end of 2005

2005,

It's been an interesting year and thank you for all the 'wonderful' lessons in life that I had the opportunity to learn the hardway.

See you, 2005.


Love,
me.

what's the difference?!

It was 12:52AM and I got really hungry. So, I went downstairs to make myself a tuna sandwich. Ayam Brand; shouldn't be very bad cause most of their stuff are pretty good. I read the label and it says, "Seafood Spread". So, I thought, what kind of a nonsense is that? Tuna itself is already seafood and what's the deal with having another 'flavour' labeled seafood?

I understand the point of having flavours cause we could then have "Curry" or "Low Fat" or whatever but SEAFOOD? Hmm.

merry christmas

Merry Christmas to all of you readers and a blessed new year!

car accident

I was driving along Jalan Laksamana as usual after I dropped Ryan and Chris off the Nairs residence. Then I saw a dog by the road side. If you know how I drive, I always let go of the gas and brake a little in case the dog ran into my way. So, I did just that and I saw the dog turned the other way. So, I thought it's probably okay to hit the accelerator again. Of all the times and days in the world, the dog decided to turn back suddenly and ran in front of me.

So, dog + moving car = BAM!

*grinding sound*

*hits the brake really hard*

*loud screeching sound*

*car comes to a halt*

I got off the car and I saw a middle-age man with and umbrella by the side of the road. I'm not the kind of guy who runs off irresponsibly after I get involved in any kind of accident. Today is no different. I got down, still in shock and panic, ask the man who is the owner of the dog. The man said that it's his. I immediately apologised to him.

"Sorry, uncle... I'm very sorry about your dog."
"It's okay. It's not your fault. It's the dog's fault."
"I'm really sorry, uncle. Very very sorry."
"It's okay. It's the dog's fault. The dog turned back and ran into your way. It's okay."

I shook his hands and got on my way. I went home and found out that both my front tires are smoking from the inside. I probably toasted my brakepads after attempting to stop in time.

This really sucks.

On a brighter note, we finally got the permit for caroling from the chief clerk. Hooray.

premise of growth

I talked a little about this in the car just now while sending Ryan, Chris, T.Li and T.Hui home just now from caroling practice.

Something that popped into my mind while I was driving was this: camps or workshops or whatever that a person may go to is only a premise of growth. It really doesn't matter which camp you go to or which speaker you go and listen or which bunch of people that you hang out with because these things(camps, workshops, etc..) are only a premise of growth. God will use whatever at His disposal, which I'm pretty sure a lot of things, so that we will go. It doesn't mean that when we go for Camp A we will grow more spiritually or vice versa with Camp B. Because God will use whatever to let you grow as much as He wants you to grow. Either way, even if you DON'T go for any camp, God is still going to cause you to grow as much or to the fullest that He intended you to grow.

So, for those out there who can't make it for any camps(me included), rest assured, you will grow/have grown as much as God has intended you to grow spiritually and that is all that matters.

Mmm... nah. No picture today. I'm going to tweak around with different templates and don't be surprise or call the BlogCops when you see any anomalies because I would ALREADY KNOW ABOUT THEM.

Cheers.

those days that I still remember

SPM felt like it's been over for a few century already. Oddly, I kind of missed those days. Days when I would worry to no end about my exam and do nothing about it. Serves me right and there's nothing I can do right now to change all that.

Anyway, ESP 4 is just around the corner. Mich and co. are out on dna camp while I'll be somewhere else in BP slogging around in ESP 4. Guess time to log off for a while for the camp.

9 down 1 more to go!

Those who know me, yes, plenty of things that I really don't like happening to me had already happened and there is nothing I can do about them. I should be more cheerful and it's not apocalypse. Well, yet. Thanks to Mich for helping too.

Umm... I guess that's it and well, 9 subjects are done with and I have 1 last one to go tomorrow! After my EST papers tomorrow, I have 2 parties to go to and another class party to go for the next day. That's a load of party-ing. Might even miss YF, which I haven't been going for like..... months. Well, that's so because I have class party at 2pm.

No, it's not because I get my priorities wrong. I think you are wrong if you think so. I don't have much brain juice left to debate to have a detailed write-up at the moment. Will do so after exam.

Anyway, here are 2 pics to make up for not posting any in my last post:

brake... Brake! BRAKE, DAMMIT!!!! BRAKE!!!!

That's it. My car is now officially a suicide machine if not handled carefully. I just got my car serviced about a week ago and I was told that the brake pad's gone. So, fine, I got it changed after having only 1 incident of the car not braking. The incident wasn't too bad considering there wasn't any cars around and even if I die due to brake malfunction, no one would be hurt. But that's not the point. Anyway, after changing all my brake pads and stuff, they whole thing cost about RM76 or so. Pretty cheap, I thought as I would imagine it cost upwards of RM150.

Fast forward to the recent Thursday. I was driving around peacefully until some oaf in front of me jammed his brakes. Instinctively I jammed mine as well and I heard a crunching sound. Not much of worry from me cause the brakes still work fine. Told my father about it and my mom also mentioned that she had some kind of trouble with the car as well. So, finally(well, yesterday) my father told me to send the car to the workshop to find out what's wrong . The foremen gave the car a little drive around and told me that they didn't find anything wrong with the car. I thought maybe it's my mind playing games with me. Anyway, the mechanics went ahead and cleared out all the brake oil and refilled the pump with new oil hoping that it would solve the problem(in case I have air bubbles in the oil). Ever since that, my car drives like a crazy suicide machine. 1 out of 3 times I press the brake, the car simply refuses to brake. I know.... I had the "What the hell?!" look on my face plenty of times and I almost bought the farm.

BUT!

Thou shalt no longer worrieth about sitting in my suicide machine cause my dad just sent the car back to the workshop to have the car fixed and be given a thorough check-up. Turns out that the master brake pump system is kaput. THE MASTER BRAKE PUMP SYSTEM! Whoa. Sounds a mouthful but it's gonna cost me around RM80 or so. Fair enough. I rather pay much higher than that to have a braking system that will never fail.

That's it for today. 7 down and 3 more subjects to go!

asean scholarship

Hmm.. I've just recieved a letter from the Ministry of Education of Singapore:

"We refer to your application for the above scholarship and regret to inform that you have not been successful."

Uhm. What the hell?

