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Sis' trip to Adelaide and Melbourne 28th August - 9th September (?)

2010-09-20T14:24:00.001+08:00

Well then, as said previously, it’s been an interesting few weeks, the whole month even, that I’ve been on the go and haven’t been able to write what I wanted to on the blog last time. So, anyway, I guess I’ll start now, as there’s been tonnes of stories I really wanna write down in this to remember.

So, to start off with, sis came down to Aussie-land a couple of weeks ago. She spent her time at my place, obviously, and, I do say with plenty of chargin, saying that she ‘pinked’ my whole place up, but I really appreciated her effort in cleaning and tidying up my place for me. It was great. We spent plenty of time together, shopping in Marion and Habor Town, and spent plenty of her 1, 1.5 week here looking for the ever elusive Ferrero Rodnior, the dark chocolate version of the popular Ferrero Rocher (or, as I’d always say, an improvement upon perfection). She also convinced me to buy and try a new stainless steel wok, cooked a few meals for me, and we shopped around for some skin care stuffs for Auntie Woo and ourselves.

Spent countless hours yapping as well, and tried to help her organize some time with her friends in Adelaide. We had dinner with Suzie and David and their kids, and O.M.G. nothing really tells you how much time flies as you watch kids grow. I can still remember little Anushka as a wonderful little newborn and now she’s old enough to call me uncle Jason (boohoo). Also had lunch with a group of her church friends, including Auntie Lai Wah, Hwee Ling and her daughters. Right. Daughters. I really do tend to forget our age gaps, sometimes, and when you take that into consideration and how diverse my sister’s friends are (cultural and age-wise), it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that some of them have kids around my age now, right? It’s almost as if I had a nephew that was born before I was. Haha. Ok not that bad, but I think that was the shocker for me when I first heard of Kristen Tee’s age. Lolz.

Took her to most of my coffee joints, elephant walk (where we drew stares as she completely dethroned me in bubblepop game on my iphone), cikolatte, cibo etc etc. Also wanted, but didn’t get the chance to take her to spatz, but she’s apparently been there before anyways, so there you go.

Sis then left for Melbourne for the weekend. Came back later with a scarf for yours truly. Also went and bought another scarf at Marion and we met someone who introduced herself as a Penangite. And from Tanjung Bunga. Scary how small the world is, sometimes.

Anyway, after about 2 weeks of great, but short time, together, sis went back to Penang to check in one final time with mom, dad and granny. And she’s now back in US.

I love you, sis.

There, I said it. ;)

Follow up on previous post

2010-09-13T08:31:00.001+08:00

As reported in The Malaysian Insider:

KABUL, Sept 12 — Afghans protested violently for the third straight day today despite a US pastor giving up plans to burn copies of the Quran, although there were three other cases of desecration of the Muslim holy book.

Two protesters were shot and killed in eastern Logar province, a district official said, taking to three the death toll in protests staged since Friday.

The furore over pastor Terry Jones’s plans to burn copies of the Quran, a grave insult to Muslims who believe it to be the literal word of God, overshadowed the lead-up to commemorations for the September 11 hijacked airliner attacks on the United States.

Ceremonies in the United States yesterday marked the ninth anniversary of the attacks by al Qaeda, which led to the toppling of the Taliban by US-backed Afghan forces in late 2001 because the hardline Islamists had harboured Osama bin Laden’s group.

Jones’s plan and proposals to build an Islamic cultural centre and mosque near the site of the toppled World Trade Center in New York highlighted a growing debate in the United States about religious tolerance.

Hundreds of people favouring and opposing the cultural centre and mosque gathered in New York for peaceful rallies hours after ceremonies in the city — and in Washington and Pennsylvania — to mark the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Word of the intention to burn the Quran had already triggered outrage in Afghanistan and across the Muslim world.

US President Barack Obama warned it could hurt the United States deeply abroad, endanger US troops in Afghanistan and risk attacks in US and European cities.

In Afghanistan, angry protesters chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Christians” clashed with security forces in Logar, south of the capital.

Seven demonstrators were wounded, one seriously, when Afghan security forces opened fire to disperse hundreds of protesters marching to Pul-e-Alam, the capital of Logar, officials said.

Mohammad Rahim Amin, chief of Baraki Barak district just west of Pul-e-Alam, said two of the wounded died later in hospital.

The protesters threatened to attack foreign military bases. There are almost 150,000 foreign troops fighting a growing Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, where violence is at its worst since the hardline Islamists were ousted.

“The governor must give us an assurance that the church is not going to burn the Quran, otherwise we will attack foreign troop bases in our thousands,” protester Mohammad Yahya said.

Major Patrick Seiber, a spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan’s east, said ISAF was aware of more protests in Logar today, but put the crowd at about 100, some wielding sticks and throwing stones.

Four demonstrators were wounded in Logar on Saturday, a day after a protester was shot dead when an angry crowd attacked a German-run ISAF base in Faizabad in northeastern Badakhshan province, one of many protests across the country.

Protests had eased later today.

While Jones abandoned his plan, there were at least two incidents of abuse of the Quran in Lower Manhattan in New York yesterday. Two evangelical preachers not affiliated with any mainstream church burned two copies of the Quran in Tennessee.

Protests over perceived desecration of Muslim symbols have led to dozens of deaths in Afghanistan in recent years, including after a Danish newspaper published a cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammad in 2005.

On Thursday, the United Nations’ top diplomat in Afghanistan said the protests risked delaying Afghanistan’s September 18 parliamentary election.

Poor security is already a major concern ahead of the poll, with more than 1,000 polling centres out of a planned 6,835 to remain closed. Today, ISAF said a Taliban commander who had been plotting rocket attacks on polling stations had been killed in eastern Nangarghar yesterday.

The election is seen as a key test of stability in Afghanistan before Obama conducts a strategy review of the increasingly unpopular war in December.

Obama, who has sought to improve ties with the Muslim world frayed by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since the September 11 attacks, stressed religious tolerance in remarks at a memorial service in Washington yesterday. — Reuters

and

NEW YORK, Sept 12 — Tensions over a threat to burn the Quran in Florida and a proposed Islamic center near New York's Ground Zero marked the ninth anniversary yesterday of the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Shortly before the start of ceremonies in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania to remember the day nearly 3,000 people lost their lives, Florida preacher Terry Jones confirmed he had backed off his plan to burn the Islamic holy book.

"We have decided to cancel the burning," Jones, the head of the tiny Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, told NBC's "Today" show.

But news of the plan had outraged Muslims around the world and triggered outbreaks of violence in Afghanistan in which one protester was shot dead. Thousands of Afghans demonstrated in the northeast of the country for a second day on Saturday.

President Barack Obama and US officials had warned that the burning of the Quran could harm America's image abroad, endanger lives and act as a recruiting tool for al Qaeda.

He told a memorial service in Washington that those who attacked the country with hijacked planes on September 11, 2001, tried to deprive Americans of their ideals.

"They may seek to spark conflict between different faiths, but as Americans we are not and will never be at war with Islam. It was not a religion that attacked us that September day, it was al Qaeda — a sorry band of men which perverts religion," he said.

As Obama spoke at the Pentagon, family and friends of those who died in the New York attacks placed flowers in a pool at the site. The names of the 2,752 World Trade Center victims were read out loud in alphabetical order during the somber ceremony.

Jones, who had arrived in New York from Florida on Friday night, said he came with the hope of meeting Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who is involved in the proposed Islamic center and mosque near the Manhattan site of the attacks.

The 58-year-old preacher, who says he received 100 death threats, admitted "there is no meeting" with Rauf.

Back in Florida, convenience store clerk Paula Smith expressed relief that Jones had called off the event.

"We've been put in the spotlight because of one man with a church of a few dozen people," she said. "I hope it hasn't drawn too much attention away from 9/11, the victims and what happened that day."

Protests and placards

In lower Manhattan, hundreds of supporters of the Islamic center, which organizers say is intended to build bridges between communities, called for religious tolerance and brandished placards saying "Your bigotry and hatred is a national security risk" or "the attack on Islam is racism."

"The imam is a total moderate," said Jules Moore, 28, a music writer, referring to Rauf.

A block away, other groups were gathering to rally against the proposed Islamic center, which they say is insensitive to the families of the victims of the 2001 attacks.

Obama said on Friday he recognised "the extraordinary sensitivities" surrounding the September 11 attacks. But he said it should be possible to erect a mosque near the attack site, or a building representing any other kind of religion.

More violence erupted in Afghanistan's northeastern Badakhshan province yesterday, where a day earlier a protester was killed outside a German-run Nato base, provincial police chief Aqa Noor Kentuz said.

On Friday the former heads of the 9/11 Commission that studied the 2001 attacks presented a report they called a wake-up call about the radicalisation of Muslims in the United States and the changing strategy of al Qaeda and its allies.

"The US is arguably now little different from Europe in terms of having a domestic terrorist problem involving immigrant and indigenous Muslims as well as converts to Islam," said the report by the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington. — Reuters

"element of islam ...... (that is) dangerous and radical" Yeah, RIGHT!

2010-09-13T07:56:00.003+08:00

well, now.. it's been pretty much a month, and i have heaps to blog about for once. but before i get into the itty bitty blog posts, there is just a couple of articles i want to share first. First of all is this article by a friend of mine (fabulous writer, this person is):

Quote:

A Florida pastor says his church will never burn a Quran (Koran), even if a mosque is built near Ground Zero.

Pastor Terry Jones had threatened to burn the Muslim holy book on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks over plans to build an Islamic center near where militants brought down the World Trade Center nine years ago.

He flew to New York and appeared on NBC's "Today" show.

He says that his church's goal was "to expose that there is an element of Islam that is very dangerous and very radical."

He told NBC that "we have definitely accomplished that mission."

He says no meeting is planned with the imam leading the center but he hopes one will take place.

Jones' Gainesville, Fla.-based church, the Dove World Outreach Center, had said it would hold an anti-Islamic demonstration on September 11, which they designated as "International Burn-a-Quran Day," in which church members would burn copies of the Holy Book. The announcement sparked denunciations and protests around the world, including warnings by U.S. officials, religious leaders, and military leaders, who warned such a demonstration could motivate anti-American violence and jeopardize U.S. forces.

President Obama referred to the planned book burning as a "stunt" that would endanger American lives.

Jones backtracked earlier this week, and renewed his assertions that his church would not burn holy books.

"Not today, not ever," he said on "Today." "We’re not going to go back and do it. It is totally canceled. We would hope that through that, that will open up a door [to] be able to talk to the Imam about the 'Ground Zero mosque.'"

Jones arrived in new York City last night, hoping to meet with leaders of the Islamic center being planned several blocks north of Ground Zero.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, leader of the planned center, said Friday that he was "prepared to consider meeting with anyone who is seriously committed to pursuing peace," but had no meeting planned with Jones.

"We have come here with the hopes of speaking with the Imam," Jones explained on "Today." "We feel that we have somewhat of a common denominator in the fact that most people do not want the mosque near Ground Zero, and of course I assume all Muslims do not want us to burn the Quran." .

He said there have been voice mails exchanged, but no meeting scheduled as of yet. "We have a couple of people who are working on it who are mediating."

When asked why he canceled the planned Quran burning, Jones said, "We feel that whenever we started this out, one of our reasons was to show, to expose that there is an element of Islam that is very dangerous and very radical. I believe that we have definitely accomplished that mission, even though we have not burned one Quran."
He said he has received death threats.

Jones likened his decision to pursue the plans to burn Qurans, and then cancel the event, with the Biblical story of Abraham. "Abraham was also called to do something very crazy, I mean God told him to go the mountain and sacrifice his son. Of course Abraham was much wiser than us, he told no one. So he got to the mountain. He started to do it, and God told him to stop. WTF?

"So we feel we have accomplished our goal," he said. "We're obedient. We feel that God is telling us to stop. And we also hope that with us making this first gesture, not burning the Quran - to say, 'No, we’re not going to do it, not today, not ever. We’re not going to go back and do it. It is totally canceled - we would hope that through that, maybe that will open up a door, [to] be able to talk to the Imam about the Ground Zero mosque."

He denied that he made the Quran-burning plans to court publicity.

"Absolutely not. We were 100% convinced that this was a type of a mission," he said. "I am of the opinion it is much larger than our politicians and our news media. . . . We have proved that point by the reaction worldwide."

You know what I think about all this? It's retarded. Terry Jones did all this as a way to gain leverage and by saying he's making a compromise by NOT burning the Quran is ridiculous because he created this whole problem in the first place. It was a threat, an uncivilised show of force otherwise known as bullying. It's the same way bullies who extort money from you and offer you 'protection'. Does that make them good people? The fact that they expect to be repaid for offering protection from a threat they themselves created? By doing it he has not shown that Islam is radical, merely that any religion can be radical. It's not biblical (because at least Abraham had the sense not to announce on FB what he was gonna do), it's not holy, it's not moral, it's not even decent. It is disrespectful, delusional and indicates a kind of self-centeredness and complete lack of thought for consequence that can only come from a mindless sheep.

Source: CBS News

Unquote

First of all, 'pastor', you are NOT Abraham, and all you did 'reveal' to the world is that there is an element in CHRISTIANITY, even in all religion, that is as radical, extreme and dangerous as most Americans perceive Islam/Muslims to be.

Secondly, 'reverend', your action is more akin to threatening a bully with a stick by carrying an even bigger stick, so, in the end all you are is just the bully's bully, and how does that make you different then they, the 'dangerous people', you are so against?

Thirdly...... ah what the heck. God first told you to burn the Q'urans, then told you to stop. so, sir, i have to ask, by listening to God's order to 'try' to burn the Q'uran, what have you accomplished? And in the end, why didn't you go ahead again? Cuz He asked you to? Well, He seems to be pretty fickle minded. and you have probably set peace negotiations back to the stone age, fueling more extremism from radical groups across the world. is this the Almighty's plan? to leave the world in a state of perpetual (cold) war? again, how different are you to those radicals who resorted to terrorism to get foreign invaders to leave their holy land? your hypocrisy leaves me absolutely disgusted!

P/S the quoted sections were taken off a blog, which shall for now remain anonymous as i have kinda plagiarized. nevertheless, apart from my own opinions, i take no credit for this article.

capoeira saturday

2010-08-14T23:28:00.001+08:00

well, had an interesting saturday today. for starters, i think i'm developing some kinda hyper-sensitivity to coffee, as i did with chocolate a while back. was too jitty from the 3 cups of coffee i had before work that i couldn't really sleep much aside from an hour here and there. then, got ready to head out to rundle street to meet up with leng and walk her to capoeira in the botanical gardens. was my kinda day, really. cloudy, raining, tho a bit too cold, unfortunately. gotta remember to pack an extra jacket whenever i'm going out in the black one.

anyways, we walked to the park and met up with jennifer, whom i've met at last week roda. played her berimbau a bit, which was EXTREMELY light compared to the one i've used before in chan's classes. next up was colette, followed closely by darnel, the instructor, with an atabaque. really should have tried to stay later or something for last week, cuz just found out then that we were supposed to bring USBs to class today cuz darnel had some songs and lyrics to pass us, and, unfortunately for whatever reason, my iphone wouldn't work on his com. grrr.

spent the next couple of hours playing and singing, which is really, really fun. unfortunately, the songs this week were a little harder and i can't much, or really, any of it. and so we sang. despite the cold, the rain, or that some of us couldn't feel our hands for either the cold, rain, or from holding the berimbau/hitting the attabaque/smashing the pandeiro, we sang till literally my feet were shaking from the cold. first time, i think, that my jeans were actually not enough to keep me legs warm. hahaha.

so, after a quick run back to the carpark to top-up my parking ticket, it's back to the gardens for some actual roda - with super cold muscles. started up with colette, then we all rotated around, and i got a chance to joga with some 'strangers' for a while, marko and brendon. a little akward, but i think we all did well. did a second joga with colette, but got a little carried away and darnel actually had to tell us to cool down a bit, so we did a volta ao mundo (my first) and got back to a slower pace. after all that, i felt like i've held my breath for the whole hour (or more).

after that, colette was off to batucada, and leng, myself, marko, ale, cossy and jennifer were off to the market for a late lunch (around 3.30pm). it was really nice, getting to know more capoeiristas, and talking about stuffs in general. then, i just had to drag leng over to cibo and get her to try some ice cream (we were talking about ice cream and some desserts before, i think). after that, it was an end to a beautiful, wonderful capoeira saturday.

but before we end this wonderful day, we're now all playing facebook capoeira status on, obviously, facebook. obsessed much? ;)

edit: oh, before i forget, we all saw a HUGE spider in the veranda, and, being the arachnaphobe, it was affectionally named after yours truly =.=''''''

Another reflection and contemplation

2010-08-05T14:40:00.001+08:00

i know i've said several times already that i should, and would never again, look back to the past. but, as blair waldorf (excuse the ref to GG, c'mon guys) said beautifully, to deny one's past is to deny one's self.

don't worry, i'm not looking too far back, or to the recent past. just wanted to mention on this post of this picture that's hanging on the shelf in my living room. it's a picture of myself, aiping, lin-na, and miss looi at our 3rd penang state tkd tournament, and our first time ever as state champions. even now, i can still remember them very clearly, our training, and the days of, our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd state tournaments, the emotions that ran high on those days, all the sweat and tears and joys and laughter..... it was a fun time, and it was what we were training for all the while.

let's see if i can try to make it somewhat coherent to provide a little background to what i want to say:

1st Penang State TKD Tournament:
I think i was around 13, 14 at that time. Totally green in TKD, but somehow, i don't know when, i must have loved it cuz i really didn't mind, and even despite my parents' objections, wanted to go for rehearsal training at the centre (then called Mensa TKD Centre) dead in the night around 7, 8pm. We were still training in the main complex then, so we were all there, in the dark, practicing our team pattern, hwa-rang. I remember the thrill of actually learning a pattern that was a few belts above my then-current level, and that thrill never went away despite the numerous times we had to repeat that pattern. I think i can probably recall a bit, if not all of the sequence to this day. i can't remember too clearly the team members already, but i was sure Renee and Weng Kit were on it. I think the other 2 were Lin-Na and Ai Ping? Or was it Chun Lim?

Anywayz, at the day of the tournament (it was at Convent Bukit Mertajam, I think) when we did our team pattern, there was so much excitement, really. I mean, for one thing, it was our first state level tournament, we're competing against total strangers for the first time ever, not knowing how good the others were, totally braving the unknown. And when we did our pattern, it was a release. We let out all of our reserved energies, and showed everyone what our hours and hours of training was all about, and we did GOOD!. We got bronze that day, and our centre, through a mistake of our own, got 3rd place overall in the state. Not back for a first time. But, now that I think of it, it was then that things started changing.

2nd Penang State TKD Tournament:
In this tournament, we were absolutely determined to win. We trained harder, for sure, and we made sure that this time, all our other classes at Pykett, etc were all under one banner. We all knew that, if we didn't make that mistake last time, we would have been state champions already. I don't really remember much of my roll in this tournament (I guess that shows, kinda, what has been happening in the centre already, where i am concerned). Still, what I clearly remember was that we trained, and still trained, no less harder, and no less that 200%, as always, for every single tournament.

On that day, at Chung Ling Butterworth, the turning point for us, and for the tournament, was when our, what i'd like to call 'premier', girls' team went to do their team pattern, the cheers, the anticipation, the awe, everything was just indescribable. Of course, I, and I'm sure not too few other guys, thought that their marching in was a little.....hard to watch, maybe even childish, but, they were great girls and they pulled it off, no matter what I or anyone else did. And when they did their pattern, when they did it.....you knew, i knew, everyone knew, that the girls had aced the tournament. They were the top in that group. No one else before them, or after, presented any performance even close to matching them. Even our competitors cheered for them. And that's when things started to get ugly. The final tally for that group pattern came up. The 3rd place winners were called. Then the 2nd. Then the Champions, and our girls were in none of them. Zip. None. Not a one. There was outrage. There were tears. There was frustration. And there was definitely anger. From us. From LMTC. From our instructors. Even from our close rival groups. How could that have happened? Our centre went home 2nd place overall that weekend. There were many, many tears. Our instructor told us to keep our spirit up. Not to let anyone tell us any different. We know we are good. We ARE GOOD! And we will show them again, no matter how long it takes.

3rd Penang State TKD Tournament:
By this time, most of my friends and I were already black belt, i guess, so that would make me around 16. but somehow, all the training, luster and joy of training, seems to have been lost. we still did our best, no doubt, and everyone performed superbly. In the end, after all our training and anticipation, relief and joy, pure tears of joy, washed through everyone as we became, for the first time ever, the new State Champions. all of our friends, and even rivals, cheered, and everyone in the centre, those who won a medal and those who didn't felt they've accomplished something. everyone played a part in it, and everyone shared the glory. but after that..... that was it

i can't say for sure if it's because we became black belt, or because we were so focused on tournaments after tournaments, training, for me, became not training for fun, or even enjoyable. training just became training after that. frictions arose, and when the time came, i left. obviously i can't say i never looked back, cuz that is what i'm doing now, but i don't think i can ever go back there. not anymore, as much as i want to, it just can never happen again.

