My Life...Simplified

Movies and popcorn

2012-02-13T12:39:00.001+08:00

When one goes to the movies, it is usually complimented by popcorn of which I really lurve. But there was one time where I wished I did not buy any. You see, normally movies are loud enough with either dialogue, sound effects, music and what not. Why the concern about movies being loud you ask? Well, it's so that I can eat my popcorn in private without the person next to me being annoyed. I remembered watching Harry Potter which was stupidly quiet in a LOT of scenes. Everyone was holding their breath on what Harry is going to do next to defeat the Dark Lord. And then I was like "Kraaak, kraak, kraaak.". Gosh, this is a bad idea. I tried to chew more quietly. However, I soon found out that it is close to impossible. So, I just left it there and let the quiet scenes go by.

During the action packed sequences, everyone was on the edge of their seats being immersed in the whole experience while I was busy stuffing my face with popcorns in case the next scene is quiet again.

Voldemort shoots a green beam of light at Harry. "Munch munch munch"

Something explodes. "BOOM. Munch munch munch"

Harry dies (Well, almost.) "Sniff, sniff. Munch, munch, munch"

The next time I watch a movie I shall be damn sure it's a freaking loud one with explosions every 10 minutes before I actually go and purchase popcorns.

Interesting

2012-02-12T21:34:00.003+08:00

My cousin brought her laptop just now because of some battery issues. A week before that, I got a new charger for it. After replacing the charger, now the battery went wonky. Kinda says something about the quality of Compaq products.

Somehow the battery lost 60% of it's capacity. Very odd for something that is barely 2 years old. Recalibrating the battery did not solve the problem. Note that the cycle count is only at 17. I'd say the battery is defective. This is gonna be quite an expensive replacement.

WTF

2012-02-12T19:30:00.000+08:00

Went in for less than a minute and came out to find this.

As you can see, it's a combination of urine and blood because the dog that did it was on heat. There is only one fella that would do something like this. It must be Bobby. What did I ever do to offend that dog.

Some really retarded dogs that I have.

Time flies

2012-02-11T16:19:00.002+08:00

I was checking through my mum's email when I found this. (She refuses to learn how to use a computer so I have to check it for her.)

That was taken in 1968. My mum is the one with the hugeass hair at the back row.

Fast forward 44 years. Same bunch of people, only much older and missing quite a number of members.

Pretty awesome eh? Time can really fly by so quickly.

Training wheels

2012-02-10T21:07:00.002+08:00

Sooner or later, the training wheels on a bicycle have to be removed. Devoid of the familiarity of those wheels keeping things in check, I fumble around to maintain my balance. There is no guide that could teach you how to ride a bicycle. Words are simply just words the moment your are on that bike. Everything is learnt on the go. But, there is always the fear of falling, the uncertainty of it all. That's the major hurdle to be overcome. It's actually the fear that was holding me back, never the complexity of riding.

Then someone pushes me hard from the back, I start moving and every molecule of my being struggling to keep things in a vertical plane. Whatever fears I had would be irrelevant now. Shifting the handle bars frantically from left to right to a wobbly start, I had to fight off that gut feeling that was beginning to spread rapidly. However, after a few frantic moments, you find yourself actually balancing on 2 wheels - not that steady but who cares. Getting past that hurdle of fear was the difficult bit but from then on, riding a bicycle became all so familiar once again.

Hottt

2012-02-08T15:02:00.000+08:00

The weather is incredibly hot at the moment. And hot weather makes me sleepy. Then when I sleep, I wake up sweating and frustrated. That kinda ruins my day quite a bit.

Chinese new year officially ended 2 days ago. I think I have gained quite a few kg's from all the food that I ate. Urgh... Time to restart my non-existent exercise regime.

Owh, and I stumbled upon this video

Pretty awesome stuff. He's a local talent btw. Respectttt...

Broken stuff

2012-02-07T21:02:00.000+08:00

I believe I've mentioned before that I have a certain curse when it comes to electronic goods. For some reason, of all the hundreds and thousands of units that I could choose from, I have to pick one that is defective. I seriously spend too much time at the warranty department. The most recent case was 2 days ago. I was tasked with buying a charger for my cousin's laptop. So, I did buy one. And defective it was. This one leaks electricity. Not much, but enough to become a major annoyance. Had to go back all the way to Lowyat and get an exchange.

While I was in Lowyat, I nearly blew my money on a pair of speakers which looked incredibly attractive. Good thing I walked out in time before I was poisoned further.

On the way back, my bro and I took a "scenic" route back to our place. We detoured to the Smart tunnel for a couple of full throttle blasts. Being a public holiday, there was not a soul in the tunnel for the whole stretch. RM2 well spent I might say.

Owh, and I finally managed to find my missing pair of headphones. Turned out, mum stuffed it in a drawer together with other unused electronic stuff. =.= Thats why I don't like it when she comes to my table and messes up things on the pretext of keeping it clean. However, I already ordered a new set which is due to arrive in a week plus. Whatever la. At least I have a backup.

Lost

2012-02-06T20:57:00.001+08:00

Went back to Slim River today for the 100th day of mourning for my grandma. As expected, my cousin came over again with his 4X4. He said he found a new place to go off-roading. And off we were.

About an hour into the Felda plantation, my cousin said that we were lost. The roads all looked the same. Trees and mud everywhere. No cell phone coverage and not a soul to be seen for kilometers away. It was just us and a few birdies which were circling the car for some odd reason.

After going about aimlessly for quite a while, we decided to turn back rather than stray deeper and deeper. But the thing was, we couldn't quite remember the path that we came from. Oh crap. Should have left some breadcrumbs like Hansel and Gratel.

My cousin took out his phone and tried to get a lock on a GPS satellite that would give us at least a clue of where we were or where we are heading. It took quite a while of moving about before we managed to lock on a few satellites. Turns out, we were a few kilometers west of Trolak. Obviously no roads were displayed so we had to use the GPS more or less as a compass to get us to the nearest trunk road.

We came across this cleared piece of land which had all the trees felled. Somehow I found it pretty awesome to look at.

Later we passed through a rubber plantation which looked a lot like a petrified forest. Not many leaves on those trees.

At last my cousin managed to spot a stretch of track that he recognized and managed to find his way out.

Finally, people !

Ended up in Trolak. Phew. Good thing we did not go any further and pop out in Ipoh.

I'd say it was an awesome day.

Here are some vids. Do forgive the crappy camera quality.

Vroom

2012-02-03T21:44:00.003+08:00

Even before the holidays begun, I have promised my bro that I'll help sponsor a mod on the car. He did the brake pads. This time, I have chosen to replace the air filter in the car with an open pod one.

OK, so a little background information on air filters. Basically, as it's name suggests, it filters the air. Thank you, Captain Obvious. The original air filter in the car is paper based which is restrictive on airflow and gets clogged very fast causing a drop in performance. The one I'm replacing it with is oil based which theoretically has better air flow. More air into the engine = More oxygen molecules = more fuel can be added = more power. Sounds good on paper, but results vary from car to car. I'm hoping it works well here.

That's the original filter. As you can see, it's quite dirty. And I'm still trying to figure out where the oil spill came from which is that black blotch at the edge.

The air filter that I bought was an open pod design which meant deleting the resonator box which housed the old air filter. Whats wrong with doing that? Well, the box helps to muffle out intake noises from the engine. Removing it would introduce a whole lot of "sporty" noises. No problems with me and my bro. We LOVE sporty noises. Not so much my mum who was already complaining about the sports brakes which made quite a scene when cold.

Anyways, the day could not get any more prefect. Mum went out for a company dinner and the car was at home with no one to disturb us. Out came the tools then.

Thats my bro installing the new air filter.

All done. We closed the hood and hid the old airbox somewhere in the storeroom. Mum would not suspect a thing. Any extra noise would be blamed on the exhaust system being worn.

A quick test drive later left us smiling. Epic noise + increased pickup and throttle response. Although, conditions were on the ideal side. The weather was cool and it was in the late evening. We'll re-attempt another test on a hot day. What we were worried about is the hot air in the engine bay entering the intake. Hot air has less air molecules per unit volume and that would impact performance. I'm thinking of fabricating a heat shield sometime tomorrow.

I am very happy at the moment.

Phew

2012-02-02T12:01:00.001+08:00

I found out the hard way that rack mounting equipment into a flight case is a job that shouldn't be done alone. Imagine holding about 20 kg's of weight in one hand and manipulating a screw and screwdriver with the other. All in all, it was not a very pleasant experience and ended with a lot of swearing.

Scary movies

2012-02-01T16:29:00.003+08:00

A few weeks back I was watching Paranormal Activity 3. The movie was boring as usual. That's not the point of this post. What I want to write about are the after effects of watching a scary movie. I don't usually get spooked by the movies while I'm watching them, the spooks come much later. Like the time after I watched Paranormal Activity.

It was past midnight and I was alone downstairs. The only source of light was from my study room. The rest of the house was pitch dark. Finally, I had to go to bed which involves switching off my only source of light for now. Normally, I wouldn't give a shit and would navigate myself through the living room in the dark like a boss. But, watching that movie gave me second thoughts. All sorts of ghostly ghouls could be lurking in the dark. They might catch me while I'm making my way through. What if I'm surrounded? Yes, to me, the light was my source of protection that could chase away lurking spirits. Why not turn on the living room lights you might ask? Someway or another, all the lights had to be turned off before I head upstairs. So this wouldn't make a difference because it'd still be dark eventually.

I finally gathered enough ~~balls~~ guts to flick off the switch. Needless to say, I ran as fast as I could to the next source of light which was the staircase. Whatever man points I had just went down the drain. Not to mention the pain I had to endure when I stubbed my toe on the chair. But all of that is irrelevant. I made it through safely. That's all that matters. The ghostly ghouls would have to wait till my next movie to get me again.

Something awesome is in the works

2012-01-31T22:26:00.002+08:00

A very bizzare dream

2012-01-31T10:11:00.001+08:00

I don't know where to begin. Okay, I think I'll start with what I can remember first. I was there in Monash's school of medicine. Although this time, it was much larger with MORE FLOORS. And there were wards in the school. Weird, I know. There was this lecturer over there who I have never seen before. If I could recall correctly. He was teaching us how to insert IV lines for some reason unknown to me. And the worst part was that we practiced on our own peers. Yes, it was becoming a nightmare. But that was not the worst bit of the dream.