But oh well, I'll take that as God answering my prayers on where He wants me to go. Too bad but dammit, it hurts.

haircut

Finally mustered up enough strength and guts to get a haircut after 2 months or so. My hair was in a mess and I really have to get rid some(read: LOTS) of the hair. Oh yeah, I went to a hairstylist too. But wait! Don't brand me a queer, gay-man or metrosexual heebies-jeebies just yet! I had to go to wherever my mom or my sisters go to do their hair because my regular barber 'tutup kedai' already and he shifted to Singapore 2 weeks ago. Not like I'm trying to give reasons before stepping into a hair saloon but you know, just saying.

Anyway, I was hoping real hard not to be given an 'ah beng' hair cut but since I'm pretty bad at giving hair styling instructions to the man with the scissors, I just told him to go crazy on my lump of hair. And the end result? EXACTLY as what I expected. The 'ah beng' hair. *cries* But it's not too bad though, cause my mom and my sisters think it's way better than my other hair style, which they called the '2 crabs on my head' hair style.

Apparently my hair looks like it has been shaped in the same wind tunnel just like all the other frat boyz and ah bengz because it seems like it's blown to one side thanks to my hair texture or grain. I don't really know whether I should stick with whatever the man with the scissors(yeah, I know I could just call him the barber but it seems a little degrading since he works in a saloon with a bunch of ladies. So, more power to him) OR go back to my so called '2 crabs on my head' hair.

Decisions... decisions...

get over it

I guess it's time for me to get over the fact that I can't go for DNA '05 because the dates for the Petronas thing clashes with DNA. At first I thought, "Okay... if I can't go for DNA, maybe I can try to go for ESP4 instead." I thought ESP4 will be held on teh 8th till the 11th but actually it will be held from the 11th till the 14th, which means it will still clash with my Petronas heebees-jeebies from the 11th till the 16th.

Life is never fair and I should get over it. Stuff happens.

fever

Man... how I love fever. I always seem to fall sick and get fever nearing exam. Felt like crap the whole day and slept the whole afternoon. Seems like all I did the whole day would be 6-7 add. maths questions. What a nice day, wasted because of some stupid infection in this walking slab of protein, fat and carbs(other words, me).

Besides that, the folks at Universiti Teknologi Petronas(UTP) haven't email me the 'Lampiran II', that I'm supposed to help my teacher do, yet. Come on, folks! However, I've gotten my hands on a list of phone numbers that I can call to contact the UTP office and inquire about the coming 'camp' that all scholarship hopefuls must attend. I was supposed to call them today but I gave up trying to think and put my thoughts into words to have a nice and polite conversation with them. Might as well not call and wait till Monday, since Sunday is a public holiday. Monday, October 31st is the day and I MUST call the UTP folks that day and get the dates for the camp, if possible, cause chances of me going to DNA is still there, but very low indeed. So, why not give it shot?

While I was napping in the afternoon/evening, I dreamed that I killed someone, probably a bad guy I suppose, with the BACK of a knife. How the heck I did it, I have no idea. I probably just clobber the back of the knife all over his head and he probably died of laughter; laughing at this idiot, who's trying to kill him with the back of a knife. After that, the dream some how shifted to a night scene, where I was having dinner with family. Suddenly, 3 pedals appeared under the table and a gear shifter just pop up to my left. You guessed it. I actually drove a damn dinner table in my dreams. Beat that!

Those crazy Russians

good news and bad news

I'm not sure how I should feel about things today. First, a big "Hooray" because for the first time in my life in STK, I have been selected to go for this year's Hari Anugerah to recieve a prize for getting the highest mark in EST(English in Science and Technology). Never in my life have I ever thought of going to Hari Anugerah to get prizes and stuff. Cheers! Secondly, all my scholarship woes are over cause I've just handed up my applications for the Petronas Sponsorship programme. Speaking of the Petronas Sponsorship programme, I'm actually very upset right now. According to my class teacher, everyone from STK who handed up the application form for the scholarship WILL be selected to go for a camp in Universiti Teknologi Petronas' campus about 1 week after SPM. Since SPM officially ends on the 5th of December 2005, that means the camp will probably be held around the 12th of December 2005. Which means...

I CAN'T MAKE IT FOR DNA, DAMMIT!



DNA will be held from 8th to 18th of December and I really want to go for DNA this year :( Seems like I'll have tons of money left in my pocket since I can't go for DNA. To make things worse, I can't even go for ESP IV because the dates would clash as well :(

OMGGHIASADHAWTW2PTASFASKFA2RASKFG4T0DSFAFGAKGWTFWSG
02TKEMTAOSFASAWTFWATASAAFSFBUKAKKE259SRFAWARPAWAWGW
AOMGWARWBUKASASG65360SAFPSIKFAKGJAWJFNAWMFUAR2UAFHS

till death do us part

I'm sorry if the following post sounds crude or offensive. If you can stand listening to an idiot rambling about how stupid it is to kill yourself, read on; but if you can't, click here.

Before we continue, take a look at this:



Here's a picture of someone lying in bed suffering from the consequences her own stupid actions. I don't get it. Why would you want to kill yourself? Don't you think it's really stupid of you to end your life because of something that is so menial in life? Do you think you're really showing the "Who's your boss?"-attitude by killing yourself? Oh wait, you would be dead by then and it wouldn't mean a thing, anyway. Do you think by killing yourself you can escape the troubles and perils of life? If that's the case, do you think you can escape from eternal suffering in hell? Okay, even if you're not into these kind of religious talk but think about the consequences if you die. I'm sure you don't really like yourself in the first place, so, that's why you tried to kill yourself. But don't you even think about others? Why must you be so selfish? Oh yeah, I sure as hell don't care much about you if you try to prove a point by killing yourself cause if you did succeed in killing yourself, you would be dead and there won't be much proving of a point needed.

Idiots.

Many have reprimanded me for being so crude and aggressive in my stance against suicide. I'm sorry if you don't agree with me or I've insulted your feelings in any way with my 'tough' stance against suicide. I do realise that people who have attempted suicide needs a lot of grace and care but I think they need to work on themselves much more than others can do for them.

