Lonerunner's Timeline

Food For Thought

2010-03-02T22:25:00.006+08:00

Today I came across a newspaper article. It describes the launch of "Mari Membaca 1Malaysia" programme (Lets read 1 Malaysia) at our National Library.

I felt happy for Malaysia to create various initiatives to make Malaysians read although the effectiveness of these campaigns are still questionable. However, it all come to an end when our Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim said:

"It is good that people are going online to read but we must balance it out with book reading habits because we don't want our younger generation to be slaves to the computer monitor. Every three hours of computer usage should be balanced out with an hour of reading books."

Furthermore, he commented that his ministry was stepping up efforts to balance computer literacy and book reading habits as "the personal computer has become a competitor in the conventional knowledge seeking process".

I thought the US/Europe called this "digitization of information" as a result of modernization. And what the heck about balancing computer usage with reading for? I wouldn't mind if he says sports!

The original article can be found here.

26/10/2009

2009-10-26T00:32:00.003+08:00

For this week, I have spent more time on the bird as well as a quick sketch of a new horse. Still quite a bit more to go to improve on my sketching.

Is this better than previous week?

18/10/2009 - Bird

2009-10-18T23:39:00.005+08:00

Trying to put my act together by doing some detailed sketching. In my opinion, its the best way to return myself to the level I was before. Detailed sketching needs patience, soft hands and proper skills because the more lines I apply on a drawing, the harder it is for me to continue. Because of work, I really neglected my drawings. Its quite evident from below that I have become rusty.

Still, it looks like a bird, doesn't it?

New Drawings...

2009-10-11T23:41:00.004+08:00

Hi,

Haven't posted in months.....need to start a fresh now....

Portrait

Horse

Screaming man

Will continue to post more :)

will start updating soon

2009-10-11T23:11:00.000+08:00

The day i lost my 'soul'

2008-10-26T13:11:00.008+08:00

Hey guys, sorry for my late posting. A lot has happened recently and I will be narrating to you one by one (if nothing big happens in the next few days) For starters, I've lost 2 of my close relatives within a month of each, both held their wake at the same place at different times. Sometimes, you do wonder whether you have reached a stage where life does not give you things as readily as it would, and has start taking things away from you. Then again, this topic deserves a whole post on its own so I'm not talking about it right now.

First of all, apologies to Steven Foo for the late posting of our outing at Bukit Gasing. For HELP University College students, the annual Bukit Gasing trekathon is perhaps the most important sports event of the year, where throngs of college brats charged through a wildlife reserve up a stream and over a hill like mad-bulls/intoxicated rhinoes to our founder's house, Datuk Dr. Paul Chan's own residence. Winners kinda have the priviledge to have the first helpings on the buffet, served ever readily within his house compound.

At around 8.30a.m., all of us (approximately 120 of us) gathered around the foot of Bukit Gasing, in front of a small trail perhaps the width of the distance of both of your finger tips when spread out to your left and right. Sorry for the lack of photos at this point because I didn't bring it along with my jog as

i) The shock of my jog will permanently damage my camera
ii)I couldn't risk falling into a ravine together with it.

At the shout of Cindy, the facilitator that never runs in her own event, the boys stampeded into the tiny clearing of the reserve, half-sprinting-half-rolling down a small slope, rammed across a bridge, and started an uphill hike of about 50 degree. The girls started 5 minutes after us.

The reserve has many trails and one would encounter numerous forks on the way to the summit. Therefore it was essential for us to stay ahead of the pack from the very start as it gives us the chance to pull ahead and thus the luxury of twisting and turning the arrows indicative of the proper race line and leave your competitors their very own trail of misery.

The most notable element in the race is the muddy-and-yucky trail and protruding root buttresses. The former kept you always in the danger of a slip and the latter make accidental trips very much possible. After the bridge and the uphill climb (a relentless progress of 2 minutes), you have to tread rather precariously along the edge of a ravine before progressing downhill with a gradient that borders near to a vertical. A wrong footing and you can rest assured that small plants and trees will break your fall (and your back along the way). Its some kinda scene from Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Predator" albeit minus big trees and bigger biceps.

The steep winding trail will then lead you to eventually to another up and downhill motion before reaching a stream from which you trudge against it until the very end. From there on, it is another insanely hike uphill before going down again. If by chance, that you still happen to be alive and cheerful, you can opt to continue the remaining of the race by scaling the steepest 200 meters of the trekathon. The other option is to stay put which branches into 2 ending:

i) wait until HELP comes around with a stretcher...and...
ii) more likely, HELP goes home leaving you to party with the wild boars and mosquitoes.

To put a long story short, I was quite glad that I did finish the 1.5km trail within 21 minutes and in an acute stage oxygen-depletion and delirium. For the most part of my final ascension to the top, it was pure will power as well as pure awkwardness that my sole just flew off my Raebok. Water was handed to us and Datin was there to greet us. though one of my friends whom i duped to join had a more of an unconventional entrance to the road marking the end of the race. He dished out expletives in front of Datin!

Datuk's house. Too big for my camera.

My friend swore loudly as he walked slowly downhill after the race, right past Datin to the right! The exit for the race was located on the left side of the umbrella. It was a small jungle trail.

The day I lost my sole

The second half of the race. Gorging as much as i could take

The flying Dutchman

My friend earned her reward from Datin

My Datuk's cool security guards. All they need are sunglasses.

After the race, we had our lunch and prize presentation ceremony. The boy's race was won by a Dutch and the surprise was my classmate won the 'girls' category!

But now, smart guys like you would have asked how come there are photos attached to this posting when I did not bring it along with me to the top of the hill?

Well, 2 of my friends decided to take the road less taken by signing up at the foot of the hill, climbed on board in their car, waited for Cindy's signal and drove all the way to the top via more proper roads, leaving me to eat dust.

My friend on the left told me he didn't fall into the stream. Another 'dry' friend of mine is holding the camera.

Penang trip 19/9 - 21/9

2008-09-23T23:26:00.003+08:00

There has been a lot of things going on for me lately, predominantly I'll be undergoing one of the vital shifts in life; from being a student to a full time working adult. New challenges are coming by and frankly things rarely get any more exciting. There are things to be brought forward, things to put behind, some in need of a shift of a higher gear and some simply to be forgotten. Life never stands still and with so much to think about, I made a trip to Penang for a small break together with my friends.

It was a more or less an impromptu trip but to tell the truth...nobody cared to plan. (Hahahahaha! ) We took the midnight bus from Puduraya on Friday and reached Penang's Sungai Nibong in the wee-hours of the morning of Saturday.

This sign greeted me at 4.30 in the morning

There were just 3 of us, and since we lack plan, soon we found one of us in dire situation:

But after awhile, me managed to check into a hotel. All of us are dog tired. The 三贱客 are:

Kuan Yong. Don't know why he has a cheeky smile. Wonders what he was reading...hmm....

Fei Zhai. This picture needs no further elaboration.

And me!

We rented a car and found us going places.

Views from the rooftop of the hotel:

I particularly like this picture and the way different-coloured roofs interplayed among one another

Interestingly we found Penangites are a bunch of cheeky people too as evident from the pictures below...

My personal favourite

Don't tell my mom that I've been here...

We even went to the beach and let the sound of waves and the wind to sort our problems out...

Wonders what tomorrow will bring?

Outlook bleak, thanks to Lehman Brothers

Of course, not all are extroverts. Some like to hide behind the bushes...

...until we went back to the hotel...

A Penang trip is not complete without Hokkien fare and so 3 empty barrels rounded up practically everything at the expense of their wallets.

First meal of the trip

Penang Char Kuey Teow. See the prawns? Its nearly half the plate!

My personal favourite. Frankly, half the oysters were gone before this picture was taken. And if you find the following photos to be unappetising and particularly small in servings, read this: THE CAMERA IS NO MATCH TO CHOPSTICKS! Many didn't even make it to the camera.

Reminds you of KFC advert where certain stuff are enlarged due to camera tricks, right? No. it was really THIS big!

Mee rebus

Yeah baby! I'll swim the English Channel for you any day!

So is the food good? Get the answer by looking at the expression of the guy on the left, below.

And like every proper trip that we've made (if any), there are always a note of seriousness to the things that we did...

Cheers everyone for making it home!

My internship stint 9/6/08 - 29/8/08

2008-09-18T20:09:00.017+08:00

During the last semester break, I was fortunate enough to be accepted as an intern in an accounting firm in Malaysia. I was thrilled to be one of the selected few that was actually given the chance to learn from the very best, until I found out the selected few were 120++ people...@_@

I was accepted into one of the 4 audit departments and was assigned to audit seniors based on job allocations where I did my best to do no harm. For my friends who think audit is digging water wells in Timbuktu, I have to tell you that there are much more to it. Audit is a sort of process-checking exercise to assure that things are functioning the way it should be. Audit can be conducted on various aspects of processes but is predominantly linked to finances and well-being of limited liability companies as that is what matters most to many people, really.

After tonnes of horror stories of audit I heard of that lingered among other campus-lore, I made myself useful for the first week by staying out of people's way. As I get settled though, I realised audit's life is quite a "Merry-Go-Round". You get allocated to a job, you move in, do your stuff, pull out, get allocated to another job and then the cycle begins again.

I was lucky to be allocated to a few of these 'rounds' as I got the chance to work in local private companies and foreign subsidiaries before finally landing a big one where I got to vouch billion ringgit deals. I was pretty lucky that I worked with an extremely large team (about 15 auditors) and most, if not all of them placed their faith on me to pull rabbits out of my loyal, albeit run-down Acer laptop. If any of you are reading this, the truth is, without your trust and support, I wouldn't have done things that I did. Thank you so much for being so accommodating on my mistakes and believing so much in me.

A whole team at client's place. With 2 audit partners in the picture. They looked so youthful you'll take them as interns too. The guy wielding the plastic knife dangerously and sitting in the middle is Joseph. Extremely intelligent guy who taught me a lot and kinda pushed me a bit forward. Was celebrating his birthday. Photo courtesy of young grinning lady in black to the right. I wished I could tell the world how old she is but of course, that would have sealed my fate. And yes, that was our working table.

Another view of the table. Here, Adrian (standing) is making me an offer I find hard to refuse...btw, thanks for the Nando's

Audit isn't really as bad as some people describe though late hours and multiple datelines are part of the job, heck, any job if you are looking for experience and career opportunities. I find audit as fun and stimulating as you have to play 'cat and mouse' with clients sometimes and you are constantly learning new things, especially client's processes and systems.

I was also told that the timing of my internship wouldn't have been better as it coincides with a department trip where we headed to Rompin, subsidized.

the whole department getting all hyped-up to board the bus but managed to snap this before we left

Other interns from the department....boy, am I the ladies' man!!

We had loads of games by the beach...

Fishing for mahjongs....

Don't worry. Not me...(hahaha)

Played a ball-grabbing game called water polo but the guys seems to have their eyes on other type of balls....I'm the guy to the right...

...and we partied into the night!

OF course, I did some outdoor sketch when I was there. Woke up extra early for these:

Slightly detailed sketch of a group of palm with the photo directly below. Drew with ink before playing with the colours.

Watercolour was applied straight on but I was a bit impatient to wait for the first wash to dry

I kinda like this composition. I found them in the morning around 7. Both washed onto a concrete slab by the night tide. Holding onto each other awaiting for the breaking sun to end their misery.

I wondered why my teacher kinda like this but I think this is very much like a spilt-over bowl of porridge... His recommendation was to add a bit more details.

A more detailed study as I was able to find a comfortable seat. Also did this without any prior outline. Straight from the brush.

During my final days in the firm, my thoughtful intern comrades threw us a farewell dinner [special thanks to Farah (tall)]

From left (back), Nadia, Ying Hooi, Feriani, Hui Mei and Arina. Sitting in front with me is Zhi Wei, also a Help Uni College student. Not in the picture was Jas, Teepah, Elaine, Farid and Farah (not so tall). Unfortunately, Farah(tall) was unable to be with us on that day because of an emergency. (Yeah, there are two Farahs and did I missed out anyone?)

These people are obviously overworked...

On my last day, my colleagues bought us a cheese cake (incredulously delicious!) as a sent off!

At our desk...

The other interns in my team cutting the cake. From left Hui Mei, Zhi Wei, me and Ying Hooi

And at the end of day, I headed over to Modesto's to attend the department's promotion dinner where colleagues who got promoted threw a party as a celebration.

In the middle is an IT savvy girl who puts a guy to shame when it comes to computers. The lady in black to the right is the audit manager. Very easy going but made me sweat when she cornered me at the lift and asked me tough questions. The one in pink is afraid that computer viruses may spread to...er...non-computing mechanisms. The guy in blue is extremely brainy too and has the habit of providing clear information to colleagues. Always explain A-Z + 123 before letting you do something.

A close-up with my allocated senior. Ain't she pretty?

This sister of mine showed me something that I shouldn't have known and that caused me a lot of pain...(joking, thanks for teaching me the system!)

This is my taikor who took good care of me through out my 3 month stint.

If a picture says a thousand words, then this sums up my feelings of this internship. Love you guys always!

