 1U to watch The Devil Wears Prada with Allen and Keng Mun. The movie was entertaining as it offers an insight into the world of fashion but i dont really get what the storyline is about. Chek says the story tells us that at the end of the day, you have to stay true to yourself. We grabbed dinner after the show and went back after that. We were dead tired (my aunt woke me up at 8 to go jogging with her) and even missed the Man United v Reading match (i heard the match sucked big time and that Richardson is a useless bugger).

I cant take anymore pictures because my Nikon camera sudah kong. So i guess my blog will be filled with just words from now on with the occasional pictures supplied by other people's cameras.

Random Updates

2006-09-17T16:59:00.000+08:00

I had another interview this Wednesday and it was for a company in Shah Alam. This is my third interview in 3 consecutive weeks. So after making so much noise about not being called for any interview, it's nice to be able to say "I went for an interview the other day". My interview was in the afternoon so i went up to KL in the morning and had lunch with my aunt at Dusit Thai in Sunway Pyramid. I have to say that the tom yam is absolutely superb. Highly recommended. I ate until my stomach was about to explode and i couldnt even finish my drink. Hahaha. I know i know, it's not good to ~~eat~~ binge just before an interview but the food was delicous. Anyway, the interview went well and it's quite an interesting job. So i'll just have to wait for a couple of weeks to see if they'll offer me a job.

Allen, Stella and Siew Har were back in Malacca this weekend so we headed to Friend's Cafe in Melaka Raya for some chitchatting and catching up session. As usual, everyone had trouble deciding what to drink and being the lazy bum that i am, i decided to go with the tried and trusted Ice Blended Chocolate Chip drink. As usual we made damn a lot of noise there and some of us got to know a really surprising news. Then, another person got teased the whole night long and i think it's the first time ever the said person has been teased so much. Hahaha.

Gary's SE K750 is not very good in low light conditions.

In other news, Schumi is retiring at the end of the season. It's sad to see a champion leave the sport but we'll have to respect his decision. I really started watching Formula 1 in 1999 when Sepang hosted it's first race and i really admired how Schumi gave up his place to Eddie Irvine to win the race because he was challenging for the championship. That was also Schumi's first race since he broke his leg. I was a Schumi and Ferrari fan since then so dont accuse me of just jumping on the bandwagon when Ferrari are winning so many races. At the time, Williams and McLaren were the top teams in Formula 1 and Ferrari had not won any championship since 1979.

Although he's a controversial racer where many claim that he's too aggressive and ruthless on the track, he has always produced the results when it matters most. He never gives up and he really appreciates his team because he knows that without them, he wont be able to win so many races. So, it's gonna be sad to see him go but Kimi isn't a bad replacement afterall.

P/S for Stella: I'm a teetotaler. A teetotaler is a person who abstains totally from drinking alcohol. I did try drinking a few drinks last time but i didnt really like it. So i made a decision to not drink. There are many famous teetotalers in the world, amongst them are Alan Smith , Samuel L. Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Vladimir Putin. So it's not uncommon to actually be a teetotaler. :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_teetotalers

2 Months?

2006-09-09T22:39:00.000+08:00

I went for an interview yesterday morning. Had to wake up early in the morning to drive up to Shah Alam for the interview. During my interview, the interviewer asked me if i really wanted this job because i would be offshore for 2 months at a time and only have a 4-day break in between the time offshore. 2 months? WTF? 4 days break only? WTF? I thought it would be the standard 2 weeks offshore and 2 weeks break rotation. This i could adapt because at the end of 2 weeks of hard work, i had 2 weeks off to relax and recharge. But working 60 days straight in the middle of nowhere is really pushing the limit. At the end of the interview, she told me to think about it and let her know if she calls for me another interview.

During the drive back home to Malacca after the interview, i started to think of the things that i hold dear to my heart and if i could leave all of them for 2 months at a time. Here's my assessment of the difficulty of leaving these things behind.

Newspapers (i read them everyday...i need to know wat's happening around me) --> difficult
Internet (news, email, chatting with friends & family) --> difficult
Friends --> very difficult
Family --> very very difficult
Football --> SIAO AR? DIE LA LIKE THAT!

Therefore, if she calls me again, i'll have to ask her whether she was just testing my resolve about working offshore and if it's actually 2 weeks off and 2 weeks on. If this is the case, i would be happy to go offshore to work and learn but it was 2 months, i guess it's a little too long away from civilization (and football) and it's not worth the high pay.

Anyway, i went jogging at Bukit Serindit last Sunday with Gary and Allen. It's my first visit there since my surgery and I manage to complete almost 2 rounds. I know, i know. It's pathetic but i think it's a good start and i'll just have to build on that now. Wow, do i sound like a football manager or what? Hahaha. The best thing about it was i manage to buy keropok lekor there. At last i found the place to buy keropok lekor although it's not as nice as the one in Nilai. But at least i get to eat keropok lekor whenever i feel like it now.

Proud of My BM

2006-09-01T23:43:00.000+08:00

I came back to Malacca today. I spent my Merdeka day at Ikea with my sister and her bf, who was looking for some lamps for his new home. There were crazy amount of people in Ikea and most of them were there to just have a look around (we bought something ok). The restaurant in Ikea was packed with people but we managed to find a table, actually half a table, to sit at. I had salmon with chives sauce and it cost just RM 11.90. I mean that's cheap for salmon, hence the word "just" in the previous sentence. We had to leave early because we had to attend an uncle's wedding dinner. To be honest, i've never met this uncle of mine before. I went only because i was representing my granduncle who is in Hong Kong.

During the course of the dinner, the emcee for the night started saying some stuff in Cantonese. My uncle migrated to Australia (i think) but he's now living in the UK (i think) and the emcee then reminded him not to forget his Cantonese. Then, i waited for the emcee to say the same thing about his Bahasa Malaysia but sadly the advise didnt come. Why no advise about his BM? Then i started thinking of a common question i always ask myself, why is it when a Malaysian of Chinese descent starts speaking to another Malaysian of Chinese descent in BM, the person who is speaking will, more often than not, receive a weird look by the person listening? Is it because BM is a foreign language to him/her? Did he/she skip all the classes conducted in BM during school?

I speak BM very often. I speak it to my family and my relatives. I speak it to my friends, regardless of race and i think it's great. However, it's not great when i get weird looks because i'm speaking in BM. My sister spoke to some uncle in BM and he asked her why is she speaking to him in BM. Why? Is she speaking in a foreign language? Is BM a foreign language in Malaysia? If it is and you cant bloody understand her, please get the hell out of my country, you prick! I look forward to the day when i can speak BM to any other Malaysian without getting weird looks staring back at me as if i'm some foreigner asking for directions in a foreign tongue.

Merdeka HooOOOoooooOOo!

2006-08-31T02:25:00.000+08:00

Seperti biasa, saya akan menulis belog saya dalam bahasa kebangsaan kita, iaitu Bahasa Malaysia, pada setiap Hari Merdeka. Pertama sekali, saya ingin mengucapkan terima kasih kepada CnetG kerana memilih hari ini (Aug 30) untuk menemuramah saya. Oleh sebab ini, saya dapat juga menyambut Hari Merdeka di Kuala Lumpur. Seperti mana yang saya telah diberitahu, sambutan di Melaka agak kurang meriah. Ashwin telah menganjur yam cha di ayam golek Pantai Kundur tetapi terpaksa membatalkan rancangan itu kerana sambutan yang tidak memuaskan. Pom pom pom.

Saya pula berasa amat bertuah kerana dapat menyambut Hari Merdeka di Ikano dengan Allen dan Stella. Pertunjukan bunga api di Ikano berlangsung selama 10 minit dan pertunjukan itu cantik sekali. Saya tidak dapat mengambil foto kerana kamera saya telah rosak dan telah dihantar untuk dibaiki. Sebenarnya, saya juga tidak ada masa untuk mengambil foto kerana saya sedang sibuk mencuci mata saya sepenuhnya. Jika anda tidak percaya, anda boleh menanya Allen dan Stella tentang ini. Muahahahahahahaha. Selepas pertunjukan bunga api, kami pergi ke restoran nasi kandar yang berdekatan untuk mengisi perut kami dan juga untuk menyambung sesi cuci mata kami. Saya berasa amat kesian untuk Ashwin yang sedang bosan duduk di rumah kerana tidak dapat menyertai kami untuk menikmati keindahan alam semula jadi. :)

Akhir sekali, saya ingin mengucapkan Selamat Hari Merdeka Ke-49 kepada semua warganegara Malaysia. Semoga Tuhan senantiasa merahmati tanah tumpahnya darahku.

How un-Malaysian Are You?

2006-08-30T11:51:00.000+08:00

Congratulations Wong Yuen Sern, you are 3% not Malaysian.

That means you're as Malaysian as...

Abdullah Badawi !

How Un-Malaysian Are You?

This shows that I'm a Malaysian through and through and i'm bloody proud of that fact. No country could ever replace the Malaysian in me.

Anyway, i'm in KL right now and i've just got back from an interview. The lady who interviewed me told me that i look very clean cut and that she actually imagined me working in an office (i applied for a field technician job which would be based offshore). I still hope to get a callback though.

I'll be celebrating Merdeka Day here in KL with Allen and Stella and the plan for tonight is still very unsure. Allen says that maybe The Curve is having something tonight bul we'll have to check it out to be sure. If there's nothing there, we would probably end up in some mamak i guess.

Ole Ole Ole Ole

2006-08-25T01:54:00.000+08:00

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is back. After battling the last three years with 3 major knee surgeries, he defied medical opinion to score his first senior goal since September 2003. In the 82nd minute, he was set up for a goal by Michael Carrick but Scott Carson pulled off a superb save to deny him. I could hear every United fan groaning in despair because of that. However, the moment finally arrived 8 minutes later when he slotted the ball into the empty net after a neat cross by Louis Saha. I jumped out of my couch to celebrate the most awaited goal in 3 years by one of United true legends. I'm sure every United fan is delighted to see him back scoring again. As soon as he scored, he went towards the travelling United fans to salute them. Sheer class! He knows we all love him and that we've kept faith in him overcoming his injuries to score for United again.

"I have been dreaming about this day and now it has finally arrived, I just feel relief," he said.

"I waited a long, long time to celebrate with the fans after scoring a goal. The prospect of doing it was one of the major things that has motivated me over the past three years."

"Throughout all that time, the fans and the manager have supported me. They have shown patience and the gratitude I feel for that is difficult to put into words."

Buying Ole is one of Sir Alex's best transfer deals ever. The 1 million pounds paid to Molde seems like peanuts now. He's a truly professional team player. He never complains. He just gets on with his job and does what is needed to help the club. Glad to have you back Ole.

P/S: Take a look at the new white away jersey. B-E-A-U-tiful. I think it's time to save some moolah for it. Hehehe.

Obvious Questions

2006-08-23T03:23:00.000+08:00

Why do parents like to ask the most obvious questions? For example, they ask the most obvious of obvious questions, which is none other than "Do you know what time is it?". It is as if all the clocks and watches in the house had stop working or something. So, being a good son who wouldn't want his parents to go crazy about losing the track of time, i'll look at my ever trusted watch and calmly inform them the correct time "It is X:XX in the morning". Hopefully after knowing the time, they'll go back to sleep peacefully. Hahaha.

Siew Har's Farewell Satay Celup Dinner

2006-08-20T20:31:00.000+08:00

We had satay celup for dinner last night at Siew Har's place. It's some sort of farewell thingy for her cause she'll be leaving for Singapore (which is a short 4+ hours away from Malacca) soon. My sister and i were late because we had to finish our share of housework first before going. I picked Midori up on the way and we reached Siew Har's place at about 7:45pm (i think). We werent the last to arrive because Yen Mao was a few seconds later than us. Muahahahaha.

When we arrived, everyone was already happily eating their satay celup. The eating session went on till about 8:45pm when everyone started to get thirsty from all the yummy satay celup kuah. We then shifted to the dining table to get our cold barley drinks and to make fun of Yen Mao's stained t-shirt. It was stained at the right nipple area so we happily assumed that he was lactating. We dont know what Choo is so excited about because he was laughing ever so hysterically. Anyway, the person in the limelight at the moment is Allen. Many questions were posed to him and many were left unanswered. He's still coy about something but sooner or later we'll get the answers we want.

At about 10pm, we started to watch Hard Gay. It's some Japanese comedy and it's hilarious. You could find the link to an episode in Midori's blog. She searched for it on Youtube after watching some episodes yesterday. We had to stop watching after a while because Siew Har's uncle and aunt came bringing along their children and Hard Gay is hardly (no pun intended) a show u want kids to watch. I think it's also a little too much for Siew Har. Wahahahahaha. She's so innocent and blur, she makes the perfect prey during mamak sessions with the gang. We also took a few photos while watching Hard Gay. Perfect way to make me smile i guess.

After turning off Hard Gay, we watched Arsenal v Aston Villa on ESPN. Due to some objections by the non-football-watching crowd (they seriously dont know what they are missing man), we had to change the channel to some music channel i think. We had sliced rambutans and ice cream for dessert but before long, we started the second round of our satay celup session. Yes, we can really eat. I hope i've put on some extra weight after all those food. Then i tried to copy Stella's photo pose but it came out horribly bad.

I wonder what will my sister say when she sees this picture. Judging from her comment in my last post, i'll take a wild guess and say that she would probably say "fuhyoh...Siew Har oso minat u man...pengsan!~". Ahhh, some shallow comments right there but i wont be surprised if it's true.

Anyway, the night ended in a very interesting note. Allen unknowingly parked his car in a spot which Siew Har's neighbour normally parks. So, the neighbour was damn kuai lan and parked his car right behind Allen's car, blocking him from reversing out. I parked my car beside Allen's car and thankfully the neighbour didnt block both our cars. So, after reversing my car out, we tried to manoeuver Allen's car out through the gap that my car vacated. Unfortunately, a stupid palm tree blocked his car so we had to carry his car and move it away from the palm tree to reverse out. It took about 6 guys to move the back end of his car and that was the first time i actually carried a car. Wow. Luckily Gary was around. The guy damn kuat sial. Finally, after all that, Allen managed to get his car out from that blocked place. The stupid neightbour could have at least shown some common sense and understanding. Bangang betul.

The car carrying activity took the wind out of all of us and everyone went back after that. Muchas gracias to Siew Har for a delicious satay celup. Hope you would reconsider and come to KL to work because we need a housemate who can cook. Muahahahahaha!

Tennis Again

2006-08-19T01:35:00.000+08:00

I finally played tennis again this evening. It's been one year since i've played tennis and i suck. Okay, i kinda sucked one year ago too so i guess nothing much has changed. Anyway, the good news is that my knee feels fine. There are no ill effects from the game. Of course tennis is not as rigorous as football but it's a good first step. Bring on football and badminton next cause at least i dont suck at those. Wahahahaha. The ultimate goal is still to start playing football again. 53 days more to go. Woohoooo!

The English Premier League is back this weekend. Man United are playing against Fulham on Sunday. At last i can cure my World Cup hangover cause it's been really sad without any football on the telly. It's not like i can go out and play football with my friends. Damn it.

And i have a message for my friends whom i took pictures with on the convocation day. I've received complains that my smile is not up to par. Therefore, i would like to apologise if my smile, or rather the lack of it, ruined your pictures. You cant imagine how difficult it was at the photo studio man. Wahahahahahaha. Actually, it's a long standing problem and i'm lazy to rectify it. So i guess you guys just have to bear with me. :)

Oh and here's a big shoutout to my cousin Ellya who ~~forced me to tell~~ stumbled upon my blog. *big wave*

Convocation

2006-08-18T23:32:00.000+08:00

I was in KL last weekend for my convocation which was held at the MMU campus in Cyberjaya. I drove up on a rainy Friday morning with Zhao and Joey in my car. It started pouring right after i woke up and it continued all the way to Cyberjaya. We were a little late for the rehearsal but i guess that didnt matter much. We met a few of our Alpha friends that day and it was nice seeing and talking to them again after a long time. I wish we were in Alpha again because Group 9 rocked. We had such great time together.

After the rehearsal, we had to verify our smartcard and collect out robes. The amount of people queueing up to verify their smartcards was just insane. So, we decided to collect our robes first and then proceed for lunch at Alamanda. We verified our smartcards after coming back from lunch and by then, there was just a few people verifying their smartcards. The people manning the counters were so free that when i stepped my foot into the room, the lady in front of me went "Mari dik. Verify kat sini." We definitely made a good decision to get lunch first. Muahahahahaha.

On my convocation day, my parents and i left my aunt's place at 6:15 in the morning and we reached MMU at about 6:50. After i got down from the car, i met Siew Har and her parents at the carpark making their way to the new FIT building, which is next to the Convocation Hall. So, i went to verify my smartcart (we had to do it again!) with her and then we gathered at the waiting area with Siew Lin and Gary. My parents made their way to the hall first to get some seats to sit down.

Anyway, to cut the long story short, because i'm obviously damn lazy to write the whole experience in the hall here, we had to sit in the hall from about 8am till 1pm. That's 5 freaking hours for those who cant do the math. I was damn hungry by the time the thing was done but i was lucky (more smart than lucky actually) i brought a long a muesli bar with me into the hall. That bar saved me from starving to death in the hall. And Vivien was lucky she was sitting beside me because she had a bite or two of the muesli bar. She didnt eat anything before coming for the convocation.

Singing the Permata Dunia was a really poignant moment. The last time we sang the song was during our orientation. We sang it everyday but we didnt really sing it wholeheartedly at the time. However, at the convocation, singing the Permata Dunia brought a whole different meaning. I realised that this song introduced me to the university 5 years ago and now i'm saying my goodbyes to it. I'm priviledged to have crossed paths with so many people there and to have experienced so many different things in my university life. When you think of these things while listening to the song, your university life seems almost surreal. When everyone was singing the song at the convo, you can see a few with tears in their eyes. The impact of the song at that moment was simply incredible.

Anyway, i'll leave you with some photos of my convocation (the rest are at my Webshots) and the Permata Dunia lyrics.

