My Love

As Malaysia turns 50 this year, I can't ignore some very merdeka-ish thoughts that are running through my mind. Whatever the idiosyncrasies this country may have, I can't help but declare that

1. I love how this country has fought through all its difficult times and managed to survive to this day, rising to become the Malaysia now.

2. I love how I am in the middle of all this racial goodness. I may not be able to convince you (if you know me well enough), but somehow, I am grateful for it. Some of my best friends are Indian, while some of the friendliest people I've met are Malays, and sadly, some of the worst people I know are Chinese, which brings me to my point: we should never judge people based on their skin, but we have to understand idiots are borne into every race. So don't go around judging others based on their skin. Come on guys, we are old enough to have learned and understand this by now.

3. I love the food in this glorious nation. Chinese, Malay, Indian, Middle Eastern, Italian, French, Thai, Vietnam, European... damn, we are lucky to have all this food and yet not ending up being one of the 'fatter' nations (that would be you America =P)

4. I love the fact that we do not have the liberty that we oh so desire for. If not there won't be anything uniting us Malaysian bloggers. But persevere we shall.

5. I love how we get everything relatively later (tech stuff especially) so that compulsive people like me would have no choice but to wait and read up on what other people are saying about those products. In the end, I am forced to make an informed purchased and that saves me moolah!

6. I love how the girls in this country are getting hotter and hotter... especially right now =) And I'm not just talking about any one particular group here, its like suddenly all the ingredients in this rojak is looking super good! And I'm the kinda guy that would throw out the weird tasting not-keropok thingy, not eat the hard dried fruits and hate it if the 'kuah' is too dry or wet...

7. I love how students can get sued for singing the national anthem but datuks can get away with their corruption. It shows me that I can get away with anything as long as I have money. I'm going to teach my children that.

8. I love how I can go to church freely and not be put to jail or be killed just because of my believes beliefs. It's something that we all have to remember to be grateful for everyday
[edit: why can't you just cut me some slack on Merdeka? *sheesh*]

9. I love how we can get degrees that get us international jobs in the end even though we had a 'disciplinary card' in school or got below average for SPM. It just goes to show that our public education system just doesn't matter. That's one of the things that got me through my lowest periods in school when I was not meeting up to the 'standard' "Ummm... I see that wonderful student working in McDonalds now. What? He was a prefect and scored an A in BM? Where is he now again?"

10. I love my country, because this is where I grew up in, this is where I met all my friends, this is where I met God, this is where I met my love, this is where I learned to cry and to laugh, this is where I learned to hate and to forgive, this is where all my memories are and will always be. That's why this country will always have my love.

Fogal Meat Market, Plaza Damaz

Before its too late, I think I should quickly get this one out the door - a Friday night out at Fogal, Plaza Damaz. I think the dinner had perfect timing, Lam's Nottingham application was rejected and I think it did cheer him up a bit, plus maybe Doraemon played some role too (just keep reading). Well this place is known for meat, pork, lamb, beef, chicken, you name it - and somehow I'm getting really addicted to eating meat nowadays - so, perfect.


Prakash showed up with 2 toy balloons for Jackie and Joyce. Hello Kitty for Jackie and Doraemon for Joyce. Thats The Kash for you in a nutshell, always treating the ladies right.


Joyce and Jackie have gotten really close. Even she gets more 'babies' than me already.


"Buy my balloons la.." (sorry, my caption do no justice to how he was acting at this precise moment, everyone was laughing)


Marcus, Prakash, Jackie and Lam


No caption can caption this... suggestions in the comments section. Buuuttt... click on the picture to see a larger size and notice Jackie... quick!


PRAKIE! or JACKASH!


Got Malk? Was a little adventurous, ended up with Classic Hot Chocolate based on a friend's recommendation. My take on it? Try it if you like the idea of hot chocolate topped with cold cream on top... *bleh*


I think she can be in one of those 'Got Milk' ads in US, just that it's not really milk on her lips, it's cream.


