33 steps, 9.58 seconds, woww… You can nearly smell the rubber burning, watching him run. He could beat a cheetah on steroids any time of the day.
Sprinting is something I’m not good at. I lack the red muscles my coach said, or in layman’s term, I was just not born for it. And other than sprinting and music, I’ve discovered a couple of other things that just won’t suit me this past couple of weeks. Sales, and P*D kind of jobs are out of the question. So, a good thing, there’s a shorter list to choose from.
Anyways, I just got back from a surprisingly interesting 2-days-and-1-night assessment center. So, they are offering [XXXXXXXXXX] in the bag. It’s an okay deal I guess, coming from a non-oil-&-gas and a non-multinational-semicon corporation, and a good enough offer for a job I didn’t apply for. But it’s a managerial position; something engineering management related, but I don’t know how much engineering stuff will be involved. Should I take it? They need an answer in 24 hours.
By the way, the 3 hours drive to and from the program wasn’t really a pleasant one. It was raining rhinos on one stretch, and elephants on the next, and a combo of both with hints of capybaras on the following ones. It was like driving with your eyes tied up with a piece of black cloth, and having your attention threshold further reduced by a whole class of kids from kindergarten banging up drums and empty pails to the beat of an African Shaman dance, and the bottlenecks created by the road-upgrading activities along the way weren’t of much help either. There were at least 4 big collisions, and a total of 5 cars ended up in the ditch in the 2 different days.
Hmmmm…. I’ve been spending too much time on the road, and have been sleeping on hotel beds and floors for too many nights. I think I need to keep track of my carbon footprint; but hey, as they say it, as long as if it’s lower than Al Gore’s than its low enough.
I was just about to ask the guys if they wanted to go for a hike yesterday, but we might have already started fasting. We climbed Gunung Nuang the other day. It was a good hike. Just next time, maybe we should try going on a slower pace, take breakfast before the hike, and leave the fried chicken at home.
It’s my first Ramadan here in Malaysia after 4 years. Everyone was home yesterday except for number 3 who we’re assuming is really enjoying his summer fasting experience somewhere in a hot city in Deutschland, gorging down roasted lamb for iftar.
To those celebrating your Ramadan in West Lala or anywhere else on the other side of the globe, enjoy the long summer days… haha.. And to those celebrating across the ocean, but nearer to home, jangan sedih-sedih… hehhh..
So, selamat berpuasa dan beramal. I’m leaving you guys with this American Ramadan speech.
I am Sam just finished showing on TV…….Dakota Fanning is just woww.
And can anyone just tell me, what the hell does an engineer actually do?
Showing posts with label crap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crap. Show all posts
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
"A kid? I smoke, I snort. I've killed and robbed. I'm a man. "
Let’s start out with a riddle;
“Which creature in the morning goes on four legs, at mid-day on two, and in the evening upon three, and the more legs it has, the weaker it be?”
Read on for the answer.
Anyway, let’s talk Greek. So, it’s amazing on how one very uncommon word can pop up and be discussed one too many times in a span of a month.
A couple of weeks ago, professor J, my sociology professor, invited me over for some second hand smoke; I was passing this bench under the tree where he will sit everyday without fail, summer or winter, sun or snow, for his nicotine and caffeine fix, when he called me over to join him. I think the majority of his students like him; lecturing in 501 jeans and crewneck t-shirt, Freud jokes, and most importantly, he knows how to teach. I was in his class 2 summers ago, the only 'foreigner' and the only engineering major in the class, and the only one who scored above 94% in all the exams (no wonder these people from the other side of campus hate us so much, haha); so, that was how we first got acquainted.
Anyways, we talked quite a bit about everything, from how he still doesn’t get how soccer is the world’s most famous sport, and why baseball isn’t, to his ebony general physician girlfriend from Chicago, to Eastern people’s mentality, to what I think I will be doing after school. So, we jumped about everything for about half an hour, with him dominating most of the conversation with the different theories and quotes from about everyone famous enough.
Then we came to ‘peripeteia’. It started when he was telling me on how easier it’s going to be for someone like me who has no particular passion for about anything. At least he said, I won’t be wasting my time thinking of the things I want to do, but instead, I could just go on with the flow, and discover. But, analyzing is still important, because we don’t want to come to a point in which Aristotle calls a tragedy. So, from there on, he was giving me literature, drama and film lessons, from Hamlet to Oedipus Rex.
(A quick disclaimer, I’ve never really studied the story, so, the facts might not be quite right.)
So, King Oedipus’s story is about this king who was adopted by another royal family from another state, after he was abandoned in a field as an infant instead of being killed as suggested by the oracle his father consulted. Then, once he grew older, he went to see the Delphic oracle, and he was told that he was destined to mate his own mother and kill his own sire. So, desperate to escape his foretold fate, he ran away, not knowing that the king and queen of the state were only his adopted parents.
While on the road, he got in a quarrel with this man on who has the right of passage on a one lane road, which ended in Oedipus killing the man, unaware of the fact that the man he killed is actually his real father. Thus, the first part of the prophecy was fulfilled. And he went on with his journey and entered the city of Thebes.
And before he could enter the city, he was stopped by the smoking hot Sphinx, who guarded the entrance to the city. The Sphinx, known for her riddles, told Oedipus the riddle mentioned earlier. And being a bright king, he managed to solve it; man was the answer, he crawls as a child, walks on 2 legs when old enough, and some will need the assistance of a walking stick at an older age (maybe there weren’t any wheelchairs yet back then, so, the Sphinx left the wheel part out). The Sphinx, so distraught to find someone smarter than she was, killed herself by jumping off the cliff, marking the day on which the zoomorphic species got extinct.
With the Sphinx dead, Thebes was free from the Sphinx’s curse once and for all. Being delighted and all, they awarded Oedipus the kingship, and he married the queen, who is actually his biological mother; the second part of the prophecy, fulfilled. They should have really visited a genetic expert before getting married….
Long story short, Oedipus realized everything (who his biological parents were) when he was trying to solve the case of the murdering of Laius, his wife’s former husband, the former king of Thebes, his biological father. The whole mystery was solved when the shepherd who left Oedipus in the field as an infant who was also the sole witness of the killing of Laius by Oedipus was called to the floor.
And that very moment when Oedpius realized that the woman he was having babies with all this while was actually his biological mother, is called peripetia.
A sudden realization after a tragedy, a turning point maybe. You can always check the dictionary for a more complete and precise definition.
And the story of Hamlet, you can find that yourselves.
The next week after that small pep talk with Professor J, I was talking to my sister on the phone, when we ended up talking about peripetia. And I think you got it right, Freud called his sick idea Oedipus complex.
And last night, after some casual volleyball and basketball at the rec, I was browsing through the videos on TED for some motivation. And I found Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs. Enjoy the video. The earlier part of the talk has a little touch of Chuck-Palahniuk-reading-Guts on it. And he explains the idea of perepeteia very well.
Enough with Aristotle and the Sphinx. Why is it when we talk about passion and love, we always talk about the arts? We talk about the neurotic painter’s passion being reflected and infused in the disturbing abstract of the art he scribbled and nibbled on the piece of square canvas. How about all the doctors, engineers, math teachers and marketing people? And why do these oracles have to talk in riddles and kiasan all the time?
And at last, I’m done with the jacking up the efficiency project. The company having already saved at least $180,000 a year by having unpaid college students coming up with that kind of possible solution, with a possibility of doubling their production at 75% of the cost, memang cilake la kalau tak bagi A.
Yesterday was a special day, with the rain complementing the mood, groups of students screaming after each class session, and some were already seen giving hugs to friends, for goodbyes … it was interesting. Yesterday was the last day of class for the semester.
Cita-cita baru minggu ini......... nak jadi Chuck Yeager.
by the way, the title is a quote by Steak-and-Fries from Cidade de Deus (City of God)..... hmmmm... kena belajar hisap rokok....
X-men on Monday?
“Which creature in the morning goes on four legs, at mid-day on two, and in the evening upon three, and the more legs it has, the weaker it be?”
Read on for the answer.
Anyway, let’s talk Greek. So, it’s amazing on how one very uncommon word can pop up and be discussed one too many times in a span of a month.
A couple of weeks ago, professor J, my sociology professor, invited me over for some second hand smoke; I was passing this bench under the tree where he will sit everyday without fail, summer or winter, sun or snow, for his nicotine and caffeine fix, when he called me over to join him. I think the majority of his students like him; lecturing in 501 jeans and crewneck t-shirt, Freud jokes, and most importantly, he knows how to teach. I was in his class 2 summers ago, the only 'foreigner' and the only engineering major in the class, and the only one who scored above 94% in all the exams (no wonder these people from the other side of campus hate us so much, haha); so, that was how we first got acquainted.
Anyways, we talked quite a bit about everything, from how he still doesn’t get how soccer is the world’s most famous sport, and why baseball isn’t, to his ebony general physician girlfriend from Chicago, to Eastern people’s mentality, to what I think I will be doing after school. So, we jumped about everything for about half an hour, with him dominating most of the conversation with the different theories and quotes from about everyone famous enough.
