Immaculate Phylum

Ted's Thoughts

2006-05-08T21:24:00.000+08:00

I stopped blogging on the Phylum, both on this one and the new one, because I've decided to reinvent myself. Feel free to visit my new, writing-and-reading-oriented blog, Ted's Thoughts.

Selected posts for your consumption:

Enjoy!

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye.

2005-09-08T08:15:00.000+08:00

Farewell Blogger. It's been a great 4 years and I'll always cherish the time we had together. But sometimes people change and they grow to need... other things. In that time, I've changed, and I saw other people with other blogs with more features. Like categories, for instance. And tagging to Technorati.

Sometimes, just what you are is not enough. I've asked you to change for the better but you've refused. And so we must part ways since we no longer see eye-to-eye. Thanks for all the good times, Blogger. Let's always be friends. If you ever need a friend to talk to, I can be reached at my new blog address: http://phylum.inkted.com

Don't be a stranger.

Merged Posts.

2005-09-06T04:31:00.000+08:00

I've merged a couple of blogposts from my other blogs into the Phylum. I'm discontinuing the following three blogs and the subject matter they dealt with will now be discussed on the Phylum instead. This is in preparation for something I have planned that may happen in the very foreseeable future.

From Phylum Apple:

From Sleepless in Sentul:

Eating in the Lorong

From Journals of a Vee-dubber:

The Phylum Magazine.

2005-09-05T08:42:00.000+08:00

If I edited a magazine, it would probably look a lot like this.

Today's dinner...

2005-09-02T22:16:00.000+08:00

...is Bangers and Mash, consisting of two juicy sausages, creamy mashed potatoes and fresh mixed vege topped with beef and herb gravy. Remember when I cut my hand back in June? Well, that little incident happened while I was making this very same dish.

Aftermath of Katrina.

2005-09-02T18:47:00.000+08:00

The horror of Katrina isn't the destruction it left in its wake, but its effects on the human race. Anarchy takes over, turning them into savage beasts.

From the Beeb:

"People were raped in there. People were killed in there. We had multiple riots," one police officer told the AFP news agency.

And when things happen beyond a certain level of control, drastic measures have to be taken:

Announcing the deployment of 300 "battle-tested" National Guardsmen to New Orleans from Iraq, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said the men were carrying deadly weapons and were ready to use them.

"They have M-16s and are locked and loaded. These troops know how to shoot and kill and I expect they will."

If the army has to be sent in, then things must be really bad (understatement, I know). I hope things settle down quickly over there.

Today's dinner...

2005-09-01T22:26:00.000+08:00

... consists of four yummy pieces of potato croquettes, two scrambled eggs and mixed vege.

No Religion.

2005-09-01T21:41:00.000+08:00

When I was little I followed my father to a government office (can't remember which) where he had to fill up some forms. I took a glance at one of the forms and I saw checkboxes to tick what religion you are. The usual options were there (Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism) but one that caught my eye was the option to check "No Religion".

I think this baffled me somewhat, because at the time I thought most people usually did have a religion. There was, however, one group of people whom I knew did not have a religion. And this I learned in a conversation with dad just days before. We were talking about the fall of the Iron Curtain (ah, the 90s).

So after seeing the "No Religion" checkbox, I asked my dad, "Who would tick this checkbox?" I pointed towards the option on the form. "They're communists, aren't they? They don't have any religion."

My dad burst out laughing then and there, in front of all the people. So it was then that I learned that people could decide not to have a religion... and not be a commie.

Sabah leaders agree with me.

2005-08-31T12:11:00.000+08:00

From the Star:

Sabah leaders want to set the record straight: the National Day that the state and neighbouring Sarawak will be celebrating is for 42 years of independence – not 48.

The article basically repeats what I ranted upon in the previous post. It's no surprise the Sabahans would touch upon this subject, because like I said before, Sabah only gained its independence in 1963.

Tch, and people call me a nitpick.

It's not your birthday, Malaysia.

2005-08-31T00:01:00.000+08:00

It's probably proof of our failing educational system, or maybe just indifference in history class. As all Malaysians know, we gained our independence from the grip of British imperialism on 31st August 1957. We know that, because we learned that in history.

What we seem to have forgotten though, that it was only Malaya (now Peninsular Malaysia, also called West Malaysia) that gained independence on that historic day. The Nation of Malaysia would only start to exist six years later, incorporating Sarawak, North Borneo (now called Sabah) and Singapore. This historic moment happened on 16th September 1963.

If Malaysia had a birthday, 16th September would be it, not 31st August. In fact, I wonder sometimes why 16th September isn't celebrated as Malaysia Day, because that too is a most important date for us Malaysians, especially so for Sabah and Sarawak because that is their true independence date.

Sadly, this hugely important day goes largely forgotten... and to add salt to the wound, us Malaysians get our nation's birthday wrong. Even Jeff Ooi's got it wrong, of all people.

Kanikama.

2005-08-30T21:09:00.000+08:00

I dunno why, but everytime I eat sushi, I'm reminded of Jesus, when what I should really be thinking of is how the heck am I supposed to pay for all this shit.

Tengku Mahaleel Advises to Eat More Vege.

2005-08-29T21:56:00.000+08:00

Kuala Lumpur--The ever-opinionated Tengku Mahaleel seemed serene when I came to visit him at his beautiful house. But when I asked him what it took to become CEO of Proton, he suddenly came to life and boomed, "you gotta eat vegetables; it's good for you!"

It was a remarkable revelation of head-slapping proportions. Of course! How could we, the Malaysians who had never helmed a car manufacturer, guess at how this marvel of mankind rose in his ranks to become CEO of Proton.

"When I was kid, I always ate my vege. Cauliflower, ladies' fingers, broccoli, peas, cabbage. The lot," he explained wholeheartedly. "Personally, I love broccoli because they're so crunchy."

"If I didn't eat my greens, I don't think I would become the man I am today," he said while stroking his chin. And indeed, he wouldn't. The vegetables became the source of his inspiration in introducing such wonderful new car models such as the Arena and the Juara. "The idea for the Juara, in particular, came to me as I chomped down on a leafy piece of cabbage my lovely Chinese wife had boiled for me just moments before".

It is without surprise that the true reason for Tengku Mahaleel's departure from Proton was when he could not find any vege for lunch one fateful day.

"I could only find meat. It was chicken here, mutton there; before I knew it, they had sacked me," explained a more or less indifferent Mahaleel. "So there you have it, no vege, no Savvy."

Cottonpuff and Jill.

2005-08-29T21:09:00.000+08:00

Little Jill loved animals. The animal she loved the most was not a cat or a dog or cat or a budgerigar, but a pony. She longed for a pony to call her own and one day, on her seventh birthday, her father called her out of the house and there she saw it.

The most beautiful pony ever!

Little Jill was so happy! She christened him Cottonpuff. She rode on it everyday. She bathed it everyday. She groomed it everyday. She slept with it every night.

They were inseparable and soon they were the talk of the county. They even appeared on the cover of the most esteemed Kingfisher Illustrated Horse and Pony Encyclopedia. Their rapture seemed to last forever.

But one day, Cottonpuff had enough. He felt that Jill was dragging him down. He wanted to go solo and did not want to be with Jill anymore. She was cramping his style. So he broke up with Jill and tried to make it on his own.

His first album was a dismal failure. He soon got trapped in a web of drugs and alcohol. Too egotistic to run back to little Jill, he further got lost in his dredge of sin. After he would not admit of making another pony pregnant, he jumped in front of an oncoming train and died.

Moral of the Story: Get a cat.

New tyres for George.