Fast forward to today, i'm doing capoeira, and, as i've probably said before, it's the first in a long time that i've felt alive again, and even know how to have fun again. The TKD book is closed, for sure, but sometimes, once in a while, it's nice to pick it up and read it again, so as to not make the same mistake again. One thing about caps that is awesome is that, there are no grades, really, no competition or anything either. just a bunch of guys and gals getting together to 'play the game' because for no other reason than that it is fun. i do hope to continue playing it for a long time to come. but, at the same time, sometimes, i hope that i will get to see my TKD colleagues again. i hope to show that i am no longer the arrogant jackass that i was. I hope to show that, maybe in someways, i can and maybe have, humbled myself a bit. That i am not really what they remember me as. and maybe, maybe then, we can really be friends instead of colleagues.

Once upon a chrismas Eve

2010-08-02T13:18:00.003+08:00

Once Upon A Christmas Eve
Prologue:
Ian and Kristen used to date, so they, Betty and I used to hang out quite regularly a couple of years ago. However, for whatever reason, it didn’t work out between Ian and Kristen, so they parted as friends and didn’t hang out together that often anymore, but still kept in touch and meet up every now and then. Since this year, Ian, Dave and I started hanging out with Celest and Amanda, and Ian and Celest are kind of together now, ‘kind of’. Basically, they sort of agreed to be ‘exclusive’ to one another, but are not a couple, and Celest and Amanda do not get along with Kristen and Betty, but mostly Kristen, mainly because it’s a Singaporean/Malaysian thing, but also because Kristen used to date Ian, whom Celest is ‘sort of’ dating right now.

Weeks Before X’Mas
Ian decided to have a small Christmas get-together, and invited our small, extended circle of friends, which is basically Kristen, Betty, Green (Betty’s BF) Dave, Ian, Celest, Amanda, and myself, and probably Bryan too, but he is back in Penang for the holidays. I was honestly (and rightfully, it turned out) sceptical of it at first, as I thought mixing Kristen, Ian and Celest, with Betty and Amanda as back up, in any event, was going to be a super-cold bomb ready to happen at a given notice.

Christmas Eve ‘09
Thus, thinking that Kristen and Betty are not going to be at the get-together, I went over to Kristen and Betty’s place to hand them their presents. When I got there, I found out that Betty only finished wrapping my present, like, five minutes earlier and Kristen hadn’t started on mine yet. So, after five minutes of waiting for Kristen to finish wrapping the present, it didn’t last another 2 minutes before she insisted that we open our presents and…viola~! Got a funky bean and spice grinder from Betty and assorted chocolates and coffee bean from Kristen. Later that night, got a text message from Ian saying that the get-together may not happen, causing some confusion as to what was going on. But, that was all to be settled tomorrow.

Christmas Day ‘09
After waiting for the whole morning for news on the get-together, I was pretty much sure that it wasn’t going to happen, so was just amusing myself with some stuffs to pass the time, until Kristen called and asked if I’d like to go over to her place to just sit, chat, play some games and spend Christmas together. And…..in typical fashion, after I finished dressing up and ready to head to Kristen’s place, sis called, so spent a few minutes chatting, and in the mist of our conversation, as she would recall, I had 3 phone calls at the same time, from Ian (telling me the get-together is on), Dave (asking his opinion on whether it would be a good idea to put Kristen and Betty in the same room as Celest and Amanda) and Kristen (asking her if she’d really like to go to the get-together). Was trying to (wishfully) get everyone together and just ‘be merry’, but it didn’t work out. So, unfortunately, as I promised Ian to be at the get-together (now a dinner) first, I just dropped over to Kristen and Betty’s place to say hi and spend a few minutes to chit chat before I head to Ian’s place to help out with the cooking.

After about 3 hours of cooking, we had half a turkey and a few bacons and dessert treat. Also managed to fight off Celest and Amanda’s attempt to get me drunk (for fun, with me being the least alcohol tolerant of the bunch) and stay sober to open the Christmas presents with everyone. Got a funky tool kit for the car from Ian, and other assorted stuffs from the others. And, Celest, being a chocoholic, got a whole bunch of chocolate-related gifts from just about everyone. I honestly cannot recall seeing that much chocolate in one place, not in a chocolate store, and not even on Valentine’s Day. Then spent the night at Ian’s place.

Boxing Day
Woke up early to drive home, shower, and head to Kristen and Betty’s place to have a full day of fun and games to, kind of, make up, for the day before. We pretty much played Wii the whole day and played mah-jong at night. After playing mah-jong with them, I must say, everyone in our family really look like amateurs compared to these gals and guy (Green, Betty’s boyfriend). If I even take 2 seconds to think of how to play, everyone starts screaming to hurry up. And the ‘fun’ thing about hanging out with these 3 gals and guy is that, the atmosphere in the game can turn from luke warm to freezing cold to volcano-erupting hot in the blink of an eye. Everyone’s temper changes, it’s so fickle, maybe even more so, than a woman’s mind. Ian said, and as I suspected, something else is going on in the background, some drama, or gossip or whatever, but well, it doesn’t affect me, and I only need to know what I need to know.

Sunday
Took a few winks at home before waking up at 7am and did some chores before heading out to Kristen’s place to wake everyone up (as ordered by the lady herself). Had a few cups of coffee as extra measure, and headed out to Rundle Mall for post X’mas shopping. Went home with a car full of everyone’s stuffs. Got myself a blender and a quilt, amongst other things.

Monday
Got home fairly early (2am) and forgot it was Monday instead of Tuesday night, so pumped petrol a whole 24h earlier (and a little more expensive) than I usually do. Lolz. Zzzzzzz

cikolatte

2010-08-02T12:57:00.000+08:00

wait wait wait, i'm not done yet ;). met with kay a couple of weeks ago for coffee. went to a place on melbourne street called cikolatte, which was quite good, really. kay ran a bit late, but was ok. we had a nice catch up talking about our lives since we last met, which, i guess, would be since eynesbury. we had an enjoyable coffee and chatted for what seemed like seconds, but before we knew it 2 hours had flown by. however, i wasn't too ready to call it a day yet, so we went to the anime and videogame convention that was going on at ACC. being the anime nut that i know she is, she was more than ready and willing, eager even, to go. and we were in luck as well. as we went there, 2 nice strangers gave us their pass for the convention, which was 30 bucks each. whoever you are, thanks guys. saw lots of interesting things there, and of cos, the sights to behold were the cosplayers. some really nice costumes. kay and i split up on the main hall, as i was engrossed on the videogame competitions going on ( i reckon i can compete in SSF4) and she went to look at more anime stuffs. i was just checking out a drawing an artist was completing on a drawing pad and what i assume was photoshop, when i saw kay trying on a dress (something which i don't think i was supposed to see, so it's effectively erased from my memory, except for its colour, which was white, and that is all). we then went around again and saw some anime that was showing. sat through a few episodes of azumanga daioh. i know, not something i'd really watch, but the company i had actually made it really enjoyable. next, craving ramen, we went to ajisen ramen (thanks kristen for telling me of the store in the first place (: ) for dinner. after that, that was it, and i am really looking forward to our next time together.

Capoeira

2010-08-02T12:56:00.000+08:00

Well, to start off, i have to say that not doing capoeira for so long ever since ian wong introduced me to the art all those years ago was a BIG mistake. when i first started, as expected chan basically whipped my butt, and my physical level was as worse as i expected it to be, but thankfully not any worse. i really do enjoy capoeira now, and the chance to meeting new friends (not an easy feat for me, trust me). The instructors and seniors, Chan, Sara, Aimee, Nathan are all awesome ppl. the rest of the ppl in class that I can remember Zu Zheng, Colette, Michael, Leng, Allesandro, Hadi, Craig, and lots more are all AWESOMEST ppl i've ever met. I really enjoy training with them.

when i first started capoeira early april (i think), i had few hours of work, so was basically training 3-4, maybe even 5 times a week, and really enjoyed. also not too long ago started going out for dinner with the gang after friday's roda session, which is essentially a rehearsal rather than actual training. Unfortunately, work is going crazy at the caledonian lately and i can only go once a week. initially asked for fridays off so i can spend time and dinner with the gang, but, sadly, i want to train as well, so switched to thursdays off instead. so for the past 3 weeks, i've only been able to go for the thursday classes, which is good, but not enuf (coming from training almost everyday, it really, really isn't). so, now, on my supposed day off, i'm not resting but am trying to make the best out of what i can on my oh so limited time. after capoeira now, am doing weapons training in the momentum gym (where capoeira also is at) is kinda fun and something i would like to learn for a long time. whilst it's not really technical in terms of forms or styles, there is plenty of room for improvisations. i just want to be able to learn dual handed kali asap, and the bo staff as well.

so that 1 hour capoeira (affectionally called caps), and 1 hour weapons, i'm also thinking of adding ballroom and latin dancing to the list. I KNOW~!! BALLROOM and LATIN dancing!!. and I made fun of my sister when SHE did it, and now, i'm getting so much payback from her that i don't think i've heard her stop laughing since i told her the news a couple of weeks ago. =.= But, i haven't started yet lah. Am still really considering the dance bit, and weather it's what I want rather that what i like. I would definitely like to check out other styls as well, ie rnb and the like. so, nothing on that bit.....yet.

so basically, school, work, capoeira, gym...... a lot of things, and yet, i feel quite alive. a lot more so than i've been for a while. and i want to do MORE. i just can't settle for 1 hour class a week.. i wanna train so much more that i've actually considered stopping work altogether and just train capoeira full time, but that would be really irresponsible, to ian, to the workplace, and to my parents. remember, i am actually working to support myself, albeiit not entirely, but still helps, as i do realize that my lifestlye is quite.....excessive now, especially since i've moved out of flinders housing. well, we'll see how this goes in the future.

anyway, school, work, capoeira, gym and even dance, feels like i really am being stretched to the limits with my mind (school), body (capoeira, gym, and dance) and spirit (work, seriously, the ppl there can be quite douche sometimes), and i think i actually love it. that's it for now.

Axe

Refresh

2010-08-02T12:29:00.001+08:00

Well, looks like it's been well over a year now since my last blog post. I don't even know why i'm writing this now, to be honest, or if i'd actually continue to write regularly. it's just that, it seems a shame to not write about something that has happened at least once a year, given that i've started this blog in the first place. also i've been reading my old posts as well and they seem like they were really written by another person. a younger, more energetic and lively person and another, obviously, older and depressed person. so who am i this time? i guess we can find out a few years down the road.

I think I'll start off with this year, as there's an entry about X'Mas 2009 which I think i'll just reuse an old update i sent my family back a while. Suffice to say that I did a juggling job switching between hanging out with Kristen, Betty and Green and Ian, Dave, Celest and Amanda.

Anywayz, to progress from my previous entry, Celest and Amanda move to Melbourne to look for jobs there, but couldn't and after a few weeks or months, came back to SA. We spent sometime in the middle of January making a road trip to Melbourne, which was fun to say the least. Did a lot of things, including caving, travelling along the Great Ocean Road on the way back, went to a Fly Farm (which really lived up to its name, with all the flies everywhere, which thankfully didn't bite). I'll try to write more about it now but anyway, it was great fun, and we all saw a lot more of each other, got on each others' nerves and also had fun, which kinda balanced out, i guess.

Unfortunately, Celest and Amanda later on decided to go back to SG to try for a career there (actually, I reckon it was a lot of promting from their parents), so that didn't bode too well with Ian and Celest's relationship. Celest is back with Tan now, and Ian and her are no longer speaking.

Went back to M'sia for CNY this year. Had a great time reuniting with all my cousins, and was a little heartbroken at how long it's been since i last saw gran in person, and how frail she has become. Mom is not doing any better either, and dad is on the road to recovery from his last heart attack, but is having his hands full taking care of mom.

However, aside from all that, it was nice to see all my beloved cousins again. They have all grown up so much. and also met a few new in laws and the shy, quite nephew desmond. yi wei and yi ling, i know, have grown up a lot and somehow, i feel really proud of them. i just know they have a bright future ahead for them. spent some time with kelly.....which unfortunately, was a big mistake. hope to rectify that problem in the future at my next trip back.

in pg, the first person i met was sue ann, which was nice. didn't really get to hang out, as i was back during cny and obviously everyone has plans of their own. but, it was nice to see her eitherways. also hang out with shan a few times, got my fortune told, which was pretty amusing. only remember bits and pieces of it now, like i'll have a gf next year, but she won't be the right one, and the one after that will be the right one. how i should shave off the brows in the middle so i am more open-minded (o.0), how i do like sports cars and would drive one if i can, if i become successful i can retire at age 40, if not i'd be violent and have money problems and yadda yadda.

Back in adelaide, actually before my trip to pg/ipoh, i had to move out of flinders housing. janet wanted to move me to a smaller townhouse, cause she says i'm 'too quite and don't mingle much, so would be better if i stay with the other, older students'. i didn't think it'd be that bad at first, but, as anyone who knows me knows, i have A LOT of stuffs. so, long story short, i went about looking for a new place to stay on my own, and found a place, and had just 2 weeks to move everything and settle down at my new place in Glandore along ANZAC highway before my flight back to pg. all done in a bigger scale and all, but managed to make my flight in time with a day to spare to relax, and yes this time i actually did sleep in between days (remember back in first year uni i went 3days straight w/o sleep to pack up my stuffs). when i came back to adelaide, i had to go about looking for amongst other things, a fridge and a washing machine. thankfully i met a wonderful couple, edward and sigrid, who were willing to pretty much give me 2 chairs, 2 tables, a washing machine, fridge, and a display shelf for a vv low cost. was really happy with the purchase, and so i went about furnishing the new place. also managed to add a sofa later on (just vv recently, so was much later on).

of course, with all this moving and furnishing is $$$, and ian, to whom i'm forever eternally grateful, helped me get a job at his place as a kitchenhand/dishwasher. it started up as little hours, but good money, but now the workplace is going through kind of a phase, lots of ppl quitted, or are quitting, and i'm working 5-6 days a week now. hopefully, that won't be the case forever, as on my days off work, i actually do have things to do and am not actually resting, which brings me to.... capoeira. Given the length already.........to be continued...

interesting few months

2009-11-03T11:05:00.006+08:00

well now, it's been an interesting few months lately. months, cuz things (no, not homework, i don't really have that anymore, thankfully) have been piling up to a nice crescendo. to sumarize, lolz, some friends have become more than friends, others a little more akward (totally on my part, not theirs) and even others that have become downright confusing and first-timers.

Ian and Celest are progressing in their relationship. Kinda cute and nostalgic in a way, watching 2 love birds falling in love. i do try to be sincere in my feelings, but.....somehow, i really can't. they'll always be friends on my part, but, try as i might, i can't be fully 100% happy for them. i am, but i am not. *sigh*

been helping out a couple of gal friends back in m'sia withs ome of their probs. it is kinda nice that i still have some friends that trust me, despite all that i've been through, all that has happened. moving forward is the only way to go....and yet i can never help but glance backwards occasionally. thankfully, some ppl understand this just as well as i do, so i'm not alone. :)

jo is back in sg now, and still with josh, although she says she can no longer expect too much from the relationship anymore. i symphatise, but can no longer emphatize, on this matter.

chrissy is kind of interesting....lol, had an interesting confrontation with her stalker the other night (last thursday). as i've said to myself before and will now put it down to note (digitally, at least), i do not intend to get into any fight whatsoever, but i WILL NOT allow any GUY to hit a GIRL in front of my face. that is just downright despicable.

oh, and as per my facebook status, lol, helped celest and amanda move tan's old car, that was kinda sitting on the road for a long time and had a parking infringement notice, down to yo's place, which i reckon is closer to 10 streets down rather than 5. anywayz, we tried to get the battery back up and working (it hasn't been started since january or february) but couldn't, so we ending up have using 4 man power to move the car all the whilst avoiding the main road as much as possible as well as any speed cameras (as they'll be able to tell if a car is out of rego, and that's an instant court summons for ya). so there we were, 4 guys and 2 gals pushing a car down hill, only to discover that its brakes weren't working. didn't really have to chase it too much, thankfully, cuz the handbrake still works and the slope wasn't too steep downhill. lol, thankfully we didn't need to push it up hill.

CONGRATULATIONS ENG PEI YEE!

2009-06-22T11:52:00.001+08:00

on a lighter note, my deepest, heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS to Pei Yee and her beloved fiance. :) Wish you both eternal joy and happiness.

URGH~! it's downright DISGUSTING

2009-06-22T11:51:00.001+08:00

if you're caught red handed with your hand in the cookie jar, it's kinda 'ok' (not really, IMHO, but for sake of argument let's say it is) to act innocent and walk away. But if you come back again for the same cookie and the same jar, and now someone points out forensic, photo- and videographic evidence of you in the crime, it's downright DISGUSTING to act INNOCENT~!!!

Lee Shu Ruen

2009-05-06T11:52:00.002+08:00

hmm... weird leh, girl. Haven't heard from you in ages, literally, seriously, ages. The last time I heard from you I wasn't even wearing undies yet (honest!) haha. But, you're happy, and, I guess, so am I, so that's good. Love ya gal ;)

magic

2009-04-09T07:17:00.003+08:00

I’m procrastinating at the moment, so I thought I might as well do something useful with that procrastination. Contradictionary, is it not? I think so, but then, life is full of contradictions, isn’t it? Just thought I’d upload 2 of my most memorable and favourite scenes of David Copperfield that I’ve watched as a kid countless time. First one is the walking through Great Wall of China act, and the other is the vanishing of the Statue of Liberty. Superb classics. Even until now, I can still recall the theme song for the show set in China, but it’s so damn hard to find any of his videos for download nowadays L. Ah well, am gonna take content that, in less than 4 months, I’ll be seeing him LIVE~~~!!! BOOYAH! J haha. (that’s what Sam would say. He’s getting to be a little of an influence on me)

Song of a memory.......

2009-04-06T12:33:00.001+08:00

Not to worries, am not referring to THAT particular memory. Am just feeling.... nostalgic, I guess, whenever I hear songs from this kinda era. I miss those days, but I don't think about any particular person anymore, just 'those days' in general.

Events

2009-03-31T08:57:00.002+08:00

Sis came down with the chicken pox last week. Kinda hilarious, after I got over the anxiety of her catching the pox at her age. Am pretty sure that I got vaccinated for it, given my keloid condition, but mom and dad forgot. Ah well, we'll just have to check our medical records.

Put a deposit down on a '91 180sx. Pretty much the same car as Ian's, if I remember correctly, sans the new engine Ian now has. The car is pretty much stock. Will get it through a mechanic inspection at Sinergy motorsports tomorrow and see how it goes. If all is good, it's pretty much a done deal, I reckon. Will just have to live with the buyer's guilt for a while.

Started napping again these couple of weeks, which, until sis mentioned it, I didn't realise was a habit of mine back a while. Usualy in my teens it would be dinner then nap, TKD then nap, tuition then nap, then I'll wake up again and watch a couple of movies till 2am and sleep. Hmmm.... wonder if it's 'cuz I started jogging again. Ah well, not complaining. Jogging is making me feel energiezed again, tho I hope that I'll have the strength and discipline to continue jogging. Basically slept the morning in today. :P I think reading journals tire me out more than anything else.

Got tickets to David Copperfield today. Now I just need to make myself remember this 'date'. The only reason I will not go is that I totally forget about it. Let's hope it won't happen. *touch wood*

Met up with Hesi again after not seeing her for a good 3 months ++. It's nice to see and talk to the girl.

Still looking around for part time job in anticipation of managing the car on my own finances. No luck yet. May just start charging people for editing. :P

New housemates Tim, Anne, Nate and Maddie are awesome people, tho I don't really know them yet, me being me and all. ;)

The Master Illusioinist Cometh

2009-03-26T10:57:00.002+09:00

Am going to go see David Copperfield perform live in August (140 days from now). Can't wait!

Remember the time when he made the Statue of Liberty disappear, and walked through the Great Wall of China (both which I had on VHS), and disappeared a fighter jet (didn't see) and floated through the great canyon (nor this).

Anticipation. *SLURPS*

New year, new beginning.

2009-03-04T09:07:00.002+09:00

It’s been a while......

Actually, what would probably qualify as the understatement of the century. It’s probably been forever. So many things have happened........

Where do I begin? How do I even start to trace back what happened?

Well, let’s start off with Joyce, then. Am still talking to her, albeit a little infrequently nowadays, as we’re both busy with out own stuffs, and she has CC to keep her mind and herself preoccupied. Not sure if the two of them have hooked up yet or not, but I wish them the best, otherwise, I’ll eat CC up for a meal if he’s mean to her. :P

Jo, heh. Well, as the guys have pointed out, I was a little sick of her a while back. She really got on my nerves at one stage when she asked me out 3 times within a week straight, only to ask for some favours. That is mostly forgotten now, with my mostly-stress-free holidays. Still hanging out with her whenever she calls me (I don’t call her for several reasons; 1: I don’t really keep track of when she has her days off, honest, and 2: her bf. ‘Nuff said)

Part of my summer was going back to M’sia. *sigh* The right choice but also, in a way, the dumbest thing I ever did. Dad was hospitalized; had a heart attack. Was pretty serious, but he made it through. Sis came back as well, and Auntie Woo and Uncle Peng came down to support mom. It was good seeing them again, I admit, especially sis. It went well for a while, cheery, I might say, until dad got discharged, and I got the stupid idea of SMS-ing .... her.