Drawing of the week 13/9

2008-09-14T19:35:00.003+08:00

It has been a long time since i did a serious study and this is the latest pastel portrait i did under 2 hours in 2 separate days. Was not particularly satisfied with it but my teacher gave me loads of encouragement :)

The face looked a little bit elongated in this picture than the original. Looking forward to redo the whole painting next week.

Pls God....GIVE ME WINGS!!!

2008-09-06T15:50:00.007+08:00

I have been an on-off jogger for some while to keep myself thin, lean and ...ahem... mean. In fact it was this hobby of mine that lent name to this blog. Lately though the only running I did was hunting/stalking down my clients who enjoy hiding in odd places from auditors and they ain't good at hiding. As some of my working friends can testify, fat retention is a by-product of selling your soul to your boss and I have been a bit flabby lately too.

Naturally the very first thing I did after I got fired from my job was to get myself a pair of good running shoes and start some serious 'right-sizing', as accountants say...

And after walking through many stores and shoes....I finally blew my savings with a Nike. The dominant reason was the fact that the size of my feet fall nicely at the middle of the bell curve and somehow manufacturers of lower end products could never make enough to satisfy market needs. Either that or the shoes fall apart all too easily. So I've decided that I had it all and moved a rank higher. This is the unveiling of my new pair of wings.

NIKE with the ever approving tick

My new baby

A NIKE Free 7.0

A closer look...

Best of all, it came with my size....US size 13/UK size 12

Obviously, the first thing I did after the purchase was to have a good night sleep and jog with it the very next day. The first time I put it on I felt the road was just a black yoga mat. The steps were soft and gentle and the harder you pound on the floor, the higher the bounce.

So without much ado, I tested it on my routine jogging track. It is of medium length of 2-3km which usually take me slightly less than 30 minutes to complete when I am fit.

The fact that the route passes by my friend's house provides extra motivation and sometimes touches of ivory keys linger and serve as perfume to my ears (I'm real 'sam-pat', ain't I?)

My first outing was pure hard labour. It took me 40 minutes but nevertheless I managed to cover the distance. Hopefully I will be able to shave my time to under 20 minutes by November. Think I can do it?

Of course, any friend of mine wishes to join me are welcomed to do so (especially the one I know of that collects skipping ropes for hobby). Be aware though, Salak South is not known as Salak South for nothing. And Sri Petaling is no better. Canines greet me at every nook and corner and on the safe side, you just have to practise hopping onto the top of your father's car until one cartwheel sends you right to the top. Of course, I found out that there are severe repercussions to this and for a guy who have seen it all...I'll stick with the dogs any given day.

Retrenched!

2008-09-01T20:24:00.001+08:00

Well guys, thanks for all of your patience. I've been quite busy lately with my internship until I lost time to blog. I hope that you are happy now because I'm officially unemployed...

More posts will be coming soon....

Drawing of the week 5/7

2008-07-05T21:53:00.002+08:00

This is almost the end product. As it is over 90% complete, this will be its last post too and finally relieve everyone from its torment :)

This was my toughest assignment yet. Hopefully I'll be able to improve further.

Drawing of the week 28/6

2008-06-28T22:11:00.004+08:00

Well guys, this is my third week into Indy. Getting a real overdose now. I told my teacher that painting him is akin to suffering constipation that get more severe as you progress. He told me that this is a learning process. God knows what he means.

This is not a done deal, yet. There will be definitely a 4th week of Indy and possibly a 5th. There are plenty of things that need to be tidied up. I'll better improve in my pace because this painting is driving me crazy. Either that, or this blog is driving you crazy :)

Drawing of the week 21/6

2008-06-21T22:33:00.004+08:00

Well, I hope this looks better. Its 70% complete, but I guess I can only improve it by another 5-10%. I've not been able to practice as a result of busy work schedule. Therefore, I've not been improving as fast as I would like. I hope you can be patient and stand by me.

Indy. My teacher gave some pointers to me, and I have to figure it out myself

Does he look like Ford?

Thanks for your patience!

2008-06-14T23:13:00.014+08:00

Hey guys/gals (especially Vivian),

Sorry for leaving this blog for so long. Its been about 4 weeks since my last entry and I apologise to you all. My camera went out of juice and I didn't think of buying a new pair of battery as I was caught up in an exam (a lazy guy's excuse). But don't get me wrong though! I did try to meet my quota. This is my final version of Scolari.

Hope you find this slightly better

The day after my exam, I was 'tarik'-ed by my friends to Jogoya to spend BIG. I never get to understand why it costs so much though, but I must admit that the sashimi was really, really fresh. So I guess that was the premium.

Just say me and my bouncers got into a little bit of misunderstanding

The HELP University College-Branch DAP committee members. Do you know that DAP also stands for a type of fertilizer??

After that, I got on to a slack for about a week where I 'da-kei' (play computer games) practically every hour of everyday. Despite this though, I drew.

Actually there was a '7-chickens-a-week' challenge that my bloody teacher wagered me. It happened during one of the weekends when I came to him holding a newspaper cutting of a Serama Chicken and told him how much I will improve in my watercolour skills if I just paint enough of it. I told him that hypothetically, I could rediscover my skill if I just draw one of them every day and might even have a slight improvement by the end of next Saturday. His only reply was a wry smile.

So that was it. I soon found myself stuck with the stupid chicken. However, after my first attempt, I just couldn't bring myself to draw the second one because I realised that the training that my teacher gave me shielded me from any deterioration in my watercolour skills.

My first watercolour in 6 months

So basically, I can't really find any room for improvement (with the standard that I have, I don't think that I can improve it any more) so I let him have a look before my next attempt. I have to say that he was quite pleased with it and noted that I did not lose any of my touch. There are still room for improvement though!

Then, I was also provided with the task of designing my first ever serious watercolour painting with a picture as a loose reference. I copied some, modified a little, and then scratched my head on what I want to relate.

Then suddenly, it dawned on me that painting is really a very hard and technical subject.

First, I have to consider what I want to tell. A good painting should also bring a message to the beholder as of what a painter is narrating.

Then, you have to justify the mood of your narration by contemplating on the composition of the drawing such as the structure of the painting, vantage point and the placement of objects (as well as how they should inter-play among one another).

After that, you have to think of the actions of the subjects and choose the best that comprehends the composition of the painting and effective in portraying the message that you want to convey.

With that, it is down to your drawing skills to bend the drawing to your will (which I suck big time).

After that is completed, it is down to colours. One should have the discipline to pick colours that accentuate the mood and message of the painting as well as have the knowledge of when and how to use contrasting and compromising colours. The size and approximation of objects must be considered when a colour is picked.

With that, the final step is down to your painting skills. Again, the technique applied must amplify the mood and message of the painting.

All of these flashed across my mind in less than 2 seconds. Suddenly, I felt not to paint any more. As you can see below, my draft really sucks.

Watercolour painting (draft). Apart from the guy on the right, everything came out of my mind. No real story to tell and the actions are awkward

Still picking the colours. Haven't been able to spend extra time to complete my painting though because I'm now officially a Vacation Trainee!

My dog tag for the next three months. So addicted am I that I can't go to toilet without it (also a security pass)

Yup! Working for 3 months in an accounting firm. Don't ask me to buy you lunch though. With my unemployment certain in the foreseeable next quarter of the year, I need donations from all of you.

Well, by this time, I'm sure you thought of my pastel. Have I abandon it for watercolour? Well, below is what I drew yesterday. I think you can recognise it. A popular figure. Bout 30% completed.

Indy. A bit lousy in mixing colours

So that's it for this post. Extra long. I hope you enjoy this post and give as much comment as possible.

Regards,

Drawing of the Week 17/5

2008-05-17T22:18:00.003+08:00

This is my second sitting for the drawing below. It is still incomplete though, and I think I need another round.

Well, this old man is really hard to draw. When I select this photograph, I was very much tempted by it being more of a 2D, high range of colours and high resolution.

Now I got reservations.

My teacher says side-view of a head is about the hardest to draw as 3D, i.e. the structure of the head has to be conveyed in a more restricted environment i.e. the 2D that I was talking about. And this is really hard. The skin of a face, especially a little bit sagging as a result of age must be expressed with accuracy and discipline. The high range of colours made me confused too. Greens, yellows, ochres and pinks all seems to appear on the same spot.

Nevertheless, I've also made much correction on structural defects. Notice the shift of the ear to the left. Will continue to improve on this.

Drawing of the Week 10/5

2008-05-12T19:23:00.003+08:00

Currently I'm in the midst of assignment and I've got my fair share of things to worry about. Losing concentration means i came out with this crap. Incomplete though.

This is very bad. Proportions are out of order and the face is in dire need of some restructuring. That what happens when I lose focus under a sea of assignments and personal problems, though I must admit this is the toughest drawing to date.

The picture that I based this drawing on has very high resolution, so much that it has a large range of colours and I ended up confused on which colour to choose. Sigh. Hopefully will do better for my second half.

Drawing of the Week 5/5

2008-05-05T21:03:00.004+08:00

Was busy attending a birthday party, hence deprived of my learning opportunity. Why can't people just stay off my saturdays? ok ok, i have to admit, that was my father's birthday party. Haha. Therefore, just completed one of my half-completed drawing and post it up. Don't want to breakmy rythm. So this is how my boss looks like during happier times.

My drawing

Reference

How do you think? Any improvement after I took up pastel? 100% own effort. Chin looks a bit pouchy and eyes are not dark enough. The drawing is taken by a camera with flash and edited by hightening the contrast, so original don't look this bad.

Well, GE missed its profit and his predecessor, Jack Welch has been making a lot of noise. I guess he will be having quite a busy quarter. I've got to get busy too. Exam is coming soon.

P/S: By the way, the 'coffee stains' at the top left of the paper is not really 'coffee stains'. My room got flooded.

Drawing of the Week 26/4

2008-04-26T23:57:00.004+08:00

Here 'er go. I hope you'll find it slightly better. 95% mine!!!

But very stressful these days. Assignments been piling all over me. So i guess this is the best i can do under the circumstance. Will try even harder next time. If you have any portraits of any kind of people, preferable hard copy, tell me. I'll like to have it as a reference. Using internet photos is a bit too much for me. Resolution is usually not high enough...

And for those who really cares about me...you should visit my room sometime. Now i'm running out of space to paste my drawings/paintings:)

Drawing of The Week 19/4

2008-04-20T22:49:00.005+08:00

An African girl with a turban. About 60% completed. 100% on my own. My art teacher just shut up. No pointers. Crap!

Haih, the more I look at it, the more I felt I have much much more to learn. Sucks.

Drawing of The Week 12/4

2008-04-12T22:04:00.002+08:00

Apparently this the best I can get...phew! Exhausted!

Hopefully will get better given time.

Drawing of the week

2008-04-06T23:15:00.002+08:00

Its usually me that do the dirty work. Come out the structure of the drawings, show it to my art teacher, he shakes his head, draw again, he shakes again and then the cycle goes on. But for this following drawing, its totally different. Upon seeing me drawing so pathetically, my art teacher decided to lay out the structure for me and then i do the dirty work. Which resulted in the below.

This is still a yet to be completed painting. And I just have to blog this before it get anywhere worse than before!!

Picture of the month(March)

2008-03-31T20:52:00.003+08:00

The month that has passed is a breakthrough in terms of me as an art student. After the second art lesson of the month, my teacher said that I should move on from pencil sketching to pastel. Finally!!! I was bloody happy at that time. It is not easy to acquire a technique, let alone master it. And I thought he had just given me a very big encouragement.

Therefore, I became very joyful and felt restless for the next art class, knowing very well that he will teach me everything he know about pastel, just like how he treated other students. And then i was wrong. All he did was dug out one 'How to' pastel drawing book and ask me to read from cover to cover!! Suddenly, i felt that i am on my own. Therefore, for the past month, i have been reading on that stupid book and have not done much...My teacher is bad, isn't he?

Therefore, from now on, I won't be have any polling station because the drawings/paintings that i'm going to generate for these few months are going to be crap anyway.

I've redone brad, and now is without the puffy mouth. But something is still not quite right. Any pointers?

This is Jeffrey Immelt, CEO and Chairman of GE. But this portrait is yet to be completed. Will complete it by the end of this month.

The apple that my teacher asked me to draw out with pastel from memory. Also my first bite at pastel.

My current pastel portrait that I am working on....sigh...

For those who are new to my blog, i've started posting on my progress in fine art to keep myself motivated. So guys and gals, please feel free to leave comments ok? Criticism will be a gift to me.

Stupid Tag

2008-03-31T19:47:00.004+08:00

To me, this tag is worse than a 'hukuman'. How come ppl tag me than i must go do geh? Very 无聊hor?

遊戲規則A. 被點到名字的要在自己的blog裡寫下自己的答案, 然後去掉一個你最不喜歡的問題再加上一個你的問題, 仍然組成20個問題, 傳給其他8個人, 列出其他8個需要回答問題的人的名字, 還要到這8個人的blog裡留言通知對方-- 你被點名了, 被點名者不得拒絕回答問題, 完成遊戲的人將會永遠得到大家的祝福.

