Geekmonkie.©

Moved!

2009-09-06T17:18:00.000-07:00

We are all witnesses again

2009-04-22T18:28:00.001-07:00

Ahhh, i just can’t resist. I’ve been busy with shitloads of work but i just can’t ignore the NBA Playoffs (the most awesome time of the year!). This time i’m not gonna be silly at try and predict outcomes; primarily because i am biased towards the team(s) i am supporting, plus i’ll be swayed by statistics and season record. I’m just saying i don’t watch enough games to judge some of the teams in the playoffs right. Instead I’m gonna review the team im rooting for to win it all this year, none other than the Cleveland Cavaliers, home of the King himself! Plus some additional random notes and thoughts from the games i’ve been watching this year.

THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

They been getting better each year and this year is no exception (some might argue last year was an exception, but they dragged the Celtics to Game 7). Best record in the league, best point differential per game, best defensive team and Lebron James. If there’s any team that has the potential to win it all, its the Cleveland Cavaliers. Their offense is still a pain to watch without Lebron and Mo on the floor though buts its their best offensive year so far with more shooters and ball movement.

Starting Lineup

At center, BIG Z: Somehow the teams i support end up having a flabby European as their bigs (Sabonis at Portland and Divac at Kings) but Big Z is up there as one of the best in terms of raw offensive power. He’s the best shooting center around no doubt about it and he’s shooting threes this year too! I’m annoyed by his speed (or lack of) but i guess he makes up for it with his extremely long reach for put backs as well as blocks

At power forward, Anderson Varejao: The energizer bunny, as they call him. I would choose him over Big Ben right now. He has improved his midrange jumpshot, and his non-stop movement allows Lebron to find him on cuts and he’s a decent finisher too. Oh, and did i mention that he rebounds and hustles too?

At small forward, Lebron James: Needs no introduction. The best player on the court when he’s not taking jumpshots.

At shooting guard, Delonte West: I had my doubts at first, but he’s turning out to be a very good pickup. Reminds me a lot of Doug Christie (because of the tattoos?). Works hard for every basket, always keeps his head up and can make shots. He’s horrible at the point though.

At point guard, Mo Williams: Again, had my doubts but only because i haven’t really watched him play. I mean, who the hell watches the Milwaukee Bucks? Anyways, he’s a decent point guard with crazy offensive skills. Finally someone who can create his own shot other than Lebron (cough Larry Hughes cough)

Notable bench players

Boobie Gibson: Im starting to develop a little hate for him cause i feel that he’s getting a bit arrogant for being the sidekick to Lebron at one point of time. However, he’s still one of the best players at making the open threes

Wally Schzerbiak: I might have spelled that wrong. Very disappointing pickup. A huge liability defensively. At least he’s a hard worker and can make threes but usually put in only for short spurts and opposing team usually attacks him. Ill take him over Donyell Marshall any day.

Joe Smith: This guy is good. I haven’t seen him much before this but a great role player. Good offensive skills and makes clever cuts to the basket (and you know you’re gonna get the ball with Lebron on the floor). Decent rebounding skills too.

Ben Wallace: Still disappointing compared to his Piston days but valuable coming off the bench to provide rebounding and (some) defense.

Others: Players like J.J. Hickson who are decent players all around and are usually used to make up numbers while the starters are resting. Hard workers who know their roles and do not cause turnovers. Except Sasha, he sucks rat ass since the time he gloated about his contract.

RANDOM NOTES

I can’t believe the Suns are not in the playoffs, i thought they won a decent ammount of games to qualify. The West sure is tough. With aging Shaq, Hill and Nash i wonder what will be their next step.
Brandon Roy is awesome. He still doesnt have the superstar status or looks (and will probably never have them), but can perform and make the same shots as the rest of them.
Derrick Rose is the Rookie of the Year.
But Courtney Lee deserves the runner-up post. I’ve watched him during the regular season and thought he was really really good. And now he’s lighting it up in the playoffs as well. A great offensive player who can drive and finish and make jumpshots from anywhere on the court. Doesn’t put up bad shots for a rookie.
Chris Anderson is a huge surprise. I still hate his guts, but i’m happy he bounced back from his shameful performance few years ago.
Dwight Howard has a very unnatural offense. The only reason they are going in is because he is athletic enough. Plus i dont think he deserves Defensive Player of the Year because once again it relies on his jumping ability. Not so much of timing as Mutombo used to do it, or Bruce Bowen’s footwork. He just freaking jumps for those blocks and rebounds.
I really want to know what’s happening with the Hornets. I really thought that they would be top 3 in the West or the NBA. Plus, CP3 is still having an awesome season.
T-Mac should just jump of the highest building he can find. It’ll be a kick in the nuts if the Rockets make it past the first round
Atlanta Hawks are a good team if they can keep Josh Smith from attempting those effing threes. Why the hell is he putting up those when he can fly to the basket?
I feel that Lakers are the better team, but im rooting for Cavs to pull an upset. Kobe is still better than James, in my opinion. I have yet to see Kobe take a bad shot (or he makes them all look good)

Iphone 3g Review

2009-03-04T16:03:00.001-08:00

It was exciting to touch down again in Melbourne. There was lots of things to look forward to. Firstly i get to see my dearest deedoo again. Secondly was my new gadgets i was looking forward to get ie. my iphone and computer. And then theres the fact that i finally got to stay at the place where i initially planned to live since coming to Melbourne (ie. Kafaii’s place, even though im not practically living there LOL) It’s great to have friends as neighbours, especially when your friend’s sister screams like mad while playing Rayman on Wii =)

But Murphy’s Law has taught us that you can never run out of things that can go wrong, and that’s what happened on day one. My most important possession, my brand new computer, went KAPUT on the first shut down. It just wouldnt turn back on after that. So i had to travel back to the freaking same place to return the system that i just picked up a couple of hours ago. My heart was shattered.

Thankfully my other gadget that i was planning to pick up, the JESUS PHONE, was more awesome than the awesomeness that i was expecting from it (and hyped by cheemeng). Which brings me to my review, because the lack of computer allowed me to spend ample ammount of time with it and discover the pros and cons of this supercool phone.

First and foremost, the phone looks good. If there’s anything to complain its that it only comes in one design and two colours and therefore you are bound to see someone else’s iphone which looks awfully similar (and not to mention ipod touches too). In terms of build quality it is as good as any apple product, very solid. But when i am holding the phone i can’t help but feel like im carrying a portable hard disk (like those ppl use with laptops) and therefore it feels insecure and i know that if i drop it on its back it will just kill the phone. Which is why i bought the CapsuleRebel case although its design is quite debatable, but offers good protection and a better grip.

I’ll get some of the cons out of the way first. If you haven’t heard, there are a few things that are simple and even the most basic phones can do, that the iphone cant. One that i’ve noticed is the ability to paste someone’s phone number from your contacts into an SMS. It’s a feature in every phone i had so far that its taken for granted. Even thought its rarely used, it feels like a step back to write a number down and then insert it again to pass a phone no. to someone. And you can’t receive business cards too. The touch keyboard can get annoying too. Despite what my other iphone mate says (ahem u know who u are), I still type faster on a normal phone. Even though the iphone has a intuitive correction system, it only allows to select one word (the most commonly used) and its even harder to type a word thats not in the dictionary system. I dont see why they couldnt just included an option to use the number pads like a normal phone to type an SMS.

But of course, while the iphone can’t do a few things, it does so much more than any other phone. Every application on the iphone is so well built and works like a charm. Everything you can think off that you need in a calendar, your alarm clock, and notepad, IT HAS IT. You can close and open programs in a snap, which makes you wonder why it take seconds or minutes to open a simple program on a Quad Core Pentium processor on a chunky CPU. But what the iphone works best is as an internet phone. Facebook, ebay, youtube all within a touch away. Internet is a tad slower on the phone, but it’s bearable. The included browser, Safari works exactly like a desktop version, as long as it doesn’t involve flash. And the phone is just PERFECT for feeds, which is a very huge plus for me. I used the iphone to tend to my computing needs for the week my comp was gone and i really didn’t feel like i missed much.

Why would you get an iphone if not for its multimedia capabilities? Before buying one, you should also know that the iphone actually does not sound as good an iphone. I’m not that much of a sound person, but ive gone through enough mp3 players and music phones that i can really tell the difference. Its unfortunate, but most normal users won’t realise though so its not really that much of a problem. The video, on the other hand, its excellent. I would have called it perfect if it wasn’t for the fact that i need to convert any video to mp4 before uploading it. But really, this was one of the selling points for me. I mostly watch South park on tram rides now rather than listening to the same ol music of the mp3s ive been keeping since secondary school.

Oh, it plays games too. I don’t use it much, only once during my lecture. A good distraction, but its not gonna take away anyone’s PSP or DS (pokemon FTW!)

