ρμ ♫ pmmonkey - Living in my own Fantasies

Forever Alone month

2012-02-03T00:56:00.000+08:00

February 14 is celebrated with loved ones.

The whole of February is celebrated with self. XD
Happy Forever Alone Month.
Enjoy it while you can... LOL

DIY Charging Station

2012-01-17T00:13:00.000+08:00

I love DIY. And here's a new one, which was made not long ago.

A patch of grass

2 stack-able plastic containers. 1 deeper and with holes at the sides of the container allowing cables kept inside to go through. Another one stack on top, for the grass.

Cut grass to fit into top container

Put into the bottom container a self powered USB hub. Plug in the frequently used cables and hide the rest in the bottom container.

This is the final product. I use it to charge my iPhone4, my JPhone, Fiio E7, Walkmans and other USB powered gadgets.

Stereopony - Arigatou

2012-01-01T00:00:00.003+08:00

ステレオポニー - ありがとう
Guitar cover by PM

Something for the new year =)

Importance of Photo Enhancements.

2011-10-20T02:19:00.000+08:00

The difference is clear.

YUI - Lock on Guitar chords.

2011-10-15T21:38:00.005+08:00

Chords for YUI's new song Lock on.

Verse
F Dm Bb C (C#) x2
Bb C C# D#

Chorus
B C# D#m D#m
B C# D# D#
B C# D#m D#m
B C# D#

Annoying trumpets xD
B C# D# D#
B C# Bb Bb

Repeat verse
Repeat chorus

Instrumental
B C# D#
B C#

Bridge
Am D Am D Am F D
Am D Am F C# D#

Chorus
B C# D#m D#m
B C# D# D#
B C# D#m D#m
B C# D# D#

Outro
B C# D# D#
B C# D#

Transcribed by pm =)
The bridge part... @__@ might be a bit confusing... but ok once you get a hang of how to play it.

Get the lyrics here.
Buy her new album!! HOW CRAZY YOU LOVE

HMV Limited Edition || Regular Edition
CDJapan Limited Edition || Regular Edition

YUI - Green a.live

2011-09-02T02:00:00.001+08:00

The hype is on!
Brand new single from YUI, release date 5 Oct 2011.

Limited Edition

Regular Edition

YUI wrote Green a.live as an encouragement for those who were affected by the earthquake/tsunami in March 2011. The lyrics has deep meaning to it, find the lyrics + romaji and rough translation in YL forum.

When the first preview was heard during School of Locks on 22 August, I immediately got hooked to the song, repeating a low quality audio rip for the entire night... and looping a better quality rip after I got it the next day. The song was stuck in my head. Within 3-4 hours from the broadcast with the LQ rip and tsunvun86's lightning speed chordings, I recklessly made a cover. xD

And later on, made a piano cover. My playing is far from perfect. One main ingredient lacking in my cover is the genuine 'deep sad feeling with the strong will to get back up' feel. I couldn't feel that much sorrow to pour it into the cover. 2ndly, though I came up with the keys by myself... I can't play them well OTL. Funny huh?

And preorders are up everywhere...
Get em now...

HMV Limited Edition || Regular Edition
CDJapan Limited Edition || Regular Edition
YESASIA Limited Edition || Regular Edition

YUI / Sea ~instrumental cover~

2011-08-21T23:59:00.000+08:00

New cover I made on Saturday.

Picture of Shingu beach (新宮の海) in Japan featured in the video is courtesy of Gotchi.

DIY

2011-08-16T02:01:00.002+08:00

Sometime ago I bought some Fender celluloids for a small project.
Left them aside until now.
Unused.
Anyways I prefer JD nylons and Delrins.
So the celluloids are used as my iPhone decorative and/or emergency picks =P

To match my YUI Again iPhone cover...
I got a brown and white pick, a 1.5mm drill bit and dug out some small rings, an old pair of earphones.

Markings for the point where the holes are supposed to be made. (I wanted them to be perfectly centered)

And... This is the reason why I needed a broken pair of earphones.
Since this old pair of earphones has no sound on one side, and I no longer use it, time to destroy! >=)
Hoarding has its benefits sometimes...
Cut off all the wires so that a small ring can be attached onto the 3.5mm plug.

Putting them together...
The 3.5mm is used to attach to the phone since the iPhone has no hole for straps.

And the final product looks like this.

And now I have an awesome accessory to go with my already so awesome iPhone casing.
I'm such a creative and handy person. Ohohoho...

Weekends...

2011-08-14T17:52:00.002+08:00

Saturdays and Sundays are boring without any plans, though I really look forwards to the break from work.

It gets worst when meals are like normal days. So yesterday I decided to have pasta.

It was the first time I had tomato cream sauce pasta. I've never tried cause I thought that the cream and cheese taste will be very strong. But it actually tasted so good...

Today it rained. Another day without plans...
Stayed at home, make music, watch drama.

Then...
Monday blues kicks in...

Mobile blogging

2011-08-13T17:47:00.006+08:00

Yosh... I've been busy with work and rarely have the time to sit down and write those post that I like to spend time on.

So now I'm trying this mobile blogging app...

I can randomly add posts whenever I feel like it. xD

And today's random... Some random original songs (or rather just random sounds/music) that I've recorded.

to Mother ~HHITS version~

2011-07-24T05:00:00.000+08:00

New cover collaboration with Suri.
Please enjoy this simple yet beautiful song.
To watch and listen to YUI's concert version, get the Hotel Holidays in the Sun DVD.

Piano only version here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5YD8ZAzhYo

P.S.: I'm not done with my blog post about Hong Kong, made no progress on that. I really don't know when that post will come out from draft box.

I skipped so much

2011-07-08T01:45:00.000+08:00

I've had my 5-week leave from work.
I've got a new job.
I went to HK.
I went to YUI's concert.
I'm almost a week into my new job.

I really want to write down all my accounts over the past few weeks. It'll take some time, but I'll do it. Some very precious memories which I want to share with everyone.

In the mean time some guitar covers.

YUI • TOKYO ~guitar instrumental cover~
I got inspired to make this cover, but since I can't sing to save my life, ShizukaSakura will be singing. I'm still waiting for her tracks to be added in.

Les Paul Google Doodle - YUI - to Mother
It was fun playing on the Google Doodle. 2 recordings were made separately.

And the very first guitar cover I made. Recording was too soft as I don't have the right tools. Need to crank up the volume.
YUI - to Mother ~guitar instrumental cover~

JUNE

2011-06-01T11:44:00.001+08:00

It's the month of JUNE!!

It's MONKEY month!!

No materialistic birthday wishes this year. Just hoping that everything will go well, as planned.
Oh wait... I do have a materialistic wish...
~~Can I have a new acoustic guitar with cutaway body and built in pickup?~~
Can I get concert goods in HK?

Anyways, this month will be a fun month. A whole month of holidays for me.
Then, a HK adventure is waiting at the end of the month.

Woohooooo~~

Before April ends... new headphones. ATH-M50 FTW!!

2011-04-27T00:46:00.000+08:00

My earphones and headphones collection over the years.

Everything started... hmm... not too long ago. (LOL) I was a happy owner of a Philips portable headphones, SBCHL150 (year 2005) and a Philips ear clip headphones, SHS4700 (mid 2007). Anything prior those 2 are not worth mentioning. They are those China brand Song buds which probably cost RM5 and lasts about a month or so. (Hahaha... "Song" not Sony). Then in-ear earphones became the in-thing. The Creative EP-630 (end 2007), my first ever (then I thought) high-end earphones, came with my XPS M1330. It was good, better than both the Philips, much thanks to the noise isolation for it being in-ear and fits my ears so well, and so it became my favourite.

So the Philips... and the Creative of course they're still around. (Hmm... maybe I should upload pictures of them)
I plugged them into my Walkman.
The portable headphones only has sound on one side.
The ear clip works fine but in not so good condition.
Creative EP-630 is working perfectly, and 2 years of heavy usage have made it sound even better.

In mid 2008, I got my piano keyboard. I needed a headphones and @meno from LYN recommended me to the Audio Technica ATH-T22. At that time, the T22 was only RM65. (Yes... the price now is RM119 each, almost double). It was my first full size headphones and I was so pleased with the sound it produced.

The ATH-T22 is no longer in production and the T200 is its successor.

One day, I got a Sony Walkman... gold in colour. Was happily using it with the EP-630... until...

I stumbled upon the Audio Technica ATH-ON300 (ONTO) in shiny GOLD!!
And my mind instantly 'BLING-ed'. I thought, I can't go wrong with an AT. And so, I got the GOLD ONTO to match up with my gold Walkman. Loved the ATH-ON300 for its ulltra portability. Sound wise... it's not the best of its kind. I think the Sennhieser PX200 is more of an all-rounder. The ONTO is, IMHO better for its highs and mids. Very little bass.

End of last year, as the EP630 is slowly falling apart with all the loosening parts, I went and tried 5 different earphones and fell in love with the Klipsch Image S4.
Other earphones I've auditioned and my comments on them:
1. Audio Technica CKS70 - Love the metal body. However, overly huge and too bassy for my liking.
2. Sherwood SE777 - BA driver, but... the sound produced wasn't to my taste.
3. Denon AH-C551 - Simple and neat design, sweet sounding to my ears.
4. Jays d-Jays - Another BA, but different sound from the Sherwood. I would have loved to try out BAs, but the shop don't carry black d-Jays. I don't like the whites.

I would love to have the Denon as well. But I can only afford one set. I went with the Klipsch Image S4 after testing it on various of my favourite songs.

Then I got myself another Walkman, this set came with noise cancelling in-ear earphones, the MDR-NC33. The earphones is above average. The best part is still the noise cancelling. Since the Walkman has the noise cancelling module built in, no extra module and battery needed. I've tried it on board a plane, in a train, in car... the noise cancelling works very well. However, without NC, these earphones are far from good. The built in mic on the earphones allows a lot of sound in.

Now I present you... my 3rd Audio Technica headphones.
The Audio Technica ATH-M50 Professional Studio Monitor headphones. AT's best monitoring headphones. Bought this pair from the US. Price wise, almost half the retail price in Malaysia. Same awesome product, at a very much lower price.

Have you drooled enough over my awesome pictures??
Yes, all headphones are mine and all pics are taken by yours truly, me.
I'm no audiophile... I just enjoy better sounds from better gears.

YUI-Lover Collaboration 4!

2011-03-26T22:25:00.001+08:00

2 covers I made recently in collaboration with other YUI-Lovers from around the world for YUI-Lover Collaboration 4.

pmmonkey & NorthernLight feat. ids ♥ Lamevil - Kiss me ~YUI-Lover Cover~

Kiss me ~YUI-Lover Cover~
For YUI-Lover Collaboration 4

Vocals : ids (Netherlands) ♥ Lamevil (Singapore)
Music : pmmonkey (Malaysia)
Guitar 2 : NorthernLight (Malaysia)
Album art : Kikino! (Chile)

Suri x pmmonkey x cyclo - GLORIA ~YUI-Lover Cover~

GLORIA ~YUI-Lover Cover~
For YUI-Lover Collaboration 4

Vocals: Suri (Spain)
Guitar: cyclo (Singapore)
Music : pmmonkey (Malaysia)

Other covers of the collaboration can be found here. I especially recommend the awesome RAP by hefirius.

Download the entire album here.
Loads of love to Kikino for being our production manager. Not forgetting all the hard work and effort by Gotchi - the manufacturer, other collab-ers, artists and sponsors in making this collaboration a success.

UKM scammers

2011-03-22T23:06:00.003+08:00

Some people from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia does not know how to spell "understanding" because this is how they wrote it "Undersatanding".
I LOLed hard. Oh c'mon... they can't even capitalize those words properly...

So what brought this up?

Wow... m2u sent an email to me... another lousy phishing scam.
I wanted to go look see look see, awww... too bad they took it down. *sobs*
Google also does a good job in identifying phishing websites, there will be a super red warning sign before you are able to enter the site.

A quick look on how to determine a scam and avoid being scammed:
http://pmmonkey.blogspot.com/2010/10/maybank2u-phishing-email.html

Just some lousy scam... most probably the work of a B-class university student.
Hmm... so they hosted it on... www.beautysenses.com.my/mbb/security
Secondly, it is owned by:

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia(UKM)
Pusat Komputer UKM
43600 UKM Bangi
Selangor
(Tel) 03-89216193
(Fax) 03-89256475

Prof. Madya Dr. Osman bin Karim
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Pusat Komputer UKM
43600 UKM Bangi
Selangor
Malaysia
ukmnet@pkrisc.cc.ukm.my
(Tel) 03-89216126
(Fax) 03-89256475

Sorry, I got no skills to get back at them.
But then, all these lead to a guy named Wong Wee Son, 30 years old from Kuching.
(There's a Wee Son who studied in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, I wonder if they're the same person)
Mobile number: 017-2266016
Email address: wwson2000@hotmail.com
Maybank account number: 1143 6606 4888
He stays in 22, Jalan PJU 1A/43H, Ara Damansara 47301 Petaling Jaya.
Probably still owns a manual transmission Proton Wira, a Nintendo DS and a PS3.

Lowballers

2011-02-05T22:28:00.000+08:00

Howdy~
Long time no post. Hahahaha...

Loads happened... but I was invaded by the lazy bugs. So didn't blogged.

But today... I'm really pissed off. I was reading through a forum until I saw an RSS and got attracted to the title. So I clicked... and I became angry. Really angry just by looking at a job advert.
Let me summarize it for you.

IT programmers wanted.
5 years of working experience in related field.
Salary RM2k to 3k
Contract position.
Location KL

I wonder whether there are such despos around. A 5-year-experienced guy... so desperate for a contract job (with no employee benefits and whatsoever) and willing to work for they pay of a fresh graduate.

Or does that mean that the company only value IT people as that much?
If so... I propose them to not use IT at all.

Everyone is so dependent on IT now... yet people fail to realize the importance of IT related jobs? Why is the pay still so freaking low?

Or is it only in Malaysia?

It's 2011!!

2011-01-03T23:50:00.011+08:00

It's now the end of the 3rd day of 2011. I checked back last year's resolution... 5 out of 8 done, 2 failed. BIG TIME!

I'm not sure what are my resolutions for this year... yet...

But I really do hope for a great year.

P.S.
I got a bunny (in conjunction with the year of the rabbit)
Its name is Lame. Lame somewhat looks like an alien.

P.S.2
I want to blog, but I'm too lazy to blog. So, this ends a short post. Thx... bye.

A Strat at last...

2010-12-23T01:33:00.001+08:00

Look at the trouble I got into.
Losing to a guitar with sweet sounds.
And all the other little problem that comes along.

8-year-old plectrum, a new .60 and THE Fender medium. (Medium for newbies like me)

YUI - Your Heaven lyrics

2010-12-08T01:59:00.032+08:00

A new song from YUI entitled Your Heaven... yays!!
Here's a quick romanization of the lyrics.
(As hard as I try, there might be mistakes. ごめん)

(17/12/2010 Edit- Now with translation from uchihamel@YL forum)

遠い昔
写真で見た
赤い屋根の続く街で
La la la la
出逢う気がしていた

それはきっと
偶然よりも
もっと強い運命よ
笑っていた
空の色彩もどうしてかな?
初めてなのに
不思議
懐かしいの

あなたの声
聴いていたわ

辛い夜を越えてゆけば
いつかわかる
そう歌っていた

だからアタシ
信じていたの

La la la la
La la la...

どれも本当
目の前の景色だって
忘れない
憧れてた

笑顔の先
どうしてだろう?
泣けてしまうのは。。。
ずっと
待っていたの

遠い場所で
触れた奇跡
赤い屋根の続く街は
海のそばで
子供達の
夢にあふれ
輝いていた

アタシの声
風になれ
もう言葉ならいらないから
la la la la
聴こえてくるでしょ?

あなたの歌
思い出せば

辛い夜も越えてゆける
同じ今を生きた事を

忘れないわ
来てよかった

La la la la
La la la...

Um
さよなら
Thank you for power of love.
Your Heaven

Tooi mukashi

Shashin de mita
Akai yane no tsudzuku machi de
La la la la
Deau ki ga shiteita

Sore wa kitto
Guuzen yori mo
Motto tsuyoi ummei yo
Waratteita
Sora no iro mo doushite kana?
Hajimete nano ni
Fushigi
Natsukashii no

Anata no koe
Kiiteita wa

Tsurai yoru wo koete yukeba
Itsuka wakaru
Sou utatteita

Dakara atashi
Shinjiteita no

La la la la
La la la...