Permata Dunia
Intan Nazrahayu Mohd Nasir

Kami perintis generasi multimedia
Teguh mendukung harapan agung negara
Menyahut seruan wawasan negara
Unggul di mata dunia

(1)
Langkah seiring mengejar cita di hari muka
Akan terus maju bersama menuju jaya
Ketulusan jiwa
Semangat berusaha
Unggul di mata dunia

(2)
Ke puncak menara di tuju
Keunggulan cita yang luhur
Melangkah kita bersama bersatu

(3)
Bersinar permata negara
Dikagumi serata dunia
Selamanya akan gemilang
Di persada dunia multimedia

Repeat (1) (2) (3)
Terunggul di mata dunia

Boredom

2006-08-08T00:59:00.000+08:00

I realised that i've not been updating my blog regularly. That's because i've nothing to blog about. Since i tengah menganggur, my daily routine is:

wake up (approx. 1030-1100)
eat breakfast
bathe
sit in front of the laptop (online, watch movie, chat, or watch tv show)
lunch
sit in front of the laptop
gym (if it's Mon, Wed or Fri)
tea
bathe
sit in front of the laptop
dinner
sit in front of the laptop or watch tv (CSI:NY(tue), CSI:Miami(wed) Rockstar:Supernova(wed), Las Vegas(thu), Rockstar:Supernova Results Show(thu), One in a Million(fri))
sleep (approx. 0200-0300)

As you can see, i spend most of my waking hours doing stuff with my laptop. Therefore, i dont have many interesting things to blog about. Maybe i can share and recommend the movies and tv shows that i've finished watching since i graduated.

Numb3rs Season 2 (Good show if you like maths. Like me.)
The Shield Season 5 (Very good show. Very realistic.)
Grey's Anatomy Season 2 (Accoding to my medic frens, the medicine part is real. They really get bombarded with questions by the doctors/lecturers. Dont know about the romance part though.)
Prison Break Season 1 (Damn good show.)
24 Season 5 (Best show ever! The thrills and suspense were awesome. Jack Bauer is THE man.)
Munich
Syriana
Crash
The Constant Gardener (After watching this, you'll be thankful that you were born in this country.)
Domino
Green Street Hooligans
Inside Man
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
The Shawshank Redemption
Goal
Transporter 2 (So-so only la)
Sky High (So-so only la)
40 Year Old Virgin (Damn funny.)
Wedding Crashers (Damn funny.)
Ultraviolet (Please stay away from this movie. NOT RECOMMENDED.)

Anyway, i think i shall also answer some common questions posed to me by most of my friends. Just so that i have something to write about.

Have you started working?
No, i have not.
Are you currently looking for a job?
Yes, i am.
Where do you want to work?
Preferably in KL. Definitely not Malacca. I've spent 23 years here and i think it's time for a change of scenery. I hope to experience working offshore too.
What kind of job are you looking for?
Any job in the oil and gas industry that i could apply for using my degree in electronics engineering.
Why do you want to work in the oil and gas industry? Why not in the electronics or semiconductor industry in Penang?
In this industry, i'll be in the factory producing/designing/researching/programming electronics products for the whole day. Or maybe in the office sitting in an air conditioned room in front of a computer the whole day. I cannot stand doing that everyday because it's too mundane and i'm much too young to be sitting around in the office. The oil and gas industry offers me the opportunity to work in the field. Go out to sites, offshore or onshore. Go to new places and experience new environments. So, it's a different day everyday. I'm actually looking for a job as a field engineer. Anybody has any contacts or connections, feel free to inform me. :)
How many applications have u sent?
More than 10.
More than 10 applications and you've still not been called for any interview? Do you think that you should starting thinking of working in another industry or maybe somewhere else?
I've not given much thought on that. I still hope i can land a job in the O&G industry. If i cant find it in Malaysia, then i'll probably have to look for it in Singapore. My friend told me that there are quite many O&G jobs in Singapore. However, being a citizen of this great country, i want to do all i can to contribute to Malaysia. Therefore, a job offer from a Malaysian company is very much preferred.

I think that's all for now. I dont have anything else to blog about.

A Cheerful One Now

2006-07-26T18:18:00.000+08:00

Midori told me this the other day, "Wei your post kan...dono why after reading i emo sial. Dono y...just emo, emo at the thought of so many things, esp death". So to cheer ~~mimi~~ Midori up, i'm gonna write a funny and educational post now.

I was about to leave the gym this evening when i met my friend at the enterance of the gym.

Me: Eh, lambat today.

Fren: I'm not going to gym today la. Injured.

Me: What injury u got?

Fren: Salah bantal sial.

Me: Wahahahahaha (ketawa terbahak-bahak). Serious??

Fren: Yeah man. My girlfriend fell asleep on my arm. Woke up then kena salah bantal di.

Lesson to be learnt: Dont let your gf sleep on your arm for an extended period of time. Tak pasal-pasal kena injury because of a short moment of TLC.

Organ Donation

2006-07-22T15:52:00.000+08:00

After watching the second season of Grey's Anatomy the other day, i realised how much people suffer waiting for an organ to replace their damaged one. The pain and agony not only affect the person, but also the people around them. The people who cant bear watching the person they care and love suffer to fight for another day. I've actually thought of being an organ donor a few years back but when i told my parents that if i were brain dead, i would like them to donate my organs. However, they were unresponsive and just brushed off the subject. They told me not to talk nonsense and say these kinda things. I cant really blame them because it's the traditional Asian culture in which they were brought up in. It's the culture where we dont talk about things such as death as we fear it would come true.

However, i'm a child of a modern society and am also a realist. I know each and everyone of us will die one day. The only question is when. One day i could be happily playing football with my friends and the next day i could rupture my Anterior Cruciate Ligament. Oh wait, that already happened. Hahaha. Or one day i could be happily driving to the nearest padang to play football with my friends and the next day i could be in an accident and be left brain dead. Hey, you never know ok. You cant foresee these kinda things.

Anyway, after watching Grey's, i decided to google organ donation to see if there's a website to help me be an organ donor in Malaysia. I found this website Organ Donation in Malaysia to help Malaysians understand more about organ donation right here in Malaysia. There are frequently questions, various religious viewpoints and most importantly a form to be an organ donor. I've already sent my form and i'm currently waiting for my organ donor card. I've informed my family about this and hope they respect my wishes when the time comes. To my friends who know me in real life, if i'm left brain dead, please remind my family that i'm an organ donor ok. Just in case they forgot or have other things in mind. Thank you.

Now, i'll leave you with a poem by an American poet named Robert N. Test.

To Remember Me - I Will Live Forever
Robert N. Test

The day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly tucked under four corners of a mattress located in a hospital; busily occupied with the living and the dying. At a certain moment a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function and that, for all intents and purposes, my life has stopped.

When that happens, do not attempt to instill artificial life into my body by the use of a machine. And don't call this my deathbed. Let it be called the bed of life, and let my body be taken from it to help others lead fuller lives.

Give my sight to the man who has never seen a sunrise, a baby's face or love in the eyes of a woman.

Give my heart to a person whose own heart has caused nothing but endless days of pain.

Give my blood to the teenager who was pulled from the wreckage of his car, so that he might live to see his grandchildren play.

Give my kidneys to the one who depends on a machine to exist from week to week.

Take my bones, every muscle, every fiber and nerve in my body and find a way to make a crippled child walk.

Explore every corner of my brain.

Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that, someday a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her window.

Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow.

If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weakness and all prejudice against my fellow man.

Give my sins to the devil.

Give my soul to God.

If, by chance, you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you. If you do all I have asked, I will live forever.

Genting July '06

2006-07-14T20:30:00.000+08:00

Alritey, i just got back from Genting yesterday. The trip was a blast and i really hope that it wouldnt end so soon but the price of food would kill me and the others if we continued staying there. Besides, i dont think we have anything else to do there because we've done almost everything possible in Genting. FYI, i didnt gamble because i didnt have the feeling to gamble. I know it sounds ridiculous but that's the way it is. Anyway, Choo won RM 50 from Uncle Lim (good for you, Choo) but unfortunately Ash lost RM 25 to Uncle Lim (maybe the next time you'll win it back).

So, here goes the picture story of our short holiday in Genting.

When we reached First World Hotel, Choo went to check-in the rooms while everybody else started calling/messaging friends and families back home in Malacca, i think. I know Ash was actually talking to the Tenaga Nasional or was it the Finance Division of MMU. Either one la.

After checking in, we went to the rooms for a little rest before we went jalan-jalan around First World. The stupid timer went off before i could get into place but it makes a cool shot though.

This is the dinner i had on the first nite there. It's a stone grilled chicken chop meal. They give you this very hot stone with a raw piece of chicken thigh and you are supposed to grill it yourself. Yours truly here isn't very bright in the head so Siew Lin had to go ask the waiter how to actually cook the meat. All he did was cut the chicken into smaller pieces and flip them over a few times. At the beginning, we all thought that you just need to leave it there and it'll cook itself in due time. After seeing wat the waiter did, we then realised how stupid we were. Hahaha.

Next on the itinerary was the Mysteria show. It's a magic show with a storyline. We cant take photos while the show was going on so we did our camwhoring before the show started. Some of the magic tricks were really good but overall, the show was a little boring for my taste. I was yawning throughout the show (Siew Har can vouch for that because she kept asking me why i keep yawning during the show) and i actually did fall asleep for a moment during the show.

After the show, Gary and Siew Lin went for some indoor rides together while Choo, Ash, Siew Har and i went jalan-jalan around the casino in First World. Then, we ended up sitting on a bench beside Starbucks enjoying the cold night air.

Then, we went back to our rooms to bathe and get ready to sleep. Choo isnt in the picture above because he was either bathing or pangsai-ing at the time. This time, i got the timer just right.

This is Ash using his excellent chopsticks skills to eat Cheezels without getting his fingers dirty.

Here Ash is seen showcasing the ~~food~~ junk that we brought up to Genting with us while Gary's face seems to be saying "Apa lu mau arh?!".

The next day, we went to the theme park to amuse ourselves. The Corkscrew was the second ride for me and Gary as we had already warmed ourselves up with the Space Shot. I think this is the only ride that all of us went for.

Me and Gary passed on the Swinging Chair thingy because it makes people dizzy. After a Space Shot and 2 Corkscrew rides, we didnt want to risk our food coming out of our mouths after swinging around in circles in the air.

At last we have a group picture. I dunno why but we had to wait for a day before getting a full group picture. Hahaha.

S&M Shopping Centre? I wonder what goes on in their backrooms.

The three kings on the throne. Hahaha.

Gary and Siew Lin in the spotlight.

Now it's time for Choo, Ash and Siew Har to sit on the chair.

This is us before our karaoke session began.

This is me showing off the gaya rock orang giler.

These were the food that we ordered for our lunch at Be A Star Karaoke. There were 3 fried fish fillet with rice, 2 chicken chop wif rice, some noodle dish, keropok and kacang.

Everyone singing Take Me Home, Country Roads. Somehow, i managed to change the lyrics to

"Take me home, United Road,
To the place, I belong,
To Old Trafford, to see United,
Take me home, United Road."

This is what you get after 2 hours of singing - 6 zombie-looking people. Not a pleasant sight.

After that, we went back to our rooms to recharge our batteries. I slept for about one and a half hours. I dont know how long the others got to sleep but i know i got a good sleep. After we woke up, we went back to the theme park to get on some more rides. Gary and Siew Lin sneaked out of their rooms when we were sleeping and were already enjoying themselves at the theme park when we got there. While waiting for Gary and Siew Lin to finish their monorail ride, we went for some pirate ride which actually some lame rumah hantu.

Then, Gary, Ash and i went for the Flying Coaster. It cost us RM 10 for a ride because we bought the outdoor theme park tickets too. If you want to try the Flying Coaster without the outdoor theme park, it'll cost you RM 12 per ride. Flying Coaster was helluva fun ride. Siew Lin told us that we shouted the loudest compared to the other people she has heard riding the Flying Coaster. We took that as a great compliment. :)

We wanted to get on the Space Shot again after that but it was already closed. So we are left with the Corkscrew again. We got on the final ride of the day sitting in the first car. Everyone should try sitting in the front car. I dont know why but it was the best experience yet sitting in the Corkscrew. It seemed like the thrill effect is more pronounced in the first car. Then, we went back to First World to have our dinner and continued with some casino royale action.

This is the last picture we took in Genting. Yann Ling and Yen Mao came up the day before to get some gambling action too. Tan Tan was with them but i think she was eating when this picture was taken.

So that's all for my Genting trip story. See ya!

World Cup Withdrawal Symdrome

2006-07-10T17:58:00.000+08:00

The World Cup is officially over. After a month of glorious football, the greatest show on earth has come to its conclusion with Italy beating France 5-3 on penalties after drawing 1-1 during normal time and after extra time. However, the match wouldn't be remembered for the superb attacking football on show that night, but for a Zinedine Zidane red card which brought a glittering career to a slightly premature end. The pre-match hype was all about Zizou's last match before retirement and how it would be fitting to end a brilliant career by lifting the World Cup as captain of France. Alas, the fairy tale ending didnt materialise as he was sent off for head butting Marco Materazzi in the 110th minute. So, down the tunnel trotted a man in tears whose CV reads 3 FIFA World Player of the Year, 1 European Footballer of the Year, 1 World Cup winner's medal, 1 European Championship winner's medal, 1 Champions League winner's medal, 2 Scudettos winner's medal, 1 La Liga winner's medal, and numerous other medals. I would like to say au revoir to Monsieur Zidane and merci for all the beautiful football memories i have of you. It was a real priviledge to be able to watch you display your craft all these years.

This edition of the WC was totally awesome as i'm able to watch about 80% of the matches shown. Being unemployed certainly has its advantages. :) Matches were also much more enjoyable because i was able to do live match analyses and commentaries with a couple of my friends. Especially fun were the bitching sessions about England and how kayu they are. Hahaha. I know one of them is very happy right now because Italy just won the WC.

Anyway, to help me cope with the impending World Cup Withdrawal Symdrome (WCWS), i'm going for a short holiday to Genting with some of my friends - Choo, Ash, Gary, Siew Lin and Siew Har. For my next football fix, it'll surely has to be the Manchester United preseason tour of South Africa which would be shown live on Astro SuperSport. The first match is on July 15th at 9:10pm. Speaking of Manchester United, the new EPL season is 41 days away and they have not made any new signing. Come on, time is ticking and the other 3 big English clubs already have a head start on you. We need quality players in the middle of the park and certainly not a new goalkeeper. To a certain Cristiano "Cry Baby" Ronaldo, if you think that leaving United for Real is a good move for you, you can very well leave us because playing for United is a priviledge, not a right. We do not need players with questionable loyalties. I do hope Fergie keeps Ruud because he's a great goal scorer and still wants to play in the red jersey of United. And speaking of the red jersey, United are going to unveil their new home jersey this coming Friday and the new away jersey on August 24th. The bad news is that these jerseys will only last for a season as they are special edition celebratory jerseys to commemorate the 50th anniversary of United's first league title.

I guess it's time to save some money to buy a new jersey. If my elder sister is reading this, what do you think of a United jersey as a graduation present? *hint* *hint* Good idea rite? Just make sure it's the correct red jersey with a devil in the crest, instead of the one with a funny looking bird in it.

Splendid England

2006-06-16T17:44:00.000+08:00

I watched the England v Trinidad & Tobago match early this morning. I was really enjoying myself with the quality of football comedy being shown on the telly. One thing's for sure, this is not the match you would like to show young kids on how to play football. You could try showing them the Spain match instead. Anyway, back to England. During the course of the match, i shouted KAYU!!! countless of times not because it's a fun thing to do but because the English players are really kayu (okla...it's quite fun to shout that also la).

Take the magnificent Peter Crouch for example. This tiang lampu managed a spectacular scissors kick at a beautiful cross from Becks. The technique was so brilliantly executed that he managed to find the smallest of gaps in between the goal post and the corner flag. Absolutely superb. In the end, he managed to get one header on target and he scored. That's after he fluffed 5 or 6 other chances. I cant understand why is he's chosen ahead of Defoe, Bent or Fowler. Fowler was in good form at the end of last season.

The match had everything, goalkeeper flapping at crosses, midfielders shooting at the stands instead of the goal, striker performing acrobatic stunts, and strikers heading everywhere else instead of the goal. Luckily they scored 2 goals in the end with Gerrard scoring a beauty of a goal. I'm sure Sven would have been savaged by the English press if they didnt. I'm looking forward to the next England match to see if there's another football comedy in store for me. :)

By the way, here are some quotable quotes from the commentator from the match.

Lampard - "he could be playing till midnight and he wouldn't score" when Lampard misses the goal yet again.

Crouch - "the ball hit Crouch instead of Crouch hitting the ball" when Crouch sent a header into the stands.

Sancho - "he would've needed a step ladder to get up there" when he tried to outjump Crouch for the header which Crouch scored from.

PS: I've never been an England supporter although i support Man United and watch the EPL. It's because of all the unnecessary hype surrounding England whenever they play. The press make them sound as if they are the best footballing nation in the world. Blimey!
________________________________________________

Update: I think kids should be shown the Argentina Serbia match instead. They can learn a thing or two about keeping the ball and passing it around. Then, they'll understand that football is a team game and that passing the ball around could also lead to goals, as shown in the first, second (this goal was the end product of 24 passes), and sixth goal. As for the fifth goal, some brilliant dribbling can also get the job done.

Anyway, does anybody here thinks that Paul Masefield looks and sounds weird when he's the host of the programme? His smiling-while-talking-look just amuses me. Hahaha.

All Passed

2006-06-15T01:00:00.000+08:00

Postings will be getting fewer and far between because it is the World Cup season. Most of my days are spent waking up late, watching tv shows or movies that i've downloaded and watching football. When there are less interesting matches on the telly, i would be out for dinner or supper with my buddies. Until now, the 2 teams that have impressed me most are the Czech Republic and Spain. I hope that more teams would start to settle down and play the kind of football that they can really do. I caught the France Switzerland match yesterday, it was so boring that i almost fell asleep. Should have stayed at the mamak and lepak-ed longer if i knew it would have been such a bore.

Anyway, i passed all my papers in my final trimester and now i can graduate in peace. Bye bye MMU. Muahahahahahahaha!!! Thank God that Nirod kept his word and i guess everyone passed Digital Control Systems. So i'll see ya'll at the convo in Cyber. Choo is suggesting/planning a Robotics dinner during the convo. We'll see how it goes.

KLIMS 06

2006-06-05T00:44:00.000+08:00

I went for the Kuala Lumpur International Motorshow at PWTC with Allen and Ash on Saturday. There were too many chicks to blog individually so i'll only post categories of the chicks that were there.

Best Brand Ambassadors on an F1 Car.

Best Brand Ambassador on a Motorcycle.

Best Poser.

She can really do damn many types of poses man.

No. 1 Ranked Brand Ambassador As Voted By The Horny Guys Who Visited KLIMS.