2005-08-27T11:12:00.000+08:00

In Ipoh, servicing George and changing his two front bald tyres.

My desktop.

2005-08-26T15:34:00.000+08:00

Two bondi blue iMacs...

Tampering the National Anthem.

2005-08-25T02:22:00.000+08:00

From the Star:

Most Malaysians are still unaware that the fast march beat of the national anthem had been changed to a slower tempo, said Information Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir.

You don't say? The honourable minister continues to lament on the lack of uniformity of tempo when Negaraku is played.

My dear Mr. Abdul Kadir, that is what happens when you tamper with something as important as the Malaysian national anthem. Not only have you tampered with it once, but twice, making there to be at least three versions of our national anthem out there.

As Malaysians, we don't seem to have much in the way of respect for legacy.

How the morning starts.

2005-08-24T10:49:00.000+08:00

The alarm clock rings at 7am every morning but I probably wake up an hour later. This morning, I woke up 2 hours after the alarm rang because I slept late last night (see time stamp of previous posts).

Depending on the traffic, I get to the office in around an hour's time after I leave the house. Yesterday, I left the house at 8.45am, and reached around 9.30. This morning, I left at 9.30 and reached the office at 10.20. I would've arrived earlier too, if there wasn't an accident on the Motorola cable bridge.

You're probably asking now, what time does work start in my office? Officially? 9am. But in reality, the office doesn't even open its doors before 9.15am. I come in late... and nobody cares, because they're all late too. I think it's just a matter of not being later than the boss, who generally comes in quite late indeed.

Hmm. Didn't I just post earlier that I wasn't going to blog about my office? Whoops.

Me No Dooce.

2005-08-24T01:46:00.000+08:00

If you're expecting me to blog about my new company, forget it. I'm not about to set myself up to get Dooced, thank you very much. It's such a small outfit, anything I say has the potential to really hurt someone's feelings... and they'd know about it too. It doesn't take a Sherlock to guess that I'd have a blog and it would be called "Phylum".

My MSN nick is usually the big giveaway.

But to those who are still interested in what I'm doing, I'm still a writer, except that writing is not a major component in my job rather it complements it. Well, it certainly helps when I write emails out to clients of the company, that's for sure...

Makeshift Layout.

2005-08-24T01:16:00.000+08:00

Regular readers may notice the change of layout to one that's been picked from the repository of Blogger's own layout templates. I've done this so I can actually view the Phylum from my office PC, which happily is a Bondi Blue iMac but sadly, runs Mac OS 9.2.

There are NO modern browsers (believe me, I've checked) that run on this OS and the latest and greatest would be Internet Explorer 5.0 which breaks the Phylum with the previous layout. So while waiting for them to give me a better computer that can actually run at least Mac OS X 10.3, I've decided to let the Phylum be graced with this makeshift layout.

To those who miss the cow doll, no worries--the previous template will be back after I get my replacement PC... if it ever comes.

Allison REMIX.

2005-08-19T20:16:00.000+08:00

She slowly brought the flamethrower to the cigarette and tried to light it. She couldn’t. The gas tank connected to the flamethrower was too unwieldy and the weight made her arms shook. She sighed. Allison had not planned to stand on this street with a flamethrower at dusk trying to light a cigarette. She was at that spot because she received a text message telling her to wait there.

And so she waited. And waited. But no one came. Even though Allison had a flamethrower with her, she still felt cold. She rubbed her arms, trying to make herself feel warm. It was Friday night and people were busy on their way to having a good time. Allison was not lonely on the street, but she felt lonely anyway. People were avoiding her because of the flamethrower.

After a while, Allison finally managed to light her cigarette. Unfortunately, she managed to light up her hand that was holding the cigarette as well, as well as her arm, and the body that was connected to that arm.

Allison.

2005-08-19T17:15:00.000+08:00

She slowly brought the lighter to the cigarette and tried to light it. She couldn't. It was far too windy. She sighed. Allison had not planned to stand on this windy street at dusk trying to light a cigarette. She was at that spot because she received a text message telling her to wait there.

And so she waited. And waited. But no one came. Allison had a jacket on but still she felt cold. She rubbed her arms, trying to make herself feel warm. It was Friday night and people were busy on their way to having a good time. Allison was not lonely on the street, but she felt lonely anyway.

After a while, Allison simply gave up trying to light her cigarette. Thus that was how the wind had saved her from getting lung cancer. At least for now.

...Uh ...the end.

More kitty porn!

2005-08-18T20:59:00.000+08:00

Stroke that pussy. Meowrrr.

Phileo at night.

2005-08-17T19:55:00.000+08:00

View of the Star offices and the surrounding buildings at night.

New Workplace!

2005-08-15T10:34:00.000+08:00

I'm in my new workplace and I still have time to blog. Hurrah. Unfortunately, I'm stuck using Mac OS 9 over here and the only good webbrowser for it is Internet Explorer 5. Yikes. It won't even load Blogger properly, what more the Phylum.

I shall have to revamp the layout... once again, just so IE5 will like it. Sigh.

Wish me luck in my new job! I'm already feeling a bit nervous.

I can't hug you, dear.

2005-08-14T01:25:00.000+08:00

My dearest,

I'm sorry I cannot hug you tonight. Datuk Seri Najib won't let me. You'll just have to make do with the bolster tonight.

Love and kisses (but no hugs),
Your beloved Teddy

Sun is shinin' in the sky!

2005-08-13T10:24:00.000+08:00

The first thing I did this morning when I woke up, was to notice a bright ray of sunshine blinding me.

"Ow," I said. "Ow ow."

Granted, not the greatest words of all time but it marks the first day I've seen the sun in what... two weeks? ELO's Mr. Blue Sky is the first thing that comes to mind. Check out the lyrics, originally posted on the Phylum back in 2003.

Yay! The haze is gone! At least, for now.

Bye, Terra!

2005-08-12T12:26:00.000+08:00

Today is my last day in Terra ICT (M) Sdn. Bhd. Byes, everyone. Thanks for everything!

Surgical Mask!

2005-08-11T17:38:00.000+08:00

The company has been kind enough to provide us with surgical masks to get us thru the haze. Yay!

Long Live Bad Writing!

2005-08-10T18:45:00.000+08:00

Carburetor breast fantasy wins bad writing contest:

"As he stared at her ample bosom, he daydreamed of the dual Stromberg carburetors in his vintage Triumph Spitfire, highly functional yet pleasingly formed, perched prominently on top of the intake manifold, aching for experienced hands, the small knurled caps of the oil dampeners begging to be inspected and adjusted as described in chapter seven of the shop manual," went Dan McKay's winning entry in the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest.

Mwahaha. Great stuff. Check the link out!

Indifferent Towards the Haze.

2005-08-10T17:49:00.000+08:00

Queenie called up just now asking me if I wanted to yamcha with her at the mamak's in Sentul after work, but I told her I didn't really want to because of the worsening haze. Then she berated me because she thought that the haze was just a "little thing" and probably not a matter of great import. Now she probably thinks I'm FFKing her or something because I promised I'd have a yamcha session with her before the end of the week. Sheesh.

The fact is, the haze really is very bad out there right now. Even during lunch when it wasn't this bad, I was getting some mild dizziness. Actually, I still feel a bit dizzy, even now. And Queenie wants to go yamcha in the open with the air like this? Why is it that she is so indifferent to the haze? I don't know. This may be a wee bit judgemental, but Queenie always seemed inconsiderate and immature to me.

Hey the haze.

2005-08-10T08:46:00.000+08:00

Looks like the haze is at it's worse today. Could it get any worse than this? I can hardly see the Bt Jalil swimming stadium from where I am at the LRT station.

