What's the Commotion ?

After 1 month plus and this is what I can come out with......

2008-10-16T02:10:00.000Z

I'm sleepy as hell....looking at my blog it's empty since the Cambodia trip last month....didn't have time to blog, didn't bother to blog...no materials...only consumed by work, work and more bloody work......

Well...this is my life...and another meme below just to past time while I wiki-surf...
==============================================================
Starting time : 1:50am
Name : Alan Pang
Sisters : 0
Brothers : 1
Shoe size : 9
Height : 175cm
Where do you live : KL

Have you ever been on a plane : Yes
Swam in the ocean : Yes
Fallen asleep at school : even in the office damn it...
Broken someone’s heart : don't think so...
Fell off your chair : Yes.

Sat by the phone all night waiting for someone to call : Yes, very recently...
Saved e-mails : Yes
What is your room like : mattress, fan, newspapers, loads of plastic bags, clothes, messy...
What’s right beside you : stand alone fan
What is the last thing you ate : Fried noodles

Ever had Chicken pox : Nope
Sore throat : Long time ago...
Stitches : On the abdomen...
Broken nose : Nope
Do you Believe in love at first sight : No, I believe in nurturing a relationship
Like picnics : that's a good idea...
Who was the last person you danced with : Hmm...my ex roommate?

Last thing made you smile : An unexpected and well placed birthday gift
You last yelled at : Stupid politicians...
Kissed anyone : Of course...
Get sick : Few months back...
Talk to an ex : Never had an ex...
Miss someone : Very, like, right now...
Who do you really hate: No one really, depends who pisses me off when I'm depressed...

Do you like your hand-writing : No comment
Are your toe nails painted : Ya think ?!
Whose bed other than yours would you rather sleep in : Hahahahaha.....
What color shirt are you wearing now : Red
Are you a friendly person : Should be lah...
Do you have any pets : No, but would like to keep a dog...
Do you sleep with the TV on : Sometimes...
What are you doing right now : Answering some memes duh....
Can you handle the truth : We all have to don't we?

Are you closer to your mother or father : Both...
Do you eat healthy : I think I am...
Do you still have pictures of you & your ex : Again, never had an ex...
If you’re having a bad day, who are you most likely to go to : Anyone I can get...
Are you loud or quiet most of the time : Quiet I think...
Are you confident : Sometimes yes, sometimes no...

5 things I was doing 10 years ago
1) Stayed in Kelana Jaya
2) In scouts
3) Attended Commonwealth Games 98' closing ceremony
4) Learning to be mature -___-
5) Had a 6 months crush on my classmate

5 things I would do if I were a billionaire
1) Buy properties
2) Invest
3) Travel everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE
4) Donate out half to charity
5) Start a Fight Club...hahaha...

5 of my bad habits
1) Self-depreciative
2) Lazy
3) Like to curse
4) Unattentive
5) Pride

5 places I have been living in
1) KL
2) Seremban
3) KLIA
4) Kelana Jaya
5) Liverpool

5 people I tag
1) Soe Chin
2) Melvin
3) Jarod
4) whoever
5) whatever

In Cambodia now

2008-09-04T16:05:00.004Z

I am now writing this post using the free Internet service in Green Town Guesthouse in Cambodia.

Yup, I am on a 5 day holiday trip now in Cambodia. Vacationing in the not-quite-small town of Siem Reap, and visiting the world famous Angkor Wat, which, will not
finish touring the whole temple compound in even 3 days.

It's only day 2 and I already got myself burned in the arms due to the bloody hot weather. Probably lost 2 kgs in the process too because of the long distance walking, hehehe...

It's been a long time since the last post. Been really really busy on my work til no time to go online.

Hope this trip is worthwhile, as we are stumbling here and there, hahaha...

Wish me luck.

Cut

2008-07-28T03:05:00.000Z

You know these moments.

You're having the time of your life, finally having the time and opportunity to do whatever the hell you want, however the way you wanna do it, and, like, totally enjoying the process.

You savour these moments because it's so goddamn rare to have that opportunity in the first place.

And when everything goes swell, out comes something so unexpected that it absolutely takes away everything before it, and leaving a bit of a sour taste.

Yeah, we call it potong steam.

And I just had mine cut off.

And I am freaking pissed right now goddammit.

Up The Ladder

2008-07-28T02:55:00.002Z

Thursday.

Our head of IT suddenly came in with some letters in hand, announcing PROMOTION!

and yes, one of my resolution this year has become a reality.

I'm being promoted to SIPO.

Whoo hoo!

Now it means I have more work to do, the stakes are higher, and I need to play the game well.

And I got a pay raise too.

Blek... :P :P

That flick of a moment...

2008-06-23T01:00:00.003Z

Loved this word.

Very meaningful.

Very personal.

It means a lot.

No, it's not the Justice League of America.

This is not fanboy comic thing, it's real.

JLA.

I will not forget this for a very long long time.

Hulk 2.0

2008-06-23T00:50:00.000Z

Friday night was dope.

After work, went to catch ' The Incredible Hulk' with Ryan and the gang. Was a bit late when we left office to catch the train and get to 1U, but made it in time to catch all the trailers. Heh.

Overall the movie was not bad. I wouldn't have so much interest if Edward Norton wasn't in it. I still think the Ang Lee version was more epic and had more scope and emotions (I'm a sucker for originality and bold moves).

Anyway, this one definitely had more action sequences. But 2003's Hulk had a more powerful Hulk. At least that one can leap 3 miles in a single jump...hahaha......I think only the campus fight was well done. The final battle was...just 2 CGI monsters clashing. At least it was executed competently lah, without those Michael Bay-styled fast cuts.

After the movie, went to SS2 Murni for supper. And chit chatted for almost an hour before going back home, which, at that time, was almost 3am......

Aih, sleeping late again......

Floating

2008-06-19T01:58:00.000Z

I am now in a position where they called it the Peter Principle...or so I think I am......

It's been a good 19 months already since I joined the company and started the working life.

The company's good, I admit....good perks and benefits, great salary and allowances......and they're addressing the work-life balance issue too...well good for them...

Just that....at this stage, I feel that I should grow already, to take up new things, to venture out, to step out of my comfort zone and try something different...

Not still coding, patching, releasing...those are great things too, don't get me wrong.....I feel like I wanna manage, man....u know...train others.....

It's one of those resolution things I made during a training workshop attended last month that made me really really think about myself and where I wanna go and who I wanna be.....

Unfortunately, my skills still suck...my mouth still can't shut up at the right time....and my people skills are deteriorating.....

Damn it, what a bad time to encounter all this when they just welcomed me to the team leader meeting......

And there's still so much so much more to learn.....

I'm floating now....need to grow, yet still feeling a sense of arrested development....

I need help.

Stuck

2008-06-19T01:50:00.002Z

It seems that I am now blogging on a monthly basis.

Oh god, I hate that.

Hate it hate it hate it......

Used to be able to blog everyday, but not anymore....one of the reasons is because of work...another is because the house leader moved out of the house and cancelled the TMnet registration, which left us stuck with no phone line......which leads to me needing the Orange cafe so badly almost everyday......

I can't write in complete sentences anymore....fucking Neanderthal....

Sometimes even I don't know what to blog about, or write about....

Or what I want in life......

Jesus Mary Joseph........

I'm stuck......

You...are my everything

2008-05-14T03:00:00.000Z

You're a falling star, you're the get away car.
You're the line in the sand when I go too far.
You're the swimming pool, on an August day.
And you're the perfect thing to say.

And you play it coy, but it's kinda cute.
Ah, When you smile at me you know exactly what you do.
Baby don't pretend, that you don't know it's true.
Cause you can see it when I look at you.

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It's you, it's you, you make me sing.
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.

You're a carousel, you're a wishing well,
And you light me up, when you ring my bell.
You're a mystery, you're from outer space,
You're every minute of my everyday.

And I can't believe, uh that I'm your man,
And I get to kiss you baby just because I can.
Whatever comes our way, ah we'll see it through,
And you know that's what our love can do.

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It's you, it's you, you make me sing
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.

So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La
So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It's you, it's you, you make me sing.
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.
You're every song, and I sing along.
'Cause you're my everything.
Yeah, yeah

So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La
So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La

Fire Fight!

2008-04-05T09:03:00.000Z

No, my house is not burned down or anything......

I'm fire fighting....that's my profession for this week :P

I don't need a water hose or a fire truck......only a laptop...

My senior has recommended me to enroll into the roster......haha...not sure to be happy (for recognizing my strength) or sad (I have to be on call) ......

My dear colleagues, of course you will know what I'm saying...

As for others come ask me if you wanna know more lah!

All I can say is, let's hope I learn more from this one.

Happy FF to me!

Yeah right......

Can't get it out of my head

2008-03-16T08:48:00.004Z

I can't seem to control it anymore....

Every day....night and day...i keep thinking about her.....

To the point that it's becoming an unhealthy obsession....or rather observation......

Try as I may I have always separated business with pleasure....but I'm really afraid that this time it will have a severe effect on my work...at least on my focus and concentration......

Still, I hope I'm not gonna lose it.......

I'm writing this after having one of the most ridiculously sweet and tender dreams last night on relationship....it's still vividly alive in my memory.....I normally forget my dreams as soon as I wake up...but not this one.....

When...when should be the good time to spill it out to her......

Oh just sod it, you piece of shit....

Dematerialized

2008-03-06T01:25:00.000Z

Haven't update the blog for quite some time...but nothing interesting lately...

Chinese New Year was as usual...lost in Blackjack games to the other cousins...dammit...

The relatives are pushing me to get a girl...been the butt of joke the whole CNY....christ just gimme a break...I also need time...

Been busy on project and developments lately...still learning the securities system while doing coding at the same time...

Let's see if the planned gathering with the primary school mates can still materialize...

Gotta keep check to plan ahead for the Cambodia trip already...

And I just realize I bloody need a girl...am that desperate...hah...

very pathetic......

RIP to Heath Ledger

2008-01-23T23:05:00.000Z

Thaipusam, newly declared holiday, and I was in office to clean up a few logs and check my mails.

Then I got bored and started to surf IMDB.

Just when the page loads I got quite a shock and yelped.

Heath Ledger, dead at 28. Possibly linked to drug use......damn.

But I'm not buying it. Not until the autopsy report comes out lah at least......It seems so strange la....

Well I'm not a fan or anything, but the guy's memorable in Monster's Ball and he's the best thing in Brokeback Mountain. Just felt a bit pity knowing that he could've gone higher......

And damn, was looking forward to his performance in The Dark Knight......it's gonna be a bit spooky la......

Kanasai, good talents always go early....Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero also like that......

I talk movie crap again......

2008-01-10T17:38:00.000Z

Fuck the BEST OF list...shit man, I can't be bothered to come out with that sort of thing la...one, I don't have enough information and two, everybody's probably done it so why should I?

Yeah I'm lazy actually......

Or, my life has become too routine for me to have any enthusiasm for this sort of thing......

Then again, I can't help but to talk about movies...just in the mood for it...

Like I said in the previous post, I've been to watching more movies in the cinema than the past 22 years combined......but most of those are typical Hollywood movies with the least originality. I found that I was not as passionate about those award-winning, artsy fartsy movies like I used to 3 years ago......

Then again, I'm too busy working to notice any good releases......

Or, the local cinemas don't show any good dramas......OK there's the European Film Festival at GSC but even if they get past the censors (which a lot of good dramas don't because they all have some amount of nudity or swearing) the end products are all "cut up"......

That's really fucked up for a self confessed film buff like me to fully enjoy a movie in its entirety...that's why I intentionally missed "Knocked Up" when it's showing the cinemas, coz' there's no bloody way I 'd enjoy something so cut up like that.....Will be getting the DVD soon though......

Speaking of which, that's where pirated DVDs save the day...I must say, I spend an almost equal amount of money on DVDs than to the cinemas...but the DVDs bought are purely films that are otherwise unavailable through the legal channels......

What would we do without the pirates...... :P

There's some great comedies last year too...the Judd Apatow variation that's brilliant but can have about 200 "fucks" in just one movie....

Anyways, here's some movies that I watched in the past year that was quite enjoyable and entertaining, and recommended to anyone else:

Clerks 2
Borat (if you "get" the satire)
Blood Diamond
Stranger Than Fiction
300 (best visuals)
Pan's Labyrinth (most imaginative)
Mukhsin (really a gem that a lot of folks missed)
An Inconvenient Truth
The Simpsons Movie (Comedy of the year!!!)
Superbad

Those award-entry dramas that wildly interests me and will be getting on DVD:

Atonement
The Brave One
The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
Gone Baby Gone
Into the Wild
Juno
Lust, Caution
No Country For Old Men
Michael Clayton
The Savages
Rescue Dawn

For the summer movies, the suckiest of the lot was Spider-Man 3; Transformers was so-so only; Pirates 3 was overlong; For pure old school action go for Die Hard 4.0; My money for the best summer movie? Hot Fuzz (another gem that even more folks missed).

And lastly, to avoid at all cost, even a rental: Epic Movie. Easily the most crappy movie I wasted RM10 on.

The 2008 film lineup looks interesting enough. Let's keep the fingers crossed.

Well I blogged enough. Until next time. Chiao.

2007 In A Glance

2008-01-03T00:45:00.000Z

Time certainly flies. Another year has gone.

Goodbye 2007, Welcome 2008!!!

2007 seems faster than any other year. Is it just me or what? Maybe it's the work...

I'll just try to recap the "milestones" of 2007 that I been through, as a memory refresher...God how my grammar and comprehension has deteriorated.....

In 2007, I have:

Officially graduated and having the convocation ceremony held in the Renaissance Hotel.
Bought more original CD albums than the past 22 years combined.
Watched more movies in the cinema than the past 22 years combined.
Completed 2 Chuck Palahniuk novels (Fight Club and Diary)...hey that's a lot of reading for me already ok! :P
Visited Indonesia and toured Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta.
Stopped blogging for a period of 3 months...shit.
Attended a pretty good rock concert (My Chemical Romance Black Parade World Tour).
Missed what could have been a kick ass rock concert (Muse World Tour).
Gained a bunch of really fun colleagues as friends.
Helped completed a major PFS project for Tokyo HSBC.
Been promoted to permanent status in the company on the last day of the year.
Gained 5kgs and added 2" to the waistline...bloody hell......

Will try to come out with a BEST OF list in the next post.

Right now just wanna sleep. :P

Apologize

2007-12-04T16:50:00.000Z

This is my favourite song at the moment...just can't seem to get the hook off my head. Beautiful melody and singing. Enjoy.

OneRepublic - Apologize (remixed by Timbaland)

I'm holding on your rope,
Got me ten feet off the ground
And I'm hearing what you say but I just can't make a sound
You tell me that you need me
Then you go and cut me down, but wait
You tell me that you're sorry
Didn't think I'd turn around, and say...

That it's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late

I'd take another chance, take a fall
Take a shot for you
And I need you like a heart needs a beat
But it's nothing new - yeah yeah

I loved you with the fire red
Now it's turning blue, and you say...
"Sorry" like the angel heaven let me think was you
But I'm afraid...

It's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late whoa.....

It's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, yeah
I said it's too late to apologize, yeah
I'm holding on your rope, got me ten feet off the ground...

My nose is red

2007-12-04T16:19:00.000Z

Coz' I have been rubbing it with countless tissues since last night.

Bloody flu...had to take leave for the day since I can't talk without sounding like Donald Duck and can't risk scaring people away with fluids dripping out my nostrils every five seconds.

Just one day after starting production support I'm making wantans at home again.

Bugger.

Fallen Leaves: A Review

2007-11-19T07:45:00.000Z

I haven't been to a play since Julius Caesar 2 years ago. So when BH asked if I'm interested and invited I quickly grab hold of the opportunity to revisit another play. Ticket was only Rm10 anyway, the money goes to charity, and I have never been to Bangsar before (seriously), so why not, I told myself. Besides, I needed some "refreshment" after all those hard work at office.

So I went to office in the noon just to clear up some stuff on the release package, and then went to wait for BH at the station. We dropped off at Bangsar LRT and took a cab to Bangsar Shopping Centre.

The show is titled "Fallen Leaves" and is having its last run at The Actors Studio. It's jointly organized by the Welcome Community Home, CloudBreak creative skills development centre, and sponsored by my company. It's a theatre production consisting 4 stories that explores the lives, prejudices and hardship faced by people living with HIV/AIDS that started at the end of last year. The part that spawned my interest in the first place was that the stories are performed by people infected with HIV/AIDS.

The set was minimal to the max (???) with only some dry tree leaves scattered at the sides of the stage and a projection screen on the wall. Each segment was mostly performed by one actor doing monologue, with only minimal supporting players. The first performance "The Poison Arrow" was by this 40-something Malay guy who dresses as normal and casual as one can get you'd mistaken him for some uncle on the street. The first 5 minutes of dialogue were plain and for a moment I thought it was gonna be boring, but as the play progress it gets interesting and livelier as he goes on describing how his own self was blinded by his own prejudice towards HIV-infected people.

