Stuck In The Middle With You

Neither Here Nor There, But Who The Hell Cares?

2008-02-19T01:03:00.017+08:00

"Stuck In The Middle" by buddha1822

There was once, quite awhile ago, when someone foreseen that I had both feet planted between two boats.

Either too scared to jump to one side, or unwilling step off from any.

But one thing was clear, they were going in two totally opposite directions.

Each with its own pull and influence.

And I've found myself continuously getting stuck in-between.

But life, being obnoxiously persistent, can survive anywhere.

And who knows?

It might just stand out in the end.

=======================================

"Someone who serves two masters has to lie to one."

If You’re Going to Get Shot Down, You Might as Well Look Good Crashing

2007-08-10T17:05:00.000+08:00

I’m stuck in the middle.

I am working for a middleman trading house.

I am the middle child of a middle class family.

Hell, even my examination scores were usually just 50%.

So it’s not surprising that my love life is kinda stuck as well.

In the not-so-distance past, the girls that I’ve used to go after do not seem particularly interested.

As a good friend of mine preaches, girls love assholes.

Reason?

Simple… these guys are scumbags.

In some twisted logic, girls (in my age gap anyway) will find more “freedom” in a relationship with these kind of boys.

It is sheer genius actually, if you would give a pause and think about it.

The relationship can either end because of the girl’s fault, or the guy’s fault, aye?

If the breakup was caused by the girl, so what?

Guys like these will just shrug and bounce right back on to someone in a heartbeat (give or take a little “tayang-menwayang” to show that he was victimized to gain some brownie points for his the next endeavor).

So the girl doesn’t need to concern herself with those rather inconvenient feelings such as guilt and remorse.

The guy will live, with little to no ill effect.

On the other hand, if it’s the guy’s fault for the breakup… well, wasn’t it expected?

I sincerely doubt that the girl did not even once consider the possibility of infidelity and/or over-possessiveness, which are the hallmarks of such guys, during the initial stages of the relationship.

No doubt, being wronged by someone really does hurt, believe you me.

But I believe, deep, deep, deeeeeep down, the girl was prepared, one way or another, for such an eventuality.

The JoJo song above could not have said it any better. Things like “sincerely falling for someone” are only exclusively reserved for stupid people who do not know how to play the game.

So anyway, the girls that I’ve tried to court in the past will regard me as the rather “serious/nice-guy” type, I suppose.

Now, see, there’s the problem.

Girls are now faced with a dilemma.

Putting aside those really evil bitches, a typical young girl’s conscience would rather not take the risk of actually hurting someone who isn’t suffering from severe asshole-lism.

Or worse still, being hurt by someone who is genuinely “nice”, further raising the possibility that there is something so inherently wrong/evil with you that you could even bring out the worst in the nicest of them.

The fear of actually screwing up something real… something significant… something utterly and infinitely more meaningful isn’t something that most people would want to risk.

Or alternately, many girls are under the impression that by getting together with me, it’s as good as a marriage (or a jail sentence, depending on who you talk to).

Look, I’m not the Pope, alright? I don’t expect my first girlfriend to be my wife.

I am just interested in pursuing a relationship that could lead into something more.

For awhile, after several painful lessons in the finer points of rejection, I was quite contented to the fact that I would not find someone in the near future.

But I did, in a quite unexpected way actually.

Usually when I fall for someone, I used to follow the old saying that "once a guy and a girl reaches the friendship stage, don’t place hope for anything more to happen".

Well, when I’ve first met her slightly over half a year ago, I was actually crushing on someone else.

And I really thought she was together with this other guy.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, we gradually met up more often and I’ve grown to really like her, more than a friend should.

She is already pretty to begin with (she has these sharp and striking features, a trait which I find quite rare among Malaysian girls), but there is this radiating glow about her that gets brighter the more you get to know her.

Headstrong, intelligent and confident, she inspires me to be bigger than my current self.

Sure, sometimes I feel like a kid around her… nay, more like a student in the presence of a reproachful Mandarin teacher (heh heh!) but there is a softer side to her which she guards well.

Any-hoo, I’ve tried my best to woo the said lass. She did consider pursuing the relationship to more-than-just-friends status, but I, in an ironic and quite cruel twist of fate, wasn’t the “secure” choice.

I was deemed too easily contented with my comfort zone.

In my honest opinion though, I think it is silly reason.

I am loyal, kind, funny, kinda-good-looking-ish, have a good starting career, totally adore her and secure enough with my inner self that I don’t see the need to dominate the relationship.

I guess that different people have different priorities during different periods of their lives.

But instead of cowing down in the face insurmountable odds, instead of just giving up and justifying to myself with statements like what chance in hell do I have with a girl like her, I fought back.

Even though nothing happen in the end, I have absolutely no regrets.

I’ve done my best, shown her a great time and I think we genuinely had alot of fun together.

More importantly, I did not lose a friend.

However, the curse of my middle-ism has stuck again. Playful girls think I’m too nice + serious and serious girls think I’m too comfortable and easily contented.

Ah, well… it’s not the first time. I dunno whether to be overly concerned or glad that I don’t feel too sad about rejection anymore, even after half a year pursuing the said girl.

Anyway, after our talk, I turned on the car radio after dropping her off and lo and behold; her “theme song” came on, right on cue.

Snow Patrol - Signal Fire
The perfect words never crossed my mind,
'cause there was nothing in there but you,
I felt every ounce of me screaming out,
But the sound was trapped deep in me,

All I wanted just sped right past me,
While I was rooted fast to the earth,
I could be stuck here for a thousand years,
Without your arms to drag me out,

There you are standing right in front of me (x2)
All this fear falls away to leave me naked,
Hold me close cause I need you to guide me to safety

No I don't wanna wait forever (x2)

In the confusion and the aftermath,
You are my signal fire,
The only resolution and the only joy,
Is the faint spark of forgiveness in your eyes,

A sign from above?

God, I certainly hope not.

"In proper English: I say, take that, you scoundrel!"
"Translated to proper Malay: AMBIK KAU!"

Conjunctivitis, Because Every Blink Fucking Hurts

2007-07-31T02:27:00.000+08:00

Imagine a shard of glass craving down your eyeballs,

then multiple that by 10 times per minute.

Of course, those who contracted conjunctivitis react differently to it. Some choose to look at it in a positive spin, saying to themselves: Hey, at least I get some days off work!

But all I thought was… wtf… you only start screwing up my eyeballs on a Friday night?!

Couldn’t you have the decency to start on Monday, you little microscopic bastards?!

Like in the middle of crunch time at the office?! Let all my co-workers see me spasm in painful agony, with tainted tears flying at every direction.

I’m sure I’ll like get a week’s worth of MC. Nothing like dramatizing an infectious disease in front of your bosses to really want them to get you off work.

Needless to say, there goes a perfectly good weekend. Missed Pei Ru’s birthday party, movie outings, a tour of the new Monash campus and quality fraging time down at the ole café.

Of course, I was devastated when I realized that the virus wasn’t an onset of some really cool super power...

Like x-ray vision… yeah, I could see how that could come in handy.

Anyway, I was just reading a book after a college reunion dinner on Friday night when all of the sudden, I felt this prick in my left eye. I thought it was just dust or something so I tried to wash it out.

Obviously, it didn’t work so instead of worrying about it, I thought I’ll just sleep it off.

Woke up the next morning feeling absolutely terrible.

What was truly sickening was that it was a beautiful sunny Saturday morning, and the sunlight kept my eyes tearing.

I could hardly keep my eyes open to walk, let alone drive… which I tried to do because David and me were planning to head down to the new Monash campus to hand in our graduation ceremony’s conformation forms (Graduation! Yea!).

Well, after picking up Dave, I thought I’ll just swing on by the nearest pharmacy to get some Eye Mo before heading down to Sunway, seeing how it miraculously works all the time for people on TV.

But deep down, I knew the bitter truth.

Janie’s entire school librarian corp had conjunctivitis and she had stayed home for the better part of the past week. Then my grandma caught it too.

I guess it is like some viral “pass-the-parcel” game.

At this point, my pinkish eyes were a leaking tap and I could only see about a couple of meters ahead before my vision starts to water out.

And David really insisted I go see a doctor instead of using my self-proclaimed “ultra-human perception and 1337 reaction time” to drive us safely to Monash.

Well, at least I am putting my company’s health benefits to good use. Just flash my medical card to any participating panel clinics and fill up a short form and you’re good to go.

Bothersome hassle of actually paying for medical services? Gone!

So yeah, found out I still could watch TV.

If I look to the left and blink slowly, it doesn’t hurt!

It took awhile to get use to blinking like an… idiot… but hey, at least I got to watch tons of weaponry documentaries, music videos, cartoons and back-to-back episodes of Ghost Whisperer.

Jennifer Love Hewitt = yummy!

Oh, I did get Monday off though. Which eliminates my usual Monday blues for the week… unfortunately, it doesn’t cure my Tuesday blues, Wednesday blues, Thurs… … …

"YOU’RE a trophy wife? What contest in hell did I win?"
- Peter Boyle (1935 - 2006) -

Now Armed with a Tie and a Office Shirt

2007-07-25T08:08:00.000+08:00

What is the definition of lucky?

Is it getting what you specifically want, or stumbling into things that you didn’t want in the first place but, after thinking about it, needed?

I guess that pretty sums up what had happen to me since my last entry, oh-so many months ago.

I’ve dropped the freelancer work culture aspirations and ended up in a corporate monkey suit.

Well, it doesn’t sound that bad, really. There are after all the undeniable perks such as a stable (and very sweet I might add!) income$$$ and the experienced gained from working at a multinational company.

In case you didn’t know, I’ve ended up working with DKSH (Kneel before the awful might of the Fantree!).

We are a trading house, dealing with goods such as condoms all the way to pet food. We distribute M&Ms, Ovaltine, Pedigree, Whiskas, Scholl Shoes, Brand’s Essence of Chicken, Mattel Toys, Durex, Mamy Poko, Sofy, Gallo Wines, Timex watches, Casio digital cameras, raw chemicals and a shitload of other stuff.

We are basically the largest and the big daddy of the distribution industry. However, being the middle man, we are constantly being torn into two halves by the agencies we represent and the global key buyers such as Giant/Carrefour/Tesco.

Being a management trainee, my job is to… well, learn. A one-year educational tour of the various departments that makes up the company.

Can’t say that being in a sales field was what I had in mind as a career choice, but it’s a prim and proper, 5-days a week, 9-5 job.

We will see how it goes then.

“Fall down seven, get up eight.”
- Old Japanese saying -

Oh... Riiiiiight!

2007-06-12T07:23:00.000+08:00

Silly me!

The password was correct,

but I was putting in the wrong username!

"DKSHHHHHH You!"

Now, To Take On The World!

2007-02-12T11:17:00.000+08:00

I’ve been swearing a lot lately. Like a drunken salty sailor during Oktoberfest. It is not that I am depressed or anything though. I just find myself funnier when I sprinkle some profanities hare and there. More flavor. Makes me feel cultured. Just have to be careful around my parents though…

On a side note, I’m done. Finished. Finito. No more school for me, ever!

Well, that is if I don’t screw up my last paper or it is back to another round of Mr. Heartbroken Assp3rt again. Funny though that when I pictured walking out of Sunway campus for the last time as a student, people would be coming up to me and shaking my hands saying things like: “God speed, lad!” or something like that. Ooooo also with petals raining from the sky and an orchestra composed in my honor!

Disappointingly, nothing of such sort happened. Everyone just went about their business, as if one of their greatest isn’t leaving their pathetic existents.

No matter, I suppose. They will have their chance to kneel down before their Emperor once I take over the world.

Buwahahahahahaha!

Anyway, moving on. Lizzie has gone down to the land of the Down Under to give psychiatric help to emotionally scarred dugongs.
Good luck, Lizzie. And watch out for those crazy man-eating killer marsupials out there in the Outback!

In relation to work, things are winding down a little for me now as we approach CNY. The only complain I have is the inhumane working conditions for our discriminated teddy bear work force.

They get the more humiliating jobs such as being the corporate paperweight.

And I’ve also been reading up on famous Internet Phenomena. Check this one out:

He was there for a job interview at BBC and instead he ended up in front of the camera… LIVE! He became sort of a folk legend among the common men.

Unfortunately, he still didn’t get the job... Pity. Such a witty fellow playing along!

"We didn't come for your oil! We came to kick your ass! "

- Over There (2005) -

I'm Working!

2007-01-28T13:40:00.000+08:00

Well, it’s been one bloody long week, I must say. First off, my car decided to die right at the SYUC’s parking ticket dispenser. Caused a well and good traffic jam all the way to the guard house until some cool Sunway guard dude came to help me push Ah-WHY aside.

Oh yeah, the cause of Ah-WHY's demise was my accident a few weeks back when I skidded on a rainy day and trampled over the walkway-curbs above the LDP’s underpass (the one right before Uptown DU). Really messed up my undercarriage, that one. Luckily, I didn’t kill anyone… including myself. It could have been much worse than that.

Exhaust and oil gasket were busted beyond repair so I had to replace em. Now I am broke even though my folks were very gracious to pay ½ of the cost for an accident that was 100% my fault. But I am still very broke… :(

I’m also doing internship… again. This time as an in-house writer for Youth Malaysia. Pretty cool because Da Big Boss has some very ambitious plans for the site. In fact, on my 2nd day, I was well on my way to a private party at Loft KL for an exclusive interview with Choy and May, those very cheeky twin VJs from MTV. And here I was, in probably one of the most exclusive and happening parties, wearing my dorky schoolbag because I came straight from the office. Ugggg… :(

I think the interview will be up on YM's site soon.

Well, I didn’t actually do any interviewing per se… I just held up the recorder while Jo did all the talking. She is much better at interviewing people than I am anyway.

I must say though that Choy and May looks very foreign up close. To me, they look much more Asian on TV and magazines.

And I hate KL roads... Really, I do. Getting lost isn't fun there.

Da Big Boss is apparently an ex-model himself, you see and is on a first name basis with nearly every local celebrity! Damm man… it so freaking easy for him to hook us up. Check out an older interview with Amber Chia. This was before I was signed aboard YM.

Anyway, now I’m doing a juggling act with my coming exams while doing my day job. And time management isn’t my strongest suite.

Live Free or Die Hard! Die Hard 4 is coming! It looks very very very nice.
Now I have a machine gun, ho ho ho!

"Yippee Ki Yay, mother-fuckers!"
- Die Hard (1988) -

Book-ish Rants

2007-01-13T02:45:00.000+08:00

Skipping lectures and tutorials during the summer classes isn’t a good idea. Its like, wow, I’ve actually missed quite a bit already. Although honestly, my class is boring me outta my mind! All the lecturer ever does is talk about his various “friends” (who, quite curiously, happen to consist only of Canadian or Australian girls), buying bras and cheating "Matthew Sallehs" over eBay.

Uggg… Monash Malaysia has the nasty tendency to hire the most Ah Beng lecturers they can get their paws on. Seriously, I mean if Monash is like the all that university as advertised, the least they can do is to hire somebody who can bloody well annunciate English words properly without going “ass- pert, ass-pert!” all the time like a retard.