Getting Married.

2005-08-07T22:46:00.000+08:00

No, not ME! Goodness no!

But I've just received word that one of my closest friends is getting married! Like, OH MY GOD! Cue screaming like little girl around the room! I'm so excited! I haven't felt this happy or excited about a wedding before!

Now you may ask, what's all the hubbub about? So a friend is getting married. Friends get married all the time, right? Well, why I'm so hyper about it now is because she's my first close friend who's getting married. And also the first friend I have who's getting married and is not Malay.

Anyways, congratulations Sharks!

Guerrilla Infrared Hijacking.

2005-08-07T22:18:00.000+08:00

Me and Nairud went to the local Giant hypermarket to have dinner and he brought along with him his PSP. The reason the PSP came along--he had just downloaded new software that allowed him to control either a slimline PS2, a Sony TV or a Sony DVD player via infrared.

There was a video game shop with a slimline PS2 demoing Burnout and so Nairud managed to gain control of the PS2 and managed to start a new game, but chickened out before actually playing the damn game because there weren't many people about and he was scared the owner would find out.

Next, we went to a video store where there were a bunch of Sony TVs outside displaying what looked like an Indonesian movie. Nairud switched the channel... then promptly ran away. A few minutes later, the owner came out looking perplexed and reset the channel.

Hahaha! What great fun! Channel changing terrorism!

Can't Even Keep a Pact.

2005-08-06T21:09:00.001+08:00

Me and Sharks recently made a pact that we wouldn't buy any books till December.

I broke it. I'm sorry, Sharks, but those 70th Anniversary Penguin books that sell for RM10 each are to tasty to resist! Books in bite-sized chunks, Sharks! Bite-sized! And by interesting and awfully good authors like Roald Dahl, Nick Hornby and George Orwell!

Yes, I have a weak will!

*sob sob*

Reception Clear.

2005-08-06T21:09:00.000+08:00

So this morning as I was about to go out on a date, Azpar tells me that someone from Maxis is waiting on our doorstep. Frantic headslapping ensues. Turns out the guy (who was supposed to come last weekend) was sent to install a swanky new antenna for my Maxis Wireless Broadband modem.

He said that Maxis had received my complaint about getting bad reception (filed in December), and this new antenna he was about to install would boost reception remarkably. He was right. It did boost reception. The modem software showed full bars once the antenna was adjusted in the right place.

Unfortunately, because I had not paid my internet bill, my account was currently suspended. Curses! My internet connection mocks me with its full bars but I cannot use it to download kitty porn at blazing speed!

I am now blogging this from the wifi hotspot at Burger King Taipan USJ, after recently paying my bill. I hope internet will be back Monday.

Shelley Leong!

2005-08-06T01:24:00.000+08:00

I am sooooo in love with her! *swoon* But Jets langsung tak pandai tangkap gambar. Cis! Taken at the Sunrise Jazz and Rhythm Fest in Mont Kiara a few hours ago.

Cashing in on Vanity.

2005-08-05T18:44:00.000+08:00

There's been a sudden increase of skincare product ads on the LRT recently and I have only just noticed that they're all from the same company, Sendayu Tinggi Body and Skincare sdn. bhd. I've previously ignored them because they've always been personally distasteful in certain aspects and they highlight our vain pursuit for ultimate beauty. This ad however gained my attention. Of course, it's the suggestive pose that's questionable, but what i'm wondering is, how the heck did this get approved in the first place?

More on Basikal Tua.

2005-08-05T10:07:00.000+08:00

Funnily enough, ~~the Bustamann~~ Pok Ku has also made a post on his blog about "basikal tua". Did he see my ping on Petalingstreet.org and was moved to write about the subject himself? Thanks to Lina for the heads up.

Basikal Tua.

2005-08-04T16:58:00.000+08:00

I've got this fascination for those old black utility bikes. You know the ones. Malays call them "basikal tua". I've actually been keeping my eye out, just in case I see someone selling them. My uncle has one, but unfortunately his is rusted badly and probably unrestorable.

I see them all the time here in Sentul, but I've never met their owners. They're certainly always parked at the Sentul mosque every Friday, and I always remarked jokingly to Codott that I would love to steal one of those babies and hide it in the office.

But what I would really want to do is to offer to buy such a bicycle from whoever the owner is. Unfortunately I have yet to summon the courage to actually wait and find out who the owner actually is.

Ah well. Not a big deal, and I'm in no rush. If a chance comes, I'll grab it, but so far, I'm still waiting.

To the girl who came by last night.

2005-08-03T10:21:00.000+08:00

Dear girl who dropped by last night,

When I said I lived away from my parents so girls could come over, I did not mean you could come over to show off your boyfriends. Doing so disturbs me and upsets my circadian rhythm.

Regards,
Tedds

Kitty Porn.

2005-08-02T23:47:00.000+08:00

Some people enjoy this sort of thing. *cough*

August is Here!

2005-08-01T11:41:00.000+08:00

I expect August to be a month of upheaval for myself. Now would be the perfect time to pick up a copy of Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson and Kenneth H. Blanchard but I'm not sure where my brother left it.

Remember! Change is good.

Guns, Germs and Steel.

2005-07-26T14:29:00.000+08:00

Recently, I had read an article over at Wired News about how they were bringing the book Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond to TV. The title rang a bell. I made a mental note to go to a bookstore and check out the book, perhaps even buy it.

Last Saturday, I took myself to the task of tidying up my room. The floor was so dusty I could swear it was gaining sentience and rearranging themselves in ways that could probably be considered as art. I'm an uncultured philistine so I mopped it away and kept my books, which all this while were piled all over my room, in my cupboards and shelves. As I was keeping my books, I came upon a slightly yellowed book, Guns, Germs and Steel.

Ah. It's clear to me now. Why it was familiar to me was because I bought it at the Times Warehouse sale a couple of months ago for RM15. I even remember Booya gloating to me about how he got his copy for cheaper than mine (his cover was torn; mine wasn't).

Phew. Good thing I didn't go out and buy myself another copy! I'll be reading that next, after I've finished Tash Aw's Harmony Silk Factory.

At my parents.

2005-07-24T19:25:00.000+08:00

I'm at my parents place in USJ. A lot of people ask me, why don't I stay with my parents since I stay so nearby. Well, the main reason would be because I value my independence. I can afford to live away from family so why shouldn't I? Another reason would be my mother's constant nagging--I spent years planning to run away, and people want me to suffer that? No thanks. Of course, another reason would be that I'm 24. I'm grown up. I bring girls home. No way I'm gonna have my mum interrogate my chicks everytime I bring 'em over.

Buzzword of the Day: Umno

2005-07-21T09:55:00.000+08:00

um·no n.

Old men in party hats. Comes in shades of red.

Example of uses:

Please do not step on the umno.
The green lung was removed to make way for a modern housing complex because as an umno, I have the power to do such things.
I wanted to abolish corruption but an umno got in my way.
To get an AP, maybe I should be pals with an umno.
I am an umno, therefore I am proud to announce that my state is a developed one.

Careful on the road now. We're watching you.

2005-07-20T17:53:00.000+08:00

Finally, our government is doing something good. The launch of the new PanduCermat website features a "Hall of Shame" where you can take pictures of road offenders and upload them to the website. A grand idea, which I hope will not be abused.

I hope the drivers and riders of the nation will now drive more carefully and rationally, now that they know any Malaysian could be snapping them. I know I will. Sounds and looks scary.

Incidentally, the website also includes a handy road safety tip guide. Most of the information is quite useful, albeit a bit obvious ("Many motorcyclists have lost their lives trying to beat the red lights"). One tip caught my eye:

If you are on a fast lane and your way is blocked by a slower car, stay back and flash your lights to indicate right of way.