Second act "A Shaded Life" was about a teen who started to use drugs during his teenage years and how it come to shape his adulthood. This part was not quite engaging but has a scene with the best stage lighting. Third act "Fool's Hill" was narrated by a man sitting on a hill top, reminiscing about his uncle who gave him a bag of branded clothes before dying of HIV. His fear of being infected by HIV prompted him to burn the clothes, and honestly disclosed this fact to the uncle. His unintentional disgust and uncontrolled fear caused him to bear a guilt after his uncle's death.

Fourth act was performed by a man sitting in a Zen like position on a bed, as he calmly tells the tale of living a life in a rehab centre. This part was especially memorable as the monologue conveys great imagery and the delivery was great, providing a sense of melancholy and giving a hint of hope in the last scene. Said last scene literally brought tears to my eyes, as the image of patients living their daily lives, going through their daily activities, just come across as so touching. I don't know why, it was a spur of the moment thing.

I have to give credit to the performers. Their performance was totally mesmerizing as the delivery and acting was so real and emotional. All this is made even amazing with the fact that they are neither professional nor amateur actors. I guess that their real life experience on drug usage and the hardship struggle against society's discrimination gave their performance the heart and soul it needed.

A brief Q&A session after the performance has the director Brian Jones describing the brainstorming and writing process, and how the production came to after these rehab patients were brought to see a Samuel Beckett play. Let me just say that it was really inspiring to learn from one of the performers, "When people applause us, it gives me courage." They have shown and proven that they are not the garbage society has branded them, and through the play, they can teach and even inspire the younger generation of not repeating their past
mistake.

My previous experience with local theatre was "Pygmalion" and "Julius Caesar". Those were great shows, but this one has somehow struck a chord with its simplicity and relevance. I wouldn't say that it was groundbreaking or an eye-opening experience, but it definitely has changed some perspectives in me. Here are people living with HIV doing something meaningful while I just keep ranting on my work. Seriously, I feel so insignificant compared to them. I need to change.

It was DEFINITELY RM10 well spent. Upon exiting the stage I bought a "Fallen Leaves" T-shirt at a promotion booth for RM12.

Lingered around BSC for some 30 minutes before returning to Bangsar LRT. BH accidentally inserted her STAR ticket into the machine and it got stuck. Heh. The ticket salesperson helped
to remove it of course.

Went to KLCC and managed to buy tickets for Balls Of Fury. The movie was in the same reign as Blades of Glory ie. sports parody, but as a whole the welcome wears off fast. The first 45 minutes was ok, but the jokes started to fall apart from then on. The saving grace were James Hong's ping pong master-sifu character, who was dead on freaking LOL hilarious, and Christopher Walken, who is always great. As no-nonsense screwball comedies go, this one's pretty flat. But mindless fun it was.

All in all a great day spent on theatre and cinema with the company of someone whom I enjoy talking with.

I need more of this. After SR1, bring on the plays!

SIDENOTE: While on the way to BSC sped past by a restaurant with the name of "HSBC"...as in Hot & Spicy Bangladesh Cuisine....heh, another acronym for my company. :P

Brainfall

2007-11-18T11:09:00.000Z

Okay, I admit the last few posts were a little depressive and maybe I've gone overboard in my routine of ranting and complaining.

Here's something fun at BrainFall. Just trying it out lah...

Which Friends Character Are You?
	You are Chandler. You're funny and that's why people like to have you around. You're also a great friend, and when someone you care about is in trouble, they know to come to you for some level-headed advice followed by some sharp sarcasm.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Which Famous Artist Are You?
	You are Andy Warhol. Your artistic talent became clear at an early age. As a result, you are still developing your talent now, chasing the dream. A big fan of commercial art, you see greatness in the ordinary.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

What Kind of Girl Will You Fall For?
	You will fall for the cutie. You like girls with a personality. She's got to have a nice smile and a sense of humor. Although she doesn't have to be a model, she has to be that girl-next-door.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Which 24 Character Are You?
	You are part Milo. You are the ultimate geek. You prefer to follow other people's orders rather than come up your own set of rules. You are very responsibile and prefer to work behind the spotlight, although with enough recognition you might be better than the other people in the group. You have immense leadership potential and talent, but it is up to you to go explore the unexplored.
	You are part Bill Buchanan. You are a law abiding citizen and in your world, rules are the driving force behind anything and everything. Your leadership charisma is something talked about by others, and instead of doing things differently you do different things. You have an uncanny knack of staying calm in tense situations and your tone is testimony to that. Keep the cool attitude and you will surely overcome the most perilous situations.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Burnout

2007-11-18T10:35:00.000Z

I used to think that I am a cheerful person.

You know, the happy-go-lucky type. No matter the situation, I could always remain positive and unfazed. Well, not to the point of being overly-positive, but you get the point.

But I'm not so sure now.

Ever since working (it's a full year already) I find myself...not quite myself anymore. Maybe it's the long working hours. Maybe it's the tense environment. Or the fact that I just like to enjoy life and relax.

But lately I am becoming more and more depressed and confused.

I have become more cynical towards all things.

I complaint more and more.

I find myself seldom interacting with the colleagues anymore. I don't know why.

I sometimes eat in large portion just to indulge myself after working so hard. It doesn't help my ego that this has contributed to my ever expanding waistline goddammit...

For the past 4 months, my daily routine for dinner has been eating with colleagues before returning to office for a couple of hours work, or eating at mamak stalls after taking the SECOND LAST train back home.

I have only met those former college mates a few times since July.

I sometimes need to work on Saturday and even Sunday, not because my boss summons me back, but because there's so much bloody fucking work to finish off.

Most of my friends work 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week. Well, I work 60 hours a week.

NOT INCLUDING SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.

And they tell me they are tired.

I want my life back.

Missed

2007-10-17T01:23:00.000Z

How is it possible that everytime I had planned something in advance, work will always take priority and caused said plan to be void at the very last minute?

I don't mind working on Saturdays.

I don't mind burning the "deserved" comp leave from working on said Saturday.

Heck, I don't even mind working on other issues until my own project got stalled. (not blaming anyone here ok...)

What I mind is, I missed out a WHOLE LOTTA things just because my sense of responsibility takes over my other priorities.

I missed out on basketball practice on Tuesdays. (not that I'm good anyway)

I missed out on CSR activities every time there is one...is there a bloody conspiracy to arrange to put me on duty everytime there is such said activities?

I missed out 2 whole months of movie watching......I am a movie lover, can't help it...

I missed out important family gatherings and makans......

I missed out on friend's birthday parties......

AND I FREAKING MISSED OUT A 10 YEAR REUNION DINNER WITH SECONDARY SCHOOL MATES OK......I was fucking pissed at that...those mates, didn't had the chance to meet since I moved to KLIA...and now...

Shit......

This job has taught me that in life, there are a lot of compromises....

Just that it's not good to always compromise yourself...

Yeah, it's a selfish thought...I don't care......

90 days

2007-10-17T00:55:00.000Z

3 months.

3. Freaking. Months.

Without a post.

Even I couldn't believe it.

That is so not me...

The past 90 days has been a helluva ride for me...stuck in program-dom with high pressure customer chasers and getting a mouthful from the seniors.

Why the fuck got so many production problem....kanasai......

It ain't fun working more than 12 hours a day ok...the body can only take so much.

It didn't help that the wireless connection in my home was and still is shaky...had to resort to jacking other people's wireless network to go online or it's a trip to T-Bun.

Which is one of the reason this blog was "vacant" for 3 months. That, and I DON'T HAVE FREAKING TIME.

I need extra 8 hours a day...just to go back home and relax and do my stuff......

Not working til 11pm every goddamn day and only have time for papers and supper and sleep.

I know complaining ain't helping...and a whole lot of people has been through that...and with the constant mantra "The first 2 years of work is the most critical" and shit...but still.......

I WANT TIME.

SICK

2007-07-18T12:50:00.000Z

I'm sick.

Exhausted, whole body is tired. No energy.

The body has finally taken its toll. Probably due to working late for the past few weeks.

And definitely due to the snacks and fast foods and those more-than-RM10-above lunch sets that I took during lunchtime. Gotta cut away from those....

So since yesterday I was home, took a 2 day MC, coz the almost-fever came back in the evening yesterday after I almost recovered. This morning's heavy rain doesn't help either. No point risk getting wet and sick again.

And the haze...the freakin haze...is back. I can barely see KLCC from my window.

So...like I said, I stayed home all day since yesterday, save for going to grab something to eat, and, you know, spent the a few hours contemplating on my life, reevaluate my priorities, ponder on life-work balance, what I should so with the remaining days of my core leave after getting back from Indonesia....

You know, heavy stuff. Yada yada yada.

This, after I almost screw up my mid year appraisal by not remembering any good or outstanding things/performance that could've help me in the ratings. Luckily my mentor Fish helped me out a lot during the review. Really, really appreaciate it, thanks a million Fish!

Also, finally finish reading Fight Club that I've bought since late April. The "Afterword" section was pretty creepy, where the author imagined himself a victim of some real life fight club homework assignment and the rest of the world has obsessed over the novel so much so that life-imitates-art. Yeah, it took me three months to finish a 200+ page novel. But I've been busy with work you know...I could only read on the way back home everynight in the shaky LRT.

Oh yeah, while sick at home, I spent the whole day online.

Like I said, I seriously gotta reevaluate my priorities.

The past 2 months

2007-07-13T03:05:00.000Z

Holy moly, I was MIA for the past 2 months, my longest period ever. Here's a short, non-chronological recap, for anyone who bothers:

After 6 months of probation I received the job confirmation. Salary increased by 5%. Like, wow.

I bought Muse's "Origin Of Symmetry" album for RM32.90, and has sinced hooked on Citizen Erased everyday at work.

Watched a few movies that includes Spider-Man 3, Sumolah, Blades Of Glory, Pirates 3, Hot Fuzz and Transformers.
Most Enjoyable: Hot Fuzz
Most Meaningful: Sumolah
Suckiest of the lot: Spider-Man 3

I attended 4 weddings in the span of ONE month during May: Colleague's wedding, Alex's colleague's wedding, my college mate NC's wedding, and Dad's once-removed cousin's wedding (Apparently Synical was also dining at the same restaurant in Jaya Supermarket at that time. Didn't see her though, but did manage to exhange some SMS)

The company's CEO was retiring to London, attended the farewell dinner held at KLCC Convention Center, which had some great food at the event.

Dad had a minor operation on the nose to remove some smelly mucus. Nothing biggie. He recovered well, and me and Alex also had a check up. (We Pangs have nose problems dammit)

Had a mini-gathering with the ex-classmates from LJMU. Eric called and invited. Julie was there and so was Jess. Billy came 45 minutes late. Had some laughs in the Wangsa Maju Kopitiam, but the food bloody sucks.
Couldn't make it for a latter gathering a week later though, the one with Heng's farewell.
Total Surprise: Got to know Jess's totally hot younger sis Tanya.

Oh yeah, also bought Travis's "The Boy With No Name", 70% of the songs were listenable which is really quite a feat. First half of the album was more enjoyable though.
Recommended listens: 3 Times And You Lose, Closer, Eyes Wide Open, Under The Moonlight

*****

It's about 3AM now, I'm almost stoned. Getting too high from working.

Working everyday til late night isn't very healthy.

You got no time to do your own stuff anymore.

You don't have time for papers.

You don't have time for laundry.

You don't have time for socializing.

You don't even have time to shit.

But you know something's very wrong when sometimes, just sometimes only, for a little moment, you actually enjoy working so late.

Damn psycho.

SAT.

Call Center.

Securities.

Syncs.

Releases.

Maintenance.

Support.

UAT.

Batches.

Corporate pressure.

I'm almost sick of it all.

Overloaded.

Exhausted.

Cannot tahan liao.
3 languages in a sentence. The beauty of Manglish.

The anarchist in me is wating to get out.

I am Jack's Surpressed Rage.

Money Licking MuthaF****s

2007-05-15T01:18:00.000Z

2 weeks ago one of my friends (who shall remain nameless here for the sake of letting me bombard him with curse words) invited me to watch Spidey 3. Dude says he booked 50 tickets at TGV. So many friends? Go figure.

At first I hesitated. Dude must be up to no good (I'll let you guess what he's up to, but you probably already did so). But then he said he also invited a few college mates whom I haven't met up for quite some time. So I thought "What the heck..." and promised.

And turned up I did. And wadayya know, it wasn't 50 people like he said---it was more like 160. All gathered at Burger King KLCC, having dinner while waiting for the show to start.

Seeing these 100 + people, it was like an illegal gathering of some sort and I'm part of it. There's a disturbing sense that you're trying to trash the place with so many people as your "backup". Why the need to have so many people at the same time? To showoff ah, like you got a big gang very 'geng' is it? To network? You're not throwing a home party mate.

Soon after when I was chowing down on my mushroom burger, came this girl who looked like those power women type, ya know, businesswomen. The fella sat down and introduced herself.

Girl: "Hi, I'm XXX's friend. So you guys are his college friends?"
Me: "Yeah, we were college mates few years back."
Girl: "So you're working now huh?"
Me: "Yeah I work in a bank...you working too?"
Girl: (with a sudden smirk and a grin on her face) "No, I don't WORK. I do BUSINESS."

NIABEH, very action is it doing your own business...I so wanted to slap that bitch in the face at that very moment. Lucky for her her phone rang and she had to go outside to talk coz' they gathered so many loons in BK in the first place.

Yep, I've encountered the kind of people I hate most: People from the MLM industry. Jerks who can't stop talking about money and business all day long as though they are already experts in the field when all they represent are 2nd year college jocks.

As if hanging with them isn't enough, when the clock hits 9pm all of them starts rushing to the cinema already. The reason? To get free seatings. Ignoring the fact that people already bought tickets with NUMBERED SEATS these idiots wanna take the whole cinema to themselves by choosing their own comfy seats, preferably at the back row of course. What's the whole point of purchasing tickets in the first place anyway if you're gonna be so selfish?!

You think you are the king of the world ah? Fuck you lah.

Multi Level Marketing? Screw that. I call them Money Licking MuthaF****s.

* more MLM bashing in the next post. Sorry, I just have to blurt it out.

One Step Closer

2007-05-04T01:42:00.000Z

More than ever before, this LP song resonates the current shithole that I've been dumped in.

I cannot take this anymore
I'm saying everything I've said before
All these words they make no sense
I find bliss in ignorance
Less I hear the less you'll say
But you'll find that out anyway

Just like before...

Everything you say to me
Takes me one step closer to the edge
And I'm about to break
I need a little room to breathe
Cause I'm one step closer to the edge
And I'm about to break

I find the answers aren't so clear
Wish I could find a way to disappear
All these thoughts they make no sense
I find bliss in ignorance
Nothing seems to go away
Over and over again

Everything you say to me
Takes me one step closer to the edge
And I'm about to break
I need a little room to breathe
Cause I'm one step closer to the edge
And I'm about to break

Shut up when I'm talking to you
Shut up, shut up, shut up

I’m about to break!

Now if you'll excuse me I have to go fuck myself to cool down.

Better screw me

2007-04-12T01:49:00.000Z

No post for last month...been busy digging my head into the system...need support constantly...big project coming now, haven't study the specs yet, gonna die......

Writing skills is rusty at this point...only can write in short sentences...puntuated by 3 dots...ironic...funny...no idea...recap on the next post, hopefully......

Blogging now just for the heck of it...nothing substantial to write...not that I can think of at the moment......

Being chased a lot recently...seniors chasing me for works...a girl friend starts chasing me, literally...not quite sure how to handle it...damn it...when's my turn to chase the one I like......

At this point damn tired...physically and emotionally...can't take the heat anymore...get me outta here......

Sometimes people just don't fucking get it......

Like I said, not very substantial......

It's been a while

2007-02-27T23:38:00.000Z

Another 26 days gone, really got no time to blog and just being lazy all this while.

Well, not enough time is just an excuse, I'm just lazy.

It seems like few of my recent posts I've been doing recaps instead of the usual topic-ed post like movie reviewing or recalling a trip...how lame of that......

**********

Got a surprise phone call from Anna and Josephine in Liverpool (forgot which day), which was rather pleasant getting some updates about them and other former mates.

**********

Chinese New Year was okay, went to Port Dickson and overnight at one of the condo there. Just spending time with the cousins and played some games and gambled, which I lost RM10. :P
Too bad I got hit with a bad flu for 3 days, almost gone sick. That's probably the only worse part in an otherwise enjoyable 9 days holiday.

After 9 days away without work (I took 3 days leave for CNY), I'm back in the office typing away at the keyboard answering mails from Japan and doing amendments and testing, all the while consulting with my sifu before making every crucial move. What would I do without her......but she's on night shift next week, so I'm on my own. T_T

Oh, we have a new colleague in the team, who I thought looked a bit like Daniel Craig. And by a bit I mean just a wee bit and vague resemblance...maybe it's just me...... :P

**********

My biggest regret so far is that I missed the Muse concert in Stadium Negara on 25th Feb 2007. XJ had a friend working in one of those TicketAxess places, and she promised to get me tics at discount price, but still it sold out like hot cakes. (no worries XJ, there's always next time :P)

When word came out that the tics was all SOLD OUT, I was so numbfucked I went and bought their latest album Black Holes And Revelations....to "quench my thirst" I guess. And to sample their songs. Truth be told, I'm only familiar with "Time Is Running Out".

