Happy Go Lucky

Moved to New Blog!

2009-12-25T07:08:00.000-08:00

Hi followers! If you're still following me and wish to know where the heck I am, go to donttellmymomma.blogspot.com.

Beware, it's filled with orange goodness =P

The 1000 Year Weight

2009-07-19T07:36:00.000-07:00

'The burden I am having in college is just like carrying a giant teddy on my shoulder'

I have been thinking long and hard, the stuff that I wanted to do with my blog. I hated the slowness and awkwardness of my 512MB computer that sometimes crashed down my Firefox when I am in a good mood. I missed all the typing, the picture posting, and more importantly, my will to keep up with my followers' expectations.

College politics, cursed tests and assignments deadlines to keep up, funky lecturers and enigmatic friends (if for some, gayish) have kept me off the blogging cyberspace for months and months. I did look at my blog but whenever I started typing a few introductory words, my mind went blank. I lost the inspiration I need to keep my blog updated. It's as if the passionate blogging fire is dying off from me.

Or it's because my mom has been monitoring me using the computer behind me, her left eye fixed on the Wah Lah Toi drama and the another eye on me 'fiddling' my keyboard and 'fidgeting' my mouse. Once she sees me blogging, she goes on a constant bickering spree about me being caught under the ISA for allegely posting seditious comments, which I never did.

That even tempted me to create a new blog called 'donttellmymomma.blogspot.com' after an idea I got in college when little 'Kitty' suggested me to conceal my blogging activities from my mom. =3

I always had imaginations going around in my head. I narrate everything that happens around me. The sights, the sounds, the feelings of people and possibly some fuss of my own dealing with my life.

As I watch videos of the late Michael Jackson next to me, I was wondering if I can make a change to myself and adjust the way I see things again. Sometimes, college may be killing me slowly with all its burden, yet I persevere in every way to think positive and be optimistic. I want to accept new challenges and find new opportunities for myself. I want to do new things and I want to learn new stuff. I want to eliminate all that's negative about me. I want change.

Maybe I can achieve this by getting back to my blogging roots again. It wouldn't be very lively like the time when I do my picture posting spree in the past because I am forced to spend more time doing assignments and entertaining my friends. But thanks for being patient in me - you will see more blogging from me, not to say that I can do it every day but depending on my mood.

Oh yeah, baby, let's get starting!

Wallie Tag

2009-06-29T07:21:00.001-07:00

Wallpaper tagged by cousin, Liweny.

Oh lolz Miku again =D

And now I tag anyone who wants to show some AWESOME wallies! xP
(Keep me informed if you do so, ya?)

Sorry for ignoring my blog for a very long time. I know it's been pretty 'windy' around here, I've been quite lazy to update lately >__<" Maybe one day I will start back my blogging spree, who knows? =3

My Study Area =3

2009-04-21T03:03:00.001-07:00

A Phone at a Price

2009-04-20T08:57:00.000-07:00

If only I get to buy a normal iPhone in the first place.

All I've always dreamed of is upgrading my old Nokia 1600 hand phone to a better one.

All I just wanted is a decent hand phone with a good camera for my blogging.

A week ago, my mum has promised me to get me a new one for my birthday on June.

Sadly, that won't be the case.

Just recently, Mum was horrified by the news about my cousin. From what I have heard from her, my cousin became the latest mugging victim a few days ago.

He was on his way back home from a nearby train station when he was surrounded by a few Malay boys. I wouldn't know if they are school boys or not. What I know is, they demanded money from him and he told them he ain't have any with him.

And what would they do when their demands are not met? They resort to violence. They pinned him on the floor, and he fractured his arm when he fell. They punched him and kicked him. In the end, what they need isn't money. They just want the pleasure of causing hurt and pain on him and they wouldn't let him go.

If it wasn't for a good Samaritan who happen to pass by the scene, my cousin would be injured even more badly. Those boys may have fled, but I know they will prey on more victims in the near future.

As of now, my cousin's arm is on a sling. He's okay now, and this would surely be an incident that he will never forget.

And as of now, Mum was so scared that this event would happen to me too. It looks like I won't get the phone that I dream of now...

The next two years, she said. The next two years...

Random Artworks? @.@

2009-03-31T10:11:00.001-07:00

Just some random artworks to show you guys I've not abandoned my efforts to practice art.

(what, only 2? = =")

Nature Camp, Away from the Easy Life

2009-03-31T09:37:00.000-07:00

Camping: The art of getting closer to nature while getting farther away from the nearest cold beverage, hot shower and flush toilet.

I guess the quote above is true after all. xD

The past weekend on the 28-29 March, I had been to my college’s Accounting Society Development Camp which took place in the jungles deep between the calm and beautiful cliffs of Ulu Yam, Selangor.

This is the place where we stayed during our 2 days 1 night camp. Supposedly our destination would be the Riverstone Eco Resort but instead, things changed and we got ourselves this place. Still, the Rock Eco Resort was simple and good enough, a camping spot doesn’t need to be luxurious like a hotel, right?

And if you noticed the word ‘Development Camp’, it’s nothing much of a real camp like what you think, rather it’s more towards a motivational camp with simple activities unlike a scout camp, and there ain’t no campfires allowed here sadly.

Our tents right here. All readily assembled for us.

Despite that, I am happy with how the camp goes. I met people who have distinct personalities. And by the way, I forgot to mention, these people are all students pursuing the same Accounting course. And there’s this one person I call him GG who has a thousand and one phobias (He’s scared of junk food, carbonated drinks, pimples, rivers, leaches, bathing in the open, simple exercises and short hair).

Shortly before the trip started, we were assembled in groups of 4, and I was in group 3 together with Man Chun, Yit Woei and more girls. x3

My group 3.

Day 1

After the 2 hour bus ride from college to Ulu Yam, we started off with a quick breakfast and then we moved on to Jungle Trekking. We trekked uphill, through the jungle and downhill, and we stopped by a few stations on the way. We took along some funky ‘fruits of the forest’ and also enjoyed ourselves taking a cooling bath under the waterfall.

However, the defining moment of that activity was when I got bitten by a leach!

Seriously, I thought myself I am that happy go lucky person who wouldn’t get bitten by a leach. But alas, the Fat Lady sings, I got bitten by a leach. I don’t feel any pain at all, feels like kinda an anesthetic being applied while the leach was happily feasting on me. (lol I made it sound like the leach was delighted) I only realized the wound when I pulled up my trousers.. It was the first time I got bitten and I got the manly mark to prove it! xD

After the Jungle Trekking was over, we went on for lunch. Later, it’s time for Treasure Hunt with a pinch of the Amazing Race in it.

The Treasure Hunt was exhausting. We climbed obstacles and hills, we swam in ponds to collect hidden items, taking mock-up pictures, and even sewing a doll. We stumbled behind on the first part of the race because we paid too much attention towards perfecting our doll! In the end, we went to all the stations and the final objective is to collect the alphabets and form a word. Strangely though, we missed an important letter and therefore, we lagged behind. We might not win the Treasure Hunt, but we have high hopes that we can overcome the lack of points in the other games to come!

We also celebrated Earth Hour in camp too! I guess the Accounting Society committee are really indeed showing their support towards caring for Earth too! (and involving us to show our support too, and not being ignorant)

Starting 8.30pm, we gathered at the hall, and counted down the seconds until we turned off the lights.

Seriously, turning off the lights at home is a whole different thing than in a camp next to the jungle! If there were no smaller backup lights around us, the camp will be totally pitch-black.

Luckily, Earth Hour doesn’t goes by dully without an interesting activity mainly about raising awareness on global warming. Our group did an amazing Global Warming Fashion Show, and I credited myself for the fact that I managed to create outfits and accessories using only newspapers, leaves and toilet papers in a record time of 1 hour!

The other groups on the other hand have an abundance of ideas but I could somehow see they lack the time to completely present their ideas. There was a group who has so much energy in their acting, but they did not mention anything about the issue on global warming. Other groups performed lukewarm sketches although they did tried their best to convey the message of recycling and eco-friendliness.

I guess the idea of hosting a Fashion Show with newspapers as clothing materials ROCKS!

Here’s our proud and masculine ‘Iban’ fashion model of the proclaimed ‘Global Warming Fashion Show’! xD Notice the paper crown and jacket, with a stone necklace and a sumo belt donned with leaves.

Oh btw, here's our Steamboat dinner! (Looks like a face o.o)

Day 2

Good morning, it’s time to get up!

On the second day of the camp, we stayed back in the hall for two interesting workshops conducted by Mr. Johnny Chin from the EMSD (Extra Mural Studies Department) back from college.

He was a charismatic speaker who doesn’t stumble on his words. He taught us some basic foundations of drawing up a Mind Map, and also helped us how to be better speaker ourselves – by conquering our fears of speaking in public.

The talk did helped me to speak better, and I loved every second of the workshop. But what I didn’t like was when I got unanimously selected by my group to represent them for public speaking =.=

The first person before me, Jack is naturally confident with his talking ability and fancy the audience with his wild football commenting. Wait, football commenting? Shouldn’t this be public speaking?

The second person, GG, did an honest speech on Leadership, and honestly I couldn’t get to focus myself on every word he said. Maybe he sounded too formal.

The person after me, went on for an enthusiastic talk on Earth Hour awareness.

Me? I stick with the topic I initially picked before called ‘Ambitions’. I don’t know how I did it, but I made the audience listened to me attentively, and to my heart’s content, might have said something right and inspiring, I got claps and cheers from them. And I loved it when I don’t feel nervous at all during the moment of presentation.

Me, making a point in my speech. Man, my contributions to my Career Café website has certainly helped me with my topic ‘Ambitions’.

After some lunch, we got on to the second workshop called ‘Turbo-Charged’. It’s actually a series of four games that mentally challenges each and everyone of us.

The games were wonderful, and we had a lot of fun playing them. There was the Broken Telephone game, Total Recall, Lead the Blind and Charade for the rest.

In the end, we were required to draw up a Mind Map and state what we have learnt when we played these games.

Fortunately, I am good with Mind Maps because I often draw them to make my lecture notes simpler to remember. I draw the Mind Map while my teammates give a helping hand by thinking of points for the map.

And this is the end result:

Thankfully, thankfully, we won again thanks to our Mind Map! D:

This makes it a sweeping victory for Group 3! YAY!

I felt so relieved because our group won, and I never been felt so appreciated for bringing victory for my group.

-*-*-*-*-

A couple of hours after that workshop, it was time for us to go back home.

When I was in the camp, I was so occupied with the activities but when I got back home, suddenly I felt aching throughout my whole body! It feel like my body's been in a world of hurt when my brain is focusing on it.

I really need to exercise in order to get my muscles working again. @.@

But I learned an important catchphrase from the camp:

Arises We Shine, Sets We Bind

日出日落齐相守

Jiayou!!

Earth Hour - Turn Off

2009-03-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

Earth's life wont last that long,
When global warming drains them all,
It used to be a great clean place,
But now its just a place for haze.

Rubbish and trash are everywhere,
Many people don't seem to care,
Seeing this as it breaks my heart,
Why wont people just pick it up.

Many lights and air polution,
Alot of different deadly solutions,
Causing problems like acid rain,
It just makes me go insane.

Walking home everyday from school,
If it rains, im soon in the blues,
Knowing that if i walked in the rain,
I would be sick all the way.

Catastrophies and disasters,
Slowly increasing in numbers,
Sooner or later i may not complain,
Malaysia might even have hurricanes.

Skin cancer,Asthma and not forgeting S.A.R.S,
Are now starting to spread,
These diseases are deadly,
And are killing more people towards the end.

Im crying out to everyone,
Help us in Earth Hour,
So please give us a hand to lend,
To stop the beginning of the end.

From the young believer, Aina (Earth Hour Website)

Show to the world that Malaysians are united against global warming.

Spread the word, keep the spirit. A light turned off and another follow suit. Reduce our dependency for energy for one hour.

Earth Hour is just the beginning of a brave step towards united energy conservation - by gaining support of the people who cares for the world too.

Remember, turn off your lights from 8.30pm to 9.30pm on Saturday to show your support that we actually care for the home planet we live in (and getting rid of the 'Who Cares' negativity)

ps: It's unfortunate I couldn't participate together during Earth Hour.. I'm going for my college's Accounting Society camp in Ulu Yam. Hopefully I can try convince my parents to turn off the lights while I'm not at home? Parents are certainly hard to convince!

Marley & Me

2009-03-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

A dog doesn't care if you are rich or poor, smart or dumb, as long as you give it love, it will give you his.

Based on the largely popular book by the same title, Marley & Me mainly focuses on the life of John Grogan and his family, and caring for their dog, Marley who they call it 'the world's worst dog'.

It has its reasons why Marley is called the world's worst dog - It chews off couches, topples dog food and gobbles it up from the floor, steals lingerie from the house, rips off a postman's bag of envelopes, got kicked off from obedience school, and is just living a carefree crazy life of its own.

Trying my best to keep spoilers to its minimum, the movie starts off with the life of average Joe, John Grogan (acted by Owen Wilson) who works as a newspaper journalist. He is married to his wife Jenny (acted by Jennifer Aniston) who is also a journalist.

Uncertain to be a good mom and a parent, Jenny suggests to John that they should get themselves a pet dog. They would later adopt a cute Labrador retriever and names it Marley after the late singer Bob Marley.

What they didn't know is their dog will soon turn their life upside down - but at the same time, changing it. Marley may be troublesome as a bad company wreaking havoc in the house, but he was deeply loved by the Grogans as a dog.

There were some funny moments, but it also was a real tearjerker in the end as all dog movies do.

It was a massive hit in US during Christmas, because it was a good and honest story about the life and journey of a humble man loving his dog, his wife and his children. It is a nice family-oriented drama, thus suitable for even the kids to watch.

Owen Wilson and Jennifer Anniston also play their parts well, but I somehow still doubt the chemistry between them as a loving husband and wife relationship. Director David Frankel (who also directs The Devil Wears Prada) put in some nice touches to this movie.

If you feel like watching a casual movie with some comedy and maybe preparing yourself some tissues too, then Marley & Me is a good watch.

Otherwise, it's best to read the book if you haven't yet, because the book gives a more vivid description of the story - the love and life with the world's worst, but lovable, dog Marley.

Short-Lived Luxury

2009-03-12T08:31:00.000-07:00

*(I should have posted this yesterday but the crippling slowness of Streamyx in my area has frustrated me a lot)*

How would you feel to enjoy a short-lived luxury?

Awkward question, you say? Or is it, you haven't experienced one yet?

Well, I did. It happened around last Wednesday on my way to college from home, and it all starts at an unlikely place - the KTM train station.

I swiped my Touch n' Go ticket on the scanner, and looked at the time - It was 12.15pm and the next train to Seremban was arriving at 12.30pm.

As I waited, I was expecting to get on board the usual electric train we've all been familiar of - The noticeable yellow and blue train with its mechanical sliding doors.

Instead, it was this train that came to the station.

It's affectionately called the Delia Meranti but I simply refer it to the 'old Express Train', and it usually passes through stations swiftly. This time, it didn't. It, in fact stopped directly in front of me.

I thought, huh, maybe the train conductor is stopping by to use the toilet or something. But what I really didn't expect was when a train staff personnel behind me (he sneered) asked me whether I'm heading to KL Sentral.

I told him, Yes I do. "Eh, bagus la budak, naiklah tren ni," he replies in Malay. I stared at him, and then I stared at the train. The conductor in the train with his big moustache was eyeing at me. I avoided his gaze, and asked the personnel again:

"Apasal tren ekspress lah ni?"

"Ala, bagi promotion naik tren ekspress, jangan banyak tanya soalan, cepat naik!" he replies again in a hasty manner.

I'm not the only one who was mildly surprised, almost all the passengers in the station were hesitating to go on the train. They, like me, never take the express train before.

So I was the first person who go on the train, and funnily, people followed me inside too. I pulled the door open in the train, and *lord behold* the red large seats with plenty of leg rest are looking mighty comfortable! I instantly grabbed a seat, and I'm not gonna let go of it! xD

The journey onboard the express train.. wasn't that express like I wished... The train was moving just like how a normal KTM train would, only that the air-conditioning is not cold, and the whole train was filled with stuffy diesel fumes. Diesel fumes, man. @_@

Only 30 minutes of a luxurious ride (minus the diesel fumes) for a train junkie like me!

......

No sooner when I got back home after college at night, I turned on the tv for the news, and this came out:

Two killed while crossing railway track

Wow, it happens just next to Kepong station. There were a couple of times I've seen people who look like Indonesians crossing the mentioned track section, and looks like an accident finally happens.

Ignorance killed them, I suppose.

Spanked

2009-03-08T08:17:00.000-07:00

I got spanked on my arse by Jon for this =_= *dammit*

4th Sem of College - Here We Come BABEH!

2009-03-03T09:17:00.000-08:00

No matter how much I wished, how hard I tried, and how silly I try to wish, my one long month of semester break has finally reached its end.

Looking at the clock above me striking 12AM, I thought to myself, the duration I've spent idling at home reading books, playing on the computer, napping, and even finishing Final Fantasy XII the second time!

I've longed for the holidays not to end. I've never felt so free before, having so much time doing the things I wanted at home without the stress of chasing assignment deadlines.

However, I am also looking forward to starting my new semester in college! Darn, I can't stop thinking whether I'm liking the longer holidays or shorter.

Taking a long look at my freshly printed college timetable.. (and printed an extra copy to stick on the fridge for my worrisome mom to look at)

You can see here I got only three subjects (colored) for this semester. Lots of breathing room here, with an added twist:

1. There are two lectures for Taxation on Wednesday and Friday. This could probably mean something serious - Taxation ain't gonna be easy.. And I hoped the lecturer won't be boring.

2. Business Software Packages are looking to be my favorite for this semester - I will be learning Microsoft Access, a database program that I've never touched or tried at all. Not to forget the 'legendary' Mind Your Own Business (MYOB) is looking like a mighty complex accounting program - note the 3 hour tutorial on Friday.

Another reason I am excited learning MYOB is because Ms. Ng, our accounting lecturer from 1st sem, is back again to teach us!

3. What's gonna be breaking my mood is the fact that I'll be having my Tax tutorial on Saturday! What a pain, this new timetable is coercing me to sacrifice my Saturday napping time.

4. Very predictably, we have a 'culture' among our Group 3 members. We don't favor classes on Saturday. I can easily assume most of my group mates will be replacing on Thursday very soon. And I mean it with the words 'very soon'.

5. The semester only lasts at least a month, which brings to me a hypothesis - We will be bombarded by assignments as early as on the 2nd week, and the final Taxation exam is looming soon, threateningly.

With high hopes, this semester shall go well, and I won't somehow go crazy as class representative.

Now that reminds me why I wanted longer holidays... I hate boarding the packed KTM train again!!

~Career Cafe!~

2009-02-28T03:53:00.000-08:00

--->The Career Cafe<---

Almost everyone in the world regardless of age, gender, race or perspective often strives towards the same dream – We are all looking forward to enjoying a better quality of life.

We studied hard to enroll ourselves into a good college or university. From there, we follow our course of study and trying to accomplish our goal by securing a good job.

Some people wanted to work in an industry that pays good, and some just wished for a job that pays enough to bring food to their dinner plates for themselves and their families. Others prefer jobs that encourages social interaction or giving them a chance to help people in need. Furthermore, there are people who just wanted work that gives them a degree of freedom to satisfy their hungry heart for the brand new adventures and challenges ahead.

Yet, we always find it hard to cope with the stress and pressure of attaining our goals – Will our results be good enough to enter the course we wanted or the job we desire? What should we do on the first day of a job, and how can we find a solution to any difficulties we might not foresee in our studies?