I haven’t even started talking about the apps that you can get for free off the net even without jailbreaking. But that depends on the individual so i won’t go into that. It has a meh camera of 2.0 MP and no video call, but that’s not why you get an iphone. Basically if you know what you’re getting with the iphone, you will love it. It just does everything so well that you wouldn’t go back to any other phone. I rate it a supercool 9.5/10. Best money spent so far in Melbourne =)

Twitting

2009-01-11T04:39:00.001-08:00

I wonder when twitter will catch up at this side of the world. It’s a really simple concept where you just put in a sentence of whatever you’re doing or whatever you’re thinking about and it will update everyone in your social network. Think changing status in facebook, just that since the feeds in facebook tells you all kinds of ~~crap~~ stuff (i poked you wee!) it’s a different experience altogether. Everyone hour, or even half of that depending on how active your friends are, there’s always something new and interesting to read ~~and waste your time on.~~

Think of it as a mini blog, and sometimes you don’t feel like writing paragraph like say TODAY! So here’s the twit of the day:

It’s funny how you laugh at ppl’s lameness when they are your friends, but feel like slapping yourself silly and poke a pencil in your ears when you evesdrop on other ppl’s lameness no matter how geeky or happening they are.

Merry Christmas To You Too!!!

2008-12-24T18:38:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas everybody!!! In case you’re wondering, that’s my Xmas pressie that i requested from DeeDoo haha me love it! It’s gonna be my wallpaper for this whole festive week =D

I had a smashing time last night, from catching up with old friends to making a fool of myself in Cranium to jamming in Guitar Hero (i found my rock voice…..and its squeeky). I don’t celebrate Xmas officially, but it’s a great excuse to bring people together and that’s good enough for me. I also finally got a Moleskin notebook for Jos (secret santa with the help of Nick) which I thought was a fantastic gift for myself given the price range.

Overall i thought that the secret santa thing was a success as everyone got what they wanted and we had a great time. I’m with nick about having this as an annual thing, but with an increased budget!

Hitchin’ A Ride

2008-12-06T12:19:00.001-08:00

One day when i was on my way to Tropicana Mall site, this grasshopper leaped out of nowhere and crashed on to the windscreen and held on to my wiper for a ride. Despite my ~~skillful~~ reckless driving, this little bugger held on as if he was enjoying the thrill. And amazingly after my 2 hr long meeting, it was still clinging on at the same spot, and hitched a ride back home as well.

I’m pretty dodgy at metaphors, but the scene pretty much summed up my year ; it has been a roller coaster ride. I’ve definitely had my ups and downs this year, the ups being that i’ve learned so much, and the people in the team definitely helped make the experience so much more pleasant and enjoyable. But sometimes i feel so helpless at my desk, trying my best to look busy where in actual fact i don’t really have anything to do.

Looking back at when i first started my first task was do a 3d design using a program that wasn’t meant to do 3d. And it took me around 2 months to find out about this. And here i was feeling so stupid that i couldnt cook up a design quick enough to provide that extra hand. Then i was asked to do a month of site defects inspections at Suasana Sentral, which was basically a kuli job that could be given to any Tom, Dick and Harry. I tried to convince myself that i am actually learning something from it all, but i honestly think it was quite minimal. However i am quite grateful that these sessions helped me bond with the people who turned out to be my good friends now in the office. In between these inspections i was told to do some minor design works, for projects that never happened.

Now, after 10 months, I am proudly one of the few people who have mastered the 3d program used in my office. I have been counted on to create 3d models for actual projects and i have been asked to the teach my skills to both my juniors and peers alike. At last i am starting to feel that i am contributing something to the team, which is my primary goal during my short stay. My experience during the site inspections also allowed me to be given the opportunity to chair defects meetings, which was a scary experience at first (when everyone in the room is at least ten years older) but i discovered a lot about the industry. Recently, I also have been working very closely with an architect on a design proposal in Nusajaya which really helped me learn the process of design in real life and how certain decisions are made and why. And to add icing to the cake, our design proposal was accepted and we got the job!

So for the record let me express my greatest gratitude to these people: TJ, Jessie, Wei Liang, Francis, Lai, Ying Ying, Steven, Dona, Wai Ying, Chee Foong, Kent, Ahana, Alvin, Lau, Siang Run, Ling Sin, Ayu, Nurha, Nora, Kak Suzi, & Kak Yati. One day i would like to look back at this post to remember all your names and faces as the people who have had a hand in creating the architect in me.

TJ TEAM 2008

What we do during our free time

2008-11-04T06:24:00.001-08:00

Me and deedoo pictochatting. She is extremely talented. See if you can guess which is mine : )

Chee Weng's Theory of Composite Examination Studying Dynamics

2008-11-03T07:53:00.001-08:00

So, I have a midterm tomorrow for Archaeology. There are maybe 150 terms to go over. It's at times like these that I refer back to Chee Weng's Theory of Composite Examination Studying Dynamics.

It's a great technique. It greatly reduces your workload while ensuring that you have sufficient preparation for the exam.
It can be essentially summarized into 4 words:- "Won't come out la".

Lol.
I fully recommend it.

Quoted from the wise and great Nicholas Khaw. I should get a Nobel Prize for this, it worked for me so far.

You should never be purely retarded

2008-10-31T09:15:00.001-07:00

Just came back from watching tropic thunder with my colleagues, and i must say i am truly disappointed. It was a cross of 21 and Austin Powers 3, dodgy comparisons but let me explain. They had a perfect premise for LOL and if you didn’t already know, its about three actors (played by three actors) shooting a war film and was accidentally put into a real war scenario. Things started of real fun, and how wouldnt it be with these 3 awesome comedy actors put together? But when the freshness of the premise starts wearing out…it just became mediocre. They couldn’t maintain the momentum throughout the whole 120 minutes (aka 21) and it was disappointing because the first half an hour or so generated a generous ammount of giggles.

Another thing that was completely unnecessary was the huge ammount of cameos. I never knew what was the deal with cameos as they rarely add anything to the movie. I can only recall very few instances where they were pretty good most. On the top of my head i would say recently is Jonah Hill in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and the babes (Elisha Cuthbert, Elizabeth Shannon etc.) in Love Actually. In these cases the actor/actresses actually fit the role or fits into the right context. Really, i am not against cameos but this movie really looks like they concentrated too much into including them rather than improving the script etc. The first movie that pops into mind when mentioning this is obviously AUSTIN POWERS 3. (if you haven’t already guessed it)

The final note is about the lameness about the movie. There’s only so much lameness a comedy can take, and this movie crossed that line. With so many talented actors, i wouldn’t expect lameness to carry this movie but it was what they did (which contributed to the boringness at the second half on the movie). It’s ironic too that **SPOILERS…..kinda….*** in one scene Robert Downey’s character said “You should never act purely retarded in a movie, only mostly retarted” (referring the other chars such as Forrest Gump who won Oscars) because that’s what i would describe how they acted towards the end of the movie – purely retarded.

Anything good in life is either illegal, immoral or fattening

2008-10-18T02:08:00.001-07:00

This picture was taken by my bro at Liverpool airport. I personally enjoy no. 4, 7 and 8.

Prod

2008-10-18T01:59:00.001-07:00

If you are half the geek i am, you probably recognize this from the Worms series. (unfortunately i couldnt get a screenshot of it in action :P). I seem to have developed some kind of phobia/reflex system towards this weapon of destruction. No matter where i am, ppl seem to enjoy prodding me (probably due to the fact that i have a very sensitive area near the hip) and see me jump a few centimeters off the ground, and the office is no different. There’s this colleague of mine who keeps prodding me every now and then in the office that at one time, when i spotted a shadow lurking behind me, i actually tried to dodge and put up my left arm to try parry the incoming attack. Turns out it wasn’t that colleague, and that person wasn’t even walking towards me…he was just going back to his seat. Then my other colleagues were staring at me weirdly…..

Highlight

2008-10-14T07:35:00.001-07:00

Instead of going diary style, like i always do with my holidays trips,i thought i would just talk about the highlight of the trip. When i feel like it, i'll start talking about all the sightseeing stuff in Berlin and Dresden (which was pretty awesome, but it's not gonna top this)

No.7 sending the keeper to the wrong direction

Was there any doubt what else it could be? Being inside the Theatre of Dreams when the stadium erupted when no.7 Christiano Ronaldo scored the most undeserved goal in the world. It didn't matter, the crowd and atmosphere was worth every penny (70 pounds actually) and a cool goal by Wayne Rooney was icing on the cake. From waiting anxiously on the cheap plastic seats for a goal to happen, to attempting to follow the chants of the supported, to jumping and screaming at every near miss or referee whistle....is truly an experience that money can't buy. (70 pounds actually)

I was never a true MU supporter till few years ago, which led to claims by my bro that i only supported the best teams. I don't agree. Sure MU is probably the most supported team in Malaysia, but i truly support them because of their offensive style and individual brilliance. I believe its influenced by my infatuation with NBA basketball, where attacking individual talents are appreciated more. (with exception of Nick who has a good eye for defensive plays)

To prove my point, long time ago, i used to support Liverpool because i thought they were a good offensive team. Looking back at it now, i'm not really sure if i understood football as much as i do now, but as far as i recall it was the Beckham era where MU and Arsenal reign the EPL. In the NBA it was more apparent. I supported the Trailblazers when they had Mighty Mouse and the Sheed even though they never won a championship. I was a die hard fan of Chris Webber's Sacramento Kings when they weren't even championship contenders yet. But they played exciting ball in my opinion, and that's why i watch them.