FYI, i didnt vote for any "brand ambassador". :)

Best Brand Ambassador Beside The Best Engineered Retractable Roof.

Best Group of Brand Ambassadors

Toyota had the best group of "brand ambassadors". The picture above shows one of their many hot "brand ambassadors". They are truly moving forward towards the right direction.

Best Brand Ambassador

Mercedes didn't need a "brand ambassador" because it had the SLR McLaren on show. It was hot enough to draw the crowd to the Mercedes booth.

For more pictures from the KLIMS 2006, please proceed to this website.

Final Year Students Gathering

2006-06-05T00:28:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday, some of us final year students had a gathering at Riviera Bay Resort. 5 of my friends from Cyber joined us and it was great meeting them again after so long. We were half way through our food when the heavens decided to open up and release a whole load of rain on us. So we moved indoors and continued gobbling up all the food inside instead. Muahahahaha!

I spent the night catching up with my Cyber friends on stories concerning the members of Alpha Group 9 of 2001. The most interesting stories always revolve around a friend named Seng Lok. Hahaha. Anyway, it was great meeting up with you guys and i hope we could meet up again even though we'll start working soon.

For more pictures, please proceed to this website.

Road Trip

2006-06-04T22:33:00.000+08:00

This is a summary of our road trip to Penang and Cameron Highlands 2 weeks ago. We left KL on Monday at about 10am to Penang. We stopped at Tapah's rest area for some snacks and Choo had Baskin Robbins. That cost Choo a bomb. Hahaha.

Welcome to Penang Island

Anyway, we reached Penang island at about 3pm and went around the Georgetown area looking for a cheap hotel to stay for the night. After a asking around a few hotels, we settled for Hotel Malaysia on Penang Road. A quad sharing room with breakfast cost RM 110.40 so it was a reasonable price for us. Highlights of Penang Road are the numerous nasi kandar and a small shop which is near Komtar which has laksa, char kuey teow, and the best cendol i've tasted in Penang. However, the cendol is outside the shop and if you decide to sit inside the shop to enjoy your cendol, you have to pay the shop a "corkage" charge of 40 cents for each bowl of cendol. Damn shocking isn't it? So we just stood outside to enjoy our cendol. :)

In the 24 hours which we were in the Georgetown area, we visited Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (which is directly behind our hotel), Komtar, Prangin Mall, Khoo Kongsi, Kuan Yin Temple, Kek Lok Si Temple, Kapitan Kling Mosque, St. George's Church, Dharmikarama Burmese Temple, Wat Chayamankalaram, and the Ghee Hiang shop where we bought some biscuits to bring back home to Malacca. As you can see, it was a rather spiritual travelling experience for all of us. Hahaha.

The pig at Kek Lok Si Temple. All of us were born in the year of the pig. :)

On Monday night we also went for dinner with Jamie at a place near her condo which is directly opposite one of USM's gates. We had ikan bakar, sotong goreng with some vege and it's better than the ikan bakar we had a few weeks earlier in Malacca.

The very beautiful Miss Jamie Ong

On Tuesday evening, we went to stay at Batu Ferringhi for the night. The place we stayed in was Baba Guest House and it was about 15 metres from the beach. The room with 2 single beds with an attached bathroom and aircond cost RM 50 per night.

Our rooms at Baba Guest House

Every night along the Batu Ferringhi road, there'll be pasar malam selling a wide variety of imitation goods. The DVDs there cost RM 4 per piece and when you buy 10, you'll get one free. The cheapest DVDs i've seen in Malaysia and the foreigners were buying them in bulk. Hahaha.

The next day, we had dim sum for breakfast in Georgetown before we left Penang for Cameron Highlands. It was a slow drive up because it started raining on the way up to Kg. Raja. We took the Simpang Pulai way which led us to Kg. Raja then down to Brinchang then to Tanah Rata. We stayed in Chua Gin Hotel in Brinchang which cost RM 70 for a quad sharing room. If you guys want to see Mat Sallehs, stay in Tanah Rata because i didnt see any Mat Salleh in Brinchang during our 3 days there.

I read in Cameron Highlands Online's forum that steamboat dinner is a must at Cameron. So, based on that recommendation, we had steamboat dinner at You Hoo Restaurant, which is near to Chua Gin Hotel. The steamboat cost RM 13 per head but the lauk given was 75% vege. OMG! that's only 25% meat and being guys, we need our meat to keep our stomachs full. So, we ordered 5 extra liao, which were tau ki, fish balls, meat balls, mushrooms, and some sotong thingy. The cost of the extra liao was RM 30 and we thought that we got ripped off for that. Damn you You Hoo Restaurant.

Anyway, on with the story. The next day we went jungle trekking up Gunung Brinchang with some visitors from Switzerland, Denmark, and Holland. On the way up, we passed by the Boh tea plantation. The cuts that the tea plants make along the contour of the hills is just breath taking.

Tea plantation in Cameron

After the jungle trekking, the guide brought all of us to the Boh factory to see how Boh tea is made and visitors could buy a variety of tea home as souvenirs. The cafeteria area has the most beautiful view i've ever seen in any cafeteria. I ordered a Boh teh tarik and i have to say that it was the best teh tarik i've ever drank in my life. Well worth the Rm 2.50 i paid for it.

The stunning view from the cafeteria

The. Best. Teh. Tarik. Ever.

After that, we took the bus to Tanah Rata for some sight seeing and lunch. We didnt have enough to explore Tanah Rata more so we shall do it some other day. That night, we had our last supper of the road trip at Secret Recipe. I forgot what we had there but it sure was a great way to end a superb road trip.

Food glorious food

The mess at the end of the road trip

Tangkap basah

We took the Tapah way down from Cameron Highlands and on the way, we stopped at a waterfall to do some camwhoring and bladder relieving. Luckily we took this way down because we really wanted to see some waterfalls since it WAS a hill. Too bad the fella whom we asked to help take the photo had shaky hands or something because the photo below is not very clear.

Waterfall!

So, that's the end of the long postponed post on our road trip. For more photos, please proceed to this website.

Free

2006-05-21T20:28:00.000+08:00

I am now on an indefinite break. Muahahahahaha! It's so much fun, lepaking in KL again after a 3-month hiatus. I went to watch Grease on Friday nite and it was absolutely fantastic. Worth every cent i paid for the ticket. Songs were great, chicks were plentiful, and to top it all off, my car's radiator kong. What great timing. So i had to wake up early on Saturday morning (8:45am) to send my car to a workshop in Taman Tun. After checking the car, the mechanic diagnosed the problem as a blockage in the radiator and cracked hoses. There are sediments and sand trapped in the radiator thus blocking the water flow. I think. Anyway, the problem cost me RM 300. No wait, actually, the problem cost my dad RM 300. Hehehe.

I went to watch Da Vinci Code yesterday at 1U. It was okla, not bad. I dont know how much it differed from the book because it's been some time since i read it. A fren who didnt read the book said she couldnt quite follow wat was happening. After dinner, we went to Rush at Eastin Hotel. We went in after 11pm and it cost us 40 bucks man. The songs started out ok, R&B and all but then the DJ started playing techno. Habis mood. Then, people kept walking about where we were dancing and many of them were doing the shuffle which took quite some space. One idiot managed to step on my shoe when he was walking past me, leaving black stains on the top of my shoe. Luckily the stains came off when i cleaned it with a sponge. All in all, Rush wasnt as fun as i thought so next time it's gonna be another place to club.

We'll be leaving for Penang tomorrow. Cant wait for the road trip cause it'll be a blast.

On another note, Thierry Henry is staying at Arsenal for the rest of his career. I think it's great news for Arsenal fans and also EPL fans. Although i'm a die hard Man Utd fan, i appreciate great talents who grace the beautiful game, no matter what club they play for. So it'll be great watching Henry's silky skills, tremendous pace, and French flair in the Premiership. Another thing that i respect Henry for is his loyalty to his club. Although he was contemplating leaving Arsenal for another club, his heart told him to stay with the club who transformed him from a pacy winger into the best player in the Premiership for the last 3 years. So, hats off to you Monsieur Henry and i look forward to more of your skills and goals (of course not against United) in the EPL.

Good Luck Everyone

2006-05-14T23:34:00.000+08:00

To all of you who will be sitting for your last final exams in the next two weeks, i would like to wish you good luck and all the best. May you pass all your papers and we could see each other at the convocation.

There's Only One Keano

2006-05-10T10:26:00.000+08:00

I woke up early this morning to watch Roy Keane's testimonial match. More than 69,000 United and Celtic fans turned up to honour one of the greatest midfielders the world has ever seen. Chants of "There's only one Keano" and "Keano, Keano" reverberated around Old Trafford for the whole 90 minutes. Although he wasn't the as talented as players like Cantona or Giggs, his obsession with winning and the demand he puts on others made him the most influential player in the dressing room and one of United greatest ever captains. Sir Alex describes him as the best player that he's ever had at United.

Keane's passion, drive and never-say-die attitude embodies everything that United are. The match against Juventus in the semi final second leg in 1999 is widely regarded as his best ever match in a red shirt. Even after he was yellow carded and knew he would miss the final, he kept his head high and inspired United to victory with a goal and a captain's performance. Lesser players would surely succumb to the heartache of missing the Champions League final, but not Keane. He has always put the team above himself because to Keane, his duty is to the team and the club.

Roy Keane in the familiar red 16 jersey walking out onto
Old Trafford for the last time.

Yesterday was the last time Old Trafford will see Roy Keane in the red shirt with the captain's armband strapped onto his arm. I am fortunate to witness Keane in his prime at United. I feel sorry for the future United fans who wouldn't be able to see first hand how great a player he is. The next player who puts on the red number 16 jersey has a very huge shirt to fill because to the United fans, that jersey belongs to only one man and his name is Roy Keane.

So, thanks Roy for all the memories and trophies that you've given us in your 12 very successful years as a Manchester United player.

10 Days More

2006-05-09T18:39:00.000+08:00

till i sit for my last paper in MMU.

till i graduate from MMU.

till i add to the growing number of unemployed graduates in Malaysia.

till i get to watch Grease the musical.

till i start my post-university adventure.

Oh, just to remind you folks out there, it's exactly 30 days more to the start of the biggest and greatest show on earth. Just in case some dumbass out there somehow manage to forget it. Please dont ask me what show i'm talking about because i'll just tell you to go bang your head on the wall till you make a big hole in it.

Anyway, i handed in my last assignment and attended my last lecture and tutorial today. After the last class, we had an emotional conversation with our lecturer. Here's what it's all about.

Us: Sir, please help us in our exam, sir. We want to graduate.
Lect: And you think i dont want you all to graduate? I also want you all to graduate. Is it my fault that the subject is difficult?

Us: Sir, is the exam paper difficult?
Lect: I dont know if it is difficult or not. You tell me whether it's difficult or not on the day of the exam.

Us: Sir, this subject is difficult. You can see it in the midterm marks.
Lect: Yeah this subject is difficult. It's supposed to be taught over one year, not in one trimester. But one person managed to get 16 out of 20 for midterm.
Us: But wat is the average mark for the midterm?
Lect: The average is about 10.5 and i agree that it's not a good average. But, dont worry about the exam. You just concentrate on your studying. The paper is very easy.

The last time he said the paper is very easy was before the midterm. And judging from history, that's not very encouraging, is it?

Anyway, back to the good news. I'll now outline the post-exam schedule that i'm looking forward to.

May 19: Malacca - KL. Grease with Allen, Ash, Midori and Magdalene.
May 20: Allen's planning Da Vinci Code at 1U. Then, Flam with the same ppl as above plus Choo and probably Stella.
May 21: Start of road trip with Ash, Choo and Keng Mun. First destination - Penang, the land of Char Kuey Tiow.
May 22: Penang.
May 23: Penang - Cameron Highlands.
May 24: Cameron Highlands.
May 25: Cameron Highlands - Ipoh. Time to try Taugeh Chicken, but without the taugeh of course. :)
May 26: Ipoh - KL.
May 27: KL - Malacca. There's a BBQ gathering at Riviera for final year students. So, if you are not a final year student, please dont bother gatecrashing.

June 2: Malacca-KL.
June 3: Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show. Time to go appreciate the hot ~~chicks~~ cars on display. Must remember to bring camera man.
June 4: Lepak at 1U. Probably dinner at Italiannies with Allen, Siew Har and whoever decides to come to Kl with me.
June 5: KL - Nilai - Malacca. Must stop in Nilai for mee goreng and probably meet up with some of my ex-colleagues from SKF.
June 9: Start of the greatest show on earth. Time to set the clocks at home to Germany time. Muahahahahahaha.

Damn syiok rite my post-exam schedule.

Robot Pics

2006-05-02T16:54:00.000+08:00

My presentation is tomorrow. I hate presenting because i'll just talk nonsense and mumble my way through. So, a job in sales is a definite no-no for me. :)

Updates On The Lawsuit

2006-04-28T19:42:00.000+08:00

My aunty's friend, who is a lawyer, says that he has to file the lawsuit in the state that the accident took place. So, since the accident took place in the great state of Malacca, he should file the lawsuit in the Malacca Civil Court. Looks like his lawyers not that hebat after all. A letter will be written to my car's insurance company, AIG (the new 14.125 million-pounds-a-year sponsor of Manchester United), the Segamat court and those silly lawyers of his saying that they filed the lawsuit in the wrong court. Pom! Pom! Pom!

So i guess they'll have to do double work now by filing the lawsuit in Malacca. My parents said maybe he tried to claim all the damages to his car from my insurer but only got to claim the back part of his car. That's because my car is only responsible for the back portion of his car. The front portion he has to pandai-pandai settle with his insurer la. I'm not really sure about this. It's all speculations for now.

Legal Proceedings

2006-04-27T23:49:00.000+08:00

I've been summoned to the Segamat Court because i've been sued by the owner of the car that i hit into last July. The fella is claiming more than RM 3500 in damages. I know i can never be a lawyer after i read the Butir-Butir Kecuaian Defendan-Defendan because seriously, i know i can crap and talk nonsense a lot but lawyers, they are on a whole different level. I was laughing like crazy when i read the Butir-Butir. One thing is for sure, lawyers are really creative people. Ok, i shall entertain you all by listing all the Butir-Butir and giving my comments on them.

Butir-Butir Kecuaian Defendan-Defendan

(1) Kegagalan untuk memberikan dan/atau menumpukan sebarang pemerhatian yang sewajarnya ketika memandu M/Kar No. MAL XXXX di atas jalanraya;
I was looking at the ass of your car when i was driving. Where else would i look when i've just turned into a street from a junction? It's not as if there's a chick who's crossing the road.

(2) Memandu M/Kar No. MAL XXXX di atas jalanraya tanpa waspada dan tidak bertimbangrasa;
I was considerate enough to brake so that i dont damage your car even more.

(3) Kegagalan untuk mengekalkan M/Kar No. MAL XXXX di dalam keadaan yang baik dan layak jalan;
Everyone who have seen my car knows that she's in damn good condition. Now baru reaching 70000km. Plus, my car is MAL and yours is JCX. Guess who's car is older?

(4) Kegagalan untuk menggunakan dan/atau mengekalkan sebarang kawalan yang berkesan ke atas M/Kar No. MAL XXXX apabila dipandu di atas jalanraya;
OK this is probably true because i hit the ass of your car.

(5) Memandu M/Kar No. MAL XXXX di atas jalanraya secara merbahaya;
This is the same reason why i failed my first road test. At that time, i thought it was because i didnt give goreng pisang money the tester. Hmm...looks like it's not because of the goreng pisang after all.

(6) Kegagalan untuk menyedari kehadiran M/Kar No. JCX XXXX di jalan tersebut;
I dont know what you all would think after you read this sentence but the first time i read it, i thought it implied that i was driving with my eyes closed or i was driving while looking backward.

(7) Memandu M/Kar No. MAL XXXX di jalan tersebut melebihi had laju yang ditetapkan;
The speed limit at Lorong Pandan is 60km/h. I just turned into the street from a junction. The accident happened less than 100m from the junction. There were 4 people in my car. I'm lazy to do the calculations but logically, an Iswara couldn't accelerate that fast.

(8) Kegagalan untuk membrek M/Kar No. MAL XXXX pada masa yang tepat atau sama sekali bagi mengelakkan pelanggarang tersebut;
This i admit is true. If i had, there wouldnt be an accident, would it?

(9) Memandu M/Kar No. MAL XXXX di atas jalanraya dengan tergopoh-gapah mementingkan diri sendiri, leka dan cuai;
It's a repetition of No. (5). I dont understand wat has selfishness got to do with driving. Can someone give me an example of driving selfishly?

(10) Kegagalan untuk mengambil sebarang langkah yang munasabah bagi mengelakkan pelanggaran di antara bla bla bla;
Isnt this the same as No (3), (4), (5) and (8)?

(11) Kegagalan untuk mematuhi peruntukkan undang-undang di bawah Akta Pengangkutan Jalan, 1987 dan kaedah/peraturan yang diperbuat di bawahnya.
I dont know what law is this so i cant comment on it.

Anyway, the most hilarous part about all these details is that i could say exactly the same thing about the fella. It's because he himself kissed the first car's ass. So everything said about me can be said about him. It's like the pot calling the kettle black.

Oh and another thing, the Bahasa Malaysia used by the law firm is horrendous. I know you probably graduated from a university overseas, but you are practising law in Malaysia and the medium of communication and proceedings in the courtrooms is Bahasa Malaysia. So, please do use correct Bahasa Malaysia when dealing with official matters.

P/S: To refresh your memories, 3 cars were involved in the accident. The first car who did the illegal u-turn and who appears to have gotten away scot free. The middle car, who by the way is the one who is suing me, and my car, who by the way is being sued by the middle car.

Robot

2006-04-26T21:21:00.000+08:00

This picture is for you, Audrey. Beautiful aint she? Anyway, the front part is not attached yet though.

Sorry Jamie, no pictures of me when i'm sleeping ya. It'll give u the creeps i tell you.

Bliss

2006-04-26T00:37:00.000+08:00

My robot is finally working. After so many months of working on it, it's finally ready. I feel damn happy now. I think i'll be going to bed with a smile on my face tonight. Muahahahahahahaha!!!

It's Been A Great Day

2006-04-23T00:25:00.000+08:00

I think i've finished soldering everything today. Unless something seriously wrong happens to my circuits, i hope that that's all the soldering i've to do for my FYP. My report has been submitted and all that's left now is the presentation. After that's done, i can finally say goodbye and so long to my FYP.