She didn’t want to see me. Stupid. I kinda should have expected that, but didn’t. So everything went downhill from there. Basically got the first flight I could back to Aussie, and things stayed ‘the same’ as it was between me and my family again.... ice cold.

Also spent my summer trying to get PR in Aussie and moving my stuffs to live at Ian’s place. I just about finished moving completely to Mawson Lakes (no small feat, btw), when I got the offer letter for Phd in Nanotech/Chemistry. That just about threw off all my effort in getting PR (and all the money, I got the max scoring point in IELTS, btw. Wasn’t hard at all), as well as all of the effort and car trips spent to taking my stuffs to Ian’s place (not to mention the packing). So now, I’m “in the process” of moving back my stuffs to Flinders, albeit to a different unit, Village 73. It’s not the same, as I told Janet, the Village Dean. I’ve stayed in 44/5 for the past 4 years, and basically knew every knick and dent in the room as well as the whole unit, minus the other rooms. So, it is rather unfamiliar moving in to another room, even if the interior of my room is exactly the same, the kitchen/bathrooms isn’t. Well, I already warned Janet that I’d be nagging her every day to get back my ol’ 44/5 ASAP when it is next available, whilst realistically speaking I shouldn’t be expecting a vacancy anytime soon, probably next year. L

Went out for dinner at one stage with Kristen, Betty, Leo (formerly known as Green, Bett’s BF) and Ian at the new Fortune Duck restaurant. Was nice. It’s always nice hanging out with the gals. It’s a different feel from my everyday hanging out sessions with the guys. And of course, I just had to ‘dig my own grave’ and let everyone have a laugh ‘at my expense’. Not complaining, I enjoyed it. That’s one of the reasons I really like hanging out with the gals, it’s just plain fun.

And the guys, heh. Just plain guys. Seeing them a lot more often now, as I was and still am sorta staying at Ian’s place. Also been hopping around looking for a car for myself, but that is sorta on the wait for other financial stuffs, hopefully my scholarship application/fee waiver program.

Am gonna start my PhD soon, after I get some stuffs settled. Another 4 years. Another NEW year. Would things be different this time around? I honestly don’t know. Do I still...... care? Yes, but of the wrong things, of the past, and not the future. Maybe I can find my answer soon. I hope. I can only have that much.....faith.

P/S Am talking to my family again. Things are not.....’cold’, but they are not ‘normal’ either. Maybe I can’t forgive them, but maybe, just maybe, I can try to forget. I need to forget. It’s hard, but I just have to.

P/P/S Do I still think of her? Not too often now, almost non-existent, but sometimes, when loneliness sticks its fangs in....yes. I hope not for long now....not for long......................that I may forget her completely.

another set of poems

2008-11-15T18:23:00.003+09:00

when i first saw you
it was with a smile
for i have never seen anyone
as joyous as you

you got me thinking of you constantly
your image, buried into my soul
and if i am crazy when i'm with you
i'd surely be mad without you

remembering all the times we shared
all the fun we had at each other's arms
i know now, more than ever
how much you mean to me..

----------------------------------------

did you know that
it has been ages since we first met
but it seems only yesterday
that our souls connected?

did you know that
to love someone completely is a risk
a risk i rather tkae
than to be without you even for a single minute

did you know that
despite your messy hair and glasses
you're the closest i have ever seen to an angel
giving me hope by day and joy by night

did you know that
i can never tell you how much i love you
but i hope you know that
i do........

memorable quote

2008-10-29T06:40:00.002+09:00

Boy: forget about your bf, i need to go out with you now. come on, got out with me. we must go out, cuz i'm like one of those fishes in the sea, that needs to breed or else it will die.

Girl: no, again, sorry, i already have a bf.

Boy: Is it because i'm black?

Girl (thinks): (no, because you were talking about FISHES that needed BREEDING!!! and my bf is indian, thank you very much)

i feel so sorry for the chap desperate enough to say this to miriam. lol, he must had been so desperate. rofl

update 14/10/08

2008-10-14T10:40:00.002+08:00

heh, realized that it's been ages since i've bothered with this little blog of mine. so, well, here's an update on what's been going on for the past few months, not in any chronological order, tho i try:

talking to joyce a lot. well, whenever we're online at the same time, i guess. shared a bit about out thoughts on stuffs and all. i think she started work sometime last week or the week before, so haven't been able to talk too much with her. will give her a call tonight and see what's up

been hanging out with jo. it's fun. been seeing her on/off, when she has the free time off work. chat about few things here and there, about her bf, her family etc etc. came to my place one night and made tang yuen (glutinous rice balls). not the same as how i remembered it, so will try again myself another time, if i ever do have the time.

seeing the guys as usual, although we're now bored enough with nothing to do that we just hang out, and, for the first time in my five years in adelaide, sat down and staring and nothing (and some girls) at the park. and, out of total boredom, i went and tried picking up 2 asian (jap, i think) gals not far from where we were sitting. tried to ask them out to dinner with me and the guys. i thought then that, heck, potential embarrassment was a lot better then total insanity (and certain murderous intent) from listening to dave chant 'go jason go' for the next hour at the park.

went yam cha with ian, kristen and betty one sunday at CitiZen, i think it was the weekend of the semester break. it was alright, nice to eat decent chinese desert again. while we were heading out to pay our bills, i was just staring outwardly (or zoning out, watchamicallit) and suddently locked eyes to this not-bad decent chinese girl outside. i tot, wat the heck, she was staring at me first, so i held her gaze for a good minute before the others finished paying and we had to leave. the others nearly died of embarrassment. good thing i didn't get her number, otherwise they probably would have killed me then. ah well.

went out for dinner and desert with ian, dave, kristen and betty again last sunday, and allan joined us. talked a bit about my situation about being 'used', since that was one of the questions greg first asked me when i told him about my 'relationship'. so, been trying to understand the others' perspective, tho i know i don't feel used at all. don't know... ah well, enough musings. that's it for this post

Are we Malaysians or are we Chinese Squatters?

2008-09-15T11:13:00.002+08:00

i've mostly heard of this news from either 2nd or 3rd person, but just hearing it even that way was enough to get my fire going.

ahmad ismail. apparently he was giving a speech at a by-election or something and was quoted as saying that the chinese minority are merely immigrants and should not question the 'rights' or the malay muslim majority, nor should the chinese be given equal treatment.

of course, this kinda 'spark' needn't be much to garner a big response from the chinese and non-chinese people alike. apperently some chinese newspaper reporters have been quoting his speech, and whilst this ahmad ismail have been given no punishment or anything, being merely suspended from the UMNO party for 3 years, the chinese reporters have been detained under the ISA, meaning that by law and constitution, the reporters can be detained for a maximum of 2 years without trial by peers.

i've said it before and i will say it again. i think it's about time that the malaysian people, not just the chinese, the malays, indians or whomever, but ALL malaysians should remember what it means to BE malaysians. for years, and now decades, we have been born into this country, taught to love it, and when the time comes, to even die for it. sometimes i wonder, now that i look back into our history, IS our history repeating itself? will another '69 occur again? to me, it seems inevitable in our current state and probably more than welcome. although i would rather avoid having to divide our country further, i believe that lee kuan yew, for all his faults, probably have said this the best: Malaysia — to whom does it belong? To Malaysians. But who are Malaysians? I hope I am, Mr Speaker, Sir. But sometimes, sitting in this chamber, I doubt whether I am allowed to be a Malaysian. This is the doubt that hangs over many minds, and ... [once] emotions are set in motion, and men pitted against men along these unspoken lines, you will have the kind of warfare that will split the nation from top to bottom and undo Malaysia.

if the malays continue to hold on to their 'rights', as they put it, it will be inevitable that the country we know it now, the country that we love, malaysia, will definitely be divided. but, to be fair, if the non-malays continue to question those rights, the results will probably be the same. and i for one do not wish for this to happen but when push comes to show, what CAN we do about it?

the best solution, probably a naive solution, would that there be fair and open speech, no censorship, and compromises from both sides. i think that it's about time that we, as malaysians, begin to bridge the dividing racial gap and openly, publicly talk about the malay rights. after all, we are supposed to be living in the democratic country. how can we all grow as a people when we must be fearful of oppression when we speak the truth or desire a discussion on compromise?

the ISA grew from the influx of non-malays into malaya during the british rule, and was designed, initially by the british, to secure the rights of the malays and protect them from the overwhelming numbers of non-malay immigrants. even so, the act was supposed to be dissolved in the early 1970s, after about 15 years malaysia gained independence, but due to the instability caused in 1969, it was decreed that the act was still necessary to ensure national stability.

to all non-malays, i'm sure that a majority, if not all of you, feel that it's about time that such an act be entirely eliminated, that we, this new generation of non-malays that were born and raised in malaysia, that love our land and are willing to sacrifice ourselves for it, be given due recognition as true malaysian citizens equal to the malays. yet a fiery wrath will oft undo its course, and we have to be cautious and not act too harshly, lest we repeat the same incident of '69, and continue to be 'under' the malays for the next 40 years.

to our malay brothers and sisters, the government have nursed us all and raised us all together, and we love you as fellow malaysians. we have all worked together to build our nation, as one, not as malays or chinese or indians, but as malaysians, brining about a true culturally diverse and unified country, to bring forth our ambitious yet possible vision 2020. will you not support us in our effort, as equals? or must we, the non-malay malaysian generation, continue to 'serve' as 'underlings' , lower class citizens towards you? is it so wrong to ask for tolerance in your part as we have in yours?

malaysians, please, stand united!!!

18/8/86

2008-08-19T14:41:00.002+08:00

went out with jo yesterday. the girl was planning to stay home, on her birthday of all days, so asked her out for lunch. went to michel's passteries and got her a lemon tart. chit chatted a bit about what she wanted to do, open up a cafe of sorts in 4 years time, getting a house, finding a new job etc. then went for a shopping spree at supre. surprisingly cheap sale, she got 7 pieces of clothing for about 22 bucks. not too bad. then she was off to see josh. it was an afternoon not too bad spent.

最近還好嗎 - S.H.E

2008-08-15T07:53:00.003+08:00

     挑一張耶誕卡寫上滿滿祝福的話
    地址寫的是心底你能不能收到它
    天有點冷　風有點大　城市寧靜而喧譁
    這一個冬天我得一個人走回家

  ＊問自己習慣了嗎
    (沒有你每到夜裡回聲變得好大)
    有沒有什麼好方法　(讓寂寞更聽話)

  ＃你最近還好嗎　是不是也在思念裡掙扎
    你說會記得我　還記得嗎
    你最近還好嗎　忙碌嗎累嗎心還會痛嗎
    如果真不得已忘了我　快向快樂出發

    有再多的牽掛都已沒有權利表達
    舊情人給的問候比陌生人還尷尬
    昨天遠了　明天還長　回憶模糊但巨大
    這樣的深夜眼淚要怎樣不流下

    重唱　＊,＃,＃


Literal Translation
     Picking a Christmas card
     Filling it with best wishes
     Addressing it to the heart
     Would you be able to receive it?

     The weather is a bit cold, the wind is a bit strong
     The city is quiet with the noise
     This winter, I am going home alone

    *Asking myself, have I gotten used to it?
     (without you at night, the echoes become very loud)
     Is there a good way
     (to let the loneliness listen to me?)

    #How are you lately?
     Are you struggling on the inside too?
     You said you would remember me, remember?
     How are you lately?
     Are you busy? Tired? Does your heart still hurt?
     If you really need to, just forget me
     Quickly head for happiness

     Even if I have more worries
     I don't have the right to express it
     An ex-lover's greetings, is more awkward than a stranger's
     Yesterday is far, tomorrow is longer
     Memories are blurry yet huge
     This kind of night,how can I stop the tears from flowing?

     * # #

Rhythmic Translation
      If I picked a Christmas card
     Filled it with best wishes
     And sent it to the heart
     Would you receive it?

     The day's cold, the wind's strong
     The city is silenced with its noise
     And this winter, I'm going home alone

    *Have I gotten used to it?
     (To the loud echoes in the lonely night)
     Is there any way
     (to get loneliness to listen?)

    #How are you lately?
     Are you struggling on the inside too?
     You said you would remember me, remember?
     How are you lately?
     Are you busy? Tired? Does your heart still ache?
     If you really need to, just forget me
     And find your own happiness

     Even if I've something to say
     I still can't express it
     Talking to you,
     Is the hardest thing I know

     Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is waiting
     Memories are blurry yet huge
     This kind of night,how can I stop the tears from flowing?

     * # #

spoiler alert: twilight's ending: breaking dawn

2008-08-06T10:28:00.002+08:00

well, finished the book yesterday. it was by far one of the most electrifying book i've ever read in a long long time. it's uniqueness sets it apart from the ever popular harry potter series and even my all time favourite lord of the rings series. this book literally leaves you breathless, and you can really feel the individual emotions of each of the characters as they're going through them, and even feel the unimaginable tension in the air before a fight. let me explain:

the book actually contains 3 sections, or books/chapters, or watchamacallit. the first 'book', is told from bella's perspective, of her wedding preparation to her honeymoon with edward in isla esme, a honeymoon gift from carlisle to esme, to her unexpected pregnancy and deteriorating health after that.

as bella starts to suffer because of her life draining pregnancy and her half immortal vampire half mortal human fetus, the narrative switches to jacob's perspective, and his struggle to find the balance between his obligation to his pack, his love for bella, rivalry with edward and struggle to find his soul mate, which he did in the unexpected places of all: bella's new born child, renesme, nicknamed nessie by jacob (after the loch nest monster, according to bella, and she nearly did kill jake for it), which he nearly wanted to kill after watching bella suffer as such.

after the imprinting (of jacob onto renesme), the narrative switches to bella's perspective again, as she struggle to deal with her new-found abilities as a new-born vampire (which was done, although wantedly, but more so to safe her life after her complicated delivery). she quickly shows how unique she is, not so much in her 'sheilding' ability, but more so on her strength of character, and being able to resists the temptation of human blood so fast. like her mother said, i would agree that she was born decades old, at least as a vampire. and also dealing with her biological father, charlie, finding out about jacob's werewolf heritage, and trying to make him understand that there's something supernatural, but keeping him from guessing of vampires to keep him safe from the volturi.

then, there's finally, the showdown with the volturi. i was kinda afraid that this wouldn't be including in the book, as it was the final one, and we still had to settle bella's wedding and transformation, but it all tied together so nicely. and so, in the end, we all saw a massive influx of good (not necessarily vegetarian) and evil vampires, coming to claim the cullen clan and bella's child as an abomination. again, especially in this final scene, you can really feel the tension rising in the all familiar ground, and the large unity between the werewolves and vampires of the cullen clan.

personally, i would have liked to see the volturi destroyed. that didn't happen, but they were dealt with a sever blow nonetheless and would, i believe, in the future, never trouble the cullen clan again, now that they've seen what the cullen family, not clan nor coven, as someone put it, were capable of. all in all, it settled nicely, with a beautiful happily-ever-after-forever-and-ever ending.

i would really give this book a 10/10, or even 100/10 for being the best book of the twilight series, being better in its unique way than even the harry potter series, and being full of originality not seen since the lotr books (for myself, anyways). it's also full of love and romans for the gals, and tension and action for the guys.

i love this book.

still, joyce, this doesn't mean i forgive you for making be the only guy in the bookstore buying this book on monday ;)

最近還好嗎 - S.H.E

2008-08-05T10:16:00.001+08:00

     挑一張耶誕卡寫上滿滿祝福的話
    地址寫的是心底你能不能收到它
    天有點冷　風有點大　城市寧靜而喧譁
    這一個冬天我得一個人走回家

  ＊問自己習慣了嗎
    沒有你每到夜裡回聲變得好大
    有沒有什麼好方法　讓寂寞更聽話

  ＃你最近還好嗎　是不是也在思念裡掙扎
    你說會記得我　還記得嗎
    你最近還好嗎　忙碌嗎累嗎心還會痛嗎
    如果真不得已忘了我　快向快樂出發

    有再多的牽掛都已沒有權利表達
    舊情人給的問候比陌生人還尷尬
    昨天遠了　明天還長　回憶模糊但巨大
    這樣的深夜眼淚要怎樣不流下

    重唱　＊,＃,＃

twilight's ending....

2008-08-05T10:00:00.002+08:00

well, had an interesting experience yesterday. went down to the city to pick up my pre-ordered copy of the final copy stephanie meyer's twilight saga, breaking dawn. for those of you not in the know, it's a 'narrative prose' story, written in the first person, of bella swan in the tiny, constant cloudy town of forks, where she meets some interesting werewolves and fell in love with an immortal vampire. for the blokes who prefer to watch a movie than read a book, the first movie of the series, twilight, will hit cinemas this december, so keep an eye out for it.

anyway, breaking dawn, i got the copy along with a tiny 10c sized badge (which i just remember is still in my jacket pocket), but, i could almost swear that i was the only guy getting the book, other than another one that was probably dragged along by his gf. anywayz, it was intersting to see such a 'congregation of gals', but unfortunately nearly all of them are high schoolers. stayed back to watch the twilight gathering and quiz night they had for all the twilighters, team jacob, team edward (who would have tot it would be an all gals night, eh?), the volturi, the cold ones etc get together and answer the quiz questions. some i could actually answer off the top of my head, like edward's birth year and the order in which the cullen's family came to be. but others i was completely clueless, like jacob's 2 sisters' names and who of jacob's 2 best friends turn werewolf first (i guess that makes me a team edward).

left early before the quiz finished to 'sink my teeth' into the book, and boy oh boy. it really is 'adult' like meyer said. i literally couldn't breath in nearly 2/3 of the first half of the book. i actually had to put the book down to catch my breath. i won't spoil anything yet till i finish the whole book, which would be either today or tml. somehow, i can picture easyascake literally freaking out and screaming about the book now. (fyi, easy as cake is a literally die-hard-core fan of twilight, and has posted at least 15 vids about her expressions on the siries on youtube. not to mention she would have been an ace in the quizes, no doubt, if she was here instead of cananda, and not travelling somewhere around now.)

that's all

cherio.

心悸

2008-07-30T11:09:00.000+08:00

你給的語言　好的太危險
該怎麼分辨
不要被你抓住心裏的弱點
給我多一點　甜蜜時間
又不想太黏
還不是因為愛我才會善變

你在我的世界飄移
你說我們有沒有默契
你在我的心裏偷襲
我也想要我的愛情勝利
或釦甯O太過愛你

愛情的戰局　不能被你吃定
你就像謎　讓人好奇
如果要更親密　不能被你吃定
沒有辦法　不去愛你
愛情的戰局　不能被你吃定
保持距離　是個難題
我用全心全意　愛上你
你說怎麼辦
是愛情讓人心悸

不敢正視　你的臉　當你眼
神不小心帶電
我已經陷入熱戀
別讓我們　太遙遠　角色該如果去扮演
請你給我概念

loosened and unwise-ed

2008-07-29T09:12:00.003+08:00

went to red square on saturday. 'loosen' up like never before for a long time. last minute call from ian as i was coming back from the city after dinner with hesi. then, minutes just as i got off the bus, ian called, and said, 'yeah, let's go to the club. the girls are joining us, and betty's friend is single' etc or something like that. well, obviously, since i was already like , 5 minutes from home, i head back home, and 10 minutes later am a little more 'dressed' up for the club, and managed to catch the last bus to the city and still managed to beat everyone down at 11.15pm

met up with ian, noel (the usual) along with kristen, betty (the rare) with betty's friend, classmate and fellow m'sian from kl, nicole (the new). saw a friend, joel (sasi's friend), before i met the guys and gals, but couldn't find him in the club later. lining up, and we met ian's friend, celest and amanda (the unusual) and thus we ended up with 3 guys and 5 chicks. not a bad ratio, as greg would later say.

had 2 cruisers (my fav), a tequila shot (first time in a couple of years), and a midori (as intro-ed by amanda). dance and loosen up quite a bit more than usual to the point where every 10 minutes or so for the next 4, 5 hours, everyone was like asking me 'are you alright?', 'are you high?' etc to the point that it was so irritating that it was amusing. i guess i was high, tho i didn't admit it at that time, but for some reason my mind was rather sharp still. anywayz, i'm sure most drunks would say the same thing. well, difference was that i didn't drive at all, so that was good. treated the gals to some drinks and sat back to enjoy the show with c-n-n :P ah well, first come first serve, i suppose. i would have liked to get some action with that particular chick as well, but wat the heck ;).

at the close of the night (or rather, morn), we went to pancake house for some breakie/dessert and went our separate ways.

the next day we would all say that it was fun, interesting etc but ian would caution not to make it a habit. me, i dunno. for some reason, i actually enjoyed it to the point of actually not minding to do it again. heck, we'll see.

spent sunday with the usual guys and betts and kristen, tho kristen left early to study. and talked to noel about buying his car, since he's leaving back to sg in a couple of weeks. am really tempted to buy it, but for some reason...... yeesh, another battle between logic and desire. so far, logic was winning buy a scalre of 80% on sunday night, but it has sorta dropped to 65% now. the battle is ongoing.

come monday, was still a little dehydrated from the alcohol, and went to see the dentist to get my remaining 2 wisdom tooth out. there was a little delay, so my appointment was pushed back a good hour or so, and come that time, there were DRILL problems and, as usual, the 'sleeping on the nerve' problem'. with a semi- to fully dehydrated mouth, walked out of the dentistry with a 'traumatized' lip (think, half a joker smile) and 2 wisdom tooth (1 in pieces) in my pocket, got back home and now, thankfully, i've recovered from the numbness and there is no apparent nerve damage, which is always good. still, gonna take a while for my cracked and bleeding lips to heal.

oh, and ian has mentioned to posting saturdays pic, especially the one of me 'owned', on facebook. heck care lah. dreadding it but i'm sure i'll be amused as well.

