16/07/10

That day was my baby sister's birthday! Well, she's no longer a baby but still a cute little Standard One student. So, even just back to uni for a week, I went back home just to celebrate with her. After all, when I went out to work, how many more chances left for it? Mostly, I'll be too busy or too lazy to go back.

A quick little snapshot of her in uniform...

Nothing big, the celebration. Just a small family dinner. And a customary birthday cake. That's pretty much sum it up.

The birthday cake
Family shot
Her doing a passport shot

The Power Of Love

I guess never to underestimate the power of love. My sister had not cook anything for her whole life but for her *ahem ahem*'s birthday, she went to prepare some homemade cookies for him as a birthday present. Actually, it's very easy to make but since it's a work of my sister for the first time, it deserved some sort of publicity.

I don't really know what it's called but I just named it chocolate-dipped cornflakes (for that's pretty much sum it up!). The ingredients are...

Baking chocolate bar
Cornflakes

That's all. Those are the main essential ingredients. Then, the few simple steps.

1) Melt the chocolate bar over hot water until it becomes a smooth texture.


2) Pour in the cornflakes into the melted chocolate and mix it evenly. How much of cornflakes should be added is up to your taste. If you want it to be more chocolate-y, put in less cornflakes and vice versa.

3) Scoop a teaspoon of it and put it into those biscuit paper cases or those muffin paper cups (I don't know what are those called) and put it into the fridge for cooling. Add some colors to it as decoration before cooling.

That's how it looks like...quite delicious...

This is the one for her *ahem ahem*
While the rest are ours...why do you think we help at all?

For a better taste, use a better baking chocolate bar like Hershey's or Van Housten's. We only use Tesco brand due to financial limitations. Even the cornflakes are Tesco brand. Haha.

A monumental moment of her doing things...

Movie With Family

Going to cinema with my family is one funny thing. I just got back from watching Ip Man 2 again, this time with my family, free of charge and here's the usual experience when watching movies with my parents.

The women in the family would have to take those huge bags with lots of empty spaces so that my father can go down to the supermarket and buy those snacks such as peanuts, biscuits, and so on at a much cheaper price. Since the movie started at 7pm and we didn't have enough time to eat dinner, they even brought fried drumsticks and fish fillets into cinema. It's like picnic with movie and air-cond.

They had no problem sneaking in food into cinema but when it comes to sneaking in my little sister, they were panicked. The movie was rated 18 and my little sister barely reached 8. I kept telling that it's nothing since there's parents with her but they were like thinking of alternative plans. They even asked other movie-goers standing beside us, waiting to enter, what shows were they watching and whether could help sneak my sister in. The security of the cinema was not tight at all and people could easily entered without buying tickets during peak seasons such as night slot or festive moments or those big blockbuster movies.

In the end, nothing happened and she watched the movie while sitting on our laps (no ticket for her even though she was supposed to have one...) and eating drumsticks. Speaking of the movie, upon second watching, I realized something. Who was Twister supposed to fight with during the 1st match? I mean, before he went all hellbent on killing Chinese and Sammo Hung in the ring, who was his original opponent??? That boxing competition should have a wrestler for him right??? Another thing I noticed was that during the press conference where the Twister was belittling the Chinese cultures while trashing Chinese martial art, how did Ip Man knew what was he talking about? Mind you, Mr Twister here was speaking in English and our hero was supposed to be a non-English speaker. So, how on earth did he figured out that Twister was crapping about???

Going back Penang tomorrow night again for a short course till, latest, Wednesday, I think. Should be gua...

Primary School

Last Friday, I got to fetch my sister to school for the first time. The atmosphere the school had is almost like those of a prison. I mean, the main gate was closed, prohibiting anyone from entering without authorisation. There's a guard standing at the side gate, letting only students entered the school premise while parents and guardians were stopped before the gate. It was such a highly-secured building that the notion of a child went missing would caused disbelief, I think.

Giving me a stupid pose before fetching her to school...

Then, when it's time to fetch her back, you can see there's parents standing crowding outside the main gate and side gate, waiting for it to open. When the children came out from their classrooms, you can hear the excitement from them. And parents' too. Parents started to rush in, only to receive loud whistles from the mighty guard. The whole scenes were like sending prisoners to prison in the morning and the prisoners were released after their imprisonments.

Such management is actually quite a good thing for children these days are vanishing off the air like magic. It's better to prevent than to regret. Just that, I was wondering if they could do it with less prison-style.