Another good news for the day is that i've started dribbling a ball again. This is because i've been watching Ginga and other Joga Bonito adverts lately and i gave in to temptation. Watching the likes of Ronaldinho, Robinho and Falcao dribble and juggle the ball is just awe-inspiring. The rehabilitation guide says that no contact sports yet so i guess dribbling a ball should be ok. I'll have to ask when i see him again. Anyway, the feeling of dribbling a ball and kicking it around again is pure ecstasy. The knee feels stable and pain-free so i guess that's a good indication. I'm using a small, size 1 ball given to me for my 21st birthday. I'm really sorry i cant remember who gave me the ball so i've included a picture of it so that someone can remind me who gave it to me. Thanks in advance.

The last good news for the day is that Michael Schumacher is on pole for the San Marino Grand Prix. It's his 66th career pole which means that he overtakes the late legend Ayrton Senna in the record books. After 2 disappointing grand prix, hopefully Ferrari is back on pace with Renault. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's race and hope to see Schumi at the top of the podium.

Oh and another thing, i'm supporting Liverpool tonight against Chelsea. But it's only just for tonight.

Gubra

2006-04-18T23:25:00.000+08:00

I went to watch Gubra this evening with Midori and my sister. It was a good watch with many hilarious moments. The ones with Alan's parents were the best of the lot. Hahaha. Sharifah Amani was really cute and she looked damn good in a pink kebaya. She also looked really ketot beside Alan Yun. Anyway, i was actually expecting a sequel of sorts to Sepet but it wasn't really that. The movie had 2 storylines running in parallel and they weren't connected in any way. One was about Orked and Alan which didnt develop fully because it kinda hung in the end. The other storyline was about 2 prostitutes and a bilal family who lived next to them. However, in the end, it was a good Malaysian movie and i'm damn proud of Yasmin Ahmad for writing and directing quality Malaysian movies. You can read her blog because i've added her blog address to the sidebar.

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I went to the Entrepreneurship Fair thingy at Main Hall this morning. I was approached by a saleslady for lampe berger and she was speaking in mandarin. So, as i've done countless of times before in my life, i told her "sorry, i cant speak chinese". She looked at me in total shock and disbelieve, like i've said the silliest thing on earth. Then she asked me the question that totally pulled rug from under my feet, "awak ni cina atau melayu?". With my mouth wide open, i asked "you are asking me whether i'm malay or chinese?". I thought i heard wrongly ma. Mana tau rite. Then she nodded, so i said i'm chinese. Then she tried her best to grasp and understand a completely and utterly new concept to her while saying "so you are chinese but cannot speak chinese". It was as if i just explained the theory of relativity to her man. I think she would be running around telling her friends how she met a chinese who cant speak chinese for quite some time. I think Logan should go speak mandarin to her. She'll probably ask him whether he's chinese or indian. It's gonna give her another shock of her life and i hope that her heart is strong enough to handle all the shocks from all the realities of life that she's gonna get in the future.

My Precious

2006-04-11T10:46:00.000+08:00

It's been 9 long months. I've missed you so much. In 6 months, we'll meet again.

It's Official

2006-04-04T19:43:00.000+08:00

If everything goes smoothly and according to plan, in other words, if i pass all my subjects this trimester, i'll be officially unemployed at 11am on May 19th, 2006. Choo, Yann Ling, and Keng Mun are the same. Ashwin would be unemployed sooner than me. His is on May 17th. Siew Har would be the last i guess. Hers is on May 27th. So, after May 19th, we all can together-gether kacau Ong Siew Har for the next 8 days. Muahahahahahahahaha!!!

Trinite 2006

2006-04-02T19:45:00.000+08:00

The Trinite 2006 prom was held yesterday night at Equatorial Hotel. Prem and I were supposed to reach Eq at 7 for some camwhoring before the start of the prom but we were held up due to some unforseen problems. We managed to reach at 8pm and had little trouble finding parking because we simply parked in the middle of the road in front of SFI. I had a shock of my life when i got down from the car because the person who parked behind me was none other than Seng Lok. In fact, i'm still shocked right now. The dude came all the way from Cyber for Trinite. We managed to camwhore for a while at the lobby before going upstairs to the ballroom.

After the usual boring speeches and some catwalk action from Amber Chia, we finally got to eat. The dinner was buffet-style so we all had to queue up like in a school canteen to get our food. After dinner, the emcees for the night, Junior and the other guy (didnt really get his name...was it baldy?) played a game where 3 girls and 3 guys were lined up next to each other in a line. They alternated the gender of the victims in the line because the game requires the first person to suck on a card and pass it to the next person. The next person would have to suck the card from the previous person. Throughout the game, we managed to see some near missed kisses and some making out action with a card in between their mouths.

After that, ~~brokeback~~ Daniel came out to sing. That was a sign to tell us it's time to go out from the ballroom for more camwhoring. We missed Jac's and Reshmonu's performances too because we were too busy camwhoring outside the ballroom. After having my jaw locked because of too much smiling, we went back inside just in time to listen to the emcees announce the prom king and queen. Dont ask me who are they because i have no idea and i dont really care. It was coincidental that we went in just before they announce the winners. The prom king and queen had the first dance of the night and the floor was open after their dance. The deejay played really crappy songs during the dance session, which was also pretty short. I think i talked more than i danced during the dance session.

Anyway, we were the last people, except for the waiters, to leave the ballroom and we managed more camwhoring after the prom ended. A few of us ended up in X-tracts, which was a sad sad place to ~~club~~ hang out (X-tracts is a bistro i think). I think i'd rather lepak at some mamak watching Arsenal tear Aston Villa apart. Oh wait, i WAS watching Arsenal tear Aston Villa apart in X-tracts. I was looking at the telly almost the whole time we were there. Wahahahahaha! Anyway, i know that i'm a United supporter but i cant help but admire their attacking play. Their passing were so crisp and accurate, it was a joy to watch. Arsenal ended up winning five to nothing. Both Arsenal and United are in superb form of late and it makes this weekend's encounter mouth watering.

I reached home at 3 this morning after sending Prem back to her house. I couldn't sleep because i washed my hair after getting home, so i ended up watching the El Classico Barcelona v Real Madrid match. I went to sleep at half time after watching Ronaldinho score from the penalty spot and Roberto Carlos get sent off for two bookable offences.

The photos from Trinite can be viewed at my webshots page.

P/S: I look plain because i opted for the plain and casual look. If you are looking for pictures of the bergaya people on the night, please skip the pictures that have me in it in my album and proceed to Choo's album, thank you.

Interesting Research

2006-03-29T00:51:00.000+08:00

I read this news article in the newspaper today. I find it very interesting because it also reflects many Malaysian men. I for one can tell you that i will never stop loving United no matter how badly they fared. I wont comment about the relationship thing because i have no prior experience in that department. I also agree with the Scots that football give me a sense of national embarassment. Sad but true. Anyway, pay attention to the name of the research company who conducted the polls.

MEN are nearly twice as likely to walk away from a failing marriage as to abandon their struggling football team, research has revealed.

And the divorce rate would halve overnight if men showed the same commitment to their relationships as they did to their teams, according to a study by psychologist Dr Aric Sigman.

He found that around 94 per cent of men said they would never abandon their team, no matter how badly it performed, while 52 per cent would walk away from a relationship that was not working out.

Sixteen per cent admitted they would even go into debt to support their love of the beautiful game, according to the study, carried out for World Cup sponsors Duracell.

Dr Sigman, an associate fellow of the British Psychological Society, said: "If men showed the same fidelity, commitment, self-sacrifice and honesty towards their partners, the divorce rate would halve overnight."

In an increasingly uncertain world, where traditional values no longer dominate, football might have taken the place of former loyalties, he said.

Dr Sigman said: "In an age where politicians' loyalties are seen as chameleonic, where jobs and relationships come and go, loyalty is now reserved for something men feel they can actually believe in - football."

He added the survey also showed that football was an outlet for male emotion. Nearly 39 per cent of men questioned admitted they had cried tears of joy or woe over a football match.

Almost 32 per cent said the game had been instrumental in teaching them to bond with other men.

Dr Sigman said: "The Dad's Army generation would recoil in horror at the levels of vulnerability, emotion and sheer physical affection being openly displayed in front of millions of people by football players and fans today. Football, it seems, is being used as a catalyst to allow men to express emotion."

But the survey, involving 2,000 men across the UK, showed a marked difference in attitude between England and Scotland towards their national sides. Nearly 60 per cent of Englishmen said football gave them a sense of national pride, while 55 per cent of Scots said it caused them to feel a sense of national embarrassment.

The survey also revealed men's devotion to football. A quarter of those surveyed admitted they would miss a family funeral to watch a match, while more than half admitted they would travel to every UK stadium to watch an away game.

Pollsters TNS Global conducted the research for football World Cup sponsor Duracell.

Article sourced from news.scotsman.com. Written by Raymond Hainey.

V For Vendetta

2006-03-23T10:49:00.000+08:00

"Remember, remember, the 5th of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot;
I know of no reason, why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot."
I managed to catch this movie at the cinema on Tuesday with Ashwin and Keng Mun. I have to say that this movie is very good. However, if you are those people who dont like movies which require you to listen to the dialogue to understand what's going on, i suggest that you skip this movie. My sister didnt like this movie because she falls into this particular category. I think i can deduce that she probably wouldnt like The Shawshank Redemption too. Anyway, back to the movie, Hugo Weaving was brilliant as V because he managed to potray his emotions even without the ability his facial expressions. I liked the part where V introduced himself/herself (in the comics, the gender of V was never revealed) to Evey. I was in a daze when he started spouting all those words beginning with the letter V. For those who had difficulties keeping pace with V during his/her introduction because you were too busy looking for your jaw on the cinema floor, i managed to find the whole transcript of it online to let you read it slowly this time around.

"This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is it vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished, as the once vital voice of the verisimilitude now venerates what they once vilified. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose vis-à-vis an introduction, and so it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V."

Oh, by the way, Natalie Portman looks damn hot, with or without hair. Muahahahahaha!

UPDATE! : I've read the first few chapters of the comics and it seems that Prothero identifies V as the man from room 5. So V is probably a guy after all.
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On another note, i know many people are disappointed that Nicol David didnt manage to win a medal in the Women's Singles Squash event. I think everyone should give her a break. I'm sure she did her best but somehow her opponent was better than her on that day. Yes, she is the world champion. Yes, she is the world number 1. But you cant expect her to win every single game she plays. Lin Dan isn't unbeatable. Roger Federer isn't unbeatable. Tiger Woods isn't unbeatable. Nicol David isn't unbeatable. So, i'm really proud of what Nicol has accomplished and i look forward to seeing her win more titles in the future.

To the Malaysian athletes who have won medals for the country, i salute and congratulate you. To the Malaysian athletes who didnt manage to win any medals, i'm still proud of you for representing the country at the games.
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I've noticed that if you use Internet Explorer to view my blog, the sidebar, where you can find the archives and links, will appear at the bottom of the page. The solution for this problem is to use either Opera or Firefox to view my blog. You can download them by clicking on the Opera or Firefox button available on the sidebar.

No Joking Matter

2006-03-20T16:18:00.000+08:00

You know how you used to tease your friends who had just got their driving licenses? You know how you used to act afraid when you sit in their cars for the first time? You know how you used to say "Dowan la. You just passed one. I damn scared la." when they offer you a ride in their cars? Well, now it seems that this is no more a joking matter. I sat in my sister's car for the first time ever today. I came back and told my dad that he should try sitting in her car, pretty scary experience. Somehow or another, she didnt get the joke. Suddenly, she snapped at me and got all defensive. Telling me that next time i shouldnt sit in her car anymore. Whoa whoa whoa. What's up with all these? I thought it was normal to say these kinda things about drivers who just got their licenses. I used to get teased too when i just started learning. People say that i drive dangerously and that i'm having a lesen kopi. In fact my mom didnt even dare sit in my car for the first 2 years after i got my license. She kept saying that i'm still new and she thinks its scary. Well, i didnt get upset by that. I mean it's fine by me if you dont want to sit in my car. I wont get myself worked up with all these petty stuff. Just not worth my time and effort.

I just dont get my sister. Why is driving such a sensitive issue to her? She says that if everyone keeps saying that her driving is bad, my mom wont let her drive anymore. That's just silly, worrying about things like that because she already has a car to drive. Nobody is going to stop you from driving, unless the police revoke you license la. That's a different story altogether. My aunts told her that they are afraid to sit in her car and she said next time dont ask her to send them anywhere. Get this, when you are new, surely people will be apprehensive about sitting in your car. It's human nature to be nervous and apprehensive about something new. It's because they dont know much about this new thing and they need some time to get adjusted to it.

I think she should just relax and dont think so much about her driving. You will get jokes, comments, criticisms, advises, and teasing in every part of your life. You can keep the important ones and let the others slide or you can keep them all in your heart and keep thinking about them. The former will enable you to improve yourself while the latter will leave you miserable with all the rojak going on in your head. My advise is this "Kita hidup mesti sempoi." Sempoi and enjoy your life but you also have to focus and concentrate on the important things in life. Some people think that i sempoi too much and the tidak apa attitude is not a good attitude. I know i look like i'm just sempoing around without anything to worry about but I just want to let you know that although i sempoi around, i still know when it's time to be serious. When it's time to study, i'll study. When it's time to play, i'll play. But then again, i think i'm more serious when it comes to sports. I play to win and not just for the fun of it. There's this competitive side of me when it comes to sports. Sadly, it's kinda lacking when it comes to my studies. Although i'm doing pretty ok in my studies, i think i could do better if i have the same drive and motivation as i have in sports.

FYP Reminder

2006-03-20T01:10:00.000+08:00

I've been kinda busy lately with my FYP. Everday i leave the lab with a new problem to solve but finally i got my circuit to work on Thursday with the help of Keng Mun and Sheng Chao. By the way, Sheng Chao is my sifu when it comes to solving my circuit problems. He helped with Keng Mun's circuit too. That guy's a saviour and is worthy of a mention in my FYP report acknowledgement. Muahahahahaha! Actually, both of them will be mentioned in my report. Anyway, now it's time to do the PCB and to solder the components onto the PCB. Then i'll have to make my robot move and show it to my supervisor. After that, i hope to add 2 or 3 sensors to the robot to enable it to avoid obstacles. Sounds good rite? Just hope i'll be able to do that.

I know that everyone is damn stressed out with their FYP. So many of you all have busy status in their YM and MSN (me included...hahaha). I just want to remind you about these small minor details.

FYP report deadline: 17th April 2006
FYP presentation: 24th April - 6th May 2006
Exam week: 15th - 28th May 2006
Saying adios to MMU for the last time (that's if you dont fail any subject): The date of your last paper.
Convocation: 12th - 13th August 2006

So, all the best in your FYP and hope that you guys/gals will be able to finish your FYP and report in time. Good night, and good luck.

The Rooney Show

2006-03-13T22:23:00.001+08:00

Firstly on F1. Ok it wasn't the perfect start for Ferrari but finishing second in the season opener is a good start. It shows that Ferrari are able to keep pace with Renault when Michael Schumacher managed to finish only about a second behind race winner Fernando Alonso. The pit stop strategy employed by Renault worked to perfection as it allowed Alonso to overtake Schumacher after his second pit stop. Sigh! Anyway, there were 2 driver-of-the-day yesterday, Kimi Raikkonen, for finishing third after starting the race dead last and Nico Rosberg, son of former world champion Keke Rosberg, for scoring 2 points in his debut race and also for setting the fastest lap of the race in his less competitive Williams Cosworth. Next stop: Malaysia!

Now on to The Rooney Show. Those United fans who missed yesterday's Man Utd v Newcastle match should kick themselves in the ass because Rooney decided to give the Newcastle players some lessons in football. He tormented the Newcastle defense for the whole 90 minutes, scoring 2 goals, the first one a delightful chip which had just enough height to escape the outstrecthed hand of Shay Given and enough weight to bring it in the inside of the far post and the second one a show of strength and determination against the pressure from Peter Ramage to score past Shay Given. His all-round contribution was tremendous, chasing after the ball, challenging for the ball, shrugging off tackles and body charges, chasing back to help out the defense, shooting, crossing, you name it, he did it.

However, the question on most people's minds would be how did United just win by 2 goals. United had 30 shots at the Newcastle goal with 12 of them being on target. Rooney himself had 11 shots at goal with 2 on target. Everyone was guilty of missing clear scoring chances, Rooney, Saha, Ronaldo, Park Ji Sung and Ruud van Nistelrooy. I hope that Sir Alex starts conducting shooting and scoring practise because there's nothing wrong with their passing. Yesterday's passing was probably the best i've seen this season, with the ball fizzing around quickly between United players on the sleet covered Old Trafford pitch. With Liverpool's defeat at Arsenal yesterday, United now have a 5-point advantage over Liverpool with a game in hand. As long as we keep up this pace, we can certainly finish second to secure the final automatic Champions League spot. (seriously, that's a damn sad statement...finishing second...we're supposed to be challenging for the title...damn Chelsea.)

Anyway, on to more good news. I just wan to congratulate my lil sister for obtaining 6A1s and 4Bs in her SPM. *clap clap clap* Good job on that but i'm still waiting for my free makan.

The Formula 1 Season Is Back

2006-03-12T11:06:00.000+08:00

Alright, Formula 1 is back again for a brand new season. However, instead of the usual curtain raiser at Albert Park, Melbourne, this season kicks off at Sakhir, Bahrain because Melbourne is hosting the Commonwealth Games beginning March 15th. I'm really looking forward to this season because i lost interest last season due to the dismal performance of Michael Schumacher and Ferrari. The signs are good this season because Schumi just qualified on pole for today's race and in doing so he equals the late Ayrton Senna's record of 65 career poles. Let's hope he'll claim more poles and wins this season.

There are also a few changes to the regulations for this season. Firstly, the single-lap is replaced by a new knockout system where the qualifying session is divided into 3 parts. The slowest 6 cars for the first and second part will qualify 17-22 and 11-16 respectively. The final part will feature a shootout between the top 10 cars to determine pole position and the top ten grid places. Secondly, the engines are reduced in size to 2.4-litre V8s from 3.0-litres V10s. This is done to reduce cost and improve safety. Lastly, teams are allowed to change their tyres during pit stops. This is a superb move because pit stops without tyre changes is just not as exciting. Seeing the crew change 4 tyres under 10 seconds is just breathtaking.