For a "special" few of you out there who even contemplated about suicide, think about these few ways of suicide(take them as suggestions if you want):

1. Drinking the magical potion of love(other words, detergent or soap or weed killer)
Do you SERIOUSLY think it's a good idea to drink something that's not meant for your body at all? For illustration, think about this: Lime juice is good and yummy, right? Try drinking 100 cups of it at once. I'm sure your body would start jerking and convulsing in no time due to the excessive Vitamin C(which turns into poison if taken excessively). Drinking detergent or anything like it is many times worse than the effect of drinking the 100 cups of lime juice. Having gulping down even a cup of that said potion of love, your esofagus would've been burned to oblivion(or what I like to say, FUBAR-ed) and very high chances of your stomach toasted as well. You might have to talk as if you're a walking wind pipe if you're lucky and didn't die from kidney or liver failure.

2. Hanging yourself with the ropes or cords of love
Imagine one day walking into your sister's room find your dear sister hanging by the throat, dead, with her 1 and a half foot tongue hanging outside her mouth. Not a very pleasant sight, right? Imagine if your grandmother or any of your family member walking into your room finding you like that. You want to know what's worse than that? If you did not succeed in killing yourself, you might have damaged your brain due to the lack of oxigen in the short period when you hung yourself and by the grace of God you survived because He sent angels to break the ropes or cords of love to prevent you from dying. Imagine living out the rest of your life where you are better off dead than alive. You're almost dead and the only thing that separates you from the word "alive" and permanent residence in the grave would be you're stealing away someone else's oxigen. Think about it.

3. The big bang of love
Having a suicidal person like you alive is already enough of a mess. Do you think it's a good idea to blow your brains out and have someone else to clean up your mess? As someone who have seen a human's ground beef(thank God, only in pictures and never in real life), I can say that it's not a pleasant sight. Your skull cap seems like it can pop off almost too easily and your man beef would just pop out is if it's a once-a-lifetime pez dispenser. Seriously, popping your brains are digusting shit and please avoid it, okay? Before you even think about blowing your head apart, think about where are you going to even get a gun? It's not like we're living in America(the land of the free *giggle*) where one can easily buy guns and ammunitions off the shelves.

4. Executing the big jump of love
Blowing your head apart is disgusting. Jumping off a tall building is a whole lot of different thing already. If you land on your feet, sure, you will die but you will also have your femur sticking out from the side of the body. I'm very sure you don't want to like an alien lying in your coffin. Well, if you land head on, I'm very sure you will die on impact as well but it's going to be messy as well. The problem stars when you don't die. You would be paralyzed and be confined to your wheelchair only. You can't walk neither can you run. You would become more of a nuisance than ever before because some poor soul have to take care of a selfish person like you and have to push you around. I'm sure you're gonna say, "Wait a minute! I still have my hands! I can use them to push my own wheels around!" Think again, genius. If you ever regret jumping off a tall building mid-flight, the first thing you will think of to use to break your fall would be your hands. So, if you survive the big jump of love by breaking your fall, your hands would probably be in the bin already.

5. The big Cross of love
Why not say "Die to self" by commiting yourself into Christ? You're killing yourself too. But you're killing the self part of yourself. Your life would no longer be yours anymore and your selfish self would have been dead and God could've used your body for many other things. Let God take charge, my friends and find peace and joy in Him.

You know you really want to choose number 5.

oxymoronic days

Today HAS to be the most oxymoronic day in my entire life. Everything was fine until something happens and brings everything down. Then things got so much better and then everything came tumbling down again. Here's why.

Straight after the Sunday service I had to send my sister and t.hui home first before I go and see the doctor about my Curriculum Vitae(CV from hereon). So, after sending them home, I went back to Jalan Capt. Ahmad and searched for parking spaces to park my car so I can go and see the doctor about my CV(You can't park in the middle of the road, you know). I thought the traffic jam was pretty mild and it would soon be over. OH NO, BOY I WAS TERRIBLY WRONG ABOUT IT! Turns out that I had to endure 45 minutes of head hunting(okay, parking hunting) as well as dealing with all sorts of crazy drivers on the road. It was drizzling so, it was all that terrible. Hey, there's always a silver lining behind every grey cloud! But anyway, I found my parking in the end.

So, I though, "Hooray! Found the parking! Let's go see the doctor and make fun of little monkeys." Went and showed the doc my CV because he's one of the references that I've included in my CV. Anyhow, instead of being mega-ultra-super-duper-giga-terra-critical, he was quite pleased with my CV and gave me the 'thumbs up' to go ahead and use his name for whatever reason. In the end, it's all well, right? OH NO, BOY I WAS TERRIBLY WRONG!

Once I got out of the clinic, I looked at my wrist watch and it says, "12:25PM." Hmm.... 5 more minutes till my chemistry tuition and I don't have my back and stuff with me. No, problem. I'll just go home and pick up my bag and adjourn to Nirvana(no, not dying but it's the name of the tuition centre). Went home greeted by a nagging mom(woo-hoo) and scrambled to get to the tuition centre. I reached there at 12:40PM. Not too bad, I suppose cause my tuition teacher usually comes 10 minutes late so, I suppose I should be just fine. As long as I find my parking, right? AM I RITE? OH NO, BOY I WAS TERRIBLY WRONG! Again.

To make things worse, the weather grew from bad to worse. It started to rain really heavily and all the parking spaces are taken up with nobody wanting to free any of the spaces up because it's raining heavily and they can't be arsed to run to they're car, get wet to go home. It took me ANOTHER 30 minutes of enduring the joy and blessings of being stuck in a traffic jam while looking for a parking space. In the end, I found the parking space and was pleased because at least I could still make it for my tuition. And you know what? I WAS DOGGING TERRIBLY WRONG AGAIN!

Right after tuition, I had to get myself wet because I have to buy breakfast and a couple of stuff(FOR SCIENCE!). As I was walking towards my car, I nearly slipped and fell due to my literally gripless rubber shoe. I mean, if you take a close look at my brown pair of suede All Star, the grip is still fine and great looking(unlike my poor black All Star school shoe, but that's another story for another day). That was a close one though. Phew! I thought I might kick the bucket and die by falling to my death from the staircase of doom in front of some newly built insurance company building(oh, the irony. *rolleyes*). And once again, I WAS SO DARN STUPIDLY ARSEDLY DAMN WRONG AGAIN...WOMTFAOSAPFAPGHDAPAHIAUFASGBUKKAKE.


