September Melancholy

more test data here

2010-06-29T18:02:00.006+08:00

Nulla augue dui, sagittis malesuada auctor a, dignissim a nisi. Vivamus id commodo mi. In fermentum feugiat vehicula. Maecenas a velit neque, vitae molestie justo. Suspendisse quis ultrices massa.
Praesent massa tortor, lobortis ut venenatis ullamcorper, condimentum id mauris. Proin lacinia viverra magna sit amet tristique. Aliquam erat volutpat. Maecenas congue dui id mi facilisis vel viverra neque mollis. Duis rutrum congue mi, in suscipit nulla mattis vel. Mauris eget sapien ipsum. Maecenas laoreet, ipsum vel elementum vestibulum, magna nisl ornare eros, sit amet iaculis lectus ante sed ipsum. Integer sollicitudin ultrices libero a vehicula. Ut lacus libero, porttitor vitae volutpat et, porttitor in arcu. Mauris rhoncus, dolor id sollicitudin vehicula, eros ante luctus sem, eget vulputate orci sem at tortor. Etiam ac metus nulla. Sed est ipsum, sagittis eget viverra vel, pharetra quis augue. Vivamus mollis vehicula turpis at porttitor.

testing again

2010-06-29T15:52:00.002+08:00

test 1,2,3

Stop

2008-11-12T12:23:00.002+08:00

Stop

I am guilty....

2007-03-01T17:29:00.000+08:00

.......... of not updating this blog often.

New goals set:

- Do a facelift on blog design
- Blog on alternate days of the HNPH blog
- Include Jpop stuff and blogging
- Redo sidebar, include external widgets
- satires (experimental)

........ let's see how many of the above gets done.

Koi No Vacance - W (DoubleU) on classical guitar

2007-02-07T13:21:00.000+08:00

Been a refreshing and productive week, with lots of good news and stuff. Which can only mean one thing - bad days are ahead. That's the pessimistic Mick for you. (^_^)

Managed to (finally) record a song that I have transposed a long while ago. Also posted it on my Hello! Project blog. It didn't take me long to transpose the chords, melody and the guitar solo, but since I didn't write down the notations for it (too lazy to do it), it took me quite a number of tries before I get it right. ...... and because I have a short memory and attention span. (^o^)v

Few things I realised after uploading this video, is that I forgot to clean the lens before recording, and forgotten to include the guitar riff intro to the song...

Koi No Vacance - W (DoubleU)

Actually, I have reconsidered on tabbing my guitar works. I haven't surveyed the right software for it. Plus there are a number of things I need to buy - a proper recording microphone, and a digital camera. But once all that is settled, I'm going to film, record and tab my songs, and with publish it for TUTORIAL purposes. I shouldn't get into trouble for this.... I think. Read here, to know what I'm concerned about.

I will try with just ONE song first, to estimate how much work it takes to produce one, and if it is worth continuing. For those who are reading this, all suggestions and comments are welcome. Let me know if you have any good ideas.

By the way...

... it's also Kago Ai's birthday today! So a very Happy 19th Birthday to Aibon! Currently, I'm still hanging out at Hello! Project related websites for news about Aibon's situation. She's still suspended, but most of us fans have the same mindset - either she comes back this month, or she doesn't come back at all.

Sad but true. Oh well...

So true, so true...

2007-01-31T18:28:00.000+08:00

You Are a Seeker Soul

You are on a quest for knowledge and life challenges.
You love to be curious and ask a ton of questions.
Since you know so much, you make for an interesting conversationalist.
Mentally alert, you can outwit almost anyone (and have fun doing it!).

Very introspective, you can be silently critical of others.
And your quiet nature makes it difficult for people to get to know you.
You see yourself as a philosopher, and you take everything philosophically.
Your main talent is expressing and communicating ideas.

Souls you are most compatible with: Hunter Soul and Visionary Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

..... now who wants to know the meaning of life? (^o^)

A man like me... for someone

2007-01-31T00:14:00.000+08:00

A man like me
walks alone, lives alone,
eats and sleeps alone

Never dreamed of being afar
yet appearing distant
always gazing ahead
reminiscence of the past

had little desires in life
only but to live meaningfully
had sought perfection
only but flaws to be found

i care not for many
for many care not I

cheeks grown coarse
expression hardened
smiles are but a tool for another's satisfaction

body grown weary
feelings cold
gestures are but a proof for another's existence

thoughts grown infallible
emotions amok
voices are but a reserve for another's pleasure

do beautiful things only exist in dreams?
Nay, 'tis not true...
what was once only fantasy
had become reality

for who else...

who else would lay on my chest
finding comfort
who else would hold my hand
sensing belonging
who else would sieve through my hair
searching for feelings
who else would grace my eyes
looking for answers

who else would caress my temples
offering concern
who else would cuddle in my arms
resonating hope
who else would wrap around my waist
sharing closeness
who else would look into my heart
discovering paradise

none but someone... none but only one.

Truly
rhere's always a man like me ..... for someone

Back from the Training Grounds

2007-01-28T22:37:00.000+08:00

No I did not enter the military or national service.

I was involved for the Marriage Preparation Weekend for the Engaged course over the weekend. And I am SOOOO drained of all my energy from that whole grueling 3 days 2 nights event. I kept a journal throughout the course, and will share it here later.

All I can say that it was a weekend of new discovery. About myself and about my lovely fiance, which I can never look at her the same way again.

Forget about the rant I posted earlier. I realised now that it's all totally wrong. No part 2 or 3 on that will come.

For now, I need rest. ^_^

Trio of thoughts, Part 1 - What I am sick of...

2007-01-23T13:28:00.000+08:00

You now what motivates me? At this moment... it's a million dollars. US Dollars. I hear the Ringgit-US$ exchange have gone past the 3.50 mark already. So that's jolly good... we are doomed.

Money motivates me now. A million bucks would motivate me lots. Money would definitely solve all my problems. Get me out of this country, or get me a better life. Either way, it will definitely be good.

I am so sick and tired of being poor everyday. I am sick of being drained 75% of my bank account to pay off bills and rent, 3 days after my paycheck.

I am sick of wondering what I am going to eat today, because it will affect how much left I get to spend for the next few days. I am sick having only one meal per day, only drinks for breakfast and lunch.

I am sick of budgeting my driving trips because of the petrol hike, and carefully measuring the amount kilometers that I am able travel per ringgit.

I am sick of looking into my wallet and letting out a big sigh, because I know I am never going to get to buy that damn DVD-ROM for my PC(that has been eluding me for years now), upgrade my PC, buying the next single release from Morning Musume, fix my car, reinstall the radio/CD-player(that was stolen 2 years ago) in my car...

I am sick of not being able to save money in my many years living in the big city. I am sick of working with this ridiculous salary when I'm already pushing 30.

I am sick of instant noodles. I am sick of canned food. I am sick of being unable to get out of my fucking situation.

I am sick people telling me "Hey! You lost weight!", and I have no choice but to respond with a smile, instead of telling them that it is definitely not because I have enrolled in a gym.

I am sick of getting ill all the time. I am of my bad back killing me everyday. I am sick of my headache bugging me everyday. I am sick of my stiff neck torturing me everyday. I am sick of never being able to feel healthy for one freakin' day.... anymore

I am sick of people dragging me out of my lair for accompaniment, despite how many times I have hinted at them on my current financial status. I am sick of people bothering me, despite how many times I have hinted at them on my current health status.

I am sick of stupid people.

I am sick of having to bear the terrible feeling of letting myself down, that I have broken my own principles just to fulfill my other half's wish of getting married earlier. I am sick of having forced to ask for loan from my parents for that. I am sick of harbouring the feeling that I have been cheated into doing this shit. I am sick that after all my sacrifices, it doesn't seem to change anything, nor change anyone.

I am sick of having the feeling that I have achieved nothing for God, only worrying about my material needs, and I will definitely go to hell for it.

I am sick of having nowhere to find solitude and rest, only to express them in writing, on this blog...

I am sick and tired of the government and their controlled press media, wanting to censor every piece of shit just to make them look good. I am sick of them picking on their OWN people to save their own face, instead of going directly to the source of the problem and....err.... okay I just slipped that last one in. I feel better now, actually. :)

Have a great day ahead. Peace ^_^

A new blogging beginning.... or the end of it all?

2007-01-20T00:12:00.000+08:00

Well, that felt better... so here we go.

Blogging about blogging ..... yet again?
Nay... it's related. But it's more than that. Free style typing away here...

I've been thinking, what was the theme of this blog?

Yes, it's a personal blog. But everything I blog here are completely random. Some of them are just blogging for the sake of blogging. I hate doing things that doesn't have a definitive direction.

But then again, if I blog whatever I want, this blog will be closed down in no time.

I live in Malaysia, and for the benefit of non-Malaysians, this is not a place where you can practice freedom of speech. Everything is controlled, even the media.

Recent news about serveral top Malaysian bloggers being served the lawsuit because they wrote articles or parodies that probably criticized the government, poked fun at politics, or anything seemingly negative at all. And after a certain somebody kicked out a few key journalist of a certain newspaper, took on the role of chief editor, he started to bring out his weapons of pens and paper and begin throw lawsuits towards the aforementioned bloggers for libel.

And even for the previous statement, as cloudy and obscure as I try to make it, will probably land me lawsuit in no time. Then again, does anyone really care to do so?

I envy USA, where even David Letterman openly criticize President Bush on national television. Here, speak of anything negative, you get thrown to the lockup, or face the courtroom. Should I be more wary of what I blog? I don't think so. Because I don't think I am that influential as a writer or blogger. What I would eventually blog about, no matter how damaging the contents may be, may not change the society nor affect anyone. I don't matter. Unless I'm a member of the parliament or a renowned individual, then the stories will fly in all directions, and lawyers will visit my home.

I hate politics. Don't get me wrong, politics is important, as does the complex concept of country governing. If I were a politician, I make sure my policies count and benefit those who voted for me because of their confidence in me. But I'm not.

If I do discuss about politics, nothing positive would come out of it. Being a citizen of a country such as ours have its benefits, but when you are able to see past all the glorious twin skyscrapers, our mamak-circus astronauts, the "Malaysia Boleh" chants, you will find nothing but a decaying and hopeless dot in the world map called Malaysia.

Now you see what I mean by "nothing positive"? If not, here's more...

Think about it, we cast our votes and hopes to our local political parties campaigning so hot with lots of promises, then we get them breathing fire back at us. Breaking their promises, enacting ridiculous laws, hiking the taxes and tolls, and barring our basic civil rights in terms of freedom of religion choice, freedom of speech ... etc. Four years later, these same people come back for the elections and expect to vote for them again. For what? We know what they are going to do already. The system is all wrong. How on earth are we suppose to be hopeful?

Maybe I can write about the current events. But am I in touch with the current events to blog about them. It doesn't matter actually. Heck, I don't even care about them. Everything about it has something to do about politics.

The story I covered about the fanatical and mindless Muslims gathering in our church in Silibin over a silly SMS, protesting over a ceremony that has nothing to do with them? Politics.

The news about the government stating that they have no objections about our citizens joining the Highly Skilled Migration Programme to UK? About the same government who are more interested in promoting this year's Visit Malaysia Year 2007 and building that multi-million dollar copycat ferriswheel, instead of finding ways to retain our citizens by spending that same amount of money to improve the educational system? Politics.

The statement from the government warning hawkers not to hike the price of vegetables using the recent flood as an excuse? Do these fellas even know basic economics of demand and supply before saying that? Politics.

The fact that our police stations are so unequipped and under-facilitated , and yet the government expects the police officers to be self-motivated to be more dutiful to their job? The fact that the police officers are bashed for their corrupt ways instead of taking into consideration that most of these officers are living a hard life, to a point of being unable to even afford a proper apartment, or vehicles that are not Kancils? Politics.

The fact that even the Malays blame their own government for maintaining the "Bumiputra benefits" ...err...I mean the NEP... over the years? The fact that these benefits only benefit the few wealthy individuals of the country, and not the majority? The fact condos and apartments take even longer to sell because them bumis don't even have the cash to buy them despite having the NEP advantage? The fact that these benefits do nothing but making them even lazier? Politics.

The hiking of the toll fares? Politics.

The Singapore-Malaysia bridge? Politics.

The Petronas Twin Towers? Politics.

That silly scratching coupon parking system in Ipoh? Politics.

Ya know, with all these stuff happening, it becomes uninteresting on bloggin about our local news most times. In fact, it is so easy to assume what goes behind the curtains whenever the government (city, state or country) tries to implement ... err... whatever. Just think negative, and you will be able to connect the dots.

I believe in being hopeful, that there may just be some politicians that are not as corrupt as we think they are. But for the past close to 3 decades of my life, I must say this - nothing on this land makes me proud of who I am, and what I have become.

This is why I am happily blogging about the Japanese entertainment scene on my other blog, talking about my wedding preparations here, comparing my facial similarities with celebrities, and talking about a freakin' pizza restaurant in Australia...... all of this while our brothers and sisters are suffering in the east coast because of the floods.

This will be the last blog post I will make that consists of rants and complains. Because,... the more I think about our country, the more depressed I get. There is nothing worth blogging about it. Nothing at all.

Oh, the new them about this blog? Anything of entertainment value, thought provoking essays, personal projects.... just as long it has nothing to do with things that depresses me. But forgive me if I cut in once in a while to rant. We have to kind to ourselves and do something therapeutic once in a while, no?

Other than that. Have a nice day.... Peace. ^_^

Taking a deep breath......

2007-01-20T00:10:00.000+08:00

..........................

To Leave or Not to Leave... that is the MBA dilemma

2007-01-19T13:12:00.000+08:00

My fiance highlighted this to me.

Here's the deal...

Easier entry into Britain with an MBA

Sunday January 14, 2007

LONDON: Malaysian professionals who hold an MBA from any of 50 British-approved institutions will stand a better chance of working in Britain.

They will automatically get 75 points – the minimum qualifying mark under the point-based system in the Highly-Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP), which came into force on Dec 5.

The move affects mostly doctors, lawyers, accountants, engineers and entrepreneurs, who must score at least 75 points to cross the HSMP hurdle....

Here's what the Malaysian government have to say about it...
Govt has no objections to Malaysians working abroad

Sunday January 14, 2007

KOTA BARU: The Government welcomes Malaysians to seek job prospects overseas as it was part of a globalised trend where highly skilled people are sought after all over the world.....

....“Of course, we want to stop a brain drain in certain critical areas but we feel by them going overseas, it can also benefit the country as they gain experience and income,” he said after meeting Jeli district education department officials and principals at Sutera Inn here...

...However, the Government strongly discourages any major skilled workers migration from critical areas such as medicine, dentistry, engineering and scientists, he said.

Here's what REALLY happens...

UK is luring Malaysian (or any other country) skilled professionals to their country - in other words, "brain drain". This is a HSMP (Highly Skilled Migrant Programme). A migration programme. When people migrate, don't expect them to come back. It rarely happens.

Now the problem is, that article was really confusing, the link to the UK Treasury is obscure. And what it does not tell you is that the ones who can really make it by going through the programme may be the minority of the lot. The rest will suffer.

MBA: M_alaysian B_ut A_vailable?... just read the comments.
Quoting commenter: malayantiger

The screamimg Star headlines truly shocks me.It gives the immpression that UK is soft on migration and is welcoming non-EU. The truth is otherwise! The reason why I am saying this is that currently there are hundreds if not thousands of HSMP visa holders being stranded by the new retrospective rules. I emailed to you about this issue earlier.(no reply) The British government id devilish on this new deal. Yes, you get in with an MBA from the 'approved' 50 so-called top MBA, and if you are under 28. But what the Star report does not mention is that to apply for extension when your HSMP visa expires, you need to requalify under the point system. You must also show you have earnings of at least £35k a year. Now that is an impossibility as not many can or will earn that amount. The old HSMP rules made in 2002 are actually friendlier than the new ones! There has been a lot of protests going on about new rules that have been applied on old HSMP holders.

And it's true.

UK - protest by migrants against HSMP change

11 January 2007

Highly skilled migrants in the United Kingdom are organizing a demonstration against recent changes to the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP)...
...The changes, introduced without warning on 07 November, have affected up to an estimated 49,000 migrants, according to organizers. Migrants already in the UK under HSMP visas must meet the new requirements of the updated points-based system to qualify for extensions. The new criteria include changes in earnings requirements, age and academic qualifications. As a result, many people working in the UK under the program may not be able to stay when it comes time to apply for HSMP extensions.

....The main issue concerning demonstrators is that migrants already in the UK under the program must re-qualify under a points-based system. They would rather re-qualify based on economic activity alone. In some cases, new applicants for the HSMP program may find it easier to enter the UK under the new changes.

So far, lobbying and petitioning by migrants have not led to any reversal of the HSMP changes.

More readings:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6252007.stm
http://ia.rediff.com/news/2007/jan/11uk.htm
http://www.ukimmigration.com/news/2006_08_16/uk/arab_doctors_outraged.htm

So the changes in the HSMP have made the entries EVEN EASIER, but making the extension more difficult. No doubt the UK government are expecting many people to pass the re-qualification, but in reality, it doesn't happen that way. Definitely unfair for those who gave up everything they had to join the programme, only to have it slapped back to their faces.

Ya know, I started to wonder why our own government did not highlight the matter to us. Could they be expecting the MBA holders/skilled workers to be capable of doing their own homework before joining up? What if they didn't? Is this supposed to give our gomen a chance to gloat over the failures?

There's always a catch to everything. My final advice... and I quote... "An MBA is not a passport for instant success or higher pay."

Guess What? I look like Chow Yun Fatt!

2007-01-15T16:13:00.000+08:00

Some face recognition software that I found that matches your face with celebrities.

Alec Baldwin? Oh man,... I didn't know that. :)
In conclusion, since I score only a little more than 60% for all matches, I guess I either have a generic face,.... or a fairly unique face.

I knew that I don't resemble lots of Asian features, everyone around me tells me that. But then again, the database probably contain mostly western celebrities, and that was an old picture anyway.

But hey, I look like Chow Yun Fatt in some way...! Haha!

Sleep Apnea.... Now I know why....

2007-01-11T01:58:00.000+08:00

So, NOW I know....

Other than the bedwetting part, I basically have the symptoms for everything else about Sleep Apnea......... in other words, I'm in deep shit.

Non-surgical, and non-medicinal solutions include exercise and sleeping on the side. So I'll see what I can do.

Sleep Apnea from Wikipedia

Common Signs and Symptoms

(The signs and symptoms that follow apply to both adults and children suffering with sleep apnea)

Additional signs of obstructive sleep apnea include restless sleep, and loud snoring (with periods of silence followed by gasps). Other symptoms are non-specific: morning headaches, trouble concentrating, irritability, forgetfulness, mood or behavior changes, increased heart rate, anxiety, depression, increased frequency of urination, bedwetting, esophageal reflux and heavy sweating at night.

The most serious consequence of obstructive sleep apnea is to the heart. In severe and prolonged cases, there are increases in pulmonary pressures that are transmitted to the right side of the heart. This can result in a severe form of congestive heart failure (cor pulmonale).

Source from dreamprophesy.com

Sleep apnea means “cessation of breath.” Basically the person’s airways become obstructed, and I don’t have to tell you how dangerous this sort of thing could be! Oddly enough, the person doesn’t even realize they have the disorder - the person in the bed with them is very often the one who recognizes that something isn’t right.

Symptoms of Sleep Apnea:

* Excessive daytime sleepiness
* Frequent episodes of obstructed breathing during sleep.
* Loud snoring
* Morning headaches
* Unrefreshing sleep
* A dry mouth upon awakening
* Chest retraction during sleep in young children (chest pulls in)
* High blood pressure
* Overweight
* Irritability
* Change in personality
* Depression
* Difficulty concentrating
* Excessive perspiring during sleep
* Heartburn
* Reduced libido
* Insomnia
* Frequent nocturnal urination (nocturia)
* Restless sleep
* Nocturnal snorting, gasping, choking (may wake self up)
* Rapid weight gain
* Confusion upon awakening

Then, it's my turn....

2007-01-08T10:09:00.000+08:00

It's my turn to be ill. Bleh. :(

Was down with flu on Sunday. Now it's my fiance's turn to nurse me. Being me, I hate to be treated like a kid, but I must say that... I kinda liked it. Sponge bath... mmMMMmmm~~~... ^_^ \(^0^)/ :)
(Not a full body bath, but just enough.)