The songs are quite varied in genres and styles, some of them not very mainstream stuff, but good music overall. My favs include "Starlight", Supermassive Black Hole", "Map Of The Problematique", "Exo-Politic", and of course the incredible album closer "Knights of Cydonia". Even the title reeks of awesomeness.

Oh well, at least Synical attended the gig, and I can read her review of it.

**********

Oh man, I so wanted to blog about the movies I watched during CNY, but it's so late now...maybe on the next post.

My posts are getting more and more disoriented and unorganized. Writing skills also berkarat already. Damn it.

No direction

2007-02-02T00:55:00.000Z

Listening to: Travis's Singles album

Well, for those who keep track, this is my first post from a 40 day hiatus.

Yes, that's right. I haven't blogged in 40 days. Even I myself dunno why. No time? Lame excuse la...but really, I haven't had the chance to play My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade, which I bought for almost 3 weeks already.

Probably coz there's not much interesting things to say lately. Wanted to blog about working stuff, but I'd probably turn it into another rant, and ethically we shouldn't blog about work stuff right? for P&C reasons...sometimes I fear that I will cross the line....

And working in a bank (which is very routine itself) also robs me of any excitement that I otherwise may encounter.

Damn, my English is getting sloppy.

Anyway, I'm blogging now coz today is FT day, and I had to wait now in the middle of the night to start my bitchin, coz the whole day was spent cleaning my room and reading papers which I previously didn't have time to catch up on.

So, the updates.

Work wise, everything is ok, getting some jobs to do now after I whined about how I got nothing to do and appearing to be slacking during office time. How I regret about that. Now I got a handful of it I don't even know if I can handle 'em.

And it doesn't help that I fucked up something and almost got a scolding from my mentor. Lucky me, the problem was fixed in time. But this will probably haunt me for a while.

Oh well, I'll just have to bite it and take it as a lesson and try not to repeat it the next time.

* * * * * * * * * *

Movie wise, watched Night At The Museum. Movie itself was okay only, with sloppy characterization and childish dialogue, but there are some inspired and genuinely funny moments. Best watched in cinemas to generate some laughters with other moviegoers.
Hey, it's gotta be good if everyone in the cinema gave an applause when the credits roll...

Also watched Blood Diamond. Brutal. Adventurous. Thought-provoking. Although I find 2004's Hotel Rwanda more intimate and personal. But this is still another good picture form Edward Zwick. One of those serious movies that actually talks about something, in this case conflict diamonds...makes you think the next time you walk past a jewellery shop in those shopping malls. Watch out for great acting performances from Leonardo DiCaprio (he's not just a pretty face anymore) and Djimon Hounsou (always dependable and really shines in this role...plus that torso.....).

* * * * * * * * * *

Social life, hmmm....went out once during New Year's Eve with JZ and Manx, and went for a trip to Penang to celebrate Chris's birthday and bought some DVDs (which still haven't watch). Apart form that, seldom contact friends also.

* * * * * * * * * *

News wise, the only ones that mattered to me are 2 prominent bloggers got into some lawsuit for defamation, and 3 prominent Chinese language daily newspaper being merged. Because this brings the question: where is the freedom of speech in our country?

Sometimes reading the papers can be so depressing, coz' all you read are articles about how obnoxious, dumb, bullying and ignorant our leaders can be. It's all fucked up I tell ya...

Good luck to Visit Malaysia Year 2007. Let's see how this great idea will turn out.

Next time only I rant. Now wanna sleep liao.

Technorati Tags: Work, The Black Parade, Blood Diamond, Night At The Museum, Visit Malaysia Year

Ranting again...

2006-12-21T00:28:00.000Z

Yay, almost 3 weeks from another post. I really have no time to blog nowadays, let alone read a decent paper. Working life is hectic, I literally am in the office for almost 12 hours a day.

Wake up at 7, rush to the LRT to squeeze with other passengers, reach office, warm the chair and programming til' noon, lunch, and warm the chair again til' late evening. go back home, eat, bath, sleep.

Repeat 5 times per week. SIEN.

I never thought that the weekends now seem so much more important than ever before, coz' I get to sleep til' noon like nobody's business.

Anyway, here's the things done for the past 3 weeks:

Finally moved into Menara Alpha.
Met and had a short chat with Jo Wen the next day while going to work in the morning.
Watched clerks II, which despite its rather explicit and offensive joke, is rather entertaining and would be one of the funniest comedies I've seen in a long time.
Next is Borat, just wanted to see what's the hype about and if it's really that funny.
Watched Lucky Number Slevin, continued from halfway on the plane while on the trip back to Malaysia a few months ago.
Went to KLCC to watch Cicak-Man with Alex.
Attended the IT Department year end dinner in the company, in which I got slapped with shaving foam all over my face during the game session. Luckily my team won the "shaving" contest (kudos to my partner Yenny for being quick and reflexive).
Paid the graduation ceremony fees to the local LJMU correspondence.
Met Laura for the first time, chatted for 3 hours plus. :P She's got this bubbly yet carefree attitude. Nice.

Other than that, it was work, work and more work. Looking forward to the new year, coz' a big project's coming in next year.

Wait...looking forward to a big project? Who the fuck am I kidding?!

Technorati Tags: Working Life, LRT, Annual Dinner, LJMU

Review: Cicak-Man

2006-12-21T00:20:00.000Z

Went to see this movie last week, coz' the trailer was rather entertaining. Alas, the "experience" is what I would call "fooled-by-the-trailer" syndrome.

It turns out the action sequence in the trailer was the ONLY action sequence in the entire movie. FUCK.

There is a plot initially, but it's so thin. The concept is okay, but the way it's executed is really bad. Do you really need to insert lame jokes and Senario comedy into a superhero movie?

It doesn't help too that the acting is wooden and the love chemistry is almost non-existent. And the dialogues...bloody cliche dialogue spoken so cornily by the actors. I wonder how they keep themselves from laughing when reciting their lines...

With a Spider-Man like plot, Daredevil resembling costume (Saiful face looks even more skeletal in the mask), Aznil Nawawi impersonating The Riddler and the Joker but annoying as hell to the max, and the Matrix's twins, it's got copycat written all over it. Well at least the twins are sometimes entertainingly funny. ("Tengok, tengok apa? Mau curi?!")

I seem to be biased, but I'll give Yusry credit for the subtle satire sprinkled throughout the movie, at least he's attempting to say something, which I think will most probably went through most people's head. Commentaries include the train station announcements, and the clones' skip-beat track antics is such an obvious stab at piracy. I dun understand how people can laugh at Senario type lame jokes but missed the satire, which IMO is so much more funnier. If Yusry can attempt some satire, how did the end product become so trashy? It's possible that he's directing the whole movie so badly intentionally as a parody itself, but I seriously doubt that.

At least the CG is done competently, but the need for a fictional city seems superficial. KL not good enough ah?

The saving grace comes in the form of Jalaludin Hassan's cameo as the mayor type character. But the funniest still has got to be the newspaper jokes everytime Cicak-Man does some good deeds.

Let's hope for a better sequel if (God forbid) there's ever one.

RATING: 2 out of 5

Technorati Tags: Movies, Cicak-Man, Saiful Apek, Yusry, Malaysian Movie, KRU

talking cocks...

2006-12-02T16:29:00.000Z

ANOTHER 2 weeks since the last posting...damn it, how I wish I could blog every day or every 2 days just like during college.

I don't know is it because of the lack of time since working (I haven't read the papers in a week) or is it because there's nothing worthy to blog about. Of course, this is all perspective. My nothing worthy could be someone's story of a lifetime. I wanted to get political and start lambasting (is that a word?) and complaining the current state of affairs in the country, but visiting Jeff Ooi is enough already. Maybe the next post.

I dunno what I'm saying now, my English has been pretty rusty lately.

Ok, the update. I now work in KL but am still staying in my hometown Nilai. Everyday I gotta wake up at 6am, take the 7am train, and reach office at 8.30am. The job requires me to stay back till at least 8pm...well, doing IT is like that lah. So I take the KTM again and when I get back home it's 10pm already. Mandi, makan, TV for maybe half an hour and then sleep. Repeat cycle for 5 days.

And this is only the first 2 weeks. Later when project comes...maybe it's going to be a 7 day work.

Bugger.

And my assignment in office...the exercise needs 3 days to complete. It's been a week and I'm only 50% done. I AM FREAKING SLOW OKAY.....

The job's pay is good, and there's good learning opportunity about banking stuff. But I don't think using dated technology is going to help me learn new things.

I'M REALLY FUCKING WORRIED LAH.

I don't wanna sound like I'm whining, coz' there's a 99% chance that all my friends are going through the same thing. Maybe because this is my first real job after graduated (my only other work experience comes from the industrial training).

Luckily starting tomorrow I'm gonna move in to Wangsa Maju with my bro, well now at least I get to sleep one more hour everyday, and cut down on travelling time by about 75 minutes. And with no ASTRO as distraction, maybe reading the papers at night can get me updated.

Technorati Tags: work, Nilai, job

Review: Casino Royale

2006-11-20T00:39:00.000Z

I never really paid much attention to Bond films, but there's a lot of buzz lately about this movie, make me curious only, so got myself to watch it yesterday. And it's safe to say it didn't disappoint.

I thought I was watching the wrong movie when the opening black and white scenes started playing. At least the intro was brief before kicking into the credits accompanied by a rather listenable theme sang by Chris Cornell (of Audioslave). And that signature Bond pose is more creatively handled than the usual walking-into-the-circle routine.

For a Bond film, this one has fewer action scenes compared to the previous incarnations, but when the actions do kick in, it's not some pyrotechnics and CGI explosive mayhem, just good ol' hand to hand action. This is old school Bond. Just check out the opening Parkour chase scene. Bloody terrific. It's just refreshing to see a Bond film without those high tech gadgets. The only thing that comes close to being high tech is probably Bond's GPS-enabled Sony Ericsson.

There's more room for character development and some interesting dialogues in this film, since this is sort of an "origins" story about how 007 become who he is now. You'll know why in later films he likes to flirt and prefers one night stands with women when in this one he is clearly so in love with one. That scene in the shower (he slowly hugs and comforts Vesper while both are wet) is the best scene IMHO. Few dialogues are spoken yet so many emotions evoked.

As for James Bond himself, much has been said about Daniel Craig being the best Bond since Sean Connery. Personally, I haven't seen any 007 film before Goldeneye, so I can't compare. And I was one of those who wished that Clive Owen will get the role after watching those BMW The Hire shorts. But Daniel Craig proved that he definitely has more charisma than Pierce Brosnan. Brosnan has that elegant classy thing, but Craig is more...dark and edgy, plus a better physique (those killer abs...) and those blue eyes that literally glow in the dark. Can you imagine Brosnan doing that chase scene?

Eva Green is quite good as a Bond girl who is mature, elegant and actually never stripped for the benefit of the audience! Me thinks she is hotter when not in makeup...but man, she is hot.....

The villian Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) actually made me sympathized for him at some point in the movie, oddly......

My only gripe is that the movie's a little long clocking in 2 hours 30 minutes. The poker game alone lasts almost an hour, but it sure has tension and suspense going on.

Overall, this is really a good movie, entertaining and intelligent. After Batman Begins, this is another successful reboot of a fading franchise. I am now actually looking forward to Bond 22. (damn if only all movie sequels are as good as this...)

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Technorati Tags: James Bond, 007, Casino Royale, Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Aston Martin, Parkour, Movies

Start work already!

2006-11-20T00:31:00.000Z

After two months of procrastinating at home, I finally started working since last Thursday, putting myself in the competitive workfield, of dirty office politics and climbing up corporate ladders.

Well, not really lah, I'm just being "dramatic". But from now on I gotta start working my arse off to prove that I am worth every penny that I was paid for.

For the moment, there's still nothing I can do, so they put me into reading some documents to familiarize with the works and guidelines and whatnots. I tell ya mate, reading non stop on a CRT monitor can really hurt the eyes, not to mention making me so goddamn sleepy. :P

And the team members all stayed back to work until late, make me pai seh only going back home at 8.00pm even when official work hour is 2 hours earlier.

Met some new people, and surprisingly there are quite a few from TARC, a bit unexpected lah. The new recruits are gonna hang out next week at some shopping complex, no harm tagging along and getting to know them better.

Technorati Tags: Work, Overtime, IT

Bond, anyone?

2006-11-12T23:39:00.000Z

Saw the Opening Night for Casino Royale, and I have to say that the exclusive opening scene was quite good, the pursuit showcased a practitioner of Parkour and Bond's old school resourcefulness and quick thinking...should be worth watching......

Daniel Craig may not be as suave as Pierce Brosnan, but he sure has a hot bod... :P

Technorati Tags: James Bond, 007, Casino Royale, Daniel Craig, Parkour

Jobs Jobs Jobs

2006-11-11T01:10:00.000Z

The interview at Singapore went smoothly, a wee bit better then the one in KL...however, I was damn pai seh coz didn't able to answer some programming questions from the chief solutions architect (now that's a hot title!)...not bad lah, at least they let me claimed for transport......

That was Wednesday.

Today, went to college with Standlye, Julie and Jess to meet and catch up Jennie from LJMU and also to provide "support" for her presentation...hehe, finally knew what it's like being a senior where everyone is eager to get answers from you :P

Then, got a call halfway from the first company, and......

I GOT THE JOB!!!

WHOO HOO!!!

Can't believe I got myself employed at a respectable company! Note to self: belanja Auntie Annie makan. Must work hard to prove that I'm worth the salary.

Later, hang out with Standlye and Jess at KLCC before leaving to discuss the job offer with the employer. If everything goes smoothly, I shall be able to start work next week.

Damn nervous just thinking about it......Guess I have just a few days left to goyang kaki before stepping into the work field... :P

Technorati Tags: Interview, Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University, HSBC, Job

Routine...

2006-11-06T00:03:00.000Z

Went for the second interview on Friday, it was a test actually. The English test I think I can do, the maths test I didn't finish the last five question, not enough time, and the diagram test was hell after question no.3.

Didn't dare say I fared well in the test, but getting called for the test at least gave me some hope.

And just when I was down contemplating about my performance for the test, the company from Singapore called for an interview this week. Thanks JH for your recommendation!

TARC is gonna held a career fair starting from this Wednesday to Friday...suffice to say gonna try me luck there.

* * * * *

JZ was hospitalized last week but recovered few days ago. Stay healthy bro!

Oh yeah, I just took off the tag board in case anyone's asking, coz' those bloody spam messages just keep popping up and I'm too lazy to fix it.

And adding some Technorahti tags just for the heck of it......

Technorati Tags: interview, TARC

Back from hibernating... :P

2006-10-31T02:03:00.000Z

Went to attend Uncle George's daughter, Valerie's wedding at the Sheraton Subang last week. How come I always gotta attend the wedding ceremony of my dad's friend's daughter/son/cousin/whoever is having it? Most of the time I don't even know 99.9% of the guests, go there sit down like some idiot only...I normally go to weddings for the free food anyway (actually not so free lah when you count the ang pau money...)

But the wedding was definitely one of the most expensive I ever attended. Some datuks came, and also other corporate big shots who I probably have no idea who they are...but I almost laughed when this waitress came in holding a dish on her hand while being carried on one of those Dragon Chairs not unlike those used by ancient emperors. :P

Talk about exaggeration.

**********

But let's talk movies.