And so, I went home wet and stuff. I was in a very good mood anyway beucase I bought a huge bottle of Pepsi and a tube of Substance X to do this cool little experiment that I saw on the internet. Anyway, I had a blast doing it before going for games. I'll put up a short video of it sometime soon. Happily, I went for games around 4:50PM. And you can probably guess what I'm going to say again. *insert that infamous line here*

Reached there and turns out that the school have cut off the electricity to the Badminton Hall because the school authority didn't want anyone to use the hall without paying them cold hard cash. Although we booked the courts for this week, power was out for the whole hall. Anyhow, being boys, we went on and play anyway without lights. It was tough trying to play in the dark with only the help of lights that seeps though the window and the doors. Even so, we still can't see the shuttlecock properly. Finally, in the end the guard came and turned on the lights and compensated for whatever loss that we had while playing in the dark. wtf? Anyway, all is well once the lights came back and we continued our game.

I was playing very badly though. It was 6:20PM and I stopped to cool down my body before going off to buy my family dinner. I was sitting alone on the bench resting until an uncle, around his 70s, came up to me and asked me to join him and his bunch of friends for a little game of badminton. I politely rejected their offer but he insisted that I just play with them for a bit. Before you go, "Don't be a wussy! What a loser if you can't even beat a bunch of uncles with grey hair!", I have to tell you that these people are very good in badminton. They may look old but they can trash even the best of our youth players any day. So, I kinda hesitated before joining these 'pros' for a game. The youths are pretty shocked, you see, because they've never expected a beginner in badminton like me to take on this bunch of uncles. I thought I was gonna get trashed by them but in the end we played a pretty respectful game. I had to partner with Uncle Jimmy(Daniel's pop) and the score stands at 8-8 when I left. Pretty okay, I suppose.

I have so much more to tell about today but I guess that's enough because I've already spent about an hour typing this post and that's way more than I've expected. Off I go for my Prince Charming sleep and I hope that my head won't pop tonight for no reason. Good night.

my cellphones

Well, here we go again. All of you reading this blog now have a new reason to clobber me with your shoes and slippers because I've changed my cellphone. Again. I know I've been changing cellphones way too often than I should but hey, it's not my call(no pun intended)! It's my dad's decision anyway and no, there isn't anyone on earth(not even YOU), who will reject a father's offer to bless you with something cool. Meet my new friend, the Sony Ericsson K700i:



Yeah... I know this thing just screams, "LOOK AT ME!!! LOOK AT ME SHINY COLOUR!" It's in gaudy and flashy silver, metallic looking and very 'industrial' roughy look. It may seem like it weighs a ton and if you lob this phone at a dog, it might even die but that's not the point. This phone has everything that I wish a phone can ever do. It takes beautiful pictures, records videos, plays mp3s, has bluetooth, infrared, makes breakfast for you in the morning and fetches you the newspaper and letters everyday. This phone is simply amazing and I hope that this one will actually last till it dies off(literally) and I would have a better partnership with this instead of my last SE phone, the T630.

For those who would like to have an idea of what my cellphone history is, take a look below, where I've listed out all the phones that I've used for the past 2-3 years and a little description and my experiences with them.

Nokie 3310.
My first phone.
2002.


This is my first ever phone that got passed down to me from my sisters and mom. I used to spend ages fiddling with it just to compose ringtones using my newfound knowledge of MUSIC! Interesting little thing and I used to kick-ass with Space Impact and Snake.

Nokia 3350.
Mine for 15 minutes.
2002.



This is one of the first phones to have animated screen savers for its time. It's so amazing that my eldest sister took it off me while it's brand new for her ownself. Well, I was angry for a while until 2003. When I got THIS:

Nokia 3100.
Ze first colour phone.
2003.




This is the first phone that I've ever used with colours! It was so cool and looks trendy. It even GLOWS IN THE DARK! I mean, come on! How many phones that actually have casing THAT GLOWS IN THE DAMN DARK?! Well, here's one. I used it for about 2-3 months until I have to give it to my 2nd sister because she needed a phone. Not too bad having to part with it cause my dad promised me a new phone. "Cool."

Nokia 3200.
Let's party like the funk soul brotha'
2003.



In all seriousness, I really do think this phone is more of a love/hate phone where you will either like the look of it or totally hate it. For me personally, I think it looks terrible with the unorthodox oval buttons that will mess up any self-proclaimed SMS-god. However, this is also the first phone that I've ever found to have voice recording function. Anyhow, I passed this phone on to my younger sister and I got my very first quality phone.

Sony Ericsson T630.
Almost. Almost perfect.
2004.



Words cant describe how much I love this phone. It was so good! So jam packed with features and functions that will make any school children scream in excitement. T630's predecessor, the T610 actually recieved the phone of the year award for 2003 for best phone design. T630 may not be as trendy looking as its older brother but it has a better screen although the features are pretty much the same. It has a nice camera but a tiny disk space(who in the name of Bob thinks that 2MB is enough for a cellphone with camera?!). Anyway, my joy didn't last very long because the screen cracked on me. Twice. I was really really upset that my dad had to trade in this phone and gave me my mom's crappy Sagem.

Sagem my X5-2.
The black sheep.
2004.



This is definitely one of the WORST phone I've ever used. The only good thing I can find about this phone is that it has a fast camera shutter speed and the whle phone is pretty fast and not laggy. Other than that, it has a tiny disk space(4MB), ugly colours(dont let the picture above decieve you) and STUPIDLY CONFUSING MENUS. This thing 'accidentally' delete all my saved messages and pictures once. Well, come to think about this, if I've never used such a crappy phone, I wouldn't have appreciated all of my other phones. Especially with the K700i.

God is good. :)

quick one

Here's a quick one. I present to you, THE SNAKE!

Clickie(It's an animated .gif)

To view the .gif, I really suggest that you right click the link above and save it to your comp. It's makes the animation much smoother. THE SNAKE!

blogging

Many wonder why we bloggers blog. Some think that we've got nothing better to do, no where else to rant and voice our opinions or being a bunch of cowards by not being brave enough to voice our 'unpopular' views publicly amongst other reasons. In fact, the Internet(serious business!) is full of bloggers who are emo kings and quess talking endlessly about how much they wanted to end their life and kill their whatever not. So much so that when we tell someone else unfamiliar with the Internet(and again, serious business!) about blogs, they would just go, "Aiyah, just some sad emotional bastard talking about how bad he hated everything!" Hmm...