Nothing much to say, just that I always hated being ill, or down with anything at all. Going "Cmon... I can't be THAT weak!" everytime. But at least, now I can rest easy, now that I know I have someone to take care of me.

Will update me blogs when I am better.

Have a good day. Peace ^_^

On playing nurse, stupid doctors...... and a stubborn fiance

2007-01-06T21:11:00.000+08:00

Being a nurse is not easy... I salute all the nurses in the world, for their fortitude and patience, definitely one of the most grueling job ever.

I had my try being a nurse to my fiance since Thursday. She was down with some mild gastritis initially, and I took her to the clinic on Wednesday to sort it out.

But the problem came where she went for second opinion the next day, because the pain didn't go away. And the dumbass doctor prescribed her Ponstan, which worsen her problem. Now Ponstan is a multi purpose painkiller, can be used as an anti-inflammatory pill, and reduces bleeding for women having their period. I think that doctor had assumed that she was having a period, but the real problem is she was having gastritis. You see, Ponstan is also known as mefenamic acid. Simple equation --> acid + acid = bad_stomach. I didn't know that until she told me on Thursday morning, I would have stopped her if I knew.

So, 4 a.m. on Thursday I had to wake up and send her to the clinic again. This time, the doctor recognised that the first doctor also prescribed her antibiotics that is also acidic (Forgot the name). Adding to the equation again --> acid + acid + acid = even_badder_stomach. The doctor had advised her to stop the antibiotics, and will not prescribe her another one, afraid that a second type would cause complications. Somehow, my fiance misunderstood the advice, and continued taking the antibiotic... against my protest. Adding to the equation yet again --> acid + acid + acid + stubborn_fiance = totally_fucked_up_stomach.

By noon, her mild gastritis had turned into an ACUTE gastritis. Needless to say, she was so in pain, she cried the entire time.

I had to take half the day of to send her to the clinic AGAIN, where another doctor gave her an injection, prescribed some non-acidic painkillers, and some counter-gastric liquid.

Stayed with my fiance for the remaining day to nurse her. It was a heartbreaking moment to see the love of my life, flinching and wrenching and writhing in pain on the bed, cried and cried, puked so many times... it was terrible. She kept on asking me for the painkillers, but I denied her of it. We have to wait for a few hours for the anti-gastric liquid to take effect, because we don't want her to vomit the medicine out again. It was probably the worst 4 hours of her life...

But thanks be to God, it was worth the wait, cos' by night, after the taking the painkillers, the pain had subsided a lot, and finally she is able to walk and change into her pajamas. I left after 8 p.m. and was informed by her landlady (who was so kind, and made me some dinner) that she was asleep an hour later.

The next day, she was healthy as ever, and she was thankful for all I have done for her, and credited the speedy recovery to my attentive nursing. Somehow, I still feel bad, because I knew there was a problem and yet I didn't prevent it in time.

I've done and given my best... because that's all I can do. "And that's all I need. No one else could have done the same for me" she said.

She is stubborn. But that's what I'm for. I still love her. ^_^

New Year and Resolutions

2007-01-06T21:08:00.000+08:00

Delayed post. But here it is.

Happy New Year 2007!

Fourth year of blogging....... Yeah, I haven't been regular. But it still counts. ^_^

My resolution is to re-condition my body. Lose at least 15 lbs, and tone myself up. Time to slip on my running shoes, and take out the weights that I have been keeping underneath my bed.

I'm getting married this year, so I don't want to look like fat on it. The pics that I have taken till now totally disgusts me. Never have I thought that the fat under my chin could be so visible.

Other than that, my other goals are:
- recontinue my MBA studies after the big day
- visit my sister in Japan
- restart my songwriting
- regularly update my blog(s)

Hopefully, I can fulfill most of it.

My Parent's Taiwan Trip Photos

2006-12-31T23:14:00.000+08:00

For those who wanted to see... you know who you are. ^_^

http://picasaweb.google.com/georgeandmary1978/TaiwanTrip1116Dec06/

According to my parents, Taiwan is a place riddled with temples, shrines, pagodas and lots of Feng Shui elements.

The entire trip was hectic as hell, spending 70% of the time traveling and traveling only. Bus, planes, ferries... you name it. The tour was supposed to take the tourists one whole trek around the island. The tour guide wasn't a bit helpful, throughout the journey its a lecture of Feng Shui and stuff. Also lots of advertising, urging the tourists to buy this and that - souvenirs, foods, trinkets etc.... I think he gets commission of sorts whenever someone buys something. Whenever anyone asks him to explain what they see outside the bus window, he totally ignores him/her, and continue to ramble on the list of to-buy items. Geez...

Based on this experience alone, I am totally discouraged to visit Taiwan. Those of you reading this, do not take a tour package to Taiwan. Go to Japan or Thailand... it's more enjoyable.

Christmas Family Dinner 2006

2006-12-31T11:27:00.000+08:00

Sorry I was late posting this... got too distracted by all the food and sleeping. ^_^
Used Google's Picasa2 service to upload them. Only 250 Mb size maximum for free accounts but it's sufficient for now. ^_^

Click here to view.

We didn't take a lot of pics. Maybe because we were hungry. :)
The pics without flash were taken by me, because I like the dim lighting, creates the mood for it. However, the others preferred the pics to be totally brightened with the camera flash. Ugh... ^_^

Yes, it was dark after we took the pics, but that's not something we cannot fix after some brightness adjustment with Photoshop, right?

Me and my love. See? It's not that bad... ya?

From christmasdinn...

OK, hears a clear one to be fair.

Two of the three women I love the most in my life - Mama and Sharm. (My sis, Cindy, is in Japan :( )

From christmasdinn...

I have mentioned many times that I was out of shape. Many have doubted it. Here's the secret: it's all in the angles.

Here's how I really look like:

Our family dinner.

From christmasdinn...

--------

Overall, the dinner was really great, a nice buffet at Casuarina Hotel lounge restaurant, Ipoh. Sharm joined us, but I feel bad for not bringing her family along.

The food was excellent. Most of everyone left the salmon alone, so I literally ate half of the plate served on the buffet table. Other than that, the barbecued mutton and beef was juicy and nice. As with the local cuisines - ginger chicken, roasted duck, mixed veges, salad, "localized" pasta...etc. The fruits still sucks, it's the one thing that never change about this place. But the cakes... man, the cakes were fantastic. Why, I couldn't even bring myself to eat some of them because they look so nice.

U can't touch dis...

From christmasdinn...

Hope your Christmas was good too!

.... and now on to the New Year!!

Miracle turned Tragedy... because of "culprit" - NO FOLLOW UP!

2006-12-29T11:51:00.000+08:00

I had hesitated to post this... but now I HAVE to get it off my chest.

Go here to read the previous post on this matter

Sunday December 10, 2006
Cops yet to receive instruction on SMS case

IPOH: Police are still waiting for instructions from the At-torney-General’s Chamber on whether to charge a woman for her alleged involvement with the SMS on the purported baptism of Muslims at a church here.

Deputy Perak police chief Senior Asst Comm (I) Datuk Tan Seng Eng said police had yet to receive any instructions after investigation papers on the matter were submitted at the end of last month.

The woman, in her 40s, and her 38-year-old husband, were released on police bail on Nov 27.

SAC (I) Tan was speaking to reporters after launching the Ipoh district police crime prevention campaign at a shopping complex here yesterday.

Early last month, protesters had gathered in front of the church in Silibin here after rumours of the purported baptism spread through SMS. It turned out to be the first Holy Communion for about 100 Catholic children.

Source here

Sunday December 9, 2006

Perak Deputy Police Chief SAC 1 Datuk Tan Seng Eng said the police had yet to receive any directive.
"As it is now, we are not making any more arrests," he told reporters after launching an anti-crime campaign organised by Ipoh City Police at a shopping complex here today.

Source here

In summary - it's been a month, and still no action taken. Nuff said.

And why am I not surprised?

1) Note that after the bail release, the "culprit" is being SENT HOME in a police car. With police escort. ... How nice. a good "VIP" treatment for criminals.

2) Note that the court is still UNDECIDED whether to charge the "culprit" under the Sedition Act OR to grant her an unconditional release... How noble. Eating their own promises and words. (They have boldly declared that the culprit would definitely be charged and punished, as echoed by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister)

3) Note that it's been ONE WHOLE MONTH since the bail release, and still no verdict, no action taken, no news at all... How thoughtful. To let the news fade by itself, hopefully the public may forget about it soon.

Bleh. I am going to be sick.

It all within my expectations on how the situation will end, way back when the problem first started. In fact, when I received the news about Item (2) above, it has sealed my predictions to the wall.

Here's a homework for you --> try and guess what would have happened if the races were reversed. i.e. Chinese/Indians protesting in front of a mosque.

You know... part of me had hoped, that at least something will change this time. But as you can see, the government and police have let us down. Yet again.

... And people ask me why I'm not supportive of my own country.

.

Taiwan earthquake cuts off telecommunication

2006-12-28T11:50:00.000+08:00

The recent earthquake in south of Taiwan have damaged the network cables undersea, especially the fiber-optic lines. Not only China's internet and communication was affected, any East Asia region that goes through that same hub to reach USA, Europe and U.K. websites will have problems as well. Currently, it's in the midst of restoration work, and at least the telephone connections are back to normal. The net connection over here is still abysmal. But at least TMNet is better than Jaring, otherwise it'll be a headache for me at work.

This is a wake-up call for redesigning of the network infrastructure of East Asia. A simple natural disaster have shook the entire communication East Asia region and badly affected the ones whose business endeavors depended heavily on mass communication.

Perhaps a super satellite connection, or more backup links.

However, if there is one thing to commend about, is the robustness and redundancy (i hope i used these descriptions correctly) of the TCP/IP network, because they are able to reroute the traffic around in time, so that at least we get minimal downtime. However, we cannot depend on this forever. Network congestion/bottleneck is already happening, especially where net traffic is rerouted through Europe, in order to get to USA.

One thing that I'm thankful to God, is that my parents are already back from Taiwan, If they have delayed their trip 2 weeks, they would have been caught in the quake. It's been reported that a small tsunami have been evoked as a result of the earthquake, and so far only 2 deaths but scores of casualties. I pray that the victims are OK. At least this time it's better than the 1999 earthquake, where close to 3000 deaths have been reported.

Other links for reading:

Taiwan quake highlights fragility of telecoms network, room for investment
Earthquake damages China's network
Communications cut off after Taiwan earthquake
Communications cut off after powerful earthquake strikes southern Taiwan

Of Christmas Holidays and a Blast from the Past...

2006-12-26T07:45:00.000+08:00

Had relaxing holiday, I can't remember the last time I slept this much, but it was really therapeutic. My headaches have calmed down, but I don't expect it to go away soon. On Christmas night, had a wonderful dinner with my parents and my fiance. The pictures are in my pen-disk, but I'm too lazy to go dig it in my luggage. I've just reached home, and getting ready to sleep. Tomorrow's back to reality and work. *sigh*

Firstly, today is OUR anniversary, my fiance and me. Today was our 2 year anniversary of our first date. We met again on Christmas morning after separated for 9 years and I asked her out on the next day. Two years. Time flies when you're having fun, no? It wasn't just all fun, there were tears also. But I'm glad we made it this far. (Sounds like a love song I've heard somewhere?)... But it's been a swell two years, and I'm wishing the next two, twenty or two hundred years would remain the same.... (If we could live that long, that is. ^_^)

Secondly, need to show this... my haircut.

Needed a change of mood and therefore a change of hairstyle. Now I don a Visual Kei hairstyle. Dyed it brown-red, with spikes. This will take up an extra 10 minutes of my mornings to style 'em up. But it's worth it. Next, I need to work on my weight problem. No point having a cool looking hair but having a unfit body. So it's back to the weights and running shoes from this day on.

In other news.... a blast from my past.

Many years ago, I helped the Lagenda BEC in Taman Song Choon area, to start out a caroling troupe. With my previous experiences of caroling with the church choir, I was confident to lend what little help I can to get them started. It was a great fun and a successful endeavor. However, controversy arises when the church choir questioned my commitment and loyalty by doing this. Loyalty? Commitment? Golly, since when we have sub-societies within our church? Truly, I was torn apart between the two. But I decided to divied my time between the choir and training these group of people to be able to sing carols. End of the day, we had a blast, other than caroling in their BEC Christmas party, we even went commercial and performed in a hotel lounge. I watched a group of under-trained adults, teens and children, with raw and unpolished voices... transform into a group of mini-choir with voices of angels, singing with sheer confidence. But this has brought some unspoken tension between me and the church choir.

For a long time, the choir has been the Microsoft of the church. Total monopoly of carol requests and control on who gets in the choir or not. This, in my view, had the choir members' noses high up in the clouds, and that is not good. I followed my heart and gave a group of lay-people a chance, finally, to sing their hearts out, spreading the Christmas cheer in their own way. Also, hopefully, the church choir can learn something from this. But I ended up looking like a two-faced, double-crosser. Was what I did wrong? That question has haunted me for a long time.

Finally, an SMS from a leader of the BEC came today, with Christmas greetings... and short words expressing that they missed my carolling support, but they managed to do it on their own this year. I was happy, that at least I have made a difference in a small way. I don't know how many times that they have done it ever since I stopped leading their carolling, but I was glad that they didn't stop there. A certain feeling of nostalgia occupied my mind the entire day, and I can sigh in relief, that all my effort did not go to waste. Praise the Lord!

However.... when I shared this with three of the most important people in my life - Papa, Mama and my fiance,.... it was met with disinterest. I was saddened, that I can find nowhere to share my joy.... *sigh*... Oh well...

I wish the Lagenda BEC knew that they have made an old forgotten soul happy this day. And how they changed my life, just as much I hope I have changed theirs.

Will post the pictures mentioned tomorrow.... Peace ^_^

Merry Christmas to Everyone! ^_^

2006-12-25T11:43:00.000+08:00

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Had a great Christmas morning. Usually I don't look forward to Christmas mornings, because I have to get up early in the morning to prepare for mass. I prefer lazing around me bed, wrapping myself in my blanket in the cold, and chilly morning. But it was worth the trouble.

Actually we saw some great things in church since yesterday. Last night we went for the usual weekend sunset mass. And where we sat, a young lady had pushed in an old man, with tubes still attached to his nostrils and wrists. He was clearly half dazed there, but I think he knows where he was. I've seen this old soul before, he was always there at the right wing, in a wheelchair pushed by his daughter (presumably) but this was the first time I saw him in half-conscious state and with tubes. Father Rudy (redemptorist priest from OMPH) descended from the altar and came to his wheelchair for a special blessing for him, which afterwards he addressed to the congregation that THIS was a miracle and an example to be learned. His message in his sermon and closing homily is to look deep in our hearts for a reason, to find joy even during our darkest times. This, I agree very much... only a couple of days since I posted the story of my injury history, and Father Rudy pretty much summed it up for me.

This morning, more elderly, blind, and sickly people came for the Christmas morning mass. Father Michael Cheah was more than glad to come down from the altar as well, to present the Eucharist to those who have trouble moving around. Mama said to me that she wished that Ah Poh (grandma), though sickly, could have done the same. Ah, but... I know Jesus would have came to her room anyway. Though it could have been good for her to come to church, which she didn't for the last how-many years. Excuses? I don't know, that's between God and her.

I called up an old friend from Catechism class after mass, and set up a meeting with her. Gosh, she was still as beautiful as the last time I met her. She's single now. Anyone who wants her number can call me, but please remember to attach a cheque thereafter.

Then I called up another dude who was supposed to meet up with me for drinks last week. Haven't met him for some time already. So I'm roping him in, because we were Catechism classmates too (as is my fiance). This will be a cool reunion. ^_^

However, my Christmas present was given away. That was the only casualty.

The gramaphone that I wanted to pick up during this weekend, was given away to some fellow. It seems that the new owner of our old house gave the gramaphone set to the contractor (who was renovating the house), and in turn shipping it to another person. Papa and Mama was throwing blames at each other, while I, though disappointed, said that's it's fine. Shouldn't really claim back an item that was given away, sounds silly anyway. Papa was adamant, in spite of me asking him to give up, he stubbornly asked the new owner for numbers so that he can try to get it back. What a bloody waste of time.

I was cool about it, really. But what pisses me off is that Papa putting up some effort when it was already GONE. If something was to be done, it could have been in AUGUST, when I said I wanted it. Now it's making our family look like a bunch of laughing stock. *sigh*. I blame myself for not taking charge of the situation. Maybe the gramaphone set would have been around if I asked for the numbers a couple months back.

Now, I'm blogging, Papa's in the kitchen washing something and Mama's sweeping the hall. We're all obviously in a bad mood, and we're finding something to do, just to occupy our mind. :)
.... Well, you gain some,.... you lose some.... :)
Overall it's a good Christmas. Hope you had a merry one too.

Happy Holidays everyone!
Peace to all ^_^

Not quite right in the mind, body and soul.... But I'm blessed.

2006-12-22T21:57:00.000+08:00

Angry Idiot: "You bastard!! You better go get your head checked or something...!!"
Me: "Well, actually I had an MRI scan last week. Thanks for your concern."

That would be my standard answer whenever somebody decide to insult me with the age-old muse of brain related put-downs.

**********

I went to the University Malaya Medical Centre to get an appointment with a neurologist in order to book a time to get an MRI scan. However the nearest date I can get is March 16th next year. That's what you get for being the best hospital with the best facilities. I was hospitalised there before when I got run down by a car years ago. Other than the poor security, that place is a cool place, one would mistake it for a hotel because of the good service.

Anyways, I went back to the clinic to see if I can get referred to another hospital for a sooner date, but no dice. Anywhere else will blow a big hole in my wallet. So I'm sticking to the booked date. And in the meanwhile, it's time I put on my running shoes again and shoot some hoops, to stay good health and hopefully keep me in better shape.

I rarely talk about my past injuries, but would gladly indulge whenever someone asks. So here's how it's like in a nutshell... for those who don't know.

This brain scan thing, is the second time I remember feeling this down. The first was when I was diagnosed with a case of slip-disc 9 years ago. Two herniated intervertabral disc, pressing against my spinal cord at the lower lumbar. I could have been paralysed from the left side of my body.

It was because I was super active in sports way back in school, particularly basketball. Did lots of weight-lifting and lots of running. Took part in "sports marathon" with my friends. (11 hours of consecutive running, basketball, soccer and swimming) I was in my fittest (and hottest) when I was 17. But my reckless weight-lifting practices and over-the-edge activity finally reached its limit. The last straw was when I was jumping for a rebound and swinging around for a behind-the-back pass on landing. That was when I hear the scariest sound ever - the "Crack!" sound of my lower back finally giving way. I remember sitting down, unable to stand, while assuring my team mates that I was OK. But I'm not. The images of the MRI scan of my back, showed me the most frightening thing I have ever laid my eyes upon.

I was in total state of anguish and self-hate. Even loathed God for my incompetent body and sad fate. Weeks later after I was discharged, I travelled 200km to Sunway Pyramid for the (now demolished) largest roller coaster ride with my godbrother. Two consecutive times. (Note: Roller coasters are forbidden for people with a weak heart or bad backs) I was hoping to get myself killed there and then. But it never happened. (Yeah, I was a real stupid teenager back then...)

I love sports, and my physical ability as the one thing I took pride in. I remember taking on 3 people at the same time in a basketball game, and beat them at it. But like Titanic, God took me down, crushing my pride to pieces. I think God was trying to teach me a lesson, the hard way. I soon reconciled with God a few years after. Right now, even though I cannot sit/stand for a long time without the feeling of pain in my back, even though I cannot lift heavy objects, even though I cannot take part in sports as vigorously as before, even though my fit and muscular physique is now replaced with a fat and undertoned body..... at least I am still breathing and I can still walk.