The worst bit was that I met my friend whose fish ~~I murdered~~ died. This was in the library which did not look like the library at all come to think of it. And I had to painstakingly explain to him what happened. Gawd was it difficult. I think this must be a sign from the heavens telling me to divulge the truth. I think it's more likely that my mind is playing tricks on me. Or, this must be the effect of having one's sleep disturbed by incessant fireworks right outside the window. Nevertheless, I woke up extremely groggy.

This day cannot get any worse

2012-01-30T21:36:00.000+08:00

I woke up in the morning to find my friend's fighting fish DEAD. His prized fighting fish. This is getting harder and harder to explain to him. The lies would just get bigger and BIGGER. I think it's time to tell him the truth.

I was out today supplying sound equipment for some fella's CNY event at their factory warehouse. Allow me to sidetrack a bit. Oh my gosh, the cars the bosses drive were freaking awesome. One of their wives drove a Porsche Panamera 4S. A car that costs nearly a million. And it's the wife's car dammit. I am so jealous right now. The others drove the more generic choices like E classes and S classes. Meh... I respect the Panamera lady for her excellent taste in cars.

So, back to my sui day. We were about 3/4 through the event when one fella was screaming in the mic instead of singing. After a moment, we realized that the speakers were blown. Not an unusual occurrence considering the fact that there is more power going through the speakers than your kitchen kettle. Still, it involves costly repairs which my bro and I agreed are not worth the effort. Cumulatively it's gonna cost so much as well and there goes our profits. So, we are going to leave it as it is.

We see it as a way of going out with a bang. Since we are both going to be so busy with studies, we thought that maybe it's time to put down the speakers and amplifiers. One more event this week with the backup speakers and we are done.

As you can see, the voice coil has been burnt so bad it's mother would not recognize it.

On this one the capacitor detonated and spilled its innards all over the crossover board. Damn. I knew I should not have used a 100V cap.

But, whatever la. I had KFC just now. So I think that makes up for the bad day. Tee hee~~

Home Improvement

2012-01-27T17:13:00.000+08:00

Ever since we moved into this house about a few years ago. The study room has always been the place where people throw unwanted furniture on a basis that it is not good to waste. You would be able to find an assortment of furniture that do not match at all, somewhat like a plate of rojak. Some of it was from the old house, some from my dad's office, some from dunno where. Eventually we decided to get rid of all that stuff. My dad was like "Don't throw away the old chairs. I can use them for my shop." Of course, that's bullshit. Every time he says that, the stuff ends up crowding up the storeroom and we have to dump it some way or another. He is a hoarder of sorts. You have no idea how much crap he keeps in the store. Nevertheless, we dumped all of it out. We left the table in the storeroom for him to take latest by tomorrow or it will be dumped as well. Harsh? Not really. That's how things work around here.

My bro and I spent an entire morning putting together the shelf and table like a bunch of monkeys. What my bro said ,"You are a doctor and I am a lawyer. We cannot be so good at this. We are usually the dungu ones who cannot do physical work or anything that requires technical skill." Sadly, we do not fit the usual stereotype.

So, let me tell you how THIS

Lame

Turns into THIS

Weeee

Step one: Disassembling the old table

So much dust

Step 2: Assembling the shelf

Step 3: Mounting the shelf

According to the instructions, there must be a lady helping you. Unfortunately, Ikea did not pack that together with the shelf.

Step 4: Assembling the table

And thus, we are done. TADAAA !

Later on we'll wire up the lights and this spot would be super awesome.

Oh yeah..

Food and more food

2012-01-26T23:21:00.000+08:00

At the rate I am going, I think I'm going to have a phobia of foodstuff by the end of this week. So much to eat. There goes all my exercise efforts.

Today we went out looking for a damn chair to replace the one that I broke recently. Most of the chinese furniture shops were closed so we found ourselves in Ikea.

After much running around, we finally settled with two chairs, a study table and one shelf. Some assembly would be required obviously. Would start on that tomorrow.

Had a slight bimbo moment while in the parking lot. We walked towards where we thought the car was and noticed it was not there. As we were frantically walking around lugging huge boxes of stuff, we noticed that it was the wrong floor. Epic fail. The two levels look exactly the same that even I was confused.

Later, we noticed a fairly new 3 series coupe stranded in the middle of the road with it's hazards on. Quite impossible for such a new car to break down. As it turns out, the car ran out of fuel because some dude had to bring petrol in bottles later. That's an even bigger fail. Can afford a big car but can't afford the fuel. =.=

For dinner, we went out to the awesome steamboat again with my aunt's family and mine. After that they came over to my place to chill a bit.

Eyes glued on the Eee Pad. Ish ish ish. The other one glued on the playstation.

His brother was not spared too. Kids just love tablets.

That's all for now.

More updates on my study room project for sure tomorrow.

CNY Day 2

2012-01-24T22:16:00.000+08:00

We went back to my mum's hometown as we do every year. This year was a bit quieter because not everyone returned. Kinda odd going back to a hometown without grandparents there.

Nevertheless, we all did a potluck with every family bringing something for lunch. I always looked forward to these things every year. Food makes me a very happy boy.

By mid afternoon, we got pretty bored after makan-ing. Then, my cousin, the awesome one who took us off road last time, offered to take us for a ride in his car. No, it's not any car. Being a motorhead himself, it's a fairly modified one with most of the bells and whistles one needs to go fast. How could I have said no?

A few high speed blasts through the winding kampung were enough to drive me ecstatic. The pickup from that car is simply awesome. It pulls and pulls even up to 7000rpm. Madness. And the sound it makes when doing so. Gosh. Freaking epic. I want one so badly.

I was commenting on how nice his sports steering looks and the crazy fella took off the steering wheel while the car was moving. =.= Scared me shitless. It had a quick-release you see.

At the heart of the beast was a Toyota 4AGE Blacktop. What an engine it is. They don't make them like this anymore.

And the fun does not end there. After that, we switched cars to his dad's 4X4 and went out to the river for some sight seeing.

A day out is not complete without some ice cream. Of which, my cousin bought for us.

While on the way back to KL, we had satay. Weeee~~~

Are we in Kajang? Not exactly.

We are actually at the Sungai Buloh rest stop.

Awesome satay anyway. So who cares where it is? Aahhhhh... My day is complete.

CNY Day 1

2012-01-23T15:49:00.003+08:00

We had a little gathering of family members at my place this year. Again, my taro balls made an appearance with tweaks to the ingredients considering the previous less than successful attempt. This time with a bigger audience, my reputation is at stake here. So, made sure that I tasted the thing before cooking to make sure that everything was in order. I also dumped in quite a huge amount of sugar for good measure. The result? This time it turned out ok to my surprise and also relief. A remark from my cousin ,"This tastes like the taro balls from snowflake." I told them that it was tang yuen so that things sound more traditional. Ooh yeahhh. Not too bad I might say.

Tee heee~~~~

And as usual, it began pouring in the afternoon.

My CNY cookies are reaching an alarmingly low level after being devoured by me and my bro. I'm afraid there might not be enough for the guests. LOL

They were full cans just 2 days ago. Damnnn...

Happy chinese new year folks ! Have an epic year of the dragon.

Om-nom says HI !

Suspicious characters

2012-01-21T15:37:00.001+08:00

While I was having lunch with my family just now we noticed a suspicious looking Malay dude taking a seat at a nearby table. Not being racist or anything. I mean what is a Malay dude doing at a chinese restaurant that serves pork? Epic fail la this fella. So much for blending in. After my bro and I eyeballed him for a while, the dude left in a big hurry. Must have been a thief eyeing people's bags or stuff that they leave on the table. Stay safe people. Be extra vigilant of your surroundings. Especially during the festive season. Cheers.

*Update

While we are on the topic of suspicious characters, my bro and I finally cleared out the store room just now. We had this shit load of heavy rubbish that had to be disposed one way or another. There is no way the trash collector is going to take that. So, all the bags were loaded into the car and we drove around the neighborhood looking for one of those construction bins where we could just dump the stuff. Good thing many houses were under renovation.

We got a bit bored so we decided to spice things up a little by acting suspicious to spook the people in the neighborhood. We drove round the place really really slowly. Then we stopped outside one of those bins and ran round the back and hastily unloaded the stuff from the trunk. My bro was shouting, "Let's go. Let's go." as if we were rushing to get away. Right after hopping back into the car, we floored the gas and made quite a scene getting out of there. I do hope no one calls the cops. They must be thinking that we are dumping bodies or something. Imagine a car stopping right in front of your place and dumping a few huge black bags of stuff. I'd be spooked too. But, that's what happens when we have nothing better to do. Mischievous ? Yes. Fun, nevertheless.

Just a thought

2012-01-19T14:18:00.001+08:00

Doesn't THIS

Look a lot like THIS ?

Furly, you'll make a fine rug.

Btw, I've been having this wicked running nose since this morning. I blame the constantly changing weather. I do hope it gets better soon. I don't want it to ruin my chinese new year.

Finally Some Rain

2012-01-18T15:50:00.001+08:00

And in good timing too. The weather has been scorching hot the past few days.

Blurgh

2012-01-17T12:50:00.001+08:00

I swear I'm not eating durians at night again. This morning I woke up feeling very very odd. The first thing I noticed was I could still taste last night's durians. This is not a good sign. Then while I was out jogging I felt extremely nauseated. I nearly puked on the field. And I suffered from a bad case of acid reflux. Now my esophagus hurts like shyt when I eat hot stuff. Plus, I'm still burping A LOT. Good thing the nausea went away. Gaaaaa... Durians, why do you treat me this way? I loved you soo much.

Can Stuff Just Stop Happening

2012-01-16T11:25:00.000+08:00

As I was trying to surf the net just now, I nearly fell over my chair because the stupid thing decided to break. Now I cannot lean back or I risk tipping the whole thing over. I have a knack for breaking chairs which was very evident in school. It must have cost the school quite a lot judging by the number of chairs that I broke. Maybe it was the cheap plastic chairs that they decided to buy. Or maybe it's just me? I honestly don't know. This carried on until uni time where I accidentally jammed one of the histology lab's chairs. Ooops. Sorry. I guess these chairs are not made for sunbears. Next time I'm gonna buy a bloody stool so there would be no risk of it breaking. Or will I break that too? I really should just stand.