Watched a coupla movie on TV for the past 2 weeks. Here's the short reviews and some thoughts:

The Island
This Michael Bay movie actually has some interlect in it! Starts off promisingly with some interesting views and themes touching on propaganda, cloning ehtics and repression, along with some cool futuristic lifestyle, but the second half of the movie reverts back to typical Bay-esque action sequences, and only the highway chase stands out. Characterization is so-so with only Steve Buscemi being memorable (the only time I cared was when he got killed off). Great for the first hour, and getting sillier and dissapointing towards the ending. Favourite line: "Just because you wanna eat a burger doesn't mean you gotta meet the cow."
Bottomline: 3 out of 5

Berlari Ke Langit
Watched on ASTRO Kirana with mom and dad. Very, very slow pacing tale about a guy who finds true love in his younger brother's school teacher. The second act's plot is a liitle silly, and when coupled with the arty cinematography and dialogue, make it even sillier. Checked it out just because it's got Rosyam Nor as the lead. The movie may be slow, but the guy's got charisma.
Bottomline: 3 out of 5

Tube
Also on Kirana. Korean film about the hijacking of a train by a terrorist. The ads on TV looks interesting...until you see the actual movie. The action is always dragged by the typical Korean mushy love angle that doesn't lead anywhere coz' the leads are just so boring. The hero's good looking, the girl's quite cute, but the villain is the scene stealer. Some action scenes are good, some are plain ridiculous (2 guys in suit taking out the entire 40-strong SWAT team). Should've checked out Project X, but the schedules always clashed with my time.
Bottomline: 2.5 out of 5

I Not Stupid 2
Very, very entertaning Singaporean satire on the education system and parenthood in general. I missed the original, but this sequel stands on its own. The actors, child and teens and adults all do a good job of portraying their characters, their interaction and dialogue very real, and I was overwhelmed with tears during 3 different touching scenes. The jokes are only understood if you're a Malaysian or Singaporean (but films like this never get made in Bolehland because of the "sensitivity" and the jokes that "hurt the racial harmony" and the satire directed towards teachers). The last 20 minutes of the movie does get dramatic and a bit silly (the martial arts champion), but there's a brilliant black comedy moment when a father figure dies and I shouldn't, but burst out loud laughing. The preceding scene was filled with sadness and melancholy, but cut to the next scene and hysteria ensues. You'll know it when you see it. I cannot recall another movie with this instance of a perfect dark comic moment.
Bottomline: 4.5 out of 5

Donnie Darko
Been wanting to watch this coz' of word of mouth and its cult status on the net. Didn't thought they'd show this on 8TV. Not since the Matrix trilogy have I been so confused by a movie's inherently confusing world and plotline created by the director. Jake Gylenhaal was good, Frank the rabbit was creepy (that mask...ugh...), and the atmosphere was filled with "doom". But the ending was like, WTF?! I had to go online for explanations, and pretty much find the time travelling aspect rather original. Wanted to check out the official site (littered with puzzles and clues), but haven't done so.
Bottomline: 4 out of 5

The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
Low-key comedy from Wes Anderson, Bill Murray and Owen Wilson. It has the usual Anderson trademarks: long shots, subtle jokes perfectly delivered by Murray, parody (check out the pirate invasion and the rescue mission sequence, damn funny). The undersea animals were obviously CG, but quite inventive...and that jaguar shark was cool. But the biggest surprise is Willem Defoe, who is so bloody funny as the jealous Klaus, I just can't imagine him anymore as Norman Osbourne without chuckling.
Bottomline: 3.5 out of 5

Guess Who
Pretty good reinterpretation of that 60s classic that starred Sidney Poitier. The leads have chemistry, and the racial jokes are, well...adequate. Do check it out for a good laugh and for Bernie Mac's performance. Favourite line: "You haven't apologize to your wife?" "Save us your metrosexual bullshit, will you?"
Bottomline: 3 out of 5

The Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy
Pretty decent film with a lot of outrageous, wacky and warped sense of Brit humour. Only appreciated you have some familiarity with the book. I know I didn't when half the time I don't get it. But the fly swatter on the face when there's an original thought or idea is a pretty spot-on satire. Slartibartfast, hahaha......
Bottomline: 3 out of 5

My Date With Drew
Was flipping the channels when this documentary-reality TV mash up on STAR Movies caught my attention. This filmmaker Brian Herzlinger wants to use his prize money won from a gameshow, and a videocamera bought from a store with a 30 day return policy, to film his attempt to get a date with Drew Barrymore by hooking up and talking with people who are close to the star using 6 Degrees of Separation. And he's only got 30 days to do it before returning the
videocam. The "movie" remains interesting enough, and the hero itself is likeable and underdog enough for me to root for him. Will he succeed? Read the title. Oh yeah, now I know what the Movie Trailer Guy looks like. (He the background voice of almost every movie trailer)
Bottomline: 4 out of 5

The Skeleton Key
Creepy and atmospheric suspense mystery centering on the practice of hoodoo (not voodoo). Kate Hudson is hot, Peter Saarsgard's southern accent is a bit funny, Gena Rowlands is menacing, and John Hurt says only one line in the entire film. Pacing is slow but remains intriguing, and the twist ending is one of the best in a long time (I haven't been shocked since Saw), and is one of those rare times where the puzzles all come together clearly in your mind
when it is revealed.
Bottomline: 3.5 out of 5

**********

Ho Yuhang's Rain Dogs is finally showing in GSC cinemas after receiving praises in film festivals around the world. Read some mixed reviews on it, but dunno if got time to go check it out...Diva Popular looks like a pretty good satire too (Erma Fatima directs, it's gotta be good).

I say man, bring more local indie productions to the cinemas lah...and loosen up the censorship rules lah!!! Malaysia should stop producing those crappy Senario and Erra Fazira love story movies...and look towards the indie scene for quality films that are truly worthy of international showings.

**********

oh yeah, and I finally received my academic transcript from the folks at LJMU. Ngam-ngam got a 70.8 mean mark to attain a first class honours degree. Whew! They even attached a congrats card with signatures from all the lecturers that taught us. But how come no Dr. Janvier's signature?

Of Holes and Roads

2006-10-18T00:14:00.000Z

These days it seems that finding job is so difficult, without the proper 'lubang' and 'jalan' you don't seem to stand a chance among the hundreds vying for the same position as you. That's what I think of course.

I dunno what happened with the applications in jobstreet.com, there seems to be no response from them...but I guess I'll have to wait a little while longer.

I sent out about 15 applications, dunno that can be considered a little or not because most of my friends sent out applications by the hundreds...But sometimes when you stay at home for too long and all you do is procrastinate and day dream, it can be a little boring and "tedious".

I'm quite lucky that my dad helped a lot in trying to find some jobs for me...so much that the first interview today was the one recommmended by his friend.

I had my first job interview today. And I think I botched it.

Damn.

I don't know about you, but I did spent some time reading on those interview tips on how to best impress the people during interviews and shits, yet during the actual interview i made two crucial mistakes.

One, I didn't sell myself well enough. In fact, I was being humble the whole time, making myself look like a wimp. And two, i said something contradicting that led to even more contradiction when answering the interviewers' following questions.

FIRST INTERVIEW MAN, AND I ALMOST FUCKED IT UP.

Oh well, it's an experience after all. Lesson learnt. Just have to be careful next time.

I wonder when next time is gonna be......

7 Deadly Songs meme

2006-10-05T17:30:00.000Z

Here's another meme I "ripped off" from Synical, hehe...

7 Deadly Songs

Rules: I have to name seven songs which I am listening to these days. The songs can be in any genre; with or without lyrics. The most important thing is that I enjoy listening to them all and will not get bored.

How to pick out seven songs only? There's too many of them...argh!

1. U2 - One
2. Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor
3. Theory Of A Deadman - Santa Monica
4. Johhny Cash - Hurt
5. The Eagles - Take It Easy
6. Stereophonics - Dakota
7. Ray LaMontagne - Trouble

Again, I'll tag whoever that wants to do this...

TV Mania

2006-10-03T01:23:00.000Z

Since I came back from Liverpool the one constant thing that I do everyday without fail is, of course, watching TV, what else to do when you've got ASTRO and lots of free time? I've been deprived of TV for three months in the UK (they have some good shows now and then, but most of the time it's boring game shows), so coming back home was good.

I get to watch re-runs of AXN shows that I missed, sitcoms on Star World, and movies that I ommited long ago on the Movie Channels.

Heck, just yesterday on the Dynasty Phoenix channel they showcased the 2005 Edinbugh Military Tattoo show, which I missed while in Edinburgh. And today morning I feast my eyes with Miss World 2006......is it just me or does Miss Romania looks like Catherine Zeta-Jones?

Some observations and complains:

24
My all time favourite drama. You won't find anything more exhilarating and adrenaline rushing on TV. Every episode is a cliffhanger handled way better than Lost. Where is Season 4 on AXN?! Bugger! It's been 2 years since they first showed Season 3...and Season 6 is airing in the US on January!!!

Lost
Strong and interesting first season. Got weak each week on Season 2. I got hooked to every character on Season 1, but on Season 2 only Sayid, Jin and Sawyer remain interesting (and Mr. Eko). Even Locke has lost his charisma...I've yet to watch the last few episodes, which I heard is really great...

House MD
Current favourite show on AXN since 24 is absent. Hugh Laurie is damn good in the role...too bad he didn't even get a nod in this year's Emmys. I still find myself sometimes lost amidst all the med jargon and subplot involving the characters. Nonetheless, just watching Laurie's performance is worth it.

Alias
Not a really big hit among TV fans, but still watchable. Season 4 ended with a yet another cliffhanger (Vaughn is not really Michael Vaughn). Oh, and Alias has officially transitioned from spy drama to sci-fi zombie drama, which I'm not very sure is a good move or not...guess I'll have to wait til Season 5 to find out...

Everybody Loves Raymond
Still IMO the funniest sitcom since Friends...the supporting actors are even funnier than Ray himself...i think they are airing the final season on Star World......

The silence treatment
you know the rage these days are new comedy series that don't have the laugh track but are highly comical and damn funny. Shows like The Office (I still prefer David Brent over Michael Scott), Arrested Development and Scrubs...but there's some people who don't know when to laugh because there's no laugh track. (those who don't get the jokes and not fluent enough to understand it). Sons and Daughters seems promising after a few episodes that I saw.

Reality overload
These days you can't tuned into MTV and expect to catch a music video playing. I mean everytime I channel surf to MTV it's another freakin' reality show featuring beautiful teenagers in skimpy clothes! I have to watch Hitz.tv now! I want music!!! Bring back the days where they repeatedly play Backstreet Boys and other cheesy pop songs non stop all day! (not that I want to listen to cheesy pop songs nowadays)

Damn tacky commercials!
I'm talking about those biscuits brand X and susu brand Y that shows up on TV now and then and have to be endorsed by local celebrities like Rosyam Nor and Mawi...real cheesy la...but the worse has got to be those supposedly patriotic songs on TV1 and TV2 that shows how progressive we are. Those IT songs, environmentalist conservation songs, and the dreaded keep-the-toilets-clean song. Bloody disgraceful lah...

Meanwhile, the US this season features lots of promising high concept new series, particularly Heroes which is getting lots of buzz lately. The comedies look interesting too.

Let's just hope they make it to AXN or Star World next year.

With so many shows to watch, no wonder my belly is getting bigger by the day.

short recap

2006-09-27T12:04:00.000Z

I haven't blog for 2 and a half weeks already and frankly, I don't even know why. The enthusiasm that once motivated me to document my life and views as much as possible has, to put it bluntly, faded...I don't want to stop blogging, and I still got tonnes of topic to blog about...damn, I AM addicted to ASTRO......

Here's a recap of the past 2 weeks:

10/9 - returned safely from Liverpool, arriving at 10.15pm.

11/9 - helped Pei Wern got her stuff from KLIA as her flight was delayed from Dubai for 10 hours.

12/9 - went back to Alor Gajah to visit grandpa.

14/9 - sent out a few job application through JobStreet.com. Still waiting for a reply. (yes I know it's tough)

16/9 - went back to Alor Gajah again to fetch grandpa back home coz he was sick. Stayed at home for a week.

17/9 til' 26/9 - continue to slack at home...

Other details I can't remember...probably spent the days watching TV and playing video games......living the life of the potato couch......

I ringed up some friends to give them a simple hello-I'm-back-from-Liverpool greetings, though I have yet to met them...probably after getting a job first......

There's a possible interview next week at Teik Teng's company, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Song Titles meme...

2006-09-22T23:45:00.000Z

Can't believe that I haven't blog in another 2 weeks...again...that, probably because I haven't anything interesting to say or do lately (I AM after all, still job hunting)....

So, tried out this meme from Soe Chin that sounds kinda fun......

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

1.) Put your music player on shuffle
2.) Press forward for each question.
3.) Use the song title as the answer to the question.
4.) NO CHEATING!!!

The questions and my answers:

1.) How am I feeling today?
Gnarls Barkley - Crazy

2.) Where will I get married?
Johnny Cash - Cocaine Blues

3.) What is my best friend's theme song?
U2 - One

4.) What is/was highschool like?
Joe Cocker - You Are So Beautiful

5.) What is the best thing about me?
Elliot Yamin - Home

6.) How is today going to be?
Taylor Hicks - Hell of a Day

7.) What is in store for this weekend?
Audioslave - Shadow On The Sun

8.) What song describes my parents?
U2 - Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own

9.) How is my life going?
Ray LaMontagne - Trouble

10.) What song will they play at my funeral?
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Scar Tissue

11.) How does the world see me?
Semisonic - Secret Smile

12.) What do my friends really think of me?
Juanes - Luna

13) Do people secretly lust after me?
Verve Pipe - The Freshmen

14.) How can I make myself happy?
Franz Ferdinand - Walk Away

15.) What should I do with my life?
Norah Jones - Shoot The Moon

16.) Will I ever have children?
Audioslave - Show Me How To Live

17.) What is some good advice?
The Eagles - Take It Easy

18.) What do I think my current theme song is?
The Faders - No Sleep Tonight

19.) What does everyone else think about my current life?
The Darkness - Love Is Only A Feeling

20.) What type of men/women do you like?
Franz Ferdinand - Jacqueline

21.) Will you get married?
New Radicals - Someday We'll Know

22.) What should I do with my love life?
Coldplay - Talk

23.) Where will you live?
Ryan Adams - The Rescue Blues

24.) What will your dying words be?
Norah Jones - Come Away With Me

25.) When I'm having sex I say…
INXS - Pretty Vegas

26.) When I meet a guy/lady for the first time I say..
Theory Of A Deadman - Santa Monica

27.) When my parents are angry I say…
Stereophonics - Maybe Tomorrow

You'd be surprised how some of the song titles answers the questions (questions 1, 6, 18) or gives a funny answer (questions 15, 21) or just gives u the creeps (question 24 :P).....

Of course, I have to confess...I cheated just a weeeee bit...screw rule no. 4....

Last trip, Anfield

2006-09-08T06:20:00.000Z

Another week pasts by since my last post on Merdeka...cleared all the exams and submitted all the courseworks....

I am officially a free man now :P

Went to Anfield today, the Liverpool football club stadium, on a trip organized by the university.

We arrived the stadium at about 11.2oam, but have to wait til' 12pm to get inside. We went into the Red Suite first to get a glimpse of the European Cup that Liverpool won last year. Too bad that after the group pic they quickly ushered us out to let another group in, I didn't get to take a one on one pic with the cup...but what the heck....

photo courtesy of Sheng Kai

Later we went into the museum to have a tour on the history and bla bla bla...and after 20 minutes of rushing through the museum there's the souvenir shop...not much of a football fan anyway, so didn't buy anything...

1pm, we had lunch at the Paisley Suite...it was just Indian rice with spices and veges...ugh...better than nothing.....we quickly ate and left the stadium, they didn't allow us into the field area, and I overheard rumours that the team is in training...damn it......

Took the coach back and reached Marybone at about 2.00pm...Glyn suggested the day before that we go for a drink...so we went to this pub, the Thomas Rigby, located near the town hall, and got ourselves half-drunk...

Almost all lecturers who taught us were there...Dr. Bill Janvier, Dr. David Lewellyn-Jones, Dr. Bob Askwith, Mr. Andy Laws, Ms. Jennie McWilliams, Mr. Glyn Hughes...and even the research assistant Ms. Ruth Thompson.

Everyone was quite emotional and the atmosphere was sentimental, coz' it's our last day at Liverpool...some are flying back home tomorrow, some are going on the Euro trip, and some just wanna have more fun staying in the UK.

Well, here's a pic of the whole course in the pub...I'll always remember the times here in Liverpool...It's definitely one of the best experiences of my life.

Cheers mates! CMS forever!

Merdeka in Liverpool

2006-08-31T12:15:00.000Z

It's been a good 3 weeks since my last post...didn't know what made me stop blogging for a while, but I know that there's still so much for me to blog about, notably:

The 5 day trip to Scotland. (still pending after nearly a month)

The university-organized trip to North Wales.

The trip to Blackpool.

Eating out at La Tasca (Spanish restaurant).

Our feast last Sunday with MengJie.

Mathew Street Festival.

There's still some more...but I can't remember for now...tomorrow's the final exam, and after that we got 5 days to complete the assignment and get the hell back home to Malaysia. Speaking of which......

I AM SO FUCKING HOMESICK RIGHT NOW.

Here I am, studying in Liverpool and having Merdeka overseas for the first time in my life, and I can't help but wonder how come there's not a single soul from my course who mentions the word "Merdeka", "Negaraku" or "Independence".

Come on lah, you call yourselves Malaysians?

It didn't struck me until 5 in the evening yesterday that it was Independence Day back home. Some wackos from the opposite flat started shouting MERDEKA! MERDEKA! MERDEKA! while people started passing around this Negaraku MIDI file on MSN.

Talk about patriotism.

And you definitely can't miss the blogosphere where everyone suddenly starts to"berbelog" in Bahasa.

The funniest (and also most idiotic) thing I remember about Merdeka every year are the news report where they randomly interview people on the streets about their views on Merdeka. And everytime there's gotta be at least 2 morons who will utter the words "Memang bagus lah, kami rakyat Malaysia, ada tiga kaum...Melayu, Cina and India...Kita harus bersatu-padu..."

Puh-leeeze...I wanna puke everytime I heard people say that. It's so fucking cliched.

But there's also those heartwarming and sentimental Petronas and Tenaga Nasional commercials that just puts a smile on your face or just makes you wanna weep. Especially those by Kak Yasmin.

I miss nasi lemak.

Luckily...

2006-08-11T09:55:00.000Z

Am doing the progress report and project documentation, just slacking for a while to blog.

called Dad in the evening yesterday, told him how I went overbudget and spent about 220GBP while in Scotland...been wanting to call back home since Tuesday, but the timing was bad.