I always thought flashing your headlights to indicate your right of way was kind of rude. Personally, I prefer to signal right on the fastlane to indicate your wish to overtake the vehicle in front of you, but of course the downside of this is most people just won't get the message. In the end, I end up flashing my headlights too. Hahaha.

Just thought it funny that the Transport Ministry condones flashing of headlights to tell people to get out of your way.

Off the Grid.

2005-07-19T12:23:00.000+08:00

Due to my negligence of paying the Internet bill, I have been cut off temporarily from the Internet at home. To those wondering why I'm not online anymore at night and during the weekends, that's why.

Harap maklum.

P/S
It's not because I don't have the money but rather, I'm too lazy to go pay the bill. Maxis doesn't allow Online Banking to pay their Wireless Broadband bills.

Shh. I'm reading!

2005-07-16T15:02:00.000+08:00

I've read the first chapter and I must say, JK Rowling's made an interesting way of recounting events of previous books. The chapter ends by setting the mood. This is gonna be darker than Order of the Phoenix, people. Let's hope Harry whines less in this one.

Fans who can't wait.

2005-07-16T11:11:00.000+08:00

Walking around MPH 1U, I came to realise that there were some who could not wait to read the Half Blood Prince. Apart from this boy, there was also a lady on the other side of the store, sunk within the book. I wish I could start reading it too, but it seems a pity to rip open the nice packaging they give to the people who preorder.

The queue for the book.

2005-07-16T10:18:00.000+08:00

So I've reached the bookstore. MPH in 1 Utama. This is the looooog queue for the new Harry Potter book. Whoa. I bet there's more action in Kinokuniya.

Breakfast at Subang Ria.

2005-07-16T09:44:00.000+08:00

I'm at Subang Ria restaurant in Kelana Jaya, having my breakfast before getting my copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. There's a little girl reading the Order of the Phoenix in the corner.

Another Meme.

2005-07-13T20:53:00.000+08:00

I'm at the office now, feeling bored. I'm waiting for my colleagues, we're gonna catch a movie later. So in the meantime, I check the blogosphere and what do I find but I've been tagged for yet another meme by Wabba. I've got the free time to spare, so here goes:

Q1 - Myself:
What hasn't already been said about myself? I mean, almost everything I'm willing to divulge about myself is on this blog (and certain others) already. Okay, okay. One thing you don't know about me--I know the floor layout of 1 Utama, yet I have not explored it fully as yet.

What? You want more?

Fine, but you're gonna regret it! I love BBW pr0n. There we go. That's a huge skeleton outta my closet, right there.

Q2 - Wisdom:
Having the trait of wisdom probably means you have to be wise. A person who says he likes BBW on his blog is not wise.

Q3 - Regrets:
I have a few.

Not confessing to that chick I liked.
Confessing to another chick I liked.
Telling people I like BBW.

Q4 - Family:
I'm mixed. Whoo!

Q5 - Film:
I was proud to call Casablanca one of my favourite films of all time until one of the interns claimed it was a "chick flick". I am aghast, partly because she's right.

Q6 - Faith:
When the word "faith" is mentioned to me, the first thing that comes to mind is Bon Jovi.

Q7 - Friends:
The day before a colleague told me that he bet it was easy for me to make friends. I asked him why and he told me it was because of my smile. I didn't have the heart to tell him, but it was the most gayest thing I've heard this year.

Q8 - Ideas:
What makes you think I wanna map them out for you?

Harry and Charlie.

2005-07-12T20:20:00.000+08:00

They're coming! Yep! Both the new Harry Potter book and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are set to be released on the same day, this Saturday the 16th! Well, in the West anyway. Charlie's only coming out on August 18th here in Malaysia. I'm stoked! I can't wait for both! Wonder who are the lucky people who already got their filthy mitts on The Half-Blood Prince?

Nasi Lemak in Sentul.

2005-07-12T12:58:00.000+08:00

My colleagues here in Terra ICT love this makcik's nasi lemak. She arrives a little after 9am and sets up stall in front of the 7-11 here. It may not be the best in Sentul, but it is indeed quite delicious. Cheap too. She doesn't skimp on the rice, that's for sure.

Not the truth.

2005-07-12T09:34:00.000+08:00

This is what it says on my MGDC T-shirt Kenny just passed me. MGDC stands for MMU Game Developers Club. Yeah yeah, I know I'm a content writer. A guy can dream, can't he?

A Similar Experiment.

2005-07-11T14:00:00.000+08:00

Joo is experimenting a similar test on his blog. He has a 1.3 megapixel phonecam though, so hopefully he puts his megapixelly power to good use and moblog us some nice pics (with accompanying nice stories)!

Damn, this makes me yearn for a more powerful phonecam. Sponsors anyone?

Teddy's Little Blogging Experiment.

2005-07-10T18:20:00.000+08:00

I arrive back... and it rains. Fitting welcome. I feel down already to be away from Kuantan.

So it seems my little blogging experiment may have been a success. They say the most successful blogs are successful because they contain lots of short blog updates in a day. Now that I can just post blog posts via my handphone, this will be very possible for me to do; and to be able to upload pics at the same time! Phwoar. I'm just amazed at what tech can do!

To those wondering how I managed to make this work, this is how I did it. I set up my Flickr account to accept picture uploads via e-mail. Flickr has a feature where you can update your blog at the same time you upload the pic through e-mail.

Knowing this fact and another little fact about being able to send e-mail via MMS and you get a blog that's able to be updated through your phone! Gee willikers! DiGi's service has been mostly reliable. Sometimes the MMS doesn't get through, but that's rare. In fact, it's even more reliable to send an e-mail than to send a normal MMS to Lifelogger (a service offered by DiGi). I think I may be updating the Phylum more from my phone. It costs 50c per MMS e-mail but it's so convenient!

Genting Sempah Crowd.

2005-07-10T14:07:00.000+08:00

Stopped at Genting Sempah for a whiz. There's a holiday crowd here this time, unlike my first visit here. Are these people going to Genting Highlands? Anyways, almost near KL; you can tell by the smell of the durians that emanate from the squads of little lorries bringing in the King of Fruit to the capital.

Short Stop Temerloh.

2005-07-10T12:51:00.000+08:00

I've stopped by the Temerloh rest area for a short coffee break. Right after I left George and started heading towards the toilet, a bright red VW Golf GTI Mach V pulled in to park. Wooo! But the driver didn't look approachable so I left him to his devices. After relieving myself, I passed by George again to head towards the food-court and there was an elderly chinese couple walking pass and the lady remarked to her husband of George, "this car, speeding away like mad..." I didnt hear the rest though. Hey! I was only doing 130kmph. Chill, old dudes!

So long Kuantan, and thanks for all the fish!

2005-07-10T10:51:00.000+08:00

Had nasi lemak for breakfast at Restoran Zaman, a popular nasi lemak morning hangout for the locals. It's quite good, and they serve it to you steaming hot. Am now about to leave Kuantan. So long Kuantan, and thanks for all the fish. Mmm. The seafood was great. I'm planning to enter the East Coast Highway from Gambang instead of Kuantan. Wish me a safe trip!

Fresh Fish!

2005-07-09T23:26:00.000+08:00

Woohoo! I had the best seafood ever tonight. I'm bad with fishnames but whatever I ate was delicious. Mmm. So fresh.

Stadium at Night.