Ooh. And THIS made up for the crappy day.

Aah. My day is complete.

A bad day

2012-01-15T15:24:00.001+08:00

First, I misplaced one of my headphones and I am still unable to find it until now. I'm hoping it will magically pop out later. Then, my backup pair of headphones decided to turn itself into a useless paperweight. From three pairs, I am left with one. Seriously, wth.

A picture says a thousand words

2012-01-12T19:46:00.003+08:00

Goodbye, badge of incompetence. I will not miss you.

Owh, and a little something I was working on last night.

http://www.mediafire.com/?lcena99c70v0nn2

Are my fish okay?

2012-01-11T21:20:00.006+08:00

Yes, he finally popped the question. He even asked, "Did any of them die?" Sad to say, I lied.

And I just found out that I'm actually taking care of 2 batches of fish. One batch belongs to another friend. How many of this dude's batch are left? Two. I feel so bad right now.

Painting

2012-01-10T21:03:00.000+08:00

After months of procrastination, I finally got started on painting the house. I went out with mum to get the paint from the nearby hardware shop. We lost the colour codes and had to find the correct colour by eye. Bad idea. So, I came back and prepped the stuff for painting. As I started putting on the first coat of paint I noticed something. I picked the wrong colour. WTF. I was a few shades off. Never mind. At least I'll be painting the entire wall. It won't look that odd I hope.

Nipooon paint... Nipooon paint.. I can't get that song out of my head

See what I mean?

I slaved on that wall for 5 freaking hours non stop. Paint was all over my face, hand, shirt, pants, and underwear (?). Perhaps not underwear then. That would mean that I am painting half naked which is not a bad thing by the way, considering the fact that I can spook the shit out of my neighbours.

It's always halfway through one of these projects that I ask myself why the hell am I not employing someone to do this. I did not anticipate how labour intensive painting could be. Gosh. My hands felt like they were gonna fall right off.

But by the end of it, the results were pretty worth it.

Behold, my beautiful wall. It's already night by the time I was finished.

What a mess. I wonder whether I could get any fairer if I painted my body with this stuff.

Wookay. One wall done. Many many more to go. Pffffft.

Determination

2012-01-09T18:34:00.000+08:00

You must have a lot of determination to grow a plant like this. Salute to the dude who did it. My mum bought this plant from the market for RM50. Apparently the normal price was RM 80, but there were 3 broken sprouts so the dude gave a discount of RM10 each. Lol. Witty fella.

On some days

2012-01-08T09:06:00.000+08:00

I feel like killing the asshole. My relationship with puppy is a very complex one.

This is what he did the whole night trying to reach a piece of leaf stuck on the car's grille.

Painting

2012-01-07T19:35:00.000+08:00

Chinese New Year is coming. That would mean plenty of spring cleaning and various other maintenance work all around the house. For the past week I have been telling myself that I'll paint the walls, but the monster of procrastination has been stopping me from doing so. Finally, today, I took the first step and prepped one of the walls for painting. For some reason, the initial plaster layer came off, exposing the bricks. I blame shoddy workmanship. Because of that I have to replaster the wall before I can start painting.

Step one. Remove the peeling paint and plaster.

Step two. Replaster it back. It really is as simple as that. The hard part is cleaning up the mess. There.... my day can be said as productive. However, there still are many many walls left to replaster. I ran out of materials so I called it a day at about 12pm because that's how I roll. You cannot rush art. I'll have to find another day to finish up the rest.

Next up, cleaning up my store. That would take a LOT of work. I still cannot muster the strength to even start. Look below to see why. The black speakers that look like cupboards at the back weigh 120kg's a piece. I am NOT going to move that around.

Havoc !

Before I go, here are more pictures of puppy because he's being so awesome today.


MmmmmmMMMmm... To the left a bit

I cannot say no to those eyes

Karma

2012-01-06T20:56:00.000+08:00

Today is a day of very very bad karma. I think I have done too many bad things in the past, so it's back to bite me in the gluteus maximus.

First of all before I went out this morning, I dropped one of my contact lenses. I eventually spent about fifteen minutes crawling around the floor like an idiot looking for it. Gosh, those things are hard to find.

Then, when I was driving out, the car sound system went off because of a wiring issue while my favourite song was playing. Okay, this cannot get any worse. But it did.

Later on when I was about to get out of Sunway Pyramid, some asshole parked his car behind mine and I couldn't reverse out. Eventually after the guard helped to guide the car within an inch from the wall and the other car, I managed to squeeze out of that tight spot. I was so pissed that I went to the office and got that car clamped. Take that bitch. Have fun paying 50 bucks.

After the whole fiasco, I drove to the parking boom noticing that I have misplaced my ticket and there was a car waiting behind me. I usually put the ticket at the door handle so it's always within my reach, but I noticed that it was empty. WTF. After about 2-3 minutes of fiddling around and a very pissed car at the back, I finally found the damn ticket. I had put it back into my pocket when I went out to the office.

I think I should buy myself some lucky charms to rid myself of this bad karma.

Coins and me

2012-01-05T11:40:00.001+08:00

I have a very estranged relationship with coins. If you know me well enough, you would be aware of that fact. As useful as they might be, I find them to be a major annoyance made by mankind to bring about hell to my life. And the paradox of it is that if I don't pay with coins, I end up getting more of them. It is like a bloody disease that keeps on recurring again and again and again.

Why do I hate coins? Well, there are a few reasons. One is that they are very small and fiddly which is made worse by my hands which came from an ape. They are hard to hold and hard to handle. Imagine holding a few coins together with a bunch of notes. They always end up slipping out and falling all over the floor (At least for me.) and I look like an idiot trying to pick them up one by one. Then when people give me back change with coins, I wish I had another pair of hands because one hand would be holding the wallet then the other would be trying to stuff the notes back into the wallet and that same hand has to hold the coins in a challenge of finger dexterity. At the same time, I try to keep the procedure looking as smooth as possible and not block the next person with my time consuming fiddling with the wallet.

Then there is the issue of storing them. People familiar with mens wallets would agree with me that many of them do not consider putting a coin compartment. A fact that was later reinforced when I went out to buy a new wallet last week. I think it's subtle a sign of the unmanliness of carrying coins. As a result of that, I have to stuff the coins given into every little corner that I find, beside my IC, beside my license, beside my cards all hoping that it will not fall out.And coins tend to bulk up your wallet really fast and it gets quite heavy. Plus it makes weird clinking noises when you walk, making it a very potong stim moment to your otherwise graceful stride.

Lastly, coins smell weird. I love the smell of bank notes, but not coins. They have that little metallic quality to it that sticks to my fingers for quite a while until I wash my hands.

Bottom line, coins are huge assholes to me. I am even considering getting a little zipper purse to keep my coins like how my mom does it. Hahahahahaha.

Before I go,

Here is a picture of puppy in a very compromising position. Isn't he adorable ?

A letter from down under

2012-01-04T19:47:00.001+08:00

Well, this was unexpected. And it really made my day. =)

Dentists Part 3

2012-01-04T12:34:00.001+08:00

Did I tell you how much I hate dentists? Yes I did. But, let me tell you again. Today I was there for the appointment that was set like a month ago because the dentist was way too busy. So, the dentist took a look at my tooth and told me that it had to be extracted. (Gee, you think? Thats what I told you last time. You obviously overlooked my judgment.) There I was sitting in the chair as she injected all sorts of anesthetics to make the procedure less painful (Yeah, right. You'll see.).

I waited for like 15 minutes I think for the thing to kick in. Then she came back and asked me whether I felt the numbness or not. I told her it's only a little bit. She told me "Owh." and started with the procedure. "Tell me if it's painful," she said."You should not feel any pain." So she started putting huge pliers and other assorted torture tools in my mouth. She pressed down on the broken part with some sort of metal stick. I felt a sharp pain. Ok, this is not right I told myself. I then told her that there was pain. FYI, I have quite a high pain tolerance. If I tell you it's pain then it probably is. She proceeded to add more anesthetics. Then she went on. Each thing she did was more and more painful. I told her again that there is still pain. She did not seem to believe me. She said that I am just feeling the pressure of the tools. Hello. I am a medical student. I know the different sensory modalities. I know the difference between pain and pressure. And THIS was pain. She went on with the thing and I decided to man up and bear the pain. I could hear the tooth cracking and it's roots being pulled out of my gums. It sounded like a wet piece of fabric bring torn.

Every time she did something painful, I cringed and tensed up my body to hold in the pain. By the end of it, I was sweating. The dentist laughed a bit looking at me. She did not know how much of suffering I went through.

She showed me the tooth that she extracted. It looked rotten like hell. I wondered why she even offered to repair the thing. One interesting fact that she told me was that this tooth had 3 roots instead of the normal 2. I could not be bothered. Wait, was this why my root treatment failed? Because you did not notice the extra root?

Later while I was driving back, I could feel the full kick of the anesthetics. Now this is called numbness not what I felt just now. Idiot.

The price for all that suffering? RM 72. FML. Dentists 3 and me 0.

Dinner

2012-01-03T22:26:00.001+08:00

I had an awesome steamboat for dinner just now with my mum and bro at a shop called Coco Steamboat near my place. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

The soup was a white broth with an entire pork leg inside. Quite unique I'd have to say. And the ingredients are fresh. That's the important bit.

And I helped my mum with hanging the curtains back after washing because I'm such a good son. Hahahahaha.

Here is one that I did. Somehow it cannot compare to the one my mum put up. I guess I don't have that special touch.

This one was did by my mum. The difference is striking.

My room ! I find the curtains a bit too colourful.

Anddd, that's all I have to post for now. Good night. Owh, and 2 more fishes died. =(

Oh shytt

2012-01-03T10:42:00.001+08:00

A few days back one of my friends asked me to babysit of his fish while he goes back for the holidays. Being the nice person that I am *ahem*, I agreed. Everything went pretty well for the first 2 days. Then slowly one by one of the fishes started dying. First it was one fish. Then another two. Eventually an entire container of fish died (There are 2 more containers left). This is not going too well. Fark. I'm going to look like an asshole for letting his fishes die.

