reignspeek! & 1n$aTiab13

2011-06-30T17:38:00.000-07:00

Taylor Swift Concert in Singapore 9-2-2011

Yup! I was lucky enough to watch her perform LIVE! Her presence and her energy is unrivaled. It's no wonder Taylor has adoring fans, willing to do anything for her. I've never seen fans so mesmerized by a single icon. True, it was my first concert but still... up to date I've attended 3 and none of the fans were as devoted as Taylor's. Trust me. I.... was sucked into the moment as well.

The tickets were compliments of my dearest darling, Howard Khor.

We went early, 2 hours before showtime but we were already behind some 1000 screaming teenagers and kids. Half her fans are below 15. So many people from different walks of life attended. There were 5 screaming girls all below the age of 12 with one chaperone mother. There were a family of 5 chingko looking ppl, parents and 3 boys who through the entire show, never got up, never screamed, never sang along, never had a reaction. There was a couple behind us, who, instead of the girl screaming, it was the guy screaming "AHHH!!!!! TAYLOR I LOVE YOU! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!". Lmao. It was so interesting. I can see the mothers all are also drawn into the hype, getting excited and having fun. The fathers are... either have never heard of Taylor Swift up til then or are just there for the sake of... being dragged I suppose. It was all a sight to see.

We went for dinner first at Brewerks. Good food, good beer, affordable pricing.

When we finally got to our seats, we were shocked at the amount of people who attended. The Singapore stadium is so huge! It was a full house.

They started with a local band I think. I didn;t recognize them but apparently the locals do. Then Taylor came out.

Taylor must have one of the best showmanship in the business. She seems to know what her fans are like, what pulls the enjoyment factor to the hilt and she just maximizes the experience. Her intentions were clear: She wanted us to have an unforgettable night.

And we did. Oh boy we did.

The background instead of a normal curtain, she has a screen. The screen is so big, even someone at the last door at the back can see her. at the sides, there were 2 3x3 screens, each is about 50 inches easy. that is already 150x150 inches!

Her vocals were spotless, she had so many wardrobe changes, she came down and interact with all those at the bottom and she didn't forget about us at the back. For her songs from the previous albums, she came to the middle and sang those songs, without the band, just her and her guitar. She even did a few mix and match versions of her songs, the ones we have never heard before. Halfway thru her song, she would switch to Jason Mraz's Im Yours. Little thoughtful gestures like that shows that she genuinely wants to give us the best time for our hard earned money. She even took off her skirt, revealing a shiny dress when she sang Enchanted. She sang all the songs I wanted her to sing except Never Grow Up.

The show ended with Long Live. As I suspected, the song is about her fans, its a tribute song, and she played it very well. It was wonderful.

I went home that night, the happiest Taylor fan. So was Howard =)

2011-06-28T22:53:00.001-07:00

Wow it has been so long since I added something here. *Dusts off the inches of dust*
*cough cough*

Oh well. Since my last post, I have now left my life in Malacca and moved on to the biggest city in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. Somehow, the semi urban in me decides to continue what I was doing in Penang. To have my life in a city but live in the outskirts of the city.

That's all fine and dandy, when the city is but 10km away. What happens now when I live 30km from any city life?

I moved to Rawang, a sleepy town, to live with my best friend Perly Peh and her family while we both interned in Damansara,30km from Rawang. Everyday we would wake up early, travel and reach home late, long after everyone else from the office is at home, fed, bathed and resting.

Life was difficult to adjust to but soon we found our rhythm. Weekdays were filled with longings for weekends and weekends were engulfed in the bliss of having the day off, wishing for more.

The Peh family are a wonderful bunch. I have been so lucky to have ever been a guest. I exposed myself to a different type of family, learning new traditions and habits, discovering different palate. Uncle Peh could cook anything and I would love. Even things I swore I would never touch haha.

I couldn't be luckier.

Work was proving to be a challenge but soon I got the hang of it and found the one thing I could do for life haha. KL was starting to show its appeal to a suburban diehard like me, Life was good.

But of course, life is never a bed of roses.

By december 2011 I was transferred to another project where, again, it was a new environment, new people, new job, new everything. The adjustment period was horrible but I still had the Peh family to lean on so it wasn't so bad. When it got good though, I left to seek a different paths.

I left Rawang, left KL with a heavy heart but I left a changed person, learnt many a few more lessons in life and a few more friends for life =)

So, then, being joblesss, began a very tiring but exciting and fun 2 months of my life so far ^^

Never Grow Up....

2010-11-21T11:24:00.000-08:00

It's already 3.24am and I can't sleep... Hmm...

I've had a horrible night but that is not what I keep thinking about. I am at a crossroad in my life and whichever path I take,it will change my life forever. Dramatic right?

Well.. some decisions don't make much difference, like where we are having lunch today. Others make a whole lot of difference. For example, taking the 4pm bus back to kl today was a huge mistake which ends with me being home 9.5hrs later tired, fatigued and plain pissed off while if I had taken then 8pm bus and ended up arriving earlier at 1230, I would've had a chance to catch up with my very faraway friend, Ping Ping!

I would've also had dinner in penang..instead of in rawang at 230am =.=

see?life changing because I now have banned Plusliner from my life

Sigh

Think think think

Super sien

I had dragging things out. I hate dragging my feet. I feel so tired playing games by myself. Self inflict torture.

Ugh

This post is going nowhere. I have so many things to say but I can't find the strength to write or even where to begin.

I think the new song by Taylor Swift entitled Never Grow Up says it all...

Things and the way the world works

2010-09-15T13:01:00.001-07:00

Things just don't turn out the way we plan them. They never do, do they?

In every phase of my life, I keep wanting to move faster. I want to quickly finish with this hurdle, ready to face the next. No, I'm not in war. I just could never wait to grow up. Even now, when I wish for nothing more than to turn back time and relive my childhood and have my innocence back, I can't wait to be at a point in my life where I have already established myself. I am happily in a rut and just going through a steady pace. I often wonder if I ever appear as uncertain, as panicky and as ruffled as I was feeling then. I often wondered if I really had a poker face whenever I wanted to put on one... It's interesting where ones mind tend to wonder about when left unattended haha.

So many things happen in our daily lives. I am already at my last semester of my degree. It feels as if I just started my degree!
3years feels short and somesay it is, compared to a lifespan but when you sit down and think about it, a lot happens, even if we are talking about a month.

Life is like the English weather. Out of the blue, it starts pouring. Or the wind picks up and starts hurling shit at you. Like all weathers though, the wind has to die down someday, the cloud will have to giveway to the Sun and each will have to take turns being the current weather.

Just like life, no one really remembers what weather we had last Wednesday. It was just another day

Lif3...

2010-07-31T23:02:00.001-07:00

Yesterday the love of my life got on a plane and moved to a little island 300km away from me. Growing Up STINKS!

But what can you do? Each person has their own dream, their own goals in life, their own path to follow. Being in a relationship means somehow, your paths crossed and have been parallel for awhile haha.

Sometimes the two paths continue to be parallel,sometimes they divert again. Paths constantly change. New ones pop up everywhere everyday. Some are worth to be extended back to being parallel, some are not even worth a bridge.

What were we talking about again?Haha. Too many metaphors spoils the soup. Or was it cooks?

I have always seen my life in terms of chapters. Like a book. *im such a geek...i cant be helped*

Im currently in my 4th chapter. A very long chapter. It ends when I retire from work. Everything else is just progress.*Love that line from Lost*
Its going to be a longgggg chapter. When it ends,means Im in my Conclusion chapter d..... that chapter can wait. I haven't lived my life yet.

I realize that we can redefine ourselves 100 times over and still we would be able to redefine ourselves again. Not just as individuals but also as a society.

Did anyone esle notice the shift in sequence of life stages?
It is becoming clearer and clearer to me. It used to be after being teenagers, offsprings get paired up for marriage, have kids, then career comes along, then car, then house followed by the next generation.

Nowadays, it is dating, then career,buy car, buy house then marriage followed by kids. Having kids is now optional lols.

The shift is so subtle you dont really notice it....

things change.....times change....

I read an article saying that the shift of power is going strong for Women to be the dominant race.... I have been saying that that is just logical because we are 75% of the population but as we can see, in Malaysia most women are confined to being a wife and mother role. Career is just something to keep us "occupied".

After reading the article, the facts are there but I feel that the change is progressing too slow.. Feminist? Im nt trying to say that women should rule the world while the men stay at home *wouldnt that be nice haha* but if we look at the history of the sexes, men were empowered simply cos they outnumbered us... and now...
as they say, majority rules....

Seriously, what was the topic I wanted to blog about? Oh well..ramblings of a lost soul I guess haha

Busy Busy Bee,,,,

2010-07-31T01:20:00.000-07:00

Well, last week was a very interesting week. It contained many of my first times haha. First time experiences lah.

Started with my mummy coming down to KL for 3days. I went to stay with her for 2 nights in Puduraya. Now I know that hehe, Puduraya only jams when Pudu is in business! Else, the roads are SOOOO empty. WOOHOO!

Went to eat at Petaling Street. Interesting food they have there. Also, the prices arent that expensive. Ancasa Hotel is not a bad hotel. Kinda nice except that the shower is from the ceiling. =.= Who places a shower on the ceiling? I wasnt taking a shower, it was more like raining on me! Sometimes, I dont know what these designers are thinking.

Work was exhausting. Nowadays my life is basically wake up, drive an hour, work 12hrs, drive an hour, eat, shower, then sleep 8hours. Rinse and repeat. Sigh.

I am learning something new which is actually very interesting. Everyday I go to work and learn something new. I am the last batch of interns to start work so I am the newbie. Honestly, being the lost lamb isnt a nice feeling but warm helpful collegues sure make a vast difference.

My dearest Wee Nee Chan so happened came into town too! for the week =)
We had some fun, didnt we?
She came down on Tuesday but I couldnt meet her cos I work in Damansara Uptown and was heading to Puduraya while she was living in Sunway Tower Hotel. Nono...... damn far, wrong direction and JAM!!!!!! So she had to go kai kai on her own for the first nighr here. Sorry sayang!!!

Wednesday was the first time I drove to Cheras. The plan was for Howard to pick Wee Nee up from work,come pick me up then head for Cheras where we will meet Tricia for the longest pasar malam! Sounds simple and interesting eh? Well....

The first mistake was NOT to lock urself out of a car while waiting for someone. In the middle of nowhere. With the car's spare key miles away. Mistake no1. So my sweet coworker was kind enough to take me to them where my car was locked and the key in the ignition so that i can open d car with my spare.Whew.

Mistake no2: NEVER NEVER NEVER go to Cheras after work. Never head toward Subang either. Avoid ALTOGETHER. Oh my gawd the traffic was brutal on my nerves and my clutch stepping leg. Really. By the time we got to Cheras, frankly, all mood has evaporated. Still, twas great to see Tricia *who gave us BIG HUGS and bought us Stinky Tofu* The Stinky Tofu actually taste not bad...haha. Ya ya it smells like the sewage. and yes your mouth smells like it after you eat. Honestly speaking, I didnt notice that it reminds me of the sewage til people keep saying it. So, shhhh..... enjoy and lets not gross one another out.

Despite being so excited about the longest pasar malam and etc, we managed to only walk 1/5th of the entire length haha. I was very tired. Sorry guys! After that, we drove back to Sunway. Instead of just dropping Wee Nee off, we ended up crashing with her haha cos it was so late and I was so tired. My sweet collegue ended up fetching me to work 2 days in a row because she lives somewhere near Sunway.
Wee Nee got a free upgrade from the hotel into a studio room and wasnt it luxurious!
I have never seen a hotel room which provides an roomy bathroom equipped with all sorts of toiletries. It also comes with a full size fridge, oven, wine glasses, brandy glasses,pots and pans, rice cooker, hotpan stove,plates and cutleries. LOL.
If i paid so much for a room, I certainly would not be those who would buy raw ingredients to cook my meals in the room but there you go.

Thursday was much better day. Plan was like the day before but this time we were heading for The Curve. Wee Nee wanted to see Ikea haha. We ended up buying a few items but thanks to our carelessness, I think we overpaid certain items. Oh well..... lesson learnt. Wee Nee was leaving on friday tho... =( so we bought some junk food then went back to the hotel to hangout haha. Ended up watching The Proposal. We didnt know Thursday night was ladies night else we wudve went to MOS!!! Ive been wanting to go.... smokefree club sounds like an idea very appealing to me. Those who know me knows how much I detest that cancer causing smoke!

At long last, Friday was here!

Howard found a nice little place at Singapore which he thought would be a good place to rent. He even paid the deposit on the spot because he liked the owner so much! The only snag is that the owner is only available that weekend for him to move in. So Saturday bright and early we had to drive down to Singapore from Rawang. Too bright, too early. haha. Saturdays are for sleeping!

Anyhoo, we drove down and it was a pleasant ride. About an hour into the ride, the sun went into hiding and never came out til the next day. I could not be more grateful. Met up with Ahma and my uncle,untie and my cousin for dinner. Ahma recently had some swelling on her hand. I supppose old age comes with many 'gifts'.

His landlord wasnt in the whole day so we had to wait til he was at home before we could go over and get the key to move in. Around 10 plus he finally called and said that he was home. Jurong East is not hard to find. In fact, I find the Singapore roads easy to drive but Howard did mention something which I've noticed for awhile now but didnt mention: Singapore roads are all curvy. Hahaha. U may still be going straight, but actually u have to turn almost at a 90 degree turn haha. Can be quite confusing if it is your first time. Howard read the map wrong a couple of times because when he goes straight, he is actually turning left haha. I didnt know he did not understand until after a few mistakes hehe. We also realized something else... Singaporeans only abide by the Speedlimit when they know there is a speed camera waiting for them. HAHAHAHA. More often than not, we are d only car which is driving below speed limit while cars zoom pass us at F1 speed hahaha.

After unpacking (bringing essential things from the car to the house) both of us crash til morning. Howard again, ignored my deathly threats and woke me up before 11 =.=
He proceeded to carry half the things up from the car, dragged me out of bed to carry the big box.

He needed some stuff so we went to the nearest Ikea to get his table haha. We saw it in KL but it was quite silly to be carrying something 300km when we could buy it at the same price 10km away...

After setting the table and desktop up, we left for Rawang!
A word of advice:

Anyone who in the future wants to drive down to Singapore, PLEASE TAKE THE SECOND LINK! I had to pay an extra rm4 but it was smooth all the way. On our way back, Howard decided that nothing is better than traffic so he tried Woodlands. OMG we were stuck for an hour, moving only across the bridge! Dont even get me started on the queue at both customs, before and after the customs, and the horrible and long road acros JB. The rm4 was a very very good investment.

Travelling on the Highway was an interesting experience. Its also very fatiguing. I wont do it again if I can help it but it was an unexpected touch to the end of a very busy week. An interesting week nonetheless

Horrible Day...

2010-07-15T07:34:00.000-07:00

There are some days that are horrible... There are days that keeps you at the edge of a tight rope... then there are days where you don't want to remember at all. Today is that dayThis entry can go on and on and on... but i rather not. Reliving it as I type just makes it worse.

Life sucks. Nuff said

End of a Chapter, start of a New....

2010-06-27T20:38:00.001-07:00

Well... I guess this is it. Today is my last day at Malacca as a resident, student and an end of a chapter. A 3-year wonderful chapter. Sure, Ive had many ups and more downs than I care for but each has left me imprints that will never go away. So many friends, so many experiences to take away.

Moving to Malacca was my first time being alone. Independent of my parents. Freedom at last. Freedom comes in a price. One that fortunately I could afford..... to think that I used to travel 12hours both ways on weekends twice a month! Now I don't even do once every 4weeks....Growth haha

Malacca is also where I met the love of my life.... and another lifelong best friend. I wished I got to know many more people than I did... language was a barrier..and also, shyness haha. I know..... cant tell eh? most people just think I'm arrogant...but actually I cant really speak to strangers haha. Prefer to listen.

The amount of experiences and the amount of First (first time) experiences is equivalent to half my life staying in Penang. I am forever grateful for all that I've learned and all that I've met.

Saturday I will be moving to KL... Officially start work on Monday.... another new chapter of my life, another adventure. Again I leave everything that is familiar and close to me to face total strangers and new environment.

Being a creature of habit, this is definitely out of my comfort zone. Wish me luck!

Being a daredevil, adventures are my favourite thrills.

Hmm...has it really been that long?

2010-05-31T20:35:00.001-07:00

1010 days. Lol i was away on 1000th day so I shall blog today. Haha.
Wow. I know this is both our first relationship so we share the first of everything together but it still amazes me every time we hit a milestone. 1st month, 100th day, 6th months, 1st year anniversary, Valentine's, 2 yaer anniversary, now 1010th!

I can't say 1000 cos.... well that day has passed lol. Our 1000th day together was the day I travelled back from Penang to Malacca so... that was a good day ^ ^ Hey it was also Perly's birthday!!!! Lolness.

In our many many days together, you have always been there for me, cared for me, Loved me, Patient with me (VERYYYY), treated me like a princess, let me have my way, most of the time. You made sure I was happy and whenever I wasn't, you would be sad too. You have become such a big part of my life, I wondered how I ever was happy before I met you. I guess what I never felt I really don't miss. Now that I have tasted how life is with you, it sucks that you are leaving soon.

Does anyone believe in long-distance relationship? Do they really work? Or is it just a bluff we tell ourselves until we are no longer so attached to the other person in order to deal with the inevitable? Somesay I think too much. Somesay I am just being logical because I know myself so well. Somesay love is made of much stronger stuff than what I give it credit for. Somesay it's just all me.

Love is overrated. Hollywood is overrated. Everywhere you look, you can't help but see love being enterprised. Every 2 minutes on the television there will be something about love. Every movie, every series has a love story. Even action movies, gore movies, horror, haunted.... everything!

Actually it's not that Long distance don't work. It does. It's just different kind of relationship. Even when both parties remain faithful and honest, people change over time. Loneliness is a bitch. The effort to stay in contact is exhausting not to mention an expense.

I guess it's all about expectations... and sacrifice. Of course, trust is a must.

I've been going over it in my head time and time and time again until it's driving me a little nuts. There really is no point, is there? Thinking about it doesn't make it easier. Not thinking about it...makes me dream about it haha.

I guess it's time to grow up,or man up, whichever works. Being adult is tough work. Not many want to do it but most of us just... do it.

Fate is a nice person to blame, eh? Anything gone wrong, Fate's fault. Any missed opportunities, Fate again. Something gone right? Oh it must be Luck. lol.

Poor Fate.

When you first said that you wanted to migrate for 7years, I thought that you must be mad to think that I would wait that long. Then funny thing happened. A simple question lead me to realize that although we have been together for almost 3 years, it doesn't seem so long. Time flies. So perhaps 7 years won't feel that long too. There is still the fact that I am not the person I was 3 years ago and I will not be the same person I am today compared to 7 years later. Neither will you be. So, the question of surviving the dreaded LDR is still unanswered but I will say this: Come back to me as fast as you can.I ask nothing from you, only that you are with me

Longest Holiday Yet

2010-05-30T21:17:00.002-07:00

Wow. Finally I am home.....HOME!
Home for only the next month. Home for the past 3 years. Another place where I can call home. But this is for another blog. Today's post is about something else. Today is about my most recent long and fun holiday! At first I was afraid I couldn't pull it off but...hehe.... I did it!

The adventure started on Sunday (23rd May 2010) at the wee hours of 7am. 730am bus to Bukit Jalil which is the worst bustop I've ever went to if I may add. We arrived at 9am. Due to miscalculation, we had to wait until 1030am for the Genting bus. Which was a long wait since the place was shabby and non air-conditioned. Time finally crawled past and we boarded the bus. Napped a little and I arrived at the cable car station around 1130am. The queue for the cable car was .... lengthy to say the least. Twas entertaining tho... haha. Ho Chiak was on the tv and there were 2 clowns making balloons for kids nonstop. As hard as I tried to get a poodle, there is always a kid around to take it from under my nose. Sad.....

We checked in to the hotel immediately. This is my second time staying in Theme Park Hotel. It is of course bigger than First World but my, everything is so much further! Since Victor Wong has never been to the Genting before, we decided to show him around first. We took many pictures, checked out Coffee Terrace (this place and I go way back...hehe). Anyway, the first day was just about kai kai.... take pic..... and visiting my first Genting Casino. For dinner we tried this Steamboat place. It was an all you can eat so... the boys went a little nuts.... and regretted it haha. Nobody wanted to listen to me.....

The next day, we started the day early with buffet breakfast at 7am lol. Then went back up to snooze a little while waiting for 9am to come. Roller Coasters here I come! Victor is already 25years old but he has never been on a roller coaster hehe..... Imagine the fun we had with him. The Spinner was his first ride. Although its a harmless ride....hehe Victor was terrified...It left him wanting more tho haha. We went after the Cyclone next and then.... Corkscrew!!!

It was a blast. If we wana do something, go for the extreme right? We put victor in the front seat with me and Howard haha. By the end of that ride, Victor was a convert. He is now an adrenaline junkie hehe. We saved the best for last: Spaceshot. Me, Victor and Howard were strapped on facing our hotel. All the way up and all the way down me and victor screamed AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! haha. It was fun. When we landed, all Howard managed was Oh Fuck! It's such a party pooper when someone holds all the excitement inside. Since we were early, for the first time we didnt have to queue for any of those rides! We were always a minute ahead of a throng of tourist from India. My god, after we played, the length of the line will deter anyone except first timers lol. Since we did not have to queue (hehe), we were done by 11am. Some rules have changed since I last came.... for instance, the bumper cars and the 4D shows are no longer included in the Outdoor ticket. NO FAIR!!!! For the first time I went to Genting and did not bump any cars, did not watch and 4D movies. T_T

Since it was early, me and Howard decided to explore the souvenir shops. There are now a lot of new shops added since I last went to Genting. All of them are unique special skills hehe. If I had money, I would've bought them all but I don't so... I will just stand and watch. Many of them come from China. Guess back there they are just one in 6million but here, they are the first Ive seen. After that we went back for a nap and round 2 of the Outdoor games hehe.

Dinnertime came soon enough. =) The part of the day Ive been looking forward to. We were heading to Coffee Terrace!! Perhaps I will include the pictures later when they are ready but for now, let's just say it is the best international buffet ever! Really, it is international. There is a corner for everything and in that corner, the best of that cuisine. They have also added entertainment for us diners that previously wasn't there. They added bellydancers. I assure you, nobody was looking at their food when they were eating. Especially the guys lol. Typical male.

There was not much to do in Genting at night so we basically ended our nights in various casinos. Going into casinos with friends are fun. In the end some of us break even, some of us lost a little. It is all for the fun of it actually. In fact, just standing by and watching people play is facinating enough. These buggers will bet 800 on some number, win 800, and then lose it all on the next hand. Amazing. These players don't feel a thing when they win. Or when they lose. To them, it is just chips haha.

The 3rd day came to Genting soon enough. I was the most reluctant to leave because despite everything, Genting is still as cold as I last went 3years ago. The weather was marvelous. When it rained, WOW. We reluctantly said our goodbyes and checked out. Making our way back to Bukit Jalil was rough. The bus driver apparently did not learned that when there is a bump, you slow down. Lousy. But we all made it back in one piece, we said goodbye to Victor and Lisa for they are heading back to Malacca. I wont be seeing Victor for a long time now cos he just moved to Shah Alam and I won't be back in time to see him off. The holiday was a sweet way to end things tho ^ ^

Me and Howard made our way to Rawang via KTM (longggg way) where Perly was waiting for us ^^ Somewhere between enjoying the cold wind and pulling sheets from each other when sleeping in Genting, I caught a cold. So I was not in the best of shape to be travelling but I soldiered on. Mr Peh cooked for me that night. I must say, cooking skills run in the family. It was a very nice meal. We got to see my new home, for the next 2years at least, how it is like and how will I be living. There is now a double-decker bed in Perly's room. I get the bottom bunk! We stayed in the first night, just watching tv. I got really hooked on some tvb, again haha.

The next day Perly took us out Kai kai. I had the best char siu wan tan mee outside her house! and then we head to Ikea. We managed to get presents for the wedding which me and Howard will be attending on Friday. Perly provided me with a bed and a table but no chair, mattress, cupboard. So I found myself the most comfortable chair from Ikea under rm50! I was tired so instead of going out, we ate in Perly's house again. My nose and headache was killing me, I had a fever. Mr Peh coincidently, cooked porridge! Ngam sai ler...... hehe. Again, dinner was superb. I have a feeling I am going to love staying in Perly's house....hehehehehe. After dinner though I felt better. So we went to pay Mei Mei a visit! She just landed from Hong Kong the previous day. Mei Mei lives in Kepong, which isn't very far away but the way to her house....my gawd. Lols. After we hung out at her place for awhile, Mei Mei took us to a nightspot that is called the WaterFront. Kinda kool place. We went for nice dessert afterwards before we sent her home.

The third day me and Howard were suppose to travel to Nelson's place via KTM again but we decided to spend the day with Perly first. I was very reluctant but I knew when to give in. I kept my pride and asked for Perly to stop by some place for me to buy Panadol. You see, for me falling sick is a sign of weakness and taking medicine is a sign of defeat lol. Ive tried everything to make it go away but usually you don't heal when you are travelling and going out all the time and having fun. So I bought Activefast and wow, it works. One of the advantages of not always taking medicine is that a low dose will be enough to cure ya. So despite being an adult, 1 ActiveFast was enough to keep the fever/ sore throat / sniffles away for 4hours and I didn't feel sleepy. We went to have some chinese food which was cheap but the portion was enough to feed 2.5 me. lols. My shoe opened its mouth...so we bought a shoe glue to keep it shut. Then we went back home and played Mahjong for the next....3hours hehe. Perly then sent us to the KTM. I forgot it was a thursday, day before the long weekend, so we had a horrible time at the KTM. It was 5pm. Rush Hour. WHOA. The amount of people. You really see the worst side of people. Really. Anyway, we arrived in Klang, almost in one full piece (I'm sure some of me got squished out and left behind) and Nelson was there to greet us. Like a gentleman he was, he introduced Syvia to us, his soon to be 6 year long gf, for the first time. Took him long enough. We went to Kim Gary where he bought us dinner. We crashed at his place and went straight to bed. Tired.