Of course, there are also those rant-bags that rant and rave about every single thing in the word, like why don't people use the mouse upside down, why those damned men won't keep the toilet seat down for the ladies, why nobody likes me/him/her, why the government legalised a law that requires every children to wear rubber gloves, etc..etc... They would find anything and everything to talk and complaint about. Come on.. it's a wonderful world, really! I can assure you, my readers, that there are bloggers who are wayyyyyyy more annoying than these rant-bags on the Internet(SERIOUS business!). That groupd of people would be....

...DRAMA QUEENS! I've recent read a girl's blog, which really convinced me in the end that she is the biggest and most dramatic dramalistic dramary drama queen ever in existence. I wish I've saved that link cause after reading the first 2-3 posts on the blog, I gave up and stopped reading it altogether for fear that my grey matter would start flowing out of the vacant holes that my eyeballs left after dissolving itself in front of the monitor. With the blog page still showing. She bitches(literally) about how some 10-year-old kid was ruining her day for being chosen by some publication to be the first one to open and officiate the latest Harry Potty book, hell, I can't even remember the name for the life of me. She went on about how she spent hundreds of dollars to buy and make 'authentic' Harry Potty costume(I mean, wake up, lady! HARRY POTTER ISN'T REAL!) that she thinks is better than the little boy's cheap-ass black cloth coverings. I'm starting to get carried away here, heh.

With trials around the corner, I'm this close to ripping my head off. So much things to study but so little time to study. May if I stop blogging I'll actually have plenty of time to read and revise ;) In fact, I spend a very long time thinking and planning my every single blog post just to make it interesting and fun(hah!) to read JUST BECAUSE THIS BLOG IS ON THE INTERNET(SERIOUS BUSINESS!!!!!!111oneone)!!!!!!!

anak merdeka

Today, I had the awesome opportunity to be part of Malaysia's 48th Independence Day celebration. No, this is not some kind of cheesy talking about "great experience"-kind of writing. This is a bit more like a banter rather than a... something. Anyway, once again, I had to go and 'pretend' to be one of those 'anak merdeka', who's born on the 31st of August to represent my own race to recite the Ikrar Negara. But the thing is, I wasn't born on the 31st of August.

I wasn't about to lie, of course, like last year. This year, anyone who asked me whether I'm borned on the 31st of August or not, I said no. In fact, I have no right to be standing up there representing the Chinese people as if I'm the pride of the country simply because TODAY IS NOT MY BIRTHDAY. The only rational that my teachers gave for me to lie is because those in my school, who are born on the 31st of August are not the type that can read Ikrar Negara with pure patriotism and exuberance. Pure bull.

Can you even believe the fact that at this age, even TEACHERS are asking the students to LIE and I can't imagine what would our education system be like 10 or 2o years down the road. I know this is a very menial task and tiny matter but all the huge problems start from a tiny error. Take aeroplanes for example. The carelessness of an aeroplane engineer, who accidentally uses the wrong screw size(although the difference is less than 1 mm) can cause the death of hundreds on the aeroplane. So, I suppose a 'tiny, menial, harmless' lie like this could cause the downfall of the Malaysian education system. It seems like we're only focusing on the academic part of the system although the government 'stresses' and 'prouds' itself on being well mannered and pure compared to the westerners.

Of course, this is a very special day for Malaysia and I'm not going to about this only. In fact, I have more to say about the spirit of 'Merdeka' in every souls in Malaysia. It's to see that the very people who are leading the governing bodies in Johor itself behave like teabags. Here's what happened, people from the MDSR(Majlis Daerah Simpang Renggam) literally make fun of EVERYONE and ANYONE who's performing on this big day where all Malaysians are supposed to be joined in unity, peace and harmony. I'm especially peeved about the people from MDSR because of the way they made fun of the Indians when they perform their Silambam acts(oh, have I mentioned that everyone who represented the MDSR are Malays? Hmm...). They also make fun of the poor old man when he's reciting a great 'syair' when the PA system went wrong.

It is truely appalling to see these kind of things happen on this wonderful celebration of our country's independence. What rights do these people have to enjoy themselves at the expense of others by humiliating them, making funny sounds and behaving like Mr. Dick. I really don't see the point in having this kind of huge celebrations. Sad to say this but the spirit is now lost. It's grand and beautiful on the outside but the inside is just as rotten as a 3-year-old apple, and you know how rotten an apple that old can be.

If you are a Malaysian, please, I beg with you not to be hypocrites, who proudly professes ourselves to be loving, kind, helpful, polite, well-mannered and pure Malaysians, when we really are behaving the opposite. Let's practice integrity and not follow what every other Ahmad, Ah Seng and Bala* are doing.

Well, there's only so much that I can do. I can only say and act upon myself whereas the nation is slowly decaying away. I can't blame those at fault too. We're only humans.

Happy 48th Birthday, Peninsular Malaysia!
Happy 42nd Birthday, Malaysia!



* That's my Malaysian version of Tom, Dick and Harry, hehe...

NOTE: I'm actually talking about everyone in general but I used MDSR as an example because they really were making a racket about everything. I don't care about your damn water supply, Simpang Renggam. Go dig a well.

laundry's a rocket science

I've been doing my own laundry for the past few days(unbelievable, right?) and realised that it's not as easy as dumping them into the washing machine and pressing the purple button. I've followed my mother's instructions explicitly and still the laundry turns out bad. Just plain bad. As in my clothes still smell, yes, I did use the detergent. What is wrong with the way I dump my clothes in? Must I like arrange them according to the materials used to make it? Like cotton 12 o'clock, polymer 3 o'clock and lycra 8 o'clock? Or do I have to use some kind of TOP SECRET add. maths formula to solve it? Hmm...

Living alone has it's pros and cons. Duh. I've figured that living alone is great cause you can go out for tea ANYTIME you want, as long as you have a car and friends like Mich and T.Li. Tea is probably the highlight of this week long holiday. Besides that, one can also determine WHAT to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner and WHEN to eat too. Even better, when NOT to eat.