Anyways, I’ve been catching up with some reading. I’ve used to gobble up books like everyday when I was in high school. I had a slightly geek-sigh start with several Star Wars novels, more notably the Rogue Squadron and Wraith Squadron series, although there were others like The Truce at Bakura and Thrawn series. The themes in many of these books were quite mature, from galactic politics to the darker intrigues of sentient beings, so I can’t truthfully say I enjoyed the books, more like reading it cause… well, it was Star Wars!

Then my sister introduced me to the world of fantasy novels. Started out with David Eddings’ The Elenium and The Tamuli series. It basically had knights, magic, fair maidens and quests, just the perfect recipe for a fantasy series. I then moved on to other works done by Eddings and his was fast becoming my favorite. Later on, I had a one-track-mind tendency to only stick to one genre so I only allowed to myself to try out other fantasy writers.

Then, there was a significant gap. I've stopped reading. Oh, yeah of course I’ve read books and other stuff. But gone was the tenacity of gobbling up a 3-book omnibus edition the size of 5 bibles laced together in 2 weeks straight.

The latest fantasy I’ve read was David Gemmell’s Troy series. The first book, The Lord of the Silver Bow was like… whoa! All man, all honor. Even the bad guys were so freaking cool. It even had tons of uber awesome one liners. Now that is a really good book. I can’t wait to read the next one.

However, I’ve recently became a slightly military nut. Especially fictional military books or sci-fi military. The Halo official novels were rock sold. It was everything I’ve imagined for the back-story of the l33t3st video game of all time. No one messes with the Master Chief!

Then, Woony loaned me his Warhammer 40k: Space Wolves series about a week ago. Needless to say, I am now a loyal servant of the Imperium of Man! Just pages and pages of good old gory ass kicking with a chain sword and a bolter! Boo yah!

I’ve always been a fan of the 40k universe. Heck, I even nearly persuaded my dad to get me the miniature starter kit that cost about RM 600 back then for my 12th birthday. I even managed to drag him inside DJ’s Games Castle (as it was known back then, I think it is called Games Circle now).

He thought it was some sort of RM 35.00 G.I Joe action figure that was all the rage back then and when he saw me pick up a box about ½ my size with a price tag of nearly ½ a thousand, needless to say his brains started working really really fast. Because he promised me he will get it, he took a good hard look at it and the solution came to him. Being a chemist, he noticed that the miniatures were made out of lead. My little sister was born only a few months back so he told me for the future well being of my new sibling, I should pick up a hobby with less health hazards. I think that’s was when I picked up the Magic cards as a hobby. Heh heh… wasn’t going to leave there empty handed.

Anyway, I was glad I didn’t start it. I would’ve probably given it up and it would have sure as hell cost more than giving up Magic cards. I guess what interest me more was the 40k universe itself rather than the tabletop game. Dark and gothic, the settings were really intriguing and the only way I could read up more about it at that time was through my friends’ Codexs (a fancy way of saying 'rulebook') which contains the story and history of the featured Space Marine Chapter.

Anyway, guess my current reading interest is into military stuff especially sci-fi settings. Just put in the words marines, dropships or space and I’ll get hooked on to it.

Praise Russ and the All Father! *Woooof!*
- Space Wolves -

2007 AD

2007-01-06T04:22:00.000+08:00

It’s the year 2007 and I’m wondering… when the hell is the world going to end already?!

Haha! Only kidding. But still, it is amazing that humanity has gotten this far. I mean with all the War on Terror propagate by Warlord Bush and natural disasters going off, it feels like we are now living on borrowed time.

I’m very glad that I was born in a God-forsaken, middle of nowhere, with absolutely no interesting resources that other nations want so badly, terrorist immune but with satellite TV country like Malaysia!

If I’m going to be proud of something, it might as well be that my country is utterly insignificant in the eyes of the world, and thus one of the safest place on Earth.

Oh, and do check out my latest article at YouthMalaysia.

Have a productive new year!

"Why can't people stay within the confines of our prejudices against them?"

What Christmas Is All About

2006-12-26T14:18:00.000+08:00

Christmas is all about,

putting one’s feet up,

worshipping the all mighty 32-inch LCD telly,

decorating the tree with people,

coveting for thy neighbor’s presents,

and playing some Taboo.

So Merry Christmas to all,
don’t weep for the Hallmark channel specials,
and just for once year,
be nice to the people you can’t stand…

Youth Malaysia and Shaking It Up

2006-12-17T02:42:00.000+08:00

Today’s post will be a little more personal than the usual rants. I am officially a “youth transmitter” or something fancy title like that for YouthMalaysia.com. It is basically a site where youths can just go and post about anything ala blog style. A few like me are the content writers that keep the ball rolling.

Unfortunately, we can write about anything! That doesn’t really suit me very well cause I am bursting with ideas that only look good in my brain, but when I verbally discuss it with my editor, it sounds really stupid then… even to me.

I like to be assigned a story/topic and then find the most creative way to write an otherwise mundane story.

Maybe subconsciously, I am a little afraid of criticism on writings that are 100% totally my idea. At least if they don’t like the story that I was assigned to write on, I can always put the blame on the topic for being boring anyway and I’ve tried my best to make it spicy.

Moving on, the Planetshakers conference was held at Sunway Pyramid for the better part of the last week.

Couldn’t find ANY pictures of the concert rally for the last night on the internet! So I had to rip the picture above from their website.

One thing that amazes me is the expressive explosion on Malaysian Christian youths. The last time I attended Planetshakers, which was about right after my SPM examinations, the crowd were kind of stoned. The speaker dude (sorry, can’t recall his name) even had to ask the people on the back row of the conference hall to either leave or get with the program because they expressed such an aura of apathy. Like when he was getting to the emotional part, some people at the back started roughhousing around with their girlfriends etc etc etc…

But now, it’s an astonishing transformation. During the concert, thousands of people were jumping up and down in synchronized timing until the entire floor shook and groaned in protest. During the sermon, people were perpetually standing up and chorusing the pastor to preach on while waving their bibles up in the air. A lot like those rural African American churches in the United States.

Anyway, just don’t got to Sunway Pyramid if you can avoid it. Not until they have completed SP2. The construction has transformed the place into a madhouse. Parking is crazily cramped with only one exit/entrance at the lower floor. Get ready a vomit bag because its going to be a very circular drive up and down.

Some whole levels of the mall cannot even be accessed by the elevators at the car park section. To make things worst, they boarded up all the stairwells at the car park section. That means, you are forced to use the stupid elevators which are slow and jammed with people just wanting to go one floor up or down! If (touch wood) a fire should break out during the Planetshakers rally, I think the outcome would be catastrophic.

Sunway Pyramid has really become like its Egyptian namesake, a death maze with no way out.

"Well, I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is Keyser Soze."

The Usual Suspects (1995)

The Stuff People With No Astro Get To Watch!

2006-12-11T20:51:00.000+08:00

omgwtfbbq!!!

And the scary thing is that they were dead serious. This isn’t a parody. Thus, the secret to unlocking an utopian paradise for everyone here in Great Nation Of Malaysia all depends on our ability to keep our public toilets clean.

If that is so, we are already doomed.

If I were one of those kids holding up the stupid sign in the video, I would seriously contemplate self-mutilation on my face so that no one can ever recognize me. Ever...

Imagine people going up to you and asking, “Hey, aren’t you the kid holding up the “T” in tandas?”

Which goes to show that we Malaysians don’t need the extra help to be made fun of because we’re doing an excellent job on our own unintentionally.

However, this one…

this one is actually quite cool.

"Kalau tiada jari, kalau tiada jari, kita potong benda lain yang boleh dipotong!" :)

Although, the video may not be too funny now seeing what the real Ah Longs are capable of doing to one’s family.

Anyway, if these are the things shown on the "contemporary" local channels, just think what we're missing out right now on RTM 1!

"Of course it's ridiculous... but it's cool!"

I'm back!

2006-12-05T20:11:00.000+08:00

I’ve been away for quite some time now. No inspiration to write… LOL. I’ve been feeling under the weather ever since I came back from my Penang trip.

A lot of Mat Rempits congregate nightly here at Gurney Drive but for some reason, it still feels much more safer than good old “snatch-thief-alley” SS2.

The Gurney Hotel.
Any hotel that has an infinity pool, archery range, pool table, gym and steam/sauna room is a good place in my book...

...trow in the Zouk equivalent club at the lobby and this place is guaranteed rocking every night.

From now on, I'm sticking to the hotel's pool.

My nephew, Joshua. I can tell he is going to break the hearts of a lot of girls when he grows up! Definitely a Tan. :P

With my current part-time job as an over-qualified kuli on a hiatus, life seams to be stucky. Just lazing around in bed till meal times and then going out late at night. Sometimes, I really need a job to really make me appreciate the free time that I have.

Humans are such oxymoronic creatures.

Anyway, tomorrow I've got this interview for a stringer job for some youth site called Youthmalaysia.com. No idea what it is about but it sure beats rotting in the house doing nothing.

"Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back."

Gladiator (2000).

Holy Strike!

2006-11-16T16:26:00.000+08:00

This is so true. I know many friends who act exactly like this.

Lightning strike-ed out my wireless router! The funny thing is that my ZTE ZXDSL 831 made-in-China modem has so far miraculously survived two major strikes. The first which took out my LAN card, the makers of the ZTE made the modem as if to bypass any destructive current to the next device connected via the network.

Something like Thailand during the Japanese invasion of Malaysia during WWII! :)

So, it may not have the eloquent boxy beauty of an Aztech ADSL modem, but it sure as hell rugged. Like an AK-47!

Imagine if your entire network, computer, keyboard and mouse were made by ZTE!

Lightning would then proceed to kill the user instead.

"Our orders were specific!"
"Rescue the crew, salvage what's left of the ship... the crew is dead, doctor. Your ship killed them."

Event Horizon (1997)

Conclusion of Exams and Flushed Away!

2006-11-07T08:40:00.000+08:00

Bitter and sweet, happy and sad, I’m sure as hell not going to miss the Monash MPH anymore!

My finale finals are finally finished!
Well, I still got one more summer class to go… Thanks to the insidious Thomas and his draconian Law!

Hmm… By the way, does anyone know when summer classes starts?

First thing I did post-examinatrus was to catch some sleep. It surreal not resting with perpetual burdens hanging over my head, like vultures waiting for me to kick the bucket. Feels like there is something missing from my life already…
LOL, I hope that passes very soon. I DO NOT want to miss exams and assignments.

That is, if I don’t flunk any of my papers. That would suck… big time.

Anyway, at night, I took the little sister out to watch Flushed Away.

The film evidently contrasts the sheer gap in production quality, scriptwriting, humor and creativity between a UK-made production and those mass-produced junks from the States.

Roddy (Hugh Jackman) and Rita (Kate Winslet), the two protagonists of Flushed Away

For example, Flushed Away pokes fun at the quirky nature of Londoners, The French and the ever arch-typical ignorant American tourists. However, unlike the more crude parody of such traits, as employed by many US-made comedies, Flushed Away does it in such a manner that is funnier because of its genuine authenticity of the portrayal.

Le Frog (Jean Reno), without a doubt one of the more hilarious characters found in Flushed Away

And the film is an Easter egg galore for the more observant viewers. I’m going to get the DVD just to see how many Easter eggs I have missed out in the cinema. Be on the look out for a carbon-frozen Han Solo, Nemo and X-Men’s Wolverine!

Flushed Away’s dialogue is not only cleaver but intelligently witty as well, something in which CGI films nowadays seem to lack. Many are usually heavily leaning towards slapstick jokes or toilet humor. Although there are tons of such outtakes in Flushed Away (the protagonist did get flushed down the loo after all!), it is done with a more refined British charm.

And who can forget the singing slugs! It is original, cute and slightly disturbing all-in-one!

Concept art of the underground mice city of London

Right now, I can’t really think of anything bad to say about the film. Guess it is the kind that appeals to me, thus producing a rather bias review here.

Anyway, it is a must watch comedy in my opinion. I give it a 9.9/10!

"Aw, don't think like that! Damn it to hell! Don't go by the book. Think like a pirate. I want a man with a tattoo on his dick. Have I got the right man?!"
"By a strange coincidence, you do, sir..."

Down Periscope (1996)

Dogs And My non-too-serious Eye Infection

2006-10-29T23:05:00.000+08:00

A funny ad involving dags…
You like dags, don’t ya?

Their facial expression… priceless. It must have taken them hours to get it just right.
Looks so human!
I can’t even get my dog to go poopie outside my garden much less make him do faces.

Anyway, this is the kind of creative job field I want to get involved in. Creating funny materials for advertisements and shows.

An idealistic dream, really…

Oh, and on a side note, I am contagious. Both in terms of likability and spreading conjunctivitis. :(

But as usual, there is a silver lining to everything. You've seen those dudes on TV that can squirt gallons of milk out from their eye sockets? Yes, it’s so possible!!!
The eye drops the doctor prescribed to me are bitter to taste. So when I drop a couple into my eyes, I’ll get this bitter bilge settling down at the back of my throat after a few minutes.

So in theory, what goes down can come up again.
Stardom, here I come!
Got milk?

Rememeber, you enemies are enjoying life while you're too busy hating them.

Come Dance With Me, Watch Your Toes, Are You Insured?

2006-10-23T03:39:00.000+08:00

I’m suppose to be studying for my Marketing Law finals premiering this Friday (or at this hour, probably catching some Zzzs) but there is something about ‘impending dooms’ that gets the creative juices flowing, you know what I mean?

So I’m thinking about this new direction I’ve been taking with me bloggie. So far, if you had been following with my weekly update of lates, I’m attempting to make the entries akin to a giant sushi buffet. Colorful and filled with a wondrous variety of tasty contents.

You, as my faithful readers, have the distinct honor of being test subjects for my little hobby here. Basically, I’ll try my best to put bits of interesting stuff. One day it might be a funny YouTube clip, the next a review of a movie and when you least expect it, I’ll unleash my rants/bitching on your sorry asses.

I’ll also like to get paid… and seeing that the target market segmentation for my ‘product’ are usually penniless university students, I guess I can make an exception with beaming praises and comments that are overflowing with adoration of my geniuses.

Well, enough about me. Let’s get back… well, to me again.

This is me putting on the moves. Getting it on, yo!

Now dancing is probably the last thing people had in mind when they think of me. Deviously handsome bloke maybe… but certainly not “dancing boy”.
So seeing that these are the last few months of being a student, I decided hell, why the heck not? Join the Monash dancing club!

It is a different experience for me. With the two years of Jujitsu classes, I had to suppress the compulsive urge to hip-throw and twist my partner’s wrist into a painful submission. Wouldn’t that make a hell of a first impression on the ladies? :)

I’m also pleasantly surprised that no one had to schedule reconstructive surgery for their toes. Usually, when people walk in close proximity to me, I kinda get tangle-footed with them. Big feet, I reckon.

Too bad I only had 5 classes. My time ran up… as a Monash-ian student I mean. Well, it was money well spent anyways. I feel so “cultured” now!

