Monday, August 31, 2009

MERDEKA!!!

In less than 20 minutes away, the day our Father of Independence, Tunku Abdul Rahman, shouted 'Merdeka!' in his prideful voice for seven glorious times is about to end. Indeed, time does pass by rather fast without much noticing of it slipping away. Already we had enjoyed 52 years of peace and prosperity our ancestors had slaved and fought for and as the new generation of Malaysians, we should preserve our independence and prevail all obstacles to ensure the future generations, our sons and daughters, our grandsons and granddaughters and so on can enjoy the privileges we had.

Malaysia's Flag by .ET..
Photo taken from Eric Teoh's flickr album...

Our country had went through quite a little change of prime ministers, I believe, compared to other countries of our ages. From the Founding Father, Tunku Abdul Rahman, to the latest Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak, each had brought in their contributions to the country. Our second Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, executed his many plans to develop Malaysia into a better country, hence, the title Father of Development. He was succeeded by Tun Hussein Onn, his brother in law. Tun Hussein Onn was granted the soubriquet Father of Unity for his sincere fights against racial barriers. He was renowned for stressing unity in his policies aimed at rectifying the economic imbalances between the communities. Our fourth Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir Mohamad, was our longest-serving Prime Minister, leading Malaysia to great distances for 22 years. Tun Abdullah Badawi took over the office from Tun Mahathir Mohamad for 5 years before the power had shifted to Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak, son of our second Prime Minister.

Of the six Prime Ministers, the one that I most admired is Tun Mahathir Mohamad, the fourth Prime Minister. Maybe because he was the main political figure when I was in my early teen, I was often drawn to his charisma and daring-ness to speak his mind even though it would not be what people wants to hear. He was revered by a lot of people for his all the visions he had for the country, executed the plans for KLIA, Sepang F1, and others. When he announced his plan to retire in the UMNO assembly, tears were seen from his supporters. He is truly a well-respected leader who brought Malaysia to a whole new level.

How is Malaysia going to fare in years to come is yet to know as it depends heavily on our current Prime Minister and we are still getting to know him better, or so to speak but I hope that he, like his father and all the previous leaders, will steer our beloved country to a brighter future. Happy (Belated*) Independence Day!

*it's already way passed 12am by the time I finished and posted it. XD

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Up Is a Must Watch Movie

So, after about 3 hours from the previous post, I went to Gurney Plaza with Pui Yee to watch Up. We have to wait for about an hour or so at the bus stop waiting for the only direct public bus to Gurney as we don't want to change bus and another hour plus inside the bus before reaching the final destination. I took the opportunity inside the bus to take a short nap to rejuvenate myself. If not I might fall asleep in the movie.

UP poster by MyCine.

OK, about the movie. It is yet another brilliant product from Pixar as always. Quite a number of friends of mine said that the idea of a house being tied up with balloons and flies is not appealing. Another even said that the poster is not captivating enough. These people are really shallow as they judge things by its covers (you know who you are...XD). Up, like every other previous Pixar movies, is a heart-warming and touching film that put priority on the storyline and not star powers. It managed to blend comedy, action, adventure, drama, tragedy, and family perfectly and turned it into another gem. Highly recommended. Even its short film accompanied with the movie, Partly Cloudy, is a funny and loving take on baby making and friendship.

After the movie, we went to Manhattan Fish Market for lunch. I had Grilled Flaming Platter for One or something. It was delicious. Then, I bought a new shoes, New Balance. There are two colors for the same style the shoes that I bought but of different prices. The one that I initially like was RM 169.00 while the one that I bought, which I also like, was RM 99.00. Both was of same style and it's already best price. I'm no rich man son, so, of course I bought the cheaper one la.

My lunch...

On the ride back, I fell asleep yet again. Well, an hour of nap is better than nothing.
Nice?

Midnight Movie, Beach Tour, and Mamak-ing

I received a message from Xiang Yi asking me whether I'm free or not later at night 'cause a friend of her came to Penang and wanted me to be a guide of sort. I feel like if I'm the weird one, I can't really enjoy it so she asked me to dragged KK along which I did. So, all three of us heading to Georgetown with a ok sense of direction.