With all that fun, what about the good ol' books? That's where the cons start to rain down on the parade. Being alone at home means no one will care what I do(or DONT do). Many would say that being alone late at night would be freaky as the wind would be blowing hard against the windows as the wolves howl till kingdom come. I would personally rate living with family freakier than living alone with my imaginary Bobby and Tim.

Here's the song of the week:

SAVE THE LAST DANCE FOR ME

You can dance-every dance with the guy
Who gives you the eye,let him hold you tight
You can smile-every smile for the man
Who held your hand neath the pale moon light
But don't forget who's takin' you home
And in whose arms you're gonna be
So darlin' save the last dance for me

Oh I know that the music's fine
Like sparklin' wine,go and have your fun
Laugh and sing,but while we're apart
Don't give your heart to anyone
But don't forget who's takin' you home
And in whose arms you're gonna be
So darlin' save the last dance for me

Baby don't you know I love you so
Can't you feel it when we touch
I will never never let you go
I love you oh so much

You can dance,go and carry on
Till the night is gone
And it's time to go
If he asks if you're all alone
Can he walk you home,you must tell him no
'Cause don't forget who's taking you home
And in whose arms you're gonna be
So darling,save the last dance for me

'Cause don't forget who's taking you home
And in whose arms you're gonna be
So darling,save the last dance for me
Save the last dance for me
Save the last dance for me.

- Michael Buble


NOTE: Yes, I do realise that Harry Connick, Jr. also sang this song and probably did it way earlier than Michael Buble but I like Bubby's version better.

wonderful world

WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

The colours of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shakin' hands, sayin' "How do you do?"
They're really saying "I love you"

I hear babies cryin', I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world

Oh yeah

(George Weiss / Bob Thiele)

When you look around and take yourself totally out of the picture and slowly analyze the 'world' around you, I'm sure you'll agree with me(and Georgy as well as Bobby) on how wonderful this world is. Unfortunately, this is only a presidential suite loaned to us by God. We'll have to check out of this suite when our time is up.

I can imagine how the writers feel as they stroll along a peaceful country side with birds chirping in the background, trying to come with a song to describe what a wonderful world this is. If so much can be done just to put the 'wonderful-ness' of this world into a song, I really cant imagine what would a song that describes the 'wunderfull-ness' of heaven sounds like. It would be really interesting...

chores

For the past 1 and a half hours I've been doing my chores. Chores that my mom have been egging me to do for the past two months. Things like wiping the keyboard, wipe my study table, change my bedsheets, hang my clothes, etc...

So tonight, I did just that. And I've never felt so 'complete' in a long time.

To start of my chore-a-thon, I wiped my study desk, cleaned up the tape residue with lighter fluid(awesome stuff) and change the table organizer thing to this month's paper. Roughly 10-15 mins of work there.

Next, I went off to clean my keyboard. This is the most amusing thing I've done all day. I started off by wiping the keyboard's surface and then I thought to myself, "Why not wipe the keys individually as well as the inside of the keyboard?" And I did just that. Me and my brilliant idea, eh? So, I took out 100+ of individual keys of the keyboard, wiped the inside as well as the individual keys and then assemble them. Took me about an hour plus or so.

After that, I felt the urge to change my bedsheet out of fear that the bedbugs might come and bald my head one day. Somehow, in a very strange way, changing bedsheets prompted me to go downstairs and pick up the massive pile of clothes to be hung in my wardrobe. Since I was banging my head to the tunes of my MuVo, I don't really mind doing all that.

And now, here I am, sitting in front of my computer and back to square one once again. So, what really makes me feel good after doing all these chores?

sank low

You know people always say, "Come on, just ignore this jerk. No need to argue with him to sink down to his level." Well, it's some kind of insult that people usually use when 2 people are fighting/arguing.

Unfortunately, I sank to one of those teabag's level today.

It was a normal and usual Wednesday morning at STK. Shaun and I were doing our usual walking around in the Pra-U block during assembly and I went into PU2B1, I believe. There were 4 students in the class. 2 chinese, whose name I can't remember as well as Lew Yen Yee(haha) and Agilan. Here's a little transcript of what happened:

Me: Please leave the class now and go to the assembly.

*The two chinese boys did their own thing and Yen Yee and Agilan rebeled, as usual.*

Yen Yee: No.
Me: Why?

*Agilan took out his graph paper starting copying Yen Yee's work.*

Agilan: Give me a minute. Let me copy this first.
Me: Oh come on, you're going to take ages to finish. Go down now. Please don't make my work difficult.
Yen Yee: Fuck off.
Me: Who's talking to you? Go down now.
Yen Yee: Why should I listen to you?
Me: Well, who do you think you are?
Yen Yee: I'm your senior and why the fuck should I listen to you? No respect.
Me: Well, I'm a prefect and I have authority. What kind of authority do YOU have? Come on, move it. Don't make me loose my temper.
Yen Yee: Well, fuck you. Why should I listen to you? Who are you?
Me: Don't have to go 'fuck this' or 'fuck that' with me. Just go. I'll let Agilan finish his work but you will have to go down.
Agilan: Don't worry about me. You just go.
Yen Yee: No, I'm going to stay here. I'm not going to leave you.

*At this point, I was thinking what on earth is this man thinking? Is this some kind of war or what? Haha, loser. Anyway, at this point, I lost it. Literally.*

Yen Yee: Just fuck off and go away. Why should I listen to you?
Me: Who the FUCK do you think you are?

*Yen Yee stood up, as if picking a fight.*

Yen Yee: No fucking respect. Kids nowadays are so disrespectful.

*HAHAHA!!! Pot calling the kettle black!*

Yen Yee: I tell you, if you go out into the streets with this kind of attitude, you wont survive! You watch out!
Me: Whatever, shitbag.

*I walked out of the class*

Well, there you go. Have fun and you're welcome to point and laugh at me for my stupidity and good show of patience. As for the 2 chinese boys, they were probably confused with what on earth is going on. Either way, all the drama ended after I went out for a talk with Shaun. Something inside me wants to throw a punch in his face so badly. I'm sure I'll see him again. Next time, I'll remember not to sink to his level.

parting

There are some things in life that I find hard to part with. Things, literally. There is my bass, of course. And then this chocolate bear or something that Hui Ying bought for me for my birthday(which I've kept in the fridge since March) as well as this parcel full of Kinder Chocolates that my friend from Holland sent me. I don't understand why there is such 'connection'. Just take the chocolates as example. I want to eat them but my heart feels funny and strange and not wanting to eat them. How I wish I was never given these awesome things in life so I don't have to think about parting with them!