Wish I could have one of these beers. Damn expensive - RM60 I think. Thats 5 Venti Caramel Macchiatos!


Did I mention that she slipped and fractured her leg 7 days later at Starhill? She's recovering now, walk until very pitiful

Sunsilk Hates Curly Haired People, They're Hairists!

On the back of one of the new Sunsilk shampoo bottles:
"Rasa malu kerana rambut kerinting?"
"Pada satu masa rambut anda nampak cantik, lulus dan sempurna, tapi tiba tiba... kerinting!"

For the sake of my international readers (cheh...), the English translation:
"Feel ashamed of your curly hair?"
"Once upon a time, your hair looked beautiful, straight and perfect, but all of a sudden... CURLY!"

Now, tell me what in the world are they trying to say? Are they saying that curly haired people are *gasp* ugly? imperfect? How dare they! These big companies think they can just waltz in and say that straight hair is the bomb and everything else is mother goose? Think they can just sway the young into these fallacies of what types of hair is better? In the words of my old college friend from KDU, Chan Hsein Loong: TOO MUCH!

Or... maybe they just haven't seen how freaking cool and awesome and beautiful and talented these curly haired people are?

The Numbers Speak For Themselves, Proton Super Confident Now

There are over 8,000 bookings and 2,000 prebooking(!) for the Persona based on Paul Tan's report. That's 8,000 people who likes what they are seeing and 2,000 people who really really trusted Proton (maybe employees? haha.. don't quote me ok, k-i-d-d-i-n-g only). And if you do click on the report, you'll be able to see a quote from Proton's MD being all pr-ish.

I just want to say this: if I never saw the Gen2 before, the Persona would look pretty good to me. It has good, strong, muscley looks (yeah, even in person) and hey, its freaking affordable for 1.6l car. BUT, because I know what a Gen2 is and how it looks like, the Persona just looks likes a Gen2 with a saggy butt. And I'm trying my uber best not to be mean here.

After looking at this car in the flesh, I don't think of it as a joke anymore, I take that back. I just think that Proton could've done better in differentiating its looks from its older brother, the Gen2.

p.s. and what's up with their pricing? every car in their lineup now has price points all over the place. Waja is around 50-60k and has almost the same specs with the Persona if I'm not mistaken. Not to mention that the Gen2 now is right in the middle of these two. Thank God I'm not in the market for a car now. I would have one hell of a time deciding, and I'm already very indecisive even in a food court.

p.s.2 I didn't know that a Saga replacement model was on the way until I read this:the BLM. I just love all these spy shots, and the coolest part? they usually turn up to be pretty accurate.

I Feel Like I'm in a Mosquito Farm

AARRGGHH!!! I've already killed 3 mosquitoes tonight in my room! You know the type that sucks your blood and hangs around dark clothing? And then when I moved to my bed, I see the 'water' type of mosquito (or is it a fly?) flying around there. Out-*&@!%&!-rageous! I don't understand why my room is such a hub for these stupid things. Is there a convention going on in my room that I don't know of? But even if there was, the banners would've been too small for me anyway right? (says some smart aleck reading my blog this late in the night/early in the morning).

Thats not it... every single night for the past 1 week, these little buggers have been disturbing the holyness out of me. GAAAAHHHH!!! I need a break from these flies!!

The Apartment

My horrid day ended at The Apartment where a couple of us, who did come, chugged down our favs and talked about the happy and the sads from the week. Well, not exactly as cool as I made it sound, but it's cool in my mind nonetheless.

It was suppose to be a night of movie magic, all of us were looking forward to Ratatouille at Cineleisure, but by 8pm all tickets were sold out. So with no where to go, where else? Try new place la...

The drinks are only meh, but the waiters and bar guys are really friendly (or it could just have been Prakash). Didn't get to try out their food, but I think the prices are just nice for such a place. Its somewhere between Fridays and Itallianies.