05/07/2009

2008-06-27T08:34:00.000+08:00

something will happen on that date

the person will get sick for 2 months then die

a previous life

2008-06-23T08:45:00.002+08:00

found them yesterday, so i thought i would put them here and get rid of the pieces of paper.

the following 'poems', followed by a few messages, are in memory of another man who wrote them with these same 2 hands, the girl that inspired them, the memory they shared, and the love of a sister

__________________________

I stood there and watched
The very sea that parts us
I never stop counting
The time that keeps us apart

I dreamt a dream last night
And saw you suffering
How I wish to be there
And wash away your pain

Are you truly suffering as well
From the pain of love and loneliness
'Cause my soul needs your company
To help ease the pain

Oh, when will I see you again,
When will the day become the year
When I can embrace you in my arms again
As you caress me with your kisses

I will now walk through the sands of time
Its long, never-ending road,
With our love in my heart,
I will walk 'till I find you again

________________________________

Who are you, really?
A girl who claims to be an angle,
Yet acts like the devil,
Tormenting my soul day and night.

How did you break through
The steel layers of my shell
Straight to my heart
Like a hot knife through butter?

Where did you come from
This realm of eternal beauty?
And will you take me there
So I can spend forever with you?

When I first saw you
I felt so hot I melted
For I know I've met my match
In more ways than one

Why is it I feel so loved
Through the pain you caused me
As your hands find my waist
And your words pierce my soul

What have I done, oh dear Lord
To deserve such a blessing,
And please tell me what more can I do
To make it everlasting.....
_____________________________________

Seasons change but time cherished remains the same......

To all those time we shared, you'll always be in my heart.....

Parting is such sweet sorrow...... ~ William Shakespeare

Love is always patient and kind. It is never jealous. Love is never boastful or conceited. It is never rude or selfish. It does not take offense and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people's sins, but delights in the truth. It is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.

lost dreams......

2008-06-13T11:41:00.001+08:00

just wondering if it was all a dream............ will it ever happen again?

farewells and endings

2008-06-13T10:44:00.002+08:00

was just reading some of my old entries and i've just realized how much i've changed, for better and, i would say mostly, for worst, since i first started blogging. read an old entry of mine on hwee bin's farewell, and well, it wasn't the last time i saw her, as i stated on that entry. i saw her again as she came back doing her masters (not sure if i've mentioned that) but anyways, our relationship were never as close as it was in the beginning. heard she was in brisbane now, but that's it.

and speaking of farewells, well, i've said farewells to too many people already. most recently, i think like 2 saturdays ago, said farewell to sasi. it was a chance meeting. was hopping a bus to get down to city, and met sasi, joel and miriam on the same bus. apparently she was having a farewell dinner that night, and she's going back to s'pore to continue her studies. well, needless to say, i just jumped right at it, last minute or not. dinner with the guys, well, sorry, but i would still catch them next week.

chatted with miriam on the bus. she's a sweet aussie gal, from syndey, or melbourne, i think. anywayz, she was cool. and *blushingly* met her dad. lolz, awkward moment there, considering that i've only met miriam on 2 occasions, and the 3rd was that sat night.

met a lot of indian friends i know and don't know at the dinner, obviously. one who left quite an impression was the self-introduce, motor-shrieker shysha. reminds me a lot of someone i knew.....

things change, people change. and i guess many things must come to an end. i can't say i will miss sasi, or any of my old friends/acquaintances. i had fun with them all. i loved them all. but sometimes............................

well, one chapter ends. next chapter? i think i won't start it yet. not sure if i even want it to......

3rd person? or 4th? or umteenth?

2008-06-12T07:20:00.000+08:00

other man and other girl? yeesh.

greatest fear? or frustration?

2008-06-09T08:50:00.002+08:00

i think i've always thought that my greatest fear was spiders. a lot of my frens would agree. but then, if i do have spider-phobia, why am i still strong enough to squash any spiders that i see, just to get rid of that 'yuck' feeling, whilst others can't?

i would say recklessness. whilst others may be scared for themselves, i do not think i am such. i do not think that i'm a kind of person that would be scared of loosing my life, or death. well at least not anymore.

yet today, i've felt another kind of fear. a kind of fear that i've thought i was very familiar with, yet it came to me today with such strength and brutality that i just can't bear it anymore: the fear of letting anyone down.

sigh

another girl's perspective

2008-06-09T08:45:00.002+08:00

she wants me to call her. i've made too many assumptions. i should talk to her. she wouldn't have done what i did

should i call her? does she still want to talk to me at all? can i do it? am i strong enough?

update on previous entry, 02-06-2008

2008-06-03T09:59:00.002+08:00

well, am making an update to the said entry a little sooner than expected.

was just sitting down listening to tv while multitasking some other stuffs yesterday, when this documentary about a boy came up. this boy is part of a church/group, called the jesus christians, i think. apparently, this group, and that boy in particular, have been moved after watching a movie called 'give some love' (?) which was talking about how a simple person's life can be saved just by having a kidney donated.

so, this boy after joining the group decided to give his kidney to someone. one whom he've never met. because of legal complications, he left aussie to find a doc in cananda that will be willing to do the transplant. after some hefty debate and intervention from his mother/parents, the hospital in cananda decided not to do the surgery again. no public reason was given, but there were some concerns that the boy were being pressured by the 'group', and/or the negative publicity the operation would bring.

the next willing hospital was in chile, i think. and this time, after 'big arguments' with his family, he decided to still go ahead with the surgery at that country. the doctor in charge felt that the parents should be there, and hence invited them to come over without the donors knowledge/consent. they came, but are supporting this time around.

the reason for his dedication? god, the teachings of jesus etc on how we must love and be kind to our neighbor, and i think he mentioned about 'not being burdened by earthly treasures'. (memory could be referring back to lotr)

i wonder if there was a way to talk to death, and ask him to take the boy's life instead of the recipient, would anyone do it? would anyone agree to it? well, maybe not even that far. how about a left-hander asking the left hand from a right hander? or a man without legs asking for just a leg from a world class sprinter? a lung? an eye?

just some thought. and, in my thoughts, the choices we make are not only defined by these few actions. think about the choices we made a month ago, a year ago, 10 years ago, about something, someone. we may have had the chance to take back that choice, but, just as the boy deciding to give away his kidney, after a time, that option no longer exists. you may have wished that you jumped over a bridge as a kid when you didn't, but you can't go back as an adult to do it again. you may have wished you've said something, or not say something, to someone you love, but after a year, that choice is gone. you can never go back.

ilnsl4sodunrtviiegiemwveluiietlaslru

God

2008-06-02T15:03:00.002+08:00

some people think that god is a benevolent being who fathered us all in his image, and is responsible for all things on this earth. this almighty being created us to live in this life, this earth, and when our physical body decays, we will return to either live with him, or to abide by his judgement on weather to enter heaven or hell.

others believe that there is no such almighty being. these people have given conclusive proof that the exsitence of the human race, our existance, is nothing but a mere coincidence that happened because a bunch of chemicals just hapened to be at the right place under the right conditions.

it all boils down to an argue of faith and logic.

let's ask another question: what is our purpose in life, assuming that there is a god. why did he create us, let us live for a short time in this world only to be called back to be as his side, or the devils', when our time is up? some would say that this is to enrich our life. to take with us not any material things, but the immaterial experiences of joy, pain, sorrow, love etc into the afterlife for whatever purposes.

a fictional side of me would like to take tolkein as my bible (:P) and believe that as we end our lives, we will all gather at the halls of awaiting, where we will meet perhaps the dwarfs and eventually the elves whom we will one day join forces against melkor the accursed. :p

but if we are to take the 2nd case, then no body did create us, and we are merely a being that were 'created' with no purposes, save those that we take upon for ourselves. we answer to no one, and our actions are affected only by our choices.

there is another thing that i do believe, almost with all my heart. is that be there god or no, we are forever responsible for our actions or inactions, that we are, at the end of the day, always accountable for what we've done. weather to a higher being or to future generations, is merely conjucture, and i leave that choice to you, reader.

just a thought:
what if you believe in neither. a person who has no faith and no purpose in life. what is his point of living? why was he bought into the world? what if this person doesn't not believe in god or in evolution? neither logic or faith?

well, musings for another day.

just something off the top of my head

2008-05-12T09:31:00.001+08:00

his immortal race/species/type/kind/clan has only existed for 500 years (or so), but he's already 338 years old. his race is prone to inbreeding, blood lust, infighting and cannibalism (?) but he has survived it all. he is *blank* the oldest (last?) and strongest of his kind.

here's a take on the above opening as an opening narrative:

he is *blank*. he is a/an *blank*, an immortal warrior race that has only come into existence 500 years ago. in those 500 years, he has survived his clan/race's insatiable blood lust and violence. he is the strongest of them all.

double edged sword

2008-05-06T10:27:00.000+08:00

there's an old saying by the chinese philosipher sun tzi: when you have conquered and cornered your enemy, you always make sure you (subtlely) give them a chance of escape because you never know how dangerous some ppl become when you have cornered them because then they have ntg to loose.

i believe that the same thing is with love. with love, when you're in love, you can find the most wondrous, joyful things in life. you discover things that you've never thought of before, find that you can do things that you thought were beyond your capabilities. you dare to hope, to dream, to live, because you know that there's someone there by your side.

however, once lost, it's sometimes hard to regain one self. for some ppl, they may just heal and recover and go back to square one, being the person they were before they were attached, or even being better than they were before, having experienced what it is like to love.

but there are other kinds of ppl, ppl who do not heal as easily. once they're hurt, broken, they do get scarred for life. these ppl are like the cornered beasts, with ntg to loose, and thus capable of just about anything.

so, is love a good, wondrous thing? i believe so. but is it also a dangerous tool? a double edged sword? yes, that is also true.

in the end, as it always has been, it's up to a person's choice as to how to 'feel' or 'suffer' from it.

中國話 - S.H.E

2008-04-18T10:19:00.001+08:00

     扁擔寬　板凳長　扁擔想綁在板凳上 (x2)

    倫敦瑪莉蓮　買了旗袍送媽媽
    莫斯科的夫司基　愛上牛肉麵疙瘩
    各種顏色的皮膚　各種顏色的頭髮
    嘴裡唸的說的開始流行中國話

  ＊多少年我們苦練英文發音和文法
    這幾年換他們捲著舌頭學平上去入的變化
    平平仄仄平平仄　好聰明的中國人
    好優美的中國話

    扁擔寬　板凳長　扁擔想綁在板凳上
    板凳不讓扁擔綁在板凳上
    扁擔偏要綁在板凳上
    板凳偏偏不讓扁擔綁在那板凳上
    到底扁擔寬還是板凳長

    哥哥弟弟坡前坐　坡上臥著一隻鵝
    坡下流著一條河　哥哥說　寬寬的河
    弟弟說　白白的鵝
    鵝要過河　河要渡鵝
    不知是那鵝過河　還是河渡鵝

  ＃全世界都在學中國話
    孔夫子的話　越來越國際化
    全世界都在講中國話
    我們說的話　讓世界都認真聽話

    紐約蘇珊娜　開了間禪風LOUNGE BAR
    柏林來的沃夫岡　拿胡琴配著電吉他
    各種顏色的皮膚　各種顏色的頭髮
    嘴裡唸的說的開始流行中國話

    重唱　＊

    有個小孩叫小杜　上街打醋又買布
    買了布　打了醋　回頭看見鷹抓兔
    放下布　擱下醋　上前去追鷹和兔
    飛了鷹　跑了兔　灑了醋　濕了布

    嘴說腿　腿說嘴　嘴說腿　愛跑腿
    腿說嘴　愛賣嘴　光動嘴　不動腿
    光動腿　不動嘴　不如不長腿和嘴
    到底是那嘴說腿　還是腿說嘴

    重唱　＃,＃,＃

more and more

2008-04-10T09:23:00.003+08:00

several dreams in the past couple of days. one a few days ago, and at least 2, maybe more, last night.

2 days ago:
2 kids (me? and someone else?) were going about looking for some hidden treasure at their family/grandmother's home. they were running all over the place, looking for whatever the 'treasure' could be. Then, they were in an old storage room of sorts. where the grandmother gave them the first clue. Don't remember much of the scene, but i think it's kinda like an antique that gave a vector/direction to the treasure. something like out of an indiana jones movie.

then the kids went about the direction for a while. then one of them remembered a saying about the dragon and the phoenix, how they were meant to be related to the treasure. then upon looking towards the entrance to their ancestral honour room (i imagined it to be like mine, but it does not have the 2 writings i'm going to mention now), they, or one of them, noticed the 2 writtings covering both sides of the old doorway, 2 old chinese sayings that both start with 'dragon' and 'phoenix' respectively.

the middle point of those 2 pillar of words became the starting point of the next vector. (like something out of 6 sacred stones) then, they have the x,y vector, and hence the final position of the 'treasure' which is not far off. it's in the midst of a very old junk room, full of useless pieces of furniture (again, i imagined it like mine) and they dug. they found 2 book like things. 1 is an actual book, which reminded me of the sherlock holmes book i'm currently reading, published in 1924. but that book they had was much slimmer, and when they opened it, there was a message written in the first page for the person who finds it. black ink, neat, curvy writing, and signed 'hwei leong ong' . the 2 kids then showed it to their grandmother (i presume it's their grandmother), and somehow i got the feeling that those 2 books are worth much more than they seem, at least maybe to the family.

the next few dreams, one which is quite vivid is this:
2 'brother's spending time in an arcade. their usual, favourite game (i related to initial d in this case) was taken over by someone else, so they splitted up, each going about their business. the guy my 'dream' followed played a 2D arcade style fighting game, one which i myself would play. i don't get this dream other than that it represents my likings in terms of arcade games, and i have the structure/lay out of the place quite solid, tho i'm sure i haven't seen it before. ok, starting from the entrance, there is a narrow walk, both sides with games. the narrow walk only goes about 4-6 steps before it starts to curve into 3 hairpins, separated by the same walk length. after the 3rd hairpin, the ID game is about 6-8 steps to the left. then the space opens up to a large area filled with more games. with the ID game to my right, the fighting game is about to my 12.30, 1 o'clock, and there's a para para game approximately 11 o'clock.many other games around but nothing to fill the middle empty space, no table games etc.

another dream is that this guy is hugging his gf with his back to the wall in front of the counter of a rather posh restaurant. they weren't being overly self absorbed (the guy just gave her a quick kiss) but one of the waiters from over the counter told them to behave just before he went and walked pass. i think the couple left after that.

in another dream, group of ppl in a large open field frammed by trees. reminds me of my high school's field. different groups of ppl having good fun under the bright but only moderately warm sun, and this (same?) couple hugging and rolling about on the grass. there was a little more detail on the games but i think it got too confusing for me.

lonely

2008-04-07T09:41:00.000+08:00

* I'm lonely lonely lonely
I’m lonely lonely in my life
I’m lonely lonely lonely
God help me help me to survive

Rap 1 :
Remember the time you left me all alone
Feeling sad in bed
I was hiding in my zone
All I could do was to wait for your date But it was running late Suddenly, I wanted something sweet like candy So I grab some cranberry put it in a blender Half a minute later I got myself one big sweet Cranberry milkshake with my shake in my hand watching TV like an old man My dog came along starts singing me his new song woof, woof, woof WHAT!
you want a sip of my shake / NO! NO!
though I love you so
but I can't give you everything you ask me to OH! Now I know I just can't get what I really want also

Repeat *

有了你等於單身
越近人越高深
似處太空裡沒法做人

你兩臂箍得很緊
但像人造商品
你與我她也沒法分

That’s why I’m lonely lonely lonely
I’m so lonely lonely lonely
I’m so lonely lonely in my life
Hey Yeah Yeah

Rap 2 :
and Jeremy
(my dog's name)
spinning like crazy
kept on barking barking for sympathy
Hey! That's my shake
don't you understand you make me sick
No, I should calm down
cos I know what goes around comes around there's nothing I can do I don't have a clue why U have to make me so blue.
"all by myself"
that's what I'm hearing now
but U used to sing me something like
"I can't live without U"
you lied,
should I cry
or should I get some night life
I should move to a beat
so I won't feel so deep
yeah Jeremy
why don't U come and have a zip

Repeat *

愛上你很孤單
就像呆站車站
我怕我等到就要企爛
吻過你的孤單
就像濃霧空泛
你去了想法便轉彎

即使我已與你一起
苦過我不識你
我有我擁有自己天與地
總可天天上機
不必怕碰到你
再次去緊你是否很美

Repeat *

Get Out

2008-04-07T09:39:00.001+08:00

do......
我也算見慣世界我不蠢
沒外遇實在令人沒法信
我愛你卻更愛鍚我青春
極硬淨道別亦能忍痛

get out  get out get out get out of my life get out get out get
out of my life get out  get out get out of my life

Tick tock, oh Tick Tick tock　我等緊你
準備　大家分飛 自己知機
你個性博愛卻也算卑鄙　
玩具玩謝後便來拋棄

get out  get out get out get out of my life get out get out get
out of my life get out  get out get out of my life

should I cry災劫早該結束　should I cry敢講我心不痛
should I cry解脫應該慶祝　I won't cry想跟你搞歡送

Tick tock, oh Tick Tick tock　我想跟你
剖白　鬧交都可 絕交都可
你愛上過我也有過花火　
但事後利用別人傷我

get out  get out get out get out of my life get out get out get
out of my life get out  get out get out of my life

should I cry分開堪稱有福　should I cry只貪你的英俊
should I cry玩過應該滿足　I won't cry
喜歡你 那些好感 不可信
為何你這樣壞　
自問硬朗走得夠快I won't cry, baby I won't cry
cry, cry, I won't cry

波斯貓 - S.H.E

2008-04-01T10:07:00.001+08:00

     眼瞇成一條線　輕輕踮著腳尖
    屋頂上的瓦片是他的琴鍵
    一步步　一點點　遊走在愛情邊緣

    想出現就出現　想不見就不見
    想睡就睡一天不理任何人
    不回電　不上線　不會和任何人爭辯

  ＊愛上他危險危險　不愛他思念思念
    他總是若即若離若隱若現
    有時候沈默冰冷　有時候溫柔靦腆
    任誰都不會是他愛情的主人

  ＃靠近時纏綿纏綿　離開時敷衍敷衍
     他總是忽熱忽冷忽近忽遠
     他可以一成不變　也可以瞬息萬變
     但是他不會為你做任何改變

  ＋波斯貓瞇著他的雙眼
    波斯貓踮著他的腳尖
    波斯貓守著他的愛戀
    一轉眼卻又看不見

    什麼他都看見　什麼都沒看見
    無謂的聳聳肩是他的消遣
    左一遍　右一遍　等待著他的有情人

    重唱　＊,＃,＋

    一轉眼看不見

so so

2008-03-31T08:26:00.001+08:00

(Vivian)
I’m feelin real good and da mood is right..
Can you be the one to hold me baby thru da night

(Nicky)
Give u all u need guarantee you dat.
always gonna be derr for you girl.
Believe dat I been waitin fo dis moment fo quite sometime,
U hot U fly baby U’z a dime
If you feelin on me baby just say so.
Aint gonna give you love dat be just SOSO

Just Do It 繼續努力 Boy
女孩對於全心全意真心真意
幾乎沒有抵抗力
Dont’t U Love Me 趕快表白自己
我已把所有的秘訣告訴你你還在等什麼?

情話你不能隨便說說
付出你不能隨便做做
你如果決定了要狠狠愛我
表現就不能隨便So So
愛情不能盲目隨便走走
對的人不能隨便選個某某
如果你想用溫柔前來征服我
你的愛就別只是So So

(Nicky)
Right here in my arms is where you should be.
whatever da need mami yes indeed
Aint no holdin back tryin give you all of me,
Givin you a lot mo den L.O.V.E.
Aint tryin to give you love dats SO-SO,
If you feelin me mami lets GO-O
Cuz lm ready to give u baby all I got.
100 percent n da lovin don’t stop…..