Hopefully with all these changes, we can see more overtaking manoeuvres and a more open and competitive season with multiple drivers challenging for the title. This is going to be a great Sunday because Formula 1 starts at 8pm which is then followed by Man Utd v Newcastle Utd at 9:30pm and proceeded by Arsenal v Liverpool at 12am. What a way to end the weekend.

Football Is For Real Men, Not Posers

2006-03-11T17:54:00.001+08:00

Woohooo! Chelsea are out of the Champions League. Firstly, i would like to say that i have nothing against Chelsea FC, but i do have something against their manager who likes to think of himself as "the greatest" or "the special one". Anyway, serves him right that he lost to Barca. Barca played the game as it was meant to be played, the beautiful way or as Eric Cantona would say, Joga Bonito. Barca played passing football, with thinkers and ball players, with skills and trickery, but Chelsea played long ball style. Oh wait, the term "long ball" is only used for teams like Bolton. When Chelsea employ the same tactics, it's called "long pass". A load of bull la. It's the same tactic no matter what you call it. Stupid commentators and writers.

Back to the match, Chelsea was outplayed by Barca for the whole 180 minutes. Jose would point to the fact that in the first leg, Chelsea was playing most of the match with 10 men. I think that even with del Horno there, he wouldnt stand a chance against Messi. Messi outplayed him everytime he ran at him. He couldnt get close to the ball when Messi was in control and so had to resort to body charges and tackles ,on the leg mind you, to get the ball off him. It's kinda embarassing to see a defender worth 8 million pounds get trashed by an 18-year-old who's as tall as me. But then again, he is such a talent.

The second leg was a tactical affair where most of the football was played at the middle of the park but it was also peppered by some exciting flicks and tricks by the reigning world player of the year. At one point, he managed to flick the ball over Ferreira's head but then he pulled the ball back just to have a go at Ferreira again. Paulo Ferreira was made to look like a schoolboy throughout the match by Ronaldinho and Eto'o. Whenever Ronaldinho had the ball, he was challenged by 3 Chelsea players but the best thing was, none of them could get the ball off him. They had to foul him just to stop him going towards their goal. However, they couldnt shackle for long. On 78 minutes, Samuel Eto'o passed the ball to Ronaldinho and with those magical feet of his, he waltzed his way pass 3 Chelsea players, at the same time managing to brush off John Terry like he was a sack of potatoes, to score the decisive goal.

After the match, Jose's still going around saying that his team were the better team. I wonder which match has he been watching all along. Anybody who watched the match could tell you who were the better team. Even the statistics from both the legs will tell that Barca were clearly the better team. So, i think i represent a lot of people when i say this, PADAN MUKA KAU JOSE!

Anyway, back to the title of this post, did any of you manage to watch Didier Drogba's Oscar worthy acting last weekend? He was about to kick the ball when Jonathan Greening ran across him to block his shot. Apparently, Greening caught him somewhere in the stomach and he fell down as if he was shot by a sniper at the roof of the stadium. Then, he rolled around on the ground to get some nice grass stains on his jersey while screaming in agony. Another Oscar contender is Arjen Robben. When Reina placed his hand on his neck, he went down like he got shot through his neck by a revolver. Then he clutched his neck while rolling around on the ground like he was choking on a durian seed. There's also Cristiano Ronaldo, who's a serial diver. It's difficult to differentiate when he is really fouled and when he's not. I know that he's a Man Utd player but you cant seriously be condoning diving, even if he's playing for the team that you support. These guys are an embarassment to the game. On one side, you have the real gentlemen of the game. They are the guys who are committed in every game. They get kicked around but they get back up again just to taunt their opponents all over again. They play with dignity, passion, and pride. I'll just list down a few of these gentlemen: Thierry Henry, Roy Keane, Alan Shearer, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Gabriel Heinze. On the other side, we have the divers and play-actors who are staining the beautiful game. We really need to get rid of these posers before more of them appear in the game.

Hitz.fm Birthday Bash

2006-03-05T02:12:00.000+08:00

My friends and i were at the Hitz.fm 9th Birthday Bash at the open air carpark of Mahkota Parade. Many big acts were there to rock Malacca, amongst them are K-Town Clan, Frequency Cannon, Reshmonu, Pop Shuvit, and Ferhad but Jason Lo was the one who really rocked the show. The crowd was singing Evening News all by themselves, without him needing to ask us to sing along. It was a great choice by Hitz to let him perform last cause he was the best of all. Anyway, here are some pictures i took at the bash.

The Hitz.fm Crew

The Hitz.fm Cruiser Crew

Frequency Cannon

Pop Shuvit

Serena C, Jay and Ferhad

Jay dancing away

Reshmonu

Jason Lo

After all the performance, my friends and i managed to take a few photos with the stars of the show.

Reshmonu

Jason Lo

Serena C

P/S: We want Jason Lo to rock Trinite, not Danielle. Too bad he'll be rocking the SPARC prom instead.

Excuses

2006-03-02T23:29:00.000+08:00

I went to class earlier than usual today. I was lucky that the previous class had ended and there were only a few students discussing some class/homework with their lecturer at the front of the classroom. So i was minding my own business sitting at the back of the classroom when i overheard this conversation:

Lecturer: Why didn't you do your homework?
Student: I don't have graph paper.

To me, that is one of the stupidest excuses i've ever heard in my entire life. It's like one of those "my dog ate my homework" excuses. I was tempted to shout "buy la, stupid!" to the bloke but the lecturer beat me to it, although she said it in a much nicer way. I guess the only good thing about this is that he was being honest. He probably didnt know where the nearest stationery shop is. He's probably too shy to ask somebody for directions to the nearest stationery shop. He probably hasn't even heard of Jusco or he probably didnt have any friends who have graph papers. But my guess is that he's just a dumbass who couldn't be bothered to look for a graph paper to do his homework.

Speaking of dumbass, i miss hearing Red scold everyone that in That 70's Show. I wonder when will it be back on Star World. Sigh...

For You Smudge

2006-02-27T18:47:00.000+08:00

Those words were emblazoned on the t-shirts worn by the United players after they beat Wigan 4-0 in the Carling Cup final. For those who dont know what they mean, "For You Smudge" refers to Alan Smith, who broke his leg and dislocated his ankle while playing in the F.A.Cup against Liverpool. It was a real freakish injury which happen after he fell on his left leg while blocking a freekick. I'm pretty sure the first thing that crossed his mind after hearing his leg snap is "oh fuck, i wont be playing football for a while". You see, the thing that every sportsman fears is injury because it'll keep him/her from doing something that he/she loves for some time. However, not everyone understands the passion and love these sportsmen have for their sport. After i got injured, some people told me "hey, it's only a game" or "there are other games that you can play" or "dont need to play football anymore la". Of course i dont consider myself a sportsman but i love football as much as any footballer does. So, to these people, i would like to share with you something that Bill Shankly, arguably Liverpool's greatest manager, famously said,

"Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I'm very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that".

I'm sure that anyone who's in love with the beautiful game would share the same sentiment. Anyway, I'm lucky to have family and friends who are supportive of my rehabilitation and who are also hoping to see me play football again. Thank you so much for the encouragement.

I read that Gabby Heinze could return to action before the end of the season and Smithy could be back early next season. Damn it, it takes longer to heal a reconstructed ligament than a broken leg. Sigh... but it's good news for United because we need players like Heinze, Smith, Rooney, who are real warriors on the pitch and who wouldn't think twice to shed blood and tears for the club. I think we also need a new manager because sometimes Ferguson's team selection is just mind boggling. A good example of it is the midfield that he chose for the match against Liverpool. The centre midfield of Richardson, Fletcher and Giggs (yeah, he played the 4-5-1 formation with Rooney and Ronaldo out wide) were completely overran by Sissoko and Hamann. That centre midfield made the average looking Sissoko look as world class as Roy Keane. They were that poor. Smith should have started in game in place of Richardson, who couldnt really tackle to save his life. At least he would have given the midfield some bite. United badly need a defensive midfielder to replace Roy Keane but it would be really difficult to find someone like him because there will ever be only one Keano.

In the newspapers today, there's a report saying that David Beckham cant do Brooklyn's math homework. He said what they are teaching in school nowadays are different from what he was taught. Examples of some national curriculum math questions for 7-year-olds are "Bet went to the shop at 11:45. She came back half an hour later. What time did she come back?" and "What is 12 divided by three?". So, this shows that you dont need an IQ of 120 be successful because as long as you have the natural talent and ability to cross a ball perfectly to your teammate and to score beautiful freekicks, you could earn more than 100,000 pounds per week. You cant teach a kid how to take freekicks like Becks. You cant teach a kid how to play basketball like Jordan. You cant teach a kid how to drive like Schumi. It's because they were born with the talent and ability to do the things they do. The only things that you can teach a kid are skills and techniques. So i guess you dont need to be really smart to succeed in this world. There are things that you are born with, things that you do better than anyone else. Find out what they are and make full use of them.

On another note, the Trinite prom will be on April 1st. There'll be one pondan-ish looking guy there and he's gonna sing a song about dreams, i think. I'm so looking forward to see who are my friends' dates because they are not telling me who their dates are, kononnya wanna make it a big surprise la. I guess it'll be interesting to know who's trying to tackle who. Wahahahaha. There's still no after-prom plans. Probably it's too soon to plan for anything or maybe everyone will be heading back home to complete their FYP report. Haha.

Anyway, i'm also looking forward to a futsal showdown between me and Prem at the end of this year. It'll be the IMU ladies futsal champion against the ex-weekend footballer. I used to beat her, in football that is, when we played one-on-one football in my piano teacher's garden. Damn, we used to have so much fun back then. Anyway, she somehow remembers some fictitious dream where she used to kick my ass when we played football against one another. I wonder how she came up with that story. So, this showdown is being held so that the records could be set straight again and so that the winner could have bragging rights over the loser. Being a nice guy, I have one advise for you, Prem - start training now! :)

Lastly, I'll end this post of mine by wishing Alan Smith a speedy recovery.

V-day

2006-02-17T02:03:00.000+08:00

Since Valentine's day just passed a few days ago, i have a few simple question to ask everyone. Why is Valentine's day so special? Ok, you dont have to give me a lecture on why Claudius II forbid marriage or what Valentine did to be condemned to death. I've read the story in the newspapers on Tuesday. I mean, why do you need Valentine's day to remind you to love your partner? Why do you have to go the extra mile to show your affection, care, and love on this day? I think you should be kind and thoughtful everyday. You should be nice and sweet everyday. You should be caring and loving everyday. Would it be less romantic to to give a hundred roses on any other day? Does it mean you care and love her more if you give a hundred overpriced roses on Valentine's day? I just dont get the big hoo-hah about Valentine's day because the way i see it, it's just some Western commercialism tactic devised to get people to buy overpriced gifts and flowers for their partners on this day every year. Come on people, buying gifts and flowers on any day would surely give your loved ones a very pleasant surprise. I think that they'll cherish it more cause you have to admit it, people generally expect something during Valentine's day. That's how commercialised it has become. So my advise is hit them when they least expect it and see how you can make someone's day a much brighter one, but please dont blame me if it doesnt work out the way you wanted it.

Chinese New Year Blues

2006-02-08T14:30:00.000+08:00

This CNY didnt get off on the right note. Had sore throat on the morning of CNY eve. It was a really bad illness to have when you are having bbq for reunion dinner. Anyway, i just hentam all the chicken wings, lamb (yummy!), and sausages. I was drinking honey with lime the whole night trying to get rid of the sore throat. Alas, (by the way, this is the correct way to use this word. hahaha) the stupid sore throat was still there on Sunday morning. The sore throat then progessed to a fever on this day. Then i managed to develop runny nose and a slight cough. 10 days later, i still have the runny nose. Idiot.

Anyway, i went out for the annual ang pow hunting expedition (APHE) on the third day with the gang. Went to Robin's place and played blackjack (or African-Americanjack) but lost all my money to Robin. Damn, the guy was on fire man. We went to Taman Asean on the fourth day for the continuation of our APHE. Gambled at Colin's place and i lost money again. Aaarghh! 2 days of gambling and no winnings to show for it. Maybe i should get my head shaven bald (or almost bald) to bring in some good luck. Apparently, it also projects a positive image. I think all enforcement officers should have almost bald hair cuts cause it'll project a positive image on them. Dont you all agree?

However, i managed to win back all my losses on the sixth day of CNY when we went to Audrey's place for a CNY party. Looks like i didnt need a hair cut after all. After the party, it was time to finish my industrial training report. It sure was a rushed job cause i had to hand it in on Monday. I would like to thank Choo for all the help he provided. *grinz*

Wallace and Gromit

2006-01-15T22:20:00.000+08:00

I managed to catch Wallace and Gromit yesterday at 1U with Allen, Ash, Prem and YK. The GSC in Malacca is not showing this movie, i wonder why and they are also not showing Oliver Twist in Malacca. What's up with these people man. Anyway, the movie was damn good. I was laufing throughout the movie and before they showed Wallace and Gromit, they had a short 15-minute animation about Christmas featuring the penguins from Madagascar. That was also a really hilarious show.

After the movie, we had dinner at Nando's and then proceeded with the present hunting. Oh by the way, before the movie, Allen and Ash managed to see Daniel at 1U because 8tv had a birthday bash there. I wasn't that "fortunate" as i was busy buying a t-shirt for my sis and also present hunting. It's kinda difficult to find a practical present, purse? watch? handbag? huh? So after much deliberating and discussion, the Swatch Irony with a blue face was chosen. Muchas gracias to Prem and YK for all the thinking, suggesting and modelling, hahaha. Have a look at it and tell what you people think about it.

After the present hunting, we went to Finnegan's at Hartamas to catch the Man Utd v. Man City match. In the match, Mikael Silvestre decided to showcase his excellent defending qualities for everyone's pleasure. IMHO, when Vidic is match fit, Silvestre should be sold off to anyone who wants to buy him. I just hope some club is blind enough to buy him from us. After the third goal went in, i kena kutuk teruk-teruk from everyone at our table, except Allen of course. Bloody malu sial. Aarrgh!

Anyway, after that we went back to 1U to play bowling. I dont want to bowl yet cause i'm a right-hander and i put all my body weight on my left leg when i release the ball, i guess. I'll give it a few more months before i try bowling. However, i had much fun watching them bowl because I managed to witness so many interesting styles of bowling yesterday nite. Hahaha. We then went to Murni for nasi lemak after bowling. I've been waiting to eat that nasi lemak for a few weeks already. Me and Ash got home at about 3 something this morning. It seems to be a recurring thing for this past few weeks, coming home at 3 something in the morning. Hahaha. I'm sure next weekend would be exactly the same.

Today, me and Ash went to Jalan Pasar to look for some of my electronic parts. My aunt dropped us at the Taman Paramount lrt station and we took the lrt to Masjid Jamek. Then we changed to Star lrt and went to Pudu station. After that, we walked along the road to find Jalan Pasar. We didnt know where we were supposed to head towards actually, so we went into a clinic to ask for directions to Jalan Pasar (so what's this about guys refusing to ask for directions when they are lost?). Hehehe.

Eventually, we managed to find Jalan Pasar, but i didnt get the parts that i'm looking for. Went to a few shops but most of them dont know what the hell i'm talking about. I wonder how you say photointerrupters in Chinese. Anyway, we walked to Low Yat Plaza after that. We didnt know exactly how to get to Low Yat but we managed to find our way there by following the Berjaya Times Square building which was very visible from anywhere around Pudu. Thank heavens for skyscrapers. Hahaha. Just outside of Melia Hotel, we walked behind a damn hot chick with an equally beautiful face. It was really worth the long walk from Jalan Pasar to Low Yat. Wow, she was seriously hot. Ask Ash if you dont believe me.

After buying cds from Low Yat, we walked to Pasar Seni to take the lrt back to Kelana Jaya. We were actually supposed to take the shuttle bus from Kelana Jaya lrt station to 1U and then walk back to my aunt's place, but we arrived about 5 minutes late. If we wanted to take the shuttle bus, we would have to wait for another 50 minutes. So, i called my sis to come pick us up from Kelana Jaya. Thanx to her for being such a kind soul. :)

So, that's how our adventure around KL went. We had a lot of exercise going around KL in the bus number 11. Luckily for us, it was a cloudy day this afternoon as it made the walking much more pleasant.

The Weekend In Good Ol' Malacca

2006-01-15T03:46:00.000+08:00

I spent last weekend in Malacca after not going back there for the past 3 weeks. It was time to pay a visit to my doctor for a routine check up on my knee. He took the circumference measurement of the quadricep muscles of both my legs to compare them and to make sure i'm doing my exercises to build them up. My left quads measured in at 41.5cm and the right one measured in at 44cm. So, it's time to hit the gym i guess but i could only do that in February when i start uni again. Now i could do some light jogging, which means jogging on a flat surface, no gradient training.

Anyway, i went for a bbq at Siew Har's house on Saturday nite. Had so much fun there, meeting my friends in Malacca after so many weeks. It's been quite some time since we had this kinda gathering and the lamb that we grilled that nite was heavenly. Muchas gracias to Gary's mom who marinated it. We stayed till about 2 something, yakking and catching up on what's been going on in our lives these past few weeks.

I managed to catch the dour Man Utd v. Burton match on Sunday nite. It was a really bad match lacking passion, conviction and determination on United's part. It was so boring that i switched to Star World to watch Koffee with Karan. He was interviewing 2 really hot ladies, Lara Dutta and Bipasha Basu. Everyone should really watch Koffee with Karan every weekend.

I took leave on Monday to lepak around in Malacca. I didnt drive home so getting around was kinda troublesome and i had to wait till my mom to get back from work to use her car.

Went out for lunch at Burger King the next day with some friends. At last i could use the buy 1 free 1 coupon for the French Chicken, which was seriously good. Muchas gracias to Vivien for the coupon as it bought me my lunch and it bought my friend her dinner. I got back home at about 4:50pm, threw all of my necessary stuff into my bag (this also means express packing) and went to Choo's house cause he's driving back to Seremban.

New Year Weekend

2006-01-02T21:30:00.000+08:00

Friday
This week, i took the PLUS-ELITE-NKVE route to my aunt's place although it's more expensive. The time spent waiting in the car in the jam is just not worth it. So, this week i reached my aunt's place at 6:40pm. Muahahahahaha! My parents, grandparents and sister were up in KL from Malacca so i had a nice family dinner with them at a restaurant nearby.