"If I knew you’ve listen, I’ll shut up."

A Reflection Piece On My Coming Doom

2006-10-18T03:19:00.000+08:00

The darkness spreads its deadly shrouds all across our fair land, burning the eyes of the people. There is a perpetual sense of uneasiness within their throats as the fumes of doom slowly gather inside the body, hindering the ability to acquire much needed air to survive. Coughing, chocking. It is prevalent wherever the defiled air can reached its tainted tendrils into.

And in the distant horizon, another evil awaits. The very utter of its name sends scholars of any age to scurry under the table and curl up into a sobering fetal-positioned ball.

Examinatus!

All these are the birth pains of the end. Run, flee! Do you not see the Omega is upon us?! Death is coming… and then there will be nothing.

Well, so much for sounding pretty much like one of those bums with the “End-of-The-World” cardboard signs out on the streets.

Stupid haze, stupid exams.
On the bright side, it is probably my last official examination as a student. And my nose is clogged up with god-knows-what-crap-they-burn-in-Indonesia to actually smell anything anymore. Eyes and throat isn’t holding up too well. Especially with the contacts on.

Anyway, just felt like crapping. Will post something of more significant interests next.

If the world doesn’t end, that is.

“Yes, but why is the rum gone?”

Count Your Sheep!!!

2006-10-08T14:12:00.000+08:00

One of the main places I go when I am idyllically procrastinating from doing any work are webcomics. As you can see from the sidebar to your right, I have a wide selection of webcomic sites that will get you hooked for hours on ends.

However, I would say one of the few ones that stand out from the pack is Count Your Sheep by Adrian Ramos or more know with his signature name, Adis! The base of the story is about the life of Laurie and her daughter Katie. The twist here is that both mother and daughter share and interact with the same imaginary friend, Ship, who is a ‘counting sheep’ created by Laurie during her own childhood and was subsequently passed down to Katie during birth.

The style of the strip is akin to a feminine version of Calvin & Hobbes with a twist of Gilmore Girls added for good measure. The issues involved in the comic concerns things like single parenthood, life in general, the ecology, inner-self esteem and above all, the good old days of just being a kid.

Click here for a bigger version.

Katie is a whimsical kid who, like Calvin, has an overactive imagination that frequently gets her into trouble. It is kinda endearing to see how she uses her 7-year-old logic to analyze and sometimes critique the world of adulthood. Katie is also portrayed as an idealist and quite self-assured for someone of her age. Ship, being around for at least two generations in the family, is ever there to give good advice and bail Katie out of a pinch.

Laurie is the mother and overall ‘queen’ of the household. As quoted in Count Your Sheep's Wikipedia article, she is the worn-out version of her daughter although very frequently we get to see her lighter side. There are also periodic strips entitled Back In Time where we see Laurie as a kid and the subsequent incidents that had transpired in the past.

Click here to see a bigger version.

Ship, well, is a sheep. He is the archetypical ‘counting sheep to sleep’ imaginary friend but has over the course of the strip evolved into something more. As both mother and daughter can interact with Ship, he is ever the wise counselor for both the girls. Wisecracking at times (even with self desires such as food and dignity), he ultimately is there for them.
Never the less, among every story arches done so far, the one that I personally look forward to are strips involving, Marty. The late father of Katie and husband to Laurie, he is an unseen character but has such a powerful impact on both the girls. I personally love strips where Laurie reminisces about Marty or when she/they visits his grave. A very touching and emotionally powerful message about surviving a death of a loved one and one that I applaud the artist for.

Click here for a bigger version.

Ship went ‘away’ when Laurie and Marty gotten married and feels a sort of gnawing guilt for not being there for her when Marty dies. He came back into existents on the day Katie was born, which was after Marty had died (hinted to be in a car accident).

Overall, a very inspiring comic with characters that people can relate and actually care about. Updates are periodically done so one can expect like 3-4 new strips per week. Go check it out! Remember to read the archives from comic no.1 because like any good series, you don’t want to be left hanging in between.

"Moo... Moooo... Mooo, I say! Mooo!"

Tell The Men, This Will Help

2006-10-04T01:48:00.000+08:00

A hilarious and yet, strangely traumatizing experience for both parties involved.

This reminds me, I need a shave.

“So say we all!”

The Ball

2006-09-27T01:30:00.000+08:00

The Monash Ball of 2006, themed Royale Escapade. Held here at the venerable (although in a slight state of degradation) Palace of the Golden Horses, it was the largest Ball I’ve ever experienced as part of the Ball committee’s Ticketing and Promotions department. Coincidentally, they also put me in charge of the department this year. Boo-yah!

Well, all things considered, I think I did a pretty decent job. No one wanted my head on a platter after the Ball so I will take that as a good sign. The two years of working exp with the Ticketing dept really helped.

Naturally, I had to haul myself much earlier to the site to ensure that everything was prepared for the 700++ exquisitely-dressed university students hording into the Royal Ballrooms. Boredom pretty much set in after awhile so I began to had some fun with my camera.

Preparing the ice sculpture. Always a favorite prop for any Ball photographs.

Just a plant which I thought was a nice shot.

Sean admiring the detailed art craft involved in making ice sculptures.

So yeah, this Ball actually started more or less on time! Something that doesn’t happen a lot in this business. The performances/beauty pageants went smoothly with very little to no pauses in between, which was a great job done by Dahlia, Seng Kiat (Heads of Performances) Melissa and Nava (Heads of Ball Sponsorship and Pagents).

Opening act done by KC and gang. The Chicago Street Jam.

An ethnic cultural dance by Divya.

Jia Qi’s debut as a songbird. A crowd pleaser, judging from the long line of well dressed young men coming onto the stage to hand her bouquet of flowers.

Anyway, here are the usual people-and-me photos.

Highlights was David and Sean BOTH winning the lucky draw! How befitting that it is our last Ball. Dave won some high tea at Sunway Hotel and Sean won a speaker set.

Unfortunately, our traditional Godfather picture didn’t really work out in the end. The other guys weren’t too keen on it anymore. :(
But it’s ok. The two loyal henchmen are still loyal to the Father.

Here is the link to pictures from Sean's and David's camera.
Now, for some YouTube clips!

The Opening Light Show!

Basil & Joanne’s performance of When I Look to the Sky.

Overall, a very satisfying Ball. One where I actually enjoyed every show. And oh boy, do I mean every show! Even the humiliating ones. :P You know what I mean. One thing that I am not going to miss though are total strangers calling me at every odd hours of the day to ask “Still got tables for the Ball or not?” or “When are the tickets going to come out?”.

Hahaha! Although I may miss getting so much attention. :P

“This is the AK-47. When you absolutely have to kill everybody in the room, accept no substitute.”

Clubbing Nerd Hitz!

2006-09-17T23:09:00.000+08:00

This Basshunter dude must be the coolest geek in the world!
I mean how many people in the world could actually produce a clubbing hit… about DotA?!

I mean look at this guy! This is how geeks should be revered! With loads of phat clubbing girlz dancing around while we p4wn some n00bs digitally. Unfortunately, the video is portraying a nerd-Nirvana, a spiritual place where only the l33t3st of gamers are allowed into that big cybercafé club in the sky after they die.

But his earlier work, Boten Anna, apparently climbed it's way up to number one on several European music charts. I’m sure that any old school IRC users can seriously dig this song. An ode to all the bot moderators in our chat channels. Go check it out:

See? If you’re a geek, migrate to the U.K. Apparently, they are worshiped as demi-Gods over there.

Thanks to Leto and DJ Lothrion for the find.

“They say life begins at 40. But only a fool would wait that long.”

The Boogie Man Is Here!

2006-09-13T23:18:00.000+08:00

Imagine this being the last image engraved in your mind.

Man, I just love Hitman: Blood Money. Excellent graphics, beautifully detailed scenery and of course the ability to make all your hits look… natural. Accident do happen, you know! Pianos falling from the sky, mistakenly using a real pistol instead of a prop one, drowning, weights crushing your windpipe, excessive food poisoning, “tripping” off a 200-foot cliff… It is all very plausible in real life… :)

They are also making a movie for the game! Not to sure if Vin Diesel can pull it off (just because he is one of the more famous bald-badasses out there… sheesh). Still, it looks promising though.

“My client has asked me to ensure it’s the last thing you will ever see... Please, look at the photograph, Mr. Clearance.”

9/11 Blues

2006-09-11T13:00:00.000+08:00

I can’t think of any other numerical date that has been referred to as much as today. Unless it is your birthday, then kudos for you because I doubt anyone will ever forget it. Of course, having your birthday reminder associated with the worst terrorist attack in the 21st century is a mixed blessing to be sure.

In some way, 9/11 has also become a very powerful plot tool in many of today’s movies and TV series. Either in the form of comedy (think the airplane scene in Anger Management), lead character's backstory (Detective Mac Taylor from CSI: NY fame lost his wife during the WTC attacks), reaction to racial traits (how the SWAT dudes bitch-smack the poor Sikh bank clerk from Inside Man when the robbers released him with a suspicious briefcase around his neck) and especially in the majority of today’s action flicks where one of the 'plausible' reasons given on why the good, all-American hero just had to hose everyone down with a good dose of lead was because they were “suspected to be terrorists.”

Well, life hasn’t really changed much here in Malaysia. Today’s Star headlines were about the emergency numbers we have. Apparently, from what I can understand from a first glance at the article, the 999 number has been discontinued for some time already. They are planning to bring it back only if someone will be willing to pay for the line’s maintenance! WTF?
Anyway, it is good to know that hand-phones can dial for emergency services with 121… or was it 122? … errr… oh, boy. Better not get into any trouble with an empty credited phone then.

There is something that I’ve been thinking about though. On one of the rare moments where I actually stayed awake long enough before dozing off during my church’s sermon, a phrase sort of gotten stuck in my mind.

“The media has twisted the idea of sex because they portray that intimacy should come before getting to know the person better.”
Then, after watching My Super Ex-Girlfriend yesterday, it got me thinking. When we hear about real friends/associates/people we know screwing around, we are intrigued and sometimes maybe disgusted (or jealous even! :P ).

But when we watch a movie that portrays a looser side of intimacy, we sort of sublimely accept the fact that it is perfectly normal for that one and a half hour of screening time. When we come out, it’s back to being the conservative Asian again.

Not saying that anybody’s like this or that. It’s just funny that promiscuity seams so… normal. Such an everyday thing like washing the car or getting on the train when I am watching a movie.

Oh, yeah. My Super Ex-Girlfriend rocks! Too bad on the censorship though. Very badly done. Another brilliant movie and RM10 gone due to our beloved censorship board that so vigilantly guards our morality from the evils of the Western world. I salute you, good sirs!
Think about this though… they get paid to sit and watch un-censored and screen potentially banned films all day long. Sounds like a wickedly fun part-time job…
I wonder if they are taking in summer interns. :)

“You have invaded the nation of woman and spread your seeds of democracy!”

Avenue Kosong

2006-09-04T01:55:00.000+08:00

Avenue K… It’s been like around for ages already but the place still looks like an abandoned warehouse (albeit a really well-kept one).

Empty as heck but I really didn’t notice the security guard while taking the picture until I viewed it in the computer. Scary?

Doesn’t look much different since the last time I’ve been there. That was about a year ago during my stitch with The Star, covering New Year celebration @ KLCC. That was also the time I got my old Minolta camera stolen literally from right under my nose! Damm man… These people are good. A second ago I was putting it into my cargo’s side-pocket and before I knew it, I was a couple of ounces lighter. And they work in teams, as the incident happened in a seriously overcrowded train.

One will pick your pocket as the train enters the next stop and about 5 of them will push their way to get out together. Even if I did notice my camera been lifted, I will in most likely probability just grab hold of the wrong guy walking out. Besides, if things get rowdy, I am rather unenthusiastic on my chances in a 5 vs 1 brawl.

The guys and I found a lonely Nikko hobby shop at the top floor. There were some pretty cool toys for big boys up there. Mostly remote controlled cars, trucks, planes and boats with a whole section dedicated for die-cast model variations. Also, mostly out of our purchasing power. :(

Most young boys will go nuts over such exquisitely authentic looking tractors and trucks, but not me. Thanks to an old traumatic experience with a Stephen King horror movie , I got issues with any road vehicle that is larger than a van back when I was a kid.

Some cool shots of model cars... Looks like the real McCoy, don't they?

Took some other interesting photos of Ave K. They have the longest escalator I’ve ever seen. There is this lonely feel about it as it moves up and down rider-less. A vast emptiness of something that was made to be teeming with life. Kinda mirrors a lot of people I know.

My first shot of the day. I like the color.

"Boris the Blade? As in Boris the Bullet-Dodger?"

"Why do they call him the Bullet-Dodger?"

"...."

"'Cause he dodges bullets, Avi."

Why You Think The Net Was Born?

2006-09-01T03:23:00.000+08:00

I love this song! I’m going to teach it to the entire crew!

Our software is perfect, the problem must be with you.

Seven Days, One Veek

2006-08-28T03:42:00.000+08:00

I’m having one of those ‘woW!!’ moments again. Last Monday felt like a month ago and yet when I think about it today, I just can’t believe that so many things could have taken place in a measly seven days.

On Monday, we managed to surprise the rather un-surprisable Sean. HAPPY 21st bIrThDaY, Mr. S.S!

Man, it was just so hard to keep this all incognito from a guy who is so perceptive… or just too damm suspicious of everything! But we managed it! Yeap, we did!

We've forgotten to bring along a lighter so we had to use the power of imagination to help Sean blow out those candles!

First cut!

Got everyone to meet at the foyer at 12 noon for you see, in order to surprise the un-surprisable, one must employ tactics, cunning, strategy and a little luck!

The sign he was holding up was suppose to read"Happy Birthday Sean! G.G".

Sean had Ball Booth duty and Marketing Strategy Implementation discussion from 12-1. The opportune moment has thus presented itself as he already knows we were up to something… he just doesn’t know when or where.

The booth duty and MSI discussion were the perfect cover for our dastardly deed!

So before the main man’s arrival, we’ve rigged up a crude banner for him to roll down from the booth’s board.

I told him it was the new décor for the booth and as he stood up to release the duct tape, take cake was rolled out (well, carried out) and everyone converged to him as he looked at the unfolding banner dumbfounded for about 1/8th of a second!

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

On Wednesday was my mom’s retirement day. Now, I have BOTH my parents at home 24/7. Truth be told, this is something I am totally not used to as my parents were working people for the better part of my life. It is going to take some adjustment on my part.

Two generations of Loks are now officially in their golden years.

Dinner was at her favorite seafood restaurant somewhere in Taman Suria. I got her a RM 100 worth facial pampering session but the voucher requires a Monash student ID. Hopefully, the shop will understand that my mother will gladly take my place.

The main evento!

The crab's death cam.

Found a tripod at home which I thought I didn’t have and had some fun with it at the restaurant. Didn’t really set the right ISO for the shutter speed I was using but hey… I’m a work in progress. :P

The 'whooshhh' NoS effect.