Then we came to ‘peripeteia’. It started when he was telling me on how easier it’s going to be for someone like me who has no particular passion for about anything. At least he said, I won’t be wasting my time thinking of the things I want to do, but instead, I could just go on with the flow, and discover. But, analyzing is still important, because we don’t want to come to a point in which Aristotle calls a tragedy. So, from there on, he was giving me literature, drama and film lessons, from Hamlet to Oedipus Rex.
(A quick disclaimer, I’ve never really studied the story, so, the facts might not be quite right.)
So, King Oedipus’s story is about this king who was adopted by another royal family from another state, after he was abandoned in a field as an infant instead of being killed as suggested by the oracle his father consulted. Then, once he grew older, he went to see the Delphic oracle, and he was told that he was destined to mate his own mother and kill his own sire. So, desperate to escape his foretold fate, he ran away, not knowing that the king and queen of the state were only his adopted parents.
While on the road, he got in a quarrel with this man on who has the right of passage on a one lane road, which ended in Oedipus killing the man, unaware of the fact that the man he killed is actually his real father. Thus, the first part of the prophecy was fulfilled. And he went on with his journey and entered the city of Thebes.
And before he could enter the city, he was stopped by the smoking hot Sphinx, who guarded the entrance to the city. The Sphinx, known for her riddles, told Oedipus the riddle mentioned earlier. And being a bright king, he managed to solve it; man was the answer, he crawls as a child, walks on 2 legs when old enough, and some will need the assistance of a walking stick at an older age (maybe there weren’t any wheelchairs yet back then, so, the Sphinx left the wheel part out). The Sphinx, so distraught to find someone smarter than she was, killed herself by jumping off the cliff, marking the day on which the zoomorphic species got extinct.
With the Sphinx dead, Thebes was free from the Sphinx’s curse once and for all. Being delighted and all, they awarded Oedipus the kingship, and he married the queen, who is actually his biological mother; the second part of the prophecy, fulfilled. They should have really visited a genetic expert before getting married….
Long story short, Oedipus realized everything (who his biological parents were) when he was trying to solve the case of the murdering of Laius, his wife’s former husband, the former king of Thebes, his biological father. The whole mystery was solved when the shepherd who left Oedipus in the field as an infant who was also the sole witness of the killing of Laius by Oedipus was called to the floor.
And that very moment when Oedpius realized that the woman he was having babies with all this while was actually his biological mother, is called peripetia.
A sudden realization after a tragedy, a turning point maybe. You can always check the dictionary for a more complete and precise definition.
And the story of Hamlet, you can find that yourselves.
The next week after that small pep talk with Professor J, I was talking to my sister on the phone, when we ended up talking about peripetia. And I think you got it right, Freud called his sick idea Oedipus complex.
And last night, after some casual volleyball and basketball at the rec, I was browsing through the videos on TED for some motivation. And I found Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs. Enjoy the video. The earlier part of the talk has a little touch of Chuck-Palahniuk-reading-Guts on it. And he explains the idea of perepeteia very well.
Enough with Aristotle and the Sphinx. Why is it when we talk about passion and love, we always talk about the arts? We talk about the neurotic painter’s passion being reflected and infused in the disturbing abstract of the art he scribbled and nibbled on the piece of square canvas. How about all the doctors, engineers, math teachers and marketing people? And why do these oracles have to talk in riddles and kiasan all the time?
And at last, I’m done with the jacking up the efficiency project. The company having already saved at least $180,000 a year by having unpaid college students coming up with that kind of possible solution, with a possibility of doubling their production at 75% of the cost, memang cilake la kalau tak bagi A.
Yesterday was a special day, with the rain complementing the mood, groups of students screaming after each class session, and some were already seen giving hugs to friends, for goodbyes … it was interesting. Yesterday was the last day of class for the semester.
Cita-cita baru minggu ini......... nak jadi Chuck Yeager.
by the way, the title is a quote by Steak-and-Fries from Cidade de Deus (City of God)..... hmmmm... kena belajar hisap rokok....
X-men on Monday?
Monday, April 13, 2009
"heroin, mug's game...."
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the future lately, and I don’t like doing that. Get me a desk, some money, and a pair of these, and I’m a happy man.
We lost again yesterday, 8-7. I got 2 goals and 3 assists, but I was also guilty of giving away the ball to Fred, an opponent player, which resulted into a stupid soft goal. Nevertheless, it was still a good match; we crawled back in into the game after trailing 8-3. But a lost is still a lost. Anyways, we still have intramural playoffs this week to look forward to.
And to some soccer back home. The local soccer scene just got a little more exciting; getting a story published under the headlines tab on ESPNsoccernet sure is something. Halim Napi is one mad man, and the home crowd, wow. I’m not implying that I’m giving my utmost support to hooliganism and such, but yeah, we’ve had cases of home supporters throwing stones to the visiting team’s busses and all, but putting a police vehicle on fire sure is something new. At least, I look up to these people more than those Melayu Malaysia perasan Red Army and Malaysian perasan Steve Hickmont. I have a lot of catching up to do before going back home. And the national hockey team went on to lose 3-1 to India in the Azlan Shah Cup tournament finals.
And talking about hooligans, I just finished watching the rise of the footsoldier. It is an OK movie, maybe it is just a little bit too long, and it gets a little lackluster towards the end. Anyways, I’d recommend this to anyone who is into gangster or crime films, and be warned that it is a little graphic. You can find a short description of the movie here. And the one big thing that I learnt from the film is, stay away from drugs. Maybe money is the root of all evil, but drugs is the pinnacle of it, the point where if you fall, you’ll fall the hardest.
Back on the future; I can’t really see why I need to conform to the society’s brand of a successful person. It’s not anything existentialism……… I guess. But well, let’s skip the crap.
And talking about successful people, Mr. Onitsuka and Carlton Leach have these characteristics in common; they have a gift, and they got guts. You can have all the muscle and the money, but you need to have bakat to go up the ladder. And the one big difference between them is that one planned to be successful, and the other one did it just for the thrills. So, failing to plan is a plan to fail crap is really not that true I guess. Well, planning ahead is still good though; but it is not right to generalize- that’s what my writing lecturer told me at least.
More on successful writers, I bumped into Nadim last week, and he made me read a short story entitled Guts from Palahniuk’s Haunted. Palahniuk is one sick and amazing writer. He is so good that up to 60 people have fainted listening to the story of Guts during his book readings. I didn’t faint, but I just couldn’t help myself from uttering a couple of bad words aloud throughout the excruciating few pages with the rather animated looking Nadim laughing the whole time. You guys should try it sometime, or you can find a couple of videos of him reading it on youtube. But, just be warned, unless you have a sick and twisted mind, it is going to be agonizingly disturbing.
I still haven’t decided if I’ll be running the 5k next week, so, a pair of shoes with the fancy gel has to wait. And my younger sister will be coming over to the states sometime this week. I need flight tickets….. Houston ke, Philly? And yesterday’s forum was just horrible.
Letih. Perlu pulang ke pangkal jalan.
Monday, March 23, 2009
big shoulders
So, spring break is finally over.
Tomorrow, the sacred boilermaker campus will be swarmed by proud insomniac Neil Armstrong and Brian Lamb wannabes yet again. With the sun shining gloriously after a long hiatus, and the basketball team advancing to the sweet 16 , there’s a lot to look forward to, other than the classes with Korean instructors.
Anyways, it was a well spent-low-productivity-level break. We learned playing mahjong Hong Kong style, played poker, had barbecue, watched basketball games and movies, went to Chicago, played soccer and football, and most importantly, we slept well.
Ok, let’s talk about the impromptu Windy City trip. First of all, Chicago is a very cool big city; the air feels cleaner and the traffic is really not that bad compared to NYC or KL. And if you’re into architecture, you should really go see Chicago (the SEARS tower et al). And what I think I like the most about the city are the cool sculptures all around the city, and the gorgeous parks down the long Lake Michigan shore-line. And just so you know how windy and cold the city is, random local people were talking about how warm and beautiful the day was, when the temperature was at 1 degree centigrade, and the wind was gushing constantly into our faces.
and i've actually upgraded to a point-and-shoot...
And talking about sculptures, at last, I had the chance to see the god bless america sculpture up close. I was excited about the sculpture because I was trapped in a conversation about the American Gothic Painting (which the sculpture was based on) with some guys some time ago, so, yeah, it was cool to see a piece of art and actually knowing something about it.
Btw, I’ve been to Chicago for at least a dozen times before, but being a lousy tourist and all, I haven’t really visited the City of Big Shoulders until recently. And i'm glad i did.
So, if you’re planning to go to the Second City for a visit, you could do the usual tourist stuff like go up the Sears Tower, go visit the Museums and the Aquarium, go to one of the beaches, visit Navy Pier, see the cool stuff in Millennium Park, go to the Planetarium, enjoy the parks, and walk and shop along Michigan Avenue. And if you have some extra cash, go see a theatre or go see the Bulls, or the Bears, or the Cubs or the White Sox play in their respective stadiums. And if you go on St. Patty’s day, you’ll have a chance to see the parade and the river dyed green.
So, yeahh… everyone will miss doing nothing.