Now comes my headache. Possibly migraine, possibly burnout. I don't know. But I was feeling down yesterday. I tried to push my limits again, this time at work. I am the type that would give all my energy and effort to accomplish things. Will not hesitate to put up over-nighters and programming marathons if needed be. Even though for the past weeks, the office have been quiet... the side-effects of my activities for the past year have finally shown its ugly head. I attribute this NOT to genetic inheritance of my family's history of hypertension and high blood pressure. But to my excessive working hours, irregular eating/sleeping habits, and long periods in front of the computer. In short, unhealthy lifestyle. Again, my over-the-edge lifestyle have taken me down with a side Russian leg-sweep. But after all the concern and support given to me by Papa, Mama(who cried), my fiance and my boss, tells me that I don't have to be that miserable. My bad mood has lasted me less than 24 hours. I feel that I have made a significant improvement and is definitely a stronger person. (even though I don't look like it physically) ^_^

My head is not fully healthy, my body is a wreck, my soul definitely scarred... but indeed I am blessed.

Have a nice day... ^_^

It's Back.... and worse than ever.....

2006-12-21T11:26:00.000+08:00

Went to the doctor's today. Because of food poisoning. Also to double-check my headache and my blood pressure again. But the latter results made me forget to ask the doctor to check on my crummy stomach...

After some general diagnosis, and questions, the doctor decided to refer me to the neuro-specialist for brain scan or an MRI scan, suspecting that my headache may be because of migraine, and something more. I knew I shouldn't have told the doc about me seeing double-visions at night. I thought that was because of lack of sleep, but the doctor thinks otherwise. Scans and diagnosis like that costs a bomb, about RM 700 not counting consultation. So I asked the doctor to refer me to the General Hospital instead, it's cheaper that way.

Ya know,....I've been thinking of posting some old photos and old stories in my life, onto this blog. Sort of a "Flashback Special Series" blogging kind of thing. I remembered that it was said that when people facing death, they see their life flash before their eyes. A sign of things to come for me?

Have taken the half day off, will be going to office in a while. Still thinking whether I should take the referral to go the hospital, and when. I don't think my company covers this, so I have to pay through me nose. It's only days after I recounted my blessings, then this happens... *sigh*... Oh well....

Stronium Family Photo

2006-12-20T18:56:00.000+08:00

The working force behind the spectacular Stronium .

Let me know if you want an online store setup, or managed hosting services. Ya? ^_^

Wedding Photos... from last month

2006-12-20T18:36:00.000+08:00

No, not MY wedding. ^_^ :)

Forgotten to put this up. Some photos from the wedding reception of my colleague, Tay, last month. It's a wonderful union of a long, long courtship. Befitting surname too, Tay and his wife Tee. (Teh and Tea, get it? ^_^)

The family photo (Working colleagues count as family too)

The kissing show (To show their ex's. That they have no chance no more)

Me and my colleagues, Shaun and Yen Ying (YY has gone back to school)

Me and Sabrina (Fake Charlie's Angel)

Blogging about blogging again... ^_^

2006-12-18T17:26:00.000+08:00

My Hello! Project blog H!P - Hello Non-Pro Hour with Jinryuichi has been getting good response these days. Special thanks to all that have been regularly reading the blog. You guys rock! ^_^

Actually, I started that blog in the first place to document my search mission for news on Kago Ai. Then before I knew it, I was writing articles about topics that people want to read. It seems that I enjoyed writing more than I expected, and also because I can do it by typing on the keyboard now. I used to keep a diary, but the writing-with-pen-and-paper thing is just too tiring. With this motivation, I plan to write more. And hopefully write more things in THIS blog too.... :)

Recently I submitted my link to Ray of AmericanWota.com to add my blog to his feed community - Feed of Pop. So that my readership base can get even better.

Now the Feed of Pop is managed feed site, meaning it's handled manually. It's hard work for Ray to read all Jpop related sites that are included in his feed list, and he has to manually update it. Much respect~~! ^_^

Then I found that Ray took the time to read my archived posts and include it into the FoP. But then not all the posts are edited into "teaser" format. Maybe he forgotten. All I know is that for those posts, the site traffic would stop there, and there will be no click-through to my blog, because the reader can just read it off that page. I thought about asking Ray to edit it, but then again I realised how much work he has to do and it was really cool of him to search my archives and read my really long-winded posts. So I guess I'll leave it just as it is. ^_^

Changes and Miracles

2006-12-18T00:00:00.000+08:00

A lot of things have happened this past week and many weeks before. Life has been interesting for me, as we prepare for the celebration of the birth of our saviour this month. Christmas shopping has started, along with the usual back-to-school shopping too. I have sought to bury a dark past of mine, starting from yesterday's penitential service. I hope I have done enough to "make the path straight for the Lord".

Now then.... there were some interesting changes in my fiance that took me by surprise. First up, she drove to Subang Parade from home at Jalan Templar on Friday, all by herself with one passenger. Sound normal? Not really. She's the type wouldn't that wouldn't dare to drive anywhere unfamiliar. I have never shown her the way to that shopping complex, and her passenger do not know the way. I've driven her to Subang Carrefour before, but the traffic jam in Subang Jaya had her scared already. So it's really a pleasant surprise to see her finally taking up the challenge to commute on her own..... But then again, this could be due to the motivation power to do shopping. :)

Secondly, during an early "boxing day" event in her office, everyone went out for a hearty lunch. During desert, she and her friends were looking the menu and found an item which not one of them have heard of. And so she decided to order it and give it a try because the name sounds interesting. Another big surprise for me! Because this lovely fiance of mine NEVER try anything type of food that she had never seen, heard, or tasted before. Curiosity never make her try new things before. She prefer to shy from taking up the challenge to try something new. This is something MONUMENTAL in the history of our lives. :)

Later, she told me that it was from my influence that made her make this change. And I am so happy about to hear that. ^_^

Last Monday, we have finally submitted our application to join the Weekend for the Engaged program, and confirmed the participation on Friday. It will be a 3 days 2 nights stay-in retreat for couples getting ready to get married. I prefer to have one weekend to go over this course rather than attending weekly classes that spans to about 6 weeks. This way, we can concentrate fully on the course without any interruption in between. This will be the n-th time I join any retreat and the first for her. So it will be interesting to know what she thinks about it.

Miracles have been popping up left and right during the week. And the pessimist little me is wondering if the end of the world is approaching. Man, we never count our blessings, but this time, I am thanking the Lord for these wonderful things.

I don't know if these are rewards, as a result of our many attempts and actions for making our wedding a conflict-less, problem-less, and hiccup-less event. If it was, I have only 3 words to say - "Praise the Lord!"

There were so many good things happening these days, I simply can't write them all down. It would mean having to write a mini novel. So I'll just highlight a few.

Mama won the lottery, at second place! But since her bets are higher than normal, it counts just as much as a first place winning. The payout is still not much, but it's just about enough to sponsor her week-long holiday trip to Taiwan with Papa. Hey, we're not greedy, cos it's the placing that counts, ya know. Mama gave me a phone call to tell me how this has been one of the happiest day of her life. This news made her trip worry-free because she don't have to think about having to curfew her spendings. I am SO happy for her. Other than that, I am so happy for Papa, being able to see the Pacific Ocean line from this trip. His descriptions of his experience on this trip has told me how much he enjoyed it. My wishes have come true, that my parents are finally being able to enjoy life, after many many many years of sufferings and turmoils of maintaining our family. Although I am sad, that those money did not come from me, but I am determined to one day send them to a trip with money earned from my sweat and blood. Mama will be retiring from her business, and Papa will be retiring from work next year. So I expect them to be traveling a lot.

So what's next? A smile. :)

The "smile" in topic, came from the one person that have protested my wedding of my fiance - her mother. At first, her protest was very loud, but had died down to a complete cold war against us and all around her. But something has changed. Last month, I attended the wedding of my fiance's cousin. Needless to say, her family was there too. For the entire day, I avoided eye-contact with her mom, to avoid any sort of ... well, anything. Then later that evening of wedding reception, just about when everyone is leaving, I swallowed my pride, approached her and extended my hand to her to say goodbye for the night - just doing my part, a simple gesture of respect to an elder. To my surprise, she took my hand, and even returned a brief smile. I must say, that I am most relieved, even if it could just be an obligatory gesture.

But it happened again yesterday. My parents who came back from their holiday trip, went for the morning mass, and coincidentally (or accidentally, if you will) sat right behind my fiance's family in the pews. After the mass had ended, Mama went ahead to start a short conversation with my fiance's grandma - a fatal action in my opinion. But it happened - my fiance's mom smiled back at Mama when she greeted her.

I don't know, if again, it's just a gesture or just manners. I am delighted by the whole turn of event. I think, next year would be a wonderful year. I am blessed. Now if some share of miracle could happen to the return of Kago Ai.

I do expect bad things to happen though, the devil always come to cause problems everytime we do God's bidding and keeping our peace. But whatever it may be, come what may. Because I am sure, things will be alright in the end.

Bloggy, Bloggy Blog - the test results

2006-12-11T11:16:00.000+08:00

Actually, me typing while I'm halfway to slumberland, had a purpose to it. It's just a experiment to test how my mind works while I'm half asleep. There's a reason for this, and I'll explain later. Overall, I find the results quite... interesting, to say the least.

I typed the entire thing with my eyes closed, leaned back on my chair, both my hands extended over the keyboard, and typed away whatever comes to my mind. Just kept on typing, not sure if I DID really fall asleep at any point. And then, I forced my eyes open, without even reading the the blogs contents, squinting and struggling to find the "PUBLISH" button, clicked it, checked the clock, turned off the monitor, and jumped straight to bed. ^_^

As a result: 40 minutes of texts, and a blog post of random thoughts. I remember pausing in between paragraphs, but I seriously do not remember more than 50% of what I typed. Especially the Carlito Caribbean Cool quote of "That's cool" part. ^_^ For the most part, I am surprised that I am still able to do bit of formatting even though all I see is blackness.

The reason
I am conducting a simple but crude experiment to find out what ticks me, and what drives me. By being in a state of half-asleep, I am attempting to tap into my sub-conscious mind to see what is hidden at the back of my head. Usually you can do that by meditating quietly or lucid dreaming. But we're in the Information Age... let's do it cyber-punk style. ^_^
Do not underestimate the sub-conscious mind. I remember the time that when I spent days arranging and composing a song, I got a lukewarm response. But when I wrote another song with minimal arrangement, in the wee hours of the morning, sleepy and tired, spent less than 15 minutes on it,... the song was praised and noted. I think that we are at our most creative and innovative self, when you are able to dig inside your heart and soul, and express it so that others may feel whatever touches you and is dear to you personally.
.... probably that's why some musicians over-indulge themselves with alcohol and crack. Not that I am encouraging it, of course...

The production analysis
1)WYThIWYTy
Stands for "What You Think Is What You Type". And I think that I think in organized point-form manner. Scary... over the years of watching and analysing people, my mindset has warped to a point that I possibly conduct thesis and personality analysis on every person I meet. If I had taken classes on NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), I would have either have a full head of white hair by now, or I am completed bald due to falling of hair.

2)WYTyIWYTh
Stands for "What You Type Is What You Think". I am able to express myself by just typing on the keyboard. I can be as one with the computer... Which is another way of saying that I am getting more nerdy than I think.

3) Repeating myself too much
19 words of part of words containing the word "blog". I'm getting old. And it's usually something I worry the most, which brings to the next point:

4) I ask too many questions
18 questions marks (?). Meaning I think too much and worry too much.

The content analysis
In summary, I worry a lot. That I know, but always I lost track on what I worried about. On content, I think that I have a lot on my mind with regards to blogging. I didn't talk much about my personal stuff or my Jpop stuff. I had regrets (that I did not record those memorable things on polaroid and paper) about my past, and I have not sought to reconcile with them. Probably, I am currently attempting to use this blog to overcome it. Along the way, I challenged myself with some other goals, like having at least 1 blog post every 2 days so that I don't get lazy,... but maybe got side-tracked just a little. Finally, realised that even though I always say that I do not mind what others think of me, my subconscious mind thought otherwise. However, I am certain that what I do mind is how my actions affect other people.

THE CONCLUSION:
- Created 2 blog posts of unscientific material (because I ran out of normal blog topics)
- Learned some new things about myself (because I rarely sit and reflect my actions)
- I lead a dual-life, and has kept it separated as much as possible (When I'm offline, I do not think about my incoming email. When I'm online, I do not want to be bothered by anyone)
- Need to check my English grammar before publishing posts (...yup, that's it.)
- Need to use less first person contexts e.g. I, my, me, myself ...etc (Don't wanna sound narcissistic)
- I sound like a crackpot when I'm half asleep (my fiance can testify to that)
- I have less work in office currently (have more time to think of crazy blog ideas like this)
- I need to backup my blogs soon (in case, the Blogger database server catches fire)
- UFA needs to bring Aibon back (Ok, I just sneaked this one in...)

Have a nice day. Peace ^_^

Bloggy, bloggy blog

2006-12-10T02:33:00.000+08:00

Blogging about blogging.

That sentence itself sounds funny to my ears. But lately i have been thinking about it. I'm typing with me eyes closed and just typing whatever comes to my head. Will look disorganized.

And that previous paragraph is what I'm going discuss now.

I've been thinking, that at the end of it, blogging divided to the following types:

1) Blogging for yourself
2) Blogging for others

At first, I started blogging for myself. This one in particular was started and suppose dto be a place where I rant about my break-up. I know that my ex wouldn't discover it anyway, so I don't care. But then again, if that's the case, why do I publish it online over the net? If I wanted it to be personal and secret, shouldn't I do it with my text editor and save it in my hard disk? Part of me wants her to read it someday? Hell no. Which makes me wonder why do I do it anyway?

I blog so that I may record whatever that happens in my life, so that i have something to look back and think that my life has been colorfuland is not all wasted times. I regret that during my school years that I have not taken much pictures. I have done a lotta shit, including being in the military band, joining the Wushu club, lead the group in the Chinese Instrumental club, my first and only basketball tournament, the memorable school drama, the 3 day long camp inthe the wet hills...etc. If i have a photobook to record them all, i will have a olourful history to look back and remind myself that yes, I have my own achievements and probably have left my mark in someone else's heart.

I started my other blog about Hello! Project stuff so that I can jot down my findings and news, to chart and record my mission on fidnding news about my dear Kago Ai, the suspended artiste because of a careless and irresponsible action.

but the blog went on, and become a place where I mostly write so that others may see it and always, i look forward for any feedback and comments, to know i have done something worthwhile.

I know iknow. some people use blogging as a way to express themselves, and to showcase their works. so that one day they may compike it into a book and sell em off. some budding writers use it and the social network to hopefully get recognse one day.

Do i blog so that i get recognised too? I say that I blog for myself, but why do ikeep checking for any user comments, and why do i keep checking back the site visitor statistics to see if my writings are what people want to read about?

yes there is a sense of acheivement to know that my writings are appreaciated, but didn't i start bloggin for myself? when did the chagne happen? I feel like i blog now for others. sharing is one thing, seeking attention is another.

read swifty's blog andhis posting of his MSN conversation with his partner. It's hard to blog for him because he is trying to get recognition, and hop that some people may form a community there.

Is blogging for self centrerd and narcisstic people?

is it suppose to be pastime? has the author or the readers taken the blog seriously?

i'm sleeppy right now, my eyes are totally closed, and i'm typing it off my my mind. i may open my eyes and see the tons of typingand grammar mistakes.

is this what people call emo bloggin?

in conclusion.... i forgot what's the conclusion may be.
oh yeah right.... where d oi go from heere? do i stilll continue to do what ever i have now? will my bloggin topics change? do i blog to get attetion?////

ok i am close to falling asleep while typing.... now that would be an intersting thing to happen. waking up hours later and conuing the rest of the post.... and say that oh, i have done something weird to day.. am i typing for sake of typing,? i hate being me.... no actually i am fine being the way i am.... i doubt that many others can survice life being me. then again, i also doubt anybody wants to be me..... i am not playing for this year's christmas carols with the carlling troupe. the need to find new blood to join the group/ coming bakc will only encourage them to slack .

aibon please come back.....
found lots of similarities between me and my fiance today.... i think found a "mirror site" of myself.... and that.... that's cool. (bites an apple)

will read my own post tomorrow morning.... interesting to see what i am capable of while talking when half asleep....

g'night... love and peace.

Net Connection Down

2006-12-04T16:02:00.000+08:00

Net connection down since yesterday, and just so happens that there was a problem with one the servers that I have been monitoring at work is down. Had to rush to the nearest internet cafe to solve it. I feel so paralyzed.

Oh I know how much I'm dependent on my net connection, but it sucks every time it happens. I was offline with my PC, and I'm staring at the monitor screen wondering, "what the heck am I going to do now?"

Damn...

I'm typing this from my office. Will be going down to the service centre tonight to settle the problem. If I had known that the centre was open on Sunday, I won't be having this terrible mood now.

Double damn...

How I got into Jpop... better late than never

2006-11-30T16:15:00.000+08:00

I have never discussed this subject with my friends. They know me as "that Japan-phile" or "That Japanese guy". I think everyone, in their heart, have at least one country or a place that they want to visit and experience someday. Mine was Japan.

I'm into music, it's my ultimate passion. I suspect that I have musical notes as one of my blood cells. For years, I listened to English songs (local or abroad), Malay songs, Canto-pop and Mando-pop (Chinese), Tamil and Hindi (Indian)... etc. I move from one language to another, but after a while, I get bored of all the predictability and stereotype-ness. With the exception of Indian music (which I still listen to), the others just don't appeal to me anymore. Just ask me which is my favourite on the American Top 40 charts, or which artiste do I like among the Hongkong stars, ... and I'll just answer "Err... Me like all of dem. Dem is all nice. Yes."
They're all the same, too little variety and too little musical value to my ever-growing hunger. Right up to the early nineties, I couldn't take it and began to look for alternatives.

Flashback - My first contact with anything Japanese was J-Dorama(dubbed), aired in the mornings daily. I would watch them religiously, when I was in junior school. There were two - one was about a team of volleyball girls and another about a girl who is like some sort of cosmic teenage-witch. I forget the names of the shows but it has got some cool 80's Jpop soundtrack that me and my friends dance to... in secret, of course. Then there was the Masked Riders, Ultraman, etc.

Fast forward to the early nineties, I got tired of the monotonous music that was beginning to build up. Lousy rocker bands, boybands and girl-groups are sprouting up like mushrooms after rain. Luckily for me, it was also the time where J-Dramas and animes are booming in Asia. This was when I started to really listen to JPop music, starting with anime and J-Drama soundtracks. My first ==> Slam Dunk's "Kimi ga suki da to Sakebitai" by Badd. Just playing that intro in my head gives me the nostalgic goosebumps, even till today.

Now, my list is endless - Anzen Jidai, Koji Tamaki, Chage and Aska, Fujii Fumiya, SMAP, Spitz, Le Couple, Noriko Sakai, Oda Kazumasa ( Yup, I'm old school. ^_^), ELT, Puffy, Toshinobu Kubota, Ken Hirai, Okamoto Mayo, DCT, Judy and Mary, SMAP, MAX, Speed, Kinki Kids, aiko, Yuzu, Da Pump, Gackt, Do as Infinity... current ones include Mihimaru GT, Bon Bon Blanco , High and Mighty Color, Sowelu, Orange Range, Rythem ...etc

Jpop isn't the only genre I explored, the Jrock scene was equally good. Luna Sea, X-Japan, Glay, Malice Mizer, L' Arc En Ciel, SADS, Janne De Arc, Pierrot, the Yellow Monkeys, Love Psychedelico, Kaggra, AliceNine... etc.

Of course there was the Hello! Project family. Go here to read how I got into Hello! Project in particular.

I was so crazy into Japanese music, my classmates started to ask me that question again - "What do you like so much about Japanese music? Don't you listen to anything on the Rick Dee's Top 40 charts?" and I will give that same answer again. "Oh no, I do. Me like all of dem. Dem is all nice. Yes.". Then I'll start to pretend that I like the Backstreet Boys or something. Being indifferent in high school here means you get bullied. (Sound familiar?)

Later I took Japanese classes to learn the language, because of a job in a multi-national company that I'm hunting for (They pay the employees very well). I failed to get the interviews, but I continued the classes anyway and I learn to appreciate the music a little more.

And so, I was hooked with Japanese music and never looked back. Tis' a lonely experience being the only one singing Japanese songs in karaoke sessions with my friends, but I hope to find a comrade one day.