Strange, isn't it? I would rather give them away rather than keeping it to myself and enjoy it all by myself. Take the Kinder Chocs as example. Since young, I've always wanted to have them, especially those Kinder Surprise eggs but they were never available in Malaysia and even if they were, we could not afford them last time(yadda..yadda.... getting all emo here). Now that I actually have 3 of these eggs in my fridge because the kind person sent them to me all the way from Holland(Yeah, I know I can buy them from S'pore but what the hell), I don't wish to eat them. I guess the best thing to do is to give them to my siblings.

This is a rather strange entry because I know exactly the kind of feeling I'm going through now but I don't have any idea how to put them into words. So, I'm pretty much typing spontaneously without thinking much. I know you would say, "Aiyah...just type itlah...". Well, if I just type it out, it would look like this:

#^ZS%DSG%*&$%^&DFAR#&TFD*UGUG*GHSAV
HC%R^#^saASDASDFA@%TgfdjhA#R^&%*&DTRFYSDFAT#
#@%W$Y((^&%YGN<>?TFGHA#W%R#AW%#W%AWFASGH

And the moral of the story is: Don't buy me anything that is too awesome.

If you don't know how Kinder Surprise looks like and wish to know what is it that's burdening me, here it is:

abortion?

It is about time that we put some facts straight about abortion and refocus our attention on what needs more attention than the other. I'm not here to tell you that abortion is good or bad. As we all know, abortion is termination of pregnancy and expulsion of an embryo or of a fetus and it means robbing the life and the future of the fetus before it's born.

I have seen and heard numerous campaigns, demonstration and speeches on why abortion is bad by countless Christian organisations and non-government organisations. The question is this: Is abortion really bad? I have read a book that touched on this sensitive topic, where the authors of this book did a study connecting the legalization of abortion in the 1970s to reduced crime in the 1990s. While there are many other theories as to why crime declined (more prisoners, better policing, the strong economy, the decline of crack, etc.), most experts agree that none of these very convincingly explains the 30 percent to 40 percent fall in crime since 1991.

In March 1970, Jane Roe filed a lawsuit challenging the current US law that disallow any and all forms of abortion unless the life of the mother is threatened or the baby was concieved because she was raped. You can read about the whole lawsuit drama, which they call Roe vs Wade by checking out this website that gives you all the detail that you can ever need, I think. The end result of this lawsuit is Jane Roe won and abortion was legalised first in a few States in USA and later throughout the whole of the country. Later in the 1990s, criminologists suspected that there would be a 'bloodbath' because of they predicted that the number of crimes will raise by 500% by the middle of the 90s. Instead, crime rates fell by 30 percent to 40 percent since 1991. Many believed that is so because legalized abortion leads to fewer "unwanted" babies being born and unwanted babies are more likely to suffer abuse and neglect and are therefore at an increased risk for criminal involvement later in life.

I AM NOT SAYING THAT ABORTION IS GOOD!!! read on...

In my humble opinion, we(people who think abortion is bad) have been focusing on the wrong things. We have been putting in too much energy and resources to campaign against abortions instead of battling a bigger problem; that is the cause of abortions. Most cases are because of sex before marriage. Come on, let's admit it loud and clear together: SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE IS THE MAIN CAUSE OF ABORTION, with the exceptional few extreme cases where victims are raped or whatevernot. I think that the number of abortions can be significantly lowered if people would just understand the fact that sex is for your spouse only and not to be done before marriage where both the guy and the girl are not ready to take up the responsiblities of raising a child. This will lower the number "unwanted children" being born as well as abortions performed.

In conclusion, abortion is bad but there is a bigger problem behind it; sex before marriage. Like many other cases in the Bible, God can use something bad/small/insignificant/terrible to cause something different that we may not expect to happen.


Reference:
1. Does Abortion Prevent Crime? By Steven Levitt and Steve Sailer
2. Roe v. Wade
3. Dictionary.com/abortion

cant smile without you

You know I can't smile without you
I can't smile without you
I can't laugh and I can't sing
I'm finding it hard to do anything
You see I feel sad when you're sad
I feel glad when you're glad
If you only knew what I'm going through
I just can't smile without you

You came along just like a song
And brighten my day
Who would have believed that you were part of a dream
Now it all seems light years away

And now you know I can't smile without you
I can't smile without you
I can't laugh and I can't sing
I'm finding it hard to do anything
You see I feel sad when you're sad
I feel glad when you're glad
If you only knew what I'm going through
I just can't smile

Now some people say happiness takes so very long to find
Well, I'm finding it hard leaving your love behind me

And you see I can't smile without you
I can't smile without you
I can't laugh and I can't sing
I'm finding it hard to do anything
You see I feel glad when you're glad
I feel sad when you're sad
If you only knew what I'm going through
I just can't smile without you

- Barry Manilow

Have been listening to this song lately and realised that Barry Manilow has a pretty good voice(duh, else his songs won't live till today on Light&Easy FM). Actually, I've listened to this song a lot more than I should and it's getting a bit unhealthy cause I tend to sing this one whenever I have the chance to(which creeps out everyone).

Before this post turns into a lovey-dovey post, I would like to show you a picture of Strongbad. Click on it to view it in super-duper excellent 3D detail(really, you won't be disappointed):

cleaned up

After a long while, I've finally taken the time off my busy schedule(yeah, right) to give Michelle a nice thorough clean up and polish as well as covering it with a thick layer of gold. Okay, I lied on the last part but the bass is so much cleaner and better looking now, heh.

Behold, I present to you the CLEAN Michelle:


Took me a while to get everything nice and shiny.


First, we shall start with the headstock. As you can see, I took the trouble to use cottonbuds to clean up these little nooks.


I don't have a chrome polish liquid thing. So, I used lighter fluid instead to clean this up. Looks pretty neat now compared to before.


The sticker's still there cause if I tear it off, it's going to ruin the bass. I dont mind having my name on it, anyway. Note that I've also used a black marker to blacken the masking tape wrapping around my strap. No more zebra-like thing :)


Time to oil the strings in....ages.