We also bear in mind about our perpetual curiosity about the diversity of study courses and careers today. We may ask our friends questions about their professions, for example, what’s it like to work in an engineering field? How does it feel working in an industry heavily dominated by a certain gender? What kind of benefits do one obtain when working in that relative field?

That’s where Career Café comes in. Career Café is newly introduced on March 2009 in collaboration with members from Gforum, with me being the mastermind of this grand project, together with webmaster, Akmal Rizal who helps execute this plan on the online stage to perfection.

Career Café is a platform for readers to satisfy their crave for experience from other participating readers through sharing of information about professions, careers, study courses, and jobs. We serve anything that a café does, except for the food and drinks, that is.

Enthusiasts may volunteer to post in their article(s) about their relative course of study or profession. Everyone is welcomed to join in the Career Café community – whether it’d be students who pursue their studies locally or overseas, working employees & even employers, or career consultants who wished to help guide readers on job prospects.

Career Café wishes to create an atmosphere suitable for each and every one of our readers to assist among themselves, thus bringing forward a win-win situation. Who knows, you might know a thing or two of interest about an industry you might took for granted.

If you’re interested to join in our community, feel free to surf this link www.careercafe.co.cc and volunteer to be an author in Career Café!

(ps: Career Cafe is still quite new, so we always look forward to more people taking part in this project in the future!)

Chickens & Penguins

2009-02-28T00:39:00.000-08:00

How do you know when a Dota game in GG turns crazy, weird and all hope is lost?

When the host sends in chickens n' penguins (n' ferrets too) for war! =_="

Edit:

FEAR.. the Terrace of Branches!

Slumdog Millionaire - So What's the Fuss?

2009-02-27T02:36:00.000-08:00

Slumdog Millionaire -
What's the fuss with this Hindi movie now? Well let me bug you a lil' and tell you, how amazing this movie actually is.

All the hype and sensation, the positive reviews and a chunkful of Academy Awards swept off including Best Picture and Best Original Song and Score, it’s impossible to resist myself from watching Slumdog Millionaire, and taking a look at what fuss the movie is all about.

A ‘dark horse’ in the movie industry, the screening of Slumdog Millionaire in Malaysia comes at the best time ever. This would be my first time I ever watch a Hindi movie in cinema. No offense, but I never took a liking to watching past Hindi movies in the past because I always see myself getting bored watching the dancing and singing again and again.

The moment I stepped into the chilly cinema hall waiting for the movie to start, I noticed that the people in the audience aren’t mostly Indians – a large portion of them are mostly Malays Indians, and foreign tourists most likely attracted to the positive reception the movie garnered from the Oscars.

I have realized the fact that Slumdog Millionaire, despite having relatively unknown Indian newcomers, doesn’t cater to only the Indian audience alone as we often think so – it is suitable for just about anyone no matter the race and language of its audience. Something that critics overseas never realized how big the potential this movie has, and something we could only see in a multi-cultural country like Malaysia.

Slumdog Millionaire has all the elements a movie needs – action, drama, romance, tension and treachery yet it makes itself different from other Hindi movies due to its marvelous screenplay and portrayal of the story.

The story focuses on a 18 year old youngster named Jamal Malik who is seen as representing the slums of the middle-class, the poverty and ill-treated community in the heart of modern day India. He joins the Indian version of ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ but he’s not in it for the money but he’s in it for a different purpose – reuniting with his true love.

Being looked down in the competition because of his origins and status, remarkably he answers round after round of questions and is close to winning the jackpot of 2 million rupees.

Unfortunately, he was arrested by the police on suspicion on cheating in the competition.
They interrogated Jamal by torturing and electrocuting him, forcing him to tell the police how he could possibly know the answers to every question.

Instead, Jamal reveals to the officers – he doesn’t cheat, he knew the answers naturally through the events he had in life since he was a small child living together with his brother Salim deep in the poor rural community of India.

The movie is filled with flashbacks of his inferior childhood. For example, he knew the answer to the first question based on Amitabh Bachan because he had asked for a signature from his most favorite actor despite diving into a heap of waste to do so. He knew whose face is on the American hundred dollar bill because he has donated it to a blind beggar who actually comes from the same cruel orphanage as he is. Moreover, he also knew who invented the Colt revolver when he tried to save his love, Latika from his brother, Salim at gun point.

The movie even keeps the audience to their seat – creating a tense atmosphere in the cinema where it keeps us nervous and excited about a reality show, a show that we sometimes took for granted when it is shown on our TVs.

I just loved this movie because of its deep narration about a doomed child trying all his might to find his love ever since, even to the extent of joining Who Wants to be a Millionaire to get her attention. But the main focus of the story is revealing to us a rich and vivid description of the poorer society living a traditional life in India, showing us the inhumane side of humanity as depicted by Jamal’s past orphanage’s ill will in manipulating its children to beg, but also make known to us that all hopes in life is not lost.

Danny Boyle’s breathtaking direction of this Hindi movie was certainly amazing – he managed to capture the ethnicity of Indian culture, while putting a western twist on the Bollywood movie industry.

Luckily the movie ends with a happy note – Jamal did win the reality show and swept off the jackpot to the amazement of all the people in India. He reunites with his love, Latika. And his brother Salim despite being a bad brother to Jamal, actually turns himself good in the end.

Remember when I said this Hindi movie is being different than its other counterparts? Yes, there are some scenes when the actors do speak English to my relief, and I am thankful that the movie ain’t having lots of dances that might distract me from the real story – even the audience stayed back when the credits roll because the dance and the Oscar winning song Jai Ho were just so captivating. I realized dances are what makes Hindi movies a charm and its uniqueness, but not too many dances for me please.

Conclusively, Slumdog Millionaire is a top-notch Hindi movie ever, and I’ve changed my admiration for this movie instead. The last time I liked the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, this time Slumdog Millionaire clearly is one step ahead from Benjamin Button. Brad Pitt, step aside.

Slumdog Millionaire prevails for the first quarter of 2009!

Take this chance to watch this movie, get yourself to the cinema or *lazy-bums* buy a copy of a CD. You should not miss this!

the TAG game

2009-02-27T02:23:00.000-08:00

Being tagged by my dear Yvonne, here goes~

1.What have you been doing recently ?
I've been idling during my semester break really. Other than surfing on the internet, playing Final Fantasy XII on my console, and taking naps pretty often. Holidays bore me.

2.Do you ever turn your cell phone off ?
Never, unless the battery dies on me >.<

3. What happened at 10am today ?
10am is the time I always get out from bed

4. When did you last cry ?
A long time ago.

5. Believe in fate/destiny ?
Yes I do. Don't you?

6. What do you want in your life now ?
Having more time to be together with my friends.

7. Do you carry an umbrella when it rains or just put up your hood?
My mom nags me to bring my umbrella with me all the time, so heck, yes.

8. What's your favorite thing to do on the bed ?
Napping. Reading. Daydreaming.

9. What bottoms are you wearing now ?
Shorts. You expecting something? =3

10. What's the nicest things in your inbox ?
Receiving mails that are inspiring (I hate the fellar who delivers me po*n =_=)

11. Do you tend to make your relationship complicated ?
My relationship can get so blur at times..

12. Are you wearing anything borrowed from anyone ?
Unless you lend me your RM100 coat, I'd be happy to.

13. What was the last movie you caught ?
Slumdog Millionaire. Awesome!

14. What are you proud of ?
I am proud of my past achievements in college.

15. What does the oldest text msg in your inbox say ?
The oldest message I have is a congratulation message for my SPM success way way way back then. And I'm still keeping it because it's what inspires me to study hard.

16.What was the last song you sang out loud ?
Jason Miraz - I'm Yours =D

17. Do you have any nicknames?
I like being called Vincent, and for short, Vinnie.

18. What does the newest text say ?
A reply to a birthday wish I texted to my friend 'Thanks for the longest wish ever! D:' )

19. What time did you go to bed last night ?
2AM. YAY

20. Are you currently happy ?
Playing Dota in GG always make me moody. =_=

21. Who gives you the best advise?
My mom's naggings.

22. Do you eat whipped cream straight from the can ?
I never get a taste of whipped cream yet. Lol I wished I can even lick it.

23. Who did you talk on the phone last night ?
I forgotten actually, prolly the time when my friend nagged me about the torturous college timetable.

24. Is something bugging you now?
Yes, something has been bugging me every day. A mosquito! >_<

25. Who was the last person to make you laugh?
Hatsune Miku <3 hehe

I tag anyone who wants to be tagged Lol

VOCALOID Megurine Luka

2009-02-15T08:41:00.000-08:00

Megurine Luka has become my newest favorite Vocaloid next to Hatsune Miku =3

Her voice, moody yet husky reflects her cool and mysterious personaility, and not to mention just a month after her Vocaloid 2 release, an abundance of her PVs have appeared in NicoNicoDouga and YouTube.

Unlike other Vocaloids, she has the voice capable for singing even English songs, although I still prefer her to sing Japanese instead xP I'm looking forward for her future songs!

But what makes me happier is because there's even tonnes of beautiful fanarts of her all around the Internet, I took a small chunk of my lifetime to save every single fanart I could get on her @_@ gee, I'm going nuts.

I even drew a fan-art of Luka just to spend my idling time at home. Although I have to admit, I didn't give much sense of justice to her in my art, at least I finally got back to drawing artworks on the computer again! (and even to the extent of coloring it YAY)

..sigh.. Luka ._."

Good news, I have added new Megurine Luka's videos in my 'iPod' on my blog's right side. Do check out the much awaited videos of her duets:
1. 巡音ルカ・神威がくぽ Luka + Gackpo ~ Dreaming Little Bird
2. 巡音ルカ Megurine Luka + Kaito ~ Ta-lila

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And thus, here ends my fanatism on Megurine Luka... not! =D

Happy Valentine!

2009-02-14T08:26:00.000-08:00

HAPPY VALENTINE!

(lol) sorry for the late greeting. My dad's been hogging the computer all day long watching the Gem of Life series since the DVD player was being retarded nowadays. I won't be blogging in early because of dad's frequent takeover on the computer nowadays.

And I would like to thank my dear Eva for her 'Valentine gift' to me =3

-To be honest- your artwork reminds me of the Beatles song 'All You Need is Love' ^_^

Anyway, to 'create' a certain valentine mood in my blog, feel free to listen to Vocaloid Megurine Luka's - Happy Life song. Time to get happy and stop worrying! =3

VOCALOID Nendoroid Dance

2009-02-13T11:27:00.000-08:00

Lol I just love this video so much <3 <3 <3

I began to sympathize poor Yowane Haku more and more xD

And I loved the Caramel Dance in the end =3

the PETITE spm cert

2009-02-13T10:31:00.001-08:00

After a long two years wait, finally.. finally.. the SPM cert year 2006 has arrived! ...geez =_+"

Just recently, I've went back to my dearly missed Kepong Baru school to retrieve my cert. Some noticeable changes happened in my school, particularly the just newly constructed 4-stories block. It'd be lucky for any students who get to study in the brand new classes freshly painted and touching their new furniture. I even heard there's a new library there too. Wow, thinking about school library, I also missed my days as a librarian too.

I've also met up with my teachers, the ones who taught me when I was Form 3 and Form 5. I breath relief when every teacher I met knew me straightaway. Heck anyway I'm always easily recognizable. Ha ha I even greeted the Principal too. And here comes the worse part.. even the Principal recognize me o_O oh no

(lol the moment I enter the school office... the power went off. What a grand entrance I certainly make)

Back to the cert issue.. I shouldn't really brag about it, but our SPM cert has become really tiny and petite, maybe it has reduced to the size of an A5 paper. Has the Examination Board (more popularly known as the Lembaga Peperiksaan who never fails to bring us miseries as students) been saving up money by printing smaller certs? T_T

Well, at least a small cert looks cute though. I gleefully stared at my cert.. 10A1s and 1A2. Hm.. such a disastrous combo breaker urgh.. but well, I honestly tried my best and I think I deserve these marks for all my troubles studying.

I showed my cert to my teachers, and if you are with me, you could see their proud faces, and beaming with smiles. I even got a teacher telling me she remembered back then when I was a very lazy boy who always 'tembak' in his exam during Form 5, and she was really happy that I got a good grade for her. Oh, what subject, you are asking? It was Add Maths, my weakest subject EVER BABEH!! Without her tutoring and her patience, I never would do better in my Add Maths at all. Thanks a lot teacher T_T

But the one who is proudest of my achievement is my mom.

Although my mom didn't express how she has felt when she saw my cert, I could tell she was happy when I passed it for her to keep. Just look at how she compiles all my certs!

That is why.. I've been studying hard for my mom, and make my family's life much more better. I will continue on doing my best in my studies, even if it takes to 'tembak' every question I see and still continue on my Happy Go Lucky streak xD

I believe students should not make excuses why they could not achieve academically.. Every student just like us, no matter whether we're in school, college, university or anywhere, must have a goal. And to reach that goal, first thing first, try our best in anything we do in our life.

The Curious Case at Times Square

2009-02-12T09:48:00.000-08:00

Yesh, it's that time again. To storm Times Square once more! All for the sake to kill the boredom torture =.=

And finally, something really fun after idling at home for the long semester break..

Anyway, I've been out with my usual quirky college mates, and surprise, surprise I got a bit later than them. But wth.. pity the train rider!

Skipping off all unessential details about my train ride, the first thing we do is decide on the movies that we will be watching for the day.

Of course, sweet Thursday has been unmerciful - There has been so many new movies (and the favorite movies still vying for attention).

And at a time like this, it's hard to make a decision on what movie we shall we watching. (Or being with the usual indecisive group has make it harder >.<) The boys somehow are in the mood for horror.. Eden's Lake is their first choice. The girls awkwardly follow with the boys - they stick to horror. Jon and I - are not among the boys, wanted to watch horror. I for one hate horror, although I like watching Resident Evil. But I hate horror shows! >.< The Valkyrie starts off with a good plot - Raising awareness on Stauffenberg portrayed by enthusiastic Tom Cruise on the attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler and taking over the Germanian government in order to end the great war and bringing peace their people hoped for.

Not much action or any form of violence you could see here - Something that people above 30 loved to see because they appreciate more of a great story but something youngsters don't see as they hunger for action and big booms.

This movie is all about the serious mind game with one goal in common - To kill Hitler. From start to finish... nothing more, nothing less.

It's a great movie though, something that I look forward to instead of predictable Inkheart. But hm, I prolly give a 6.5/10 for Valkyrie, not too bad, not too shabby either.

Finally, a movie I'm really waiting for since last year. A movie promising a story so curious, so strange, you just gotta see it to see what's all the big fuss all about.

And being chosen for 13 nominations in the Academy Awards (aww man if it reaches up to 14, it'd be in the same position as for Titanic which had 14 nominations in the past). With chances of grabbing awards for Best Picture, Best Actor for Brad Pitt, Best Actress for Cate Blanchett, Best Supporting Actress, Best Makeup, Best Whatever, you name it.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is about *what else* the curious case of how Benjamin Button lives his life - born with old age, and as people grew older, Benjamin grew younger instead. But the truth is, he grows younger on the outer appearance, but inside of him, he ages just like everybody else.

I wouldn't want to give too many spoilers for this movie, but I can give a hint - it is an almost similar to the romance story in Titanic and in the end - both lovers are tied to fate.

Rating? A 8/10 it deserves.

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Back home, Mom prepared a dish that I haven't seen and taste before...

Pumpkins with dried prawn sauce.

I call this...

The Curious Case of Pumpkin Taste

Let's Play Song~Tag~!!

2009-02-10T08:06:00.000-08:00

Happened to see an interesting song~tag game on VN's blog, I was thinking I should try it myself too! =D

Here goes!

Rules

1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, Realplayer etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write that song name down NO MATTER HOW SILLY it sounds.
4. Put any comments in brackets after the song name.
5. For best result,put in various song from various singer at least 50 songs.

25 Things about Me

1. If someone says, “Will you marry me… you say?
YEAH! - Usher

(YEAH! =D Lol* instant joyfullness)

2. How would you describe yourself?
No way to say - Ayumi Hamasaki

(That's right.. I don't know a way to say =.=")

3. What do you like in a girl / boy?
You Raise Me Up - Josh Groban

(Err.. I don't know how my girlfriend might 'raise me up' LOL, I can't wait for that to happen!)

4. How do you feel today?
I'll Face Myself - Persona 4 OST

(I'm feeling like facing myself.. o_O What?)

5. What is your life’s purpose?
Rock DJ - Robbie Williams

(Now I'm so rocking it Deejay! xD)

6. What is your motto?
You Raise Me Up - Inori

(Watthe..? Again? Yay I like raising people up! ...Whatever that means =D )

7. What do your friends think of you?
Hips Don't Lie - Shakira

(I'm not a good liar, but lol, my hips certainly don't lie! xDDD )

8. What do you think of your parents?
One Of The Brightest Stars - James Blunt

(They are indeed =3 )

9. What do you think about very often?
Hao Xiang Hao Xiang - Leo Ku & Zhao Wei

(Nice smell.. nice smell.. Yesh.. I hate body odour >.> )

10. What is some good advice for me?
Teman Tapi Mesra - Ratu

(Lol be a HAPPY friend! =D )

11. What do you think of your best friend?
So Beautiful - Savage Garden

(If it's a girl, I like to call them beautiful~ But if it's a guy... urgh* stop it!!*)

12. What do you think of the person you like?
Lost Without You - Robin Thicke

(Hm.. yeah, I always feel kinda.. lost? @_@ )

13. What is your life story?
Bridge Over Troubled Waters - Clay Aiken

(My life is just full of troubles =.=" )

14. What do you want to be when you grow up?
My Sugar Cat - Mika Nakashima

(LOL.. no comment)

15. What do you think of when you see the person you like?
Only You - Rain

(SO Only you =3 )

16. What will you dance to at your wedding?
He's a Pirate - Pirates of the Carribean OST

(..That's kinda a WEIRD dance song.. o_O )

17. What will they play at your funeral?
Sexyback - Justin Timberlake

(WTF WTF WTF no comment... o-o)

18. What is your hobby/interest?
What I Go to School For? - Jonas Brothers

(What do we go to school for?? =D )

19. What is your biggest fear?
Blind Alley - Persona 3 OST

(Erm.. so true? )

20. What is your biggest secret?
Kiss Goodbye - Wang Lee Hom

(Lol kissing goodbye sounds so sweet =D and secretive? )

21. What do you think of your friends?
Superstar - Ruben Studdard

(YAY!)

22. What did you do last night?
Superwoman - Cao Ge

(....... bloody hell, i'm not being a gay >_> )

23. How would you describe your mom?
Life is a Flower - Ace of Base

(Yep my mum is just the happy-go-lucky type like me =3 )

24. What do people assume when they first look at me?
Ordinary People - John Legend

(I am just ordinary like you, and I like to remain that way too ^_^ )

25. Will I have a happy life?
Lost - Michael Buble

(Lol.. from what I see.. you prolly be lost just like me!! XD)

Believe It or Not - The Comics in Politics

2009-02-10T00:56:00.000-08:00

As obtained from a Sunday Star article referring to BN's takeover of the Perak state government after 3 Pakatan Rakyat representatives jump off ship and vow support for BN (Sorry, make that four, there's even one more who just quit the party very recently)

And believe it or not - How Anwar Ibrahim reacted: Before and after?

On Aug 19, 2008: Anwar claiming to have the support of enough Barisan MPs to form the new Federal Government.

On Feb 4 2009, Anwar criticising the crossing over of Perak representatives.

ps: Watch your words, Anwar! It gets back at you!