Hard Love ... and Hard to Love

2006-11-29T00:23:00.000+08:00

I did the most craziest thing today... I gave my fiance a hard lesson on being independent. But after all that, I came home and wondered if I did the right thing or not?

I'm hard to love, because I'm all about hard love. I don't mind playing the bad guy, just as long others get the message that I'm trying to convey. Not that I'm being all self-righteous and all-knowing... but sometimes I go to the extreme just to make my point.

I can't say what was the exact situation that has taken place, but basically, I allowed myself to be caught in a problematic state, my plans for the night ruined, my work interrupted, everything I planned become absolute havoc... all because of a decision that she made. I don't blame her. She's been protected all her life, and is still unaffected by the harsh city life that we live in. It's one of the reasons that I fell in love with her. But I cannot, really cannot let her be too dependent on me for everything. So I set an example for her. Got all pissed off, showed my tantrums, before finally gave her advice, after letting her see the consequences of what she did... and hope she understands.

Like I said, it's hard love, and I am hard to love.

I know a story of a woman (a celebrity), who quit her job to be full-time housewife for her family, and was well protected by her malevolent husband. She gets all the attention and love that a husband can give, and was dependent on him for everything. Tragedy happened, that man died in a vehicular accident abruptly. Out of shock, she fell into a emotional trauma, not knowing how to continue her life without her husband. Things that her husband always do for her, including taking care of the kids, caretaking the household etc., now she have to do on her own, and she had a really hard time picking it up. Even begged people for money online, because her husband had not taken a life-insurance package, and she lost the notion of finding a job.

I'll be damned if my lovely wife-to-be have to suffer the same.

I lived my life, learning the hard way, to be independent on everything. I prefer to get my ass burned just to learn. I was educated from young on how difficult life is, the value of it. The scars I bear after the countless times I self-wounded myself with a pocket-knife shows it.

I'm not being pessimistic or dark-natured about life. I'm not being fearful of responsibility. I am not being fearful of people being dependent on me. But I want everyone around me to be able to carry on, even after I go to the Father above.

I worry a lot, and always, always think about the worst case scenario. I worry for my fiance, if she receives enough love and attention that I am able to give, even after we get married next year. I worry about my parents, who are already aging, and if I have done my responsibility as the eldest and only son, and if I elevated myself from being a burden for them. I worry for my unborn children, and if they receive the love and education that we can give. I worry about my sister in Japan, alone and struggling hard to survive, without the physical presence and support from her family. I worry for the company I work for, if it achieves its eventual target, and I fought to do my job to keep it running its course smoothly without any hiccups, even if it includes my sacrificing of my own career path for another colleague, even if I get a bad impression in the end.

I gave up my own future for my sister's sake to be able to fulfill her dreams. I gave up my own dreams in order to stay within our family's financial means. I gave up my plans for my own immediate future and gave up my personal principles and swallowed my pride, so that my fiance can have a wonderful wedding next year.

Only a handful of the people who knows me, knows about the existence of this blog. And nobody knows what I think most of the time, and so I became the bad guy, everytime. It's fine, as long I do my job. Which I think, is my Calling in life.

I'm all hard love, and even harder to love.

To everyone else... Have a nice day.

Love and Peace
jin ^_^

Miracle turned Tragedy... because of "culprit" - The follow-up

2006-11-23T13:53:00.000+08:00

This has got to be one of the most emotional writing I have ever done. Apologies in advance for those who felt offended after reading. But I have to let it out of my chest. I can be patient, but when it trespasses my limit, I must say something already. And when I do, you won't like it.

This write-up has been re-edited to lower the hostility of its contents. I admit, I was fired up by the whole situation, but after a moment of pondering and praying, my anger has cooled down and removed a lotta shit.

Still, some of what remained may still anger some people. So, if you are a sensitive person, under-informed, less concerned about current affairs, or simply have nothing positive to add - please skip this post. You have been warned.

In summary, here's what happened.

In continuation, here's what happened next:
The police have commenced investigation on the origin of the SMS, while various politicians including our PM and deputy PM comments that the culprit be punished. The police have contacted Perak Mufti(Scholar and Cleric of Islam) Datuk Seri Harussani Zakaria and celebrity sailor Datuk Azhar Mansor for assistance, as their names are included in the SMS contents. The police stressed that the Mufti is not (directly) involved with the SMS scandal. When Harussani returned from Syria (he attended a meeting there), he immediately went to the Perak Sultan to report the situation. Datuk Azhar once again had the people disputing his Muslim status, though he repeatedly proclaimed that he is still Muslim. Later the Harussani, revealed that on Oct 21 he DID receive a report from a certain 40-year-old unnamed woman about the alleged baptism of 600 Muslims, consisting mostly of students and will be baptised by Datuk Azhar. He also received a visit from the woman and her husband, who came with some documents supporting their claim. He then added that when the couple left, he discussed the matter in a meeting with his fellow committees in a meeting on Nov 2. He said that there will be no action taken until they verify the matter. The police have since published the picture of the woman known only as "Raja Sherina" on the papers, and have finally manage to locate and detain her on Nov 21. The remand has been extend to 5 days to provide the police more time for investigation.

In my opinion, here's what I think:

1) It was known where the SMS originated from:
Like I said, it was known who the "culprit" was in the first place.

2) "Culprit" has an agenda:
This "Raja Sherina" has something in mind. Definitely not a pretty conspiracy. Foolhardy though, as she did not do her homework on finding out the difference between baptism and first holy communion.

3) Datuk Azhar baptise the kids?:
Again, no homework done. Only a priest has the power to baptise. We common parishioners can only forgive sins.

4) No communication at all:
Why can't the authorities or Muslim leaders just call the church? They don't talk to each other no more? Is it forbidden? Do you go to hell for it?
The Mufti has reported to the State Government. So why is the police still in the dark? They don't talk to each other TOO?

5) No investigation:
Why can't they call up the tele-comm centre? It's so easy to track the identity of the SMS sender by looking up the database..... Well OK, maybe it's a little difficult, since it is a prepaid mobile.

6) So who spread the false SMS?:
It cannot be the work of just one couple. She reported to the Mufti, and nothing was done. But that doesn't mean she is the one spreading it. Another bitter fellow may have gone and say "Well, if the Mufti don't do nothin', I will!". A few hundred Muslims and their many religious leaders turn up on that day. The spreading by word-of-mouth and SMS is much stronger than we think. If that woman and her husband alone is punished (if that ever happens at all), they has become the scapegoat. There are many other who are involved have been left walking free.

7) The church is not a club
For the uninformed ones, the Catholic church DO NOT indiscriminately baptise anyone as they like. Especially Muslims. We have to undergo a long period of learning, studying and observation before we can get baptised. (For cradle-Catholics, the parents will do on the infant's behalf.) Even Archbishop Fernandez said that the Catholic Church in Malaysia had never conducted clandestine baptisms of Muslims.

8) To catch the thief, burn the neighbour's house:
If the idea of catching the wrong-doers is to catch them red-handed, do NOT do it at the expense of other's welfare. It is wrong under the civil law, and truly unfair for the non-Muslims. The kids at OLOL church now have a wonderful first holy communion memory thanks to the mob -> We now have white dresses, bouquets of lilies, parents and relatives praying and singing Latin hymms... while the guys outside joins the chorus with loud chants of "La illa ha il Allah! La illa ha il Allah!". Oh Lord.

9) "But we was trying to protect and uphold the Islamic faith"
Gimme a break, so when Muslims do it, it's righteousness, it's jihad, it's for the sake of our faith,...etc. When us non-muslims do it, it's rebellion - end of story. And off to the ISA we go.

10) Go to the Sultan for protection:
First thing to do after returning to Malaysia, is not to do your work and clarify with the press and the police, but go running to the Sultan. He'll save your ass. Yeah, that's the wisest choice, ain't it?

11) Just... do nothing.
"Raja Sherina" came around Oct 21, that's two freakin' weeks from the actual day. Waited 2 weeks doing nothing. Then finally, a few days before the baptism, tells his colleagues in a private meeting, and STILL advised that nothing is done until they verified the SMS. How wise. Thinking this is only a false rumour, so do nothing? This brings me to my next point...

12) Rumour or not, investigate it! And QUICK!
My job is a system administrator, if i hear a complain pertaining to a suspicion of a possible virus attack or hacker activity on the server, I investigate it anyway just to be sure. Even though later i found the suspicion is false, we came up and implemented the necessary security measures in case the real thing happens. It's hard work, but that's what we're paid for. Somebody's got to do the dirty job, in order to make the whole user-experience seem better and transparent to the user. Sound like a good protocol, yes? Now, why can't those lazy brothers do the same?

I am a Catholic, and have lived in Ipoh most of my life. During then, I must have heard a hundred rumours about Muslims converting in churches. This case is definitely not the first time. However, this is the one time that things have gone out of control. One may think that the inclusion of celebrity sailor Datuk Azhar's name is included in the SMS, (plus the previous scandal of his Muslim status) has caused the whole issue to escalate to where it is now. Overall, I am disappointed to see how the whole issue handled in such a nonchalant manner.

Firstly, to be clear, my stand is impartial. I believe, that no matter what faith we embrace, I only know that we must respect other's choices, no matter what they are. All is within the Will of God.

Was going through web forums and blogs on the net. It seems like most people are debating at the wrong direction. They were talking about the right to choose their own religion in Malaysia and about the actions of the mob reflect that of the Muslim terrorists that has been active in the USA and Middle East. There were debates about the Islamic tenet of the Holy War - Jihad. There was even one brother saying that while the action of the mob gathering in front of the church is wrong, he is pleased to see the unity that is achieved among the many sects of political and religious groups.

You know, it doesn't matter if Islam is a one way ticket or not. It doesn't matter if there is fairness achieved. Even the mindless-mob protesting in front of the church in Silibin does not matter one bit. It is not about Muslims and Jihad, Christians and Baptism, unity amongst believers, choice of religion, law on religion, apostasy.... etc. If those with authority do not practice the basics of society governing, and the citizens haven't the slightest civic mind for dialogue before conflict, then there is absolutely no room to talk about religion and stuff. You will only make matters worse.

OK. If we HAVE to debate on it, here's the cold water for you --> we live in this country, and the laws are such. Therefore we have no choice but to abide by it. End of story. Want some change? Fine. Migrate to another country, OR step forward to campaign for your own political party and fight for the right. Can't do either? Then keep your peace.
No need to whine anymore that it's not fair that we cannot choose our faith...blablabla. For the record, Islam can be a beautiful religion. Recently, an old friend of mine have married a Muslim guy (which I would blog about in a separate post), she is Chinese but now has converted. And I know she will be happy. She had told me why she embraced the faith, and it is a really funny and bizarre story. Which brings me to my next point --> Different people have different levels of faith and how they perceive religion. To some, seeing an everyday situation like a stranger helping an old lady cross the street makes them wonder about their faith. To others, they need to hear a loud booming voice in the sky or witness an awesome miracle in order to believe. If it is in God's plan, that some of our brothers and sisters to convert to another faith to make his point - then so be the Will of God. The conversion may not be only for the benefit of the converter, but to those around him/her. Maybe to test your own faith, and to see what you would do or say about it. There is a Reason and a Plan for everything. Let God be the judge, not you.

On topic - this is not the first time we have this kind of mobs parading around our churches. I have seen Muslims standing at the gates of our church, handing out flyers and pamphlets containing slanders and accusations about the Catholic faith. Some even came all the way to the doorsteps and shouting random gibberish. During a peninsular-wide Charismatic Convention that I attended many years ago, there were Muslims who came to the centre distributing flyers again and trying to collect the attendees' signatures, to express their protest to our peaceful meeting, and furthermore accused us of conspiring against the government. There are more to the list, but I'll stop here. But we managed to control the situation and the conflict ended quietly.

We live in a multi-racial, multi-religion country. Control of any sort of conflict is paramount. What I see, is the authorities and all those involved are handling the SMS scandal with such low commitment and low sense of urgency. The action taken to diffuse and prevent the matter has no weight at all. The Perak Mufti for one, need to act on any sort of report urgently and diligently. Yes, he said that he did report it to the State Government and the related authorities, but he needs have a follow-up on the matter to ensure the investigations are carried out properly. Two weeks of zero results is just absolutely incomprehensible to me.

I hope that the government and all related authorities that are involved with the investigation of the SMS scandal to step it up, to give us our tax payment's worth. Because if they continue to slack, this sort of a problem will happen again.

Apologies if I offended anyone. Thanks for reading.

Peace ^_^
jin

Sources:

November 24, 2006

Remand extended for couple in SMS case

IPOH: A couple held in connection with the SMS on a purported baptism of Muslims at a church have been remanded for five more days.
Magistrate Syamsul Rezal Md Ariff allowed the application made by the police in his chambers here yesterday to extend their remand until Monday. State CID chief Senior Asst Comm (II) Patrick Jiges Sijore said police needed more time to complete their probe into the SMS sent out earlier this month. The couple were brought to the court here under police escort at about 2.15pm. The woman, in her 40s, appeared calm while her 38-year-old husband looked dazed. The couple were first detained in Alor Star on Monday evening and remanded on Tuesday to help with the investigation.

November 22, 2006
Woman in SMS case held

Police have detained the woman in connection with the SMS sent earlier this month about a purpoted baptism of Muslims at a church.
State police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Aziz Bulat said the woman, in her 40s, and her 38-year-old husband were picked up outside Alor Star Hospital at 9.30pm on Monday.
He said the woman became hysterical when she was approached by police officers and had to be treated at the hospital before being brought here.
DCP Aziz added that the woman’s statement would be recorded after a remand order had been obtained.
Magistrate Syamsul Rezal Md Ariff ordered the couple to be remanded for three days

November 21, 2006
Perak police are seeking the help of a woman over an SMS sent earlier this month about a supposed baptism of Muslims at a church here.

RAJA SHERINA: Her help is sought in connection with the SMS baptism case.
State police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Aziz Bulat said police were releasing the photograph of the woman, whose name was given only as Raja Sherina, after she failed to turn up to give her statement despite the authorities giving her a deadline to do so.

November 13, 2006 - 'Baptism' message started by woman, claims Perak Mufti

Perak Mufti Datuk Seri Harussani Zakaria has named a woman in her 40s as the originator of a text message that claimed a group of Muslims was going to be baptised at a church here last month.
He claimed the woman is a graduate of the International Islamic University, who later studied at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo.
Harussani: ‘What I revealed was meant to stay within the confines of the meeting’
“Upon her return, she joined a missionary group that carried out social work. She later converted to Christianity and now claims to have returned to Islam,” he told reporters at his home in Kampung Melayu Gunung Rapat here yesterday.

Sunday November 12, 2006 - Mufti seeks audience from Sultan

Perak Mufti Datuk Seri Harussani Zakaria is trying to seek an audience with the Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah.
He said he has been trying since Friday to contact the palace secretary so that he could brief the Sultan on the case of an SMS alleging that a group of Muslims were going to be baptised in a church in Silibin here.
“If I could, I would see him today. I will keep trying. I am ready to see the Tuanku anytime, anywhere,” he said when contacted here yesterday.

November 15, 2006
Woman who sent SMS urged to contact police

They will publish Raja Sherina’s photograph if she fails to do so.
Perak police chief Datuk Abdul Aziz Bulat said she may be charged under the (Akta Hasutan) Sedition Act or the Multimedia and Communications Act for causing public unrest.
The New Straits Times learnt that the woman in her 40s is unemployed and stays in Sungai Petani, Kedah.
It was also learnt that she also went by the names Raja Norashikin Raja Azman and Shireen.

Polis minta 'Raja Sherina' tampil bantu siasatan kes SMS pembaptisan
November 14, 2006

Ahad lepas Harussani menyatakan rasa kesalnya dengan tindakan pihak tidak bertanggungjawab menyebarkan SMS mengaitkan namanya berhubung isu pembaptisan itu.
Beliau turut berkata seorang wanita membuat pendedahan mengenai upacara berkenaan dengan mengirimkan SMS kepadanya selain datang berjumpa beliau.
Bernama melaporkan Abdul Aziz berkata polis mengenal pasti wanita berkenaan menerusi siasatan terhadap nombor telefon bimbit prabayar yang digunakannya dengan bantuan syarikat telekomunikasi.
Beliau berkata siasatan terhadap beberapa individu lain juga sudah dijalankan berhubung penyebaran SMS berkenaan dan yakin kes itu akan dapat diselesaikan dalam tempoh seminggu dua lagi.
"Raja Sherina" diminta menghubungi Pegawai Turus D-9 DSP Shahadan Jaafar di IPK di talian 05-2451222.

======

November 6, 2006
WANTED:Penyebar SMS yang gemparkan Ipoh
Kedua–dua Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi dan Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak telah bercakap sendiri dengan Ketua Polis Negara Tan Sri Musa Hassan mengarahkan pihak polis membuat siasatan segara.
"Mereka perlu dihukum dengan keras walau apapun niat mereka," kata Perdana Menteri kepada wartawan Malaysia di Islamabad Isnin.
"Saya selalu cakap isu agama adalah isu sensitif dan tidak boleh dipermainkan... tidak dijadikan jenaka. Tidak boleh digunakan untuk buat orang tergempar, terkejut dan hendak berseronok... nak tengok apa yang berlaku. Ini bukan jenaka," katanya. Najib berkata kepada para wartawan di Johor Bharu, “Kita mesti cari siapa yang buat."
"Siapa yang bertanggungjawab mesti dikenakan tindakan kerana SMS seperti ini amat berbahaya, boleh membawa kepada perbalahan kaum dan juga ketegangan dalam negara," katanya. Musa yang ditemui wartawan selepas satu majlis di Melaka menyifatkan perkara ini amat serius kerana ia boleh menghasut orang ramai dan memecah belah masyarakat. Menurutnya satu unit siasatan diketuai oleh Ketua Polis Perak dengan kerjasama Bahagian Siasatan Jenayah Bukit Aman telah diarahkan memantau dan menyiasat perkara berkenaan. Beliau mengakui usaha mengesan individu yang bertanggungjawab menyebarkan SMS berkenaan melalui telefon bimbit pra bayar bukan mudah. Musa juga menjelaskan adalah tidak benar dakwaan mengatakan Mufti Besar Perak, Datuk Harussani Zakaria bertanggungjawab mendedahkan mengenai sekumpulan orang Melayu akan dikristiankan di sebuah gereja di Ipoh kerana beliau tidak ada di dalam negara pada ketika ini. “Kalau beliau tidak ada di dalam negara saya tak tahu macam mana beliau boleh dedahkannya seperti yang didakwa di dalam SMS tersebut,” ujarnya.

November 13, 2006
Perak Mufti tells how he got controversial SMS

Perak Mufti Datuk Seri Harussani Zakaria on Sunday revealed how he had received a short messaging service (SMS) from a woman claiming knowledge of an alleged baptism of a group of Muslims at a church here last Sunday involving national mariner Datuk Azhar Mansor.
Speaking to reporters at his residence here after an audience with Sultan Azlan Shah of Perak Sunday morning, Harussani said on Oct 21 he received the SMS from the woman claiming Azhar had informed her that he would come to Ipoh to perform the baptism of several Malays in church on the date specified.
"I asked whether what she claimed was true. She claimed it was true and that she had received another telephone call from Azhar saying they would be coming to Ipoh.
"Then, on the eve of Hari Raya, she came to my house with her husband and confirmed that the function would take place," he said.
The circulation of the SMS raised a controversy and almost sparked off inter-racial and inter-religious tension when a group of Muslims gathered at the compound of the church on that day to obtain verification of the alleged baptism.
Harussani said the woman, who had claimed that she had renounced Islam, had not contacted him since the incident last Sunday.
"I have also not contacted her. I understand that her telephone line has been disconnected. She had studied at the International Islamic University (IIU) and the Al-Azhar University," he said.
Harussani said he conveyed the matter to the State Government and the Special Branch.
He said on Nov 2, a meeting was held by the national-level committee on the Islamic Convention at the meeting room of the State Mosque here to discuss the agenda and strategy for the convention scheduled for Dec 23 and 24.
"At the meeting, I was asked to explain the need for and objective of the convention. I said the convention was solely to seek ways to strengthen the faith of Muslims which lately, according to information received, has been tainted," he said.
"I also touched on the SMS sent to me by the woman for the information of those at the meeting. I said we should not do anything until we have verified the matter," he said.
Harussani dismissed allegations spread by certain quarters that he had made a public announcement of the matter and that he found it strange for a group of Muslims to get angry with him over the alleged disclosure.
"I find it strange that there are Muslims who are angry with me when I am the mufti. The main task in my position is to safeguard the faith of Muslims, uphold the 'syariat' (Islamic law) without blemish. That is my responsibility.
"So, when news such as these emerge, it is necessary for me to act to contain them. That is my responsibility, similar to the responsibility of police in maintaining security. If there are people who have been angered, it is a mistake," he said.
Harussani had an audience with the sultan Sunday morning to explain the controversy over the circulation of the SMS.
Harussani said the Sultan asked him not to issue any statement at the moment.
"His Majesty advised me, for the moment, to remain silent but all of you (journalists) have come. How now?" he said.
Harussani said several senior police officers led by Perak Chief Police Officer Datuk Abdul Aziz Bulat met him at his home Saturday evening to obtain information on the incident. - Bernama

Friday November 10, 2006
MB: Mufti not involved in SMS episode

In clarifying this, Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Tajol Rosli Ghazali said the mufti's name, like that of mariner Datuk Azhar Mansor, had been misused by certain people who were now under police probe.
“I just want to emphasise that the mufti is not involved. The SMS merely mentioned his name and some quotes allegedly made by him,” he told reporters at a Hari Raya celebration in Beruas on Wednesday.