He's been asking about the fish and I told him that everything is alright. I think I'll break the news to him a few weeks later and tell him the fish died at a rate of one fish a week rather than tell him the true figure of an entire container in 2 days. At least it won't be that much of a shocker. Don't ask me why the fishes died. I don't know. I fed them, cleaned the shit, changed the water and other aquarium duties. Heck, I even used filtered water. I do hope there are enough fishes left by the time semester starts. Or I could buy a few more new ones to put in the container so that he won't notice. Hmmmm.. Good idea too.

This song is stuck in my head and on my playlist at the moment. I first heard that when I was in form 5 and recently stumbled upon it again. I find it to be really.. nice, for the lack of a better adjective.

In pursuit of perfection

2012-01-02T16:25:00.001+08:00

Remember I did an install for a friend's car and wasn't satisfied the end results? After a while I decided to do some modifications to the components to make it a little better. I felt that there was some potential in the system but it was not up to standard due to poor design.

One fine afternoon, I took out the solderer and the assorted capacitors to see what I could to do the crossover board since I had the exact same unit as an experimental set.

The first thing I noticed when I took apart the board was that it was a first-order crossover for the tweeter. (OK. Getting technical here) Not my cup of tea and very unusual. It usually is at least a second order or higher. I guess they are trying to save cost. The downside is that it makes the tweeter very prone to resonances because of the slow slope of 6db per octave. Then, I took a look at the capacitor value for the high-pass. 6.5 micro farads. Wow. That's a very low crossover point and makes for a very grumpy tweeter that screams in your ears.That explains the crappy sound that I'm hearing.

To solve the issue, I decided to swap the capacitor value with a 4.7 micro farad and 3 micro farad on another board to see which one sounds better. Could not do anything about the first order filter because I did not have the facilities to wind a coil. The best thing I could do was just raise the crossover point a little. I was afraid there might be a gap in between the tweeter and woofer crossover points. I guess that part would more of trial and error.

The original crossover design with resistors bypassed


Before

Test board 1 with a 3.3 micro farad


Test board 2 with a 4.7 micro farad (And that's a more expensive cap)

Test rig. Now you know how messy my store is

The end result? I was blown away. I ended up using the 4.7 setup because the 3.3 one sounded too safe and boring. It even sounded better than the current setup in my car. Save for some limitations like a slight crackle when playing back classical instrumentals. Can't ask for too much. Anyway I was satisfied with the sound. And so today I swapped the crossover into my friend's car and it sounded awesomely good. Oooh yeah. It could pass off as a RM2K+ system at an actual cost of about RM700 bucks. Not too shabby I might say.

Oh and a random pic I took just now.

Say HI to the asshole.

New Year's Eve

2011-12-31T12:30:00.001+08:00

Well, it's the morning of new year's eve which means it is the officially the last day of the year. So what have I been up to today? I've been unleashing my creative juices all morning on a song mashup. Not really creative juices actually. I was simply too bored. If you want to have a listen, here is the link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?q9c9bnw5psp9qbc

It may not be your genre of music though. It's more to house music dashed with a bit of electro as garnishing.

Ooh, I have an awesome project tonight. You'll have to wait and see. So, watch this space for updates. =)

*Update*

Ok, this update came a little late because I was too tired/lazy to come up with a post last night. So, before I begin, Happy 2012 ! The project that I was talking about was the making of taro balls because "someone" challenged me to do it and I thought how hard could it be. What's the big deal about making taro balls you might think? It is a big deal for me especially when I can screw up a bowl of instant noodles by adding more water thinking that I can have more soup.

At about 7pm yesterday, the project was officially on. Mum's out for her workplace's new year stuff so there would be at least a few hours to clean up in case things go a bit wonky. I took out all the cooking equipment after about 15 minutes of looking through all the cupboards to find stuff that look as if they could fit the job. The first thing to do was peel the yam/taro/keladi (I didn't know those 3 actually referred to the same item until like a few days ago.). I have never peeled anything in my life with a knife before. The only thing I could do was strip cables. So, I sort of guessed my way through that bit.

The first one I cut turned out okay I think. The second one was rotten. I suck at picking these things. As a contingency plan, my bro went to the nearest supermarket to get another one. After about half an hour I managed to peel and cut them all into tiny strips for steaming thankfully with all fingers still intact.

After about 20 minutes of steaming, the yam was all soft and ready to be mashed into tiny little bits. I was supposed to use a potato masher or something but I couldn't find one. I guess a fork would do fine.

After smashing it all, I had to add the tapioca flour and sugar and knead the whole mixture. It was in this step that I made a massive mistake. More on that later.

There, not too bad eh? I did not expect to come this far. LOL. Next came the rolling bit. That's the easy part.

Ok, now do you notice that that's a LOT of balls? I sort of under estimated the amount that I was making. At most 3 people would be eating that. This should be a sign that things are going a bit downhill.

Feast your eyes on the final product ! Looks pretty edible. My bro made the syrup thingy btw.

I have a confession to make now. I wish that I could say that it was super tasty and that I wanted more. Sadly, no. Remember the mistake I mentioned earlier? Yeah. I did not put enough sugar. I don't know how much was enough. That's why I put like only 4 teaspoons of sugar. Now thinking back, heck, I don't think that is even enough for a cup of coffee. Oh well, what's done is done. Eating it was like hell because for one, there were too many, and two it was bland due to the lack of sugar. Me and my bro had to stuff ourselves with soo much that we felt like puking at the end of it. What a way to spend my new year's eve. Another half the batch went to my dogs and also the bin to hide the evidence. My mum came back later and tried the thing. She said it tasted quite ok. Better than what my aunt made when we went back to her hometown a few weeks back. I think she is pitying me for the effort put in. Hahahahaha. At least it was a good learning experience. The next batch is going to be awesome I think. I have a few ideas in my head already. And I'll make tiny batches next time too.

As a grand finale for the night, my bro and I popped a bottle of wine and finished the whole thing. It must be at least 5 std drinks each. By the end of the night, I just collapsed in bed and crashed.

This is gonna be good

2011-12-29T23:26:00.001+08:00

Putting on contacts has to be one of the more retarded things that I have done in my life. After many many painful attempts, I managed to safely put them on and take them off. It feels really weird prodding around your eyeball.

Whats weirder still is how I look without glasses. Gotta post a picture one day.

So F*king Lansi

2011-12-29T12:41:00.001+08:00

Remember the sticker that I put on the car few days back? As it turns out, it's not the cops that dislike it but my mom. She was hinting to me for a few days already with things like "It's not very good to put this kind of things on the car." "People won't like it." and "People will think you are a rascal.". Gosh, chill a bit la. And then this morning I woke up to find the sticker half peeled. =.= And the worst part is that she doesn't know how to peel it properly and separated the adhesive from the printing layer. Now that's gonna be like another hour's worth of work to remove it. Grrrrr. Whatever la. Pfffft.

Ass-ignment

2011-12-28T17:01:00.001+08:00

This is one of those rare days where I felt motivated enough to sit down and touch my HLSD assignment. Of course, by touch I mean stare at it for 5 minutes followed by another 30 minute interval on facebook. At least it's effort. I've finished most of it and I'm just doing the final touches of which I keep telling myself that I've still got so much time. Which is true, no doubt. But, I'll be telling that lie until probably the week before semester starts.

I was out jogging this very morning and there was a girl in the neighborhood who could outrun/outjog and out-whatever I was doing at that time. So much for my motivation.

The new year is coming up very soon. I don't plan to go for any countdowns or whatnot because I dislike crowded places. I'll probably bum at home and watch the fireworks from my damn window.

And I'm still undecided on what new toys to get myself this year. I keep on changing my mind every time. Can't put my finger on any one thing. For now I think it's somewhere between a headphone amplifier or an integrated tube amp or a studio monitor or a DA Converter. Notice that every one of those has to do with sound? Hahahahah. I don't want to buy a dslr yet because it's gonna be quite expensive and I can foresee prices dropping within the next few months. Perhaps the end of next year then. Time to start saving up.

Till next time.

Happy new year folks.

Better enjoy the next year like it's your last.

Cars

2011-12-26T21:50:00.003+08:00

I went for dinner just now and spotted an Audi S5 parked outside the stall. Then when I was coming back, an Audi R8 came up the back of the car. 2 cars that I would very much like to own. I think the people of Cheras are getting richer and richer except for me. Damn....

Contagion

2011-12-25T22:16:00.001+08:00

I just watched that movie and gosh I am never touching my face with my hands again.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T21:36:00.000+08:00

This christmas eve is kinda mundane really. Just bummed around at home doing nothing. So, thats why I'm here.

I don't really have much to post except for some random pics I took just now out of boredom.

An almost group picture.

The white one is Furly, the big one is Lucky and the fat one is Bobby.

Almost because the alpha male/asshole must stand on his own. Meet Puppy.

Something for the roadblocks. =)

Busy

2011-12-22T19:40:00.004+08:00

As you may or may not notice, I have been quite occupied the past few days. Which is a hundred times better than being bored. Yesterday, I helped my bro install an audio system in his friend's car which ended up in disappointing results. Not that it did not turn on or anything. It was working fine but the sound was not up to my standards. I have OCD when it comes to these things. I must achieve perfection.

I've also been pretty much like an office boy for my mum, running here and there to submit documents, and other office boy duties.

And, I've also found myself a little job for the holidays. I've got a little gig to mix and mash songs together for this performer. He usually pays about 100 - 150 per song. Which is not too bad for about 2 hours plus of work. And no. I'm not a DJ. I'm just a dude with a laptop and a MIDI controller. It ends there.

Here is a mix I made a few hours ago. Mix 2

Do forgive the odd christmas song at the end. The fella requested for it. Hahaha.

Okay, that's about all for now peeps. Until next time.

Santa came early this year

2011-12-20T22:12:00.000+08:00

But, he came dressed as a fat Poslaju dude driving a van. Great disguise. So, what's it? A pizza?

Nope. Behold the gifts that santa has brought me. Okay. Perhaps it's not santa but a shop called The Swagger Salon. I just HAD to get those shirts. I was laughing my ass off the first time I saw it. Never seen something this fresh and bold before.

Bought the left one for my bro. The Taikor shirt is mine. Like a lou sai !

Went to Jogoya yesterday and had many many raw items of unknown origin. And some fella did not appreciate the squid I offered. Hahahahaha. Anyways, it was an awesome day out.