Ended the night early and headed back home while the guys made their way to jazz fest. Troopers la they all.

p.s. decided not to post up the pics, didn't have my camera with me, so used my n70, turned out quite ugly, and you guys know how much I hate ugly things right? =P

To My Friend Who We All Call Odie

So sad that you have to work so far away from us, can hardly hang out. Still owe us coffee... next semester then? Oh ya, cheer up! I've never met a stronger person than you, and remember to take good care of yourself.

So I dedicate this sketch of you, to you!

Go listen to Gym Class Heroes - Shoot Down The Stars. Somehow reminds me of you, or maybe its just the song thats playing while I type this *spaces out*

p.s. the slight shaded areas around your eyes and cheeks is suppose to be your makeup, which somehow you are never without, and of course hands in the air...

To The Person That I've Sketched Out So Perfectly Here

Thanks for being such a friend throughout my first sem at UCSI. Looking back, it would have really sucked without you. I think my engrish would have degladed aledi lo if no u.

Oh! - and I wouldn't have met so many cool people (gosh, I sound like a major dork, takde orang kenal)

Oh 2! - and I would have to talk with girl girls all the time... don't worry, I remember that you're a chick. We are just like Timon and Pumbaa - I'm Timon right?

I know that this is not the sketch that you like but I think this is much more funnier *runs for cover*

Hello My New Old Blog

Who am I to betray myself? Deep down inside, I knew my blog can never be colorful. It needs to be in black and white! I just cannot believe that I spent a whole 2 days deliberating new designs and ended up with this one, my very first look and still the best hands down. Of course its back with a few changes here and there, but I'm sure most of you wouldn't notice them anyway, only a uptight perc* like me will care.

Going to try to be more creative with my post's pictures and be more proactive with bettering (its not a word I know) my writing. By the way, sometimes even I feel dizzy reading my own writing... I don't know how you guys do it, but thank you.

Exams are over, holidays are here - So here's to a new season in blogging!

*perc = perfectionist

Glo: After 4 Months

Having someone that would be wiling to share the burden of sharing God's word in young adults ministry is not something to be taken lightly. Lucky me, I have 2 =) I'm not 100% sure how the rest thought of their sharing, but I was really blessed.

Sometimes I do feel that I need to be in control of every single tiny little detail, but in retrospect, its really stupid for me to think that I would be able to manage it alone. I'm beginning to let go now, starting to learn how to depend on God and on my friends more than I ever have.

So, after about 3 months of handling this ministry, what can I say? I know I've been sharing my struggles and hardly painting a beautiful picture for you guys. But I just want to say that, ministry in church is not something supernaturally perfect. The people in it are still people. We are prone to small mistakes, big mistakes, gigantic mistakes, you name it.

The difference in the end is that we are not depending on our own strength, but on God's. When you see it in that light, ministry in church will start to look pretty good. Its something that we have to learn and relearn again down the road.

If you're stuck in a rut now, start searching for a solution, start looking further than you have ever looked before. The only way to escape is to decide on something life changing, not just accepting things as it is.

Relieved

My friend's going to be alright

p.s. It was a rough weekend, but at least I know that I have you guys. Appreciate everything that was written in the comments previously. Will be concentrating on my finals the next few days, so no updates till later in the week. Take care everyone.

Staring At The Sun

What a way to end my weekend, I don't know how am I gonna sleep through this

An old friend, has just been diagnosed with a near cancerous condition, she's 16

Non Christian parent of a church member called and blaming us for her daughter still not back at 12am, reality: she didn't call her mom to tell her she's out with her friend and actually not been with us since 9pm

After all this time, still unable to unite my church's young people, lots of ramblings and complains still reaching me, despite all the effort, the blood and the sweat, 2 groups constantly bickering, constantly unhappy, pointing fingers, blaming us, me, I don't know anymore, I'm still human, I'm still trying. I remember someone saying that trying counts. I would like to still believe that, but its hard. I'm slowly realizing I'm in a one sided relationship. Yeah, as bad as a one sided relationship.