Is PKR mainly serving the interest of the people, or their own political agenda? The confusion continues.

(This marks my return on creating picture comics for my enthusiastic blog readers!)

Red Cliff II

2009-01-30T04:58:00.000-08:00

Battle of Red Cliff II/ Chi Bi

What better way to start my first day of Chinese New Year celebration than to watch the continuation of the Battle of Red Cliff in the cinema!

The first part of the 'most expensive Asian movie to date' Red Cliff was mostly on introducing key characters from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and the alliance of Shu with Wu to battle against the Wei faction comandeered by Cao Cao. The first part was good, but I was more looking forward to the second part of the movie. Maybe I did feel a bit envious about US having to watch the condensed version of the movie with both parts in it.

Red Cliff II wouldn't have come at a better time on CNY. I was so satisfied after waiting for months to catch up with the second episode of the movie. And I wouldn't be more satisfied about the cast chosen to act in this movie.

It was fortunate Chow Yun Fatt jumps off 'Red Cliff' from acting as Wu strategist Zhou Yu, because I feel that he could not bring much justice to his assigned character (Zhou Yu). Tony Leung, famed for his role in Lust, Caution actually did a perfect job playing his role as Zhou Yu, and again, it is fortunate again for Tony to turn down the role of Zhuge Liang, because he somehow fits Zhou Yu's character much better.

In fact, I couldn't agree more with Takeshi Kaneshiro's marvellous portrayal of Shu strategist Zhuge Liang. Maybe he's more destined for that role as well. I also applauded Zhang Fengyi for acting as Cao Cao, he certainly fits in his character snuggly. Zhao Wei, who acted in Painted Skin last year, and makes a comeback acting as Sun Shang Xiang, was not bad either. Although I question about Lin Chi Ling's portrayal of Zhou Yu's wife Xiao Qiao as Red Cliff makes it the first movie she acts in her career. But none the less, the movie was awesome with their chemistry mixed in together.

The second movie finally gets on to the real thing, continuing from the first episode and moving on to the naval battle in Chi Bi. It's a no-nonsense movie about battle of wits between the Shu-Wu alliance and Wei, and I'm awestruck with the intellect and careful minds of Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu (I still adore Takeshi Kaneshiro because of that =D )

The battle was intense, with help from action director John Woo, it gets even more enticing! He has done a lot for his ambitious Mandarin movie - with rich stories of brotherhood, valor, bravery, and courage, it's no wonder Red Cliff deserves a nomination, sorry, make that three nominations in the Asian Film Awards.

Here's a bit of a spoiler - If you have read the novel, you would have known Cao Cao will lose in this battle because of his mistake of eliminating his most important naval generals. I don't remember Xiao Qiao actually went to Cao Cao's side and drinks tea with him, heck I don't even have the slighest clue how Cao Cao actually has a lustful desire for Xiao Qiao in the first place when he never actually knew about her in reality. Well, all for the sake of fan-service! =3

But there's one line Cao Cao spoke that actually made me laugh -

"I lost the war to a cup of tea!"

Overall, I suggest everyone, regardless of whether you read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel or not, to watch this movie when you have the chance. If you're a Malay or an Indian, no fret, there's English subtitles to cater to non-Chinese audiences.

Now, I should get my hand on a copy of Red Cliff I from my cousin!

Good Girl to Remain Good

2009-01-30T04:27:00.000-08:00

After nervous and tensed rumors going around last year whether Grammy award winner Rihanna will stop over Malaysian shores for a concert or not, no fret.

Malaysians can finally rejoice as Rihanna will indeed be performing, and with the date set on 13 February, everyone here is looking forward to having a good time dancing and singing together with Rihanna. However, Rihanna will be forced to tone down her 'Good Girl Gone Bad' image once she's here, as the Pan-Islamic Party (PAS) will put all of its ridiculous efforts to 'Stop the Music' - putting an end to every Malaysian desire to see Rihanna to perform on the local stage.

Going their wrong way on influencing citizens, PAS took most of their time thinking of reasons why the Rihanna concert should be halted, and these are some of the interesting yet akward ones:
1. It is unsuitable and disrespectful towards local culture in Malaysia.
2. The concert is said to taint the minds of youths.
3. Her performance is said to support the Israel-Palestinean war, and her songs contain elements of disrespect towards Eastern culture.
4. She pays for taxes to fund for weapons of mass destruction.
5. Her concert will belittle local artistes.
6. Her clothing is just too hot to handle?

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/1/25/nation/3116247&sec=nation

First of all, why would the Rihanna concert be disrespectful to Malaysian culture? Has PAS set any guidelines and rules on concert etiquettes here? And what does it really take to have a concert that boring and monotonous to suit local culture?

PAS must have been living under the rock by now, continuing to live their traditional saintly way of living, unoblivious to the fact that this is the modern age of free speech and mind. How would Rihanna's songs negatively affect the minds of our youths? We youths are smart enough to differentiate what is good and bad for us, and certainly Rihanna is not. We have been exposed to a myriad of mass medias, and therefore, a wide diversity of modern and traditional cultures all around the world.

Rihanna's songs certainly wouldn't have been contemptous to Eastern culture! Why would they disgrace her songs like that? Oh, what a heartbrake to a fan like me. =) I've been listening to Rihanna's songs over and over again on my iPod, and I loved the catchy song 'Please Don't Stop the Music' and her famous song 'Umbrella' and also her soft serenade with Chris Brown 'Hate That I Love You', and I've certainly don't find any lyrics or anything at all mentioning about disrespecting Eastern culture. PAS should have stop criticising Rihanna and at least learn to listen to a few pop songs for a change instead of the constant religious debating-bickering. We also have Malaysian songs and the more daring Indonesian songs just as good as Rihanna's, but is it really wise of them to mouth out bad stuff on Rihanna alone?

And how would her performance indirectly support the Israel-Gaza crisis? Come on, entertainment is far seperated from war fundings, and Rihanna certainly wouldn't have the interest to support the war at all. The only thing in her mind is singing her heart out to the Malaysian crowd. And how does paying her taxes help America purchasing weapons of mass destruction? And it's not just Rihanna who pays her taxes, it's everyone's responsibility to pay their taxes no matter where they are. All of us are paying our taxes too, and all of us are also contributing to the general defense of our country.

And how will her concert belittle local artists? She has the funding (and the sponsor) to make her concert a big hit. She has the influence and fans from all over the world. Her upbeat songs entertain her listeners. And let's make it one point - All successful singers start off small. She wasn't born with a silver spoon, she just has the talent of singing like our local artists, and she just has a really simple background before she makes her mark on the international singing platform. If Rihanna can certainly make it big here, wouldn't that inspire our local artists to perform just like her? And oh yeah, a local celebrity will be doing the opening performance for her concert, so says Celcom sponsors.

Although the point when they said Rihanna's clothes are 'too hot to handle', that's one thing. She may be even 'sexier and more dangerous' than Lavigne, I do agree. She adores wearing black leather bustiers, shorts and high-heel boots when performing, but we all know that in Malaysia, all singers are subjected to signing down the contract to perform modestly with full-covered clothing before performing in Malaysia.

I chuckled when PAS imagines Rihanna wearing a tudung during performance. Would she look like this?

*shudders*

We have lost the Beyonce concert last year, and we nearly lose Avril Lavigne and Gwen Stefani for the same reason. So many talented singers perform in Singapore instead due to fears from PAS protests and demonstrations. If this keeps going on, sooner or later, Malaysia is going to be one big laughing stock around the world for kicking out people who wanted to entertain in our country. And Singapore would be happier no thanks to PAS 'crudity'.

Although I won't be making an appearance in Rihanna's concert this Feb 13, I would certainly wish the concert won't be cancelled because of PAS. If this is the way PAS wants to influence more people to vote for them, that is wrong. I will say that PAS should do better things than criticising people overseas.

Btw, if you like Rihanna (and ignore PAS blabbering), Celcom is gladly giving discounts on Rihanna concert tickets. Do check it out! =)

Happy CNY!

2009-01-25T09:15:00.001-08:00

GONG XI FA CAI!

May this brand new Year of the Ox bring upon wealth, prosperity and happiness!

Best wishes to my Chinese readers, and just about anyone who happens to read my blog =D

ps: Thank you, my lovely Eva for the artwork!

Yay!! Our First Place Video! =D

2009-01-02T10:03:00.000-08:00

I will just keep it short.

Let me present, our proudest Financial Accounting assignment video! Just a simple 101 tutorial about the concept of goodwill in the accounting world, and we excelled at making it so simple even a layman could understand (well, hopefully)

I put in so much effort scripting, directing and editing the video, not forgetting the well-effort put in my group members Miow, Biiang, MC, Jon and 'we could not have done it if it wasn't for our Drama Queen 'PikaChew' ! xD

We were so excited and happy that our video was so successful and even entertaining, we net ourselves champion in our whole Accounting course. But what made us happier was the fact that all top 3 positions are dominated by our whole tutorial group 3! Yay, big cheers for them!

However, I'm not here just to brag about all this - Other people in our courses have done so hard to get their videos done as well, so cheers to them too.

But what makes our video to deserve a good placing was the fact that we made it different from the normal (and finishing it way before the deadline so as to end the stress asap). We add animations, subtitles, audio voice-overs, music background courtesy of Jon, and a lovable NG part at the end to match. Although I hate to say that our video quality should have been better if Jon's vid cam would have a higher resolution like the other groups... but I don't care less.

Enjoy our 2-part video! And oh, do comment on what you think about the video too =) The video is good, but it still has lots of room for improvement. Hopefully, we would get another chance to do another video directing in future semesters too.

Goodwill in Accounting - Part 1

Goodwill in Accounting - Part 2

If you would like a higher-quality video, you can link it back to Youtube and choose 'Watch in high quality' under the progress bar.

Dewey Readmore Books

2008-12-28T10:28:00.000-08:00

Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter

Long have I awaited a perfect book to read during the jolly Christmas season, and I'm finally happy to know that I have found a purr-fect book of my choice. I can't resist my temptation of getting my hands (and eyes) on this book with a cover of the famous library cat from Spencer, Iowa, Dewey, even its cute and adorable picture would melt your heart away.

Dewey Readmore Books (or more affectionately called simply as Dewey) was the resident cat at Spencer Public Library. He was found in the book return box on one cold January night in 1988, and he soon was adopted by the library staff the next morning. After approvals from the board of trustees and even the city council, Dewey has been loved not just by his owner, Vicki but also among the library staff, as well as the patrons of all ages alike.

Dewey is a cat so different to all the cats around the world, because other than his share of love for exquisite cat food, boxes of all shapes and sizes, and plenty of places in the library for hide and seek, he loves the people the most. Here is a cat who does not see you differentl, but is a cat who is so friendly, so loving and kind in nature who touched the hearts and souls of all who visited the library and even the world. He sensed people who are troubled and did what he did best, by giving them company. He had a personal mission: To reduce stress for all humans who paid attention to him. And all he wanted back in return is a pet on his head.

He would welcome the patrons once the library is open at 9, naps on their laps, plays with the children, or just be with you when you need him. He was such an inspirational and yet heartwarming cat, and through this book, I see him as a figure who has taught me to be humble and appreciate the life I'm living, but also see everyone as a friend in need.

Dewey has generated a lot of publicity for the library by featuring in numerous cat magazines, and even got his own documentary Puss in Books, and even another one in Japan! He makes the library his home, his palace, and he is the king. However, people see him as a star of the library, and many of them even from far-far-faraway places had came to see him in person.

Although Dewey was gone in 2006, Dewey would be remembered by his owner Vicki and by the thousands of people inspired by just his cheerful presence in the library.

This book has certainly made my Christmas more meaningful, and I am looking forward for a better future in the coming new year.

If only people could be like Dewey... the world would have been a better place to live in.

Equanimity by Ajahn Brahm

2008-12-28T08:45:00.000-08:00

Venerable Ajahn Brahmavamso (or more popularly known as Ajahn Brahm) is one of my most favorite spiritual yet inspirational teachers of my life. Let me give you a brief introduction about him, shall we?

Born in London in 1951, he regarded himself as a Buddhist at the age of 17 but his interest in Buddhism and meditation flourished while studying Theoretical Physics at Cambridge University, UK. After completing his degree and teaching for a year, he traveled to Thailand to become a monk. He was ordained in Bangkok at the age of 23 by the Abbot of Wat Saket. He subsequently spent nine years studying and training in the forest meditation tradition of the late Ajahn Chah.

In 1983 he was asked to assist in the establishment of a forest monastery near Perh, Western Australia. Ajahn Brahm is currently the Abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery in Serpentine and the Spiritual Director of the Buddhist Society of Western Australia, teaching and training monks, anagarikas (novices) and the lay people.

Ajahn Brahm is an outstanding but down-to-earth monk, teacher and charismatic public speaker. He is able to make the Buddha's teachings easy to understand, inspiring and even entertaining. His stirring yet humourous anecdotes, stories and talks attract large groups of people just whereever he goes.

I have been to one of his rousing talks yesterday during his meditation retreat in Chempaka Buddhist Lodge and it has certainly made my day. His talk on Equanimity (upekkha) [The state of being calm, stable and composed, especially under stress], one of the seven factors of enlightenment was invoking, but what makes it so interesting is that he isn't just an ordinary speaker on the teachings of Dhamma, in fact, he makes it so easy to understand by using mixtures of jokes, and funny tales to share, I bet even people who is completely new to the teachings of Dhamma will recognize the significance of it.

One of his stories I remembered was about how he described Nirvana: [The complete cessation of suffering; a blissful state attained through realization of no-self; enlightenment]
A story about five children being granted a wish each.

Video games are certainly a lovely favorite for all children at this time. When the first child was given a wish, he says he just wants to play video games all day.

The second child marvels at his idea, and of course, being the second child, he has more time to think over a wish bigger than the first child's. When he was asked what would his wish shall be, he says he wants to be a manager of a game store, so he can play a myriad of video games forever and ever.

The third child likes the second child's idea even more, and he is thinking hard on a wish bigger than the second child's. So when it comes to his turn, he wants to be a billionaire. And when he becomes a billionaire, he will buy all the video game franchises in the world. And as a boy who hates school homework, he will use a part of his billion-dollar wealth to buy his own school. He thinks to himself, if he buys his own school and becomes principal, he does not need to do any homework, and he gets to play video games every day! He believes, he can do anything with the billion dollars, and since a billion dollars is so much to him, he thinks that the money will never exhaust itself at all.

The fourth child was completely astounded with the third child's idea. He really needs to think up a much more huger idea, something huger than having a billion dollars. As he gets his turn, he says that his wish is to have three wishes! The first wish, he will have a billion dollars. The second wish, he will have all the video game stores in the world. And for his third wish, he wishes for another three wishes. And he will keep repeating this process over and over again, believing he shall have an unlimited amount of wishes. He believes that his wish is certainly the grandest among the children.

The fifth child however, is a unique child. When asked for his wish, he doesn't wish to be the richest man in the world, or to have all the video game stores. No, he says that he is pleased with everything he has right now, he wishes that he shall be content forever. And that boy wins the wishing game, for being the modest among the 5 children. And this boy would become enlightened in the future, and becomes Buddha in the end.

This story enlightens me that we should just remain happy with what we have right now. A billion dollars won't just come to us with a snap of your finger, it takes a lot of effort to get yourself a billion dollars. However, being the richest man does not mean you will have the easiest life of all, sometimes you would have to be the busiest in order to be rich, just like how Donald Trump, Steve Jobs and other entrepreneurs strive to deserve that wealth.

From the story, we know that the fourth child has his freedom for desires. The fifth child, the unique child, the young Buddha, wishes for freedom from desires.

Thank you, Ajahn Brahm for your motivational talk, you have taught me so much I needed to know to make my life more meaningful, and your talk, although only a few hours, would have inspired all who have attended your talk.

Bad Att' Dota

2008-12-26T10:13:00.000-08:00

I hate it when people do mistakes and they act cute doing so. It tempts me to act cute too.

Dota is surely no stranger to the hardcore gaming generation of teenagers today, and yet even girls, typically the ones who aren't gaming fanatics, knows a thing or two about Dota.

Dota is not just famously known for its addictive gameplay combining teamwork and rationality, it is in fact a battlefield of unethical gaming. No, it's not about the cheats.. which reminds me of the time when one player tried to key in -whosyourdaddy in the game and confused as to why the cheat ain't working.

It's about abusive words, or the F-bombs that you guys are so acquainted with. Typically, there's never a game where not one of the players will curse a F word. Or more appropriately in Malaysia, the F words are in Chinese, in which of course, you can try figuring out yourself what are those words are.

In this game, this form of malevolence cursing gamers online has influenced even the gentlest gamers themselves. Like in college, students got so used to hurling abusive words in the game, they even use it freely outside the game too, without minding how offensive those words might be to others.

Yes, I do play this game myself, to be honest, after apparently getting the habit to start playing this game again during the first year of my college. Although I was worse than a mediocre when I was still a beginner, I somehow managed to get a lil' better. I rejoiced when I am finally on the same level with even the most professional hardcore gamer friend of mine.

Hey, I'm not saying I would be talking bad all about the game, or even bragging my Godlike-achievements. This post wouldn't be interesting like that, wouldn't it?

Hurling F-bombs in Dota is such a normal trend, and to play the game, you gotta have an iron will to do so. Getting offended so easily will only mess up your temper. In fact, Dota has become my greatest teacher - It taught me to be a patient man, and not to fuss or strut when words are being thrown at me. But I won't let this trend to take over my way of life, because it isn't right to offend other people without reason, so I restrain myself from using those words as much as I could =)

Well, to other Dota players who are reading this post, has you notice other trends as well while playing on your local Garena server?

I only took a year to follow up with the gaming life of Dota, so I ought to throw a few other 'bad gaming trends' for fun, maybe even some laughs and a lil' sneering ought to do it.

First Stage: Getting Gamers to Join a Game

1. The host usually closes some slots to give an impression that his game has lots of players joining.
2. People thought that colored names resemble professionals.
3. Creating 'Open' or "Closed' as your name will tick off an ill-tempered host.
4. Players argue with the host over what mode to choose.
5. Players will ask the host to tunnel them, although the fact is, tunneling won't do much good to increase their connection speed.
6. Players who wanted to intentionally annoy others will leave the game as soon as the countdown starts.

Second Stage: Choosing the Heroes

1. Players like to wait for other players to choose their heroes first, until they forgotten the countdown timer is nearing its end.
2. One chooses a wrong hero in -ap mode, and later repicking... not knowing they cannot do so.
3. One buys the wrong stats item for the wrong hero.
4. One curses the host if the game is laggy.
5. Players fought over lanes, and who should solo or follow.
6. A player throws a F-bomb at a teammate who doesn't block creeps.
7. A player uses the creeps to hunt neutral creeps, which results in no creeps defending the tower.
8. Going over the trouble of remaking the game if everything goes wrong.

Third Stage: Moving on to Battle

1. A player backstabs the whole team and giving free kills to its opponents.
2. A player stuns, nets or heals on an enemy creep intentionally.
3. A player curses another player why he isn't using his Ultimate... eventhough his level is less than 6.
4. No one bothers to alert if the opponents are missing.
5. Someone who is so scared to fight his opponents, he rather whack neutral creeps instead.
6. A player using Goblin Techies planting bombs at the wrong place/ Booming at the most dreadfully empty spot.
7. A player intentionally demoralizes the team.
8. A player who is confused over which lane he should take.
9. Having a teammate who has no sense of teamwork.
10. Having a teammate who keeps saying 'Let's one on one lah, see who win'
11. A player fighting Roshan too early in the game.
12. A player thinking he's always right, cursing others about the items they buy, the skills they use, or just calling them plain stupid.
13. A player who curses too much, he dies the most as well! xD
14. A player who leaves the game, leaving the team helpless.
15. A player who curses a lagger to stop downloading porn.
16. Someone blames the host for everything.
17. Waiting too long at the base/ secret shop not knowing how to buy items or recipes.
18. Calling each other racists/ sexists/ homos.
19. Blaming people for not doing something, or for something you didn't do wrong.
20. The host leaves the game when he sees his team losing.(An ultimate annoyance)

Wow, that's quite plenty over there, I wish I could put in more =) How about you guys? Thought of some yet?