After much misunderstandings and unnecessary turnings, we finally managed to fetch her friend. Then, we decided to go for a midnight screening of any movies available, which turned out to be I Love You, Beth Cooper.OK, the movie is rather stupid and pointless. I don't get a lot of it. The laughter is sparing and without substances. Overall, not worth the movie, that's what I think.

http://www.traileraddict.com/content/featured/iloveyoubethcooper-s.jpg

After the movie, we went to Batu Ferringhi beach just to walk in the beach. We thought of drinking beers while being swept by wind tinged with the saltness of sea but all the stores pretty much close since it's already 2 something then. It was breezy during the short walk, what I expected what with the weather.

Then, we changed our location to Penang Road and drank some hot teh tarik and teh 'O' at a mamak stall opposite his hotel. The place there were filled with hookers and drunks scattered around the pathway, one looking for customers while the other either vomiting or experiencing hangover. We talked for most of the time, getting to know her friend. He was rather humorous and quite fun. His attention often strayed towards the hookers standing there. Haha.

When he went back to his hotel around 5.30am, all three of us drove back to USM. Haiz, since it's almost 6am when I reached back and I'm heading to Gurney Plaza AGAIN later around 9.30am, I decided to skip sleeping as I know I can't wake up should I went to bed but at this very moment, my eyes keep dropping and yawns escape from my mouth. How am I gonna survive till later in the day as I don't expect to reach back USM unless it's 5-6pm like that???

Friday, August 28, 2009

Rain, Rain, Go AWAY!

Honestly, since I came back to USM last Sunday ago, the weather was simply unpredictable. It had almost rained for a week, with the exception of last Tuesday and even it was cloudy-with-high-percentage-of-raining kind of sky. And today it had rained non stop since yesterday afternoon and it had disrupted my plan I had for the day.

Swimming during raining season is so cold as I had learned during my swimming lesson. The water is so unforgivingly cold when I went into the pool. Next week if it rain, I'm so gonna skip the lesson.


A lot of stuffs can't be done when rain such as drying your cloths under the lovely sun, walking around without the trouble of holding an umbrella, jogging, etc. I suddenly remembered a song from the educational show, Barney and Friends, something along the line 'mister sun, sun, mister golden sun, please come out and play...'. Watching too much of these stupid show with my little sister filled my mind with these stuffs.

'Ooooh, Who live in the pineapple under the sea?'

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Shit Hole I'm Out...

Haha, just as I hoped, the DT coordinator position has been given to the other applicant. I am so happy right now.

Haha.I just got a call from them saying that they will go for her as the new DT coordinator as she was more experienced. They asked me whether I'm OK with the new. I feel like saying, HELL YEA!!! Besides that, they think I should be giving my 100% as the Director of Marketing for the Festival of Nation.

Now that the nightmare is over, I can have some good night sleep. Not that I can't sleep or anything.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Shit Hole I'm In...

OK, just came back from an interview for the DT coordinator position on AIESEC. And I'm praying freaking hard that I won't get the position. Lady Luck, please bless me on this one!

If you are wondering why I would apply for it in the first place when I don't even want it, well, I have no freaking idea. Honestly, the reason I sent my application was just to tryout the interview, AIESEC-style. I have no intention of landing the job seeing that I basically have no whatsoever experience needed for it. The way I see it is that this could be my opportunity to train my leadership skill that is much needed in the working world if I got it. Even if I don't get it, I won't miss a thing since I already accepted another AIESEC position, the Director of Marketing for the Festival of Nation. The funny thing is, again, I got zero experience in marketing and I'm appointed as the director for the project.

The day before the interview, I was told that the post I'm applying, that DT stuff, there's only another applicant besides me and she is has a lot of experience in it. So, I thought, hmm, less than 50%, much better! I just go for fun then.