B. 這8個人要在自己的blog裡註明是從哪裡接到的, 並且再傳給其他8個人, 讓遊戲繼續下去, 不得回傳. 被點到名字的人將會得到大家的祝福, 并且所有美好的愿望都会在不久的将来实现.

1. 每年出國旅遊期望次數?
两次。

2. 最近最鬱悶的事?
有人讨厌我，冠英太像我、成绩考不好，读书不进脑。

3. 現在當下你最想念的一個人?
不想答，也好难答。

4. 最想珍惜的人/ 事是什麼?
1）父母，老师及珍惜我的人。学院教授列外。
2）我的童年以及我和兄弟们在一起的时候。

5. 如果你是1億元彩頭的得主?
肯定会收买整个世界 (尽力而为）

6. 你現在最想擁有的是什麼?
1億元彩頭和。。。女。。。朋友。。。（哈哈！）

7. 你最想学的外语?
想把华语学好。

8. 過去十年你最開心的時刻?
和我婆婆在一起的时候。

9. 戀人/ 老公/ 老婆/ 最好的朋友, 讓你最欣賞的優點是什麼?
体贴，慷慨大方，乐于助人，能体谅别人，有思考能力。

10. 如果時光能倒流10年, 你能改變一件事情, 你會做什麼?
认真读书。

11. 你最喜歡自己哪一個部位?
样样都喜欢。

12. 十年以後, 你想過什麼樣的生活? 你打算如何實現呢?
一个很忙碌但自由自在的生活。

13. 接下來最想去旅行的國家或城市, 為什麼?
香港，体验香港人、广东人的生活。（因为我是广东人）

14. 如果可以自由選擇, 你最想居住在哪個國家/ 城市?
苏格兰。香港也不错。

15. 如果可以, 在無壓力的情況之下你想生幾個孩子?
当然是越多越好啦！

16. 如果有個很想他/ 她消失的人, 那個人會是誰?
不能说的秘密。

17. 對於現在的環境, 最不滿意的是..
钱不够。。。

18. 不满意自己的地方（自己的问题）
做事不够沉稳，不够‘快、狠、準’，虎头蛇尾，容易紧张，在紧张关头时不用脑袋。

19 最想得到却得不了的事物？
第20题。佩芬，干嘛只有19题？哈哈哈！（其实也没什么，得不到的东西我不强求）

Because I am a good boy, and i know how horrendous it is to be tagged, I decree that I rather tag myself again and again than tag other pp, especially my beloved friends. However, if you do have 'SM' habits, you are free to tag yourself. My pleasure!

Why Top Gear is the best TV programme ever...

2008-03-26T00:00:00.004+08:00

I stumbled upon this on the net today and was thinking about sharing it with all of you. Perhaps, you'll know why Clarkson is one of the most hated guys by british elders......

http://view.break.com/175421 - Watch more free videos

Drawings of The Month (FEB)

2008-03-02T13:36:00.005+08:00

For the month of Feb, I was having an enjoyable Chinese New Year, baking and burning cookies and myself along the way. I was so out of control that I didn't pay much attention to my drawings, and as a result, I've failed to meet the quota of 4 per month. In fact, i got only 2 new to show, inclusive a poorly drawn portrait of Brat. By the way, I've remodified the best picture of last month, and I hope that you view it as an improvement. Here's the loot.

Brad, but mouth a bit puffy. Maybe I'm a bit tired. Maybe its the picture. I don't know.

Arsene Wenger. I'm so in love with his wrinkles.

Lincoln after much facial surgery.

Please vote at the right column of the blog!

A Friend In Need?

2008-01-29T00:39:00.000+08:00

Guys and girls, I need your help. Serious.

These few months have been a roller coaster to me, (although not stated on the blog....) and my drawing skills was on a landslide, right until in 2008 where i decided to put a stop to the decline by making sure that I draw frequently.

Therefore, every month, I'll pick some of the best of the month to be posted on the blog where you can help me improve by voting your favourite and posting comments on chatterbox. Reference is provided whenever possible to help you make comparisons.

My future depends on you, so I hope that you will provide me with much needed encouragement. Many thanks in advance.

Game for a motocross race?

2008-01-14T23:39:00.000+08:00

I've not been posting these few days because my laptop just recovered from a seppuku, no thanks to me being hellbent on installing Alcohol 120% onto a Vista OS. By the way, anyone dreaming of driving a cross country race? A rally perhaps? Or plain old motocross? Well if you do, then you are in luck. I've got the right place for you where you can get started: The road in front of my house. This road, barely 200m have one official speed bump + 3 other unofficial ones.

These speed bumps are always "extra perkier". I wonder why I'm not atracted to it.

Inset. Each arrow indicates a bump. Plus one at the foreground means 4 in total.

Chasing dreams in the 21st century has never been more easy thanks to modernisation that makes people rich. People of today have so much cash that they can do whatever they want (in a constructive sense). And then there are also some people that have so much cash that they can also do whatever they want (in a not-so-constructive sense).

Two of the idiots living in the street (I mean, apart from me), who decided that a quiet neighbourhood means cars should be off the road, went all the way to make speed bumps just to keep cars under 3rd gear. How sick is that? One did it 10 years ago and the bump is located at the end of the road while another idiot who apparently have no Ferraris did 2 recently as shown in the photo. Unfortunately was that this rich guy is not really that rich, so he stinged on the tar and paint. He has also no curtesy to erect a speed bump signboard unlike the government sanctioned speed bumps either because of the price of iron is flying high and he couldn't afford it or, he knows exactly where he laid his two "extra perkier" babes and wouldn't really care about who ever that passes by in the middle of the night.

For those out there who accidentally stumbles upon this blog, can you tell me whether it is legal to make speed bumps on the road, a public utility? If it is legal (or even if it is otherwise), God forbid me from getting rich because I'm so gonna build my dream street!

God... please let me build it...

A Final Farewell

2008-01-04T23:21:00.001+08:00

Here are some pictures of the gym. Might not seem much but it does leave an impression on me:)

The door that leads to it all...Its located right behind Chin Woo's Hall, so its pretty secluded (unless you are a mosquito)

Heavy Metal! Ever seen these in supermarkets? Fitness centres? They are one and only, mind you! (In case of injuries, we have um...um...a fire extinguisher!)

My favourite bench. Note the edginess of the stands, and the rigidity of the structure. Its all welded together...30 years ago...

My favourite exercise is the squats. Notice that it is welded into place by a few metal pipes. notice the background too (wall)...

... because this place used to be a public toilet!

Though we are poor, we kept our heads high! No gym is complete without an assortment of dumbbells.

A member hard at work. Person standing is my coach. Note how close his head is to the ceiling, and he barely reaches my shoulder!

A Nepalese finding himself through a poster. And he is a bloody Gurkha! I suspect these guys have achieved a quantum leap in the evolution of their digestive system. They can lift virtually anything!

I though a death note would have been much prettier.

Anyway, Happy New Year to everybody!

A Crying Tear From Huo?

2007-12-13T23:28:00.000+08:00

KL has been drenched in rain for the past two weeks, and everything looked so down and gloomy, especially for me.

While I was hanging out in a gym in Chin Woo Athletic Association in Bukit Chin Woo, KL one day, I was told that effective on 1st of January 2008, there will no longer be a gym as it was said to have stood in the way of progress.

For about a year I have found a place in the heart of KL in which I called home. Whenever I'm free, I'll drop by Chin Woo, pump some iron before calling it off as a day,assured that I will wake up with even more vigour and energy the very next day. Located right below a stadium,the small place, about 35m X 15m was infested with mosquitoes and I couldn't even walk straight without touching the ceiling but I didn't mind. I met a bunch of funny men, all of them have great physiques and all of them enjoy talking rubbish, just like me. Charging only a mere Rm12 a month, I thought that I have found paradise.

The gym, a former bathhouse-turned-exercise-facility, owed more of its existence to its members than its administrators. During the hey days of Chin Woo, a few poor bums started a gym by welding each exercise tools, such as benches and racks into place, the steel coming from nothing more than a garbage dump site. In spite of all the deficiency and half-past-six equipments, Chin Woo Athletic Association has contributed a fair share of national representatives of weightlifters and body-builders, my coach being one of them. Hopefully, in the next article I'll show you some pictures.

Nevertheless, due to internal politics and power-mongering individuals that knows how to fight for a post in an organisation but don't know what to do with it, Chin Woo has been losing its shine. The recent act of axing gym from its continuation is the ultimatum that death is knocking on its doorstep.

As you will see, iron weights do not rust easily and the gym has been running over 10-20 years with '0 cost' maintenance. What cost Chin Woo is the electricity bill which is more than covered by the gym membership fees. Undoubtedly, the biggest lost-making asset in Chin Woo is the swimming pool. In fact, according to many sources, everything is making losses and the gym is the most profitable of them all.

So, why the death certificate to the gym? Apparently, the gym has the least participants of all its ongoing activities thanks to the gym being at the back of the stadium and the lack of promotion from Chin Woo's administration. Who will thought of gym when Chin woo is mentioned to them? It was in the hope that sacrificing people like me allows for further developments for the piece of real estate, such as a few more parking space(:s). Since when commercialising is part of Chin Woo's dictum? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the gym is sacrificed to that other activities can be sustained.

As you can see, Chin Woo has lost much of its spirits of sportsmanship. People take charge of Chin Woo just for the namesake and personal gains. People no longer want to put effort into something just for the love of it. Everything must be '$' that comes to mind. For everything else, there are plenty of scapegoats. Anybody here heard of Chin Woo doing promotion and membership recruitment drives in schools and colleges?

Mismanagement has caused Chin Woo a gym. I wonder what will be next. Anyway, the gym will formally cease operation on the 28th December 2007. If you guys want to have a real taste of what it is like, come quick. Opening hours from 5.00p.m. to 8.00p.m., weekdays only.

Toufoo Troopers?

2007-12-04T21:48:00.000+08:00

About 2-3 days ago there were big headlines in all newspapers and tabloids, bringing the news of a few paratroopers drowning in Langkawi during a rehearsal for the LIMA show. Apparently there was a gush of wind coming out of the blue and blew them off course, resulting in 3 dead and a dozen injured. There was much grieve in the nation, including me and many accept it as the Act of God.

Out of curiosity, I wonder why there is suddenly so many people become Samyvellu??

IMHO, the government really owe us a good explanation. Either that or I missed out something. We already have graduates who can't speak, police who can't run and now, soldiers who can't swim?? What is the government doing with taxpayers money?

I remembered vividly that during standard 5, I watched a documentary on survival skills that says a parachutist needs to cut of his parachute-line right before his feet hit the water. A still attached chute will drag the person along the current into the deep sea.

If soldiers died as a result of smacking into skyscrapers Tarzan-style then I'll be able to comprehend. But well trained soldiers drown because they hit water!? C'mon!! I'm sure there must be better explanation than that.

Just imagine:

Scenario #1
You are on a plane crashing into the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Will you jump out of the plane in a chute or not?

Scenario #2
You are the army commander. Singapore is invading and deploying paratroopers are critical. You need to check the weather around the clock to minimise occurrences of 'Sudden Gust of Wind' and whether the rally point is anywhere near a swimming pool. A paratroop retaliation on Singapore is virtually non-existent because the damn bloody rock is so small the troops probably end up in the water anyway.

Scenario #3
You are a paratrooper.
1) You cannot land into the jungle because your chute will get caught with the branches and you will be dangling like a swing.
2) You cannot land near a pool because you drown.
3) You cannot simply jump off a plane because you need to test the weather before hand. Try shoving off your colleague to test the wind.
4) Preferable destination is an open air-field, no wind and a grand red carpet laid down for you to land on.

Therefore, I hope you guys out there can tell me more about parachuting and this 'sudden gust of wind' thingy because I'm wondering whether the troops are:

1) well trained
2) well equipped
3) too good, so much that there were no rescue boat and first aider around the scene of accident.

Do leave your comments.

A Different Perspective

2007-12-03T13:21:00.000+08:00

Recently I was fortunate enough to have an invitation from a close friend of mine to a stand-up comedy in Bangsar Shopping Complex albeit on my own expense. The title of the show was 'Eh, Got Free Ticket ah?' featuring Douglas Lim, Harith Iskandar and the evergreen Jit Murad.

The reason why I went is because I was totally captivated by the front part of her email: 'Eh, Got FREE ticket ah...'with the question mark totally overlooked.

It was a show poking fun of Malaysia's distinctive culture and way of life, and sure enough it was full with political undertones. For those who has no clue of what is stand-up comedy, it is somebody giving a talk on just about anything and issues are brought up in a fun way. A good stand-up comedy does not only leave you in stitches but actually give you something to digest.

I must admit that I've learnt as much as I laughed but the most important lesson of it all was what it takes to be a good stand-up comedian.

Jit Murad

As what Douglas Lim said, it is very challenging for a Chinese to become a comedian. As it is, there are only 2 Chinese comedians in Malaysia, one being him and the other Lim Keng Yaik. I thought all along that an entertainer is a blessed lot, where they can use their inherent traits in looks and voice to charm the audience but the eye-opener that I had recently really opened up my rusty tin can called the Brain.

A good comedian needs more of a good brain that charms to come up with loads of ideas only to condense them to a very few killer-jokes. From these jokes, he has to weed out those that don't send out any positive messages to the public. And then, there is also the question of appropriateness as all the points need to be summed up and weaved intricately into a 30 minute show, one point linking another. After that, comes relentless practice for the very big day. If added on to the effort placed on body-grooming and polishing oratory skills, a stand-up comedy is not really that 'stand-up' after all. Of all the comedians that I met (though very few), all of them can knock the sparks out of a neurosurgeon.