Sisteeeerrrrrrrrrrrssssssssssssssssssssssss!

Pete and Sharon.

Me doing a Roy Mustang impression. *snap!*

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

On Friday was the Monash Street Party. Everything went accordingly to plan… except for the heavy downpour that lasted till about ten.

Stuck in the tents!

Xia yu la!

It was like a flood victim refugee centre…

… and the violence escalated as the food shortage became more dire. r4\/\/0r!!!

Still, I guess taking shelter with friends is as best as any place one could wish for in the rain.

Have no worries, sir! We are professionally trained emergency medical technicians! You are in good hands now.

Could’ve taken much more cooler shots but my camera decided to choose this moment to die on me.

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

On Saturday, the guys and I met up with Brenda at KLCC with a surprise appearance from Shu Ying.

This time, I think I’ve finally discovered the basic art of photography. Still need some help here and alot of practice there, but the camera’s manual was a good starting guide for me.
To avoid cluttering this particular entry, I will display my gallery of sceneries in a future post. Could be a new hobby of mine!

Someday soon, I will own every piece of property in the KL region. Buahahaha!

This really cracks me up. The KLCC LRT station toilet is apparently a ‘new concept’? That is a mighty good reason to charge us 20 cents, no?

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

The other days passed on pretty much uneventful. There were a few twist and turns… as I discovered that life can still kick you in the nuts after you’ve think you have gotten over certain problems or issues.

*Sigh* aw, well… At least now the opportunity to fight my inner demons head-on has risen to a more considerable challenge. The fact that this new development will test whether or not the pact I’ve made for this year is all hot-air or something serious.

“Sooner or later, we all have to think like mature adults. No one knows this better than the young.”

Anjing-ku!

2006-08-21T02:23:00.000+08:00

Some dogs gnaw on footwear. Some chew-up the lawn. There are even others that bite chunks off the furniture.

My dog? He has an appetite for… cars!
Oh, and all of the above too.

He has already bitten off all the mud gutters from my car (and my sister’s car, and my sister’s bf car and my mom’s company Perdana too!) >:_(

Fredrick is a one year old Golden Retriever that has the size of a full grown dog but a heart of a puppy. Damm manja wan! He will just sit at the front door and stare longingly inside the hall, begging you to open the door.

"You can't ignoreeee meeeee..."

"... cause I'll still find a way in... Buwahahahahahah!"

But don’t be fooled. This guy has only one thing in mind… FOOD!
As soon as he “tipu” you, he will rush in (damm f***king fast for a big dog) and go on a rampage through the indoor dustbins.

If we all give chase (we are concerned that he will eat something… indigestible. But for him, I rather doubt that there is anything he won’t eat) he will deliberately grab the closest thing with his mouth (be it paper or mom’s pantyhose), knowing full well he has been busted and make a mad dash behind the couch against the wall, burrowing like a rabbit.

Then he will sit in there, silently laughing to himself as we all frantically pull away the entire couch and pray open his mouth before he swallows it.

And he knows which family member to go to whenever there is trouble. My little sister! He seriously exploits her! Whenever he does something bad, he will run to my sister and hides behind her. Or when he knows he is not suppose to be in the house, he will lie by my sister’s side, looking at us and as if saying:

"Oh, see? See? Just look how happy Janie is when I am here! Look at that face! Please don't make her sad! Don't send poor old me outside in the cold... I just want to make her happy! Please, please, please!"

When he was cuter... :(

The monster now.

Smart ass dogs, these Goldies are, I'll give em that. He figured out how to open the outdoor shoe cabinet and help himself to all the goodie shoes inside. Expensive shoes... Leather shoes... MY SHOES!

We now have to brace the cabinet with a steering lock...

And he also bullies my older doggie, Chance. Chance is like a sweet older, wiser and patience brother. He lets Freddy push him about but when he goes too far (which is all the time) he will show the young one his place in the pack.

However, all this racketing is making my senior doggie much more stressful in his retirement age. Poor Chance.

Actually, Penny's dog looks alot like my senior doggie.
And suspiciously, he also goes by the name Chance too.
I've come to a conclusion that we actually own the same dog who travels back and forth btw ss2 and TTDi through some dark means...

Evil means... This dog is unclean...
Well, mine is anyway. Literally!

“Sometimes, those that walk in darkness have to make their own light.”

Wicked Sick

2006-08-15T18:19:00.000+08:00

Had the flu since Sunday. Being sick really sux00rz. Big time!

Reason number one: Constantly being kept awake at night.
Either my constitution is weak or the medicine I’m taking is causing slight paranoia and hallucinations, but I keep having these reoccurring dreams of retaking SPM! Sometimes it is mixed with my university subjects, like I am taking my business papers but on top of that I’ve got a biology test at high school the next day. Although there are many variations to the dream (eg: being late for the test, not wearing any clothing during the KH paper, panic attack half-way through AddMaths), the theme is basically the same. I am not prepared for SPM. Sometimes, I am fully aware that I already did my SPM and I already gotten my results in my dreams, but there is still an urge to study for something that has already passed.

Could it be a residual regret for not scoring better? Or is it that ever since SPM, I have not seriously sat down and really studied anymore? Was my high school life really such a horrible experience that I am suffering the first signs of post-traumatic stress disorder?

Wakakakakakaa! I think it’s just the meds.

Reason number two: Cold sweats during the day.
During a hot day, the body feels a chill. So I put on another layer or wear thicker clothing. But that will just add to overall body heat, thus escalating the fever further. It gives me temporary relief from the chills, but sooner or later I got to take the extra layer off when it gets too stuffy. When the accumulated sweat makes contact with the air directly, it is akin to being dunk into a pool of ice! Chilling indeed.

Oh, and avoid wearing black when not in the best of health. Now, I’m not a superstitious fella, but I honestly feel sucky-ier when I am wearing black when ill. Maybe science (black does absorb and retain more heat) or beyond (heard that the color black attracts a darker vibe, a non-cheerier disposition to the wearer) but whatever the case may be, you only see light-colored hospital gowns.

Reason number three: Grumpy.
Yeah, on a shorter fuse. Hehehe… Shorter than usual. There is this constant buzz about in the head and nasal areas. And the coughs… Oh, how they hurt. :(
Doesn’t help that I have a Film Studies assignment due this week plus I need to reorganize the sitting plan for the uni’s annual Ball. Jeeperz… No mood…

Anyway, besides wallowing in self-pity for being sick, my sister’s boyfriend came up with this loco idea. Ever heard of broadcasting Astro over a standard home wireless router? Wicked sick idea, man… of course he hasn’t gotten it to work yet. Hope the problems of my computer acting whacked these past few days aren’t the result of his tempering.

Oh, and I am going for my green belt jujitsu grading tomorrow. Hopefully, I will be back on my feet by morning.

“I’ll hound you night and day!”
”Then be a good dog. Sit, stay!”

From Russia, with Kenya

2006-08-09T03:12:00.000+08:00

The ending credits to the movie scrolls upwards on the projected screen, signaling the end of yet another of my Film Studies lectures. I can think of worse ways to spend a Friday morning.

The movie for the day was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. For a sorta indie film, it has stocks of high hitting casts such as Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst and Elijah Wood. Dunst looks so ultra cute especially when she gets high on pot and Elijah Woods… is much taller than I am used to. Oh yeah, he is also the movie’s minor protagonist with a fetish for women’s underwear.

Carrey takes on a much more introvert role (and quite a fuzzy one too) although there were times where he did his usual Carry-ness antic. Actually, the whole movie is sort of a reminiscence of a more psychedelic Truman Show.

Anyway, there was this Caucasian girl sitting sideways towards me and right after the lights went on, she made a complementary remark about my supposedly lucky (and supposedly 100 % shark tooth) necklace. I mumbled a thanks and casually asked her where she hailed from. Russia was her response.

At that point, all I could think off for a charming response to a Russian student (and a rather cute one at that!) was vodka jokes and really bad Commander Chekov impersonations.

"Where are ze nukeluar wessels?"

In Russia, everything can be solved with enough vodka!

It kind of reminds me of a time when I met an African student during one of my CG gatherings. We struck up a conversation and I asked where she was from. She said Kenya and, with a raised eyebrow, asked me if I knew where exactly Kenya was.

I answered enthusiastically of course.

“Africa!”

And then she asked: “Which part?”

… …. ...

“I dunno.”

And she did the ‘huh!’ sound one makes when hearing an expected answer. At first, I was kinda put off. I mean give me a break already! How was I supposed to know there was going to be a geographical pop quiz at a church function? Did ya want the exact longitude and latitude of Kenya too?

Then comes to the day where I met the cute Russian. I could not think of anything intelligent to state or say about Russia either. All I know from the thousands of movies and computer games that I have consumed in the past is that everything sounds cooler when you say it in a Russian accent.

Now, if I've thought of it in this way in relation to the Kenya student’s question: What if an American came to me and asked me where I was from. I say Malaysia and then he goes “Ohhhh… yeah, yeah, I’ve heard of that country before, dude! It’s in Asia, no?”

No shit in Asia.

No shit in Africa too, in my case.

I guess ignorance isn’t just epidemic to Westerners after all.

So I did what I do best. I Wiki-ed Kenya and Russia!
Oh, and vodka too!

“Don’t worry, man. I’ve got your back.”
”It isn’t my back I’m worried about…”

Out`sync

2006-08-05T02:36:00.000+08:00

Why is it that I feel out of sync with time. I am always at the wrong moment, at the wrong place, going the wrong way.

Maybe at another time or in a slightly different situation, things could’ve worked out. But there is always this tiny bit of… how do I put it? An element… a certain something that just isn’t right or in the right amount which causes things to go south.

It is akin to getting a bad hand in a game of cards. You do what you can to soften your losses, but it’ll still end up the same way… a lost.

I know this may sound a little whiny (nay, a little ungrateful even seeing how blessed I am to have a family that is loving and healthy, great REAL true blue friends who are like the brothers I did not have, my health, economical security, solid education, etc etc…) but why does it feel that I have chosen the wrong degree? Why do I realize things too late? Why didn’t I see things the way they are sooner?
Looking back, if the conditions where ideal, if I was in that guy’s shoes as who I am now, man…I could have gotten that girl. I could have gotten that part-time job. I could have avoided misery. I could be in a ‘group’ for once instead of a regular “lone wolf” in school. Lots of could’ve been…

Or is this just another classical case of grasses always looking greener from the other side of the fence. Like the song goes… Nothing tastes as sweet as what I can’t have.

Not that I am really complaining or anything. Right now, life is going great. In fact, I’ve never felt so good about myself for such a sustainable stretch of time.

I finally figured how to carry myself around. Walking, talking, playing, dressing, studying… It all comes naturally to me now. Everything fits (sorta anyway).

It isn’t… “forced” anymore. Like… like I’m finally (and truthfully) comfortable operating naturally in my own skin. I’ve noticed that I now do not let my environment or any shitty circumstances to deeply influence me to feel a certain way.

But why didn’t I figure all these out in the BEGINNING of my uni life, not the last semester of my final year as a student. Hell, if I’ve experienced this paradigm shift in self-imagery back in good ole Dee Jay (and I mean “good ole” in an extremely sarcastic manner), my high school life would be a much more pleasant and different experience.

Before I will know it, I’ll be out in the big cruel world of employment and I’ll have to start learning the ropes all over again. Figuring thing out all over again, making mistakes, getting hurt. Yes, without a doubt very strong medicine that would make me tougher, leaner, and meaner.

But can’t I enjoy this “high” for just a little longer? I don’t feel ready yet to go out in the world with adult responsibilities. Studying life, which is now crystal clear to me, is the best time of one’s life. Such a carefree existent with papa and momma to take care of everything.

Sigh… Yeah, yeah… It’s probably time to suck it up and grow up.

I’ll just have to savor theses last few months and hopefully, get to tie up shoestrings. My ultimate wish is to settle and possibly patch up certain…. issues.

“Vote for Pedro!”

Rumah Tasik

2006-07-23T04:21:00.000+08:00

Just came back from watching the movie The Lake House. Starring KeaNEO Reeves and Sandra Bulldog, the show is a remake of a year-2000 Korean movie entitled Il Mare.

Premise of the plot is basically about two individuals who can correspond to each other through a house on a lake (or more specifically, its mailbox) while living 2 years apart. Something like instant messaging but through time and snail mail. Then they fall in love, I’ll wait for you, you wait for me, yada yada yada, that sort of thing.

The show started out ok by slowing building up the characters as they interact with each other. The important back-story of the lead female (Bulldog) is mostly flashed out through KeaNEO’s point of view (as he is the one living 2 years in the past from her, the viewers get to see her back-story unfolding through his eyes). I find that to be a rather refreshing way of communicating a character’s historical background. There were also scenes where they are like sitting in the same park next to each other. The screen is then split between his and her ‘time’ as they are directly talking to each other. That was kinda cool.

It whole “talking-through-time” theme reminds me a lot like the year 2000 movie Frequency, which is in my opinion, a bloody good show. Instead of mushy romance, Frequency is an action/mystery flick where both father and son are trying to save each other and everyone they love through an old CB radio. However, although their intentions are good, each of their actions causes a butterfly effect in the timeline. It really grabs you by the balls all the way until the end. Now, THAT movie had a proper ending.

*slight spoiler*
The ending of The Lake House is however, sadly disappointing. They had the opportunity to flash out a more powerful (and tear-jerking) ending but instead, the audiences will just go “hey, if she told him that then why didn’t he show up when they agreed on the date instead of waiting ANOTHER 2 more years yet however if he did show up then she would not have found out about the incident in the first place and thus unable to… uggg!"
Temporal Mechanics gives me a headache.

Basically, a very “huh?” ending. An ok movie to watch especially with a female companion. Wait… actually everything goes better with a female companion. :)

The origianl ending from the Korean version sound much more better than this one.

On a bright note, the soundtrack for the movie has an old-school, romantically jazz-like feel to it. Suitable for the show’s slow pace.

“Assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups.”

Pussy Whipped! WHOOPAH!

2006-07-19T03:05:00.000+08:00

Oh, man! This is a classic. Old school stuff (well, if you can count the 2003 MTV Movie Awards as old) but nonetheless one of my favorite Matrix: Reloaded spoofs out there.

The seamless blending into the movie was hilariously timed yet it still made it feel like part of the scenes. I also loved the times where they intentionally made fun of the crazy-ass dialogues in the Matrix trilogy.

Seriously, does anybody understands what the heck these people are yabbering about? How does an underground resistance movement consisting of the last bastion of man against some really scary robots who are bent on making life hell for all humans develop such an extensive vocabulary? Where do they find the time to express themselves when something big, ugly and has intentions to ripped you up a new one is coming to get ya?

Hollywood magic!

“Morpheus! Morpheus! What can we expect at this orgy?!”
“MACHINES!”

A Working Holiday

2006-07-08T10:53:00.000+08:00

Well, it has been a swell holiday. I can’t believe I am actually doing much more work than trenching through uni. My dad like got this 100 page + quality assessment laboratory manual he has me typing. A MANUAL!