So, what set off my determination of not getting the post? When they ask me how I would delegate my time to handle all the stuffs I have and how much time I would allocate for the DT and the Festival of Nation and what's my plan to make the program that I will be handling should I elected the DT coordinator, SAVE, a success...all these technical stuffs they bombarded me with make me realise, heck, I don't want it anymore. I really do enjoys the amount of free time I had and they had made it clear that this post will be stressful and demanding. But I can't really say it during the interview and when I was told that should I elected, I can't really quit halfway, I was in deep shit!

During my interview, from the words that came out from my mouth, it was so obvious that I was unprepared. I basically just uttered whatever logical stuffs that I can think of. Even I have limited knowledge on SAVE. Surely they won't depend the success of the program on such a reckless and inexperienced person. Right? Even that less than 50% statement sounds intimidating to me. Only 0% would be comforting.

The result for the post will be emailed it to us this Thursday. I really freaking hope that the name attached on that email will not be me.........

Friday, August 21, 2009

My Uncle

I just came back from my visit at my uncle's house. The one with cancer. I don't really know what to expect and react when I first reach his home. Should I be all somber and remorse or should I act like how I usually do?

But when I enter the house, all my relatives were gathered around him, talking loudly and laughing. Then, my father, ever the joker in the family, started to talk with my uncle, joking along the way. From what I can observed, they were taking the news rather well. They were not in loss of hope as they just came back from Penang, consulting with a doctor who do research in cancer and Chinese herbs. I did not really catch what they were saying as I was kacau-ing my nephew. All in all, still got hope.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Cancer

I was just told by my mother this morning that my uncle had lung cancer and it's in the final stage. As some of you might know that I have too many uncles, he is my father's older sister's husband. It was a rather shocking news as he is, as I know, a healthy man. The only thing that popped out in my mind when I first heard of it is cigarette. He is quite a smoker. I guess for him, it's a way to destress after a day's work. According to doctor, he got around 3 to 6 months left.

I still have yet to visit him as my mom wants to wait for my father's return from work this Friday before we go to the hospital what with the H1N1 epidemic crisis and all. I do believe in miracle and that my uncle could fight the disease. Hopefully, his family will have the strength to overcome this horror.

Cigarette is something I would not touch for the rest of my life. You may think it's cool to have it hanging at your lips, smokes puffing out of your mouths but once you hit the jackpot, you would not think so. I would not trade my life for such coolness. Cigarettes are really cancer sticks in disguise, people! Wake up and stop throwing your lives away for it! Think of your loved ones before you lights up!

Say NO to it!!!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

15 Malaysia

15Malaysia is a short film project by Pete Teo which features 15 local independent filmmakers such as Ho Yuhang, the late Yasmin Ahmad, Amir Muhammad and others on their takes on sosio-political issues. Launched on 17 August 2009, each video will be released on the date mentioned. So far, Ho Yuhang's Potong Saga and Yasmin Ahmad's Chocolate has been released. Here's the video:


Potong Saga


Chocolate

Potong Saga is a humorous film about a Chinese boy's misguided attempts to open an Islamic account while Chocolate is a quiet reminder that even with our difference races, we are not that different after all. Out of the two, Potong Saga is a very funny tale. I laughed out loud when I watched it and it was in the middle of the night. Yasmin's film is a sad reminder that we will never be able to watch her movies anymore with her untimely death.

There are more videos yet to be released so go to http://15malaysia.com for more info about the videos and all.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

St. Michael's Institution Presents The Warlord of Terror!

Last Sunday night, I went back to our school with Stef and Pui Yee to watch the 55th school play. It's been a tradition in our school since 1954 where every year there is a drama chunked out and there is no exception for this year. This year, the title of the drama is The Warlord of Terror, a play directed by Timothy Chee, a veteran director who has helmed 28 out of 55 school plays, with original script by his son, Ian Chee.

OK. Confession time. After being a Michaelian for more or less 9 years, this is the first time I went to watch a school play. I donated money for the production through class, I helped to sell the tickets, I was even involved as a backstage crew in my Lower Sixth year, but I have yet to set my feet into the hall as an audience until now.

My ticket to my first school drama...