Dore mo hontou
Me no mae no keshiki datte
Wasurenai
Akogareteta

Egao no saki
Doushite darou?
Nakete shimau no wa...
Zutto
Matteita no

Tooi basho de
Fureta kiseki
Akai yane no tsudzuku machi wa
Umi no soba de
Kodomotachi no
Yume ni afure
Kagayaiteita

Atashi no koe
Kaze ni nare
Mou kotoba nara iranai kara
La la la la
Kikoete kuru desho?

Anata no uta
Omoidaseba

Tsurai yoru mo koete yukeru
Onaji ima wo ikita koto wo

Wasurenai wa
Kite yokatta

La la la la
La la la...

Um
Sayonara
Thank you for power of love.
Your Heaven

Saw it in a photograph in the distant past
In a town where buildings with red roofs lined in the streets
la la la la
I had a feeling we'll meet each other there

That is surely
A strongly bound fate rather than a mere coincidence
We were smiling
What's with the colour of the sky?
It's my first time seeing it
Yet strangely
It feels nostalgic

I heard your voice

When we make it through the arduous night
Someday we will understand

That's what I sang
That is why I believed

la la la la
la la la...

Each and every one of them
Was the scenery presented before my very eyes
I won't forget that
I had longed for it

Why is it that it comes after a smile?
Ending up in tears that is...
I had always been waiting

A miracle that I experienced in a faraway place
The town where buildings with red roofs line the streets
Was right by the sea
Overflowing with the dreams of children
And shimmering in its glow

My voice
Becomes the wind
There is no longer need for words of any kind
la la la la
You can hear it right?

When I recall your song

I can make it through the arduous night
We are living in the same moment now

I won't forget that
I'm glad I came

la la la la
la la la...

um
Goodbye
Thank you for power of love
Your Heaven

Me and my habits

2010-11-28T01:35:00.003+08:00

Me and my studying habit.
No wonder I'm not that smart.

Me and my slouching habit.

No wonder I have this bad posture.

Me and my eating habit.

No wonder I'll never get thin.

Me and my spending habit.

No wonder I can never save much.

Me and my sleeping habit.

No wonder I'm always tired.

Me and my nail biting habit.
No wonder my fingers are short and stubby.

My bad habits... less of them means a better me.

The way it's meant to be heard.

2010-11-27T01:24:00.001+08:00

I've been getting some audio stuff lately. Really loving my now-2-weeks-old Klipsch Image S4 IEMs and the latest CrossRoad LOD. What's a LOD? It's a line-out device, to bypass the iPhone's internal amp. And this is my current budget setup. No fancy customs, no special cables, no tubes.

iPhone 4 + CrossRoad iDock LOD + Little Dot Micro+ + Klipsch Image S4

What I say of this budget setup?
There's no turning back to normal listening...

Endless possibilities, inspires creativity.

2010-11-22T01:42:00.003+08:00

Woohoooo~

One can not have too many iPhone cases. The reason being... there are just too many pattern and designs to change. But... these casings aren't cheap. You might think that you can get 5 fakes for the price of one original case. Bear in mind that the fakes do not go through design and quality control, it might just end up scratching your precious phone. This problem even happens for some expensive casing... which you expect it to protect your phone, end up with it being the culprit in damaging it.

So I've finally got my hands on the 2nd free case for my iPhone. First was the Griffin Reveal Etch and now the Incase Snap. FREE... yes, FREE! From the Apple case program, applicable for phones bought before Sept 30. (Why 2 cases? Cause I got the other one from my cousin, muahahahaha!!) I like the Griffin case for the carbon fiber back design and the Apple-bumper-like sides. Now that I have this new case, I love the Incase Snap to the max. Look what I can do with it.

And if the next day, I feel like changing it...

The endless possibilities of whatever design I want without having to buy another casing. How nice...

Made a back template in photoshop for the back of my iPhone 4 based on the dimensions of the Incase snap, including the camera hole. Then whatever design I want, I just place the picture into the template, print them out and cut according to the faint lines which I've precisely measured. Oh... genius!

Rule of Thumb

2010-11-20T01:17:00.000+08:00

Rules I will live by. In fact, rules everyone should live by...

Rule of thumb:
1. It's okay to boast, but not lie.
2. Don't talk bad about others.
3. Be honest with yourself.

Maybank2u phishing email.

2010-10-13T23:16:00.002+08:00

A security student can sniff out phishing emails in no time. It just takes a little effort to not fall for lousy tricks. Even if you're just a user, always practice caution when receiving such emails. Have a quick read and don't be fooled.

Here's an example I recently received. Click on the print screen for a larger picture.

Upon clicking on the link provided in the email, it brought me here, have fun exploring the fake website. http://rockeshops.com/signup/views/secure_data/Access.html

As cunning as it may be, this phisher lacks a tonne. Here I have print screens of both the phishing and legit website. Let's play a quick game of spot the difference. Can you tell me which is the legit one? Answers below.

	Legit	Fake
Address bar	Security indicator (Bluish bar) Verified by: VeriSign trust Network	N/A
Website	https://www.maybank2u.com.my/ mbb/m2u/common/ M2ULogin.do?action=Login ‘https’ indicates a secured protocol	http://rockeshops.com/signup/views/ secure_data/Access.html No https
Favicon	Maybank logo	Some unknown icon
Links	All links on website are working links.	None of the links worked.
Status bar (bottom)	On right end, padlock icon indicates a secured website.	No icon.

The bottom picture is the real website. Both look so similar, aren't they? These are just the simplest indicators which you can check. There are many more things which can be checked. I'm using Mozilla Firefox, so if you're using a different browser, it may vary a little. Still, spotting a phishing website isn't too difficult.

Characteristics of phishing websites:
1. Spoofed spam emails.
The phisher will send you an email, with an email address which looked real... containing some instructions to login to your account. (Usually with some funky reasons... such as maintenance, activation.. bla bla bla) Then they will give you a link to click on. From one glance, the link will look perfectly fine. That's when the unsuspecting victim fell for it.

2. Deceivingly similar website
The phisher will set up a website, most of the time, exactly the same as the original one. This is to make you think that it's real, so that you'll sign in still thinking that it's real. The moment you click on 'Login'... that's it! Your username and password are captured that easily.

How to avoid stepping into phishers' trap:
1. Never click on hyperlinks provided in emails. Do not copy the link from the email as well. Open a new window and type in the address that you know.

2. Do not reply to suspected phishing emails or key in your particulars in any alleged phishing websites.
3. Never ever reveal your personal information in emails, or via messaging services.
4. Try calling up the organization to double confirm.
5. Look out for security indicators on the website.

Hue test

2010-09-28T22:26:00.000+08:00

About 2 years ago, I came across a hue test. (I wonder why I didn't post my results back then)
Now I share the link again...

FM100 Hue Test (click on picture for link).

And this time, I remember to post the results.

Not bad for my pair of severely tortured eyes.

Almost got killed by an airplane.

2010-09-26T02:41:00.000+08:00

Well... maybe I'm exaggerating a tad bit too much.

But have you ever wondered how you can get your hand cut by a Malaysia Airlines B747 airplane's tail?

Don't laugh... it's possible!
Because it just happened to me.

See...

That's a very deep cut FYI. Though not much blood since I've already washed them off.

And this is the airplane tail that caused the blood spill and loads of pain.

Now who say that getting a cut on your palm by an airplane's tail is impossible?

Ah Lian stripped, bathed, and rubbed. NSFW... not.

2010-09-03T23:36:00.001+08:00

LOLWHUT?

No... really!

Ah Lian was stripped bare.
Given a bath.
Then rubbed, hard!

Talk about dirty minds... LOL

It was my PC in a Lian Li case. Called it Ah Lian... (since it's a Lian Li case) Since it has been down/unable to boot for more than a month... I've decided to do a spring cleaning.
So Ah Lian was "stripped". That was all its internal organs.

It was given a bath... power shower.

Then start to assemble them back to a piece again.

Polished so much till the PCI slot covers give me this reflection. Nice.

Left to wither

2010-08-29T18:30:00.001+08:00

As the title says it...

I myself am not sure of what kept me so busy from spending about 30 minutes a week to keep this blog updated. Then I realised that it's not about the time... it's because nothing really interesting is happening around me. All I do is sleep, wake up, work, eat, sleep. That pretty mush is my routine for the past 2 months and still the same now.

If I want to write about some events... maybe the most important so far was my graduation ceremony held on the 5th Aug.

If I were to write about travelling, all I've been to outside of KL is Genting Highlands. And that too, for just a day.

If I were to write about my crazy shopping... all those month end splurge... hmm... at least this list is longer. Got myself a Sony NW-S745 walkman just to use up 3GB of 16GB. Bought a tiny prime lens just to match it with a high quality B+W filter, overkill. A demb diffuser pro, for better portrait lightings. A huge rocket blower, to blow you away... hahaha. Other than those, I've got a super comfy computer chair from Ikea and some clothes.

I always wonder, I used to be able to live under RM500 a month. What ever happened to that? It just seems like the more money I have, the more I spend. There's still a shopping list here: Nikon 24-70 and 70-200 lens mugs, LCD mounting, dry box. Unfortunately for all these... they'll have to wait. Cos I've ordered my iPhone 4!

Now all I have to do is sit back and wait for it to arrive.

$$ come $$ go...

2010-07-26T22:56:00.000+08:00

I'm soooooooooo damn good in buying things...
I shall add some shine to this withering blog of mine.
Gold of all types.

Filter with gold wordings
Lens in golden box.
Gold ring lenses!

Coming up, once I get my hands on them.

On a shopping spree

2010-07-05T22:18:00.000+08:00

Last weekend was all about shopping. Pavillion, Lot 10, Bukit Bintang, Sungei Wang on Saturday. Then 1 Utama on Sunday. Bought quite some stuff. But the one I like most has got to be Studious Julius. I call 'em Julio the Genius. Julio is so adorable. When it is surrounded by a whole bunch of monkeys, it looked like the 'professor' among students because of the glasses and the bow tie. Somehow, Julio also looked malnourished XD

I just had to have it. Why? Because it resembles me. Not physically laa... but because it has that geeky look on the outside and I'm quite a geek on the inside. Actually wanted the t-shirt, but it was off season and wan't on sale anymore. Quite devastated it can't wait for me... that was why I ended up with the plush instead. And these are all the Paul Frank items I got over the weekend... plushie, t-shirt and A3 sketch book. Damage done... a lot. I better start doing some calculations before I overspend for the month.

I'm not happy with the Pavillion Paul Frank store. Loads of products on the website isn't available in store. Like the Skullcandy Julius earphones. Only saw the Skurvy headphones. Didn't see any pen or cushions. Then I saw 3 mugs in store and got interested in one of them, unfortunately they weren't for sale! I wonder if I can make orders? Hmm...

My next visit to the Paul Frank store... when it's on SALE!!

Idiots stole my time.

2010-06-28T23:56:00.000+08:00

Bad start for a Monday.

I didn't wake up at 6.30 in the morning to leave home at 7.15am and to reach office after 9.30am.
I didn't pay the Sunway toll and the Damansara toll to get stuck in traffic for 2 bloody hours one way.
I didn't do all that to try to be late to work!!

Just because some fucking idiots decided to park their heavy machineries by the road and block a small stretch of a lane causing severe traffic jam, backed up from Petronas on Sprint till somewhere in Kelana Jaya on LDP. That's just 6 kilometers and it took me about 90 minutes to pass that stretch. Sprint highway? SPRINT MY ARSE. Even walking is faster than driving on the highway.

Oblivion

2010-06-22T23:02:00.004+08:00

ESTi's Oblivion is one of my favourite music from DJ Max. The Rockin' Night Style version rocks an electric guitar as the lead. But I still prefer the original version. This music has kept me awake for the past year, as my alarm clock, ringtone for certain calls and also music I listen to when I'm half asleep studying/reading. It really kept me awake and moving.

Played this music over and over again to keep pushing myself to finish studying Oracle PL/SQL today and start Oracle Forms.

It's also one of the songs I used to test out the difference in sounds produce by my now 2-weeks old Audio Technica ON300, another one of my low budget headphones.

This ON300 aka ONTO produces clear and loud sound without needing any amplifiers like what portable headphones are meant to do. (Actually, we can already tell from the small size) The sound is richer on the treble... however, it has weaker bass, even when compared to the ATH-T22. I'm not sure why, I thought it should be better overall. So being better on the treble means it's good for listening to instrumentals and A Capella. I had to slide some changes on the equalizer to get the sound of my taste. The same equalizer settings drove the T22 and Creative EP630 fine, too bad a different setting for is needed for the ON300.

Build quality for the ONTO is fine. The thin wire-like headband is actually quite strong though I don't advise on trying to break it by applying more impact than that of a supposedly-normal-use. Cable quality on the ONTO is as thin as the EP630, but not as good. Both my ATs' cables are inferior to the EP630. Have to take care of this golden baby... it looks very prone to scratches =( Now I want the Audio Technica carrying pouch =((

The ON300 comes in 9 different funky colours, 3 of them are limited editions including the gold, silver and black-pink. If you fancy owning one, it retails at RM139... or you can always seek for cheaper sources like I did. (Hey... I meant getting the original from other countries, not those copycat like the Sensonic or even worst China copies...)

Take another step

2010-06-16T00:29:00.001+08:00

I've stayed ahead in the game, secured a job way ahead and now regretted slightly for choosing to start early. Didn't have that 2 to 4 weeks of happy holidays... but instead, jumped straight to work.

I've had my 3 weeks Oracle training before leaving campus. That 3 weeks felt like eternity with the long distance walk in the hot weather, very boring trainer which made me dislike the classes. Now, I'm still stuck with Oracle. Not at all involved in those leet C# or Java programming which I was asked so much about in so many interviews. Of all things... Oracle. Nevermind then... I'll be leet in Oracle.

But at least I get to skip the SQL Fundamentals part since I've already completed it. Going through PL/SQL is fun. I think it's way better than doing the DBA course since PL/SQL involved programming kind of thinking while the administration workshop has been all reading and memorizing.

Making my own money will mean that I have to...
Pay for my own credit card bills.
Pay for my petrol, toll, parking expenses.
Manage own money.
Worst... no more pocket money from daddy.
I've pressed my calculator so many times hoping to see a higher balance after subtracting all that... but to no avail. There goes the dream of being able to afford more tech toys.

Byebye tech toys. See you guys in the future.

Assignment outsourcing.

2010-06-13T17:44:00.001+08:00

Lazy to do your programming assignment?
Prices begins at RM50, depending on task difficulty.

The catch here...
you'll stay not knowing what to do, while I take all the knowledge and money from you.
Muahahahaha!!~

Current status: NEET

2010-06-09T23:52:00.027+08:00

It has come to an end, my 3-year life as a university student. Ended without a bang! It's like... sedar tak sedar, 3 tahun telah berlalu (Without realising, 3 years had passed). So tomorrow morning, I'll be back to being a girl in the big city. My employment hasn't started, education and training officially ended yesterday, therefore my current status is a NEET, "Not in employment, education or training." I have 5 days. Yes, that status stays for 5 days only yet I'm still unsure of how to make full use of the time. Perhaps slacking is the easiest of all.

My final semester results weren't too shabby. Again, it's not what I expected. I was seriously hoping for that one subject to not get super good grades and the rest to be better (I don't want the freeloader to gain from it). Turns out the other way. Luck is never on my side, and I have to say this out... "You have had all the luck. Good luck in having more luck in the future... cause you'll need it." I can never get over all this freeloader cases. It is NOT FAIR, for me and for everyone else!!

Anyways, frustrations aside. Lets bring in the celebration. 2 of my 3 birthday wishes were granted. I'm on the Dean's List again. Can I add another wish since 2 of 3 were fulfilled way before my birthday? If I may, I hope my shooting gang stays together. Amesh and Salwa... I love you gals. <3 Muacks!! Thanks for teman-ing me main DSLR... pergi menembak. May we have more members soon. *Hints Mr. Yap*. Then start poisoning more people and make trips to places for shooting. I particularly wanna go to Broga Hill, Bagan Lalang and Sepang Circuit.

Amesh... cari kerja kat KL eh? Then carikan male model untuk shooting. Hehehe...
Salwa, when's your turn to... *coughs*kahwin*coughs*? Tukar nama kat fb tu jadi Puan Salwa. Wanna be your photographer too. But before that... kena ajar I macam mana nak ambil gambar yg tertonggeng. I ni boring sangat, selalu ambil gambar straight.
Mr. Yap, do inform us when you've got your new baby...

These 3 years in USM has opened my eyes slightly wider (slightly... not much) to things I've never seen before. Apart from the tests, assignments and stress, friendship is the one thing I kept mentioning about. I appreciate the real friends. Then there are those 'touch-and-go's whom I never got to know better, still they aren't too bad. Seriously hate those wolves in sheepskin, snakes in the grass and leeches... shooo~ go far far away, disappear now!