November 8, 2006
Government may use ISA on those sending offensive SMS

KUALA TERENGGANU: The Government is considering the use of the Internal Security Act – besides the Sedition Act – to deal with culprits whose actions are tantamount to instigating others and eventually stirring instability in the country.
The move would also target those who spread lies and rumours through the SMS with malicious intent, said Deputy Security Minister Datuk Mohd Johari Baharum.
Mohd Johari: ‘We have to mete out punitive punishment’

November 08, 2006
Police Action To Be Allowed Against Students Over Ill-intended SMS

The Ministry of Higher Education will not interfere with police action against students of tertiary institutions found to have sent a short-messaging service (SMS) note alleging baptism of a group of Muslims at a church in Ipoh last Sunday.

From the the bloggers:

November 07, 2006
Baptism of 'Muslims' in Ipoh SMS Caper and why Muslims Reacted So!

Malaysia's Muslims are a very easily roused lot!
Yup! Never take them for granted that they don't care about what's taking place in this land and that they can be taken for a ride by others!
They are mostly people who do love their religion and will come together when necessary!
The irony is that it's mostly a case where such devotion to the faith is sadly superficial ..let's say for about 60% of the adherents who are trying their best to live up to the tenets of the faith ; the rest just give lip service to being Muslims.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

MORE PICS- SMS About BAPTISM CEREMONY of “Muslims” at CHURCH Of Our Lady of LOURDES, IPOH; Several NGOs Found out “MUSLIMS” Were ACTUALLY Indians.

The SMS:

ABOVE: The offending False SMS:
"Sejumlah melayu akan dibaptiskan oleh Dato Azhar Mansor esok di Gereja Silibin Ipoh. Seramai 600 pelajar Politeknik Ungku Omar Ipoh telah masuk Kristian. Pendedahan oleh Mufti Perak ptg td di masjid Negeri. Pagi esok 8 pg dmntrasi bantahan besaran depan gereja Silibin. Dtg bramai2 [obscured text] NGO2 Sebarkan Demi agama"

Translated into English, it says :

A number of Malays will be baptised by Dato Azhar Mansor tomorrow at the Ipoh Silibin Church. A total of 600 students of the Ungku Omar Polytechnic in Ipoh have converted to Christianity. Exposé by the Mufti of Perak last afternoon at the State Mosque. A large demonstration will be held in protest at 8 am tomorrow morning in front of the Silibin church. Turn up in numbers [obscured text] NGOs. Distribute this for our religion's sake

The “INNOCENT” Perak Mufti Received ORIGINAL Message Convened MEETING with NGO To CATCH “Red Handed” the “MUSLIM” CONVERTS in a CHURCH? What was his real Intentions? Why can’t he called up the Church and confirm? NO Interfaith Dialogue?
This is interesting revealation from the perak Mufti, reported in the STAR, Nov 12 06.
Is this woman an “infiltrator”? Coverted and reconvert? Spying on the Christian missionary to convert people? Do you think the Mufti has done the right thing? Adding “salt & fire” to make message more “tastier” or appealing or setting the stage to trap the so call “converts” red-handed? There are so many possibilities. If he is more responsible instead of just “to remind Muslims of the threats facing Islam today” he could have just make a call to the Church (or is it haram?); and nip the problem in the bud to diffuse the threats to peace. ONLY after the incident he asked “leave it to the police to investigate”
One wonders how many SMSs went around. Did he actually show the “ORIGINAL” the one he received (see below, cannot be deciphered) to the Police? Is the widely publicised one the ONLY one?

I'm Yellow and Nerdy!

2006-11-15T03:12:00.000+08:00

Found this nerd test from a fellow blogger

Guess what? After years of swearing that I would not indulge in computers and technology, after years of mentioning to people that I hate computers... I AM a nerd!

Here are my results:

I don't think you can score this high if you can answer the geeky questions just because you are a programmer by occupation. I guess I am already geeky at heart. :)

Some additional test results/facts produced by the second nerd-test:

The average score for the gals is 38, while the guy average is 56.

Of the Computer Geek Quiz Takers:
17% are scared of links
17% of Windows users curse it
4% of Linux users selected Bill Gates as their hero

What operating system are you taking this quiz on?

Response	% Response	Avg. Score
Windows	82%	45
Apple	7%	60
Linux	7%	84
Unix	2%	89
Other	2%	52

How often do you back up your important documents?

Response	% Response	Avg. Score
Never	15%	22
Rarely	39%	42
Monthly	19%	56
Weekly	13%	67
Daily	14%	78

Not including "work," how long do you spend on the computer daily?

Response	% Response	Avg. Score
Less than an hour	6%	21
About two - three hours	29%	36
About four to five hours	30%	52
About six to seven hours	16%	59
more than eight hours	19%	70

Me? High Blood Pressure?

2006-11-10T22:14:00.000+08:00

Apparently, high blood pressure can be inherited from your parents, or forefathers...

Asked Papa and Mama about this pulsing vein thing on my head, and they have no doubt that it could be high blood pressure. Grandma and Grandpa (Mom's side) also had high blood pressure. A week's worth of extensive work pressure, lack of sleep may have contributed to this. On top of that, I have been blogging and crawling heavily all week. (On the pretense that something about Aibon may turn up this week, but i was wrong) So basically, I have been in front of the computer monitor screen the entire day. The breaks in between are commuting, lunch and dinner.

So I took Papa and Mama's advice to take a shower, go to bed early,... and go to the doctor's for a checkup in the morning. This has gotta be one of the earliest nights of my life. Yes 10:22PM is early to me...

Signing off now... Good night. Love and Peace... ^_^

Funny Sensation on My Head

2006-11-10T02:14:00.000+08:00

I've been having this throbbing sensation on the right side of my head, above my right temple. It feels like a vein or blood vessel up there just pumping and throbbing away. Been like that for a few days now.

I wonder if it is due to lack of sleep, high blood pressure, work stress.... or all of it?

It's been quite bothersome, and it's happening now as I am typing this. Gosh, I don't even know how to explain this to the doctors...

Koi no Dance Site on Classical Guitar - side tracked

2006-11-08T01:16:00.000+08:00

Got another song up. But I was tired from work, so I couldn't get the song right, after so many NGs. So I side tracked and played the song in some other versions, just for fun:

The other versions sound good in their own way, I think. :)

You can get pizza in Hell...

2006-11-07T22:50:00.000+08:00

Seriously... I don't think there is food in Hell. But New Zealand thinks otherwise.

There's a pizza chain named "Hell Pizza" in New Zealand. Looks like any other pizza restaurant, except that all their menus, brochure, food names, phone numbers... anything to do with them, has something to do with Hell. Or anything satanic or biblical. Seems interesting... names like that can never pass over here in Malaysia.

Hell Pizza website

Kenny Sia's been there... he'll tell you more.

Miracle turned Tragedy... because of "culprit"

2006-11-06T15:43:00.001+08:00

Cops to probe baptism SMS
By CHAN LI LEEN

IPOH: The police are investigating a rumour which spread like wildfire through SMS, claiming that a group of Muslims will be baptised at a church here.

As a result, a large crowd gathered at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in Silibin from 7.30am yesterday to protest against the alleged baptism only to find out that it was actually the first Holy Communion for 98 Indian children.

State police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Aziz Bulat said the police would verify how the SMS had started.

“There could be some people out there who have a personal agenda to create disharmony among the races,” he said when met at the church.

DCP Aziz said the police had also received the text message and had, therefore, placed the Federal Reserve Unit on standby since 7am.

He advised the public to be wary of such messages.

“Don't accept everything you read or hear as total truth,” he said, adding that he would call on all involved parties to help with the investigation.

The protesters, who included members of opposition parties and non-governmental organisations, gathered for some four hours and refused to disperse initially despite warnings from the police.

They finally started to leave at 11.20am after Deputy OCPD (II) Supt Lai Yong Heng issued a stern warning.

Perak Religious Department director Datuk Jamry Sury, who was present to monitor the situation, said the department would also investigate the incident.

“We will take action against the culprit,” he added.

Perak Pusat Khidmat Islam secretary Mohd Nazri Sahad said he was there to check if there was any truth to the message.

The police were still on standby at the church last night.

Father Fabian Dicom, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Penang, which covers Perak, said the church was extremely concerned that a group of people had been sowing ill-will through rumours.

“We are concerned as to how others have come to believe these rumours,” he added.

He noted that the incident had also infringed on the church members' right to worship.

“The Catholic Church has always believed that dialogue is the best platform to resolve issues and as such is extremely disappointed that there was no attempt whatsoever for dialogue,” he said.

Read source here

A few points of focus:
1) The origin of the text message is unknown - Either they are really THAT gullible to believe a random few lines of an SMS sent by a stranger, or they are really trying to cover-up the "culprit" (probably out of shame, since it turned out to be a misunderstanding)
2) No verification of authenticity of message before action - Either they have already believed the message 80%, or they have no idea that they can call up the network to investigate or they did not bother to check at all.
3) The herd behaviour - Other political/non-political parties came and joined the party, out of the draw of the crowd,.... AND also without checking the message origin.
4) "Culprit" is not a catholic - The "culprit" obviously do not know the difference between a baptism and first Holy Communion.
5) Verdict before trial - Action are taken before investigation, before sitting down to discuss, and before inviting the church party to talk. They have ample time to do that, but instead they decided to make a tiger show out of it.
6) Miracle turned tragedy - This is supposed to be a day of celebration, and historical too. 98 children, imagine that. The kids surely will remember this day for the rest of their lives.... Somebody must be REALLY jealous.

Somebody please pass me the phone number of those people who believed the message, so that I can forward them a message to ask for their help in transfering my $25 million Nigerian bank account out of the country. By the way, I hear that a rogue Tibetan monk is planning to do a striptease for charity in Kampung Mangkuk's mosque next Tuesday.

Geez....

Google Spiders Have Priorities?

2006-10-29T20:08:00.000+08:00

I really think so.

I make use of one the many Google services called "Google Alerts". With this service you can tell Google to return any search result based on your criteria as and when it happens. Quite handy, so that I don't have to go their search engine all the time. And since it reflects the latest link they find, I don't have to sieve through the search results all the time.

I have Alerts that return any search result that have anything to do with "Morning Musume", "Hello!Project" and the sort. Today, within a couple of minutes after publishing my last entry on my H!P blog, immediately I receive an email from Google Alert about it.

Either a Google spider have coincidentally been browsing my blog at that time, or Google crawls their own domains first (and whatever domain that have been acquired by them) with the highest priority.

So I guess it's a good thing to use Google's services if you want your contents to be frequently featured on Google search results. ^_^

Productive Day...err... Night... I mean, MORNING!

2006-10-29T06:29:00.000+08:00

Yeah, I'm still awake. This is my final post before I hit the bed. Otherwise I will be watching the sun rise out my window. It's crazy, but I'm really on a roll today. Or yesterday, which occurred 7 hours earlier.

On the side note, Sharm called to tell me that she will looking for some job to do while she is in Ipoh. No point sitting around the house doing nothing, she says. And I agree, but she could have done it here in KL, where she is always accessible to any sudden interview offers. But I guess she had already made up her mind. She was afraid that this will anger me, but I was calm about it and she was relieved. At this point, I'm at the stage that whatever she decided on, I will have no other choice but to offer the best support I can give. It sucks to be unemployed, and I know that too well, cos I've been there. That's why I understand how she is feeling.

However, sometimes I hoped that she listened to me earlier so that things won't be this bad at the very least. Oh well, I suppose we can't have everything our way. God has a plan for all of us, I always say.

So back on topic, it was a swell day. But it didn't start off well, cos I had a problem recording with my webcam. I'm assuming that there is a driver conflict between the webcam and the soundcard. I reinstalled the driver and webcam application, but no dice. Then I found a workaround - chuck the webcam app aside and use MS Movie Maker. As much as I hated to use it, I guess I have to. I've be using it to edit my recordings currently anyway. It will be temporary though. At least until I clear enough space to install Adobe Premier.

Afterwards, managed to finally video chat with Papa and Mama. It's really cool though we had some problems with the sound. At first I thought it was their mic/webcam having problems but further testing proves that maybe it's my microphone. We got loud noises when I speak to my mic. It's like this -> I spoke to the mic, it picked up the sound and emitted through their speaker, back into their mic and came out in my speaker, then back to my mic and it goes on and on. Sounds like hellspeak. :) After I get back home next weekend I'll check their machine out.

Later on, I video chatted with my sis in Japan. And surprise, surprise, nothing happened. No noise, no nothing. Really weird, so my mic problem is ruled out. BUT after chatting with her for a couple of hours (yeah, we can do that. Who says brothers and sisters can't get along? ^_^ ) the problem came back again - right after my Messenger app hung. So the next probable assumption that it is my webcam. You see, it comes with an embedded mic in it. So that may be the cause. However, sis says that she had the same problem while chatting with Papa and Mama. So I guess I better check by putting their mic farther from their speaker. Funny, funny.... but all in all. It was real fun being able do all this. Really bonded our family ties closer. ^_^

Next up, I'm able to record my transposition (as posted earlier) without any hiccups. Well, actually some mistakes here and there but it was close to perfect. Usually I have to do a few takes before I deem it acceptable. I thinking of doing "Furusato" next. Sounds easy, but again, it's a quality song. And like all good songs, there will be some challenges ahead.

....ahh... I spoke a little too soon. I'm at the end of this post, and I saw the sun rising up already... I guess hibernation is in the way. :)

Good day!

Peace ^_^

Two More Morning Musume Songs Transposed

2006-10-29T04:43:00.000+08:00

Shiroi Iro Wa Koibito no Iro - W (DoubleU)

Video Link

Mushoku Tomei na Mama de - Morning Musume

Video Link

No holidays? No matter...

2006-10-26T17:59:00.000+08:00

It's a long public holiday here. Saturday was Deepavali, Tuesday and Wednesday was Hari Raya. Monday was offday/forced leave. Long holiday, so I can relax, right?

Wrong. I was on standby to make sure my company's customer websites are up and running. Self implemented standby, because I was sure something wrong would happen and that I'm not going back hometown anyway. Seem like my decision was right, so much problem happened for one particular customer that we have to keep a close lookout.

Other than that, I was on my H!P blog doing some updates, and I'm not even finished. But it was fun. Hadn't patrolled the japanese sites that aggresive before, but I wanted updates. Updates on H!P news and my beloved Aibon...

Uploaded another guitar song in youtube.com. Some people did actually liked my performances, so I was glad. My next goal was to produce a much better video, because so far it's all muffled and the bass sounded too mellowed. Gotta wait for my thumb fingernail to grow, get a better speaker and a better mic. Why? Because it's much cheaper than getting a new digital camera.

I had a draft post where I would discuss about the whole Lim Kuan Yew's comment and apology about bringing up the "marginalization of the Chinese in Malaysia". But I changed my mind. After reading the draft, I was sure I'd get into trouble for publishing it. I have my own take on it, and it's not pretty. Not for both Malays and non-Malays. It's just an unending debate, both parties are wrong in certain areas. No point arguing over it. Basically, what I can mention is: Do Not Say Anything If You Don't Have Anything Good to Say. Seriously. It's the same as our Pope's case.. Anytime, when it's about religion or racism, it's always sensitive. Should never bringing up unless you have a strong agenda you want to act on and you have strong points. Apologizing afterwards will only embarass you and make the other party look good (for the wrong reasons).

Calm Before the Storm...

2006-10-19T17:16:00.000+08:00

No updates these days. Nothing much happened during the week... well actually there are some things. But I've been busy at work. Sometimes I take the work home with me so I can have dreams about it that night. Last night I had another one, couldn't remember what it was, but there was a dateline involved. I hate it when I dream about some work and I finished it there, but when I wake up and go to work I have to redo it all over again. *sigh*

There are some things that came my way, I've gained a couple of technical tricks that could be useful for me in the future.

So overall, it's been pretty calm during the past few days. Been a routine week -> wake up, go to work, go home, have dinner, and sleep. Yep, not even the energy to go online. All I wanted to do is rest, rest ,rest...

We all know about the 'calm before the storm' thing, so being the pessimist that I am, I am expecting some kind of trouble coming my way. I'm almost sure it's either one of the two things: something to do with work, and something to do with my dear Aibon (cos I had a dream about her a few days ago). Welp, it's time to go hunting for information about her now. Could be another bad omen...

SoooOOOoo.... maybe now I'll find a time to continue and record my other guitar transpositions, and post it up this weekend.

"Mama is Online"

2006-10-18T22:17:00.000+08:00

That's what I'll be seeing later on my Messenger buddy status. So my parents have plugged in Streamyx, got a brand new Pentium 4 3Ghz, 80Gb HD 512 RAM machine, and a webcam with mic. *sigh* I wish I had the cash to get a new hard disk.

So what's next? Why, training time!

You see, Papa is OK with computers cos he uses one at work. Mama is a total beginner, and still having trouble navigating the mouse pointer. :) Ahh, this bring backs memories...

Teacher: Now, listen up boys... this is keyboard, this is the monitor.
Boys: Yes, sir...
Teacher: And this device is called the "mouse". Watched what happens when I slide it to the left...
Boys: OOooohhh~~~....
Teacher: And watch what happens when I do this (* sliding the mouse in circles *)
Boys: aaAAAAaahhh~~~
Teacher: Now you try.
Boy 1: Sir, the cable is not long enough. I can't reach the end of the screen.
Boy 2: Sir, my mouse pointer is gone.
Boy 3: Sir, I cannot double click.
Boy 4: Sir, the left button does not work. (tapping the left arrow key on keyboard)

With all that out of the way, Mama has learned some basics on firing the browser, the windows explorer. Papa taught her. Next, they need to get used to using the Messenger.

Yesterday, had a fun time trying to teach Mama how to surf the net, via phone. The hard part was trying to explain and translate everything from English to Cantonese. (How do you say 'address bar', 'bookmark', 'options' in Cantonese??). Otherwise it was fun, really. I guess for a person at her age, Yahoo! is the way to go. So I taught her how to type in URLs and save to bookmarks, and left the rest for her to surf around. She seems to be excited to be able to look for her stuff of interests. Mainly tourism spots and eateries.

Now these are things Papa have not got into yet. When it comes to computers, he only sticks to work related softwares like MS Office.

I guess now, during Mama's pasttime, the internet is going to replace all those TVB drama series. Wait till I start teaching her how to download torrents of TV series...no wait a minutes, that my sis... Heh!

Morning Musume on Classical Guitar

2006-10-15T02:10:00.000+08:00

I mentioned that I'd transpose some Morning Musume songs. Yes, I did it. Uploading two of them to Youtube.com. Got to know another guy there who is doing the same, transposing some japanese pop songs. Nice to know I'm not alone in this endeavour.

Koe - Morning Musume

Video Link

Ship! To the Future - Morning Musume

Video Link

Ping Pong Show...