While I can't do any comparison between the plays but I can at least compared the production between my Lower Sixth play with this one. Honestly, the production for this year's play is very real in term of costumes and background. I still remembered my friends who played the gargoyles in 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame', the play I was involved, were wearing those brown manila boxes as their costumes, making the gargoyles shaped like, well, boxes. It was so funny seeing them in costumes. Maybe it's rather easy looking for Chinese costumes. And the background paintings. Very pretty.


Anyway, the gist of the show. It was inspired by the myths whispered from the dusts of the Tang Dynasty which tells the tale of a vicious leopard turning into a villain warlord, who needs human blood to maintain his human form. The main protagonist, Kuo, had to use his wit and wisdom to try to defeat the evil warlord to save the villagers and the damsel in distress.

Lousy camera so the qualities suck...

Honestly, I was not really captivated by the story though it had its moments. I was literally laughed out loud when the warlord started to rap and his demons break danced. It was so funny as it totally contrasted with the setting. It was rather artistic the direction the play headed compared to the straightforwardness in 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'. But I did enjoyed myself.

After the play, we went around the school reminiscing the good old days. It's been so long since I came back to my alma mater. I kinda miss my secondary school life.

My beloved school, now in the hand of incapable principal...T.T

Sunday, August 16, 2009

I'm Home!

Like I had said earlier, I was heading to KL on the 15th August. Well, we took the midnight bus to KL, thinking that we will reach around 5am, which is usually the time we supposed to reach, and rot at Pudu Terminal for about an hour before going to UTAR, but the bus driver sped like hell and we reached at 4am, giving us 2 hours of rotting. It was plain torture sitting at terminal waiting for time to pass by. Honestly, KL at night is a totally different place than KL in the morning. I'll talk about it if I remembered. Then, by around 6am, we began our journey to UTAR where the Maths Competition will be held. It took about an hour with the switching of public transports and all.

Cut all the boring crap and move to the competition. OK, I totally sucked in it. Screwed upside down with the tests. It made me feel that I did not study at all during the last two semesters. I forgot almost all the stuffs being taught last year. Ended up winning nothing, not like I'm expecting anything.

After the competition, supposed to look for someone in KL but since he's not really free and my freaking bag is bloody heavy, I changed my plan and headed back home. And the freaking thing happened. The bus that I took going back Ipoh broke down halfway along the ride. It was totally unbelieveable. Me and my friends which all of us were heading to the same place had to hitchhiked other bus to go back home. What a day! But at least I did reached back home safely and get to sleep in my own room.

OK, I basically wrote like a idiot here. Well, I'm really sleepy, therefore, the choppy blog. Sleep le. Night!

Friday, August 14, 2009

KL, Here I Come!

*OMG..the videos from that K session I had with my coursemates are simply too funny and embarassing..everyone, please burn it to make sure it won't see the broad daylight!*

In about 24 hours from now, I will be sitting in the bus heading to Kuala Lumpur for the 4th National UTAR Mathematics Competition with my fellow coursemates and friends. I thought it was being held at UTAR Setapak campus but instead, it will be at Petaling Jaya campus. God knows how many UTAR campus are there in Malaysia.

While I'm not aiming high for the competition, I do hope not to return empty-handed. At least, let me bag a consolation prize. The odd for that is too low, I guess, since I barely remembered what I had studied for the last two semesters and I don't plan to revise or anything. Hopefully, Lady Luck will keep shining upon me.

After the competition...I still had no idea what my plan is. I thought of staying overnight at my uncle's house, which I still haven't ask his approval but according to my mother who, I presume, told my uncle about my plan, he strongly advised me to get the hell out of KL once I finished with the whole thing. OK lah, not exactly that phrase but more or less the same meaning. His reasons, H1N1 and safety. There have been people killed by the foreigners (what I heard from my mom la...) around his neighbourhood and they're preying on those who are not locals (heard it from my mom too..).

So...wait till all the competition finished then only decide the path to follow. Home or overnight???

Monday, August 10, 2009

100th Post!