For the final year, I've been trying to have more fun, join some activities, be involved in some events. More so during the final 2 weeks. Wanna cherish the final moments in USM together with some friends. Some which I think, will never meet again. Best moments in the final week must be the day trip to Monkey Beach. Joined a whole bunch of fun people and enjoyed myself to the max. Really have to thank them for the outing - Azri, Amesh, Arti, Ana, Ida, Nada, Salwa, Danya, Ecah, Tiqah, Epul, Jiha.
Pizza night victims: Macho Meat Lover, Tuna Deluxe, US Favorite, New Yorker eaten by hungries: Azhar, Arti, Cerap, Wan, Nisa, Salwa and ME =)
Farewell dinner: Ismail Tom Yam + 12 flavor Secret Recipe cakes for 14 crazy people.

Tiqah, kalau I ni pelik ke... lain ke... I am really that special, percayalah. Keep in touch. Kahwin jgn lupa jemput ye...
Gang gedix (Arti, Cerap, Nisa, Wan) and Azhar... I dah blanja makan ye... jgn kata I xblanja. Klau ada chance, kita blh gi giler2 kat Genting Aug nanti. Korang stay gedix, klau tak, dah tak semacam la...

Then there are those who moved on to the next step of life. They are those few who already started their career.

Wee Nee, I think you're the person I know best during my uni life. Though 'best' I think there's not much I know. I think you will probably feel nauseous if you have to work with me even for just another assignment. But I'm sure you have to agree that we make a good project/programming pair. You fix my codes, I fix yours... we know what to do without needing to spend much time delegating and discussing. That's where all the great results come from. Happy working. Help me to prod Razu-san. Hehehe~

Uncle Foo, the "computer wisdom" guy... I guessed you kinda saved my FYP by supporting the change of platform. It was my pleasure to have the chance to work with you in a few assignments. Though you are sometimes hard to comprehend since you're very technical... I think that's just fine. Good luck to you in your job =)

A different type of next step? Getting married...
Puan Pojul, semoga bahagia selamanya ngan En.Sadiq.

Aimi, bila ur turn?
Jiha & Ida, kalau dapat boyfriend dari Korea, I pun nak tau.

Lavender, Shue Yoong, Sok Li, Seit Cheng... good luck for your future. To my ex-roommate, don't be such a weirdo laaa~ difficult to understand and converse.
Sakana-chan (Siew Yee)... Saru-chan will poke you more in fb.

My best wishes for everyone, for all real friends, 'touch-and-go's, wolves in sheepskin, snakes in the grass and leeches.

Delete the unpublished thoughtless scribbles.

2010-06-06T04:46:00.000+08:00

Wow... I actually have something way back from April, unpublished. I wrote a compliant about the 'bad manager', my thoughts on why managers who don't care - never care to be updated and also never care to show some respect to others - should never be made managers in the first place. Deleted the super long post I complaint about every single thing FYP project related. Put all past stories behind and move forward. It's time I forgive and forget because it reminded me of what WM mentioned to me. "Don't keep saying that you dislike the way someone does things. When you're in the same position, without realizing, you might just be doing the same thing as the person did." I really really really hope I won't be bad when I'm there. If I fail to remind myself, I need people to help remind me.

I like how when I'm not looking for a job, jobs come looking for me. What's happening now is just like what has happened a year ago. After given the few choices, I still went back to the first opportunity which came my way. I accepted it, then later on there will be more opportunities coming, calling up when I'm already engaged with one. I should be happy that I've secured a good one early. But who knows with my more nicely decorated resume after the completion of FYP, I can get better offers... like offers to continue study Masters.

The one thing I think is really true is that when I have no expectations, things will surely go well. When I never think about it or hope for it, I'll just end up with the unexpected. Was it fated that the chance came our way? I don't know... it was pure luck I guess. Sometimes things don't have to be too complicated or too superb. A thing which solves a problem, is called a solution. People wants solutions, whether it is easily doable or magnificently difficult. If you can handle it, you're in for a deal.

Just after trying to be a grown up, making mature wishes for well beings instead of being materialistic, I turn back to being a child. Every morning, I lack self discipline to wake up. The alarm has to ring for a minute or so before I can ever drag myself out of bed. Then I dread the 40-minute walk uphill and downhill to attend a full day boring training class. Upon reaching class, I'm already all sweaty and stinky. Feeling tired from the walk, it's already hard to last the day. In addition to that, the trainer caused the class to seem to last forever. The entire day feels like a total drag.

On the other hand, I'm so overly excited to start going to work. If I didn't choose to take the course, I would already be working for a week. Come to think of it, my working life would be a challenge. I might just be the only newbie. (Suddenly I felt tremors)

Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová - Lies

2010-06-01T18:37:00.004+08:00

It's the month of June, once again, it's MonkeY's month!! Hehehe...

It has been a long time since I last recommended any songs. I haven't been searching or listening to newer songs. But here's one of my favourite: Lies by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. This song is taken from the soundtrack of Once, an Irish musical film. Watched it about 2 years ago. Many would say that the film is boring. I half agree, because the storyline has no super actions (LOL). But the songs featured in the film are so awesome. I watched it online... but until now, I failed to find the DVD in any stores, fail to own the album...

So here's a video of the song and some scenes from the movie.

Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová - Lies

I think it's time, we give it up
And figure out what's stopping us
From breathing easy, and talking straight
The way is clear if you're ready now
The volunteer is slowing down
And taking time to save himself

The little cracks they escalated
And before we knew it was too late
For making circles and telling lies

You're moving too fast for me
And I can't keep up with you
Maybe if you slowed down for me
I could see you're only telling
Lies, lies, lies
Breaking us down with your
Lies, lies, lies
When will you learn

The little cracks they escalated
And before we knew it was too late
For making circles and telling lies

You're moving too fast for me
And I can't keep up with you
Maybe if you'd slowed down for me
I could see you're only telling
Lies, lies, lies
Breaking us down with your
Lies, lies, lies
When will you learn

So plant the thought and watch it grow
Wind it up and let it go

Crysis: Warhead.

2010-05-28T23:50:00.000+08:00

I finished playing Crysis two years ago. Then I never had the chance to continue with Warhead. Now I'm back gaming I just had to play Crysis Warhead and it is so much fun.

Crysis Warhead received good reviews like Crysis did. The aliens, the weapons, the location settings and even the antagonist are all very familiar. That's because it's on the same island. It's a spinoff from Crysis (which I played Nomad), in Crysis Warhead, I play Psycho.

I'm a Crysis fan. Come this December, I'm sure to get Crysis 2.

2010's 1-month countdown.

2010-05-23T22:16:00.001+08:00

Every year, at the end of May, I write a 1-month countdown with a list full of wants.

Previous year, I wished for an electronic keyboard/piano and a Softbank 920P in Gold. I've got my keyboard, then I've got my Samsung F480 Gold.

Last year, I wished for a DSLR, a trip to a East Asia country and to be listed in the Dean's List. I've got my good results. Two semesters in a row, in fact. Almost went to Korea, but cancelled for 2 reasons. I listened to my dad (who's the funder for the trip), and I value my final year project and final exams more. It was sad, but now I felt that it was well worth it. Long story short, it's one of the best project I've had. 4 awards in 5 competition participation, that's very good... (everything in the project is good, except for the existence of THAT parasite). The other wish for DSLR, though late - almost the end of the year - it was fulfilled. It was an end year splurge! From the earnings made during internship, with my parents' support, I've got my DSLR. A Nikon D5000 with all basic things a newbie needs. Then with some savings from my monthly allowance, I slowly build a collection of items to complement my camera.

This year, I have no materialistic wishes. I just want to:

see myself in the graduation robe in August. (I will know that in 2 days)
be on the Dean's List again! (Full results will be released on 8th June)
work well and be confirmed on time, at the same time, get an increment or be given bonus.

That's all for my list of grown up wishes.
Oh, by the way... if you've been reading and still don't know what this countdown is for... my birthday is next month. Remember to prepare those presents =D

It's a beautiful day.

2010-05-20T20:57:00.002+08:00

"How beautiful?" It is for you to decide. Like people always say, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Don't let little things spoil your day. Don't let bad people spoil your day. Most importantly, don't let yourself spoil your day. Spend some 5 minutes and read up on the 90/10 Principles of Stephen Covey. It's a good read, I promise.

Introducing Jack!

2010-05-19T21:13:00.002+08:00

Hooray! Jack is in the house. DiKay will be so happy to have a new company. =( I think DiKay will not bother much about Kitteh anymore.

LOL, that was the story of my D5000, the kit lens (Kitteh), and my new Tamron 18-270mm (Jack).
Thanks dad for allowing me to get it =P It was a good deal... bundling it with a Hoya Super HMC (cause they don't have Hoya HD or Pro-1D)

Jack is a sharpness compromise for the range. But it produces superb pictures, with nice contrast and all. My 2-day experience with this lens, it tends to over expose a little. The macro isn't too good though. Pretty much expected because it isn't as sharp as primes. So macro pics quality are not the best. The build quality of this lens, perhaps I would only give it a 7 of 10. Lens creep on this lens is bad. No wonder they have a zoom lock, especially when most camera bags have the lens facing down.

Performance in low light conditions... many reviews said the focus' slowness isn't bearable, even for the almighty Tamron 17-50. But to me, it was fine... not too bad compared to my kit lens. Using my SB600 hot shoe flash infrared focusing aid, focus was good. It was the slower built in motor speed which makes focusing slightly slower.

One thing this lens excel... the great VC (vibration compensation). For the weight and range of the lens, VC is important to get usable pictures. When the focus is locked, you can definitely realise what you see through the viewfinder is more stable. This picture was taken from my current hostel block. Note the black dots, I thought they were dust on my camera sensor (uh oh...) but I zoomed in the picture and they are actually birds!! Handheld 270mm, 2nd pic was cropped. (see below map for distance estimation.) It was absolutely awesome.

Final final exam log - That was it...

2010-05-06T16:45:00.000+08:00

That was it... the final exam paper of my final year final exam.
Didn't read the front page, don't know the number of pages... 120 questions in both English and Malay (240 in total) making this paper one of the thickest exam questions I've ever had.

So what now? Need a short nap before I continue on with my final year project.

Final exam log - Can I make it?

2010-05-05T14:52:00.002+08:00

Currently, it's not that I don't want to revise for my exams tomorrow.
AKP202 - Organizational Behavior, 1415 GMT +8 @ DPB.
I'm so bogged down by another more important task which is of higher value than that exam. Also, cleaning up all the shit. I've got to pray for loads of luck.

The deep dark hole

2010-05-05T14:47:00.000+08:00

Disclaimer: Stop reading if you can never accept the difference in human's opinions; you are narrow and shallow minded; or you are super paranoid. All that simply because I think all these apply to everyone in general.

"If anyone deliberately jumps into a deep dark hole, I WILL not save anyone (note the word 'DELIBERATELY'). In fact, I will be prepared on how to save myself if I'm pushed/pulled down the same hole." That was what I told myself so that I can save more time for self development rather than being tied down to helping those who aren't even trying to help themselves. I think everyone has been in situations whereby they will be trying all they can to help others whether it is about school, work or relationships. A few of us will feel satisfied and appreciated when we are able to see the seed we sowed grow. However, some of us will end up being pissed of by the lack of will power from the people we are trying to help.

Ignorance is bliss, but it's just avoidance from facing the problem. Later on, reality will slap you back hard on your face telling you that your ignorance has caused you more problems. Let's put it into a story with some aliens in it.

It's just like jumping into the deep dark hole to avoid being captured by aliens. There are 3 endings to the story:
1. You may have just jumped directly into an alien's nest.
2. You're in the hole, you're safe from the aliens who dared not jump into it. Later on, you will realize that... even if the aliens are gone, how are you going to get back up there?
3. You're safe in the hole. You sat there for some time, hoping for the aliens to go away.Then you can climb back up. Well... there may be more aliens waiting for you.

Hahahaha...

Final exam log - not bad...

2010-04-29T17:03:00.002+08:00

CMT322 - Web Engineering and Technologies 29/4 1415 GMT +8 @L05 DKII
At least I know I didn't screw this one up.
And I will be expecting to see a good grade on this one.
At least my common sense served me well in answering those questions based on personal experience using and creating websites.
*Pats self*　お疲れ様でした。

Final exam log - no mood to study.

2010-04-28T17:24:00.000+08:00

I've lost my mood to study for this one subject. It's very boring, wordy and lengthy. Never managed to finish one chapter without me falling asleep nicely in between. I even slept on the table, on the book, slept sitting on the floor, etc. This is another subject with more memorizing skills needed.

Lazy...

Final exam log - Ambushed!

2010-04-21T21:26:00.001+08:00

The lecturers are having the last laugh.
"You should not have taken this subject lightly... muahahahaha!!!"
I think that's what going on in their mind (or mine, actually =P)

LOL... my imagination is getting out of control.
Sat through the exam doing RSA calculation with exponential and mod without a calculator...I was totally owned! (Let's see if I can own it by getting the right answers) Then of course there are loads more which I ended up goreng goreng sampai berasap.(Just simply wrote something)

So there goes the first paper, terribly scribbled with nonsense (I guess) and submitted happily thinking "It's one down!!"

Final exam log - first paper CST335.

2010-04-21T01:50:00.002+08:00

I'm starting a log for my final final exams, and see how I suffer the consequences of not being super well prepared for battle.

First paper later, CST335 - Systems Security and Protection, 1415 GMT +8 @ PHS2
This subject is full of theory, facts, steps and algorithms. All memorizing skills needed.
It's going to be a tough one for me since I lack the memorizing power.
Tests were murderous, luckily I did superbly well for both assignments.
All the best to all candidates.

I'll be back in KL!!

2010-04-10T02:09:00.001+08:00

Hehehe... once again, got my travelling tickets online. Shiokness~

Not flight tickets which online booking are so common, but bus tickets. Instead of taking a Rapid bus to and fro Queensbay just to buy the tix (which will cost me RM2.80), I'd rather pay the 3% credit card charges which is about RM1.65 per ticket. Not just cheaper, also more convenient, e-ticketing is the way to go. I wonder how much I've spent travelling PEN-KUL-PEN over the years. If they have one of those mileage cards... would've collected loads of points LOL...

So, my 3-year course is coming to an end. My first blog post made in USM was almost 3 years ago, I was sitting in a cybercafe. Not forgetting all the rants about never ending assignments, whole list of tests and all the ~~deepshit~~ hardship everyone went through. In 2 weeks time, I'll be sitting for my first exam paper. In a month time, I'll be having my final exam paper. Final year project finalization and presentation ensues. Then Oracle Database 11g Administrator Certified Associate training begins. Everything ends 2 months later, and that's it... I'm a graduate!

For the next 2 months, everything is nicely planned. From there after, it will be a 3 pronged road which I haven't decide which to take. They are all about the same, no one special thing which stands out to make my choice easier. If you are in my shoes... I would bet you will be thinking too hard like what I'm currently doing. Then again and again, I'll tell myself that there are no good or bad decisions. All are experiences. I felt like I always have this personal conflict where my heart says one thing, brains say another. They should quickly agree with each other so that I'll know exactly what to do next and be happy with it.

One thing about living in Penang for the past 3 years is my low cost living style. Been able to survive an entire month with just ±RM400 (minimum at RM350). Go around Penang, here and there by bus or foot. Have simple meals with the occasional lavish ones. Going back to KL would be the higher food prices. Transportation would be by car... (public transport very inconvenient) so $$ goes to petrol and toll. Still, nothing beats the comforts of home, which I've decided very quickly to just go back and find a job in KL despite all the opportunities in Penang.

So for the next big decision, I'll just have to wait till a point when my heart and my brain stop trying to make my life difficult (hahaha...XD) and come out with a unified judgement.

Longcat

2010-04-09T04:12:00.000+08:00

My sleeping time is seriously very screwed.
Even on non busy days, I can't sleep any earlier than usual.
Not hectic, do less things = more energy to stay up longer?
Had been rolling in bed since 2am. Till now, I still can't sleep.

So did some customization.
Suddenly got attracted to Longcat. Old but still cute.
RAWR, Longcat vs Tacgnol on my desktop. Meowers~ =D

"Welcome to the real world," they said.

2010-03-31T23:51:00.000+08:00

Fresh graduates too picky... or companies low balling, trying to catch monkeys by paying peanuts?

Is there any point of trying to argue with people who offer you RM2k to work in a big city where the cheapest bowl of noodles will cost you RM4 (kueh teow and clear soup only), average budget meals about RM8. You haven't even add in their demand for you to have your own transport. Isn't it more real that you have your own transport after you've worked and earned money? Future GST and unsubsidized petrol? You do the maths.

Then some idiots came in and say...