On a side note, WHY OH WHY DID JASON WILLIAMS RETIRE?????

Arriving 3 hours earlier at Old Trafford

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep..........

2008-10-05T14:49:00.001-07:00

That was the high pitch sound that was ringing in our ears when we drove for dinner. My parents said that they heard the same sound when we drove out in the afternoon so it must be something wrong with the car. I tried switching off the radio....nope not from there. "Hmm's maybe it's the air-con fan, sometimes when it needs greasing it makes noises like these" my dad says. So i turn off the air-con. The sound still persists. "Tomorrow must spray WD40 on every part of the car already lol. I remember last time my old car we took forever to find the source of the noise. In the end there was this gap between the spark plug and (insert) and we didn't know we needed to install metal discs in between until we read the manual. Last time the cars like that one," my dad continued.

So we arrived home. When my dad switched off the engine the sound was still there. "Hmm must be the alarm system short circuit already," my dad says. When we went inside the house we were like "wah even inside can hear man so noisy". Then we went upstairs to watch tv and we can still hear the sound very clearly. So my dad decided the disconnect the main battery of the car so when the backup battery for the alarm system runs out the sound will stop. And it did stop after all.

Suddenly, the sound came back on. This time, to add to the mystery, my dad went down to check and realised, its not coming from the car anymore! "Wah, it seems the neighbour's car also got the same problem ar, its not from the car!" my dad claimed. My mom could not believe it and she went to double check and also found out that it wasn't from the car anymore. And for some reason, the sound is even louder when heard from upstairs....

After going through all the trouble, we came to realise that the sound was actually.....a button stuck on my dad's phone >.< And he hung his pants in his room, so of course can hear in the house and it's louder upstairs la!

Pink Eye

2008-10-03T00:11:00.001-07:00

Driving signals

2008-09-27T15:17:00.000-07:00

If there's one thing Malaysians lack, its driving courtesy. I mean people here in the UK (and in Aussie too from my experience) almost never fail to stop and give way to other cars or for pedestrians to cross the road. Try crossing the road on a ZEBRA CROSSING in KL and see if the cars stop WITHOUT slamming the horns repeatedly. Hope you don't end up in the hospital.

Interestingly here in the UK, ppl actually flash their lights twice to tell the other car that "hey im slowing down for you so you can cut in front of me". And the other car would say "thank you" by either blinking their harzard lights twice or signal left and right in quick successions (since you can't flash the person behind you). This is stark contrast to our pathetic usage of the 'flash' back home where it means "piss off! you're driving too damn slow!" or "don't cut in front of me yet cause im gonna speed pass you".

I'm gonna try it out when i get back home. Although i'll be expecting more "what the fuck" than "thank you" signals.

Don't you just hate it when this happens?

2008-09-18T15:04:00.000-07:00

The last day before leaving for the UK, it was noon and i was all excited and worked up about the trip. But anyways so i thought i would just laze around and tighten up some loose ends of my work when suddenly i was called upon to collect this urgent letter from the client. I look at my clock, its 3pm, and i need to leave the office at 4 to make it back on time with some time to spare before going to the office. One hour to get to sentral and back, seems pretty tight but i should be able to make it. So i packed up everything to be ready so when i get back i can leave right away.

But then theres this tiny little thing. My colleague suddenly said hey since you are going over why don't you pass him this letter? OK, why not. So off i go to sentral taking the monorail and all, and i was starting to rush cause i was trying to make it back on time. Was well on schedule when i arrived at the client's office and he gave me the urgent letter. So i was on my way out when i remembered i was supposed to pass him this other letter so i went back and gave it to him. And guess what, i PUT THE FREAKING URGENT LETTER ON THE TABLE and left it there. Reached back at office empty handed. Fcuk. Guess what time is it then. 4 pm. Double fcuk.

Dont you just hate it when this happens? Well, I do. Considering that if my colleague did not ask me to pass that not-so-urgent letter, i wouldnt forget the urgent one. Still, its totally my fault for being careless and easily distracted, i absolutely hate it.

Breaking

2008-08-26T07:33:00.001-07:00

Why is everything breaking down??? I know its partly my fault but first the hard disk.....now i found out that the dvd burner is burnt. How ironic. And also my phone keeps going blank whenever i try to access my inbox or when Nick calls. Money money going down the drain........

Ugly phone in use now!!!

Erasers

2008-08-08T12:08:00.001-07:00

08.08.08 : Olympics have finally begun!!! Watched the opening a few hours back, thought it was pretty good although a bit artsy fartsy with the history and stuff. I quite liked some of the performances in particular the chinese characters one (although i have no idea what characters they were), the idea of the footsteps forming the art piece, and skywalking to light up the torch. The fireworks were good but i was disappointed cause someone told me there was gonna be a dragon. There was no dragon!!!! (and probably never will be one sigh )

Actually the games itself don't excite me, except watching the US basketball team play. At least there's something to watch on the tele other than the Korean drama show thats on all the time (my parents love them). As a side note i was quite surprised at how many countries i could name by just looking at their flags thanks to the erasers me and my bro use to collect and play. Those were the days.....

Diablo III confirmed!!!

2008-06-29T06:16:00.001-07:00

When this hell of a game (no puns intended) comes out, everyone please upgrade your comps as necessary so we can save mankind together. And after we do that, we save mankind again, and again, and again, till we have multiple heroes equipped with uber items and have mastered all the skills. And please don't play alone when we're not looking. I've given you a warning few years in advance. For now, we'll just have to settle Diablo 2 again (I've lost count to how many times ive played this darn game!)

Korea Trip

2008-06-09T08:08:00.001-07:00

For those of you who didn't know, i embarked on a trip to Korea recently for 7 days 6 nights with my parents. It was a very good trip, as it was interesting to experience and witness the Korean culture; it was both unique and fascinating. So instead of boring everyone with a day-to-day journal which i always tend to do after every trip, i figured i would just list down a few things i found very unusual and interesting about Korea and Koreans. Pictures are up on facebook for those who want to see how Korea looks like (picture are supposed to tell a thousand words) or wait for me to tell the stories in person.

The common one: Koreans eat kimchi everyday, every meal. Its fermented vege and its apparently very very good for your health. I hate it, unfortunately. And apparently you are not meant to finish it, according to Lonely Planet, and they throw away whatever's left behind. And they refill them if you finish them.
Koreans almost eat steamboat everyday. The tour guide mentioned that in Korean cooking the sauce and materials are more important than how you cook it. And also they put "ningko" in it (huh???).
Koreans eat their meat wrapped in cabbage.
Korean ginseng is the best in the world.
Koreans eat larva stew.....yup and according the hex it tastes great too. I think i took a glimpse at a stall selling it and instantly grossed out (did i spell that right?)
OK enough of food. In Korea, usually only the men work and the women stay behind and do the housework and take care of children. Seems a little unfair right? But wait, there's a catch! Men bring home the money....and gives them straight to the wife! They control the money in the house (bank?)! And we actually saw ppl asking their wife for money to grab some food.
Speaking about money. Koreans, both genders, spend 70% of their money on their looks (clothes, shoes, hairgrooming, PLASTIC SURGERRY)
Speaking about plastic surgery, it seems about 70% of them do it. And parents give it to them as graduation gifts before starting working life
So its no wonder that there are pretty Koreans girls around. But they are really heavily covered with makeup and you never know who has done surgery. You are looked down upon if you can't do makeup. Interestingly, i didn't find any cute f4-like Korean guys (or maybe it just proves how straight i am.
The remaining money is probably spent on petrol. Apparently their petrol prices are really really high and their parking rate in Seoul can go up to rm90 per 30 min. That's insane!
Dont worry guys, in Jeju island its the other way round. Women do the working and the men stay at home! Paradise!
Koreans give out Krispy Kreme for free because its not too popular in Korea. They're too healthy and hate sugar!
Korea is known to be a high tech country and its obvious. You can only use 3g in Korea, and free internet is everywhere. They don't even use ADSL anymore, they use VDSL (apparently much faster).
However during my 7 days there i failed to find a proper electronic shop except SONY. (Btw Korea's two biggest companies are LG and Samsung)
Probably not too surprising, but Koreans go to sauna completely naked.
So its obvious they are not too shy about their wee-wee, so toilet doors when opened you can basically directly see the urinals and the cubicals etc (the whole of the toilet). And most public toilets are permanently open.
And their hotels only give out small towels. As big as hand towels. Don't even think of wrapping your body with it.
The Korean police around the blue house (Korea's white house!) wears sports attire and are on skates!
Koreans are really enthusiastic especially in doing their job. In Everland theme park, every employee wave their hands frantically while screaming ANYONG ANYONG!!! when they see anyone. Apparently supposed to be twinkling stars or sumthing.
A bit unrelated, but Park Ji Sung is flat footed. Which means its supposed to hurt real bad when you run. He even got exempted for national service because it is considered and handicap. If you live under a shell, he is currently playing for Manchester United and is famous for his tireless running. I have new found respect for him.