This Merry Jolly Festive Christmas

2008-12-23T09:04:00.000-08:00

"What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace." - Agnes M. Pharo

"The only blind person at Christmastime is he who has not Christmas in his heart." - Helen Keller

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful." - Norman Vincent Peale

"If there is no joyous way to give a festive gift, give love away. "
Me? xD

It's that time of the year again! The jolly Christmas season has come back carolling once more, in our tropical but humble Malaysia. Although Malaysia is a country that only gets hot and wet all year round, and we could only dream of wearing winter clothing bracing for the winter that never comes,nonetheless, all of us Malaysians are looking forward to having a good time celebrating and exchanging presents with friends, joking about our past misdeeds, and maybe munching off some freshly baked christmas cookies that we are all looking forward too.

In a country so diverse with different races and religions, I believe Christmas is a free-for-all season, open for everyone regardless of their background to celebrate, just as uniquely as how we celebrate our usual Chinese New Years, Hari Rayas, Deepavalis and other varieties of festivals.

Although bear in mind, Christmas is not a season for misdeeds and naughtiness, rather more of giving away our love and appreciation to the ones we care so much, not just in forms of tangible goods like cash, presents, and dolls, but even mere words and feelings will bring more authenticity in wishing a good peaceful Christmas to our closest neighbors. Gifts of time and love are the best ingredients of a truly merry Christmas, don't you agree?

(Sadly, being in a major Islamic country, we hardly ever knew how eggnog tasted like.)

Here's a part of an article I fancy off from Justin Raimondo, giving descriptions on his experience celebrating Christmas in Malaysia, obtained from his website antiwar.com.

I have to say that I am… astonished by Malaysia. Here is an "Islamic" country where a gigantic Christmas tree sits in the lobby of the hotel I'm staying at, and the café waiters in the plaza a few blocks away are dressed like Santa's elves. Here is a city where the nightlife puts San Francisco's to shame. Where the city's oldest gay bar, the Blue Boy, makes Baghdad-by-the-Bay seem like a dive in Podunk, Idaho; where people party well into the morning light, and you can have a good time for a few ringgits (the Malay currency: around 30 cents). The food is fabulous: Malay (spicy, somewhat Thai-like), Arab (there's a great place right off Bukhit Bintang), Chinese (you haven't lived until you've sampled the pleasures of Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown), and too many more to go into here. The place is a gastrointestinal paradise!

Modernity is juxtaposed next to traditionalism: on the one hand you have the soaring heights of the Petronas Twin Towers, the tallest buildings in the world, lit up like a vision of futurity against the night sky, and on the other hand you have women in traditional dress – colorful costumes of bright color and the requisite head covering – traversing its corridors. Two, three, many worlds coexisting: the past and the future converging into a new synthesis of creativity and entrepreneurial energy. The impression one gets is of a tremendous vitality, a restless yet directed life-force that seems to spring right out of the earth.

A final note: nowhere have I experienced more genuine warmth and such a feeling of welcome. When you come to Kuala Lumpur, you are made to feel very special. The gentleness and politeness of these people is a phenomenon that doesn't exist, to my knowledge, anywhere in the U.S. Malays are generally puzzled by the actions of the U.S. government abroad, and do not support the war in Iraq: but they love America, the country, and show great admiration and respect for the American people. And that is the kind of "anti-Americanism" that I can live with.

~ Justin Raimondo

I wish to say that countries around the world should stop having the perception that Malaysia is closing its doors to the world. I wish that they don't look down upon our country or having a wrong idea about our traditional heritage and culture. We are willing to be progressive and be competitive catching up with modern times, but as us Malaysians, we remain humble and modest as much as we could.

I blame the society for being rude and only care about ridiculous conflicts in our country, which only aims to break us apart. Why don't we see anyone willing to unify us, and not fight for power or position in the country? Why do we not see each other as being equal yet? Are we too much down-to-earth or just being lazy couch potatoes? Why do we get so addicted to negative yellow influences that only seeks to poison our minds and our younger generation?

Why are we not willing to... change?

There are so many questions that needed so many to be answered. Why don't we put an effort to improve ourselves for just a moment? Whatever religious background we come from, don't we learn from teachings that we should respect and love our neighbors as if they're our own family relatives?

This isn't the time to bombard questions about our state of mind. Rather, we should focus on efforts on improving ourselves, our esteem, our self-actualization, and realize our potential, not to be kiasu or rise above all others, no no, my hope is to see all of us united together once and for all.

Christmas is a time for us to enjoy peace, respect our differences, but also maintain our humility.

Merry Christmas to all of us! Remember, Christmas isn't restricted to a certain group of worshipers alone, for people who do see it in such a way are stereotypes not ready for a change. Christmas is an occasion for all!

I love Christmas. I really do love Christmas. I love being with my family but I really wanted to taste snow. I love the music and the lights and all of it.

ps: I'm still cursing to the fact that Digi will be suspending my credit period on Christmas Day. Curse you, darn it! (And I thought Christmas should be a merry jolly season to call your loved ones)

What makes it worse is, instead of the intended deadline on 25th December, Digi is violating me by ending my credit the day before Christmas!! (by the time I will wake up in the morning today) I really need to change to Maxis when I have the chance.

Comic Fiesta 2008

2008-12-22T11:51:00.000-08:00

What a momentous event that was! Simply one of the most memorable events of year 2008.

Comic Fiesta 2008 is the biggest and most massive event ever held in humble Malaysia, very nicely organized in Sunway Convention Centre. I like it better when the event has finally moved to a bigger place with a so-much-better air-conditioning! D:

What’s making CF so interesting is that it combines an authentic blend of creative and artistic talents, most notably with so many talented artists displaying and selling their impressive works of art, especially with the on surge of local doujins, commissions, beautiful illustrations and posters (I liked the Vocaloid poster so much, but I was depressed I couldn’t get one myself because of its intense popularity), bookmarks, badges and so much more. Certainly a one of a kind event, making it more special as it is during Christmas season.

And I happen to be in the event on CF Day 2. In an awkward manner I wouldn’t imagine.

This would be my second time actually participating in the event. The first time was when I kept a low-profile key stalking cosplayers and buying merchandises. This time, I actually cosplayed.

My first time ever as L. Lawliet from Death Note! >.< To be honest, I wasn’t so sure I could bring out the character of L pretty much. Already waking up on 5am on Sunday to prepare myself, I put on my RM15 long-sleeved T-shirt I bought from Kamdar (Who says cosplay is expensive?) and a pair of common washed out jeans. A notable outfit for L. The only bad thing I was ever so disappointed: I woke up with a bad hair day. My hair was so persistent to remain bad, even after I washed it and putting on Gatsby, it still remained bad. What could I do now… time to remain patient. The show must go on.

And oh yes, I did take the KTM to Subang, and this was the first time ever I took different trains after dropping off at KL Sentral using the Seremban train and getting onboard the old Klang train on my way there. Weirdly enough, the train was such in a state of disrepair because the seats were vandalized, one window had an impression of a rock thrown at it, the air-conditioner was broken, and worse of all, the engine broke just before reaching Subang station. Luckily the train trip was over soon enough (although I am not looking forward to take the train back home). And I get to take a joy ride on my JADC club leader’s comfortable car ^_^

It looks like some members of mine who were sitting in the car have already worn their costumes. KW is cosplaying as Toushiro from Bleach, and Erien got herself pumped up cosplaying as Maka from Soul Eater, although she’s missing the important blonde pig-tail wig. We first decided to urgently move on to another one of our dear JADC member, Ailynn’s house just near Sunway, because apparently KW ringed out a red-alert emergency to ‘do his business’, telling us his costume will take him 10 minutes to remove off before going off to the toilet. xD

Anyway, it was a mad dash getting ready in Ailynn’s house. Ailynn was already in her Enmma Ai costume once we got to her place. Here was the embarrassing moment. I had makeup put on by Ailynn, which wasn’t a pleasing experience, since this was probably my second time I had makeup on since primary school. KW though had trouble spraying white paint on his hair, making the whole room stuffy with deodorant.

Cutting off short, we finally make it to Sunway, earlier before the event even started, and earlier than Sunway is ready to open its business to its customers yet. Already practicing my hunchback posing sucking on a chocolate lollipop, we got ourselves tickets (or entry wristbands). We met with some early-rise cosplayers there, meeting up with a Naruto, Rukodo Mukoro from Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Masamune Date from Basara, a Shinigami, a guy from Detroit Metal City and lots more cosplay wannabes.

And yes, we do meet Wai Keet, we just couldn’t get tired of him =D Oh, and not forgetting Hafiz and his sister too. Hafiz was impersonating as Luffy from One Piece, and his sister? Well his sister rather preferred to support him from behind, of course.

Eva, also one of many of our JADC members, joined in, although not on the same day as we were. But it wouldn’t kill if we put up a few of her gorgeous pictures up in my blog, right? >.> She was cosplaying as Rinoa from Final Fantasy 8, don’t she look lovely cosplaying as her?

Again, cutting off all the meticulous details of the event, we then see the event starting off with a bang! Going through the double doors, and later checking out artists’ booths, and even more exciting, having your pictures taken by fans all over the area seems to be a dream come true! *_* Although I wouldn’t take into pleasure seeing my rival competitors cosplaying as L too, although in my heart, I sneered at them. There was one plump L, and I mean really plump and dark too. And there was one girl doing as L too, easily noticeable by looking at her… ahem*front.

Here are some of my nicest pictures I obtained from Kenny, our most experienced photographer in our club, excited to take pictures of us and giggle at his own posing with Jack Sparrow.

Do enjoy what I can offer you mates! =D Oh, don’t stare at them too long, it makes me embarrassed.

Here are some moments of mine impersonating L as best as I could.

I will be posting the rest of our group cosplay pictures later when I could find the time. Snailymx has crippled my blogger’s ability to upload pictures quickly as I have hoped for.

Yoga Banned in Msia?

2008-10-29T10:45:00.001-07:00

Here's one more 'laugh-out-loud' moment about the current situation in Malaysia.

Malaysia may ban yoga for Muslims

Muslims in Malaysia may be barred from the ancient practice of yoga if they engage in Hindu "religious elements" during the exercise, a top Islamic cleric said Wednesday.

Harussani Zakaria, a controversial cleric from the northern Perak state, said the government-backed National Fatwa Council would soon release a decree, or "fatwa", which would decide if Muslims were allowed to practise yoga.

"If it involves any faith or religious elements it is definitely not permissible but if it is just a form of exercise that is all right," Harussani told AFP.

"Muslims cannot practice yoga in its original form because it involves another religion," he said in response to a call to ban Muslims from engaging in yoga.

Islam is the official religion of Malaysia, where more than 60 percent of the population of 27 million are Muslim Malays who practice a conservative brand of the religion.

The practice of yoga, a popular stress-buster in Kuala Lumpur, dates back thousands of years in India, where it was a favorite of holy men before becoming hugely popular internationally, especially among western celebrities.

Zakaria Stapa, a professor in the Islamic faculty of the National University of Malaysia, had called on Muslims to stop practising yoga, saying it could cause them to "deviate from their faith", news reports said on Wednesday.

Muslims in Malaysia practised yoga not just for exercise but also as part of the growing urban lifestyle and involved "chanting mantras while in various positions", he said.

"Why should we look for other alternatives to exercise and search for peace? Yoga could cause (Muslims) to stray from their faith because its movements are according to the style and traditions of Hinduism," he said.

The fatwa council, one of Malaysia's highest Islamic bodies, last Friday banned women from dressing or behaving like men and engaging in lesbian sex, saying it was forbidden by the religion.

If I were you, I would consider it to be awkward for their decision to ban such an innocent, safe and healthy exercise, because I don't find it offensive in terms of religion. Don't you think so too?

Does exercise positions invoke religious matters?

Or, ff they were so afraid of their devotees of chanting out 'mantras' in various positions of yoga exercise, well... (Is the word 'OM' offensive? I'm curious.)

Why not just... don't chant it out?

Recite some Koran verses as a replacement!
(thanks VN!)

I'm not against this idea of banning yoga in my country here, but...

What would happen if yoga was eventually banned? Think about it.

Luckily, there's another alternative.

Tai-Chi~!

Suffer during the Day, and Reward at the End!

2008-10-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

Phew!

This morning, was one of those 'mornings that I would wish I could sleep more and not having the mood to get out of bed'.

Man, if only Deepavali holidays could be one week longer.

Mom just woke me up with her usual screaming and shouting from the ground floor to urge me to get up. Heck, my alarm clock hasn't even rang yet! It goes to show that moms are the 'best alarm clocks' in the world, and I appreciate it. xD

It was yet another usual day making my way to college, two trains, one bus, the same repetitive journey day by day, semester by semester, and soon, for years to come.

I would say there wasn't anything unusual that happened during morning and afternoon lectures, but I did witnessed an event that looked tad a bit cranky, and humorous as it seems.

Apparently, this group of college mates of mine have been obsessed with playing cards and chit-chatting during MAF lecture, in which I don't actually bother really, since I plugged myself with my trusty iPod and was half asleep during lecture! xD

And then, they later indulge themselves by reading a Chinese fashion-gossip-entertainment mostly featuring sexy female models (probably some male models too) without the lecturer knowing.

They flipped to a page, with two beautiful female models with charming faces, each on both sides of the magazine, left and right. Song, Cat and Mr.Long were keen to be attracted towards the woman on the right page, but there was one mate, KK who instead liked the other woman on the opposite page.

Intent on supporting for his favorite female, KK challenged himself by asking the lecturer on which woman in the magazine he preferred. Song, who was not convinced, dared him to do so, and if he did, he will knock his head onto the wall.

And sure he was, right after the lecture ended, KK rushed straight ahead to the lecturer, and showed him the magazine. After probably a few seconds, we heard him screaming:

'YESHHHH!!!'

Or actually, to me, his expression was more like this:

'Yataaaaaaa!!!!!!'

And to Miow, he looks more like him:

'Hoooooooo!'

Alas, the lecturer liked the same woman as KK did! No wonder he was so jovial.