Little Sister's Graduation Dance

Last Wednesday, my baby sister was performing at Glamour Square Complex for the kindergarten graduation ceremony. She just involved in one dance instead of a few like some of the kids. Maybe she's just not so talented. Hehe. Here's the video, after so many times of failed attempts of uploading it.

Me and my sister

My sister with her friends

KL Shopping Spree

Merry Christmas!!!

Just came back from one day trip with family to KL. When people goes to KL, mostly they had just one thing in their minds; shop. And that's what we did. Shop, shop, shop. We did a lot of Christmas shopping, or more precisely, Chinese New Year shopping. We went with nothing and came back with bags and bags. There's so many stalls on discount we just simply went crazy. At least my sister did. Hehe. Anyway, that's all for now.

Going back Penang this Sunday for new semester.

I'm Back From Malacca!

A very frustrated, tiring, and slightly boring trip. Frustrated due to the rainy weather we gotten ourselves when we reached Malacca and the heavy traffics when in highway and in Malacca. Tiring because we began the trip at around 7am and I did most of the drivings. Boring, well, all the usual tourist spots around Malacca I had already been there myself when I was with my friends, so for this particular trip, I was the tour guide to my family. A very funny thing considering I'm not based in Malacca and with just two trips, I already know roughly the roads there.

When we reached Malacca, rain was pouring in a weird pattern; drizzle for a while, then heavy, then drizzle. You get the drill. Besides that, there's the traffic jams everywhere we went. So not nice. When we managed to reach Jonker Street, it had succumbed to just a slight drizzle so we walked around. Not much to do for me since I had already been there far too many time in just a short span of time. Since I'm the unofficial tour guide, I just brought them to places when I've been before and had the foods which I eaten before. We had chicken rice ball at the same stall I'd been the last time for lunch (Dad: "char dou sei!" or suck in Cantonese) and satay celup for dinner (Dad: "hou mm wai sun" or unhygienic in Cantonese) and the same Jonker Stall 88 for assam laksa and chendols for lunch the following day. With rain, our activities were limited to just shopping at Dataran Pahlawan and later, at Jonker Walk night market at night.

Being the driver for my family can be a very uncomfortable situation. When I was took over the driving halfway at highway from Dad, Mom somehow appointed herself as my speed alarm. Whenever I was reaching 120km/h, she would voiced it out like my faithful alarm clock. "120! 120! Time to slow down! Time to slow down!". At least I survived the ordeal.

Very few photos were taken since I already...Well, you know. Luckily, the best thing about this trip is the all-expenses paid. I didn't spend a single dimes on anything...well, except for the three cloths I bought. Other than that, practically, it's a cost-free trip. So, that's all for now.

This is the only family shot I had taken, well, without me...

Oh, No...

Malacca o Malacca

I'm about to start my journey to Malacca...AGAIN, for the third time within few weeks. I'm so gonna sick of Malacca already. This time though, is with my family and it's all-expenses paid trip! Haha, I'm gonna eat what I had yet to eat when I was at Malacca last time due to financial situation now that it's not my $$$ I'm using anymore. XD. Gotta go.

My Sister's Graduation Photo

Look at my sister!


Look at her! So cute and adorable, holding that fake graduation certificate. It was so perfect, the photo.

And here's her class photo. Can you spot her???? Haha...

After her exam (kindergartens these days are scary...), her graduation performances will be next. Can't wait for it!!!

Family Trips Around Perak

So, after all the excitement and fun during the Seremban - Malacca trip, I finally came back home on the 26th Nov around late afternoon. I thought that I could get some rest to fix my still-upset stomach but somehow, my parents had planned to go to Cameron Highland tomorrow, 27th Nov, since it was a public holiday and all. Barely settled down and off I went again for a 1 day trip.

Basically, there's nothing much about Cameron Highland than its chilled weather, beautiful flowers and fresh vegetables, tea leaves, and strawberries. Yes, Cameron is quite known for its strawberries, even though most of it are not sweet but rather sour. The weather was rather hot when we began our trip, roughly an hour plus of car ride from Ipoh, but when we reached Tanah Rata, dark clouds started to gather, and within seconds, rain began pouring down.

My dad was holding the camera...

With rain, everything turned harder as we can't get down from our car and walked around the farms and markets. When the pourings reduced to just drizzle, we made a stop and basked in the beauty of the flowers and cool weather. Around 4pm, we began heading down.

Then, on the 29th Nov, since my dad had a wedding dinner (or more like lunch since it began at 2pm) at Teluk Intan, the whole family tagged along, not to the dinner, but to Teluk Intan. He brought us to Bagan Datoh, a small town near Teluk Intan, for seafood lunch before he went to the dinner and leaved us wandering around town for 2 hours.