2005-07-09T20:22:00.000+08:00

Stadium Darul Makmur is lit up bright tonight. Is there a footie match on? Looks like the stadium is empty of spectators, but I'm not sure. A funny thing happened just now--I parked George in front of a furniture shop. The owner of the shop came out and offered to buy the Volkswagen. Of course, I said George wasn't for sale (and never will be), but the guy kept raising his offer, up to RM 50k. Whoa.

Riverside Kuantan.

2005-07-09T17:47:00.000+08:00

Went for a walk by the riverside of Sg. Pahang. We were looking for some river ride boat cruise but couldnt find it so we ended up just walking by the river instead. It was quite a nice walk and since it was breezy, it wasnt all that hot. Kuantan rocks.

At the Beach.

2005-07-09T15:28:00.000+08:00

Had breakfast at McD's beside a beach. Afterwards went for a walk along a walkway that goes along the beach. An alternate path cuts through the hill facing the sea but those are for the more adventurous type. If I had the right gear, I'd had hiked way into the hills. Alas, I did not.

Kuantan at Night.

2005-07-08T20:35:00.000+08:00

From my hotel room, I can see Stadium Darul Makmur. I'm about to go out to look for wifi. Wanna check Google News, traditional TV news bore me. Met Shy just now, and she took me round the city. I saw a supermarket called "Tunas Manja"... wtf! HAHAHAHA! What a curious name! And it's logo was a kangaroo carrying its young. Bizarre.

Kuantan, here I am!

2005-07-08T16:29:00.000+08:00

Waiting in front of Stadium Darul Makmur for a friend. So far, Kuantan reminds me of a larger version of Taiping. Wonder if there are any wifi hotspots around?

Almost there...

2005-07-08T16:00:00.000+08:00

Well, I've passed the Kuantan toll booth. Almost there! Just now I saw a van with no number plate. Amazing! There's like no law enforcement here or something.

Gambang is not a swear word.

2005-07-08T15:15:00.000+08:00

I'm at the Gambang rest area, stopping to answer yet another call of nature. It's amazingly hot here, and cripes, I seem to have developed a cold. Not far now till Kuantan. Just 60km or so I think.

Crossing the River Pahang.

2005-07-08T14:03:00.000+08:00

I've just crossed Sg Pahang, and have stopped at the Temerloh rest area for a breather and a quick whiz. The newer section of the East Coast Highway starts after Karak and is boring. The locations resemble parts of Perak and Johor and is flat land all around. No mountains in sight. It's also been a little hazy since I left KL. Still hazy here. Also, turns out RM4 only pays for the KL-Karak section. You gotta pay more further up. Ah well.

Janda Baik is a name of a place. Okay.

2005-07-08T12:38:00.000+08:00

Just passing through KL left my petrol tank half-empty. Quite a lot of traffic on the KESAS, with slow crawls at Cheras and Taman Maluri. I switched my air-conditioning on too; that just makes George guzzle gas like there's no tomorrow. I'm at the Genting Sempah rest area at the junction that either leads Genting Highlands or Janda Baik. Filled up George with liquid fossils, now I'm filling myself with a cheeseburger and fries at McD's at the rest area.

Through the tunnel and to the East!

2005-07-08T12:27:00.000+08:00

Turns out the toll for the highway is only RM4. Shouldn't've worried about the Touch n Go card after all. The highway so far has been a pleasure to drive. I didnt expect the view to be so beautiful! The mountains are gorgeous! I've passed the infamous Karak Tunnel, and was surprised to see nobody switched on their headlights like they do at the Ipoh-Kuala Kangsar Tunnel. I've noticed people drive like maniacs on the highway. No wonder the accident rate is so high.

Off we go on a road trip!

2005-07-08T11:19:00.000+08:00

Stopped by the KESAS hq to top up my Touch n Go card but was greeted by a sign saying no such service offered. Bah. Anyways, i'm on my way to Kuantan, taking the new highway to the east coast.

Beetle in White, Phonecammed, Moblogged.

2005-07-08T10:20:00.000+08:00

Is that a VW i see before me or are u happy to see me? Testing my handphone's email capabilities. If you see this, means I can now blog with my phone. Don't you just love progress? Mmm!

London Blasts.

2005-07-08T00:08:00.000+08:00

My thoughts and prayers go to the victims and the families of the victims affected.

Eating in the Lorong.

2005-06-30T01:56:00.000+08:00

There's a particular problem if you're a muslim working in Sentul and you don't have access to a vehicle. Your choices of eating lunch drop drastically. For me and my muslim colleagues, we have only two mamak restaurants, a chicken rice stall (that isn't open as much as we want to), a few stalls in a market nearby and the Lorong.

What is the Lorong? In Malay, the word "lorong" means "lane" or "alley", and this particular eatery, though not a restaurant, yet not a stall, happens to be located in a very small, very cramped lorong.

The stall is run by a young Malay guy who's there once in a while and sometimes even helps out in the cooking. Most of the time though it will be his Indonesian employees who are the ones who prepare the food. On the menu are all sorts of delicious dishes for nasi campur (mixed rice) and if you prefer, you can order something fried too, for example, nasi goreng or mi goreng.

There's just one downside. The Lorong is dirty. Eating there is a health hazard. Passing by is a health hazard. Talking about it, heck, blogging about it is a health hazard. You get tasty food, but with all the flies, cats, and goodness knows what other wild life lurking in the corners, you could find yourself not particularly in the mood for digesting food. This could prove detrimental to that idea of having lunch you were thinking of.

But such is Sentul.

Cutting One's Hand.

2005-06-27T14:04:00.000+08:00

Two Wednesdays ago, I found myself in the unfortunate position of having my hand being sliced open by a knife.

This happened while I was trying to save a damsel in distress, something I am wont to do in my spare time. You see, at night, I dress up as a masked vigilante, scouring the streets for evil-doers that prey on unsuspecting victims. I even have a silly caped costume to go along with it. The designer shall remain anonymous.

On that eventful night, I found myself with a man possessing incredible agility and he was armed with the Blade of Torment. I found him about to have his way at a helpless young lass and quickly intervened. In the raging skirmish that followed, I managed to parry and dodge many of the villain's dastardly attacks, but one. Using a last ditch effort, he managed to injure me, though at first I thought it nothing and I managed to subdue him.

It was only much later that I realised that the cut was in fact deep and I was losing blood--lots of it in fact. I rushed to a doctor and acquired his services to stitch my gaping wound. The doctor asked me what happened and since I could not blow my cover and reveal my secret identity, I resorted to telling him my cover story.

"I cut my hand while cutting a potato," said I nonchalantly. "I wanted to make mashed potatoes."

The end result of it was I got two days off work on medical leave and had some free time to play GTA: San Andreas. And the girl? She never even said thank you. Well, that's gratitude for ya.

I love being a vigilante.

My hand's healed now by the way, and the picture was taken two days after the skirmish.

The Longest Sentence I've Ever Written.

2005-06-27T09:59:00.000+08:00

I see that once I post something that the masses can lay it's collective mind on and they are able to discern something that relates to their bitter, sad and sorry lives, they come out, stop being such silent readers and attack my personality with petty comments I don't really care about except that it's a bother because I read them anyway in case someone says something nice to me.

Recently on the Life of Phy.

2005-06-23T16:21:00.000+08:00

I haven't been posting much because seriously, I don't feel like it. You try blogging when someone's just rejected you (sob sob).

Anyways, last week my car's battery decided to die in a carpark at midnight, then I cut my hand and had to have two stitches and a few days later I watched Batman Begins which was Brilliant. Oh, and I've decided that God probably hates me. Must be all those light-hearted comments on how much I like teteques.

Anyways, hopefully the next post will be much, much more happy. Cheers.

Logos.