2006-10-12T17:43:00.000+08:00

Ping Pong IS a sport,.... and is not only for nerds. Make no mistake about it. ^_^

Click here

Only sometimes..... it's can be comedy...

Click here

Mini-Tornado During the Week...

2006-10-10T11:51:00.000+08:00

No, nothing disastrous. Metaphorically, it has been another roller coaster type of events happening during the past week. I had lots of them in my time, but this time, I'm able to document it. This one's smaller, and I'm blogging based on my memory. Cos' I was too busy to even draft it out. So, here's the week in a glance:

Separated from life source/support
My fiancee, Sharm, went home to Ipoh. Not because we had a fight, but because she was terminated from her company. She was under a "probation period", so the rules have changed a little. She decided to move out of her room to save the rental cost, and look for a job from Ipoh. For me, I wished she could have at least:
a) save her job; She could have talked to her boss about her poor appraisal, and argue about the (false) negative statements, to save her job and her tarnished reputation. Plus she is actually paid very well. Too well for her then working experience.
b) stayed here; Moving back to Ipoh saves some money, but to arrange to travel back and forth to PJ/KL for an interview from time to time is a hassle, and costs about the same. Plus employers prefer to pick from the locals, not from outstations.

But then again, this job gave her a lot of pressure. So she decided not to keep it. Now, I believe in "performance under pressure", and that you can actually learn more while working under pressure and lots of problems, cos you have more problem-solving opportunities, so you can gain more working experience that way.

.... However, this is her life and her career. This is who she is. And she is my wife-to-be. So I can only say that I will accept her and her decisions with my full support. (Yes, it's 'accept'. Not 'tolerate'). On topic, yeah... I've been cut out of my life support (which is my fiancee)... *sigh*

Drained of Monetary Recources
I had a big bonus this month. However, my road tax is also due. So plus my car installments, bills and stuff, I watched my money reduced to a fifth of the original sum within 2 days. To look on the brighter side, the bonuses helped me to pay off a forseeable amount of debt, so I guess it's a blessing.
Ya know, I find that I am really unable to save money this year. No matter how I try, something will pop-up and take them away. Therefore, this means that chinese fortune telling is false. "In 2006, the Goat will enjoy a prosperity year"... yeah, right. 'Prosperity' indeed. All I found out is how long a RM50 bill can keep you alive in PJ/KL. The only people that prosper, are the owners of Feng Shui merchandise.
...there goes my DVD-ROM burner/player and the 5.1 sound system... *sigh* *sigh*

Meeting with the General
The 'General' in subject is my fiancee's dad. Always wanted to have a talk with him, ya know, man to man. So last weekend, I had a chance. Nice man, just like my Dad. My usual magic with conversations worked, and he told me a lot of things. He was actually anxious for my fiancee to get a job soon, and had been putting pressure on her to do it quick. Can't blame him, all fathers are like that. I explained to him that Sharm had gained a certain amount of confidence and maturity now, and it shows by the amount of job applications she makes. So we talked it over, (plus some other things) and he finally felt better, and no longer pressured Sharm. All in all, it was good, he is much relaxed, and Sharm was impressed... ^_^

Family WebCam
Last month, I took my parents to the cybercafe, so that they can chat online with lil sis. We even powered up the webcam so that they can see her while chatting. Unfortunately, due to some technical problems, she can't hear us, though everything else works fine. Due this webcam experience, (obviously something refreshing to my parents), they decided to get a computer and a broadband line so that they can do it at home. So last weekend, I transported the 19" monitor from my office and travelled home to Ipoh, and help them to shop for the computer. It was easy. But the problem is that the Streamyx connection that we are applying for may not work well in our area. This Wednesday, the technicians are coming over to test the connection, before we commit to buying the computer.

Typhoon in Japan
My lil sis got caught in typhoon while moving to her new place. Apparently all her things didn't get wet, the movers that she hired had them wrapped up beforehand. Heh, the japanese are accustommed to working with natural disaster already. I hope she's OK.

The Wedding Date
So the wedding date? Not gonna reveal it here. But it's next year. So I talked to Father Michael Cheah about it, but he says that it's still too early to set it up. So maybe after our EE course (Engaged Encounter or Evening for the Engaged), at about start of next year, we will apply.

Room Flooded...

2006-10-02T09:47:00.000+08:00

One thing leading to another... I'm so tired of it.

Last night my room was flooding with water again. But at least I know how now. It's not the first time this has happened. During every heavy thunderstorm, rain water will seep into my room and flood half of my room. At first I thought it was the windows, and I took the pain of blocking the sills with some cloth, newspaper and shirt. However, I finally found out that it did not come in from there - it came in from a crack between the sill and the wall. At 3 places. Up till now, I wasn't in my room when it happens. So at least the mystery is solved. Solution? Get some cement mortar from landlady and block that brother up. When I have time of course.

Well, I will have to tolerate it for a while, I'll be moving out in a few months anyway.

Girls For IT Guys

2006-09-29T10:45:00.000+08:00

For guys in the IT world like me, I find this amusing. I got in my email ages ago, but I thought I'd share it.

HARD DISK GIRLS:
she remembers everything, FOREVER

RAM GIRLS:
she forget about you, the moment turn her off

WINDOWS GIRLS:
everyone know that she can't do a thing right, but no one can live without her.

SCREENSAVER GIRLS:
She is good for nothing but at least she is fun

INTERNET GIRLS:
Difficult to access

SERVER GIRLS:
Always busy when you need her.

MULTIMEDIA GIRLS:
She make horrible thing look beautiful

CD-ROM GIRLS:
She is always faster and faster.

EMAIL GIRLS:
Every ten things she says, eight are nonsense .

VIRUS GIRLS:
Also known as "wife'' when you are not expecting her, she comes, installs herself and uses all your resources. If you try to uninstall her you will lose something, if don't try to uninstall her you will lose everything...

I Need More Space...

2006-09-28T03:44:00.000+08:00

Yeah, I'm still awake. Doing some office work. Serves me right for forgetting some routines that I'm not supposed to. Oh well, everything seems to be fine, so I'll be back to my bed now.

On topic, I've been downloading stuff from Hello!Online. And I'm running out of disk space soon. Yeah I should have burned them to CDs, but that would mean I will be taking my files off the torrent seeds. I've downloaded much videos and laughter for my sake, thought I'd return the favor. Well, until a certain time, I will have to relocate them files. But I still need more disk space!

I have a spare hard disk lying around. It's from my other PC. It's supposed to be spoilt, but I thought I'd attempt to salvage it. I gots tonnes of treasure in there. All the songs I've composed are in there, also my 3D animations and projects that I've worked on last time.

Now if I only have the time to do so.... don't mind me adding that I ALSO NEED MORE TIME!!

Peace ^_^

Transposing Morning Musume Songs....

2006-09-28T03:19:00.000+08:00

I'm a huge fan of Morning Musume. . I ain't gonna blab about them. Click that link and read for yourself, for those who don't know. Come to think of it, I had not started a post about them before. Maybe I will do it in my other blog.

Now there aren't a lot of people who wanna strum the guitar to the tunes of Morning Musume. Their music just aren't that material. I've been watching the Hello! Pro Hour show, and there are lots of 'unplugged' performances. Other than the really rare solo performances, the acoustic versions of the usually loud and colourful songs sounded really cool and mellow. So I thought I'd try to transpose them songs and post them up for all.

It's been a while since I've transposed any song. I picked up my guitar few days ago, and gave it a try. Still haven't lost my touch, that's good, but I side-tracked and played some of my old practice tunes and played freestyle a few times. Had been out of touch from my classical guitar music for a long time already. Feels great to get some of that ol' feeling back. Now what I need is a capo and some score sheets, will buy them when my paycheck comes this week. (Yes, I am that poor now).

OK then, will see if I can kickstart this little personal project successfully...

kawaiiNation and Me is Back...

2006-09-23T14:04:00.000+08:00

All is well again. The virus apparently wasn't sent to me on purpose. That friend of mine contacted me personally via email, says that the Trojan/worm infected his IM application, and has sent itself to all of his contacts. Well, I guess it's all just a misunderstanding. Respect to him, for taking the pain to try to sieve out my email address to clear things up.

In that same email, he brought a few other things, so apparently some thorns have not been cleared up yet and the scars have not all been healed yet. Perhaps I need to go back to say that we are all still cool and can continue to be friends.

I'm starting to have lots of things on my plate. Too much work and stuff. But I'll be back there. Just as soon as things cleared up a little.

Kawaiination is No More...

2006-09-22T11:49:00.000+08:00

Well, I changed my mind. I'm not going back to kawaiiNation after all.

I PMed an old friend there, to see if he is OK to chat. So he did, went on Messenger, said hi, and sent me a file and logged out. I clicked on it to open - only to find that there's a virus attached to it. Now normally I wouldn't do such a thing, but he had my confidence and trust so I naively clicked on it. Thank goodness it didn't infect my machine which is a linux box, but I'm worried that it will make its way to the Windows partition, which is... I think is unlikely.

We had some bickering before I left kawaiiNation, but it shouldn't end up like this. If it was a prank, it's certainly not funny at all. Not to any system admin.

*sigh* I guess I better put them in my past and move on. So sad that it had to end up this way. Am tempted to track his IP down and return the favor, but I am too old for these games now. He can have his victory, if he enjoys it. Have started to remove all my references of my account from that site, and removing them from my bookmarks. I won't edit my blog posts, so you guys can stil click-through if you want, it's still a great site so take advantage of that. It's some people that you gotta be careful of.

Peace ^_^

Kawaiination and me...

2006-09-21T22:33:00.000+08:00

A few years ago I joined a web community called kawaiiNation. It's where we lounge around looking for softcore pictures of japanese girls, and create lots of discussion around the topic of that one thing that is our common interest - Japanese Girls.

I can't say that I am a pervert, but basically we say you're a pervert when you look at nudie pictures of girls, consistently and religiously. So yeah, I guess I .... was. ^_^ What? Stop rolling your eyes, I still love girls, but the level has toned down a lot, ya know. On topic, it was really fun being there. That was the first webcommunity I have every joined.

Why was this web forum deemed enough to start a blog post about? Basically, it's all nostalgia, and lots of history - good times and bad times. It's the one place that has a place in my heart forever.

The thing that attracted me to this forum in the first place was the pictures. I am a big Japan-holic guy since young, so I was the only one in my neighbourhood looking for pictures of Japanese idols, while my friends are oogling Jennifer, Britney, Christina and the gang. What's more addicting are the members. Each one have truly fantastic persona and character. It was a great experience to interact with them with on a regular basis on our common interest.

Over the years, we managed to collect an archive of links to websites with galleries of Japanese girls of all genre - schoolgirls, models, amateurs, pros, idols, gravure, softcore, b-grades... you name it. It was really impressive. Remember this was back in the day where torrents wasn't around and Kazaa really sucks. But one thing for sure - "No Hardcore". So you never see any pornography nor genitalia at all. It's one thing we're really proud of, and that we know how to set ourselves aside from the rest of the world. Eventually, with the arrival of newer members, our horizon was broadened to outside of Japan. I remember we debated on whether we should keep our forum solely for Japanese or at least to East Asia only. But we opened up the market anyway to cater other interests.

After some time, I was recruited to be one of the moderators to oversee the maintainance of the site. Maintaining the site was a difficult job. You see, what makes this place unique is that we encourage on having more 'quality' postings, so one liners are considered spam. We wanted the forum to be different from the others, where the members are required to be more active, intelligent and creative when they submit posts. Flamings are also a taboo. At the end of the day, we have ourselves a site where everyone are courteous, user participation paramount, and great pictures for all. Obviously, this have led to some members branding us as being snobbish and holier-than-thou. Some who claimed to be veterans at other forums blasted us for our policies. But they are just minor, they went away later seeing that they could not do anything to change us. In my opinion, they are just jealous to see us growing so fast and so consistent, and still able to maintain ourselves a great reputation as an informative forum with great members. They just failed to notice the key thing to our unity. We are not only friends, we can be as close as family members. In fact two members found their soul-mate in this very place and got married.

Among some of the key things that we gained there was our net-crawling prowess. We have developed some tricks and techniques of crawling the net with the help of only search engines and stuff. We come to a point that we can also identify the girls just by looking at the boobs. We even know their interests and personal information like blood type and favourite book. Are our obsession too crazy? Well, don't be surprised, it's just the same as being able to recite the entire active roster of your favourite football team and their hobbies. My role there, until I left, was to moderate the forum, provide Japanese translations, help identify forums and such.

So why did I leave? After some time, there are many times I find that the site just became passive. Most of the postings consisted of the regular members which is only handful. The old members have left, we are struggling, desperate for more active members. We have more lurkers than participants. And with our filtering policies running, we couldn't even get spams sometimes. Generic members are feeling too intimidated to post. SO, I figured that it was probably my time to go, to have more room for "new blood" to come in.

Plus, I have once dedicated most of my time to kawaiiNation, that it came to a point where kawaiiNation was the only 'life' I had. I have a job, and I have friends and family too. I can't neglect my real-life for too long, lest I become a real Denpa Otoko. My responsibilities have grown too much for me to handle and the effort to juggle my time with kawaiiNation has grown taxing.

There are other reasons, which I won't reveal here out of respect of the existing members and moderators. But long story short, there was further clash of interests and principles. I would hate to be the grumpy old dude character there. I always emotional in whatever I say, so I may said things out of my line in order to prove a point. So I decided to retire from it all before it grows worse.

Time went by, and I have never forgotten the times I had there. So I decided to take a stroll down memory lane there today, and my oh my, it seemed like they did really great. A strong nostalgic feeling came to my heart, and warmth of liquid to my eyes. It's like seeing an old friend.

So I popped in a PM to the admin, Rin, to see if he still remembers me. And yes he did. I decided to join back the forum. I'll most probably hang out in the non-girls forum, let the newer fellas have their fun. I had mine already a long time ago.

If any of you guys are still reading up to this point, thank you. To some of my friends and family reading this, this may be a shock to you, but this is who I was and who I am. But I am still the same person.

So if any of you are interested, give them a visit.

Real "Benefits" of Smoking...

2006-09-20T00:39:00.000+08:00

Related post: Smoking Benefits...

In a previous discussion, I mentioned about the real "benefits" of smoking. Guess what? There ARE beneficial side of inhaling the intoxicating nicotine through your lungs. No, it's not only having the oh-so-old remark of looking cool while leaning back and sitting cross-legged, left palm on lap, right arm draped on back rest of the couch with a ciggarette between your middle and index finger. That's old. I now present you some of the cooler things you can have when you smoke.

Create Clouds
Gather a group of buddies and make clouds together. A great way to create a "highland" atmosphere at any time, while having a chance for quality time with friends. Works best at closed compartments.

Better Tastes
Oversmoking kills the taste buds on your toungue. Rendering you near immunity to spicy and strange tasting food. Impress your friends with your power of resistance to spicy food and curry. If you're a man, your wife will never ever notice that you hate her cooking experiments anymore.

The Sympathetic Unwell Person
Bring out the mother-instinct in women, watch them get closer to you with the great look of concern on their face reserved only for you. (Yeah, we men love those) Don't worry about the coughing stuff, this will make women care for you more. There are many types of disease and side effects you can get for smoking. Among the popular ones are bronchitis, coughing blood, asthma, and Parkinsons. Remember that Mohammed Ali has two wives. By the way, this works well for women too.

Terminal Disease
Related to the point above, there are more dangerous disease which you will get after prolonged smoking. Lung cancer, heart disease, pneumonia etc. Coupled with lies about your Donald Trump-like wealth will soon attract the young and beautiful to your side like moths to fire, thinking that they will benefit from your demise some day. Sure, they'll find out later, but in the meantime you will have lots of fun and pleasure. Works well with the next point.

Dry Skin & Wrinkles
Get that great mature, elderly look in your face and skin for that rugged sexy look. Like David Carradine, Sean Connery, Richard Gere, Jack Nicholson and company. Your bronchitis will further complement you with that husky voice for the complete effect.

Blackened Lips
YTour lips will gradually turn dark after many years of smoking. It's faster if your frequency is higher. Forget about lipsticks and coloured lip balms. Smoking will give you a super-cool natural-looking black lipstick effect that will last forever. Want a real gothic and mod-look? Grab that ciggy now.

Yellow Teeth (with Gum Disease)
Smoking causes the tar and smoke stick to your teeth, rendering it with beautiful yellowish ochre. Perfect for an all natural Halloween disguise for a convincing look. Also good if you always wanted to look like a real hillbilly.

Dragon Breath
In addition to the above point of yellow teeth, higher levels include decaying of teeth. Because tar and smoke are highly acidic it will slowly eat up your teeth. IF that does not happen, your alveoli and bronchial tubes within your lungs will be so polluted and damaged you will emit a natural foul smell every time you open your mouth. Now you will breathe a powerful yet foul and funky stench that will forever keep your safe from muggers and pickpockets. Handy, isn't it?

Aliens for Babies
Are you an alien lover? Wanna be the coolest guy in town with a baby that looks like the Zerg or Ninja Turtles? Start smoking and have your sperm start to deform and degenerate, and even cause your hormones and chromosomes to mutate. Helps if your wife does it too, to speed up the effect. Be aware of the inevitable impotence, stillbirths, miscarriage, premature birth and SIDS, so act fast while it lasts. Sounds risky, but hey, think of it as an investment. You may end up with a potential science fiction movie child-star where producers will love to have, to save cash on make up and special effect.

And finally...
Reduce Lifespan
Help yourself, and help your country. Reduce the ever-growing population by dying early or killing other people with your smoke. This will lessen the country's burden and free-up annual budgets from smoking-ban campaigns. Ultimately it helps to reduce taxes too. What better way to server your country, and serve your own interests at the same time? (However, if it causes the country to raise taxes on other utilities to make up the deficit, blame your country's government)

Don't forget the social qualities that come with it. Namely:

Ciggarette Hierachy System
In Malaysia, the brand of ciggarettes that you smoke may reflect your social status. It may be due to the price of ciggarette brand, or the commercial popularity of it. For example, people who smoke Dunhill are considered well-to-do. Marlboro are a favourite among the chinese and range from yuppie groups to techno geeks. While the Gudang Garam may reside on mostly construction workers and low-paid labours. Show off your social credentials today!

Cool Zippo Lighters
For people with glasses, the dramatic "take-off" will swoon girls who are looking for the classic sympathetic broken man, waiting to be hugged. Smokers have a reason to sport cool Zippo lighters legitimately. Use the head-turning flicking action that will grab the attention of the hot chick at the corner of the tequila bar instantly. That's not all, some designs come hand-warmers and play music. Absolutely irresistable to women. Get lucky today!

Footnote: The above article is only a jest, to coincide with my mission to quit smoking, and should not be taken seriously as "benefits". However, the medical effects and side effects are true. (Yes, I'm not joking about the alien babies part). So be warned.

"A pinch of tobacco, wrapped in paper. A fire on one end, a fool on the other."--Mark Twain

The Pope angers the Muslims...

2006-09-19T13:45:00.000+08:00

During a visit last weekend to Kajang, to visit my fiance's grandma who is staying at the auntie's house for the day, we brought up a topic that has swept the world with controversy - our Pope Benedict's statement on the Islamic Jihad.

I really wanted to stay out of the conversation on it, and my belief is that the Pope meant not harm nor insult to the Islamic faith. The Pope shouldn't be that stupid to provoke one of the largest faith in the world. However, I think he just did not choose the right words.

The main story? Apparently, the Pope was quoting a 14th-century Byzantine emperor on the Prophet Mohammed, the founder of the Muslim faith on a speech during his visit to Germany. He said: "He said, I quote, 'Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."' He also said that violence was "incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul". The Pope has apologised, saying that he is very sorry that some passages of his speech may have sounded offensive to the Muslims.

The Pope is actually referring to the Islamic Jihad. More precisely, the "Jihad by the Sword", or the "holy war" because there are other Jihads. Whereby, when pushed to the limits, you can retaliate to preserve the holiness of your faith. (I hope I got that right, correct me if I am wrong). Now, this is serious. He is almost stroking the patience of the Muslims by going straight at the heart of the Islamic faith. The bombings, 9-11, the Iraq invasion, etc... had all happened in only recent years. Surely, the Muslims, any Iraqi or Arab descents all have gone restless and felt oppressed because most of the world have generalised them with terrorists and violent people. They don't need any more of that.