I thought that I would get a scolding from him, but didn't. Dad just said he'll bank in some 150GBP next Monday.

Luckily...or else I dunno whether I can afford to go to London or not......

MUST. STOP. WASTING. MONEY.

I'm back

2006-08-10T18:10:00.000Z

After playing non-stop for 5 days in Scotland, I'm finally back in Liverpool.

Been recharging and slacking since yesterday, now I gotta rush the assignment out.

Wanted to blog out about the trip to Scotland, but the assignment is top priority right now. I haven't collect all the pics anyway. There's about 9GB of pics and videos from all of us, will try to upload some and blog it out when I have the time.

Now is just not the time. Deadline is on Tuesday. Coding in .NET is still zero, and the documentation is just one big headache.

And strangely, Linkin Park's One Step Closer keeps playing in my head. Maybe it's the lyrics.

I'm goin to Scotland baby!

2006-08-02T19:24:00.000Z

I've been waiting for this all this while, I'm finally going to Scotland!

There's 2 gang of people in the class who's planning the trip, so we sort of just jump on the bandwagon...hehe, what the hell, figured if we don't follow them, then we really don't have to go anywhere already...it's now or never.

Booked the car on Monday actually, just took it back to our hostel (not me of course, I'm a rookie driver). We booked a Class 3 Nissan Almeira, but got a Class 5 Megane Scenic instead, hehe....it's a manual gear car, but the car key is a keycard, the CD player volume control is on the headlight control, and the brake is only a pull out deck.

WEIRD. Took us about an hour to get the hang of it.

We're leaving at midnight, which is about 6 hours from now. So for the meantime gotta stock up on supplies (mostly snacks, breads and biscuits), coz we're traveling for 5 days, mostly sleeping in the car on camp sites.

I gotta go sleep now. Been rushing the assignment from yesterday til today. Gotta get some 3 hours sleep before departure.

I guess I won't be blogging these few days, so adios.

And wish me luck!

The following takes place between 3.00pm and 4.00pm

2006-07-28T15:28:00.000Z

I'm in the university lab right now, waiting for my bloody assignment to be printed out on a slow like turtle printer.

stupid people, print-lah your PDF files earlier! now I have to wait for my turn...

time is running out, only 35 minutes left before deadline...the printer is still not printing my assignment!!!

FUCK !

FUCK!

FUCK!

I haven' t sleep for the past 36 hours, so I'm kinda grouchy at the moment.

72 hours til completion!

2006-07-25T18:33:00.000Z

Had only 3 hours of sleep last night and only managed to complete a mere 25% of the damn coursework. Watched The Simpsons while taking a break.

Still a long way to go...No sleep again tonight I guess...

How the hell I got myself into all this...

Headache

2006-07-23T23:22:00.000Z

Been doing the coursework for User Interface Design all day long, and taking time to slack off and blog now. I'm still confused of what I am supposed to do.

Criticize an established academic paper? Puh-leeze...Who am I, Hawkings? How to criticize other experts' academic research when I myself am just a student...and not a very bright one too I might add.

It's like writing a Master's degree thesis, only shorter......like, 4 pages short. I am so not ready for that.

Can't even come up with 4 pages of my own academic paper...pathetic.

To top it off, the deadline is on this Friday, and as of now, I have only completed 2 pages of what is supposed to be a 30 page plus coursework. Only 4 days left for the preamble, 7 stages of TOA, summary, and a PowerPoint presentation.

Good luck to me.

p/s: My tendency to self-depreciate has slowly turned into self-destruction and mocking (and exaggerating things). This is what happen when you idolize Fight Club.

A day at the zoo

2006-07-23T01:30:00.000Z

Woke up earlier than usual coz planned to go to the zoo at Chester. Gone out one hour late coz eveybody was hegeh-hegeh......

The tics was GBP13.00, student price. The Chester Zoo was certainly big, and well maintained than our very own Zoo Negara. The gardens, parks, picnic spots and playgrounds add a nice touch to it.

There's not many animal shows there, and our timing was bad, missed all the shows.

There's a Jaguar museum of some sort, and I've not even spotted an actual one there. Oh, and now i know what their urine smells like after experiencing it first hand.

For me the chimps was the most enjoyable, coz I saw them shit, pee, fight each other and slamming themselves towards the protective window and scaring the shit out of the tourists, hahaha.

I'd like to elaborate more, but I'm dead sleepy right now. So, adios.

Ahoy pirates!

2006-07-22T03:50:00.000Z

Woke up quite late in the morning, had breakfast at about 10.30am. Been thinking about attending the post-graduate fair at JMU, but thought, ah, what the heck, not gonna study Masters anyway, so skipped it......

After that went to Chung Wah supermarket with the gang to buy some two weeks' worth of groceries, mostly instant noodles packs of course (I swear I'm gonna go bloody bald)......

On the way back home, walked past FACT and couldn't resist the temptation anymore, and bought tickets for Pirates Of The Carribean: Dead Man's Chest, coz we haven't watch any movies for quite some time already...plus, I think it's the only summer movie that's worthy of enjoying in the cinema.

Turns out I was right after all, haha. The movie didn't dissapoint. The running length is 2 and 1/2 hours, and like King Kong, the first hour is a bit slow, picking up at the second hour and getting better. Lots of exciting action sequences and equally lots of funny lines and jokes (In fact, even more enjoyable than MI3, which is the ONLY summer movie I've watched). The best part was of course the swordfight above the giant cartwheel thing. But the story is a wee bit confusing at first, they expect you'd figure some of the plot points fairly quickly.

Still, Johnny Depp is so enjoyable as the flamboyant Captain Jack Sparrow that time flies by, hehe. Elizabeth's dark side is slowly emerging, and I find that Commodore Norrington is surprisingly dashing with that rugged look compared to the first movie. But Orlando Bloom is still boring, period.

The special effects are definitely some of the best, with the realistically CGI Davy Jones being the standout. Look out for an Oscar nod for Best Makeup or Best Visual Effects.

The only thing I can't stand is the cliffhanger endings, dammit. Have to wait another year for the 3rd installment. And it's competing with Spidey 3.

Coming up: Superman Returns.

BTW, spotted another Proton on the streets, I think it's a Wira, but the back of the car says Persona, heh.

So close...

2006-07-20T02:38:00.000Z

Been wanting to go travel in Scotland, but haven't found the time yet. We lack planning and proper time management, hence the delay.

Then, today we heard that Adrian and his mates are going to Scotland tomorrow afternoon. Rented 2 cars, 10 persons at GBP196 per vehicle. GBP39 per person, not a bad price, considering it's a week rate.

At night, we thought, what the heck -- if we don't go now, there's not much time left already. a moment of inspiration and last minute decision means we're going to Scotland with them tomorrow. IT'S NOW OR NEVER BABY!

Fuck assignments, we'll get it done when we're back!

As everything seems to run smoothly, and discussions with Kok Cheng were generating excitement...there's a sudden revelation that hit us.

To rent and drive a car, ya need a person with a valid driving license and be 23 years and above. (The law's pretty strict here)

There's five of us, three are above 23 years old, and another two are 22 years old (me being one of them). Seems like no problem.

The ironic part? Gerlin and Standlye's licenses are expired; Josephine's one is in Malaysia; and me and Anna's licenses are valid, but we are underage.

BLOODY UNFORTUNATE COINCIDENCE.

Not scared or anything, but the risk of being caught violating laws in another country got the better of us.

We could take the trains, but that would cost a bit more, and we gotta walk around sightseeing while carrying our bags. Plus, we'd have to find youth hostels, YMCA houses or whatever for a sleepover. At least we can save on accommodation if there's a car.

And we would miss out the chance to hang out with Adrian and gang.

DAMN DU LAN :(

Well, back to assignments......

The mug

2006-07-17T01:17:00.000Z

went to Sports World in St. John Square to try and get the England jersey (those sleeveless ones) since World Cup fever is over and the price dropped, plus they're having this summer clearance sales everywhere, but I think they are out of stock already...

Then I accidentally saw a Manchester United mug on a shelf, which I promised to buy for Cindy but unable to coz' I haven't go to Old Trafford yet. I bought it anyway for GBP3.00.

Well, Cindy, hope you liked it. No need to think what it looks like already, haha.

Trip to Chester

2006-07-16T11:18:00.000Z

Went to Chester on Friday morning coz there's no class...other groups of people have already went to Blackpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield...this is our first trip outside of Liverpool after one and a half month here...pathetic...

Bought a ticket on the bus for GBP3.50 that allows unlimited travel between Liverpool and Chester...but before reaching Chester we stopped at Chesire Oaks, a designer outlet that houses branded goods at discounted prices. They got a Nike warehouse, Gap warehouse, Reebok warehouse, etc. selling items at ridiculously cheap prices...like 50-70% discounts! SHOPPING HEAVEN! Tempat ni Starhill pun kalah!

I only did some window shopping, I seldom shop anyway...but I bought a T-shirt with a Pulp Fiction motif at Petroleum for GBP9.00. I just can't resist it, coz I doubt I'd find something similar in KL...

What was supposed to be a 2 hours stroll became a 4 hours shopping spree, coz the place was simply too big, and the girls were shopaholics, so we only left for Chester at nearly 4pm.

After countless roundabouts and another 20 minutes later, we reached Chester Market. Before we came, I asked around other people who have went there before, and they said it's like a kampung place, but I find it rather clean, and there's a lot of cultural activities here, too bad there's no function or event happenning on Friday.

Actually there's only two significant landmarks here, which is the Eastgate and Chester River. There are some castles, but they are closed for visiting, and so are the churches.....There's not much to do here, only sightseeing and a little shopping around.

When it comes to asking for directions, the gang "appointed" me as the "spokeperson", supposedly because of my English (they often call me the walking dictionary...Ptui! Ya think my English is that good? ). So I ended up talking to a lot of strangers. Well it's not bad, at least I get to sharpen up my language skills, and flirting with some hot girls :P.

Nick said we should look out for an archeoogical site while we were there, but we didn't see it the whole trip. But it was on the other site of town, only saw it when we were leaving, haha. Turns out it's a Roman Amphitheatre, whatever that means.

Nothing much to see already, so we just called it a day and went back to Marybone. On the way home, I spotted a rarity: amongst all the Audis, BMWs, Mercedes, Volkswagens and Mini Coopers there lies a Proton Saga, the most lau yar version. The bus was shaky, this is the best shot I got.

The next day got to know that Adrian and his mates went to Blackpool early in the morning. Damn, missed the chance to go to a nudist beach.

Prophecies, Footballs, Rains

2006-07-13T01:38:00.000Z

Listening To: Theory Of A Deadman "Santa Monica"

This is a really nice "break up" song that I'm listening now, can't stop listening that I put it on repeat in Winamp......First heard it on the game Indigo Prophecy, been searching for it since then, and only found it today. Anyone interested, here is the link .

*****

Damn, France lost the World Cup...and Zidane has to retire in an ugly fashion. I was rooting for him the whole tournament, seeing that it's his last football match and the whole retirement thing. Alas, he just had to end it in a way that was similar with what Beckham did in 1998.

Fucker Materazzi...he got away with a racial slur and Zidane got sent out instead!

Everybody says that the Italians were playing foul and cheating for all their matches, now it seems true to me......

*****

Was surfing Gamespot and reading an article on the Uncanny Valley when I came across this game. Heavy Rain, developed by Quantic Dream for PS3, XBox 360 and PC. These are the same guys responsible for Indigo Prophecy, my favourite game last year. The E3 tech demo looked mighty impressive. Check out the pic below.

It's not CG, everything is real time...they got real time tears, real time facial muscles, real time object lightning, real time fart (OK I made that up). It's not quite perfect, the lips and hand movement seems awkward, but it's only 20% in development and it's already making headlines. Definitely got potential.

And a IGN's got a video download link. Or stream and watch it on YouTube.com.

Quantic Dream's last game had a lasting impression on me, the developers tend to create innovative games with focus on the storyline, and this new one is reportedly a film noir type adventure. My favourite. Only hope that I have a powerful enough PC or PS3 when it comes out in 2008.

*****

Finally submitted the Oracle coursework yesterday, and started a new subject today --- User Interface Design --- it's not as simple as it seems like when we were doing it back in Malaysia. Psychology, sociology, personality types, etc. are all thrown into the mix.

And the course work is like writing a Master's degree's dissertation. Bugger.

I've been here for a month and STILL haven't travel to anywhere interesting outside of Liverpool. Me and the gang are going to Chester this Friday, hope that it will be fun :P

The Right Thing

2006-07-07T23:08:00.000Z

Damn. Tickets for the Byran Adams gig has sold out...now I can only go watch the group with the spandex-wearing lead singer...Not that I'm very interested in The Darkness anyway......

I went to jogging again yesterday. That was the 3rd time in this week. Back in Malaysia, when I was having my 3 month break, I only went jogging 3 times.

3 times in 3 months. Now, 3 times in 3 days. WTF?

Anyway, while passing through Albert Dock, I saw this guy, 20-something year old chap, sitting on a bench with his back behind me, scribbling some notes on his notepad.

Nothing special right?

When I pass by him, I glimpse through his notes and saw the title of his notes:
.
.
.

"SUICIDE LETTERS".

I stopped. Lots of thoughts ran through my mind. Was he thinking of committing suicide? Is that a thesis or assignment of some sort? what kind of twisted assignment is that? He writing a story? lyrics to a song maybe?

Standlye was with me. I told him what I saw. I was very concerned with that guy, I really thought that he was gonna jump into the sea or whatever, but I didn't have the guts to confront him, nor am I busybody enough to ask him regarding the note. I know I should have, but I just didn't.

So we just sat at a corner and observe him for the next 20 minutes, just in case.

Nothing happened, and we decided to just run off, continuing with the jog, and just let it be.

Did I do the right thing? If he did committed suicide *touch wood* I swear I can't and will never get past the fact that I had the chance to stop him and prevent a death. But I didn't.

Did I do the right thing? Am I overreacting?

Pening Kelapa...I mean Kepala o_o

2006-07-04T16:29:00.000Z

am now in the Univeristy lab...just finished doing some Oracle SQL...been having trouble even defining the classes...Oracle is tricky damn it.

I'll have to read more on the subject before continuing, which is difficult coz when I'm facing my laptop I keep Wiki-surfing and YouTube-watching......

Or do I just suck in Object-Oriented concept? I still think and design using the relational DB way.

God help me......need to finish the assignment on Friday so I can go sightseeing on Saturday and Sunday.

Summer Pop

2006-07-04T01:44:00.000Z

Just found out that the whole month of July will be Liverpool's Summer Pop Festival. Out of curiousity I checked out the official site and an alternative site.

The event will be held at Big Top Arena, near W.H.Lung and Albert Dock I think. Am only interested in the Darkness and Bryan Adams gigs, and maybe will also check out Corrine Bailey Rae (anyone got a good link for Put Your Records On?), but them girls only interested in Westlife and Ronan Keating......

The price of the tics are gonna kill me though, they range from GBP15 to GBP35...gonna suck my wallet kao kao......

we'll see how it goes...still deciding whether to go or not......

Weekend recap...

2006-07-03T13:38:00.000Z

Been working on the assignment for the past few days, that's why no time to blog...it's done now, only need to print it out at the University tomorrow noon...plus there's too many videos on YouTube.com to distract me...heh, watching those impersonation videos really gives me the crack...just look at this guy's Walken and Nicholson impersonations, damn spot on I tell you! Look out for DCLugi on YouTube.com.

Also saw the Spider-Man 3 teaser, I thought it looks promising...glimpses of Venom, Sandman, and even Goblin...surprisingly even the low-res videos are quite clear, Hi-Def I reckon......

Tell you the truth, on the weekdays when there's no coursework, it's kinda boring here...we haven't got to travel to anywhere yet...planning to go to London this weekend, provided the next assignment (Oracle SQL coding) is finished by Friday, or else there's no time......we even applied the Young Persons Rail Card for GBP20 already...saves 1/3 of travelling fares.......

Sometimes when I'm bored I'll go jogging around the city centre...from Marybone to Albert Dock to China Town to Bold Street to St. John and back......Even back in Malaysia I never jog this frequent. Maybe it's the weather. I haven't seriously perspire (dunno if that's the right word) for almost a month. Even jogging for 1 hour doesn't help...feels damn tak syok...all the sweat in the body waiting to get out.....

The other day while jogging with Standlye theres's this old geezer in the park who was suddenly all chatty with us, kept talking about tennis and Champions League while shaking our hands tightly...his accent was so think I could only make out the words Henman and Federer...but generally no harm done...

I've always wanted to try out some Scottish food since arriving here. Don't know what is it about Scotland that fascinates me. Maybe it's the sexy accent (Fran Healy and Mel Gibson comes to mind, weird).

Anyway, remember the haggis? I decided to try it out for lunch, and this is what it looks like when the food is made of lamb lungs, beef lungs, beef heart, and some chop suey like stuff:

HOLY - FUCKING - CRAP.

IT LOOKS LIKE SHIT.

The first few bites is still acceptable. But then the sight of it is horrendous. Can't eat if you even glimpse at it.