I wouldn't know if Song really had knocked his head on the wall or not, although most likely he didn't. xP
(thanks for the accurate description, Miow)

~~~~~~

Anyway, the fun as over as soon as you know it, and everyone went back home... except me! T__T

It looks like I was required to attend this so-called AGM meeting for course reps and class reps, just after my lecture. Oh no! How I longed to take a long nap after college, but no, I couldn't.

Ok... so, the meeting was fairly big, a lot of people did came, more than what I had expected.

The meeting was fairly going smoothly. It was mostly a platform for people to complain about lecturers, facilities and employees within the college. Jeffrey, our Accounting course rep, certainly dazzled the meeting with his jokes. Filtered water that tastes strongly of chlorine, rude Metro bus drivers who caused traffic jams in front of college, limited parking spaces, and even they were not keen on having lecturers aspiring to be storytellers.

At one point, Jeffrey was demanding the college to fix mirrors in the boys' toilet! He asked, if all the girls' toilets have mirrors, why not the boys' as well?

So... it's not just the girls who cared too much on their faces, even boys do, eh?

Aye, the meeting room was incredibly stuffy!!! Even my nose start to hurt.. T____T

Finally, meeting has adjourned, I was so glad, my nose was really hurting badly T____T

Back at home, I was so happy!

My mom bought me my favorite dessert for me to enjoy after dinner!

Lemon 'Tong Sui' with Sea Coconut Chunks =D

A Buggy Awakening

2008-10-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

I planned to wake up on 12pm last Saturday, because I really crave for more rest after reading Brisingr by Christopher Paolini until 3am.

Instead, I got bugged and woke up on 11am no thanks to my handphone. JY sms-ed me that morning, and she reminded me something that I would not want to remember, honestly.

She asked 'Have you checked your results yet?'

Ah, I totally forgotten about it! But, heck, I was not looking forward to it in the first place xP

I was talking about the dreaded examination 2nd sem results from college!

So... I took my sweet time turning on the computer, first reading up my emails, reading up a forum I frequently visit, and played Caesar IV on my computer before finally checking up on my results on the college website! xD (look how I am so not looking forward to my results)

I expected the worst. I was worried I screwed up something. However, here's what it turned out:

Business Information Systems & Applications - A
Quantitative Studies - A
Macroeconomics - A
Fundamentals of Accounting - A-
English for Communication - A-
Bahasa Malaysia Lanjutan - A

My first reaction was... OMG! Yay, I got a string of As!

I was exolted that I excelled in my memorizing subjects BISA and Macroeconomics.

I was glad when I did nicely with my counting subject, QS. I finished the paper just within a nick of time (or more like that nick of time was like a thin strand of hair)

I was overwhelmed when I got an A for BML eventhough I wrote a ridiculous answer on that paper. There was this question 'How do you avoid cancer?' or something like that? Out of ideas, I remembered writing down 'Eat less McDonalds.' xD I think that answer made the examiner laugh really hard and gave me a chance, eh?

But the thing I was so happy about was, I can't believe I got an A- in Accounting! o__O I nearly failed in two of my past courseworks (tests), and I got an A- in exam at the end? Maybe I studied too hard, and did too well during Accounting exam. Or maybe my 'happy go lucky tembak-menembak style' of answering got me through!!!

But... but... I got an A- in English!! T___T I'm so depressed! How could I not get an A in such an easy subject? (see my emo face?) Oh well, can't help it, my English is getting really rusty nowadays...

And my mom is not happy to see my results!! (=A+) She even said that she had expected me to do better. I don't like it when my mom pressured me too much to crack my head to get an A for everything I do, darn it! =.=

Hopefully, I will do even better for my 3rd sem! Ganbatte spirit roaring up!!

Red Alert 3!

2008-10-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

The impatient wait for hardcore Red Alert gamers here has finally come to an end. Slated for release on 30 September in Malaysia, surely the craze to command and conquer will start to spread around the country and even the world anytime soon.

I've been absolutely fanatic about this game since the time I've been playing RA2: Yuri's Revenge when I was still in primary school. I remembered the time I got so 'professional' when I was young, I played 5 vs 1 skirmish games, on hard difficulty.

And now I just couldn't wait to see and play the newest additions in the Allied, Soviet and the new Empire of the Rising Sun factions. (wow mecha and samurais! so cool! And George Takei! xD)

Sadly, college has kept me behind schedule for the mean time, so looks like I won't be able to buy the game as soon as it releases. I might as well be buying it on Saturday, I guess. And I would be buying an original copy, no doubt about it!

What? Do I hear you say you condemn originals? Stop being cheap.

It's worth my money buying an original RA3, because I always get annoyed on confusing methods to crack pirated games. (It feels like you've cracking your head)

It has been a very long time since I first bought an original game ages ago, and Red Alert 3 was probably my second one. And I would so dire to play online multiplayer with players abroad Malaysia : ) I'm gonna train and train, and watch me, I will pawn all other players out there (fingers crossed)

Let's start off this RA3 fanatic craze by watching this remix of Hell March right here!

Good Day to be a Samaritan

2008-10-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

Last Monday, it started off with my normal routine of going to college, taking my sweet time riding on board the KTM and LRT.

Upon reaching my last stop at Wangsa Maju, while waiting for a college bus to fetch me, I chance upon a wallet on the floor under the seat I was sitting on in the bus station. I picked it up to take a closer look at it while at the same time dusting it off. It was brown in colour, but pale, and judging by its worn-out appearance, it had been used for a number of years. Moreover, the wallet was scribbled with a magic pen with the words 'Fish Ball XD' and a picture of it, as well as a Chinese name at the back of it, probably its owner.

I opened the wallet, and the first thing I checked, was whether it had any money inside. And sure it did, notes adding up to 25 dollars. 25 dollars is considered a lot to me, since I've been excessively thrifty with my money. There was an urge inside of me to take out the money and keep it in my pocket, but in the end, I was wondering whether the owner would come back soon and find for the wallet, I closed the wallet and left it at the far end of the seat, wishing that someone would bear the responsibility of picking it up and returning it to the owner.

I distanced myself away from the wallet, by scooting to the other end of my seat. Until one boy, a student who studied in the same college just like me, sat next to me. He saw the wallet, paused to look at it, and later without opening the wallet, he tapped on my shoulder, thinking that the wallet is mine, and passed it back to me!

Oh god, it looks like I can't escape the responsibility this time around!

So I held on to the wallet. This time, I further 'dwelled' into the contents of the wallet other than the money. I found 50 cents in the coins pocket. I saw a doodle of a cartoon character, and found a medical card inside. I plucked out a bunch of cards: a Real Rewards card, a McDonalds kid promotional card, and consequently, I was surprised to find a MyKad inside!

(Someone who lost this wallet would surely be really desperate to find back this wallet. I bet it's gonna be doom's day for anyone to lose their IC.)

I looked at the owner's IC. It was a girl with neck-length hair and chubby cheeks, born on year 1992. 2 years younger than me. Hm, a Form 4 secondary school student. I glanced upon the address on the card, it read 'Jalan Tiong Nam'. Hm, that's not far from where I was that time.

I looked at my watch, my bus was 30 minutes late. Couldn't blame the driver, it was lunch break now.

This was the time when two college friends of mine reached the bus station as well. I waved at them, saying hello, and they waved back. Once they were next to me, I showed them the wallet, told them what I had found in it. I asked one of the girls to hold the wallet and help to return it for me. She politely let out a hand not to take it, saying she didn't know what to do in that kind of situation.

So I waited. A further 10 minutes have passed. The bus wasn't here yet. I was looking side to side, observed, comparing the faces of strangers to the IC I was having with me.

And right on cue, a stroke of luck. The boy who had been sitting next to me, tapped on my shoulder again. He pointed at the girl behind him, asking whether the girl matched the one on the IC. I took a quick glance at the IC again, and oh god, it sure was that girl! I nearly couldn't recognize her if not for her long hair, compared to the neck-length hair of hers in her IC.

I slowly confronted her. She was busy texting her pink handphone, looking worried and maybe in a state of panic. I said hello to her. She looked at me. I asked her if this is her wallet.

Her face suddenly brightened up. It was her wallet. And she was thankful that she got it back.

I replied 'You're welcome' to her. Finally the burden is off me!

Fortunately, the college bus came, after being late for nearly an hour. While hopping into the bus, I was wondering myself 'Hm, doing a good deed is not a hard thing after all. Maybe it was a good day to be a Samaritan'.

I Bought My PS3

2008-10-23T09:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a message to my college mates who are still curious and remain curious forever:

I BOUGHT MY PS3!

At long last!

(sarcastically)

Gone, Alor, Gone

2008-10-23T07:14:00.001-07:00

The city of Kuala Lumpur in humble Malaysia has never stop entertaining its residents for years.

This week, there's another reason why you should 'laugh out loud' yet again at the authorities, repetitively.

Probably faced by intense boredom, City Hall decided to contribute efforts in order to enhance and improve the appeal and prestige of blooming Kuala Lumpur. And they start off their ambition by changing the names of roads according to stars and planets, vegetables and fruits.

Jalan Alor is one of those victims of road name changing.

Recently, Jalan Alor, which is Malaysia's best known destination for delicious and appetizing street food and a haven for food enthusiasts, has been renamed to Jalan Kejora. This has caused residents, hawkers and road lovers alike to protest against the irrationality of City Hall on why they would take the trouble to change a simple road name. They complained that changing the 'reputable' name of Jalan Alor is a waste of time, adding that it would confuse locals and tourists who would flock the street for irresistable food.

The issue is so controversible that just through typing 'Jalan Alor' in Google, it eventually returned with about 137,000 results! And indirectly helping to further advertise Jalan Alor to the public to feast for great food! How 'kind' of City Hall to do that.

Simply put, if you don't know Malay, 'Jalan' means 'street' and 'Alor' means 'stream'. 'Kejora', the newest name to replace Jalan Alor, is the Malay name of the planet Venus in the solar system.

I am still wondering why the need to change, when you would so get used to calling it by the same name, Alor?

It was crazy of City Hall to waste public fundings and tax receipts to rename the road, because I don't see it will result to any expected benefits to the ever-so-popular eating street. Why would I think so?

It is because for one instance, anyone who was staying in the road once named Alor, has to change their home address in their MyKad. And surely that would waste quite a handful of public fundings right there! They should have at least improve security in that area, and have more people to clean the drains and stinky, dirty public toilets in the first place. Wouldn't that coincide with the Ninth Malaysian Plan to make the city image better than it was before?

It sure was a total disaster, it sure was!

And everyone would be dying to know, why City Hall did that?

From the Malay Mail:

The controversial renaming of Jalan Alor may have been made because Alor, it seems has a somewhat sexy undertone.

Then again, if sexual implication is the reason, shouldn’t the authorities be thinking of renaming Alor Gajah and Alor Star, as well?

A sexual allusion has just been cast on both the Alors but hallo! Hallo! We forgot Batang Berjuntai that was changed to Bestari Jaya. I don’t think Jalan Alor served a punch-line for Malaysian jokes that Batang Berjuntai delightfully delivered.

Seriously, does the name 'ALOR' looks sexy to you?? I mean, Batang Berjuntai and Pantai Cinta Berahi were certainly more appealing and looking even lovelier, passionate and sexier!

Another akwardly weird excuse given to explain the irrationality. Yet again, this is common in Malaysia; truly entertaining!

.......

But people. People! People!

Being an honest and loyal pacifist like myself, I advise you guys:

Why bother fighting City Hall to change back Jalan Kejora into Jalan Alor? You would just waste more energy spitting out demands to them!

JUST CALL IT JALAN ALOR-LAH!

Family Economical Crisis

2008-10-19T08:39:00.000-07:00

How do I know when my family is starting to feel the pinch of economical crisis and the rising prices of food and materials?

It's when my mom got our family a really petite comb of bananas.

It doesn't look much from the picture on top. It looks like normal bananas to you, right?

But look at the 'big picture' below. :)

It's only as big as my thumb!

(Wow, I could play with these 'optical illusions' all day long.

Datuk Shah Rukh Khan

2008-10-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

Datukship for Shah Rukh Khan

Malaysians more deserving of Datukship than Shah Rukh Khan

A week ago, there was quite a mind-blogging and somehow unusual buzz surrounding Malaysia.

Very popular and fan-drooling Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) was awarded the Darjah Seri Mulia Melaka, which grants him a 'Datukship'.

Datuk, when directly translated, means Grandfather. How ironic. But in Malaysia, a Datukship is an honorary title for any candidate who contributed greatly to the country. However, having the decision to award a foreign actor a Datukship, is questionable, if not, irrational and cynical to most Malaysians, who thought that there are others who are more worthy for that title.

So what was the reason SRK being given that respectful title in the first place? Well, I wouldn't be sure how SRK contributed to Malaysia, other than the fact that he did act in a movie called 'Ong 2 ka 4' that was shot at the A'Famosa Resort in Malacca. And the excuse? The Datukship was merely blindingly given to him in order to promote Malacca further! Lame excuse, I should say.

(As if Malacca, for all this while, has been relatively unknown before the shooting of the movie takes place). A Datukship is not that easy to get in the past, but this time around, it's like almost anyone deserves a Datukship, even foreigners as well.

Unfortunately, SRK didn't attend to receive his Datukship at the award ceremony in Malacca, sadly, for reasons unknown (Maybe SRK didn't know where Malacca is in the first place).

So what is the actual reason of SRK's absence? Maybe it's because SRK pranked on Malacca?

They agreed to head towards Malacca during that time. However...

Shah Rukh was missing during the prestigious award ceremony in Malacca.

The real truth was...

Shah Rukh plotted to go to Singapore and have some fun, and entertainment instead!

3rd Sem, 3rd Happy Go Lucky?

2008-10-11T10:25:00.000-07:00

Hello to all enthusiastic bloggers and readers out there!

I'm here to let you guys know that I will be occupying most of my blogging time on college studies and gaming right now. So most likely I would only blog given that I have ample free time, usually on Fridays or on weekends.

So those looking forward for more of my 4koma/picture comics, be patient, because I need to think up of inspiring ideas for my comics.

Anyway, it was the end of my first week of my third semester right here at my humble and modest TAR college. After commenting on my MAF lecturer in my previous post, I ought to continue to further comment (or ranting) on my other three lecturers as well.

Organisation and Human Resource

With 25 years of teaching experience and educating hundreds of hundreds of business students in the past, it is without a doubt that our lecturer for Human Resource, Mr. Roland Cheng. Hm, should I call him by Mr. Roland or should I call him Mr. Cheng? Anyway, who cares. The lecture was around late in the evening, so I was guessing most of my college friends would be cursing for having to come to college to attend just two hours of late lecture.

We started off with our lecture with a brief walkthrough on the subject syllabus. And surprise, surprise, he hit us with the assignment already!

Basically, we should start off our assignment by watching movies! Oh yeah, what a fun way to start off our project!

The movies we were supposed to watch consist of these right here:

Here's the trick. Assignments are always tricky as it is. I would have to choose one of these movies here, and analyze them based on what I learned from the HR subject I'm learning, such as aspects of work coordination, teamwork, leadership, motivation, etc. etc. that we usually miss and take for granted while we watch these kind of movies.

I would definitely love to choose Gladiator, it has been my favorite movie since I had watched it back during my younger years. But Happy Feet?! I was like holy cow, Happy Feet?!

Back to lecture period, the syllabus is something like a stranger to us, most likely because it contained a lot of technical and economical keywords that are pretty unfamiliar to us. (I blame myself for not reading the Business section in the newspapers lately) Some of my friends weren't quite keen on taking interest or paid attention, and one complained 'It's like learning back Bz'ness Information Systems all over again. There's so many long and long words!'

I actually am looking forward to learning more on HR. Can't wait to get my hands on managing people in the future. I'm tired of being managed ever since.

Finance Fundamentals (FF)

And I thought FF is Final Fantasy! xD

This time, our FF lecturer is the funky Mr. Liaw. He seems to have a personality similiar to our previous Macroeconomics lecturer in the past, he likes to joke around, lets himself get 'bullied' by his students, but the good thing is, he taught the subject at a nice and slow pace. (Although students sarcastically complained the lecturer was too fast)

On the first day of FF lecture, the first chapter was looking relatively simple to understand. So it kinda bores me because there's not a lot of new stuff I could learn from the first chapter. I actually fell asleep around ten minutes back then. xD Sorry, Mr. Liaw!

Flipping through the lecture notes, I have realized, I have underestimated FF. It looks like there would be lots of calculations I need to embrace in the near future.

I guessed I would direly need to replace my old scientific calculator and replaced it with a financial calculator one day, if I happen to bump up to any hard and time-consuming mathematics in this subject.

Financial Accounting (FA)

Alas, yet another accounting subject.

Our FA subject is conducted by our very own programme supervisor, Ms. Ng. She may have a charming face and a well-contoured body, but oh boy, she sure was strict and wise!

First chapter, it's time to catch up to one of our accounting chapters we have learnt during our SPM year - Partnership! Well, nothing much really.

But here's the interesting bit. Apparently, my group of friends who were persistent to change our timetable and demand rights and justice for Group 3 came face to face with Ms. Ng in her office. During that time, I was just tagging along, or actually 'forced' along to 'negotiate' with her, kononnya that I have the influence as the Class Rep to convince her =_=

(I'm not close to her yet, why not point the finger at the Cat? He knows her more than I do!)

First off, my friends started saying Group 3 is always getting bullied at every semester. They are asking Ms. Ng to consider other students in our group as well, saying that some of them live very far away from college.

One friend in particular, said he came from Melaka. But actually, he stayed in the college hostel. My other friends, who live somewhere in Cheras, drive a car to college.

Me? I took the jam-packed and the slow 'tortoise and turtle like' KTM train from Kepong, having to cope with the weird concoction of perfume, cologne, armpit odour, sweat, and pungent herbal oil. And having to push other people around or get squashed so badly, and even fighting for a seat in the train. It would be even hell if I missed the train in the first place! And once I reached Central KL station, I would have to wait in long queues to get into the LRT train to make my way to college at last.

I would honestly say that my friends are having their lives going to college pretty easy compared to mine!

Unfortunately, it was predictable that we could not change our timetable at all. Ms. Ng, as wise as she looks, advised us to accept what is determined in our timetable now, and use our free time in college or come early and use the library or computer lab facilities, as well as working hard towards our studies and get a good CGPA, join some clubs and be elected in some kind of position so that we could impress the interviewers once we go to work.

My friends felt dissapointed. Because they're not the hardworking but more towards the carefree type of people in the first place.

I was just sitting back behind them, sneering. Why make so much fuss about a timetable? I got nothing to do at home anyway, so might as well I continue on my 'happy go lucky' streak in college! xD

Wet, Wet, Monday!

2008-10-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

What a good way to start my first day of my third semester at college today. A wet, and heavy, rainy Monday!

I begin my life today by waking up late around 10am, thanks to my best-ever-alarm-clock-in-the-world, my mum.

I was taking it easy, changed into my clothes, newly washed and smelled fresh of washing detergent. After packing my bag, but really, there was nothing much to pack other than a bottle, a folder and a 'Kite Runner' book to be lent to my college mate, 'Michael'.

When suddenly, my mum nagged me to bring my umbrella along. I was nagging that it would my bag heavy. However, she urged me to bring that umbrella. Then I said alright, I will get hold of my umbrella. I sulked.

Luckily, it was a carefree day for me today. The train wasn't as jam packed like it was in the mornings, and it was such a breezy train ride to college. And I mean it, it was breezy. The KTM has finally fixed its air-conditioning. Or maybe it's because I took the train that is not broken down yet.

I reached college about half an hour earlier before my first Management Accounting Fundamentals (MAF) starts. As I was searching the canteen for a can of Nescafe coffee, I suddenly took interest in one boy that I saw there.

..No, not that gay-crush relationship you're imagining now.

I was 'impressed' and 'shocked' at the same time to see his hair dyed BLUE. And oh my, it sure was a BRIGHT BLUE, alright!

Moving on to lecture now, my new MAF lecturer is Mr. Sam Chew. I kept wondering whether is that really his full name or not, but I don't think there would be any benefits for finding out anyway. Mr. Sam (or Uncle Chew as my friend called him) was easy going and certainly took his time explaining his lecture nicely, compared to my Fundamentals of Accounting lecturer who talks like a rattling broken machine gun from my second semester.

So far, it's the first week of my third semester. I haven't fully see Mr. Sam's full nature yet, so this is just an unconclusive testimonial of him. Although he did warned that the subject I am learning under him will be pretty tough.

He said that he will be worried if his students said MAF is easy for them. Because he thinks maybe his students doesn't understand the subject at all in the first place.

+A=

Now, here comes the worse part to start my Monday. It suddenly rained cats and dogs.

Phew, how glad I am for having to listen to my mom's nagging and brought the umbrella with me today!

I ran to the bus station, get on the college bus, and later took the train home. (I'm in a rush to end my blog because I'm sleepy xD)