That's all i can think about for now. Sorry for the delay!

NBA Playoffs 2008

2008-05-10T01:22:00.001-07:00

So the NBA Playoffs are back on again, and it really sucks not being able to catch most of it. Things are starting off quite predictably, with most top seeds going through to the next round. There a few slight surprises, most notably the Boston-Atlanta Series which saw the Hawks drag the Celtics into a game 7. When i watched the games that Atlanta won, they really looked like a decent team and i just hope they don't fall into the category of Golden State Warriors. I mean, they pull one of the biggest upsets last year, creating a huge hype of what they could be this year, and now they're having holidays. I like young, energetic, hardworking team but they always seem to get to the first round, and then flop out years after that (look at Chicago Bulls).

Spurs-Suns was another disappointment to me. I never doubted that the Spurs is such a good team, but I was hoping the Shaq trade wouldn't slow the Suns down. But he did. Hopefully we'll see them adjust next year with almost certainly a new coach. Mike d Antoni in Bulls or Knicks would be interesting though. They are a much younger group and will benefit from the former Suns style.

And last but not least, my Houston Rockets. I've been rooting for them for quite some while, but i never saw them going far in the playoffs this year. But, i really think that they have a good group of players now and i hope they can build on that with a healthy Yao Ming next year. And if next year they flop again, its time to let T-Mac go (considering it doesn't happen in the offseason).

Chris Paul is having a break out season, but i think it's going to be the Lakers and Celtics at the summit, with the Lakers coming out on top. They are a whole different team with Pao, which i rate as the best center in the league, and with Kobe around they'll be hard to top.

Anyways, enjoy some of these comics i found. Don't bother reading it if you don't watch basketball.

Kenny G

2008-05-03T00:51:00.001-07:00

Well, all of us know that Kenny G is this famous saxophone artist who has been around for quite some and I'm sure you can recognize most of his songs and not know the titles (since well they dont have lyrics). And we also know that sax sounds can put people to sleep or strip their clothes (they use them in sex scenes don't they?) so obviously i wasn't too excited to hear that my dad got us tickets to watch him perform in Genting. I mean, sure he plays well and all, but it's no rock show.

However, I am surprised and glad that it didn't turn out to be a snooze outing. Far from it actually. This is a guy who made an entrance from the back and walked down the aisle while playing a song (imagine having the cheapest seat in the house but get to be right next to him) and then he set up a box in the middle of the crowd to stand on and finish his song. All this while our Yang Dipertuan Agong is having his mandatory first class seat at the front, facing the opposite direction. It just shows how much respect he has for his fans and how professional he is as both a musician and a performer. His performances were mesmerising throughout and he puts in a nice variety by letting his bandmates steal the show occasionally (he has the best percussionist ever) and he also showed off how long he can hold a note for (he holds the longest record in the world with 47 minutes). In case you havent already figured out, he does it by breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth through the saxophone.

I know you're trying as you read this and failing miserably =P. Oh, and he played "The Moon Represents my Heart" which is the familiar chinese song that goes "ni wen.....wo ai......ni you.......kuo shen........ "

Let There Be Light!

2008-04-28T07:04:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday my company was nice enough to organize a trip to Lightcraft for some workshop about....well.... lights. Lightcraft is an established international lighting company that offers consultations about lighting as well as offering a wide variety of high end lamps. If you haven't heard of it, you're probably not rich enough to own any of their products. You'll be lucky to find any lamps that has fewer than three digits on the price tag (not including cents of course!) and that includes those small lamps you hang on the walls or table lamps used for reading. The first hanging lamp we saw as we walked into the store had the price of a Kancil (for those living under the shell, its freaking 32k!!!!!!). It wasn't even a chandelier kinda thing, just a somewhat large modern simple roundish ceiling lamp. We were allowed to test every single lamp in the 5 storey showroom, but we were extra careful not to break anything or we'll have to spend the rest of the year just to pay back the money!

But of course, for that kind of money, you are also getting premium lamps. The lady was explaining the difference between buying an expensive lamp and a cheaper one, which is the reflectors which help distribute the light. They demonstrated many types of lights and effects they produce which really was very helpful, and it really shows how much you need to plan in advance during the design stage of architecture if you want to dynamic lighting on the interior and exterior of the building.

Some of the more impressive lamps were the designer wares that were imported from Italy. They all had a very contemporary design and were pushing the limits of light technology. There was a lamp where you could change the color temperature on the go to suit the ambience, a lamp that was like a worm and could be rolled up into a ball, a lamp with a lightbulb not connected through wires, and a table lamp that was so powerful and flexible that it could be switch between a reading light or an uplighter by twisting its head. Some of them were even design by Herzog de Meuron (to non-archi ppl, its the architect who designed some of the impressive Beijing Olympic Stadiums) but they were surprisingly the less impressive one. They should stick to buildings.

Before dinner, they did a nice short powerpoint presentation which was mostly boring stuff about different type of lamps (incandescent, fluorescent, halogen etc. ) but what was interesting was later on when he shows pictures of good and bad lightning. The good lighting that were shown were some streetlights they did which were uplighters, but somehow they were able to illuminate the streets very well. Its hard to describe with words but they created were quite impressive effects. The bad one though, was the highlight of the show. They were pictures of the new Bangkok Airport with some expensive German lamps at the top which emphasized the architecture and structure of the roof very well. Problem was, the airport was for millions of humans to use and the poor humans were trapped in darkness. None of the light fell back down onto them. The funny part was, now they actually "fixed it" by putting reflective wings at the top which helped bring the light back on the ground. So now not only is the architecture not highlighted anymore, the shadows from these lamps created batman signals all over the ceiling and it was just horrendous to look at. So, lesson learnt.

All in all, it was a worthy trip (free) and it was both knowledgeable and enjoyable at the same time. I wish i could have snapped more pictures but my phone was running out of battery so i only took some that caught my eye. Enjoy!

New Winamp Player is Out!!!!

2008-04-20T07:35:00.001-07:00

I would buy one of these if they came out....just for collection's sake.

Ups and Downs in Basketball

2008-04-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

I just came back from my usual Monday night basketball, and today's games were giving me mixed feelings. Our team had a good run in the beginning, we won the first and lost by a point in the second. They were both very good games and i didn't mind losing the second one at all. But after waiting a while we had another game, this time versus a lesser team. At least i thought so. We should have been able to win the match, but we didn't. And it was frustrating, especially when we had the same team that was so wonderful before. So we lost in a matter of minutes and decided to call it a night. I was tired.

Up :
Driving down the baseline and scoring on an impossible angle layup against a center to heads taller than you.
Down :
Missing a wide open three pointer on the next posession.

Up :
Throwing a pin point pass to a cutting teammate along the baseline for an easy hoop.
Down :
Throwing the perfect lob to a running teammate on the fast break only to blunder a wide open layup.

Up :
On an opposing fastbreak, dashing back on defense and managed to stop a wide open layup even though he started running much earlier than you.
Down:
The most frustrating play(s) of the night. On an opposing fastbreak, dashing back on defense and managed to stop a wide open layup. Ball swings to the trailer on the wing and you manage to prevent and open layup too. A shadow runs behind you and you hope its your teammate after you manage to stall the offense for so long, but its not. An easy lob and an easy basket.

You know, it's acceptable when its 3 on 2 during a fastbreak and another defender running back to make it 3-3. Its ok if your opponent scores on you like that. At least your team is hustling back on D. But if its 2 on 1 and the next person running back is still not your teammate, you know things are fucked up. (Also the fact that it was on more than one play and the fast break wasn't really.......fast)

But recently i've been having good runs with good teams these past few weeks...so i guess its ok to have a shitty night once in a while. Last week i was in a team that was unbeaten the whole two hours....that was really special. Well, i'm looking forward to next week!

The Best Dessert Ever (Also Most Sinful)

2008-03-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

Haha i've been talking about it to everyone cause its sooooooooooooooo good and equally sinful! What is it? Its a freaking DURIAN CHOCOLATE CAKE!!!!!!!!!! Recommended to everyone who loves durians or ppl who like it just a little (like me!). For those who are wondering the durian is REAL durian with flesh and all plus the chocolate is very dark and rich.....all yours for RM8.90 per piece. Its cupcake size but eat any more and it feels like your nose is gonna bleed. Make sure you go to gym first! I am estimating at least 1000 Calories in this one (not exaggerating!) Its from a place called Just Heavenly Pleasures at Bukit Damansara and there are many more that i am waiting to try including Death by Chocolate and Banana Cream Pie.............but must burn those calories from the previous indulgence first!