I made the mistake of cooking it all at once and eating it plain. Should've cut down on the quantity and eat with some potatoes or egg. Threw it away after eating a quarter of it. Fucking ONE POUND gone.

I think I'm gonna go puke again.

5 things meme

2006-06-28T23:54:00.000Z

Got this from Synical.

Five things that make me scream:

Five things that make me laugh:

Five things I love about Summer:

Five places I want to go: (in the next five years!)

Five things that I wanna do:

I need a cool nick!

2006-06-28T00:17:00.000Z

I had to come up with a killer group name for the assignment, so as to get the extra 5% coursework mark for the best name...yeah, its probably a hoax from Glyn , and it's indeed wasting time to think of something so useless...

But I always enjoy procrastinating anyway......

Somebody gimme some suggestions. I'm damn bored.

Dim Sum and Database... (?)

2006-06-26T22:25:00.000Z

Went out to have dim sum yesterday with Wai Yee, my cousin who's based here in Liverpool for about 10 years. This is the first time I met her, and she really bears a striking resemblance to my aunt, especially when she laughs......

Thanks for the lunch, Wai Yee. Forgot to take a pic with her though......

Started the day with a new subject, Object Database. Got the first coursework already and the deadline's next Monday. Damn it. Paired up with Kar Leung and Standlye for the assignment, them girls already stick together like glue......

Been downloading season 1 of 24 on BitComet for the past few days, it's already about 50%, but stopped coz it's affecting the bandwidth and others in the unit, and some other people's connection has been barred. Bugger, gotta be extra careful next time......

Finally found a haggis in Farmfood, been looking for it to have a taste of it since I last looked up on it. It's got lamb lung, beef liver, beef heart......ugh. Wait til I try it out. :P

I conquered them all!

2006-06-26T09:23:00.000Z

Listening to: Ryan Adams "The Rescue Blues"

Went on a trip to Alton Towers organized by the Uni on Friday (yeah, i'm quite late at blogging) ...It's a theme park located on top some hills (I forgot where) with old, magnificent looking "castles" and it has some truly crazy rides...there's a total of about a dozen rides and stuff, and we got from 11am til 4.30pm to play all we want. But i don't wanna go for kiddies ride...so in the end we only got to ride 3 of them, coz those are the most exciting and dangerous...... :P

The first was Oblivion, the world's first vertical drop roller coaster (so claims the signboard)...Almost panicked when it was about to descend into the hole...but turns out the rush was only for about 5 seconds...I queued for almost an hour damn it. But it was good :p

Image courtesy of Adrian

Next is Rita- The Queen of Speed. The unique part of this ride is not in the track and rail design, but like it's name implies, it's fast. DAMN FAST. The rumours say that the pickup speed is 100km/hour in 2 seconds. 2 FREAKIN' SECONDS.

Now that's dope.

Now, Mr. Glyn Hughes, our Object Database lecturer, is an expert in Alton Towers. He practically slept through the Oblivion ride. The guy said that if we don't try out The Nemesis, he's gonna fail our paper. Of course that's a taunt and a challenge. So, we walked and walked and finally found it.

The catch of this ride is that it's surrounded by cliffs and waterfalls, and they are only mere 2 meters away from the rail itself, and the seat is hung below the rail, so it's possible to knock the cliff's edges. I don't have any pictures, was too caught in the moment to grab some, but it sure was fun.

After the 3 rides, I don't think any other roller coasters can impress me anymore.

With the exception, of course, being the legendary 200 meter vertical drop roller coaster in Japan (or is it the US?).

I'm freezing....literally

2006-06-22T01:10:00.000Z

Tomorrow is the first exam I'll be having since coming to JMU 2 weeks ago......it's on 10 am in the morning, and here I am blogging at 1 am midnight and wasting time coz I've been facing the notes since afternoon......

Seriously, it doesn't feel like an exam is coming, maybe because of the intensive nature of the subjects we're studying, or rather...it feels like only having a mid-term.

Whatever the feeling is, one thing's for sure: the weather is crazy.

7-9 degrees Celcius in the summer? What is fucking wrong with the weather? Even the auto heating machine in the room doesn't help......only 10 minutes writing and my hands are almost numb......

Like this how to exam?

MSN scare

2006-06-18T15:59:00.000Z

Another virus attack.

This morning I was chatting with Alex over MSN when he "sent" me a link with something like this:

check out these pics of us! ~~http://p1392.pics-myspace.info~~

(the crossing out is to remove it from being linked, lowering the threat)

Me, being naive and stupid, and wondering how did he post my pic on MySpace, clicked on the link. Firefox prompted for download of an EXE file. Being stupid AGAIN, I downloaded the file and execute it.

Suddenly, the icon disappeared, all my MSN contacts' chat window came flying out, flashing and disappearing, it was as if the comp was going haywire......

Sensing something was not right, I quickly scanned my C: drive, and not surprisingly found some unusual icons, and deleted it.

Then, it hit me -- my comp back in Malaysia also kena already.

I called Alex, spent 3 minute guiding him to delete the same file I found......And then, Anna came crashing into my room, shouting:

"KENA VIRUS !!!"

And waddaya know, every flatmate and everyone in Marybone with MSN was infected.

Bummer.

I spent some fucking 2 hours trying to repair it, it's done now, my laptop's OK already...but the campus network was temporarily shut down to prevent widespread of the trojan...the IP address wasn't responding, and I had to manually configure and reconfigure until at last I just let it run on auto. Eventually, it was up and running again. Lucky.

Everyone, please be aware: If you're chatting with your mate and then some message came popping up asking you to check out your pics in MySpace, AVOID IT. It's a trojan, worm, virus...whatever the fuck it is, just don't open it. Read this for more details.

If you do unfortunately opened it, go to your C: drive and find some file called "popps.exe" and delete it. End the process first in Task Manager if possible. That worked for me, at least. If that didn't help......then it's bye bye PC. Reformat. End of story.

For the record, I'm not the first one to spread the trojan...Dr. Francis said there was hundreds of chat windows opened prompting him to open the same file...dunno which fucker hacked into our emails......

100th !

2006-06-14T20:50:00.000Z

This is my 100th post!

Finally, after about 10 months, I reached my 100th post! Wait...this means I average about 10 post every month?

ah, pathetic lah......

Been looking for videos the whole day yesterday, you know, coz was testing the Internet connection speed and what else, watching streamed videos to past time.....but the BitComet was slow like hell...I could count the grass of a football field and it would still be running at 20%......

yeah yeah I know, I'm supposed to be studying and researching, but sometimes the tempation of the net is quite strong......like now, for example, I was going to study for 4 hours straight after dinner, but now I think I'll blog for a while more......

Anyway, as I was saying, I was surfing for videos, and came across these two funny clips: a parody of American Idol and a Snakes on A Plane audition, both performed by this guy called Dave Coyne.

WATCH THE VIDEO! See his brilliant impersonation of Joe Pesci, Christopher Walken, Jack Nicholson, Steve Irwin and Dubya himself. You must be at least familiar with the actors to get the jokes......I personally liked his Christopher Walken, it's so dead on!

downed......

2006-06-14T14:55:00.000Z

I'm in the University's lab, doing some research on Autonomic Computing......actually finished it already...blogging to pass time......

felt...bored...downed...inexplicable......mood change rapidly......

isolation?

temporarily depressed?

what the fuck, I hate it...hate this feeling altogether......

go away......go away......

Roomie......

2006-06-13T23:12:00.000Z

Peculiar......

Behaviour......

Trouble......

Mistrust......

Bleak......

Isolation......

Outcast......

Blurred......

Interpret......

keep on downloading......

2006-06-13T23:09:00.000Z

Listening To: Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean "Hips Don't Lie"

Well, I finally moved into Flat 10 with my mates...activated the Internet as well. It's not as fast as I previously expected...but what the hell......

Second part of Contemporary Issues in IT is in Network Appliances and Ubiquitous Computing. Been taught by another 2 doctors...aih, felt intimidated by their superiority...PhD this, PhD that......glanced at Dr. Paul Fergus's laptop and saw about 90 thesis......crazy......at least Dr. David Lewellyn-Jones's lecture was more interactive and easier on the ears :P

Today was a bit tired and chilly because of the weather......didn't bring my jacket out to class and was nearly froze to death......

Carrying on.....

2006-06-12T01:20:00.000Z

the life in Liverpool is quite relaxing really...everybody is just so casual...from the lifestyle to the way they talk...

people don't care much about their appearance, unlike KL chinese ppl who like to dress up like peacock...some Liverpool youngsters practically take off their clothes on the streets and its a normal sight here.....

had the first 2 days of class last week...been taught on the subject of Geographical Information Systems by a Dr. Michael Francis, a humourous old chap who has 5 degrees and who happens to be a Buddhist....cool figure......

our class lasts only one hour for each day, then it's off to the library to search for reading materials from the Dr.'s keywords......feels quite relaxed studying this way, though it's probably only for the next few days as future subjects have lab sessions......

with so much time left, normally the time is spent going sightseeing...haha...I'm supposed to be studying.....

you guys gotta listen to Weird Al Yankovic's parody of You're Beautiful that I got from Synical...damn funny......

UK Cars damn cun lah......

2006-06-07T01:28:00.000Z

fuck.

everywhere i go in Liverpool i see some big sports car just parking on the road, or somebody driving the car into their driveway.......

BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Audi, Volkswagen, Mini Coopers......all as common as Proton Wira in Malaysia......

and the price in Uk standard is quite affordable...a decent Mini Cooper can go as low as 10,000GBP, damn......

I think is the fucking AP and rasuah making those imported cars so expensive la......

Vomit blood from the wallet.......

2006-06-07T00:45:00.000Z

Been shopping for the past few days, starting from the first day shortly after arriving, spent almost 50GBP already, including 15GBP for the sim card and activation. No choice, didn't bring enough food from KL, just some Milo Fuze and Nescafe packs and a couple of Maggi Cups......

Surveyed the area of Liverpool on foot. The place is really really compact, and you can practically go to anywhere just by walking around, if you don't mind walking that is. There's a Radio City Tower to act as a beacon in the city centre.

BTW, the inverted V sign means "Fuck you" in UK

The weather is like Genting Highlands, slightly colder......it's sunny here but the breeze is so strong you could cramp your face walking outdoors.

AND IT'S ONLY ONE OF THE HOTTEST DAYS IN THE SUMMER!!! IT'S GOING TO GET COLDER!!!

Anyway, back to shopping. There are some Chinese and Indian grocery shops that cater to Malaysians, where the products are imported from our Bolehland. We get mostly instant noodles from WH Lung and Chung Wah supermarket. I got for about one week's supply of mee goreng...shit, gonna eat until bald......But these two places are located far away, where walking takes 40 minutes.

So we also shop at the 99p store and Tesco for all our supplies to save money. The stuffs there are not bad actually.

Damn credit cards can't work here, coz they started using the PIN number system since February, which unfortunately for us Malaysians is still lightyears behind. The only cards that work are Citibank, HSBC and Standard Chartered.

I'M IN LIVERPOOL!

2006-06-06T20:49:00.000Z

Finally, after nearly 24 hours of extensive travelling, transit flights, and an hour of coaching, I finally arrived safely in Marybone (the accommodation).

Mom, Dad, friends and family, everyone...I'm fine.

I still don't have wireless Internet access now, I'm typing everything I can remember on Notepad before forgetting the details. Here's the full recap of the past 2 days.

(I'm posting this in the University resource learning centre)

FRIDAY
We arrived at KLIA at around 5.15pm while waiting for the travelling agency girl to come brief us and help us check-in at the counter (accidentally saw my Form 3 mate Fadhullah at the counter, but the dude didn't recognize me...). Flight's at 7.30pm, so we grabbed some snacks at McDonald's. Only after the aerotrain ride did Anna remember she left her keys for the chains at the customs corner, so she and Dad rushed back to get it. Had a scare that she almost didn't make it coz' the boarding gate was almost close.

One hour later we were at Singapore Changi Airport (beats the hell out of KLIA, by the way). Went to the transit counter and got the remaining 2 boarding pass for British Airways. Then we sort of just hang around there and surf for a while on the free Intenet kiosk (previous post) before boarding the plane to London at 10.45pm.

p/s: The customs detected a sharp object in my backpack...turned out it was the protractor in my pencil case. They confiscated it and I was blacklisted. FUCK.

SATURDAY
13 hours flying in the aeroplane bukan main penat tau...whole body almost cramped...good thing I keep moving and exercising the hands and legs and ass......Luckily the plane had in flight movies, radio stations and games to choose from, or else I'd be bored to death.

Failure To Launch and You, Me and I were average rom-coms, not interested; The Pink Panther is damn stupid, skipped; I watched King Kong already, so no repeats for me; I can't bear to watch a documentary like The March of The Penguins on a plane, so it's a toss up between Match Point and The Matador. In the end I watched The Matador just to enjoy Pierce Brosnan's wonderful performance as a professional assassin who prefers the term "facilitating fatalities" over "killing" or "assassinating". :P

Slept in the plane for about 7 hours uninterrupted, but missed out on some hot kissing actions from 2 parents while their 4 year old daughter is watching.

p/s: The breakfast is quite good (mashed potatoes, eggs in ketchup).

Arrived in London Heathrow Airport at 5am (time difference of 7 hours) but it's already daylight. The sun sets at 10pm and rises at 4.30am, crazy, super jet lag...have to get used to and recover from it......Checked-in at the immigration awaited in the departure hall for another 5 hours before leaving for Manchester. Chit-chat with the gang to pass time, and managed to call Dad from the public pay phone for 30p.

Arrived in Manchester and was greeted by a lecturer and a senior. Took us to Marybone by coach. Checked in at Marybone and was separated from the gang coz the admin staff made some arrangement, so now still negotiating with others to change into the same unit with Gerlin and Anna. Hopefully everything goes well.

Technorati Tags: Liverpool, Marybone, transit, John Moores

Blogging while travelling

2006-06-02T21:48:00.000Z

THE DAY HAS COME.

I am now on my way to UK to study the Top Up Programme. Am now in Singapore Changi Airport blogging at the Internet kiosk while waiting for transit to London. I still have about 45 minutes to board the next plane and 4 minutes time left remaining on this terminal.

Nothing much. See ya later at London. I have 5 hours there.

Adios.

Graduation 2006

2006-05-31T00:25:00.000Z

After 4 years in the college, I finally graduated with an Advanced Diploma!

YES!!! GRADUATED WITH A MERIT!!!

Looking back now, compared to other college freshies, it does feel kinda old...especially when I took the gown last Tuesday and saw loads of new students......

Anyway, the convocation ceremony was actually held on Saturday. I couldn't blog about it until now coz' was busy going here and there with my family.

The ceremony started about 20 minutes late, but no matter coz' not many were attending (most were eyeing for the Campbell ceremony). In fact, only 31 from my course were present......

Then it's the usual stuff lah: marching from the college big shots, scroll receiving, singing 'Negaraku', and the mandatory generic-and-boring-but-media-pleasing-and-inspiring speech from Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting.

Special thanks to Gilbert for being my photographer! thanks man!

I even saw Shi Ling (primary school friend) by accident...of course didn't waste the opportunity to take a shot with the leng lui. :P

**********

Went to Times Square to jalan-jalan with Frankie and Gilbert in the afternoon, then went back home in the evening and had dinner at Seremban 2 at my aunt's house.

On Sunday morning, went to college to buy the photos from Fotorex. Later, along with families of Uncle Somchit, Uncle Ee Chuan and Uncle Owui, went to the area near Asia Jaya to see a Buddhist priest for blessings (said Buddhist priest is the 3rd ranked monk in Thailand).

Monday, back to college again to return the graduation gown and mortar. Went to MidValley in the noon to develop some 300 photos from previous family trips.

**********

I'll be leaving to the UK on this Friday evening, and I'm still packing my stuff. Good luck to me.

Technorati Tags: Graduation, TAR College, Convocation, ISE

Soul Patrol reigns over McPheever!!!

2006-05-26T23:50:00.000Z

Purposedly wake up early in the morning to catch the live telecast of the finale on STAR World......the first 10 minutes of the programme was shaky though...satellite problem kut...

Finally, Taylor Hicks won American Idol 2006!!! And deservedly so too!

SOUL PATROL! SOUL PATROL! SOUL PATROL!

Other than Kelly Clarkson, the other three Idols never appealed to me...dunno why, didn't like their style I think...but Taylor definitely has the best charisma and personality to go with his style...I'd most definitely buy his debut album when it's out!

I'm pretty much sure Katharine will be successful too because of her hot looks and great voice...but I'd prefer Taylor more,he's just not that generic......

I still think Elliott has the best male vocal though...

Some thoughts on the performances and the show:

Mary J. Blige completely drowns Elliott's vocal during the 'One' performance...damn.
Bucky gave his best performance during the Burt Bacharach-Dionne Warwick session, ironically on a finale.
Toni Braxton's voice seems muted. WTF?!
Clay Aiken looked like a freak with that hairdo...
Prince damn lan xi, not even looked at Ryan Seacrest after finishing his songs... (great songs though)
The Kellie Pickler skits are quite funny when the lobsters enter the scene
The parody "awards" are a little insulting-lah in my opinion, but it did provide opportunity for the rejects to perform, most notably the Brokenote Cowboys (gotta love their friendship)
Ryan Seacrest and Simon Cowell are forever exchanging gay jokes.