The next day started very slowly and built up pretty fast. It was the eve of Syvia's eldest sisters wedding. The reason we were invited was because Howard was asked to be the official photogapher for the whole event and I was there as his date. As per customary, the bride side will have it's celebration on the eve and the groom on the wedding itself. Since she is the eldest and the first of 4 siblings to get married, the father of the bride went all out to celebrate. The lunch was deliciously prepared by all members of the family, we went errand running with Syvia and Nelson (Syvia is the maid of honor and Nelson is the best man) (It's like a wedding rehearsal for them lol) the whole afternoon. When all was done, we got to go back to Nelson's to rest an hour or two before getting ready for dinner. The dinner was held in a local restaurant. SIXTY SEVEN tables! That's a lot of celebrating. Howard was very busy, the bride was stunningly beautiful, the food was marvelous (I never knew that Klang was a food haven but now I am fully aware), there was a lot of booze going around but I didn't touch any. The night was awesome. Me and Howard learnt a very eye opening lesson though. Planning a wedding is terrifying. So much so that... you don't want to do it anymore lol. Everything that can go wrong, does. Haha.

The next day started really early. 7am early. We were all in a daze.... but when you see 5 girls sitting in the kitchen,scheming, you know something no good is up. They were planning the games to play when the groom arrives to pick up his bride lol. Oh the things they made them do..... VERY amusing. Finally he got in the house. Then there is the games they made them play to get the door open. hahaha. After the door is open, he gets to look at his bride.... There is more games to play before he can bring her down to be married. Lmao. According to Hokkien people, the point of you crossing over from being single to being married is the tea ceremony. That was a nice thing to witness. After that, we all had to go over to the groom side to perform the tea ceremony again. Then we were all dismissed to go home and rest. Nothing spells long day without a disaster. Nelson went through a porthole and came out with a punctured tire. Haha. Thank god for spare tires. Oh another lesson to learn: Men move SLOWWWWWWWWWW in a situation. All fivr of us present have never changed a tire in our life before but man, those two males cud shake a leg! They were so slow until I got fed up and took over. At least I was trying to be fast.... -.-

We all went back and took a nap...tiring lol. My fever all but left me with a little sniffles when I wake up. That night dinner was no longer the bride's side hosting so we were all just guest. It was all the way at Bukit Jalil, some golf course. Took us an hour to get there. The place was nice. Syvia's sister is a Taoist but the groom is a Christian. I am not sure which one but there were 3 Pastors in that wedding. It was my first Christian wedding and also my first fusion wedding lol. The ceremony usually done in the church was to be performed before dinner. That's the point of transition for the Christian from single to married. So I watched.... and again, it was educational lol. The food was not as excellent as the night before but it was still delicious. We sat together, had a good time. All the kids in the family treats Nelson like their personal toy haha. They were beginning to mess with Howard too. It was cute. When the night ended, all was relieved and happy. Happy because everything has gone according to plan,it had been a joyous occasion and relieved cos finally all can sleep until kingdom come and no one is allowed to wake anyone else up haha.

The next day was Sunday. We were gonna take a bus from Klang to Malacca. Syvia's dad wanted to buy us Bak Kut Teh for breakfast (they have it for breakfast *gasp!*). So we joined them and went straight to Klang Sentral but alas! all tickets sold out until 430pm. What to do? We went back to Nelson's and played Rummy hehe. It was fun. Finally we left and head home....Malacca.... it didn't end there though. Howard wanted to dinner at MMU korner, that's where I had my first Cheese Wan Tan Mee and Mai called me. She was stranded at Sentral with no bus to go home with. So I went down to pick her up..... and FINALLY, my week was over. WHEW

It had been a long long LONG week. It had been an eventful week to say the least. I've learnt a lot of lessons, gained many many experiences and a few new friends. Heck, I was around Syvia's elaborated family for nearly 48 straight hours, I am actually missing them now lols.

Oh one more thing, her grandma taught me what Go Fish the card game is lol.

All in all, it was a great week.

Colebrook Equation - A simple Excel Macro to solve this implicit equation

2010-05-19T05:13:00.000-07:00

Excel has several methods of solving for implicit equations, which is what the Colebrook Equation is, used for calculating the Darcy friction factor, which is then used with another equation in order to get the pressure drop due to turbulent flow in a pipe.

The first is by turning on the Iterate option inside the Excel worksheet then using circular references (eg the equation refers to itself) and iterating such that the values converge. It can however cause some problems if the values DON'T converge or zero errors. Dismally, as the calculations involved with Colebrook is quite sensitive, it's necessary to change the default settings so that changes between iterations have a low maximum value (in the region of 1e-6). Crucially, changing the values of ANY cells causes the spreadsheet to recalculate all the information, and in a large spreadsheet, editing can quickly become a pain especially with the increased sensitivity requirements.

Another method is via nesting, whereby you design the equation such that the results of one is nested into the same equation. However, designing such an equation is not trivial especially using computer systems (parentheses quickly become a pain), although the process is relatively straightforward. The advantage of this is that you do it once and never have to go back and do it again, and you are limited only by how tenacious you are in nesting the equations (after about 5 or 6, it gets really long). The advantages are that you can iterate exactly how many times you need, and that it's hardcoded into Excel as an equation, so no problems with recalculating or error when moving the file around.

Finally, a simpler method has been devised by Diddler Clamond, written in a paper called Efficient Resolution of the Colebrook Equation. This relatively recent paper (2009) outlines a simple algorithm that produces, in the words of the author himself, extremely accurate results (around machine precision). The trick of the equation relies on two magical numbers, 0.123968186335418 and -0.779397488455682, of which the specific derivation can be found in the paper. Its a statistical method and seems to work really well, and quickly solves the equation.

The macro is:

Function Colebrook(R As Double, K As Double) As Double
    Dim X1 As Double, X2 As Double, F As Double, E As Double
    X1 = K * R * 0.123968186335418
    X2 = Log(R) - 0.779397488455682
    F = X2 - 0.2
    E = (Log(X1 + F) + F - X2) / (1 + X1 + F)
    F = F - (1 + X1 + F + 0.5 * E) * E * (X1 + F) / (1 + X1 + F + E * (1 + E / 3))
    E = (Log(X1 + F) + F - X2) / (1 + X1 + F)
    F = F - (1 + X1 + F + 0.5 * E) * E * (X1 + F) / (1 + X1 + F + E * (1 + E / 3))
    F = 1.15129254649702 / F
    Colebrook = F * F
End Function

Simply insert this into your Excel worksheet and you can call up the function =Colebrook(Re, Rel.Roughness) and it automatically returns the Friction Factor. Note that the values of Re and Rel.Roughness needs to be in the Double format, otherwise the macro will scream.

In my tests with the equation, it seems to be very accurate as the author claims. Using values of Re = 165000 and Rel.Roughness as 0.00453, the traditional Iterative method gets the results as 0.030097679 while the statistical method yields 0.030097700. Not bad for a simple two-step iterative statistical method, and you will definitely see this being applied into numerical and CAD/CAE systems very soon, especially those simulating pipelines where millions of the equations are being calculated, and the small processing savings of an improved algorithm will quickly add up over the course of the simulation.

Definitely a much improved method to get the F.F compared to traditional ways of either using the GoalSeek Excel function (the least efficient process, thus not discussed here) or, gasp, the trial and error method.

FYP disaster ahead

2010-03-04T11:47:00.000-08:00

It's 3am and I'm still up trying to figure out my project. In retrospect, I think I may have made some bad decisions but unfortunately, the benefits of hindsight always come too late.

Initially I had hoped to do modeling of acoustic emissions on board of a jackup engine room using data from my previous intern company at Keppel FELS. At the time it seemed like a good idea but when I got back to Melaka, I was worried about how I would approach the problem as noise and acoustics was never taught in my syllabus. Even though I did some reading in the holidays regarding the problem, I wasn't confident that the project would be doable within the timeframe given.

Thus I switched to design of an offshore floating wind structure. At the time it was already almost deadline for submission of final year project title so I didn't really understand the whole contract, as it were, before signing on the dotted line. This single most important decision was made in haste and with the title secured, the next task of gathering information on the problem came next.

I settled on using ANSYS as the software to perform my analysis. Specifically, the ANSYS website gave a glowing review of their ASAS offshore module which seemed to do everything that I required so I thought the whole thing was just a matter of putting together the model and running it through the CAE platform.

Wrong approach. Turns out ANSYS ASAS has practically ZERO available information on how to actually use the module. No supplied tutorials (although ANSYS bundled extensive tutorials for their CFD and Structural modules) and zero guide online on how to use ASAS effectively killed the software. Using it was a nightmare, because when you started the ASAS solver, all there is was just a window prompting you to input your data file. I tried converting a model from ANSYS APDL to ASAS (using a cryptic macro hidden deep within ANSYS's help system) but it didn't get me very far. However, ANSYS happily promotes their 3 day training course for using ASAS, and I suspect it will cost a pretty penny to attend.

I briefly flirted with the idea of setting up an analysis using pipe59 element as it came together with wave loading capabilities built into the element. However it was unsuitable for my design which was a suction caisson.

Next up I tried using ANSYS AQWA for modelling, and it's a more promising approach with the new AQWAWB interface very useful in setting up a 3D model. However, I ran into problems with trying to "cut the model at the waterline using a plane", as one of the requirements for importing a model to be analyzed. I have absolutely no idea what that line means, and I tried cutting the model but I end up important 2 separate bodies into the software, whereas it required 1 body with 2 portions. So that's another dead end.

The next step is to try ANSYS V12.1, with a more complete integration of AQWA into the Workbench, supposedly this will alleviate the problem of passing models into AQWA properly. I suspect however, that this will be far from easy, and even after that, AQWAWB is only capable of doing a surface diffraction analysis, the output of which would be a time-domain pressure reading which has to then be imported into Mechanical-Structural so that I can perform the analysis on the force impact on the structure.

The irony of it all is that my original idea of doing an acoustic analysis turns out to be as easy as setting up Acoustic modeling as the option in the Workbench then specifying the domain to be meshed and finally inputting the noise source parameters. Of course, interpretation of the data would be harder, but at least that's 75% of the project done right there.

The main problem faced by the project is how to accurately perform wave loading on my model. ASAS is capable of both PM and JONSWAP wave loads, but to replicate the loads in standard ANSYS is damn near impossible (even with pipe59), at least with my understanding, while AQWA and ASAS might as well be a black box due to the lack of any proper documentation on how to use the software. I suspect both of them rely heavily on using hand-massaged text files as input, and I salute the engineers dealing with these two softwares. It reminds me of the days when I use to create websites by hand using nothing more than Textpad, imagination, and hitting lots of Ctrl+R keys.

Pre CNY 2010: Jongker Street

2010-03-04T09:33:00.000-08:00

On CNY eve, I was at Jongker Street with Dezmond and Timothy, the last few remaining students from UTeM who didn't go anywhere yet. Everybody else was at home with their families or friends enjoying their reunion dinner, and we are here. There was a lot of people milling around Jongker Street too during our time there.

From Blog Posts

Ice-cold chendol with a generous serving of Gula Melaka is always the staple diet of people who come to visit this place. Sweet (sickeningly so sometimes) but balanced with fatty, fatty santan. Right now with El Nino hitting Melaka especially hard, just looking at this picture makes me drool.

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A small kopitiam located near the main stage, brimming with people as it was nearly the only place still open for business this busy but meaningless night. Here a chicken chop with butter sauce costs RM5 a plate, and taste slightly bland. Like life.

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I suppose Black Pepper would have tasted better, and bitterer.

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This place sells pork satay, but was very slow with service. I suppose if you want to order it's best to check with the stall owner how long its going to take, or you might be unpleasantly surprised.

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The satay itself is nothing great. The gravy served tasted slightly sour, as if left overnight for too long. The meat is well marinated and juicy, but the gravy ruined everything. If only I can tapau some gravy from Bukit Cina's famous Satay stall and bring it here for an unholy union...

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Grade A fake Crocs being sold by bundles at Jongker street. 3 weeks later, they were still operating. I got conned into getting a pair, because Tim says they looked authentic enough and he has a pair. Well...it's not...and the Clearance Stock is all just bullshit to lead you into a false conclusion. Funnily enough, with all the Crocs logo emblazoned over everything, I have yet to hear someone ask "Is it real?" throughout my time at the stall.

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I never really liked the dim sum sold along the street here.

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Geographer's is quite a famous cafe, with lots of angmoh sitting outside enjoying cold beer everytime I pass by the place. I'm not sure why this is so, maybe its because of the decor, or the nubile Carlsberg girls. Maybe one day I will step foot into this place.

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Dezmond's shirt says "I apologize" at the back. I guess it's suppose to make you laugh as you are about to jam your fist into his back.

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These statues are created completely from flour. I suppose the only thing left is to shove it into an oven to bake.

Rawang-KL Trip: Rawang Beansprout Chicken Rice, Honeymoon Dessert

2010-02-12T22:59:00.000-08:00

A few days before CNY weekend, Perly offered to take Vivien and me on a trip to her hometown in Rawang for a few days before Vivien returns to Penang. We visited a HUGE park where people were flying kites, had EXCELLENT Thai Food from authentic Thai cooks, AWESOME Rawang Bean Sprout Chicken Rice and KILLER dessert at Honeymoon Dessert. It was a very enjoyable trip and I can't wait to go there again =)

The first place Perly bought us was this park, which name I can't recall right now. It's true size did not dawn upon us at first as it stretches all the way to the horizon as far as the eye could see. Typical searing Chinese New Year weather meant there were not many people around.

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We walked for what seemed like an eternity around the park. Its designed in a loop, but it was so huge that it took us nearly 2 hours to walk from start to end. By that time, we were famished and the sun had already started to set. With that, a huge number of people showed up, mostly to fly kite. Its a very windy area so I think it's quite a famous place.

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There were quite a number of kiters, but this guy wins the "Mine's Bigger" contest hands down. His gigantic kite was very powerful and we could see he was struggling to maintain control of the thing. More than once we see the kite overpower him and he had to wrestle it back into submission. It looked more like a workout than a leisure activity.

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With our Fly Kite Park visit done and feeling so hungry, Perly drove us to this place. I'm not really sure where it is, but she told us its a nice Thai shop. When we walked in, we were greeted with the friendly owners in Thai and they look like they're from Thailand, which meant we're in for a treat.

From Blog Posts

The Tom Yum Seafood soup is recommended, although they also serve the clear version. The small size is enough for 3 person and filled out little bowls to the brim with hot, pungent, spicy Thai goodness, condensed and distilled into the essence of sweet and sour, coupled with an atomic blast. Its not as spicy as the one I had in Penang, so those who are into eating really spicy Tom Yum should probably tell the owner to make it extra spicy. Otherwise, it is excellent and just thinking about it is already making me salivate.

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Thai Green Curry chicken is another staple Thai food, and this one is cooked to perfection. The chicken maintains it's juicy meat without being overcooked and the green curry has abundant santan and spices making it aromatic and a joy to drizzle onto rice to eat.

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The Tom Yum soup closeup, with lots of seafood, chicken and of course, lime leaves. The prawns weren't that fresh though, but quite big.

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This is an interesting dish I've never tried before: Deep Fried Kangkong. But the moment I put it into my mouth, I fell in love with it. It's fried to perfection and the sweet-sour chilli dip goes very well with it.

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Finally, we had Thai otak-otak. I didn't know what to expect, and when it came, it was unlike anything I've ever seen before. Vivien told me it's authentic otak-otak made just like in Thailand. Unlike Malaysia's otak-otak, this one is not spicy at all. They blended fish together and steamed it along with some vegetable and served as-is. Being used to the hot otak-otak here, I didn't really fancy this plainer type, but it still tastes very good. However, at RM20 a plate (8 pcs), its not exactly cheap and if given a choice, I would have omitted this from our meal because it was too large.

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The aftermath of the meal reveals that everything is cleaned up. It would be a sin not to.

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After a hearty meal, we retired to 1 Utama for a sing-k session later at Neway. I found this billboard particularly cute, although I'm not sure why 1U chose a cat although its the year of the Tiger.

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I think maybe a Tiger waving at you would probably scare customers away, so they used a cute cat instead.

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Fortune cats not only accepts cash now, but debit/credit cards as well.

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The following day, Perly bought us to this Rawang Bean Sprout Chicken Rice shop. From the outside it doesn't look anything special, but she said it's supposed to be famous in Rawang. Above is the Dry Chicken Hor Fun. It tastes very good and they use the thin type of hor fun not normally found in Melaka, tossed around in sweet sauce and served with generous slices of steamed chicken.

The stall only serves steam chicken. Perly and Vivien told me they usually don't like steamed, but in this case they found it to be acceptable to their tastebuds.

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I went for the good old Nga Choi Kai Fan. Taste-wise, it is definitely among some of the better chicken rice I've had. The rice has just the right amount of fragrance and most importantly, the chilli goes very well with the chicken, being neither overpowering nor diluted. Most people agree that the chilli in chicken rice play a very important role, for me the rice, chicken and chilli complemented each other very well.

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Huge, thick, fat, juicy bean sprouts is the highlight of the dish. The shop has barrels of these sitting around. Vivien, who usually hates beansprouts with a vengeance, conceded it tastes pretty good. She only had a bean sprout, but that's already saying quite a lot.

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I don't like to mess around with bones with my chicken, so breast meat is my favourite.

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After the chicken rice trip, we dropped into Honeymoon Dessert. It's a chain serving a huge variety of desserts and the size of the menu spans a good 20+ pages. I regretted not taking photos of the menu, perhaps next time.

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Their pancakes look more like miniature dumplings. This one is durian, and instead of cheaping out with fake durian extract, they use real, actual durian meat. Awesome!

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I'm not sure what Vivien ordered, but she says its good.

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Perly had honeydew with black glutinous rice. The santan came in a small cup, which you can decorate creatively on your dish if you like, as she has done here.

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Baked sago, I believe they had two layers. Custard and sago, something like that.

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I went for their special dish, with a name I can't recall. Its huge, but I was too full from the chicken rice shop. Anyway it's just served wit a lot of ice and wasn't that great. Like eating an expensive ABC but with lots of sago and fruits. This one's RM12, and I don't recommend trying it unless you are sharing with at least 2 person, and it's because you wanted the ice because of sunny weather.

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Vivien dipped into my tower of ice, and took only the sour mango sauce, hence the expression.

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The shop has a huge assortment of these dumplings. There's a total of 6 different types, with different fillings inside them. There's yam, chocolate, black sesame, black glutinous rice, custard and one more I can't recall. They taste really good and you can even buy them frozen for your own use, although they will cost you RM1 each.

As usual, I end with a photo of the menu from the Thai restaurant we visited (click through for the full size) and the location of the chicken rice. Enjoy!

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Rakuzen All You Can Eat Buffet Review

2010-02-01T08:49:00.000-08:00

From Blog Posts

Last weekend I had to go down to KL to run some errands. After that the next destination is to Rakuzen at Chulan Square. I found out about this place at Lowyat.net's forum for japanese food and the reviews are generally positive, so I decided to try it out. Other places I've considered are Tenji, Saisaki and Daidamon, but Rakuzen charges quite expensive just for japanese food (unlike the international buffet spread at Tenji) so I hoped to get what I paid for.

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Upon entering and confirming my reservation, we were bought to a quiet corner away from the hustle and bustle of the chefs and given two large scented towels and a leaf shaped wasabi. The exterior of Rakuzen is nothing really special but the inside decor is very well done, especially the family rooms, complete with faux Japanese dining table, the type with a hole in the ground for your legs.

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I wanted to sit near the chefs and watch them prepare the food, but in hindsight perhaps sitting away from the crowd and noise is better after all. The buffet begins at 12pm and lasts until 3pm.

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Strangely the wasabi lacked the 'punch' that I expected, even after dipping generous amounts of it on my food. The place also declined to serve us sweet sauce, and eating wasabi with soy sauce isn't really nice, especially when it makes everything so salty.

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Without further ado, Vivien headed straight for the salmon gravy train. 5 juicy pieces of salmon graced our table, followed by another 10 huge, thick slices. She found it very fresh, with a slight hint of staleness as it wasn't as juicy as really fresh salmon. I tasted it and found it was just nice, even for someone like me who generally don't like raw salmon due to the fishy taste of less fresh salmon.

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The handroll we ordered, or did we? One criticism I have against Rakuzen is simply the poor service. The waiter and waitresses were generally polite but they seem to be so busy and getting their attention is hard. Another disappointing experience we had was that every time we call for an order, they would fail to deliver an item from our order. The sushi moriawase, chawan mushi, etc, that I ordered never came. I'm not sure what happens in the kitchen, but it seems that if they can't meet your order due to whatever reason, they will just chuck it into the bin. This happened to me when I asked about my green tea ice-cream and they said they ran out of spoons so the order was delayed. On the whole, they didn't really miss out that many items (about one each time I ordered) but it was very annoying.

The speed of cooking is also rather slow (compared to Penang's Tao) but since we stayed the full 3 hours, it meant giving time for our stomachs to rest. However if you are in a hurry (say, less than 1.5 hours to spare), I would advise against Rakuzen, simply because it's so slow.

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The edamame was served in a HUGE bowl. At the end of the meal we still have a quarter left. I'm not a fan so Vivien had her day with it.

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This sashimi salad is DEFINATELY NOT the least bit like the picture shown on the menu. It's tiny and rather pathetic, with a bit too much dressing for my liking. Taste wise, due to the excessive dressing it wasn't really nice with each bite blasting my tongue with artificial flavours.

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This vegetable croquette is much better but when it came to our table, it wasn't hot. It would have been better to serve this to customers piping hot from the frying pan to retain the crispy exterior. Despite that, it's still rather quite nice, like eating deep fried mashed potatos.

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Another interesting dish, where japanese tofu is coated in tempura, deep fried then served in a sort of soup.

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The dish on the left is seasoned scallops, although I was expecting coin-sized scallops and not this...worm-looking thing. However it tasted quite nice and had a strong seasoning. The crab salad on the right didn't taste like crab and I suspect is more 'crab stick' than 'king crab'.

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They have a large selection of sushi but I didn't really try it out. In hindsight I probably should have, as the only sushi we had was the spicy salmon above and it was excellent! Rakuzen didn't try to cheap us out by giving lots of rice with their sushi or handrolls like other buffet places.

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I tried the yakimono (grilled items) and just for fun, tried the pregnant fish. Gross! Overwhelming fish smell, the type you get at a wet market was a major turn off for me. I don't think its a freshness problem, probably how the fish is supposed to taste like. The eggs tasted like rubber, but pops in your mouth, a weird but strangely fun sensation, marred by the pungent aroma. I've heard Sango serves EXCELLENT yakitori, but the one from Rakuzen is just okay.

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The tempura prawns were delightfully big, juicy and fresh, no hint of staleness whatsoever. Note that when you order 'tempura prawn' from the menu, they will literally give you ONE pathetic prawn. I immediately told the waiter to give me 5 more sets of it. It goes GREAT dipped in sukiyaki.

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Sukiyaki, or beef broth, is something I've always enjoyed. The one from Rakuzen is a bit too overwhelming though, with the broth so strong I can't imagine myself drinking it. However, the dish came together with the tempura prawns above and I find myself dipping the prawns into this rich soup.

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The highlight of the day is definately Rakuzen's Green Tea ice-cream. I suspect it's home-made but the sugar crystals are very fine and the blend of tea is just nice, giving that initial bang of sweetness and ending with a hint of bitter green tea. It was so awesome that between Vivien and myself, we had 14 scoops of it. Yes, fourteen.

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Another popular item on the menu is the soft-shelled crab. I didn't really fancy it on its own, but together with sushi it was awesome in the form of spider rolls.

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The partial remnants of our green tea ice cream binge.

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Vivien mixed edamame into her ice cream. I'm not sure how it turned out for her.

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At RM55++, it's definitely on the higher end scale for Japanese buffet. It's all-you-can-eat and the waiters serve you at your table, unlike the horrible experience I had at Jogoya and from what I hear, similar stories from Tenji. I just wish they were faster, more alert, and fill out my order more accurately.

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Rakuzen, in a nutshell, is an enjoyable experience. Their menu is rather sparse though, but you get quality Japanese food and with good service (for KL buffet standards anyway, although Tao remains the experience to beat). I won't be returning here next time I'm in KL, but only because I want to see if there are better places out there.

From Blog Posts

The menu, please click through for the full uncompressed picture.

Reservation Number: 03-2145 6200
Directions: Take the Monorail to Bukit Bintang then head in the direction of Pavilion. Follow Jalan Bukit Bintang all the way to the end and opposite Pavilion is Chulan Square, where Rakuzen is located.
Map:
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Penang Hotel Equatorial Buffet

2010-02-01T06:11:00.000-08:00

Over the holidays, I have the pleasure of visiting Penang yet again and this time I was invited by Vivien's relatives from Australia for a buffet feast at Penang's Hotel Equatorial. With a new DSLR in hand, here is my wonderful experience there.