The team will play the other Husky this Thursday, and let’s prove Obama wrong.
Wazza, I feel you man… and BTFU!!!!!
Tomorrow, the sacred boilermaker campus will be swarmed by proud insomniac Neil Armstrong and Brian Lamb wannabes yet again. With the sun shining gloriously after a long hiatus, and the basketball team advancing to the sweet 16 , there’s a lot to look forward to, other than the classes with Korean instructors.
Anyways, it was a well spent-low-productivity-level break. We learned playing mahjong Hong Kong style, played poker, had barbecue, watched basketball games and movies, went to Chicago, played soccer and football, and most importantly, we slept well.
Ok, let’s talk about the impromptu Windy City trip. First of all, Chicago is a very cool big city; the air feels cleaner and the traffic is really not that bad compared to NYC or KL. And if you’re into architecture, you should really go see Chicago (the SEARS tower et al). And what I think I like the most about the city are the cool sculptures all around the city, and the gorgeous parks down the long Lake Michigan shore-line. And just so you know how windy and cold the city is, random local people were talking about how warm and beautiful the day was, when the temperature was at 1 degree centigrade, and the wind was gushing constantly into our faces.
and i've actually upgraded to a point-and-shoot...
And talking about sculptures, at last, I had the chance to see the god bless america sculpture up close. I was excited about the sculpture because I was trapped in a conversation about the American Gothic Painting (which the sculpture was based on) with some guys some time ago, so, yeah, it was cool to see a piece of art and actually knowing something about it.
Btw, I’ve been to Chicago for at least a dozen times before, but being a lousy tourist and all, I haven’t really visited the City of Big Shoulders until recently. And i'm glad i did.
So, if you’re planning to go to the Second City for a visit, you could do the usual tourist stuff like go up the Sears Tower, go visit the Museums and the Aquarium, go to one of the beaches, visit Navy Pier, see the cool stuff in Millennium Park, go to the Planetarium, enjoy the parks, and walk and shop along Michigan Avenue. And if you have some extra cash, go see a theatre or go see the Bulls, or the Bears, or the Cubs or the White Sox play in their respective stadiums. And if you go on St. Patty’s day, you’ll have a chance to see the parade and the river dyed green.
So, yeahh… everyone will miss doing nothing.
The team will play the other Husky this Thursday, and let’s prove Obama wrong.
Wazza, I feel you man… and BTFU!!!!!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
I'm doing science and I'm still alive
In 17 days 919 Palestinians were killed by Israel including 284 children & 100 women, while 4260 others were injured
anyway, remember primary school language classes, when we had to write essays on ‘my most humiliating experience’ or ‘pengalaman yang tidak boleh dilupakan sepanjang hidupku’? Everyone or at least those not adventurous enough would write about their first day at school, wetting their pants because they were too terrified to ask the evil teacher to go out to the loo, or better, how they cried like a baby under the wooden desk when the dad had to leave?
btw, I didn’t make up the crying under the desk part, but let’s keep that for another day shall we. Man, I can’t stop laughing, sorry eh…. hahaha.. And I still can’t stop laughing.
And because we were not trained to be adventurous, and the one example that the teacher gave is supposed to be the best one, I had to write down some lame lies every time we had to write something about the aforementioned topic. Though it was a good way to learn fiction, it was still pretty lame.
But I digress…..
Anyways, I was just trying to enlighten you that I didn’t cry at all on my first day of school. Ahah…. I did look back the instant my dad left, right after dropping me at my desk, when all the other parents waited for their kids outside the class. But I didn’t shed a single tear.
Because the class teacher thought I was so brave, and anarchism was yet to be integrated into my dictionary, I was appointed the ‘penolong ketua kelas’. Farhan was the class rep, only because he was the biggest and the tallest kid in class, and because Mrs. Chew, our class teacher knew his dad, Mr. Wilson Yeo. But no hard feelings, we went on to be best friends up until today.
But thinking back on it, I think I didn’t cry because I didn’t know we should or we were expected to cry on our first day at school. And I didn’t know that parents were expected to wait for us outside the classroom the whole first day of school. But I’m glad I didn’t know. hehh…..
And today was the first day of school all over again; supposedly the last first day of school for some of us. I’ll probably be staying for the summer, I don’t know yet. Anyways, back to today, it went pretty well I guess, except for one of the classes. I think the professor is a psycho, I don’t know. And I’m in a modeling class again, mathematical modeling to be exact... ahah... lame gile…..
I've experiments to run, there is research to be done… (lagu rockband smlm)
And to some soccer, most of the ‘liga competitive malam jumaat’ guys are back in snowy WL. So, we had a game just now, but we had to stop early because the roller-hockey guys wanted to play on the court we’re sharing with them. And just so you know, every time the two groups come at the same time, tension will flare, but thank god, tonight, only bad language was used, and no punches were thrown. I’ll be writing to the paper tomorrow. But I had to stop playing early anyway; I pulled a muscle in my right thigh. And AJ, the guy I’ve been playing with for at least a year now, actually lives opposite my apartment. hampehh….
Anyways, welcome back to school. Let’s hope Friday will come by in a flash.
bye-bye coach Dungy.
yang lapar dan sakit kena sepak.
*terdelete entry sebelum ni.
anyway, remember primary school language classes, when we had to write essays on ‘my most humiliating experience’ or ‘pengalaman yang tidak boleh dilupakan sepanjang hidupku’? Everyone or at least those not adventurous enough would write about their first day at school, wetting their pants because they were too terrified to ask the evil teacher to go out to the loo, or better, how they cried like a baby under the wooden desk when the dad had to leave?
btw, I didn’t make up the crying under the desk part, but let’s keep that for another day shall we. Man, I can’t stop laughing, sorry eh…. hahaha.. And I still can’t stop laughing.
And because we were not trained to be adventurous, and the one example that the teacher gave is supposed to be the best one, I had to write down some lame lies every time we had to write something about the aforementioned topic. Though it was a good way to learn fiction, it was still pretty lame.
But I digress…..
Anyways, I was just trying to enlighten you that I didn’t cry at all on my first day of school. Ahah…. I did look back the instant my dad left, right after dropping me at my desk, when all the other parents waited for their kids outside the class. But I didn’t shed a single tear.
Because the class teacher thought I was so brave, and anarchism was yet to be integrated into my dictionary, I was appointed the ‘penolong ketua kelas’. Farhan was the class rep, only because he was the biggest and the tallest kid in class, and because Mrs. Chew, our class teacher knew his dad, Mr. Wilson Yeo. But no hard feelings, we went on to be best friends up until today.
But thinking back on it, I think I didn’t cry because I didn’t know we should or we were expected to cry on our first day at school. And I didn’t know that parents were expected to wait for us outside the classroom the whole first day of school. But I’m glad I didn’t know. hehh…..
And today was the first day of school all over again; supposedly the last first day of school for some of us. I’ll probably be staying for the summer, I don’t know yet. Anyways, back to today, it went pretty well I guess, except for one of the classes. I think the professor is a psycho, I don’t know. And I’m in a modeling class again, mathematical modeling to be exact... ahah... lame gile…..
I've experiments to run, there is research to be done… (lagu rockband smlm)
And to some soccer, most of the ‘liga competitive malam jumaat’ guys are back in snowy WL. So, we had a game just now, but we had to stop early because the roller-hockey guys wanted to play on the court we’re sharing with them. And just so you know, every time the two groups come at the same time, tension will flare, but thank god, tonight, only bad language was used, and no punches were thrown. I’ll be writing to the paper tomorrow. But I had to stop playing early anyway; I pulled a muscle in my right thigh. And AJ, the guy I’ve been playing with for at least a year now, actually lives opposite my apartment. hampehh….
Anyways, welcome back to school. Let’s hope Friday will come by in a flash.
bye-bye coach Dungy.
yang lapar dan sakit kena sepak.
*terdelete entry sebelum ni.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
flossing
So, other than the other penniless international students who can’t afford to get a ticket home for christmas, and those less fortunate to have an exam on the last Saturday of the semester, the rest of the population has gone balik kampung. WL is nearly empty.
anyways, just so you people know that I’m still alive, let’s get something posted. And yup, like miss aphrodite, say if I die, I don’t want anyone to leave any comments or leave anything on the shoutbox. And I’m fine btw; I don’t think I’m having any suicidal thoughts at the moment. Don’t worry.
hmmmmmm………… OK.
so, feynman is a genius; he is so smart that he uses his brain to charm the ladies. When he was younger, he likes to read the encyclopedia, and he uses the little cool stuff he knows to get to the girls.
But I digress.
anyways, if you’re a knowledge junkie, or if you think that the Feynman way may help you with the opposite sex, this site may interest you. TED. So, basically, it used to be an exclusive club for the very cool people. But thanks to the WWW, now, everyone can enjoy the pleasure of getting their fix of some cool new knowledge of the pineapple express grade. So, through personal experience, I have to say that I didn’t have much luck with the girls, but for the ego and for the ‘feel good’ purposes, this site is surely one of the best. So, do check it out.
But just don’t come running to me tomorrow and start talking like you really know the shit. There’s a very big difference in ‘being informed of something’ and ‘really knowing something’.