This experience made me appreciate entertainment even more and I hope that my mom can read my blog and understand the values of true entertainers. After that, hopefully she will be very supportive of me going to cinemas and actors studios and provide me 100% subsidy along the way. Fingers crossed.

ps: To a very very sweet girl out there, don't forget you owe me 13 bucks ya!!

Malaysian Politicians Say the Darndest Things

2007-11-30T20:32:00.000+08:00

I was at Popular Bookshop last Wednesday sniffing for new books as usual and I came across a book by Amir Muhammad, Malaysian Politicians Say the Darndest Things.

Its a thin book and I finished it in one sitting. It contains some of the more quirky quotes and remarks by Malaysian politicians from 1980s onwards and I have to say that I couldn't stop laughing my heads off. For RM 30, this is surely a must by for true Malaysians as it revealed a lot of the behaviour and mentality of Malaysian politicians (Which I must say is not one of the most honest).

It displays much of the oratory skills our politicians have and also some of their slip-ups and derogatory remarks.

Some of those didn't even contain any cow sense as in:

“The Indonesians and Filipinos don’t even have enough to fill their stomachs. Who are they to lecture us on press freedom? We are more qualified because we have full stomachs”
-Information Minister Mohamad Rahmat

"He is not clever at doing it... to be a fraudster you need skills. Fraudsters should always be a notch above their victims. He didn't learn from me or I could have given him some tips... As a father I am disappointed."
- Senator Muhammad Abdul Ghani, implicating his son in a scandal of cloned Approved Permits (APs) for imported cars. (The New Straits Times, 11 October 2006)

"FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!"
Bung Moktar Radin (Barisan National-Kinabatangan)

This is a really satisfying read. Other quotes includes Samy's comparison of toilets with wives and PAS's remark that the government should employ ugly Malay women only because the prettier can get rich husbands. (At least this way Malay boys will be more independent when looking for a job!)

At the end of the day, I found a new revelation where I become much closer to the country. Though it is not the best way, I do feel proud of being a Malaysian. At least we don't get into fist fights like in Taiwan or Japan. We resolve things in such a comical way!

Thought you've seen it all? Wait till you read a 1980s letter from Mahathir to a then European boy of 10, Abercombie. It'll make you laugh with your tears rolling down.

Banks the Den of Thieves??

2007-11-28T22:18:00.000+08:00

A few days ago i went to the bank to run some errands. It was not the rudimentary type of deposit or withdrawal, and i needed assistance. When i was still standing in front of the numbering machine, still pondering which service i actually need, a staff came across me politely and inquired me if i needed assistance. I smiled and turned my head to her, but then my sweet smile turned to frost.

The first thing that went into my mind was 'Rompak'. Aghast, I took a step back, and had a quick, second look. There, hanging by a lanyard was a button with the words 'Bank Rompak Bonus Kami' inscribed on it.

I thought for a second somebody was approaching me with the intention to rob a bank. I heaved a sigh of relieve when I found that it was not but I couldn't stop revolting on seeing the deceiving smile on the assistant's face. As some of you might know, some banks had recently 'renegotiated' a plan that no longer guarantees 2 month bonus to bank employees. It enables the employers to have a more flexible hand in rewarding the more productive and effectively cut done fixed cost.

I couldn't feel much sorrier for the banks. With the current economy facing the onslaught of recession, they have to put up with the enemy underneath the cover (Musuh Dalam Selimut). Wearing those buttons are totally unprofessional and inconsiderate as their public display of defiance also carries a heavy dose of hypocrisy. One might ask:

If the banks are thieves, why not quit the job all together?
Why work for thieves?
If you work for thieves, doesn't it make you a thief as well?
Does defaming the company which logo you are wearing not defaming you as well?
Does scaring away the customers help the bank to feed your kids better?
If banks are thieves, then who the hell are you if you take your wage and at the same time destroying the image of the one that is paying you?

This is a disease of Malaysia. I'm 100% supportive of them protesting for their rights if and only if they take time off from their job and have a work strike. At least then they come clean and fight with real 'backbones'. I'm disgusted. Seeing bloodsucking Malaysians acting so dignified make me sick!!!

For pictures, see this poor Maybank. This tiger has fleas!

How many zeroes are there in a Trillion?

2007-11-26T15:21:00.000+08:00

If

1 million = 1,000,000
1 billion = 1,000,000,000

A trillion wil be = 1,000,000,000,000, with 12 zeroes.

How about Rm4 trillion then? well, I guess, for zeroes, if any, there will only be one - Malaysia.

Last week, my first impression on this case was the lawyers trying to shame the government in a desperate attempt to raise the profile of the backwater Indians. Little did I know they were going for broke.

First of all, kudos to all of them for having such guts to do it. Gathering a 10,000 strong possession is not an easy feat, considering that public awareness and civic mindedness in Malaysia is wanting at best. Perhaps next time, they'll do a much better job agreeing on a time with Keadilan eh?

Photos of the protest on Sunday, 25th November 2007

Pics from Reuters

I pity the Indians. Being the poorest among the 3 majority races (races according to history books) , they are often sidelined and 'overlooked'. Brace yourself that Mr. Sammy might declare it as an 'Act of God'. But really, they couldn't expect him to do any better job, or any other Indian leaders for the matter. No point blaming him for lack of action on issues branded 'taboo' for the last 40 years.

Pic from ChinaDaily

Grabbing international limelight is surely a way to overcome it. I certainly will pimp myself just to know what's going on in the mind of The Honourable Dato' Seri Syed Hamid Albar right now, Malaysia's foreign minister who had just been on BBC HardTalk denying any racial differences and endorsed that each and everybody is contented with the New Economic Policy.

Nevertheless, one wonders how foolish can it be risking the lives of innocents defying the government when at best they could garner only 8% of the population. At best, I would think it is a stalemate.

Surely, a possible outcome is for the government to have an ISA crackdown, much like OPS Lallang, and the issue will be washed away by time.

The other scenario will be for the government to give promises for the Indian community, and

1) Never actually work on the promises
2) Actually work on the promises and:

a) Successfully turn around the fortunes of the Indians.
b) The promises are not kept 5-10 years down the road (Malaysia has 3rd world mentality in maintaining things)
c) The promises were revoked 5-10 years down the road because of rising oil prices

For scenario B, at least MIC will have the opportunity to keep the government in check.
Anyway, I am certain there are other 'happier' options to deliver the message across. I came up with 3.

1) Sue the British Government once in a while, including the families of British leaders in Malaya back then. Keep the limelight focus on the plight of the Indians.

2) Produce more babies and have a bigger say in everything when they reach 30% of the population.

3) Shut-up and learn from the Chinese.

Its all for you to figure it out. Do leave your comments.

HELP Lantern Festial

2007-10-08T22:54:00.001+08:00

7th of October 2007 will always be a day to remember, for various reasons.

First of all, it will be an integral part of my record breaking event in which i will be spending 12 straight days in HELP, due complete this coming Friday, hanging out with the same dudes and doing stuffs a little bit more exciting than watching paint dry.

Secondly, dined in the dark, by the drain, with 3 hot chicks and the rain came pouring. (Hope i grabbed the correct fried chicken)

Thirdly, was able to cheat a bed sheet from the guys from Hitz.fm by asking them for the last trading price of HIC.

Fourth, got to run around with Dr. Paul Chan in the rain.

And finally, had a taste of becoming a big time mooncake seller.

All these made true only through HELP Lantern Festival 2007.

It is by far the only charity event that i have mixed feelings. As known, HELP is raising funds to help a particular student, Ms. Chia Leng Yau who suffered from Leukemia. Being at the fore front of charity, AIESEC HELP helped out in the event, by selling mooncakes for HELP Econ department. I reached there bout 5.30p.m., signed my name and worked with Yee Joo to get things going. Commander Tang has for us a truck load of mooncakes from which we should use common sense to squeeze charitable funds out of them. Pretty tall order considered that its dry goods and then mooncake festival has just passed but being who we are, we managed to get a satisfying sum out of the very very short time that we were allowed to paddle in the carpark.

With creativity, we managed to arrange a pretty decent stall out of nothing but 4 rectangular tables. Food were catered to all of us (and AIESECers were beginning to turn up in throngs). There were Digi and its Army and Hitz.FM (where i got THE XL sized shirt). Dr. Paul Chan, Mrs. Chan and Dr. Khong all turned up but what was more satisfying was the appearance of HELP ICT students, students of SEC which was acquired by HELP recently. We are like a one big family now. There was a makeshift stage where varied performances were catered to the euphoric us and we all danced and moved in response to the tunes. There were marshal arts performances, dances, bands, and if I'm not mistaken, an Indian singing Chinese song!

But perhaps, heaven got deeply moved by us that He decided to weep. Light beatings of rain drops and lightnings streaking across the sky signaled the premature end of the event.

Though I must say that it was a little bit of a let down towards the end, it is nevertheless a fun event, held for a good cause. And if I were to turn back time, knowing that it will still rain nonetheless, you will still see me running around like a madman in the rain in the open carpark, with an umbrella perhaps.

Finally getting what i want

2007-08-04T10:24:00.000+08:00

I've always have a fetish for uniforms especially those of nurses and young secondary school girls. Its certainly seems that there is a primitive, barbaric urge coming from the deep recesses of my brain, to see, watch and stare those who wear them in full awe and admiration, a feeling that seems to have evolved ever since the time my ancestors walked out of Africa and had, over the ages, entwined into my DNA and now has come back to haunt me.

So to make things short, on my first day of work, unfortunately i saw many repair shop workers wearing their UNIFORMS to work, in full pride and honour, walking in gait that befits kings. And then there i was, i was standing like a pole in a corporate suit, with tie and stuffs getting ready to run the rat race, and looking very pity indeed.

I approached my HR person, asking whether, by a stroke of luck, that i will be able to don it myself one day. It was a courteous reply but one that i sense not to be forthcoming any sooner. And boy was i dead right, it never came.

So as days passed, my misery piled on and on until....one fateful day...

I was turning up for work as usual, on a cool windy morning, the crisp air kept me up. Above me, dark clouds swirl in a menacing way, a sign that a thunderstorm is fast approaching. As illustrated from my earlier blog, the distance from the bus stand to the office is quite far. So with brisk buy steady strides, i started my way to the office.

Halfway through, droplets of rain fell, and i noticed that the wind was blowing the rain clouds faster than expected. I broke in to a jog but alas, if not for the 25km/h speed limit road sign, i wouldn't have reached the office soaked wet, even with an umbrella.

Fate has an uncanny ability to knock on your door when you least expect it, but the HR guy, for some reason came across me on that morning. With sincerity, he offered me a shirt to change. THE UNIFORM!!! Now, I can rightfully claim that i'm a 100% company employee! I suspects that they have a stash of uniforms of different colours hid in a top security safe behind some trap door, and i'm quite determined to get all of them, well at least get one for each of my working day.

Sigh, can't wait for another rainy day...

Section 2

2007-07-10T23:25:00.000+08:00

Now its already 5 weeks into my internship and i have practically met everybody in Finance and also in shopfloor. I'm getting quite a name for myself now, and people refers me as the 5000M (metre) man for my heroic effort in completing the event in the company's sports day. How i wish there is a USD in front as in "....the US$5000M boy ah....u know ah...."

The people here is super nice and friendly. I think there is an entry requirement that all employees should also be a qualified Colgate, Darlie model. Everybody I see wears a smile. And some guys are down right cool. Once I was following a colleague of mine to do some inventory check when i was brought forward to meet this particular employee. First question he asked was why am I here. When i tried to explain myself he became critical and accuses me of coming in for the money. I tried to remain holistic but then he chopped my sentence when i was halfway muttering god-knows-what and asked me to show my hand. He then went on to read my palm and made me feel naked. Then, when we continued our main topic he asked for 5 minutes and turned on his surround system in his office in the factory. Out came Rolling Stone's 'Satisfaction'. How cool was that? Sub-Zero.

I find the place a bit freaky though. My finance manager was an engineer before realising that finance was his thing. A colleague under a finance learning program had engineering as his first, business & commerce as his second and then finally doing finance now. Another young fellow currently also in the program plays in Damansara league and had twins. Wife still studies.

There were also lots of learning opportunities for me. As in the first day i have to read up all the company's product and answer questions like how well managed finance can improve Six Sigma those sort of next to impossible questions. There is also a guy name Dai who invited me to his Japanese class and now i know that Japanese is a super cool language. Now at least i know 'Itchy' means one. I'm also encouraged to speak Japanese as much as possible so you'll find me saying I want one pen as 'I want "Itchy" pen' or simply said, “我要一支笔”.

First day at work (1)

2007-06-19T22:42:00.001+08:00

Well guys, I've started work on the 4th of June and it has been a 2 week work life for me, for now. I know that I do not have much working experience for a start but it is still bloody difficult for me to describe something so bloody unpredicted as in my first day of work.