玫瑰是會枯萎的糖果是會融化的
美好的愛不能虛度 Oh Yeah Oh Yeah
愛是可以永遠的卻是不能馬虎的
百分百才會有幸福 Oh Yeah Oh Yeah

(Nicky)
I Say Baby過來給我抱抱
I Say Baby過來給我抱抱
You Cute, You Hot, You makin all dem boys drop to derr knees,
beggin please Makin all derr hearts stop……
I Say Baby過來給我抱抱
I Say Baby過來給我抱抱
All I wanna do is just be yo man

snipers

2008-03-31T08:14:00.002+08:00

a guardian strolls around an old, beaten down room, with a small group of ppl crouching down. then a person from the group (me?) notices something in the rooftop of the (taller?) building opposite. snipers. i pointed out to the guardian (or hostage taker?) that there were 'a couple' of snipers there. and then he says 'yeah, all 9 of them'. (i?) made a comment 'talk about 9 lives'

the view then changes to a rising sky view of the snipers, standing in a 3 x 3 formation.

then the view changes from to another looking out a smaller building that looks like central market (where 'i' am?) and there was a small, lithe figure running across the top of the building (trying to get in? but why?)

extension:
no sense if all 9 figures are snipers. maybe shape shooters armed with something similar. also, the figure who was running into the building, is he friend or foe. and i'm pretty sure someone else in the building, not the snipers/shooters/guards, saw him.

a conversation

2008-03-11T08:41:00.002+09:00

she wore a black-ish miniskirt and a blue bare-shouldered shirt

she: i love your eyes. when you look at me like this, when you smile. i really love it. but your other eyes.......they scare me

I: .......

another conversation (we sitting down)

I: (heh i am done with you tiv )
she: yes...

then she takes my hand.........

the mask

2008-03-06T01:41:00.002+09:00

i smile
without joy

i laugh
with tears of sorrow

i work
without passion

i think
with rage

and i live
without a soul

2008-03-06T01:33:00.002+09:00

i am alone
there is love
but there is greater anger
and hate

i am alone
there is sorrow
but more pity
and bitterness

i am alone
there are memories
but more obligations
that overshadow the joys they bring

i am alone
the path i am on
no one else is
'cuz that's the way it is

i am alone
i will walk this path
and see the side lights
full of joy

i am alone
but i can't stay overlong
and enjoy the light
'cuz the darkness beckons

i am alone
i walk in the darkness
towards the shadows
and i am afraid

i am alone....................

another life

2008-03-06T01:29:00.002+09:00

in another life,
i would be lying under the sun,
making pictures of the clouds
and listening to the music of the wind

in another life,
i would be walking down the beach
with someone by my side
hand in hand

in another life
i would be racing
and i would look back
waiting for the world to catch up

in another life
the past would make me nostalgic
fill me with love and hope
to seek more happiness out there

but that's another,
and this is my life
and now, more than ever
i'm alone..........

something somewhat related

2008-01-30T07:33:00.000+09:00

2 nights ago: dreamt of R.T and the twins. R.T was fighting one of the twins, Elv (i think). They were both out of uniform, but R.T was looking, rather sexy, i think. :$ Met the twins, they said they continued tkd but at somewhere else.

new 1st time

2007-12-18T09:27:00.000+09:00

online with Gem19 last night, sorta

prevously

2007-12-05T11:57:00.000+09:00

before sensei, there was another and i was not in it at all. the main guy was involved all of a sudden and unexpectedly with a gal, but it was mostly physical. and they did not try to hide it to anyone and did/express it publicly (the physics, not their relationship). still, felt like me.......

the sensei....

2007-12-05T11:53:00.000+09:00

the nitto ryu (not nitto denko) sensei asked: 'was it all worth it? learning in such a diversified way'. my immediate response was 'yes'. he showed me that my pressure point is my body (on my liver). i woke up, remembering something else: was SHE worth it? was IT worth it? ............ yes. remembered that even tho it was the liver, somehow it felt more like the heart that was my pressure point. and i've lost strength. i've definitely lost strength. the sensei showed me that much. but who was he? nitto ryu is, from what i've gathered, a type of advance kendo. it should be noted that while nitto ryu is kendo, i recalled no kendo arts shown or any shinai used, only fists. mostly fists, and some kicks from my parts.

nightmare

2007-11-16T08:45:00.000+09:00

jimmy goon and foong siew ee? garh pu-tui brrrrrr

half sister!?!?

2007-11-07T09:44:00.000+09:00

have a half sister, discovered while on a mission, introduced to a very close friend.

blurred

2007-10-24T12:17:00.001+08:00

had another one today. can't remember much, but it appeared more personal and.....current ie related to me here and now, tho not exactly what i'm going tru.

Another one......

2007-10-03T12:17:00.000+08:00

inside a 'public' area, sunny day (near beach??) probably in a beach side restaurant or something. i think i was with some people, probably having lunch or something. then some authority figures, like police but i doubt they were police, were looking for someone, i think it was me.

some of my friends were outside the restaurant when these police came, but the police weren't concerned with anyone else, just me, but they didn't seem to know what i looked like. i think with the help of a cat, i managed to get out of the restaurant without the police realizing it

when i got out, for some reason i went back to the restaurant. i think it was the 'look' or something the cat did. i just kinda remember the cat like, the eyes popped out. or something, then the next instance it became normal again (thinking back to an episode of House MD).

i went back to the restaurant, the police saw me, but didn't seem to recognize me. asked me to show my hands, i did, palms down. they said palms up, but i closed my fingers together, i think i was trying to conseal the mole on my left ring finger. they saw a mole, but it's on my left index finger.

they read it, and something like they said i stole some stuffs (presumably by reading the mole on my left index finger) but i'm not the one they're after. then they let me go and i regathered with my friends, laughing at them. now i know in real life i don't have a mole on my left index finger, so i think it's probably a fake i implanted. i think i wanted the police to see my left index and more concerned with hiding my left ring anywayz.

Remembrance

2007-10-03T12:15:00.000+08:00

How gentle is the rain
That falls softly on the meadow
Birds high up in the trees
Serenade the clouds with their melody
Oh! See there beyond the hills
The bright colors of the rainbow
Some magic from above
Made this day for us
Just to fall in love
You hold me in your arms
And say once again you love me
And if your love is true
Everything will be just as wonderful
Now, I belong to you
From this day until forever
Just love me tenderly
And I'll give to you
Every part of me
Oh! Don't ever make me cry
Through long lonely nights without love
Be always true to me
Keep this day in your heart eternally
You hold me in your arms
And say once again you love me
And if your love is true
Everything will be just as wonderful

Goodbye

2007-10-03T12:14:00.001+08:00

Kimochi Wa Tsutawaru (Expressing My Feelings--Feelings Deep Inside)

* Check it up, Check it up
Just wanna get your love
Check it up, Check it up
Can't you imagine?
Check it up Check it up
Just wanna get you
Just wanna get your love

I'm here, Try me baby

Kaeru sora o nakushite tobu kotoritachi o
Can't you imagine?
Sore wa kinou made no watashi lonesome days

Kokoro ni kagi kake kakushita kimochi
Anata ni deaete deguchi sagashiteru

** Kimochi wa tsutawaru kanarazu todoiteku
Saegiru mono nado tobikoete kanarazu
Kimochi wa tsutawaru kibou o oikakete
Namida wa nagareru no Can't you imagine it?

* REPEAT

Miss you, Try me baby

Hito to hito o tsunaide furu nagareboshi o
Can't you imagine?
Tsuyoi toki mo yowai toki mo suki da yo

Kyuujuu kyuu tsubu koboreta namida
Saigo no hitotsubu de hiraku door ga aru

Kimochi wa tsutawaru gokai wa hodoketeku
Sono toki itami o yurushiau dareka ga
Anata o sagashite anata wo matte iru
Sore wa watashi na no? Can't you imagine?

Baby, ring my bell sweet watashi no mori ni
Baby, ring my bell sweet anata no oka ni
Baby, ring my bell sweet ano toki hibiita
Baby, Baby ring my bell kane no ne wa kienai

** REPEAT

================================================================

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

Kimochi Wa Tsutawaru (Expressing My Feelings--Feelings Deep Inside)

Check it up~ Check it up I just wanna get your love
Check it up~ check it up~ can't you imagine
Check it up~ check it up you just wanna get your love
I'm here try me baby

A wingless bird will never ever soar the sky
Sound's just like our love can't you imagine?
Having no mind or soul is like a broken heart
Lonesome days~

Our memories, have now been darkened
This love chain has met the end
Tears in my eyes, that won't go away
I see no point in living on.

* Expressing my feelings to you
But you don't seem to be caring for it
Please baby give me a chance, what did I do wrong?
Comeback to me
Feelings deep inside just won't go away from me that easily
please don't leave me, I want to just hold you in my arms

Check it up~ Check it up I just wanna get your love
Check it up~ check it up~ can't you imagine
Check it up~ check it up you just wanna get your love
Miss you try me baby

I look at you everytime, but you turn away
We've always had strong love can't you imagine?
Every card I got from you, is now worth nothing
Lonesome heart~

You never gave 100%, of your heart to me at all
But comeback to me, I want you back
I wanna feel your warmth again

Expressing my feelings to you
just thinking of you, it hurts my heart
When we meet you ignore me and just walk away
You were my faith
Feelings deep inside are always keeping me in an endless darkness
Make my heart jump with joy so comeback to me love

Baby ring my bell sweet, send me a key to your love
Baby ring my bell sweet, inside a love from a card
Baby ring my bell sweet, from the light of the bright sun
Baby baby ring my bell, the bell won't ring or stop the pain

repeat *

sorrow

2007-09-25T14:54:00.001+08:00

Girl you know I miss you so
I didn't know you had to go
You've had enough of our distance baby
Before I had the chance to say
I'm staying with you
For the rest of my life Oh Oh~

Don't keep telling me these words
You don't know how much it hurts Woo
And I'll promise you eternity
If you promise me your stay
But now it's too late
I'm no longer the man that I was

I will go on without her
Like a fool who's too sure
I'm like a bird who's lost her wing
A fire without its flame
I don't know how to be strong
When my love has to move on
I am a song without a soul
Now that she's gone
What's left of us is this song

Don't keep telling me these words Oh no
You don't know how much it hurts Woo
And I'll promise you eternity
If you promise me your stay
But now it's too late
I'm no longer the man that I was Wu~

I will go on without her Wu~
Like a fool who's too sure
I'm like a bird who's lost her wing
A fire without its flame
I don't know how to be strong
When my love has to move on
I am a song without a soul
Now that she's gone
What's left of us is this song Woo
Oh yeah I know I don't know
Baby I am know I'am a foul

And I will go on without her
Like a fool who's too sure
I'm like a bird who's lost her wing
A fire without its flame
I don't know how to be strong
When my love has to move on
I am a song without a soul
Now that she's gone
What's left of us is this song

This is our song without a soul
Now that you're gone
What's left of us in this song

Strangness......

2007-04-30T10:03:00.000+08:00

Well, i am in a bit of a hurry today so i will make this post quick. about a day after my last post about that weird dream, i had another weird dream, nay, make that dreams. that's right, in the plural. 3 dreams this time, although somehow they feel familiar but i am still not too sure if they're related to me at all or not. there could be some similarities with me and the person in the dream, as my gf so kindly pointed out. well, the dreams that i am about to recount now is pretty much fragmented, and i have completely forgotten the order in which they came. for simplicity, i will name who i think as the main person in the dream as 'ben'. but please make note that i have no idea if it's actually the same person in all 3 dreams, or another person altogether. so here goes:

story 1
ben is glaring at a group of people that he knows. and, reluctantly and grudgingly, he begins to introduce to the whole group a man whom they all know, but have not seen in years and years. i cannot tell how many people there were, or how the man looked like, but it appears that that man had a bit of a long hair (about neck-length, i think) and is very fair. however, my next vision is focused all on his eyes. for some reason, i also think of his smile. they are eyes and smile with no secrets, pure joy, and no grief, sorrow or hurt at all. they are the eyes and smile of a man finally at peace. and that man was happy.

story 2
ben is sitting on the floor at a place that i cannot tell, but the 'colour' of the place appears yellowy, in contrast to the 1st story, which i forgot to mention appeared greenish gray blue. ben is sitting with a group of people, with books in their hands. then the group of people (whose faces i can't see) begin to sing, presumably from the book. then this girl starts to sit next to ben, and i think she hugged or cuddled ben, at which ben was annoyed/irritated with.

the next scene is of ben and that girl, walking out of somewhere into somewhere more spacious. ben walks ahead of the girl, with a frown on his face. the girl, i think, noticed his frown and that he is displeased, but didn't say anything. ben then puts his hands on a table of sorts, and bends his head down, closing his eyes, while the girl looks on. then a group of peopl come walking by, and when they see the 2 people, one of the guys asked if that room (he said while pointing) is occupied. ben looks at the room (actually, i think i saw the room through ben's eyes), which showed a partial view of the room. there was a big bed, probably king-sized, with windows. it would appear that this was occurring during the daytime, as i could see sunlight. the view of the room sorta reminds me of my uncle's room in ipoh, which i mostly sleep at. ben, still frowning, then looked at the guy in the face and told him that yes, it is occupied, he and his girlfriend are gonna use it later (i think there were already some belongings in the room). and that's it.

story 3
ben is hanging out in a large area with a group of friends. i don't know who they were either, and i can't make out their faces. the place appears very faint gray silvery, a kinda colour that makes me wanna sleep a bit. they were enjoying themselves when a member of ben's group knocked onto this other big group of people, with that ben's friends belongings falling all over the floor. for some reason, there was a lot of stuffs on the floor, more than what one man could have carried. so i assume that they were in a shopping mall and they trip over a stall as well, and the stall's stuffs, as well as ben's friend's stuffs, were on the floor. everyone got to the floor to help tidy things up, but ben noticed that one of the guys from the other group was nicking away some of the stuffs on the floor. ben then noticed an expensive watch on the floor, and at first impression i thought it belonged to ben's friend but now i am not too sure. thinking/acting fast, ben took the watch first and put his own (i think) cheap watch on the floor for the guy to pick up, and keep.

the scene now changes back to ben and his friend walking down the 'mall' again. however, that group of guy came and pick a fight with ben and his friends (presumably because of the watch. i for one do not know what ben did with the watch, weather he kept it for himself or returned it. i, for one, would have kept it. but i do not know what ben did with it). on behalf of his 'team', ben accepted the challenge. then, the background faded around the 2 groups of people to a large empty area. then, for some reason, the 'bad boys' ran and ben gave chase to them, alone. ben came to the outside, i think, along a dirty, narrow drain and a small fence (more like thin sheets of metals made to be fences). then, he saw weeds growing about the edges of a piece of metal, knowing that that piece was actually a door. then, (as i see through ben's eyes again), ben pushes the door open, but doesn't walk tru. what ben sees at the other side was plush greenary. then, while ben's hand was still at the other side, someone with a stick (i think it was metal, definitely not wood) took a swing at ben's hand. ben got his hand back in time and came face to face with 2 bald guys, 1 average height, the other shorter, about 5 feet. these guys were dressed in something like green camoflouge combat uniforms, with sticks on each hand. then, for some reason, ben has 2 sticks of his own and engaged the 2 in combat. the combat was a blur, but i do remember ben hammered down the stick on the shorter baldy's bald head.

the scene then cuts to a guy (i don't think it's ben) waking up in the same large, empty area. the guy woke up to see some people that he knows but doesn't know. the 'bad guys', i think.

the end for now. really gtg

Strange Dream

2007-04-27T11:11:00.001+08:00

Ok basically this is gonna be another weird entry. It's about this dream that I had a couple of weeks ago that just keeps on playing at the back of my head. It is pretty much fragmented, there was no sound in that dream, no voices or anything, just visual. So, if this is sounding boring already, you can skip this entry.

Basically this dream is NOT about me, but rather about someone I don't know completely. The setting is in a burning house, I think it's more of a village, since i vaguely remember that it was made up almost entirely of wood. And it was on fire.

My vision starts around this narrow corridor. I think I was looking through a large, burning plank that was lying against a wall along that corridor. Then this guy comes in. I don't really remember who he is anymore but my imagination of him was that he looks similar to that red indian officer in the TV series Numbers. He looks around panickingly, as if he was looking for something. Then, he turned immediately to the open 'window' at the far end of the corridor (I think he heard a shout. I don't know, as there was no sound.) He looks out and then the images turns to a burning arrow (I think) that was flying through the sky. The images then turn to (I think) a hill top view. From that view I see a burning 'sign' on green grass. I begin to question now if it's actually a sign burned onto the grass (remiscent of Smallvile) or was it actually the 'red indian' guy's village being burned.

Now this is weird but a few days after that, I noticed in the sky something similar to that 'burning arrow' image I saw. Upon close inspection I noticed that it was a plane doing one of those 'things' but there were several of them this time. Just a thought. Maybe I have been watching too much movies already. :P

Tribute to Steve Irwin

2006-09-04T18:44:00.000+08:00

Well, this is awkward, and certainly is not any ordinary post. I was just having my dinner minutes ago when my housemate told me 'Did you know that crocodile guy died?' At first I thought she was mentioning Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, but then thought 'Nah, no way!' so I was like, 'uh, what?' True enough, as it just happened to be news hour, I flicked on the news channel and there it was, 'Steve Irwin died from cardiac arrest after been stung by a stingray near the heart while fliming an underwater documentary'.

Now, I must say first that I am by no means a big fan of Steve Irwin. In fact, I think I hardly even saw a full episode of his documentary. But one thing about that man that never escaped me was his enthusiasm. The few minutes of his documentaries that I have seen did make me think that 'Wow! This is a guy who really enjoys working with animals'.

In fact, it's his energy that makes wildlife documentaries, and maybe even a little biology, a little interesting to me and make me actually not fall asleep, as I am wont to do during most other documentaries. Not with Steve Irwin. His youthful energy makes describing all those dangerous wildlife, every living creature from his name-sake pets, the crocodiles, to 30 feet long pythons and monsterous sized whales, seem, not say less dangerous, but more magnificent, magical, even. If anything, it's people like him that taught us how to appreciate nature, and to learn and cherish it, to grow with it and respect it.

My heart goes to his family, his wife, and to his children.

Behold, the elf

2006-08-05T00:04:00.000+08:00

My name is

Haldamir Narmolanya

Why oh why does the One Ring elude my grasp? (AUD $500)

Just go to http://www.chriswetherell.com/elf/

back to school

2006-07-29T08:10:00.000+08:00

Well now, I guess to start it off I should really apologize for not updating any of my numerous blogs for the past several months. This year, expectedly and unexpectedly, held many surprises and new things for me to learn.

To start it off, the thing that had me most occupied was not schoolwork, but rather my housemate, Casey, from Murray Bridge, SA, Australia. Well, in short, I would like to take a quote from Ian: if she was a participant in the Big Brother show, she would never even last a night in there. (for all of you who don’t know, Big Brother is a show where ordinary people are left in a house where they have to live together for a period of time while doing some games here and there, and people will be evicted based on viewers’ vote.)

Back to Casey. To start it off, she had a boyfriend, Josh, living with her everyday from the beginning of the year. Well, now that would never have been a problem with any of us (Jeannie, Wei Ping and meself) if she was the friendly housemate she appeared to be at first. Well, it didn’t turn out that way. For starters, she started making demands of us, and was really annoyed because we place a plastic bag to collect rubbish next to the sink, which incidentally happens to be the same area where she places her dirty dishes at. Now I don’t know why but she has the idea that bacteria just jumps out of the plastic bag all the time (a bag which is replaced daily), and she sees no problem leaving her dirty dishes next to the sink for, oh, half a week (3-4 days). Then there started a series of notes posted on the fridge. Threatening notes. She had a problem with the sink and she didn’t talk to any of the other housemate about it. The very first indication that we had that she had a problem with the bin was the ‘threat’ note she posted on the fridge. Then we had a meeting, in which we decided to compromise and work out a solution. But apparently, ‘someone’ was not satisfied with the meeting, and little items here and there have been missing, leftover food placed on other people’s clean dishes etc. I know I don’t have anything to complain about, as all this pranks befell my other housemates Jeanie and Wei Ping. However, I do feel uncomfortable living with such a housemate.

Then the line was crossed when she posted another note on the fridge threatening to call the cops and collect fines and yadda yadda yadda, at which point I involved the Associate Dean of the village. We tried to work things out (again), but, unsurprisingly, to no avail. And thus began the conspiracy meetings with Jeannie, Wei Ping and myself. By the end of the first semester, we basically wanted Casey out of the house. I must say that girls are rather aggressive, and Wei Ping and Jeannie basically wanted to take action all the time, whereas I rather pick a fight where I am guaranteed success and victory. I guess I must have looked like a pacifist a bit. Well, she saved us the trouble and moved out herself. It should also be noted that I was studying for the exam (my very final paper, in fact) in the living room once, and Casey had the bright idea of vacuuming the living area, which nearly drove me nuts. And I wasn’t completely left out of the pranks as one of my weekly TV guides went missing once. It might not be a big deal, but I do need to watch the TV or I will go bonkers. (shh~~~ *calm medication*).