The show is a little messy, but still OK-lah overall......

A great blog site I found for mp3s of past performances:

http://www.rickey.org/blog/american_idol_5/
http://www.rickey.org/blog/american_idol_5/taylor_hicks/
http://www.rickey.org/blog/american_idol_5/katharine_mcphee/
http://www.rickey.org/blog/american_idol_5/elliott_yamin/
http://www.rickey.org/blog/american_idol_5/chris_daughtry/

...and my favourite Taylor Hicks performance: You Are So Beautiful

Technorati Tags: Taylor Hicks, American Idol, Soul Patrol, McPheever

Sick again

2006-05-26T18:42:00.000Z

Most of you who knows me knows that I often make "wantan" at class when the flu hits (sorry, gross joke again :P), since secondary I've been having big flu every 2 months or so, and the daily dose of Zyrtec didn't help much...

So my cousin gave me a bottle of Spirulina pills last week, and I've been taking it for almost a week......

A week later, she asked whether my condition improved, I said "Yeah, fine"......

The next day straight away kena heavy flu again......damn SUAY......

Pantang lah, cannot ask one......

No more flu since yesterday, but now I'm having a slight soar throat and my left eye is a bit swollen, dunno allergic or what, like bee-sting swollen......

Dunno can make it to the convocation ceremony tomorrow or not......

An accident

2006-05-25T12:41:00.000Z

These days I only update my blog in like, what, once a week? no choice lah, nothing to do at home, so nothing worthy to blog about lah...plus Alex was hogging the PC all the time, aih...malas nak blog lah...

Last Wednesday morning, got a call from Malacca at 7.30am...I didn't recall how come I'd wake up that early, coz normally I'd sleep til' 9 something even if the phone was ringing beside my ears, but I'd heard from Dad something about "cannot walk"...must be grandpa...

So dad took leave and we went back to Alor Gajah to see him...We brought him back home to see the doctor, and luckily grandpa's leg was only scratched and bruised and can't walk properly for a few days, other than that there's nothing serious......

Gramps said that he fell from the bicycle, but turns out that he was knocked down by a car while riding the bike. The car was turning too fast and swerved into the bicycle, knocking grandpa from his left side. The stupid driver didn't even bother to check on an 80 year old man and just sped away!! Gramps didn't managed to see the number plate, or else...mother fucker!

Better not let me see you I sure FUCK you you bangang! >:(

Cleaning out

2006-05-25T12:30:00.000Z

I've been cleaning out my room since I came back from college. All this while in college my room has been turned into the second store room in the house: clothes, books, magazines, DVDs, all chucked into my room, leaving space only for a bed......

Actually I've only cleaned out a portion of my stuff, and the things that used up the most space are my high school textbooks.

Yes, 5 years after SPM and I still keep my Form 3 til Form 5 books.

I dunno why, everytime when I wanna sort out my stuff, I just turned away from the notes, exercises and buku amali...turn a blind eye on them, even if my mom keeps nagging and nagging me to throw it all away......

But I just couldn't part with them, you may say I'm crazy, but with all those efforts and time put into those Add Math calculation and formula, I think it's a waste just throw it away like that......well, at least for me lah...

Still, they used up too much space, and after much thought, I finally kept only the Add Maths and History stuff. I'm not interested in other subjects, and the syllabus is too outdated to give to my nieces anyway.

And now, the hundreds of DVDs stacking in the corner...time to arrange again......

I hope its not a false alarm...

2006-05-15T01:30:00.000Z

The other day I was checking my mail as usual when I came across one particularly interesting mail. Apparently this Hong Kong indie band that I mentioned from this post send me an email. The details are something like this:

"I have just reached your blog by a random search. I feel very glad and
exciting to see your comment on the Street Roar 2006. This is the first
time we play in Malaysia. The audiences were excellent and drove us
dancing as well on the stage. By the way, we would like to send you a
copy of album (if you don't mind to leave us your mailing address),
just for friendship. Look forward to hear from you."

WAH-LAU!!! HOW COOL IS THAT?!

Nothing much...just a quick update

2006-05-12T17:53:00.000Z

The phone line was down for 2 weeks because of a thunderstorm, so no Internet for me for the past 2 weeks, which explains the lack of update of the blog......

Went to the college yesterday to submit the convocation form and bank draft. Apparently they decided to shift all afternoon sessions of the convocation into the morning session. I couldn't get an explanation from the person at the counter, but my guess is that there's too little people attending to justify two sessions.

What to do...everyone only wanna attend the Campbell convocation......

Later, mom went to Central Market to have her hair cut, while me and dad went to Petaling Street to do some shopping. After that we went to Port Klang to meet Uncle George and have tea while giving him the laptop model of my choice...if only I can get it for free :P

There's a huge possibility he's gonna belanja us makan next week on Pulau Ketam, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed......

I haven't put up any pics lately, so here's one with 2 cute kids, both of whom are children of my neighbours.

Uncle Owui's daughter & Uncle Somchit's son during makan

Review: Gubra

2006-05-01T01:19:00.000Z

I watched Gubra at Mid Valley 3 weeks after its initial release date. Couldn't find the time before that, ah, what the heck...

Yasmin Ahmad's sequel to last year's Sepet, one of my all time favourite movie. It tells two unrelated stories about relationships between people: The follow up on Orked's life and another centering on a Bilal and a prostitute.

Although I enjoyed the film, I have to say that it isn't as memorable as Sepet, partly because I think it tries to tell too many plot into 2 hours. While the first film focused on the central love story between Orked and Jason, this one has infidelity, redemption, husband wife responsibility, etc.

While it is a worthy followup, the first 30 minutes borders on slapstick comedy which is kind of awkward, well for me at least. You got a sudden shock of the mother calling Orked about her dad going to die, then Arif goes on introducing the family to a nurse as though they come from The Simpsons family. The sitcom and drama just feels weird, as if it's there just for the sake of comedy. Plus, this time, her social statement is rather direct and not so subtly handled.

The chemistry between Orked and Alan is mediocre at best. It doesn't help that Alan Yun is bland...he just doesn't have Jason's instant likeability. Fortunately, the performance of the original supporting cast is fantastic, and the introduction of Adlin Aman Ramli is refreshing.

IMO the story about the Bilal and the prostitute is better handled, with subtle mix of drama and low key humour. It's definitely refreshing to see the lighter side of life of an Imam and a prostitute -- The playful banter and interaction between the Bilal and his wife, the two prostitutes with their own problems, Temah's relationship with her son -- rather than being confined to the stereotypical image. I have to give credit to the Censorship Board for approving this movie uncut.

Nam Ron as the Bilal, with his dead pan expression, is effective. The actress portraying his wife is so energetic and kind hearted it's so hard not to like her. (I think she resembles an older Cheryl Samad :P) It's a wonderful supporting performance. Lastly, the actress playing Temah is equally impressive. Her fight scene with the thief is full of tension.

The themes presented in the movie is darker and more mature than the lovey dovey mood in Sepet. Still, this film is much more emotional, several scenes just got me in tears......Yasmin Ahmad's greatest strength is portraying everyday life in the simplest manner, yet evoking the most of emotion from us. This ability alone cements her status as one of Malaysia's top film makers.

Maybe my expectations were too high, but I feel that Sepet is more superior and accessible to the mainstream. Still, Gubra gets a 4 out of 5 from me.

My first clubbing experience

2006-04-30T17:04:00.000Z

Last Saturday Tim came from Singapore for a visit, and asked to stay overnight at Sun's. So I went to Wangsa Maju to meet up with them. Being a clubber ever since working in S'pore, he wanted to visit Zouk here, so I also went with him-lah, together with Sun and Frankie. (Surprise! Sun going clubbing!!!)

The day before I had to call up Darrent to ask for some info on Zouk, as this is me first time going clubbing.

We had dinner at BRJ before leaving, and that's when Chelsea scored against MU just 5 minutes into the match. Later I learnt that MU went on to lose 3-0.

Anyway, we took a cab there and arrived at about 8.45pm, but the place wasn't opened 'til 10. Bummer. Rookie mistake. So we just hang out at KLCC for the next hour to kill time.

When we came back we bought the wrong ticket into Zouk (Trance area) when we actually wanted to hang out at the Velvet Underground (RnB area). Rookie mistake again. Added another RM25 to get into VU...but we still got the extra drink coupons from Zouk, haha...next time can exploit this loophole for more free drinks......

I think we were the second group there, and the dance hall wasn't warmed up until almost 12am. Until then we just made ourselves drunk with vodka and whiskey, and of course indulge in the obligatory 'sightseeing'. :P

At first I was quite reluctant to dance, coz only a group of five really hot girls was dancing and, you know, just the two of us going out there is really a big hint that we were 'girl hungry' (for male clubbers, who isn't?)...But later I got high enough, and I just didn't give a damn about girls anymore, i just lost myself in the music (yeah right...) and keep bopping my head and shaking my ass......

Frankie joined us after about 30 minutes, but Sun was still sitting there alone drinking vodka. Guess you can't really change an introvert. After all, the only reason he went there was to experience the mood. Tim nearly duped him into going a night club to lap dance with PR women......

My biggest mistake of the night was not making my move when this really great looking girl in a tight dress keeps looking at me while dancing, or else I would've got a dance partner liao...damn......that girl was so hot......

We danced until around 3am before heading back home. All in all, it was quite an experience for me. I'll definitely wanna try it out again. But this not something I can do every month like Tim. Maybe once every 3 months. I can stand the alcohol, and even the loud music, my only complaint is that I've inhaled more second-hand smoke there than the past 21 years combined......

Stupid, pesky flies!

2006-04-23T17:04:00.000Z

For the past few days, my house was suddenly swarmed with flies, especially in the kitchen area. But today, inexplicably, the amount has tripled, quadrupled, I dunno......there was like a hundred flies flying in the house!!! Kitchen, rooms, hall, even the front door area where we keep the shoes!

ARGGHH!!!! I'M STILL ITCHING AND HAVING GOOSEBUMPS THINKING ABOUT IT!!!!

I've just spend the last hour killing like what seems to be 30 fucking flies...and me, being the sadistic one, arranged them in a pattern of 6 X 5 on the floor...ugh, it's like laying dead human bodies, only tinier by a million times......

Gross......

And now, I'm blogging about it...ahaha...this is the life of a slacker at home......

Just a thought at wedding

2006-04-23T12:00:00.000Z

2 weeks ago during the mamak session I had this conversation with my friend from secondary...we were having a discussions about whether weddings should be held by having a big dinner (the typical Chinese wedding) or just having a simple affair. Taking into account the cost of living, the dude preferred to have his wedding as a buffet with some close relatives. I had the same thought.

You know how the typical Chinese wedding ceremony play out right? Big restaurants, noisy music, lots and lots of relatives and cousins from both sides of the parents some of whom you hardly know or recognize, the late guests arrivals, and that annoying woman (the Tai Kam Cheh) who keeps talking and talking and dunno when to shut up as though she was the main attraction of the night instead of the bride and groom....

Yeah, that kind of wedding is not my type......

For me, a small and simple ceremony with some very close friends and relatives is all I ask for...not too high profile...my mom, on the other hand, would like to invite a lot of relatives and friends, but without the Tai Kam Cheh of course.

I read in the papers there's this couple in Singapore who spend like RM700,000 on their wedding. SIAO! That kind of money can buy a bungalow liao! If they are super rich then I got nothing to say-lah, who cares right......but for normal people this is already an astronomical sum.

A few of my former colleagues were also married, some for 2 years already, and they still haven't have a proper ceremony yet because of financial problem. Mind you, both husband and wife are high income software engineers.

IMO, wedding is just a ceremony to celebrate the joy and wonder of marriage, but it doesn't need to be exaggerated. A lot of things can be simple, especially in times like these where everything is going up in price except the very thing that you rely on: Your salary.

It seems weird to talk about marriage and wedding at this point in my life, but hey, it's just a thought.

Da Vinci Code is dope!

2006-04-18T16:57:00.000Z

Yes! Finally, I've finished reading The Da Vinci Code, after one week......yeah yeah, I'm a slow reader, I don't frequently read, and I can't be like some of my friends who went through the novel in just one night. The book's out for about 3 years now I think, and the movie is coming out soon, so I told myself that I had to read it before watching the movie, seeing as the buzz and hype is neverending...

The book didn't disappoint. The first few chapters are slow, building up the mystery and leading into the climax in the last few chapters, which is simply "unputdownable".

It's really an exhilirating thriller with some twist on Christianity, secret societies, hidden messages in famous paintings and the likes. Now I understand the controversy surrounding it. Devout Christians definitely will not like it (unless they treat it as purely fiction). I think I'm going to have goosebumps the next time I look at The Last Supper.

Damn it, now I'll have to get those other Dan Brown thrillers. Can't resist it.

Review: Walk The Line

2006-04-14T18:40:00.000Z

"There are a few notable remakes last year, King Kong, Pride and Prejudice, Walk The Line...uh, Ray, with white people." So says Jon Stewart at the Oscars.

Another biopic on a music legend like Ray, this time focusing on Johnny Cash, played by Joaquin Phoenix. It follows the usual biopic routine, namely from zero to hero, from nobody to somebody, from auditions to making it big, drug addiction, coming clean and making it even bigger...yadda yadda yadda......

Comparison to Ray is inevitable. Compared with the Ray Charles chronicle, this film is smoother in flow, and more cohesive IMO (Ray was too long and had some over indulgence in music).

I've never heard any of Cash's music, even my dad wasn't familiar with it......but they are all country and some are quite good in the film...you'll dig this if you dig country......

Joaquin Phoenix is good, considering that he did all the actual singing (the resemblence is almost uncanny). Reese Witherspoon is energetic and fun to watch, especially during on stage performing.....

Watch out for "cameos" from Jerry Lewis and Elvis Presley. :P

A healthy 8 out of 10.

Take it easy, man!

2006-04-07T21:19:00.000Z

Besides Kelly Clarkson's Because of You which is stuck in my head for quite a while (gotta love that song, man...), The Eagles' Take It Easy also keeps playing in my head after I took out that Eagles Hell Freezes Over DVD and play it over and over and over and over.......

It's got a good country twang to it, and it's great for clap alongs. Yeah yeah, I know, I'm the guy who listens to 70s country song by a bunch of aging 50 year olds, instead of 20 something Chinese R'n'B crooners who all sound the same......

Unfortunately I don't have a link to the song, so try download or whatever. (that is, if ur interested...)

Here's the lyrics: (Other people also post song lyrics, so why not me?)

Well, I'm running down the road
Tryin' to loosen my load
I've got seven women on my mind,
Four that wanna own me,
Two that wanna stone me,
One says she's a friend of mine

Take it easy, take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own wheels
Drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can
Don't even try to understand
Just find a place to make your stand
And take it easy

Well, I'm a standing on a corner
In Winslow, Arizona
And such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford
slowin' down to take a look at me
Come on, baby, don't say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is
Gonna save me
We may lose and we may win though
We will never be here again
So open up, I'm climbin' in,
So take it easy

Well I'm running down the road
trying to loosen my load,
got a world of trouble on my mind
Lookin' for a lover who won't blow my cover,
she's so hard to find

Take it easy, take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own
Wheels make you crazy
Come on baby, don't say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is
Gonna save me, oh oh oh
Oh we got it easy
We oughta take it easy

Emotioneering™

2006-04-07T13:21:00.000Z

Finally bought The Da Vinci Code at MPH, taking advantage of the one week 20% discount sale. Haven't read it though, coz' I'm still on the last 100 pages of Creating Emotions in Games (borrowed from college library), by a guy named David Freeman who specializes in story writing in games. His techniques of "Emotioneering™" aims to make gamers emotionally involved during gameplay, cool.

Now, whenever I watch a TV series or movie (and playing games, of course), I find myself analyzing the symbols, character traits and dialogues and how they make me involved. It's really neat when you're figuring these tiny details that normally goes over your head without noticing it.

Hey, I'm in the field of programming, who knows one day I'll work on games......

A lttle indulgence here: some games that really touched and made me sad include Broken Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon, Indigo Prophecy (really cool game) and Final Fantasy IX...

Mom's birthday was yesterday, went to Secret Recipe with Dad to get a marble cheese cake for her, that small cake cost a hefty RM65......what the heck, it's a once in a year thing......

Note to self:
quickly decide which subject to drop for LJMU top-up programme. Aih, real headache problem.

Review: Chasing Amy

2006-04-07T01:16:00.000Z

I bought this title last August...only watched it last week......yeah, I'm slow in doing things...that's why the late update in this blog.......been watching DVDs all day long for the last few weeks, it's the only thing I do other than the chores and online-ing....got more reviews coming......

Anyway, back to the movie. This is the third film in director Kevin Smith's New Jersey trilogy (others are Clerks and Mallrats), so called because all of them take place in New Jersey (well duh...).

Basically, the plot has Ben Affleck and Jason Lee as comic artists. The Ben character then meets and falls in love with fellow artist Joey Lauren Adams. Only thing is she's a lesbian. So begins his "quest" to win her heart. Of course there's much more going on, but I'm lazy... :P

Yeah. Twisted. And absurd too.