So there was me, finally, just 4 days after working my ass off for my semester exam, I woke up and somehow found myself, standing in a dark, spooky morning at an ungodly hour of 5 o'clock, under a lichen-covered lamp post by the road side, its gentle glow shining on nothing but an idiot who stared aimlessly on an eerily empty highway, somehow convinced that lady luck will smile on him and that his bane, a.k.a. RapidKL will take him to the place he wanted to be. And at the very end of the day, it all boils down to the idiot's unwavering beliefs, unbendable will, and sheer determination that got him to his workplace 1 hour earlier than necessary. Enough said.

So looking at the time, I wisely spend my hour reading newspapers and thinking of nothing else but fear. Cometh 7.50 a.m., cometh the man, I approached the guard house, full of faked confidence and faked brimming smile, not realising the complex that I work in is well over 800 meters away. Looking back, I think I'm the only guy on earth that reaches 1 hour early but clock in 15 minutes late.

The whole compound is an SPM site, made up of many complexes. Mine was at the very, very end. The company I work for is GEESM and also has its own security system, so, very mafan la.

I was dressed up like a dude, complete with matching ties and belts + I combed my hair. Quite an unbelieveable feat. As i turned up, i found that i was being accompanied by a few other newbies, but they are contract workers. At the GEESM security checkpoint, i was told to wait for Mr. Z, which i thought was a code name. As i wondered what type of secret agency that i will be working for, Mr. Zach finally came. I was brought to the HR department and given a dress down on the firm's policies. Then, with another 6 contract workers, i was brought to another department for a briefing on safety. From there, i was brought around for a small company tour.

Hi Guys...!

2007-06-17T21:02:00.000+08:00

Hi guys, owe you all an apology for abandoning my blog for quite some while, 4 months, to be exact. And within this period, not once have I opened the blog just to see what you guys are putting up coz there will surely be many complaints, which, from the look of the chatterbox, there is. Hey, Crazy Ivan, don't complain so much la. I was watching Heroes all the while.

Things were coming in thick and fast, and still do. I'm always busy managing my other blog, http://aiesechelp.blogspot.com, updating it every 2-3 times a week. I haven't have a weekend break for...the last 4-5 weeks? My mom says that I no longer spend much time for myself and the family anymore and I guess what she said is true. Now I'm supposed to be on holiday but I started work the week after my exams. A shot on the foot, huh?

It is perhaps the most turbulent quarter of my life. The learning curve for me is really steep until I've lost the charming smile on my face （can you imagine that???). I had my grandma passing away days before Chinese New Year and yes, I still miss her, her smile, her laughter, her warm wrinkled hands, her food, or simply the lively, serene sense of comfort that she used to radiate. I never fail to cry when i'm really thinking of her. And not to forget, nearly beaten up one of my 'relatives' for praying and ransacking her 'things' for 4D numbers. I still can't figure out how people can take 'opportunities' from a dead person. Especially when the person is close to you. I wonder what goes through his sicken mind when he was praying for/acting in front of my grandma. Anyhow, 2-3 numbers from the things we burn got 1st prize in 4D.

Besides grieving and learning a thing or two in finance, for the past months I was in hyper mode for my organisation, to forget my grandma or not to disappoint my grandma, I couldn't tell. All I know was that i'm always busy running meetings and meeting dead lines, so called because i'll be dead by the time the date line comes and I've got nothing to show. I have to take care of an induction camp for my society and getting the thing past me now is bout one of the best thing that has ever happened in my life.It was like finally getting married to a girl 18 while you are pushing on 90 that kinda sort of feeling.

Then, after that, I've found that I've neglected my studies. Felt so sorry for my mom and dad, and spend 2 weeks just playing catch up.

Then there is one other camp which I've joined, called EYLN in Bangi. And there are 2 more to come in the coming months of June-July.

Now i've gotten myself a job, working from 8.00 to 5.30 in Subang, I've got even less time to spare.

Looking back, hmm....what are the things that i've achieved for the past few months? Apart from screwing up my exams...nothing much.

My Deepest Apology

2007-02-06T10:44:00.000+08:00

It seems that i have left out somebody very important in my last blog entry. Therefore, I would like to make up for her loss by thanking her again for celebrating my birthday with me. Wondering who she is? She's the pretty girl down there. Thank you very much.

Ee Siong (did I get the name right?) and his girlfriend

Happy Birthday to me!!!

2007-01-23T18:07:00.000+08:00

Phew…a day came and gone and now I’m still staring into oblivion. Any how, it is time for me to say thank you too all who have celebrated my birthday together with me, Oscar style. First of all, I would like to thank my mom…blah blah blah…my dad…blah blah blah…my sisters…my sisters’ boyfriends…blah blah blah…especially to Kek Ea Ter, wish you luck and all the best in your ‘endeavour’…without you I would have trouble slicing the cake into 7 pieces…thanks also to Si Jian and my thoughtful friend from Aussie land…Esther…(its so sweet of you to send me the card!), Zac Wong etc… Thanks everybody and thanks again for your presents.

This birthday is by far my most memorable, even if compared to the time I managed to milk mom to triple my Ang Pow as my birthday fell on the first day of Chinese New Year.

I think I received my best birthday ever by being able to give happiness to other people. First and foremost, I was needed to do a 3 km night run for some one dear to me and I was able to do it under 25 minutes, which was very, very good considering that I need to cross busy streets and stumble into an amorous couple sprawled naked in the black alley.

Next was trying to apologise and make up to my first ever client. So sorry that I gave her cock eye and Julia Robert's mouth. I hope this is much better though there are still some adjustments to be made.

A penny for your thought on who she is. Leave the name in the comment box. I hope that this is not a tough one.

The last one, was, unfortunately, helping someone to finish and tidy up her debate speech. I think some things are better left unsaid. Haha!!

Happy Birthday?

2007-01-21T15:00:00.000+08:00

Today marks the ending of a sweet score of years that I, of all others, was able to enjoy, and with hope, tomorrow will mark the beginning of another.

It certainly meant a lot to me. 20 years of joy and sadness (though the latter rules most, it made the former sweeter still) now comes to a wrap up. I was reading the newspaper together with my mom the other day, and then all of the sudden, I realized the passing of time, no thanks to the great grand old maid that is Chong Wen Ching.

On the very verge of my golden years (maybe, well on second thought, probably not), I reflected on my past, straining my grey matters to locate even the slightest of my achievements so far, which as usual, came to naught.

Despaired and in desperation, I asked mom what have I been doing all these years. Am I a filial child? Have I any skill or trade that might make you proud? Am I standing at the pinnacle of human evolution because I still have no girlfriend? (I mean, if I can’t get a girlfriend, obviously I can’t be getting married. And if I can’t be getting married, I won’t be able to have any children. There will be no person after me, right? That means my genes had reached an evolutionary dead end, right?) In fact, I even pressed further and asked her, “Mom, why am I not a gifted child?”

“Well, of course you are. Don't be silly. If we ever have to pay for you, we would have picked a much better one. Anyway, don’t ask me anything. I passed my first 20 years 4 decades ago. Now go haunt your father instead.”

So much for family togetherness. I think one reason Malaysia can’t progress is because of this but I have no qualms about it. 20 years of good home-cooked food is a godsend.

Speaking of food, it leads to the fact that I can’t hold my 21st birthday party because my grandma is admitted into the hospital. It is now 2 weeks since she is first hooked on an oxygen tank. Her heart is failing but her condition was much better yesterday. Her body is small and frail but there was the usual impish twinkle in her eyes where I find home.

Now, apart from wishing my grandma good health, I’ll also be hankering for MU to bury Arsenal 6-0 in premier league competition tonight and thus go 9 points clear off Chelsea. I hope that Park ‘oxygen tank’ Ji Sung will take part too. It’s a long, long time since MU wins the premiership.

Park Ji Sung

So, tomorrow will mark another ‘glorious?’ chapter in my life. I wish to extend my thanks to all my friends of my first 2 decades for staying and standing by me. Hopefully we can still be stand together in many years to come. Three cheers to another score of inter-buddy-entertainment!!!

2006 Fan Fair

2007-01-11T22:08:00.000+08:00

Hey guys. It has been a very long time since I’ve blogged. Well, mom said I should avoid risky business when approaching the end of the year. That is, based on my own track record, that I should not touch my blog. So months went by without me even thinking of viewing the chatterbox. Who knows? I might even be electrocuted. Now, few days into the new year, I think I’m good to start.

It has been a whirlwind of a year this 2006 is. Many things had come and gone and I have no idea of where to start with, which also means that I’ve got a good excuse of finishing my blog here and now. Yet, knowing that there is no moral incentive to quit, I think I’ll better start talking rubbish instead.

I’ve always told my mom the most exciting thing to look forward to at year’s end besides Christmas is the yearly obituary. In other words, it’s who and who that has passed away during the previous year. In the deep recesses of my mind, something instinctive, something intuitive has always urged me to applaud and build my empire of happiness on other people’s sorrow. It never fails to amuse me, you know?

Of course, being a scrooge myself I’m not very willing to share my innards with all of you. All I can show and tell is some of the less non-notable highlights.

Many a people asked me what sort of a movie-going person am I? What sort of television programmes do I watch? Or, being born with a nerdy look, do I actually know the monitor-like black box in my house that my grandma used to borrow reflections to comb her hair when my sister is hording the toilet is actually a television?

I said, yeah. Of course I know what a television is. And I like to watch a variety of programmes especially those where the characters wear no clothes. No bras. No skirts. No panties.

And they asked again. Serious?

Well, actually no, there’s still one with the khakis. Steve Irwin.

It is a sad day to all conservationists the day they lost the champion. I don’t care that some says that he is a nuisance and that he can’t stop disturbing the wildlife. To me, I think all the critics are unfit to carry his shoes. By showing no fear in handling the animals, Steve told us which is tame and which is not. And for the latter, that they are not constantly looking to mess with us. If some of you find his way vile, crude and barbaric, please point your finger first to the directors of JAWS, BOA vs. PYTHON, ANACONDA, the MUMMY etc. These are the movies that fuel fears in man and made us discriminate and miss understand. In fact, so misunderstood I was that I spent a week away from the tub after JAWS.

Sometime between last year and the year before, an old and fatigue man with unkempt hair and dirty clothes were dragged up from the spider hole. I thought that it was very laughable that a notorious mass murderer should squeak like a mouse in his twilight years. I thought my, oh my, this will be the laughing stock till kingdom come. Yet, god willing, his enemies are so thick he was finally able to redeem himself at the very end. How on earth can a man be so calm and resilient when making the final steps to the gallows?? And it must be stressed that he has more dress sense than Madonna.

Yes. Saddam was no angel. He was probably from the same mould as Emperor Chin and Hitler. In fact he and Vlad the Impaler are the best of friends. However, in every sense, it still does not justify the way U.S. carry out the execution, which main purpose was to deny him a chance to celebrate the new year as a devote Muslim. And whose sadistic mind came up with the idea of making the execution into a public spectacle turned public fiasco? As a consequence, there’s more unrest in Iraq, people who adored him emulated him even in the way he died, people thinks that he is a martyr, and worst of all, the name Saddam Hussein is so popular that there’s an army of children in a village in Bihar, India called Saddam Husseins. 15 years from now, reading the newspapers will be next to impossible!!!

‘There was a public outcry in Saddam Hussien yesterday when Justice Saddam Hussein declared that the defendant Dr Saddam Hussein guilty for negligence because the plaintiff Mrs. Saddam Hussein, who was given contraceptives, conceived the now born healthy baby named Saddam Hussein during the treatment period. However, in a twist of events, according to medical reports, the baby was not fathered by Saddam Hussein, but by an adulterer of the same name. According to Mr. Saddam Hussein’s close friend, Mr. Saddam Hussein, their marriage was already in tatters well before Mr. Saddam Hussein left with his colleague, Mr. Saddam Hussein for a business trip on behalf of Hussein Inc. Report by Saddam Hussein.’

God bless those who work for a CEO of the same name.

I think the most terrible thing that the original Saddam Hussien did was to trust America like he used to. Personally, I still think that Bush envies Saddam’s looks. Hmm…I can almost smell it… Saddam Cheong Hu Sin……

New Genre of Bapa Ayam!!!

2006-09-11T08:29:00.000+08:00

Red alert guys. Be afraid. Be very very afraid. There is a new version of Bapa Ayam in town. More suave, more style and more persuasive then ever before, these Bapa Ayam will pimp you in no time.

Well it happened last Saturday, when i was at Sri Petaling's Lrt station. I've got a date with my sisters and i was supposed to wait for them at about 6.30p.m. over there. There is a bus stop right in front of the station and it was there where i chosed to sit and wait, cracking my head on Stephen Hawking's A Brief History Of Time along the way.

I started waiting at about 6.20p.m., occasionally lifting my eyes from my book to scan the road. There were some 10-15 people over there, decent blokes i should say.

I was very engrossed in my reading. People came and left without me noticing. I really don't mind waiting over there for an hour or more. Nevertheless, at about 6.40p.m., i looked up again to make sure my sisters have not arrived yet. Well, one never knows whether they drove by a few times, missed my ugly face and start curing me, right? Suddenly, out of the blue, a thin, skinny man, dark in complexion, dressed unassumingly in typical T-shirt and shorts, holding a plastic bag in one hand and standing some 1.5 metres in front of me, turned his face away from the road and looked towards me. His mouth was slightly ajar and i thought i saw only 2 nicotine+coffee stained teeth in his lower jaw when he gave me a wry smile.