Owh, and I managed to navigate my way around Hartamas like a boss. Not too bad considering that I have never been there before.

And so.. Before I end this post...

We wish you a merry christmas, we wish you a merry christmas, we wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year~~~~~~

The road less travelled

2011-12-18T21:03:00.000+08:00

And by that I mean going off-road like literally. Today I went back to my mum's hometown of slim river for some prayer stuff for my grandmother. After all of that was done, I hitched a ride with my cousin to his house to get some durians. While on the way back on his dad's trusty little Diahatsu Feroza, I asked him, "Have you ever taken this car off road." And he said ,"No. But that's a good idea. Let's go. Just tell my dad we are going for a drive around town." So, we picked up my bro and later found ourselves on the way to some Felda plantation nearby which has quite an awesome jungle trail.

If you don't know, the vehicle in question is a battered up jeep that is very much chuckable into any terrain. Plus, it had a switchable 4 wheel drive mode with locking differentials. Perfect for the odd, off road escapades.

Now you see road.

Now you don't.

The trail that he chose was the one that he occasionally uses for mountain biking. Loads of twisty corners and going up and down hills. It circles the entire perimeter of the plantation and is about forty something kilometers long.

My cousin engaging the locking differentials

Passing through the guard house, the adventure has officially began. Four wheel drive was engaged and we began with an ascent up a steep muddy hill. From then on, the road started to get rougher and muddier with the occasional huge holes here and there. I asked him whether he has done this before and he said no. Wookay.. So much for the reassurance of safety. The jeep was jumping up and down the terrain and making all sorts of creaky noises on the inside. However, being a Japanese built vehicle, I had a slight feeling of confidence over it's reliability. I think no one wants to be stranded in the middle of a oil palm plantation with no human contact for kilometers. I took a look to my left. Gosh, it's a long way down if the car were to slip and tumble.

Going up a particularly steep incline the car seemed to run out of steam. Not to worry, my cousin told me. He switched into low range and floored the gas. The engine roared at 5000rpm and we were back on our way.

My cousin tells me of his experiences cycling at night with the road illuminated only by a small torchlight and the moon. It would be pitch black at the back where the torchlight did not shine. Gosh, this guy has got guts.

We reached a very muddy patch of ground that had tractor trails in them. Suddenly while we were driving through it, we could feel the back end slipping sideways. A quick counter steer resolved the issue but it was scary as hell.

Arriving at an intersection between two roads, my cousin sort of forgot which way was the trail he used last time. So he sort of guessed his way through that bit. He said ,"Don't worry, we have a full tank of fuel. It won't matter if we get lost."

Finally, we found our way out at a little village called Kampung Serigala. I was very glad to be able to see tarmac again. Before we headed back to my grandmother's home, we went to wash off the mud so that his dad wouldn't notice. When we reached, his dad's first reaction was, "The car so clean one." LOL. Busted.

It was an epicly fun day out. Before we headed back to KL, my cousin told me, "Eh, next time we go in at night." I know deep inside that I'll take up that offer.

Bored

2011-12-17T17:14:00.001+08:00

Ok. I'd have to admit. I'm getting a little bored right now. Long stretches of holidays do get a bit tiring.

And I don't know why everytime I turn on the tv, Nat Geo is always showing dog whisperer. One can only take that much of Caesar at one time.

Owh, and results were out 2 days ago. And yeah I passed. (Somehow it doesn't have the same feeling anymore.)

A rant

2011-12-12T14:21:00.001+08:00

This post goes out to you, the bloody asshole that has been pissing me off as of recent.

I never let money matters come in between friendship, so I try to be careful whenever stuff like that creeps up. But you have crossed the line this time. Every time I pay you something that I owe, you end up calling me a few weeks later telling me I haven't paid. The worst part is that you always think that your point of view is the only right one in the world. No matter how I explain to you, your stubborn head would not take it in. You may stay quiet over the whole matter, but inside you remain unchanged. That's what makes me so crossed.

I have principles for heaven's sake. Short-paying someone is as bad as being short-paid. However, I cannot say the same for you. If people bother paying you, the least you could do is REMEMBER. Bloody hell, I'm gonna force you to write receipts in the future. I simply cannot be held responsible for your lapse in memory. And please, change your stupid attitude. It's not going to get you far.

People may wonder, why I am not bringing this up personally. It's because I know that if I were to do so, it would only lead to more arguments. And it's not my bloody fault in the first place, so I choose not to pursue the matter. I'd rather maintain the peace. If you were to read this, of which I doubt, fuck you.

This is what it sounds like

2011-12-09T21:52:00.001+08:00

.... when the bass drops.

Can't believe I'm stooping down this low. The Ah Beng-ness is overwhelming.

Buttttt, it has quite a sturdy build. We'll see how long it can hold up. It's a DVC by the way. Ooh la la.

On an unrelated note....

My supplier has to stop sending me parcels wrapped like this. The customs are going to think I'm a drug dealer.

Gaaaaa

2011-12-06T09:09:00.001+08:00

Got up early to go jogging this morning. Everything seemed fine. I set my targets on how long to jog, etc. And then suddenly came a sharp pain on the lateral side of my left knee. I think I have re-injured it. Fark. Now it's even more painful than before. Okay. No more physical activity until next week at earliest. There goes my exercise plans. Tetek betul.

Rural

2011-12-04T22:16:00.001+08:00

Now this is the authentic rural visit, not the fake one like Segamat. Today I actually entered a real orang asli village. This one was located in my mum's hometown of Slim River. To give you an idea of how remote it was, here is a picture of the road we had to use to get in there.

It was only wide enough for one car to pass through at a time. Every few feet there would be a piece of cow dung left behind by the animals who regularly roam the area. After going in deeper and deeper, finally we arrived at this little village of about 20 families.

The tour guide of the day was my uncle who strangely seems to know almost everyone in the village. One thing to note here is that the orang asli have their own language. It's like a mixture of bahasa and some other native words. I remember my uncle referring to durians with the term "semba" or something like that. Which brings us to the reason we were there in the first place; to search for durians.

The village hall. They have a band in there.

My bro and uncle

Walking down the road a little, we saw a commotion of villagers surrounding this chinese man. My uncle told us to go there to take a look and promised something interesting. It turned out that the man was the owner of a restaurant and he was there to buy the villagers' catch. Droves of people started turning up with rice bags containing live fish. They all stood around the man and his weighing scale, waiting their turn. He held in his hand, a stack of cash, ready to make a deal. Based on what my uncle told me, since I had no experience with fish and their worth, most of the fish caught this time were expensive breeds. They could easily fetch about RM60 per kilo in the market. So, we just stood there as deal after deal was made and money was being exchanged really quickly.

After that, we proceeded to a house nearby where a dude has some durians to sell. Most of them have already been picked up earlier in the morning by the town folk. Luckily this dude has like 4 of them left. My uncle noticed that the dude also has a rambutan tree that has a huge amount of fruits on them. So, he offered to buy some as well. And these were plucked fresh from the tree on the spot. The dude climbed up the tree to get them. Never had fruits this fresh before.

One thing I noticed is that the people here are really nice. They are not calculative like our city folk. For example, while we were waiting for the guy to bring down the rambutans, another dude walked down with a bunch of them in his hands and gave them to us. My uncle offered to buy it but they refused. Sharing is part of their culture. It is considered an honour to be able to share things with your neighbour or guests. Everyone here is very welcoming. Perhaps we could learn a thing or two from them. It would really change the world for the better.


The final amount of fruits. The yellow ones were free.

Before they had electricity, the village folk used to dry the fish here for storage

When we got back to my uncle's place, we noticed that the other uncle also went out in search of durians. So, we had this awesomely huge lot of durians to eat. Gosh, was I full.

I guess that's all for now. Before I go, I shall leave you all with other random shots from the day. Gosh, I keep on burping durians. Gross, I know. But I can't help it.

Satisfied

Looking for sweet potatoes that my grandma planted before she passed

There are sweet potatoes !

The weather is so erratic these days

Blowwwwww

Here comes the rain

A book

2011-12-03T15:38:00.001+08:00

If you were to take a stroll around the school of medicine, you can't help but notice that many students (me included) have a notebook that is full of notes/scribbles/random nonsense. As you can see, the above is mine. I came across it when I was emptying out my bag which remained unopened since the last day of the semester. Taking a peek inside, I find it hard to believe that a year can fly by so quickly. Flipping to the first page, it read "Origin of cells and tissues". That's some old stuff. A few pages forward was the notes I write during the first clinical site visit to Tanglin. I could recall things as if it happened really recently but then I glanced upon the date in the top corner, about 3/4 of a year has passed since then. I guess time and tide really does wait for no one.

One interesting thing is that in the beginning of the semester, I actually bothered to write down notes during the lecture and make well organized notes. But once you flip the pages further, you would notice that the notes become less and less, replaced by random nonsense that even I cannot understand. There was even a few pages with hangman being played all over them.

Witness my detailed drawings about thalassemia genes and what not. That's in the first few weeks of the semester.

Here are the well organized notes that I used to write.

And here is a page from the last few weeks of the semester. The difference is striking. For some reason, Viagra appears many many times on this page. Heh heh. Must be something to do with heart disease based on the random terms scribbled around.

I'm gonna keep all these little books throughout my university life so that I can look back at them and laugh or cry.

You

2011-12-01T20:52:00.001+08:00

" You use your heart as a weapon, and it hurts like heaven."

My favourite song for the moment.

Growing up

2011-11-30T21:38:00.001+08:00

I don't know whether there are any definitive stages but I think it has been a fairly gradual process. Back when I was little, my parents would be concerned about petty things like making sure that I studied enough, what I was doing, who my friends were, etc. No one could blame them, it was a very impressionable age and we kids did not know better. Slowly, I could feel the strings being released. By secondary school, exam results did not really matter anymore, just as long as I was happy. That was one point that is awesome about them. They are not the kiasu type who wants their kid to be the best at everything. Rather, they let me develop at my own pace.

Then comes to the matter of video games. Back then, they would restrict it to the school holidays. However, by mid-secondary school, they pretty much let us regulate our playing times by ourselves. This imparted kind of a sense of responsibility because we were in charge of regulating ourselves. If we did not do well in exams, it'll be solely our own fault. Taught me quite a lot.