"No wonder we have so many fresh grads loitering around without jobs... starting salary not enuff rupanya... But consider this la, nowadays fresh grads have to pay for their iPhones, Honda Citys, 3-4 credit cards, apartment in Mont Kiara.. 2.4K where got enuff...."

Not everyone will have luxuries before they start working. Some no personal transport and no permanent place to stay. You think everyone owns an iPhone? That idiot probably does, but not me. To buy a phone now, I'll have to be pressing my calculators until the numbers on the buttons fade off. I'm lucky to have an old car, I'm not so lucky the place I stay is far from work.

Some will probably say, last time they can hire a fresh grad for RM2k. So why does it have to increase since they're also hiring fresh grads now. Then the job market is filled with despos. All the desperate people trying to get a job by playing the "who-can-go-lower" game. That's why companies are offering as low as possible too. In the end it just makes life harder for everyone.

Then CGPA is another problem. So you wanna compare apples with apples. How do you compare green apples with red apples? Bigger apples, smaller apples? Cumulatively, there are tonnes of first class grads. Are you sure they are all first class? Different universities have different grading scheme. Don't be surprised if Uni A's 3.4 scorer performs way better than Uni B's 3.9 student. Common sense will tell you to get the bigger apple if they're priced the same. Just that you can't see straightaway whether the inside is rotten or not since the outlook is all so nice.

Nah... all these isn't happening to me. I've just read a few forum threads and there's this huge argument going on which says fresh grads are greedy. I have to admit, I'm half greedy. I want to be working for/with a company who would appreciate my contribution and can give me what I need, in return I give them what they want. I wouldn't mind starting low (but not at the point of RM2k only laa...), once I perform and I think I deserve better, I'd want a fair evaluation. Because when the company treats its employees well, who would want to leave? To be frank, I prefer opportunities and benefits over money... anytime. I've never expected much in the first place, very well understood that there will be trade offs here and there. Since I've got mine half secured, I'm really holding on tightly because it's a good one... one that I've yet to see anything better.

Last weekend was quite fruitful. Went back to KL to attend 2 interviews on the same day, had lunch with ex-colleagues, had some rest and even manage to visit and pay respect to my grandparents. The interviews were good. Unfortunately, the only thing I was happy about is my very good aptitude test results. (The HR and manager said that.) I wouldn't say that the company is bad, but the mistake on how the HR handled my application made me lost hope. I've clearly stated my availability, repeatedly mentioned to HR... yet, they sent in a section manager who needs people immediately to interview me. I've stated it clearly, yet I'm paying the price for HR's mistake. That sucks...

Listening to experienced people gives another insight. When you mention a company's name and words like "Aiyo...", "OK kerr..." and "Ntahh laa..." came from them, you know something is wrong somewhere. Which adds in to my skeptical thoughts about the company. Plus the fact that they're making me play the waiting game (which I hated most)... wait wait, no email, no reply. Since I've got one in hand and I'm not desperate, I gladly say "Bye bye suckers!"

The forgotten

2010-03-22T05:18:00.003+08:00

I've totally forgotten how my Samsung F480 phone can produce nice pictures as well. Even beats some of my own digicam and DSLR photos.

Exif data shows:
It was on shutter speed mode: 0.15 secs
ISO 100
Aperture F2.8 <-(what the... 2.8??)

The picture is sharp, bright and also produces bokeh.

So camera phones are also capable of nice pictures... it's just whether you know what you're doing. =)

Hunting

2010-03-22T04:52:00.001+08:00

What is my dream job?
Is to be paid doing what I like.

Hmm... I don't know what to put as what I like most. I've always been a jack of all trades. Maybe can just summarize it and say that I like logic stuffs, solving puzzles and using my brain.

Now joining the job hunt like everyone else. Everyone had their early kickstart... but I've just started. If I don't do so, I'll miss out on all the opportunities. Some already went through loads of interviews and some even secured their job, while I'm still here, looking for one.

*Tells self* Hustle up... or lose in the game of early bird catches the worm.

On the professional certification course, I really really hope to be successfully enrolled in OracleDb 11g Admin course. I wanted other courses like CompTia Project+ or IBM:Test, but seems like I'm the only one who wants them. Every other student just wanna follow the easy path all nicely set up for them. Since I can't get the minimum number enough to start a class, I ended up choosing Oracle because to me it's the most worthy of the lot.

Disappointed

2010-03-13T20:39:00.002+08:00

Thought a year long wish would finally come true... (in less than a month). Then it all turned around. It has only been 3 1/2 months into 2010, yet it seems like there are a lot of things which ended up in disappointment for this short time span. More than ever! Why even care to be enthusiastic about anything when all they do is just to cause you more and more pain when it doesn't end up the way you want it to?

People say chances don't come by too oftenly. No one said that even if you grab the chance, you can hold on to it, lie to yourself about having it, yet it's still not yours. Then people say there's no harm in trying. Still, no one said that you'll end up being disappointed. It's all like a bitter pill, coated with candy.

Big disappointment.

These are the things which happen way too often, the next thing I know, I'm probably immune to ever feeling happy/enthusiastic/eager for anything which will happen in the future and are not 101% confirmed. Will you be happy when someone say they will be giving you a present? (to find out later that it won't happen) Or would you rather be happy at the time you receive the present?

I don't like the word 'promise' because promises are meant to be broken. I choose to not trust in the words 'will', 'shall', 'maybe', 'perhaps', because they don't give me the 101% assurance. I want 'definitely', 'sure', 'absolutely', 'certainly', I want security and assurance. Don't just say, do it! Everyone can say all the things they want to say, but what is real can only be proven in the results of them walking the talk.

Perhaps WM is so right that I'm easily influenced, to trust in whatever nice that people say... it's a terrible misuse of my trust. I think I'm at the tip of my emo-ness. Just leave me alone, let me cry myself to bed, let me trick myself to forget all of it, and most importantly let me talk myself into forgiving all the bad eggs.

There's a hole in my pocket.

2010-03-07T22:57:00.002+08:00

The hole... was caused by a massive fire started off by super bright flash of light. Massive damage was done. That was what the puny little speedlight did to me.

Had been thinking about it for long (because my $$ is very limited), and this is how I spent my savings. Been contemplating between the 35mm prime or this sb600. I prefer better lightings in more pictures, than the occasional nice bokeh. Also could have just gone for a 3rd party brand, cost half as much, fills in just as bright. But no... because people say you get what you pay for, and 3rd party will never be as perfect as the original.

Since I'm happy with it, I'll just happily eat sand and grass for the rest of the month too. And to celebrate my happiness with yet another new toy, I snap.

Sleep...

2010-03-04T04:56:00.000+08:00

Eyes are heavy, but something floating in my mind.
The time now is 4.56am. Later, there's a 10am class. I need sleep.

Help me clear off all the thoughts cluttered in my mind!!

Fastpack 250 with tripod strap mod.

2010-03-03T04:27:00.000+08:00

I've got myself a Lowepro Fastpack 250. Did its job well carrying my laptop+DSLR and all other items, just that the total combined weight when it's filled up is not really ideal for long time carrying. But just to pack up for travelling, the bag really has ample space for everything.

One thing which many users mentioned about is the lack of tripod holder. So I've done a neat mod for it to hold my tripod by using the side pocket.

How was it done? An adjustable strap with buckles sewn inside the top compartment. When the strap isn't used, it will be hidden inside the compartment. Since the strap is adjustable, it can hold smaller/larger tripod. Isn't that a neat idea?

I am now a Lowepro fangirl. I totally heart the build quality of their bags. Thick paddings, lightweight, simple design and good functionality (at least for me). So got myself another Lowepro to complement the backpack. The Cirrus TLZ 25 for easy carrying. The size was slightly larger than what I imagined it to be. Since my D5000 is rather small, I can stuff in my camera and all the accessories I have into it. Yes, that includes my Raynox DCR250, my battery charger, an additional battery, remote control, filters and lens caps. So even if I were to change to a longer zoom lens, it will still fit in. This is how tall the bag is compared to a Coke bottle.

I'm turning into a bag freak... not handbag freak... but a tech bag freak.

Another... gone.

2010-02-28T15:47:00.000+08:00

WTH... I can't believe I'm such a ~~butter~~monkeyfingers. I broke another glass and it had to be the one with my monkeys on it. Damn! Already killed one not too long ago and now...

Haiz... no mood liao. Feel like wanna go buy one replacement immediately.

CNY this and that (part 2)

2010-02-27T22:08:00.001+08:00

Thean Hou Temple... The last time I went there was... OMFG, it was during my kindergarten days. That would be about 17 years ago! Here are some pics taken there. So many people there.

And my test pano shot on the 18 Lohan.

And yesterday, I went to Kek Lok Si for the 3rd time. Yay!~ This time, at night, with all the nice lighting decorations in conjunction with CNY. Almost ended up being ffk-ed though this damn thing was planned way before CNY. Ended up going with a whole bunch of different people. (I'm so used to being ffk-ed by some) Well... can't say that it was a bad outing. In fact, it was great although I went there with friends and 'strangers' (some religious extremist - who kidnapped 3 people into a car, go to a temple, forced to pray and send the kidnapped back. LOL... XD).

First, meet the kidnappers.

Thanks to them... we took loads of pictures there, from dusk till dark. Get ready for Kek Lok Si pic spam...

And the 3 kidnapped... (I so love the colour edit for the second pic.)

And a pic in pic... I like my idea (but not the phone+'condom' cover LOL)

CNY this and that

2010-02-27T19:55:00.002+08:00

Long time never blog. Been happily enjoying Chinese New Year holidays to the max. Plenty happened, I'd love to share... but never took the time to sit down and write. Now that I'm back in this "lifeless land" I'm bound to blog more. Beware of this post, how can I put this... It's a minor pic spam from me... hehehe.

Before CNY
Right before going home for CNY, went out with some friends and had a movie marathon till pass midnight. It was before a test that they were discussing about it... I just jumped in. So, me joining them was rather spontaneous. It was fun... hehehe... arcade, doing some random stuffs, movies.

Next morning, to the bus station! Traveled on Aeroline as usual. This time around, it was rather frustrating. The bus departed 1 hour late. That’s 1 whole hour! According to the crew, JPJ stopped them from departing saying that they must have 2 drivers in the bus. In the end (I don’t know what the heck happened), the bus departed... with only 1 driver. So the 1 hour delay was for shit! (Fortunately, Aeroline called up few days later and mentioned that they will be sending over a voucher... which till now, I haven't receive.)

Since I'm back home for CNY, no doubt there will be loads and loads of CNY cookies!! Woohoo~ CNY is all about eat, eat and eat. (Before that I've already thought of weight-gaining problem... which I no longer care.) I lost track of all food which have gone through my mouth, slide into my stomach through my esophagus. Reunion dinner was at Manhattan Fish Market. The food served weren't the best, but the time spent together with my family was great. (Makes me miss home now that I'm writing this.)

Recently, there's an additional member in the family. It's name is Jessie. Jess is kinda cute (even my parents... approved... err... maybe). And the best part is... it actually poses and smiles for the camera! きゃあ～本当に　かわいい～

During CNY
First day CNY started off by travelling on a highway at 6am in the morning. The next time I have to travel at such time, I'd do it again. The sky was so beautiful my lame words can't describe. You will have to see for yourself the beauty of all the sparkling stars. They were like diamonds shining in the sky. Travelled to Melaka, had foooooood, collected some ang pau. The next few days were all filled with more nyummy meals.

More food... It has been ages since my friend mentioned that she was gonna bring me try Korean food, finally we had the chance to go to Mid valley to try it out. The owner of the stall is a Korean, speaks English with a very strong accent. There were so many sets to choose from... so I just got a BBQ set. The food was served Korean style. The food looked nice, tasted fine too. Just that I can't get used to the taste of the pickled radish. Managed to catch a lion dance performance in Mid Valley too. There was a huge crowd (even on a weekday!)

Did some CNY shopping. Got a new cap to replace my old worn out cap (color also worn out). I was so happy that I got it at a steal, paid less than half the normal price... a best buy item. After I got home, I realized something cute. Pictures~

That is... a slice of watermelon. With some small writings on it which read "Eat more fruits". That was very random, yet extra cute to be in a cap. Next time, I'll check out what other cute stuffs they have on a Puma.

After CNY
Back to Penang via AirAsia. I was stopped for bag checking. Loads of items in a rather large backpack (Will be writing about my backpack soon... LOL). I was stopped because I had a mini screwdriver in my bag! It was for my watch. Luckily the officer let it pass. Everything else was fine. Tripod was okay for hand carry... luckily.

I can never get used to taking flight. Not yet. Have to be careful of what I can carry, the amount of luggage and all the excess time needed. Not to mention that the seats are very crammed (Typical for budget airlines). Airfare was cheaper than bus fare, thus the choice. 4.5 hours in the bus versus 50 minutes by air... for me, it can still be considered a good trade for more seating comfort, on board meal and no luggage limit. Next trip... bus ride.

Anyways, my first picture taken on board a plane. So loving my DSLR. Muacks~ <3<3 Worth all the trouble carrying a load. Fine... all cameras can take such a pic, depending on the person holding the camera. Still, loads of love for my cam.

This time is for real.

2010-02-09T12:58:00.004+08:00

After multiple times of being 0.0x short, I finally made it into the Dean's List. Old story (I know) but the award ceremony was just held. So let me SS(~~syok~~ shiok sendiri) for a while la. It's no longer just a wish or a want, it is now for real. Will continue to do well. PM gambatte!! PM fighting!!

The other thing is about the idea of SCRAP. LOL... it initially started by being CRAP. CRAP is a title for Web Engineering project suggested by Wee Nee. However, the name CRAP will not be too good for the project so we ended up using SCRAP. The project will be building a social web. (I'm not so sure how "social" this is going to be). What we are going to do... I can't disclose... since the project just started and I know that there are people out there who can't think and resort to stealing ideas. A side joke... this is a CRAP:

Wee Nee said, it's a 'Creative + Random Art by Pm', therefore CRAP. Microsoft Windows 7 Campus Launch t-shirt. (vector t-shirt template thanks to Mircea Vlad) I find the words used to say it to be pretty interesting. So... crap can have a totally different meaning after all. And oh yes! The t-shirt will be for real too, cos the managing team manage to get sponsors. I really hope printing quotation goes well now, so that I can happily wear a self-designed t-shirt. (I failed to get a piece of my first t-shirt design... did for UTM's BioInformatics but they didn't send me one. So sad.)

Attended the Imagine Cup live meeting. It kinda triggered more interest in joining the competition, like we've always wanted to. Somehow, my team's final year project doesn't meet the requirements of the Imagine Cup. We're not doing it on the .NET platform. We've dropped the idea since the beginning, but there are hints of interest every now and then from all team members. Still, it's too late to change direction now. Perhaps some other competition in the future. We're still awaiting the results to be shortlisted to the national level for the MDEC Business Plan Competition Finals. I hope for the best, so that will be another award for real, not just my self indulgence in imagination.

Gonna go for lunch now. Then later come back and continue studying for upcoming tests. After all that... it's holidays!!~ Yays~ for a whole week of CNY holidays. Finally, a cute pictar for the day... kitteh!! Mew~ Mew~ :3

Don't simply spend...

2010-02-08T10:41:00.000+08:00

So finally I've watched the movie Avatar, after a few failed attempts. The movie was worth the money I paid for, but the 3D isn't as 3D as expected. The missiles weren’t shot at me making me run scrambling for my life LOL. Did some shopping before that. While walking, was looking at other people's shopping haul. Bags of big and small sizes... I didn’t do that, very powerful self control from unnecessary spending. Almost bought a RM109.90 water bottle though. And it's only a 600ml stainless steel bottle, not any thermal flask. I stood there... looking... choosing... between a deep purple with abstract design and a green with golden PCB design on it... then a signal was sent to the brain... I picked up another bottle placed nearby, compared the price and size and told myself "Hey, why must this cost more than a hundred while the other which is almost the same, just a different brand cost less than half of that?" I can't afford to be paying that much extra for just the design and brand. Hehehe... it was a Sigg vs a Bros. So that was it, I placed them back and walked off. No thank you Parkson for carrying good stuff. Thank goodness to consciousness... that I don’t simple spend. The next thing I wanna do is probably go skating.

Two pics I’ve taken while waiting for the bus. Normal street, manual settings, but appear to be very point and shoot style.

I seem to like taking dark pictures with strong colours. Then I realized that shaky hand people like me shouldn’t use DSLR for low light photography. Needs more stabilization, double stabilization triple if possible =P. Otherwise, have to pump up ISO or use high speed lenses. Best solution to prevent more lousy pictures is to carry a tripod and remote control around. Shall shut up about getting high speed lenses. Prices for lenses will never drop much and the prices now are... sigh~... maybe next time.