Sorry about that, but I just get annoyed when people go all gung-ho with the little new thing they just read out of somewhere, and start making some stupid and simplistic conclusions and arguments that just doesn’t make sense sometimes.
But to the rest of you nice rational people, still, just check it out.
And still to the knowledge junkies out there, or if you’re just someone who is just tired of reading about gay rights, Obama, China, terrorism, bailout issues and India, Mental Floss might be the magazine for you. It’s a fun read, loaded with cool facts and trivia, with a little Freakonomics touch on it. I picked one up a couple of weeks ago, and I literally read every single page in it, cover to cover. So, anyone has any idea where to find free magazine subscription deals?
And yup, since I’ve been fondly ‘collecting’ books instead of actually reading them, anyone kind enough with extra pocket money, I won’t feel bad to find this in the mailbox. hehhh….
adoiii... mane nak pegi cuti ni? We went Bear Grills in Yellowstone last summer. Maybe I should try doing it Samantha Brown’s or Anthony Bourdain’s or Andrew Zimmermen’s way this winter. Leceh betul ramai-ramai ni. Maybe I should take a plane to the Amazons.
-yang pancit main rockband2-
anyways, just so you people know that I’m still alive, let’s get something posted. And yup, like miss aphrodite, say if I die, I don’t want anyone to leave any comments or leave anything on the shoutbox. And I’m fine btw; I don’t think I’m having any suicidal thoughts at the moment. Don’t worry.
hmmmmmm………… OK.
so, feynman is a genius; he is so smart that he uses his brain to charm the ladies. When he was younger, he likes to read the encyclopedia, and he uses the little cool stuff he knows to get to the girls.
But I digress.
anyways, if you’re a knowledge junkie, or if you think that the Feynman way may help you with the opposite sex, this site may interest you. TED. So, basically, it used to be an exclusive club for the very cool people. But thanks to the WWW, now, everyone can enjoy the pleasure of getting their fix of some cool new knowledge of the pineapple express grade. So, through personal experience, I have to say that I didn’t have much luck with the girls, but for the ego and for the ‘feel good’ purposes, this site is surely one of the best. So, do check it out.
But just don’t come running to me tomorrow and start talking like you really know the shit. There’s a very big difference in ‘being informed of something’ and ‘really knowing something’.
Sorry about that, but I just get annoyed when people go all gung-ho with the little new thing they just read out of somewhere, and start making some stupid and simplistic conclusions and arguments that just doesn’t make sense sometimes.
But to the rest of you nice rational people, still, just check it out.
And still to the knowledge junkies out there, or if you’re just someone who is just tired of reading about gay rights, Obama, China, terrorism, bailout issues and India, Mental Floss might be the magazine for you. It’s a fun read, loaded with cool facts and trivia, with a little Freakonomics touch on it. I picked one up a couple of weeks ago, and I literally read every single page in it, cover to cover. So, anyone has any idea where to find free magazine subscription deals?
And yup, since I’ve been fondly ‘collecting’ books instead of actually reading them, anyone kind enough with extra pocket money, I won’t feel bad to find this in the mailbox. hehhh….
adoiii... mane nak pegi cuti ni? We went Bear Grills in Yellowstone last summer. Maybe I should try doing it Samantha Brown’s or Anthony Bourdain’s or Andrew Zimmermen’s way this winter. Leceh betul ramai-ramai ni. Maybe I should take a plane to the Amazons.
-yang pancit main rockband2-
Saturday, November 1, 2008
leg breaking
So, I was facing this big dilemma. I don’t like to choose, especially when it comes down to choosing people. If it were a staffing decision, then, a simple linear model would suffice, but this one is way beyond complicated.
But a man has to do what a man got to do. And Dawes’ and Ben Franklin’s long explanation on prudential algebra brought me down to this decision which cost me $20. I chose a Polish-born Nobel Prize winner over my favorite scientist, who also happens to be one of the coolest physicist, science idol and writer ever; Rotblat over Feynman.
And after reading one of the best composed and sincere writings by a scientist or a philosopher I’ve ever came across, I signed the pledge.
But a man has to do what a man got to do. And Dawes’ and Ben Franklin’s long explanation on prudential algebra brought me down to this decision which cost me $20. I chose a Polish-born Nobel Prize winner over my favorite scientist, who also happens to be one of the coolest physicist, science idol and writer ever; Rotblat over Feynman.
And after reading one of the best composed and sincere writings by a scientist or a philosopher I’ve ever came across, I signed the pledge.
And then paid the $20 membership fee, and got my cool t-shirt and other ‘free’ stuff.
Anyways, the Student Pugwash is all about engaging students to promote the socially responsible use of science and technology, and in order to create effective social change, students must first understand the issues at stake, and then contemplate their ethical and moral responsibility to themselves and to society as a whole.
And as I can’t really get a consistent 10 hours of sleep a day and not that much soccer or football or sweat anymore this semester because of schoolwork and all, I decided to take the passenger’s seat for this particular intention, by the door in the backseat. Well, I didn’t get myself all messy with the administration stuff, but I’ve learnt some pretty cool and great new stuff from the very people who are pioneers and the crème de la crème in their respective already cool fields.
Seriously, after the short an hour or so lecture, you’ll get out feeling a little bit more intelligent, which is good to feed the deflated ego after having to do too much schoolwork and projects that make you feel dumber than a 12 year old giraffe. And some of the lectures even helped me change my stand on certain issues. Anyway, the most important lesson I’ve got so far is that, information, small or little goes a very long way. For $20 (actually the lecture series can be attended for free), now I’m a big advocate of nuclear energy, I have a pretty good idea on what to feed my wife during and even before pregnancy, how calico cats and women are the same, a new dimension on the black gold, corn and the energy issue, and I get to meet some new cool geeks.
So, yup, Feynman is still the favorite and the coolest scientist ever, but Rotblat, Einstein and a couple of their scientist friends made the better choice. Well, consistent to what Erick Erikson suggested, people in between their teen years, up to their early 20’s usually have this Identity vs. Role confusion. So, choosing what’s cool and what you’re supposed to be and do is pretty confusing at this age.
And talking about another favorite writer, I had a chance to hear a lecture and get my book signed by Mr. Tom Friedman some one month ago, the same night I saw Frank Duong at the Union, the night before he scored a touchdown out of an interception. He talked about his book which I yet to get a chance to read beyond page 34, and a couple of his personal experience which was great. And with this entire APEX thing going on, maybe the particular university back home should really look into this energy engineering technology thing, which according to Freidman, is the new ‘it’ thing, the new big tomorrow. And as I was 12th in line out of the nearly packed 6,025 capacity Elliot Hall of Music audience during the book signing, I get to have a little chat with him, but I forgot to ask him to sign his other book I brought along.
Ohh, again, if you somehow managed to find this humble blog, thanks for the book……
We went to see my classmate take the basketball court during the halloween night exhibition game last night. We were pretty good. The future is bright.
And for one last time, let's go slay some wolverine for lunch.
-the best indoor kicks yet--
-The tired, deflated, stressed, and in need of a pair of new kicks, a new graphic card and to break some legs-Monday, October 6, 2008
WIP
Its freaking 130 am in the morning, and it’s funny how full the lab is still is. Everyone else is trying to decipher stupid looking codes dengan muka tertekan….wahahaha.. nasib baik esok paper accounting je. Your major is my freaking Gen-Ed….. so, shut up!!!
No doubt, reading bahasa manusia, even stupid never-heard-of jargons, is much easier than reading ridiculous high-level or high-low programming languages or some raw dull numbers.
Though I think that being Brian Cox is still much cooler than being Jason Chambers,
I’ve made up my mind….I want to be a MMA fighter when I grow up….
Or when I graduate…
No doubt, reading bahasa manusia, even stupid never-heard-of jargons, is much easier than reading ridiculous high-level or high-low programming languages or some raw dull numbers.
Though I think that being Brian Cox is still much cooler than being Jason Chambers,
I’ve made up my mind….I want to be a MMA fighter when I grow up….
Or when I graduate…
I didn’t know that you could make a career out of kicking the heck out of someone else. I used to want to be a pendekar, out of watching cool Rusdi Ramli and Eman Manan pendekar dramas on TV2 & TV3. Pendekar Kundur and Keris Hitam Bersepuh Emas are the best. But since I’ve already developed a chronological sense of a time line by then, then it’ll only go against my nubile plebian logic to want to become a Pendekar. And being in the silver screen industry has never been that appealing either. If only Mrs. Chew, my standard 1 class teacher were to enlighten us students much earlier about a career in fighting, then by now, after some altercation with the parents, I’ll probably be standing besides or being kicked the hell out of myself by Fedor Emelianenko or Tito Ortiz, or Anderson Silva or Chuck Lidell or my favorite Randy Couture, or at least by now, my biceps should be as big as theirs, and am already half-way through the path of becoming the ultimate killing machine.
Let’s see what O*NET has to say about being a fighter.
Last week was quite disappointing, I did pretty well on the paper on the 2nd day of raya, but I think I failed the one on the 3rd day of raya. And we freaking embarrassed ourselves on national TV…. were you serious???? Anyways, the Colts and the reds are the stories of the week, with their impressive and entertaining comebacks in their respective football games.