I forgot if I ever mentioned this but, for schoolwork, well, it’s been an uphill struggle (as usual), one that’s one notch up from last year (recall all the competency tests and passing mark of 7/10). Well, for the first half of the year, we have been given lectures which are built upon mathematics that we do not know at all. Trust me, assumed knowledge to play a big deal. Thus, me and most of my friends have been struggling a fair bit coping with 3^rd year mathematics and vectors in 2^nd year. And because of that, I did slack a bit for my maths, which did make me suffer a bit in the end. And professional skills for nanotechnologist (one of my subjects), ah what can I say. Ending up with the same group of people again from the winning team last year (ie my last year’s teammates) was the best. We knew each other’s work habits and we did pretty well in out project report on the development and commercialization of the GPS (global positioning satellite). We worked day and night, everyday on that project (having 3 of the 4 team members living on campus was a big bonus) and we still struggled to get it done on time. We were basically running all the way to the lecture room (which starts at 2pm) after printing out our report (at 1.55pm).

Apart from all that, most of my life this year has been spent it the movies and gaming sessions with the usual gang. Of not were the movies the Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest. I was never really a big fan of the first 2 movies of the Fast and Furious Trilogy, but I must say that Tokyo Drift was a good movie. Unlike the previous movies, it has a solid story line in which racing is the main story, whereas in the previous one they merely made stories and tried to relate it to street racing, which was done very poorly in my opinion. The CGI used were good and of course, the chicks were hot. :P And it lives up to its name with the fantastic drift scenes we get to see in the movie.

Now, if there was any other movie which I have waited so long in anticipation, if you have to be Pirates 2. I was a big fan of the original Pirates and I really hoped that the sequel will not disappoint me, as most sequels tend to do (think Terminator 3, Matrix 2 and 3, etc. etc.). Thankfully, not only was the Pirates 2 sequel entertaining, it also exceeds all my expectations and had me laughing for most of the 3 hours. I haven’t had that much fun in the movies for a while. Right now, I just can’t wait for the next movie coming out May ’07.

Anyway, I have been writing this darn ‘report’ since the beginning of the week, so I might as well mention about my first week back at school. Well, it was ok, ‘cept the fact that I had a 3 hour prac on my very first day back and that I had just gotten the lab manual that morning. Tuesday was relatively slack, but come Wednesday, oh Wednesday. One hour lecture and a 7-hour nano prac. I was dead by the end of the day. I also think that I didn’t live a very good impression on one of my demonstrators colleague that day, but I didn’t really care then. So now I have to really write up a good report on ellipsometry ( I will tell you all what that means after I am done with the report :P). Thursday, so-so at school, but I went to a physics conference in the evening where I met Jamie Quinton, one of the coolest lecturers I know. Of course, it would have been better if I knew just what was going on. The only thing I knew was that 2 PhD students, one of them my demonstrator, were giving a presentation on their thesis and how far they have gotten at it and what is their final aim. After that, my mind was a complete blank. Friday, went all over the uni talking to 2 of my 3 lectures whom I have clashes in the timetable. Am still sorting it out. Later that day, I found out that there are no clashes at all for Intro to BioNano and Electrochem and Kinetics. So I am now taking the weekend to think it through whether I want to change my subjects or not. And of course, I am already loaded with tons of assignments. No surprising there.

That’s it for now. Get back at ‘cha soon.

term break

2006-04-07T08:32:00.000+08:00

well now, it's term break (already). It's been quite an interesting term so far. Let's see. We had 2 classes from Reg Cahill canceled the other day, and today, the last day of school, everything I and a lot of other students have for the whole day has been canceled. Apparently there was some sort of explosion at the Physical Sciences building on the 3rd floor, so they closed down the whole block. Meaning? Quantum phenomena and thermo is canceled, so is the 3 hour electro mag prac this afternoon. And my holidays start one day early!!!! Man, we must have done something right to have already 7 school hours canceled for the first term alone. (or maybe someone up there understood our feelings and dicided to give us a break since we had Reg for the first term? :P)

summer holidays till 23/02006

2006-03-23T10:28:00.000+08:00

Well, hello there. No, I am not dead, thank you. Anyway, been busy for the pass few weeks. Been on the go ever since class started so didn't have a chance to update the blog for a while. Sorry about that.

Anyway, just a brief recount for what I have been doing the pass few months
- back in Penang, had quite an evenful holiday. Was in Kimmy's proton when we were hit by a Nissan Frontier 4WD. Scared the life out of both of us.

- celebrated our second prom, which I must say was a lot nicer than the one before. People really dreassed up for the occasion. And the newspaper match the names of the prom king and queen to the wrond couple, and Kimmy's friend made the paper instead. heh

- got my very much wanted present, which, for security sake I am not telling what.

- also went down to KL to get some things done, again, won't say what

- celebrated CNY and had a fun time, though it's not really as hype as before seeing as all the 'little' girls now (ie my cousins) are all growing up.

- came back to Aussie (to an empty house, actually, though I was not the first one to move in) and had the back-aching finger crushing experience of unpacking my stuffs. I said it before and I will say it again, I really wish to chop up that darn cupboard of my sis into firewood. Also nearly starved to death while was unpacking as well. Was surviving on pieces of cake and munchies for the first 2 days when I came back.

- for all who don't know, I am officially the only rooster in the hen house :P. (ie all 4 of my housemates are females, though technically I am not the only male as one of the girl's bf (casey and Josh) is (illegally) bunking in with her)

- had the bad luck of having the half sane heretical Reg Cahill for 2 of my 6 subjects. As usual, nothing is right in his book and he is giving us 3rd and 4th year maths. Am also boggled up with weekly assignments and experiment.

That's all for now. Will update...............whenever

p/s: also got a little early b'day present from my uncle and sis in the US.
-

Long overdue..................

2005-11-12T08:45:00.000+08:00

Hey there guys! Sorry for not updating for so long. Been bz with loads of stuffs. However, now, despite that I am having exams next week, due to popular demand, I will post this ‘short’ update. :P

Well, as I mentioned in the tagboard, I have been having tests for almost every week for the past 5 weeks or so. This semester, we had like an insane new form of assessment method for both physics and chemistry. Well, for starters, from the beginning of the semester, we are supposed to have tests on these 2 subjects every 2 months or so. And if that’s not enough, we have to get at least 7/10 for ALL tests in order to pass the subject. Meaning that if you even get 6.5/10 out of even one measly tests, it’s bye-bye-bye.

So, chemistry wasn’t too bad, the tests. The big problem came with physics. Our topic lecturer assured us that the questions asked in the tests will be simple and straight to the point. So, for a while, we were somewhat relieved. However, I think our other physics lecturer didn’t understand the meaning of ‘straight to the point’, and the whole class ended up like, suffering out of it. How, you may ask. Well, let’s see. For starters, out of nearly 80 people in the class, not even 3, I believe, were able to finish the questions and check them through (we only have like, 40 minutes to do them). So, for the first tests, no big deal, only about 35 out of 80 people failed (last semester, 30 out of 100 failed the finals). So, most of those people just went to do the first tests again on the semester break, which, of course, didn’t really help much at all (I fail both, FYI). Chemistry, so far so good. Cuz unlike physics, the questions were reasonable and straight to the point and multiple choice.

Second physics tests, it didn’t seem to bother our lecturer that nearly 50 of us failed the tests. By that time, most of the students didn’t even bother attending lectures again. I think we dropped to nearly 20 people per class. By that time, me being me, was getting depressed as I just hate, HATE failure. And because of that, failed my 2nd chemistry test too. That’s when things were REALLY getting annoying. Oh, I just smashed one of my clocks just for the heck of it. It was that bad. Again, no ‘big’ deal. Unfortunately, according to Kimmy, I didn’t smash my Garfield clock which tends to go ‘Wake up! Wake up! Good morning!!!’ when it’s time.

However, that’s when help in the form of Dr. Jamie Quinton, our physics coordinator, arrived. He sorta shared our ‘anguish’ and in our first lecture with him he said ‘I think we are well pass the “frustrated” point to “anguish” and “murder” point’ or something like that. So, from that week onwards, we had been doing all of the first 2 tests again every week and most of us, thankfully, managed to pass. That’s when all the endless nights in front of the TV with a physics book in front of me began. This lasted all the way until last week, which the whole class had our last chance for a crack at the tests and I managed to pass all of them. PHEW~! Also managed to pass all my chem tests. By the end of this semester, Dr Quinton himself said that ‘That’s it. I have done all the best I can. My energy level is below negative now’ Unlike someone else, who just have a tendency to shrug whenever we ask a question, we could actually believe this guy. Oh, and physics attendance have been improving to an all time high at 65 per lecture ever since Dr. Quinton started teaching.

Now, some of you may ask that “So what’s the big deal??” Well, let me tell you that scoring 7/10 for every test is NO big deal at all, my buddy. And as a result of all these physics and chem tests, I ended up with a passing mark of 50/100 (20% from labs, 30% from tests, 10% from online quizzes and 40% from finals) even without having to sit for the final exam. Some other students, I am sure with no luck but more effort than my own, managed to get enough marks to be scaled. That means, they scored a full 50% for their tests and labs marks. Add this sum to their online quizzes (which we can do on our own and score as much as we want), they are almost assured of a HD in the finals.

Now, what would have happened if this was not the case? Well, look at my other friend. He/she scored a total of more than 50% overall, which is a passing mark for ALL papers, but because he/she failed one, just ONE tests, he/she fails the whole subject. He/she is now writing a letter to appeal to the school chancellor. Well, I heard rumours that there’s another tests tomorrow, so, all the best to those who are gonna do it.

Well, hopefully, this will keep the masses happy for a while. Gotta get back to studyin'.

P/S Well, out of all of this, I have really learnt what it really means to 'get back to basics', so to say. It has been a rather 'illuminating' experience, and one I would probably NOT want to go through again, though even if I have to, I am more confident then ever now to prevail.

rock climbing and arm breaking

2005-09-27T11:00:00.000+08:00

Note: this post was written on Monday, Sept 19th, 2005

Well, it's the first week of the holidays and I am already like a game zombie. Been playing Ian's X-box Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic. It is kinda addictive. Trust me, you should try it. Well, not during the exam time, of course. Otherwise, you can forget about studying, ever. Anyway, holidays, despite having Ian's X-box for a whole 2 weeks, starting of like shit, really. Had the make up physics test again on Monday (yesterday). It was, unsurprisingly, crap. Not only did we not have enough time to finish the darn thing, it was definitely harder than the first one. Everybody (honestly) felt the same way as well. But hopefully, this time, can pass lah. I mean, could answer almost all of the questions this time. Except for that darn Bernoulli's principle. Goofed up on that one. Darn it.Right after the test, went to the city and met up with Kay and Sally. Kay kindly invited me to rock climbing during Sherwin's B'day party and I just thought I should give it a try. How hard could it be, right? WRONG. Ok, first of all, none of us knew exactly where the place was. So it took us quite a bit of walking. And I was kinda the navigator cuz I have the bus map and all. However, thanks to yours truly, we got of something like 25 blocks away from the venue. With about 15 minutes left to get there. Now, don't get me wrong, I personally don't mind the walk. Heck, 25 level blocks is way better than the 20 something uphill blocks I have to walk to school everyday. But pai seh the girls lah. Then when we got there, there was quite a crowd. And the instructors were really friendly. There was quite a bit of safeyy instructions to go through, though, obviously. We spent something like half an hour going through it, cuz apparently it will be our friends, not the instructors, who will be belaying us (or rather, be in charge of our safety). Then we started climbing.I don't know about you guys but everytime I heard somebody telling me that their arms hurt because of rock climbing, I just kept on thinking that they were doing it wrong as you were meant to support your weight with your legs, not your arms. How little did I know. First of all, your arms, with your fingers, will always get a better grip than your legs, especially when you are wearing shoes. After only the first climb, I already felt the muscles in my arm tightening. By my third (and I think my last) climb, my whole arm, from fingers up, was completely numb.Another thing I felt that they left out in the safety instructions was 'If you are a first timer, DO NOT look down while you are climbing'. Heaven knows how many cases of vertigo (dizziness, usually caused by fear of heights, which I have in abundance) I had. Well, at least we were able to finish the day off with plenty of pizzas. Yum yum. (And if anyone is wondering, I am personally trying NOT to think about my physics supp). And my arms, specifically my shoulder and chest muscles, are still sore. Still, it's a good experience and can't wait to do it again. Should get the guys out together and try it out someday. This is Jackle, signing off.

farewells and celebrations........

2005-09-06T12:37:00.000+08:00

hey there everybody. it's me again. sorry again for not updating for so long. basically have been getting pissed off and busy with loads of stuffs (non of them related to school work, unfortunately). I know, i know. anyway, to continue from where we left off, i basically failed my physics test. darn frekin' 10% short of the passing mark, which was like, 4 marks out of 40 short. really, really pissed off, man. well, looks like will have to do it again during the holidays. shoot, there it goes, down the drain. bye bye. chem test wasn't too bad, but maths, tho i passed, was an obvious drop from last semester. 2 out of 3, i guess. at least i survived.

last thursday was basically the last that i will probably ever see of hwee bin again. she went back home to s'pore on saturday morning. thankz to the so unreliable mobile techonology, i didn't know the girls were going out for dinner with her that night when i was just there at the same place minutes ago. heck, i even totally forgotten that hwee bin was leaving at all!!! when reanu told me, i was like, 'huh??'. at least we basically got together a bit. took lots of pictures and talked a fair bit and all. took lots of 'family' pictures which i am still hunting down from the gals as usual. even had a short video of sorts. i seriously need to get a camera. for those of you who are wondering why a god bro like me didn't send her off, continue reading pls...............

came friday, and i overslept again, missing my physics lecture. getting so pissed with the topic anyway. don't get me wrong, i love physics. it's just that the lecturer is so darn bloody frustrating. after classes, did a little on my bio poster and then head out again to meet up with ian and sherwin. basically brought some of my hw with me to study at ian's place (something which i didn't really got to do). had dinner with kristen, janice and bryan as an early b'day treat for sherwin, who turns 18 on sunday. later, as usual, play cs and then head off back to ians place. kimmy called. talked a little, then played star wars knights of the old republic, or kotor for short, till the early morning. some time during the night, sherwin asked me if he wanted the 3 of us (ian, sherwin and i) to be god brothers. well, personal reasons aside, i just didn't think i would want that. still, basically supported them lah. and they respected my wishes. so i stood by and watched as sherwin basically conducted the 'ritual' of sorts proclaming him and ian as god brothers. well, as least now ian has a sibling. also talked about little 'itsy bitst' stuffs about certain gals, which, really wasn't much, but best not mentioned here.

woke up saturday afternoon, played kotor again. it's just that darn addictive. then went out with ian to buy some pizzas for sherwin's b'day celebration that night. an old lady saw us with the pizzas and was like saying 'big day tonight?' obviously. :P bit by little bit, the people came. hesi, lim and bittalo came first. bittalo was like, talking so furiously on his hp all the way across the street (reception is bad at ian's house). we were like '.........'. then came johnny, paul, sindhu, debra, scott, ragu, jackie, mary anne, kay, sumi, hiro, kristen and betty. (did i leave anyone out?) oh, and met nince (well, his name is pronounced that way), ian's drifting instructor and, as of that night, hesi, bittalo and my card trick instructor as well. totally and over all nice guy.

being sherwin's b'day party, there was, obviously, no b'day cake but alcohol. :P and, well, i was totally red after only one bottle. erm, actually, it wasn't even a full bottle. :P i know i know, pathetic. even managed to catch up with kay, who invited me to a rock climbing thingy on the 19th, the day of my physics make up test! DAMN physics!!!!!! good time to mention also that some of us, myself included, seemed content playing ian's xbox then hanging out. hmm..... bad. seriously have to NOT do that again.

came midnight and was time for speech! just b4 sherwin even started, phone rang and he went out the house. (careese, obviously). and at the speech, ragu was like, being a pain, cutting in here and there. actually, we all did that, but ragu was like, the one, if you know what i mean.

then came the time for the clubs. unfortunately, we had to fit like, 6 ppl into ians skyline, which was meant to comfortably hold only 3 ppl. ouch. and the alcohol i drank didn't help, either. hesi thought i actually passed out in the car. i didn't, thankfully.

over at red square, the atmosphere was pretty the same. loud music and dance. however, i do have to say that the scenes which i saw there were pretty.................sensual, for lack of a better word for it. saw some stuffs there that could probably drove any other guys into ectasy even without x. didn't really dance at all also, that time, tho ian was like dragging me to the dance floor and me hesi. got back at ian by daring him to dance on stage, which we both did. hey, if u lack tempo and a good dancing partner, you wouldn't want to dance too!

well, after that, it was the same old, go home, kotor, sleep, breakfast, cs, and back home again. and i didn't do a single hw at all. gee, how hard working i am. i mean, hard core playing, i am. :p till next time, dudes.

p/s oh, and also, according to jackie, there were apparently some bad karma flowing around that day. mary ann lost her hp, sindhu or debra lost her purse/wallet. sherwin nearly lost his trademark earing and i nearly lost my usb, which, to tell u, i would really cry if i did. all my work is in there. anyway, i did loose my cd, one which kimmy burned for me. :( and what better way to end the week end by locking the key in the room again........FOR THE 3RD FREAKIN' TIME THIS YEAR!!!. well, maybe by talking to a certain someone.......................

hmm..............

2005-08-31T10:09:00.000+08:00

Isn’t it strange that Princes and Kings

And clowns that caper in sawdust rings,

And common folk like you and me are builders of eternity.

To each is given a bag of tools,

A shapeless mass- Book of rules.

And each must build ere life has flown,

A stumbling block, or a stepping stone!

The clock of life is wound but once

And no man hath the power

To tell just when the hands will stop

At late or early hour.

Now is the only time to own;

Live, Love and toil with a will.

Place no faith in tomorrow, for

The clock may then be still.

Author Unknown

NEVER give up, NEVER say die.........

2005-08-25T08:45:00.001+08:00

Hey there everybody! Sorry for not updating so long lah. Been really, really bz. You will not believe the weeks I have had. I mean, it's just non stop, experiments after experiments and then, all of a sudden, 3 tests this week, 2 of which has an insane passing mark of 70%!! Ah well, that was physics and chem, and I still have another maths test tomorrow. Hopefully, the physics and chem tests went all right. Otherwise, I will have to redo the whole topic again. Like I said, totally insane. Anyway, I think my week, and maybe my month (of August, or what's left of it) had just been made!! Met with one of my favourite Australian authors yesterday, Matthew Reilly. He was down here in Adelaide and was talking (I think) about his new and old books. It started at 7 over at the Marion Cultural Centre. I was actually already at the Marion Shopping Centre by 5.30. Then I noticed that the book store (Dymocks) promoting his visit was, like, closed. So, what to do, wait around and hope they open again lah. Then by 7, totally gave up. But, still, decided to go back to uni and chekc the web. The found that Matthew Reilly was like, over at the MCC which was just a block away from MSC! DAMN! And I was, obviously, already running late. But, what the heck, still went anyway. Got there like, about, an hour late at 8.00 and by then he had already finished his talk and was already signing books. But what the hey. I got in line, last of all (well, for a few minutes, anyway, before more people started showing up) and got all of the 4 books which I had with me signed. Not only that , I also got his lasted novel (released a few weeks ago), ALSO signed, FOR FREE!! (beat that, sis!!). Also walked away with 2 posters, one of his 6 previous novels, and another of his yet-to-be-released 7 Ancient Wonders of the World book, coming out Octber. Okok, I knicked those posters off the wall, but so what?!?! Just sue me for being a total author-celebrity freak.

Which Rurouni Character are you?

2005-08-18T01:13:00.000+08:00

Which Rurouni Kenshin Character Are You?

Test Created By oronoda

OMG~~!

2005-08-03T11:36:00.000+08:00

Haaaih~~~~ Man, feeling so tierd today. Yesterday was probably the worst day I ever had in my entire life!!! Let's see, 9am, bio lecture, 10am maths lecture, which was a stupid lousy video replay which makes no sence at all, 11am was that darn physics lecture with Boris, 12 was chem, followed with physics tute at 1pm with Boris again and in the end, at 2, a 3 hour physics practical. Man, can die dee man. By the time I got back home and had dinner, it was already 7 and I just dropped stone dead on the bed. Also, just one thing. While I was in bio lecture, the lecturer was like, going on and on about how we should have learned blah, blah, blah in bio 1A and high school, I just shook my head and then, both Emma and Valene sitting to my left and right respectively just turned and stared at me. Ahem! Brr~~~!