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The enormous chocolate fountain rained good, syrupy goodness onto the many types of 'candy on a stick' delicacies there. The chocolate itself is just slightly sweet and not overpowering.

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Vivien just LOVES her chocolate marshmallows.

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The dessert spread is replenished frequently with many types of cakes and puddings, although a lot of them have a certain 'flour-ish' taste to it, making you feel full but not in a great way. The bubur chacha is excellent.

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On this table lies all the fresh food like salad, sushi, wagyu soba (pathetic little pieces of them), tauhu berisi and various other stuff that didn't really interest nor delight me. But it does offer an opportunity for a little bit of vegetable in your meal.

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The star of the show is certainly these fresh oysters. They are extremely fresh and a large variety of condiments are provided for you to take these oysters with such as lime, Tabasco, etc. It tasted very fresh although not something I am used to eating, however I was told the reason why the buffet is so expensive is due to these fresh, free-flowing treats. Great for those who love their oysters I suppose. The steamed prawns on the other hand was nothing to shout about.

From Blog Posts

A very interesting corner that I wanted to try but didn't really bother. Basically it's a bakery offering something like a dozen different types of bread from all over the world, but you have to cut them up yourself and lather the butter/kaya on your own. I didn't see anybody else visiting this corner though.

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The buffet offers TWENTY different types of condiment to go with your food/porridge. Great food doesn't need condiments though, unless you are here for...porridge.

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The lightly grilled salmon and eel is definately a must try. Early on when the crowd is big, these are snapped up as soon as they are served. Near the end, this was on display and nobody wanted to have any. I would have preferred them to be a bit warmer, but I guess the air conditioning means these thin slices are cool by the time you get to your seat.

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On the outside, the barbeque lamb is not that great, with the heavy mutton smell lingering in the air. The briyani rice went great with the various rendang dishes inside the restaurant though.

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For the international visitors, satay is a must have. But having been spoiled by better grades of satay elsewhere in Malaysia, I find this wanting.

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The party is actually to celebrate Marylin's birthday. Isn't she cute?

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The buffet was excellent and several of the dishes were a definite winner, especially the rendang and oysters, if you like those. But being in Penang, even after such a heavy meal at Equatorial Hotel, I find myself wanting to wash all that food down with nothing more than a simple Char Koey Teow served with ice cold Lime juice. A truly awesome experience.

Traitors for leaving the country?

2010-01-25T06:13:00.000-08:00

Malaysian politicians sometimes can say the darndest of things. Actually no, they do it ALL the time, and we can just review the Hansard of Parliment proceedings to see every single details. In fact, they should collect all the stuff Malaysian politicians say and archive it so that the future generation knows what kind of people they are electing into office.

First was the 'Information Minister', also popularly known as the Minister of Misinformation and in Twitterverse as #yorais. This guy blames Twitter and Facebook as evil tools used by the West to brainwash the public. Even our dearest Prime Minister, whom I have a high regard to, often make such racist and deplorable remarks that makes you realize just how human we all are. Let's just say he said something to the tune of the Jews should have suffered more and that Hitler should have 'done the job' right.

The latest minister to utter words of questionable quality is our second finance minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni, who criticized Malaysians for leaving Malaysia and insinuated that it is tantamount to betrayal of the country and the sacrifices made by our forefathers.

“You and me, our children, we build our lives here and we have our homes
here. This is our homeland. I get very sad when I hear we have people migrating
to foreign shores. To me, this is wrong.
“Our forefathers have come here,
many years ago, bearing much hardship and deprivation. Why did they endure this?
Because they believed that their future generations will reap the fruits of
having to live on this blessed land,”

So far so good right? But wait, he continues:

“There is much here to strive for, there are many reasons to stay. Our fathers
have given up so much and they went through so much. Surely, our complaints are
merely discomfort compared to their sacrifices.
“Let us build our future in
this homeland of ours and work hard together to make things better,”

What the dear finance minister fail to acknowledge is that of the 300,000 Malaysians that emigrate yearly, it is not due to attractive or 'pull' factors that facilitate this decision. It's not easy for a person to leave his own country for another. It is actually a very, very hard decision because it is a land that you grew up in and to leave behind all your friends, family and posessions into the unknown is at the very least a scary endaevour. But yet despite this, many continue to do so in droves, with professionals making up the majority of the statistics. This can be due to no other reason than the 'push' factor.

Malaysians are sick of the politics that continue to be played.
Malaysians are sick of the corruption in the country.
Malaysians are sick of the lack of a clear leadership for the country.
Malaysians are sick of the lack of equality and unity in the country.

With the way the current administration is running things and with the power of the Internet, more and more Malaysians are waking up from their dream into an ugly reality where they realize that the nation now faces so many different challenges, and instead of a willingness to face them, we are beset by series after series of scandals involving the people that walk in the corridors of power.

RPK made an eloquent defense of the emigrants by bringing parallels of the current situation to one faced by the Prophet Muhammad when he emigrated to greener lands to escape persecution, oppression and injustice. Malaysia is a young country and many of its citizens are migrants, even Tun Mahathir who's father was actually from India. So what's with all the racial slurs against your fellow immigrants?

I end now with a story by on Ice Cream Seller who is now residing in Australia:

To Deputy Minister Husni,

A story (true) in response to your statement about emigration by ingrates.
Sometime in 1980, when I was a final year student in London, I had a very short teleconversation with my father. In those days, there were no call cards, Skype or the like and calls were expensive. He had a very simple message - "Dont come home, Son".

Now almost 30 years on, I see where he was coming from.

He advised me to stay on in the UK or if I found the weather not to my liking, told me to go to Australia - even if it meant that I may eventually marry a "white girl" as he put it. I was 23 and marriage was certainly not on my mind.

He was a 'pendatang'. This pendatang however secured a scholarship to study in Raffles College (the pre-cursor to the University of Malaya) and served some 30-odd years in various senior teaching positions culminating with the last few years in the Malay College. Amongst his students - a list of past and present ministers and opposition figures.

I didnt heed his advice till last year and spent the last 28 years in Malaysia. However, it became increasingly untenable to work here without compromising my values, integrity and conscience.

Why did he advise me such?

With hindsight, I saw his foresight. As an educationist, he saw we were heading to be another Ceylon (from where he was sent when orphaned), Burma, Philippines and in today's scenario, Zimbabwe.

He saw what the outcome would be when we mess up education with politics.
He saw that religion would be a divisive factor in years to come (he even encouraged me to learn Jawi as a 9 year old).
He believed that in a country like this, mixed marriages would help cement society.
He saw in some of our leaders of yesterday that even in their youth, they had unbridled cunning and only needed an opening to exploit that trait.
He saw in some of his students potential to be PM but said that would never be because they were "too smart for UMNO's liking".
He saw that given our racial demographics, religion would be used as a means to ensure the survival of a particular group.
He believed that eventually, the Malays would have a class war amongst themselves.
He said that even amongst the Malays, many of the English educated would opt to live away from Malaysia.

He told me promotions won't necessarily be given for competence. These are usually won in the Clubs (read political party today) and over a few drinks. Being a bit of an introvert myself, he encouraged me to join clubs, associations and play sports and travel. He said honesty doesn't necessarily pay in this world but still better to be honest and live with dignity.

Our home was (at different times) home to 3 delinquent Chinese boys - sent by the Juvenile court. He volunteered to take them in. Add to that a few other Indian boys. Though not my mother tongue, I spoke to my parents in Malay till I was about 10. We took in a Chinese lady injured during the war and she lived with us for about 40 years till she died. My father referred to her as his mother in law. I thought she was my grandmother even though my mother was not Chinese!!

By the late 70s and early 80s, he saw that this scenario would not likely repeat in the years to come. When he died in 1982, we were pleasantly surprised to see some of his students (by then in their 50s) come from different states for his funeral. One told me that it was my father that made sure he spoke flawless English and another told me how my father would bring the 6th Formers home from the hostel and used our home for dinner and to teach them social graces - including dancing (taught by my mother). Partners were arranged from the convent school with the blessings of the headmistress!!!

29 years on, I view his foresight through the same prism and now agonise as to whether I should tell my children the same. For now, I am allowing my eldest to pursue his tertiary education overseas. Maybe when he finishes, he may not be as shortsighted as I was. Pray God grant him wisdom and vision.

Last year, I resigned from my job, returned the company car and driver, said goodbye to my executive package and moved to Australia where I now live with no maid, no driver, no Audi 2.8, no golf, no teh tarik seessions, no bonus etc but am rediscovering humanity running a humble ice cream shop.

Sometimes we learn very late.

An ice-cream seller

Malaysia's FX movement 'bizzare'. Sign of the rot deepening?

2010-01-22T06:42:00.000-08:00

SHAH ALAM: Malaysia’s once strong foreign exchange reserve is bordering on collapse, according to a UBS Securities Asia Limited report. It says that in 2009, Malaysia experienced the biggest foreign exchange reserve losses among Asian countries.

It says official reserves fell by more than one-quarter on a valuation-adjusted basis.

Describing the situation as bizarre, it notes that Malaysia used to have the largest current account surplus in Asia–at around 17% of GDP.

“Over the past 12 months, Malaysian reserves nearly collapsed” while neighbours like Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China “have seen sizeable increases,” it says.

It says foreign capital outflows from Malaysia in the last year was nearly 50 percent of its GDP.

“When we measure implied net flows using the same rough methodology as in used on Russia, the numbers are simply stunning. [Malaysia showed] peak outflows of nearly 50% of GDP,” it says, noting that the outflow was larger than anything witnessed in the world of emerging markets (EM).

The report also says Malaysia over the past 12 months recorded one of the biggest base money contractions in the entire EM world.

It asserts that recent outflows were “far, far bigger than those Malaysia experienced in the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.”

The full report follows:

Malaysia–Another Bizarre Story

Confusion is a word we have invented for an order which is not understood. — Henry Miller

What it means
After last year’s series of notes on EM countries with “bizarre” money and credit behavior (Chile, Kazakhstan and Vietnam, see Tales of the Bizarre, EM Daily, 4-6 November 2009), we need to add one more to the list: the very strange case of Malaysia.
Question: which Asian country had the biggest FX reserve losses in 2009? The answer is Malaysia, and by a very wide margin; we estimate that official reserves fell by well more than one-quarter on a valuation-adjusted basis. Why is this bizarre? Well, in the first place because Malaysia runs a current account surplus – and not just a mild surplus but rather the largest in Asia, around 17% of GDP. Other structural surplus neighbors like China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand have all seen sizeable increases in FX reserves over the past 12 months … and yet Malaysian reserves nearly collapsed.

How did this happen? In short, Malaysia must have seen massive foreign capital outflows – and sure enough, when we measure implied net flows using the same rough methodology as in our note on Russia earlier in the week (Watching Money in Russia, EM Daily, 5 January 2010), the numbers are simply stunning: peak outflows of nearly 50% of GDP, i.e., more than twice as large as in the “capital flight” case of Russia and many orders of magnitude larger than anything witnessed in the average EM country (Chart 2).1 In fact, the
recent outflows are far, far bigger than those Malaysia experienced in the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis (Chart 3).

It gets stranger. Unlike Russia, Ukraine, the Gulf states or other recent EM capital flight economies, Malaysia didn’t see any net external inflows in the run-up to the current crisis. Indeed, Malaysia has not recorded a year of positive net capital inflows since 1997, i.e., there wasn’t exactly a large pool of “hot” money parked onshore waiting to leave. Nonetheless, as shown in the above charts, capital is apparently still leaving Malaysia in large quantities as of the latest data points – long after most other emerging countries began to see net inflows again.

1 Implied capital flows in Chart 2 are defined as the difference between valuation-adjusted FX reserve accumulation and the current account balance. Flows in Chart 3 are defined as the difference between the overall balance of payments and the current account balance.

Nor, in contrast to all the above-named economies (and in contrast to Eastern Europe in general), did Malaysia have any noticeable increase in domestic leverage – both broad money M2 and bank credit actually declined as a share of GDP since the beginning of the decade.

So where on earth did the outflows come from?

Certainly not local deposits. Unlike Russia, Ukraine or other CIS economies, there was no outflow from the domestic deposit base; M2 growth in Malaysia is still very comfortably positive, in sharp contrast to the Russian figures we published a few days ago (Chart 4).

And this despite a massive, unprecedented decline in high-powered “base” money, as shown in Chart 4. Indeed, over the past 12 months Malaysia recorded one of the biggest base money contractions in the entire EM world, matched only by the Baltic states (Chart 5). This is in part because the Malaysian central bank responded with a sharp drop in reserve requirements to keep banks liquid … but still, we can’t help but note that the domestic financial system seems uniquely unaffected by apparent capital outflows.

In fact, perhaps the most surprising feature of the economy is that interest rates have fallen steadily. In 1997-98, with much lower ex-post outflow pressures, Malaysian short-term interest rates skyrocketed into the high teens; last year the same thing happened in some other countries with strong outflows pressures. Meanwhile, during 2009 Malaysian rates settled in comfortably at around 2% per annum and show no signs of rising substantially any time soon. What is going on? How do we square this circle? To be honest, we’re not really sure – but we strongly suggest the interested reader turn to ASEAN economist Ed Teather for further answers. For additional information on Malaysia, Ed Teather can be reached at edward.teather@ubs.com.

A pretty grim outlook on our foreign exchange. With such a low position, isn't our currency rendered vulnerable to attack ala Soros's run with asian currencies during 1997? We wouldn't have enough 'ammunition' to shore up the Ringgit and it will just turn into an ugly battle of attrition.

But regardless, the article is quite jargon-y. Anybody with financial insight care to decipher it for the rest of us?

Comparing Singapore in 1965 with 1Malaysia in 2010

2010-01-22T03:01:00.000-08:00

TRANSCRIPT OF A SPEECH MADE BY THE PRIME MINISTER, MR. LEE KUAN YEW, AT THE SREE NARAYANA MISSION IN SEMBAWANG ON 12TH SEPTEMBER, 1965.

Mr. Chairman, friends,
I want to say how delighted I am this morning to be able to join you in presenting these scholarships to 10 students, $100/- each, and not only to Indian students. The money probably came all from Indians because they are members of your Mission but the scholarships are also being given to Malays and to Chinese too.

It is these little gestures which make for harmony and understanding. I remember reading not so long ago about some special scholarships they were going to name after one of their leaders in Malaya, and they were going to get everybody to contribute, but the scholarships were only for one group. It makes life a rather difficult and trying business. But that is now no longer our business: we cannot interfere. We mind our own affairs.

But I say, neverthless, as Dr. Ismail has said in Canberra -- and he is an honest man who said that one day these two territories will come back again, but under very different circumstances and different conditions. And he was an honest man to say that if Singapore remained in Malaysia, there would be language and race riots in 1967. He said that -- I did not say that. He said that and it was reported in Canberra. I got the newspapers sent back to me. Because Singapore was setting the example in tolerance, multi-lingualism, multi-racialism; a multi-regligious, multi-cultural society. And there are some people whose grasp of history is somewhat limited and they are the people who shout these slogans: " One race, one language, one religion" It worries me. I think they ought to see the optician and put on their glasses. Then they will know there are many races, racial groups, but one nationality. I think they ought to see the ear specialist because obviously, their
ears are not hearing properly. Or, they will know that we speak many languages. And they will know that today Sunday, Christians go to church: Friday, Malays go to their mosques: Indians have Thaipusam, Deepavali and their ceremonial occasions; so with Buddhists, so with Seventh Day Adventists, on a Saturday. And what is wrong about that?

We will set the example. This country belongs to all of us. We made this country from nothing, from mud-flats. It is man, human skill, human effort which made this possible. You came, you worked -- for yourselves, yes. But in the process, your forefathers and my forefathers who came here: we built this civilization.

It is one of the few cities in Asia where you can get anything you want. You pick up the telephone: it works; and it not only works internally. You can pick up the telephone and speak to Delhi, London, Tokyo, Canberra ---anywhere you want. Do you think you can do that just by shouting slogans? You can get the best in any of the hotels in meal. European food? You can get the best in any one of the hotels in town. Chinese food? What kind do you like? There is Cantonese, Hokkien and Teochew. Indian food? There are South Indian, North Indian: anything you like. Malay food? You like Sumatran food, nasi padang? Where else in the world can you get this?

And I say, we will progress. I was sad not because Singapore was going to suffer: No. I was sad because by this separation, we could not help millions of our own people, our own countrymen in Malaya, in Sabah and Sarawak to progress with us. That was why I was sad. We could not help them any more.

They have now got to help themselves. They have got to throw up their own leaders and they have got to take a stand. We cannot interfere. Here in Singapore, in ten years, Geyland Serai will be another and better Queens town all the shacks will be demolished. I say that for Singapore because I do not think Singapore is boasting when it says it can do it. It will do it. But do you think in ten years, the kampongs in Malaya will have Queens towns? I do not think so.

If you want that, then you must have the thrust, the ideas, the dynamism, the push, the tolerance of each other. That is why I was sad for them who are our people. Not just Chinese and Chinese, Indians and Indians. They are many Malays here.

Half of our police force comes from Malaya. Their familes are left behind there. They will be quartered; they will live in modern civilised conditions. Their families will come down here and they will want to stay with them, and we will have to say "No" because there is a limit to what we can absorb. We have only got 214 square miles. It is a cruel thing to do this. But it has to be done, some people wanted it this way. We could have helped them emerge, but it was not be to be.

But I say to you : Here we make the model multi-racial society. This is not a country that belongs to any single community: it belongs to all of us. You helped built it; your fathers, your grandfathers helped build this, There was no naval base here, and it is not the British who built it. It was your labour, your father's labour which built that.. My (great) grandfather come here and built. Yes, he came here looking for his fortune, but he stayed -- my grandfather was born here.

Over 100 years ago, this was a mud-flat, swamp. Today, this a modern city. Ten years from now, this will be a metropolis. Never fear.
Some people think that just because we are a small place, they can put the screws on us. It is not so easy. We are a small place in size, and geography. But in the quality of the men, the administration, the organisation, the mettle in a people, the fibre therefore, don't try. That is why we got booted out. If they could have just squeezed us like an orange and squeezed the juice out, I think the juice would have been squeezed out of us, and all the goodness would have been sucked away. But it was a bit harder, wasn't it? It was more like the durian.
You try and squeeze it, your hand gets hurt. And so they say, "Right, throw out the durain." But inside the durian is a very useful ingredient, high protein. And we will progress.

40 percent more than 40 percent of the purchasing power of the whole of Malaysia is in Singapore. We may be 20% of the population of Malaysia, but purchasing power, the capacity to buy goods like microphone, clocks, drinks, fans, lights, television, transistors: the money is here because here they work. And if people do not want that 40% -- 44% market -- well, that is their business. We want to open the market with them, buy if they do not want it we will make our own soap ... We are buying soap from Petaling Jaya: Lux. You know, it is
always advertised on TV: Lever Brothers. It is no harm, we buy the soap: It is good for them; it is good for us. We can make motor-cars together for the whole of Malaysia. And never forget, if it came to the point then Lever brothers may have to set up a soap factory here, because after all, nearly half the sales are in Singapore.

You ask the Straits Times: what percentage of their newspaper is sold in Singapore? True, we are only two-million. But we have the highest literacy rate in the whole of Asia. Nearly half of Straits Times, if not more, is sold here. Here, everybody buys a copy. There, may be one kampong buys one copy and everybody looks at it. It is true. We are talking now in terms of hard cash; the hard facts of life. And if people wants to be hard to us, then we have got to survive. And we can keep this market to ourselves. But this is all shortsighted. Let us throw our eyes over the horizon into the future. What does our Dr. Ismail say: This will come back again. But under very different circumstances and ifferent conditions.

You know and I know that anybody who says, "Go back to Malaysia on the same circumstances". Will be called a lunatic; isn't it? We were patient; we were tolerant. We put with it hoping that they would see the light. But we had to be firm. We could not give in. So, as a result we are out.

History is a long process of attrition. It will go on. And one day, it will come back together. You see, this is not like a map and you can take a pair of scissors and cut off Singapore and then take it and paste it in the South Pacific and forget about it. It is not possible. This is part of the mainland of the continent of Asia. And that Causeway .... You know, the Japanese blew it up; it was still rebuilt. It is part of history; and you are part of history. You are part of this place as much as I am; as much as Inche Othman Wok, my colleague, is; and I say that is the way it will be in the end.

Finally, may I congratulate you for having made progress since I last visited your mission in 1963, and especially commend you for having made a symbolic gesture in giving scholarships not just to Indians. But Indians who contributed to the Narayana Mission took this money and gave it to Malay and Chinese students as well. In that way, we must prosper.

And I guarantee you this: there will be a Constitution which we will get re-drawn in which minority rights .... You know, it is very easy in Singapore for people to stand up and if you talk, "One race, one language, one religion," there will be a lot trouble, you know. We do not want that sort of thing. That is stupidity. So we are going to get the Chief Justice of India, Australia, New Zealand and a few others together with our own Chief Justice and a few of our eminent lawyers to draft "entrenched" clauses .... You know, "entrenched": no
government can just cancel the clauses. Entrenched, and enforcible.

If anybody thinks he is being discriminated against either for a flat or a scholarship or a job or for social welfare relief because of race, or language or religion, he can go to the court, take out a writ; and if he proves that it was because of discrimination on the ground of race, language, religion, culture, then the court will have to enforce the Constitution and ensure minority rights.

We are an equal society. You are equal to me; I am equal to you. Nobody is more equal than others. In some places, they say, "we are all equal." But what they mean is they are more equal, you see -- which makes life very difficult. But here, when we say "equal", we really mean it. We do not have to do it in Singapore. But we are thinking in terms of 100, 200 years, 1,000 years. You must help them emerge. And there is only one way: education and economist thrust.

And with those words, I wish you all peace, prosperity in Singapore.
Thank you.

Hong Kong!! WHEE!!! day 1

2009-12-05T06:25:00.000-08:00

i recently spent about 5days in Hong Kong. longer than my usual holidays but... let me tell you, it was too short and it was too long.

i went with my mum and my younger brother (pictures will be uploaded later,not kinda lazy). My last night at Penang i slept at 2am (didn't want to leave my fishes alone lol) and my mum woke me up at 330am (shudve just stayed up). Groggily we made our way to Penang International airport to catch our 6am flight. when we got there, the check in line was soooooooooo long!

FYI: those who has a printer at home, please do an online check-in. you can print your boarding pass at home. online check-in and sms check-in can be done 48hrs before your flight. i stayed up long enough to see the plane take off. the feeling of being lift off the ground is my fave part. the view from above is breathtaking. Penang is truly very magnificant. as soon as we flew pass Penang, i went to sleep.

FYI: bring a pillow. sleeping practically upright for 4hrs with no place to rest your head is a very fatiguing experience.

i went to Hong Kong from 29th Nov until 4th Dec 2009. the beginning of winter. PLEASE BRING NORMAL CLOTHES AND 1 JACKET!!!!

EVERYONE told us that it would be cold. chilling. dry wind which will crack your lips. WRONG!! the wind was a little chilling and HK is less humid than Malaysia but i was sweating in my 2 layer top!

we didnt use the gloves we bought, the hats we borrowed and the warmest jackets were only used when we went to The Peak! (more on that later) Since we thought we would be under warm jackets all the time, we did not bring our best Sunday clothes. so... we looked like part of the poor when we were in Hong Kong. When you live in a tropical country, you dont really invest in nice looking clothes that keep you warm.

We stayed in the Kowloon Hotel. VERY nice hotel. highly recommended.the services are good. the concierge is very knowledgeable and all sorts of convenience is but a walk away. Usual price for a deluxe room for 2 is HKD2000 per night but my mum the wise booked and paid 5months ahead, during the height of H1N1 for only HKD600 a night

the first thing we did when we arrived at the airport is to get an Octopus card. its a cash card that can be used for virtually anything (MTR, bus, even at a convenient store!)
HKD 50 for deposit and HKD 100 reload for the first time. subsequent reloads are at a minimum HKD50. at the end of your trip, you can return the card and you will get back your cash, including all the credit that is left inside.

the website says that there is a free coach to the Kowloon Hotel but apparently we didn't read the fine prints. In order to take the free shuttle, we had to take the Airport Express Train (HKD190 per pax) to the nearest station and then the free shuttle will take you to your hotel doorstep.Since we just got there and we had no sense of distance, we paid for the Express. it was a very pleasant ride. very comfortable and very fast. we had glimpses of Hong Kong along the way.

Once we checked into the hotel, we set out to get food!!!
stumbled upon a very nice, very old fashion noodle and beef shop. DELICIOUS!!!!

turns out right beside our hotel has a MTR station called Tsim Sha Tsui station. Hong Kong has one of the best public transportation i have ever seen. everything is connected to everything! there is no need to be above ground when everything is connected underground! the taxi's are very very costly but in Hong Kong, everyone walks. we walked from sunrise to sundown. we return home every night exhausted but satisfied and worth the agony we all felt on our soles. it was a workout holiday! one i am thankful for because i was able to enjoy all the wonderful meals and not feel guilty.

we basically explored the neighbourhood around our hotel on the first day. there is a big chain of duty free shops called Sasa. they seriously sell cheap cosmetics and perfume. arond our hotel we found any kind of Factory outlet stores imaginable. Esprit?YES! Adidas?YES! Giordano??YES!! there were cheap clothes everywhere! and we went mad with shopping. not on the first day. first day was just for surveying ^^

we stopped by at a mouthwatering dessert shop for teatime and went home to rest. at night, we set off to Temple Street, a very well known must see tourist place. for those who have good flee markets in your hometown, don't go.it was highly recommended by an Indonesian tourist couple who we shared a table and swapped stories with at the earlier noodle shop. so we went hungry and excited. since it was our first day, we were not sure of the MTR stations and we were slightly disorientated. when we finally found our way, we were highly disappointed. everywhere everyone was selling seafood. expensive seafood. a Yong Chou fried rice was HKD37!!!!! after hunting in vain for food other than seafood and finding none, we resigned ourselves to one of the shops. we ordered the fried rice, a simple stir fry vege with garlic and a deep fried squid (which wasn't prepared by that shops cook, later we learned) and it cost us a large HKD190!! it was the single most expensive meal we had in those 5 days and the least delicious. all lessons must come at a price. we were thankful to have learnt it quickly and swiftly. the streets were strewn with poor imitations and expensive prices. we quickly got out of there. on the way out we saw many food courts. oh well.... when you are the foreigner, you can't escape paying the price for being new.

we got home, exhusted. ever since we landed in Hong Kong, we only sat down for less than 2hours. we fell asleep even before our heads touched the pillow.