Suggest me a nickname…… the asian assassin? The meat grinder?
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
in one piece, not in pieces.....
Jon wrote this nice pantun on our mount rushmore-salam perantauan thingy.
So, Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir dan Batin, to whomever and wherever you may be.
And have fun.
I don’t know why, but I haven’t been excited about raya for quite some time. But, no matter what, how or where, the 1st of Syawal must be celebrated.
And drive safely. My grandparents got in a car crash somewhere in Tapah sometime last week. I don’t really know about the details, because when people get sad, they don’t talk much, and when people get sad, I tend to get angry.
The grandma had to get some metal implanted into her hip or somewhere as the result of the crash, while my grandpa who was fine the first time around was again admitted to the hospital because of some problems with his lungs, but at least it was confirmed that it wasn’t caused by any internal bleeding from the crash. So, the family is going to celebrate raya rather lowly this year, at the hospital.
Last year, today, I was in NYC, celebrating raya with my sister, and that was pretty cool. Though no one came over from home to celebrate together this time around, I think the people here have made this particular first of Syawal a rather enjoyable one. They served good food, and turned this rather cold day into a warm and an enjoyable one.
jemput dtg, i'm serving famous amos cookies this raya....
Next year, makan lemang panas!!!!
Tomorrow morning and khamis, 474 and 486!!!!
Kajang pak malau kajang berlipat,
Kajang hamba mengkuang layu,
Raya tuan raya bertempat,
Raya hamba musafir selalu.
Kajang hamba mengkuang layu,
Raya tuan raya bertempat,
Raya hamba musafir selalu.
So, Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir dan Batin, to whomever and wherever you may be.
And have fun.
I don’t know why, but I haven’t been excited about raya for quite some time. But, no matter what, how or where, the 1st of Syawal must be celebrated.
And drive safely. My grandparents got in a car crash somewhere in Tapah sometime last week. I don’t really know about the details, because when people get sad, they don’t talk much, and when people get sad, I tend to get angry.
The grandma had to get some metal implanted into her hip or somewhere as the result of the crash, while my grandpa who was fine the first time around was again admitted to the hospital because of some problems with his lungs, but at least it was confirmed that it wasn’t caused by any internal bleeding from the crash. So, the family is going to celebrate raya rather lowly this year, at the hospital.
Last year, today, I was in NYC, celebrating raya with my sister, and that was pretty cool. Though no one came over from home to celebrate together this time around, I think the people here have made this particular first of Syawal a rather enjoyable one. They served good food, and turned this rather cold day into a warm and an enjoyable one.
jemput dtg, i'm serving famous amos cookies this raya....
Next year, makan lemang panas!!!!
Tomorrow morning and khamis, 474 and 486!!!!
Monday, September 1, 2008
juicy lamb, chicken, and seasoned rice
the tok imam at the masjid told us this one story last night. he liked the story so much that he has told the same story thrice in the past 3 Ramadans.
the story goes something like this...
one day, a teacher told his/her students that they were about to go on a field trip somewhere in the mountains...
and they were told to collect some rocks along the way. but then the teacher continued, that they'll regret it either way; whether they collected as many rocks as they could, or if they didn't bring anything home at all..
so, off they go...
through simple observation, (to simplify matters, the Hawthorne effect is considered to be absent..lol), the students could be classified into 2 groups... the lazy ones who were so lazy that they didnt pickup even a pebble home because they thought that they'll regret it anyway, so, why the extra effort?
and the 2nd group, the more adventurous and rajin ones, who out of curiosity took some rocks they found along the way home...
and when they got back, to their amazement, all the rocks turned into precious stones; rubies, emeralds, diamonds... you name it.
so, it was true, as the teacher said earlier, either you did what was told or not, you'll still regret it...
in conclusion, the tok imam said that the case is relevant to the month of Ramadan.. so, we need to do our best.....
anyways, i still think that a differrent outcome can be observed if the teacher were to told the students about the not-so-precious rocks turning into rubies and emeralds in the 1st place..
or will it still be the same??...
selamat beramal, berpuasa dan berbuka.....
lama gile xpg bazaar ramadan....
the story goes something like this...
one day, a teacher told his/her students that they were about to go on a field trip somewhere in the mountains...
and they were told to collect some rocks along the way. but then the teacher continued, that they'll regret it either way; whether they collected as many rocks as they could, or if they didn't bring anything home at all..
so, off they go...
through simple observation, (to simplify matters, the Hawthorne effect is considered to be absent..lol), the students could be classified into 2 groups... the lazy ones who were so lazy that they didnt pickup even a pebble home because they thought that they'll regret it anyway, so, why the extra effort?
and the 2nd group, the more adventurous and rajin ones, who out of curiosity took some rocks they found along the way home...
and when they got back, to their amazement, all the rocks turned into precious stones; rubies, emeralds, diamonds... you name it.
so, it was true, as the teacher said earlier, either you did what was told or not, you'll still regret it...
in conclusion, the tok imam said that the case is relevant to the month of Ramadan.. so, we need to do our best.....
anyways, i still think that a differrent outcome can be observed if the teacher were to told the students about the not-so-precious rocks turning into rubies and emeralds in the 1st place..
or will it still be the same??...
selamat beramal, berpuasa dan berbuka.....
cool gile
lama gile xpg bazaar ramadan....
Sunday, August 24, 2008
lightning does strike twice in the same place
Men are not created equal. Since forever, nations, organizations and people of different ethnics have tried to prove and verify their supremacy; the Bani Israel, the Nazi, the KKK, and the ‘ketuanan melayu?’ to name a few.
Thick history books have been written on the wars, small and great, and all the struggles and confrontations the world has gone through.
Other than wars, ethnic cleansing and holocausts, sports is another way to to verify just that.
And this Olympic series is just as important as the ones during the US vs. Soviet cold war era. And to China, this series is critical not just in proving to the world on how well they can deliver as the hosting-nation, but beyond that, to cure the inferiority complex that has been institutionalized in them. Go google up the Chinese history of humiliation.
And the abacus war between the US and China shows how uptight this Olympic series is. Yahoo!, NBC and the other US broadcasting companies are using the total medal count system in determining the top rank nation, obviously so that they could appear on the top of the table, though some other countries may prefer to use the gold medal count to determine whose better. That just shows on how big of a propaganda agent the Olympics or sports itself can be.
Anyways, back to the good stuff. At last, Chong Wei won the nation’s 1st Olympic medal after a long 12 year wait. And Usain Bolt’s and Phelps' superhuman efforts were just amazing. And in the field hockey event, the theory is once again proven to be true, that the star flicker will be the one who’ll miss, as taeke taekema’s flick was saved by the German goalkeeper in the semifinal penalty-stroke shootout. I was particularly glad to be able to watch a live hockey match on tv after not being able to watch any for quite some time. And the other personal favorites, gymnastics (remember El Regina Tajuddin?), swimming, diving, basketball and wrestling are just as interesting. and yeah, my favorite runner, Jeremy Wariner only managed to score a silver. And that kick to the referee’s face was awesome!!!!! and i didn't manage to catch any of the boxing matches(US lemau, so xde slot on air)...
And just like how the wars have helped us human achieve the impossible, sports, this Olympic series in particular has proven to give that big of an impact as well. From new marketing strategies (the big swoosh vs the 3 stripes duel) and cool and awesome engineering feats and inventions (the bird’s nest, OR, security etc.), to new training regimes and better than sub-10 100 meter sprints.
The dream team will be playing Pau’s Spain in a few minutes….mengharapkn upset...
Danggg!!!…Terlepas opening ceremony…….
School opens Monday…. adoiiii
Thick history books have been written on the wars, small and great, and all the struggles and confrontations the world has gone through.
Other than wars, ethnic cleansing and holocausts, sports is another way to to verify just that.
And this Olympic series is just as important as the ones during the US vs. Soviet cold war era. And to China, this series is critical not just in proving to the world on how well they can deliver as the hosting-nation, but beyond that, to cure the inferiority complex that has been institutionalized in them. Go google up the Chinese history of humiliation.
And the abacus war between the US and China shows how uptight this Olympic series is. Yahoo!, NBC and the other US broadcasting companies are using the total medal count system in determining the top rank nation, obviously so that they could appear on the top of the table, though some other countries may prefer to use the gold medal count to determine whose better. That just shows on how big of a propaganda agent the Olympics or sports itself can be.
Anyways, back to the good stuff. At last, Chong Wei won the nation’s 1st Olympic medal after a long 12 year wait. And Usain Bolt’s and Phelps' superhuman efforts were just amazing. And in the field hockey event, the theory is once again proven to be true, that the star flicker will be the one who’ll miss, as taeke taekema’s flick was saved by the German goalkeeper in the semifinal penalty-stroke shootout. I was particularly glad to be able to watch a live hockey match on tv after not being able to watch any for quite some time. And the other personal favorites, gymnastics (remember El Regina Tajuddin?), swimming, diving, basketball and wrestling are just as interesting. and yeah, my favorite runner, Jeremy Wariner only managed to score a silver. And that kick to the referee’s face was awesome!!!!! and i didn't manage to catch any of the boxing matches(US lemau, so xde slot on air)...