Bickering on religion and faith is always pointless, in my view. That is why I always avoid such talks if possible. I can understand the reaction of the Muslims. Should someone starts attacking my faith, with or without grounds, I would most definitely be upset. In the past, some people have challenged me to a religious debate many times, and I backed off gracefully whenever I can. And whenever I am forced to indulge in the the debates, I always win. Sure, I won. But so what? I'm not happy cos it's the outcome of it that I don't like. And normally, in the heat of the debates, we may say something that doesn't sound right to the other party. So if I lose, I get upset, and they continue gloating. If they lost and took it negatively, they hate me. And if the debate have shook the cornerstone of our faith, we get confused with life and its purpose. It's always good if both parties are open-minded, so that no matter what the conclusion/outcome of the debate is, we still respect each other. But that rarely happens.

Therefore it's not who is right nor who is wrong. The point of the matter is not whether the Pope has solid understanding of the Muslim faith, nor even that his good intentions behind his speech is misunderstood. The point is - he should not have brought it up in the first place unless he had structured his words properly.

Look at the aftermath of this event right now:

The Pope has apologised but it has planted a seed of hate and distrust to any of the future speeches and lectures that he will be making.

Although some Muslimes have accepted the statement and apology, there are other Muslims has stepped further, and demanded that the Pope apologise in person, and that they do not accept the explaination that the speech was "badly interpreted". What are they gonna ask next?

This gives the terrorists, a new reasons or excuse to bomb churches and pillage monasteries. In fact, they have set fire to 2 churches in West Bank, somewhere in the Palestinian area.

Some Muslims said that the Pope has (intentionally or not) linked terrorism much closely with Islam. They may start to blame the invasion of Iraq and the attacking of Afghanistan on this speech.

News sites and journalists put the single-quote or double-quote symbol to Pope Benedicts apologetic words e.g. "is very sorry", 'deeply sorry'. What? They don't believe him? They do not think he is sincere enough? Are they quoting him now? Yes, they are saying that his statement sounded like a "clarification", not an "apology". Look how all this has affected his image.

Being a rabid worrier, I am most afraid of the possible sequel for the Crusade. A war that I can't even imagine. The Pope has scheduled to visit Turkey this year on November. I'm sure security measures have been tightened but I am still worried for him.

In any case, I still love Pope Benedict, and his works of continuing Pope John Paul II's mission of promoting peace. If you're looking for more information on Pope Benedict and his activities around the Vatican, I found this blog quite informative. The Pope Blog.

Pope Benedict needs to consult with his advisors or fellow councils before he go out in public. He needs to understand the brevity of every statement, every move, and every decision that he makes, can impact the world as a whole, even at the slightest detail. This is not his first time of making statements that are offensive or negative towards Islam. But I do indeed hope that he will change.

Pope Benedict XVI and Islam - UK BBC News 15 Sep 2006

*sigh* It's always times like this that I miss Pope John Paul II, He is just amazing. Wonder what would he have done if he was in Pope Benedict's shoes?

Pope Benedict XVI's remarks of regretting causing offence to Muslims in his speech in the Bavarian city of Regensburg, 12 September 2006.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The pastoral visit which I recently made to Bavaria was a deep spiritual experience, bringing together personal memories linked to places well known to me and pastoral initiatives towards an effective proclamation of the Gospel for today.

I thank God for the interior joy which he made possible, and I am also grateful to all those who worked hard for the success of this Pastoral Visit.

As is the custom, I will speak more of this during next Wednesday's general audience.

At this time, I wish also to add that I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims.

These in fact were a quotation from a medieval text, which do not in any way express my personal thought.

Yesterday, the Cardinal Secretary of State published a statement in this regard in which he explained the true meaning of my words.

I hope that this serves to appease hearts and to clarify the true meaning of my address, which in its totality was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with great mutual respect.

Source from UK BBC News

"Christ's message to us, is not to respond to an injustice with another injustice, to violence with another violence, but to remind us that evil can only be overcome with good, not with another evil." - Pope Benedict XVI, April 10 2006

Car Broke Down...

2006-09-18T23:07:00.000+08:00

Whew... what a day! My car broke down just now. Thank God I'm able to make it home in good time. But I was exhausted from it.

My car stopped moving halfway through the Kerinchi Link because I was out of gas, almost at the peak of the single lane flyover, going down to the Federal Highway heading towards Klang. To add to the problem, I left my mobile phone at home. So I had to put up the emergency triangle, locked the car, and with an empty gas bottle, took a 1-2 Km hike down the road all the way to the nearest gas station and make a phone call. Kinda dangerous, with all the speeding cars and all.

I managed to walk to the Shell gas station at Jalan Gasing, and called up my fiance to pick me up from the St Francis Xavier Church. She brought her landlady along, because she wasn't sure how to get there. And so, I took over the steering wheel, and drove back to where I left my car(after I filled up a bottle of few Ringgit of petrol). And to my dismay, I saw that my car was gone. Two possibilities, the highway patrols towed my car away, or somebody stole it. Thankfully it was the former. I continued down the road, and find my car at the roadside of the Federal Highway. Probably the patrols towed it there to avoid congestion/collision. Though it's nice to see that our toll fees aren't for waste, it gave me a heart attack just because of their "effective" service. So I filled the tank with the bottle, and we all went home after that, and I bought the landlady some ice-cream for her company.

On the side note: Twice, a good Samaritan stopped by with his bike and offered me a ride, but I declined. Now I have this advice to all you guys out there - If you get good-samaritans on bikes offering you a ride or any help of sorts when your car breaks down, do not take it. Yes, these guys would actually take you to the gas station, or have a look at your engine, and you may feel that this help is heaven-sent. But at the end of it all, they will demand so much money from you for their trouble, it is almost robbery after all. I heard this story from a Sprint personnel, where a dude's car broke down, two Indian guys on bikes stopped by, with this victim's permission opened up the hood to check it out, and after minutes of tinkering and absolutely no resolution at all, those guys rudely demanded RM 100 for simply having a look. Also, it seems that these people actually patrol the highways for situations like this, so that they can make a fast buck. Given the density of vehicles at these parts, chances are that they will come across at least 1-2 vehicular breakdowns a day. Man, I should quit my job right now and join the group.

My Cubicle....

2006-09-16T16:59:00.000+08:00

A parody song of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful".... named "My cubicle". My office colleague introduced it to me. Really funny! Love the punchline at the end.

Click here to view

IQ Dragon Ball Z...

2006-09-16T03:53:00.000+08:00

Test your IQ....... Dragon Ball style!!!

Find 7 differences from the absolutely original Dragon Ball Animation. Darn difficult. I'm only able to spot 5. This one is much more difficult than the previous ones... well, of course, combine the high-speed Dragon Ball anime action you may get confused.

Saa, orya to sho buu daa~~~~!!!
Kame Hame Haaaaaa~~~!

Switched Beta Blogger...

2006-09-15T19:10:00.000+08:00

Switched to Beta Blogger already. The new features are really cool, and there are more links connecting to each module, which makes blogging easier. Haven't really tested deep enough on the other new features but I will be.

I must say that new Layout template feature was really good. This will allow end-users to modify their CSS easier instead of copying from other "template-provider" sites and then complain the interface doesn't work, and THEN they started bothering people like me.

Oh, and fortunately, they maintained the manual editing of the CSS portion intact, for us old-school people. Relief!

One of the downsides now, is that I cannot leave comments on the non-Beta blogs. Apparently this feature has not been added yet. So my friends are probably wondering where I am now. Oh well, guess we'll have to wait for it.

Voice from the UK...

2006-09-15T02:44:00.000+08:00

Really exciting news today!

My cousin Michelle from UK has sent me an email! Though she sent that last month to my Hotmail account, which I only check once in a blue moon. Thank God for the urge to check it today, it's as if He sent me a reminder Himself.

An update to those who don't know: I have an aunt (I call her Ah Koo, it's Hakka for auntie) who married a Englishman and migrated to the UK many years ago, and gave me 2 cousins, Michelle and Darren. (Michelle is the elder) Last I heard, Darren is still a mechanic, moved out to his own house with his girlfriend. And Michelle is still single and is working all over London.

Darren's situation might have changed now. And Michelle gave me a brief of her current situation. It seems that the news of my marriage plans have made its way to England, which prompted her to mail me. How nice!

Michelle is still single, and is living her life to the fullest. Job hopping from to another just like any other big city denizen. She has done just about everything, and somehow related to music and entertainment. That's something I admire, because I can never do that now, I'm all for stability right now. Music is almost behind me now.

So, I sent her a mail and I'm really looking forward to her reply. I really wish she would keep in touch often. So Michelle, if you're reading this, please respond! Pronto!!

Smoking Benefits...

2006-09-14T13:03:00.000+08:00

OK, firstly, I want you guys to be clear about one thing - Smoking Is Bad. And I knows it. But yes, there ARE benefits of smoking too.

A lot of people has asked me why I started smoking and why didn't I quit since I know it is bad and all. The fact is, I can actually stop smoking at any given time and I can last for months or years without it. So why?

Before I explain, let's go way back to my school days. Some of my friends around me smoke when not within the school compound. Does it make me curious? Not at all. In fact, it looked awful to see a kid in school uniform smoking a cigarette in a town bus. Plus it drains your stamina, which is very bad for me because I was very active in sports. That's why I was never tempted and graduated high school without a single puff.

During my high school days, I was Orchestra Leader in the Chinese Instrumental Group. Sometime after graduation, I was invited back by my juniors to watch the national chinese instrumental group competition in Penang.(It was going to be history, because the following year they would take part of it, it's a FIRST. So they decided to watch the show, to see what they're up against.) I was there to counsel and provide adult supervision to those kids. After the show on the first day, I hung out with a junior and long time friend Carson, at the balcony. He was smoking away and we had a nice talk about our musical group.

Now, as I mentioned before, I often have people pour out their souls to me, telling me their life story naturally, and he was no different. (I don't want to brag, but I just have this aura that makes people tell me things :) ). I love listening to stories about other people so I let him talk. But mid-way through our conversation, when it comes to personal details, he just wouldn't commit further after that. So I tried another approach, I took one of his cigarettes and lit it. I could never forget the look on Carson's face, while exclaiming "Hey! I didn't know you smoked too!". It's as if he found a long-lost brother.:) So then, he opened up, and told me everything about himself from his childhood till his present days.

Side note: That was actually my first puff. And surprisingly, I didn't even choke or cough from the smoke going through my trachea and lungs for the first time. It seemed...natural. As if I had been smoking for a long time. (Which is one of the reasons why it seemed convincing to Carson) All these years of thinking "i wonder how it feels to be smoking" and the conclusion that I get is..... dissapointing. It was nothing really. Other than the slight high you get in your head after each puff, it was a waste of time.

Many years after that, I took from this experience with me when I started working. I find that it helped me a great deal where ever I go.

On my first job I worked at a Civil Engineering company, where I was site supervisor, I was in charge of inspecting the R.C. frame contruction. Same thing -> the contractor talked with me professionally, nothing more. Then I took one of his ciggarettes, and he began to tell me about his wife, and kids automatically .... and also where he cheated on the materials. (I later advised him to repair it, because it may cause the building to collapse, in which he obeyed willingly). Every visit to the site, he would indulge lots of tips and tricks of the building construction world to me, and I learned a lot. I did the same to my peers, the trainees, the site workers, other engineers etc. And I get positive results and "inside stories" on just about anything, related to work or not. A year later, I was many years ahead of anyone with the same position as I am in terms of knowledge and skill. Thanks to my secret weapon - the cigarette. I didn't only use this at work, even at social functions. It's a sure-fire icebreaker.

The reason behind this is simple:
Smokers are shunned in the eyes of the society. You see a kid smoking - it's a teen-gangster. You see a man smoking - he's crude and rude. You see a women smoking - she's a tramp and a vamp. You always see "No Smoking" signs everywhere. Parents see smoking as a weakness. The image of smokers are never nice here in Asia.

By pulling out the cigarette and smoking with them, they feel as if they found another comrade in distress. Smokers are like a groupie of their own. As a result of this exclusion, smokers tend to group in certain places e.g. fire escape stairways, lobby areas, smoking rooms etc. And it is in these "smoking meetings" people meet and talk, because it's rare you get a break like this. Now the "comrade in distress" mentality does not take place all the time, but it's the opportunity to meet people that counts. Sometimes business propositions may even take place. I have rubbed shoulders with many CEOs and Execs at stairways where we learn about each other's businesses.

Additionally, smoking gives me an excuse to take a few minutes of my work, go out and take few minutes break. Now office administrators deemed that this is a sign of low-productivity as it takes time off from work. But I consider this as a lower offence compared to other "crimes" such as repairing make-up, getting up to make coffee often, long breaks at the pantries during tea-break, surfing porn when no-one is looking, checking (junk) mail, walking around looking for chat-mates, checking/sending personal SMS, etc etc.

So do you still think that these are reasons enough to be called "benefits of smoking?". Well, these are just my personal experience on how smoking have benefited me. :)

And actually, I'm in the midst of a resolution to stop smoking now. Because my current work does not require for me to smoke at all. (I'm a system administrator and programmer now, and my job requires me to be on my desk at most times. So I don't get to meet people outdoors much) Hopefully it pans out this time.

I'll be starting on another blog entry on other ...err.... "benefits" of smoking. I'll let you decide on that one. :D

Emergency Hotline Posts...

2006-09-11T16:53:00.000+08:00

Launched in Bukit Bintang last week.

Emergency hotline posts around the city

This emergency hotline post may soon be a common feature around the capital as police show their determination to come down hard on crime.

The first of these new posts had been erected at the Yayasan Selangor building in Bukit Bintang with Kuala Lumpur chosen by the Federal police as the pilot city for this project.

The post is quite basic as it has been fitted with an intercom, speaker and a closed-circuit television camera to monitor prank calls or to identify the person in distress.

A senior police officer told the New Straits Times: "This project is the brainchild of the Federal police headquarters, and there are big ideas in the mix.

"If the pilot project is successful, it might be introduced nationwide in the major cities. For now, the public should get used to this post being a common feature in the capital city."

Read original article and view the picture here.

Don't know how effective this wayphone system can be, but it's definitely better than erecting wooden police booths around town, which is quite an eyesore and a waste of resources.

I also hear that during the launching, the demonstration of the system was overly done, with screeching police cars and even included a hovering helicopter. 0.o Reminds me of the Proton Savvy car ad.

However, I sincerely hope that they live up to what they have demonstrated there when the going gets tough.

Ai Ra Bu Yuu Kishidan...

2006-09-10T22:19:00.000+08:00

My sis has recently asked me to show to Papa and Mama who she is currently interested in.

Unfortunately, she is not romantically involved with them. :)

Kishidan has been around for a decade already, and recently celebrating their 10th year anniversary with some shows and activities. Go here to have a look if you know japanese. They are really one-of-a-kind, with their stage performance, looks, and music. Don't let their looks and goofy antics fool you. If you listen closely, their musical talent is not to be underestimated, and it is waiting to be fully released one day.

This group, consisting by Ayanokouji Sho (Vocals and leader), Saotome Hikaru (~~Gibberish~~ Vocals and dance), Saionji Hitomi (Guitar), Hoshi Grandmarnier (Guitar), Shiratori Shouchikubai (Bass) and Shiratori Yukinojoe (Drums).

Their Style: Early 50's bosozoku biker gang, sporting exaggerated and permed pompadour hairstyle, black japanese high school uniforms modified to their own style with large kanji. Their rock songs are always accompanied with para-para moves, each song having its own.

Their Music: About high school love, bikers, friends, gangs... anything yankii.

Their Popularity: Already 10 years in the industry and still not phased out. Need to say more? However, they are limited to the Japanese, as their style does not really appeal to the international market. Which is good because I would hate for them to be compared to the Danish techno group Cartoons. Their songs are also a favourite among karaoke goers, whey they can dance along with it.

Their Influence and influence to culture: Obviously, Sho and his buddies took from the bosozoku culture which is common in their hometown, and took it to a national recognition. Despite their outlook, they have never promoted violence and stuff. Instead, their songs are mostly about love, courage, and faith. They are one of the most recognisable rock groups in the country, and have influenced the fashion industry with their style. You will see a lot of mangas and animes emulating their outlook when depicting gangsters and yakuzas.

Trivia:
- Has appeared in Kouhaku shows. It is a national show for New Year's eve.
- Kishidan are friends with Glay, another famous rock group. It was one of Glay's home party, that Sho was introduced to Utada Hikaru, and they became best friends from that day onwards.
- Hikaru has a gimmick where he is the one in the group that speaks in gibberish. Even his self description in the live concert pamphlets/flyers will consist of "!@#$%&*" or something like that.

Lately, Sho has a side project with an alternate persona, DJ Ozma. His bandmates from Kishidan are involved in this, but they never admit that they are the same people. In live interviews, DJ Ozma will never admit that he actually Ayanokouji Sho, instead he will say that they are distant relatives. Of course, this is just a jest, everyone knows that already. But according to my sis, some people actually believed that! :)

So for those who are interested, don't be shy and give them a try. Start with their great hit single "One Night Carnival", and the recent "Ai Ra Bu Yu (I love you)"

Stripping when you are gone...

2006-08-30T12:28:00.000+08:00

No, it's not something that I did when my fiance went back hometown for a couple days or something. It's just something I found on the Yahoo! news.

So I was doing my usual work, when I came across a funny name for a place in China -> Donghai. I was amused at how vulgar it sounded in Cantonese, but it was really Mandarin, pronounced doong-high, meaning "eastern ocean". So I googled up "donghai china", and found the following article on the top of the search result:

Wed Aug 23, 11:09 AM ET
Police crack down on striptease funerals...
BEIJING (Reuters) - Striptease send-offs at funerals may become a thing of the past in east China after five people were arrested for organizing the intimate farewells, state media reported on Wednesday.

Police swooped last week after two groups of strippers gave "obscene performances" at a farmer's funeral in Donghai County, Jiangsu province, Xinhua news agency said.

The disrobing served a higher purpose, the report noted.

"Striptease used to be a common practice at funerals in Donghai's rural areas to allure viewers," it said. "Local villagers believe that the more people who attend the funeral, the more the dead person is honored."

Wealthy families often employed two troupes of performers to attract a crowd. Two hundred showed up at last week's funeral.

Five strippers were detained and local officials "issued notices concerning funeral management," Xinhua said.

Now village officials must submit plans for funerals within 12 hours after a villager dies. And residents can report "funeral misdeeds" on a hotline, the report said.

Read original article at Yahoo! news

So now Donghai is not only that a name for a county in China and the name for a strait between the Pacific Ocean and China, it's a place where you have strippers at funerals. I don't know how long this has been going on, but this act has made this village now synonymous with strippers in the eyes of the world.

Now, being a chinese myself, I could understand the drawing-big-crowd-at-funeral part. In fact, we had marching bands and mini parades strolling the main streets led by the hearse and a Taoist priest. But isn't this a going a tad bit too much? So for all those of you who still think the East is still exotic, virgin, and unattached from modern civilisation and culture - think again.

I'm busy now, but I have a lot to say about this, so I'll be back to update this entry.

Oh by the way, I did get back on track finding its location and here it is...

Do the Programming...

2006-08-29T18:02:00.000+08:00

I didn't start out being a geek, to be honest. In fact computing is one of the four things I hated in my life, the others are politics, accounting, and asparagus. I was turned in a geek under circumstances.

As some of you guys know, I used to be a CAD draughtsman for Best Wide Matrix . Up till this day, I still don't know why they did not come up with their own website yet. My first attempt at programming was scripting a LISP AI for my AutoCAD work. Working with AIs are cool in cadding cos it eases my work and speeds up my productivity.

So I studied IT and Computing with APIIT, to broaden my range of skills and in hopes to better my LISP scripting. Of course, I found out later thatn they didn't really teach LISP in IT classes but I was hooked with programming.

Read another blog, the other day, and from there it finally hit me in the head, and brought to the surface the real reason why I liked programming, which has been eluding me for a long time. I love writing, learning new languages, and I love puzzles & problem solving. And programming fits perfectly all 3 of them. There are so many languages in programming, from the lowest level right up to the top. My expertise of course is mainly in web-application programming. So now i finally understand why I never tire of it.