Teluk Intan is just a small town with all the usual charms of a small town. Nothing special, really, except for the Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan, the local version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. If I remembered correctly, the tower was first built as a water tank, but somehow, the structure or the land the building was on, gave way to the pressure, causing it to slightly leaned to the side. Now, its main function is just the landmark of Teluk Intan.

The so-called Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan

Besides the tower, Teluk Intan is quite famous for its unique Chee Cheong Fun (no idea what its name in English). Commonly known as the Teluk Intan-styled Chee Cheong Fun, it had dried shrimps and other stuffs which I don't know what it was in it, making it a delicious delicacy. As my father now based at Teluk Intan, whenever he comes back, he would tapao the chee cheong fun for us to dig in as supper.

When the dinner was over with his face all red from all the alcohols he consumed, we began heading back home. That's how the weekend was spent.

中秋节

中秋节就这样过了。。。

雨还在下到不停。。。
想和朋友一路吃月饼喝茶，一路欣赏月亮星星，但是不行。。。
跟朋友去了OXO Cafe 喝茶聊天。。。
有点想念我的家人。。。

床前明月光，
疑是地上霜，
举头望明月，
低头思故乡。

上的 sem 学的。。。
中秋节快乐！！！

*************************************************************************************

Mid-Autumn Festival just come and go in a blink of an eye. Due to the pouring rain, we can't find a spot to eat mooncake and enjoy the beauty of the moon. Hence, we went to OXO Cafe to hang out and talk.

Since it's Mid-Autumn Fetival where families reunions are important, there's a bit of homesickness but I just came back to uni barely a week ago, so I didn't go back during this Chinese festival.

The Chinese poem I learnt last semester, I had no idea how to translate, so, I'll just leave it there. Anyway, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Money And Alcohol

Unlike someone who's heading to Singapore (and probably reached and having fun), I have to go back to Penang for the remaining days of this semester and face the impending finals which is less than two months away. It's time to have my eyes set on papers and books and not my laptop anymore and I mean business!

Yea yea, like that's gonna happen. The percentage of me doing that (I mean completely throw away my laptop) is lower than me hitting the jackpot of the lottery. I will study (not like I got any choices...) and try my best to catch up with the lessons in the class.

Anyway, about the Student Exchange Programme, I had asked my parents about it and this is roughly the transcript between me and my dad and mom (all the conversations are in Hokkien):

Me: (handing my dad the info bout exchange programme)
Dad: What's this?
Me: Student Exchange Programme.
Dad: Go lah. Go lah.
Me and mom: (look kinda surprised)
Dad: Go lah go lah.
Me: OK.
Dad: How much?
Me: Roughly 15-35k for a semester.
Dad: Then, no need go lah.
Mom: Your father's drunk, that's why he ask you to go.

I guessed he's not that drunk since he can quickly retake back his words when the dollar sign appeared. Anyone wants to sponsor me for the exchange programme???

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.

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!!!

Back In Penang

After the long (and unproductive) sem break, I'm finally back in Penang for the new sem of the new study year. How time seems to fly without us noticing it. Anyhow, a new beginning, therefore, a new attitude towards studies. Somehow, during the start of a new sem, I would be so motivated to study but halfway towards it, my driving forces slowly dissipating into thin air, leaving me struggling when the examinations arrived. Well, I would try to break the cycle this time around (and I greatly hope so)...

This morning, my whole family was heading to Penang, I was for study, they were for shopping. Halfway during the ride, I realised I did not bring my pillows and blanket. I had packed it in my room but forgotten to put it inside the car. So, have to get a pillow when shopping. And when I entered my new hostel room (I had already shifted rooms for the last two sems), I was happy for this is the best among the three rooms. While the last room I had slept in was OK, the first room I had was simply horrendous. Too scary til will leave nightmares for little children. Therefore, I can proudly said I'm totally satisfied with it. When I thought nothing could make it any better, here comes another surprise; this room has a freaking strong Wi-Fi. Simply fantastic!

Oh, yea. My cousin sister got married last Saturday and the wedding, though it was a rather low-key, was still nice. And the best part of all was that I got to meet my baby cousin. At least I think he is my cousin. The relationship is so complicated in my mother side that I'm quite blurred.

He is so adorable. When asked what is his name, he will answered 8855 as if he was giving you 4-D numbers for you to buy. And when want to take photos of him, he will make those cute faces for you to capture it. How adorable!!!