2005-06-20T10:16:00.000+08:00

On the Ash-vine recently:

...here is a work I did for Teddy a couple of months back. He wanted an illustration to grace his calling cards and had an image in mind, so he commissioned me to lay it down on both hard and soft copies. His idea was an image of a teddy bear jumping down from somewhere, with a huge pencil on its back...

He also adds:

It didn't take me long to get bored of his ~~sucky~~ idea, which in turn led me to branch off and do my own versions of a meanie t-bear.

Smart ass.

I'm in love!

2005-06-13T12:23:00.000+08:00

I've seen the new Perodua Myvi on the road twice now. The first time I saw it, my jaw dropped; which is saying quite a lot since it's really hard to pick up a dropped jaw while you're driving a Volkswagen while speeding on the LDP.

Cupid has done its job. I'm in love.

New MS Office Document Formats.

2005-06-05T21:15:00.000+08:00

I've been a user of MS Word as long as I can remember. Even when other people were still using Professional Write, Ami Pro and (gasp!) WordStar, I was one of the few who used Word. Being a student in the mid-90s, document-sharing meant printing out a hardcopy and giving it to other students or teachers.

It was maybe a couple years later, when my school invested in a networked computer lab where the computers all ran Windows 3.11 for Workgroups and MS Word for Windows 6.0, and I was one of the fortunate who had access to that lab so that we could work on our projects and assignments in there.

This was in 1997; the Internet Boom was just starting, parents were buying PCs for their children all over the place and... Microsoft released Office 97. Office 97 introduced new document formats which were incompatible with previous releases; meaning a .doc file saved in Word 97 could not be opened in Office 95, much less Word for Windows 6.0 unless, someone stopped to change the file save settings everytime they saved a document.

But who would know this? Certainly not my fellow classmates who boasted new PCs equipped with Office 97 at home. Documents typed at home then brought over to be worked on in school could not be opened, and they got frustrated. I had a tough time educating everyone how to save documents in Word 97 so they could be read in previous versions of Word.

Now, 8 years later, Microsoft announces that Office 12 will have yet more new default formats. What are they thinking? Have they gone mad? Wasn't 97 painful enough for us? Sure, the new XML-based format sounds cool. Open documents, Zip based, Internet friendly; all that jazz. That's great. But making it default? I dunno...

Microsoft is trying to allay all fears by building backwards compatibility in the new version and releasing add-ons for previous versions of Office back to 2000 which allows them to read the new file formats. But that will require the user to install them of their own accord, which in my experience, many will not do, simply due to their ignorance of new file formats. After all, why would a clerk know the brand new version of Office that probably won't work on her PC saves its Word files with a .docx extension? When a client sends over a file in the new format, and assuming both have very limited computer literacy... much confusion will arise.

But on the other hand... the new format does look mighty tasty! An open XML-based format embedded within a zip file? Yummy! Interoperability! Internet-friendly! Those open source dudes will be all over it. OpenOffice, StarOffice, AbiWord and every other rival office software will finally have better compatibility with Office. But hey! Isn't that bad news for Microsoft? Who knows. But all this assumes that everyone will already use the new .docx, .xlsx and .pptx formats. That'll be years more. In the mean time, I expect about a year of confusion while people upgrade to Longhorn and Office 12.

Technorati Tags: Word, Office, Microsoft, XML

The New Doctor Who.

2005-06-04T23:09:00.000+08:00

I've been following the new Doctor Who for a couple of months now and I can say one thing: brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. First though, before I tell you what exactly makes this BBC sci-fi series so brill, let me walk you through what I know of Doctor Who prior to this.

While I was spending my 4 years of my formative life in Bath, I was vaguely aware that there was indeed such a television show which featured a doctor with a strange name and was even more aware that he possessed a time machine in the form of a 1950s British phonebox called the TARDIS and fought some nasty aliens called Daleks, of which I thought were pretty cool, before the Borg came along in another long-running sci-fi series.

Why this is so is because that Doctor Who, having been around on British television for 26 years, had become such a cultural icon for the Brits, it was almost impossible to have gone and lived there and not know who Doctor Who was. Yet, I didn't follow Doctor Who at the time.

For a run-through of what (and heh, who) Doctor Who is, let's steal a snippet of text from Kuro5hin:

Doctor Who is one of the longest running sci-fi shows of all time. It ran consecutively for 26 years - 1963 to 1989. The Americans tried to remake the show in 1996, but I'm going to act like that never happened, although for continuity, there was, technically, an eighth doctor. (Star Wars fans who've seen the Star Wars Christmas Special know what I'm talking about in this regard.)

Recently, the sci-fi series has been resurrected (or is that regenerated?) on the BBC. The Doctor lives and is as amusing (and campy) as ever.

More fascinating stuff on the venerable doctor at the link.

Around 1997, I found a VHS copy of the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie at my local video store and in an attempt to remedy my lack of knowledge concerning Doctor Who, I rented it. After watching the movie, which involved the Doctor trying to save the world from the turn of the millenium (or something... I forget), I concluded that Doctor Who was, well, boring.

It was only years later that I realised it was only the TV movie that sucked, and that I shouldn't have judged the series from that one movie. So when the new 2005 Doctor Who started showing, I gleefully watched every episode, obtained from the usual channels of distribution. *cough*

We're up to the tenth episode now (the eleventh episode will be showing any day now, and two more will follow before it ends for the season), and there hasn't been one episode I didn't like. Christopher Eccleston's portrayal of the Doctor is fun to watch and his personality resonates with the more down-to-earth Rose (Billie Piper, who fortunately does not want to make me sing "Because We Want To" everytime I see her), his companion from modern day London. His lines are the greatest I've heard to be spoken in science fiction.

In one episode, the Doctor shouts to some monsters who embody a spirit of a child to "go to your room! Or I shall be very cross!" in the most stern parent's voice and when the monsters leave, he sighs and tells his companions that, "I'm really glad that worked. Those would have been terrible last words..." HA HA HA HA!

The special effects aren't bad either. Big Ben gets hit by a crash-landing alien space ship, Number 10 gets blown up, heck, even Earth gets blown up at one point. Pretty good. Not the greatest, but hey, they work.

But what I really love is the writing. Each episode has had great characters, plot and dialogue so far. There's even a continuing plot concerning a Time War that the Doctor was involved in and it seems that all will be revealed in the final episode. There's even a mystery clue hidden in each episode concerning a "bad wolf"... so exciting!

I really can't wait to see what culminates in the final episodes of this season. It's too bad that Christopher Eccleston won't be playing the Doctor any longer in the next season. I really do like his Doctor. He's so... eccentrically cool!

Technorati Tag: Doctor Who

Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia.

2005-05-31T17:50:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday, me and Shy found ourselves at the Islamic Arts Museum in Kuala Lumpur to see an exhibition about the Prophet's flight to Medina from Makkah, commonly known as the Hijrah among muslims.

By the lack of announcements in the common channels about this, I should have known that the exhibition would be a letdown. A few charts and very little information about a lot of the exhibits shown, and mostly what was shown was common knowledge only to muslims. I think the curators should have given a little more explanation for the benefit of non-muslims.

In the end, I left feeling very disappointed. When I came to the exit, I actually had to exclaim, "that's IT?", because it felt like the exhibition was so short and I couldn't help but feeling there should have been more.

At least I didn't have to pay for it.

iBook Battery Recall.

2005-05-23T23:46:00.000+08:00

Turns out there's a problem with iBook batteries made between October 2004 and May 2005. Guess who's affected? I checked my iBook battery serial number and lo and behold, my battery is among those eligible for a replacement.