And just like how the wars have helped us human achieve the impossible, sports, this Olympic series in particular has proven to give that big of an impact as well. From new marketing strategies (the big swoosh vs the 3 stripes duel) and cool and awesome engineering feats and inventions (the bird’s nest, OR, security etc.), to new training regimes and better than sub-10 100 meter sprints.
The dream team will be playing Pau’s Spain in a few minutes….mengharapkn upset...
Danggg!!!…Terlepas opening ceremony…….
School opens Monday…. adoiiii
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
huarghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are territorial beings. that explains why we sit in the exact same seat in a 2500 seat lecture hall, why we feel the most comfortable doing business when using the same loo, why we run on the same treadmill in the gym, and why we have the idea of ‘my home’ and ‘my room’. It’s an Evolutionary psychology thing…Darwinian maybe….
Anyways, I’ve just moved into a new apartment, approximately ten minutes walk away from the older one, and 15 minutes walk away from the one before that. So far, this is the 12th address I’ve called home. It’s nice, and I get to have the cave.
I've lived in and called 3 different continents, 9 different towns/cities and 12 different houses, home thus far.
The first one was Ipoh which I can’t remember much about. The family had an address in Taman SIlibin when I was born. But then, the whole family had to move to Sheffield. As long as I could remember, we had at least 2 different addresses during our stay in the South Yorkshire city. The first one was a brown-brick bungalow, overlooking a brown-brick fire station across the street, with a rose garden in the front lawn. Then we moved into the house with the red door on 441, St. 4th road. The landlord, a Pakistani cab driver lives next door with his wife, his son and his daughter who we siblings get into a fight with every now and then. The house was nice, and I liked the backyard the most which we shared with the landlord. In the big backyard, there was a big apple tree, which has this freaky and scary quality to it when the leaves start falling. And right behind our kitchen, there’s a cone shaped pear tree which I could still remember plucking and eating the fruit from, and near the pear tree was a traditional Pakistani clay oven where the neighbor’s wife would usually bake and teach my mom how to bake naan and capati in. Further down the backyard was a big beautiful rose garden, surrounded by red-brick layered walls which we siblings and the neighbor’s daughter and a random Pakistani boy who I can not remember would climb surreptitiously and watch the white fluffy clouds pass by. Back then, I believed that dead people cruised on the clouds.
Then we came back to Malaysia. After a couple of weeks spending the time at the kampong, at our grandparents’ in Bagan Datoh and Chenderong Balai, we moved in into a staff apartment inside the university’s vicinity in Tronoh (known as UTP today); on top of the hill, under the big water tank. Life was great back then; no school no nothing.
After my parents got things figured out, we moved to this small town, which out of all the places I’ve called home, I think I like the most, Batu Gajah. My mom was posted to teach in one of the secondary schools in the small town, and it was the only civilization close enough to my father’s campus in Tronoh, otherwise known as Timbaktu. We called it home for about 6 years. It was great. I made lifelong friends from school. The small town was nice; the people, the pasar minggu and all.
The next stop was Taiping. It’s not much of a traditionally defined home. But having wasted 5 years of my life in this one educational institution situated in the middle of the beautiful and tranquil Lake Gardens, opposite the zoo, and right on the kaki bukit of Maxwell Hill, I think I have the right to call it home. Believe me; living in filthy dormitories with people of the same age group is really something. And out of all the addresses, with the great Maxwell Hill overlooking it in the backyard, the lake gardens on the front lawn and with the sporadic eerie siamang echoes in the background, this has to be the most beautiful and the most gorgeous of them all, excluding the boy’s dorms of course.
At the same time when I was busy getting my nubile head filled in with things I don’t really want to know in Taiping, the family was busy moving in to another town in the northern part of the country, to Nibong Tebal, Penang. My parents and my eldest sister used to live here, in the same Taman, before moving to Ipoh. But this time, we only moved in temporarily, waiting for the new-bought home to finish renovation.
So, a couple of months after that, we moved in to this one boring town in the northern most part of Perak, Parit Buntar. I have nothing much to talk about it, but last time, some stupid thieves broke in into our house.
But God is merciful. Before the aridness of the city had a chance to slay my soul, I got this offer to continue my studies in Shah Alam. So, I moved in into the hostel for a brief one year. And it was a lot of fun.
Then, after the brief honeymoon in INTEC, here I am, in the crossroads of America, in the state where everything seems to be 2 years behind. I haven’t seen Malaysia for a little over 2 years now, and still another year to go.
Anyways, the gentlemen’s final game the other day was an epic. Golf, soccer and tennis; it’s a great year to be Spanish. The government should give the people the whole year off for all that. And so, next stop, Spain sweet home….
But before that, I got a big mission early tomorrow morning; to command & conquer the seat at the rear of the class back!!!!!.......
Obviously, I had too much hockey…. But a few more clubs to break, then Tiger, u better watch out…
*byk gile kerja.....
Anyways, I’ve just moved into a new apartment, approximately ten minutes walk away from the older one, and 15 minutes walk away from the one before that. So far, this is the 12th address I’ve called home. It’s nice, and I get to have the cave.
I've lived in and called 3 different continents, 9 different towns/cities and 12 different houses, home thus far.
The first one was Ipoh which I can’t remember much about. The family had an address in Taman SIlibin when I was born. But then, the whole family had to move to Sheffield. As long as I could remember, we had at least 2 different addresses during our stay in the South Yorkshire city. The first one was a brown-brick bungalow, overlooking a brown-brick fire station across the street, with a rose garden in the front lawn. Then we moved into the house with the red door on 441, St. 4th road. The landlord, a Pakistani cab driver lives next door with his wife, his son and his daughter who we siblings get into a fight with every now and then. The house was nice, and I liked the backyard the most which we shared with the landlord. In the big backyard, there was a big apple tree, which has this freaky and scary quality to it when the leaves start falling. And right behind our kitchen, there’s a cone shaped pear tree which I could still remember plucking and eating the fruit from, and near the pear tree was a traditional Pakistani clay oven where the neighbor’s wife would usually bake and teach my mom how to bake naan and capati in. Further down the backyard was a big beautiful rose garden, surrounded by red-brick layered walls which we siblings and the neighbor’s daughter and a random Pakistani boy who I can not remember would climb surreptitiously and watch the white fluffy clouds pass by. Back then, I believed that dead people cruised on the clouds.
Then we came back to Malaysia. After a couple of weeks spending the time at the kampong, at our grandparents’ in Bagan Datoh and Chenderong Balai, we moved in into a staff apartment inside the university’s vicinity in Tronoh (known as UTP today); on top of the hill, under the big water tank. Life was great back then; no school no nothing.
After my parents got things figured out, we moved to this small town, which out of all the places I’ve called home, I think I like the most, Batu Gajah. My mom was posted to teach in one of the secondary schools in the small town, and it was the only civilization close enough to my father’s campus in Tronoh, otherwise known as Timbaktu. We called it home for about 6 years. It was great. I made lifelong friends from school. The small town was nice; the people, the pasar minggu and all.
The next stop was Taiping. It’s not much of a traditionally defined home. But having wasted 5 years of my life in this one educational institution situated in the middle of the beautiful and tranquil Lake Gardens, opposite the zoo, and right on the kaki bukit of Maxwell Hill, I think I have the right to call it home. Believe me; living in filthy dormitories with people of the same age group is really something. And out of all the addresses, with the great Maxwell Hill overlooking it in the backyard, the lake gardens on the front lawn and with the sporadic eerie siamang echoes in the background, this has to be the most beautiful and the most gorgeous of them all, excluding the boy’s dorms of course.
At the same time when I was busy getting my nubile head filled in with things I don’t really want to know in Taiping, the family was busy moving in to another town in the northern part of the country, to Nibong Tebal, Penang. My parents and my eldest sister used to live here, in the same Taman, before moving to Ipoh. But this time, we only moved in temporarily, waiting for the new-bought home to finish renovation.
So, a couple of months after that, we moved in to this one boring town in the northern most part of Perak, Parit Buntar. I have nothing much to talk about it, but last time, some stupid thieves broke in into our house.
But God is merciful. Before the aridness of the city had a chance to slay my soul, I got this offer to continue my studies in Shah Alam. So, I moved in into the hostel for a brief one year. And it was a lot of fun.
Then, after the brief honeymoon in INTEC, here I am, in the crossroads of America, in the state where everything seems to be 2 years behind. I haven’t seen Malaysia for a little over 2 years now, and still another year to go.
Anyways, the gentlemen’s final game the other day was an epic. Golf, soccer and tennis; it’s a great year to be Spanish. The government should give the people the whole year off for all that. And so, next stop, Spain sweet home….
But before that, I got a big mission early tomorrow morning; to command & conquer the seat at the rear of the class back!!!!!.......
Obviously, I had too much hockey…. But a few more clubs to break, then Tiger, u better watch out…*byk gile kerja.....