I gave him the 'I know kungfu don't mess with me' kinda look and resumed my reading. Yet, undeterred the man who i think was in his mid 30's try to strike a conversation with me.

He said in Mandarin:" Wah, waited very long oh? The stupid Intrakota bus never come on time. What time is it now?"

"Er, 6.40" Resuming my reading.

"Did the bus come at 6.15? It always come at 6.15."

"Er, I don't know" Resuming my reading once again.

"Don't worry, the bus will definitely come at 7.15. They always do. They never go on for more than 45 minutes." (Obviously he failed his maths)

"Er, they'll never come on time. Sometimes, for 1 to 2 hours. You'll never know" I answered, resuming my readin yet again.

"No lah. The interval is never more than 45 minutes. You know, last time, there was once the Intrakota stick one notice on a post in the bus stand and said "Bas Rosak".....bla... bla... bla..." He kept on rambling on the bus service while helping himself to an empty seat next to me.

Throughout the conversation, i only said "ah....ahha.....ya.....er...."etc. I've met nagging aunties and uncles on buses before and they never stop trying to hook you up on a conversation. They are pretty harmless and i thought this was another typical homesick lonely man.

However.......
"Hey, You've always waited for the bus at this station right?"He asked suddenly.

"Er....No i did not" I've never waited for buses at Sri Petaling's station before and his remark made me cautious.

"Yes you did! I've alwasy see you wait for the bus here around this time"

"No. It must be a case of mistaken identity" Getting afraid.

"Yes. I've seen you before. Where did you stay?"

I realised where this conversation is heading and I gave a pretty clever/stupid answer...."Sri Petaling loh"

"Eh this is Sri Petaling, issn't it?"

"Em... Near The Store"

"Oh... I see.... Well, would you like to have some fun with me?"

I screamed "Huh?????????? No no. I don't think i want to have fun with you"

"Don't worry. I can introduce 'zhai' to you"

I wondered the 'zhai' here means gay guys or girls. Anyhow, i shoke my head vigourously and said "no...no..."

" No need money one... no need money"

"No no no no no not interested...not interested" By now i'm shaking my head so much i can feel that i might shake out the fillings of my teeth.

"I give you my number....You want happy you call me..." And he fetched his phone.

" No No No"

"Why, there is nothing to worrry about what..." he tried to reason with me. " You looks is not bad..."

I would certainly want to nod my head but by this time my brain went out of sync and i regrettably shaked my head further.

"You got girlfriend or not?"

"No No No"

"Then there is no thing to be afraid of..."

"I'm not interested! I'm not interested!"

By this time my sisters came and quickly i ran off. It was such a nightmare. Some Bapa Ayam or Gay bastard tried to solicit sex from me. I'm now living in trauma. Why all Bapa Ayam in KL target me??? Gosh... girls, be careful.

Back by popular demand

2006-07-07T21:22:00.000+08:00

Do you know that my monitor is currently out of order? It still work, just that my monitor shows everything in yellow. Anybody has any idea of how I can fix it? Or anybody has any idea why technology keeps disintegrating once I have touched them???? I think this is a very critical problem. Computers never fail to fail under me. When I were sitting for a class on Microsoft PowerPoint, the computer that I’m working on will never fail to crash, never fail to fail to run my slideshow at least once in five times and never show my graphs in proper manner in Microsoft Excel, no matter which one out of 60 computers that were available (and I’m using original).

That said, it has been a long time since I’ve bloged. Been to KL motorshow with Mun Ching, to see a play in Sentul Timur with my date Eli (muahahahahaha), and rejected my place at UKM. I’ve also seen many movies, like Tokyo Drift, Superman Returns and Robin Williams R.V.. The actions and breath taking camera angles in Tokyo Drift really make Initial D looks like child’s play. The girls are hot, cars cool, and the drifting simply electrifying. Just that the plot might be further strengthened. However, if the plot is compared to Superman Returns, Tokyo Drift will be seen as a class act. Apart from spirited performance by Brandon Routh, who portrays Christopher Reeves perfectly, I think the cast and the plot left much to be desired. Routh looked too young to be a father and the empty promises of Lex Luthur discovering the supreme technologies of Krypton a real let down. I thought Lex Luthur will gain the same powers of superman, or at least, possess crystal weapons that can swat F-16s like flies. The real excitement was when audiences discover Superman has a son and one of the thugs is actually an accomplished pianist!!! R.V. is a tasteful slapstick comedy and is very much entertaining. I think R.V. is a very good movie in a sense that there are many values as undertones. Its just that the beginning part was a bit boring. However, once you get into the think of things, the movie actually leaves you in stitches.

The next worthwhile movies to watch will be Pirates of the Caribbean and Dragon Tiger Gate. Anyone wants to watch with me? Of course not.

troubledshooter

2006-05-24T20:59:00.000+08:00

Do you believe in luck? Do you believe in fate? Tell you a secret. Among my friends, i'm noted for bad luck with girls and tech toys. I'll not ponder anout my luck with girls cause that will be all too painful to me, I'll dwell on my flings with tech gadgets.

I'm never good with technology. Every damn thing that is not natural becomes garbage when they reach my hands. My friends admire me on my credibility on making electronics fail by itself. It might be me being too callous, too cowboyish when i use technology, but to tell you the truth, i still have no idea on what have i done wrong on the occasions that my tech toys malfunction. Nor did my friends.

My printers are champions of disasters. They can either get their printerhead spoilt or their cuicuit boards toasted just like that, or their ink dried up miraculously whenever i want to use them.

Recently, i've been fixing a lot of my company's computers, curing all sorts of problems. Too much maybe, that's why lady luck tried to test my hardware skills and fried my CPU instead. I've got such a shock of my lifew when i found out one eventful day when my monitor stars blinking on and off like a boy drowning and gasping for air. Me, financially desperate, tried everything, from simple switch on and off procedure to dissecting ram and graphic card and reassemble again. Nothing works!

So desperate was I that finally I reached ot for my friend, Zentrox, who uncannily, recommended all the steps that i've done. We reached a common understanding that it must be hardware failure and nothing short of a component replacement will do the trick. Unwillingly, we went to Low Yat together to get confirmation from professionals. (With all my cash that i ever had)

The verdict, motherboard and power supply unit failure. To make things worse, that guy ripped me off RM30. Then, i bought a new power supply unit and a motherboard for a total RM270. I've decided to assemble it on my own as i have not explored the connection between power supply and motherboard yet. We did the assemly at Zentrox's house. We really have a real fun albeit dangerous time exploring all the connections. Sometimes, we weren't really sure of what we are doing as not all instructions are stated in the readme file. We gambled on some ports but finally got my computer up and starting.

Later on, at my home, i tried reinstalling my windows, but my computer just can't detect the .exe files. It turned out that the cd-rom drive was spoilt. Funnily, it was really the last thing on my list that i suspect is spoilt as it can detect other files fairly well like mp3 and wav etc. I was so desperate that i even tried changing the IDE cables! Anyway, jargons a side, it set me back a hefty 115 bucks. Now, after all my investments, some RM450, inclusive of bus fare, my modem kept on giving me error 651. To tell the truth, i'm currently using my 3rd printer in 5 years, and my 4th cd-rom drive in 2 years. Heck, is this fate or what?

Troubleshooter

2006-05-12T22:41:00.000+08:00

Sorry for writing late…..again. For the last few days I was very busy, being harassed by a certain fiend uh…..friend of mine half a globe away. If you want to complain, please go forth to www.kumonoito.blogspot.com and lodge your report on the chatterbox.

As some of you may know, my work involves me working with a computer, not on a computer. But it was exactly what I did these past few weeks, holding the screwdriver more than a pen. It all started less than 5 minutes into my new job, when my boss (BOSS A) asked me whether I’m computer savvy. He said that most computers here are old stuffs, and I said no problem (Well, actually I really don’t have any problem working with any type of computer as long as they are not older than me. Serious!).

Then, 5 days into my new job, he intercom me and asked me whether I can work a scanner. I told him no as I don’t have a scanner yet (at that time), and I have not used any scanner in my life yet (at that time). Later, I think it was another week later, my boss tried to introduce something high tech into one of my colleague’s computer that runs on Windows 95. It was a USB port meant for the PCI slot. My colleague unfortunately, does not possess the rudiments of a computer, and my boss was kinda busy. So he asked my help. I helped him fixed it but the problem was, the o/s has problems detecting the USB. Of course! USB doesn’t exist before 1999(I guess)! Anyhow, we never thought of that problem but suggest that it only happens to that particular computer. So he and I decided to try it on another computer. It was still the same (the computer was running on Windows 98).

Another colleague saw me working on the computer, asked me to rewire her computer because she wanted to shift her CPU some where else. I obliged. My boss kept an eye on me and from then on kept on asking me varied questions regarding computers. One day he will ask me to sit down in his office and talked and ask me to explain the difference of 16x dvd rom drive and 52x cd rom drive, asked me why one of his computer can play a certain dvd but another computer with almost identical specs can’t. Other days, he will pull out one IDE cable and another floppy cable and asked me what the difference is. Sometimes, he will ask me to give suggestions to his problems at hand, like how come he cannot safely remove his external hard drive. Some of these are so complicated I need to hide in the office toilet and send these IQ questions to Zentrox. (Fei Zhai, you really don’t know who Zentrox is? He is actually a computer idiot. That’s what he is. So whenever I got problems, I’ll call him and get my “Idiot’s guide to Computing”. Pretty handy though. Sometimes, we watch crazy movies together, like Ultraviolent and My Dick have fun with Jane. We often break our backs at some mountains near Star Hill, and our favourite movie is Alexander the Gay. Our worst moment is eating FABs together and our finest moment is preparing our gifts to 25 zhai.)

My ultimate was helping another boss (BOSS B) format his computer and setup the computer again, including LAN, antivirus and all that. It has 150G and it took me half a day. Then, BOSS A, I think, felt uneasy in relying me on tech support all the time, installed Norton Antivirus 2004 on one on my colleague’s computer. He knows that there was a virus EKK on the computer, and he wanted to clear it up. Unfortunately, after installation, it crashed. He didn’t want to tell me at first, but when the situation went dire, he said. “Shengcui, there is a problem with this computer. I think the antivirus software made it crash. You continue from here.” Then he went off.

It took me 3 hours to clean up the mess. I removed the hard drive, hook it to another ‘healthy’ computer, scanned it and cleared the virus before realizing the computer crashed because my boss was trying to run Norton Antivirus on 16 MB RAM!!! Then, 2 days later, my boss asked me to take out another colleague’s computer hard drive so that he can hook it up with his computer via his external hard drive casing, so that he can mimic what I did last time. I don’t know what happened but the whole hard disk went dysfunctional after that. The computers, both my boss and my colleagues, don’t recognize the hard disk format. Even a computer technician certified the hard disk as dead. Nothing short of a reformat will do. All data would be lost. (The data here involves the data of the whole company for 6 years!!!!)

I don’t know what I did but at the end of the day, I ‘revived’ it. All data is intact. All my colleagues and BOSS A asked whether I entered the wrong stream, and urged me to give my career a total rethink. Well, actually, to tell the truth, I’m completely no good in computer before all these. After all these problem solving, I’m only slightly better in computer skills. It’s my BOSS A that stimulates me to think and apply my computer common sense. It is him that provided me the chance to push my tech skills further, and helped me gained invaluable insights and experience in computer trouble-shooting. And to think of him placing the fate of a more than 25 year old firm into the hands of a barely 20 year old kid that he barely knows, I think he is among the best bosses I will ever work with. Thank you.

Trip to Malacca, Food Havoc.

2006-04-21T22:34:00.000+08:00

I'll first write about my two trip to Malacca. My first one was god knows which saturday. My parents and I went down to Malacca to attend a ponggal, an indian thanks giving ceremony performed in gratitude of their gods. My family friend's wife, also er.... my family friend, had suffered from a stroke, and her husband, a hindu priest and medium which i call aneh, had done prayers in the hope that his wife will recover. Since then her health has improved and so he dicided to hold a ponggal at his temple. Its a Sri Mariaman temple but here's the catch. The temple is no ordinary temple, but one deep in an oil palm estate. My father says on a 'fierce' night, he can hear tigers growl. My father's car has to endure the bumpy dirt road's drive of roughly 15 minutes. The surrounding was dark, with owls howling and cows mooing. Anywhere we go, the car light seems to shine on trees. I wonder whether my father has any help from the divine because his car failed to fall into a ravine.
Soon we reached the temple, greated by fluorescent lights and a beaming uncle sedhu, my father's childhood friend. My father, on seeing him, turned into a young boy again and i, for the past 10 years wondering for the reason why i'm so em.... 'ganjil', finally got to know why i am what i am. Its all too similar!!!
We saw aneh and his family. His wife has almost recovered, with only swellings to his left hand and inability to control her vocal chord.
My mother and i followed the hindu custom by praying to ghanapathi, then to Ah mah, to lord murugan, then to kali, to muniandy and then finally ending by praying to ghanapathi again. To cut things short, we finished our ritual and cooked milk rice with brown sugar in honour of 'Ah mah' which we feasted on. Then, my father sped my mother and i back to Malacca town and we had a good look at Malacca's night life. Then, he brought us to eat satay celup.
This particular owner, the third generation running the shop, is a keen businessman who offers special prawn satays for 50 cents each if he finds you eating a lot. U can't grab or ask for it. They will distribute it the way they like. These prawns usually measures up to 5-6 inches long which are big! they are thick, juicy and succulent. That guy saw us gobbling up our food so he gave us three. One 6 inches long and two 5. I took them, gave my father the 6-inch-long and both me and my mother had the 5-inch-longs. My mother must have taken it to heart because when the next round came, the guy gave us another prawn and my mother took it all for herself. The guy gaver us only one prawn. If my father's prawn was incredibly big, this one is obscene coz its 8 inches long. Yup its 8 INCHES LONG!!!!! If u want a clearer picture of it, look at the length of you arm from wrist to elbow. She can't even dip the whole prawn into the boiling pot, and it took her some 10 minutes to cook it.
The next trip down to Malacca was during ching ming. It is one of the days which me and my brother desperately looked forward to. We went there early in the morning to beat the heat of afternoon sun. After performing the rituals at my grandma's grave, we headed down to Malacca town again, and once again, for food. My brother and i gobbled up 9 plates of 'Tau gua' or bean curd which is some 60 pieces of them. Because every Ching Ming day is food day, my grandma must be rolling in her grave.