Anyhow, I uploaded 2 1 videos of my cousin making faces for the cameras. You see yourselves just how cute he is.

What's The Big Deal About Transformer?

OK, I just came back watching Transformers with my family and seriously, I did not understand the hype about it. I mean :

• The special effects were amazing
• Those robots were like, cool...
• Megan Fox is so freaking hot and beautiful
• It was an exciting ride throughout the movie

But, somehow, I feel nothing coming out of the cinema after the movie other that the urgent need to visit the toilet. It's just another action movie filled with robots fighting each other. What's the big deal?

I did not enjoy it as much as I expected I would. Maybe because the cinema itself sucked BIG TIME, what with the blurred images and soundless pictures for a few seconds every half an hour like that. It was the first time I experienced this kind of horror with such an advanced technologies available in these days. Or maybe because that stupid Indian guy who kept talking on his phone rather loud- well, loud enough to distract me- in Tamil in the cinema. Or maybe it was my little sister who can't sit still for the whole movie duration and kacau me watching the movie. Or maybe it was just me, getting tired of watching the same mindless action movies. I dunno...

Maybe I was still in awe with The Dark Knight, a movie that simply one of a kind. It was such an amazing experience watching the movie what with the exciting actions and thought-provoking themes. Fantastic flick. This is the kind of movie every action/superhero movie should be.

WHY SO SERIOUS???

Or Wall-E, another wonderful movie. Pixar movies never fail to deliver the goods. That's why 'Up' is a movie I would not miss. And the latest installment of Harry Potter franchise. I simply can't miss it.

Back to Transformers, the rumour that Megan Fox is a man was so unbelievable. Come on, if it's true, such a scandalous news would surely be exposed long time ago. I mean,

a woman...

of this hotness...
is a man??? COME ON!!!

Happy Father's Day!

Good day, my fellow readers (however few they are). How were your week? I certainly hope that what you intended to do had been accomplished. Before I have lost track (and interest) of what I intended to write about, I must quickly jot it down here. Here goes:

My younger sister used to say that her least favourite months were from April until July for in these few months, a lot of family celebrations occured. Firstly, my birthday falls on April. Then, the widely celebrated Mother's Day on the month of May. On June, we have both my mother's birthday and Father's Day. Lastly, my father's birthday falls on July itself. And with the birth of my youngest sister which was few days after my father's, life for her for these months were rather miserable. If you ask why, she would had told you that she would had to spend a lot of money on these few months. But we, the rest of the family members, often retort back by saying, " Why would you need to spend so much money? Not like you are going to buy us presents or anything."

If you did not get the little joke we family shared, nevermind. Only those who knew her would get it.

Anyhow, it's that time of the year again that we gather around to honour the men in our households who work all days and nights to provide comforts for his families, who would go through thick and thin to ensure his children would get all the best that he could provide, who would battle all evil that might harm his family. It is the day where we express our utmost gratitudes and loves for the fathers in our lives.

This coming Father's Day, my sister and I got ourselves a lovely belt for our beloved father. Hopefully, he will like it. It just occured to me that my father will be hitting 50 this coming birthday. How's life flew by. In less than five years time, my father would retire from the working world and it would be my turn, hopefully, to support the family. While I'm sure that my family would be just fine even without my contribution, I would like to do my part for the family. Hopefully, by that time, I would be in the working world and not on the unemployed side, what with today's economy.

I do hope he like it

Enough rambling. Before I finished my post, I would like to wish every father in the world (and my dad) a Happy Father's Day.

On a new but related topic, today, in conjunction with the Father's Day celebration, 8TV, one of the leading, in my opinion. broadcasting station in the country, had aired the critically-acclaimed Hong Kong movie, After This Our Exile (父子 in Chinese, which mean Father-Son). While I did not watch the movie from the beginning until the end, I did catch the last 45 minutes or so and I was aghast with the way the relationship between the father and son had ended.


Before I begin explaining why I was not happy with it, I must first briefly tell the gist of the movie. The movie starred Aaron Kwok and Charlie Yeung as the husband and wife of a young boy, played by a newcomer, Gouw Ian Iskandar. The movie was set in the small town of Ipoh, Perak. When I began watching the movie, the father was already in heavy debt with the loansharks due to his gambling addiction and his wife had escaped from the marriage, leaving the boy with his father. The boy was loyal to his father, therefore, refusing to leave with his mother.