I really hate the feeling. Whatever I am doing, it is always hanging at the back of my head. Now, that is not the proper way to goof off during the holiz. Deadline for this “assignment” is the 10th of this month and quite frankly I feel more stressed up about this work than regular uni assignments.

Been missing out on a lot of friends who are back from abroad. Sorry, guys!

On a bright note, I actually can put on my contacts on the first try now! It is quite an achievement I must say. No one can properly appreciate the term “patience” until he goes through the trials of putting on contact lenses for the first few times.

For your continuous entertainment, this video is a classic!

Oh, and I finally know what Zouk (is that how you spell it?) looks like now. Thursday was ladies night and hoo yeah! There were the ladiezzzz there alright! And the assorted 3rd genders too. *shivers*

Bumped into Sean (1/4 owner of ESC) there and he got the guys in our group in for free! W000t! And who says going to cyber cafes doesn’t pay off? Nahahahahaa.... I is not bad for a “clubbing virgin”, aye? I got the veterans guy clubbers in for free! Who is da man with the contacts now, baby?!

Inside was like from Tokyo Drift’s party scene or something. Laser lights, neon, loud (ass) music pumping, drunks, dancing girls. Whoa…

But I think it is quite stressful going to these places as a girl. Drunk and leering looking individuals continuously hitting on you and giving catcalls. Also, the occasional wondering hands. It is times like this that it is good to be man!

But the party was cut short. Raid raid raid raid again. Why is it that anywhere I go there is a raid?! It’s like a cosmic karma that states that anything I do or go to is the wrong place to be at the wrong time. Well, I really need not worry. Privileges of being 21 and all. But one of us *ahem ahem* used a another person’s IC to get in cause someone was going to skip their HIGH SCHOOL’s Hari Keusahawanaan the next day. :)

So we jetted outta there. Word of the raid spread quickly among the dancing crowd as people slowly made their way out before the coppers arrive. Bumped with Sean again on the way out. Told us again to scoot away. It’s just odd that EVERYONE was getting out. Guess being 21 doesn’t make you immune to the lock-up quota the police has to filled out if you’re unlucky.

So yeah, basically the highlight of my holidays thus far. Watched a couple of DVDs with the gang sometimes. Cyber café on occasion. But not much DOTA anymore.

Can’t wait for exam results to come out. Weeeee… :(

" I like the 'whoosh'. It's the door saying 'I am closed' "

I Can See! I Can See!

2006-06-26T11:05:00.000+08:00

You know those urban legends about someone who was trying and trying to take out his contact lenses, only to rip out his cornea in the end?

Well, it doesn’t sound so funny anymore.

Heh… and here I thought using contacts was going to be a breeze. *gaak!*

First time, I thought I did alright. Only took me about 15 minutes. Not bad, judging from all the other stories I’ve heard. Some ranging from 45 minutes to an hour plus.

The hard part (which incidentally, I found out the hard way!) was when I had to put in on all by myself without the optician dude there for morale support. First, I had to guess which side is the right way. I mean seriously, how can you tell whether the damm thing is right-side out or inside-out? The only way I can actually tell I made a boo-boo is when there is a searing pain poking at the eyeballs.

*sigh* Vanity, vanity, thine name is Vincent.

Oh, yeah. Dropped one in the bathroom too. Sheezee… How DO you find something that looks like a droplet of water in an area that is perpetually wet?! I can’t believe I lost one.

Wearing contacts has also changed my lifestyle. I love to take spontaneous naps around the day. With my specs in the workshop until Wednesday (My little sister socked me in the face, cracking the thing into two pieces. The night BEFORE my last examination! Perfect), I have no other alternatives. I have to stay awake even thought I wanna lie down and laze around. The thought of putting in on again sort of deters me from removing it unless really necessary. I got to be really sure I wanna stay outta bed before putting them on.

I guess its better this way. I’m not too lethargic anymore. Just that rushing to drive my little sister to her tuitions and my mom from work doesn’t really work for me. My eyes are kinda beady and small early in the morning. My eyelids are unbelievably annoying, no matter how much I pry my eyes open. So much so I get to a point where I just shove the bloody thing into my eyeball, not caring about putting the lenses on their correct concaves. Driving down KL traffic with an inside-out contact isn’t a very enjoyable experience.

Good thing that both my eyes are equally impaired, simplifying the attachment process tremendously.

Can’t wait for my old specs to be repaired though. Flexibly!

"The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition:
No 34. Peace is good for business.
No 45. War is good for business."

Red

2006-06-22T22:15:00.000+08:00

Uggg..! If I ever have to watch another one of those High School Musical promo ads on Astro again, I’m going to kill someone. Really…

I mean crap, man! They’ve been like showing it over and over and over again. If ya combine all the clips together, well, there you have it! The whole bloody show.

“It’s hard to believeeeeeee!”

Arrrrrgggg!

Anyhow, funny thing about having exams. I haven’t been out of my house for like a week. This particular fact only struck me when I notice piles of my shaded hair beginning to form little colonies on my room’s floor.

By not going out of the house, my brain had to find another outlet for wanted distraction. Recently, just got hooked on to Kim Possible. Heh heh…

It’s on every 6 pm sharp, although here in Malaysia they are randomly showing the latest season (Season 3). I would really like to watch the earlier seasons though before Season 4 comes out this October. *Gives birdie to Disney’s 65-episode rule*

ANYONE KNOWS WHERE TO DOWNLOAD TORRENTS FOR KIM POSSIBLE?

Yeah, so it’s a cartoon… a Disney cartoon to boot.
But I mean common! Redhead, bare-midriff teenage girl cheerleader. You can’t go too wrong there, my friend. Woooo Hooo!
Beside the ‘aesthetic’ appeal, the show’s dialogues are cleaver and witty. Tons of memorable characters. And it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The show openly acknowledges it’s own parody-like themes and flaunts it around shamelessly.

Anyway, exams are finally over. W00t! Just feel too spent to do anything…. Uhggg…

“Never be normal.”

So, You Say You Wanna be a Jedi?

2006-06-15T03:25:00.000+08:00

This video is freaking awesome!

It’s like wow… these people have a lot of time on their hands. To make something with such chorography and patience. Just imagine how many re-takes they would have to do over and over again. And the hours of video editing.

Like in real ‘kung-fu’ style-type movies, it’s just so rad that both combatants have their own distinctive Jedi stances. The one-hand saber dude is the epitome of coolness in my opinion. Of course, the dark side has always been cooler. They have the coolest moves, the coolest clothing and the coolest one-liners!

But I think the baddest-ass thing about this video is how each combatant changes their style a little after every engagement. A little tweak here, a little adaptation there. It is not static. They evolve and flow with the battle at hand.

It just goes to show that any fans of a genre are indeed a fascinating bunch. I mean they don’t get paid but they do quality stuff that even far suppresses work done by people who get paid to do it. If you are an anime lover, you will know what I mean. Fan-subs are like the best subtitles there is in existents. They not only give an accurate translation but also add-in little bits of facts to explain the Japanese language and culture.

A site to really visit is definitely FanFiction. Boosting millions of fan-writing stories of your favorite movies, shows, anime and cartoons, it’s a place where everything is (and will always be) possible. What could have been, crossovers between shows, alternative universes, the hero being evil. Anything that the fans would have loved to see happen in cannon. Guess it’s also a good place to start if one is interested in taking up fictional writing as a serious hobby or career. The people there are dedicated in giving constructive criticism with little to no flaming involve. They are just in it to see their favorite characters expand beyond the original cannon so it is also a good place to test-market if people actually dig your writings.

Anyway, exams are almost over. Just one more paper to go. Both marketing papers were... painful. On the hand. I'm just worried that the usual bullshit I have written will not get me through. Oh, well...

“The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some considered to be unnatural.”
“Is it possible to learn this power?”
…
“Not from a Jedi.”

Of Little Peaches and Seeham

2006-06-11T04:32:00.000+08:00

There is this odd thingy about my taste in food.

I like peach-flavored stuff.
Like peach-flavored yogurt, especially if they have those tiny little bits of the fruit inside.
I also have a subconscious impulse to reach for peach-flavored ice lemon tea from the chiller. Oooo especially the Capricorn ones with a Hawaiian polar bear on its silver packaging.
I also like the smell of peach-scented shampoo! (on girls, not guys. That would be like ewww...)

But I don’t like eating the peach fruit itself.

Guess it’s the same with seeham. I love seeham with my cha kuey thow but I really hate eating them separately. I can almost puke if I ate a seeyam just like that without anything and a seeham-less cha kuey thow taste kinda bland to me.

In fact (besides fried la la), I don’t fancy oysters or muscles that much.

But I like seafood.

Great. It's 4.30 in the morning and I manage to make myself hungry.

“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was to convince the world that he did not exist.”

A Little Something to get Me Through the Weeks Ahead

2006-06-02T02:54:00.000+08:00

A little something to get me through the weeks ahead...

"She is why You must die"

Mindless Examination Musings

2006-05-31T18:40:00.000+08:00

It is exam time again. Apparently, you can be under severe stress if you are stress because you aren’t stress about exams. Funny, that.

Anyway,

Disneyland is coming to Malaysia! Or Johor to be precise. I can almost picture it now… Minnie Mouse in tudung (round ears are sexy this season), a mandatory sarong for Donald Duck (exhibitionists are a no-no in Malaysia) and Mickey Mouse speaking Malay.
Oh, and Goofy needs a dog license from MPJB plus at least 3,000 square feet of running space if Pluto shares the same living area.

And World Cup is just around the corner! And right in the smack of nearly every major examination in the world. Brilliant timing!
No, I am not a football fan but I do like the feeling of festivities! Any reason for a party is a good reason. The exams are sort of a letdown. I’ve even heard that some universities are postponing their exams for the World Cup. How cool is that? Monash isn’t that cool unfortunately. :(

Hmmm… speaking of exams and stress, it reminded me of a conversation I had with some old DJ seniors.

Me: Hi, me Vincent.
DJ Senior: Hi, me *some-name*.
Me: You from DJ?
DJ Senior: Yeah, you from DJ too, right? Prefect? Haha the one who always got a stressed look waaaan!
Me: …

Oh well, just musing about stuff. Back to the books! Applied Macro/Microeconomics on Monday! I will now attempt to conquer my phobia on economics paper once and for all! Yeaaaaaaaaa!

Ooo.. 6.45pm! Nap time!

PS: Good luck to all who are having their examination, whether Monash here or Monash abroad.

”So, you are Yuri the trainer who trains?”

A Down Under Day Out with Adrian

2006-05-17T15:26:00.000+08:00

While harassing the local fauna, the Kokster decided to flaunt his verbal superiority for all to see!

It is a wonder why Australia has such strict immigration policies. :)

"You didn't beat me. You ignored the rules of engagement. In a fair fight, I'd kill you."
"That's not much incentive for me to fight fair, then, is it?"

"A" is for Amok!

2006-05-14T23:41:00.000+08:00

It is true that our national language has borrowed whole chunks of words and phrases from many different tongues around the world. English, Portuguese and Chinese to name a few.

But I’ve recently discovered from my assignment-procrastinating voyages inside the huge archives of Wikipedia that there is in fact one original word our humble country has contributed to the English language!

The word: AMOK!

No, not the heavy-metal band.

Here, check it out!

Well, yeah I’ll admit it’s a little unflattering on the reason WHY the word came about in the first place. But common! It’s still a Malaysian original word, right?

“It is good to be the King.”

Where The ******* Hell Are You?

2006-05-12T17:36:00.000+08:00

A spoof on Australia’s “Where The Bloody Hell Are You?” tourism campaign.
The original version was actually banned in the UK where they deemed ‘bloody hell' as vulgar.

An irony, no?

“Cooties are for the weak…”

Redlining One's Self

2006-05-12T11:54:00.000+08:00

I’m back from the dead! Woohoo, assignment mania!

You know, I’ve always treated any literature work I ever had as an assignment. Yes, even this blog! I am using Word now to type this. And the shitty part? I even procrastinate doing my blog like I do with my assignments! LOL!

It’s kinda funny when Dave asked me:
”When are you going to update your blog?”

And I say:
”Doing now.”

And the post only comes up the next day in the middle of the afternoon.

Based on the length, some people even theorized that I actually prepare 3-4 articles in advance and save them for later! Hahahah, like a magazine!

So anyway, there was this one time somewhere last week when I decided to see how far my body could go. After a major assignment (after 2 sleepless nights), against the protest of my tiredness, I went for my Jujitsu class. Fell asleep inside my car after I parked for almost a solid hour. Woke up just in time for the weekly festivities… Sparing!

After getting my butt kicked (I’ve experienced first hand the “Nelson-lock”. It really… stretches you. Really…) I have gotten a call. It was DOTA time!

So with no dinner (no lunch either!) I went to old ESC down as SS2 at around 8.30pm and played until… about 3.40am! Hoooo ahh!

Ate my dinner/lunch around 4am. Indo mee double, boss!

And that is how you redline youself.

“I don’t need my boyfriend’s protection. He is a bloody f33d3r.”

Raid at the bucksy coffee-house!

2006-04-23T03:06:00.000+08:00

Raids, ahoy! Just gotten back from a charity jamming session at Taipan’s Starbucks where the ever-vigilant MPSJ personnel barged in halfway through Altered Frequency’s turn. Followed Joanne and apparently what seams to be my twin, Rowen (he doesn’t like to be called Rory for some reason… heh heh!). She had orders to cover the event by our slave-handler from Star’s R.AGE. I tagged along as witty companion/advisory personnel.

Hosted by a couple of Taylor’s CPU students, the Nite Gig was in aid to raise donations for the SPCA. Several amateur bands and Altered Frequency were nice enough to perform on the veranda of Starbucks.

I’m not really a big fan of heavy metal music but that seams to be the local trend these days. The loud electric riffs, incoherent screams… uggghh… not really my cup of tea. The bands that were a hit with the ladies (ie: screaming girls!) however did more ‘contemporary’ songs. Guess heavy metal (albeit a more famous trend for Malaysia’s indie music scene) has more of a niche following rather than mainstream.

There was this sweet looking bass-guitar wielding girl in a band called Creedy Jane. They were pretty good in my opinion with their very own original song entitled Smile. They have the kind of poppy-acoustic tune that I am drawn to. Well, ok maybe the girl bassist has something to do with it too. :P

Hey, in the topic about girls… Wow, groupie girls are kinda hot. Well, some were too gothic for my liking but there were some lookers hanging about with the bands. Actually, the Starbucks cashier was kinda cute too. Nicole, I think her name was. She was the one who recommended some Tazo tea for my hearing problem (I sat next to the speakers for the better duration of the gig).

Don’t hate the player, hate the game, ok? Peace! :P

So anyway, all the bands managed to perform, leaving Altered Frequency as the last performance. They played several of their album songs plus a few… pimped-up classics before MPSJ came in and shut them down. Many of the audiences gave an audible “F**k you MPSJ!” and other rebellious profanities before quietly moving off.