Also, since I slept at 7, had to wake up at the craziest hour of 2am and couldn't sleep anymore. So, ntg to do but to stay awake and watch the sunrise and go to lectures again half asleep. Also today and tommorow again have another prac. And it will be like this every 2 weeks!

*sigh* Ok, I am certainly as ready as ever to die off anytime soon.

Also, actually skipped my 2nd class of my entire life! Well, the maths replay was a total bummer anyway. So, just hang around with my nano mates. Another interesting thing is, with just 6, 7 of us nano guys together, we already make up for half the class. Heh. Also, our nano group just dropped again from 17ppl to 16. Ha. You would have thought that nano would be such a popular subject, seeing that both our demonstrators for physics this year just happend to be nano students. Or does it just happen that every nano student MUST be a physics demonstrator as well?? Hmm...

Well, at least I got a really good suprise and an unexpected snail mail yesterday. Should I or should I not......................???

another new beginning..............

2005-07-25T09:42:00.000+08:00

Well, it's another semester, another 6 months of torture. At least got off to a good start, kind of. Only had 2 lectures today, and after that all's chill. Then tomorrow is the shitiest day possible, 9am-5pm non-stop. Sigh, it's just another day, it's just another day........

boring holidays.......... yeah, RIGHT!

2005-07-20T14:19:00.000+08:00

Well, one day, I really have to get Harry Potter to shut my mouth up! Why? Let's see...

First of all, remember AGES ago when I said that I thought that this would be a rather boring holiday? I couldn't have been more wrong! Well, it first started out that way. I was hoping on the bus every morning, going on my so-called 'shopping marathon', planning to go visit every shopping mall in Adelaide (about 10-15 of them, I think), which, come to think of it, was pretty stupid. For one thing, I didn't stay any longer than 1-2 hours in each (of the 5 malls I went to) and didn't spend a single cent (minus the bus fare). Ridiculus, I know.

Then, the whole 'war' started. Got a message on the phone from Hwee (not Hui) Bin one night asking for help. Apparently she needed a hand to help compile a database on all the primary and secondary schools in Singapore, and churches and anybody else who might be interested in this literacy workshop she will be conducting back in Singapore. Easy right? After all, how many could there be? Again, the goblins were at work and before I knew it, me, Mark, Sasi and Abi were like, spending 15 hours a day, 7 days a week in the library compiling what seemed like an endless list of schools and churches (if I remember correctly, there must have been at LEAST 250 primary schools and aroun 200 secondary schools). HOW IN THE WORLD COULD SUCH A TINY PLACE HOLD THAT MANY SCHOOLS???? IT'S JUST NOT PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE.

And all that is not to minus all the little interesting hiccups along the way. Let's see....... Hwee Bin, in the middle of all this mess, suggest out of the blue that we start a company. Apparently, there is a demand for professional powerpoint presentations, web design and an easier way for going-home student's to sell their stuffs. So, she got this idea to set up a company to offer this kind of services, and have our own website too. Well, sigh, I have no idea about all this but hey, what the heck, right? So, I agreed (and we shall give this a few months to see if it's jinxed too, all right?)

Also have a lot of 'hiccups' along the way, which shall not be mentioned here. And since she is so open about it, I guess it can't hurt to say that Hwee Bin is now my godsis (with the exceptional approval of Kimberly, of course).

All in all, came the last week of our holidays, and I finally got my exam results. And, remember me saying that my mouth is jinxed? Well, sadly, I only got one DN, for Nano. The others were expected lah. But still, one lousy DN! Ah well, at least I got a HD for maths, threw my first ever non-violent tantrum and had the greatest reassurance from none other than Little Kimmy (she's gonna hate me for using this name :P). Will do my best next time, ok Kimmy? (At giving you a better nickname, I mean ;))

Well, to end off a 'good' holiday, Abi and the others have decided to throw Hwee Bin a surprise party. Abi, Sasi and I shared the prices for a bouque of flowers, and 2 puppies for Hwee Bin, Latte and Espresso (typical of a coffee addict). The plan was we (Abi, Sasi, Mark and I) would take Hwee Bin out on Tuesday night for dinner and a movie (Subway and War of the Worlds). Conviently, the tickets for the 7.50 movie had sold out, so we opt for the 9.00pm movie instead. So, that was that, Subway then movie, and then, to kill time out, Mark took us out to Brighton beach, for a little shivering, freezing cold sight seeing. Went back to campus to what the girls called 'the gorge', just so that we can plan out where to see the space shuttle later on in the morning. Then, on the dot, we wished her Happy Birthday there, on the gorge, took a few pics and sent her home ......... to which Fan Yi, Yong and some others from the Hall (and from the BBQ pics I posted) welcomed Hwee Bin back with a suprebly decorated setting out and homebaked birthday cake. All in all, the birthday was nothing short of a success. Initially I had the sunken feeling that Hwee Bin might have suspected something, which, thankfully, she didn't. Again, 3 cheers to the decoraters, who made the party the best ever!

Then came morning, to which we all had initially planned to watch the launch of the space shuttle which, according to the newspaper, would be passing Adelaide city at 6.45am. Well, all of us wanted to watch it, but, come that time, only the insomianic Hwee Bin and I was awake. Understandbly, she had some work to do (I figured), so ended up just me watching it at that freezing hour of the morn. The sight (or rather, the sight which I assumed was the space shuttle) was something like a dying star (excuse the expression) but marvelous nonetheless.

Ah well, here is the update of the last few weeks of my life. Not entirely accurate, but will drop in hints and refs (probably) in future blogs, ok? Ta.

BBQ (1)

2005-07-18T15:23:00.000+08:00

BBQ (2)

2005-07-18T15:22:00.000+08:00

A little prayer...........from an atheist

2005-07-07T12:49:00.000+08:00

Lord,
Please give me the serenity ,
To accept the things I cannot change,

The courage,
To change the things I can,

And the wisdom,
To tell the difference.........

Batman Begins

2005-06-29T12:41:00.000+08:00

Well, Tuesday night went to Marion to catch Batman Begins with Hui Bin, Sasi and Abi. Thankfully, Ian agreed to come along and offered to drive the girls. Well, won't say much here lah, but I must say that it's one of the best Batman movies since a long, long time. Definitely better than Batman Forever (just a little) and Batman & Robin (MORE than a little). Tho I must say that Batman did look a little weird, but still, better.

After the movie, we just basically went back home. Tho at the carpark, the girls chanced upon a Mazda RX8. Immediately Hui Bin was saying that she has found her dream car. They were like, swooning all over it, waving their handphones here and there. Honestly, you would think that they have never seen a care b4 or they were standing next to Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise or something. Tho I must admit, I did fell in love with the same car, just a year earlier. :P It is a nice car, what can I say? Anyway, that's when I told Hui Bin its name and price (60k AUD). Sorta puts a hold in your dreams now doesn't it? And Ian asked me wasn't it more? Then I realised that it's actually 69,990 Aud MINUS taxes and all that yarn. But, decided to spare Hui Bin the grief :P.

post-exams programme (ie, lots of games, little sleep)

2005-06-29T12:02:00.000+08:00

Hmm.... before I forget again, Thursday night Hui Bin invite me over to her place for a little snack. Kish, I think she called it. Quite nice. Also met her bf there (not spelling his name out, cuz I think she might kill me if I get it wrong, but it sounds like Yans or something like that).

Hui Bin also called me over Friday morning, asking me to join them for a little late night shopping. And so I did. But I forgot the most important lesson of all since I started going out with Kimberly - women, girls, or, if you rather, the females of the human/homo sapaien species, CANNOT TELL TIME! She said that they'll be meeting at the bus stop immedietly after the exams, so I took my empty bag along to the exams and after it, went straight to the bus stop (Well, my school bag has carried more groceries than books, anyway). There I waited, like, what? Half an hour? And they still haven't shown up. So I just gave up and went back to the exam hall to meet up with Jackie, who was going to the library to check up some emails. Then Hui Bin called asking where we were and all that and said that we will meet at the central bus stop near the library at 7 (she called at 5 something, btw), so I was like, ok. So I just stayed in the library and surf the net. And then at 6, she called, saying that she was waiting (somehow, I KNEW she was going to call). So there we were, cathing the 6+ bus, went to chinatown shopping for some sushi (yuck) ingredients Hui Bin wanted and went for dinner. Ian called and I sorta hanged out with him afterwards and Hui Bin and Reanu went off to the Mall to get Reanu's gifts for her little bro and sis. Well, after that was the usual pass time for me and Ian - cyber hive, the beautifully, heavent sent 24/7 cyber cafe. We had the best time killing and getting killed in iceworld, Counterstrike. Then went back to Ian's place and I played NFSU2 (need for speed undergroun 2) for the rest of the night (and quite a bit of the morning, too) while Ian was cursing at the 24hour race he has to face in GT4 (Grand Turismo 4). Ian tucked in early (around 4 am) while I stayed up till 7 and had 3 hours sleep (you wouldnt be able to sleep to, with the cold and all. I had a jacket and blanket with me and STILL felt cold).

Woke up Saturday morning, still playing NFSU2 all till late noon (when Ian woke up). Sherwin called, asking to meet up. So, Ian said we should have dinner first, so I suggested KFC (well, I haven't had it for a while) and of all the people to meet there was Sherwin with his sister and her friends. And, well, for MY sake, the conversation is censored. After dinner we head over to Sherwin's place, hang around a bit, and went 'back' to hive for a little fun.

Ok, now I finished at Saturday. The rest of the days (Sunday till Tuesday) was a blur (VERY little sleep can do that to you). Basically, Sherwin's sister invited us to a Vienamese restaurant for dinner. Went back to Hive quite a few times, played counterstrike and a dragonball RPG game (which was really stupid), went to Ian's place, played NFSU2, def jam and GT4, talked 'censored' stuffs and had VERY little sleep. And I haven't really been back to my place since, what? Sunday? And it's such a mess. Hmmm.... think I only had 9 hours sleep for the last 2 day. Oohh~~ my head.

What do I have to show for all this? Well, for one, I actually completed NFSU 100% and have caught a slight cold. :P Hmm.....now that I think of it, I DIDN'T sleep on Friday night AT ALL!! That means I have been awake what? 105 hours for the pass 5 days. Man, that IS a record!!! '-)

Exams

2005-06-29T11:29:00.000+08:00

Ok, I know I haven't updated this blog/friendster blog/multiply journal for a while. Well, exams lah. Duh! (Even tho I hardly studied at all :P) Anyway, finally got through my first uni exams. YEAH!!! Man I am telling you everybody was like so nervous. I mean, Jackie and Sasi and Reanu were like, all studying away, calling everybody here and there and all that. But for whatever reason, I just, well. Let me tell you in full.

21st June 2005
Physics exams (why do I always type exmas???). Well, pretty straight forward lah, I guess. Was kinda eazy, tho I admit that I didn't manage to finish some of the question. Especially the one on relativity and soemthing else (I think it was statics). To my relief, I was not the only one. Some people on the class forum were like complaining that our paper was, like, the hardest one of all and basically the 2 aforemention questions weren't on any pass exam (exmas again) papers. Well, I have to say like, erm, DUH! What do you expect??? Anyway, all in all, it was ok I guess. No HD, but at least a C, I hope. Really hate it cuz there was one question asking for the agle between the ladder and the wall before it falls and I got all the method right, just that I gave the angle between the ladder and the floor. ARRRRGH!!!! Can KILL myself for that. KNEW that question was coming out and was like, trying to stick it into my head for, like, forever, and I got it wrong on just THAT darn technicality. ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!

23rd June 2005
Well, I know I shouldn't count my lucky stars too soon, but this was at least one paper that I felt comfortable with and just can't help feeling that I haev secured my 2nd HD (1st one, tho I don't know for sure yet, should be my nano project). Was relatively easy, I guess. Actually managed to get the plane equation stuff right, like, just a day b4 the exams. Guess I was just lucky for doing, even failing specialist maths last year, cuz it was mostly the same. Still, I envy and hate those ppl doing advanced maths. So~~~ jealous.

24th June 2005
The most horrendous exam paper of all. I don't know about you but I can just barely do chemistry. Biology? Uh, like, NO WAY!!! I mean, man, even though it's objective, still, should be studying right? But what did I do? I took out my new book, Holy Grail, Holy Blood and start reading. And right in the middle of the morning the usually, ALWAYS panicky Reanu called and asked me some questions about the pass exams and asking me what I was doing. Really didn't want to freak her out anymore, so I told her I was studying insted of reading a novel that has nothing whatsoever to do with chemistry. Still, as always, I get the same old 'Oh, you've probably finished everything. OMG Jason you are so confident' yadda yadda yadda and all that. Trust me, it might sound flattering, but it's really, like, 'Calm down girl! I am having the same exams too!'. Still, the paper came and went (not literally), and I thank God that I went for that extra chem class thingy cuz we actually discussed some of the questions that came out. Eventho I was hardly paying attention, still, I got it right (I think).

Oh, just to say this outloud. Jackie (from South Africa) and Sasi (from S'pore) got like, approval for 30 minutes extension because english was not their 1st language. PLEASE!!!! Their english is as good as mine and anyone else's, probably even better, and they still get that!??!?! Sigh, will DEFINITELY get that approval for myself next semester!!

Interesting Read: is hell exothermic or endothermic?

2005-06-17T09:23:00.000+08:00

As you study for exams, remember its not the quantity it's the quantity. And remember there is no substitute for pure unadulterated bull

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Schambaugh, of the University of Oklahoma School of Chemical Engineering, Final Exam question for May of 1997. Dr. Schambaugh is known for asking questions such as, "why do airplanes fly?" on his final exams. His one and only final exam question in May 1997 for his Momentum, Heat and Mass Transfer II class was: "Is hell exothermic or endothermic? Support your answer with proof."

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:

"First, We postulate that if souls exist, then they must have some mass. If they do, then a mole of souls can also have a mass. So, at what rate are souls moving into hell and at what rate are souls leaving? I think we can safely assume that once a soul gets to hell, it will not leave.

Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for souls entering hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, then you will go to hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all people and souls go to hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change in volume in hell. Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in hell to stay the same, the ratio of the mass of souls and volume needs to stay constant. Two options exist:

1. If hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter hell, then the temperature and pressure in hell will increase until all hell breaks loose.

2. If hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until hell freezes over.

So which is it? If we accept the quote given to me by Theresa Manyan during Freshman year, "that it will be a cold night in hell before I sleep with you" and take into account the fact that I still have NOT succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then Option 2 cannot be true...Thus, hell is exothermic."

The student, Tim Graham, got the only A.

(article taken from http://www.pinetree.net/humor/thermodynamics.html)

what kind of killer are you?

2005-06-09T08:12:00.000+08:00

You are a Samurai.
You are full of honour and value respect. You
are not really the stereotypical hero, but you
do fight for good. Just in your own way. For
you, it is most certainly okay to kill an evil
person, if it is for justice and peace. You
also don't belive in mourning all the time and
think that once you've hit a bad stage in life
you just have to get up again. It's pointless
to concentrate on emotional pain and better to
just get on with everything. You also are a
down to earth type of person and think before
you act. Impulsive people may annoy you
somewhat.

Main weapon: Sword
Quote: "Always do the right thing.
This will gratify some people and astonish the
rest" -Mark Twain
Facial expression: Small smile

What your name means

2005-06-09T08:11:00.002+08:00

ONGHWEILEONG
O	is for	Orderly
N	is for	Neat
G	is for	Giddy
H	is for	Honest
W	is for	Wired
E	is for	Extraordinary
I	is for	Insane
L	is for	Logical
E	is for	Exuberant
O	is for	Optimistic
N	is for	Naughty
G	is for	Gentle

What Does Your Name Mean?

what kind of leader are you???

2005-06-09T08:11:00.000+08:00

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Just a piece of crap sticking out of my head...

2005-06-06T10:15:00.000+08:00

The mind,
Never forgets, ever remembering,
Always bringing back images of joy and pain,
Both a gift and a curse.

The body,
Weak in strength yet still proud,
Indestuctable in spirit,
But lacking in will.

And the heart,
Oh, the weary heart,
Beats fast and slow, always full of joy and sorrow,
For its fate is ever tied to the gift and curse of the mind.

Those wandering years,
They have searched,
They have found joy and sorrow, laughter and pain,
But have they found their answer? Are they ready?

Nay, the mind says, still fearful of the past,
Yes, I am ready, the body says, feeling eager and young again,
It is fated, the heart says, wearily, tired of running.
Unable to agree on their fears.

Yet together, they steel themselves,
For they do agree that it is time,
To stop running and start looking back,
That a new door cannot open while the old one refuses to close.

So for the first time ever, the mountain bows humbily to the wind,
And for the first time they turn around,
Not with sorrow or fear, but with joy and determination,
And face their demons with a smile......

Presentation

2005-06-06T10:05:00.000+08:00

Ok..... finally got about writing another entry. Sorry lah guys, really lazy to write lah. Anyway. Last Thursday had my group's Nanotech presentation. But before that, we were like, so crazy. Hmm..... let's see. Well, meeting everyday from Monday till Thursday morning, discussing and still printing drafts on Thursday, before the presentation, and I can guess we were still pretty much clueless on some parts of the topic. On Wednesday, we really got together and tried to work out on the report. What happened was that our 2 editors, Russell and Stuart, basically just couldn't agree on some part and we spent the entire day arguing about it. *sigh* You would think a little kid might know what a 'spin' is, but we uni students don't even know how to describe it. Anyway, I thought the presentation went well, tho without a doubt our team were out there the most, getting drilled the longest by everyone cause apparently some ppl out there didn't like us cause we did just so good on the last project. Granted, this project wasn't as good and the speakers (myself included) were crap, but at least we did our best, and went crazy for it. After that, the usual post-presentation party at the Tav (uni's bar). Played pool and had fish and chips for free. That was the last time to ever enjoy myself. Friday: maths prac. (really don't like solaris OS). Saturday: wanted to study but didn't. Also had to carry back-breaking weights of grocery to prepare for the 'war of all wars'. Sunday, did the chem quiz, but didn't study. Now, have to drill my head for those other darn, damned physics and chem quizes. Sigh, it's 11.45am now and I miss my bed already. Soooo need to get a kick in the ass if I am going to pass the exams.

May the Force be with you.....

2005-05-22T10:04:00.002+08:00

Ok......Saw Revenge of the Sith yesterday. Definitely one of the best movies I have ever seen so far, and probably the best of the 6 Star Wars movies. I don't know about y'all, but I for one really enjoyed the lightsaber scenes. Well, granted, some of the story plot might be boring and a wee bit abrupt (like how Anakin gave in to the Dark Side, for one), but at least they don't last long enough to spoil the whole movie. Even so, I just couldn't wait to get to the final fighting scene in Mustafar. Though satisfying, I still expected more. And I am now all the less satisfied on how Yoda 'pass away' in Episode 6, after such a climatic battle with the Emperor. Heck, I was pratically cursing all the way when I saw how Mace Windu (Samual L. Jackson) died. But, what the hey, it may not be perfect but, all in all, it's a truly good end to a long, wonderful and dark saga.

total insanity

2005-05-19T09:34:00.001+08:00

Just wanna let out my 'little' awe and dumbfoundedness here a bit. Imagine doing a uni course which is meant to go on for 4 years, in 1 year. Imagine doing the same amount of work people do in 10 years, and this guy does it in 4. If I am taking it to the extreme, one SMALL step at a time, this guy has already BEEN to the extreme, and is still looking for more. ARRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Eng Yeou Chiang, you drive me NUTS!!!

BBQ nite and new hair gel discovery

2005-05-16T11:04:00.000+08:00

Well, had a little BBQ yesterday. Reanu and Sasi invited me and I was like, what the heck, right? That's before I knew that I was going to be like, the thorn among the roses, as there were like, heaps of gals and only 2 guys. Those of us living in the village, namely Reanu, Abi, the abosolutely feminist Hui Bin and myself got to the BBQ area close to the uni community centre at 4 and had to wait, like half an hour for Sasi and the others to arrive. Typical. Well, don't know much of the people there, so I just commited myself and to help 'roast' the chicken wings. Hui Bin also decided to help out and we both took turns and had a bit of a truce. Erm, correction, we had no truce at all and were still bickering away. :P And Reanu went on telling people that we were just having our own little war, and I am pretty sure it has been going on since we first met. One thing lead to another and next thing I know, both Hui Bin and I got pepsi on our hair. However, when we were taking a group picture, I happend to had my head cut off. Not only that, because I sorta 'accidentally' pushed Hui Bin off the bench, she got her sweet revenge getting Sasi to pour tomato sauce on my hair at the next picture. And what more a way to end the day that watching Attack of the Clones at Hui Bin's place? And oh, by that time, my hair was harden like it has hair gel on it, which it didn't. Hmm.... new tomato hair gel, anyone?

screech PU

2005-05-08T10:55:00.000+08:00

One thing I hate about going out is that the buses here to the city and Marion is like, only one every half hour or so. Then Ian gets this hairbrained idea of called me when I'm in the middle of cooking my dinner and said 'yoh, let's go to Marion'. I am like "I am cooking here. Gimme 2 hours or so". Even though I said that, I just dunno, and from cook to dishes took me a little just over an hour. That's a new record, even for me. Got to Marion 1 hour before I said I would, watched a movie, and sat in Ian's new skyline (R32 GT-ST). Went back to my place (Ian driving, of course) talked and finally gotten rid of my Orientation Rubber (the 4 condoms I got during orientation) and gave it to Ian, Lim and Sherwin. Heh, Sherwin got 2 and the others 1 each. Well, he needs it more anyway. :P Break danced a little and did a burn out in Ian's skyline on campus carpark. Talk about PU.

wacky wednesday

2005-05-04T09:12:00.000+08:00

got an email from dad. apparently, there have been 'mishaps' happenining in the ol' household the past 3 months. *sigh* somehow, I think we've now gotten the parents-child roles reversed. Man, those folks and sure be stubborn, worriful and worst of all, worrisome.

getting ready for the big battle........