Chinese New Year is coming... in a week. What does CNY mean to me now? I’m not sure already. It’s like... ooohhh... ang pow (ooohhh money $__$), ooohhh... food. Hahaha... has already told mom what I wanna eat during CNY. (I’m so sorry for my new year’s resolution... it will have to wait and continue after CNY... lololol) I think the best thing is to be back home with my family. I’d appreciate home cooked food, my springy bed and the other comforts of my room.

My dinner in Penang is so predictable that everytime I pass by the burger vendor, the uncle sees me and knows exactly what I want. A minimum of twice a week having burger for dinner (or sometimes supper), twice nasi goreng kampung in a week – Mondays and Thursdays, the rest... some other mixed rice or fried rice. That’s all around USM. Unless I suddenly plan to be adventurous, hop onto a bus and go somewhere else. Still time is of essence... waiting for the bus, travelling on a bus take too much time. I kept telling myself... if only I have a car (which is impossible), then I’d travel and eat around Penang little by little. Nevermind already...

Hmm... USM still haven't paid me the prize money for winning the business plan competition. There are so many things... I need that money now! I mean it!! It has been a month... if I were to place it in the bank, I would have gotten interests. Where is my money??!! And those City Hallers from Soompi are poisoning me with their City Hall DVD box set. The goodies are very poisoning, but the price is like a cure to the poison. I still can't justify why I should get it or why I shouldn't. It's way too expensive that it's gonna cost me about 1 month of my internship salary.... and stock is running out quick. I'll be eating sand and grass if I really do buy. But I can definitely live without owning that DVD set. Maybe I will suffer from the poison, but I swear it will not kill me. Damn the poison... really envy all "Inju Citizens" _(x__x)_

Configuring PHP, MySQL, phpMyAdmin for IIS7

2010-02-05T18:52:00.000+08:00

To configure the use of PHP and MySQL on IIS (Internet Information Services) is slightly troublesome. At first, I was using XAMPP. XAMPP was a no-sweat-work-out-of-the-box thing. Was a happy user... until I need to do something using asp.net.

No matter how hard I try, it was almost impossible to get PHP which came with XAMPP to work with IIS. Resorted to the stand alone PHP installation and started configuring again from scratch. At first, I though of using the command line to do MySQL, but since I was already so comfortable with XAMPP, I'd stick to using phpMyAdmin. To get it to work is fairly easy. It was all PHP + IIS7 fault in the first place. The combination isn't the best that all the manual configurations had to be done, changing and adding stuffs in the config files.

Some additional information: I've also read somewhere which mentioned that there are some problems trying to pair up IIS7 with the latest version of PHP and MySQL. To avoid further difficulties, I chose to use one version prior to the latest available at this time.

My system is a 32-bit Windows 7 running IIS7.
PHP version 5.2.12 (Download php-5.2.12-Win32.zip package from PHP.net. I've used the Windows Binaries zip package)
MySQL version 5.0.90 (Download mysql-essential-5.0.90-win32 from MySQL Download Archive.)
phpMyAdmin version 3.2.5 (Download phpMyAdmin-3.2.5-english from phpMyAdmin Download)

So... to save you from all the pain and agony I went through trying many different methods of configuration. Please allow me to direct you to the best set of instructions I've found. (Best according to my personal opinion)

1. Install IIS7 on Windows 7.
2. Install PHP 5.2 on Windows 7 and IIS
3. Configure PHP to access MySQL
4. Configure phpMyAdmin to work in IIS

Hope this helps any poor soul out there (I was once) who needs a quick reference to configure IIS7.

War of the OSes.

2010-02-04T16:29:00.002+08:00

I don’t want to touch about the computer operating system (OS). Not so in anymore. I was thinking more about mobile OS, with the old familiar players still in, competing with newcomers who are growing fast... I’d say that mobile OS is worth looking into.

Why the sudden interest in this topic? It is not sudden. I’ve been going through a lot about mobile technology for the past few months that I get fed up developing this one application meant to be for Java phones and the Symbian (which will be done by my group member). Not too many more people in the developers community, and nothing much interesting going on around the Symbian developers’ forums. I can’t directly say why, but it must be that those people converted themselves to be developers for some other platforms.

So the market survey tells us that the pool of iPhone users is growing way too fast. But do you know that the Blackberry RIM is faster growing than the iPhone OS[1]? But did statistics tell you that the number of Symbian users and shipments are still the highest[2] among all? Let’s look into more details.

The survey shows that even the super surge in number of iPhone users doesn’t prove that iPhone OS will be the most used. There are even predictions that said Google's Android will surpass iPhone users by 2012[3] (If the world doesn’t end then,) The iPhone might be a competitor now, but to what extend? So what makes you think that the iPhone OS will stay tops? I know that Symbian is losing out. But who knows what will happen in the future? Samsung, one of the largest mobile phone manufacturers came up with their own mobile OS, the Bada[4]. Android is gaining more fans and Palm is making a comeback. How about Blackberry RIM? Now even non-business people use Blackberrys.

I don’t know why, but open source doesn’t seem to be famous in Malaysia. Open source programs will make the production cost of a mobile lower. Thus, cheaper products. I’d like to see more Androids running around in Malaysia market. I’d probably be one of those people who would like open source to be a success.

We know that many people are already hopping onto the bandwagon of iPhone’s success. Catching it while it’s hot. Developers rather do it for the iPhone OS than any other OSes. This saddens me because the wind is only blowing in only one direction. I have once thought of owning the iPhone, but I was never a die-hard fan. After owning a Samsung with Haptic, I thought the iPhone was not as friendly with less responsive feedbacks. Therefore, I am really looking forwards to what the Bada can offer.

Let’s ponder on these. If the iPhone’s success is due to the thousands of applications that are offered... wouldn’t other phones be as successful if they have as much applications in store? If number of apps counts, then will open source conquer? Or will the consumers ever be satisfied with few great applications than having thousands of nonsensical ones?

[1]http://link.businessinsider.com/view/9iq.750/8ca33e22
[2]http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/11/03/canalys_q3_2009_iphone_rim_taking_over_smartphone_market.html
[3]http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9139026/Android_to_grab_No._2_spot_by_2012_says_Gartner
[4]http://www.bada.com/

Some quality time, alone.

2010-02-02T12:14:00.001+08:00

Half a day out on Saturday, spending some few hours walking around, window shopping and reading. It’s very great to see myself not spending even a single cent. Even 50% or 70% discount for clothes and all other stuffs failed to poison me. Perhaps I just like window shopping and is not easily tempted by those not-needed items. I just buy what I need.

Penang shopping is nothing compared to KL shopping. Everywhere are branded shops selling things way overpriced then giving massive discounts. I’m not one of those who only look at branded items. In fact, I don’t have the buying power to get everything branded. I look more on quality and I won’t mind paying more for them. I really need a new water bottle now. I’ve lost mine, again! This time in the bus, which I think they’ll be kind enough to keep it for me until the next time I board the same bus… then I’ll get it back. So I’ve been hunting around for one, stainless steel...good price, good design, and never saw any which I like. Things that I want to buy… didn’t get any. Too little choices. I WANT KL SHOPPING!! *Prods Wenji and MP*

Spent a lot of time sitting in Borders reading too. No wonder it has become my favourite book store. (Since popular and MPH love wrapping up their books so tightly I can’t even preview any). Skimmed through some really nice books and finished the book “Who moved my Cheese”. It was an interesting read. Already wanted to buy that… but can’t find any other books I wanna buy. Have to accumulate a total of RM100 before I can get that extra discount. I’m still looking for few classics which I can’t seem to find yet. (Oh, and the book search system in Borders suck so badly) Maybe it’s time to go to Kinokuniya again. Their service is the best! Haven’t tried Borders’ book order though… maybe someday.

It has been a very unproductive week. I’ve been terribly transformed into a weekday workaholic and a weekend sleeping machine. I could easily sleep more than 12 hours straight. On weekdays however, I'll have bad cases of insomnia... then I'll have to wake up early morning to get back to work on the project. Quite a screwed up sleeping time there. As for the project, I guess it has been stagnant. I myself got stuck on my programming... quite a lousy programmer here I guess. Which makes me ponder on which line to work in after I graduate. I love the logic behind things. On paper, everything seems very do-able. But I can never find the right thing to get them working as I imagined them to be.

Failed in my a picture a week plan. No pictures, no ideas, no experiments, no allocated time to spend on photography. Failed even in taking pictures:

That's the best I can get on a 18-55mm kit lens. I so want to experiment with more lenses. For travelling, I'll want the Tamron 18-270mm AND at least a Nissin di-622. I'd appreciate if I can afford the 866 though. Gave up trying to get nice shots... opened up the aperture and lengthen the shutter speed, this is what I got:

Overexposed moon...

Win 7 random drawing.

2010-01-25T03:29:00.000+08:00

I've been reading a lot lately. Been seeing a lot too. Discoveries are aplenty, from reading and seeing too much. Whether they are good or bad... it's up to personal judgments.

For now, I think the experience is slowing down. All the wild chances jumping ships from time to time has gone. Cos now, I'm being like a bird, caged by a master. Though I've had chances of escaping, the scene from thereafter is heart breaking. (Trust me, I've tried escaping and it was ugly.) But sometimes people will say, "Why try to escape from an easy life? Although you are caged... you are very well fed and protected". That is sadistic thinking. In life, there must be challenges. All the uncertainties, unknowns, variables, challenges are what make life interesting. So, as I am the caged bird, it seems like I face no danger. But once emergencies happen, I'll never be prepared for anything. This made me think, "Am I taking it too easily?"

That aside... reading and seeing too much is boring. Really boring. So, take a break and start drawing. Boss put me up to design a t-shirt for an upcoming Windows 7 campus launch. "Competing" with another person... I don't know who. He said the best design will be chosen. But "best" is really up to a person's judgment. Whether it will be printed or not, it really doesn't matter. Since I can save it up, put it in a frame and hang it in my room. My idea was very random... I mean it... very random. It's still a hand drawn draft. Will only make a digital copy if selected. Drawing is best done with pencil and paper, never mouse and computer. (Unless I have a tablet/wacom)

<3 Randomness. Oh yes... that's a fox, holding a mouse. Hahaha... exploding of cuteness. XD If you ever wonder if I'll get over all this cute things, I'd say never. Hope this gets picked. Then everybody will be wearing this random cuteness. Muahahaha... cuteness rawks, and randomness rawks!

Yes... oh YES!!~

2010-01-18T15:52:00.002+08:00

Third week of January, one new year's resolution down.

1/03/2010 12:57:00 PM

Okay, new year's resolution:
5. To do well in MIBPC.

You can say that hard work paid off. You can also say we were lucky (We never expected the first prize due to the tough competition). I seriously don't know how to call it. But I'm happy that we've won! 1st in the BizPlan, and 3rd in the BizIdea. Being the champ for BizPlan, that gave us a shot for the national levels. Lets do our best again! It wasn't all too bad, since we didn't have to go cracking our brains to come out with more ideas since we're using the same thing for both which is our FYP project, sent the same thing for SOI Asia competition. That's killing 4 birds with 1 stone. (One heck of a stone...) Now aiming the fifth bird... come birdie birdie... hehehe.

My broadband modem... I've got a replacement. Yay! (Boo for bad connection in room)
Laptop+DSLR bag? No problem... got one at a bargain... more yays!
It has been pretty smooth all the way. Hope everything goes just as well. =)

Anyways, I like this pic. The sky's really blue and nice. Uploaded a full size image to my flickr.

Still want to bring my new CPL filter and remote control go jalan-jalan. Learn to take some scenery pics, play with more lights and angles. Next mission, to quickly finish up project and have more time for fun =D

Okay... gtg now. Tennis lesson coming up. (Working on another new year resolution here...)

Edit: Hmm... 960px ftw!

New Year

2010-01-03T12:57:00.002+08:00

Already... the third day of 2010.
You know what I've been doing lately until I've abandoned my blog for 2 weeks. Been playing with my DSLR. This toy caused heavy damages to the pocket. Caused serious problems to the heart and intensifies the poison to the soul.

50mm F1.8 AF was so poisoning, a great but really cheap lens. So I took some time and played with it. I have no proper subject, thus the pencils. Can easily get the bokeh effect in pictures. That's why prime lenses are so nyummy. So now I'm finding the live view pretty useful (not just for self cam whoring). In using manual focus through the tiny viewfinder, the live view gave me the possibility to zoom in further to get the right focus I want.

Also been watching some drama. For the past few months, I've been trying to catch up with some kdrama and I manage to watch a few good ones. Hon(Soul) is a good drama if you like blood and mystery. It started off like a horror drama though. The plot, slightly predictable. You're Beautiful is a cute drama and IRIS, a very intense one. All are recommended. Or if you want a little mix of cuteness and some seriousness, I recommend City Hall... it's my pick for 2009.

By the way, I laughed (despite all seriousness) while watching IRIS. Because I find this really funny. You see how "high-tech" their equipments are... and yet, they can't even fake a simple IP address. Hahahaha!!~ If you've never learned about IP addresses, you won't be able to spot the problem.

What are the most important things I've learnt throughout year 2009?
When you try to burn a match in a box, you'll never fail to see the rest of the matches in the same box being burnt. Ya... I'm trying to say exactly that. The arrow has only one head, and it points at the only one guilty target but the self conscious, or I'd rather call it the guilt which lives in a person often make them think that they are the one being pointed at. (Terasa la...)

Next is to not go argue with "hao lian" (show off) people. They're just plain stupid, which makes your arguement worthless because they never understand. Little kids are all the same... (Padan muka they kena flame by real users)

New year started with slight problems. I lost my mobile broadband modem, along with the sim card. I'm not sure where I lost it, but I called up Aeroline hoping they'll find it in the bus. So far no feedback from them... felt like the chances of getting it back would be very slim. There goes more spending on buying a modem. And more hassle in getting a replacement sim. Maybe I should just get my dad to cancel it along with Streamyx since Streamyx can't even work well.

Okay, new year's resolution:
1. To graduate after this semester, no extension! (I have to!! and I will!!)
2. To control spending on luxuries, be more resistive to poison. (*coughs coughs* things which are nice but not needed)
3. To lose a minimum of 5kgs without sacrificing food. =P (So meaning have to do exercise)
4. Try to slack less.
5. To do well in MIBPC.
6. Do a good job in FYP. (Good means a functional as described system)
7. To avoid being an extra/substitution.
8. To continue posting up piano vids on Youtube. (Been playing, but no vids)

Wishlist:
I have a long list... but... I'll stick to writing a wishlist 1 month before my birthday. =)

So first post for the year 2010. Happy New Year, everyone!!~

Spoilt

2009-12-22T15:01:00.001+08:00

All my plans spoilt. My craze for languages has to be scrapped to make way for a crazier final semester than what I have expected. Even my mood for whatever celebration or festival is gone. I have no plans, I don’t feel like planning.

Every end of semester holidays, I will rant about my semester results. No exceptions, even for now. I’ve been so unsatisfied with 100% course work subjects that until now, I’m still not happy with such courses. Because it still kills me!

So to save your eyes and ears from my torture... (since my eyes and brain have been tortured by the results) I shall summarize my rants: "Yap yap yap! (*#$@~!^&"

What? What?

2009-12-16T15:39:00.001+08:00

Been missing for long,
I know.
Too many things happened...
Lazy to write.

Maybe someday will do some catching up.

Already back in Penang, though semester doesn't start till 28th Dec. Been wanting to join some reunion with primary school friends, but I've been slacking off too much at home. Delaying work is a very bad thing to do. So, I've decided to push my lazy arse back to work, thus, back to Penang.

Anyways, new toy...

All wants for the year fulfilled I guess.
5 months of hard earned money + dad's support and sponsor + mom's energy in bringing me around to search for it = fulfilled wants.

The next thing to do is to learn how to use it to its fullest.

Holidays?

2009-12-06T02:32:00.000+08:00

One whole week passed since I was back in KL.
Did nothing exceptionally important.
Yet, busy with this and that.

No stress, luckily. Just exhausted.
Was thinking about my so-called "holidays".
The entire month of semester break doesn't even deserve to be called a break.

Downloading drama at home using Streamyx is worst than me downloading it in Penang using my Celcom broadband. Yet, Streamyx is saying that their service is the best. Best shit ever! I wonder whether they know how to do a comparison or not. So what to do next? Potong la...

Ahh... sucky. Where are the year end shopping craze, Christmas mood, and slacking mode? They all seem non existant for now.

So I'm looking forwards to my Singapore trip, which... I haven't got my passport done, haven't got the bus tickets, haven't even confirm on where to stay during the trip. Just hope it doesn't end up being cancelled.