It kind of reminds me of the incident at Paul’s Place last New Year’s Eve during my internship with The Star. Of course, everyone there was arrested (including people eating at nearby restaurants) and had to celebrate 2006 at the Breakfields Police Station. That could explain why many of the audiences just now disappeared really fast.

Of course in the end it wasn’t that serious. Apparently, the cover excuse for shutting down the gig was due to “licensing issues”. Starbucks did not have the proper permit to host a gig. Sounds like bull to me… My guesses are probably:

a) They had a quota of raids to fill in for the month.
b) The most likely scenario, other businesses/residents made complains. This was what actually really happened at Paul’s Place. The Chinese shop owners around Paul’s Place made a complain cause they did not like too many… of certain individualitys hanging about their premises, if you know what I mean.
c) Getting some "claimage charge" for all the equipment they confiscated. Well, they only took the drumset, sound and lighting systems. At least everyone who performed tonight didn't get thier own personal equipment taken.

So anyway, the thing was at its final performance anyway before being shut down by The Man so no big deal I suppose. A bit of embarrassment for Altered Frequency and the CPU organizers but hey… like what one of the band members quipped during the raid: “Any publicity is GOOD publicity!”

Thanks again, Jo, for the invite. Hope the article goes well. EVERYONE, BE SURE TO LOOK OUT FOR IT IN THE STAR R.AGE!

It was also good to finally meet my evil twin. What? Of course I am the good one! DUh!

PS: All photo credit goes to Jo. Go to her blog from my links (ashkenne's journal) for more story! See, I do advertising for my frens too! :)

“You won’t find bin Laden in there.”

Neo: Jujitsu? I am going to learn... Jujitsu?

2006-04-20T03:04:00.000+08:00

Would you believe that these are just our warm-ups!
And me mom always wonders why I come home every Wednesday nights limping like an old man. Feels like one too I might add.

We end each Jujitsu class with a healthy dose of “friendly” sparing matches.
However, instead of the conventional standing spars, we usually grapple one another from a starting kneeling position. To win, we must employ techniques such as hand-locks, arm-bars, throws, strangulations and many other limb bending (and potentially bone snapping) maneuvers to make our opponent yield.

Close/ground combat is heavily emphasized in our training. This is probably what differs Jujitsu from other martial arts.

After taking the classes for nearly 2 years, I find myself fascinated by the changes that I am going through. The confidence that it gives is empowering. I have always been a non-confrontational kind of guy. Preferring to settle things with words and reasoning. I am still that kind of person (I hope!) but this time when things get ugly, at least I have some form of effective protection that I can provide for myself and for my love ones.

It is also amazing what one can learn from a physical fight with another. Its not only just brute strength or skills but also mental powers. At many times, I’ve been up against a stronger opponent but just the stubbornness on not giving up not matter how little air is left in your brain (yeah, he got me in a strangulations position. Everything was turning darker around me at that time!) is a victory in it self. I have actually seen my opponent slacking off just because I persevere long enough in an obvious death hold. That few microseconds of inattention gave me enough time to roll out of his hold and attempt a counter-strike.

Yeah well, I still gotten my ass kicked in the end… But I won a moral victory for myself! I never really pictured myself a physical fighter before. And I kind of like the challenge of grappling especially if you know that he is much stronger than you. The excitement and anticipation…. Sometimes intoxicating!

But to be clear on one thing. Jujitsu teaches one to “get out of a sticky situation”, not start one. That is the first doctrine we learn from sensei besides learning how to fall down without getting hurt. Ha ha… Kinda poetic that the first physical skill we learned in Jujitsu is how to fall down properly.

Anyway, sensei is always looking out for new students (fresh fish fresh fish fresh fish, eh Sean?) and he sometimes conducts street survival workshops and weapons disarming courses during the year. Just give me a buzz if you are interested! I am after all the class’s unofficial PR Manager. Hahahah…. And I thought the Jujitsu article I’ve wrote for The Star’s R-AGE section (with its spelling mistakes and horrible grammar) will not come back to haunt me. Sensei put copies of it all over Taylor’s College! With my full name on it! Waaaaah!

At least the check for the article came via mail already! About time too! 2 months late! And yes, Jo, yours is much more than mine!

“Steve Martin Laurence Fishburne.”

Kari-OK with Movie

2006-04-19T18:49:00.000+08:00

If yesterday’s thunderstorm was any indication, I’m really a horrible singer. Good god, do I really sound that off? It is amazing what a mike with accompanying music can do to erode one’s self-confidence. And I always sounded so good in the shower.

Went to Red Box @ The Curve with a couple of me uni mates. I never really pictured Jia Qi, Kaff, Bee and KC as songbirds. They are really good especially with Chinese songs. Crystal has the tendency to make spontaneous announcements and comments on the mikes but she can carry a tune too. Ryan was like some male Hongky pop star and he can’t even read the Chinese characters. He sang them all by ear! Eugene… well, at least I can’t be ALL to blame for yesterday’s thunderstorm. Heh heh! Darien who is a friend brought by Crystal could give Ryan a run for his money though. Btw, an all guy version of ‘Don’t Cha’ is unlikely to top any charts. We know… we tried. :)

Karaoke at the Red Box did not kill me off financially as I previously feared. It only cost each one of us about RM 8 each for 2-3 hours of unlimited songs plus a measly meal. Hahaha! Fried mee with expired X.O was the best! They even threw in a bottled Pokka green tea for every one of us after we ‘log-out’. Tasted like overcooked water… if there is such a thing.

After that we headed over to One U for a movie. Watched The Wild, a sort of Madagascar rip-off but with one saving grace. A very grumpy British and perpetually drunken-like koala bear! HAVE A NICE DAY HAVE A NICE DAY HAVE A NICE DAAAAAY! Ok, never mind just watch the show on DVD or something. Noticed one thing though. During the trailers, there are TONS of new animations coming out this season! Over the Hedge, Open Season, Ice Age 2, Cars, Happy Feet, The Ant Bully. I really do like computer animated cartoons but I fear a saturation point coming up.

Dinner was at New Paris SS2. Basically behind my house. Darien on his bike got lost on the way from BU even though our 3 car convoy went slowly to lead the way. Apparently, as I gather from his logically explanation, a motorcycle cannot go slow because they need a certain speed to maintain their balance.

Minimum speed must be at least 90km/h.

Joker… No wonder later when the gang came over to my house to play with Freddy, he got lost… AGAIN! Go straight to the end of the road and turn left. I don’t think that was too complicated! Ai yo yo…

PS: Freddy = Girl magnet.

"I am god, u are n00b!"

I get to pick a new perk!

2006-04-12T07:59:00.000+08:00

So my gentle readers are getting kinda restless of me being so coy lately in my blog, eh? Heh heh heh…

Well, truth be told I’m not really weighted down by Monash’s infamous assignment load. Guess being a final year business student, the words, skill and journal hunting comes naturally to us already. That or we just learned how to bullshit better.

Nah, its just that my sleeping patterns are kinda out of whack. My bioclock is currently set to North American timing without taking into consideration daylight savings. Plus that with my slight on-again off-again flu, things aren’t too shiny.

But in accordance to my new policy of looking at things in the ‘glass half-full’ mentality, I’ll like to think that all the time I’ve spent sleeping soundly wrapped inside my blanket as a metaphoric cocoon. When I come into a realization of either a new outlook in life or discovering something new about myself, I usually like to sleep on it… literally.

I think I’ve discovered a gift or a knack in counseling. Not necessary in a professional capacity but more on an informal basis. If I’m not mistaken, I think it is also one of the spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible besides serving, preaching and prophecy. Well, sure as heck not picturing myself being called Senior Pastor Tan nor prophesying over someone and declaring that his sprit man is dead!

But yeah, although it’s still a diamond in the rough, counseling may just be something I’m actually good at. Hell, I’ve always been kind of frustrated on why all these unfair joo joos keep occurring to me. Like God wanted a good laugh at my expense. Maybe, just maybe He let me through all these experiences (and of course many more and worst joo joos to come) so I can use it to help somebody somewhere. I’ll like to think something noble can come out of all these crap I’ve been through.

Anyway, I got to run to school now. So sleepy, want to go back and hibernate more! The bed always looks so warm and cozy in the morning during a week day on one of you busiest timetable.

“I’m proud of my humility!”

A very good reason to watch out for this car.

2006-03-29T15:29:00.000+08:00

The CRIMINAL!

The CRIME!

`nuff said… :)

“Girls… Can’t kill them, can’t live without them either.”

21st Birthday with me!

2006-03-28T19:20:00.000+08:00

Woo hoo! My family treated me to The Ship at Damansara Utama Uptown. One word… ok, well two… BIG PORTIONS!
I ordered the err… BBQ-something-something that tasted vaguely like chicken.
The oxtail soup was wonderful. So was my Dad’s onion soup. Peter ordered a round of oysters baked over with cheese for everyone. Now, I’m not a huge fan of oysters. They taste too fishy for my liking. But these… Well, I think that for once in my life I’ve actually ate one that was cooked right.

The complementary Happy Birthday song was sang by The Ship’s very own jolly crew.
Cake was… errr.. tasted like chicken too. Hahahah no no no I'm kidding. Actually, I really didn’t ask what it was. Tiramisu, I think…

A big thank you to Dad, Mom, Che Che, Little XMM, Pete and PoPo for the wonderful meal. I actually became fatter… for about 1 hour… then I was hungry again. :P

Meanwhile, somewhere last week, my cell group celebrated my annual existent into the world in their own way! Lynn was fortunate enough to share almost the same birthday as me so she gets to share in my limlight too. It is great honor! Buwhahahahahahaahahah!

Jo, my birthday is not on the 16th but I forgive u!
Beloved Leader Charmaine, thanks. This is the first time I've celebtrated with a "cg" before. And it was very very very nice!
Ester, thanks for buying the cake!
To Marilyn, Tai Yen, Hseing Liang and the others... THANK YOU! This meant alot to me.

Next, thank you KC and Jia Qi for writing HAPPY BIRTHDAY & 21! with invincible ink… on my arm. :P

Feels like… a dead body from a CSI episode and they are doing the infamous “blue-light” thingy… eww.

Lastly… a shout out!
I would like to thank David, Mark and Sean for the Halo novels! Da M4ster Chief is m4 b1tch n0w!
Lek Soon and Dottiee for the wickedly funny and properly British joke book.
Adrian who called all the way from Aussie (although only 15 seconds but it was nice hearing from u again… well, besides your voice on MSN).
Brenda and Shu Ying for celebrating the same time as me!
Cousin Spang and Cousin Pooi Lum for your wishes.
Woon, Gareth, Vinny, Pei Ru, Charlotte, Daffy, Rachel, Penny, Dawn, Fan Lee, Gab Gab and so many others!

Thank you all! It has been a blast!

“I’ll rather hear a no than forever wonder if she would’ve said yes.”

You're only twenty-one once!

2006-03-27T02:05:00.000+08:00

Vincent Tan.
Level 21 Single Heterosexual Male Human.
Class: University Student.

Well, this is it. The 21st barrier of my life. Would I go to bed tonight as a boy and wake up tomorrow as man?

Probably not…

Although there are many things that I thought would be accomplished by now, I guess I’ll have to look at the bigger picture too.

There were many unexpected incidents that had happen to me. Some good, some downright painful. But all these experiences have shaped me to be stronger, faster, better. So yeah, in the long run I may not be the super rock star I had envisioned myself to be when I turn 21.

But I did discover who I am. That I can go through anything the world throws at me and I can still come out looking shiny out the other end… Well, albeit a little grumpy at times. :P

Pictures of presents and celebrations to come soon. Camera died… I’ve drained the soul out of my Lumix.

“21 years old today and allergic to alcohol… Now it will get interesting.”

She was not the one for me after all

2006-03-26T04:45:00.000+08:00

Well, she wasn’t the one after all. The good thing is I’m neither too sad nor overly depressed about it. I’m not too sure if that is a good sign though. Been shot down so many times that I am getting used to it already! :(

Which leads to another dilemma of mine. How will I know which is the right one when she comes? When I first met her, it was like… finally finding a piece of the puzzle that actually fits. All the signs pointed towards her. Every other girl that I have found attractive in the past began to dull away. I was never this certain about any girl before. That I could just say, “Yes, this is the one for me” without any doubt what-so-ever. There was no… barrier in communications, no self-consciousness. For once, I’ve met a girl that I like without my brain screaming: saysomethingfunnysayanythingsaysomethingjustopenyour
mouthandspeakwaitnocloseityouaregappinglikeanidoit.

She was just plainly… perfect.

I felt like I could be just myself and that she actually finds me special enough to be her's as well.

However, after that first week, things got a little… odd.
She wasn’t ignoring me outright but she didn’t seam to be intrigued by me anymore. Like she doesn’t go out of her way to say hi or anything, which was quite a contrast to the week before. Tried to start a conversation with her a couple of times but… she just clamped up on me. It felt so awkward. Like a comedian doing an act with a room full of stony-faced audiences.

I know I know… all the girls who are reading this will probably go like “See? All you boys are soooo perasaan. Just because a leng lui talk to you you think she is all hot for you already!”.

But really, after the December 2005 Incident, I sincerely believe that she was my light at the end of the tunnel. That God has finally lead me to someone really special.

Well, to cut things short, I thought maybe she is the kind that you know… get stressed up with work or exam results and then clamps up to people she doesn’t really know during that time. But when I asked her what’s up, she will just say nothing, everything’s fine. Work isn’t bothering me etc etc. I’m happy.

Well, after 2 weeks of wondering to myself “Was it something I said? Was it something I did wrong?” I just went and ask her directly. Perhaps using the medium of MSN wasn’t such a good idea. How we say things in person might not sound the way we meant it when we type it out in words. Sometimes, we really take for granted our ability to express ourselves with body language, tone, intonations and volume.

But under the circumstances, face-to-face would’ve just backed her into a corner and calling her on the phone… well, that’s worst in my opinion. I fancy myself good in words so why not? :P

It turned ugly really fast. At first I thought it was writers block, that I didn’t have a good feel for my audience. That everything I say was the absolutely worst possible thing I could have said to her.
But in the end, I think she already made up her mind about me and well… no matter what I say she would’ve jumped on it anyway.

After a lot of “now your sounding weird” and “your not making any sense” (and a lot of emoticons… I swear that girl has emoticons for every occasion!), she finally just dropped the ball on me.

It hurt a little that she thinks I’m just like every other guy out there in the world. That isn’t me (well, which guy ever does, right? :P). Although she didn’t specifically say it out loud, I am not the obsessive/jerk type. I don’t expect a girl that I’ve only just met for a week to call me everyday or stick with me like glue for every waking moment. No, no, no! I just want to know what had happen between now and 2 weeks ago. Why the sudden change? Of course she didn’t see any changes at all… Everything is fine. It was only me that see it that way.

So basically, she already has an opinion about me and she doesn’t like what she sees so far. I was not her one. I probably read a sign of her just wanting to be just friends as another signal. I guess guys are really easily "perasaan"-ted. I am no different.

She ask me outright whether I am trying to ‘pikat’ her and then ending her question with an emoticon of a stick man jumping off a building and dying in a pool of blood.