Pictures are from Lots of Cravings and you can read the review there and many other places as well. Pretty cool food blog introed by Jooyee.

Striking balance

2008-03-26T05:57:00.000-07:00

So now that the blue moon has come and gone as Heng Lean found himself a job and is not laying at home doing nothing..... officially everyone here is a full-time worker (Jy was one at least).

You know, i used to say that working like is tough and that you have less free time yada yada no social life etc. but now that im into my second month, it doesnt seem too bad. Sure, there are times that you will struggle to keep up with time. Example: you go to work from 7am to 7pm and you come home to eat dinner and then you talk to your gf and then you go out with your friends for drinks and that sounds like you've done heaps in a day! BUT then how about the desk that you havent cleaned? How bout that book you aimed to finish in a month? How about fixing the software on your comp that has been bugging you? Not to mention after doing so much without rest during the day you end up bushed the morning despite getting the mandatory 8 hrs sleep?

In the end, you just adapt to it. I used to whine about how i wouldn't be able to keep up with my gaming needs but now id doesn't seem like a priority now. I'd much prefer to see my friends with the little free time i have to just have some kind of social life even though its just sitting and talking for an hour. Now i understand why my cousin can buy a PSP and not use it and borrowed it to me unconditionally. Where is it now? In my drawer.

In the end, it's about striking a balance, between your social life, alone time, work, hobbies, girlfriend.......and eventually you'll adapt to a routine to suit your needs. Just make sure you enjoy your life everyday =)

Joining the workforce

2008-03-01T05:29:00.000-08:00

So im back in the office. Woo hoo. Things didn't start off so well, there weren't many jobs assigned to me, mostly very small stuff that's very uninspiring and uninteresting. Other than that, it's trying to look busy while doing nothing at all. How fun. Thankfully things are starting to pick up a bit, got a hang of Microstation which is the program that they are fond off, did some quick photoshopping and designing and doing some overtime and meeting deadlines.... finally feeling like im officially joining the workforce.

The atmosphere in the office this time is pretty good. The average age group has dropped quite significantly since the last time, so mixing around is pretty easy. There are a few ppl who are actually one year younger than me in the team who are technical officers and a few architecture newbies like me who just came in. The technical ppl are a bit hard to mix since they are very chinese speaking, but they are friendly nonetheless. The seniors that were around the last time were mostly still sticking around, and the annoying one is gone. So all is going well, other than the fact that i worked this Saturday but am getting paid no OT.

Cloverfield joins Top Movies List

2008-02-08T07:30:00.000-08:00

By now most of you have already watched Cloverfield, and half you liked it and the rest didn't. This is the first movie i have seen people walking out of the cinema just half an hour into the movie. I even heard from HeXiang that her friend puked after watching it. I did, however had a great time watching this unique film, and has officially become my Best Monster Movie of all time, overtaking the likes of Godzilla, King Kong and Jurassic Park (and many others).

For those living under a shell, Cloverfield is a movie about a monster attacking New York. Its as simple as that. Not much explanation was given as to how the monster came about or whether it was killed at the end. It is, however, filmed from the perspective of regular citizens, not heroes who were trying to save the world. It was what made the movie feel so fresh, and it does make a good job making you believe that you could be the one experiencing all this nightmare and running around the city for your lives while getting chased by some giant ass monsters. I found that this made the movie is more like a ride rather than a film, but it was not a bad thing as it was a very enjoyable one.

Unfortunately, many people could not enjoy the film as much as i did and i perfectly understand why. The camera is very shaky (imagine yourself holding a camera and running your ass off) so it can easily cause dizziness especially people who are sitting towards the front. Its like motion sickness, some people get it some people don't. Another common complaint is a lack of a proper ending but i have to disagree with this. It is a very suiting ending to this kind of film. We are not watching a chick flick where its perfectly predictable and there is always a happy ending.

In conclusion, i highly recommend this to any movie lovers who are open-minded and ready to try something new. There is a chance that it may not be your type of flick, but if it is you will be highly rewarded. 9/10 from me.

Top Movies List:

Best Movie: The Matrix
I remember going to this movie initially to watch all the cool fighting scenes but was surprised to discover a deep and interesting plot that tied the whole movie together. And bullet time was awesome back then. Too bad the sequels were watchable at best.

Best Trilogy: Lord Of The Rings
There is no argument here. Lets move on.

Best Sci-fi Flick: Star Wars Episode 3
Could have dethroned LOTR if it wasn't for Episode 1 & 2. The third installment was basically a Star Wars' fan's wet dream. Features the best lightsabre battles to date.

Best Horror Movie: Sixth Sense
Sorry havent watched that many in this genre but this is the best so far. Had a good story and had a few good frights. Very original at that time.

Best Monster Movie: Cloverfield
Read above.

Best 3d Animation: Ratatouiie
All Pixar movies derserve a nomination except Cars. This was the latest and i think its their best so far.

Best 2d Animation: Lilo & Stitch
Very cute and enjoyable. Why don't they make any of these anymore? 2d art is underappreciated. (I heard Pixar's next film is 2d though so i'm keeping my fingers crossed)

Best Romantic Film: Love Actually, A Walk To Remember
Hard to decide because Love Actually was a light comedy and AWTR was pure romance. I loved most of Love Actually's minis-tories except a few, but very enjoyable overall. AWTR was a surprisingly good performance from Mandy Moore and was very touching and sweet.

Best Comedy: Knocked Up, Wedding Crashers, Shrek 2
Too tough to call considering i watch too many of these, plus we get more jokes as we grow older. These are the recent few on the top of my head that i have personally enjoyed.

Best Chick Flick: 10 Things I Hate About You
My first chick flick turned out to be the best so far. Featured great acting (Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles) and a decent plot and most importantly, a very feel good story.

Best Drama: Forrest Gump
Great story about life and Tom Hanks is excellent. Instant classic.

Best Action: Kill Bill Vol. 1
Very cheesey at times but i enjoyed the art and mindless chopping. (Not to mention showers of blood) Honorable mentions include Die Hard 4 and the Bourne Trilogy.

Best Musical: Grease
King of the cheese. But for some reason the songs are stuck in my head. Hairspray is very good too. I like my musicals to be brainless and cheerful.

Phew, got carried away and the list got longer and longer.

Watching Friends on DVD

2008-01-21T06:08:00.000-08:00

After all these years i still think that Friends is one of the most addictive and fun comedy around. Maybe because i grew up with it and can connect to each of the characters so well after watching them for so long. Its amazing when you see the consistency in their characters even after 10 seasons; it almost seems like they already grew into those characters. I remember David Schwimmer once saying that he wants ppl to stop calling him "Ross" but i dont think we can help it. If (very big if) I were to bump into any of the stars the first thing that will pop into my mind is their Friends character. I think even they themselves can get out of it when they act in other roles. Just look at the millions of movies that Jennifer Aniston has acted in and she is basically "Rachel" in every single one of them.

As a side note, i have discovered how to burn videos onto DVDs that can be watched on DVD players. I always thought that i could use Nero to burn these easily and never actually tried but i was wrong. It more complicated than that, you have to first encode the video files into a compatible format and then use another program that allows you to burn these type of files onto DVDs. Thankfully i googled around and discovered DVD Flick which is a freeware that easily does all these for you. Why do i even bother? Despite having a nice 19" widescreen LCD on my comp, theres nothing like kicking back on the couch and watching your favourite shows on a HDTV.

On the down side, a video DVD only holds 120 minutes, whereas a data DVD can store a whole season of shows. It also takes a whole hour to burn one of these babies and they chew up your CPU pretty bad so you are only limited to light activities on your computer.

PC gaming is impossible

2008-01-21T02:22:00.000-08:00

I dont know whether the person who assembled the computer (one year old) conned my dad or not, but it really isn't up to my standards. I mean, heck, its even more lousy than the computer i bought three years ago in Melbourne. All the parts in the computer are like the cheapest available and i believe my dad had to pay premium price for it (lucky its company money) Its got the cheapest keyboard on the market, the slowest RAM, intergrated sound and graphics card and USB sockets in the front that doesnt even work. Dont be mistaken, I am very grateful to have a new computer but I would've hoped that my father consulted me before getting the computer because its almost like im changing every part inside of itwhereas it would be much cheaper if it was all in the new computer to start with. The more parts i add in the more harder it is for me to request a newer computer when this one gets outdated, which could be really soon.

Since last year, I've added a graphics card, 1gb of RAM, a new power supply unit, a DVD drive (old one broke) and a new cooling system. The only thing i havent touched is the motherboard and decent hard disk to keep up with current standards.

Having said that, even with all those i can't even run a 2 years++ game on this rig. Im sure it has something to do with the fact that the processor is not dual core, the RAM is still slow and not the highest end graphics card, but with all those money spent i expect to at least run an outdated game well. PC gaming really is impossible these days. Kinda sad really because i really want to experience next-gen games and i dont think my dad will ever approve me of getting a PS3 or xbox360. I probably could buy one with my gaji from the next few months, but i think i better save. Better not let greed take over. My cousin also promised to lend me his PSP for a while so i have more than enough gaming on my hands. Still, its not next-gen but i'll live with that for a while.