The ultimate sense of gaining freedom to me was when my mum allowed me to go clubbing. I remembered asking her and she replied me in jest, "You old enough meh?" (FYI, I was 18 by then.) She was pretty cool about the whole matter and she just told me not to stay out too late and never drink and drive. Dad, well, being dad couldn't be bothered. Just as long as I informed them about my whereabouts then it's cool. There is no need to lie about the whole matter.

So yeah, from those upbringings comes the awesome me that you see today. Not too shabby I must say. Until next time folks.

Good morning

2011-11-29T07:46:00.001+08:00

Today, I promised myself to at least do something about the HLSD assignment that has been lying dormant. So, I opened the instruction files and read it. After doing so, I noticed that I was completely clueless as to what I was supposed to do. Reading it over and over again was no much of help. Therefore, I tossed it aside and came here. Productivity = Zero

Oh well

2011-11-28T21:50:00.001+08:00

I wanted to blog about my time in Penang, but my slow internet connection coupled with the large picture sizes was a huge turn off. So, I'll probably just blog sans the pictures. You can look up my facebook for them. Unless, of course, you are a stalker who lurks around this blog to track my daily activities. In that case, too bad for you, no pictures then.

If I were to use one word to describe Penang, it would be ~~quirky~~ unique. The drivers there are one of the worst that I've seen. Especially the motorcyclists. They make me want to ban motorbikes once and for all. Food there is cheap. However, there is a slight catch. The portions are small too. Two Penang sized servings would equal to that of the average Kuala Lumpur one. With that said, the authenticity of food there is second to none. No rojak/fusion recipes whatsoever. Just food served the way it was for generations.

Another thing I noticed was the aged population in Penang. Surprisingly, they are mostly in top health. I first noticed this when an elderly dude who I think is about 70 years old overtook me during the bridge run. There must be a secret elixir that they are taking.

One thing that mars the island's image is the large amounts of beggars. Seriously, like everywhere you go they would be there. Not that I have anything against them, but it becomes overwhelming at times.

The weather in Penang is quite humid owing to it's location close to the sea. I was sweating even though I was simply sitting down and doing nothing. And when it rains, it pours.

Penang seems almost like a foreign country to me. For one, my money seemed to have appreciated after crossing the bridge because things here are considerably cheaper compared to KL. Then there is the language barrier. Almost everyone speaks Hokkien. Being too used to living in KL, there was one day I actually ordered food in Cantonese. The auntie simply stared at me blankly like I was some idiot. Not being able to speak the dialect simply puts one at an disadvantage.

So, that's about it for now. I have ran out of blogging juice. Until next time people.

Footprints in the sand

2011-11-27T19:06:00.001+08:00

There is something calming about beaches that makes me just want to sit there all day. The gentle breeze, the rhythmic lapping of waves on the shore, the bright sky, all come together in this symphony of senses. One day I'm going to buy a house by the shore.

On an unrelated note, I am bloody hooked onto Coldplay's new album. It's been on repeat for the past few hours and probably for the next few days as well.

Home sweet home

2011-11-25T22:26:00.001+08:00

Like literally. I was greeted by the sight of this as soon as I came in the door.

Ouch

2011-11-24T16:07:00.001+08:00

I think I must have sprained my knee or something. Now it hurts like hell when I ascend or descend steps. That must be the price to pay for not conditioning before the run. And there is like so much walking to do out and about in Penang. Anyways, it's been pretty awesome so far. Will post some pics once I'm back in KL.

Oh yes

2011-11-21T10:59:00.001+08:00

I can't believe I actually ran for 10km in the Penang bridge marathon and better yet, completed it within the stipulated time period. This coming from the same guy who practically walked during the school cross country is a tremendous feat. +10 for man points. Oooh yeah. Time for more makan-ing around Penang to replace the spent energy. Owh, and my quadriceps hurt like crap now. That's the price to pay for not training beforehand.

Penang

2011-11-19T09:13:00.001+08:00

I'm in Penang at the moment. Internet connection is really patchy so I'll prolly update when I'm back.

I hate dentists (again)

2011-11-16T12:20:00.001+08:00

Once again I am reminded of why I hate dentists so much. If you were to dig up my posts from about the same time last year, you would be able to find a similar one. Now, it's the same tooth giving me issues. I don't know what the hell is wrong with that tooth. I should have just pulled it out last time and save me the trouble. I still could remember the dentist saying that with that (expensive) root treatment rubbish, I would be able to keep that tooth forever. Well guess what? She has failed to keep her promise. The inflammation persisted for over a year till now. Over the course of the year, little chunks of tooth have been breaking off which shows that it is still dying. And finally today, I was greeted by a sharp pain during breakfast. The tooth has given up it's sad and worthless life and thus, decided to split itself in half. Now there is a huge crack running posteriorly throughout the length of the tooth. It's now pretty f**ked. The broken half is threatening to rip itself out of my gums everytime I take a bite. Based on the extent of damage, I don't think it's very repairable. So, later I'm probably going to make a trip back to the fella and put myself in a whole world of pain as she extracts that poor thing once and for all.

Dentists suck. Period.

** Update

I came back from the dentist and she told me that it was no biggie. And set an appointment somewhere in January because she is fully booked (WTH? I demand a career change). Oh yes, it's no biggie save for the fact that it hurts when I chew and food can actually lodge itself into the tooth and pull the two pieces apart. No biggie... no biggie... NO BIGGIE. I'm seriously considering a second opinion. But, with that said, that dentist has one of the cheapest* rates around. So yes, it's 2 points to the dentist and 0 points for this poor medical student. I give up.

*Note that cheap is a relative term and a dentist's definition of cheap still causes a nuclear detonation in my wallet.

Crap

2011-11-14T20:53:00.001+08:00

The cable on my favourite pair of headphones just snapped. Damn it.

Wax on, wax off

2011-11-13T21:26:00.001+08:00

On this rather mundane Sunday morning, I decided to give the car a much deserved pampering partly because of guilt. You see, the car has been used by me practically for the entire year to get me to uni and back. Worst of all, it is usually parked under the hot sun for most of the day. The weather has really took its toll on the paintwork and it has begun looking like a typical college kid's car. A layer of traffic film and watermarks dulled out the shine. So, out came the power tools, polishing compounds and wax to restore the paint back to pristine condition. Took me about 3 hours of hard work to finally get it done. But the end result was worth every drop of sweat.

Feast your eyes on the fruits of my labour.

Mirror like perfection


Ooh la la

It started off as a clean, white pad

Ice cold cendol for lunch to top things off

I'd say it was a productive day.

Routine

2011-11-12T11:18:00.001+08:00

Since the holidays are going to be a long stretch, I told myself not to lie dormant and at least try to go out and exercise every morning.

So far, it has not been going very well. Last Tuesday, I nearly sprained my ankle on a rambutan on the floor. A FREAKING rambutan dammit. I'm so gonna shove the rambutan up the tree owner's ass.

Then I thought, why not go cycling instead. Cool idea except for the fact that my bike is kinda broken. Eventually it cost about a hundred bucks and a bleeding hand to get it back to working condition. But that's not the end of it. After when everything has been put back together, I noticed that the seat that I bought was a bit small. Must be just my eyes I thought. When I sat on that seat then I regretted the purchase. It was so small compared to my huge butt that my balls scream in agony everytime I rode the bike. I'm too much of a cheapskate to buy another seat so I guess I'll have to bear with it.

A bigger problem would be waking up early in the morning. Every time I set my alarm to ring, my body would switch to autopilot and turn the thing off and then go back to sleep. On one rare morning where I managed to wake up, I looked out the window and saw that it was raining heavily. Super potong stim.

There is always a tomorrow you may say. Oh yes, that's what I tell myself too. Sadly, the cycle repeats itself over and over again till I just give up and forget about the whole matter. FML

One Evening

2011-11-11T17:59:00.001+08:00

Sometimes beauty lies just in front of our eyes, but we don't notice it.

Old habits die hard

2011-11-09T17:36:00.000+08:00

I thought that I had left the world of pro sound behind me when i entered med school. Little did I know that it still runs in my blood. It's just the thought of having tons of equipment singing the same symphony so seamlessly and beautifully that it becomes an obsession. A walk down Jalan Pasar really brought back memories of the days where my bro and I would run through the place trying to get parts for blown speaker components or new equipment to add to our arsenal of sound. All while we were still in secondary school. Leftovers from those days still sit in my storeroom in the form of a few basic full range speakers, a couple of amplifiers, a mixer, a few processors (sold most of them off) and also a horn speaker system loud enough to rock and entire concert hall. Once in a while, I'd power them up and annoy the neighbours a little bit. Great fun partly because my neighbours are a bunch of assholes.

We were looking at this horn subwoofer in front of the shop and were quite impressed by the build quality. The dude there offered to power them up for our listening pleasure. Oh gawd, this was going to be good. Trying his best to impress these two odd people who seem to know their stuff, he drove the subs all the way. The floor was rumbling, the roof sounded like it was going to come off, my chest felt as if it was being beaten up by a boxer, and my eardrums were screaming for mercy. 18 inches of woofers were pounding away at whatever stood in front of them. Pretty impressive stuff. RM1200 for the box and a Fane driver in it. Quite a good offer. I'd buy it if I was still building a system.Or, if I'm in the mood, I might just get it for my living room. However, I still think the subs in my storeroom can outperform those things even though they are about 20 years old.

I think I lost some degree of hearing from the test session

Processor after processor. So sexay.

Today was kind of a productive day. I actually fixed the pump for the fish pond and also my headphones. Although, my dad eventually took credit for the fish pond pump, but whatever laa. So, about my headphones, these were a set of cans my bro bought quite a few years back for listening purposes and also for work. It's a set of Superlux HD330 that we got for a VERY VERY decent price. They sound really good and reveals plenty of flaws within the source. However, they are a little bit hard to drive into decent levels without a dedicated headphone amplifier. Ever since my bro got his in-ears, these headphones were a little under utilized. Therefore, recently I began using it again. The problem here is that the earpads have worn out over the years and smell like crap no matter how many times I wash them. Finally the supplier brought in a bunch of replacement ear pads which I promptly bought and fixed. Now they look and feel like a new set of headphones.