Say... this must be the worst holiday/semester break ever. *sulks*

Chimera Navigational Technologies

2009-11-26T23:14:00.003+08:00

Chimera Navigational Technologies.
Brand spanking new logo.
The brand name starts here.

Tired of looking at financial planning, tossed the whole thing to my friend and she even said that the plan is too clean. It's a rather strange planning... starting off financed 100% on assets and equity, with no clear liability. Then it's difficult in the sense that I have to plan way too much for a small company. Trying to shoot a 3-year-old company with a mere 30 employees to be public listed... that's like erm... trying too hard to get fundings eventhough it seems to be doing well without any loans.

Rather start doing some designs, play around with photoshop instead of not doing anything. So... yes... a very simple logo. A chimera head, a half compass acting as 'C' for the word chimera, also symbolizes navigation. 2 colours - bright red with black - just because they stand out.

So what's next?

Papadom

2009-11-25T20:52:00.000+08:00

When my friends asked me to go watch movie in cinema, they'll either go for movies which are all hyped up, or movies with good looking actors and actresses. It doesn't have to be all that great to attract me. Here's one which I like...

Papadom.
Made in Malaysia.
Thumbs up from me.

I like Malaysian movies, and Papadom is one of them. Well... Malaysian movies only if the genre is family/drama/indie... or any others which are meaningful (Those over comical/stupid/try-to-hard comedy is a no-no). If you want to know why I gave thumbs up for this movie, it is best you watch it for yourself. It is a touching one (not in the entire movie though).

Some tiny bits in the movie actually reflected the same thing I went through. Makes me sorry for thinking that way. How that girl from Penang wants to go studying in KL to stay away from her over protective father. (How I'm from KL and wanted to come to Penang to be away from my family). Neither the girl, or me have any family related problems... we just felt over-protected and want some freedom. But no matter what, we both still love our families.

Crazy week is over!

2009-11-21T22:32:00.004+08:00

So far, we've really been pushing real hard to the extend that we work till 3 or 4 in the morning then continue early in the morning. It has been a tiring week with a research presentation, then the FYP documentation and presentation of status update/review. Too much documentations for the project.

Some pictures of what happened the entire week. Firstly, some which I took while walking back to hostel at 3.30am in the morning. The warm feeling you get from the lights although it was cold when the wind was blowing.

Tuesday...research presentation day at Eastin Hotel Penang. The one thing that made people happy was the free meals including a buffet lunch, hahahaha! And guess what we did during lunch...

We bent a fork! LOL. Just for fun, kay... The fork is initially curved that way, its design.
Some pics of our program coordinator and some other groups presenting.

A lousy picture of my group's presentation. I wonder what was I frowning about... hmm...

Since my team was sitting at the first row that day, we were sort of like an unofficial time keeper. We had this ugly A4 papers with the time remaining written on them and I don't know whether it is good or not... it seemed to cause some groups a little disruption.

Then as the time passed with more boring presentation subjects, boredom ensues =P It's camwhore time!!

And the one thing we learnt from Guru Pitka by watching The Love Guru... LOL.

Our FYP team must be #1. Hahaha... how much more lame can we be?
And last but not least... cuteness picture for the day. =P *runs*

That ends the part about the research presentation.

So once the presentation was over, we immediately moved on to FYP documentation. Sad case isn't it? We didn't even have time for a proper rest. Wednesday morning... whole day, continue till 4 am, same for Thursday... ugh, already felt like a zombie. Presentation on Friday, 10 in the morning. Everything completed at 3am in the morning. Materials being printed at 6am in the morning. Problem arised... The cover page was too thick and got stuck! Die... so early in the morning... any shops open to print? Whoa... chaotic morning I tell you.

Glad we weren't screwed upside down during the status review/update. In fact, the manager and our client were happy with what we've presented. With the word "good idea" coming from our manager which many other student said she's a very picky and particular type, I think everything went very well. All the hard work was well worth it. Good job everyone! Well... I quite regret that we didn't take picture with the gantt chart of our project and already submitted them. Anyways... a small pizza lunch for a happy day.

Now that I'm free for a day, I felt empty.

"If You're Free and You Know It, Think Again."

2009-11-14T23:52:00.016+08:00

I've watched Mike Myers' The Love Guru and I particularly love Guru Pitka's book entitled "If you're happy and you know it, think again."

Being a computer science student in USM I should write a book, "If you're free and you know it, think again."

Been quite free for the past few days, play some games, watched drama, catch up with some forums which I've missed for ages. That because the whole FYP team thought that our 'client' only wants the presentation for the 1st review. Mana tau... it turns out that we have to be submitting 2 separate reports just for the presentation itself. Bah~ So now... 2 reports within a week. Lucky one of them is a group report.

All the status updates, documentations... I see the stress of a project manager. In this project, the ‘project manager’ doesn’t have to do anything yet the person gets to rate the ‘employees’. We as the workhorses do all the reports. We’ve been doing reports nonstop for the project while the progress of the real project has been stagnant. How I wish that all the ‘employees’ of PSH will stand up and have a protest over all these unnecessary documentations. That’s one thing. Another thing is, I really hope that the ‘project manager’ won’t try to screw us for more documentation because up till now, we have been following the client’s requirement which focuses more on research for the project. Otherwise, the horror will never end.

On an upcoming presentation, there was a hype on the presentation venue. Rumours started spreading when our lecturer said there may be a change in venue. Then some started saying that we might be going to Park Royal at Batu Ferringhi. It turned out that there's no change at all, still at Eastin. To me, it doesn't matter much as long as there's free buffet lunch. =P Completed the slides for the presentation. Super leet one indeed. Now the only task left for the most useless subject of all my university courses, (yes... the research subject) is the presentation itself. Let's hope for the best!

Anyways… enough of complains here. Why I’m blogging again? Yea… because I’m not happy with all the documentations and this is my rant sink. Though unhappy, still have to work on them. Back to facing the reports.

Let it go...

2009-11-10T02:37:00.008+08:00

I knew I would edit my portfolio again and again until it's due. It's some problem because of my itchy hands and pushy brain. The little problem of not being satisfied with finished work... is that work will never finish. Should just let things go... perfection lies within the imperfection.

I have so much else to do, but I took the time to edit my portfolio. It's like an urge which kept saying, "Do more... do more..." because designing and writing script codes are fun. Well, although at the time I do the editing for my portfolio, I've completed another important task. Unfortunately, the task is also another editing, for an almost completed work. Glad that it's also done for now. I'm talking about the business idea that my group has to submit. I have a test later today, yet, I have been editing works.Then later I'll regret for not starting studying earlier. (See how I can predict the future... because it happens again and again)

I didn't get much sleep because of my itchy hands. I totally crashed when I reached my room yesterday night. I've had a planned sleep, 8.30pm to 12am, so that I wake up with lack of sleep... then I'll become hyperactive for some time before I crash again.

I've been back in Uni for 6 weeks and for this semester, I felt like I've been writing too many reports (extra long reports which I think no one will read, it doesn't even make much sense because even if my group trying so hard to make the report more realistic, there are surely those who don't give a damn and crapped all the way). On average, it's like 10 pages of report per week. Where are all the needs for programming? Even for the final year project, it has been all reports up to now. The excitment and stress due to non working codes and bugs hasn't arise. Only stress on writing reports that will actually make people read. Mundane...

Okay, let's get off from school topics. The dullness is killing me.

I broke my glass. It slipped off my hands when I was washing it in the sink. Now I'll have to buy a new one. Sad case of losing such a nice glass. Lucky the monkeys on the glass are stickers, so any new glass I buy can still have the monkeys. Or let's take this as an excuse for me to find a glass with monkeys printed on it. =D

Random picture for today:

RingMonkey

-noun
a Monkey holding a ring who possesses the power to control nothing.
Monkey of the Ring

(LOL)

PM likes the LAB

2009-11-08T01:35:00.010+08:00

I like the aircond in lab.
I like the serenity in lab.
I love my PC in lab.

I like sitting in the lab doing my own work. I can really be in the lab the entire day... reading, doing assignments, watching movies, playing games. It has the ideal working condition. (But I realise that I'm not as productive... maybe because of the HD movies I've been enjoying.)

It's very late already. I'll be walking back to my room now.
I'll be back in the lab again later today, after I get my good night sleep.

No cool factor.

2009-11-06T10:44:00.009+08:00

You know... how I wish that in real life, the excuse "My dog bit my homework" can be used. Then I'll gladly go get a dog, just to make it bite my homework for me. Hahaha...Yes... I know I'm not a damn cool person. I only felt damn cold sitting in lab trying to finish up my personal work. (Ahaha... that was a very lame starting line.)

I'm officially done with my portfolio assignment after duelling with it the entire night, and I don't find it too nice. The usual me will start tinkering more and more since it's due only next week. Simplicity is everything in the portfolio. I don't have the time to create eye candies or make elaborate designs since there are too many other assignments which are more important. I've uploaded it for a review. Here's another link if the first doesn't work. So please be kind and give some comments. Thanks.

The best thing about the entire Flash is the puzzle idea that I had. I manage to implement it nicely within a day. There are a few things which must be taken into consideration which ate up loads of time to code including the change of layer levels, puzzle pieces must not be out of box, then to accept the piece when it is placed close enough, meaning it doesn't have to be exactly on the spot. I've experimented so much within a short time span. I'd say that all that from me within a week is already quite good. Flash is surely interesting and will be more interesting once I actually know how to use more and more features.

School has been pretty boring lately. Still with the usual qualms of too-much-assignment... this semester is a short one yet, work load is almost the same as any other. During the previous class for research, an announcement was made that there will be a seminar style presentation for our research paper in a hotel, just like any other real seminar. This is going to be exciting. Somehow the excitement was overshadowed by the fear of not being able to do well. Our research supervisor only gave 2 words in reply for the full report we submitted to her. Either she thinks that we did really well there's nothing to comment on... OR... it isn't too good, but she's still being encouraging. Well, let's see it from the bright side.

I'm really liking sitting in lab doing my work. Internet is really good here. As promised, here's what the lab computers and cubicles look like.

Ya, bad condition. By the way, those two are my team mates for my final year project and few other related projects and competitions. They aren't poor tortured souls, they are just pretending to be over worked horses for the sake of my camera. I was the one who was supposed to be over worked when I practically stayed in the lab the whole night doing my Flash, took a nap at dawn sitting on the hard chair with my head falling off the back rest, then continued with their discussion the next morning. So yes, us computer science students are trained to work long hours, through the night, with minimum sleep.

It's not all just work you know. We had intervals where we browsed the net, watch some movie trailers. Also had the time to intro cute guys and cute girls in our Facebook friend lists. WN kept introducing her girl friends to MC, but she didn't intro any cute guys to me. *sobs* But heck, from everything she has told me, her supervisor is damn cute lar... *cough*ラズさん～*coughs* Suddenly, he has an extra fan, wahahaha... Too bad he already has a girlfriend =P.

Okay, back to reality.

The product of ideas

2009-11-01T07:13:00.004+08:00

Side note: Wishing the entire PSS Phase 2 team a good luck in their system cutover today. May the force be with everyone of you. =P

Create a Flash movie in a flash... how?

I myself don't know. As a person who likes arts, design with a combination of thinking, Flash should be a fun thing like any other project of creating applications with a superb interface. I've played with Flash back during Flash MX and Swish time. Then I didn't continue. It was way before I understood what was programming, scripts and all. Now it's already Flash CS4 and SwishMax3, and I don't even remember the basics for making a Flash movie! I don't even know how I actually created a Flash intro to my old website.

I'm having a big headache on whether I can really finish my portfolio within 2 weeks. Photoshop skills... I have 40%, Flash skills, I'm not too sure even if it's 5%. But here's something after 1 day of experimenting with loads of stuffs. Only inserted pictures of the bars and drew that lousy box. Still a lot more to learn. Scripting for flash is not really an easy task though. Understanding those terms already took some time. But lucky that the scripts are somewhat similiar to C++.

L33T photoshop skills allow me to create the nice nice bars. I'm a person who likes nice simple designs, powerful bright colours, compact meaningful information. I've tried uploaded it to test the percentage preloader that I've coded, it actually works so neatly. This is going to be great! More to come on that personal portfolio. It is currently left without any content. I've yet to decide on what to include in it. This is a product of my ideas. Anyhow, I really hope to learn more. Especially on the part to include on accessibility. I know that to code for keyboard would be really tough. If I can do all those great stuff with the additional goodness, it'll be a plus in marketability.

Finished the horrible research paper last Thursday. It never was interesting since it was made known at the end of year 2. Terrible 4 days of approximately 2 to 3 sessions of 4-hour meetings+discussions a day. Manage to finish up slightly after our own targeted time, still ahead of submission due date. This subject is something which I should really pray hard for. I don't think it's easy to fail, but I don't think it's easy to score either. The grading would be very subjective since different groups get different titles. I have to say that it's unfair for those who got crazily difficult titles. There's still a presentation on findings for the paper next week. I now doubt that the other students would even understand the things that my group is going to present. All seems too technical and specific to be understood by the general audience without the basic understanding of parallel computing. I know I've been talking about this for many times, but can't help re-complaining about it since it's really that bad.

Back home, in KL... cleaning up my Baby Dino to be brought back to Penang. Will be left in the LAB, declared as my second room. It feels like it's back to life in cubicles and ancient computers (after I've left my 20-week life in cubicle with ancient PC). PCs in the labs are from year 2003, but it feels like they are from the 80s. It takes about 3 minutes just to open IE and the keyboard seriously needs a 1 week dip in concentrated detergent. I'll show you how the place looks like next time.

As for now, I'm poisoned... contemplating whether I should get a 1TB hard drive. It's so cheap! The last time I saw, the price was less than RM300. Thinking that I've been living with just 80GB for the past 2 years... with the need to delete old games when wanting to play new games... I might really go for it. On average, I think I spend about RM2k per year on tech stuffs like this. Am still thinking about the DSLR every now and then. Now target changed again to a Nikon D5000, of a better specs which obviously has a higher price.

Just manage to get Windows 7 installed. Took less than an hour to get it done, with more time spent on installing all my important softwares. Windows 7 is really nice to play with. A little more added eye candy. I'm really glad for MSDNAA actually provides such good stuff, Windows 7 Professional for free! Though it's not the ultimate, but it's that close.

One thing that needs getting used to would be the taskbar. It's neat without the labels, but it groups everything together. Well, there are options to show the labels... so it's really up to the user. The other neat feature is about the wallpaper. I like changing my wallpaper that I used to use a program called wallpaper master to auto change them for me. Now, it's built into Win7. As for paying to upgrade from Vista, I'd say... save your money. It's about the same. If you're jumping from XP to Win7, then it should be okay. So far, all drivers used for Vista worked for Win7 too, no worries about it. About Win7 being faster than Vista, I'm not too sure about that. They're probably about the same, with a slight decrease of RAM usage.

I actually haven't slept, not that I woke up way early. I'm not sure why these few days, I can't sleep, at least till dawn before I'm able to doze off. That also after rolling around in bed for long. Going to roll in bed now.

Research... oh research...

2009-10-26T03:16:00.003+08:00

Woohoo… I’ll be going back to KL next week. Will be bringing more stuff to Penang. I’ve been living a very simple life, with nothing more than the basic stuffs. I need another pair of shoes, at least, for more variety. I currently wear the same pair everyday. Crazy Penang weather (random rain anytime even when the sun shines) doesn’t give a good weekend to wash my shoes even. Also bringing my desktop computer back. Then there can be some gaming in between the heavy project we have on our shoulders. DDR and SDO… anyone?

Project proposal got the nod and go ahead. If possible, there may be more ideas coming in. But what we really need now is the support and more brains in producing the best stuff like what we all visualised in our brains. Have to settle the project buyoff tomorrow with our ‘client’, then we’re done, at least for one part. =)

Now focusing fully on research full report, which I can frankly say that, I don’t like doing research. So far, been trying too hard to understand things way above my level. Then part of the requirement is to criticise their works. Now how can I criticise when I can’t even grab the entire concept of their research? I think the title given was too deep to begin with. Okay, after many re-reads, I can understand the 5 papers which I reviewed on, so I think I’ll just ask my group mates about their papers. Should be easier and faster that way.

After that, can go back to what I like best, doing things by hook or by crook, to come out with a product of great usefulness with all the value added features. I know my team mates well. All of us can do crazy things when under stress. And the stress for the final year project is beginning to surface. Beginning by not getting the necessary hardware we need to do the most important part of the project. But I do believe that if we strive, we’ll do well. We always do.