Friday, May 30, 2008
the fox and the grapes
So, Mozart wrote his first minute at five. Bill Gates took a leave of absence from Harvard when he was 20 to then become the richest man on the whole wide world. Michael Dell dropped out from U of Texas Austin at the age of 19 to then establish once the 25th-largest company in the Fortune 500 list. Anderson was only 20 when he helped United win the Champions League trophy. And Cesc Fabregas, one of the best midfielders at this time, just turned freaking 21, 25 days ago. And Novak Djovovic who turned 21 a week ago, ranked 3rd in the ATP world rankings, already has a big fat $7.5 million prize winning money in the bank. And the $16 million dollar guy, Rafael Nadal won’t turn 22 until next month.
I can’t do music. I was microns away from dropping out from school, but hardware and software don’t fit me that well. I should’ve forced my parents to send me to soccer academy when I was younger. And I’m not very good playing court games. And hockey doesn’t offer that much fortune, even more, fame. Hmmm…. Looking at it the sore loser’s way, these people are freaking prodigies. Maybe I’ll make my first million at 40, or 65 maybe.
Fortune and fame, at a young age, is lethal.
Sour grapes………..
Anyways, at least I won’t be left out when the group mates want to go celebrate like before. Hmmm… minus the nasik lemak, 2nd hand smoke, roti canai and teh tarik, God’s will, I could make it for another great profitable 46 years.
And our team should get the perennial 2nd round losers’ tag; we lost twice in the semifinals and this year in the quarterfinals, 3 years in a row. The teams competing were better and tougher compared to the ones last year. And it sucks to not be able to give a 100% on the field because of the recovering shoulder and a few knocks here and there. Being unlucky again, we could’ve made it to at least the semifinal game if the schedule weren’t altered at the last second in favor of the 2 lobbying teams. It’s just incomprehensible, we were the group champions, aren’t we supposed to have the advantage of facing the weaker team first? We lost anyways. And it sucks to be a loser.
In addition to the severe sunburn, my Michael Phelps foot exploded into the size of an Ogre’s foot. I could barely feel my right foot the first two days, and I’m having some pretty tough time tucking it into the sneakers. Ube’s decently captured photo explains how it happened. And the guy sliding for the ball, we go by the same name. How cool…..
I played bigger games with higher stakes, pace and intensity, plus the stick and a smaller, harder ball that moves up to 120 km/h with minimal protection. But I’ve never faced injuries this serious.
It’s only the freaking MWG. Tak faham….
But it was nice to see those familiar faces again.
Anyhow, losing still sucks….
I can’t do music. I was microns away from dropping out from school, but hardware and software don’t fit me that well. I should’ve forced my parents to send me to soccer academy when I was younger. And I’m not very good playing court games. And hockey doesn’t offer that much fortune, even more, fame. Hmmm…. Looking at it the sore loser’s way, these people are freaking prodigies. Maybe I’ll make my first million at 40, or 65 maybe.
Fortune and fame, at a young age, is lethal.
Sour grapes………..
Anyways, at least I won’t be left out when the group mates want to go celebrate like before. Hmmm… minus the nasik lemak, 2nd hand smoke, roti canai and teh tarik, God’s will, I could make it for another great profitable 46 years.
And our team should get the perennial 2nd round losers’ tag; we lost twice in the semifinals and this year in the quarterfinals, 3 years in a row. The teams competing were better and tougher compared to the ones last year. And it sucks to not be able to give a 100% on the field because of the recovering shoulder and a few knocks here and there. Being unlucky again, we could’ve made it to at least the semifinal game if the schedule weren’t altered at the last second in favor of the 2 lobbying teams. It’s just incomprehensible, we were the group champions, aren’t we supposed to have the advantage of facing the weaker team first? We lost anyways. And it sucks to be a loser.
In addition to the severe sunburn, my Michael Phelps foot exploded into the size of an Ogre’s foot. I could barely feel my right foot the first two days, and I’m having some pretty tough time tucking it into the sneakers. Ube’s decently captured photo explains how it happened. And the guy sliding for the ball, we go by the same name. How cool…..
I played bigger games with higher stakes, pace and intensity, plus the stick and a smaller, harder ball that moves up to 120 km/h with minimal protection. But I’ve never faced injuries this serious.
It’s only the freaking MWG. Tak faham….
But it was nice to see those familiar faces again.
Anyhow, losing still sucks….
Sunday, April 20, 2008
hangman
I never ran a marathon before, but once ran cross-country. Long story short, this one time, I blew a chance to finish with a medal because I let the guy who finished in front of me get pass me at the last 400 meters, because I foolishly stopped running and started walking. When one of the track-volunteers started cheering me on, saying that I was still in position to win a medal, I started to work my red-muscles to sprint through the last 150 meters, but by then, it was already too late.
I managed to earn some valuable points for the team, and we were announced overall winners. But all I got were some snacks from the 3-foot tall maggi-mee hamper, and a big trophy to be shared with the whole school.
This thing with hampers and goody bags, all those turn into shit, as a friend of mine would put it. But a medal or a trophy, like some sort of a diadem, that’s forever.
Yes I learnt my lesson, but as cliché as it may sound, that is just the story of my life. It keeps on happening over and over again. I just can’t seem to get out of the loop.
And this semester is no better than the past ones. I just can’t stop myself from slowing down towards the end of the race.
Last week, I lost 5% of my final grade in this one boring course when I decided to go have a heated argument with the TA who thought that I crossed the line between discussing and duplicating someone else’s lab in which I worked on for 13 hours, and in which the professor who I consulted after the incident thought that it was really my original work. But causing a scene at the TA’s lounge wasn’t really a wise thing to do either. So, losing the 5% instead of having to write boring letters and go through other petty problematic procedures wasn’t that bad of a bargain. I think I should feel good because I tried to at least defend myself, but next time, I should keep my temper in check. But then again, there goes my A. And dude, you just made it to the top of my hate list.
More than that, not just the classes suck; our team was disqualified from the intramural tournament because one of the teammates violated the rules when he registered with another team in addition to ours. We were doing very well, thrashing our opponents by some convincing score line, and that was before yesterday of course. We were supposed to be playing in the quarter-finals game tomorrow, but then again, the story of our lives.
Anyways, there’s no other game more suicidal than the Hangman . Sudoku is so yesterday people. Let’s bring some classic back. I used to play it with my siblings on the old SONY PC when we were younger, but Digger , you’re still the best.
Some tips, the 12 most commonly used letters in the English language are e-t-a-o-i-u-n-s-h-r-d-l-u…. so, start with those, and reduce the risk of dying.
There was a small earthquake on Friday, and I thought that it was the end of days, so, I said the Syahadah and went back to sleep.
I think therefore I am eh??
Maybe I should stop thinking.
There’s nearly nothing sleep can’t cure….
All I want is my own damn TV show!!!!!
I managed to earn some valuable points for the team, and we were announced overall winners. But all I got were some snacks from the 3-foot tall maggi-mee hamper, and a big trophy to be shared with the whole school.
This thing with hampers and goody bags, all those turn into shit, as a friend of mine would put it. But a medal or a trophy, like some sort of a diadem, that’s forever.
Yes I learnt my lesson, but as cliché as it may sound, that is just the story of my life. It keeps on happening over and over again. I just can’t seem to get out of the loop.
And this semester is no better than the past ones. I just can’t stop myself from slowing down towards the end of the race.
Last week, I lost 5% of my final grade in this one boring course when I decided to go have a heated argument with the TA who thought that I crossed the line between discussing and duplicating someone else’s lab in which I worked on for 13 hours, and in which the professor who I consulted after the incident thought that it was really my original work. But causing a scene at the TA’s lounge wasn’t really a wise thing to do either. So, losing the 5% instead of having to write boring letters and go through other petty problematic procedures wasn’t that bad of a bargain. I think I should feel good because I tried to at least defend myself, but next time, I should keep my temper in check. But then again, there goes my A. And dude, you just made it to the top of my hate list.
More than that, not just the classes suck; our team was disqualified from the intramural tournament because one of the teammates violated the rules when he registered with another team in addition to ours. We were doing very well, thrashing our opponents by some convincing score line, and that was before yesterday of course. We were supposed to be playing in the quarter-finals game tomorrow, but then again, the story of our lives.
Anyways, there’s no other game more suicidal than the Hangman . Sudoku is so yesterday people. Let’s bring some classic back. I used to play it with my siblings on the old SONY PC when we were younger, but Digger , you’re still the best.
Some tips, the 12 most commonly used letters in the English language are e-t-a-o-i-u-n-s-h-r-d-l-u…. so, start with those, and reduce the risk of dying.
There was a small earthquake on Friday, and I thought that it was the end of days, so, I said the Syahadah and went back to sleep.
I think therefore I am eh??
Maybe I should stop thinking.
There’s nearly nothing sleep can’t cure….
All I want is my own damn TV show!!!!!
Monday, April 7, 2008
group attribution error
so, i did some revision; watching Braveheart and Kingdom of Heaven for the 73rd time, because there's thermo exam tomorrow evening and a 5 page book review due the next day.
and it struck me. there were great queens behind these great on-screen-epic-heroes; among them, Lucila, Sibyla of Jurusalem, Maid Marion and princess Isabelle.