~the end~

Amir Muhamad: The Filmmaker

2009-11-18T00:42:00.000-08:00

I was searching for good movies to watch. Recently I've seen some funny Singaporean shows like Where Got Ghost and Money No Enough 2, and they were pretty hilarious so I set about looking for Malaysian movies that I might enjoy.

That's when I stumbled upon filmmaker Amir Muhamad. And his films have a tendency of being banned in Malaysia.

The first film that got banned, The Last Communist, is a film supposedly inspired by communist party leader Chin Peng and is basically interviews with the people who shared the same hometown with him. The film takes a satirical approach by inserting songs modeled after propaganda music.

The second film that got banned, Apa Khabar Orang Kampung, is a show about a village of South Thailand where retired members of the communist party of neighbouring Malaysia goes about in their daily lives, inter spread with a Thai radio soap opera. There were no mention of the word communist in the whole film and its a continuation from The Last Communist, which may explain why it got banned (not really).

His latest film, Malaysian Gods, was spared the ban from Malaysian authorities, but instead they chose another tactic which is to limit screening from cinemas and TV, effectively banning the show without actually banning it. You can still buy a copy to watch at home, or have it screened on campus, which will definitely get the show right in front of the future generation of voters, where is matters most.

The film chronicles the key events leading to and after the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim and his subsequent trial by fire for corruption. The whole film is done in Tamil. It also chronicles the events of the past 10 years after the fated Reformasi protests.

The film manages to reveal that, among the older generations there is a guarded reservation when it comes to airing their thoughts, while the younger generation is more vocal and less afraid to give their opinions on the matter, indeed this will be the new political landscape and against all this, dry satirical humour perpetuates the film

The director has announced a hiatus from filmmaking, and this will probably be his last film for a long time to come, seeing as to how he never gets a chance to screen any of his documentaries to the public at large. However, he has found a willing audience down north at the Singapore International Film Festival, and I hope to be able to enjoy this film soon.

You can download Apa Khabar Orang Kampung from:

http://rapidshare.com/files/270087651/Village_People_Radio_Show_-_Amir_Muhammad.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/270105792/Village_People_Radio_Show_-_Amir_Muhammad.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/270398685/Village_People_Radio_Show_-_Amir_Muhammad.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/270413993/Village_People_Radio_Show_-_Amir_Muhammad.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/270441120/Village_People_Radio_Show_-_Amir_Muhammad.part5.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/270458538/Village_People_Radio_Show_-_Amir_Muhammad.part6.rar

Sembcorp Marine's new Integrated Yard

2009-11-04T11:27:00.003-08:00

Read http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_450337.html for background.

Let's start off with some statistics. Singapore's Marine Industry is the backbone of their economy generating S$18.7 billions dollars of manufacturing output in 2008 alone. The marine cluster which consists of some 3000 companies provide 20 per cent for ship repair, 70 per cent for jack-up rig builds and 70 per cent for the conversion of Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) units in the world.

Back when I was interning at Keppel FELS, the company had three yards around the west area. I'm sure there are some historical reason behind the separation but anyway I think it would have been more convenient for everything to be in one centralized location. A colleague once related to me that during the SARS crisis few years ago, they had half the engineering office working at a separate location; in case of a quarantine, at least only 50% of the staff will be affected (the other 50% will be in for one heck of a working week). However after a period of time, everybody was pulled back because it was just too much of a hassle (or maybe the risk had lowered enough, who knows).

However the Integrated Yard seems like a nice idea from Sembcorp Marine. It's size is a massive 206ha, or about 490 football fields combined! It will be doing pretty much everything from rig building, ship repair, conversion, etc. From an efficiency standpoint, bringing everything under one location will definitely improve logistic cost and allow for more efficient use of personnel. It's an interesting idea but with no firm completion deadline (yet).

Keppel Corp on the other hand have enjoyed huge profits following the S$13 billion of contracts back in 2008. A year later, with many of rigs delivered, it is now looking at securing S$2 billion or more from Petrobras next year, which will keep the yards busy from 2013 through to 2018. However, Brazil has historically requested that a percentage of the rig construction activities carried out with local content. Nonetheless, the whole company stand to gain a huge opportunity to increase their contract orders if the deal goes through in 2010. Which is just nice because that's when I graduate =P.

MJ: This is IT

2009-11-03T01:31:00.000-08:00

This deserves its own entry.
When i heard that MJ died, i was under alot of pressure back then. didnt get a chance to have a good cry. he deserves that much. after speaking to a lot of people only i realized how lucky i was. a lot of people knew who MJ was. heard his songs. knew what he was famous for. i have real memories of watching him perform. no, i didnt go to his concerts but i watched him perform on tv all the time. i had his DVDs which i watch so often i know his videos by hard. i memorized his songs. i was a real fan. most people i talked to didnt have that. they missed the magic that was a big part of my childhood before i was 7 years old.

MJ was working hard for his comeback show. all sold out. all the hype. most people just wanted to see him fall and say "I told you so". Few wanted him to succeed. thats huma nature. Bad press sells more than good press. Hollywood is so superficial.

when i heard that he died, i was shocked and upset. but at the back of my mind, i thought, "At least he didnt perform and become a laughingstock. at least he died with whatever dignity he had left.". i loved MJ but i didnt think a 50year oldman who hasnt performed in decades could just pick up where he left off. when he was famous, there was only 1 MJ. no one could do the Moonwalk. no one moves like him. nowadays theres SO MANY!
what if he got up to stage and performed less than they did?

i wanted to remember him as the dancer who made me go AWWWWWW when i was 5.

when i heard that the movie was coming out, i thought that it was just a ploy, a scam by Sony and all those companies who felt cheated cos they invested in someone who died before the big bucks came in.

i was thinking, if he was going to be bad during the show, what more when he was filmed practising?

even so, i was a huge fan and i just had to see for myself what happened to my idol the last few months of his life.

it was like a time warp. he didnt change. the way he moved, the way he sang, it was as if im 5 again.

he was perfect. he redid some things and updated parts that werent so relevant anymore. you can see how hard he is working all the time. everything he did, he did it for the fans. you can tell, working for him is a whole new experience you cant get with any other stars. for one, he is hands on. he has to be there for every single thing. every tempo, every light, every cue. theres not a song rehersal that he did without dancing, testing his moves to perfection. he did nothing halfway. he had to have everything exactly the same way ALL the time.it is... you cant help but admire his dedication. no song was too small, even a simple hand gesture or where the musician stood mattered. all eyes of course would be on him when he performs but he cares that the audience would be able to see the guitarist face.

he genuinely cares.

he is so sweet...so soft and gentle all the time.

from the way everyone treats him, you can tell he is like this fragile little flower. no one raises their voices, no one contradicts him, everyone is patient. its like dealing with a child. and i believe that is MJ's mindstate. he never matured into adulthood. which is why he loves children. they are his maturity level. which is why i believe he never did any of those horrible unspeakable things. children dont molest other children.

you can tell also that the way he composes his music, his moves developed differently from others. he gets a vision of something. when he thinks its perfect, he will work towards it until he sees the perfection. those who work with him know better than to do other than what he say. and they can see the genius of his idea.

all his dancers are well built, professional and the best in the world.
they also look like they came out of a dancer factory. all muscles and funky hairstyles, suave, smooth...

take a look at MJ. he is thin as a stick and fair (vampire like) and he doesnt have an inch of muscle on him. he doesnt exagerrate his moves like his dancers. which makes him stand out in the crowd. he is slick,fast,and cool. his moves have not been compensated by his age.

what else can i say?
they filmed new videos for the concert. to be played at the screen on certain songs. all of them were wonderful. not too much graphic til it looks like a video game but the made 11 people into 11 000 people. that was awesome.

last month i saw an expose saying that MJ was using 8 different kind of heavy usage drugs for many years now. go watch the show. he did not look like a drug addict at all. he made jokes, danced while dealing with the sound crew, sang live while dancing around like a monkey..he was lucid. as lucid as can be. he didnt even look 50!
certainly wasnt dancing like one.

i thought it was a tragedy that he died before he could regain his dignity and performed 50nights in front of his fans. to feel loved again. back into his glory days.

now i know that it was a blessing he died. if it werent for his timely death, the whole world would not have been able to see him in his glory.

instead of making his comeback on a stage in London, he made a comeback on the big screens. the whole world watches it simutaneously everyday,many times a day for 2 whole weeks. and later i can watch anytime i want on my illegally downloaded HD version.

so Michael, rest in peace. you have reclaimed your dignity and your fame. even in death

PS: today i celebrate 800 happy days with my darling.was going to write a post about it but i decided MJ was a better post

damn glitches!!!

2009-10-26T09:28:00.000-07:00

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

damn damn DAMN!!!!
my stupid SE had a glitch. when i cleared my outbox, it deleted my inbox!!!
i had 600+ messages inside my inbox. i bought my phone roughly 2 years ago and i have always kept messages which meant alot to me. each sweet message would be kept and appreciated from time to time. and now they are all GONE!!!!

T_T

2years worth of memories.....T_T

every staged of my relationship had its perks....

my darling was so sweet when he tried to get me interested in him....

he was very infactuated when we first started.....

when he was apart from me, faraway in sabah, he would send me messages that would make a stone melt....

when he was working in singapore, he would make it up to me all day with loving words.... and funny stories....

when we fought, harsh words are exchanged but not as much as words which allows us both to realize what the other really means....i keep those to remind me that no 2 person are the same and that we all require a little understanding now and then.

now it is all gone......T_T

i mourn the loss of memories..... from my darling, from my father, my mother, my goodlooking brother, i mourn the messages where my bestfriend told me how she misses me sitting beside her in class, how we used to hangout all the time.... haha even the one where she would buy me a bell if i were a cute cow....dont ask me how that conversation started.....i dont know.

im not one of those who sit by the corner and read 2year old messages all day... but i am sentimental to the core....sigh

i know what people say.... sometimes you have got to throw the old memories away to make room for new ones.

a sense of relief did come after the grief left.
its like ive been given a new.... a second chance.....

i had bad and good memories in my handphone...memories that can still cause hurt when i read it.... but now i aspire to keep good memories and ncver to make another bad one.....
today happened to be 1 of our anniversaries, i hope it is a good omen =)

26th of 26!!!!!

2009-10-26T06:25:00.001-07:00

Today I celebrate my 26th month anniversary!!! Whee~!!!!
Its been a long run….. never thought I would make it this far. We have had quite a number of obstacles and… we made it!
Hehe

My time in university is almost over. Life is getting harder and the things we learn are getting more and more complicated. My carefree life of a minimum responsibility person is coming to an end. Soon, I am an ADULT *gasp*
It is going to be the longest period of my life. 30 odd years before I can claim my retirement. People often refer to that stage in life as the golden years. Really? Being old and your body not being as reflexive as it used to be, having everything droop, all the abuses you inflicted onto your body is now coming back to haunt you…. Doesn’t seem like much of golden to me.
God forbid should any long term disease befall onto you. Or your partner. When I see an old lady or an old man who has lost their partner long time ago, I feel very sad. When you have worked hard all your life and saved up all that money so that you both can travel and do all the things you had to put on hold while raising your kids, suddenly being left all alone to do those things isn’t really quite the same….

It’s not often you find that one companion who gets along with you so well and care about you so much. The bed remains too empty for you alone. So get more pillows!!!! Hehe

Someday, not too far from now, I hope I don’t have to go to bed alone anymore. I think I can safely dream about those days now.

At Lasttt.....

2009-10-23T10:22:00.001-07:00

my crazy semester is almost done....
thanks to my teammates. to be honest this semester they helped me out alot.
i guess next semester i really need to buck up and get dirty with them.
im just so tired. my last holiday was.....december. perhaps the xoming 8weeks holiday will renew my will to complete this degree and chuck it to hell.

ive met amazing lecturers and ive met amazing lecturers. lecturers who i dont know how they even managed to become lecturers.

im too exhausted to be lecturer bashing lolz.
this post is dedicated to those who helped me thru the last 3weeks. man,it felt like 2months.

you guys are the greatest!!!!!

HAPPY 23!!!!

2009-09-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

at this moment, 23 years ago, a lil baby boy is being born...all covered in plasenta and expanding his tiny lungs with high pitch screams like he still sometimes does whenever i tickle him hehe.

right at this moment 23 years ago, unknown to the yet to be born me, was born a lil guy... can say the gguy of my dreams lo..... is being wrapped up in a lovely blue bundle somewhere in a tiny island called Penang. he is meeting his mother for the first time. his daddy just got his first legacy, his pride and love.

23 years later, i took him out on the eve of the night where we had a wonderful dinner and watched a gore movie where people who consumed alien spaceship oil turns into an alien, where nail, skin and teeth shed like dog shed fleas. a midnight blueberry cake and he is officially 23.

23 years later i celebrated his birthday with a nice meal at home not cooked by me (of course) but by our fave nyonya restaurant and watch people get Pranked!
15minutes of a musical classic love story "My Fair Lady" is enough to put Mr Energized into a slumber. sigh....still a baby....

What did i get this adorable man for his 23rd birthday?you will have to ask him. as broke as i am, imk surprised i managed to get him anyrhing.

sometimes, the best date is the simplest date

happy birthday darling!!!

2 year anniversary!!!!

2009-08-26T04:39:00.000-07:00

yay!!!! cant believed its been so long! the day started crappier than usual.... but it picked up after my darling had a good rest and was able to pamper me. and pamper me he did

heavy rainstorm today....its a sign from god that we should all stay in and SNUGGLE!! its always a sign from god....but i got hungry and went to grab a bite to munch on...

ive been deprived of the internet for 5 days. FIVE days! thats like 100years of a teenagers life. finally wasted 45minutes lodging a complain....and well...it healed itself lol. after the thunderstorm. amazing =)

My Baby....

2009-08-05T23:35:00.000-07:00

For 2months,nearly 3 months i had no aircond in my car. NO aircond! for those not living in Malacca, this "hell on earth" weather is the worst place you can be without an aircond in the car that has ovens as seats.

so on monday,i said enough is enough!

although i was broke at that time(first month of the sem i never know where my money goes wan),i drove all over town looking for an aircond shop. the past 2 months ive been scouting for aircond shops near my home so that when i wanted to do my car,i would know where. the first shop's aircond mechanic was off for the day. the second shop turned out to be a real aircond shop (the kind you put in your house,not your car) and the third shop quoted me rm220 (it was righttttt behind my house but i went all over town before reaching this one).he said he needed 2 days.i decided to let him do it but said i would comeback the next day. on the way home i saw another shop.what the heck,i went to ask.the guy quoted me rm160.i gave him my car keys hehe. it was all in mandarin so i was a bit lost in translation.he told me 2hours was all he needed. i haerd 2days haha.so i was stuck at home without a car for 2 days hehe. oh well.....lesson learned.(the first guy meant 2hours too lol)

when i picked up my car yesterday,it was c-c-c-c-cold!!!! haha
havent felt my car that cold since........this could take awhile

anyway,happy to say that this is the best rm160 ive ever spent! now i wont have to roast in my car anymore =)

my baby needs more tuning up but it can wait a lil longer.wana enjoy my newfound haven first

the real MACC

2009-08-01T20:26:00.000-07:00

today is Sunday. a nice day to stay in bed. i stayed there til 11am hehe. i was in a good mood,a bit hungry but have to content to a granola bar cos all breakfast is over already.....

came online planning to just check my mail.....but then...someone passed me this link.
http://advocateviews.blogspot.com/2009/07/replace-macc-with-truly-independent-one.html

it pisses me off. it makes me want to pick up a knife and stab all those in the video. it makes me want to do things to them. evil things. it makes me want to make them feel like the poor guy they are beating up. the site says this is a demonstration of how a MACC interrogation session looks like.

i want all of you to take a look. look at how they let these animals treat a human being. how they sleep at night is amazing.

how the people in charge allow this to happen is astounding. the nerve this people have to video tape the brutality! why have to record it? so you can rewatch your time of glory? you get off at watching a grown man cower is it? you feel proud to be able to kick a man in the face and not have him fight back? you feel powerful watching you and your goons overpowering a thin helpless man? to use a whip! he is not a donkey!

these abusers should be tied up and made to watch as their loved ones be treated like this by that man's loved ones. but that's just me

Type rest of the post here

Hmm....

2009-07-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

today is JCard day. for those who dont know,its is the day Jaya Jusco makes the most sales in the year. every year,Jaya Jucso(JJ) will have something called JCard day. all JCard holders will get to buy things at a cheaper price. supposedly cheaper that ANYONE there is. people would throng the place from 730am until 11pm when JJ closes for the day. this promotion, sort of a "give back to the customer day" will be on going for about 3 days. what most malaysians dont realize is that, its a SCAM!

Sure,some things are sold cheap like a carton of Guiness is sold at RM130. i saw a guy who had a whole cart of just Guiness. my friend could buy at rm85 per carton whenever he wanted tho haha.6-pack Dutch Lady Chocolate milk is worth rm6 something. that is CHEAP because JJ usually sells them at rm8.60. Mydin sells all Dutch Lady 6-pack at 6.30 daily. not just the unwanted chocolate milk. the Peel Fresh 1.8Lx2 is worth 12.69. thats cheap! but JJ has that on-going everyday.not just today.
you wouldnt believe some of the amazing things i saw today. i saw a family push TWO carts full of Darlie. seriously full. like if u add another Darlie, it would fall off. both was above the cart already.
i saw many filled half their carts with the 2kg milo. it was a limited 2 pack per person i think it was cheap.i saw people loading up on dishwasher, clothes detergent like nobody's business. i saw a cart full of Julie's crackers (the very dry, very original, very tasteless). i saw many funny things. many many funny things.

JJ was suppose to open at 8am. we got there at 830am. people were already there. the whole malacca was there!
carparks were full, the roadside was full... on the way home we saw the police writing saman to all the cars..haha... imagine this: i spent more time in the queuing than to pick my things out. i swear they hire zombies to work at that place. everyone had a cartload full at minimum and 2 carts is the average and they provided a space as big as an A4 folder for you to put you things,let the cashier scan it and pack it in the plastic bag. she alone had to work and in that tiny workspace.oh there was a helper with her. a newbie. whose only job was to hold the bag open.he cant even be bothered to take the things that the cashier has scanned and place them in the plastic bag.i wanted to help move things but they would not let me. it didn't help that the cashier moved...SO SLOW i could have fucked, got pregnant,went through my 9 months and gave birth to a healthy baby before it was my turn. i have never been in a queue for such a long time!

and after all that hassle, you walk out and find out that all that you have saved in $$ is all down the drain. why? cos the police charged you rm30 for your parking convenience where else those who jam in JJ carpark parked for free.

so i ask you again, aren't malaysians a joke sometimes? we even go home feeling happy about it

Home Sweet....

2009-07-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

i was back in Penang for the weekend. it was the BEST ever!!!
i didnt want to leave.i truly did not.

friday was hectic. i skipped morning class to laze about at home. then i packed and head down to kl with howard.our transit bus was apart by 30 minutes and we had to take a cab from pudu to the old KTM station. met up with jing zi. usually i would sleep but i ended up talking to her all the way.arrived in heaven by 8pm.

the traffic jam on the bridge was so bad i only saw my parents at 845. then we went to pick my bro from tuition (remember how we used to tuition until 11pm) then reached home at 11pm. watched Speed til 1am and then sleep on my own bed til noon. ahh...life.
heehee

went out to do some chores.along the way we had pancake(from new cathay) and awesome hokkien mee! I didnt realize that the shop also had Loh mee but howard did and he was lucky cos he was craving loh mee and that shop had awesome loh mee.

after more chores,we went to visit my grandma. she didnt know that im back so it was a pleasant surprise.instinct told her to go buy and fry cempedak the day before so i got to eat my grandma's famous cempedak. its been ages since i had any!!!!
ate alot of it too

durian season is almost over for the year. last year i totally missed out. so this year i was cutting it close.my dad went to try his luck and he managed to get 6!!!
SIX of awesome durian! they all had funny names and rich flavour. i enjoyed it. altho is was just 6 small ones, the 5 of us could barely finished it. its always good to have durian as dinner hehe
howards never had durian with special names on it so..it was his first experience.

after dinner we all sat down and watched downloads. until it was 11pm. earlier i bought 11.45pm tickets to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. it was good. so good it made me take the final installation of the series and i am going to reread it.

got home at 330am. positively exhausted and couldnt be happier.

on my final day i woke up at 9am. met wee nee mei lin and jing zi for breakfast. i went to my fave chee cheong fun and char koay kak but it was a busy sunday. so all food sucked. >.<

nevermind cos i then met up with my parents at noon and had tim sum at Northern Hotel. Whee!!!!

the food was awesome as usual.

i then went to cut my hair. my hairstylist runaway already...i hate it when they jump ship. the new guy cut my hair instead and it was cheap.and not bad. shorter than what i would have wanted but...now its so easy to wash my nair and comb it. so me likey!

went home to laze about til it was time for.... TAO!!
my dad managed to find my fave hor lor durian to stuff me again before dinner haha. heavenly....is all i can think of to describe hor lor.

tao was magnificent. superb. delectable. i havent had it in awhile already.it was so good. especially the lamb. the marinated lamb. we had 3.haha.

after dinner,i boarded the bus that was going to take me away from my home. slept all the way. penang is truly the best getaway

PS:my bro joined the state level drama about the bad effects of technology on the environment in Penang. he won 3rd place!!! first was Hamid Khan and 2nd was Dato Kramat. unbelieveable

Tribute to teachers....

2009-07-14T22:40:00.000-07:00

i just wasted 4 hours of my life listening to 2 lecturers who couldnt lecture to save their life. Honestly!
i waste 12hours of my life every week to sit and listen to these incompetent preachers who knows that we are not listening either. and it has become such a norm to get incompetent fools that we all accept them as they are and just waste our time, effort, attention and resources,just like that.

i can remember my Form2 and Form 3 Geography teacher who was awesome. this blog is a tribute to her. She had a voice of an angel, wits of a magician and the humour of a teenager.she was sporting, affectionate and cared for us. she went past the classroom to teach us things like culture, general knowledge, moral. i remember when we would look forward to after the final semester exams where we are allowed to be hooligans and run wild and free all over the school. the teachers would not even come in to class. but she, she would come in. she actually thought of ways to educate us beyond her scope. because why? because she is a teacher.her job is to impart wisdom and knowledge. so how do you get a class of 35 to sit down and listen to you preach with open ears and open minds and learn something new when we are actually free to be hooligans??

she saw me borrow a Chicken Soup for the Souls book, took it from my table and started to read to all of us. it was like i was home with my mum and she was reading me a bedtime story. she then explain what the story was about.

she started doing that everytime she came in. and soon, the other classes were requesting that she did the same for them. can u imagine an entire class actually asked to be educated??? when we could be playing UNO and what have you?

her voice was soft but loud and clear. her remarks sharp but kind. she was strict and a perfectionist. you know just from a conversation with her that you do NOT want to mess with her.

it was thanks to her i developed an interest in Geography,something i deemed as Snoozefest before she taught me.

THAT'S the kind of quality educators we need teaching in universities. not some fool who has a PhD and thinks he can teach already. not all who knows can teach. it takes a special set of skills to teach. i ask for an elaboration on one of the terms on his OWN slide and he turns around and says "i have no answer for you"

....

useless,wouldn't you say?

to think that these losers claim 4k off our pockets as a fee to impart rubbish is absurd, to say the very least.

the good lecturers, those who has the intellect and skill to teach, are often sent for further studies, research, administrative works. because they are capable, they are given the task to manage and lead the university.
i ask you, which is more important, the student's education or the number of research and functions the university can boast about?

i think they seriously got their priorities messed up

then they turn around and expect you to already know your shit.
in uni everything is basically self study. but if that's the case, why hire lecturers?
just hire researchers will do la. i am sure they cost less. then the university can spend more on facilities like proper bus schedules, proper bustops, proper cafeteria food.

btw, the awesome geography teacher is no other than Pn.Ooi Poh Choo. god bless ya

Relax....

2009-07-11T21:21:00.000-07:00

Ahh...it's sunday today and i am so relaxed.....

i was going back and forth the whole week,trying to decide if i should travel to see a friendly face. going home....going to kl......but i ended up staying at home. i lazed all day yesterday....on the bed...literally....catching up on my series.... i watched nip/tuck, finished grey's anatomy, house,dollhouse......it was awesome!!! i got a new couple tee too!
oh i was feeling tortured because i was missing home and i thought that seeing a friendly face was the only way to cure it. im a creature of habit.

staying home and watching series was an old fave habit of mine. doing just that was homey enough to keep me sane til i reach penang.

you should watch easy virtue too. quite funny. and i didnt know jessica beil was so HOT!!!!

she sizzles.....=D

Mahjong!!!