Saturday
Nothing much happened in the morning and the afternoon - online, read newspapers and watched tv. In the evening, Ash and Allen came to my place before we went to 1U for our new year eve dinner at Chili's. Midori had to wait for Daryl to send her to 1U so she was a little late. After enduring the traffic jam to get into 1U (there's always traffic jam going into 1U), we got ourselves a table for 4 for the night. However, we had to wait for Midori before we could start ordering our food, and trust me, it was quite a long wait as you can see from the photo below. (No Midori, we're not mad at you. We know it's the jam).

The guys looking bored.

After she arrived, we finally got to order our food but we still had to wait for our food to be cooked. So to tame our grumbling stomachs, we ordered chips and salsa. I highly recommend this to those who've not had it before. During the dinner, we managed to ~~kacau~~ catch up with Midori and ask her what she's been up to these few months. Anyway, after dinner we kinda got shoo-ed from Chili's because we were handed the bill without asking for it. The waiter said "I'll leave the bill here for your convenience" which roughly translates to "I guess it's time for you guys to leave".

After dinner, we all went our separate ways. Ash went clubbing with his chick friend in Bangsar (the same chick with whom he went out with 2 weeks ago), Allen went clubbing with his friends at Poppy Garden, leaving Midori with no choice but to lepak with me. Kesian dia. Muahahahahaha! Anyway, both of us weren't in the mood to go clubbing so we were scratching our heads on where to go next to watch the United v Bolton match while welcoming the new year. Thankfully, Midori called Daryl for some ideas and he gave a brilliant suggestion - Hartamas. The guy's a bloody genius as i would find out later.

My date for the night.

So, i drove to Hartamas in search for a place which is showing the match. When we reached Hartamas, i was shocked to see the amount of hot chicks walking around the place. I had to circle the whole place 3 times to look for parking. Once, we missed the turning into Hartamas, we found ourselves driving around in Mont Kiara instead. After we got tired of finding a place to park, Midori volunteered to pay RM4 to park at one of those parking lots with jaga manning them.

While walking around Hartamas finding a place to sit in, Midori asked me whether i wanted to sit at a place and ogle at chicks or i still wanted to watch United. I chose the latter. It was an impulsive answer, i didnt even have to think about it. I wonder if it's one of the reasons why i'm still single. Nah, what a silly question, football will be in my blood till the day i die, United will always be the only club for me, single or not single. I'm actually kinda disappointed with myself because i've missed United's last 12 matches. OMG! I didnt realise i've missed all the December fixtures. Sigh...

Anyway, we went to Warung Uncle Don to find a table to watch footie but the place was full. So, we went to Coffee Bean to to find a place to sit although there's no footie there. Midori had black forest while i had pure chocolate. A few minutes later, it was 2006 and we watched the fireworks displays happening around the Hartamas area.

Fireworks to mark the beginning of a brand new year.

Then, we spent the next hour and the half or so ~~looking~~ ogling at all the hot chicks walking around the Coffee Bean area. I just wanna say this again, Daryl's a bloody genius. I'll definitely come to Hartamas again in the near future. We stayed in Hartamas till about 2am when Daryl came to pick Midori up and send her home. All in all, i had a great time checking out and commenting on chicks with Midori. Hey, we could do this again some other time when i'm in KL.

Sunday
I went shopping in 1U with Justin and Ash. Justin wanted to buy a pair of sport shoes but i'm the one who ended up buying something. I bought a pair of trousers and a t-shirt from Padini. We went from the RSH in the old wing to Studio R, adidas and Nike in the new wing in search for his shoes. We went back and forth quite a number of times until he finally chose a pair. However, he was not in luck as they ran out of stock for his shoe size. He should've asked earlier and saved us the exercise walking up and down the skybridge. Oh who am i kidding, the more we walk, the more chicks we got to see. Muahahahahahahaha! The walking is just some kind of physiotherapy for my knee.

Monday
I had lunch with Allen, Ash and Chee Kian at Asia Cafe, a food court opposite Taylor's College. Too bad they are having their holidays now so there were not many ~~people~~ chicks to see there today.

I'll be in Malacca the next weekend as I have my doctor's appointment on Saturday. Time to check out how the knee's doing. I just hope everything is going well and i'm on course to play football again this year. I'm also looking forward to meeting my family and friends in Malacca. So, Happy New Year everyone. Hope you people have a great 2006. I sure hope i do.

Christmas Weekend

2005-12-27T01:09:00.000+08:00

Friday
Me and Ash left SKF rite after work and we followed Justin's car because he said that using the Sg. Besi toll would save us a heck lot of toll money. However, that plan was a bad idea as we got caught in a jam about 8km from the toll. We took 1 hour to reach the toll from SKF. We forgot that it was a long weekend and that a lot of people will be heading into KL for Chritmas. We were still in a jam after the toll so we decided to take the nearest highway back to TTDI. So we took the NPE to get to Bangsar. There was little traffic there so we thought that the nightmare was over. But that's not to be as we were stuck in another traffic jam at the junction to turn into Bangsar. Aaargghhhh!!! Anyway, we reached the end of Bangsar and got onto Sprint. Traffic was smooth sailing until the Sprint toll where we were caught in ANOTHER traffic jam. OMG! We eventually reached my aunt's place at 8:15pm. Last week when we took the Elite-NKVE route, we reached at 6:45. We took 2.5 freaking hours to get to my aunt's place when we could have done it in 1.25 hours.

Saturday
Today, my aunts made laksa for lunch. My sisters, Ash and i helped to pluck off the taugeh's "tails". When Allen came, he had to shred the chicken into strips. Hahahaha. After the delicious lunch, Ash, Allen and i went to 1U to watch King Kong. It was a really good movie but the final hour was destroyed by an ~~inquisitive~~ irritating kid who kept asking his mom questions. Aaarrgghh! They shouldn't allow kids in the cinemas! After the movie, i called Vivien to ask her about her Christmas eve plans. She said she didnt have any plans and that she was hungry so i invited over for some laksa. Allen came over for dinner too and we had turkey, Hokkien mee (FYI, Ash doesnt like Hokkien mee, weird fella), and yin yong (some fried kuey tiow with fried mee suah, dunno la...something like that la). Vivien came over a little later cos she came straight from church. We also managed to give Vivien her belated presents.

Please feel free to guess what Chee Wee and i got for her. Hahahaha.

Sunday
A relatively uneventful Christmas. Didnt do anything in the morning and the afternoon. Ended up watching Joey and Smallville just to pass the time away. However, my sister, Ash and i followed my aunt to her friend's Christmas dinner in the evening. It was damn fun because the guests there were telling all kinds of funny stories and jokes. Too bad we had to leave early.

Monday
Boxing Day. Everyone went to 1U to do some shopping, mostly for CNY stuff. Reached 1U at 10 something and then started shopping. We finished shopping at about 3 something so while waiting to watch Narnia, me and Ash had Gelare and some waffles at Waffle World while checking out the many cun chicks roaming around 1U. Then me and Ash met up wif Prem and her friend YK for Narnia. YK is a defender in their futsal team, same as Prem. Narnia was a different movie from King Kong but it's still a good movie. However, the movie was also ruined by some kid crying and shouting during the show. Aaarrghh! Anyway, we went to Nando's for dinner after the movie and met up with another of Prem's friend, KL. KL is the striker and captain of Prem's team. After that, we went to the arcade at U Bowl because Prem and YK wanted to play House of the Dead 3. Looking at those 2 chicks screaming while shooting monsters was damn hilarious. Then i invited them to my aunt's place because i had to pass a Russell Peters cd to Prem. To those who've not watched Russell Peters, you dont know what you are missing. We chatted till about 12am and then they went back.

Tuesday
Woke up at 9:45am today to do my course registration. But as always, MMU will find a way to screw up the course registration process. Thank you MMU for being so consistent, consistently bad that is. Thank goodness i'll be graduating soon because the registration process is always a chore.

Anyway, i saw this Japanese restaurant near my aunt's condo which reminds me of my good friend. Everytime i pass by this restaurant i'll laugh and think of her. By the way, i've not seen you for 11 weeks and 1 day. Muahahahahaha! Do you want to know how i could remember that? It's because the last time i saw you was when we had dinner at Burger King the night before my operation.

I'm leaving KL for Seremban at about 3pm today. I had a great Christmas weekend and i'm looking forward to spending the New Year weekend with my friends and family in KL. 3 days more and counting to another great weekend. Woohooo!!!!

P/S: I've added the links to my sisters' blogs in the links section.

The Weekend Before Christmas

2005-12-18T22:15:00.000+08:00

This weekend, Ashwin and me were in KL to jalan-jalan cuci mata. We reached KL on Friday evening and had dinner with my aunt at a restaurant nearby. We ordered Hokkien mee and when you eat that, you must definitely have sambal to go along with the mee. It's a sin not to have sambal with the Hokkien mee. After that, I went online to check my mails and read my friends' blogs. Then, we went for mamak at Mosin with Justin. He's a new trainee in the Electronics Department. He's from Monash Melbourne and currently doing his industrial training with SKF Nilai.

Then on Saturday, I went out with my friend to celebrate her birthday. I got her The Killers' album - Hot Fuss. She didnt believe that i wrapped the present myself. Anyway, i have 2 witnesses to support me. I went to her apartment in Bukit Jalil at around 3pm. I dont really know how to get to her place from mine but thank Google for Google Earth cause that's how i found the route to her place. So, Google Earth is very helpful to find your way around KL. We lepak-ed at her place till about 5pm. I got to see her messy room, it's as messy as mine. Wahahahahaha. However, her bed is really comfy.

After that, we followed her friends to see a Christmas play at her friends' church, Full Gospel Assembly in Kuchai Lama. It's a musical and it was really really good. I enjoyed it really much and there were quite a number of cun chicks to look at too. Muahahahahaha! After the play, we proceeded to 1 Utama for dinner. Reached there at about 9:15pm. Went to line up at TGV hoping to get tickets for Narnia but unfortunately, they were all sold out. We went to look at GSC but after seeing the long queues at GSC, we changed our minds. We headed to Italiannies for dinner and i shared the chicken parmagiana with her. Then her friends brought out their present and a Secret Recipe cheesecake. I couldnt even finish my slice of cheesecake cause i was stuffed.

After that, we went driving around in SS24 for a while before going to a mamak called Murni in SS2. Had nasi lemak there. The nasi lemak is really good but since i was stuffed, i had to share the nasi lemak with my friend. Anyway, the weirdest thing happened after supper. The moment we stood up, it started pouring heavily. Should have left a little bit earlier. Then we sent her friends back and went back to Bukit Jalil to get my car. By the time i reached home, it was already 3 in the morning.

On Sunday, Ashwin, me and my aunt went to a theatrical performance at Bangsar Shopping Complex. Walking in BSC will make you think that you are in some foreign country because of the amount of expats there. Anyway, i saw a cun Indian chick in the theater. She was sitting a few rows in front of me. The play was very funny. After that, we went for dinner with Allen in Taman Megah.

I had such a great weekend and i'm looking forward to the Christmas and New Year weekends in KL. Woohoooo!

P/S: Ashwin too went out for a date but for more details, you'll have to ask him.

Just An Update

2005-12-11T17:16:00.000+08:00

This is just a short update. Had a small birthday makan last weekend at Pizza Uno in Centre Point Bandar Utama. We had a blast with some friends coming all the way from Melaka to join in the fun. Those working in KL were also there. After the dinner at Pizza Uno, we went to the poolside at my aunt's condo. We chit-chatted for a couple of hours to catch up with the latest news about each other. We took this picture at the staircase at the pool area.

For more pictures, you can head over to my webshots album. Oh ya, i'm able to drive now. Woohooooo! I guess it's time to go kacau Midori in KL. Muahahahahaha! So, i guess that's all.

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year 2006.

It's Been A While

2005-11-26T21:04:00.000+08:00

Looks like it's been a while since i've posted. I'll give brief highlights on what's been going on for the past 3 weeks. So here it goes:

Monday 7/11/05: We went to a restaurant named Kensington's to celebrate Ashwin's birhtday. We had Western food, primarily chicken chops and fish and chips. The food there is ok but kinda on the pricey side.

Thurday 10/11/05: Went to IMU Seremban campus to watch their Deeparaya performance. My friend, Anusha, was performing. We missed the first half of the event because of a string of mistakes. We didnt drive that day, but instead carpooled with Mr. Chin. When we carpool, we wont leave SKF sooner than 6:30pm. So we waited and waited and at last went back with Mr. Kee. However, after driving for a few hundred metres, we noticed a weird sound coming out from the left rear tyre of his car. He stopped and checked his tyre only to find out it's punctured. So, there we were, changing a flat at the side of the road in the rain. By the time we reached home, it's already 7:30pm. We rushed to bathe and eat our Nasi Beriyani and then went to IMU. When we got there, we found out that we missed Anu's performance. Damn! I also found out that she's the chairperson of the event so she kinda busy to really have a chat with me. Anyway, in conclusion, the trip to IMU was well worth it although we had to endure some obstacles on the way there. We managed to cuci mata kau-kau there cause there were so many cun hot chicks there. Until now, we're still asking Ashwin why he didnt decide to pursue pharmacy. If he had studied pharmacy, he would be at IMU (hopefully) and he could introduce some of the chicks to us. That's a big IF. Wahahahaha!

Thursday 17/11/05: We went to a place called Hawaii Steak House to celebrate Chee Wee's birthday. The Western food there is more affordable than Kensington's with bigger portions but the service there not as good as Kensington's.

Wednesday 23/11/05: We had our Hari Raya Nite thingy at SKF. The Muslim employees organised and paid for it. The same as the Hindus organised and paid for the Deepavali Nite. We, the trainees, had to perform the 3 Raya songs. In the end, we had much fun. It was my first time wearing a Baju Melayu. I think the same goes for Chee Wee and Ashwin. Anyway, Ashwin looks like the Menteri Besar of Pulau Gadong. Look at the picture below and tell me if you agree with me. Hahaha.

(l-r) Ijad, Chee Wee, Me, Ashwin

Anyway, the Malay trainees are ending their training on Nov 30. I'm gonna miss practising my Malay with them. Although i can speak kinda good Malay, i can only understand 80-90% of what they are talking about when they speak among themselves. They speak fast using a slang with words that i dont really understand. I've also learnt a few new words from them. Hehehe.

I went to the doctor today. He said that i can discard the brace already and that i can start swimming and light jogging. I can also start driving. Woohooooo!!! Cant wait to drive to Seremban and then to KL for the weekend. Hopefully i can drive to Seremban on Dec 11. Just have to renew the road tax and fix the air cond. There's a weird smell emanating from the air cond. Hahaha.

Deeparaya

2005-10-31T17:26:00.000+08:00

I have a week off from work because of Deeparaya. Yeh!!! First week of work was exhausting. I sleep at just after 10pm every night and wake up at 5:45am every morning. I am not used to sleeping and waking up so early. I guess i'll get used to it after a while. It also takes me about 45 minutes to reach SKF from the house i'm staying in and route taken offers some very nice scenery in the morning, especially if it rained the night before.

Anyway, me and Chee Wee are attached to the electronics division of the maintenance department of SKF. Ash is also in the maintenance department but i forgot wat division he's attached to. I dunno how big the factory is actually. I think it's a medium-sized factory, certainly not huge. Even though it's a med-sized factory, i've not explored the whole factory yet. The brace that i'm wearing is kinda restricting my walking and walking long distances is troublesome and tiring. So, i guess i'll go jalan-jalan around after i can walk properly.

The people in SKF are okay. They look like nice people to me. Some of them asked me wat happened to my leg and after that shared their own football injuries with me. Until now, i've heard of breaking the tibia, dislocating the knee and tearing the thigh muscles. I'm waiting to hear more stories. The Malay trainees there said that too bad i'm injured cause they are organizing a match before they complete their training. Damn it!!! Look at how much football i'm missing. AARRGGHHH!!!

SKF will be having a Hari Raya night on the 23rd of November. The trainees (which includes me, Ash and Chee Wee) are going to sing 3 Hari Raya songs on that night. The songs are Suasana Hari Raya, Seloka Hari Raya and Menjelang Hari Raya. I think our bad singing will cause some flooding in Nilai. Muahahahahahaha!!! We'll also be attired in Baju Melayu, songkok and kain samping. I cant remember if i've worn a Baju Melayu before but anyway this is going to be real cool.

For an update on my knee, on Day 18, i did some cycling on the stationary bicycle and some weight bearing. From the weight bearing, you can really see how weak my left leg is. I can only manage the lightest of weights. You can also see the leg trembling trying to lift the weight. So, there's still a long way to go.

Lastly, i want to wish all my Hindu friends Happy Deepavali and my Muslim friends Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Maaf zahir dan batin.

Start of Industrial Training

2005-10-23T00:15:00.000+08:00

I'll be starting my industrial training tomorrow at SKF Bearings in Nilai. I'll be staying in Rasah Kemanyan, Seremban2 with my aunt and my two friends Ashwin and Chee Wee. I'm looking forward to my training and hope to learn a lot of things during this period. I'll be back in Malacca on Friday cause i have physiotherapy on Saturday. My aunt's place has no phone line so i'll have to go through 5 days without internet. I think that's fine because the whole day i'll be working and then i'll have to do exercises when i get home. Need to build up the quadricep muscles and work the knee. Rehab! Rehab! Rehab! My quads are all gone. No muscles there already. Sigh...

I guess that's all for now. Happy working to all those who are undergoing their training right now.

Oh, saya juga ingin mengambil kesempatan ini untuk mengucapkan takziah kepada Pak Lah dan ahli-ahli keluarganya. Semoga Tuhan mencucuri rahmat Datin Paduka Seri Endon Mahmood.

I'm Back

2005-10-16T21:06:00.000+08:00

I'm back home now and it feels real good to be back. Staying in the hospital was sooo boring. We only had local tv and it's total rubbish. Oh how i missed Astro for 5 days. I missed the World Cup qualifiers too and a whole load of tv shows. All i did was read the newspapers and Deception Point by Dan Brown. By the way, Dan Brown rocks. Everyone should read his books. After getting bored of reading, i'll sleep, chat wif the uncle beside me or wait for some visitors. Oh ya, i want to thank all of those who visited me and brought buah tangan, especially the ice. Really appreciate that. Thanx for the cake, cards, fruits and magazine. Thank you also to those who called, smsed and sent their 'get well soon' wishes. To a certain friend of mine who didnt sms or call because she ran out of credit, i know you were thinking of me. Thanx. *terbalik terbalik* *grinz*. Wahahahahaha.