2005-05-03T09:12:00.000+08:00

Ah well, May is here and the mid-year exams aren't far behind. So, time to bring out the swords and sheilds and start preparing for war. War counsel this Saturday and hope it will turn out all right. ;) Maybe it's time for me to be and insomaniac. Hmmmm............

sweet 19???

2005-04-27T13:08:00.000+08:00

Well, first of all before I begin, pls let me say a very heartfelt ‘thank you’ to all of the ppl who called on my b’day last Saturday (23rd April). It was nice talking to y’all and thankz so much for the cards and gifts.

Anyway, onto the little ‘story’. Let’s start with Firday night, April 22nd. Well, basically Lim, Ian and I were hanging out in the city lah. Was just meeting up with them in the city. Being Lim’s b’day, he rented a Nissan Pulsar and took us around the place. First, we went to check Lim’s place out. Kinda standard lah. It’s nice I guess. We sorta hang around after that (not literally) and went back to Gosse, our residence last year to see the old guys and freak Vince out with the car. Of course, when we got there, his room was like reeking alcohol and puke, which seriously doesn’t surprise me! Wanted to meet Ian Wong, but Boon Yao said he wasn’t in. Basically nobody was really in at all, so we just took the car back out for another spin with Daniel and Vince. First we went to Windy Point, which is, obviously, some peak on a mountain. Quite a breathtaking sight if you like things like that. Only problem was it was at night, so not much to see other than the city lights. All that was fine, but then the fun started when we got down the mountain. Ian was driving (believe me, I don’t think I will be able to survive in a car if Lim was driving). Just as we were going down, we saw like, 10 supercool sports cars!!! (in the end I think Ian and Lim said it was one RX7, 1 S13, at least 3 Skylines and what Lim said is one old school (really pathetic looking, compared to the other cars, but looks can be deceiving) MR-2). Then I dunno who got up with this idea but we decided to follow them. Obviously we couldn’t (the tires were already burning!) so we just stayed around a bit and all (actually we did a little more than that but for security and my own sake, I better not say). By the time we got back to Gosse, it was already pass midnight and finally got to meet up with Ian Wong and the others. Some seriously looked alot different then when we last saw them. It was kinda nice to meet the guys again just like old times, even tho we weren’t ever that close, but still pals. Especially talking to Ian Wong, probably the most passionate martial artist I have ever known. By the time we had to go, it was already pass one and all the busses have stoped service. Obviously, I made the guys gimme a ride back home and of course we got lost. :P What can I say? I am bad at directions. Ah well, at least we did find our way back in the end. My first present? Free car ride! ;)

Come Saturday, I got heaps of calls (thank y’all) and met up with Ian and Lim again. Didn’t really hang out with them as I was waiting for my friend, Jason Lim from Pg and UNSW. Hang out with him and his friend Jun, who generously belanja us dinner (PIZZA, no less). Good lah, catching up with him and all, even tho he still would not stop mentioning about the twin thing (long story, at least 5 pages long, no energy, sorry :P). Heh, all I could say was ‘Hey, c’mon man, I was ten! And so were you (sucker) :P’. No insults intended, of course!!!

And that’s that lah. And just one thing before I finish out. Got my ‘b’day gift’ from Ian on Sunday. What is it?? FHM mag and DVD. I owe that sucker one!!!!

literal 'break' time

2005-04-20T11:39:00.000+08:00

Well, at least that's how it feels lah. Really drew myself broke during the holidays. Let's see, going out to Ian's place like, several times, one time which we had to take a taxi and costs us 27 bucks. Darn. And hanging around Hive like, everyday (No kidding) for hours at an end. And never fail at getting my butt kicked, in both CS and warcraft! Thankx, Qin, you got us both addicted to the game already. Heh. Anyway, besides all that, we've been checking out some cars at the suburbs as well. (Ian is a total car freak, if I forgot to mention that). Anyway, he found a car which he really wanted on, when was it, Saturday (16th April)? And when we went back again to the place to discuss the price a bit, what do we find? The car was sold like, 5 minutes ago. Bummer. Talk about bad luck!!
Was also invited to Hesi's B'day party yesterday. Me, well, cause I've like, never heard of the Citi Zen Chinese Restaurant she made the bookings at took the initiative to find the place in the morning. Took me an hour and aching feet to find it!!! When I got there, I was like, the earliest guy to get there!! Hmph! Then all I could do was like, sit around while Hesi talked (more like gossip) with her friends (whom I did not know at all !! ) Well, salvation came at last when Bittalo and Hiro came in. Finally, someone I do recognise. We caught up on a bit and then have dinner. But, seeing that at least 8 of the 16 ppl have not arrived yet, Hesi refused to eat and was walking all over the place like what I have no idea. So, by the time the other half of the party arrived, we early birds have already finished our half of worms (not litteral, ok??). Then we started fooling around, playing jokes and all. And Hesi was like, opeining her presents (I do have to hand it to that gal who gave her the T-shirt, what's written on it cannot be said for my own safety, sorry :P ). After the little dinner, we went out and have absolutely no idea where to go and Bittalo was complaining about the cold like mad and I was kicking him to shut him up just as mad :P heh, anyway, in the end we went back to Hesi's place and played some cards, at which Bittalo finally got even with me, winning like, almost all the time. Ah well, all the more reason to kick him, I guess. (hmm... now that I think of it, must be Hesi's influence cuz she's the one always kicking me! Not my fault man!). That's about all lah, cept that I found out that Hiro, whose B'day is on the 25th of April, decided to celebrate his B'day on Saturday, which, of course, is the B'day of non other than yours truly. He invited me and well, I just sorta set a deal with him (that he has to give me half his presents, ;P ) Will I go? Well, we'll just have to wait and find out this Saturday.

break time, FINALLY!!!

2005-04-11T13:02:00.000+08:00

Hey there ppl, sorry for the long update. Heh, seriously, university life is nothing like college AT ALL!!! Been really, really bz these pass few weeks. Ah well, nothing like a good 2 weeks break to recharge, u say, rite? WRONG!! Seriously, this 2 weeks break is like basically no break for me at all L

Late feb till 7th april
Well, basically been bz with my nanotech project lah. Been meeting with the team every week, discussing the whole pregnancy sensor thing (totally not for guys, I know!) and we were, like, really rushing it all till the very last day, preparing our draft and presentation and completing our ‘scientific journal’. Honestly, all (and I mean ALL) of that wasn’t completed until the very last hour! As those of you should know lah, I dun like to write journals and all those kinda things at all, so I just pretty much wrote junk in it. As for the report, well, I would think that Vladimir, my CTL teacher last year, would be proud of the way we presented it. A group member, Russell, said that we should cut of a bit of the background stuff. His reasoning? ‘If you wanted to learn karate, would you rather I tell you the whole history of karate, or would you rather I tell you how to use it?’ heh. All in all, I think we did quite well. Russ and stuart did quite well with their presentation and they actually kept me awake when they were talking about biology (the class I always sleep in) while I just basically dozed off in the other presentations. :P thankfully Joe didn’t noticed. Heh, those guys even included a periodic table in their power slide. Joe, being Joe, just couldn’t help but wave his hand up and down in a God-worshiping manner. ;) After the whole thing, Chris just disappeared, as usual (hmm, I remember someone else who used to be good at that). Well, russ, stuart, dave and I just went to the tav (a uni bar) for a ‘little’ celebration.

2 weeks before and until 1st April
maths test. Darn!!! Been so long since I ever felt happy about my maths. Last year’s maths was a total bummer. So, what to do but to increase the stress bar and study maths like, every night with sasi and mark like, every night. Anyway, I think I got it pretty much down and when the test came, it was like, exactly the same as last years. I was like WTF!?! If I didn’t get a HD or perfect in this one I am so gonna screw myself. If I DO get a HD, I promised to buy the whole Lord of the Rings (LOTR) extended dvd trilogy. Then Jackie went and said ‘yes Jason (she always say that with me, btw), if I get a high score I will go buy myself an island’. My reply? She MUST invite us over. :P in the end, well, got a HD, not perfect but still. And heck, drew myself broke buying that LOTR trilogy but well, it’s worth it.

8th april
big, sad day today. Have to pass over yee qin’s computer (well, the CPU) to betty to pass it over to yee qin in Melbourne. Sucks. Now have to do totally without the computer again. Well, good also lah, seeing the way I have been, like, playing on it like 24/7 the pass few weeks (I’m surprised I am still alive). What was I playing? Heh, LOTR: ROTK, what else? :P lolls. Anyway, so there I was, standing under the shade at the uni registry waiting for the bus. 5 minutes late, ok, nvm, wait again. 20 minutes late. Nvm, wait again. 30 minutes late, *&%^ it!!!! Was just about to leave when this bus pulls over and just sits there. Was talking to the bus driver, asking if he’s going to the city and he says ‘Not today, mate,’ and I was like, ‘huh???’. Then this taxi pulled over asking for anybody waiting for the bus to the city to hop on. Later found out that one of the ‘waiters’ called to the bus company and complained, which is why they send over a free cab ride. Turns out that the bus drivers are on strike. (WTH?!?). well, at least we got a free cab ride to the city. Saw Kristen and bryan just as I was on the way to their place. They were waiting for Kristen ride to the airport. Turns out she’s going to Melbourne too, only a 3 days earlier than betty (hmm, for a honeymoon, perhaps :P). passed the com to betty and met up with Sherwin and ian with bryan outside hive (heaven for us gamers :P). of course, I did manage to get a good deal and bought that LOTR DVD triology before then. Sherwin, lucky bastard, will be going back to s’pore on Sunday and was like, always teasing bryan about his ‘relationship’ with Janice. Heh. If you know bryan, you’ll know he’s hardly the kinda guy to go out looking for gals. No he’s not gay! I said he won’t go out lookin’, but that doesn’t mean that he’ll deny them either! Now, different to our usual game, we’ve been playing warcraft: frozen throne. Kinda nice actually. Then we had dinner at Chinatown and I was invited to spend the night at ian’s place, at which point I totally forgot to call kim. I was like, darn!!!! But thankfully I have the most understanding gf ever and I called her the next day. At ian’s, well, I just played ps2 for a while and was watching a bit of the deleted scenes in resident evil 2 and my lotr collection J ian called it a day like 3 hours earlier than I did (at 3 am). Me? Stayed up all night watching most if not all of the extended and new scenes in my collection as well as finishing the whole underground movie (the one starring kate beckinsale, remember?) time for bed? 7.15 am Sunday morning.

9th April.
Well, woke up late lah, obviously. Went to hive again to play a bit of warcraft with ian (hey, it’s break time!!!) and just chilled out a bit loh. Had dinner again at Chinatown and was checking out the babes there (or milfs, as ian puts it. Sorry kim, it’s the company I keep). Had a few *ahem* explicit talks with ian during dinner time but that’s about all. Also saw kay at Chinatown too and we said hi. Called it a day and finally I got back to my place like, 10pm at night. Called my parents and talked a bit. Then called my one and only, whom we talked for more than a bit. :P ;)

last few weeks of my life

2005-02-23T12:20:00.000+08:00

Ok guys, am just giving myself a lot more grief even by just taking time to write this thing down, even if it is just a few minutes. Ok, let me start with my Chinese New Year Eve Reunion Dinner (Heck I can’t even remember when was it, around the 9th Feb??). Well, quite ok lah, actually. Most of the family got together, saw Ah Chung (Yi Chung) and Kelly (Yen Ling) again (Sigh). And then we had our dinner lah. Actually, compared to the reunion dinners I remember of as a kid, this one was quite, ordinary lah. I mean, it’s like, there’s not much excitement left in it, like we are all merely doing this out of obligation rather than joy. After the dinner, well, things sorta ended already lah. I mean, Ah Chung left early cuz he had to send his friend from KL back to beruas. However, one thing I noticed is that Ah Chung seems to have sorta a bit matured into his role as probably the sole heir to the family. I mean, he’s the only guy my generation with the surname Tan. So, sorta see him take him fulfilling his family obligations (burning paper money and the sort) a bit more seriously. (Actually, I kinda prefer to think it that way, cuz the other interpretation I could have is that he, like most of the rest of us, were a little bit gloomy). Any way, after the dinner, the kids went out and the ‘late’ teenagers and others just stayed behind in the main common area talking about our experiences throughout the year. Well, one thing that was fun was watching Ah Eng (Yi Sheng) and Ah Yuk (Siew Yi) getting tongue tied in a sorta verbal wrestle with their fathers and uncles that were present there. Hehe. Apparently, both of them are now working in banks and, well, they were all like, sorta talking about what the banks were doing and how they were cheating people or something like that. I am pretty sure that Ah Eng felt like being strangled at that moment tho I dunno who’s the cause of it, the men or herself (she had her hands around her neck). And she’s kinda like dad’s public enemy number one already, seeing that dad always have trouble with the way Citibank runs some of its stuff and that Ah Eng is now currently working for them (as a financial advisor, I think). I, on the meanwhile, while having witnessed all this, took my leave and went to join the kids (actually, they are teenagers now) and I sorta took charge of the fire works lah. Quite ok lah, tho still not as fun as I remembered it. (haih, must be getting old liao). Had a little talk with Kelly lah. At first she thought that I didn’t want to talk to her anymore, that I was sorta angry at her for not returning my calls. (Actually, it was she who used her sis’ hp once to miss call me and then since I didn’t know the number, just called back. Her sis answered, of course). But then, well, we sorta talked it out later. Ntg much, really. Ok , then, New Year’s Day. Well, have a few relatives from JB and Kampar coming down. Hang out with them lah, for a while. Met the relatives from Kampar, who are of my generation but a lot older. All of them (who came) were married any way and had kids, and for the first time in my life I was called uncle. UNCLE!!!!!!! NOW I KNOW I AM GROWING OLD!!!!!!!! Well, at least I got a few more ang pows out of those ppl for bullying me like that. Then me and the cousin from JB (who are older, but not that older than me yet) went out to Taiping to see our Granny (not my mom’s mom or my dad’s mom either, just……. Granny. Don’t ask. My family waaay complicated. Who’s wouldn’t be? If you have kept track of nearly all your relatives for over 4 generations????) So, we met granny and we just talked lah. Ntg much. Oh, and some time earlier in the day, also Ah Eng and all her younger sisters came over lah. And this time we saw here getting tongue tied again, by who? Ah Bi (Yii Cheng), the youngest of our generation. It’s like, hilarious watching Ah Eng trying to ‘cheat’ Ah Bi into believing that she’s the youngest of the 5 sisters, and eating her own words as well. Heh. And all done by an 8 year old!!! And oh, I had to give up my room for the Kampar cousins to stay the night. Ah well!!Ok, I am sure that there were somethings happening in between this time, but I can’t remember them now so I will just fast forward onto Saturday, the 4th day of Chinese New Year. For some reason I will never know, everybody just seemed to have forgotten that granny’s b’day was on Sunday, the 5th day of Chinese New Year!!!!! Everybody just decided to opened up the presents and the cake and eat of while I was in slumberland!!! Well, at least during the night, with the presents opened, I had nearly a whole bottle of grape juice all to myself. Then, Sunday, the day that was supposed to be THE day, actually turned out to be THE day, tho in a sadder way. A distant relative (something like my grandfathers cousin or nephew or something) passed away. I only vaguely remembered the guy as I have only seem him once, I think. Monday. Damn it. Been so long since I have been sick that I hardly remember what a sore throat feels like. At first it felt like there was something stuck in my throat so I was like choking myself on ntg to death. Then, it became official. I am down with the flu, AGAIN!!!!Wednesday morn, getting ready to go back to Pg, then got a sms from Kelly NOT wanting me to go. Thursday. Back in Pg, went out with Kim lah in Gurney. Tho I am not fond of it, I am glad we spent time together, eventho she had to skip maths class to do it. 4 hours, long but short too. Friday. Went to Disted again to see Kim for the very last time cuz she couldn’t send me off on Saturday. Anyway, it was fun and sad to see her on that very last day. Also met Joseph and told him that I actually saw Alfian, who was supposedly to be in Johor, working in Gurney on Thursday. (that guy owes Joshey 10 bucks, or so he says) So, one final farewell for the year to the love of my life and a very, very old friend. Went to Gurney later to see Pei Yee, Yeou Chiang’s little sis. Like that lah. Just catch up with old times and encourage here in her SPM later this year lah. Also met Kay Sen in Gurney. Saturday. Still struggling with the luggage. In the very last minute one of the zips decided to go bonkers, so we had to use another luggage bag. Went to the airport around 4 or 5. Reached there in time to check in and all that lah, basically. This time, instead of seeing my friends, we saw dad’s friend instead. One of them even had 2 daughters going all the way to Adelaide with me, tho they are hardly my type. Then, in KLIA, met Vee Vian of all people in the terminal. I was like, huh?? Is that her??? Then got on the flight. That was like, the worst flight I have ever had. I don’t know whether it was because of my flu or because of the ‘slight’ turbulence the captain told us to expect, I was really feeling sick on the plane. I could hardly eat my dinner either. But thankfully, I got better………barely. Sunday. Reached the airport. For some reason my passport was not scanning but that doesn’t matter. Then, got my luggage and went out and met the pick up guy around 7.30. Then, I had to wait around until 10.30 for some other people to come. Damn! and all the while midway, I had to go to the loo and had to entrust my luggage, my very expensive luggage to a total stranger. Definitely NOT a good idea, but then the security guard didn’t object when the guy offered (I asked the guard first) so I assumed that he worked in the airport. Well, at least ntg was stolen afterwards. Mark, the pickup guy, then took us to our respective places. I am not in village unit 44, the new 5 person unit wan. Actually, I think it’s quite good. It has a nice view, and the people are nice, and well, can’t complain, I guess. Monday. Residential orientation. Just got around, meeting the residential coordinators and all that. And then got lost during the tour for my online enrolment (was supposed to follow one group but then got tied up with the other group signing up for a bbq on Thursday). Caught up later and had everything settled. Also met with course coordinator and old friends (Elain, Kaviytha, Emily, Valene) and met new ones too (Tim, Vanitha, Huey Ping and Charles my dormmates and others). Was also running all over the place trying to get the phone fixed.Tuesday. Went to a pre-semester lecture on how to do some stuffs. Managed to call up mom and dad as the phone was finally fixed. Dunno what went wrong with the connection also. Then, went to Marion to buy some groceries. Ended up with a medium sized rice pack in my back bag and 4 plastic backs. And I had to walk up all the way up the mountain to my dorm. I tell you honestly, living here, you will never have to worry about keeping fit again. Getting around is more than enuf exercise. Then went on to the bbq, ntg much lah, didn’t stay on for the main event. Went to city around 5, when they started frying the chickens. Went to city, went back to Gosse (felt like old home sweet home) and met up with Hughie, Valda, Jasmine, Jesse, Boon Yao, Nathan, Zoo Paul and all. More Malaysians now. Finally we can give some ‘gang’ the kick in the butt they deserve. Met some of Boon Yao’s friends as well, from Inti I presume, and also the guy living in my former room now. Got my ass kicked in pool by Dmitri and Jasmine, but what the heck, I was just there to have fun. Got my bank statement from Valda just in time, and also nearly tore down the whole place looking for Hoi Kei to get Yee Qin’s computer. Met Sentence again and Ian Wong will be back Thursday. Ian Tan has a get together in his place down Mawson lakes but nobody seem to know the exact address and my SIM card is in the repair shop. Paul, Johnny and Rohan was there too. Johnny said ‘Man, the memories’ and I soooooo agreed with him man. I am telling ya, the moment I get better, I am going back there and spar with Ian Wong and Sentence again. Then David picked me up from Gosse to his place. Met the new member of the family, Anushka. Cute little baby, tho she refuses to sleep also. Pick up my things back to my new place in Flinders with a little help from the guys and gals. Broke my slime container and got slime all over a small bag. Yuck. Then, spent the last 4 hours of the day rearranging the whole place with all my stuffs. Am so sorry, Charles, Tim, Vanitha, Huey Ping. IT”S ALL MY SISTER’S FAULT!!!! THESE THINGS ARE ALL HERS!!!!Wednesday. Today. Didn’t get enough sleep!!!!!!!!