Took me a while to realise that I was taking the picture the other way around.


There you go. A much more 'artistic' picture.


The back of the headstock. Didn't really put much effort into cleaning this as I was getting bored after 1 hour of cleaning and polishing.


The metal plate that joins the neck and the body together(I think). It looks pretty bad now because of wear and tear.


Another shot of the black wrapping around the strap to prevent it from falling out on it's own. It's actually BLACK now, heh.


Mich's sticker's still there. It looks all beaten up cause of friction when I play the bass. Anyhow, for the same reason as my name's sticker, I left it there and promptly fixed it up with more tapes.

And that would be it.

expiry date soon?

Am I going to die soon?
Is the end near for me?

After being whacked out and depressed for the past Saturday and Sunday, today has been exceptionally well. I got an A1 for my Pend. Moral for the first time in a long time after a long run of C5 and C6. I didn't get my butt kicked for not completing my Modern Maths homework(I forgot, really) and I had an afternoon nap, which totally made my day. Although everything may be just a dream but I'm pretty much left with a 'satisfied' feeling inside me. Like I've completed my life.

But life isn't that short or easy to complete, right? I still have higher education, work and family to think about. Mich gave me some really good points to think about last night. How can you love someone without thinking about them? Hmm... If God is the standard measure, there can be some problems too; like what kind of aspect? Everything? I'm thinking... So, standards = bad, no standards = bad All in all, having a standard measure can be a bad thing and not having one would be pretty bad as well. So, the conclusion is: we become. Man, that's a lot to think about. As the standard measure, there is no above and no bottom.

We Become.

It can bring a lot of meaning to just a short phrase(maybe not even a phrase). Well, we become what, when and why? Many of you are familiar with the book Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. The book gave many interesting insights on the 5 main purposes in life: Mission, Worship, Discipleship, Fellowship and Ministry but it seems to me that it isn't as complete as I wanted it to be. Probably it's because it doesn't include the "Live-it-out" part cause that one I'll have to work on it on my own.

I'm trying to slowly digest all the stuff that I've heard yesterday but there's a little too much for me to handle at the moment. With a guy like this, what can possibly go wrong:




Have a nice day... Cheers!

the reason

"Eh...why didn't go YF? Study arh?"
"Nolah..."
"Then? Your parents banned you, is it?"
"Kind of..but not really."
"See? People ask you to study and you don't and now your parents banned you from going to YF. Serves you right!"
"No, I wasn't banned, dammit."
"Then?"

Many often wonder why didn't I go to YF? Why have I been skipping it as if I don't really care or it's not important in my life anymore? Many would also be quick to say that I'm being a terrible example to the younger ones for them to follow and next time, they might skip YF just because exam is near. People will label me a 'Submarine Christian'. High for a while then submerge into the depths when exam is near.

So far, it has been a tug-o-war between Commitment and Obedience. Commitment made between God and I that I'll attend YF even when exam is near, that I'll be an example for people to follow and etc... I'm sure all of you are familiar with the importance of keeping to one's commitment and a commitment made is not be forsaken easily. However, on the other hand, I have Obedience. "Obedience is better than sacrifice," says the Bible. True, so by obeying to my parents wish, I'm pleasing God far more than a sacrifice would if the sacrifice isnt according to the wish of my parents. Commitment calls me to youth meeting every Saturday and fulfill my promise and my commitment but Obedience is yelling after me telling me that I have to stay at home and study. "STAY AT HOME AND STUDY," says the mom. To prevent me from going out, she took the car and went shopping.

What gives?

I've had a talk with Rhesus and he said it's all down to credibility. You see, there are many seasons in one's life. The book of Ecclesiates said, "There is a time for everything." So, at this season of my life, my parents and my studies are very important. Obedience to my parents should be quite high on my list in order to please God. Going to YF and sacrifice my time of studying to be in communion with His followers pleases God, definitely but there is also a call for obedience to my parents.

The solution? Imagine this: If I still force my way out and push my luck to go to YF, then one day my parents will explode and say(or yell), "THAT'S IT. YOU'RE NOT GOING TO YF OR CHURCH OR GAMES ANYMORE. THAT'S IT. YOU'RE GROUNDED. YOU'RE NOT GOING TO THIS OR THAT OR THIS OR THAT OR ETC.... ANYMORE. YOU ARE TO STUDY AND STUDY AND STUDY UNTIL YOUR BRAINS BLED ALPHABETS."

or

"Mom, I'll stop going to YF from now on just for you but that doesn't mean I'm giving up my time for church on Sunday morning. I will give up my Saturday until the exam finishes." Then spring time will come and the flowers will bloom, the winds will blow and all will be fine.

So, which one gives more 'credibility' to your(in this case, my) parents? Which option would allow me to be a better witness to a family with a majority of non-believers? I've decided not to push my luck.

Thanks for your time for reading and here are some pictures of the latest Ferrari in their current (limited) line of production, the F430:

fuck

Fellow brethrens who see this blog for the first time will definitely go, "What?!" Why is this 'Christian' man going about posting stuff about 'fuck'? Why is he swearing and cussing and blabbering terrible things out of his mouth?

Well, fuck.

Think about it. Why is the 4 letter word considered a cuss word? Why is it a taboo to say or to even mention it? Does it make us somewhat un-holy? Or insensitive? Or some evil bastard child?

The question is: why is it wrong? Is it because that everytime we say the word, the thought of sexually explicit acts come into our mind? Is it because of it's thought provokingness or is it because that we have our minds primed to think that it's wrong to say it, that it's bad, that if you say it, you're in some sort of way 'soliciting' or associating yourself with indecent acts that a good, obedient youth should avoid. Is it because that we have been thought since young never to say it because it is rude. Because our parents say so. Because our teachers say so. Because this guy says so or this lady say so.

Imagine this: instead of the word fuck being the vulgar word, let's put 'cheese' in it's shoes. What we are all primed to think that cheese is just as bad as the word, fuck. So, next time someone says cheese you, it would be just as bad. I'm not sure about you but if you're thinking along the same wavelength as I am, you might be beginning to see the point that I like to prove. I mean, yes, in our modern context, fuck is a pretty bad word but remember: it's a word.

So, next time, when you're about to take a group photograph and the cameraman goes, "Say cheese!", think about this. :)