Anyway to those who wants to know about the surgery, you can click on this link here (Mahkota Orthopaedic) and choose ACL Reconstruction. My surgery took about 3 hours. I was damn groggy after the surgery and vomited many times. To those who visited me just after i got wheeled out, sorry you people had to see all those vomiting. Hahahaha. I was feeling much better by the next day and managed to hentam most of my food. The food served to me was great considering it's hospital food. I chose western food for myself and i had spaghetti, chicken chop, fish and chips, pancakes, sandwiches etc. during my stay there. Oh and about the nurses, there arent many cun ones there. Pantai has more. Let me see, throughout my stay there, i only saw 3 nurses who are not bad looking - 2 Malays and a Chinese. So, to those who want to check out nurses during their stay in the hospital, please go to Pantai Medical Centre. Hahahaha.

This week has centainly been an interesting week. Looking at the visitors that came to visit me, both my mom and sis asked whether i have a girlfriend. That question almost made me fall off my bed. The funniest thing about this is that both were refering to 2 different girls. Wahahahahahahahahaha. However, i had to disappoint them by stating that i'm still single but not available. Will only be available after i graduate next year. Hahaha. No time to have a girlfriend cos studies come first at the moment. My degree is my passport to my future. However, you girls out there better watch out cos there'll be a new player in town next year.

Anyway, did you know that girls some how know when guys are checking them out? I didnt know about this cos whenever some girl look back at me when i'm checking her out, i thought it was just a coincidence. It happened quite a few times so recently i asked some of my female friends whether they know when they are being checked out by guys, they replied 'yes'. Okay, that was a real eye opener. Then, when they look back, i would always look somewhere else and buat tak tau. My friends suggest that i smile at them when they look back. Hmm, very interesting. I dunno wat would happen after that but it's worth a try though. So guys, if a girl looks back at you, try smiling at her and see wat happens. Hehehe.

Knee Update Part 3

2005-10-09T21:45:00.000+08:00

Surgery postponed to Tuesday. The stuff for the operation will only arrive on Monday. It's great news cos then i can go to the dentist on Monday and get some other things done. Things such as buying 1 or 2 black slacks for work, washing my football boots (i tot i would only be out for a few weeks, so i didnt wash them -->lazy. But now i know i wont be needing them till next year, i have to wash and keep them. The same goes for the ankle guards too.) and eating at Burger King wif frens.

Knee Update Part 2

2005-10-07T21:48:00.000+08:00

Surgery will be on Monday, Oct 10th. I dunno how long i'll be in the hospital. Those who are planning to visit me, please bring ice cubes with you. Not one or two ice cubes but one packet of ice cubes. It's like the one u can buy in the supermarket or 7-11. I'll need that to keep the swelling down.

Anyway some of my friends told me not to play football anymore after i've recovered. You guys have known me for so long and you know that that wont happen. You just dont give up something that you are so deeply in love with. I love football so much and my passion for the beautiful game is so deep, i cant bear the thought of not playing football again. Probably this thought will change in the future when i meet the girl of my dreams, but then again, football will always be a huge part of my life. So, sorry to disappoint u guys/gals but i'm so looking forward to playing football again next year. I told the doctor that all i want to do is to be able to play football again. The guy's kinda cool and he used to play football for his skool last time. I think i'll ask him which team he supports after he does the surgery. You know, just in case he's not a Man Utd fan. Hahahahaha.

So, those who have nuthing to do next week and feel bored sitting at home, please do come visit me and keep me entertained. Just hop by to room 517 at Mahkota Medical Centre.

Knee Update

2005-10-05T17:28:00.000+08:00

I went to the orthopaedic specialist today. He had a look at my knee (pushing, pulling, twisting) and asked me whether i feel any pain. I answered "no" to most of his questions and i thought that he would send me home because of all the negative answers. He ordered an MRI and X-ray scan and had me admitted so that it would be covered by HLA (Hong Leong Assurance). Luckily he didnt send me home saying "I think nuthing wrong la boy. Just go home and rest."

I got the results of the MRI at about 2 something. It confirms that my meniscus is torn. Then he mentioned the 3 letters that strikes fear into every athlete - ACL. The MRI shows the PCL (Posterior Cruciate Ligament) is healthy but the ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) cant be seen. So it's inconclusive whether it's torn or not. One thing for sure is that i need to have surgery to repair the meniscus and then a scope to see whether the ACL is torn or not. If it is, then a hamstring graft has to be done. This is where a tendon in taken from the hamstring to create a new ACL. So, i'll be staying in the hospital for a few days if the ACL is torn. If it's not, then an overnight stay is sufficient for the meniscus repair surgery.

After surgery, a few months of rehab and physiotherapy will follow (again depending on the surgery done). So looks like i wont be driving to Seremban for work after all. I'll have to tumpang Chee Wee or Ashwin. Anyway, i look forward to playing football again next year. But the doctor said that i wont be the same player as before. Damn sad man. I'm just thankful that i went to see the specialist and get the MRI of my knee. If nuthing is done, i'll get arthritis at a young age. Somewhere around 40. When i have the surgery, do stop by and say hi ok. I'll surely be bored to death there so i need some entertainment. Hahahaha.

RE Makan

2005-10-04T21:11:00.000+08:00

Our class had a steamboat makan last Friday. 4 of my classmates who took a 3.5-year course as opposed to many of us who opted for a 4-year course will be graduating. So this makan is kind of a farewell to them and also to us who are going for our industrial training starting Oct 17. We wont be seeing one another again till next year. When we come back for the final trimester, there'll be 4 people less in the class. Anyway, good luck to the 4 in their working life and hopefully we'll see each other again soon.

Adios "Mi Amigo"

2005-09-28T23:59:00.000+08:00

Alrite, the holidays are here. I just finished my last paper for this semester this morning at 11am. Now I can kick back and relax until my industrial training starts. NOT! I have to continue doing my FYP, more specifically designing the circuits. I have to learn how to do this from my friend before he goes Kluang to do his industrial training. So better learn everything from him first.

Anyway, MU lost to Blackburn on Saturday, which is not a good prelude to my exam week. United have begun to play pretty boring football. They somehow lack penetration and attacking ideas. Probably Ferguson should drop Scholes (who I think is off form at the moment) and put Giggs and Ronaldo at the wings with Rooney playing behind van Nistelrooy. Bring back the tried and trusted 4-4-2. Anyway, I just want to watch entertaining football again in the EPL. Arsenal played seriously entertaining passing football in the season that they went unbeaten. The build up to their goals were simply a joy to watch. Now, if you want to watch entertaining attacking football, you have to tune in to watch Barcelona. Ronaldinho is just pure footballing genius. That's how football should be played. That's what made football the beautiful game.

I think that's enough of football for now. Monday's paper was alrite. He should have told us that there wont be any theory in the exam. It's all calculations and similar to the tutorials. I'll take calculations over theory any day. I hate memorizing things. Then on Tuesday afternoon, I got some shocking news from my grandfather. My neighbour just passed away. He was battling cancer and succumbed to it after the second relapse I think. Anyway, he was actually quite a fit guy. You can see him jogging almost everyday and he played badminton actively. I guess maybe it was the smoking that got him but I'm not a doctor so dont quote me. I'm going to miss talking to him. Sad.

Today's paper was actually quite ok but I've burned 10% of the marks di. Dunno how to do the questions. But that's besides the point. The point is that I've said goodbye, adios, selamat tinggal, sayonara, au revoir to "my fren". Woohooooo!!! One semester of misery is more than enough from him. I've never seen anyone as rigid as him. He follows rules right down to the T and always thinks he's right and everyone else is wrong. He doesnt like it when people try to correct him and he's also very selt-conscious. He always thinks that we dont believe what he tells us and that we are always laughing at him. Hence the no-smiling, no-laughing policy in the classroom. So, I wan to wish good luck to those who are doing their FYP under him cos they still have to endure him for one more semester next year. Muahahahaha!

Oh ya, I'm looking forward to a good movie next year. It's titled Gubra and it's the sequel of Sepet. I read in the newspapers that it's better than Sepet and also more controversial. I'm sure the censors will have a field day snapping away many parts of the movie. The censors are damn kolot (backward thinking) and when I say backward, I mean a few hundred years off pace. They "believe" that they are "protecting" us from all these "bad influence". They just have to know that Malaysians are mature and intelligent enough to filter the bad from the good. We really "appreciate" the help but we dont really need it.

FYP

2005-09-17T15:07:00.000+08:00

Alrite, here are a few photos of my FYP. The title of my FYP is General Purpose Mobile Robot Platform. It is powered by 2 DC motors which are attached to the back wheels and the front wheels are passive wheels. The square part of the robot is the general purpose mobile robot platform while the semicircular front is a detachable module where the sensors will be placed.

The above image shows the robot

The above image shows the robot with its top on. The top is actually a see-through perspex with its brown paper cover still on.

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Anyway, I have a new wallpaper on my computer. The previous one was also great so I'll be alternating between 2 wallpapers. Muahahahahaha!

New wallpaper.

Previous wallpaper.

Hard Disk Kong

2005-09-11T11:59:00.000+08:00

Alrite, my desktop hard disk crashed on Thursday. Luckily i still have my laptop to surf the net, chat, download stuff and kacau chicks. Muahahahahahaha! But then, the bulk of my mp3s, digicam photos, notes (eh wait, i think i've transfered them to the laptop) and tv shows (mainly The 4400) are in the hard disk. AARRGGHHHH!!!

So, i spent the whole day (2-10:30pm) at my aunt's place, using her desktop to scan, test and recover data from the hard disk. Thank Ontrack for creating EasyRecovery Professional. It's a real saviour. I manage to recover about 4Gb plus of my mp3s out of the 6Gb plus i used to have. I left the 2Gb out cos i didnt really like the songs anyway. Good time to get rid of unwanted mp3s. I still counldnt find my folder of The 4400. Arrgghhh. Should have burned them to cds long ago. I'm regreting this very much. I've not watched them man. I hope people are still sharing them in bit torrent, just in case i cant recover them. I've also recovered most of the photos from my digicam. Some are corrupted though but most of them are good. Thank goodness.

I still have some data to recover. My dad and sis also have their own data to recover. After that i can reformat the whole bloody hard disk and hopefully still can be used la. If not 80Gb wasted man and a new one costs RM200 plus. So the important lesson here is that you should always back up your important data. Oh man, that sounds so cliched. But then again, it's so true. Now i'm gonna back up my mp3s into dvds man. No more regrets.

Not having my desktop is so troublesome because my laptop doesnt have a parallel port and my printer is an old junk which doesnt have a usb connector. Now i cant print my notes so i'll have to photostat them from chee wee (i do that sometimes anyway...lazy wanna print).

Anyway, i'll post pictures of my Final Year Project in my next post.

Bad Business Tactics

2005-09-08T17:22:00.000+08:00

At Leader Electronics Shop in Kota Laksamana.

Me: *Hands list of electronics components to lady* I want one of each of these. (I was refering to some resistors)

Aunty: One only ar? I sell you 7 sen each. You take 10 of each la.

Me: Huh?! I want one only. I dont need so many.

Aunty: Nevermind la. You take one then the rest you can sell to your friends.

Me: *pengsan*
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At the same shop on the next day, but now it's my friend's turn.

Gamyiongman: Do you have serial cable?

Aunty: Huh?! Serial cable? Your english so powerful. You invented that term is it?

I cant remember wat happened next and dont ask me wat does gamyiongman mean also. He calls himself that.

Note to self: Avoid Leader unless it's absolutely necessary to buy something from there.

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Anyway, my exams are around the corner, September 26th and 28th. My FYP presentation is on September 19th. I have another lab report due while all my assignments are done, I think. Pimples are starting to appear on my face. My left knee is still useless and the ezcema on my finger is making a comeback. So, this is all the update for now.

Selamat Hari Merdeka

2005-08-29T02:45:00.000+08:00

Tarikh 31 Ogos merupakan tarikh amat bermakna kepada setiap warganegara Malaysia. Pada hari ini, setiap satu daripada kita akan mengingati usaha Tunku Abdul Rahman dan rakan-rakannya yang telah membebaskan negara kita daripada penjajahan British. Generasi muda sekarang tidak berapa menghargai apa yang telah dicapai oleh Tunku kerana kita belum lagi dilahirkan apabila negara kita menderita dibawah kekejaman Jepun dan juga penjajahan British. Jika kita menanya generasi yang berusia 50 tahun dan lebih, mereka akan menceritakan kesusahan yang dialami pada masa itu dan betapa bermaknanya pencapaian merdeka kepada mereka. Saya akui, sebelum ini saya juga bersikap sambil lewa tentang hari merdeka tetapi setelah membaca artikel-artikel dalam surat khabar dan juga buku-buku, saya mula berterima kasih kepada Tunku dan rakan-rakannya kerana tanpa mereka, kita masih akan berada dibawah jajahan negara lain.

Saya tahu bahawa banyak rakyat Malaysia yang berkata negara kita mempunyai banyak kekurangan, tetapi saya tidak setuju kerana Malaysia adalah sempurna dalam semua segi. Apa yang mungkin tidak sempurna dan mempunyai kekurangan adalah kerajaan dan polisi-polisi yang anehnya. Akan tetapi, mana satu negara yang mempunyai kerajaan yang sempurna? Oleh itu, saya percaya setiap rakyat Malaysia mencintai negaranya tetapi tidak semestinya kerajaannya. Negara ini memberi peluang kepada setiap penduduk untuk mendapatkan pendidikan dan juga bekerja. Negara ini menjadi tempat tinggal masyarakat pelbagai kaum, agama dan keturunan. Meskipun kita mempunyai kebudayaan dan kepercayaan yang berlainan, kita masih hidup dalam keadaan aman dan damai dan berasa selesa dengan satu sama lain. Kita telah menghadapi pelbagai cabaran dan mengatasi semua cabaran ini bersama sebagai satu bangsa dan satu negara. Semua cabaran masa depan akan diatasi dengan cara yang sama, sebagai satu bangsa Malaysia tanpa mengira kaum, keturunan dan agama.

Lantaran itu, saya berasa amat bertuah kerana dilahirkan sebagai seorang anak Malaysia. Saya cintai negara ini dan akan menumpahkan darah dan menggadaikan nyawa untuk mempertahankan kedaulatannya. Saya berasa bangga membawa nama warganegara Malaysia. Saya masih mengingati perasaan terharu apabila kapten penerbangan MAS mengumumkan "kepada semua rakyat Malaysia, selamat pulang" kepada kami semua. Ini adalah kerana walau apa pun yang terjadi, Malaysia tetap menjadi tanahair saya dan tempat kepulangan saya.

Oleh itu, pada setiap hari kebangsaan, saya akan berdoa kepada Tuhan untuk merahmati tanah tumpahnya darahku dan semoga tanahairku kekal aman dan damai. Saya juga mengingati pahlawan-pahlawan negara yang telah berjuang menitiskan peluh, menumpahkan darah, dan mengorbankan nyawa untuk membebaskan Malaya dan membentuk negara baru yang agung iaitu Malaysia.

Terdapat satu lagu patriotik yang amat bermakna kepada saya dan saya ingin mengongsinya bersama anda semua. Saya diajar menyanyi lagu ini semasa saya belajar di tadika. Pada masa itu, saya hanya menyanyi tanpa memahaminya tetapi sekarang saya dapat menghayati makna setiap satu liriknya.

Setia

Demi negara yang tercinta
Dicurahkan bakti penuh setia
Demi raja yang disanjung tinggi
Kesetiaan tak berbelah bagi

Kepada pemimpin kepada rakyat
Khidmat diberi penuh taat
Sama bekerja sama berusaha
Setia berkhidmat untuk semua

Rela berkorban apa saja
Amanah bangsa tetap dijaga
Kami berikrar penuh setia
Untuk agama, bangsa dan negara

Selamat Hari Merdeka Ke-48 kepada semua rakyat Malaysia.

Urut Session Numero Dos

2005-08-26T21:05:00.000+08:00

I went to urut my knee today, just a follow-up from Wednesday's session. Chinese sinseh also got follow-up session man. I'll have to go again next week. This is how my knee looks like now. The herbs used in the bandage stink man. Sigh...

Anyway, the verdict now is...

no running or jumping for a month
no cold stuff (bye bye Milo ais, ice cream, ais kacang)
no mushrooms
no santan (bye bye nasi lemak, cendol)
no kacang (bye bye peanut butter)

Also, due to the eczema or fungus (2 different doctors gave 2 different diagnosis, I guess that's why we always look for a second opinion when it comes to our health) on my finger, no seafood too. I found out that seafood makes it worse. So this is a real torture for me. Arrgghhhh!!!
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Selain itu, sempena Hari Kebangsaan Malaysia Ke-48, pos saya yang seterusnya akan ditulis dalam Bahasa Malaysia. Saya akan menulis tentang perasaan bangga saya dilahirkan sebagai seorang anak Malaysia dan isu-isu nasionalisme yang lain. Sesiapa rakan-rakan blog (bloggers) saya yang ingin menyertai saya dalam usaha ini adalah amat dialu-alukan.

Life's Lesson

2005-08-24T02:18:00.000+08:00

I watched an episode of Phua Chu Kang on Saturday. In that episode, Chu Beng was groped by 2 girls on the same day. So, this Chu Beng complained about this to his brother Chu Kang. This prompted Chu Kang to gave his brother an important lesson about a guy's life. Basically, he said,

"When a man touch a woman, it's called MOREST, but when a woman touch a man, it's called SYIOK MAN!!!"

So guys, dont go around touching/groping girls man. Perverts! But if a girl wants to touch/grope you, enjoy it cos it's SYIOK MAN!

Muahahahahahahaha!!!

A Load of Lies

2005-08-19T21:04:00.000+08:00

It's official. As of today, our Robotics and Automation major class has unanimously voted our Advanced Robotics lecturer as the worst lecturer to have taught us. I've actually felt he was damn bad quite some time ago but others might beg to differ. Well, the ambiguities ended this morning at around 9-10am. This lecturer told a load of lies to us and expected us not to notice it. Too bad for him, we're not stupid students who swallow everything he tells us. Now, I'm going to describe the lies he told us today.

Lie #1
Previously: Please understand these codes given and discuss as a group. Then, select a representative to present this in the tutorial class. Remember to select the best because marks for the whole group will be based on his or her presentation.

Today: He called up each of our names to come out to present the codes.

Ok ok. I admit that I didn't study as hard as the others and I didn't put in as much effort as the others in understanding the codes. I thought that only the representative will give the presentation. If he had told us that each and every one of us will be called out to present, I'm 100% certain all of us will do our best in studying the codes. However, I do not condone my "tidak apa attitude" in learning the codes and should be held accounted for it.

