Wednesday, June 28, 2006

5 things meme

Got this from Synical.

Five things that make me scream:
    1. fingers screeching on blackboard
    2. incompetent politicians
    3. stupid policies by incompetent politicians
    4. people who keeps nagging me
    5. when i'm in pain
Five things that make me laugh:
    1. Everybody Loves Raymond
    2. sex jokes
    3. Kevin Smith monologues and dialogues
    4. Weird Al Yankovic parodies
    5. immature antics
Five things I love about Summer:
    1. beaches
    2. babes in bikini
    3. legit reason for being naked
    4. getting a tan
    5. the temperature
Five places I want to go: (in the next five years!)
    1. Scotland
    2. Australia
    3. New York
    4. Los Angeles
    5. Japan
Five things that I wanna do:
    1. getting first class honours degree
    2. watch more movies
    3. finish my coursework
    4. travel
    5. have a relationship

I need a cool nick!

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.

Monday, June 26, 2006

Dim Sum and Database... (?)

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!

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?).

Thursday, June 22, 2006

I'm freezing....literally

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?

Sunday, June 18, 2006

MSN scare

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......

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

100th !

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......

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......

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Roomie......

Peculiar......


Behaviour......


Trouble......


Mistrust......


Bleak......


Isolation......


Outcast......


Blurred......


Interpret......

keep on downloading......

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......

Monday, June 12, 2006

Carrying on.....

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......

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

UK Cars damn cun lah......

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.......

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.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

I'M IN LIVERPOOL!

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.

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Friday, June 02, 2006

Blogging while travelling

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.