And even with an umbrella along, my shoes, socks and jeans are still soaking wet.

The Last Day of Holiday

2008-10-05T08:25:00.000-07:00

This morning, I've been having a stomach ache. Maybe it's because of the dangerous sambal I ate. What a day to start my Sunday blues, and enjoying the remains of my last day of holiday.

I was so exulted for having the freedom to celebrate my semester holidays after that grueling second semester I had with my accounting course. In fact, I've been so delightful, I have even wrongly assumed that my semester holidays would be a blissful 3-months duration! Fortunately (or unfortunately), Sweet N alerted me on the Messenger that our new third college semester timetable is already out!

After a quick glance on the timetable, I have noticed that my holidays will only last a meager duration of 2 weeks!

And Sweet N was sneering what would have happened if I still think my holidays is 3 months. I bet my whole college would be head-hunting for me.

By tomorrow, I would have joined my college mates who have dreaded coming to college to start a 'mundane' study life all over again. And to add salt to the misery, most of our group members felt dissapointed about our new timetable this time.

Here's my timetable. So take a long look at it if you want, peeps!

Being the neat and systematic addict, paying close attention to details, and having a sluggish brain, you could see my timetable has some highlights and writings here and there, and a '12pm and 6 pm time gap' to make my timetable easier to see and interpret.

I will be having four subjects, but this time, I will be having lectures and tutorials for the whole week. For the past two semesters, I had Monday as our 'RnR' day.

The four subjects with the longest names I have ever seen in my life (which you might not be interested in it anyway if you ain't a Business student) are:-
1. Management Accounting Fundamentals
2. Financial Accounting
3. Financing Fundamentals
4. Organization and Human Resource

And oh yes, I will be having three male lecturers and one sole female lecturer for Financial Accounting. Fancy that.

If you see the timetable (click on it to zoom it), pay attention to group 3, my group. Not only we will have to cope with late lectures, we probably have the worst tutorial classes as an addition.

On Thursdays, our HR tutorial starts at 4.30pm and ends at 6pm, while other groups are having earlier classes. Moreover, on Fridays, our FA tutorial is from 12pm to 2pm, another late class, in which the other groups are not having.

My funky class mate happened to have sms-ed me and complained this:

Hey Vinnie! Why is the timetable so unfair to us?! We're always the one to stay back so late!!! Do they think we are so easy to be bullied at?!

Somehow, for the first time, I totally agreed with her!

The Runner-Up Streak

2008-10-05T07:35:00.000-07:00

Lee Chong Wei has yet done it again.

This time, another unlucky third upset. After 'strolling' in the opening matches, quarter and semi finals in BWF Macau Open 2008, Lee Chong Wei has reached the finals yet again.

However, Lee Chong Wei was devastated and had a tough time competing against the very determined Taufik Hidayat from Indonesia who was set on winning his first title of the year and making a comeback from his early Beijing Olympics defeat against Malaysian player Wong Choong Han.

It had seemed that Taufik has improved a milestone, or maybe it's the burning passion inside him to win. Chong Wei has fought hard especially during the second set, but alas, he couldn't outlast his opponent.Taufik has defeated Chong Wei in straight sets 21-19, 21-15.

I believe it may have been another time when Chong Wei has made himself in the finals but has lost consequtively and instead only got himself another runner-up position. The other times I remembered was when Chong Wei was defeated by Lin Dan in the Beijing Olympics finals, and in the Japan Open finals against Sony Dwi Kuncuro of Indonesia.

I wouldn't know if this runner-up streak will keep on persist throughout the rest of the year, and I do hope Chong Wei wouldn't done the same thing again. Yes, he may have been one of the best badminton players in terms of recovery and tenacity, but he lacks the agility, responsiveness and aggressiveness like Lin Dan. He should develop a strategy to improve his performance on the court, or he will have his weakness wide-opened by other badminton players in the future.

As a hopeful fan of Chong Wei, I wished that Chong Wei will get back on his feet again, get himself together and make it all the way to the finals of the next Denmark Super Series on October 21. And this time, he should win the finals for god's sake!

However, I still rejoiced that the Malaysian men's doubles pair, Koo Kien Kiet and Tan Boon Heong have retained their Macau Open title by gaining victory over their Chinese-Taipei opponents. It was an intense fight for the both of them, and they deserve the cheers!

Amazing Prison Food Critics!

2008-10-05T02:00:00.000-07:00

Teresa Kok - It's not about the food (Malay Mail)

You'll cringe as you eat (Malay Mail)

What I saw was disgusting (Malay Mail)

Detainees need balanced food (Malay Mail)

Remember the time when MP Teresa Kok was wrongly detained under ISA for one week? After her detention, she gave the country the 'hoo-ha!' and strongly complained about the prison food lacking taste and appeal, which she compares to as 'dog food'. Maybe it's because she had ate food not quite as what she had expected as dinner from home, and she had ate the same food that was served more than once. That could be the reasons.

Let's go back to when our MP was in detection, the day when she met the mischievous 'Prison Caretaker'.

Of course, Teresa isn't the only one complaining about the prison food's quality.

In fact, Raja Petra complained too, that he can't stomach the smelly Kamunting food.

Raja Petra can't 'stomach' Kamunting food (The Star)

We take a look back again at the day of his complain, and our 'Prison Caretaker', deviant as always, and see how he confronts Raja Petra and deal with his situation.

And our 'Prison Caretaker' still brags about the 'amazing' quality of his prison food.

Happy Raya!

2008-10-02T10:58:00.000-07:00

Credits to Yume for the 'inedible' ketupat! xD

It is finally the sensational season after a full month of fasting, forgiveness, and delight. To all Muslims in Malaysia, it is a special time for all to return back to their respective home towns regardless of location, and reunite with distant family members longing to see each other.

Eventhough Hari Raya is a very joyous day for children for this is the day where adults are extra generous, the children should not just derive pleasure from receiving money tokens or 'duit raya' alone, rather they would have appreciate more on reunion, having their sins forgivven, and indulging on Malay delicacies and snacks for the sweet-toothed.

The thing is, the spirit of celebrating Aidilfitri is essential to Islamic societies all over the world, but it has taken on a different but unique and deeper approach in the harmonious multicultural society of Malaysia. Badawi, our Prime Minister, in his recent Hari Raya speech, said that Aidilfitri is a month to forgive and strengthen ties, as such Malaysian should foster and strengthen national unity.

I support this statement from the PM himself. In fact, multicutural unity among different races in Malaysia which comprise of Malays, Chinese, Indians, and other ethnic groups has long been Malaysia's national identity since pre-Independence and all the way after 51 years after gaining independency. This strong sense of integrity among Malaysians to uphold the spirit of mutual respect, has given birth to a progressive and peaceful society in the developing country of Malaysia.

The spirit of Aidilfitri especially through the traditional concept of celebrating the festival in an Open House by welcoming everyone of every race, culture and religion to join in has influenced us, in a positive aspect, to accept the differences within ourselves, and furthermore bridging the gap too. As I remembered an excerpt from the holy book of Quran, Prophet Muhammad once said that we should cherish each and everyone of us by opening our hands and giving them a warm and hearty reception.

Although being a non-Muslim myself, I have celebrated this festive season by going back to my 'kampung' with my family, and being together to have a good dinner and even had scoops of Baskin Robbins ice-cream on the way home. Sadly there weren't any Raya discounts on ice-cream!

The sun has long set, and it's nearing 3 in the morning now when I was typing this. However, I believe that the spirit of Aidilfitri should continue and not be perceived as being seasonal like waiting for a tree to bear its fruits.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to every single one of you out there!

(I'm in a fetish for ketupats)

PS3 Demise

2008-09-29T09:36:00.001-07:00

Do you still remember when I posted a blog entry saying that I will be going for the Playstation 3 launch in One Utama the last time?

On that day, I was imagining myself playing Grand Theft Auto IV if I got hold of the console.

And I sometimes dream of playing Final Fantasy XIII and seeing my lovely Lightning.

But on that day, I just realized the launch day clashed with my final day of college semester examination.

And I was suffering during exam day.

Back home, my dad was telling me, in a polite tone, that I ought to buy the console on another day.

And my mom goes all wacky and gone on her protesting rantings.

And I have to eat my words when my friends kept on asking me on the phone and messenger whether I have bought the PS3.

And there's one friend who still remains optimistic until this very day.

-Tagged-

2008-09-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

My first tag from Anne.

Here goes.

1. What is the most important thing in your life?
Family comes first, loved my naggy mum and queer dad.

2. What is the last thing you bought with your own money?
Fancy that, I recently bought a MARS chocolate bar made in China! And I still got the chills to eat it or not.

3. Where do you wish to get married?
Tokyo, Japan! D:

4. How old do you think you will get permanently owned by your lover?
That's a question I wish I could get a answer for that too. How about you be my lover and answer that for me? x3

5. Are you in love?
I'm in love with tsunderes! I want my Tsukiumi!

6. Where was the last restaurant you had dinner at?
Pizza Hut with my family. Haha! But it has been a pain having pizza with my mum and dad, because my dad only eats pepperoni pizza, I wanted to eat stuffed-crust, and my mum goes into cincai mode. In the end, we order 2 large pizzas for a family of three...

7. Name the latest book you bought?
Twilight, Eclipse, New Moon and Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (srsly I thought I bought the wrong type of book for myself)

8. What is your full name?
Right on your right hand side of this blog. See?

9. Do you prefer mother or father?
None. Haha joking, both.

10. Name a person that you really wish to meet in your real life for the first time.
Lee Chong Wei. I had this recent nightmare of me talking with him on my bed.

11. Christina or Britney?
And I can't get to choose Ellen Degeneres or Oprah now?

12. Do you do your own laundry?
My washing machine does it for me. I'm such a lazy bum.

13. The most exciting place you want to go?
Tokyo, Japan yet again!

14. Hugs or kisses?
I WANT THEM BOTH! MUAH~! xD

15. Point out five things about the person who tagged you.
i. Claimed to be retarded.
ii. Slightly kinky.
iii. Very carefree.
iv. Happy go lucky.
v. Loaded with sugar sweetness.

16. Eight things I'm passionate about.
i. Anime
ii. Manga
iii. Cosplay
iv. Magazines
v. Snacks
vi. Games
vii. Chatting.
viii. Sulking.

17. Eight books I have read recently.
i. Romance of the Three Kingdoms
ii. A Thousand Splendid Suns
iii. Twilight
iv. The Undercover Economist
v. The Magicians' Guild
vi. Newspaper
vii. Marley and Me
viii. His Dark Materials (Golden Compass)

18. 8 songs I've been listening over and over again.
i. Morning Musume - Mikan
ii. Hey! Say! JUMP - Your Seed
iii. Gackt - Last Song
iv. L'arc~en~Ciel - Seventh Heaven
v. UVERworld - Colours of Your Heart
vi. Red Alert OST - Hell March Remix
vii. Final Fantasy OST
viii. Utada Hikaru - Travelling

19. 8 things I learned this year
i. Being compassionate.
ii. Open up.
iii. Stop being retarded.
iv. Study hard.
v. Take notice of my surroundings.
vi. Being hospitable.
vii. Stop complaining.
viii. Sleeping is good!

20. 8 people you tag
i. Rarsa
ii. Mana
iii. Fan Wai
iv. Miow
v. Sweet Ann
vi. Songher
vii. Biiang
viii. Andrew Yem

And here's a Mythbusters video as a payback for getting me tagged. By the way, when you watch it, make sure you keep on repeating it! D:

Lackluster, Jaded Week

2008-09-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

I apologize for not updating my blog for about 4, 5 days now if you wouldn't mind. I have been terribly busy and bored at the same time while I'm thinking of ways to spend my immense amount of free time during my 3 months college semester holidays (oh the bliss!)

You know there's so many things that you have dream of doing when you were agonized during your studies right? I've been indulging in books that I have long to read, watching Koihime Musou anime which sadly has ended its first season at its 12th episode (and being amused at my cousin for having a fetish/crush on Chuun or the female Zhao Yun), continuously playing the same old Dota game,

But most of the time I've been taking naps on the couch or on the bed, sulking or complaining about the intense Malaysian heat while I turned on the air-conditioner.

If you were interested on what books I have read, well I actually have finished reading 4 books in one week straight! (bravo for me?) The rest of this blog entry is all about book ranting, I'm afraid, so if you're aren't an avid book reader, I suggest clicking on the Back button on your browser right now.

Well, here goes.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Yes, honestly this is the first book that I have finished reading it, and I really thank god that I finished reading this thick book in the first place! I've been reading section by section of it during college month, but for some reason, the loss of interest in history (or the fact that I am forced to cram in all those economic and business facts in my head during college) has stopped me from reading the last few chapters of the story.

Influence from Koihime Musou anime, literally depicting the Romance of the Three Kingdoms in a female perspective, has got me addicted yet again to read this book once more.

The Undercover Economist

Just the mere mention of economics can either terrify or bore those to death who ain't interested in the world of economics, or put it simply, to those who aren't an economics student.

The cover depicting a spilled cup of coffee with a label on the cup saying 'This coffee is expensive!' might actually be true in today's profit-minding and penny-pinching society. Let's face it, do you often wonder why Starbucks and Coffee Bean are discriminating us for charging a high price on the coffee we buy? There's surely some reasons for it. This book starts off with the coffee theme, but later moves on from the coffee and starts talking on facts that matter to economics of today. Literally, this book may have indirectly trained me as an undercover economist and look at the world at a different perspective. (This book somehow reminds me of one of my queer college mate who likes to check out stock prices on Bursa Malaysia website, which kinda creeps me out!)

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Khaled Hosseini had wrote another masterpiece yet again. A follow-up to his first bestseller, The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns captivate me with its splendid narration, opening my eyes and understanding the Islamic society, its cultures, religions and the cities.

But it's more than just that. The story tells about a lifelong journey of two women, Mariam and Laila, their stories of bravery, curiousity, relationships, hardships and discoveries they have to face.

It's no wonder it's the best fiction book for this year, I recommend this book to everyone who is reading my blog right now. Take the initiative to read this book, okay? Seriously, this book is just packed with goodness!

Twilight

Okay, I might have made an akward decision for reading this book in the first place (I even bought the whole series until Breaking Dawn). What I have found out that this book has became tremendously popular among teenage girls around the world, and so, because I found out yet again that I can buy the whole series with a major discount from the Kinokuniya bookstore, I was like 'oh what the heck', if this book series is that good, I might as well see what made it that good.

Although I'm not a girl, but merely evaluating this book in terms of a male perspective, I could honestly tell you that the story all about vampirism love is indeed that thrilling and exciting, suffice to say. Hands down, it was a brilliant read, and no doubt, girls do enjoy reading all sorts of these love affairs and such.

In fact, I heard there will be a movie on Twilight around the end of December 2008, which is in fact 'forcibly' moving the premier date of Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince movie to next year.

Move on, Harry Potter, vampires have come taken over the fan craze now!

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ps: If you actually made it all the way here, I thank you for reading, and do recommend me books that you think I should read. I loved to read fictional books (but not text books), so do suggest me a few to read.

If you missed my comics, I am sorry to say I don't have any brilliant ideas right now. Although I was thinking on the issue of Teresa Kok and prison inmates having 'dog food' in prisons as my next comic project, I'd best leave it be for now.

The Safest Milk

2008-09-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

Asia is now troubled with milk. If you haven't read the news lately (or if you never take the initiative to touch the newspaper), then this is what you ought to know.

Tainted milk sickens thousands of babies

Ban on China products include confectionary

Stopping imports on tainted milk from China

Cabinet orders inspections, reform of dairy industry

Chinese parents seek answers on tainted milk product

Lately, the capital city of Beijing in China has been having a major health scare. Sanlu, a milk distribution company has been accused of adding a harmful and illegal chemical called melanine into its milk powder products. Melanine is a poisonous chemical used in the making of plastics, and it was added into milk powders to give the impression of high protein in their products.

Melanine in Wikipedia

In the end, after consuming the milk powder, 4 babies have died and nearly 530,000 babies are sick in China, and the number might keep on increasing at the end of the week.

I really symphatised on the current condition un China now, I wished the government would bring justice upon Sanlu and those corrupted people involved, but I also hoped that hospitals and clinics would try their best curing the babies.

In order to bring awareness on milk products in Malaysia, two friends are discussing what are the safest milks you could consume. (And I mean, halal milk)

Mother's milk! Isn't that right? That's the safest of all milks! Although the thing is, mom's milk can't be mass produced, sadly. (omg, imagine if that happen!)

Credits to my college mates, Jon and Miow for pic ^^ You are now the mini-stars, so be proud of that xD

Second Upset

2008-09-22T08:21:00.000-07:00

No, no it's not me being upset again (Or actually, I did feel upset xP)

Chong Wei crashes out in Japan Open Final

World No 1 seeder, Olympic silver medalist and local Malaysian favorite, Lee Chong Wei has worked hard towards making it to the finals to make up for his loss in the Beijing Olympics, but couldn't defend his Japan Open badminton championship the last Sunday against Sony Dwi Kuncuro of Indonesia.

Sony, whom Chong Wei got an upper hand on him during the Beijing Olympics, has turned the tables on Chong Wei this time around, winning Chong Wei straight sets 21-17, 21-11 under 40 minutes. The results were almost a similiar outcome as when Chong Wei fought against Lin Dan in the Olympics finals.

It's clear that Chong Wei has somehow fell short in his recent performance, although he had lead a stream of victory on the way to the final, beating Zhu Weilun of China (first round), Sho Sasaki of Japan (2nd round) and Qin Yanbo of China (quarter finals)

It looks like deja vu has striked Chong Wei all over again, which actually reminded me of his lack of performances in past activities during the Athens Olympics, and though he gained back his footing before Beijing Olympics, the losing streak in the finals has somehow come to haunt him back.

Lee Chong Wei has made a great contribution towards encouraging the Malaysian youth in badminton, and I still actually have hopes that Chong Wei should beefed up his performance, be more agile and stop making too many unforced errors the next time.

China Masters is coming soon on Sept 23-28, and unfortunately Chong Wei won't be competing in it. He might be appearing again in the next Macau Open in the future. (Maybe Misbun couldn't bare let Chong Wei fight Lin Dan all over again?)

Chong Wei to skip China Masters

Cross our fingers, let's hope for the best for Chong Wei.

Kickdefella!

2008-09-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

24 hour remand for blogger Kickdefella

In the end, sadly our blogger Kickdefella has to join the cast of Prison Break.

Exam Irony

2008-09-14T07:09:00.000-07:00

I probably be absent from any blogging activity for 1 week starting today. Exam stress has been killing me ever since.

And I've got another reason to add up on why it is *murdering me*, my last exam on this Saturday, 20 Sept., clashes with the official local launch of Playstation 3 in One Utama!!

ARGHHH WTF WTF WTFBBQ!!! >_______<

'Facepalm' on ISA

2008-09-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

Tan Hoon Cheng, Sin Chew journalist detained: Reason

Sin Chew journalist, Tan Hoon Cheng was detained under the Internal Security Act, alleged to have been arrested over her report on former Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail’s racist remarks while campaigning for the Permatang Pauh by-election last month.

Come on, of all the reporters who reported on that matter, she got the blame? Didn't all the newspapers reported about that incident? She was merely doing her job as an acclaimed journalist, for crying out loud.

And come to think of it, people were confused, questioning 'Why her and the others, but not Ahmad who got suspended for 3 years instead of being detained by ISA? Isn't he the source of all this multiracial controversy, no?'

And then, here's a weird twist.

Malaysia releases ethnic Chinese journalist, Tan Hoon Cheng

Just a day after being detained, on Saturday afternoon, 13 September, police have released her, saying that Tan has cooperated with the police.

The next reason they gave for her arrest? Here's the really obnoxious part.

"She is not a security threat," he said, adding that one of the reasons she was taken into custody was because "we received reports her life was threatened."

That's gotta be the most ridiculous reason I have ever heard. She got detained because she was threatened!

This comes to show that no one is safe from the long hands of the crudity of justice in Malaysia.

Tan deserved to be grateful to receive a warm hug from her mother after her unfair arrest that day.

BN & PKR in Taiwan

2008-09-12T10:23:00.000-07:00

PKR send team to Taiwan to learn 'AGRICULTURE'

5 PKR members leave for Taiwan

Malaysian politics at its funniest and obnoxious yet!

Are they really going to learn 'agriculture' in Taiwan? Or are they just gonna drink coffee together?

I just can't understand politics.

I Scream for Screamyx!

2008-09-12T07:48:00.000-07:00

Malaysia's very own broadband service provider, Streamyx. Or if you would call it as Screamyx or Snailmyx if you're one of those agonized users using it now, just like me!

Connection has been drastically slow today from noon till night, and I was waiting for my whole one episode of Koihime Musou to finish loading itself in Crunchyroll, and after impatiently waiting for three hours, it still hasn't even finish.

And if you're not satisfied with the intense slow-ness of Streamyx, they even tried to please you with their 'looks-tempting-on-the-outside-but-on-the-inside-it-sucks-so-bad' combo meals. Fancy a double cow burger with a drink, or a pack of nasi lemak with teh tarik? Empty promises on the go, fancy that!