Came back home, no credit, no internet connection, Maxis phone dead - I came back to a communications black hole, all at 1am, stopping me from solving some of these problems immediately, keeping me stuck

Exams next week in the back of my head

Why all in the same night?

My Friend's Take on Kotex

This is Peggy's Kotex ad for her advertising class for the recent semester. She was really worried about it - her group was not helping, ridiculous assignment requirements from the lecturer, lack of experience with cameras and editing software, and zero ideas. I gave her a suggestion, and she took it. The video is about 50% of what my suggestion was. Congratulations Peggy!

p.s. Very fast to load and must watch

Visual Comm Project 3 - Toilet Signs

My final project for Visual Comm this semester was to get into a group and come up with an original design for a toilet sign. Starting out with 250 sketches, we were suppose to narrow it down to the top 10 and then the final one. These are just a couple of my sketches during the conceptualizing stage. Finally our lecturer suggested to use Peggy's idea, and so we did. I guess idea No.9 is a little bit ahead of its time and idea No.6 is just too erotic?

Final work by me and Peggy, presenting... "Boy and Girl"


Click on for a bigger image of boy girl

Retardation

In Hall 2, GSC Mid Valley, Love is Cinta, the stupidest movie of the year, is reaching its half point mark when suddenly
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*du du du du du du du du du du du du duuuu*

(at the top of his voice)

"Ah ya?? Hellu? Takpe, boleh cakap. Ok you klik home server... Takpe, I tunggu.."

"Siapa tu bang?!", the bastard's girl asks

"Takde la, Lin saje.. U nak cakap tak?!"

"Ok ok... Ahh Lin! Hi!"

"SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!", your humble narrator hissed

"Bukan bukan! You pergi home server, pas tu..", the chicken pie continues, ignoring all basic etiquette and common sense

"SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!", your pissed but still patient narrator hissed again

"..... AH! Ok Ok, betoi! Okok, you klick tu skrang!", louder than before

He finally leaves to continue his conversation outside.
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What a noble man. Felt the obligation to let all of us know about his friend who apparently doesn't know how to access its home server. We salute you, O hero of civilization!

-_-"

I guess it takes about 15 minutes for people like him to realize that:
a) he's at a cinema
b) remember that cinemas are for watching movies and people shouldn't be talking out loud over their phones

If he was able to get through all those tough steps, it would take another 10 minutes for his puny brain to communicate to the rest of the body to get up and leave.

Let me ask you, my wonderful readers, what do you do when you get a call in the cinema? I'm sure you either don't pick it up, or walk out to answer.
Know why? Because you're not re~tar~ded...

Visit Malaysia Year 2007, haven for retards and the like

p.s. Am I the only one who feels that the Digi Cinema Ad with the Chinese Ah Beng talking loudly on his phone is extremely racist?

After All The Teasing, Its Finally Out

The punchline to the joke that is Proton

I'm using a very nice, stylized press picture of the Proton Persona so that my blog doesn't look like crap. If you do see the car in person, you'll know that the real car looks nothing like this. I usually don't write about cars, so I'll leave you with a couple of links to more pictures (or rather, real pictures of the car) and early impressions from much better sources.

Paul Tan's test drive
Zero to Hundred coverage on the launch day

How To Change Your Header In New Blogger

This post is dedicated to Odie

With the new blogger, you don't need to mess around with complicated html or css to get change your blog's header. It only takes 2 easy steps and your finished design.

Step 1

First, you go into your blog's dashboard and click layout. You'll see something like the above picture. The long rectangle at the top labeled (your blog's name)(header) is the thing you should be looking out for. Click on edit

Step 2

Then a new window will open that looks exactly like the above. From here, you can either upload a picture from your computer by clicking on browse or put in the link to your picture if you have already uploaded it to your favorite image host (photobucket, imageshack, allyoucanupload, picasa web etc etc).