I actually have some sudden enthusiasm to start on my personal portfolio... which is another assignment due in 2 weeks time. My lecturer doesn’t want anything less than interesting, so it puts me in a situation of “I-don’t-know-what-to-do-yet”. Wee Nee already thought of making a flash presentation. I’ve thought of that... a complete greatness of flash in 2 weeks, I'm not too optimistic about my learning skills now. It's a very steep learning curve. Website is even more boring since I’ve already decided to destroy my personal site about 1 year ago. It served no purpose being there, like garbage in cyberspace. I’ve thought of making it something like a photo book. The one weakness of this idea is that I don’t have a large collection of pictures on my works, presentations and sorts. I don’t wanna be making a presentation slide... also. So what is actually interesting? To write my portfolio in morse code? To write in Braille? Binary? Nevermind, I think I’ll dream of the solution as I head to bed now.

P/S: A side note, reminder for myself. Do not argue with idiots. Can you believe that there are so many people trying to defend themselves shamelessly saying that piracy for personal use is ethical? If it’s unethical, just admit it god damn it. We all know that we still do unethical things even if we know them well. So what the heck?

Dreamcatcher for Everyday Daydreaming.

2009-10-17T03:52:00.006+08:00

I don’t know, but lately, I love to blog. Especially those which mentions about my school activities and projects. Highly ambitious project that we all want to see be successful. Maybe I should start another blog to keep track of my team’s project. Should I, should I? Well... maybe not. Then it would be another responsibility. My team's supervisor... well... maybe she already tried her best in helping and nothing can be done.

The entire week was brain week, attended lectures as usual, having fun leaving a mark on what I think the future would be like, solving 3D puzzles... (Other than learning to brush my teeth with my non-dominant hand) and... submitted a business idea. That my group’s first step to really getting into business. =D And a great motivation for that is one day, we’re all gonna drive the Volkswagen Touareg. Alrite, those all sounded like we were daydreaming again.

For me, I think my dreams are like an early visual of what will be. It's like a prophecy if you say I can see the future in my dreams but, I think it works more like I dreamt of this happenning, and I really want it to happen, so I'll be woking hard for it to happen. I don't think there's anything as seeing the future. Exception... when tomorrow is already well planned out. Hahaha...

Anyhows, the Touareg is one heck of an expensive 4WD. Not only the OTR price, even the breakdown - roadtax, insurance - and fuel consumption scared the hell out of me. All the price to pay for a 3.6 litre engine. Not worth it in Malaysia. You don’t even need that much power as if you’re gonna drive up mountains or go jungle trailing with it. More like for show off I guess. Nevertheless, if you have the money and nowhere to spend, then maybe it’ll be worth for the show off. I mean it. I'll stick with what my brain has told me that all cars are used to travel from one point to another.

So far, I’ve been the free-est creature, doing things as I wish, writing my reports and review 3 days before due, read books before bedtime (I’ve never got to read for ages) and enjoying my continuous supply of movies. I’ve lost count on how many movies I’ve watched within the week. Before I end this post, let me summarize on which DVD title to buy for keeps and rewatch (based on the movies that I remembered watching). Here’s my damn short movie review:

Love Guru. I particularly love this movie. Mike Myers never failed to make me laugh. A certified must watch from me.

The Pursuit of Happiness. This is one very touching and motivational movie. I love this.

I am Sam. I love this much as I love The Pursuit of Happiness. Shows so much that parents will do everything for their children.

Night at the Museum 2. Still good, after the first. But some of the jokes are only understandable if the person who watched it knew more about the jokes. Like the one on Darth Vader and Oscar the Grudge.

Speed Racer. I like the colourful art of this movie. I like how it has the sliding by scenes. I’ve always liked the cartoon when I was young. Ahh... how nostalgic.

Knowing. Looks like God wants to wipe out the human race again, instead of causing a flood, he’ll burn off planet Earth.

Angel and Demons. When you watch this after you’ve watched Knowing... you can somehow see some connections. It's slightly of lacking if compared to The Da Vinci Code, not sure how to explain.

The Passion of The Christ. Very gruesome and bloody. It was horrible to see, painful to the heart, but nevertheless, somewhat educational (in a way).

I, Robot. Robots who were created by men will one day try to destroy their creators? This is sad.

Confession of a Shopaholic. Hahahaha... this is really shopping madness. I like how the story is partly true. The common people might be on a smaller scale though.

Yes Man! Say YES!, be positive and be rewarded! YES!

Pink Panther. Never failed in stupidity, thus those stupidity are actually good.

Pink Panther 2. More stupidity at its highest level, some lame stupidity refers back to the first movie.

The Ugly Truth. Half truth and half movie-only-fairytale. Typical girl meets guy and hates the guy with much disgust. Typical ending of guy and girl fell for each other.

Hyundae/Tsunami. Touches the human emotions. But everytime I watch a movie on Earth's destruction, I failed to overlook that it's just a movie and always catches all the cheesy fakeness of things.

The Proposal. Wow... how many of these forced-to-love turned real-love situation we’ve got in movies?

Bedtime Stories. I see a resemblance to Click? You get to control your life through the bedtime stories (and by using the remote control in Click) Good in the sense that these movie themes are quite fresh.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I was curious of the movie at first, but when I watched it, it was as boring as a plain button. (Lousy comparison, I know.)

A Walk to Remember. The typical teen movie. Bad boy with his gang of friends, laughs at other people especially that one girl which is old-fashioned. Boy gets into trouble, gets closer to girl, eventually falls in love with girl.

Evolusi Drift. Lousy acting, bad negative storyline. Drugs, fights, crimes... typical of a racing movie. Like a rip off from F&F, just much lousier.

Antoo Fighter. One weird movie. Something like a localized Ghostbusters? Hahaha... I can't take the boredom and slept through the last part.

Friday the 13th. Another terribly lousy movie of the horror franchise. We don't need lousy horror movies with stupid teens doing stupid things anymore.

Flight plan. A damn boring movie. A lady went hysteric in a plane because her daughter went missing. And because of her “hysteric reactions” nobody believed it to be real. She was on her own to seek the truth.

I don't see the point.

2009-10-09T23:02:00.000+08:00

I really don't get why I am forced to take up this course on research when I don't need it. I dislike research because at this point, what I'm doing is being forced to read things that I cannot comprehend from few journal papers and summarize them into a so-called "research paper".

Not everyone needs to know how to do research la... why not make it an elective subject, don’t have to force everyone to do it. And it’s really not fair that some group have way easier titles while some have to squeeze so much juice out of their already dried out brain, no thanks to their supervisors.(Bet they wouldn't even care much later on.)

Hmm... while I write all these things, I'm actually suppose to write my Literature Review on a given title. But my stress level increased way too high due to not being able to understand the papers that I've read and the excessive noise I get in the lab, so I'm here blogging. Those students never respect the others using the lab. (This is the rant of an emo kid, not being able to finish up her work.)

To make things worst, I can't enjoy the serenity of my room because of the damn internet connection. I've now got the whole room to myself, no annoying noises, but the internet just have to be so fucked up. Is this why people will never be satisfied with what they have? Because when one thing is given, the other thing is taken away?

Shhh... calm down PM, calm down. Don't make your own life so difficult wanting perfection in everything. It is the imperfection that make things perfect. I might not see the beauty in not getting proper internet access now, perhaps one day, I'll realise that being "disconnected" brings back the "life" I used to have before the internet days.

When I was in this technoprenuership class, my lecturer mentioned about the music industry and how it was killed by technology, partly the internet. So is the internet an evil thing? At least I know I don’t contribute to it. If I really like an artist’s work, I purchase the original CDs (I have a whole collection of CDs). Movies I like, I'll get the DVDs (not the Blueray discs for now, they cost too much). Those people who say they like an artist but only downloads their songs are bullshitting. People who like movies but only download are as bad. Same goes for books. All the illegal ebooks are gonna kill the authors. Continue and download more, one day, there’ll be no more good music, no more good books, no more good movies.

Issac Asimov created the 3 Laws of Robotics.

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

What am I trying to convey here?

I've watched "Bicentennial Man", it was good. I've watched "I, Robot", it was good too. Both goodness was from the view of a general viewer, good directing and good CG. When you think deeper, both actually says that one day, the robots will try to take over the world. (Literally!) They become more intelligent than their creators and from there, they develop feelings. Where as humans, being attached to technology, become more stupid and lost feelings.

When robots ended up smarter than human beings, it will be something depressing. The fact that human created technology is to aid us in our tasks. But the current fact already has proved that the ratio of the people who created technology to those who are being "controlled" by technology is scary.

I have to get back to the journals. Loads more to do before Monday. (I'm a robot to myself...)

PM, if you keep slacking off, others will catch up in no time. You won't be able to keep your lead, then you'll lose out in this tough world. Final lap... run run run!

Ultra Cute Bday Card v2

2009-10-06T13:33:00.003+08:00

Wanna send a birthday cake in a card?

You’ll need to train a delivery monkey to do it. And it’s no easy feat trying to teach a Monkey to do the “Houdini” act.

So here goes:
A nicely tied box...

Tada! Monkey frees itself,

And successfully gets out of the box.

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Now, preparing the cake to be sent.

Everything packed, throw in a special message.

Let’s see the cuteness again.

Oh noes... monkey took a bite off the cake!
Seems like the monkey is not trained to not eat the cake. Oops, my bad.

*Whacks naughty monkey*

Can you read if you can't see?

2009-10-05T16:17:00.004+08:00

So I’m already in my second week back in Uni and nothing much of interest has happened. Been lonely, watching movies, eating snacks instead of real meal, and I’ll never stop complaining about my lousy internet connection in my hostel room. Before that, I was back in Tune Hotel, told ya I’ll be back for the cheap price but good service. Just back in Penang, and already thinking about a meet up with WenJi and Mei Ping at the end of the October. Bought these... friendship gifts.

Remember the Radioactive Neko? Now we have 3 little kitties in gasaphone.

Doodolls are on the expensive side... so they are not quite ideal though they are so adorable. Too bad Mei Ping can’t make it to our last minute outing. It was so much fun even with only WenJi. Had lunch AND tea at Sushi Zanmai, see all the nyummy nyummy food we had... mmm... I love the stamina roll and the soft shell crab.

Played baseball...

And took pictures...

Finished up my Industrial Training final report last Wednesday, in time to be reviewed by my supervisor a day before submission. It was also good lar for the fact that I have to finish it slightly earlier. Otherwise, I would have dragged it till the final day. It was really hard for me writing that report. I got stuck at the acknowledgements part not knowing how to write it not too casually (although I would like to). Brief intro about the company and project? How can I squeeze everything into 3 pages when there is so much to write? I had to summarised 8 pages of organisation history to a paragraph of a quarter page. Write about a mega project in half a page? The 4-page limit industrial training intro and organization background is insufficient.

The department gave us interns (the Unisel trio and me) thank you gifts and here’s what I’ve got – a dual time watch and a leather notebook. (*sniff* Mmm, the smell) They are quite a gift, but somehow, I don't think they'll ever be utilised. I've never put gifts to use.

One thing I know for sure is that Flipper is now lonely.

Oh ya... before I forgot, and because now I can (I’m no longer in proximity where they can “kill” me), I present you my lovely colleagues. Muahahahaha!

Got some chocolates from a choco sale before I left. Hershey Nuggets, dark choco with almond. These are good. Regret I didn’t buy MORE. My addiction to chocolate is always there. To define me and chocolates, I saw a t-shirt while shopping (I didn’t buy it cos it was expensive, only took a pic).

First day back in school, we had a Final Year Project (FYP) briefing. So every 3rd year student had to attend class... and... picture of the early people in class.

There was one part Dr. Wan mentioned that the course is like a software company (he is like the Director of the Company? Hahaha) and the students are the developers (employees) for the company. The lecturers (to be supervisors) are the clients who have projects in mind; and the students will bid for the projects of choice. FYP “bidding” went quite well I should say *coughs* with us confirmed getting what we want even before the bidding closed. The wind has been blowing in the right direction as of now.

But is the project possible? To start from zero, with limited time and resources. Time for a mass project planning. Please grant me (and my team) the will to keep my head (our heads) up. I’m more worried of my overambitious thinking. As always, I would have all the massive crazy ideas to be added into a project, which I’m now more afraid of. I, or rather we, might end up not being able to deliver even the simplest of planned. Though it never happened before, I can’t help but to think the other way. I’ve been trying to be positive. Makes me wonder if I’ll ever be a positive person even if I said I will.

So back to the project, it’s not that much of a mega project, more like a backyard/home project, if successful, can be good in many ways. Nothing much can be said about it since it has not been finalised, but I just want it to be good. It must be good. And a plus for the project, we must have accessibility for the less-abled people because we are conscious about it, after a seminar.

Last week, we had the ICT Accessibility Seminar and Workshop and it was a key which opens a door to a wider world. We had blind speakers (from other countries as well) to give us an insight of their world.

Now if you close your eyes and try to read this post... what can you see? Nothing... that’s right, you can see nothing. So how can people who see nothing read this post? So that’s the importance of accessibility. As for websites, personal or corporate, the question asked was, “Are the contents of your website accessible to them?” Being accessible here doesn’t mean that your website is public or private (viewable to all or restricted). But it means whether it is compatible with the assistive tools that the less-abled use. For example, the blind wouldn’t care if the layout and design of your website is the best in the world, all they care is whether they can “see” the contents of the page with the aid of a screen reader. So if your website isn’t well made – no proper headings, poor alternate text descriptions, flash contents, contents which cannot be activated by keyboard – chances are they are not blind-user-friendly. (If anyone from the MAS PSS team reads this, the web check-in was mentioned as inaccessible, and I’m thinking that the self check-in kiosks are too.)

Weekends ended. Luckily no Monday blues, no classes on Mondays. Yays!
For the finale of today’s post, whose birthday is coming?
Woohoo... another ultra cute bday card in the making.

Happy Yummy Birthday v2 to be revealed, soon.

Be positive.

2009-10-02T14:00:00.000+08:00

Wow... so I've been missing for a week now. Doing what I do slowest, writing report. Hahaha...

One thing I lack is optimism. So, about the one change I want to see in me, it's to be more positive. I know, I know... sometimes I tend be be so sulky that it shows on the face that things are bad. I actually realised that even my bland facial expression (or that was what I thought) is giving people the wrong perception.

Me being the pessimist all this while caused me to miss out a lot in life. Thinking only about the bad reason for happenings. I also think I took many things for granted and once passed, they never came back. Regrets? I'll take them as a lesson to never let go. Will shamelessly, boldly make moves. Do it and don't regret it.

I think I must learn to see things from a different side. To learn to find the dim light even during the darkest nights. There's always hope, maybe small or hidden, but there's still some.

PM, be positive.

Simple update.

2009-09-25T22:42:00.001+08:00

I want to write, but my pounding head don't allow me to. Plus, being emotional when writing just isn't helping.

Currently already in Penang. Cleaned up my hostel room. (Which probably looked worst than a dungeon with all the cobwebs hanging everywhere.) I think the cleaning caused my current fever. To start with, I didn't have enough sleep yesterday, sitting and staring in to my computer wasting time, missing everyone. Then the long road trip caused some stomach ache. What a bad start to returning to Penang.

Report made no progress, or rather I made no progress on the report. Tough... I can't put them in words. Still attached so deeply. Report turned emotional ramblings. People commonly say, "I always knew I would look back on my crying and laugh, but I never thought I would look back on my laughter and cry." So did I.

Next up, I'm gonna write about the one change I want to see in myself. The one thing that caused me to look up to a person much. It is going to be a challenge for me. I want to change for the better.

Good night people.

No food.

2009-09-18T20:12:00.002+08:00

For the record...

Since 9pm Wednesday night till now.

I've ate nothing and only drank a can of iced lemon tea and a glass of cold water.
Stomach growled once or twice this morning, and that was it.
Missed lunch today, sad case. Should have been a good one. *Sighs*

Going out for my first meal in about 48 hours.

Come rain or shine

2009-09-18T02:05:00.001+08:00

Come rain or shine, the clock continues to tick, the candle continues to burn. Must endure the temptation to snooze off and live on. The thoughts that control the mind are colourless, odourless, tasteless. Like a silent killer. So why should the thoughts even be entertained? Leave the negative to die there and then. Move on with only the positive powering your journey. Contaminated fuel will not bring you far, instead, it damages the engine.

We meet obstacles everyday. Most people will say, "If you can't get pass it, try again and again until you do." The lazy (smart arses) will think, "If you can't get pass it, find another way to BYPASS it." (Lazy no brainers can do nothing, so they have nothing to say. Period.) I say, "If I can't pass it, I'll find a way for it to pass me." I have to make things work for me and not be enslaved by it.

Sometimes I already knew that I'm gonna give things a fight before I plan on what to do next. But I played the final card way before the game comes to an end. It's like, how can a drama end one episode earlier than the production contract? When it's so well received and made it into the hearts of many, how can the production just halt like that? They haven't even pay the cast... *sighs* The perfectionist in me will regret playing the last card, and my heart will say, fight all you want, fight for what you deserve, fight because they're worth it. If you're fated to win, be it a strong enemy, you'll learn to be even stronger.