Tassie

2008-01-04T03:41:00.000-08:00

Its a bit late now to blog about my trips and i might forgotten some things i wanted to say about the place but ill try my best to recall my goldfish memory. For those who didn't know my parents came over for half a month to attend my graduation while having an extended holiday. We decided to spend a few days in Hobart and a day tour through the Great Ocean Road and as usual, produced a wealth of pictures of the beautiful sceneries.

Hobart

Upon arriving in Hobart the first thing that strikes your mind is how beautiful the island is. Its really a very nice sight and very contrasting to the city life in Melbourne, it was very quiet and full of scenery and there is water everywhere. The first thing the cab driver told us was that Hobart is a city of fishes and if you don't like fish, you're at the wrong place. Thankfully im alright with fish, but we would end up eating fish every single day.....mostly at the same place too. But we didn't mind that much, that had a good enough variety of cooking style to keep things fresh for the few days that we were there; i ate lots of salmon, a blue-eyed trevalla, some prawns and a little lobster. They were very fresh but it was still pricey for a place where there's plenty of fish....roughly the same prize you would get them in Melbourne. I guess we were hanging out at a tourist place and as usual they will milk every penny out of you. It was not like we had a choice though, as the city is dead after 5 (literally).

Ahhh... The harbour....source of our very fresh fish

Apart from the usual scenery, there was a few interesting places that stood out during our trip. First was Mount Wellington, which provided a summit view of Hobart. It was pretty high up (cant remember exactly how much) that there was no greenery around, just rocks! But what made it memorable for us (for better or worse) was actually how windy it was out there! We could barely walk straight or stand still for pictures! Just look for yourselves.

Thankfully we didn't get blown away. I even needed my glasses to protect my eyes!

The Wildlife Park (cant remember the name...) was also quite fun surprisingly considering that ive seen koalas and kangaroos many times in my life. For the first time we really got to interact with the animals and even feed the kangaroos. Plus, we got to see the infamous Tasmanian Devil (disappointed that it doesnt spin though).

The cute little creatures were the star of the day

Next up was Bruny Island, which was both exciting and disappointing. We were supposed to go on a cruise to see the landscape of the prehistoric island and to spot some seals, dolphins and whales. What surprised us was the the cruise was actually on a speed boat! Travelling at 25 knots!!! It was cool alright, but it was freezing cold out there! I got seasick too but not as bad as my mom, she threw up into the ocean. Too bad we didn't get to see much for most of the trip, as the whales and dolphins season were over. What a shame. At least we got a great tour guide on the cruise.... he makes the lamest joke, LOL! (rival to Kafaii)

Left: Very dodgy tour guide Right: The most beautiful scenery ever....my DD

Every Saturday in Hobart they hold this umm Salamanca Market they call it. Basically its a huge pasar malam only that its during the day. Makes sense? They sold all kinds of stuff ranging from handicrafts and souvenirs to toys and....lotsa other stuff. I mainly went for the food though; had some german sausages, scallop pie, corn dogs (first time!) but I also managed to grab a sick wooden rubber band gun. But its really dangerous i accidentally shot deedoo with it (SORRY SORRY SORRY DEAR DEAR!!!!). I also shot Jack, but that was no accident =P

Salamanca!!! Got a nice ring to it

So yeah that kinda wraps up our Tassie trip. Oh and yeah before i forget, they make fantastic fudge over there. Yumm Yumm FATNESS!!!!

No More Zapper

2007-12-23T13:11:00.000-08:00

My parents came over to Melbourne last week, bringing along what i hoped to be the weapon of mass destruction to flies, the ZAPPER!!!!! (repeat until fades) However, the f-ing customs classified it as a human weapon and confiscated it and the process took about an hour while i waited anxiously outside for my parents to arrive. How are we going to go up against the flies now?

Technical support (my ass!)

2007-12-09T13:49:00.000-08:00

Don't you just hate it when you call technical support and they put you in a queue and you just sit and wait there while listening to dodgy repetitive music? Well i've just experienced the worst of it. My problem was simple: my connection was shaped 10 days ago, but shaping period only lasts 7 days. So i called to get my connection back to full speed. (btw shaped means your connection is throttled to 64k speed for using the internet too much, dodgy aint it? unlimited my ass)

Call 1, waiting time 2 hours 15 minutes:
"Your account has no problems. We have released your account since 2 days ago you just need to restart your modem and everything will be OK"
Fuck you, it was still shaped.

Call 2, waiting time 2 hours 30 minutes:
(same dude)"Yes your account is shaped" But a while ago you said that my account was released, i said. "No your account is still shaped" Fuck you a thousand times more, now he's making it sound like i'm the wrong one here. "So you said that you were shaped since last Friday, so do you mean YESTERDAY?" Oh my god you fucking idiot i said it was more than 7 days, can you freaking count? I won't be freaking calling you if i was only shaped for one day! "I will manually unshape you from the list but it will only take effect after midnight so try again tomorrow morning" Fuck you, it was still shaped. Go fuck a wall, thanks for wasting a total of 5 hours last Saturday on the freaking phone with a moron.

Call 3, waiting time 3 hours 55 minutes:
Got disconnected. Fuck you and your whole company. I will spread the word and make sure no one else applied to your dodgy internet service.

Lets do some math. Call 3 was on a Sunday, i called at 10.30am and i was the 7th caller in queue. i managed to reach number 2 before i was disconnected. That means it took them roughly 4 hours to get through 5 people. Their opening hours are 10am-5pm. Thats 7 hours. Without whipping out my ultra cool scientific calculator i can tell thats an estimated 8 people they go through in one day. Ain't that cool? 8 fucking people in one day. Technical support, my ass. I just got off the phone again and they say ill be unshaped in one or two hours time. We'll see about that.

Inspiration

2007-12-05T21:11:00.000-08:00

Just got back from my trip in Adelaide, which i am going to blog about later. Jooyee told me about this "Pay Per Post" thingy which i found quite interesting mainly because.....well i get paid for blogging. I dont know how much i'll end up earning or whether ill be earning at all but i've been thinking a lot about my finances recently and while im still feeding off my parents, i feel bad if i have to use their money unnecessarily to buy things to I love ie. basketball gear or video games. Since i have just quit my job recently and looking how stressful third year was, i doubt i want to start work again during fourth year.

So why am I even writing this post? To try to stop my bad habits of having long non-writing periods for my blog, because i want to keep my blog as something interesting to read consistently not just for other ppl but for myself. It was initially meant to be an online journal for me as well. I always have trouble expressing or opening up to other ppl (except certain ppl) about my thoughts and ideas on things happening around the world or things happening around my world. Hopefully ill manage this time.

Ok i half-lied. PayPerPost requires the blog to not have a 30 day non-writing period within the last 90 days. So here's my start. Plus all the things ive mentioned =P

The Stressful Semester

2007-11-03T17:11:00.000-07:00

A straightforward topic that says it all. This semester has been crazy for me. I've never had so many things to do in a month, and it just piles up on you until the submission date. I'm talking about design of course. I didn't like the way the second half of the semester is structured cause i had a few problems or faults in my design, but I didn't get the chance of correcting it. It only created more and more stress for me because the faults became more severe as we got more detailed into the design. to make things worst, guest critiques who were supposed to help us with our structure, starting pissing us off by poking our designs instead. Everything built up to a long season of sleepless nights, all-nighters and heart-pumping stress and panic attacks. Non-architectural ppl probably wont understand what im talking about but hey, blogs are for rants and ramblings right? (Maybe)

Source of my pain - Station Pier ferry terminal

Despite that, i managed to pull through thanks to some great support from my family and friends and most important Deedoo who was there for me to encourage me and all the other small things that help reduce my stress. The final presentation wasn't actually too bad, like i said i already knew a few faults in my design and i was ready to take the critism for it. However the critiques were very polite in their speech and they also pointed out a few good things in my design, which is always a huge plus. Overall reward still didnt equal effort, but i am relieved with the way things turned out in the end.

Now, with only 2 exams remaining, im relaxing and studying hard at the same time to make sure i dont fail and graduate and not disappoint my parents when they come over to see me next month. I might sound contradicting putting relax and studying together, but hey after experiencing design this year, studying is relatively relaxing.

New Photos

2007-09-26T07:31:00.000-07:00

Uploaded a bunch of new and old photos onto my web albums. Here's a few teasers from recent times :

Tulip festival at Lilydale

21st birthday dinner

21st belated birthday tea

Taking a break

2007-09-24T18:37:00.000-07:00

Ahh........... finally some refreshing freedom time to do whatever we like. Having two weeks off to clear our mind off architecture stuff and not being bound to university timetable is just what we needed. I'm doing everything i want to do : play basketball, hang out with friends, Wii-ing...........everything feels great! Till you realize that you're procrastinating and there are assignments/submittions waiting around the corner. So its not a holiday after all, just a non-teaching period (direct quote from my tutor, which probably meant we're supposed to use every minute doing our design).