Wow. I can't believe it has already reached 100 entries. When I began this blog, there is a piece inside me that pretty sure that this won't last long. Hell, there is even an old blog of mine still roaming freely and untamed somewhere in this world wide web. Therefore, to last this long is a miracle of sort, at least to me lah. So, to commemorate this event, I've decided to share 100 random facts and tidbits that you may or may not know about me.

About me:
1. I don't eat supper before I enter university...
2. ...but once I came to Penang, I was introduced to the wonders of mamak....
3. and since then, I've been visiting mamak stalls quite often.
4. I love spicy food but my stomach not that tolerant to it.
5. I'm not really a picky eater. I pretty much eat anything.
6. Actually, I'm quite self-conscious...
7. ...and with not-that-low self-esteem...
8. ...but simply too lazy to deal with it.
9. I do think I live a blissful life,...
10. ...too blissful that makes me wonder what kind of hardship installed for me in the future.
11. I'm honestly very shy when meeting new friends...
12. ...but once I warm up to the new crowd, I can be talkative. So, be patient with me.
13. I'm not really religious...
14. ...but I do pray and visit temples with my family.
15. People says that I'm tall but for me, I'm in an average height.
16. My spoken English is often filled with cheese in between words, making a whole sentence into a single word.
17. My friend commented that my Mandarin is funny.
18. My knowledge of Hokkien is very pure and innocent...
19. ...until coming to Penang, I was taught of Hokkien foul languages.
20. I speak Cantonese like a guai lou/Mat Salleh/foreigner (also according to my friend)
21. I can't really understand Malays being talked by some Malays 'cause of the slangs they have
22. Love watching TV series...
23. ...till can sit throughout the day to finish a whole season.
24. Newspaper for me is only for the entertainment section...
25. ...leave the politic, economic, and stuffs for the grown-ups.
26. I'm good at ignoring what's bothering me...
27. ...stuff it deep inside a hole in my heart, totally forgotten about it...
28. ...until something triggers it to explode.
29. A tech illiterate.
30. Don't even know how to format computer.
31. Freakingly lazy person.
32. An almost-know-it-all movie master.
33. Not a gamer.
34. Neither a sport person.
35. I like children.
36. I've been going to KL and Genting almost once a year with my family.
37. Hate smoking.
38. Don't know how to ride a motorcycle...
39. ...but know how to ride a bicycle.
40. Want to learn how to cook.

Some of my habits:
41. I have a weird...obsession, to put it this way, of standing freaking straight whenever I pass by anyone that is tall so that I can compare who's taller...queer, right?
42. My term for 'cute' can be anything. My sisters are cute, Oroshimaru (from Naruto) is cute, blood sucking scenes from True Blood are cute, you get the vibe...
43. I can never read a book without stopping however good it is...
44. ...because I need my daily doses of entertainment in the form of TV (or laptop these days...)
45. I have the tendency to look at the prices before trying on shirts/pants/shoes.
46. I often have a sense of deja vu, like somehow, I had experienced this part of my life before.
47. I only revise when it's almost exam. Otherwise, I don't really touch those tombs.
48. Try to be as punctual as I can but sometimes, I'm just a normal Malaysian.

What's new in my life:
49. My biological clock has been reset to normal, sleep around 12/1 am and wake up around 7am.
50. Recently, I took up the habit of jogging every morning and I kinda like it.
51. Also, learning to swim now.
52. Somehow, got hooked up with karaoke. Damn you people!
53. This morning just had my first class of Japanese language.
54. It's been a while since I went for roller-blading. Miss it so much.
55. Just bought an external hard disk. Now can download more TV shows.
56. Starting to hate the rain, or the sporadic weather.

Thoughts that run through my mind at this stage of life
:
57. I live my life like those people in a masquerade ball, constantly wearing a mask, never reveal my true self.
58. Somehow, I think I'm more suitable living a single life.
59. Love seems to be a complicated thing, not speaking from experience.
60. I don't wish to live any longer than necessary, say, 60 or 70 is a good age to die.
61. If I had experienced and did everything that I wanna do, if by any chance I meet my death, I have no regret.
62. Death seems to be a good solution to all the problems.
63. I think Lady Luck love me, she really love me.
64. Heroes began fantastically but getting sucker and sucker every season.
65. If only I choose differently, I might be more productive in my life.
66. Should I were to further my study, it won't be in Malaysia.