Wait for the picture to pop up in the box before clicking on save changes, and immediately your blog will have that new canggih banner of yours that you spent hours designing.

The First New Aluminium iMac in Malaysia?

... and I've got to take a picture with it! *fireworks and the junk*

Thanks to my wonderful VIP contacts over at Macasia, I managed to see it, touch it, take pictures with it, all short of making out with it.

The first thing you'll notice about these babies is that it is fracking thin.

Let me try to describe it to you. Imagine looking at Britney when she was younger (and less hideous) and thinking "my God, she's hot... and look at her, she's just so thin" and then seeing Paris for the first time. Its like every generation of America's slu...ummm...stars, just keep redefining the word thin. Now apply that to Apple and you'll be able to see they have been redesigning their lineup of machines.

The aluminum part feels exactly like how a Macbook Pro would feel, while the back is completely black in color and has a very matte feeling to it. Not really sure what material though. Could be the same as the black Macbooks (I only got to touch it for 5 minutes, so sorry if I can't be more descriptive).


The new keyboard is awesome. Its everything like what I imagined when I saw the pictures. Its really really thin, like thinner than a roti canai thin. Feels good to type on since I've been using laptop keyboards for the past 4 years, but if you're coming from those normal keyboards, it might take getting used to. You've just got to see it.

This is roughly what I felt when I saw it. Didn't get to turn it on, but honestly, the most significant thing about it is its looks. So good enough for me.

A peek into iPhoto '08
Managed to play around with iPhoto '08 and first impressions? Even with the "events" feature, it feels like a downgrade, from the way it handles albums to keywords (floating window vs fixed in '06). But the "events" feature is really cool and seems to be a really strong reason to upgrade.

Final Thoughts
To answer a couple of questions. Do I feel tempted? Yes. Will I be jealous when Pet's iMac arrives? Yes. Has it affected my feelings towards my Macbook Pro? No, it still kicks so much buntut!

Open Your Ears and Come Closer

If you you have brothers or sisters, listen up

Can you please stop being such an uncivilized narcissistic hypocrite and start treating your siblings with respect and love regardless of age, character and personality?

I am sick of seeing people who can't even love their sister yet can dare to say they love their boyfriend. Can do everything for this guy who doesn't even come from the same womb and have the same blood, but can't even just give in a little to the one that did. What is up with you people? We are in families to love and care for each one of them, not fight and bicker over who drives the car, who gets the dress or whatever else you people can fight about.

Worst part? So called Christian. Not asking you to crucify yourself for the world's sins la.. Expecting you to be the more matured one and give in to your little sister also cannot?

Can give everything to your boyfriend. He ask for kisses, can. Hugs, can. Money, can. Understanding, can. Politeness, can. Time, can. Then after a few months (years if you're lucky), dump you for another?

Your sister want to borrow your dress for one night to her prom? CANNOT!
Your brother asks you to help him out with some work? NO TIME!

Why can't you just be a little bit more generous and give your little brothers and sisters a break?

"No! I am older, I have certain rights and privileges"
Please la... It's your right and privilege to give, understand?

So if you terasa by what I'm saying, don't come find me and throw rocks at my front gate. Please go and start loving and caring for your siblings like you should have been doing since they were born.

The Kissing Post

How would you kiss your lovely hubby/lao poh on your wedding day in front of all your family, relatives (which most probably you wouldn't know 90% of them anyway) and friends?




The I'm-too-shy-to-be-a-man-to-give-her-a-real-kiss-so-I-give-her-a-kiss-on-the-cheek kiss?




The deep-sensual-I-don't-give-a-crap-about-how-others-feel-cause-it's-my-own-damn-wedding kiss?




The passionate-45-degrees-hold-her-close-by-the-waist-pushing-her-hips-all-so-tightly to-you kiss?
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or you're finally gonna admit you're a fag and kiss the best man?
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No, seriously, do let me know and feel free to be creative

Happy Burpday Victoria!