Argentine 1-0 Australia

2007-09-11T07:02:00.000-07:00

Just came back from watching a live friendly match of soccer between the Socceroos and Argentina. It's been a while since i watched any live matches and i must say i really enjoy the experience and the atmosphere. Although most of the time you cant tell who the players are except a few obvious ones like Messi and Tevez who has magnificent dribble moves, its still great fun to watch. Near misses actually feels more exciting than the goals that you see on TV. The players also look kinda huge....even Messi is not tiny at all! And to think that Argentina is a team that struggles in the world cup because of their height....

The actual match itself though, it was disappointing that it was so low scoring. Apart from Messi's solo effort that hit the post, Argentina barely looked like they were trying after they got the lead through a header from a corner (i dont even know who scored!). The socceroos tried really hard to equalize but simply did not have any quality finishers at the end of the play. Bresciano came close though, with a free kick that hit the crossbar.

The highlight of the match was when someone sitting behind us shouted:

OPEN YOUR EYES!!!

SEE THE LIGHT!!!

ITS HAPPENING!!!!

I CAN FEEL IT!!!!!

MEEEESSSSSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOLOLOLOL

Overall, it was still a fun match to watch. I definitely hope that one day i will be able to watch a more competitive match rather than one-sided friendlies. (say, Malaysia - Brazil?) But of course, i'd trade any soccer match to watch a live game of NBA any day.

Sydney Trip Post

2007-07-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

My long long overdue post. As most of you already know, me and Deedoo went on our "romantic getaway" to Sydney a week ago. It was a great trip, we did a few interesting tours, snapped some beautiful pictures and ate some great food over there. The horrible weather was a shame, but could be easily overlooked nonetheless. Anyways here's a quick summary of our trip, skipping all the mushy bits =)

Day 1: Arrival. Took a train from the airport to the station nearby our backpackers hotel (called Wake Up! ). This is my first time staying in one of these. It was an excellent choice, the place was very nice looking and clean, and the room provided us with minimum necessities. And to our surprise, we even had a TV!!! We stayed near Chinatown and was walking distance to the Darling Harbour. We had a good rest and then strolled to Darling Harbour to snap some quick pictures before the sunset and had a wonderful dinner at a place called the Black Bird. We ended the day with a night stroll through the Aquarium.

Day 2: Spent the day at Circulay Quays. The weather was wonderful, sunny and not too cold. We had a full English breakfast to fuel us for the day and quickly worked our way up the steps of the oh so famous Sydney Opera House. Then , we took a long walk to this park where we had a great view of the Opera House with the Harbour Bridge behind it. In the evening we went to Bondi Beach and treated ourselves to some awesome bbq pork ribs at The Hurricanes! Those of you who've been to Sydney would probably have been there and those of you who havent, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU TO DO SO!!!

Day 3: Long bus trip up to the Blue Mountains. Walking through the trails was pretty fun for the first hour or so was pretty fun, but it started to get tiring and the light rain didn't help either (it made the steps slippery). Nevertheless, it was an interesting experience and we had a good breath of fresh air. We also managed to catch a glimpse of the Three Sisters....

Day 4: Next up was Port Stephens for dolphins watching. Things looked gloomy at first as in it was pouring cats and dogs when we left. (Un)fortunately it take 2-3 hours to get there so by the time we reached there during lunch time, the storm was over. Going out to the sea and looking at the dolphins were probably the highlight of the trip, and we caught a good video of them jumping around too! Also included with the trip was a short detour to the sand dunes. They were pretty huge, and we were allowed to sandboard down the dunes. It was really fun going down, but climbing up in the sand isnt as fun.

Day 5: Nothing much here. Visited my aunt in the morning and we chatted and yamcha-ed till lunch time. It was pouring once again so we had to stay in. We did, however managed to go to Lowenbrau Keller for dinner. They are famous for German beers and pork knuckles (and of course, sausages). The beer was pretty good but the pork knuckle was so-so (disappointing since i was most looking forward to it)

Day 6: Check out time. Met up with Sue Ann and her friends for yamcha and to catch up a bit on old times. I think she is starting to develop some slang, cause she sounded 100% malaysian 2 years ago. After that we went to indulge ourselves at the Lindt cafe. Anyone familiar with chocolate will know what im talking about. Absolutely sinful, yummy chocolate. Anyways that kinda rounds up the trip. This is the first time I've travelled without anything planned beforehand (and without parents) and i must say its quite an experience and i think we managed to cover quite a lot of places in a short amount of time.

I've got a brand new toy!

2007-07-02T07:17:00.000-07:00

Guess what it is??? A freaking, spanking, brand new iphone baby!!! Go ahead! Get jealous!

Ooo Yeeeah!

Just kidding. Just a well crafted paper model, mate.

Three monkeys

Photo albums re-done!

2007-07-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

After scouting around a few photo sharing sites i decided to go with Bubbleshare. Kiddy name aside, the reason i chose it was because of unlimited uploads and a simple interface that any kid or grandparent can use with ease. The downside of it is that they only provide low resolution pictures, which is enough for sharing cause i wouldnt want to see every tiny detail when looking at someone else's albums. Loading times is quick and effortless. Added a section on the right of the blog with links to the albums. Will fill up very soon!

Mouse Caught!

2007-07-01T04:16:00.000-07:00

Well we discovered a hole in the corner of my room where the mouse usually comes out, so i installed a new trap (from wikipedia!) using a coin and an upside down glass with PB a.k.a. peanut butter on the bottom of the glass, kinda looks something like this :

And the results after a few days :

Mission success!!! Feeling accomplished right now =)

Photo albums up!

2007-06-29T18:38:00.000-07:00

At http://23hq.com/frenccw

Havent got much on in yet (includes my recent Sydney Trip, which i am going to blog about pretty soon) but ill be updating it soon. I've been trying to find an alternative to Flickr and i think this is the best so far. Yahoo photos is alright but the interface is a bit too bland/ugly for me. I'm not so bothered about the upload limit for Flickr but what really annoys me is that they only allow for a maximum of THREE albums! So 23 looks pretty good to me, it has better upload limit and no limits for albums. Perfect.

I've Been a Bad Bad Boi

2007-06-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

I did something that i shouldn't have....putting the tele and my Wii in MY ROOM!!!! Omg!!!! And i did it before exams too! What a bad move..... Oh well at least it was fun studying this time :P

Now that the holidays are starting i can finally sleep well, go to gym regularly and not to mention tons of Wii gaming. Looking forward to going to Sydney on Friday and then when i get back i'll be expecting Keth Lyn and Joo Yee! Better clean up my room before then lol must not leave a bad impression (although it has to be even cleaner when my parents come over end of the yr).

On a side note, it's freaking FREEZING here in Melbourne! Ironically when I'm back in Malaysia i couldn't stand a minute without air-conditioning........ now i got my wish. That brings me to my latest poll, which do you prefer: a freezing winter or a scorching summer?

The E-Rat-icator!!!

2007-06-09T09:40:00.000-07:00

The war with the mouse(s) continues!!! Show no mercy!!!!

*Picture is upside down -.- Brown paste is peanut butter......mmmm......yummmy.....hope i dont get trapped first*

Going to Sydney

2007-06-04T20:36:00.000-07:00

Right after exams I'm gonna spend a lil less than a week in Sydney with my deedoo. You can call it a romantic getaway.....from my housemates? Lol. Anyways this could spell disaster considering i could get lost in Melbourne itself. I once took 40 minutes to get to a mosque in Drummond St (for assignment, not prayer), which is basically the second perpendicular street from my place. Actual time needed = 5 minutes.

My advice is to never count on me for directions. Especially when I'm driving.

On a side note, whoever's been to Sydney in these recent years please contact me to recommend me places to visit/dine. Thanks in advance!

Almost there...

2007-05-30T06:59:00.000-07:00

Just finished a whole full week of an architect's life. Which means less than 5 hrs a night for sleeping and working on your design every other second. Excluding meals. But thank god now that's over. Now to work on that essay due in a week's time and ONE exam that follows ten days later.

Which means ill probably update in a month's time. Planning to go to Sydney after exams. We'll see how it goes.

There's a Mouse in the House!

2007-05-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

Time to get a cat. There's a mouse in the house and we've spotted it in almost every room (albeit in different times of course). Its' pretty small, but heck its freaking fast. I cannot recall a single time where i've seen it static cause its always moving swiftly from one spot to another, always hiding behind stuff. There has been attempts to kill it with a tennis racket, text book, basketball....all to no avail. So we went out to buy a trap...thinking of one with poison. But then, none of us want to open our closet to find a dead rat thats needs disposing. So we came across this cool looking trap which basically lures the rat into it (duh!) and then it detects the impact and shuts the entrance. And its covered so we won't actually need to see the rat or touch it. Cool! So we stuffed some cheese into it and set it at a corner of the room. And so we wait.