A weak heart is all it takes to crumble. It's the core, the most important part of life. I've learned to protect it well. Like tempered glass, it will still break, but does not shatter easily. You can definitely live on without food. Yesterday, I woke up without breakfast, skipped lunch and missed dinner. I never felt hungry. It's not a rigorous diet routine. The brain was hampered with loads, the heart just kept pushing on. None had the break to process hunger.

You know what... I think this is enough of me being emo for today.

PS: I walked off with a heavy heart, saying that I don't ever want to turn back. No doubts, no regrets. If fated, one day, we'll meet at another crossroad. I'll definitely miss all of it.

Hangover

2009-09-09T21:09:00.001+08:00

Can it end here? The rest already seem so insignificant... so what's the point, eh?
Not for the moolah, obviously... too little anyway.
Hmm... nvm... will complete the journey.

Well... now playing with some scripting. And this scripting language sucks so badly. Reasons? Only 1 page worth of syntax, 2 pages of example and you're expected to use it to do as much as normal programming languages do. Reason number 2, uncle Google can't help you here... there are absolutely no examples on the web! Reason 3, you can copy the example provided in the manual with the exact syntax... yet when you run it, it gives you a syntax error. I really went WTF about it!! I've had my fun with it for 2 days and I can do most of what the scripting language allows.

I wrote about the kdrama City Hall in the last post... and this post, I shall stress that it is a MUST WATCH! I just finished watching the entire drama and I have to say that I'm impressed with absolutely everything. It breaks my heart to see Mi Rae suffer so much, her tears caused so much anger in me. My hands were itching to look for drama spoilers... fortunately I didn't because it would have spoiled all the anxiety of watching the drama.

Though I'm late, I have to congratulate all the City Hall staffs for this great drama. The happiest ending in all the kdramas I've ever watched. Two thumbs up from me for all the casts and crew. d(^__^)b I love the ending, I won't be asking for more or season 2 or what-so-ever. Let it be happy and memorable. Love the dance, love how Jo Guk embraces Mi Rae, love the kisses (so passionately) What else I stay up the whole night for? Just to watch ep15 -20 of CH, freshly downloaded. Have to thank BON fansubs for their work too. *hugs* Now I have a problem... City Hall hangover.

*Goes to practice the piano*

City Hall for my holidays

2009-09-05T12:20:00.000+08:00

10 days of holidays... 4 days of weekends, 2 days of public holidays and 4 days of leave.

Long break for me, before I continue on with another half-month of business and it all ends there. Loads of things which I've planned to do during this long hols... but seems like I haven't finish any of them. I've already realised that I'll miss the people. Now, if Shell had taken me, I wouldn't even be here. It has been something that is fated. But also fated that I won't have the chance to shake hands with Datuk Idris Jala. Such drastic transfer.

Still not comfortable when grandpapapa is around... for no particular reason. WTH with the awkwardness the other day when I was "forced" to sit beside him for lunch. Seriously, I don't know why. He even jokingly said that I was tricked by him over the phone to work in this company. Partly true, partly untrue. I'll leave out the details, because only I know the reason I'm here. But before I leave, I must make sure that I get a diecast of that 777 in Heliconia livery... a "mate" for my 747 Hibiscus Livery.

So why I got derailed and not finish up all my planned stuff during this holidays? All thanks to this one Kdrama which I got stuck watching. Well... I watched the first few episodes when it was airing in Korea without the subs. Then I got too busy and dropped all my gaming, movies and sadly, drama too. I never forgot this drama which is an absolute must watch for me, because I'm still a fan of the main actress. Must watch!! Must watch!! So devastated that I missed all the fun with Soompi forumers. I only started when all their fangirlism ended. Sigh~

Kim Suna and Cha Seong Won in City Hall (시티홀)

(The promo poster isn't the best. I wanted one which has Suna as the Mayor, with the straight hair and that great look, seems like I can't find any.)

I'm now stuck at episode 15 because I finished watching way faster than the download rate. OMG... I might just go crazy waiting!! Ottoke? They both make such a good couple, but I have to say that Cha Seung Won is not the best looking guy around. His acting abilities made up for his looks though. Loads of other drama I wanna watch as well, but where do I source for them? Download is taking ages to complete an episode... screw the bad internet service.

My next target would be Kim Myung Min's movie My Love By My Side. This movie will be great stuff. All the hard work and effort that KMM put into filming this movie puts it on top of my must watch movie list. He actually lost 20kg gradually just to fit into his role as a patient dignosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease. Really salute him for the tremendous details he put into his work. We should support actors and actresses who has passion towards their job, not only those who are pleasant to the eyes.

What else to do when I have such a long holiday, and allowance just paid? Go shopping lar

I'm not one of those people who spend money like water. But still, I think that I'm overspending on things which are considered as a luxury. Err, not diamonds or gold... just things which are considered "can-live-without"/"can-do-without" items. Desires are evil. For self comfort, I'll say that it is essential since I don't have one and having one is good. I'm talking about my first laptop bag eversince I got my laptop. My XPS will be so happy it won't have to be swimming in my huge backpack now that it has its own compartment which fits it nicely. The bag is a convertible, what I like most about it apart from the simple design. Initially target the backpack from the same series because the backpack has an add on which can transform the bag into a DSLR camera bag. Since I've dropped my intention of getting a DSLR, no point getting the huge backpack. Settled for this.

Best buy for the week. (Got it slightly cheaper than retail *\(^__^)/*)

On Thursday, went out for dinner with my colleagues (all interns). It wasn't anything out of the ordinary for me, just that it was expensive (LOL). But we had a great night... joking around, letting loose. I can clearly see that there was an thorn within the bushes. Don't ask me why I say so. Pictures for the event... hmm... I'll upload later.

Alright, I'm holding my breath over this particular product by Logitech. Enough of poison from Saitek's X52 joystick... now more poison from the Logitech G940.

The specs, look at the specs of this joystick. It's every flight simmer's dream controller. This set of joystick has force feedback to give a realistic feel of handling a real aircraft. I don't know how real, but it is said that it can reflect wind shear, turbulence and g-force.

Sorry... the price tag blinds my eyes, mutes my ears and breaks my heart. The set will retail at RM1699. (The price in US is USD299.99... after conversion at current exchange rate, add in the shipping... will probably be about RM1.2k) Why oh why must toys be so expensive? They must understand that kids like me cannot afford the high price tag for such toys.Will Santa come visiting me this year? I've been a good child. Maybe not.

More self comfort... I don't need all these toys. I'm gonna be busy as hell when school resumes in 3 weeks time. I haven't even started on my Literature Review and my Industrial Training Final Report. Heck, I haven't even do my weekly reports. So much of enjoying all this while that I've forgotten everything about school.

When you least expect it

2009-08-26T22:19:00.000+08:00

Just when you thought that you've finally escape from the jungle, you're safe...
An ambush happens. In simple terms, shit happens!

It was seriously something that was out of my expectations. Totally different from what I've thought of. Initially, everything seem to be going well, but... is everything genuine? (Me being paranoid again) I can't avoid it, it happened too many times that what I see or heard in front, nice and pleasant is not the truth. When the wind brings the words around, you'll hear the opposite. So that was the first. There will be a second... coming at the end of this week. I thought I would be free of the torturing thoughts, seems like it came back to haunt me just about 30 hours after the first.

Certain path taken is like they were meant to be. There don't need to be any reason for why this is this and that is that. Somehow, things always remind of the term 'fated'. Maybe it's just to convince myself that there are no good or bad decisions, they are all experiences, thus fated. Face them positively, they happen for the better, that I learn to handle them well, not blame anybody, understand that they are challenges setup to make me stronger.

It's all up there in our minds, so think about it.

Okay lar... today is sleep early day. Wake up tomorrow, to face a brand new day. So let me round up this post with some pictures.

Random pictures from work.

That person is probably on crack while everyone else cracks up.

I'm a GOLD 5 star employee. :P (Awarded by Lieza... approved by Wei-Min? LOL...)

2 Days of Awesome Experiences

2009-08-20T23:56:00.002+08:00

2 days filled with fun and excitement not everyone can experience. I know I won't get any more chances like this. So allow me to brag to my heart's content.

Yesterday got a chance to touch the body of an airplane. Stood inside a totally stripped off plane and asked random questions about the plane. I was in the once glorious plane, 9M-MPD (Niner Mike - Mike Papa Delta) which used to be in the Hibiscus Livery, now plain boring plane undergoing maintenance in the hangar. It is just too sad that not even a single picture was allowed. It was so awesome to be standing right in front of the nose of a 747-400P, to touch the painting of the airplane livery, see the stripped off engines... and to wave from the outside of the airplane window... LOL. The height of the 747-400 winglet is probably higher than me standing. The joke for the day would be the toilet bowls of the plane, removed and arranged nicely outside.

Let me tell you this... the Engineering & Maintenance walkabout is the only way you can touch the exterior of a 747, (other than being the engineers there lah) so if you have the chance to, don't ever let it go. Too many interesting things that can only be in my mind. One thing that can be shared though, is Aliff sleeping nicely during the "brief" intro about MAS Engineering & Maintenance.

Today... long day visiting many places. Started off by visiting Malaysia Airlines Academy, got this short briefing by Mr Netto (first time I got to see him, always only heard of him). Walkabout the training facilities for air steward/stewardess. Went to the grooming training room. >_> Abang became a 1 minute steward and did the catwalk for everyone. Moving on to the mock up plane section, I landed my butt on First Class seat in a 747 yo! Got people served me some more, kekeke.

Then we headed to the MAS IT Data center. We walked around the server room, it was chilly, but not really that cold like what I've heard. There were these huge mainframes, the IBM Z9 and the newer IBM Z10. A 8 drive tape recorder which size is like 8 fridges placed side by side. It stores customers data and all. Network racks... with crazy cables bundled and tied together. That was half a floor of servers, racks, and so much more. Pity... no pics allowed. Sensitive... they say. After lunch, moved on to Skypark ticketing office. Not very busy, but still got customer lar...

The most awesome part for the day is the flight simulator! I've been wanting this ride since I first started working in MAS. It's a wish fulfilled. (despite the short ride) So freaking awesome... the feeling of holding the yoke, stepping on the rudder pedals, touching the throttle... omg... *sits back and re-imagine as if I was back in the cockpit*

And, we have a dead pilot!

My craze to fly has been fulfilled with my 1 month allowance + mileage claims to fund my 23" LCD and a Saitek Cyborg Evo joystick. The joystick should be good enough for me. The X52 is too pricey, but it's really cool to have a separate throttle. Handling can become so realistic. I think the real enthusiast get themselves the Flight Yoke, rudder pedals, throttle quadrant, instrument panel, headset bla bla bla... Saitek has a great range of Flight Sim joysticks.

This is my setup to fly at home. Too bad my chair doesn't move like the simulator does.

Complaining is my hobby.

2009-08-19T22:25:00.000+08:00

I love to complain, can't deny this hobby of mine.

Complain to grandmamama...
complain to the wall...
complain to the paper...
complain here.

I should learn to get out of complaining too much. I know it irritates people as much as the irritation caused by the problem itself. But if things get overboard, complaining reduces the stress and tension.

Next up... the 2 days of awesomeness I'm gonna brag about that not everybody can experience. (Please let me do)

Bucket full of crap

2009-08-17T22:56:00.003+08:00

*Does random shouting at the wall*

This is absurd!
How can that person be so free while this person is still having a neverending load?

Unacceptable unfairness.

Ooh la laaaa~

2009-08-16T00:33:00.005+08:00

Facebook shrank...

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Because display got larger <3
Best buy for the week.

While pocket gets thinner...

In record time!

2009-08-14T23:19:00.007+08:00

Wah... today OT kau kau. Not enough with yesterday's work at home till late, today, continue to be insane and stayed till half past 8. Flew directly home later. This late and there was still slight traffic! Reached home past 9... PM, you siao la. But at least I have a whole bunch of interns to accompany me. Enough of work, it's the weekends!! Hurrah!!

Okay la, wanna go to bed liao. Had a long week and I know that the weekends are always short. Have to sleep more, enjoy the bed and all my monkey plushies.

My problems, maybe not...

2009-08-12T22:00:00.004+08:00

Side note: Congrats to USM graduates 2009!! Hope you guys have a wonderful celebration after all the hard work.

I'm exhausted, working late on every single thing I have to do. Not enough time for the want-to-dos. Can count with my fingers the preferred-to-do, but quite a number of forced-to dos. Have a whole list of need-to-do, in the end... I don't want to do!! Guess that my speed in doing things has decreased. Felt like time is ticking too fast. Arggghhhh... lousy school assignments! Also lost my magic touch in writing, it'll take me forever to write a paragraph. (A paragraph of formal writing, blogging doesn't count.) Coming Friday will have a presentation to the Manager. The last time, did it hastily and simply crapped my way through. This time, I don't think there'll be any excuses for me to repeat what I've done.

Last week had the chance to step into the cargo building in KLIA. The task was to deploy the necessary software for cargo before the cutover. Okay, put it in simple words, to do installation and configurations. So had a slight glimpse of how those people handle the packages. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great. Words can't describe, and camera was forbidden. So... it will remain a mystery to those who doesn't know.

During the visit, manage to get this thick blue MASKargo lanyard from the staff, (requested with a thick skin... hahaha). Plain? Not plain!

This thing is special in the sense that it actually glows in the dark.

Compared with the (yucky) PSS SITA MAS lanyard... this thing is awesome. Awaiting the 5-star lapel pins from Lieza's suppliers and more badges. I want a whole collection of them.

Got myself a unique watch. A cheap knockoff (I'm a cheapo) of the TokyoFlash Pimp Star Performer. Looks and works exactly the same as the original. Well, just got it because it has that "bling" factor. FYI, bling doesn't have to be only in silver/gold/jewelry. For the geeks, bling can also be in the form of flahsy LEDs. To further save money, I adjusted the strap myself. (I'm a cheapo, must I remind you?) The watch is huge, but still fine if compared to ODM Pixel. It's slightly narrower than the Pixel. Best buy for the week.

Had my new tables ready. Custom made to fit the space in my room. I now want my 23" LCD! Then place the LCD on a custom made acrylic stand which can place my keyboard underneath to save space. *shakes head* enough of day dreaming.

Every morning is just another frustrated morning for not being able to get through to Wake Up Your Brain. Whether it is a good thing or not, it's for my luck to decide. (The money just kept snowballing and now it's RM26200!) Everytime I can't get through, I'd listen to the answers by those lucky callers. Right after every answer was mentioned, I have the satisfaction of saying I still have a chance.

One random thing I wanna write about after this little discussion with my friend is, what are the odds? Lets do some calculation.

What are the odds of you winning the lottery which consist of 4 or more digits?
0... because you didn't make any bets. LOL

What are the odds that you'll be top in the class?
1... there's always a chance to pathetically say "I'm in the top 50 in my class", whereby there's only 50 people in the class. Swt...

So what are the odd of me winning that money? It's 1x1/n (LOL... It's 1, because I called. 1, because I'm only 1 person, divided by all the other people who called) Very random discussion... but somewhat true. If I don't try calling at all, it would be 0, since 0 multiply with any number is still 0.

Today's traffic is totally crazy!! This flyover in Subang which takes less than a minute to pass normally, took me more than 30 minutes today, just to see that there weren't any accidents or flood etc etc, just plain slowdown. The Sunway toll was crazy too, morning and evening... in fact, everyday!!

Got free lunch today. (*coughs* according to Mr. Chow, there's no free lunch in this world and we have to "pay" by listening to their speeches, LOL) Camwhoring with the whole bunch of interns, taking weird pictures, took more pictures and took so many pictures. Fun never-the-less, some sort of happy get together which tells us that, unfortunately, we were all placed in different offices, else we would rock the office so hard! Here are some weirdos in action... (They posed okay... not candid shots!) >=)

Random random monkey...
Nic and his "cello". >_>; Hoping he can play the Liber Tango. Owh, where's the bow?

Wake up your brain

2009-08-07T08:28:00.002+08:00

This radio show on Fly FM is really making me frustrated every morning. Wake Up Your Brain!!

My brain has been awaken for 2 weeks already. The frustration comes from not being able to get through. The more frus came from the thought that I know the right answer since 2 weeks ago!!

How can people not think of this answer when it's such a common thing?
I'm praying hard to get through. The prize money had just snowballed to RM24700 this morning. Please pray for me as well.

3 hours.

2009-08-03T00:25:00.003+08:00

How long did it take me to write half a page worth of report?

3 FREAKING HOURS!!!

I'm doomed...