Lie #2 (told to Yann Ling)
Yann Ling told him that he's going to be absent today for the presentation.

Previously: Ok, dont worry my friend. I just want you to understand it and discuss it as a group.

Today: Those absent will get zero for this assignment unless you have a letter or MC.

So, first say dont worry if you are absent but today tell us that those absent will get zero.
______________________________________________________________

Anyway, when Florence asked him whether those who are not too sure about the codes can try explaining it, he said "It's either you know or you dont. If you dont, please sit down". Which pissed her off.....a lot. So she kept arguing with the guy which made him a little pissed. At the end of the class, he managed to piss off everyone and made everyone hate him.

I'm happy that I will not see him again after this semester (although I'll see him around campus la but hopefully not). Those taking FYP under him, good luck. Muahahahahaha. Good luck to those who are going to be taught by him too.

Just A Little Common Sense Needed

2005-08-18T00:33:00.000+08:00

I went to the gym yesterday. I weighed myself, hoping to see some increase in my weight but to my dismay, I still as heavy as I was a month ago. I thought that a month without sports or exercise or gym, I could put on some weight. Sigh...

Anyway, I managed 15 minutes on the bike, 15 minutes on the treadmill and some weight training in the gym. My knee feels ok. No reaction or breakdown, so I consider the gym session a success. Muahahahahaha. A step closer towards playing football again. Woohooooo!!!

However, the main story about this post is not about the gym. It's about wat happened just before I went to the gym. I went to MMU wearing my gym attire; t-shirt, sports shorts, socks and sports shoes. I thought that since I was going to MMU, I might as well hand in my Wireless Registration Form to CITS (Centre for Information and Technology Services - for those who dunno wat's that). So I went to the CITS office in my gym attire to pass the form to the jokers there. When I was about to give the jokers there the form, this happened.

Joker: Minta maaf, pakaian awak tidak proper.
Me: *dumbfounded look* Saya nak pergi gym selepas ini.
Joker: Maaf, saya tak boleh terima. Datang dengan seluar panjang.
Me: *shrugs shoulders* OK...while giving him the look that screamed "these fellas no common sense one ar?"

I wish that I had my trousers in my bag at that time. I would've taken them out and put it on right in front of him (wif my shorts still on of course). Hand him the form and take them off again. I mean, use your blain la. I was on my way to the gym. It's not as if I wear like that for classes. Some people got no cow sense man. Sad case.

The Long Wait Is Over

2005-08-15T00:09:00.000+08:00

The long wait is over.
The Premier League is back.
Normal weekends are resumed. (That means no Akademi Fantasia crap)

I watched the first Premiership match last nite. Man Utd vs. Everton. I've been waiting for so long for the Premiership to resume. It's been a long two and a half months with sporadic football matches in between. The Confederations Cup was a good filler for the wait. Anyway, United played well last nite with occasional lapses in concentration at the back during the first half. Marcus Bent was a real handful after he came on for James Beattie, who got injured after 20+ minutes into new campaign. You have to really feel for the guy, getting injured after only 20 odd minutes. Rooney and van Nistelrooy looked sharp and Park Ji-Sung was really impressive. He should have scored on his Premiership debut, he had two clear cut chances that went begging. He reminds me of the Energizer Bunny because he runs and runs non-stop till he got substituted. van der Sar played well too. He saved 2 headers from Tim Cahill to keep a clean sheet. Overall, both signings look like very very good buys.

However, watching football is now also a sad thing for me. I want to play football so much. My legs are itching for football. I miss the running. I miss the feel of kicking the ball. I miss the joy of scoring a goal. I actually miss the shoutings and scoldings I get from the old guys. All in all, I miss football, a lot. I still don't know when I can start playing football again. I've not played any sport for a month now. My fitness and stamina are now zero and what tiny muscles I built during gym are all gone now.

I've set myself some goals for the coming weeks. I'm going to start jogging and gym again this week. I'm going to endure what ever pain there is. I'm not going to give up. I'm going to play football again. I'm going to score goals again.

Look Who's Back

2005-08-01T19:42:00.000+08:00

I went to Malim Jaya this evening to bring my sayang back home. After the reconstruction of her face, she looks as beautiful as ever. I installed the ICE (In Car Entertainment) system as soon as I got back and everything's back to normal, although I lost both my small round parking guidance mirrors that I had stuck on my side mirrors. That wan also wan to steal meh? So, this means that my first wish has already come true (refer to previous post) and I'm gonna drive to kl on friday. Woohoooo!

I want to thank Chee Wee, Yann Ling, Allen, Ashwin, and Roland for giving me rides to/from skool, gym, JJ, pool, Malim to buy stuff for my robot, and other places. Thank you very much for helping me out for the past 2 weeks. I really appreciate it and I hope to return all the favours in the future. Oh and thanks to all those who asked how my family, my car and I am doing over the past 2 weeks. Your concerns and wishes mean very much to me.

Lastly, I want to apologise to those who will be having their convocation this weekend, notably Allen, Audrey, Agnes, and Chee Mei (did I leave out anyone?). I'm sorry I wont be able to make it to your convocation. Anyway, Happy Graduating and All The Best!

My sayang looking as beautiful as ever. Plastic surgery does wonders.

Simple Rules

2005-07-29T17:58:00.000+08:00

Here are some simple rules you have to adhere to in the Advanced Robotics class:

No talking
No whispering
No sleeping
No napping
No smiling
No grinning
No laughing
Don't look bored
Nod your head at every question asked
Act as if you understand what ever he's teaching even though you are blur

A 55-minute class of Advanced Robotics can almost kill you. His class is sooo boring and there are so many things you cannot do in class (refer to the rules above). Today, 5 minutes before the end of the class, he asked "Why do you all look so bored? I'm only teaching for 55 minutes but you all look so bored. What if I teach for 2 hours?"

I thank God that we do not have a 2-hour lecture class with him. My friend said "I give you permission to kill me if we have 2-hour class". Imagine the torture we have to go through in every class of his.

Anyway, I just realised that being caught napping is the third bad luck of the 3-bad-luck curse. Wooohoooooo!!! Now I look forward to all the good luck I can get. First, I hope I will be getting my car back before next Friday and second I hope my knee heals soon.

Caught Napping

2005-07-26T01:57:00.000+08:00

Date: 25th July 2005
Time: About 3:30-3:40pm
Location: CLCR3007
Subject: Advanced Robotics

Lecturer: Teaching, teaching, teaching. Pauses and looks at me. Wake up my friend. Please don't sleep in the class. When I see you sleeping, I feel like sleeping too.
Me: *Looks blurly at lecturer*

Yep, I got caught napping in class today. Although there are many other students who sleep in his class occasionally (not particularly today), I have the honour of being the first to be caught by my lecturer. Anyway, I didn't do it on purpose (who would purposely sleep right in front of his/her lecturer?) but the lecture was soooo boring and I was really comfortable in my chair. Therefore, the inevitable happened, I fell asleep right in front of my lecturer. It was also silly of me to sit right smack in the middle of the class without anyone else sitting in front of me to kind of block me from his sights.

Never mind about that, at least there's something to laugh about when I recall my uni days after i graduate. Wahahahahahaha.

Urut Session

2005-07-22T21:29:00.000+08:00

This is going to be a short post. I went to urut my knee this afternoon. I got to say, it feels so much better after that. I hope to see some improvement on the condition of my knee soon.

Anyway, I went to Tech Time organized by Engineering Society last friday. As I was entering the Exam Hall (the venue for Tech Time), I was handed a bookmark by a promoter. Can somebody tell me what's wrong with it?

By the way, I think there's something wrong with the focus or something. Or maybe the lens. The horizontal lines are bent and not straight as they are supposed to be. Anyone got any explanation for this?

Accident

2005-07-17T18:41:00.000+08:00

I met wif an accident today. Exactly a week after my previous accident, my knee injury. This time it involved my car. There's an old expression that says bad luck comes in threes. I've had 2 already and I wonder what could be next. I hope the expression wont come true though. Anyway here's the story of my accident this afternoon.

I was driving to Kg. 8 to have lunch wif my family. My mom and 2 sisters were in my car. I turned left into Lorong Pandan after the TES traffic light and was driving behind a blue Wira and the blue Wira was driving behind a red Wira. The red Wira was actually forced to turn into Lorong Pandan because he was trying to cut the queue at the traffic lights. He was actually heading to Tengkera but he kept to the left lane at the traffic lights. Unknown to him, the traffic lights will turn green for the cars to turn left into Lorong Pandan first before turning green for the cars to go straight to Tengkera. So, he had to turn left into Lorong Pandan and make a U-turn to turn back and go to Tengkera.

We were following this stupid red Wira when he kept a little to the left of the lane and swerved to the right to make a U-turn and it was a double line road. When he swerved to the right, the blue Wira had to make an emergency braking procedure to avoid the red Wira. He wasn't successful and he hit the side of the red Wira's bumper making a small hole. I also had to make an emergency braking procedure to avoid ramming the blue Wira. I wasn't successful and I rammed into the back of the blue Wira. When this happened, the driver of the blue Wira, Din, jumped straight out of his seat and began chasing after the driver of the red Wira, shouting at him to pull over. The driver was actually trying to cabut after causing this accident. Luckily he got scared and pulled his car over to the side of the road.

I was the last one to come out of my car. I was kind of in shock actually because I've never been in a major accident before. I came out and look at the front of my car. It was kind of wrecked but not terribly. Both head lights were smashed, bonnet was bent a bit and the bumper had dropped a little. Thankfully no major damage to the engine and stuff. The car can still be driven anyway.

I went to discuss wif Din and the other driver. Mom and my sisters were there talking already. The red Wira driver was a young ~~chap~~ idiot wif a cap on and there were a few girls in the car. He has this "tidak apa" attitude about the accident and the girls were seen smiling and giggling as if nothing major had happened. This kind of pissed me off a little. Luckily Din didn't shout or scold me for ramming the back of his car. He told me that it wasn't my fault and that I didn't have time to avoid hitting him. At least he's being rational and understanding.

I then went to check his car. His wife was sitting in the passenger seat carrying her baby. The baby was crying loudly and I felt really bad. I apologised to her, told her I'm sorry for ramming her car and causing all these trouble. She gave me a weak smile. I hope the baby is ok because it was quite a big shock to him/her.

By this time, a crowd had gathered around the scene of the accident and an old pak cik on a motorcycle wif 2 kids was shouting instructions around. He told the idiot to go to the police station to make a police report. He also scolded my elder sister for asking for the idiot's name, driver's license, handphone number etc. He was making more noise than any of those involved in the accident. This pak cik was scolding everyone in sight and shouted at us when we asked the idiot questions. He then accused us of being racists for bombarding the idiot with questions and asking for his details. I ignored him because it's not worth it to argue with people with this kind of mentality. This kind of people like to bring race into every issue.

Anyway, those workshop ~~operators~~ touts were also at the scene within 10-15 minutes of the accident. Their efficiency and speed really amazed me. How I wish those working in the public sector are as efficient and fast as them. Luckily the tout's workshop is one of the panel workshops for my car's insurance, AIG. They advised us on what to do and to leave the rest to them. They called for a tow truck to tow my car to the workshop while my family and me went for lunch.

After lunch, I went to the police station with my dad and 2 aunts. I made a police report and had my statement recorded. Din had already made a report but the idiot still hasn't. He's probably bragging about it somewhere with those girls in his car. After having my statement recorded, I had to go for an interview with the Sergeant who had gone to the scene to do the skecthes. He told me that he will probably have to issue a compound to me because I drove too close to the Din's car and was also at fault. I nodded and didn't want to argue.

He then proceeded to ask me questions regarding the accident like how many lanes were there in Lorong Pandan?, on which lane did the accident happen?, did u see the blue Wira in front of you? etc. When he asked me how fast was I driving when the accident occur, I answered 60km/h. After the interview, my dad told me that I should've said 40 or 50km/h. I told him I was travelling at about that speed and I don't like to lie and I wasn't brought up to lie. Honesty is a very important principle in my life. I don't like to lie and I don't like to be lied to. He said ok and we went home.

The workshop guy told me that my car will take about 3 weeks to fix. Now I don't have a car to drive around so going for classes will be a little challenging. I've not asked ccw whether I can tumpang him to school and back. I feel bad about this because I don't want to trouble him. I'll just have to see how things work out.

Look at my sayang. Sigh...sad man. Hope I can have my sayang back soon.

P/S: The idiot's car number is WEK 7706

Clinic

2005-07-12T00:20:00.000+08:00

So it's been more than a month since anything's been posted. I dun have anything to post about, till now that is.

I went to play football on Sunday. Didnt really like that day's game though. Anyway, i was sprinting for the ball wif this other guy. The field was uneven so unfortunately my studs got caught in the ground at one part of the field. My whole body was moving forward while my left foot got stuck in the ground, causing me to twist my left knee and fall to the ground. I am thankful that i didnt snap my ligaments or break my knee. Thank God for that. Wouldnt want to not be able to play any sport for a year. That's seriously depressing.

The next morning, i went to visit Uncle Goh's clinic. Uncle Goh is probably the "fastest" doctor i've ever come across in my life. He can diagnose what ailment you have in about a minute.

Uncle Goh: What happened to you boy?
Me: I injured my knee playing football yesterday.

Uncle Goh proceeds to lift and lower my left leg.

Uncle Goh: Oh, nothing serious la boy. I'll give you some painkillers for it.
Me: Oh thank you. Do you have a bandage so that i can bandage my knee?
Uncle Goh: Sorry la boy. We dont have bandages here.

*excuse me? you are running a clinic and you dont have bandages? i wonder if you have plasters. utterly shocking.

Uncle Goh: Do you have any gastric problems?
Me: No, i dont.

*i dont see the relevance here. wat's gastric got to do wif my injured knee?

Me: Do you have any cream for me to rub on my knee?
*analgesic cream. those who dunno wat is that can go look it up.
Uncle Goh: Ok. I'll give u some cream to apply.

Me: Thank you doctor.

This took around a minute or 2. Super fast man this Uncle Goh. Then i waited to take my medicine from the dispenser.

When my name was called, i went to get my medicine. The nurse had 3 things for me:
1. Analgesic cream to apply on my knee (very relevant)
2. Painkillers (i dun use it though)
3. Gastric pills (wat the hell are these for? i've never had gastric problems in my life before. an injured knee will cause gastric problems ar?)

I dun think i'll be visiting Uncle Goh the next time i get injured or sick. I dun wan to be prescribed "strange" medicine that's not relevant to my injuries or illnesses.

*contributed by ys

Men just a want a look

2005-06-08T14:10:00.000+08:00

Girls, whether you like it or not, men will look at other women. It doesn’t mean anything. It just means they appreciate beauty, says PRADEEP PAUL.

OKAY, it’s time to get honest. Hands up all you men who have looked – yes, even that sly peek from the corner of your eye counts – at a hot babe on the road, at the mall, in a restaurant, anywhere.

That’s a whole lot of hands and, yes, mine is among them.

You see, men have to look. I know this is seen as a cop-out by wives and girlfriends, but we’re engineered that way.

We need to look. We know you don’t like it when we do so. But we can’t help it.

Let me put it to you in another way.

Women take the trouble to look hot. We men get into trouble to reward you with that admiring glance.

Of course, some couples deal with it well.

Some of the couples I know have worked out a babe alert system.

Hot legs on the horizon. She surreptitiously nudges him and gives him a heads-up: “3 o’clock.”

He steals a look. He smiles at her in gratitude. She accepts. And peace is maintained.

Be warned. This requires years of togetherness and a high degree of comfort in the relationship.

Other couples have a less cooperative method.

Gorgeous bod coming up. She pretends not to notice. He gives in to temptation. She pretends not to notice. And peace is maintained.

Some other couples play tit for tat.

Hot woman within eyesight. She notices and lets him know it. He takes a look. She starts scouting for a hot guy to look at. And peace is maintained.

Well, if you can call that peace.

Other couples don’t deal with it well at all.

I know of a few couples where the routine goes like this.

Kylie Minogue lookalike looms in sight. She notices all right. He takes a look. She notices all right. And a major sulk ensues.

Sounds familiar? This happens very often, especially when the relationship hasn’t cemented into a feeling of comfort.

And then there are couples who dread it.

Dream woman on the horizon. She glares at him. He takes a look. She can’t believe it. An all-out fight ensues.

It happens. I know men who know their dates hate it when they look at other women, but can’t help doing it nevertheless.

They say it’s genetic. The women say it’s suicidal. I just order another drink.

But we do have a problem here.

Like it or not, men are lookers, and they make no bones about it.

Sure, they may make lame excuses like “That’s an interesting outfit” or “Doesn’t she remind you of Lisa?” But you can’t run away from the fact that they look.

A female friend once tried to analyse this with me. She said some of her former boyfriends would look at other women even while holding hands with her – which explains the “former” part.

I explained: Men are lookers.

She snarled. Then she countered by saying women don’t do that. When they are out with their man, they have eyes only for him. They slather him with adoring looks and make him feel so special.

I explained: Women would be lookers too ... if they had as many great things to look at as men do.

I am realistic enough to accept that 90% of the people who deserve a look are female. Very few men merit that look.

She gave up.

The men I’ve discussed this with can’t understand it either – the part about women getting mad, I mean.

One man likened it to window-shopping. He said that being in a relationship may mean he’s not allowed to touch, but surely he can look, can’t he? Not very original but, hey, I hear you.

Other guys have waded into the concept of insecurity. We may look, they rationalise, but at the end of the day, we are still with our women, right?

Right on, bro.

Eventually, it boils down to human nature. We humans are a curious lot. We look at things. And when we spot something that pleases our eyes, we take a closer look.

C’mon, even you women will agree with me on that. Imagine yourself walking down the street with hubby or boyfriend in tow and Brad Pitt walks past.

You look, right?

Okay, that’s a bad example. He’s a celebrity. We mortals all gawk at celebs.

But – humour me here – imagine the guy who walked past was in the Brad Pitt category.

You look, don’t you?

It doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t mean you’re going to dump your man and run off into the sunset with this guy.

In fact, chances are you probably won’t see him ever again.

Like I said, it’s just a look. – The Straits Times Singapore/Asia News Network

*contributed by ys

Copyright © 1995-2005 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)
Managed by I.Star.

date published: November 22, 2004

source: http://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2004/11/22/features/7484111&sec=features