2009-07-10T21:59:00.000-07:00

Since life is pretty slowpace now before the madness begins, i found a new addiction.
Mahjong!!! Now i know how people can stay up all day and all night just playing them!

Gosh it's like, when you are playing mahjong, you have to be SO alert and SO sharp!
it really test your minds sharpness and intelligence. you could be the first to have a perfect set and you are just waiting for that one character while the others are still fumbling but you may just lose because you waited for something someone else was waiting. You also have to be SO careful of what you throw because each character that you throw that benefits others, you have to pay. haha
with limited chips, the game gets tough and fast paced. DAMN its a good game!

when i finally return home, i am going to teach and infect ALL of you back in Penang!!

keeps the mind sharp and the wits alert ^^

last night i played til 6am before howard called it quits. i felt so alive and awake i could've played all night!! hehe

shh...dun tell my mum

ramblings

2009-07-10T06:46:00.000-07:00

okay...since university started i havent had the time to blog.or even go online. so many things on my mind.

for one thing, just reading my subject planner already i feel dizzy.... sigh. so damn tough. another is PPSMI. that sucks. i knew they were going to reverse the thing. abolish it. stupid government. fools. the country will pay.aih my poor...beloved country.....

Infosys is over. damn i miss the life. i really do. i miss all the people in it too.... i was so excited to start learning and start my semester already. but all my lecturers are not. so now i have.... nothing to do.... aih.... my entire house went home this weekend....i wish i could too..... oh well....

I MISS YOU ALL!!! ALL OF YOU!!!!!!

At Last.....

2009-07-04T08:10:00.000-07:00

That's it. Here it is. People, i am done! Infosys, over. i want to be able to say that i am glad, that i am happy, that i am relieved. Actually, im.....

Last night all of us stayed up way past our bedtime because we didn't really wanted the night to end. We played mahjong from morning until night hehe. took my friends from Sarawak to go see UTeM main campus. Sigh. i am going to miss them all. Really. Given a chance to do over,i would not do it again. Neither would Perly haha but we made a few friends i would not forget.
at infosys i had a Mummy hehe. we all did.

*Mummy and I*

Mummy's real name is Ping Ping but she is known to us all as Mummy!!!!!! simply because she is the oldest among all the trainees and she calls us her children. she self proclaim as the mummy of the infosys herd (hehe) so we all eventually took her as our big sister.sort of. im already missing her. she had to leave early so she missed out on the photo sessions but i managed to steal a picture with her before she left.

right now i feel so weird because i am not heading back to King's Hotel to stay tonight. I feel weird not having a deadline to meet. the closing ceremony was grand.
it was held at Equitorial Hotel Malacca. We had Chinese food. 7 course meal! it wasnt... really Chinese food.it was a Malay equivalence of Chinese food. the Seafood soup tasted like sharkfin soup with prawn instead of shark fin, the roasted chicken tasted like roasted pork but with chicken instead of pork and etc. you get the idea haha. after the eating we had photo sessions. we all plan to pass them along via Facebook so theres no need for me to re-post them

after long winded goodbyes and promises of Simpan Dalam Sentuh, we parted.
i cameback and started to move into my new home. Starting my 3rd and final year on Monday and i have officially moved out!!

so tired......really tired.
the only consolation i have is that i get to have 2 FULL days with my beloved darling before madness starts ALL over again! gonna appreciate it ^^

my darling helped me move things in and out of the car, moped and fixed up my bed, mattress, cupboard, helped me do 80% of the work!~ gonna reward him later ^^

thats all guys! for now.tired

Infosys was a great experience. all those that i have met there are truly the top 100 computer science undergrads in the country. it was an honour to have met you all and have had the opportunity to work with you all before you guys become hotshots haha

adios amigos!!
.

Miss....

2009-06-29T17:16:00.001-07:00

I keep saying that I miss home. People always ask me “What do I miss about home?”
That got me thinking. What is it really that I miss?
I’m going to make a list now. As you can see, I am too free lol

I miss my mummy. She used to fuss over me whenever I go home after being away for a long while. Me and tricia wouldn’t protest because secretly we like to be pampered and hugged by our mummies ^^
I miss my daddy. Not his temper but that seems that the infamous temper has left the Kam household, leaving a very pleasant oldman behind. Why does it always take age to soften something hard and stubborn eh? XD
I miss my brother. I cant say little brother because he is 1.5 times my height now. He is taller and he is bigger. Very much mature for his age but will revert back to the 12 year old that he was whenever he and I wish to take a trip down memory lane…. Except that now I no longer hug him into my arms. He hugs me into his. I feel so protected
I miss my lovely one-of-a-kind TRICIA!!! My gym buddy! My shopping and hangout kaki. My American Idol buddy. My gossip source. My movie kaki. My music updater (she discovers new songs and I download them for both of us). My er fashion sense (I have none so she will update me on the latest trends and explain what they are). My crazy quirky funny loveable Tricia! There’s no one like her. Gosh I miss her sooo much! Cos shes my only best friend I haven’t seen for the longest time. Even though both our lives are so crazy and I miss her so much, she is also the best friend I keep in touch with the most. I message her the most (after howard). When I see you tri, you better stand still so I can have my fill of hug of you!
I miss Wee Nee. Currently doing her internship. She should have come for Infosys. I didn’t know that it could be counted as an internship too. Wasted opportunity. Shes the toughest girl I know. So determined. So resilient. She never gives up. Soldiers on no matter what. Against all odds. I miss her. Roti canai is not the same without her
Mei lin keeps creeping up my mind too haha. The only other super tall person in my life besides my brother. But I don’t feel that you are towering over me. I feel that we are on equal grounds (my ego made up for the loss of height I suppose haha) we can go on and on and on for hours, can’t we? I saw her most the last few times I went back so I don’t miss her as much but quite often she will creep into my mind and pounce on me! Haha. WHEN YOU COMING OVER?????
Ahh…. Jing Zi. Havent kept in touch with her since august last year. Gosh has it really been a year?? Geez. Everytime when July semester is about to start, I will start to think of her already because that is when she is coming back. 2 (or was it 3?more?) years already at Newcastle and she still has not adopted any western culture. Good for you! Haha. Love people who has a firm ground on who they are (you too mei lin)
Mich…mich…. Always wanting to steal my brother for her ownself haha. Currently back in KL already. I miss the good old days where I would go to work then after work I would go wake miss princess and we would go for lunch then just hangout. Life was simple back then. In many ways she was my substitute for a boyfriend, company-wise la. She was there for me, had fun with me, talked about anything from the sun to the stars to the moon. Haha I even gave her my first diary. That was how close we were
Gosh I think this list is getting too long yet I haven’t even scratched the surface of what I miss! Haha no wonder I’m so homesick! I miss the food, I miss the sea, I miss DURIAN!!!! I miss the hectic Penangite life. I even miss the GSC we have there! I miss my bed and the 32 inch Television! I miss…I miss…..i…i…. *explodes with miss*

People

2009-06-29T17:14:00.000-07:00

My dad always tell me that there are 3 types of people. Those who sit and complain that great things don’t happen to them. Those who watch great things happen to others. Those who make great things happen. It’s not hard to sort people out into these categories.

I hate chronic complainers. Hate them. Annoying little brats is what they are. Stubborn, spoiled, annoying and thick-skinned. Seems to be I always meet these sorry losers. No no, I won’t name any of them. The strangest thing about these people is that they don’t realize it. All the unpleasant people don’t realize how unpleasant they are. The funniest thing is instead of knowing that they are unpleasant and that they should change their ways if want to have friends, they think that they are the world’s most popular people and that they have no flaws. Maybe that’s why I find them so annoying.

People are strange creatures, don’t you think so? We are the only creatures who after getting injured, comeback for more. Time and time again after crashing from a heartbreak, we are back for more. After falling off a horse, we climb back up it again. After totaling a car, we buy a new one and drive again. As if we are asking for more pain in our life. Strange isn’t it?

I always had this theory hehe. Christians and Muslims are not going to be happy reading this. I always wondered to myself why we have so many idiots running around. Its like, for every intelligent mortal (as nature intended) there are 10 morons running around. Yup, that ratio is about right. Then one day I came to my own conclusion to my question. The reason incest is taboo/forbidden is because when 2 DNA that is that similar mixed together, they will cause genetic mutation. Why I don’t know. In my head logically I think if u take a pair of identical twins and mate their DNA, you would be cloning them. Anyway, for some reason, close DNA will give you retarded kids. Dating back to Adam and Eve, Eve was supposedly made from Adam’s ribs. Means she is part of him. They share the same DNA. Then they mated. Based on probabilities, their offspring is like a cross between cloning and incest. If incestual babies are retards, then the human race after Adam and Eve are therefore, retards. Then I don’t know how (because I am neither Christian or Muslim) the human population grew with Adam and Eve’s family as the first human family. How? They needed to breed among each other. Means…. Having sex within the family. More retards. So….. are we a product of retards? The probability of having a retard or mentally disable child nowadays with 2 similar DNAs is high but not 100%. Maybe that’s why we have geniuses, the commoners and the dimwits. Perhaps when the human race was born, we were meant to be geniuses. Our brains are made that way. Look at the human body defense system! We were tasked to care after mothernature and all her offsprings. Look at what we have done. Look at the state of Earth. If mothernature truly exist, she is going to be one hell of a bitch when she discovers the condition of Earth. I have this feeling that I will live to see Earth get destroyed. Not by aliens. Not by some end of the world notion. I believe Earth will perish on the hands of humans. Some idiot will accidently set off a nuclear bomb, which will prompt all the big guns to show whose nuclear bomb can create the biggest crater in the world. We will eat all the fishes in the sea til they are all extinct. Those which survived will be poisoned by our human waste and stupidity and our lazy garbage disposal methods. Our ”advance” technology to manipulate the poultry to make them grow fat and large and fast will create billions of new deadly virus and super bacteria that will in turn, kill humans (H1N1). AIDS is doing a fine job, killing people left and right slowly and painfully because of a man who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants, away from monkey and his human wife. I can go on and on and on but even I am losing my appetite for this entry.

Growing up makes you aware. Growing up makes you mature. I just finished reading The Golden Compass. It is a good read. Talks about original sin and growing up. About being naïve and innocent. Original sin is when Adam and Eve first defied God and bit the apple. Up until 5 minutes ago I didn’t understand what original sin was. Now I know. God intended us to be innocent and happy as children are happy. Did anyone watch Dollhouse? It’s a series on TV about how there is an organization who has a bunch of hot looking guys and girls that had their memory wiped out and now has a mentality of a child until someone hires them. Then they will be programmed to be the best in whatever the client needs them to be. Hunter, date, negotiator, you name it, you got it. I look at them and I don’t call that happiness. To be innocent and ignorance of the worlds evil. To be denied the mistakes I made which I learn valuable lessons from. To be… emotionless. Unable to think for myself. I don’t call that life. I don’t call that happiness. I’m happy that Adam and Eve made that mistake. They were curious and rebellious. That is human nature. You can’t get any more human than that. It was a lost cause from the beginning. If God wanted Adam and Eve as pets who lived happily at the Garden with the mentality of children, he should not have given them a brain, curiosity and rebellion instinct. Oh well. Guess even God can’t always get what he wants.

People always want what they can’t have. We are constantly working for something. We just can’t sit still as a race, can we? Haha. The man who has everything, will always say he is looking for something because he is bored thus he is looking for entertainment. If I were king and I had everything I needed, I wonder if I would be bored. Probably. Maybe that’s why rulers are usually so mean and cruel. They always have this dark side to them. It is because they are so bored they are willing to try anything that gives them some distraction and pleasure, even if it is for awhile. Since they have money and influence, what is stopping them?

We are deplorable as a race, aren’t we?

Randomness....

2009-06-29T17:11:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was day 1 of the new intake. My gawd there were SO many!!! Mostly Malays which means the number of Chinese intake in local universities have dropped. I wonder why. Is it because the government did not give or are we turning them down?

This year the newbies are registering at the main campus. We are finally moving in!!! im kind of proud of my main campus. Its HUGE! Hehe. Land in Malacca is cheap.

Sigh. Today is Monday already. In 6 days I will be going to university as a 3rd year now. Sigh. I feel so old. The newbies look so young! I miss home a lot. Been thinking of skipping the first few days so that I can perhaps nick a short 3 days at Penang. But I need to clean out my new room out. I HAVE MY OWN ROOM!!! FINALLY!!!

Hehe those who want to come visit me now have a place to stay already hehe!!!
I bought a bed that is foldable. Very cool. Found 2 mattress for rm30. Its now on howards bed. So for the time being his bed is made up of THREE mattress!!! Ahahahahahaha damn comfy la. When I lie down on it, it feels like…like….nothing. im sleeping on air. Such comforts.

My time at King’s Hotel is now coming to an end. Honestly, I have never regretted anything in my life. Until now. I regret joining this course. Somehow I feel that the end does not justify the means. There are so many things I wanted to do. So much more that I wanted to experience. All I got to show for it is a fat belly from 8weeks of eating greasy malay food 3 times a day and 2 fails to show for it. Sigh. My major is so obscure that nothing I learn here, I think, can be applied on my major. I think I will have a hard time fitting into the real world.

Speaking of the real world, I now remember what was the purpose of this blog already. I think all of us were very happy when we heard that English was to be the medium for Science and Maths. In fact, I was envious. Now there is talk of changing it back to Malay. =.=
Not only the government is backing this idea but also the opposition. Wth. We are suppose to be moving FORWARD, not backward! Everyday I read about various politicians who would give their views about how Bahasa Malaysia is being threatened by the usage of English in this two subjects. Hello… we are taking 10 subjects for SPM. 3 out of 10 subjects are hardly threatening. If the Malaysian will to keep their heritage and culture is so weak, then which language we use to learn is hardly the main issue. The problem with these politicians is that they are not the students. They don’t know how it is like to learn everything in Malay only to have to relearn everything again in English. It didn’t matter how much knowledge we acquire in Science and Maths because at an international level, we know nothing. Because it is ALL in English! How do you expect us to compete in an international level?? Or hold discussions with international scholars when we are not even using the same terms and language? This is a step backwards. The government is going about this the wrong way. Why bother to ask the politicians when it does not concern them? Its like asking a trishaw peddler what is the best way to treat cancer. Sure, he can give you his views but he has to credentials to give them. Why would he? It has nothing to do with him! If the government truly wants what is best for the country’s future, they should be conducting a nationwide survey comprising ONLY the students! If at university level is conducted fully in English, what logic does it make to start the student’s foundation in Bahasa Melayu?

The government policy changes based on politician’s whim and fancy. The nation’s future leaders are paying the heavy price. How is the country suppose to grow? We as students have been very patient with the government. We are forced to carry heavy books to school, made to endure a full day school, study subjects which is not of our interest but are forced to score nevertheless. Let me ask these bright politicians, how many times in your life have you applied everything you learned in school? Look at the Americans. They are able to choose their subjects much earlier and more freedom than we do. It enables them to pursue their interest at an earlier age, giving them a headstart. They need not waste their time with subjects such as Moral. Moral values such as integrity and respect cannot be learned in a classroom from a thick, boring textbook by memorizing definitions. Singapore adopts a much longer school hours per day than Malaysians. I don’t know what they teach in class but when I talk to my cousin, he is far more knowledgeable than the Malaysian’s his age. He knows about world history. He knows about world geography. He knows more general knowledge than I do and I am 7 years older than he is. So did Singapore got it right? While our leaders are using us all as guinea pigs to justify their political agendas, the world is passing Malaysians by. My batch was the guinea pig batch. We were the first to take EST(which was compulsory for my school and is now abolished =.=) we were the first to take Science and Maths in English at Form4 and Form 5. I can tell you we were not happy about the switch. It was for the better because English is the language of Science but the transition period was hard. Science has many many scientific terms and while we studied it in Malay, it was another term. Giving that same fate to future students is not a bright idea.

When all is said and done, most of the time I can see that the Malaysian politicians can’t see or think further than 3 feet in front of them. Maybe they should play more chess and less politicking. The future of our country is getting bleaker and bleaker by the minute. Elections are determined by the young voters. I myself am a young voter and we want change. We don’t want has-beens ruling this country. We don’t want dramas and fake promises. We want brilliance. We want foresight. We want someone worthy of being a leader. We are in fact, losing out to our fellow neighbours like Philippines. Soon oil will run out. Soon we will be just like any other countries who don’t have any advantages. Soon we will all become a third world country like Africa. At least they are not delusional

At the end of the day....

2009-06-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

Darling, i am fickle minded. i talk of leaving. i talk of independence. i talk of separation. i crap at length about how i demand more and you can never fulfill them.

when you hold me in a full embrace and my head is at that special crook of your arm that seems somehow designed for my head size, i forget everything. my place is there.
forget whatever i have ever said. it all boils down to nothing the minute you hold me in your arms the way you do and tell me with those sincere eyes how much you miss me. nothing you can say that will speak more of how much you love me than those brown (or isit black?) eyes. guess your are stuck with me. cos im never leaving

NEVER

today suck!

2009-06-26T03:04:00.001-07:00

Today suck. its my anniversary and i picked a fight over the silliest thing. i failed my last test. have to retake the whole 5 bloody hours. Michael Jackson died. he was the one who got me through the last 7weeks.
i hate myself. i hate today

Happy Anniversary!

2009-06-25T07:11:00.000-07:00

WOW. 22months! darling its been awhile eh? hehe
kinda feels long tho. feels like a lifetime ago when you asked me to be yours. to many people 22months is nothing in a relationship but i feel like everyday is something and we cant take it for granted. that is why i insist on making the 26th of every month a special day. its to remind me never to take you for granted.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. TRUE.
Right now you are faraway in some jungle doing something i would love doing. while i am here stuck in Malacca with the night off,thinking about you in my room. Since we were unable to chat as usual thanks to your lovely trainers, ill just tell you whats on my mind here

Woke up late. Skipped breakfast. lunch was lousy. i ate fruits and 2 peice of kuih only. yes it was that lousy. had a headache all day. my partner kept coughing and was having flu and fever. i panicked myself thinking it was H1N1. had a mild fever too after my nap.but it went away. so i scared myself shitless for nothing haha.

today was very boring. i finished what i could do already so i just gamed the whole day. after 5 hours, the zombies look...boring. i actually begged for work to do lol. INFOSYS HAS TURNED ME INTO A WORKAHOLIC!!!!! i need help.... =\

Called wee nee....who helped me cure my boredom (girlfriends are the best!!)
everytime i call her she would ask when im coming home...(she sounds like my boyfriend lol) and i will tell her i dont have a holiday....everytime i will hear the disappointment and i will ask myself wth i am doing here. SIGH
we miss our roti canai days.

i met a wonderful friend here. she is sooo chatty and upbeat you cant be sad around her haha. but she left on tuesday and wont be coming back until at least sunday so i am without my morning sunshine in this gloomy place til then. GOOD LUCK PING!!!!
(shes going for her VIVA. to get her masters finally)

it doesnt matter how much your other half means to you, at the end of the day, girlfriends are the one which you count on. the one you depend on. it doesnt matter that they are not family. together with them and your actual family you form your line of support.

~No man is an island~

a day off!!!

2009-06-23T07:50:00.000-07:00

Since my last post i have had....2 test. haha. they suck. i may have to retake. it sucks.

after the test tho they announced that they were giving us the day off!! whee!!! for once we were given a free day and theres no pending work. so after i sent my friend off to the bus terminal, guess what i did??

Kam Hui Ming is officially LOVING karaoke!!! hahaha
betcha yall who knows me didnt see that coming

so tired nwow..going to bed early for once....

sweet dreams everyone

MISERY!!!!

2009-06-20T20:26:00.000-07:00

Sigh....ive been off the face of the virtual world for 5weeks already.can u imagine that??!!!! FIVE WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Isit worth it? i dont know.... everyday my lovely tricia will remind me of what she is doing that day for fun.without me =.=''
i love my friend dearly but...but......im going to kill her when i see her!!!! then i will hug her =)
things have been so mad i dont know what day is when already. time and space have been lost to me. i just know i wake up before 7, breakfast at 7 then go up to the lab to stare at codings until its time to eat.then back to the freezing hell(21'C mind you) until 5pm.then rest til after dinner. at 8pm i would go back and OT until about 2am.that is early. then i do it all over again. life is so routine i get lost. even when it is sunday i still have the same routine.it doesnt matter what day it is.

They serve us crappy food. and i mean CRAPPY FOOD!
crappy food is just something i have to live with for as long as i am studying at malacca.if i were to hold penang standard here im afraid i would die of starvation. we are staying at a 3star hotel.not only thy are serving crappy food, it is also food that is near or has just passed the expiry date. ever heard of sour honeydew? we get them daily. many of us ran to the toilet daily. i am quite fortunate. i only run to the toilet every other day.

sigh. all that ive grown immune to it already. food and the stress i think has become the second nature to us university students. we are no longer affected by it. sleep is a luxury.yes we bitch about it. yes we complain and make a ruckus. but we are used to it. what we are not used to is missing our loved ones. today is fathers day.to my daddy it is just another daay.if i were home it would be just another sunday at home relaxing too.but since im not home,i miss him even more. i miss everyone at home. the other day wee nee called me to chat. it made me so happy to hear a familiar voice. sure being here day with the same faces makes them familiar too...but somehow it is different. there is that special bond but im missing my old life. my friends...my family....the activities we used to do.... i miss my life. i miss life. i miss penang. i used to wait for the long holidays to have my fill but this time there is no such fate. i go straight back to university after this course ends.

dont get me wrong. somehow,we managed to have fun among the stress and pressure. chang told us we will have to work hard like we have never worked hard before but we will also have the best time of our lives.at the same time. i didnt believe him. but it is true.

ok being cut off from the virtual world also means im back to being 'katak di bawah tempurung' since my source of news is online. i had to resort to........the mainstream media =.=' which is basically no news. in all the worlds turmoil and issues, i saw one day the headline for berita harian was.... ibu dan anak bertemu semula selepas 17 tahun. and then the building which collapse and killed the destruction workers was on page 2. or was it 4? my point is, the mainstream media is bullshit. i dont know why i still read because everyday i spend 30minutes reading the paper(because i read in detail, not just headlines) and i go away with nothing. nothing important is in the pages. the things i get are like, man murders wife on honeymoon trip. the kill bill actor dies from a sex act(came out 3 times in the papers.really, no other new??? ANY news????)

the government is always ranting about the evil of blogs and that is all rubbish an lies. hello,we are not naive. there are intelligent citizens in Malaysia. if you dont give us news, we search elsewhere la. i stopped buying the mainstream media newspapers because they contain ZERO information!!! naive and innocent people dont read the news. so you will have to do better if you want to at LEAST attempt to change our minds.

the more i read, the more i wish we adopted the China's method to corruption. line them up, and the open fire. but that is just a dream. in reality we arent cruel like that. we are cruel in more.... behind the curtains way.

thats all for now. gotta head back to the codings. miss you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Random thoughts...

2009-05-12T21:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, yesterday was boring. So i have nothing to write about...much. I'm in class now. Very sleepy, very tired. You guys should check out taylor swift's Love Story meets Coldplay's Viva la Vida. Very very nice.

So good... good music has been missing out lately haven't it? All the new songs i hear are all.... maybe i am just getting old. Maybe i now belong to the old generation and now has to resort to radio stations like Light and Easy. its just that nowadays music released as hit songs are either about the dark side of life, or love songs. Hip hop and rap are hopeless because all they do is trash their mothers and sabotage my vocabulary. Pop is not what it used to be already. it used to be fun, young, light. Now its all i love you, you dont love me, we are over, im so heartbroken....etc. it gets BORING. people, come on la. cant you songwriters do better???!!!

most of you probably dont know who John Denver is but you should check out his music if you want songs filled with meaning and peace. He is a country singer. i hate country but i find that if genre has materials other than love and the screw ups of lives of the common people, then the country genre has a shot. they sing about the nature, about world problems, about the difference we can make, about the simple things in life. of course there are sappy lovesick cowboys like er... Garth? there is another sappy cowboy but i cant remember his name but my brother is crazy about him. lovesick cowboy just sounds wrong to me. doesnt it to u ? i associate cowboy with macho, strength, masculine......not lovesick.

Alternative rock or whatever Avril lavigne is classified as is also a breath of fresh air. in fact, all music that breaks away from this love song trend is a breath of fresh air.

Day 1 (11 May 2009)

2009-05-11T17:12:00.000-07:00

Okay…. I am going to try to keep an account of this interesting course. I will attempt to write a blog a day. Today is day 1. Let me start the entry with breakfast! It wasn’t awesome but it had everything I wanted. Honeystars!! with milk, toast bread with egg or kaya , nasi lemak that smells so good I caught a whiff of it and I was sold, orange juice and all the fruits I want!!

After the hearty meal, we were shipped off to the city campus. We were divided into 4 groups. There were many confusions and whatnots so I was thrown here and there for about an hour haha. I ended up with Perly (whee!) but we were further separated into 5 small work groups. Although we were in different group, it was still great because we share same break time and etc. our speaker will be in charge of us for the next 7 days. Today was very interesting because this first week is all about soft skills. All 4 groups are given a different speaker so we all actually learn different things. Some just did introduction and ice breaking from 10-5 today, some did games, and I, my special group, had homework. My very first group assignment!!!! Lolz don’t be fooled by the enthusiasm. Its fake hehe.