Well, now! I have never been involved in a recall before! Fortunately, Apple handles the battery recall in a very professional manner and via the website they had so kindly prepared, I was able to order a replacement easily.

Apple says they'll send a replacement within 5 days... but I'm not too sure about that. We'll see. In the meantime, I'm supposed to not use my iBook battery because it might overheat and burn up. My! What a nuisance.

I love Xeni Jardin.

2005-05-23T23:35:00.000+08:00

My new favourite blogger is Xeni Jardin. Not the hottest chick out there, I know, but gosh, look at her hair. Oh, and her writings aren't so bad either.

Thoughts on Revenge of the Sith.

2005-05-22T08:42:00.000+08:00

Before I watched the movie, the comments I got from people I talked to who had watched the movie told me it was a great flick and recommended me to go and watch it too, regardless of the fact that I indeed intended on watching it despite what people said about it, because I too, like many, am a Star Wars fan. The funny thing is, after I watched it, the comments I heard were different.

"Mostly lame dialogue and wooden acting."
"Didn't meet my expectations."
"I cringed at the love scenes."

But that's what others thought of Revenge of the Sith, last Star Wars movie ever. What did I think of it?

First, some perspective:
I am a self-confessed Star Wars fan, but I may not be as hardcore as some. For one thing, I don't know anything about the extended universe. I wouldn't be able to tell you anything about the Old Republic or even the post-RotJ New Republic. I haven't read the Star Wars novels or comics, other than the Trawn trilogy, Truce at Bakura and the Dark Empire graphic novels. I don't hang around TheForce.net often, heck I don't even have a Hyperspace subscription and I certainly didn't keep track with pre-movie rumours.

But! I can recite the dialogue from the original trilogy, line-by-line and I can hum most, if not all of the themes from the original trilogy. My opinion of the Phantom Menace was merely okay, largely disappointing, too much eye-candy and too little story. I couldn't stomach Jar-Jar but I found little Ani palatable. On the whole, I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either.

Now, Attack of the Clones, I loved. Nevermind the corny dialogue, whiny Anakin (aw, he wasn't that bad), it was soooo much better than Phantom Menace and the story seemed to finally go somewhere. And it has Count Dooku, my personal favourite Star Wars villain. Not forgetting a totally memorable ballad in the form of "Across the Stars" which I loved more than the over-played, over-used "Duel of the Fates" from Phantom Menace. What's there not to like? (Don't answer that)

So now you know what sort of Star Wars fan I am (I rate myself between middling and hardcore). What did I think of Revenge of the Sith?

I loved it. To bits. I came out the theatre quoting random dialogue. It was wonderful.

And why did I love it so much? Well, the obvious reason would be because now we finally know how Darth Vader came to be. The not so obvious reason would be because the movie was so fun to watch! Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was so deliciously evil... he just steals the show. Oh, the fights, the beautifully choreographed lightsaber fights between Sith and Jedi! So amazing to watch!

And then there are so many little OT Star Wars references peppered throughout. Blink and you'd miss 'em. Not many noticed the Millenium Falcon (or maybe it was just a random Corellian YT-1300, who knows?), nor Obi-Wan's comment about using a blaster as being "uncivilised".

A lot of people miss the point about Star Wars. They usually don't get it. They point to wooden acting and corny dialogue as mishaps in what could be a great movie. That may be true. But you know what? Who cares. Relax, sit back and enjoy the ride. Why nitpick? But hey, if you didn't enjoy the movie, who am I to argue with you? I had my fun, you didn't. Boo hoo.

Anyways, I'm going to go watch again! Woohoo! What fun!

Disclaimer:
I do not own a George Lucas altar, but sometimes I wish I did.

iBook Battery Problems.

2005-05-21T13:01:00.000+08:00

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion E3 2005 Trailer

2005-05-20T16:15:00.000+08:00

I downloaded the spanking new E3 trailer (in all its HD glory) for Oblivion, the latest Elder Scrolls title and I must say... I cannot wait till this Christmas. December is too far away. The last Elder Scrolls, Morrowind, took over my life, completely. I even made a little website dedicated to it.

The trailer is narrated by Patick Stewart (yes, that Patrick Stewart) who gives his voice as the Emperor of Tamriel and as he speaks, we are treated to the most luscious visuals ever in an RPG. I mean, I've seen screenshots before, but it's nothing compared to actually seeing the game in motion.

I think it's safe to say that Oblivion will totally own me by the end of the year, or whenever it comes out. Girlfriend? Who needs a girlfriend! I'll have Oblivion to keep me company on those cold, dark, lonely nights...

It Starts Tonight.

2005-05-18T20:22:00.000+08:00

The craze starts tonight. Oh, you know, tonight a little movie called Star Wars Episode III will start showing and the Malaysian blogosphere will just explode. In light of this, and because I only have tickets for Saturday, I shall stay off certain quarters of the Internet, including some favourite frequent haunts of mine to avoid feeling left out.

See you on Sunday.

EDIT: I've disabled comments to avoid unsavoury types from posting stuff that might take out the enjoyment of the movie for me. (And no, this isn't because of Ash's gloating) :p

Door-to-Door.

2005-05-16T00:14:00.000+08:00

I thought those scams were over. I thought wrong. I was heating oil in a wok so I could deep-fry something for lunch when I heard the doorbell ring. Actually, "ring" is a wrong word to describe our doorbell. It actually sounds more like a slight tap of wood hitting wood. Don't ask me why. It just does.

Mdnoh and Nick were in the living room but they were engaged in heavy PS2 play so that meant they were rendered too busy to answer the door. It was up to me check who was outside, and lo and behold, who was outside but a cute Chinese girl smiling and waving at me. You may have already surmised that my Achilles' Heel is exactly that-- a cute Chinese girl smiling and waving and me.

Like a fool, I went outside to the gate to ask her what's up. Turns out she was doing a survey for some Japanese electrical appliance companies and if only I could just give her my full name and IC number, she'd give me this little ticket... which I would only a few seconds later find out that I may have already won RM1,000,000!

My word! A million ringgit! What can I do with RM1 million? I thought to myself, and as if reading my mind, the girl produced what appeared to be a newspaper cutting showing other "lucky" people who won Perdanas and Wajas and the like. Then she told me that her Malay wasn't so good so could she just call her manager to explain things better to me? By this time, I was getting a bit impatient. You would be too, if people kept coming to your house trying to scam you with the same tactics. Next thing you know, they'll be asking for your drinking water and a chance to use your toilet!

This happened almost every week, last year. After a short exposé in the local papers, the door-to-door scammers stopped coming... until lunchtime today. Not the most auspicious time to scam someone.

Deciding I had enough of giving her my time of the day, I quickly told her that it's okay, I don't need the 1 million bucks, and if she didn't mind, I would like to go inside to check on my wok. But she persisted in telling me that it's a chance in a lifetime to win RM 1 million. I told her thanks but she could have it, and quickly rushed inside...

...to find my cooking oil had already turned black. Goddamn Chinese chicks with cute smiles and waves. My lunch was ruined! Ruined I tell you!!!

Losing Consciousness.

2005-05-04T11:57:00.000+08:00

It's funny. I slept at 10.30pm last night, woke up at 7.45am this morning... and I still feel like crap today. Been feeling sleepy all morning, even now. Not even coffee works.

I want to sleep. It's actually possible to do this currently, but soon they'll be fixing closed circuit cameras so no more napping when that happens. Yes, I'm afraid this means I will actually have to work around here.

Damn.

Great Idea Hit By Real World.