Goodbye old sweaty pads

There, all new again

Ambivalence avenue

2011-11-07T22:07:00.002+08:00

I stopped my bike for a moment to pause and feel the gentle breeze brush across my face. Looking down the hill, children were in the playground running about doing what they do best. Thick green grass covered the field and it's surroundings, obviously needing a trim by the way it can engulf one's ankles. I was in familiar surroundings. It was where I spent the first 13 years of my life. Strange how it can feel familiar but yet different at the same time. Perhaps thing or two have changed. The long wooden slide was there no more, replaced by a plastic one which was undoubtedly safer, but somehow lacked any life to it. More importantly, it was no longer a 4 foot tall boy wearing an umbrella-hat contraption looking out on the hill. Rather, it's now the eyes of a 19 year old with a stubby face because he forgot to shave in the morning.

Back in the days, holidays had a whole different tune to it. I could recall looking at the clock for 3.30 to come on the last day of school. Counting down the seconds as it ticked away on its own pace. We would be running around collecting autographs on the backs of the school magazine. After that, I would simply get lost in the holidays, losing track of what date it was. Everyday was just endless fun. I went out in the evenings and ran and cycled around the field until I got a headache from doing so. Then, in the next day I'd do it all over again. There was nothing to worry or care about. Work was a foreign word for those few months.

As I grew older, the magic seems to have worn out slowly. Holidays, while still awesome, never seem to have the charm as it did back in the days. Living a carefree lifestyle is frowned upon and deemed as irresponsible. People begin to have expectations on how you should behave and act. Those days only remain as a distant memory.

I would want this holiday to be like the one back when I was a child. Nothing to worry about. Having fun would be the most important thing. I would really want to lose myself in the holidays for the next few months and not worry about anything else. I hope that would be possible.

Addicted

2011-11-06T13:24:00.002+08:00

I had my coffee pretty late today and I feel like crap. A throbbing headache coupled with some vertigo and now nausea. I have become too addicted to coffee. I think it's time to cut back a little bit.

Awesome

2011-11-05T17:14:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I had one of the awesomest outings ever with the best people one could ever know. Great food, great company, and owh, I met ultraman. My life is complete now. Hahahaha

Thanks for the memories Monash peeps. You people rock. Now it's time for a well deserved break. See you again next semester or perhaps sometime during this holiday.

Finally its over

2011-11-03T12:14:00.002+08:00

As of half an hour ago, I am officially free for the next few months. One year of university life has flashed past so quickly.

Owh, and if you were wondering, my grandma passed away on monday just after I finished my paper. I couldn't attend her funeral because I had OSCE exams. Anyways, it's good to know that she is up there with grandpa right now.

And if you would excuse me, I would want to enjoy my holidays right now. So many things to do. Screw HLSD for a moment. Bye peeps.

End of life issues

2011-10-30T22:44:00.000+08:00

Today I was thought a long and hard lesson about it. It somehow shook my perspectives into a new direction.

There we were standing in the ward with its sickly green walls and gloomy lighting. The fan above the bed was spinning furiously but did nothing to ease the stuffiness of the place. On the side table, sat an ECG beeping away at a rate of 140 bpm. Beside it was a defibrillator with its paddles hooked in place, ready to be used. Dopamine was being infused slowly through an intravenous line from an automated tube. A net of tubes and cables were hooked onto the patient who was breathing with a huge amount of effort aided by an oxygen mask. Dark yellowish urine was stuck halfway in the urinary tube with an empty bag hooked on the bed rail. She looked sickly and frail. It was my grandmother. Standing around her bed was all the family members who rushed back upon hearing of her condition.

Every time she gave a sign of life, a twitch, or a slight movement, or a tear running down her cheek, everyone would get their hopes up. Sadly, everything was blanketed by the heavy sedation that she was under. It was there to reduce the amount of suffering that she felt as she made this last journey of her life, and perhaps move on to a better place.

The medical officer came in a little afterwards and explained the futility of the situation. Considering that she is already old and any efforts done would just prolong life for a short while but cause a whole lot of suffering. The best option was to just let her die as painlessly as possible. No further procedures would be carried out. The way she said it was as elegant as possible, no beating around the bush. Just straight to the point while being empathetic at the same time.

At 5pm, I had to leave for KL because I'm having exams tomorrow. Before, I left, I noticed that her breathing was getting shallower. She could die tonight, or tomorrow morning, or anytime at all. Thats how uncertain the situation was. I could be halfway through my paper or halfway sleeping at night when that happens. Thats the worst part about it.

Hi

2011-10-29T22:35:00.003+08:00

It's my second post of the day because frankly, I'm so bored of studying. So, rather than killing myself, I have chosen the saner option of blogging.

This week has been the most anti-social week of all time because I barely stepped out of my house at all unless for food. I've been so disconnected from the outside world that I think my social skills have deteriorated to that of a caveman. UAA UAG UGA ! Those are stop codons, btw. So, I must be a caveman with some knowledge in genetics. How cool is that?

OK, ignore my randomness. It's the exam fever that's getting to me.

There is so much crap that's stuffed in my mind right now that everytime I study a new topic, I seem to forget whatever I studied earlier. Maybe my brain is rebelling against this torture I'm subjecting it to. Or perhaps it's trying to stay afloat with the flood of information coming in like the one in Thailand right now.

Owh, and yesterday there was a double rainbow at my place. What a way to cheer up a gloomy and rainy afternoon.

Watch that video. It'll make your day.

That's all for now. Bye peeps.

Freedom

2011-10-29T12:56:00.000+08:00

Its so close I can almost taste/touch/feel/(Insert sensory modality) it. Just one final push for this weekend and hopefully I'll be ready. Monash, please be nice. Thats all I ask for.

So tired

2011-10-28T14:16:00.002+08:00

I'm so sick of reading notes after notes. So many things on my mind right now and half of them are about what to do after the examination. I simply can't wait till this is over.

Enchanted

2011-10-25T15:34:00.001+08:00

I was out yesterday with my brother in Lowyat to buy a laptop for our cousin. So, we had to wait for about 45 minutes for the laptop to be prepared. While walking around, we stumbled upon this shop selling hi-fi stuff. We were just staring at one of the valve amplifiers on display outside and somehow found ourselves in the shop's listening room discussing different configurations with the salesperson. Then she said, "Do you want to demo the system?" Shit. The bait has already been set, waiting for us to take a bite. Immediately, I sat down and took a listen. Gosh, it was one of the most beautiful sounding systems I've heard in my life. Yes, you heard me right. In my life. Period. The subtleness in delivery of sound was like butter to my ears. The speakers brought the room to life despite their petite size. Everything was quick, direct and precise. This was the first time I've ever listened to a valve amp and boy, was it good. The coloration was unlike anything I've heard. Distinctly different from the surgical precision of transistor amplifiers. Warm and smooth. Damn. I was hooked.

The asking price for the amp and speaker setup? Close to RM4K. And that does not include a source. I'd have to add about another RM1K for the CD player. I sense this is the beginning of a very expensive hobby.

That's odd

2011-10-23T07:56:00.002+08:00

I have never felt this way before. Why do I keep thinking of it? Gotta shake that thought out of my head.

Time

2011-10-16T16:33:00.001+08:00

Time is flying past like a banshee that is out hunting down some poor soul. Once again, I am facing the prospect of having the most important exams of the year in about a few weeks time. One moment it's the beginning of the semester. The next thing you know, the last week is already here. Gosh, I don't want to grow old that fast. Time, can you just chill for a moment and not rush me through everything.

Okay, the only reason this post is so short is that I literally don't have time. And yes, it's the physical type of time I'm referring to, not some metaphorical sense.

it's my birthday!

2011-10-12T08:06:00.002+08:00

happy birthday to me
happy birthday to me
happy birthday to me
i'm 19 years old.

=D
from simon

Old Folks Part 2

2011-10-08T23:24:00.001+08:00

Remember the previous post regarding the depressing old folks home that I went to? Yeah, I had to go there again for a second visit. This time round, it was even worse. I figured that I could interview the same lady as last time. However, she could not even remember me. Bummer. Plus, she was crying intermittently throughout the whole process because her son did not visit her the week before. She was so emotionally distraught that psychologically she perceived her whole body was aching badly. She begged the staff and also me for drugs to ease the pain even though physically there was none. I just stood there helpless while she moaned and cried. One half of me wanted to change to another case and get on with my task while the other wanted to stay and comfort her. Fortunately, I chose the latter (I was running out of time anyways and it would be a bit too late to start another case.). And boy, was it a good lesson on responding to emotions.

One of her words struck me quite profoundly. She said ,"Saya mati lagi baik daripada tinggal di sini la." It was not her suicidal thoughts that jarred me but how relatable her situation was. Through the eyes of a 20 year old, I could not imagine myself being left in that home to spend the rest of my life. Maybe my perceptions would change in the future once I have reached that stage in life. But, for now I simply cannot accept it. Being there all alone, without family members being around. Living with a bunch of strangers in a foreign environment. It's a far cry from the comforts of home and definitely would be a huge shock to a person. Bottom line, I would not want to be in her shoes.

She was visibly depressed when she saw that we were about to leave. All I could offer her was a hug to hopefully make her feel better. Relief, if any, would only be temporary as the underlying issues still remain. I felt bad that I could not do anything more than just leaving her with a few encouraging words. Before we exited the door, she asked whether we were coming back again. With a heavy heart, I told her no.

A Runny Nose

2011-10-07T23:43:00.001+08:00

Why is it that every time the exams or something important is close by, I seem to catch a bloody cold. So annoying. Shooo... Go away. I've got more important stuff to do.

It's October

2011-10-01T23:27:00.002+08:00

No matter how hard I try, I cannot hide the fact that the finals are merely a month away. This is made worse by the admin staff constantly reminding us of a risk of reassesment in the event that we fall within the borderline marks range. *Touchwood* That would really put an end to your holiday plans. I'm really hoping for the best. An entire year's worth of stuff to be studies within the next few weeks. Not to mention I'd have to practice for OSCE's as well. All of that would mean hard work and late nights from now on. On the bright side, at least the holidays would be coming sooner. During that holiday, I'm going to party like a freaking rockstar to make up for the non-existent social life that I have now. Okay, that's all for this post. Gotta sleep, and then start studying again tomorrow morning. Holidays, I'm waiting for you.