Nevertheless, we had a great time today. Today’s module was Logical Thinking so he basically gave us various contradicting titles and make us discuss then pitch our points. It felt like debating, which I now realize, I miss a lot. So it was a very fun day for me. I picked a very testy topic to defend a friend and I think I made half the class hate me but it doesn’t bother me. Yet. Haha. Im just here to have fun and learn. I have made a few new friends. Too few for my taste but I have always been a slow one at making new friends. I like to take my time. I think a lot of people view my err coolness against all strangers as arrogance, but it is how I am. I can’t just warm up to you without first evaluating your personality. So if anyone thought I was arrogant, your loss.

We kept eating though. 8am, 1pm, 3pm, 7pm….. gawd im fat already. Give me a chance! The foods good but the lunch wasn’t that great. So from now on, I am going to have a hearty breakfast, skip lunch and have a good tea. The tea is great! Would be better if I was hungry to appreciate it.

I miss my family though. Miss my home. Miss my friends. And most of all, I miss my ability to company my darling throughout the day. I wasn’t able to and he was left to fend for himself most of my time. When I was finally free, it was already 11pm and he was all tucked in bed already.

I will make it up to u. Pwomise

Checking in... 10/05/09

2009-05-11T17:10:00.000-07:00

Okay people, I am back in Malacca. Normally I will miss home terribly but I will at least have my darling to take my mind off things…. He helps. Sometimes. Sometimes moping is all I feel like doing. This trip however, is extra tough. I ( foolishly) went for an interview for a course called Infosys. Those of you who are close to me have heard me complain more than my share of whiney already but I want to widen my whiney scope – Internet.

Let me explain what Infosys is. Infosys is an outsourcing company located in India. It is an international company that is responsible for the loss of jobs/ lack of jobs of computer science grads here because all major companies are now closing their IT branch and outsourcing to India. (ish) Back in 1981, 7 guys with $200 decided to start a company. 28 years later, Infosys declared a $4.1 billion in revenue! Awesome

Anyway, 2 years ago Infosys decided to start a program called Infosys. It will pick a day where ICT students all over Malaysia will simultaneously take a half day interview, starting with essay writing, an IQ test and finally a group interview. The first batch went to India, so did the second batch but the third batch (me) is the first batch to be stuck in Malacca, Malaysia =.=’’’

It is a comprehensive course run over a period of 8 weeks, in a hotel ( that’s right, you heard me!).

Accommodation, 3 buffet meals a day and an allowance of RM 500 is provided for the entire duration. We have classes from Monday to Saturday (9am-530++pm). That is the classes. At end of each module, there will be assignments on that day itself. If you don’t finish, you don’t go home. Hence, the ++. I have just learnt that my hostel has full online wireless coverage (yay!) but the lab which im told to expect to spend 20 hours of my day there daily will be NO INTERNET!!! no laptops allowed. No handphone allowed. No pendrive allowed! Notes are to be used and returned end of the day. I feel like crying. Its like when I was at PDL except PDL was 4 days. This is 8 weeks. Sniff..sniff……

So in place of my 9weeks holiday, I have traded it for prison school. Lol

On a lighter note, there are some eye candy to help the day go by……

Tomorrow is my first day. 7 days of soft skill lectures. God help me.

Ps: I don’t have internet so I have to upload a few at one go. But it is all written on different days

Changing a Stubborn Mule....

2009-05-07T00:55:00.000-07:00

How do you change a stubborn mule? You cant. Im a stubborn mule and I will never change JUST because you said so! I know I have flaws and I am happy with them. How do you fight that?

Recently, I learned that the answer is : Shame. Guilt. Embarrassment.

I have a short temper. Its short and explosive and easily cool off. I like it because it is the better kind. The pent up anger kept inside until boiling point is ugly, scary, unexpected and usually, long lasting. Not to mention traumatic. So, I easily lose my temper. I expect the best from people and myself included. Most people don’t know but I come down on myself harder than anyone else. My expectation for myself is higher and my expectations are all meant to be met. NO excuses.

You can imagine what a nightmare this is for my poor significant other. Last week I did something stupid. Something that took the no 1 spot on my list of stupidest things a person can do and this particular one takes home the grand prize. It also cost my boyfriend a lot of grief and trouble. The entry below stating that him missing his bus home hence missing his work hence missing that meeting, MY FAULT. It is the STUPIDEST thing I have ever done in my life and I am so SO SORRY MY DARLING!!

He is sick of my apologizing but I cant forgive myself until I have made it up to you. I vow I will find a way, my love.

Anyway, the thing I realized was, over every little thing that he fell short of my expectation, be it important or not, I always came down hard on him. I always expected nothing but the best. Sometimes he does better than expected. Other times, he fell short and my wrath is always ready to be unleashed. Fortunately its never longer than 10 minutes but still, I got mad. I automatically expected him to give me back some of my own bitter medicine. I expected it and I was ready to take it and start making up for it. Not once he lashed back. Not once he said ‘I told ya so’ or ‘wth is wrong with you’ or ‘ how could you be so careless’. Not once did he yell. Not once he got upset. He took it all in as it was and never….. I was so ashamed. Thinking back of all my reactions to his bloopers I was really ashamed.

He always told me to change. To not get so riled up over small things. I never once listened because it has always been who I am and temper is not just something you can correct overnight. It takes a lot of effort which I didn’t feel like putting it. Sometimes tempers help ( I am not going to elaborate) so I don’t wish to fix something that,well, I like. Its rarely gets out of hand but it helps me release the tension and the pressure. He has come to accept it as part of me. After this stupid mistake of mine, I felt so ashamed and so guilty about the way I treated him, I decided to change. I made a promise to him to try to not get angry in a split second. To try to control my anger. To go from disappointed to acceptance without going through the losing temper phase. I made a promise that I am going to change.

So people, that’s how. You don’t tell a stubborn mule that it needs to change. You do it by simply showing it how and by putting it to shame until it decides to change on its own.

People change you in many ways. Ways that you can never phantom. Ways that you never thought was possible. My temper is as big a part of me as my hair or my legs but his generosity and acceptance ability has made me want to be like that. It has made me see that by changing, I become a better person. That’s what life is about really. A path to become a better person.

So wish me luck! With a little luck I will never get mad again. For those who know me well, I am sure you are laughing your head off. =) Have some faith, will ya

On work

2009-05-05T07:31:00.001-07:00

I managed to catch a Monday morning bus back to Singapore after missing my Sunday night bus back. Needless to say, I have to apply for leave to clean up the timekeeping records.

Began the day like any other, with a sachet of Nestle mixed with 1/2 a stick of Regular strength Nescafe. I find this mix to be just nice, as it gives me just enough jolt to start the day.

I remember during the first few months here, I would get to the office and collapse to sleep on the table until the bell rings at 7.30am (yes, just like High School!) then crawl back up and start my day. Then during lunchtime, I would get so sleepy and fall back to sleep till 1pm when the bell rings again (again, just like High School!).

Nowadays, powered by my meager 1/2 stick of Regular Nescafe, I can come in to work at 7am and start the day with a hot cup of drinks as I catch up on the emails. I have been away for about 5 days now, and my mailbox is bursting already. Thankfully not everything is directed at me, some are just general notices. I missed out a meeting Monday morning, would have liked to attend it. It's interesting to see the engineers working out on a problem.

During meetings, everybody have a penchant of bringing together a notebook and a pen, in case they need to write down something. So far, I have yet to see anybody open up their books to write in stuff though. Maybe some of the meetings are really boring to them? Who knows..it's just my observation.

Today I got tasked to do a test memo on Low Pressure Mud System. I've not touched the drilling stuff yet, so this is the first time. Basically they have an elaborate set of pumps and connecting pipes to make sure that the mud is constantly circulated around from the mud pits so that it doesn't stagnate and set. They also need to constantly mix the mud around as the chemical composition of the mud can change over time, either from interaction with the borehole or when we add some additives into the mud. So for everything to stay homogenized, we have what is essentially a huge blender to churn things along.

Then the whole system patches to the high pressure mud system via charging pumps, whose purpose is to pressurize the mud and send them off to humongous mud pumps that will pump it down the borehole. Hmm, that's a lot of pumps. I haven't learn into detail about pumps in my course, but when I am here, since everything is about pumps, I have to study it on my own. Its one of those moments where I am lucky to have taken STPM because that shit is TOUGH and really makes you realize the importance of self study. Back in my high school, we basically didn't have a physics teacher, which kinda sucks as I am in the physics stream, so we organize study sessions and helped each other out. Good times. Because of that experience (and I did pretty well too, A- for Physics), it gave me the strength to understand that you are limited only by your willpower and how willing you are to put yourself through stress and misery to get what you want. Anybody can pay for a good tuition teacher.

So anyway, back to the story, I have looked at the diagrams for the system, hopefully tomorrow can start writing out the test memo. It also occurred to me that I have yet to submit my report for last month. We are supposed to write monthly reports for Keppel's Training department, and I realize it might be overdue. Strange, usually they will send us an email to remind us on the submission date. Maybe they're testing us? =P

Old Movies

2009-04-29T05:21:00.000-07:00

Some of my best,er, soul searching or self discovery often if not always happens at the most inconvenient times. Its always when im cramming for a paper. Probably because that's when Im the most bored haha.

Lately i have been watching alot of old movies. it is because all the new ones are horrible waste of my time. Old movies usually make you think. The phantom of the opera was one of my fave classics. okay i didnt watch the play. i watched the movie which was only 4 years ago but its story is an old one. Very well written.

In the movie, the Phantom, despite giving up the girl to the young viscount, never really left her. When she died sum 40 years later, he was STILL around, looking after her, in his own creepy stalking way. Sweet, but creepy. It got me thinking, why didnt he give her up? She was happily with another guy. It must be bloody painful to watch the love of your life happy with another guy, kissing him, and.... you know what. He is a really good spy so i dont think a simple door at the bedroom is going to keep him out.

He must really love her to actually watch over her for 40 years. 24/7
Yet it must hurt like hell to just watch. Surely a very BIG heart too to not rip the hubby's head off. The phantom doesnt think twice to kill so.... that mustve required alot from him. The girl has NO idea about all these sacrifices that the phantom does. So he has no other reason to do it besides love. really, deep love.

It got me thinking, how would i react should my.... should the love of my life move on like that and i am forced to watch it daily? i couldn't imagine it simply because i have no ex.
As usual, this is where i get silly and my daydreaming gets out of control. i started to imagine that ive, well, broken up. 10 years later, im single, having a nice brunch by myself with a book at my favourite eating place. Sounds like something i would do. Done it before actually. All alone. Then my ex shows up. Happen to be walking pass me with his gf......or wife. Then my imagination ran away and... suddenly im depressed. lol
really,truly depressed!
lol

NOW there is really no mood to cram software engineering into my head now, is there? lol

so i kinda realized, you cant really... move on. If you loved the person once, and nothing happened to take away that love, then you dont really move on. Im talking about me by the way. I cant safely talk about everyone but most people, save those who end things really badly, always has that look of longing or... regret whenever they take a moment to think about their ex. The fondness never really goes away.

From that thought, i digressed into thinking about this particular friend of mine who, is stuck in the past and cant get out of it. People who are stuck in the past are never really joining us here in the present. Since they are half in half out, they tend to screw up the present. I guess when something unbelievable happens in your life that is unexpected, you deal with it with a little bit of delusions. Pretending as if everything is okay.... might help making things okay. Reality is all about perception anyway.

Delusion, up to a certain level, is healthy. I think if mankind didnt have delusions, we would all be mad. Some level of delusions are needed in this crazy world we live in. I mean, God is a delusion. Thinking that there IS someone with power somewhere among the clouds is looking down on our tiny earth is making sure that our lives are in order, is delusional. If i met God one day, i would pull his ears. i would demand to know why innocent people are tortured. Why babies are born after 9 hard months on the mothers part just to be destined to die 2 days later. or during labour. why drive the parents crazy like that. I would demand to know why he did nothing while lunatics drive this world mad. Why its not the good people who prosper but those who are evil enough to run over others for worldly gains that do. How can anyone with so much compassionate and wisdom let these thugs and evils get away? What more if you are God. Are you telling me that you created this world and all this is INTENDED???

Sorry, im not buying it.

I flew back from penang to malacca the other day. Malacca dont have an airport yet so i flew to KLIA. I was writing a blog about it but halfway through i was just too tired. Basically it was a bad trip but all wasnt lost. i will now write the bit that i wanted to blog in the first place. The first time i flew on an airplane was when i was 12. i dont remember much. There wasnt much to remember because i was in the middle of the plane and half the time i had a terrible pain in my head. my ears. its as if someone had put pins in my ear and no amount of my walkman volume could make it go away. i decided then and there i hated flying. The return trip wasnt any better. Last week was the third time i flew. i hoped that the experience would be different. i was alone this time and now im older. the experience was very different. i was a very very dumb noob lol. like a deer caught in a headlight. but i manage to fumble through. had a window seat this time. right by the plane's wing. Omg it was awesome. i was so amazed at the science of an airplane.

i never quite got the concept so i decided to watch the wings as we take flight. it was amazing. i never took my eyes off the scenery and the wing from the moment we started moving until we stopped moving.

The pain in my ear came back though. It was the air pressure on decend. So everytime the plane dropped, my ears scream. I swear they were bleeding. But no blood haha. If i was a Christian, and i wanted to convince my child that there are angels and heaven, i would only need to take her on a plane. Have you ever been among the clouds on a beautiful sunny day?

Its breath taking. So beautiful. I caught myself thinking that if there is a heaven, THIS would be it. I imagined myself as an angel, louging among the clouds, having an afternoon nap.
It was so pretty i was so sad to decend. Then i was really sad and in pain. lol

For a long time, i cant decide if humans were really at the bottom of the food chain, or the top. i still cant

Having the ability to think is amazing. A wonderful gift. But i dont think we made it that way. Most of us dont use the capacity of the thinking function. ALL of us only use thinking as a means to get our selfish wishes. Usually evil.

All animals are based on the natural selection method. Strongest live. Best ones survived. only the best genes spread. Not us though. We have medicine to help the weak live. Oh things like ability to fix a broken hand is good la. Because its positive feedback. Giving the blind good eye is great! We are helping each other out. But things like.... Giving a heart disease patient a bypass is ... well of course im human so i agree that its one of the miracles of medicine. but if you look at it from the natural selection view, you are giving that man a way to continue to live. he has the heart problem genetics and you are allowing him to breed, to pass it down to his offsprings. All the genetically related diseases, can be, WILL be passed down to the next generations. There's a reason only the strongest live. There's a reason why nature is that way. Cruel, but its a necessity. So, from that point of view, i say we are more backwards than the animal kingdom. We keep the weak around and the stupid to fuck up our world!

Our world is slowly dying from all the bullshit we dump on it. We are its cancer. Its no surprise once in awhile, it fights back!

Another thing is that animals are smart. They find places that gives them the best chances to live and make a life there. If its not working, pack up! We are moving. But humans! oh no! nonono. Unhabitable you say? Well, i will just create something to make it habitable! Grow a plant in the moon to breed oxygen. Sell air conditioners all over the world to make it cooler. Migrate certain crops to certain places to make more money. Hey mother nature can go fly kite. I know better. It doesnt matter that the world has been around for 5billion years. Im smarter!

Thats why the world is ending. We are its cancer. Sad to say, when the world comes to an end, we all deserve it. Many people believe in the greater powers as God. i believe in repurcussions.

And i think, humans arent the smartest beings in the world despite having the ability to think.What use is an ability when we dont use it?

On Keppel's 'incident'

2009-04-24T06:25:00.001-07:00

Something funny happened last night. While I was sleeping soundly, apparently a bout of rough winds and seas occurred and caused some damage to rigs moored near the dock.

When I got in the following morning, there were some people discussing about the damage that had occurred. It wasn't really serious so I didn't think much about it.

Tonight it made the news, with the reported showing grainy pictures taken of some of the 'damages' to the helideck area. Apparently one of the rig shook loose and had a 'meeting' with the rig next to it. Really unlucky too as that rig is almost near completion. One of the senior drafter says these things happen always near the end of a project; can;t afford to slack even a little bit.

Today I learned a bit about the Anchorage. I thought it's some fancy place with a fancy sounding name, until one of the drilling section people told me it's just a parking space in deeper waters off the port. They go there to do some of the more demanding tests that require deeper waters. I wonder if they jack up the jackups to full operating draft? The seabed must be quite solid for this to be possible, with so many jackups being built here.

Been helping out with B302 project, so called a comfort luxury accommodation module based on semi design. The significance of this didn't really occur to me until I was invited by my boss to sit in on a little presentation done by DNV concerning noise and vibration. Apparently, they find that the rules and regulations surrounding noise and vibration limits for offshore vessels (they call them MODU - mobile offshore drilling units) are so stringent that they EXCEED that of luxury cruise liners, sometimes with quite a significant margin. So ladies and gentlemen, the most luxurious and comfortable vessel on the high seas is none other than oil rigs (that follow the NORSOK standard)! A little surprising, no?

Well granted, the 'luxury' and 'comfort' is evaluated using noise and vibration limits - you won't find casinos and other creature comforts here save for TV and rec lounges. Another interesting thing I discovered is that some of the regulations call for cabins which are so silent that privacy becomes an issue; if you do not insulate the walls enough, you can participate in a conversation going on next door because it's just so silent!

One way to solve this problem is to increase the sound insulation between cabins, but on certain situations this is simply not feasible due to the amount of insulation you would require, so another solution is to add in 'white noise' as a psychological way of artifically increasing the noise inside the cabin, which is done in luxury vessels: they would increase the noise slowly 1 hour before a planned concert then after that, gradually decrease the noise back down. The artifical background noise effectively masks any detrimental effects of the concert noise, although they did not specify what kind of background noise this was (white noise? pink noise? those fancy anti-phase noise cancellation noise?).

Today I saw some of the engineers looking up stuff that I myself was looking up when I don't understand something. Makes me feel less stupid, haha. I guess most of us, especially the newcomers, are still picking things up as we go along as this is not a field we studied in.

And today's fruity day so they gave us 4 bananas this time around. I guess the ancient greeks would call them aphrodisiacs; as for me, I haven't had banana in a long time, simply because for some reason when I came over to Semenanjung Malaysia, all the bananas sold here are those 'berangan' strain, huge and not really nice. I grew up eating traditional bananas grown in abundance in Sabah (small, very yellow) and its near impossible to find in Melaka, although I do spot them in Singapore. I guess it's not a famous trait or it's probably not grown locally and is imported from elsewhere. Whatever the case, I miss my Sabahan banana =P.

Oh ya and for the benefit of those in the future, Sabah has this interesting fruit called Tarap. Here is the picture:

This fruit is unique to Sabah/Borneo island and can be best described as...something like a jackfruit (nangka). Albeit the insides are much smaller than the jackfruit and the outside resembles a velvet-y textured porcupine as is evident from the picture above. If you go to Sabah, you must have a taste of this unique fruit and take lots of pictures, because it'll be the only place you'll ever find it.

My mom used to bring me to eat these at the nightmarket. I didn't really appreciate its uniqueness until today. I still remember lobbing the seeds of the tarap pass a ditch to the other side, proudly telling my mommy that in 10 years time we can go back here and harvest these fruit to eat for free.

That day never came.

Typical Sun nite....

2009-04-21T04:56:00.000-07:00

Here i am in Malacca, on a typical Sun night. Well, not so typical. Since when have u ever seen me study on a Sun nite? hehe. i have a paper on tuesday afternoon. The only paper standing between me and my ticket home - Penang. i wont be seeing home for a longgggggggggggg long while so... i am going to make the best of it while i can. Something else has made tonight an atypical night though.

Im sitting here just reading my boring notes and listening to Kris Allen attempting to make me melt (and succeeding) with the speakers my darling bought for me from Singapore and it kinda hit me. i love it when these things happen. I would get a question in my head for no reason other than boredom and ill be left with no answer until suddenly, it hits me.

People talk about sacrifice alot. All the time. ALOT.
Not everyone who talks about it knows what it is.
If you want to know about sacrifice, endurance,patience and love, ask those who never whine about them. THESE are the people who give real sacrifices, possess real patience and endures more than any bitching bitches out there. No one is spared from these miseries so why dont these people whine? They experience it too. They just got better things to do.

Many people tell me that i am very naive. Well, up til last 2 years la. Since then i have not spent enough time with anyone who knows me well enough who has earned that right to say it and really make me think.

Many people also tell you that to grow up, you need to fall in love. i always thought that THAT was bullshit. now not so much anymore haha. Looking back, i admit i was naive. Everything was always black or white. it has helped me in many things in my life. you dont fix something that isnt broken right?

anyone who has had a relationship can tell you that theres no such thing as black or white when it comes to people. so yeah, ive grown up.

once in awhile, my loving darling would subtly remind me that no, i am not all grown up yet. i am still naive in certain ways. very much still want to hold on to my version of the world. where theres good and there is evil. there is always accountability. there is always proper repercussions. WRONG!

my loving darling would never say it aloud. hehe probably didnt want to risk my wrath should i not like what i hear. sowee sweetie.....

somehow though,the message gets through. albeit delayed. very delayed. better late than never is my motto.

sometimes....... to really see a picture, you have to take a few steps back to get the real meaning behind it. too close can be... it creates blindspots. same goes for people

haha i bet you guys wonder where im going with this or am i just rambling again.
well.....i do have a particular reason for writing today...but im not going to say it

everytime i discover something overwhelming about my sweetest darling in the world, im compelled to share it here. now i realize its very...very lame thing to do hehe

so today i am not going to say it! but i want the world to know that my love, you have helped me answer a very very intriguing question by just being you ( he is in another country now actually) and you have helped me grow justtttttttttttttttt a little more today.

and i LOVE you because of these little things that you do!!! muakz!

missing my lil boytoy now. oh well. theres always that face to look forward to =)

Typical Sun nite....

2009-04-19T08:31:00.000-07:00

On Anwar and I Not Stupid.

2009-04-14T02:40:00.000-07:00

Some of my friends have expressed their dislike of Singapore to me which I find to be something that interests me.

Some of them have said that the society here is conformist, obeying whatever the government tells them with unquestioning loyalty and this level of conformity is something they cannot stand. Hence they don't want to come here at all.

For the sake of historical purposes, the ruling coalition the PAP have commanded a near total majority of the parliament here, and the opposition are very weak, certainly not as strong or controversial than their counterparts in Malaysia. After all, I have never heard of any famous opposition figures in Singapore, with the exception of one Indian fella (whose name I forgot) who managed to win a seat in parliament but was subsequently sued into oblivion and died before his wish to re-enter parliament is ever realized. He spent his dying days peddling books written that were critical of the government. Not a very nice ending, and probably something some people would say only the 'law abiding' country of Singapore can come up with.

Years of enjoying massive financial prosperity have probably bred a sense of complacency and that's the reason why the Singapore political scene have remained a largely one-party occasion.

In fact, our neighbours from the south seem to be even more keen on political developments in Malaysia than in their own lands. The other day, news of Anwar's successful entry back into Parliament made front page news in the dailies in Singapore, something I am amused to discover.

Mahathir have criticized Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew for controlling the strings behind the scenes when he retired and set up a Minister Mentor post while transferring power to his son. The irony is made profound when he rejoined UMNO last week and subsequently got his son Mukhriz back into politics after he was defeated in the UMNO Youth elections. I guess we can expect more 'mentoring' from Mahathir in the near future, for better or worse.

Another have expressed their dissatisfaction with how the Singaporean government treats their citizens; those who can perform are looked after while those who cannot excel (especially in school) are ignored and sidelined. A truly meritocratic society to the fullest. The Singaporean parent's obsession with education is exemplified in the popular TV show I Not Stupid, which brings this issue into the forefront and makes fun of it, while carrying undercurrents of the feelings of hope for the well-off and despair for the less-to-do that every child faces here.

But is Malaysia any better? At least here, those who perform gets rewarded, but in Malaysia, there have always been stories of able, talented people who are sidelined due to the affirmative action policies and double standards practised here. Unfortunately nobody in Malaysia have yet to make a funny, snide and frank movie about the education system here. But many have gone on to accept positions in Singapore, which I guess is why the Singaporean media like to keep the Malaysians working here updated on things happening back home.

So in the end I ask you, which country is more open and tolerant of opposition views? This is a deeper and more complicated issue than it appears on the surface.

So forget about the generalization and misconceptions you may have about Singapore. It's just another country with its own pros and cons; long-held beliefs that may have passed to you from your parents or even the last generation have rapidly eroded although we still hold these to be the truth and nothing but the truth. Things like kiasu, kiasi, and all the other types of kia kia out there.

But chew on this for a moment.

Will we see an Anwar rising from political ashes in Singapore? Probably not anytime soon. But will we ever see an I Not Stupid movie made in Malaysia and stamped with the Malaysian government's stamp of approval? Definately not. As a society, we still have a long walk ahead if we were to look back at ourselves and laugh.

Academic Supervisor Visit

2009-04-08T04:34:00.001-07:00

My Academic Supervisor, Ms Rohana, paid me a visit two days ago. Throughout the course of my attachment, there will be two visits. The first was by my faculty Dean (who came to Singapore with his family) Prof Razali. He just chatted with one of my bosses and gave me some forms to fill up. That was about three months ago.

This time it was Ms Rohana. While she was here I learned that the Dean has changed to En Rizal and Prof Razali was promoted to some other position that I didn't catch the name of. She was in charge of doing the layout for our temporary faculty, which will be shared between a few buildings. I asked if there will be night classes, and she said it could well be, due to the space and time constrains.

I realized that it will be a tough semester next sem. I have about three more weeks to figure out a final year project to submit in. If I miss that date then I will have to choose from predetermined subjects from the lecturers. I haven't really given this much thought yet. I thought to do some simulation regarding skirted spudcan extraction and effects of jetting system but I realized it would be difficult to find a centrifuge to run the experiment. Furthermore, it would be hard to get data from my company as it's in a different department which is more secretive.