All work and no play makes jack suffers from constipation

2006-04-20T22:24:00.000+08:00

Yup! You all happy now? For the past week, I've been doing O.T., and my computer was giving me a handful. So, my toilet time was worse then labour. Maaybe i'm too stressed up and all i need is to relax a bit(at the expense of my boss). Sorry for not blogging this past 2 months. I've been really busy, but i'll relate all to you. I went down to Malacca twice. One to attend a ponggal and the other time was for Qing Ming. MY granny had her birthday dinner, my mom did hers and my papa had it too. I got dispatched to Serdang to work, came back to office after a week, found more work, done all of it and more work again. MY computer caused me loads of troubles and made me real desperate, and broke too. I'll write all these in a couple of days and show you on my blog. The night is getting older, and my eye pouches are getting darker. Thats all for today:)

Monkey See, Monkey Do

2006-02-28T23:21:00.000+08:00

Its been 2 weeks since i took up the job. Time passes by so fast that the whole week was just like, you woke up on monday just to find out a few hours later that its friday already. Life was calm and routine. I've suspect that if only i can get a 6 foot 2, 38-22-40 Latin American as my wife, get a bungalow and an xc90, have 5 lovely kids, life on earth would beat the days on heaven handsdown!( of course i must be dreaming i can't even get a decent 5 foot 2) I've got to admit, its tough working. And most of the time I didn't even use my brains when i'm doing my job( I suspect if I have any). Most of the time i'm wondering whether i indeed listened attentively on my school lessons or my teachers are ill equipped in knowledge to teach. Everyday, i'll just refer to old documents and.....monkey see, monkey do. Or, ask my colleagues and people say, monkey do. Life was sweet and calm before right before my boss asked me to go out all by myself to do field work! I've got such a shock of my life! Who else's homework i've gonna copy??? Or who else should i consult? Can i be like....em...pick up the phone and ask.....boss.....the form is this and this and this....what should i do!? Sigh......my field work is on Thursday.......and STPM result is coming out soon. Gasp! God must be forsaking me!Ha ha, joking. My colleagues are first class and i'm learning the ropes pretty quickly. Just today, the whole staff room grind to a halt just to think of ways for me to get to brickfields on thursday. They helped me a lot on the brainy part and i try to do my best to help them with brawn. Just today i have to move dunno how many thousands of files just to uncover 1 or 2 old ones lying deep inside the store cum office! My boss was nice to me....because he has not called me to his office and scold me for incompetency....Haha! But i've got to admit i'm pretty slow. Now i am doing 3 jobs all at once!

From 1st gear to 5th

2006-02-19T17:36:00.000+08:00

I'm sorry guys for letting you wait. I was supposed to write this yesterday but can't because I have to help a particular friend of mine with his/her homework half a globe away. So, sorry readers, but I've make up with 2 posts. So I hope Kelly Ti Lien Ghee won't complain. I'm working now, but I won't write it down here on what i work as or whose my boss. ( You never know whether your boss is keeping track of your blogs, right?) So, leave your e-mails in the comment box or meet me in MSN messenger so that i can give you all a more 'personalised' answer. But before that I've got to thank lien ghee for holding a birthday party. Met a lot of my old friends there.

So here's the recount of my haphazard week.

Sunday

It is Chap Goh Meh and i went to market with my mom to buy stuffs for our steam boat dinner. Then I went to temple with parents and had our lunch there. Came back to prepare the food for steam boat. My granny came, my brother, his wife and my sister came back to help. There were vegies, sotong balls, home made fish paste with fatt choy inside (yup! fatt choy), crab meat sticks, prawns, pork and chicken fillets, and scallops etc (woh! i can't believe it! but my mom bought scallops! You all should know that i come from a poor family).
So the highlight of the day was when i helped my granny to fry "fu chok" (bean curd skin with fish paste in it). I'm a kitchen veteran and obviously not afraid to cook. I have confidence that my food taste good too. But perhaps because i was having a fairly good time, or maybe it was after effects of my blogging activities, i accidentally dipped my left hand 4th finger (i dunno what to call it) into hot oil! See lien ghee, its all because of you, forcing me to blog, and that's why bad luck has been on me. It won't be long until i get raped and you'll be happy. I cooled it down with water(which according to my mom, wrong) too relieve my pain. But still, it felt terrible. It was then my quick thinking make me see the half frozen scallops lying beside the basin. With gusto, i took the mushy but cold scallops and placed them on my finger. It killed the pain immediately. So next time, dear readers, if somebody ask you what is the medicinal value of scallops, your answer, painkiller.
Nevertheless a huge boil did surface and i got no guts to burst it. At night, my brother's godfather, together with his family joined us for steam boat. Trust me, the food were good especially for the prawns and scallops.

Monday

I went for my interview at 9.00a.m. in the firm at Jalan Changkat Bukit Bintang. My interviewer is the firm's partner, Mr Yong. He is a nice man. Then I was introduced to my colleagues. There is Bee, Boon, Zehra, etc (Eh, don't be mistaken that i work in a zoo. Its not bee, baboons and zebras mind u! They are kind, cheerful and helpful!) My work desk was just outside the partner's room. I was given a 50-something pages thick guidelines to read for the whole day.
Later that day, during lunchtime, a self-proclaimed Sabahan teacher approached me to try ang rip me off RM35 so that he can reach KLIA. I told him that it was my first day of work. U must see how disappointed he was.

Tuesday

Went to work, continued to read guidelines, and soon received my first ever assignment. It was kind of simple but of course, I'm stupid so i have to disturb boon for help all the time.

Wednesday

This was the 'Big' day. While I was busy finishing my first assignment, bee, together with another girl, moved 2 boxes of documents to my workplace, and asked me to help her out. the were about 15 main documents, each the size of yellow pages.Me awed.

Thursday

Reached my office some 10 minutes late. What's worse was that my company's partner was alreadyt standing in front of my desk, and smiling at me. Continued to struggle past the pile of paper. Boon and bee were out on field work so it was up to me to guess out the direction of where should i be heading. While I was on the way home, somebody accidentally stuck his lighted cigratte onto the back of my right hand. Now i have a boil on my left hand and burn marks on my right. Great. Then later on, at Jalan Bukit Bintang, a bapak Ayam called out to me!!!! Sigh....do i look so desperate?

Friday

Boon and Bee came back, I realised that the direction i was heading was to damnation. Panicked and tried to do u-turn.Spent the whole day doing things all over again.

The Three Ringgit Bet

2006-02-19T16:13:00.000+08:00

2 days before I start working, my brother took me to look around the firm. We saw the building, talked bout other things when we came to the question of food.

"There are many foods to choose from in Jalan Alor. I think your colleagues will invite you to dine with them. Don't worry those guys are quite thrifty." He said.

"Well, that's good. As long as its under 3 ringgit then it will be ok" I said.

"3 ringgit? I bet you eat shit!"

"Well, what do you suggest huh? My pay is low. I try my best to get a 3 ringgit meal. Sister-in-law said that she found a 2-something mixed rice before." I protested.

"She's a girl mah. You are a boy. You want to eat as much as her? In my workplace, my meals are guaranteed RM5 and above. Anyway, I would really like to see how you survive on RM3 on food per day". He said.

He threw me the gauntlet and so the challenge is on. Below is the list of food and their price from monday to friday.

Monday>> >Mixed rice, no drinks-------------------------------------RM3.20
Tuesday>>>Roast chicken rice, no drinks------------------------------Rm3.50
Wednesday>Mixed rice, no drinks-------------------------------------RM4.00
Thursday*>Mixed rice, boiled sugar cane water-----------------------Rm5.20
Friday>>>>BBQ pork rice, no drinks----------------------------------RM4.00

*on thursay, my colleagues went out for field work. So it was up to me to decide what to eat. I wanted to look for roti canai, but the shop has no customers, no houseflies, just waiters. So I decided to have rice instead. Drank boiled sugar cane water because my sore throat was getting worse(for not drinking water for the last few lunches)

So, to reach my mark of averaging RM3 or less for each lunch, from next week, I have to
bring soy sauce so that i can swallow down plain white rice,
or bring sandwiches from home (that's cheating),
or have bread & buns everyday
or even roti canai kosong with kopi O.

By the time I'm done, I am ready to go to hospital. So what do you readers think, huh? My pride's at stake.

Burglary

2006-02-09T00:33:00.000+08:00

Kelly Ti Lien Ghee, you owe me big time. Ever since I started this blog, many things, eventful and uneventful has happened to me. Now a burglary has happened in my house. Are you happy?

Joking. Um, but the theft is real.

I woke up this morning, at 5.16a.m. after somebody knocked on my room door. In a daze, I heard my mother calling me out, saying that somebody is trying to still my father's bongsai. Alarmed, i quickly jumped out of my bed, ran out to the front compound, leaving my specs behind.
When i saw the empty stand where a bongsai used to be, my heart sank. The gate in my front compound was ajar. I dashed out to the road, but nothing was in sight. There wasn't a ghost on the road. Only silence.
I went back to fetch my specs, and when i went out again, my father had returned. It seems that my father gave a chase, on foot. We examined the gate, which was slightly bent.
It was a small, typical gate, that uses a bolt to close and link the two sides of the gate and another bolt that anchors the ground. Just like those that you usually see in new houses. The bolt(anchor) was lose, while the other bolt was still firmly in place, with the lock on it. The catch is, the gate was ajar.
My mother recounted that a loud crash, similar to one that is caused by a car accident, woke her up. My father woke up a second later. Both of them looked out through the window, which shows the front gate. They were shocked when they saw a man carrying a medium sized bongsai, roughly about 30 kg, up from the stand. My father gave a shout, dashed out of the room, took time to open the gate of my house(my house have 2 gates, one is the front gate and the other leading out of my living room), and ran after the burglar. My mother woke me up.
Then, while we were still puzzled by how the thief opens the gate, my neighbour, Uncle Lim came. He told us that he heard the crash, looked out of his balcony, and saw the thief carrying the pot. The thief was small built, some 40-50 years old, with gray hair, and was wearing a stripe shirt. He went back to fetch his keys, dashed out of his house just in time to watch the thief rode by his house in a motorbike, the bongsai balancing precariously on his lap. That was a rather big bongsai with branches some 20 cm long, which makes it some 40 cm in diameter. Uncle Lim gave chase in his car but lost him in the twists and turns of the housing estate's roads.
It was among the best bongsais that my father has. It has the best apex. It wouldn't have cost much, the pot and soil, but it took both my father and Uncle Lim, a bongsai sifu himself, painstaking years and devotion to trim it. In fact, the bongsai is 22 years old. I wouldn't speculate on its market value. The incident broke their hearts, and mine too.
After much thought, we came to common ground that the thief must have studied my house and the bongsai for a long time. This is because we have a "beware of dog" sign on the gate, but of course my dog had passed away 2 years ago. Therefore he has no worries. Secondly, he studied the bongsai very well. Every bongsai has its designated front, sides and back. A bongsai is valued by looking at its front, which was facing inside, leaving the back facing the road. It looks like a green mushroom if you look from outside of the house. So he must have spent a long long time just to analyse it. Unless this is a common robber stealing every damn thing under the sun in the hope that he accidentally steals the best things. Not very bright huh?
He must have climbed into the house compound through the wall. Once inside, he lifted the bolt(anchor) and gave the gate a good, strong kick, which explains the bent. This action will push both sides of the gate out, and the other bolt would have scratched against the gate. He kicked it so forcefully that the bolt scrapped all the way out of its 'holder' and seperated the 2 sides. Then, he removed the bongsai and climbed onto his motorcycle for his getaway.
Therefore, my friends, if you live in a small house with a small gate like mine, think about changing it(the gate, I mean). The burglar was so efficient he probably had done it hundreds of times. No kidding. My mother, father and Uncle Lim only heard one crashing sound, which means the thief did it in just one kick.
Everytime I see burglary, rape and murder I thought that they only happen to somebody else. Unfortuantely, I'm also somebody else to somebody else, and now it was my turn. The world has never been a safe place. Every damn thing happens. Gentlemen/ladies, don't leave prescious things in your compound that passersby can see, even though they are ought to be outside of the house. Bring them indoor. If you love your dogs, keep them indoor. Put an alarm.