In order to pay back the loansharks, the father had asked his son to steal from the houses along the street. At its climax, the boy, which was forced by his father to enter a stranger's house, was caught stealing red-handed and had to endure severe beatings from the man. Totally helpless against the man which was twice or thrice time his size, he was beat until fainted while the father, standing there, at one point wanting to go rescue his son but was hit by a car, ultimately left his son to fend for himself when the polices arrived.


I was so angry at the father for forcing his son to steal. As a father, he should not use his own son to steal, and thereby, ruining his future, however desperate the situation may be. Fathers should protect their children and provide as best as they could to them. In the movie, the father should have leave the boy to the care of his mother, knowing that lives would be difficult should the boy stayed with him. He should do whatever he can, even making the boy hate him, so that he could have a good life ahead.

I believe, as a father, one should try one's utmost effort to secure a good future for one's shild. Being a father is a huge responsibility and if you are not up to it, I would suggest you not to rush into things. If I feel that I myself is not ready, be it mentally or financially, I would not want to have a child for when you are a father, you are not only responsible for yourself but also your wife and child. I would rather be childless rather than condemning them by bringing them into the world. Oh, my. My parents would surely kill me should they come across this.

Star Trek ( And Thanks God It's Finally Rained! )

Went to watch Star Trek this afternoon. With this LONG vacation I have, I'm pretty sure by the time new semester begins, I had already watch all the much-hyped-about popcorn movies.


Back to Star Trek. I'm not a Trekker/Trekkie/Star-Trekker or whatever those fans called themselves. And if you're like me who had no idea what the heck is Vulcan or Romulan or who the hell is Spock/Sylar or James T. Kirk, don't worry. The movie will explain it to you perfectly well as it's a prequel to all the Star Trek movies and TV series ever had.

The ship where it all begins...

The movie began excitedly with the birth of James Kirk in the middle of a space battle. That opening alone had all the actions and drama that set the tone of what you can expect from the movie. And boy, what a ride. Fast-paced, action-filled, with a bit of humors here and there, it's a perfect summer movie.

What propelled me to watch the movie was the fact that it was directed by J. J. Abrams, the creator of one of my favourite TV series, Alias, Lost, Felicity, and the latest, Fringe, and director of Mission Impossible 3. Having watched most of his show, I can noticed some of his trademark like long opening scenes. And most of the time, watching his shows will leave me out of breath.

One of my favourite
Another hit from Mr Abrams

As the movie is the prequel, it tells the story of how the friendship of Spock and James Kirk was formed. Therefore, no prior knowledge is required. This, I believe, will do the franchise good as it brings in new fans and audiences. And since the whole team of stars and production crews are booked for two more sequels, we audiences can expect more fun out of it. All I can say is *giving Vulcan salute*, live long and prosper.


And thanks God it had rained. It's been DAYS since I last remembered rain on Ipoh. Life was so unbearable what with the SCORCHING sun casting its POWERFULLY, BLOODY heat to the ground. And living in an un-air-condition-al room only infuriates me further. It feels like sauna in my own room!


Luckily, God had mercy on us humans. Seeing so many Malaysians sweating like there's no tomorrow, it shed tears on us. And it's not those drizzles but the rain cat and dog type. Finally, tonight can have a good night sleep...

p/s If you think my family is being environment-friendly, think again. The reason why there's no air-con in all the rooms except the master bedroom is because of the electricity bill.

Upcoming Project

Welcome to this messed-up place I called my room (and my mom called pigs' den). OK, I know it's a really shitty place right now but what to do? I barely stayed in the room since I'm now studied in Penang but since I'm here for at least 2 months during my semester break, I'm gonna clear up the mess here.

What used to be a chair...
What used to be my study table...
Rubbishes surrounding my TV...
When books completely took over your bookshelves...

OK, can't take it anymore. Gonna clean it up tomorrow.

Happy (Belated) Mother's Day!

OK, it's already two days since Mother's Day, but, honestly, if we truly loved our parents, isn't everyday mother's day and father's day? So, Happy Mother's Day to all the mums in the whole wide world. We deeply treasured all the years you had showered us with loves and cares. On that very day, We love you.

So how did you guys spent that special day with your mothers? Haha, I didn't do anything special, just bought a body lotion from The Body Shop with my sister. Well, my mum's hands are rather dry according to the doc and this body lotion reportedly helps moisturizing the skin. So, hopefully, this lotion will be the answer to my mum's hand condition.

Will plan a better surprise for her next year...so anytime soon since everyday is mother's day (I'm so gonna be broke...).

The lotion from The Body Shop
I wrote all the things in the card...
packaged and ready to be delivered...