I suppose one of these days I will have to approach my boss for his thoughts. I hope there are some experiments or data crunching that he can provide that the department has been meaning to do but didn't have the time. That would be perfect.

I did my presentation for them and had a little chat and that was it. I only did the slides last Saturday (presentation was Tuesday) so I barely scraped through, haha. I guess then again I didn't talk about much, just about the company business and talked my way through some pictures. Pictures are always a nice thing on a slide, I realize. If we have words up there, we end up most of the time just reading them. It also helps that literally hours before the presentation, I was practicing by whispering under my breath. I bet that scared my co-worker who was sitting next to me.

So that's that. All the official crap is out of the way. Only one more thing left and that's my report. But my supervisor told me not to worry about it, as long as the industry is happy with me, they are satisfied. So after I clear out that last thing on my list, I can finally get back to doing some real work and learning some more new stuff.

I told Pn Rohana that there's not a day that goes by without learning anything new. It has been some 15 weeks now, and that's still true! I know how absurd that might sound, but its really not that unbelievable. During my first two months or so here at Keppel FELS, I didn't really do much. Basically showed my face, read a few documents (you have no idea how much effort it takes to stay awake doing thing), write stuff in my log book and go home. Most of the things I don't understand so I have to go home and look it up on the Internet, and I can't do that at work.

But I am really really glad that introductory phase is over now. Engineering is definately something with a steep learning curve. No wonder most of the attaches who are here for a short duration (2 to 3 months) gets sent to production. No doubt with that kind of time frame, they stand to learn more doing the actual work and witnessing on-site operations rather than sitting in the office reading.

But I feel that the time I have invested in all those documents are paying off. Finally I am no longer bewildered by the massive information overload. It also gave me some measure of hope when I realize that some of the things that I don't know, the other engineers don't know as well. So we're all still learning and this is not something that you can master quickly.

Maybe in 10 years, that will come.

Sometimes, as I stand in the corridor at the ground floor outside KOM Tower, I can smell the salt in the air blowing past. The breeze would slam the door close and bring me back to the tiled floor of Wisma Merdeka in Sabah. The breeze reminds me of home, something that is long gone now, shattered and lost in the wind, only fragments remaining in the depths of memories long lost, but not forgotten.

We all go through life with goals that we want to achieve. Dreams and futures we want to pursue. Everything has to have meaning somehow, otherwise, what would be the point of it all?

FIRE DRILL!!!

2009-04-02T20:22:00.000-07:00

Just now in the office, the fire alarm went off. It was quite annoying but the funny thing is all the engineers just looked at each other and continued to do their work.

After awhile, the boss came out and said what the commotion was about. See fire only run, now smoke also don't have. Everybody laugh then went back to work.

There is a certain humour in watching everybody continue to do their work as the fire siren drones on and on incessantly at the background. A sort of...inertia, I suppose.

And it stopped. But I don't think anybody cared.

And thats how the cookie crumbles.....

2009-03-28T11:04:00.000-07:00

Im a Grey's Anatomy fan. Season 1 2 and 3 leaves me touched, moved and usually, in tears after every episode. Im not a fan of crying. Believe me but i cant help being emotional when something on a square box is capable of making me rethink my ways and deliver powerful messages. My dad always said i dont have common sense. the truth is, i dont. if you have ever met me,and got to know me, you will know that im anything but normal. im a little this, a little that, but never normal. so when u say common sense, it doesnt hit home with me. what is common? what is normal?normal is determined by society.is it a common sense to know what to do when there is a snake in the room? africans would tell you yes.

i grad next year. technically i grad next next year but after my 6 months internship i start work and i have to wait 6months before i get my ceremony so....i actually stop being a student next year. time flies. i have worked so hard into getting myself into a local university, i somehow feel cheated because 13 years of work seems alot for only 3 years of reward. which includes a year of hell so... the reward pales in comparative to the work, dont you think?

if i were fate, i would have the best job ever in the world. i get to throw bones at people whenever i like it, only to take them back later on. i get to reward good people cos they deserve it. i crush them when im in a baddddd mood. i let evil people run amok. probably because if i kill them their ghost will just reincarnate and do bad somewhere else. its easier for me to keep track of them if they stay the same person. i would also have to be very dead in the heart because innocent people die everyday, leaving more innocent people around to be exploited by the crooks of the world. and i do nothing to change that fact.

i am quite happy with fate actually. it has done me more than justice. but the world has a bone to pick with fate hehe.

most of the time,we make our own fate. where we are, how we got there, its all us. theres no one to blame. theres no one to control things. we make our fate.

i make my own fate.

sometimes i wish someone else would make it for me

My Thoughts on 27th Mar 09

2009-03-26T17:37:00.000-07:00

On Work: New project, AGIP KCO Cantilever Barge Rig (CBR)

One of the great things about being an intern is that people like to approach you and ask you to take a look at their stuff and help them out. Frequently it's something mundane or simple, but you can get access to a ton of new information as well get to know people and explore their own thoughts on the project.

Today I am starting to help the lead engineer on this project which is a cantilever barge rig for AGIP KCO, which will be operating on the Caspian Sea. Two of these will be built by my company.

This is a really interesting project. When we think of drilling rigs, there are tons of them but in Keppel FELS, we are only doing jackups and semisubmersibles. The Koreans corner the drillship market and that's that. Other drilling stations like TLP, gravity platforms, etc, don't really come up, either because they are older or because it's not commonly used.

However, a drilling barge? That's something entirely new to me and I haven't come across it in any of the literature that I have read extensively before coming here. What does it look like?

Not very impressive, to think of it. It's basically a barge, with provision of a moving cantilever allowing it to drill holes in the ground. The engineer told me the size of the hull is about that of a semisubmersible, meaning it's pretty huge. The way it drills is also similar to a semi, by taking in ballast water and letting the entire barge rest on the bottom of the sea to provide a stable drilling platform. The sea isn't very deep to begin with.

Naturally, one would wonder...why is something so mundane looking so terribly expensive?? Well the answer lies in the conditions of the Caspian Sea, of which a little National Geographic lesson is required. The Caspian Sea has been referred to as the largest lake in the world. It is a landlocked body of water supplied primarily by the river Volga, and it is surrounded by Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran and Turkmenistan. All the -stans. The unique thing geographically about this lake is that the northern area is shallow, about 5 to 6 meters, but drops off to about 190 meters near the middle (so the top part forms the 'shelf'). In the south, the depths go on to about 1000 meters and more! As such, the northern part only accounts for about 1% of the total water contained in the lake.

This area is particularly important because that's where the drilling barge will operate in. Typically jackups operate in water depths of up to 300 feet (about 100 meters), while the drilling barge will have an operating depth of where around 10 meters, sufficient for these waters.

Initially I thought the reason for such high costs is due to high salinity of water there, but apparently unlike the Black Sea, the Caspian sea only has an average salinity of 1/3 that of normal seawater, or 1.2%. The reason why it is so expensive is due to the harsh environmental conditions, with temperature of seawater ranging from -35 degrees in winter to 40 degrees during summer. The cyclic thermal stress and embrittlement presents a challenge for any man-made structure to operate here, let alone for years on end. On top of this, the water will actually freeze during winter, so there is a provision for an IBEEV, or Ice Breaking Emergency Evacuation Vessel.

The field to be developed is the Kashagan field, heralded as one of the greatest finds of this century. The harsh conditions however meant that the recoverable oil might not be as high as initially thought.

Bringing it in.

The second question that occurred to me was...how are they going to build this thing? The Caspian Sea is landlocked...but not completely. It is still possible to access using canal routes but it would mean the size of the rig is limited. But not completely. The analogy here would be like assembling a ship-in-a-bottle. Sections will be build (like the cantilever, living quarters, etc) then transported into the Caspian Sea to be assembled and commissioned. In this way, fabrication can be carried out off-site in places like Keppel FELS.

All the big oil companies like Shell, Exxonmobil and Conocophillips have a stake in this project. The drilling itself will probably be performed by AGIP KCO, with professionals brought on board since there is no dedicated drilling company like Seadrill or DDI for these waters.

So far the project is still in the FEED stage (Front End Engineering & Design) because it's a technicaly challenging project involving people from more than 50 countries. The initial planning stage started back in 2004 (the field is discovered in 2000), so people have been sitting around and thinking for a long while now.

Use and function of glycol injection

The project also allowed me to explore the use of glycol in gas production. It is used mainly to prevent the formation of hydrates in water-saturated gas once it is drilled out. Hydrate formation can cause the lines to become plugged and introduce all sorts of problems, so it can be elimited by either heating the lines or to introduce drying agents into the gas to remove the water; one of them is glycol, the other methanol.

The drying agents do not completely dry the gases though, that job is done in a central location. What they do do is prevent formation of hydrates long enough for the gas to reach the drying station.

Thoughts for today: 26th March 09

2009-03-26T00:02:00.000-07:00

Some of my thoughts today are on plagariasm and detecting it, including a free online checker for such purposes, and some thoughts on a discussion I had today with Leonard regarding the riser tensioner system found on board semi-submersibles.

University: On Plagiarism

Free plagiarism checker: http://www.dustball.com/cs/plagiarism.checker/

Pretty nifty tool. From personal experience, students here (my uni) love to copy and paste. I think even other universities are the same. There's nothing wrong with taking text from other people's website, but at least have the decency to use it as a paraphrase or quote rather than passing it off as your own work.

It doesn't help that some lecturers here love to look at quantity of writing rather than quality. So students are sometimes forced to pad their work with superfluous material that do not add anything other that dead weight to their reports. I try not to copy and paste, but sometimes we have to give in due to page minimum quota that have to be reached! However, I do take pains to indicate which parts of the report is quoted, and then work on original material that add my view and opinions to the quoted text. But I am sure there are some reports which can end up as a huge 'quote' after 'quote' copied from resources like Wikipedia.

I think lecturers should enforce a MAXIMUM page limit rather than a minimum because in doing so, they are actively encouraging students not to plagiarize and pad. The above tool can be immensely helpful to quickly weed out errant reports that takes material from online sources (frequently wikipedia) willy-nilly. After a few times of getting caught, most students will quickly wise up.

Imposition of maximum page limit will also focus the student on producing quality and concise writing, rather than encouraging them to talk at length producing text which end up more confusing than interesting.

I hope more lecturers can take advantage of this free tool and try to root out plagiarism as it is absolutely not doing any good in helping to raise the standard of English in students and the quality of their reports.

Work: On Riser Tensioner systems

Had a discussion with Mr Leonard this morning regarding the riser tensioner system. He's the Principal Drilling Engineer of my section and very knowledgeable on all sorts of offshore related equipments and functions, since he has been working on rigs for a major part of his life.

The riser tensioner system is unique to semisubmersibles and drillships in that they are needed only when drilling in extremely deep waters. In such conditions, the BOP stack along with christmas tree is usually installed on the sea floor. Then a riser (hollow pipe, essentially) is connected from the seafloor to the drillfloor on the vessel. The distance separating the two extremes can be in the order of thousands of feet. In such distances, the weight of the riser pulling down can be enough to cause it to buckle under its own weight.

Thus the top of the riser needs to be kept in tension (the vessel has to pull up on it) in order to keep the whole assembly from falling apart. Thus the riser tensioner is used, which consists of hydraulic sheaves connected to some wire line that is attached to the riser that pulls upwards on it. The hydraulic system allows the vessel to heave without affecting the tension too much.

Leonard commented that even the system is still quite new, as people explore deeper parts of the ocean, it might be possible that some day, we have to abandon the riser system as the depths are such that even with the riser applying tension, it will still collapse as it's just too heavy. He also commented that the riser system installation can take up to ten days, a significant amount of time for just a single operation!

I am reminded of how drillers can float drill casing by corking up one end and lowering it down the drill hole and when in position, drilling through the cork. Is it possible that one day the riser will be installed in such a way? Of course, there would have to be a system in place to admit water into the riser as the depths increased, although in such a way we could conceivably control the overall buoyancy of the riser leading to a faster installation? Currently the riser is lowered down after the BOP stack and assorted equipment is installed then guided in place using an ROV.

Will keep this in mind for future references.

Relationships.....

2009-03-23T04:55:00.000-07:00

im having a little..... friendship crisis here.... when people know each other for a long time, you know when someone has changed for good. it is not a phase. it is not a mood swing. its change. what we can do with the change, is entirely up to us.

So now my friend has changed. in a totally opposite way of who i am. yes, we have always been day and night but somehow, we clicked and we are best of friends. but lately she has been doing things that is opposite my principle and perception. call me close minded, call me old fashion, but when you start to practice what i percieve as bad judgement, that means you are bad influence. and i cant have that. i cant have someone who is so close to me to be doing things that i loath. thats right. loath. you cant ask an animal lover to be friends with a poacher. no way.
so you usually will grow apart and find new friends.

what happens when it is family? no matter how, you cant turn your back on family. you cant just ignore that you have a loony aunt. or a pig of an uncle. or a grabby grandpa. they are family. okay,maybe not grabby grandpa. but no matter what, you need to be there for them. its even worse when it is someone who used to be very close to you when you were young. someone who is..... important. you have a sense of duty towards them. what happens then?

what happens when it is down to duty and your life's happiness? everything you have worked for against the very reason you worked so hard?your dreams against duty?

life sucks when shit happens.

all you can do is hope that fate makes it the hard decisions for you. but they never do

Just Thoughts.....

2009-03-19T18:15:00.000-07:00

So fast...3 weeks d. although time cudnt have dragged on slower if it wanted to. 3 weeks without seeing my darling.....i applaud those who are comfortable with long distance relationship. this is by far,the hardest thing i have ever done. i hope i am never in this position ever again. but today's post is not about him.today,is about bugs.

everyone knows that bugs like beetles who has hard shells are protected. the rhino beetle is awesome. i think if you step on it it wudn't break also. But the past 3 days i've been saving this particular beetle. at first it was annoying but then tis morning i started looking forward to it and....well...i didnt see him anymore....=(

when they get turned onto their backs, they cant flip back on their own unless something helps them. i have been turning that beetle back up every morning for the past 3 days. its really silly to be found at the same spot, wiggling its legs up the same way every morning. it got me thinking about nature. i am a firm buddhist believer thus i believe we are all born to reap what we sow....i believe the beetle's anatomy was made with this particular predicament maybe because in the past this particular soul has left someone to die before and this is his reward. to be born to carry a heavy heavy shell above your head all your life, restricting your growth, thus limited food intake, means the constant need to feed but limited, leaving you a strong defense but once something happens and you flip over, you will be left to strugggle, like someone drowing, arms and legs thrashing about in vain, until you are exhausted, only to try again later. your defenses are down to nothing, anyone walking by either steps on you or your prey would eat you. the ants can simply pick you up and eat you slowly... if none of those horrifying endings come true, you probably will be starved and die of exhaustion from trying to get up. horrible. i feel bad for these souls. even the turtle. once on its shell, it can never get up again.

then i got to thinking about evolution. if Darwin was right, beetles used to be as big as houses. or was that cockroach? anyway, its been so long. i haf come across more dead up turned cockroach than i have seen alive ones. why hasnt evolution given something to these creatures to be able to help themselves up again? its for survival purposes. i saw the beetle fall from a wall. it ended up on its shell. like a shuttlecock, the heavy part falls first.i just turned him back up. =.=
even ants can fall off the wall safely without having to die! had i walked away before he fell, the beetle would have died. stupid isnt it?

all these thoughts done in 5 minutes on my way to the loo. hehe. sometimes i wonder if i should write a book like jeremy clarkson or not. afterall, his books are just sarcastic rambling.

Tomorrow i'm back!

2009-03-19T03:14:00.001-07:00

I'm coming back to Melaka tomorrow! Can't believe it has been so short a time and i'm already so anxious! Going to Jogoya this weekend and I hope to get lots of pictures to upload both here and on Facebook. Maybe i will upload to facebook first so that it's easier to link it back here.

Whee!!

Type rest of the post here

Just Babbling

2009-03-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

Sometimes,you have to wonder. is life worth it all? when i ask people that question, they gave me this look that says " of cos it is! what is the matter with you?"
when i talk about giving up, people brush it off as just childishness. that maybe true. only a child would give up when the going gets tough. im not mature enough to shoulder the responsibilities like an adult.

but honestly, are you telling me that none of you judging me now has ever thought of giving up? never needed a pep talk? never at a place in your life when you just feel like saying " fuck it. im done"

me still being around proves that im just all talk when it comes to quitting. in fact, this blog is proof itself. i have wanted to shut this blog down more times than i want to eat in a week. but it is still here.

sigh

its 5am in d morning and i cant sleep.
i cant sleep because my brain is too full with thoughts.
i cant sleep because i cant stop thinking. cant relax.

when i have too many thoughts, i have to babble to get them out

hence, i ended up here.

you know what i love? there used to be something that i love doing. that i would pick a day, set it aside, and just do it. most people call it waste of time. i call it people watching.

for those of you who dont know what i mean, its a simple act of sitting in a public place and watch the world go by.

i challenge you to think of an even more interesting specimen than the human race. not even animals are that interesting. because animals cant think totally for themselves. no matter how diversified, they always still have a pattern to obey. thats how we classify them.

but humans, dont. we dont. we may have the general appearance, but thats about it. no 2 mothers are the same. no 2 twins are the same. btw can u imagine how freaky it is to date a twin? what if u kissed the wrong one? what if...you fell for both? or what if u started to date one, but then actually fall for the other? complicated mess!

i just had a 3hr lunch with my girlfriend and..... well..basically we gossiped. about everything and anything. and anyone.

i am on the end of my 2nd year here in malacca and.... i see how people change from the first time i met them and now. some change for the better...well, most of them. and some became monsters who.... how DID this people get like this????

its like theyve never socialized all their lives!

i pity people like this. i try to like them. but i just cant help it. scums and troublemakers and inferior people..... the lesser the better

smart alecs are......sigh.

people watching are very interesting. very relaxing too. they take your mind off things and open up your perspective.

for instance, quite the contrary, people who attend local university are not all poor. i admit there are. but half of them are actually from well to do families who just dont want to pay exorbitant amount for a degree.

people who live in a civilized part of malaysia for example, putrajaya, doenst mean that they are more mature in thinking. people whose house is surrounded by paddy fields.

upbringing is soooo important. yet some people who has perfect parents can turn out to be so shitty.....i guess sometimes people are who they are even before any influence has touched them.

lol its 6am and i am still up!
so gonna pay for it tmr....lol lucky thing my 8am class on monday is cancelled

Sick of politics

2009-03-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

i always wonder how can people leave the country they grew up in and go help built some foreign country. dont you love your own? if u dont like it, you should stay and make it better. you dont abandon it just because you think it sucks. its where you grew up for heavens sake!

but now i know how they could do what they did already. its not that they cant stay because they want to earn more money or shit. we all know that our currency is smaller. but when u are nt a citizen they treat u like shit too. so whats worse than to be a second class citizen and treated like one? it is to be a first class citizen but treated as a second class citizen. i know understand how they all can leave their love ones behind, leave everything they love and start anew in a foreign land. at least there they know that it is their place and they accept the treatment for it is appropriate. here......

sickening. people keep talking about social contracts, status quo, special priviledges,bla bla bla. both ends are breaking rules. no one is playing by the rules anymore. what makes u better than anyone else?
everyone has a personal agenda. a political gain in everything they do. all want to go out with a bang. NO ONE IS DOING THEIR JOB!!!!!
wtf
we did not elect you into the highest council of the country to put on a show. to make pigs who jump ship millionaires. to spend millions to buy votes. dude, if the people dont like u, u make their lives a living hell while u wear imported shoes and tailored suits, a billion also would not buy u ur votes. ok maybe a billion would but even you dont have that kind of money to spend on a by-election. theres spending the countrys coffers and stupidity spending the countrys coffers. i mean, the money spent is not even on yourself! its given to lay people who takes it, then goes in and vote for the opposition. u PAID them to embarass YOU!!

fools

perhaps working like a dog for redhaired baboons is better than working for morons like our politicians

Life's like that.....

2009-03-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

Its the weekend!

all week i have been looking forward to the weekend. that was what kept me going all weeek. the vision of the whole house empty,just for me, everything to my whim and fancy, with 100mbs streamyx to my disposal. think of all the downloads.....no one to care about. no consideration needed. i feel like blasting my music, i just do it. i want to cook, i just do. i want to eat crap,i just do. whatever i want to do, i just do it. theres not a soul around to be mindful around. fuck politeness and manners. its so....liberating. my responsibility for 2.5days is just to eat,sleep,online and my 4 assignments. maybe take the initiative to start revision. thats it. no appointments to keep. no obligations to honour. this weekend is ALL about me!

yet i keep pining for someone. i crave company. why is our own company not enough? alone time is all i wanted but when i get it i get bored after half a day. what is it about us human that just cant live alone????

from time to time i need to indulge myself in selfishness. i spend all day trying to please others its tiring. gotta complete this assignment for this lecturer. that lecturer want us all to do that. my friends want to do this project this time. we need to leave at this time. its all so.... i feel suffocated. not that i dont enjoy doing all of them. i love my friends. they are a good bunch of people. i just need balance. i used to have my own room. indulge everybodys whim during the day and indulge my own at night. theres balance. but i havent had my own room in a long time. hopefully when i move out next semester i will have my own room. if i dont...i wudnt know where to get my alone time already. we all need alone time. time to unwind. time to sort out our thought. time to recollect ourselves. time to clear our head to make room for new bullshit. alone time. havent been getting that in awhile ady and its driving me crazy. this weekend was suppose to be my alone time weekend. the break i have been looking for. but.... now that i have it, all i want is my darling. my comforter. my hug pillow. shucks.

WHY CANT WE JUST ENJOY OUR OWN COMPANY???????

loneliness sucks. its the worst feeling. its not even a real emotion.
loneliness is just another word for pathethic. i think little of people who cant enjoy their own company. those who can never eat alone. those who can never watch a movie in a cinema alone. those who must have a friend to do a thing together. like join an activity. who wouldve thought that someday i cant handle my own company too? sigh. im pathethic.

Sick SIck SICK!!!!

2009-03-05T21:06:00.000-08:00

Those on a crash course diet, please read this. i guarantee you do NOT want to eat anything anymore after you read this.
http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/18824/84/

Sick. That's what this is. So sickening. every man and woman is someone's mother. someone's son. someone's daughter. HOW could you treat a human like that????
he died of kidney failure because the body cant handle the amount of waste that it is caused by the torture!!!! literally, beaten to death!!!!! wtf????

we dont even treat dogs like that! stray, no owner dogs have SPCA. we have this and that NGOs to protect ANIMAL rights and we KILL a man in the law custody over CAR THEFT????

ARE YOU FUCKING JOKING WITH ME???!!!!!!!
since when has animal rights higher than a detainee's life?

i feel sick to my stomach and i could not eat the rest of the day. i had no appetite. usually im the one who cant look away when a movie scene is gore but this, this is too much even for me. picture Kugan as your son. Your father. Your brother. then tell me you can live with it

Sick of Malaysian Politicians!

2009-02-25T19:44:00.001-08:00

how many scumbags do u need to ruin a country? i dont have the exact number but i think we have enough to spare. at times like these that make me think a massacre is the only solution. bastards who take the people who entrust the country to their hands for fools and blatantly project that they have no intention of doing their job should be shot. even jail is not good enough for them. we would have to feed them in jail.

Some people talk from their asses. i dont know why. maybe their mothers dropped them on their heads when they were mere infants and somehow the ass and mouth switched places. shit spouts from their lips while their asses are kissed by cronies and goons. Hmm.... maybe the term ass-kissing was created for people like this... poor retards.

i try to keep an open mind. if i am too pro opposition, that is not healthy because oppositions are people too. they make mistakes and they too have weaknesses. a simple camry caused a state to fall apart! imagine that!

i decided to give mainstream media a chance to influence my thinking. all this while i have only been reading blogs and whatever i can find online. everytime i pick up utusan malaysia, i soon replace it back to whichever hellhole i picked it up from because the paper is full of malicious writing. nothing more! every line is laced with hate, ill will, aimed to only take cheap shots at the opposition. at least blogs have facts and figures to back up their accusations! Utusan Malaysia is THE main newspaper in this country. can say it is the equivalent to The Star that is the main newspaper read by the people in english. the front page of Utusan was about Elizabeth Wong again. please. You cant even tell if it is her or not from the picture. it is but a picture of a back of a female anatomy. what, none of you have ever taken biology? any manniquin would reveal more than what that picture has shown! she wasnt even an active participant of the picture. women cant even sleep in peace now? we have to worry about our pictures taken? what goes on in a persons bedroom is their own damn business!

right below the main headline there was a small window of comic drawing. it shows 2 men talking to each other. one of them said " Guan Eng mengaku bahawa dia gagal menghapuskan kemiskinan....."
does that deserve front page? how can you expect a man to succeed in doing something you morons couldnt after 50 years of independence???! on top of the federal government withholding federal funds from Penang and all the trouble you guys stir up since march, HOW can you expect him to succeed??! every page, every article i pick up from the mainstream is just little pieces of cheapshots taken at the opposition. yes they are newbies. yes they are not familiar with the protocols. yes they have to sift through your bullshit that you guys have created in the last 50 years before they can begin to sort them out nevermind start doing their job efficiently. lineancy towards the opposition is not an option, it is given to them thanks to your incompetency. so blame yourself.

when you give a monkey free flow bananas, they forget their place. I, like many others, are simply waiting for the zoo keepers to say enough! and throw them monkeys out. the replacement monkeys are untrained, true. but at least they know their places.