After a few days, we wonder if the mouse is still around. The trap is still empty. I wikipedia-ed about mouses and it suggested to use chocolate instead. Fine. I'm a bit unwilling to part with a block of my dark chocolate bar, but it is a sacrifice i am willing to make. So i stuffed it in and some butter. If that doesnt spell DELICIOUS i don't know wat else does. (i almost caught my finger in the trap!)

Days went by. Still no signs of the mouse. Maybe it got scared. So i was sleeping in my Deedoo's room, and suddenly she screamed "MOUSE!!!!!". It woke me up and i grabbed a nearby racket and started prodding the spot where the mouse was spotted. We chased it out of the room and it ran into the corner of the living room. We alerted all the housemates. We grabbed a weapon each and started chasing the mouse all over the place. Even with all of us it was unlikely that we are able to kill it. So we thought of a perfect plan to chase it out of the house. And we succeeded. After a whole hour chasing it around. Mission accomplished!

So i went up to do my assignment, feeling relieved and accomplished. I look towards the mirror of my closet and saw this black thing on the floor with a tail looking thing. Then it starting moving into the corner of my closet.

...............fuck.

Still no mouse in the trap.

Our life....

2007-05-08T22:25:00.000-07:00

I leeched this comic strip from Liq's blog cause it pretty much summarizes what we face every week in design studios.

If you wish to avoid thickening your glasses, i recommend you clicking here for the full size image.

AC Milan are the Champions!

2007-05-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

After overwhelming Manchester United in the semifinals, AC Milan continues their dominance over English teams by mauling Liverpool in the rematch at Old Trafford to win the prestigious Champions League trophy. Luis Garcia's surprise return to the squad was overshadowed by two early goals by Gillardino and Kaka and that was enough to demoralize Liverpool and their defense made sure there were no miracles this time.

And so it is confirmed, Kaka is the best player in the world right now.

Just 5 minutes in the game, Kaka made a quick work of the Liverpool's defense with a precision short pass that set up Gillardino for the perfect finish.

Before the Liverpool could regroup, AC Milan and Kaka was on the attack again, courtesy of a clever flick from Pirlo. Kaka then made a quick side step on Hyppia to free himself to unleash a sensational finish that left Reina dumbfounded.

The first half saw AC Milan dominating in every aspect of the game and Liverpool did not even have a shot on goal. Liverpool were looking desperate and it resulted in yellow cards for Gerrard and Finnan just before the break.

Second half though, Liverpool came out with a purpose and Gerrard was unlucky not to score when he picked up a loose ball and unleashed a curling shot that narrowly missed the right post.

Liverpool finally got a goal back in the 50th minute when a rare slip up by the AC Milan defense allowed Luis Garcia too much space and he coolly applied the finish.

With the game up for grabs, Gerrard took control of the game in the second half, keeping possession and releasing his teammates on the wings to give Liverpool a few chances on goal but seldom threatened Dida.

Finnan was then guilty of commiting a foul which resulted in a second yellow card and a penalty for AC Milan. Pirlo stepped up to take the penalty but must have been kicking himself for shooting the ball right at Reina in the middle.

Despite their miss opportunity, Kaka led the way on the counterattacks, looking dangerous every time he touches the ball and AC Milan was unlucky again not to put the game away in the 70th minute when Gattuso saw his low curling shot bounce off the far post.

In the end, AC Milan's defense was too strong as Liverpool failed to equalize and AC Milan was crowned the champion of Europe.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Kaka, no contest. Assisted on the first goal and a brilliant individual goal led the way for the champions. Gerrard was the man for Liverpool as he took control in the second half but his teammates failed to follow up.

Watch the highlights :

NBA Semi-Finals Predictions

2007-05-08T17:07:00.000-07:00

Back for more predictions! Surprise surprise. The West had two upsets for me: First, the obvious and biggest upset in the history of the NBA, the Mavs losing out to the Warriors. Second, the Rockets losing closely to Utah. After all their struggles and injuries i thought this year they could finally go deep into the playoffs. Poor T-Mac. He really did put up a lot of effort to get over his first round curse. On the other hand, the East had 3 sweeps!!!! I only predicted one!!!! Oh well at least i got the winning teams right. No upsets there. Now on to the.....

EASTERN CONFERENCE

CAVALIERS 4 v NETS 2

No sweeps this time. A real test for the Cavs but overall i think they have more depth than Nets to have any trouble with this one. The Cavs are really lucky not to face Pistons in the second round so this is probably their best chance to move into the Eastern Conference finals. But the Nets are an experienced team and Kidd/Jefferson/Carter should be good enough to pull back a game or two.

PISTONS 4 v BULLS 1

Its a bit too late for this one cause the Pistons are already up by 2 as we speak. Its not my fault they started this game before the Jazz-Rockets series ended! Anyways judging from the dominant performance by the Pistons in the first two games i don't see them having any trouble finishing the young Bulls. Bulls should be able to pull one back at home but i won't be surprised to see a sweep here.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

JAZZ 3 v WARRIORS 4

The Warriors sure played a heck of a first round, but the Jazz is no walk in the path. The Warriors lacked the intensity they had in the first round and closely lost to the Jazz. But knowing the Warriors i think they will fight back and will grab this series (im biased i dont want such a miracle postseason for them to end in an unfairytalelike manner) Jazz are an equally tough team so it could go either way in game 7.

SUNS 4 v SPURS 3

Another one that could go either way. Fast v slow. Offense v defense. Me v Nick. =)

Casino Royale is the best bond

2007-05-03T21:47:00.001-07:00

Few days ago, i rewatched the latest Bond movie starring Daniel Craig with my deedoo (she didn't watch it before) and i still think that it is the best ive seen so far. Keep in mind that i'm comparing it only to those by Pierce Brosnan (haven't watched the old ones) which followed the same style and concept for 4 films straight. Some people don't agree with me though, saying it was quite boring. I guess the argument here is that there was only one true action scene in the movie which was the first 10 minutes of the movie. I didn't mind though, not having mindless gun fights and explosions that dominated the past movies. I thought the story and plot was more rich, and the characters are much more interesting to watch. It felt more like a movie on its own rather than an episode in the series, which i realli liked. There was some down moments though such as the dumb secondary Bond girl and the mushy moments almost at the end. But that will be nitpicking, i though it was a really good movie.

Other movies along the same line includes Superman Returns and Batman Begins, which i thought were very good movies for the same reasons. I guess you can't ever satisfy both mainstream and movie purists. I'm a lil bit in the middle.

Demolition Works

2007-04-25T07:20:00.001-07:00

This is how we reward our own hard work.

NBA First Round Predictions

2007-04-24T17:18:00.001-07:00

Ahh, its that time of the year again. And they decided to put one match after another. Damn. How am i gonna sleep or do my work??? Last year my bro criticized me for giving my predictions a bit too late, so i thought i'd give it a shot now and shut him up.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

MAVERICKS 4 v WARRIORS 2

The Mavs has been the best team in the NBA this year and i see no reason why they would lose in the first round of the playoffs. The mavs would most probably take this one, but if Game 1 is any indication, they're gonna have to work really hard for it. I'm rooting for the Warriors though. They're playing very exciting basketball and i would be glad to see an upset over here.

JAZZ 3 v ROCKETS 4

I'm a bit biased here as Rockets is one of my favourites so i'm picking the Rockets no matter what. Even if i'm not, the Rockets are playing extremely well especially TMAC who's doing everything on the court for them. The Jazz are a tough team to beat though so i wouldn't be surprised if they decided this in 7 games.

SPURS 4 v NUGGETS 1

It's exciting to see A.I. and Melo working together and getting game 1, but i don't see them advancing the first round. The Spurs is much deeper than the Nuggets and they are also much better as a team. As soon as they make some adjustments and tighten up the D they should win no problem.

SUNS 4 v LAKERS 0

More like Suns v Kobe. With the Suns (with Amare) playing their best basketball ever and Lakers struggling since a month ago, this could be a sweep for the Suns. Unless Kobe scores 81 again. Or more.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

PISTONS 4 v MAGIC 0

Pistons sweep. Magic just ain't good enough yet.

HEAT 3 v BULLS 4

Oooooo tough one. Despite being no.4 in the East, they're still capable of playing like no.1 . On the other hand, the Bulls are playing their best basketball since MJ left. This is gonna be tight but i personally like the Bulls more so i'm rooting for them in 7.

RAPTORS 3 v NETS 4

Another tough one. I think they are both on the same level right now. The Raptors are a rising team with Chris Bosh leading and a bunch of experienced rookies that they grabbed from all over the world. The Nets, despite not playing their best ball, still have one of the best trios in the league with Kidd, Jefferson and Carter. I think Nets will go away with this one because of one word, VINCESANITY.

CAVALIERS 4 v WIZARDS 1

Cavs for the sweep, almost. Really not much the Wizards can do with two of their All-Stars out except pull one back. The reason why Wizards have one game is because the Cavs are inconsistent.