Places I like to visit before hitting 30:
67. Singapore (before hitting 22, if possible)
68. New Zealand for all the extreme games such as bungee-jumping and all.
69. Netherland
70. Venice before global warming makes it disappear from the earth.
71. Bali/Phuket once I can swim. Preferably Bali 'cause there offers bungee-jumping, I think.
72. Paris, the city of love.
73. Hollywood...how can a self-proclaimed movie master not visit it.
74. Broadway. Must watch at least one musical.
75. Australia (dunno ..)
76. The seven wonders of the world

Things I wanna do before I die:
77. Bungee-jumping
78. Zorbing
79. Scuba diving
80. Parachuting
81. *doot doot*
82. Climb Gunung Kinabalu.
83. Watch the complete series of Friends, The X-Files, and Everybody Loves Raymond.

Never:
84. Been to hiking.
85. Been to camping.
86. Been to clubbing.
87. Ride on an aeroplane.
88. Been to any islands in Malaysia except Penang Island and Pangkor.
89. Been out of Malaysia.
90. Been to Gua Tempurung even though it's just less than 45 minute drive from my place.
91. Been to fishing.
92. Understand the obsession people had over a game where a dozen or so men chasing a ball.
93. Been to KL Tower even though I went to KL so many time.

Favourite:
94. Movie ~ Moulin Rouge
95. Cartoon ~ Any Disney and Pixar cartoons
96. TV series ~ Too freaking much...Charmed, Alias, Desperate Housewives, True Blood, etc
97. Drink ~ Starbucks
98. Activity ~ Watching one of my favourite series.
99. Vacation (so far) ~ Genting Highland
100. Subject in school ~ Mathematics XD

Phew, finally finished listing out the 100 stuffs about me. I can't believe doing that could be so hard. Honestly, I have been doing this post for at least 3 days already. There's even a moment when I feel like just crapping out the remaining facts or just cut down from 100 to 50. Well, I guess I'm quite boring to have anything worth writing about.

The sure won't be 200 stuffs about me when the 200th post arrived!!!

Monday, August 3, 2009

理大游子吟创作歌曲演绎会

Last Friday, I went to 理大游子吟创作歌曲演绎会 (The Wanderers' Annual Live Concert) with Jacyn. What is The Wanderers', you wonders? Well, it's an musical organisation of sort outside the govern of USM where Chinese students gather around and sing and compose new songs. Every year, they will held a concert where the members will perform original songs live on stage. This year, which was their 18th year organising such concert, was held at Dewan Sri Pinang with the theme, 'Metamorphosis'.


The reason I went for it in the first place was as an act of support for my friends as few of my friends were performing in the concert. As it was strictly a Chinese show, all the people I saw was Chinese. If you have troubles understanding Chinese, you can just skip it. Luckily, my level of Mandarin is OK enough to understand what were they talking about during the sketches which were very entertaining. The same can't be said to the songs for I have no idea what were they singing about. What we did were just commenting on the singing, which some were very talented and some were just OK.

What both of us agreed was that the main entertaining value, for us la, was the sketches. It were filled with fun and the acting was believable. The best of them was Vivienne (wonders if I got spell wrongly???) which was very good. Though I don't know what most of them were singing, some of the songs composed were rather good. If I heard correctly, there were previous members whose works were picked and turned into record-breaking songs by Chinese singers such as Jolin Tsai. Hopefully, there will be another composer from the Wanderers that can break into the Chinese market.

One of the first performances...
The sketches which are funnier...

All in all, it was a pretty fun night.

There is a video I wanted to upload but it takes ages to do so. It was my friend, 永升, performance. Gonna try it later.

OK, I give up!!! Until I reached home, I won't try uploading that video anymore!!!