Happy Birthday Vic! You have been a good friend since my KDU days and this post is specially for you. I still remember what you and Win got me on my birthday in 2006 and am really really grateful to this day =) Don't worry about your final project so much, just have more faith. Take care and have a good one this year

Tido

Classes have ended for the semester exactly one week before my finals. Came back on Friday after 2 days of late nights and stress-filled days to my bed and got reacquainted with a lost lover - sleep.

Tido cukup cukup dulu, nanti bole blog lebih... Tunggu I ya *hand flap*

Joshua Got BollyWOOD

Assignment due in 18 more hours - 2,000 word research paper
Presentation due in 38 more hours - lots of video splicing and joining, slides

Someone still grumbling that we picked this topic for our research paper
What topic? Bollywood

Wish me luck guys

Please Stop Corrupting...

...my innocent mind.

The Thong passed me this movie recently.

Started off normal enough. 2 little kids who love baseball, one sucked, one amazed... in no way did prepare me for the next 90 minutes of the film.

p.s. Pet, the movie was great

I Survived

Felt so down and out for the whole of last week - diagnosed with an allergy virus, basically sore throat, cough and flu *cough cough* and also all this will always make me feel feverish - which would leave me feeling agitated, uncomfortable and unmotivated if I should try to do any work.

But here I am after my church's anniversary dinner tonight, with a sense of false relief that I managed to get through the week. Why false? Cause it's not over yet for me.

Couple of things I managed to accomplish this week while in this unfit state:

Finished the introduction video for the aforementioned dinner (which looks simple, but it isn't) - took me 24 hours (accumulative) of sitting in front of my mac from conception to production

Finished writing the script for a 5-scene drama for glo to perform at the same dinner - wonderful idea and story by Angela and Lam of course, I just wrote it all out in words.

Group discussions for my 2 big assignments, both due next week

Worship leading in a few more hours at church - no one can replace, so just planning to wing it, I wonder how it would turn out with the way my throat is

Couldn't even update the glo blog, but tried to make up yesterday

Well, its not over for me, even after tomorrow. I have to come back and finish up my final assignment for Visual Comm due Monday and start work on my research paper and presentation on Bollywood for Thursday. It would be so much more easier if I wasn't ill...

Don't get me started on ministry

I need a break if I'm planning to survive longer than just this week

*picture by jody the odie (happy now?)

* picture obviously taken some time ago, and does not reflect my current mood at all. provided for the purpose of comic relief

Eternal Struggle of a Young Mind?

"I feel like a failure because I'm struggling to become something, and I don't even know what it is. All I know how to do is to get by. Someday, if I discover my purpose, I'll feel I'm beginning to live" - anon

The Non Sequitur of Film Studies

What is Film Studies?

a) Debates the essence of the cinema and provides conceptual frameworks for understanding film's relationship to reality, the other arts, individual viewers, and society at large (via wiki)

b) Feminism, sexuality and homosexuality (via a certain biased individual)

c) I rather not say because I'm afraid of the consequences

Apparently, the answer is b. Now if you're a lecturer/director/professional in this field, please correct this certain individual. Film Studies is more than just one topic. If you really want to show us the reasons, logic, thoughts, intentions, emotions behind films, show us everything, not just one thing.

I'm sure you believe that everyone is entitled to his own way of life (i.e. homosexuals), than I would like to say that it applies damn well to us straight people as well. Stop trying to preach and convert us.

I do not hate gays or lesbians, but I'm sick and tired of having to hear another sermon in class on how homosexuals rule and how we heterosexual people (straight) are just plain devils.

Pompuan Pompuan Filem Studies

I have to say that I enjoy the Indonesian girls in my class. They are just so zany and fun. They have remained understanding and friendly through all the shite that has happened in the class, props ladies! Cheers