Well, the naked truth is, this is so far the fastest broadband provider in Malaysia yet, maybe it's because because there are no competitors willing to challenge Streamyx in offering a faster broadband than TMNut (blame the monopoly power). This is Malaysia!

Amazing Race Asia (Episode One)

2008-09-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

The Amazing Race Asia has finally hit its third season mark! Proclaiming itself 'the toughest race ever', the third season will feature ten teams of two, and they shall compete, not only physically but mentally, as well as traveling to countries around the world, in order to get the first place in the podium and win US$100,000 (RM 350,000). Wow, with that amount of money, I wouldn't get hungry so often.

The racing teams consist of two from India, two from Thailand, one from Philippines, one from Singapore, one from Hong Kong, and the first ever team from South Korea. And we're proud to have another 2 Malaysian teams. The first Malaysian team: brother and sister, Henry and Bernie (H&B). And the next Malaysian team: actress and heiress, Ida Nerina and Tania (I&T).

The first leg of the race starts off at Bangkok, Thailand. Once the charming Daniel Wu gave the signal to start, teams perform their first 'hard to chew' task, going to Khao San Road and munching on a big bowl of fried insects, and various gross foods, or so called Thailand's delicacies. Before doing their first task, we could see which teams are apparently choosing their mode of transportation. Some immediately got into taxis, and some got into 'put-put's. Others who are persistent enough to get a taxi instead of a put-put got themselves left behind temporarily.

Onto the second task, teams will have to clean an entire double decker bus at the Caltex petrol station. Another difficult task for teams yet again!

As a treat for teams, they are required to hop on the bus which they have cleaned and went to the next destination to perform their third task, Wat Phai Rong Wa (wow that was hard to spell). Upon reaching their destination, teams had to search over hundreds of Buddha statues late at night with only their torchlights as guides, to find for the clue, and they had to do so with the buses they arrived with departing within 20 minutes of arrival.

Once they reach the Chiang Mai bus station, teams have to perform a 'Detour' before continuing in the race. In Detour, teams can opt to go for 'Rice' or 'Race'. In 'Rice', teams will go to a paddy field to smash rice paste and make some rice dumplings. In 'Race', teams will go for a buggy race. The buggy race seems fun and cool, and yet there are still teams wanted to pound some rice paste and in the process, getting blisters on their hands.

Finally, teams are required to take a taxi (which looks to me like a mini bus) to Ratchaphruek Garden in Chiang Mai, the first pit stop of the race. H&B reached third on the pit stop eventhough they were leading during the starting of the leg, and while they were chasing up to Thai team, Mai & Oliver and Geoff & Tisha nearing the end of the leg. I&T reached 5th. The Indian cousins, Neena & Amit reached last, and as a consequence, having Daniel Wu to say 'You have been elimanated from the race'.

Placements during the 1st leg in order:
1. Mai & Oliver (Thai)
2. Geoff & Tisha (Phil)
3. Henry & Bernie (Mas)
4. Natalie & Pailin (Thai)
5. Ida & Tania (Mas)
6. William & Isaac (S. Kor)
7. Sam & Vince (HK)
8. AD & Fuzzie (Sin)
9. Niroo & Kapil (Ind)
10. Neena & Amit (Ind) --- bye

ps: I just have the urge to update about TARA3 to inform those who don't have Astro and are unable to watch the latest season :)

Koihime † Musou

2008-09-11T02:58:00.000-07:00

I should have posted this yesterday night. But my politics-addict dad was using the only computer in the house to access the mirror site of Malaysia Today (and I was crazy to show him the location of the mirror site yesterday). I should have posted this this afternoon, but my garden-addict mom was watching videos of orchids and petunia on YouTube.

There's no rush in blogging, aight?

Let's see, yesterday was one of those exams in college in which I have least studied on. English! And the simpler type of English format than the one in my previous SPM exam. It was such a breeze doing the paper, maybe it's because I was sitting under the fan and next to the air-conditioner. And the really funny thing is, we (my DAC3 group mates) have attempted the English paper without having any knowledge about the change in the format.

And why is that? Well, apparently, whoever who prepared the green-ish question paper has forgotten to put in the important summary question. Maybe it's because for the sake of mercy, she did so. Credits for your intended regretfullness then, because we have so much time available to write a letter, an essay, a comprehension and a cloze passage less than 2 hours, and I even have 10 minutes spare time to take a quick nap in the exam hall xD

But after hearing from my 'dilettante' friend behind me who said that he was so confident doing an essay on 'Foreign Students in Malaysia', I was like, darn, my friend really could do English after all. And I was wishing someone would fail in English (how sarcastic of me)

2 subjects down, and 4 more to go! 4 craziest exam subjects in combo next week! Quantitative Studies, Macroeconomics, Business Information Systems and Accounting! Argh, I hate accounting and yet I'm an accounting student.

Having a happy go lucky day today, resisting the urge to study, I was watching a really cool anime about girls. Yes, all about girls!

What were you thinking actually?

Well, what if all of the main characters of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms were young teenage girls? I am talking about the newest anime Koihime † Musou! Yeap, it's another reimagining of the Three Kingdom novel with girls, but with a lighthearted tone and campy feel. On the plus side, there's no long-bearded man with furrowed brows, enlarged muscles, and condescending looks. And there's something to be said about Zhuge Liang being a cute little girl, Zhang Fei looking like an over-energetic toddler, and Lu Bu having a fondness for dogs.

Local PS3 Launch?! D:

2008-09-09T08:26:00.000-07:00

One good news that does keep me excited amidst all this study stress I've been having.

Sony Plans Local PS3 Launch

Local gamers have much to shout about now as Sony M'sia is going to officially launch their next-gen PS3 videogame console here.

Official launch event is set to take place at 11.30am on Sept 20 at I Utama new wing in PJ. The company also said that the PS3 units on sale will be the new 80GB variation of the popular videogame console.

No official local pricing for the PS3 was announced at press time.

Obtained from Star InTech, 9 Sept 2008.

But what I really need is...

A study partner! xD

Mega K-k-k-KICK!

2008-09-08T08:32:00.000-07:00

Do you have one of those moments, when you feel so bored of studying and fantasizing on stuff?

Just for jokes! xD

Good luck in your semester exam, college mates!

Sunday Blues

2008-09-07T09:09:00.000-07:00

This morning, mom told me there was a Timbaland Warehouse Sale today. (Yes, the one who made shirts and shoes) So I said, okay, why not check it out?

The warehouse was easy to locate in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, it happened to be in a big office building with a MPH book cafe in it. Strange, how could I have not noticed such a place back then?

Anyway, I chanced upon checking and trying out some Timbaland shirts, jackets, and shoes, all priced at a whopping 50% discount. But still, I think I have came at the wrong time. It was the last day of warehouse sale, and probably all the good shirt designs were already sold the day before. My eyes chanced upon a thick jacket with a hoodie, but when I lifted it up, it was quite heavy, and the price? RM200, a deduction of 1/2 the price of its original RM400 price tag. And yet, I did not buy it. Reason? Mom think I can't fit in the medium-sized jacket...

So in the end, I got out of the venue without purchasing anything, because there's nothing that interests me there. But at least I get to save my parents' money. I'm a sort of person who gets very thrifty with money, and I dare not waste a penny on something I don't like. Am I becoming too money-mindful? Is that good or bad?

Back home, I totally forgotten about studying despite it's my college semester exam fever now.

And guess what? Just 10 minutes ago before midnight, my dad locked me in the kitchen!! I was using the bathroom connected to the kitchen, when all of a sudden, dad switched off the kitchen lights and locked the door! = = Haven't I hated my dad enough?

Okay, there I was, after my bath, stood in front of the kitchen door. I turned the knob of the door and as I have expected, it was locked. And this is where the funny thing happen, I gave one punch to the door and suddenly it opened! Turns out, the door lock was spoiled! I was rubbing my chest, thinking, oh thank god, I don't have to sleep in the kitchen tonight!

Back From a Long Drought

2008-09-06T09:35:00.001-07:00

After around 3 months of having deserted the blog and having it sympathized for being so empty and left to decay itself (with the picture of the maize plant growing on the road still obviously visible in my blog!), it's high time that I should cater to demands of my somewhat curious and concerned readers about my absence for quite a long time, although this post would actually prove that I'm finally for god's sake back to show you that I'm still alive out there.

During this course of 3 months, I have faced so many eventful and some uneventful days of my life. At times, I just feel so depressed, and I'm just too tired of complaining about my miseries on this blog. And there are times when I got in a mood to blog usually late at night before 12am, and I would be rudely interrupted by my queer dad who likes to turn on the TV next to my computer watching the usual shows that old men tend to watch like automobile shows, the history channel and tennis. (Ho ho tennis?) What's not surprising about that? It's not surprising really, but the thing is, he likes to turn off the volume and watch his shows muted! Can't you feel the agony of having to watch a tennis match between Federer and Djokovic when he suddenly mutes the TV when the crowd cheers? Worse still, he turn off the ceiling fan every night when he's down in his living room wearing his full-sleeved jacket... making me feel really, really hot and sweaty when I sit next to him = ="

And I can't get to watch my favourite anime Sekirei because it has started to show some interesting fanservice, but then I can't just watch it in front of my parents... I don't like my privacy being violated. I wanted my computer so badly to be moved up my room, and I wanted a laptop so dearly as well, but I just couldn't because my mom persists: The computer should stay in the living room so that she could watch what I'm doing on the computer.

I just happened to complete my Bahasa Malaysia Lanjutan (in direct translation: Extended Malaysian Language) paper yesterday evening, and oh man, I sure rushed in filling up the answers in my answer booklet as I tried to race against time, there's only 2 hours allowed for writing and checking. And there are certain questions in which I give the nastiest answers I could think of, because I always don't think right sometimes...

There was this one question on 'What Causes Cancer?' You guys might have think that, oh it's the genes, or the smoking, and something else. But me? I wrote in that the people of Malaysia are too addicted to eating fast food like McDonalds! Oh man, I so regretted myself for writing such a silly answer.

But alas, at least it's over! It's over! Shake it, baby! 1 down, and... I still need to 'tame' 5 more subjects left. I sweat at that. Next is going to be the humble English paper, and oh man, I so loved English very much! I just hope the pain in my hand due to excessive writing from my past BM paper is gonna get off soon.

ps: Oh look, I just complain on my blog again. Isn't that natural of me? :3

Meal Survey

2008-06-16T09:05:00.000-07:00

What would you want for a snack? Here's some options:

1. Popcorn made out of a corn from a plant growing next to a road.

2. A dumpling left refrigerated for one week.

3. Picked, dried and unique ginger bites bought from Cold Storage, KLCC.

4. A munch off a carrot (rabbit meat included upon request).

5. Sushi for two, just you and me (with mild wasabi and soya sauce).

Anyway, whenever you get your pets out for a walk, always take care of their safety, because who knows how dangerous the roads in Malaysia can be! That's why you need life-saving, shiny, and greenish protective jackets for your pets. Sorry, no free-size available.

Unfortunately, my dog doesn't appreciate having extra protection though :/

Banana Pie

2008-06-15T07:23:00.000-07:00

(Changed to a new, brighter template to feast your eyes upon)

I ate McD's Banana Pie today, that's why my newest blog entry has such a random title xD

My dog sleeps so much better when there's that sweet smell of banana pie next to him. I kinda felt guilty for giving him the empty packet though ^^"

Anyway, my birthday (2nd June) had came and gone so fast, so soon. Thanks a lot for the wishes, and even some wonderful presents and cards some of you guys gave me D: I loved the birthday card with the dog picture given to me. Gotta kiss my parents for that!

And look! Even an insurance company sent me a birthday card. o_O How 'sweet' of them to offer me a 'Free Financial Health Check' as soon as I turned 18.

Can you see that Manchester United logo there too? O__o

And yes! My grandest birthday gift I have ever received in my entire life! A brand new car!!

... Wait. Don't expect me to get myself a Vios, Honda City, or even the humble Myvi or Kelisa. Instead I got a second-hand Honda Accord, purchased by my dad from my closest uncle at a meager price of RM 15,000. No, not the newest generation of Accord... it's prolly around the 5th generation. 1990s model... call it a granddad's model, if you might say.

So how do I feel about getting the new car? I felt traumatized, not proud, but traumatized! But then... as I'm getting used to the car (lucky for me, it's Auto), and then after a week, the car is giving some nasty problems, like how an old car is acting up. Parts for the car are hard to come by, so in the end, my dad made up an irrational decision and sell off the car back to my uncle! =__= Curses! Oh well, I still loved you, daddy for getting me a car, but make sure it's at least a Myvi this time!

Here are some pictures of the car the day when it was brought to the house. Take note of the license plate by the way! Lucky 7777! Dad said my uncle bought that exclusive license plate for around 2 or 3 grand... that's affordable.

And... the really sad thing is... I lost my lovely CJ7 keychain doll on my way to college!!

Rest in peace, my beloved doll T^T Luckily, it's so fortunate of you to cost only RM3 at a local night market! xDDD

Hah! Got you, you rascal cat! :0

Go, go doggy! Chase after the cat!!!

(swt) Darn it, how could you welcome the cat into the house??? =_="

I think that's all for now, nothing interesting I could think of to add here :/ I don't think you guys want to see my constant ranting about how difficult college life is ._.

The Groove~

2008-05-30T08:51:00.000-07:00

Whoa~ Whoa~ :0 First of all, I've been on a very jolly mood today. Very, very jolly jolly jolly groovy groovy mood today xD

I am particularly exalted when I check out my semester exam results. Curses to my college website for denying me access to check my results this morning (the results should have been released yesterday) but finally I get to check it after noon! But not until I made my way to my college's computer lab, nudged my friend so that I could budge in and use her computer, and check my results right in front of her together with a bunch of friends next to her. (ps: A couple of them are called 'donkey' and 'monkey' :3 :3)

And *drums roll* I nearly pass out after seeing this!

Phew! Anyway, second semester of college has finally started! Am I happy about it? Obviously my first answer would be no, but of course, who wouldn't want to go back to college and learn some new, and interesting subjects? (Even the subjects' names look bombastic to me!)

First off, in this sem, I will be learning fewer but tougher subjects this time around. Here are the craziest subjects you could imagine while taking an Accounting course:

1. Quantitative Studies (more counting, might get harder in the end :/ )

2. Macroeconomics (extension to the demonic Microeconomics)

3. Business Information Systems & Applications (in short, BISA. Translate BISA into English, and you get POISON)

4. Fundamentals of Accounting (interesting title, but truth is, it's Form 5 Accounting)

5. Bahasa Melayu Lanjutan (I learnt Malay in high school, and I have to learn again?)

Fortunately, we have some amazing... wait, I should reduce the sarcasm a bit. We have some particularly... interesting lecturers now compared to our lecturers in the previous semester. Although I do miss our past lecturers though, they were kind, understanding, and... friendly :/

For Quantitative Studies (QS), we got back our old lecturer who taught us Business Statistics in the previous semester. Yeah, same old face we all get to know. And yes, he's old, probably around in his glorious 50s or so. He's your typical no-nonsense and get-serious man who will mind boggle his students including me with his mathematical equations, calculations, linear equations, and decision makings. Holy cow, I wish I could catch up with him, my maths sucks.

Next, let's introduce our funky Macroeconomics lecturer~! My favorite so far, thankfully. And a much better lecturer than our previous Microeconomics lecturer. (oh don't go spreading around rumors about my backstabbing okay?) He's a.. how would you say, well a very friendly man, maybe somewhere around 30 years old and the really weird thing is, he has the voice of a 12 year old girl. Squeaky, I should say. And oh, he's plump and chubby (omg I can't believe I said that!)
He tends to joke around, and what I like about him is, he taught the subject in a slow, and steady pace. And I mean slow, but it's cool to be slow when it comes to studying :3

Moving on is our lovely BISA lecturer. She's a charming woman in her 30s, slim, long straight hair but wear the odd professor-look-and-feel glasses. And what's charming about her is because she speaks a really humorous 'Mongolian accent' English. Clearly, she's too tongue-tied with her strong Chinese dialect. Every word she spoke turned out different, and I couldn't stop myself laughing throughout the whole lecture. And my college mate, Ah Song even wrote down the words she wrongly spoke too and a long list of it too.

Let's see some cool mis-pronunciations, shall we? I can only remember a few though :/

She spoke:

1. exceed as (as cheese)
2. damage as (damn it)
3. succeed as (sarsi)

And throughtout the whole lecture, we already get to know our BISA lecturer's most famous, most favorite, and most repeated word of all time.

'You understand? Understand? Understand? Understand? Understand? :0'

Oh yes, yes, my dear lecturer. We understood what you are trying to say, but when it comes to the teaching part, we barely understood anything because you spoke at Mach 5 speed!! xD

Finally our FOA lecturer. Well, nothing much special or unique about him that makes him stand out from the rest. He looks just like an average uncle with a face you commonly see in a Chinese coffee-house. And he rather teach the May Intake students (I'm in the January Intake batch) because he doesn't want his students to see his same face on the next semester O.o holy cow, you don't want us to miss you?

Thanks a lot to my friend, niekaori for drawing a cute 'Disgaea' artwork for me. I really appreciate it D:

The Anticipation

2008-05-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

If you guys have been wondering why i failed badly in Travian, here's a reason. My village is right in the middle of nowhere and its position looks so... convincing for people to attack me.

Sorry I haven't been blogging these past few days. I have been reading a pretty good book I have bought from Kinokuniya. It's pretty cheap, the price is just around RM35, and the story plot is.. oh, so exciting!

Lankhmar by Fritz Leiber

From the moment they met, committing the same daring theft, Fafhrd, the giant barbarian warrior, and the Gray Mouser, master thief and swordsman, felt no ordinary affinity. Theirs was a friendship that would take them from adventure to adventure across all of Nehwon, from the caves of the inner earth to the waves of the outer sea. But it was in the dark alleys and backstreets of the great city of Lankhmar that they first become legends.

My semester break is going to end pretty, pretty soon. Can't wait to get back to college and get my lazy brain working again! The second semester is starting on Tuesday, and it's sure going to be more hectic and stressing than the first one.

Let's see... Tuesday class starts from 8am and ends on 7pm. WTF?? And we start off our semester with a counting subject? T^T oh lord have mercy on me.

Wednesday's class is from 8am to 5.30pm, Thursday's 4 to 6pm, and Friday's 2 to 4pm. Holy cow, why must all our classes end late? Well then, let's officially declare TAR College as the most kiasu and excessively put immense pressure on its students to be a lil' more hard-working then :0 Anyone wanna suggest demonstrations? lol

I even dyed my hair too. Finally! I used a common mocha color for my hair, something that my mum can agree of. She doesn't want me to use any funny dyes like white, red, blonde, or blue, or else she will faint xP

The dye is not noticable when I'm indoors, but once I'm out in the sun, it shines a bright brownish red. Too bad I can't get it on my camera though, the picture came out with my hair still black :/

Here's one artwork that I've been working on today. A fanart of Siv from Zint's Under 18 comic, which is available in our local Gempak magazine. I wished I could practice more on my lineart and coloring before I get back to college.

PS: My birthday coming up soon desudesudesu!! D: 2nd June, 2nd June, have that remembered?

The Crudity

2008-05-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

You want Light to train you swimming for Olympics? Here you go :3

Water Resistance is Huge!!

I should have posted this new blog entry yesterday night, but again, my dad 'capitalized' my computer yet again and watching political videos... again. Politics, why do old people seem to get addicted to it but us, young people aren't? Oh, maybe it's because they lack entertainment and attention... :3

Omg, My computer isn't personal again to me anymore :/

The crudity. Aah... who's the best person when it comes to crudity? Moms :0 Okay, here's the deal. I wanted to dye my hair brownish-red yesterday. I wished I hadn't told my mum about it, because she completely went berserk and totally disagreed with my decision to dye my hair. I could even see the horror in her eyes =D She then started nagging and nagging, for example:

'Your hair is too short to be dyed'

'Red is the worst hair dye to go with'

'Don't you know dye is cancer-causing?'

'What if you waste that dye?'

'Dye doesn't come off easily if you don't like the color'

'You ain't good in dying your hair'

And I hate hearing these:

'Do it after your birthday (June 2)'

'Cut your hair (0___0) I like your spiky hair the last time'

Today is a good day to watch Indiana Jones: The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in KLCC. And I am finally able to drive my mom's petite Kancil... to the nearest train station dammit.

Father's Day is coming. So don't forget to celebrate Father's Day with Hard Gay lol D:

The Lag

2008-05-20T08:46:00.000-07:00

Connection has been excruciatingly slow ever since. Somehow I do not doubt that TM-nut/Snailmyx/Screamyx is behind the slow internet speed, maybe the recent earthquakes around Peninsular Malaysia have ultimately affected the speed. First is China (amen T^T), then Sabah, and later Indonesia. I do hope Kuala Lumpur here won't have its first earthquake anytime soon. Malaysia is quite peaceful... for now.

Even Miku needs some recharging :0

I just finished reading a really good book today. It's titled The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I think as an addicted reader, I should really recommend you to read this book, because the story-telling is so gripping and powerful! Let me share some of the details with you:

The Kite Runner is the story of strained family relationships between a father and a son, and between two brothers, how they deal with guilt and forgiveness, and how they weather the political and social transformations of Afghanistan from the 1970s to 2001.