Happy 18mths anniversary my darling!!

2009-02-25T08:40:00.000-08:00

Happy 18mths anniversary my darling!!

Wow
I for one never thought we would make it this far but I am the happiest person that we did. You have been the very best boyfriend I could ever hope for. The most caring. Generous. Open minded. Forgiving. Patient. Attentive. Giving. Excellent cook. Genius with everything and anything. Helpful. There for me. Never too tired to lend a helping hand or ear, usually both at the same time. Sensitive. Well, most of the time. You can’t help but be, uh, dense.

The best bit of it all, is that you love me unconditionally. I know I am not the easiest person to live with. Not the best choice for a girlfriend. I have my shortcomings. Even when sometimes I find myself going too far, you grit your teeth and smile and support me. Not once you turned your back to me. Not once you said, to hell with you, I have better things to do. No, you stood by my side. You show that you care. You make room, make an effort to try to understand all my little neurotic habits. Even those erratic habits of mine which you can never wrap your head around, you still tolerate them. That, my darling, is one thing I can never bring myself to do. You have my outmost admiration for your level of tolerance.

I love you too. I love how your face goes all blank and at the same time attentive when you are thinking hard to solve something. I love how fast your processor works when it comes to things that are technical like engineering or computers. I love how you look at me like there is nothing better to do in this world than to watch me partition my food on my plate and eat them segment by segment. I love how your hand feels holding my hand. How your square fingers look against my er more rectangular fingers. I love how you look when you sleep. You look like a little boy. A look of innocence. As if you don’t have a worry in this world. I would then wish with all my heart that the look stays the same when you are awake. I would give anything to make you that happy. I love how you look so troubled when you have bad news to convey to me. News that you think is very bad and I would be very mad but actually I wouldn’t spare 2 winks of sleep over. The process of you trying to find the words to tell me the bad news….. sometimes even when the news really is bad and I really should be mad at you, I can’t bring myself to realize your fears. I can’t help but smile at your predicament and say, it’s okay, don’t worry about it. Come to think about it, every time that happens, I don’t get mad! That is some strong spell darling that you have over me. Oh well…. You should have some advantages too hehe.

I love it when you hug me. When I feel your warmth all around me. When I feel your breath on my forehead, I can literally feel all my troubles and worries leaving my heavy shoulder. I feel your love flow in and replace all that is wrong in my life. If I can bottle up your love, the way you make me feel, I think the world would be a much less miserable place than it is now. I love the little things that you do for me to make me happy. I remember a bad day that I had. I was just feeling a little down. Nothing special in a student’s life. You went all the way down to town to get me 2 doughnuts that you know I absolutely love. Just to cheer me up. Even though u were equally busy. I love how well you know me. How much pain and effort it took you to know me this well. We have only known each other 20months. Yet you can proudly claim that you know me as well as my oldest friends. I know I am complicated. That just makes you even more amazing.

I even love things that I hate about you. I hate that you move my things around, placing them in different places and me ending up not finding them. Don’t you know an organized chaos when you see one??? I love the fact that you are so dense. Can’t even pick up hints that are practically slamming themselves on your face but accuse me of beating around the bush for thoughts that did not even occur to me. I love how you screw things up then go out of your way to make them right. I hate how life constantly interferes with our affairs but then again if life did not deny me my ambition, I would not have met you. The things-i-hate-about-you list is short. Sorry I can’t think of anymore.

I love that you know that freedom is the one thing I can’t live without. I love how you never limit mine. Not even once. You do not attempt to control my life. Because you don’t, I willingly go to you each and every day. You are a part of my life now. As big a part as any key players would play. If my life was a stage, I would be the director. You, my darling will be my…… co-director? Producer sounds more like you. You don’t dictate my life. Just help make the final outcome refined and better. Love you.

ps: if you count the number of L word i used, you would come up with 20. one for each month i have known you =)

535 days! WOW

2009-02-12T06:41:00.000-08:00

time flies by. i just hadnt been checking this site and..... i just saw the counting clock. its been 535 days!!!!

i didnt even realize time flew by so fast. sometimes when things fly by you, you dont notice how they change. its like wearing a glove everyday. it fits so well, you dont realize it wears out day by day. until you notice a hole. a tiny, insignificant hole. then u dont notice it until one day, the hole is as big as a 50cent coin.

not all things degrade thru time. wine gets better.

people.....not all people.
i wish i could say that maturity comes with age. if that was true then there would be no young hotshots. the oldest man would be world leaders. fat assholes would not exist. no kids would be forced to be adults and support their family. divorces would be lesser. more happy families. means lesser fucked up teenagers. lesser world problems. today there will be no world economy crisis. no innocent people dying by the millions by the second. no corruption. well,maybe still got corruption but with better crooks. the crooks we have are...well..... not even fit to be office cleaner.

sometimes i think evolution got it wrong. because it created geniuses. brain power. intelligence. by nature, geeks and nerds should die and perish under the jocks and body builders. instead, the kuli works for wimps. thats backward evolution. nowadays the weak can also survive. the dumb can also breed. creating more idiots. more idiots than geniuses who can make it up for the slack. intelligent people dont waste time breeding. they have careers. the new kind baby.

some idiots even managed to become Presidents! or Prime Ministers! all by votings of the people. whom are....? yes, made up of idiots. majority wins ma.

eveything wrong with this world is human error. its all us. if the only method to save the world is genocide of the cause,then we all should shoot each other.

i always wondered why or how a civilization far more advanced than us currrently, can perish. like babylon. there are artifacts, showing us that once we were a very very mighty race.
all it takes is one idiot be put into power. then it all comes crashing down. all it takes, is one.

we desire to be the best. to be the ultimate in everything we do. to be, undisputed. there was always a reason why mother nature made an opposite for everything. check and balance is the most crucial part of stability. and we humans, the brains of the world, the chosen caretaker of this planet, think that we are above it all.

welcome to consequences

maturity and foolishness

2008-10-16T08:09:00.000-07:00

Racism. so much for boasting that we are one big family regardless of race and background. aihh...

these UMNO thugs dont get it. we dont care. it doesnt affect us. day in day out we read and hear about chinese being insulted. about indians being denied their rights. all provoked by malays. GOD fearing malays. championing the rights of malays apparently. which malays? the common malays? i dont see them joining the fight. if someone was championing my rights, i would cheer them on. i would join them in rallys and demostrations.

but..wait a minute.....
Permatang Pauh was lost because the common malays ditched the malay champions.
BN faces the worst lost since independence because the malays they are sposedly protecting said no thanks, we can handle ourselves. instead, we wanna support the team that fights for all equal rights among malaysians. not malays, but malaysians. hmm.....dont u find that odd?i find it amusing. how certain ppl can be slapped over and over again and still dont realize it haha.

up til now i thought that if UMNO keep pushing the nation to the brink of racial riots, then perhaps xmas comes early for them. then all would be lost. i was thinking exactly like them although im not at the same side as them. until this very moment.

i just visited malaysiakini.com.my, my fave source of unbiased political news. one of the main titles was Utusan calling teresa kok the queen of bitches. haha. as a chinese im spose to feel defensive. anger. normally i would. if this was the first of the many idiotic things these ppl have said, i probly wud be shouting and fuming a volcano out of my tiny head. i was when that idiot ismail called me a pendatang. i think even if i haf to push my car 10 miles, i would happily do it rather than to risk mistakenly pumping petrol at HIS station at greenlane. i would also never eat at a mamak stall ady. if i ever meet that idiot who tore Mr Koh's pic..... and i dont even know Mr Koh! but tonight i have a diff reaction.instead im smiling and shaking my head. no, its not because i think its funny.

its because i think the UMNO are frustrated. after all their best efforts, they still cant get the racial riots they wanted. they are probly are at the best of their game ady. they cant think of anymore insults to hurl at us(nonmalays), no more offends higher than this they had to resort to calling her a bitch on a malay mainstream newspaper.

they called an MP, a highly respected MP who got thrown into ISA, who have been through more than any girl MP has ever gone through, who didnt retailiate, who did NO wrong in the first place, who behaved like a civilised person n merely sued Utusan, who has gained the respect of everyone, gained even more sympathy if nothing else the queen bitch. hahahaha. i feel pity for them. because not only theyve successfully turned all those who were choosing no sides against them, they have in fact, make themselves the common enemy for all common sense malaysians. nothing unites everyone like a common enemy haha.

they have also misjudged the common malays.... i dont think they will agree that Teresa is a bitch. even the imam backed her up! haha. so instead of gaining their support... theyre aliening themselves away....
sigh.....

so u c, thats y im not mad when i hear them calling her names. cos i know, its not working. we have thwarted their pathetic attempts and now theyre are just....syok sendiri haha. whee!!!
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!

400!!

2008-09-27T21:53:00.000-07:00

WOW. really? has it been that long? somebody pinch me. OUCH! that hurts!

haha. my...my..... 400!. i expected the day to be close but i didnt expect it to be SO fast! time sure flies..... well what can i say? i love you darling! you are my heart and soul. my morning coffee that gets me thru the day. like a refreshing shower that washes off the day's grime off me. my entertainer when there's no tv to watch,partly because we don't own one. my downloader. my uploader. the one who unzips my inner passion and inner thoughts. the one who zips me up with a mouthful of his delicious cooking. your body temperature is always warmer than i am whenever i am around. thats how you keep my heart warm i guess. without you......

my life would be bleak. because without all the things above, life is just a continuous motion. it is not living. sure i can replace all that you are to me with something else. with time anything can be replaced. replacing a piece of diamond with chipped glass is still replacing.

but i foresee great future of us together. no matter where we are. no matter what shit we are in. as long as i have you, and you have your computer, we will both be happy and we will always end the day in a happy note.

relationships are hard. mine isn't all clouds in the sky either. but with patience and a little restraint, it can be a cloud. a tiny one. just the right size.

finally, comprehension dawns on me

2008-09-20T00:15:00.000-07:00

During my free time, one of my fave pastimes are to just sit back with my current no 1 artist blaring from my stereo while i let my mind wonder freely without constraints. its a form of relaxation.

Without inhibitions of course, I would ponder about things that my limited knowledge based brain would find curious about. lately ive acquired this little taste for liquor. not alcohol, liquor. what is the difference, you ask? well, alcohol means you like anything that has alcohol in it. liquor means only the good stuff. ive developed a strong attraction to all the lords of hard liquor. JIm Bean.... Jhonny Walker..... Jack Daniels.... ESPECIALLY Jack Daniels! or whom i fondly call JD =D.

my sweet darling managed to get his hands on a Black Label Jhonny Walker (thank you!) at a tax free price beginning of this semester. suffice to say when i took my first sip it was overwhelming. no, i didn't get drunk( that's all you people can think of eh?) but i that was when i realized the difference between the locally brewed brandy and a famed brewed liquor. WOW.

so now one of my fave pastime has been altered a bit. i now enjoy sitting back in a comfortable position on the bed/couch and watch a good movie be it old or new WITH a glass of Jhonny Walker in my hand =D

trust me when i say that my new interest got my daddy a little worried hehe. if you are reading this daddy-o, let me RE-assure you again that i know what i am doing and i know my limit. oh and FYI: i have your genes. it takes quite a lot to knock me out lol.

anyway, the reason im writing this entry is because one of the things which i always ponder but never quite got it. i feel very relaxed and at home with a glass of heaven in my hand. why would i want to venture out in this tropical heat that we live in and make myself sit in a pub to drink with my friends where the price of 2 glasses can be used to buy a litre of whatever that i was drinking? after that, i get to stumble out of the pub, all blurry eyed and chemically induced happiness, i have to drive home. ... errr..... nah.
however, unexpectedly i got my answer.

you see, i believe i am not the only one who thinks that way. i think most girls think that way too. that is why i think girls who goes clubbing are there to dance and socialize, not to drink. guys however, are more to picking up girls( socialize la) and to prove that their manhood is er... bigger(?) than their buddies. it is like, if no one gets drunk then it is not a good night. =/

so for someone like me who doesnt like to dance( i have 2 left feet) and prefers to sit back n enjoy good entertainment and the drink, the pub isnt a place for me. until last night.

i was home doing my system, at the verge of suicidal mainly because my LOST season 3 just ended and i dont have season 4. like an addict whose last fix just ended, i was ready to kill whoever it takes to get my hands on season 4 =D

my darling came to my rescue. he wanted to go to his frens house to get movies or whatever that they have downloaded using my external. turns out that his frens are having a drinking party at their porch. knowing that i could use some de-stressing, he invited me to go along. after 3months my Jhonny Walker is still above half bottle. since im going to crash someone's drinking party i thought it is only polite to bring something.

we arrived to find 7 guys halfway through a litre of Rum( locally brewed) and 3 bottles of beer. next to their stash, my black label stood out lol. so we began drinking. its funny to sit back and watch the guys try to get their housemates drunk. hehe. there was this guy who cant hold his liquor at all. after a few glasses, he happily sits at the corner smiling to himself. no longer able to talk but if u put a cup in his hand, he will happily down it in one go. lol. eventually they carried him to his room. i knew went to stop so i was okay. the thing about happy guys is that their tongue gets loose. many things come out. we began catching up. up til now ive heard of these guys and snipets of their stories but last night i think i made 7 new friends. hehe.

so now i know. why people pay many more times than they have to to drink in a place like a pub with friends. drinking in a group is so much more fun. esp when someone has a little too much to drink =D

i still dont like pubs and would never dare to drink as much as i want to if i was drinking in one, but i think i would keep a bottle of hard liquor or two with me so that i can invite my friends over for a drinking/sleepover party. for fun's sake.

Being in Love is a Temp State of Euphoria

2008-09-16T08:58:00.000-07:00

Heaven is a place here on Earth.

What if, heaven was given to you here on Earth? only to be taken away from you. it was just a teaser. good things never last. all good things must come to an end. you know what i think? i think these proverbs are invented to just placate those who have loss what they had. to keep them from doing something stupid. i think these people are morons. if what they lost are SO important to them, so dear to their hearts, you think these people will just roll over and let you have your way? you think some century old sayings are going to satisfy their frustrations and they would just let it rest? HA!

Life is strange. just when you think that you have it all figured out, circumstances comes back and bites you in the ass and gives you a whole set of hands to play. ugh. no matter what you do, no matter how much you mull over things, you can never pin it down to the last T. that was why i never bothered to plan too ahead. because i know somehow what i planned will have to be altered and screwed in so many ways a pornstar would be impressed. why do i even bother to anticipate? why bother at all?

i only bother when it comes to something important. like i said, if something really means that much to you, you wouldnt just roll over and let fate stamp its ugly feet all over your body. let it take what it wants from you and serve it coffee and biscuit while it trashes your life. you beat it with a stick. you poison the coffee you serve. you serve it mold biscuits. you make it so unpleasant fate will think thrice before messing with your life again. THATs what i call fighting back!

but when the price in hand co operates and plays right into the hands of fate, wanting the exact same thing fate wants, you can help but feel defeated. if you really love something, let it go. if its yours, itll comeback, right? i dare you to let all your pets go into the street. see if all comes back to you anot.

im a risk taker. i love playing with the odds. i love the risk. the challenge. the rebel in me. but somethings are just to precious to leave it to chance. oh well. i always said, the best way to learn n judge ones character is when that person faces a challenge, a fork in the road. and then we sit back and watch which road he/she takes. sometimes the end result doesnt matter. its more of the process. the way that individual makes that decision. what we learn may hurt us more than ever before. or makes us happy beyond imagination.

at the end of the day, it doesnt really matter. its all relevant.

live together, die alone.

as sad as that may sound, its about the most truthful thing ive ever heard from a TV series.

when facing a rock......

2008-09-06T19:57:00.000-07:00

Life as it is....

im the type of person who when i hit a wall, i pause for awhile. only awhile tho. then i start hitting it. i keep hitting it till i bulldoze my way through. dat is if i really want to get through. eventually the wall crumbles and i get my way! ehehe...... stubborn eh?

but what happens when i come across a wall that is enforced with steels and ingrown roots that are as old as they come? sigh..... eventually my head hurts from all that butting and i stop. i give it one last kick and take another pause. i then either take a shortcut that leads to route 2 or i bomb the wall and head back the way i came.

what i am saying is that when things dont go my way, im forced to adjust to the situation. im forced to accomodate what will now be a thorn in my side. i wont give in wo a fight! but when things are set in stones, we eventually have to accept that not all stones will corrode.

oh btw a shout out to my uncle who turns 47 today! happy bday!! he is also one boulder of cement that never bulks. never!

my kind of peeps lol

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

2008-08-28T08:15:00.000-07:00

WOW

ive been so busy i hadnt had time to write any new entries. im a little late but its better to be late than never right? haha

well...... we have reached ONE YEAR!!!!!

honestly i wasnt confident that we could achieve this milestone. not to say that we arent doing well, we are at the top! well, i am on the top of my world.
its just that to make a relationship work, a lot of factors play a part. big or small, they eventually amount to ALOT. ive seen many relationships fall apart not because of incompatibility, but because of life. oh well. glad im not one of those couples!!

anyway, just wanted to tell the world( virtual at least) that i LOVE MY DARLING AND THERE IS NO OTHER FOR ME EXCEPT HIM!!!

-eternity may come and go. and even after her cold traces have faded, i will still be here-
that's one of the sweetest things he has ever said to me. it has been engraved in my heart for life.

the sweetest thing he has said to me though, is for my ears only heehee!!

HOT in herre!!!!

2008-08-02T08:44:00.000-07:00

HOT!!!!! HOT!!!! HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

its sooo hot i could die. its like hell here. gosh now i noe y demons are always sooo ill tempered. damn its hot!!

Google Alerts

2008-07-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

Something that not everybody might know. Google Alerts is a very handy tool created by Google that allows you to experience the world of push information at a pace set by you.

What is push information? It's a form of information enrichment that happens passively without your active participation. Instead of going out there to find and learn more about a field, you set the system in such a way that the information is sent to you in digests for your consumption.

Many of us have experienced push information before, although these experiences are mostly in the form of annoying spam such as emails and promotional marketing. The whole field of marketing is probably epitomized by push information. But now, using Google Alerts, you can do the same thing for yourself, except you can choose what information to be pushed, and how often.

The beauty of the system lies in its simplicity. To get it to work, simply go to the Google Alerts page and enter in a topic you want to be kept up-to-date on, such as your favourite stock, company, singer, or what have you. Then enter in the frequency that you would like to be notified and GA will get to work immediately, emailing you the results when its done.

So far, I have set mine up to send me weekly updates on a few of my all-time favourite artists, and the benefit is some of the information sent to me is pretty interesting and outside the scope of information that I would normally seek, and I go through them when I need.

does it matter?

2008-06-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

what do you do when something.....inevitable is going to happen if you continue down the same road and its gonna be a disaster? do you...switch course? look for an alternative? what do you do when none of the alternatives can compare to the current joy you enjoy?

fail to plan is equivalent to planning to fail

when i first heard it, i thought it was very true.... i was so surprised that something that simple needed to be told and that....most people dont even realise it. ever. thru out their entire lives. im glad i found that out early. even if i had to be told

some mistakes in life are the best thing that has eve happened to me

when i heard that i thought it was the craziest bullshit ive ever heard haha. wat do u mean mistakes are good things in your life? what kind of shitty life you lead? haha. then i met my mistake. and ive got to admit. yeah, some things are the greatest thing to have ever happened to me. even if its jz a mistake. at least ive lived the dream. if i had to pay the price for the rest of my life, i will gladly do it. guess thats why people fall off the wagon, get bitten by sharks, break every bone in their body in a car racing crash, recouperate, and get right back on the horse, car, boat, wagon and whateva it is that theyve fallen off

dats wat makes life special i guess

Silent Killer...

2008-06-15T09:17:00.000-07:00

as you walk away, i feel a familiar tug at my heart. does this have to be the way?must you walk away from me? i thought we were one. i thought we were inseparable. you once said that you had nothing to hide from me. i am free to roam among your thoughts. and yet you are walking away from me towards your most private place, leaving me behind. don't say you want to let me in to your secret hideaway only to tease me with the notion. i have never been in there and i probably never will. don't take out the treat, say that you will share only to take it away. THAT is what tears me apart. THAT is what that kills me late at night when no one is watching. when all is asleep. when nothing but my thoughts are keeping me company.

let's be honest. who doesn't have skeletons in the closet? who doesn't have a past or a present that they prefer never sees daylight? the only difference is that everyone belongs in either one of the two categories. you either am capable of sharing or you are not capable of sharing. pretending to be one of the category you are not is just... pointless. eventually the cat will be out of the bag.

you say i have free access to every part of you anytime. how can i when i only have level one clearance? level 2 and above is off limits. i cant be at an exclusive party without an invitation.

sigh. this is all pointless. how long do you hang on knowing that someone is going to get hurt? how long do you hang on despite you are the one hurting now?

you cant choose your family. but you can make new family members. through friendship.

Things on my mind.

2008-06-12T20:19:00.000-07:00

I'm tired.

There's always new shit waiting for me everyday from the moment my eyes open until when I finally collapse on the bed from exhaustion.

It's been raining heavily the past few days and every time it does, it's cold, but I sweat like a pig because it's so humid my body can't evaporate sweat to cool me off. How's that for contradictory.

I want to hide inside a hole, but at the same time I want you to be in the hole with me...and I get torn apart.

The Giant in Kolombong has my broken fan for half a year and they still haven't returned it to me yet. The guy said he'll call but he never did. Tip for you guys....don't buy electrical items or stuff with warranty with a hypermarket. They are lazy assholes.

The hardware repair shop has my rice cooker and water heater, for a few weeks now and yes they never called me back. It's like all my electronic items are disappearing into a hole from which I would never see them again.

Everything that I see is black nowadays.

Except this page, which is white.

Firefox 3 available for download June 17th

2008-06-12T20:18:00.000-07:00

Guess what people, Firefox 3 is now available for download on June 17th! The third version of the popular web browser, which has demolished Internet Explorer's dominance has been under development for more than 34 months. Has it been that long? I still remember getting Firefox 2 only just a year or two ago.

Anyway, here are some new stuff in FF3.

Improved interaction with Add-ons: clearer, more coherent language; less steps to install; more visible way to configure add-ons, probably to be moved back to the general Options window, which I hope deeply; more noticeable alerts when updates are available; a permanent restart Firefox button.
Support for remote bookmarks, bookmarks and history annotation.
Files could be handled by web services. If I am reading this correctly, this could mean you would be able to click on an attached document and open it with something like Writely or Google Documents. And perhaps, as I asked Santa, the ability to redirect mailto: links to web email services.
A much needed print support to prevent cut paragraphs and true WYSIWYG.
The much requested MSI installer which will be a much welcomed improvement for IT administrators as it will ease deployment and updating of Firefox across a company.
In the security front: support for Microsoft CardSpace and OpenID (check tomorrow’s article for more coverage on this). Smarter credentials handling.
Airbag, the Google backed open source crash reporting tool will replace currently licensed TalkBack.

Among the highly desirable requirements:

A private web browsing mode. I guess this would mean no cache, history, password or entered form information storage.
Save web pages as PDF files, integrated with history. That would be just awesome.
Support pause/resume downloads across sessions.
Make Firefox help accessible only while online. Not sure how good and idea this is.
Microformats support.

Nice to have:

Unified bookmarks/history. Does this mean no Places?
Support for Windows Vista parental controls. I really hope this one goes up in the priority list. This would be the first concrete downer for Firefox when confronted with Internet Explorer 7.
Tab grouping and expose. This sounds like Internet Explorer 7 Quick Tabs or the foxPose extension.
Windows Group Policy. Another blessing for IT administrators.
Allow add-ons to be installed without rebooting Firefox.
Simplified interface to manage downloads. Can it be simpler? Maybe exposing commands currently placed in the context menu.

You can get Firefox 3 when it launches at www.getfirefox.com

abandonship!

2008-05-29T09:28:00.000-07:00

ever get tired of doing the exact same thing over and over and over again?
i do

ever just think that no matter how you try, some things never change and then u wonder if its,sigh, even worth the bother?
i do

ever just give up and leave it to fate?
i have but more often than not i will try my best to fix things

here's the interesting thing:
circumstances, events,decisions can all be changed if you put in enough effort into things. that's what i believe anyway. BUT when it concerns other people, now that's when it becomes tricky. Oh you may try as much as you want, as hard as you want and as long as you can but if the other person stays exactly the same, then in the end it's all the same thing. nothing changes. nothing. that's when you start questioning everything else.
i used to think that everything is in your own control. it's just a matter of whether you take it, or you leave it to become what it eventually becomes. everybody is responsible for their own lives. nothing to do with the greater powers or what we layman call fate. i still do. but now i realise that not only your efforts matter. all those who are involved matters too because one person can only do so much. so the new question is, how much is too much for a person to do? when is it does a person call it a lost cause and abandons ship? surely nobody wants to be on a sinking ship and be the only sailor bailing out water while the others have moved on to start gathering essential items to ensure their own survival

no, i still believe that what happens to a person is entirely controllable and the outcome depends on their efforts. no supernatural being to lend a helping hand. as i once heard from the big screen, if there is a GOD, he has left us to fend for ourselves already. yes i still believe that. i just realised today that a person can only do so much. the final act of commitment will be to really be the last sailor to abandon ship when all is truly lost. because sometimes, just sometimes, like you see in cliche movies, the early abandoners will row back their paper boats and help you bail out the water until water is above your chin.

its a great way to know who your comrades really are as a person. a person's true colours are only revealed in a crisis. its a sad fact but oh well, thats how the world is made. thats how the cookie crumbles