Scary day act 2

2006-02-07T23:47:00.000+08:00

It was sure to come. There was no running away from it. The day finally came when Wen Sern, Zentrox and Kuan Yong came to my house to finish up 2 packets of pasta, a large jar and a little bit more of prego sauce (actually its 1 1/4 jar), and the taiwanese sausages that we were supposed to finish up in PD 2 weeks ago. Things go really haywire whenever we get together, you know?
I told Wen Sern to buy some mushrooms and i expected them to be fresh. Instead he bought me dried up ones. Well it will do. He came first. I did the minced meat, seasoned it before Zentrox and Kuan Yong arrived with drinks. Kuan Yong can't believe how clean his small, tiny pot was when compared to the dirty blackened one that he 'accidentally' left in my house. It took lots of time to clean it.
Then things started to get dangerous. Kuan Yong, a certified pastry chef got all egoistic, Wen Sern took command, Zentrox voiced his opinions and i tried to maintain control. 4 voices shouted at one another, sometimes crude and vulgar, but we laughed all the time. They looked every nook and corner of my kitchen for food and sauce that can be 'justified' for use on our pasta. Heck, they nearly dismantled my whole house. Have you ever seen anybody using Lee Kum Kee's oyster sauce for pasta? No? Well, then u haven't seen us cooking. One of them spotted a can of clams and they tried to claim it for use. Luckily i saw that. If i didn't supervise them, i'm sure that even my grandma's ginseng will go to pot. They are bloody communists I tell you!
Kuan Yong manned the chopping block, apparently dismayed by the way i diced the garlic and onions. This guy works the devil out of a knife! He can chop real fast and the cuts are even and fine. His skills are dazzling but at least things slowed down a bit when he mistook his middle finger for one of the taiwanese sausages. Yup! One deep slash right on the back of his right middle finger. Blood oozed out. Tried to get him a sanitary pad but a handiplast came just in time.
Zentrox and me tried to calm down Wen Sern, who was adamant to cook all the 2 packets of pastas in a row, each about 500g.
I still can remember him saying, "What's the worry? there are 4 of us, it is just 250g of pasta for each of us. 500g is not a family size. 1kg is about it. We can easily devour 250g of things. U can't? Well i can." Then, he dumped the 2 packets into boiling water. He won.
Kuan Yong and I added some salt to the water while Wen Sern took the liberty to pour oil into the boiling water. Ya. The boiling water with pasta in it. And incredulously, Zentrox seconded him. Where on earth did they get the idea anyway? The whole situation was so chaotic nobody seems to be in control of himself. After the oil has been poured, i showed them the direction on boiling pasta that was stated on 1 of the packets of pasta. It was in English and it was obvious that it mentioned nothing about oil. They grinned.
Then, to rub salt onto the wound, Kuan Yong pointed out that Wen Sern miscalculated the weight of pasta that each of us will have to consume. He said that each of us will have 250 g of pasta. Dried pasta. After it comes to boil, it most probably weighs twice as heavy.
Plus tomato sauce, minced meat, sausages, cheese and mushrooms, I can safely say that each of us will be consuming about 600-700g of food. More grins.
After that, without much ado, we heated the wok and started to cook. We cooked the taiwanese sausages first. Then, with gusto, Wen Sern and I stir fried the garlic and onions, and poured all the prego tomato sauce into the wok, before realising that we yet to cook the minced meat and mushrooms. Disaster. We did it on a seperate pan and then add to the gravy. Anyway, you must see the glimmer of madness in Zentrox's eyes when he was dishing out the oregano, salt, and pepper onto the sauce. I was scared. He was mad.
Then we had our meal. At 12.30p.m.. Most of us didn't have our breakfast and were hungry like wolves. Despite our haphazard way of cooking, it actually tastes damn good! Zentrox and I had 2 helpings, Kuan Yong had 1 and the rest, the remaining 1kg of wet pasta, minus the sauce were all Wen Sern's.
That guy was so fedup halfway through that he played with his pasta in such disgusting ways that if i describe them here, authorities would have taken down my blog the next day. Anyway, that guy was so full he went to the toilet during the dinner. To clear more room.
My mother came back and helped him out. Then we went on a joyride to times square in a car. Yup! The speed demon's. I can't believe it that it was still a one-wheel-drive and the sand from PD laid untouch on his rubber sheets! Along the way we scratched the car's bottom on some speed bumps, accelerated while executing corners and violating a double-line. Same old story.

CNY

2006-02-02T23:50:00.000+08:00

Happy Chinese New Year to everybody. Yet my disappointment, this year's CNY has not been an exception, the celebration atmosphere and the spirit of gaity have been slipping away, largely due to the stagnant Malaysian economy and the ban on firecrackers. Nevertheless, CNY has never failed to be unforgettable, just like the 3a.m. firecrackers that woke me up for 4 straight night. They arte illegal, of course.

CNY was all routine to me, spring cleaning, bake cookies, decorate, pray and have the all important reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, but the fun started at the first day of CNY, when, after all the painstaking spring cleaning for the last few days, i still miraculously woke up at 8, but i did a stupid thing by wishing my father by saying, "PaPa, Happy CHINESE New Year".

Like a wily fox that he always is, he said," Son, being a Chinese, we don't wish another Chinese a Happy Chinese New Year, We wishes Him/her Happy New Year, stupid."

OUCH!

How can i forget such a new year!!!!What a way to kick stat my new year.

Which partially explains why my neighbour's house nearly caught fire.

My neighbour is a good man A successful young man at his 30's, he is polite and steadfast in Chinese cultures and traditions, which to me is a pluspoint. The tragedy struck when after praying to the Tian Gong on 2 make wooden table as a makeshift altar in the morning, with all the incense, josssticks and stuffs, my neighbour and his family left their house unattended. I didn't see it but base on my analysis and experience, he must have placed his incense too deep into the bronze urn, which can result smouldering of the incense stick, much like a peat fire. It orcurs when the part of the incense that was meant to be burned got underneath the ash in the urn, so the spark of fire on top of the top end of the incense will finally make its way underneath the ash, generating enough heat to start a smoulder.As the urn was bronze, and there were a lot of burn materials (especially taking note of my neighbour's amount of josssticks and incense used when he was ushering the god of wealth) , the urn acted like an iron, and the heat finally consume the tables. It causes much smoke due to incomplete combustion(lack of oxygen causes carbon monoxide) but nobody realises it except us because he had just built a large gate that block all visibility of the front compound from the outside, so most of my neighbours probably thought some devoted nutcase been praying for 4D numbers.

The fire could have gotten much worse if my father didn't douse the fire in time.

Therefore, I urge people to be more careful when you pray. For instance, you can place a tile or glass in between the urn and the table, or use a ceremic urn instead of bronze as it doesn't conduct heat that much. Or else, you can also renovate your house and build more neighbour-friendly-cum-burglar-friendly gates and fences so that other people will always have a clue on what you are doing.

Then, on the 4th day of CNY, I went out for a movie with Wen Sern, Zentrox and Jeff. We watched Fearless in Berjaya Times Square. It is a very nice movie, pretty original storyline, and highly recommended if you ever is a Chinese. The whole KL was so traffic free that we took a taxi. Zentrox's sole came off from one of his sandal and all of us was glad to repair it for him with a cellotape, ala-mummy style.

Scary day

2006-01-24T23:38:00.000+08:00

Today is probably one that got straight off from a hollywood script. I woke up this morning, about 80% recovered from my sickness and straight away looked for the birthday cake sweet Phooi Fun bought for me because I was unwell to eat it yesterday. I never got to find it and i bet my family ate all of it. Dang!
Then the guys came and we load all the things up my friend's car. Can you believe it, we put our budget at RM80 and end up paying well over RM140. And come to think that Wen Sern is studying commerce and I'm in accountancy, that doesn't make us very bright huh? Together with Zentrox and Kuan Yong, we left for Port Dickson at 9.30 a.m.
Now the scary part.
All the way to Port Dickson, 3 out of 4 of us got really scared because one of us who was driving was going 0-80 kph in 5 sec, going 110 kph at normal trunk roads, 195 kph on the highway and overtaking cars on the left lane. I should have known it when i saw his car having traded paint with other various 'road obstacles'. All along the journey we crossed various speed bumps. His car scratched 9 out of 10 of them. We reached PD in no time.
When we reached our destination, we cooked staight away. It was a nice windy, sunshiny day and there were a few stranded logs around for us to sit. I realised that it was the same beach i came with my parents twice before. The weather made it all worth while, well at least for the first 15 minutes. After that, every damn thing including my undies were covered with sand. At least our chicken wings taste perfectly.
Kuan Yong never realised that my BBQ pit was rusty and full of cobwebs and he was the first with enough guts to put his wing on it. Bravo.
Wen Sern came up with an ingenius way to cook our food. He dug a sand pit, placed in it 2 tight sealed aluminium foil, 1 containing potatoes and the other chicken wings, burried it and started a fire on it. It would act like an oven and slowly cook the food. The problem was, he dug in too deep. After all the open burning, he took up the raw chicken wings and he didn't even bother to open the potatoes, which stays there till this very hour of this very day.
Then we started to cook other ultraordinary-extrauncommon-totally unBBQable-foodstuffs on our BBQ pit like pizzas, bread and spaghetti. The pizzas, which I made were a hit! By the time we reach spahgetti our tank was full. We drank loads of crazy stuffs too. We were supposed to stay till 5p.m but we gave up and left at 2.
Now, to make the above scary part scarier.
My friend made a u-turn on the beach. Unfortunately, the car got stuck on the sand. We tried to push it out of the trap but in vain. Then we realised that whenever my friend step on the gas pedal, only the right front wheel turns. Which means that the front car axel has a problem, and instead of having a front-wheel-drive, we were actually riding on a one-wheel-drive that goes 195kph in no time!(Engineers please take note) From then on we realised that the car has a tendency to swerve right even the driver didn't turn the steering.
Anyway, some guys from FAMA who were having a recreational session nearby help us out, and we were soon back at 80kph.
Now the scariest of all.
While 3 out of 4 of us were squelling out of fright and 1 out of 4 of us were beating the asphalt and corners ala Initial D, we encountered a road accident. While 1 out of 4 of us were giving a sharp 90 degree turn at 60 kph in 4th gear into an offroad from a trunk road, all of us heard a loud bang from behind. We quickly looked back and saw a bike flying like a paper plane along the road followed by a motorist. A Malay. The Malay landed on the road, and layed head down, motionless, his helmet smashed and flung far away. We hesitated but got down from our car to take a look. Blood were oozing out onto the tar from the body. His right shoulder was smashed. there was an indian motorist lying on the ground beside his own bike, with nothing more than body ache.
There was a mamak stall nearby and many people came out to help. Some men tried to move him but I suggested not to. Yet when I saw blood continued to pour out, I asked for a cloth from mamak stall and placed it on the injured part in the hope that the blood will clot. We picked up the debris, but then we realised that we can't let the body stranding on a 2 lane double-line trunk road, so we have no choice but to move him away as traffic were slowing down. When we turn him upward, I saw his eyes and I thought "Oh my god!please have mercy."
His head was covered with blood, his eyes and mouth half-opened. His blood dripped onto my hands. None of us know how to treat him. Luckily, we saw him still breathing. Then there was this old Makcik, wearing tudung and baju kurung, who ran out from no where and cried over the victim's body. By then, Wen Sern had called every damn emergency department like police, ambulance and even bomba. He was constantly dialing and for a second I thought he would go on calling other government agencies like Mardi, Risda or even 911 and FBI.
The accident took place in front of Methodist Hostel. Chee Kang should know because he and I had spent some 4 days staying there a few years ago. The bomba came first and the fella came down from their fire engines, scratching their heads and also don't know what to do. We left (what we chinese call, no eye see), and headed home on a 120kph joyride, always swerving dangerously to our right. We have no mood to stay in PD any longer.

Lonerunner's Timeline

2006-01-23T22:24:00.000+08:00

Lonerunner's Timeline

Yesterday was my 20th birthday. Haih getting old liao. How many 20 years will there be for me? Yet it was one that i will remember most. My sister, my father and my friends celebrated my birthday and yet I got sick on that day. (Can't Believe it)
That Kelly Ti Lien Ghee was too much. Ripped me off at dinner's time and still want to force me to write a blog! Knowing very well that I always talk without my brains. Sooner or later I'll end up in I. S. A. Well, looking on the bright side, I can improve my English huh?
Wen Sern came back just in time to celebrate my birthday. Missed that guy so much. His hair is growing so dense now he is taking liberty in calling me botak. Went with him together with Zentrox Law to Carrefour to buy suffs for our BBQ trip in Port Dickson. Though I can still barely walk, I enjoyed the shopping very much. I enjoyed their company very much and I think they also appreciated my crazy thoughts.We laughed our way around Carrefour. We came back to my house to marrinade our chops and chicken wings. I guess none of us ever read The Idiot's Guide to Perfect Marinade. Can't wait to taste the food. Can't wait to go to Port Dickson tomorrow. Havoc beakoning.