2005-05-03T17:26:00.000+08:00

It seemed like a great idea. An e-Games blog, where the point wasn't just to talk about online games but also what was in store for the future and maybe even what some of the employees are up to. It was meant to be something totally different from what the company usually does, a sort of experiment in finding new ways to reach out to its users, something that was meant to be more "personal" in nature, in the only way blogs can be.

Unfortunately, due to certain technical problems, this may now not come to pass. I feel very disappointed. If this had worked out, it would really have been fun. Ah well. Maybe I can keep trying, but as it is, I don't think it can work.

Spoiling Episode III and LEGO Star Wars.

2005-05-02T20:39:00.000+08:00

While I've been Internet-less at home, I've taken to reading offline stuff for a change. Most of my free time the past few days were spent lazing on my bed, reading my copy of The Making of Revenge of the Sith.

I think it's fair to say that a lot of cool Episode III stuff have been spoilt for me. And this coming from the guy who's kept himself spoiler-free for the better part of last year! I'm so ashamed!

Anyways, reading the cool (but very much spoilerific) parts in Episode III has made me very, very excited to watch it! I mean, this is the last Star Wars... like ever, and because of that, George Lucas is trying to make this end with a huge impact. It can't fail... can it? I hope not! I want to believe! Oh, film dieties, please make this movie great!

In the mean time, to help satiate my longing for Sithness, I've been playing LEGO Star Wars, and man oh man, I really have to say, the game is wonderfully superb on all levels--sound, graphics and most importantly, gameplay. It makes me wonder why there aren't any other Star Wars action-adventure games out there that offers a similar package of awesome goodies.

Maybe it's the LEGO license that makes it all work. The presentation of the game owes so much to LEGO's often goofy short movie clips. It lends a certain whimsiness to the game and that provides a fresh factor in Star Wars that makes this game so much fun to play and watch. Add to that all the cool stuff to unlock, I can see I'll be replaying this again and again for some time.

Since this game only covers the Prequel Trilogy, I'm hoping there's an Original Trilogy LEGO Star Wars in the works. Gamedevs, make it so!

Errors... and more errors...

2005-05-02T18:06:00.001+08:00

Seems Blogger fouled up my template last time I updated it (I was adding new blog links), so I've reverted to an old version of the template for now. Will fix it whenever Maxis decides to let me use Internet at home again.

UPDATE: looks okie dokie now. I hope.

Maxis, No Words Can Express How I Hate You.

2005-05-01T22:13:00.000+08:00

Currently blogging from Starbucks Summit USJ, not because I want to act cool and be all yuppie-like but more out of necessity--my Maxis Wireless connection is down. It's been down since I got back home at around 3pm.

At first I thought maybe it was some glitch, that maybe they would fix it in a jiffy. Then after a few hours of non-internetness, I wondered that maybe, just maybe, Maxis was evil enough to disconnect my Internet connection because I was late in paying my bills; even if it is a Sunday, and not just any Sunday, but a Labour Day Sunday no less.

So I went to to the Maxis Centre in Taipan to pay my bills (it's a 24 hour kiosk), and what do I find? Their systems are down. It must be company wide, and affects even my Internet connection. Obviously, this sucks. I just hope somebody fixes this soon because I can't bear of thinking a day without Internet tomorrow. Gah.

Tiger, Tiger Burning Dim.

2005-05-01T03:00:00.000+08:00

Met Mark at MidValley yesterday noon. He was there to pick up his Quiksilver uniform for the fashion show that's going to be held later today; he's there as the photographer, not to strut down the catwalk, mind you. I was there to check out the latest iteration of Mac OS X, codenamed "Tiger".

After having a quick lunch at McDs, we both went over to the AppleCentre to try out Tiger. Mark didn't seem impressed, and after having a go at Tiger on a 14" iBook G4, neither was I. Such a shame. I had already brought the requisite RM499 for the upgrade purchase but seeing it in action was just a letdown. I'm sorry Steve Jobs, you gotta convince me there's more in Tiger to make me part with 500 buckaroos. Also, I thought they would give a free Tiger T-shirt. They're not. The freebie is some dumb pack of CDRs. Cheap bastards.

Also caught up with Shu and (goshgeewhiz) Farah, famed writer of local politika (cough) who happened to be lurking around. Then stopped by MPH where I observed my hands paying for not only The Making of Revenge of the Sith, but also for Roald Dahl's Dirty Beasts as well as Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes.

I am now totally stoked and psyched for Episode III. George Lucas, don't let me down!

An Intellectual Midget in America.

2005-05-01T00:38:00.000+08:00

Rumoku forgoes the dreariness of Malaysian society and its witless banter by escaping to America, first by hopping to Singapore, then over to Narita then off to... some American city (yah, I forget. Michigan?). What for? To get laid, of course! Maybe he intends to continue his studies too. Only time will tell. Or at least, a poke in his rib will tell.

On Tuesday, April 26th, my housemates and I, along with that chum of Rumoku's, Razif, as well as Rumoku's older brother and sis were in KLIA to see him off and to remind him to pee in the snow.

From left: Nick, Rumoku and Aneep. They smile for the camera before engaging in a fierce battle of fisticuffs to decide who gets the nosh. Nobody does. It's mine.

Rumoku is shocked that Azfar would want to give him a 500 page novel written by himself (Azfar, not Rumoku).

Rumoku and Aneep prove themselves worthy oral hygiene poster children.

Teddy and Nick.

And here's Azfar with the novel he wrote: The Cursed One. No, we can't wait for The Cursed Two either.

"Grandmamma, I love this burger I'm eating. Thank goodness I'm going to Michigan because they have all sorts of burgers there... unlike Kelantan, where you are now."

Razif's scary. So is Rumoku but that's old news.

The team of social misfits together for the final time. Sniff.

Not Geeks, but Gods - The Malaysian Chapter IGDA Meeting

2005-04-29T16:50:00.000+08:00

Went to the April 2005 IGDA meet, and was pleasantly surprised that it was the best IGDA meet ever. I'm too lazy to write anything about it right now, so I'll just link to Jennifer Tai (who wasn't lazy), and actually wrote something about it on her blog: Girl Got Game.

Sadly, I'm in the bottom-most picture but am not named. I feel sad.

UPDATE: Whahaha, Jen just updated her blog to add my name ^_^

ADDENDUM: Forgot to say I met Laydiefa at the place of the meet! Wowzers!

I'm not dead yet.

2005-04-22T09:40:00.000+08:00

Three points for guessing where the title is quoted from. Anyways, I've been busy and I promise I'll post more when time allows, but in the meantime, have a gander at my moblog.

What's a moblog? A combination of mobile+blog. And what does that mean? It means it's a blog updated through a cellphone via MMS, usually containing images taken with a cellphone camera.

Anyways, click the link below!

The Wind Blows.

2005-04-16T14:54:00.000+08:00

I'm currently sitting outside the MMU Siti Hasmah Digital Library (I know that's a lousy name for a library; stop telling me) waiting for Nick to finish his exam. I had the foresight to bring along my iBook and to my surprise, there's free internet WiFi access here. Rock on.

As I write, a thunderstorm is just making itself appear; heavy gusts and lightning flashing and thunder striking here and there. There's something overtly empowering about using a computer, a divice very prone to power surges, during a thunderstorm. Since my iBook isn't connected to a power socket and neither is my internet connection (internet through air, whodathunkit?) -- it's safe.

Outside the library are placed tables where students can sit to study or discuss or chat or whatever. Since there's an exam going on right now, the students have transformed the tables into some sort of mass storage for exam papers and study notes and whatnot. Unfortunately for them, the thunderstorm currently brewing has decided it has other ideas with the exam papers and study notes.

I now ponder silently on what both student and university management will think of the white flecks that now decorate MMU.