This movie is really, and I mean REALLY funny as hell! The dialogue is full of sex and gay issues and orgy, race joke and some really cool and hilarious monologues (my favourite) involving comic books, Star Wars and other pop cultures. It's like Tarantino stuff, only without the violence. It's kinda offensive for those who can't take it, but it feels so realistic -- almost like watching ourselves talk in real life (yeah, the sex part).

Check out some of my favourites:

"You got cracker farm boy Luke Skywalker, Nazi poster boy, blond hair, blue eyes. And then you got Darth Vader, the blackest brother in the galaxy."

"Archie was the bitch and Jughead was the butch. That's why he was always going around wearing that crown-looking hat... he was the king of queen Archie's world."

Really gay and lesbian thing going on here. Hey, don't misunderstand, I'm cool with that -- just not with them liking me...but that's another topic......

I always thought Ben Affleck was better doing rom-coms and small budget art house than action movies, like in Good Will Hunting and Changing Lanes. He feels natural here. And the lead actress Joey Lauren Adams is so adorable and with that distinctive voice and personality you couldn't help but really like her. The ongoing romance is genuine, and it's one of the most best portrayed rom-rom I've seen. Watch for the long scene when he confesses to her even with the knowledge that she likes women.

Bottomline:
good acting, amazingly funny dialogue, some interesting camera angles and editing, and a great character chemistry make this a must watch. A 9 out of 10 from me.

Of Foreign Workers...

2006-03-26T22:24:00.000Z

I saw a scene yesterday when I was on my way back from Malacca. There's this father with his 2 children and a maid, they were on their way to their car and were getting into it. The dad asked the girl, who was about just 6 or 7 I guess, to sit at the back with the maid, and the girl struggled and refused, almost to the point of crying.

At that time I wonder: is this happening in other places? Children, or sometimes adults, who refused to sit with their Indon maids because of their skin colour and because they are "different than us"?

Define "different".

Is it their skin colour? Nationality? Personality?

From my observation -- and I believe many will share this observation -- it seems that we're very wary of foreign workers (particularly the construction workers) in our country roaming around the city, afraid that they wil mug us, molest us, rob us, murder us...we seem to be afraid of them, but why?

Here's how I see it:

We're short of workers in the building and construction sector. No one is willing to work under the hot sun for small bloody pay. We Malaysians are too proud for that. We only wanna do business, earn lots of money, feed ourselves and our need to buy and spend otherwise unnecessary items.... (I'm not saying ALL of us, just the majority...)

So without any choice, we import foreign workers to work for us. Build houses. Construct buildings. Do whatever menial jobs that Malaysians not willing to do.

But we despise them, even LOOK DOWN on them, because of their rugged appearance -- the very people who built those fancy bungalows so we can live comfortably while they stay in rumah setinggan because the bloddy agency who represent them doesn't pay them enough or provide a decent hostel.

If ur in a foreign country, being stared and looked down and treated like shit, will u feel strange? Will u feel angry? If these feelings isn't well controlled and u have no where to let the heat out, what will u do?

U mug.

U molest.

U rob.

U even kill.

Thus this is where our gejala sosial come from. People come here, work for us, we treat them like shit, they buay song, do bad things to us. U have to wonder whether we ourselves are the cause of all this.

Of course, not all Malaysians treat foreign workers like shit. I wouldn't like to think that we are those kind of people. I don't dare say that i'm indiscriminate towards anybody coz nobody's perfect. I'm just saying that maybe, JUST MAYBE, deep down in our hearts, subconsciously, we regard them as different from us, that we have some hidden prejudice towards others.

Not as serious as racial discrimination or Abu Ghraib incidents, but acting differently when they're around us.

Feel free to disagree.

Review: Brokeback Mountain

2006-03-22T01:30:00.000Z

"Jack fuckin' Twist."

That's what Ennis call his lover after 4 years of separation. Then they hugged each other and make out. Yes, it's the "gay cowboy" film that everyone's talking about.

All the brouhaha surrounding this film since awards season until now made me just have to watch it. It has become the most honoured film in history, winning more Best Film title than any other film., although it did lost out to Crash for the Best Picture Oscar. Not that I must watch Best Picture movies everytime they came out, I'm just curious as to whether it lives up to the hype (plus I also like to watch films that are banned here :P). Since when did a gay film caught so much attention?

So I grabbed a copy of Brokeback Mountain DVD along with some other Best Picture Oscar nominees while I was at Wangsa Maju, and watched with Alex that night.

As you would've probably knew the plot from other countless reviews, I'll skip it here. The original story is very veryshort, only about 40 pages (I read the book, so i know), and with a very unique narrative, simultaneously funny and melodramatic. So the 2 hour plus film added some dialogues and characters to fill out the missing links. Some of the scenes go for few minutes without a word spoken but the shots are beautiful. The landscapes, clouds, thousands of sheeps being herded to the mountain are captured with great cinematography. (although later I do learn that there are some CGI involved, but as long as it's well done, hey, who cares?)

The musical score is simply yet beautiful and are soothing listen, with mostly acoustic guitar work with a country twang, although I have to complain that they are quite repetitive throughout the duration. But it WILL grow on you and stuck there in your head.

This film is about love, passion, companionship, belonging, and it wouldn't be what it is without the great performances from the actors.

Jake Gyllenhaal, compare him here with his other films and you'll see that this is his best work. It's very subtle to notice, but he really nailed the character based on my reading on the book.

Anne Hathaway is just OK, but I'll give her credits for finally breaking the teen movie mold (and for showing her breast for that ONE SECOND...haha).

Michelle Williams is in a brief and small part, but is memorable in a few scenes, especially her last one.

And finally, Heath Ledger. For his performance, I have only to say, WOW. Looking him, you'd forget that this is the same guy who was in A Knight's Tale. In fact, I totally forgot that he was in The Brothers Grimm last year. He just completely immersed in the character and you will only remember Ennis Del Mar after finish watching the film. That's how powerful it is. Witness his and Gylenhaal's last scene together when they are about to leave Brokeback Mountain and have an argument.

Jack: "I wish I knew how to quit you."

Ennis: "Then why don't you just let me be huh? It's because of you Jack that I'm like this...Nowhere, nothing."

Totally powerful. That's when my mom remarked that they are in love for love and not for sex. (watched with my mom on 2nd viewing)

The film IMO also has some themes and social commentary going on, but are well hidden in layered dialogues. Themes of surpression of feelings, social prejudice and unconditional love are just some of it. It also makes one wonder whether is it wrong to love another person of the same gender not because of physical sex but because of the companionship, bond and trust that they share (FYI, Ennis is not homosexual, it's just that the person he loves and cares most happens to be a guy). Ang Lee really deserves the Oscar for his direction, because it simply is a very well directed piece that brings out the story and the casts' acting chops.

Watch this film. Download, pirate DVDs, whatever. Even if you have no interest, watch for the cinematography and score. But I doubt anyone wouldn't be slightly interested.

NOTE:
Brokeback Mountain has inspired an Internet phenomenon known as re-cut trailers, but with a gay twist. If you have the chance, watch Brokeback to The Future and Bareback Mountain, 2 well known parodies. I watch it when I have the chance.

Tak Syok Lah!

2006-03-21T22:05:00.000Z

Was surfing in the evening when Mom called. Turns out that she was to be recommended into hospital by Dr. Nazam coz of a sudden rise in blood pressure...thought that she has to be admitted for the night but the docs just asked her to come back tomorrow morning for another round of checking. They still can't diagnosed what's wrong with the high blood pressure......

But she's still weak, constantly feeling drowsy and wanna vomit...best i could do now is look after her and pray that she'll be okay...

Then, few hours later, Standlye called.

Dude said that according to his pals, MAS has withdrew the flights to Manchester within 3 months. Holy fuck.

See...Standlye, Gerlin, Anna and I already booked the flights to Manchester. Now what we supposed to do? Some of Standlye's friends had received phone calls from STA to arrange new flight dates and time, but not us. Yet.

So my dad called our neighbour who was working at MAS and she confirmed the news. Apparently MAS is facing loss in revenue and profits (which is old news, and thus reaffirm the theory that MAS is blah in investment and business, like buying one million riggit paintings to hang at office) so they're forced to withdraw flights. They don't even fly to India.....

Great. Now we have to fly to London (if that's possible) and take a 10 hour coach before arriving at Marybone. Or we change the airline entirely and maybe make a stop at Dubai or Hong Kong or Doha or wherever it is before arriving London. Still troublesome. And tiring.

Until then, it's up to STA and their arrangements.

Stupid MAS.

2006-03-13T16:30:00.000Z

Am now in the CIT centre in TARC, blogging with my hands freezing coz of the bloody air cond blowing like hell......

just finished the LJMU briefing and successfully scored the interview, heh...nothing important actually...them fellas just wanted to test the understanding of our English skills and the motives of studying there......piece a cake bullshitting all the way through :P

I'm now seriously contemplating whether I want to continue studying Masters course after September...the COL is just too damn high, and the tenant who rented our house at Rasah Jaya kept delayin' the payment for the purchase, thinking he's the only one in the world who's interested in the house. Stupid tenant......now me not enough $$$ to study liao......

But I'm cool with that, I know my parents can't afford to pay for the Masters course, maybe if I can apply and get a scholarship...but fat chance that may be coming true....

I'm not in a particularly good mood right now...Dad's at home throwing hissy fits at Mom for some small matters which I'm not gonna go into details......I don't like it when dad's mad...he's the kind of person who doesn't talk easily, keeping in silent all the time.......it doesn't solve the problem at all, only worsens it......he doesn't even want to eat with us...it's rare that he is so angry, but I am so puzzled as to why he would get upset over a small incident......

Tomorrow's got a briefing again for the air travel packages...aih, headache again......

2006-03-07T20:10:00.000Z

Here's my Johari window, tried it out of boredom...you can give your input if you think you know me enough...appreciate your feedbacks...

Am currently uploading some photos onto Legend's server out of requests from a few friends, but it takes too long for a damn 56k connection...so I'll upload in "installments" :P will give the link when it's done......

After the Oscars

2006-03-06T15:24:00.000Z

Wow, I haven't blog in such a long time...not that nothing notable happened for the past 2 weeks, it's just that I have this kinda lazy feeling to write...mind you, I do have a lot of thoughts and experience to pour out, but the feeling and mood's just not there......

Since I don't have any topic at hand that's worthy of interest, I'll just talk about the Oscars aka the Academy Awards. Ya know I'm a movie freak, buying DVDs like mad during the awards season. But since entering college, every year I missed the chance to watch the show live coz of classes and with the TV not available in hostel. And since broadband is not available, watching it live online is not an option either. (wait, they do broadcast it on the Net right?)

Not this year. I woke up today early at 7 (well, early by my standards) to catch the awards. As usual, the red carpet was full of glitz and glamour, the latest fashion on display on the actresses, particularly hot was Keira Knightley, Jessica Alba and Jennifer Aniston. There was no Johnny Depp in the men's department, although there was this one guy who actually turned out in jeans! Check out the pics on IMDb or the official site.

Host Jon Stewart was playing safe in my opinion, compared to Crystal or Rock, though there were some hilarious lines. My fav line quoting Stewart:

"I was really surprised that Cinderella Man didn't win for best makeup, you know, imagine how difficult it is to put Russell Crowe in a fight."

The homosexual theme was also poked fun ("Not all gay people are cowboys", referring to Capote; "a movie about boxing is called Cinderella Man")......

There was no one sided win for any movie, although Brokeback Mountain, Crash, Memoirs of A Geisha and King Kong each won 3 awards. My real surprises came when Crash beat Brokeback for Best Picture, even if it's a close fight...I was rooting for Crash though, coz it's the only nominated best film i've seen; and when Hustle & Flow won Best Original Song, instead of In The Deep from Crash (which was beautiful).

Here's the winners' list:

Film: Crash
Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk The Line
Suporting Actor: George Clooney, Syriana
Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
Original Screenplay: Crash
Adapted Screenplay: Brokeback Mountain
Animated Feature: Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Original Score: Brokeback Mountain
Original Song: It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp, Hustle & Flow (cool title !!!)
Art Direction: Memoirs of a Geisha
Cinematography: Memoirs of a Geisha
Costume Design: Memoirs of a Geisha
Makeup: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
FIlm Editing: Crash
Sound Editing: King Kong
Sound Mixing: King Kong
Visual Effects: King Kong

Of all the best pictures I've only seen Crash, maybe next week I'll make a trip to Sg Wang Plaza to get those pirated goods coz face it, all these movies are never gonna make it to our cinemas.

6 hours ago......

2006-02-19T02:29:00.000Z

It's been another one week since my last post......for those in the dark, I've already checked out from the college hostel...no point staying there since the exams are over and no place to hang out...I am now officially (I think) a graduate (but that would change after I go to Liverpool this June :P) temporarily I am not a student anymore...so I get to shake my legs at home...hahaha...

I've not been online for almost a week, thanks to the 56k connection at home which is so bloody slow and makes uploading pics, blogging and even casual email checking a chore......in fact, right now, I am typing out this blog entry on my bro's PC using Notepad and then paste into the Blogger typepad just to save on Internet usage charges......

so now what do I do everyday? relek la , apa lagi? After all, it's been nearly 15 years that we've been studying, I guess it isn't much to ask for a month worth of slacking off is it? There are some friends who have already got themselves some steady jobs, but not me...maybe a part time job starting next month, but who knows......

Anyway, my life now is pathetically revolving the big square box sitting in the living room...the daily doses of endless sitcom reruns on STAR World and AXN programmes is what my life is all about right now...getting to watch those shows that I missed for the past 8 months...I tell u man, back to back episodes of LOST and 24 just gets your adrenaline pumping......I just hope this couch potato habit won't last long, coz' my waistline is getting bigger by the day......

Last subject, yet......

2006-02-09T21:22:00.000Z

I have a confession to make. It's going to be my last exam paper tomorrow, yet here I am, back from dinner, sitting my lazy ass in front of the monitor, casually surfing some sites that I probably shouldn't be surfing, and has yet to finish revision for Network Management.

I AM STILL ON CHAPTER 1.

It's going to be a battlefield tonight. ~~Most probably~~ Defintely I will not be sleeping, save for a half hour nap maybe, and will spend the rest of the night struggling to keep my eyes open reading something that I don't understand even after studying for the whole semester.

Then, in the morning, breakfast will be some coffee or Nescafe and some biscuit before heading into exam carrying a half dead body.

In fact, this has been my lifestyle for the past 4 subjects. Everynight before exam day sure will not sleep one, last minute only study.

One last paper and I will graduate, yet with an attitude like this I doubt it will take me anywhere. Some of my friends think I'm hardworking. Actually I'm the total opposite of that.

I'm probably the laziest person in all of ISE. Probably in all of college, even.

The strangest thing is that despite my lazy effort, I still managed to answer the questions in the past 4 subjects. Maybe I won't get all A's lah, coz some marks are definitely gone, but I'm confident I will at least pass. I don't know whether I am just cocky and arrogant or just plain stupid and pathetic.

I think I'm more of the latter.

You know what's the scariest? I know that this is a bad habit, but I'm enjoying it. It's just disturbing to think that I have this kind of mindset. A total lack of motivation to study or do anything. I've been contemplating whether I'm living a totally meaningless existence.

FUCK ME AND MY SORRY, PATHETIC, LAME ASS ATTITUDE.

What's the Commotion ?

After 1 month plus and this is what I can come out with......

In Cambodia now

Cut

Up The Ladder

That flick of a moment...

Hulk 2.0

Floating

Stuck

You...are my everything

Fire Fight!

Can't get it out of my head

Dematerialized

RIP to Heath Ledger

I talk movie crap again......

2007 In A Glance

Apologize

My nose is red

Fallen Leaves: A Review

Brainfall

Which Friends Character Are You?

Which Famous Artist Are You?

What Kind of Girl Will You Fall For?

Which 24 Character Are You?

Burnout

Missed

90 days

SICK

The past 2 months

Money Licking MuthaF****s

One Step Closer

Better screw me

It's been a while

No direction

Ranting again...

Review: Cicak-Man

talking cocks...

Review: Casino Royale

Start work already!

Bond, anyone?

Jobs Jobs Jobs

Routine...

Back from hibernating... :P

Of Holes and Roads

7 Deadly Songs meme

TV Mania

short recap

Song Titles meme...

Last trip, Anfield

Merdeka in Liverpool

Luckily...

I'm back

I'm goin to Scotland baby!

The following takes place between 3.00pm and 4.00pm

72 hours til completion!

Headache

A day at the zoo

Ahoy pirates!

So close...

The mug

Trip to Chester

Prophecies, Footballs, Rains

The Right Thing

Pening Kelapa...I mean Kepala o_o

Summer Pop

Weekend recap...

5 things meme

I need a cool nick!

Dim Sum and Database... (?)

I conquered them all!

I'm freezing....literally

MSN scare

100th !

downed......

Roomie......

keep on downloading......

Carrying on.....

UK Cars damn cun lah......

Vomit blood from the wallet.......

I'M IN LIVERPOOL!