Ouch…

So I replied honestly: “I just want to be your friend. Just like how we were 2 weeks ago. If something more happens in time, good. If not… then ok. That’s all”. And that is truly how I felt.

She then ended the whole things stating she isn’t comfortable being my friend. Don’t want to get too close to me. “You’re scary”.

Sigh… well, at least that is better than December 2005 Incident’s “you were so negative until I felt like dying around you!”

‘Scary’ is an improvement in this case, I suppose :P

So yeah, to the girl that I thought was the one for me, if you are reading this:
My feelings towards you are sincere. I just thought you were the light at the end of my dark tunnel and I made a move. I took a chance. I took my shot. Was it too strong a move? Maybe… But I have no regrets about it. I did what I thought was right. I’m not a player, I never been in a relationship before. I’m not looking for a one off thing. I want someone special… someone who I can see a future with. Someone who loves me for who I am. I know we’ve only met and you’re probably thinking “you don’t know me so how can you possibly say that kind of things?” Well, put it this way. I want to know you. If only you have just given me the chance to. I’m sorry that you feel that way about me. It is my hope that we can still be friends.

Well, that is it. I dunno what else I can possibly say at this point to make things go the way I want them to go. I guess things aren't meant to go your way so that you can learn other ways to handle things. I just wish there was an instruction manual for relationships. :)

"1 Corinthians 13:4 – 13:7"

The Truth…

2006-03-23T03:05:00.000+08:00

Ever wonder why the assholes and jackasses always get da girls?
What in the world could they possible have that you don’t?
Well… This may shad some light on the whole mystery.

Check out this video from You Tube’s site.
It’s funny (especially at the end! LOL!!)
but it also makes ya think.

Yellow Fever

So what do u guys (especially u gals) think about it? Lets hear some views!

Thanks, Dottie for the site! :P

"Hugo Weaving aka Agent Elrond V"

101 fun-filled things to do before assignments are due!

2006-03-21T19:17:00.000+08:00

Ever had an assignment to hand in and suddenly everything around you seams soooo interesting to do? Things like rearranging you entire room, cleaning the toilet and watering your cactus?

Doing Assignment 1 of Applied Macro/Microeconomics. Notice the blank work-pad? This shot is like so staged!

How about taking PHOTOS on the things you are doing while procrastinate away the time needed to do assignments? Wooo yeah! Who da man?!! :P

With the advancements of the Internet age, procrastinating hasn’t been so easy nor this fun to do! Webcomics are the 3vil! Thank you, Mr. Derek for your entire list of webcomic sites. Currently on the lappie is Angry Zen Master.

Say hello to Raj, my pet cactus.

I have no idea where this Snoopy keychain came from. All I know is that it was there ever since I moved into this room. The spirit of Charles Schulz haunts me! Aieeeee!

I am really trying to turn over a new leaf. Suppose to get assignments done ‘early’ and actually ‘do’ my tutorials for once. Guess it is hard to break an old habit.
But no worries, I suppose. Still got like a whole semester worth of assignments up ahead… Lots of chances to change myself. Can’t hardly wait. Wee heee…. :(

“You all are shit audience… BELLY DANCE!”

I may have lost the war but I won some shoes!

2006-03-14T18:09:00.000+08:00

Well, I did not get the Editor post. Which is all well and good anyway. The Mass Con people do have the facilities, know-how, personnel and the much needed support from their very own lecturers.
Although I did say that win or lose, it matters not. But as usual, thinking about something and actually seeing it for real is kinda different. I feel a little more down than I have anticipated :(
Well, at least I had fun campaigning. Met a few new friends and undoubtedly widen my social circle.
Plus, I’ve learned a valuable lesson on whoring ones self to the public! :P

Anyway, I’ve finally gotten myself a pair of shoes that are of the same color now for once. One of my old pair of white Nikes was turning to a sickly yellow hue.

Thank you for the new shoes!

Bought them from The Curve for RM 199 a pair. I originally wanted something on a more conservative scale. Black and white with the same designs as this one so that I can match it with anything I wear. But, thanks to my obese feet, buying shoes is never so easy for me.
I just go into a shoes store and ask:
”Boss, ambik saiz terbesar awak!”
Try it on. Usually can’t fit. Move on to the next store. Repeat.

The largest they had for the black and white was size 9! Hahahahaha! Jokers!

So yeah, had to take these ones. Size 11 was the largest they’ve got and it just fits me nicely. Just hope I don’t grow anymore.
There was another design too and they were size 11. But I left it to my little sister’s taste. She thinks these ones are cool. So, I think they are cool too. :)

"Ai yo yo! So slippery!"

Cam's shakedown cruise.

2006-03-12T14:53:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was officially good food day! Together with my dad and David, we went downtown to purchase the family’s new Panasonic Lumix FX 9 digital camera. After we parked behind the courts, my dad suggested:

”You guys wanna eat at the best steak house in KL?”

So we hobbled over to The Coliseum, a really 60s old school café/hotel that specialized in steaks. My dad and I had the sirloin steak set while David ordered the Maryland chicken. Dave was the smart one. His plate was overwhelming with chicken, sausages and what-nots. I even had to help him with ¼ of his Maryland. :P

Anyway, a downpour quickly descended over the heart of KL. So after our scrumptious meal, we ran towards Pertama Complex where supposedly all my uncles from overseas patronized a particular camera shop called Selangor Photographers. It has the lowest prices for cameras. Trust me, my uncles are a very thrifty bunch. They know a good deal when they see one.

Negotiated from the sticker price of RM 1588 to about RM 1330 for the camera together with a 512mb SD card. WoW! Good bargain! The lowest price I have seen so far was at SS2 for RM 1355 with the same free stuff.

He then helpfully ‘suggested’ a spare battery and a ‘LCD Screen Guard’.
“I give you best price for these items if you purchase them together la! Extra battery I give you half price and super LCD screen guard I cut off RM 15. So all together I give you total RM 1500.”

Errr… thinking back now, the seller always has the last laugh in Malaysia after all. :(

This is officially the first photo with my family's new Lumix. Me dad!

Later after that, we took a walk outside the front of the courts where they were showcasing cars. In my opinion, displaying Kancils together with a Mercedes CLS 350? Sacrilegious! I was too scared to unpack the camera from the box so I did not have any pictures of the event. Check David’s blog though. He took pictures of a Mazda 6, a Ducati p0w4hbike and several other classics such as the Aston Martin DB 6.

Later, I went to church to bring the camera for a shakedown cruise.

DUMC's 6.30pm Saturday evening service.

After that, the usual gang (David, Sean, and Mark) together with Adrian’s sister Germaine and Mark's cousin Alex went out for dinner. But their CG was celebrating Justin’s going away to the land of lamb chops (New Zealand) so it was another super meal for me at at a SS2 Italian restaurant next to ESC cyber cafe. They originally wanted to go to some steamboat place but it has been replaced by… ESC! Hahahaha!

From left: Alex, Sean, David, Mark and me! Jun Wei on the extreme right. Germaine too cam shy so she took the picture. :P

Mark, David and Sean's CG. The picture was taken by me!

AntiPasto? Anti-Pest in Italian? Uh-oh...

Afterwards, I went home and played with the camera somemore!

Do you have it in black?

This is my room/family storage area. Any ideas for a makeover?

So nice after renovations!

Fredrick “Little Angel” Tan. More like angel of destruction. My shoes! Waah!
He is probably thinking that the camera I am holding is food or something.

Well that is it for now. Ting tow teh!

"...and we will win this war, with a little help from God and a few Marines."

Vote For Tan 2006!

2006-03-10T19:05:00.000+08:00

My customer service department has recently informed me about the number of readers who complained about the length of my blog.
The last time it was the infrequent updates.
Sigh... I really do not want to be involved in marketing after all.
Humans are never satisfied.
Wonder if it is too late to change my major?

Anyway, this week has been surreal. The campaigning alone for the post of MUSA (my university’s student association) Editor has been great. I have never felt so confident and at home in school since… well pre-K.

Poster of my face everywhere around the campus grounds, giving out leaflets to friends and strangers who are now my friends, people coming up to me to wish me luck and shake my hand. Even if I do not secure the post (results at 2.30pm, Monday @ the MUSA lounge) I am happy that I have tried my best to get the post. It is a win-win situation for me really. If I get the editor post, it will look good in my CV and I’ll have the opportunity to create something cool for the people. If I lose, then I will have a lot of free time to write-in any articles I want to do (I am already the magazine’s sub-editor), do my assignments well (I hope to up my credit average to at least a distinction average in order to get a post-graduate scholarship in communications overseas. Well, that is the current plan anyway) and maybe find myself a girl for once. :P

Campaigning period official started last Friday but the General Secretary only told us like around 2pm so the competitors (there are 2 other parties fighting me for the post!) and I had the weekend to properly design my posters and such.

To Mark and Jinny, thanks for all your help. I really need Photoshop on my coms, man. Such a wicked program!

So anyway, I only got my picture inserted into my poster on Tuesday morning and handed in the master copy for MUSA’s approval. It was rejected due to the word REWARD: HE WILL GIVE YOU A MAGAZINE WORTH PICKING UP.

“I’m sorry, but they say you cannot put the word REWARD. You cannot promise the people anything,” said Gen Sec. I was like… Ok what ever! Hahaha! Kononnya I cannot promise to do my job well in my posters.

Same thing happened for the second time too. I apparently cannot use the word GIVE. Arrrggg! So frustrating!

Lost my car keys, finally bumped into the girl of my dreams, found back my keys at Sunway Security office, submitted my poster's master copy, approved by MUSA, had a drink with the girl of my dreams and found out that she is so much more than anything I could ever possibly dream about, went on a poster photocopying rampage, totally blew-off the antagonists from The December 2005 Incident, gotten a nasty paper cut from my posters and spent about RM10 on 1901 Hotdogs in one sitting (I can’t help myself! They must have put LSD in them!).

Besides that, my faithful white fully-authentic Petaling Street Nike sneakers decided to permanently retire after I ran up and down campus to put up posters on every empty notice board I could find. Well, running back and forth between my parked car at the elephant walk to campus grounds 3 times in a day may also contributed to my shoe’s demise.

In conclusion, I have never felt so good about life and myself in general. I think I may be on the right path for once.

PS: I am going to get a digital camera tomorrow! The Panasonic Lumix FX 9! The blog will have more pictures in the future. But Woon also invited me to a Mechwarrior tabletop game tommorrow @ Comic's Corner SS15 at 2pm. I was planning to bring along the gang too (Sean, David, Mark) but now we will have to see if i can get back on time.

I got to go cell now. Vincent, out!

EDIT: Woon called it off. His shore leave was cancelled. Tommorrow, my dad, David and I are going out to buy the camera. Big sister adviced us to check out Sungai Way first for the lowest prices.

“I drive by faith and not by sight!”

Quirky quirks!

2006-03-08T04:51:00.000+08:00

Quirks. Everyone has them. Sometime irritating, sometimes endears but downright funny to watch most of the time.

There are some quirks about myself that I am consciously aware of. I’m sure that there are several more obnoxious ones that my friends and family are just too polite to say out loud! :P

One of them is my inability to completely contain the ‘world’ inside my head. This ‘world’ is a continuingly expanding universe in my brain that has been evolving ever since I was in like primary school or something. It all started out as me fantasying my very own cozy tree-house club where I can hang out and order pizzas everyday. It soon evolved to something like the “Hardy Boys” where my advisories range from school jerks to evil masterminds determined for world domination.

The current ‘world’ is what you might typically find in a military-obsessed heterosexual male who watches a bit too much sci-fi and reads a lot of fantasy novels. Throw in a little anime influence inside and BAM! My very own space opera where I control the storyline. I control the direction of the characters. I control the music. Basically, playing God in my very own head. Heh heh.. Loaded God-complex, cock it and pull it!

Anyway, this has effect the way I’ve carried things every since I could hold something in my hands without dropping them! Textbooks to me are like rifles. I’ll grasp the edges like as if I’m holding on to an assault carbine, complete with my index finger “off the trigger” (for safely purposes of course) and my thumb twitching up and down to “select the mode of fire”. If I’m holding on to something tubular, it will usually be my very own grenade launcher and I’ll periodically “reload” it by “breaking open the top to insert a round”. I associate my schoolbags as if they are my “standard issued combat poncho” with everything I need to survive “behind enemy lines”. A seemingly innocent object such as a TV remote could mean “space frigate” in my mind and sometimes I’ll “fight them ship to ship” with the DVD remote controller! Throwing away Coke cans is like tossing a hand-grenade down the hatch of an enemy tank. I’ll pull off the “pin”, open the dustbin and shout “Fire in the hole!” while sprinting away for cover. I’ll carry around my guitar as if I’m brandishing a LAW rocket launcher and I’ll even kneel down to “take a shot” at a speeding Kancil!

When no one is looking (or if I’m with someone who is quite used to my particular quirks), I’ll walk around as if I’m some kind of “Special Forces” soldier, moving in a caution combat stance with my weapon raised, poised to take down some “tangos/terrorists” (or hordes of charging aliens depending on which planet I’m currently on) in an instant. This is probably due to the amount of Counter-Strike (and lately a lot of FPS computer games) I’ve played. I’m pretty sure the security cameras in stairwells all around the Klang Valley have caught me on tape attempting to “breach a doorway”.

In a nutshell, just imagine a boy who hasn’t really grown up from playing “Cowboys and Indians” in public. My buddy Sean, who knows more about guns and shit much more than me could always tell when I’m acting out my little world (he even joins in sometimes!) Imagine two fully-grown university students “covering each other’s backs” while stalking around campus grounds. It’s a mystery why we don’t have girlfriends… :(

Although this particular quirk comes about when no one is looking or among friends, subconsciously it has influenced the way I speak sometimes. Don’t be surprise if I sometimes greet people with a curt “sir?” or “ma`am?”

Another of my quirks would be the way I pronounce certain words. Coming from a national school background my “England isn’t very tall”. A fact that my dad and Mark notices (and corrects) all the time! There are times when I talk way too fast for people to understand especially when I’m trying to describe something. I also got this habit of repeating stuff twice in a row especially the punch line in a joke or an insightful observation.

I also have this quirk where I like to pick inside someone’s brains. If I’m visiting a house for the fist time, I’ll really take a long look around. Family photos, decorations, the design on the ceilings, kitchen appliances, all of them can tell me a little story about my host. While having a conversation with a stranger, I sometimes have this habit of asking personal questions out front. I guess I just like to know how someone ticks, that’s all. Makes me feel like I can understand others better.

I’m also a little “neat-freak” as compared to others in my family. It is not like I have the constant urge to mop and disinfect my surroundings but more on if I put my hand where I can’t see it, I will find the thing I’m looking for without actually looking. Unfortunately, my family (with the exception of my mom who I think I take up after in terms of mental faculties) is kinda messy. Take my car of example. Inside, it is very neatly Spartan. But whenever my dad or elder sister takes the car, there always seams to be more leaves and dirt on the floor mats. The mirrors are misaligned and the windows have more smudges on them. And for some reason, my dad decided to move furniture inside my hunchback car a few years back. The window tints now bear ugly scars all over! Worst, when I reach behind for the steering lock, it is not there! I turn around and it’s on the other side of the car! Aieee!