---

In truth. I had the first taste of programming way back when I was a kid doing Basic Programming. But our family was too poor to own a computer and my enthusiasm just died off. Wonder what would have happened if things happened otherwise...?

Gramaphone me...

2006-08-25T16:01:00.000+08:00

We got an old gramaphone in my hometown home. It's actually an electric phonograph, with two 2-feet tall speakers, standard turntable with ceramic stylus, and an amplifier-cum-radio tuner. Can't remember if it was a 75rpm or a 45rpm. Easily 30 years old. Really an antique worth keeping in my opinion, but Papa wants to throw it away.

You see, we have finally sold our old house and have been moving stuff out of the house to the new one, and also been deciding which stuff are worth keeping and which are the ones that we REALLY need to get rid of. Our family (except Mama) are a bunch of pack rats, what others see as junk we see as treasure. I'll talk about this in another topic...

So Papa wants to get rid of it, he thinks that thing really takes up a lot of space, and it's old and unusable. So don't think all our old folks are attached to inventions and products created from their era. Papa is a real Audio-Visual fanatic, and ever since the inventions of CDs, DVDs, and really cool Kenwood sound systems came about, he never looked back.

I have lots of memories with that machine, which was given to us by Uncle Victor - Papa's cousin. When I was small, Mama used to play it everyday while she does housework. I think that's mostly where my passion for oldies came from. We even also have a few Christmas, and nursery rhyme records. Songs for all occasions for the entire year. Sometimes, we would just turn on the radio. Lots of Bee Gees and Samuel Hui records there too, and I was a big fan. And Papa wants to chuck it out.

It's not old, it's just seasoned. (hmm... i think i will used that phrase once I am of age) And it's not unusable, it's just that the stylus/needle is spoilt, and they don't know where to get a replacement for it. Can't blame them, in our current age of high-tech stuff, things like gramaphone ceramic/crystal styli is just not something you can get at a local mall. So I told them to NOT throw it away, I'll take it, move them over here to my place.

Actually, there are still shops lying around still selling gramaphone records and phonographs. All second-hand items of course. The one in Ipoh is closed already, but there's one over here in Sea Park. I frequent that shop occasionally just to look at the old records. So today I asked the shopkeeper, if he has styli for sale. Here's the funny story: he was looking at me in an awkward way, as if to say "what's a young man, dressed smartly in slacks and shirt wanna get a styli for? Is it for his grandma? Does he even know how to use it??". So the grizzled old man was babbling away at me --> "Which type you want? The Kawai type? Toshiba? National? Each of them are different you know....blablabla.." So i said, I wanted the really early types, the "flip-overs", with just a standard ceramic needle will do. Stopped his long-speech halfway, looking bit embarassed, he took me to the glass shelves. I had a look, and after talking to him further, it seems that the type I wanted may be REALLY obsolete. However, he can do mods. So I'm going back home next week, and return with one of the needles to show him, and see if he can do anything.

She still remembers...

2006-08-22T12:32:00.000+08:00

I have a friend. She's the reason I started this blog in the first place (if you have read the early entries). Broke up with her 2 years ago now. And during the "healing period" time, I find myself not wanting to let her go. Very typical of me, I fall in love very slowly, and I fall out of it even slower. So it was tough.

She broke up with me, cos she thinks that she is not ready yet, and thought that it was unfair to me. (I'll tell you why later) I didn't see her as a women that I can love at first, but she was really, really a nice girl, and I see a lot of myself in her. The insecurity, the naiveness, the huge interest in music and composing... She had displayed lots of kindness towards me, that I have never experienced before, and I was touched. But perhaps that's what it was - just kindness.

I brought this misery to myself, for wooing her in the first place. I can't blame her for being shocked when I confessed my affection to her on my birthday 2 years ago. There was some tension between us after that, but I know, I had her attention already. So one day she told me, (something that I suspected a long time already), that she's a bit on the queer side. But I didn't mind and convinced her nevertheless, after much coaxing and I was happy, and proud. We went out and make out just like any other couple, and I can tell that she did enjoy her first experience of being with a man. But inside of her, she was still struggling with her other side. And finally broke up with me.

The many days after that, we remained friends, but I missed her terribly. I told her that I will be back again for her whenever she's ready. But then I grew tired of waiting. Why does it always have to be me making the changes and adapting my lifestyle to someone else'? I wanted someone who I can always be my goofy self, and someone who can understand my needs. I can't be waiting forever, I can't be ALWAYS the one waiting. And that's when I finally met my fiance. Quite a fascinating story on its own. Maybe I will blog it sometime.

On topic, she still remembers, I think. The times when we were together, when we broke up and when I told her that I'll be back. She always mentions it when we occasionally go out for a few drinks. The first one is always the hardest to forget. She's is still reminiscing about our times together. I felt like I have betrayed her sometimes. Even more so, when there was a time, she got drunk, called me up in the middle of the night, and poured her soul to me. Recently, she brought up the movie "The Breakup" starring Vince Vaughn and Jeniffer Aniston, over a cup of tea. I'm not dumb, I could see the hidden implications when she summarized her view on the movie. For a moment, I felt really bad. She's being more casual with me right now. And we're still good friends.

But hey, I am happy now and I have moved on. And so should she. I sincerely hope that someday she finds someone else who can her give all the love and all the things that I wanted to give her myself, and much, much more. And that she should receive her rightful happiness that she deserved.

I'm back ... sort of.

2006-08-20T12:25:00.000+08:00

I'm back. Many things have changed since the last time I blogged. I stopped updating cos I got lazy, and nothing really happened for a long time. But I had a really crazy roller-coaster ride for the past 2 years, and I get to see the really different side of me during this time. All I can say is that I'm a changed person, and my role in this life has definitely changed. I probably understand now see now what my calling is. Nevertheless, to those of you who (still) visits this blog, and those googlers, I am back, not better than ever, I'm just back being the same way as I used to be. And that, in my view, is a great achievement already. You will probably see me flooding this blog with past events that has happened and over with. So bear with me for a bit. Peace ^_^

My Birthday 2005

2005-09-10T14:08:00.000+08:00

I had a call at somewhere at midnight of 9th, i thought it was my girlfriend, but the ringtone gives it away.... it was my ex-girl..... she wanted to be the first to wish me a happy birthday.... why didn't she do this last year when we were together, i thought to myself....

So I had a German dinner with my her.... exchanged gifts (her birthday was on the 5th).... exchanged past nostalgic thoughts and memories.... then parted ways.... all done within 40 minutes.... (it almost felt like a quickie).... of course she didn't like the way it all happened.... but hey, i now belong to someone else, you know.....however, i feel bad giving her the privilege of being the first person to have birthday dinner with me... of course my girlfriend didn't know this....she didn't have to.... she's quite the jealous type.... after that dinner, i zoomed all the way home, where my girl is waiting for me.... and i'm already late.

... so a private chinese dinner .... we cut the cake in my place .....for just the two of us.... it was clean and romantic.... so no birthday nookie or anything... just really pure clean stuff.... a high-school-feels-great-to-be-alive feeling..... a feeling that i have forgotten for the longest time... and THAT surpasses anything else for the entire day, if not the entire year.....

So, You want to learn japanese?

2004-10-14T09:42:00.000+08:00

I got this from one of my friends at kawaiination ..... I thought it was hillarious! I couldn't stop laughing..... hahaha!

Go Here

It shouldn't be taken seriously, but it was reality to some (maybe more) westerners. Fortunately, Japanese is easy to pick up for (literate) chinese and eastern people, because there are some similiraties in the grammer, culture and stuff......

OK, excuse me while I read it the second time to have a good hearty laugh again. ^_^

Family Karaoke

2004-09-21T14:21:00.000+08:00

I've always wanted to do many things with my family. You know, have a family activity or something. My parents came over to visit last Saturday, (after a long persuasion), and I've managed to go for a karaoke session together! It was a lotta fun.... I wish Cindy (my baby sister) was here.

It was something we have been talking about for years but we never got around making it happen, yet here we are last rainy Saturday afternoon, and we sang "Song Sung Blue" together.....woohoo~~~! :D

Our family was a oldie-junkie. We'd listen anything from Frank Sinatra, Marie-Ann & Tom Jones ....all the way to Carpenters, Bee Gees & Olivia Newton John. My favourite has been the 70's music. The funny thing? After years of assuming that Papa has a great hidden singing talent..... I finally get to hear him sing a full song..... and he sucks :). Hey, I've heard him singing hymms in church, and I thought he's got a Engelbert Humperdink type of low-key voice. But, come to think of it, it's been years since I've heard him sing at all.

It's one of those times, that I come to realise something...... Papa's getting old. Mama, on the other hand, took singing lessons before.... so no problem for her. Even though her age now adds a little coarseness to her voice. But it's absolutely great, to be able to do something together at least. Now I'm not gonna go about talking about how off-key and off-timing the singing was, the important thing about enjoying karaoke is --> Enjoy yourselves! And that's what we've been doing. Karaoke is about building a castle of happiness.... on top of someone else' moat of suffering. (The chinese would know what I meant there.) We've been singing and singing for 4 hours, all oldies..... well, added two modern songs to stay level headed, and I get to sing "Leader of the Band" by Dan Fogelbert to Papa. Man, it was great.

I would love to do it all again.... maybe the next time when I get back to hometown, I will..... yes that would indeed be nice. Let's not make last Saturday a "once in a lifetime" moment.

busy busy busy....

2004-09-20T13:40:00.000+08:00

Over a month. It's been that long since i last updated my blog. Not that I have nothing exciting happening with my life this past month. It's just that I've been busy and i haven't the time to write anything down. My gang at kawaiination (formerly known as jsgirls and nippongirls) are slowly getting too active for me to catch up. Even the newbies are getting smarter. But then again, I'm seeing good things with kawaiination, cos there have been times where a topic more than a day old getting pushed to the next page.... just like forum.japantoday.com (where I have been dormant). Quite an achievement, I must say.

I'll recap what has happened in a moment. I'm breaking the laws of work ethics right now, typing me blog while at work...... (even though most of us do it anyway :) )

Google DOWN!

2004-09-03T18:49:00.000+08:00

This is may just be the once-in-a -ifetime incident for Google.... my boss and I were laughing our heads off looking at the screen..... ^_^

Time of incident :
2nd September 2004
3:29PM EST

*Click to Enlarge*

Heart of the Matter

2004-08-18T12:39:00.000+08:00

Have you chosen any theme song that you'd listen to when you broke up with your man/woman? Everyone has. Somehow most people would have a song or two that they can relate to.... that tells of the story of their love relationship. A song that acts as a reminder, or a nostalgic attachment. I chose Heart of the Matter by Don Henley. I've always loved this song for a long time, and it came to my head the moment she said those words.

Before i met her, it's bad enough that this song would bring tears in my eyes everytime I listen to it.... now it gets worse. The intro and the outro guitar riffs put a *thump* straight into my chest and my eyes will well up with tears........

Heart of the Matter - Don Henley, Eagles

I got the call today, I didn't wanna hear
But I know that it would come
An old true friends of ours was talkin on the phone
she said you've found someone
And I thought of all the bad luck
and the struggles we went through
how I lost me, and you lost you
What are all these voices outside love's open door
make us throw out our contentment
and beg for something more?

I'm learning to live without you now
but I miss you sometimes
The more I know, the less I understand
All the things I thought I knew
I'm learning again
I've tryin to get down
to the heart of the matter
but my will gets weak
and my thoughts seems to scatter
But I think it's about forgiveness
forgiveness
even if, even if you don't love me anymore...

Ahh, these times are so uncertain
there's a yearning undefined
...people filled with rage
We all need a little tenderness
How can love survive in such a graceless age
The trust and self-assurance that can lead to happiness
They're the very thing we kill, I guess
Pride and competition cannot fill these empty arms
And the work I put between us
it doesn't keep me warm...

I'm learning to live without you now
but I miss you baby
The more I know, the less I understand
All the things I thought I figured out
I have to learn again
I've been tryin to get down
to the heart of the matter
but everything changes
and my friends seems to scatter
But I think it's about forgiveness
forgiveness
even if, even if you don't love me anymore...

There are people in your life, who've come and gone
They let you down , you know they hurt your pride
you better put it all behind you, babe
cos' life goes on
you keep carrying that anger, it'll eat you up inside, baby...

I've been tryin to get down
to the heart of the matter
but my will gets weak
and my thoughts seems to scatter
But I think it's about forgiveness
forgiveness
even if, even if you don't love me ...

I've been tryin to get down
to the heart of the matter
but the flesh gets weak
and the ashes will scatter
But I think it's about forgiveness
forgiveness
even if, even if you don't love me ...
anymore...

Olympics!!

2004-08-17T19:37:00.000+08:00

Who's your favourite Olympic team??

Oh my, China is tougher than I had thought. Well, nearly every Olympic games , they have been cool. But watching them in the diving, air rifle and table tennis had reminded me how GOOD they were....

...oopps times up.... i gotta go..... maybe i continue later? :)

Filtering friends...

2004-08-17T19:16:00.000+08:00

Sometimes after a break up many people tend to remember and start counting - how many friends do you really have. There's a way to determine which one is your closest friends.

For example:

When you tell your friends about your breakup with your boyfriend/girlfriend, do your friends:
1) remain silent, but feels sorry for you
2) feels really sorry for you, and has said it
3) tries to console you in any way possible, even though you didn't expect it
4) buys you a drink, takes you out for a dance/party
5) tells you to get over it and forget about him/her
6) tells you to get over it , and starts to brag about "this guy/chick i know in the office"
7) no reaction, but pats you on the shoulder gently, and smiles in consolation
8) no reaction at all

....well,....there are no standards or rules set on how one filter one's "true friends" from the garbage friends . It really depends on you. And what you expect from them, and them you.

Email problems!

2004-08-16T19:32:00.000+08:00

Some of you may wonder what i do for a living..... well, i'm a IT system administrator. I administor IT systems. Hahaha.... well, not so funny anyway.

Well, I pretty much do the same thing as any SA would, we are managed hosting professionals Stronium. As much as I enjoyed the IT world, it came to me as an accident really.

The only thing that bothers me is the workload and tension. It's nothing I've ever experienced before when I was a draughtsperson. Ahh~~ life back then was easy. We are the living photocopy machine for civil engineers and architects. We visualize and "graphicalise" their (sometimes) stupid structures and concepts and when there's nothing to do, we hang out at the coffee shop for a drink downstairs. What a waste of life..... i've wasted almost 5 years of it. My initial idea was being an architect, but financial restrictions have led me to be a draughtsperson all my life. Don't get me wrong, I learned a lotta things along the way, but I don't see myself leading an easy life later.

Oh,.... on topic...... I hate customer-having-problem-with-sending-email problems!!! ....there... i hope i wasn't off track.

Confession...

2004-08-16T13:52:00.000+08:00

Perhaps I should confess here..... the date of entries here are not accurate to the post times. I was just feeling that I should express myself in some way, when my short relationship with a girl ended. She is one special girl to me, and I'll tell you why later.

I'm in a middle of 'soul searching' for myself. I blame myself for the fall of this relationship. I see myself and her going further all the way,... but I guess it's not meant to be, not at this moment. I haven't given up yet. I should be, but I love her too much to let it go.....

Love and therapy

2004-05-30T14:00:00.000+08:00

I've missused a word to describe myself, .... I'm not a psychiatrist, just a therapist. A NAIVE therapist to the effect. I'll tell you why later.

I've just listened to the whinings of a passenger who's sitting beside me on a bus journey back to my hometown. Somehow he just told me about his business, his frustations and how it has affected his family. The trick? I just kept quiet. That's it! You don't have to be very charismatic and influencial to get people to talk. I remember from an article that says something about dealing with friends --> "Sometimes the best way to be a friend, is to keep quiet". And I think it's quite true. Remember how Robin Williams got Matt Damon to talk in 'Good Will Hunting'? He just kept quiet, and the 'Will' character won't talk, for 60 minutes of therapy session.... everyday. Until, one day Will breaks down and started talking (not before some few arguments). It's a surefire technic.

Back to business, how does the ability of listening and basic therapy knowledge help and involve in a love relationship. The answer is 'nothing'. I have a crush in an Indian girl years back, and stupid of me, I didn't take any action and let a Punjabi fellow get to her first. And almost everyday she will call me and tells me how stupid her boyfriend is, how inconsiderate, how uncaring,.... "I wanna break up!!" ...... and last one will be the next topic I shall start about. On topic, do not think that being there for someone who is in the middle of a heartbreak situation can guarantee you some pussy. It doesn't work all the time. Some of them just want to whine and cry about it to someone, and not expecting anything from it. In fact, those same "some of them" will be as jolly as a bird the next day, and went straight back to the uncaring and heartbreaking bastards. This girl here, knows how much I care for her in a more-than-friendship level, yet she still comes to me when she's down. I will do my entire best to cheer her up, giving advises after advises, telling her that her boyfriend is "not really that bad, you know" and stuff. She will cry and she will shout, and then she will smile again. But after all that she leaves, leaving me heartbroken everytime...

It's been years since I last saw her. News has it, that she's getting married this year. Not to the same Punjabi fellow, but a Singaporean. She rarely calls me now. I guess she FINALLY realised it. I'm not saying that it's bad to have an attachment to someone to whine to, but at least show some appreciation with ~~pussy~~words at least, to someone who has been there for you when you're down, and to draw the line before any emotions are stirred.

.....but I will never ever touch another Indian woman again.....

Star gazing

2004-05-16T15:28:00.000+08:00

An excerpt from a 1996 japanese soap, it's a conversation between the hero and the heroine up on a rooftop of a flat, a cold night..... the hero (coming off from a break-up with his girl) speaks first....

"hey, there are stars in the sky...."
"yes there are... we just can't see them in the daytime"
"they're beautiful isn't it?"
"...mmm.... yes they are..."
"...and there are darkness around it too, yes?"
"...yeah?"
"...i'm just thinking. Darkness exists so that the stars may sparkle and be pretty..."
"...huh?..."
"....i guess i'm that sort of person,.... what do you think?"
"...*pfft*...you poet!.."

I remember this well, cos it kinda reflects my life.....
....try and guess which drama this excerpt comes from... ;)
Hint: the guy is a pianist, the girl is a model

Whining down

2004-05-13T08:11:00.000+08:00

So what's been happening? Well, my life sucks, my jobs sucks, my girlfriend is mad at me, my landlord sucks too.....! These are the so common stuff that we hear the guys whine about themselves over a few bottles of Two Dogs, (Chocolate Latte for the ladies). Whining is good, all the better if you can find someone to whine to. It heals the soul, supplying some measure of comfort in the much busy and hurryburry life in the city. I for one, have no one to whine to, (except to God).

I have been playing the role of the "listener" for many people since the day I can speak English properly (that's way back in high school). A friend has revealed to me years earlier that I have the sort of charisma and aura, that can make people talk, and tell their problems to me. No matter what, people will tell me things. Even if they are the seclusive and quiet sort, they will tell me. Why, I can still remember a certain friend back in high school seeking me for advice of love, when I haven't held a girl's hand in my life at that time. Eventually the 'patients' pile up.

Tis' a lonely experience being the 'listener' for so many years. While it's sometimes enjoyable to listen to their experiences and stuff, but it's not a two way conversation, it never was and will be. How can you tell a person who's been telling you about their love problems, about your own problems of debugging a goddamn SQL script? (ahh~~ that feels better).

I don't have many friends, people look to me as a cheap psychiatrist. Most people view psychiatrists as boring people, and would rarely fit into a wild and wacky group. Obviously, they haven't seen me drunk.

I believe it's a calling for me, to become a "supporting actor" to someone else's mega-movie life. The eternal sidekick that provides an amount of sanity back into the heroes and heroines. I've always love the concept of underdogs and sidekicks. Staying behind the shadow of successful people has a certain enigma to it...... Or i was just pessimist.

konnichiwa

2004-04-06T13:35:00.000+08:00

Here i am.... swearing that I may never do a blog. I have thought that blogging is a waste of time. (in fact i still do) . But i guess any person needs a space to release their thoughts ..... it's ironic. I started this one to send a message of love and peace to the people..... NOT! I am not that goody-goody. But I do it so that others may benefit from it.... and I need to get a grip of myself. What am I saying.....? ^_^

Love and peace,
jin