The adult narrator, Amir, lives in San Francisco and is contemplating his past, thinking about a boyhood friend whom he has betrayed. The action of the story then moves backward in time to the narrator's early life in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he is the only child of a privileged merchant. Amir's closest friend is his playmate and servant Hassan, a poor illiterate boy who is a member of the Hazara ethnic minority. The Kite Runner, a coming-of-age novel, deals with the themes of identity, loyalty, courage, and deception. As the protagonist Amir grows to adulthood, he must come to terms with his past wrongs and adjust to a new culture after leaving Afghanistan for the United States.

OMG, my tv remote is dead! Darn it.

Have fun watching this music video here D:

Timbaland ft. One Republic - Apologize

The Bully

2008-05-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

This would more or less show my feelings for today. 8D

Ever feel what it's like to have your computer being 'monopolized' by one of your parents for almost the whole day? Just after getting back from temple after Wesak celebrations, all of a sudden, my dad turned on the computer on 9am, and kept on watching videos on political debates and elections in YouTube, and have his glasses on for the whole day reading blogs in MalaysiaKini website. In fact, I think I remembered seeing my dad reading Jeff Ooi's blog, or maybe Kit Siang's... I'm not entirely sure. He really spends a lot of time looking at Anwar Ibrahim's and Mahathir faces in YouTube for a really, really long time.

I finally get to have back my computer on 9pm, but I have to wait for two hours because my computer nearly overheats itself. I even put a big fan behind the system unit to cool it down xP In the mean time, I was chewing some chocolate cookies while watching three great shows on TV today. They are:

I just don't get it. Why do adults in their mid 50s seem so keen on politics? Have they nothing to talk with their friends in the office or at the mamak store? Oh by the way, my father never watches football or any entertainment shows (okay, yes, maybe a few shows on Wah Lah Toi and TVB on Astro) on the TV, so maybe I did somehow get my point there. :/

It's been a week since I've been playing Travian. What's Travian you say? Well, Travian is an online internet browser game, and it lets you build a city and control an army together with tens of thousands of players around the world. Take a look here:

http://www.travian.com/

It is a pretty addictive game despite the gameplay requires a lot of patience. I'm saying the real truth here, it DOES really need a heck LOTS OF PATIENCE. And I'm seem to be losing it. Not because I have to wait a few days to see my village being developed, but I've been constantly bombarded by 2 annoying female players who kept on raiding my city and stole my ever-important resources for 3 straight days in a row, and I bet it will continue untill my city crumbles one day.

What seems to make my village such an easy target for players? Sigh, I wish they stop cyber-bullying me -_- Give me some peace and a chance to play, darn it.

Pets... They're Entertaining

2008-05-18T06:53:00.000-07:00

Snailmyx is nastily lagging around these days, and internet has been tremendously slow now. :/

So let's spin and spin around till this suffering ends xD

This morning at around 6am, I was so soundly asleep on my nice comfortable bed having a nice dream, when all of a sudden, my dad started budging into my room like a rhinoceros and rudely woke me up. You know, my body isn't physically prepared to get shocked and ready for the day just like that. I got like a terrible headache and a backache that time. After I took the dog out for a stroll, I went back to bed, slept until 1pm and luckily, my body isn't aching anymore. Phew~ That shows how important rest can be to keep your body healthy eh? @_@

I managed to capture some very interesting pictures of my cat. My cat (or should I say a big kitten) is taking care of one of its mother cat's newborn kittens. It's a really adorable kitten, with a nice white fur, and is still hasn't open its eyes yet.

And my cat is terrible at taking care of it. Because it's a male cat LOL! Pity the tiny white kitten though, it has mistaken my cat for its mother xD

See how the cat pushed away the tiny white kitten from the sheet of newspaper. Bad kitty! :(

My dog, Rocky is living like a king in the house. It has grown pretty fat -_- and it likes to sleep all the time. I would so love to give the dog a push out from the house and force it to exercise all day long to drop those extra fat out of him xP

The Cetak Rompak Pirates

2008-05-17T07:49:00.001-07:00

Yes, it's evident that I'm bored right now.

I participated yet again in another internet forum question, this time on Piracy. Coincidently, this was also a topic I did in a group discussion during the JPA scholarship interview around two months ago. (sarcasm mode) Despite I gave quite a number of debatable points in the discussion, I still could not get the scholarship. Hm :/ Maybe I was being too serious.

Oh well, here goes.

Piracy: The 'Tradition' that Never Stops

Pirates have existed during the old ages of the New World in the heart of the Carribean. Pirates do what they do best, pillage, plunder, cheat, steal, and murder. And now, it is the modern world, and pirates have changed into something new and smarter. They don't kill people anymore, and they don't certainly pillage and plunder the streets anymore these days. But now, they rob profits off from any industry by making illegal copies out of their products in the market, and making big bucks illegally.

Pirated materials are very easily available in the internet. Freeware and shareware makes these stuff accessible at all times. CD/ DVD burners are being wrongly used.

And eventhough there are newer ways to counter piracy, there will be new ways as well to counter back these anti-piracy methods. For example, Blu-Ray is invented to stop piracy from good. Unfortunately, within a week or two, hackers managed to crack it. (although Blu-ray is useful otherwise, it's expensive and hackers wouldn't want to waste extra bucks to make copies out of it)

A lot of people have suggested: Lower down the price of originals! Oh wait, nah, that won't be a good idea. If the price has been reduced, how would bussiness and industry gain profit to generate these originals? How would they gain profit in order to stop piracy? And already, the originals have already been reduced to a very affordable price for Malaysians, and it couldn't have been lowered further. Originals are meant to be products that you buy at one time at once when you have the adequate money to purchase it.

Piracy exist as a permanent opponent to originals. It's hard to deny this quote of truth: 'If you want quality, go for originals. If you want cheap stuff that lacks quality, go for piracy'.

So to sum up about why people opt for piracy:

"

1. Cheap-mindedness (don't mind the lack of quality but wanted affordable stuff)

2. To test out a product, like how one would find out whether the movie is good enough to watch or not before buying it

3. Shortage or unavailability of certain products (international music albums, movies, books)

4. Lack of law reinforcement by the government (lol the Malaysian Copyrights Act will impose a rm300,000 fine on anyone who downloads illegal content from the internet, and do you see any people being tried upon that matter yet? :3)

5. Lack of anti-piracy campaign effectiveness

6. Software and/ or hardware being used for piracy purposes.

7. Scandals and irresponsible companies making profit out of copyright infringement.

8. Freedom of using the internet for easily accessible downloadable and sharing content.

9. New methods on reinforcing piracy and on countering anti-piracy methods.

10. The developers' fault on over-pricing their products.

"

For kudos:

Jack Sparrow: You know, for having such a bleak outlook on pirates you are well on your way to becoming one: sprung a man from jail, commandeered a ship of the fleet, sailed with a buccaneer crew out of Tortuga, and you're completely obsessed with treasure.

The Usual Life Being Stuck at Home

2008-05-17T06:50:00.000-07:00

Other than the fact that I went to the art shop to buy some inking pens (and mindlessly strutting around in PJ), I was stuck at home minding my own business. My computer is just begging to have me turn it off, because I was using it for 5, 6 hours straight.

Yesterday, I was having this conversation with someone who was asking me about Playstation 3. Thinking that I am a proclaimed gaming guru, he was asking me whether is it possible whether the pirated industry will release a PS3 that is specifically modified to play pirated PS3 games.

I told him it's an impossibility. The PS3 is primarily designed to prevent any forms of game piracy. It uses the authentic and the biggest capacity optical disk which uses the state-of-the-art Blu-Ray technology, which of course prevents any form of illegal copying of any content within the disc.

He repeated the question to me, asking whether if it's actually possible to have PS3 games copied to an empty Blu-Ray disc or a normal DVD disc? (Obviously, he is showing his immaturity to me.)

I said: No. The PS3 is only capable to play Blu-Ray media alone. Even an empty Blu-Ray disc costs around RM150-RM200, while one PS3 game costs RM200. Why make pirated copies out of the original, when a gamer can instead, buy the original that is deemed a better quality and more worth a gamer's money? (Although a gamer wouldn't get to return the game to the game store owner if he doesn't like that game) If you are a proud owner of a PS3, then be a little rational and buy games that are good, popular, and nice storyplot and repetitive gameplay.

He asked me again (intentionally getting me annoyed) whether is a pirate able to modify the PS3 in the first place?

I replied: Maybe yes, if he decided to break open a really expensive PS3 console and risk modifying any of its parts. Once it is modified, a PS3 might not perform all of its functions it was supposed to, and maybe stopped working. And, the machinery parts of the console are very pricey and rare, and worse yet, in Malaysia, you wouldn't expect any reliable warranty on purchasing a PS3 console that was shipped from overseas to here.

To further discourage him on asking me more questions on pirated PS3 issues, I told him: Stop being cheap-minded, you pussy. You Malaysians nowadays are just so tied in with piracy as a tradition. Kids have been playing pirated games on their PS2 consoles for years and years, and this has influenced their minds, making them to favor buying more pirated goods instead of the originals. They will have the mindset to condemn any efforts on countering issues of piracy, and will find new ways to get pirated products that are cheaper than the originals without minding the quality. Because they think that if they don't like it, they could always just throw it away without having the heart-ache of doing it.

And finally the Q-A session between him and I stopped. After 30 minutes or so, he asked me again.

...........

"You wanted a PS3 that badly, right?"

I said: I don't have the cash to buy it. But I really wanted to get it so badly, yes I do! xD Just that I don't want to buy it that quick, I got studies to attend to, and the choices of games I wanted to buy for PS3 are so limited.

I only wanted to buy the PS3 to play these games only:

Final Fantasy XIII *_*
Final Fantasy XIII Versus :3

The Prince of Narnia

2008-05-16T08:31:00.000-07:00

It's bad to ask your mom who is now in her 50s to watch a movie together. Seriously. Trust me, she won't understand what is going on in the story.

Okay, cut to the chase. Today, I finally get to watch my favourite movie! The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian! xD In a small, humble cinema in Metro Prima Jusco, I'm afraid ._.

A truly entertaining 2 1/2 hour movie.

The movie did not originally follow the book's original story plot. But in my opinion, the director, Andrew Adamson had done a marvelous job in determining how the story would go, because I felt that he added a lot of extra improvements but stayed true to the original story itself. The story in the book was a much tamer version, but in the movie, it looks darker, but more dramatic and more exciting. I liked how the movie made Susan to stand out, in the book, Susan wasn't emphasized and wasn't much involved during any battles in the original story. The movie even portrayed the fued between Prince Caspian and Lord Miraz more clearly, but I complement the fact that the director even created a conflict between Peter and Caspian on who should be the leading role.

The music was lovingly done by renowned Harry Gregson Williams again. The special effects made the movie totally exciting to watch. It was a nice 2 1/2 hour movie in fact.

I don't remember the White Witch appeared in any part of Prince Caspian movie though :/ But it adds a nice touch to the story though, I got a feeling that book lovers might hate the fact that Caspian is resorting to the White Witch to help him get back his throne though.

The next movie will be The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the 4th book after Prince Caspian. It will be featuring the older Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, and an older Prince Caspian. The director rather prefers books from the Chronicles that has intense battles in it, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, is no exception.

The Reasons Why Local Graduates Are Still Unemployed

2008-05-15T10:02:00.000-07:00

This is one question that was brought up in a local internet forum. And I felt the dire interest to answer this.

First, let me quote an article straight out from the Star newspaper on the year 2006.

"

The increasing unemployment rate among the graduates in Malaysia is a worrying trend. For many years, the issue cropped up again and again, made the news headlines, and even hit the parliament.

The days have passed when a degree scroll can become your automatic passport to employment. Higher education is no longer a symbol of career success. This may sound painful for graduates but let’s face it. It is reality, no matter how harsh it may appear.

In July 2006, The Sun newspaper reported that the unemployment rate of public universities has reached a staggering 70%, whereas the private institutions recorded 26% and foreign graduates 34%. Out of the 70%, the highest unemployment was contributed by the following statistics:

1. Universiti Teknologi MARA, UiTM – 3,278 (16.2%)
2. Universiti Utara Malaysia, UUM – 1,532 (7.6%)
3. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, UTM – 1,147 (5.7%)
4. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, UKM – 971 (4.8%)
5. Universiti Pertanian Malaysia, UPM – 919 (4.5%)

"

(I'm just gonna copy paste from my reply in the forum)

Most graduates are unemployed because they are expecting to find jobs that are easy, simple, and require the least work. And this is pretty unfortunate for our local graduates here, because most of them wanted to find the easiest opportunities to enter into their desired career.

Do not blame students who take courses that are popular and desirable among colleges and universities. I heard reasons from students that people take business because they wanted to get rich. They take computing because they like computers. They take culinary arts because they think they only study cooking. And there are people who take the courses that they are not fond of, because they are influenced by their parents' decision.

Of course, Accounting and Computing graduates are highly sought in the industry now, and that is true. But why are graduates not able to find jobs related to such industries? The reasons are particularly simple. Graduates should realize that once they finished their studies, they should expect that popular industries like these are INTENSELY COMPETITIVE. It's not you alone who wanted to find a job. In fact, every graduate wanted to have a job.

First of all, if you can't be the best among the best, forget about going for your dream job.

Don't blame the employers for being choosy in choosing job applicants. Let's say, how come more business and computing graduates are most preferable and have a higher chance to find a job which are not related to them (like tourism, engineering firms, research centers & etc)? It's because every firm needs one if they want to keep the industry alive and keeping the competition going.

Employers have to pick the best among the best employees to run their companies or firms. They need skilled labor to work. That is why as you browse through the classifieds, employers wanted graduates with a degree as a minimum. They wanted graduates who possess adequate knowledge from what they have learned back in tertiary. And they wanted people who have at least a few years working experience working in such an industry. That is why not even diploma graduates couldn't make it big.

Don't blame the others for not getting yourself a job. Look at yourself. If you don't have the personality, the attitude, the charisma and the character as a matured individual, employers would not find any interest in giving you a job at all. If you are not persistent and aggressive to find a job, you're better off dreaming of getting one then at home.

And should we put the education taught at colleges and universities to be blamed at? Most probably. If a college/ uni is not well-known for helping its students to graduate successfully, then employers would most likely have a 'biased' attitude towards the institute you're learning at. That is why after you finished secondary schooling, you are advised to find the best college/ uni you could go for your own sake. According to the most recent survey, employers would rather seek graduates from private institutions rather than local IPTA instead, because they believe they could get better students off from there due to the better quality teaching and curriculum available there. I don't have any fact to prove that comment, because it's mostly the employers' opinion, not mine.

Next, graduates aren't learning the necessary skills needed related to the industry. Computing graduates would have to constantly update themselves with the latest news on computers, software, hardware, and anything related to it. Accounting students would find themselves better if they work themselves toward getting a professional qualification first hand.

If one would like, wanted to learn something that the country doesn't need at all. For example, game designing. Once you graduate as a game designer, well relatively unless you force yourself working with the government to create educational games for children (that is true, it's not a myth), you're better off finding a better job outside the country instead =P
Art and design students would practically find it hard to get a job in big, established companies in the designing industry if their arts aren't making the mark at all. It's more or less learning towards strengthening your skills in drawing and designing concepts as a hobby, rather than making it as a serious career.

The Visit

2008-05-15T09:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my mom was urging me that I should have studied in Sunway College to take CAT (Certified Accounting Technician) next month. The reasons: CAT at Sunway is so much cheaper, it is estimated to cost at just RM35,000 because CAT studies are conducted locally. And as you would have known, Sunway is always globally renowned for accounting. And I told her, why don't we go visit Sunway College today and inquire the counselor there?

I regretted saying those words, because early this morning, my mum wanted the both of us to go to Sunway College -_-

It was tough and a lil' time consuming to get there in the first place. (It's even more troublesome than going to TAR College) We first have to take the KTM train... which is overcrowded with people, and from Central KL station, we took a LRT train ride to Kelana Jaya. Later, we took a Rapid KL bus to Sunway Pyrmaid, and one last thing, waiting for one yellow mini bus (the bus is really small, but at least it's comfortable) to Sunway College. Finally. It took around 2 1/2 hours to reach there from my humble home in Kepong.

The moment I entered Sunway College, I just opened my mouth in awe. The campus is really beautiful and it is equipped with modern and top-notch facilities. It's so much different than my 'under-budget' TAR college. And even the cafeteria looks so welcoming, with stalls offering wide varieties of food that looked delicious, and a San Francisco cafe in the heart of the cafeteria. I saw students dressed in some expensive-looking casual clothes, and most of them sport an Ipod, notebooks or some good-looking phones.

It's not that hard to find the counselor. The information centre is just at the front entrance. I met a nice counselor there, and he definitely helped me a lot in further explaining more about my CAT course.

It seemed that in CAT, I will only study accounting related stuff, nothing extra. He later told me that I have an option to pursue Pre-U studies, and later continue on with an undergraduate degree, and later study in Victoria University in Australia or Lancaster University in UK. (He even further impressed me when he showed proof of Lancaster Uni being the Top 3 UK university *_*) Unfortunately, it's way over my study budget, and the fee is almost trebled compared to CAT. But studying for Bachelors is more worth it, because I get to study more than just accounting in it.

Then I further analysed the syllabus for the undergraduate study for Accounting, and would you look at that, I'm learning exactly the same syllabus as I did in TAR. Since the day I started studying my Diploma in TAR, I was always wondering about my college's claim that its Diploma level is equivalent to a Bachelors degree. It looks so darn true.

TAR or Sunway? Go for cheap or pricey? Both offer the same quality of education at different prices to be exact. What is your choice? You decide.

After the chit-chat, there's something interesting to note when I was around Sunway city. The city looked so much like a mini Las Vegas in Nevada, though it lacks the casino and the gambling. There are hotels, a theme park, a golf course, a good hospital, good education (Sunway College and Monash University are like neighbors), a beautiful hostel, and houses that looked too good for a normal-income family to live in, although I'm curious as to why the Sunway Monorail train stopped operating. I heard that the monorail train goes into Sunway College itself (And I really mean, into the college)

But despite all those luxurious facilities and accommodations available in Sunway, the one thing that seemed so obvious to my eyes, at how competitive taxi industries can be in Sunway. There was a long line of red taxis parked along the road leading into the college, waiting and attracting students for a ride around town. The Indian taxi drivers were particularly merciless and would try their hardest to charge the highest taxi fare as possible. (I asked one and he said, a ride back to Sunway Pyramid will cost RM20. I was like... wtf?) I took a Chinese's taxi instead, he's quite a nice old man, and he charges a flat rate of only RM5. He even advised me not to take an Indian's taxi because they usually 'killed' their passengers by charging expensive taxi fares. Phew... don't call me a racist through that statement there.

I came back home around 5pm, just in time to watch American Idol results show. David Cook vs. David Archuleta, now that is what I really anticipate to see! My bet goes to David Cook. (Sorry, Archuleta fans out there!)

IMPORTANT EDIT

"Top-scoring students who get a place in a Malaysian branch of a foreign university such as Monash University, Nottingham University, Curtin University of Technology and Swinburne Unversity will also be offered scholarships."

(Please read my previous blog entry about this.)

I forgotten one key piece of information that I believe you should share this with any ex-SPM students whom you knew. Apparently, when I asked the counselor at Sunway College about the JPA/ PSD claim that they are offering scholarship to students (9As and above) to study in Monash University (Monash is just next to Sunway, if you don't know), apparently he said that the PSD never planned about such a thing with Monash. I wouldn't know about the other universities though, but I heard that the decision (to offer scholarship in the universities above) was made out of the blue in a very sudden manner. There was no clear and solid information or proof regarding this matter either. And how would you apply for such a scholarship from PSD or how would you know if you will get it? Don't ask me, I'm just a humble informer.

You could probably take a risk. Register a place into Monash, and send the offer letter to PSD to tell them that you have a place there. And maybe they will give you the scholarship? Nah, it couldn't be that easy, right? ...Right?

(My rotten English is really taking its toll on me. I should probably get back to my fictional books asap)