Ok, fine. Maybe I’m a little too nutty on the whole neatness thing. But I rather suspect that my dad sometimes deliberately messes up the car’s carpets and hides the steering lock under the seat just to get a raise out of me. He will go like “Hello?! This is not YOUR car. This is the MY car seeing that I paid for it. I can mess it up all I want. You are just the driver.” My family really knows how to push my buttons sometimes.

Another quirk of mine? Procrastination! The bed always looks so nice just to lie in whenever assignments are due. Take this blog entry for example. It is now 4.38am on a school night. Woo pee doo! Which leads to another bad habit of mine. Sleeping in lectures. Comrade Procrastinator is strong!

To me, humor is very important. I believe sometimes it is not what you know, who you know but just simply on how you say things. I’ve observed that many misunderstandings and conflicts can be avoided with some common sense and quick talking. Humor is like… the Indian accent. Pop it in and the tension's gone! (Ala Russell Peters). Sometimes, the humor I produced is kind of obscure so I rather suspect that most of the time people are just laughing at my funniness out of courtesy. :(

But really, I am a funny guy and humor is my primary icebreaker. I rather like doing the whole sardonic/deadpan humor thing. Sometimes though, I may have accidentally offended certain people in the quest to make others laugh. A bad quirk of mine that I am currently trying to correct.

I really like walking around. Let me sit down or run about but don’t force me to stand still. I really can’t! I rather walk for miles than stand up for five minutes. Pacing about sort of like helps me to piece together a solution for a particular problem I’m having. It also gives me my private space to think about stuff, as many people do not like to go walk walk!

Well, its kinda late so I guess I'll shut up for now. I hope Mr. Dogan doesn't mind me sleeping in his lectures... again.

"Apathy is always funnier than ignorance."

Loss

2006-03-04T03:00:00.000+08:00

Gosh… I’m just reading over my blog and… I do whine a lot, don’t I? Adrian was kind enough to point out that I am a bitchy little runt outside the digital world too. I really hope he was just joking. :(

Anyway, I seam to have figured out what when wrong during the creative process of creating my blog. Too many back stories!

So, instead of telling my whole life story from birth to… well hopefully not death (sounds like the narrator from Desperate Housewives though), I will hence forth blog events and feelings that are currently happening to me. Now. Yes yes… that is what a blog was supposed to be in the first place. For back-stories and additional footage, purchase the Special Edition DVD where there is an extended scene of me bitching.

Anyway, on a darker note, Charmaine and Hansel Goh’s mother passed away a couple of days ago. I am a relatively new member in Char’s CG (she is the cell leader) and although I do not know her or the mother very well (I do know Hansel but we weren’t very close unfortunately), her sharing about her mother’s condition during cell last Friday made me feel a little closer to them.

So when I heard the news, I really didn’t know how to sort my feelings. It was an odd mixture of sadness and… distance? I dunno. I was just beginning to know Char and some part of me feels like a stranger to the tragedy and yet the other part feels remorse and the desire to do something, anything for them.

One thing is for certain, I was going to be there together with the cell during the wake. Man, it has been such a long time since I’ve attended a funeral. The weeping, haggard appearances, blood-shot eyes and restrained smiles, all these sights seams to have more significant (and impact) as we age. Seeing the Gohs united in their loss, holding on to each other for support as one pillar of their entire foundation was stuck down was a somber inspiration to me. That a huge loss can bring people even closer than before to fill in the void that was left.

How can I describe hugging a son who has just lost his mother? I can’t. Frankly, I don’t know what I’ll do if I should lose my dad or mom. I felt helpless in the sense that I can’t do or say anything that can help.

Later, one by one, people that knew the late Mrs. Goh stood up to give their testimonies. From how she inspired to push them beyond what they could only possible dream about to simple acts of kindness that can forever change the fate of someone’s life. However, I think the best and far most powerful testimony is the presence of nearly 200 over people crowding the streets. That alone is a testimonial of her legacy. I may not have known the late Mrs. Goh, but I would sure have liked to meet her.

I later realized that I may have done just what had needed to be done. To be among that 200 people. It may be just a simple act, just standing there… but I think it meant a lot.

One thing that creeped me out was how the funeral attendants were… smiling. It was a really creepy smile they had when they went around offering sandwiches and drinks to everyone. I won’t say it was inappropriate or anything, they were just doing their job. I guess it can’t harm to have a few smiling faces around, albeit creepy ones. Another thing that struck me was the plastic water cup that was used. For some reason, whenever I see those pre-sealed RO water cups, it always reminds me of death. I have never seen those cups being used anywhere else besides a funeral. However, one thing that really annoyed me was during the family’s testimonies. There was this woman who was literally screaming into her hand phone about making soup or some sort to the person on the other end. Now, that was just plain rude and disrespecting to the Gohs. As typical mentally of these kind of people, not even the frowns of 200 people looking behind and staring ‘cock’ was enough to deter the woman. Some people just don’t get hints very well.

Well, the wake ended around 10.30pm. Pastor Daniel gave the benediction and for the first time in my life, I actually felt something. Anyway, the first thing I did when I got back was to hug my mom and dad.

Fitting in part 2

2006-03-02T16:57:00.000+08:00

And for some reason, I was wrong about them too. Which is kind of… odd. I always pride myself as someone who seeks the real side of things. Always bothering to hear the other side of the story, finding out what makes a person tick. Being impartial until I get all the facts straight. Wanting to understand the other as much as my side of the view. I guess this is due to the fact that many didn’t take the time to better understand and know who I am before passing their almighty judgment on me when I was growing up. So I subconsciously vowed never to do that.

Ironically, like many things my life (which are one too many already I might add), we often become the one thing we so despise.

Shortly after the Dec05 incident, I’ve made a conscious decision to give cell group another go. So I decided maybe a new group alone without any of my usual buddies. That would force me to mix around. It was really hard for the first couple of weeks. The same pressures I’ve felt the last time I was there resurfaced all over again. Frankly, it was quite disappointing. I had thought that my stitch with The Star and the new post-Dec05 attitude would’ve make things easier but it seams I’ve gotten nowhere in terms of my ability to relate to the cell.

But for some reason, I still kept on coming back. In fact, I was accidentally recruited into Flare, the campus youth zone’s in-house band. So now, I’m going for church activities 3 times a week minimum! That is regarded as crazy for someone like me.

However, fate/God/whatever probably had me come in when many of the cell members were going through some tough times. In fact, my Dec05 incident seams kinda petty even. Well, the one thing I’ve learned is that sharing about personal stuff (no matter how trivial it sounds to outsiders) sorts of bonds you with your cellmates, regardless of whether you want to or not. There seams to be a connection established even though I did not want it to happen. Although I’ll like to make a note that I dread having the “So how is your walk with God nowadays?” kinda questions but when I answered honestly, even though my stand was totally different from everybody, it brought me closer to them.

Well, if not currently going to cell/Flare for the glory of God, I am certainly going for the people there.

And today, I think one of them really needs us right now. I do not know what to say or do, but I think the least I can do is to be there for her.

Fitting in

2006-02-28T14:13:00.000+08:00

All my life I’ve never really liked church people all that much. Well, me best mates don’t count. I used to find Cell Group (CG) a total waste of my time. Every time I give it a try, I always go home with the feeling of stupidity, incompetents and self-consciousness. I can never show my real side there for some reason. It’s like a huge heavy weight on my chest, like the need to get out of there as quickly as possible. Basically, I just sit there and sulk and make a sarcastic comment or two.

Honestly speaking, I can’t stomach churchy people. I see the youth there struggling with the same problems as any other ‘non-Christian’ youth will encounter. Just replace “pop star” with “super holy pastor”. They stumble to peer-pressures just like any other youths. Just replace “getting as much girlfriends as possible” to “hey, lets see who can keep their commitment to remain single for God the longest and the winner is the holy-est among them all!”. So what’s the difference between the church environment and the “world”? Plus, I don’t like the way the church segregates “non-Christians” like they are some ignorant sub-race of men that doesn’t know the truth like we do. Heh heh… I think the reason that I feel that way is because I feel like a designated Christian who probably isn’t really a Christian inside. (I used to say that my mother isn’t a Christian so I find those statement offensive but I can’t do that now as she suddenly lost her non-believer sarcasms status and became a Christian, with sarcasm! Haha).

Ever since I can remember anything, I’ve always had the feeling that I’ve fell through the crack of society. In high school, the “happening” kids used to think of me as a loser, geek and/or nerd (take your pick) while the losers, geeks and nerds in my school think that I was some cool person. Both sides resented me. Same thing in terms of religion I suppose. The Christians would think of me as a backslidden “creature of the world” while the outside world thinks that I’m your archetypical naïve church youth who never has fun, a stiff, prays all the time and goody goody two shoes.

However, after the Dec05 incident, I was left dejected. For the first time in my life, I’ve actually felt real emotional pain as the fakeness of the church suddenly transpired to the outside world which I thought was (even though evil, lustful etc etc) at least honest. You know, keeping it real. After reanalyzing what was my weakness during the Dec 05 incident, I’ve decided to just give things a try even though I’m not ready yet. Hence, tAking a ChAnCe.

2006 New Year’s Resolution number 2:
The world does not give you the time and day to get your shit in order. When opportunity comes knocking on your door, don’t worry about cleaning up the house before opening because frankly, it will never be neat enough.

After taking much thought of my current perception of life, the universe and everything else (cue in So Long and Thanks For All the Fish, David!), I’m suddenly reminded of a sticker outside my friend’s bathroom door.

“Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven”

2006 New Year’s Resolution number 4:
We are all brought up in different ways and we all view things in different “lenses”. Sometimes, it is not whether they or you are right or wrong. All views/opinions/judgments are correct in the eyes of the beholder. The only thing that you can do is to respect the other’s point of view, whether you like it or not.

2006 New Year’s Resolution number 5:
Never judge anyone lesser than you, as you would not want people to judge you the same way.

So with much humility, I’m beginning to reassess my views about the Christians youths.

Part 2

2006-02-28T14:12:00.000+08:00

So anyway, I’m back from a friend’s birthday party at The Curve’s TGIF. Nice place, good people. Where was I? Oh yeah…

Sometime last year, we did a major renovation to the house. It be pimped, yo! Now, there is a proper wall in between the two front bedrooms. Since my grandma moved to the condo across my house (Casa Damansara), the back bedroom is now under my control. So, for the first time in my life, I finally go a place on my own! However, I’m rather unclear of the bedroom concept. Many of my friend’s bedroom expresses their identity all over the place. Posters, nick-nacks, toys, decorations, you name it. Well, to me, a bedroom is where I put my loot, sleep, change and then get out. Period. You don’t really accumulate loads of loot when the only thing you’ve ever own for the better part of your life is a bed, one clothing rack and a study table. So, as you can probably guess, my new bedroom is kinda bland and empty at the moment. So empty that the family decided to store all the boxes of winter clothing and old curtains in my room. Sigh, so now I’m living in the embroidery storage room. Well, at least I got my privacy…and a lot of ‘foot stools’. That is if my parents learn how to knock before barging into my room. My dad actually goes to my room on occasion and reads through my stuff when I’m out. An example would be my 2006 New Year’s Resolution. He reads it and then added about four lines of his own ideas on how to improve myself this year. Creepy…

Let the games begin!

2006-02-26T19:10:00.000+08:00

Well chumps, looks like it’s time to get the show on the road… finally. Sorry to have kept my captivated audiences waiting but I had an emergency visit from me old pal, Comrade Procrastinator! He kept me busy doing his evil biddings such as oversleeping, webcomics and of course, his most diabolically weapon of all, the Wikipedia! Such p0w4h…

Well, enough about that. Let us get to the main agenda then… Me! My full name is Vincent Tan Koon Hua although Vincent isn’t in my IC. Me dad’s idea. He wasn’t really too fond of his first name (My grand daddy was really into Disney/American cartoons back then and me dad was named Tommy, after Tom & Jerry) so he vowed never to do that to his children. Ironically, I really do like the name Vincent. Koon Hua in Chinese literally means ‘crown people’, or Chinese leader/hero. Most just call me ‘sleeping flower’. That’s one problem with the Chinese language. It always sounds insulting when you use another dialect. Of course, the biggest irony here is that I can’t speak Chinese to save my life. The only phrase that I can say in Chinese without cracking people up into a laughing fit is “Dui bu chi, woa bu yao chiang hau yee”.

Currently at press time, I am a 20-year-old male specimen hailing from the tropical peninsular end of Malaysia. We only have two weathers here, summer or flood. I’m currently residing in a town called Pee Jay, roughly the central suburban hub of the Selangor state. My house is right smack next to the Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong (LDP), one of the main traffic arteries around. So basically, I can’t really get lost on the road. It just all depends on how many toll gates I’ll have to go through to get home in the end.

As the only boy with an age gap between two sisters, I suffer from a slight dose of middle child syndrome. Let me elaborate. For the past twenty years of my existents, I’ve never had a room of my own. Originally, the house had four bedrooms, two in the front and two at the back. The right front bedroom was supposedly the master bedroom with a toilet. In between the back two bedrooms was another toilet. During my parents… shall we say more youthful times, they wanted a big-ass-like-studio master bedroom so they had the walls separating the two front rooms removed. Unfortunately (well, fortunately for me), my parents did what nature intended and I was one of the results. When I was a kid, I used to bunk in with my older sister in one of the back rooms (my grandma had the other back room) and she didn’t like that very much. Teenagers and their privacy, bah! So when I was about starting high school, my parents did some minor renovations to the rooms. They installed a water heater in the master bedroom’s bathroom and erected a wooden wall between the two front bedrooms. And I got the right side bedroom! The one with the water heated bathroom! However, there was a catch. In hindsight (or in some twisted way of keeping their eyes on a hormonal teenage boy), my parents did not place a door for the left side bedroom (currently the designated master bedroom where my parents sleep) but only a door into my room! They had to get into my room to get into theirs! Plus, being the only bathroom with water heater in the house, the entire family decided to just change in my room after a shower and to make things more convenient, why not put all our clothing in Vincent’s bedroom? Sigh… So in a nutshell, I was practically living in the family’s public walk-in closet/changing room during my entire high school and college days. DUM DUM DUM!

*TO BE continued*

How do I personalize?

2006-02-20T01:18:00.000+08:00

Hmmm… How the heck do I personalize my blog? The things I really want to do are:
1. A sidebar with the Top Ten songs I like to hear at the moment.
2. I dunno.. I’ll think of something….
I don’t think I can seriously start the blog if the site isn’t to my liking. Something akin to an artist who doesn’t start painting unless he likes the blankness of his white canvas.

Well i finally did it

2006-02-19T01:18:00.000+08:00

Test test test... Is this thing on?
Welcome one and all. Just starting out a blog about me me and me.
Going to start small now.
Later, I'm going to whoop Jeff Ooi's butt.
Nahahahahahah!