(and i'm really talking about historical epic genre movies here. facts aside, because history is written by victors anyway, aren't they?)
anyway, if there were to be any epic story to be written at this time, which queen should star in it?
a few years back, there'd be a finish line decision between lady D and queen rania of Jordan.
but i digress.
anyways, as everyone, including those who used to call bloggers monkeys and are currently still in the 1st stage of grief (denial) are setting up blogs of their own, the queen too has decided to have her own youtube-channel.
send her your stereotypes.
and it struck me. there were great queens behind these great on-screen-epic-heroes; among them, Lucila, Sibyla of Jurusalem, Maid Marion and princess Isabelle.
(and i'm really talking about historical epic genre movies here. facts aside, because history is written by victors anyway, aren't they?)
anyway, if there were to be any epic story to be written at this time, which queen should star in it?
a few years back, there'd be a finish line decision between lady D and queen rania of Jordan.
but i digress.
anyways, as everyone, including those who used to call bloggers monkeys and are currently still in the 1st stage of grief (denial) are setting up blogs of their own, the queen too has decided to have her own youtube-channel.
send her your stereotypes.
jack bauer calling at (0:38)
Saturday, March 29, 2008
jam bumi
the gold-booted mr.1001. Pilih 5 atau 50 pautan kegemaran.
2. Tag balik 5 orang.
3. Pautan haruslah suci.
4. Maklumkan orang yang ditag.
5. Sebut nama orang yang tag kamu
lets bend the rules a little shall we? lets list them under groups; instead of listing 5 pautans,lets fit them under 5 different categories. human brains work better that way. we generalize and put labels on things we want to.
1. http://www.google.com/ig?hl=en
- this site deserves its own entry in the dictionary.
- on my personalized homepage: the weather, hangman, pacman, espn, news, how-to-of-the-day.
- i overheard some geeks talking about the stock's points hiking up yesterday...???
2. encyclopedias, journals, dictionaries
*freakonomics - its more of a blog actually, but....
* scienceline - the science version of freakonomics... i think.. anyhow, its still one of the coolest..
* thefreeonlinedictionary.com ; first of all, because its free, and not everyone writes like Hemingway, or maybe doesn't have the ability to write like him.
*urbandictionary.com ; time to turn on some youtube people, time to be current. and it helps me figure out the crude jokes the professors and the guys tell me.
*wikipedia.org - a better textbook, and because no one wants to look dumb, and stupid, and...
3.Youtube.com
- so that i can look up some new skills to show off in the friday night showdown games.
-for some laughs
-infotainment?
-music, movie trailers..
-studying.. try searching for mutually exclusive vs. independent..
4. sports
*soccernet.com, footytube.com
*espn.com
*bigtennetwork.com
*rebong- merapu
5. blogs
*you people's blogs
- because i have a life, but my life is boring. so, keep on writing people... HELP ME..
* political/propaganda blogs
-PunD and his Gundam tagged me.
-And as usual, you,you,you,you, and you just got tagged.
-earth hour babe.. tutup lampu, pergi main bola, go run some miles, JANGAN pergi lab, save some green..
*2 exams, 2 projects, a book review, 4 homeworks... ronaldo main tipu!!!
Monday, March 24, 2008
busy-april
In his essay, The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus concludes.” The struggle itself is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”
Berat………..
And it’s snowing….. again…
So, the load is nearly up there, the maximum. F=mgz
And as Heraclitus said, change is constant; thus, some easy time (if I were to survive the first hike), KE= mv^2
And because perfect is a cycle, then, it’s going to be back against gravity, again.
But, just imagine me happy.
Cheers~
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Now playing: Audioslave - Doesn't Remind Me
via FoxyTunes
Friday, March 14, 2008
balling
How a half eaten piece of chocolate cake would look like.
Yesterday was Kobe Bryant Blog Day. Go google it up.
Anyways, I’ve been keeping myself busy learning the proper way to play basketball at the rec center, other than religiously paying my sleep debt, the past couple of days.
And IMHO, it’s pretty much like playing indoor soccer or futsal; a lot of running back and forth the court, a lot of bursting runs, etc. And you’ll get tired more rapidly playing games like this compared to playing an 11-a-side soccer game as an example because of the amount of sprinting required with a smaller amount of recovery time in between. In addition to that, I found out that nearly every major muscle in the lower and upper body are involved in the game; shooting and rebounding as examples involve vertical jumps and a lot of arm strength, etc. So, in conclusion, I think it’s a pretty demanding game.
And I had a chance to play a 5-on-5 full court game yesterday, after playing a lot of 2-on-2 and 3-on-3 pick up games the days before. 16 points, 12 rebounds and 8 steals doesn’t sound too bad for a rookie does it? haha…
Anyhow, I still need to work on my lay-ups, and I still need to jump an extra 2 inches to be able to jam the ball.
And btw, I still think that field-hockey midfielders are the best conditioned athletes.
And suddenly it’s already Friday.….
Sunday, March 2, 2008
flying pigs
reality sucksLet’s talk elections.
first of all, I'd like to affirm my stand, my partisanship. i don't really know what i want, therefore, i don't know which party is the most suitable to represent my unknown interest. furthermore, i don't believe in the current system, and i think that we're in desperate need of a dictator... a damn good one... hahaha...
Anyways, let’s talk about the current electoral system. I think it’s a lot like the QWERTY keyboard, ‘maybe’ obsolete, ‘maybe’ not the most efficient and absolutely not the safest, but because it has been around since forever, anything better regardless of the proven efficiency or whatsoever, people will still prefer to face the risk of getting Carpal Tunnel syndrome than to learn and work on the dvorak. A change is needed.
Talking about change, I don’t think that saying this is the MTV era would be relevant anymore, maybe the Youtube era sounds more appropriate. Al Gore used to appear on MTV shows to promote his green ideas. But that was yesterday. Today, the internet is the place to sell all those propaganda, and prominent political figures have been doing so, especially the US presidential candidates, for instance, even the debates were officially posted on Youtube. And the battalions of political bloggers who sprouted out of no where just made the internet the place to spread all of that misinformation. So, maybe those people who used to monkey the bloggers should start consider making good use of the discovery of the century. And talking about the web, there’s tones of sites offering rather unbiased information or at least the story from the other side, and as we’re talking about the coming GE, this site may be relevant.
Moving to the issue on information, the people have the right to be informed, in this particular case, the right to know who should get their vote and things like that. So, given the current condition, where mainstream means controlled, biased and misleading, the people seem to be very well misinformed. And we’re talking about things like these; a, b, c.
Further on the articles, if you happen to have read Orwell’s Animal Farm, you could see how the articles work. Squealer, the pig who plays the role of a manipulator and persuader talks about the exact same things like the ones in our very own Pravda . Squealer would keep on repeating in his weekly preaches on how the animals should be thankful of what they are having today, and how they would not like to live the way when Mr. Jones was still on the farm; though life was in fact better and easier back then compared to when the pigs started to act like the humans themselves. And if you happen to have read 1984, you may have realized on how statistics could be a very useful gizmo in fooling the people despite sometimes making your arguments appear rather weak. Anyways, believe it or not, the majority is still buying all that bull crap.
And that brings us to what Dr. Azmi Sharom was saying about having an educated voting public. Quoting Mr. Bangku from Kakiblog.com,
Let’s keep the education part for another time shall we?
Anyways, let’s just wrap all this nonsense up. All in all, a change is needed. Let’s take what happened to the animals in Animal Farm as a lesson. Because it’s just how it works, no matter what the ideal may be, in a period of time, the pigs would start walking on 2 legs instead of 4. And who knows, in the coming epochs, they may start flying. So, before that happens, let’s do something.
And as Mr. Obama would say, yes we can… haha
Anarchism is founded on the observation that since few men are wise enough to rule themselves, even fewer are wise enough to rule others. --Edward Abbey(the desert anarchist)
another hectic week coming up. hidoppp.........
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Now playing: Pearl Jam - Last Kiss
via FoxyTunes
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
budak tomyam
It’s been raining, then snowing, then ice, then raining again. Spring should be around the corner, I’m not sure which corner, but it’s coming, because everyone has started to fall sick; the professor, the group mates, the TA, and orang2 kat Malaysia.
So, no classes, no meetings, and hopefully the 2 exams at the end of the week are going to be canceled.
Anyways, this little girl made my day.
Some genius…
The sign-y guy always worries…
Obiknobee… obiknobee..
But don’t talk back to Darth Vader, he’ll get’cha.
I was never a fan of Star Wars, but I think I'm changing boats.
*get well soon people; there’s still tones of stuff we need to take care of.
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Now playing: Ben Harper - She's Only Happy In The Sun
via FoxyTunes
So, no classes, no meetings, and hopefully the 2 exams at the end of the week are going to be canceled.
Anyways, this little girl made my day.
Some genius…
The sign-y guy always worries…
Obiknobee… obiknobee..
But don’t talk back to Darth Vader, he’ll get’cha.
I was never a fan of Star Wars, but I think I'm changing boats.
*get well soon people; there’s still tones of stuff we need to take care of.
----------------
Now playing: Ben Harper - She's Only Happy In The Sun
via FoxyTunes
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