Segamat

2011-09-24T22:39:00.000+08:00

There is a small town known as Segamat. Named by a king who thought that the water was the freshest he ever tasted. A place where you can still find a 60 cents roti canai. You will meet the friendliest of people who make you feel at home even though it's a few hundred kilometers away. Time seems to move much slower here. Everything happens at a cool, relaxed pace. Pre-war buildings add a rustic charm towards a town that is already full of character. People here judge distances by the number of traffic lights. Cars actually give way to pedestrians. There are no skyscrapers or towering pidgeon-holes in which people live in. Nothing to obstruct the view of the green hills in the distance. The air here is fresh, just like its water. This is a place where the stars are not drowned by the lights of civilization. Skies cast a bright blue hue upon everything, bringing them to life. The sights are so beautiful that a picture would not do the place justice. One has to be there to fully take it in. In every corner of the street, there is something new to be discovered, people to be met. The whole place is bustling with life. There is so much to do that one week just isn't enough. I was reluctant to leave the place.

Today, I awoke to the sound of trucks passing. Through the cracks in between my eyelids, I was looking at my own wardrobe. Back home at last. But, somehow this time it doesn't feel the same. I pulled the curtains apart and was greeted by the sight of the twin towers somewhere in the horizon. Down the road, a small jam was beginning to build up. Hello again, Kuala Lumpur.

Gosh, I miss Segamat. Thank you for the memories. See you again next year.

Hello Again

2011-09-16T22:25:00.004+08:00

It's been a long time since I wrote a long post. (Pun intended) So, yes, I've told myself to sit my ass down and type like I've never typed before.

What has happened in my life so far? It's been pretty hectic as always. But, there are cool bits stuck in between those times like a little free gift you find inside a cereal box.

I visited an old folks home or geriatric facility as what Monash calls it. Boy, was it an eye opener. It was depressing looking at these people staying in such a home just because they can't operate like how you and me do. Some might argue that it's for the best interests of the old folks, but nevertheless, I don't think they might share the same view. After all, being able to be around one's family is everything. Bottom line, I don't want to be there when I grow old.

A useful quote from the doctor that accompanied us that day:

"Most of the people you see in that facility have spouses that have died or are divorced. So, if you don't want to end up there, you better make your marriage work. A vast majority of marriages don't work out. As sad as it seems, but it's a fact of life."

A few weeks back, while I was out having dinner with my family, I saw this guy walking from table to table selling crackers. From my limited knowledge of psychology, I guessed that he was autistic. I generally do not buy stuff from peddlers that sell stuff from table to table, autistic or otherwise. However, my mum decided to buy some stuff from him because she says that he is trying to make an honest living. So, here comes the question on whether he is making a living out of selling crackers or is he being exploited. I wonder whether or not he gets a cut of the earnings.

Another thing, I notice that there are quite a few ~~kiasu~~ hardworking people in med school. It's really really easy to pick them out of the crowd. They would be the ones doing revisions while everyone else generally chills out. Yes, I know that med school involves hard work. But, there will be a threshold to distinguish between working hard and working too hard. So how do you tell whether you are working too hard? It's when most of the cohort is not studying except for you. Chill a bit. Take a break, have a kit kat. After all, life is short you know. Even more so your student life. Once it's gone you are never going to get it back.

We've been learning a lot about death and dying recently which makes med school a whole lot more depressing than it already is. I noticed how fragile and precious a human life can be at the same time. And I've learnt to treasure the time that I have now for it can be taken away at any moment.

We'll be going to Segamat for a week starting Monday and I noticed that I need to pack my bags either tomorrow or Sunday. Why not today? Because it's Malaysia Day dammit. Being a patriotic citizen of Malaysia, I decided to have a day off to commemorate the day this glorious nation was born. Inevitably, I will have to stuff my entire life into a small bag together with 5 days worth of underwear. I hope Segamat will be fun. If it's anything like my hometown in Slim River, them I'm in for a crappy time. Unless hanging out in the five foot way drinking coke from a glass bottle is your idea of fun.

I have succeeded in typing out my fist long post in like 2 months. Yezaaaaaaaa. I am awesome. Before I go I shall leave you with a terrifying picture of me rocking my new shades.

Like a BOSS!

Shit

2011-09-11T21:48:00.003+08:00

Today, I slipped and fell on dog poop while I was out cleaning their cages. Lucky me. Not cool at all.

And on Friday, I walked out for lunch with my flyers completely down without noticing it till I was on my way back. I hope no one noticed. And if they noticed, I hope they don't think of me as some pervert. Hahahaha

Somehow, stuff like that has been happening to me. Must be some form of karma for all the things that I have done. xD

Party Time !

2011-09-03T20:58:00.001+08:00

Yeah, I wish. One day left to cram all that crap. After that, perhaps a teensy weeny break. A well deserved one too.

A Short Break

2011-08-29T22:45:00.004+08:00

And by short I mean a 15 minutes break before I go to sleep and start studying again tomorrow morning. Holidays? What holidays? I have spent most of my day stuffing as much information as possible into this little head of mine.

A friend once said, "I never knew I could study so hard till I entered med school."

How true.

Bye bye people.

And good night.

Free Parking

2011-08-26T22:28:00.002+08:00

For 2 days in a row, a bunch of students in Monash university have been offering to pay for my parking. Interesting stuff. Apparently, they are trying to spread the love and do something out of the ordinary. Whatever it is, kudos to you guys. Your random act of kindness has made my day (2 days in fact) and put me back on my feet after being swept off by the hectic-ness of life as of recent.

Thank you.

Week Whatever

2011-08-21T11:05:00.003+08:00

Time seems to be passing by so quickly that my life feels like its on autopilot. Same old routine day in, day out. So much to juggle around and time is never on my side. Now I know what people mean by med school being stressful. Anyhow, at least I can find the time to blog. Sort of. I'm supposed to be studying the week's stuff now but I'm like F it, I'm taking a break.

The mid semester exams are in 2 weeks time and I'm wondering whether or not I can finish anatomy in time. Even though I do study it, the stuff never sticks in my head and I end up forgetting by the end of the week or sometimes, the next day itself. The worst thing is that everyone else seems to be knowing everything and I sit there thinking what in the world are they eating? I want some of that too.

Remember tiger balm boy, mentioned in a post few months back? Well, I eventually got to know him and he's a genuinely nice person. So much for first impressions being important. I guess an apology would be appropriate. Of course not directly to him because he'll know of the not-so-pleasant moniker, thus making things worse. So, I'll simply type it here. "Sorry, tiger balm boy."

Well, that's it for now. An entire afternoon of studying awaits me. =(

An Appropriate Name

2011-08-12T23:00:00.003+08:00

Today, I went to collect some results from the admin department. So, the lady there asked for my name. I said "Ronnie", paused for a moment and then continued, "Ronnie Tan". Then I thought to myself, OMG did I just say the corniest line ever? She must have thought of me as a desperate James Bond wannabe. My reputation has just gone down the drain. To my surprise, she told me in Malay, "Nama kamu amat sesuai la." which if directly translated would mean that my name is very appropriate. Obviously something has been lost in translation. Therefore, I prefer to believe that by "sesuai" - taking into consideration cultural factors and the proper usage of the Malay language - she means that it is an awesome name befitting an awesome person like myself. Yes, that is the truth. Both ways, it made my day.

Uni life is still stressful as usual. But, I'm sort of getting used to it.

Before I go. Let me leave you with a video of the sketch done by the year 1's in occasion with a charity event organized by the school of medicine called Flying Without Wings.

Sunday

2011-08-07T17:01:00.002+08:00

It's 5pm on Sunday and I'm sitting here thinking of a million and one things that i could be doing besides studying anatomy. Yes, I'm officially bored and exhausted.

Sem 2 Week 2

2011-08-05T20:13:00.002+08:00

One word sums everything up; hell. It's like semester 1 multiplied by 10000. OK, that's more of an exaggeration. Its more like 2.796. I barely have time for anything. The workload is getting really really tiring.

Even Monash's ATM wants to wreak havoc in my life. I think it doesn't like me so it started ringing halfway through my transaction. Everyone in the cafeteria was looking at me as if I had looted the machine of it's cash. On second thought, maybe it got tired of it's job of spitting out cash endlessly and is trying to ask me for help. Both ways, I'm certainly not amused by the attention.

Okay, thats all for now. Got loads of work to do. Bye bye.

Still Sick

2011-07-19T22:43:00.001+08:00

It's been more than a week, almost 2 but this cough doesn't want to go away. Annoying thing. Don't ruin my last stretch of holidays.

Pet Peeves

2011-07-17T21:37:00.002+08:00

Everyone has some sort of pet peeve within them that can make one go crazy. My pet peeve while driving would be motorcyclists and tiny underpowered cars.

I particularly dislike motorcyclists who think they are driving some sort of huge car and hog the entire road by driving in the middle. Face it, you are literally on a lawnmower with 2 wheels. Get the hell out of my way or drive faster (If your miserable 125cc's of engine can actually go any faster, which is pretty impossible. So, get out of my way.) I usually get the message across by driving incredibly close to them. Sometimes, they do notice that they are being a major annoyance to others and move towards the side. As always, there are always the stubborn ones. In that case, the tormenting continues, which is fun as well. Call me a road bully but you asked for it.

Next would be the case of "mini cars" on the road. For example, the Myvi's, Kancil's, Kenari's, Savvy's and whatever tiny underpowered contraption you can possibly think of. I have nothing against these cars if and only if they understand their position in the hierarchy of road vehicles. By hierarchy of vehicles I mean staying away from the fast lane unless you intend to floor the hell out of your vehicle to maintain a scarcely attainable speed of above 110kph which, in my opinion, is as elusive as a dodo bird.

Speaking about Myvi's, I find the "lagi best" advertisement a little bit silly and annoying. By no means is it a new car. They are simply just face lifting an aging model so that they can squeeze out whatever that's left. It's like a 50 year old woman undergoing a boob job; no matter what you do, it's still a 50 year old with cosmetically enhanced breasts, desperate and miserable. Go design your own model from ground up you lazy arse. Don't rebadge a Diahatsu and call it your national car. It's plagiarism at it's finest. Put all car manufacturers at an even playing field in this country without the heavy taxes and we'll see how your infant of a car company would crash and burn.

So, yeah. That's a lot to get off my chest. Phew. Lol. Till next time peeps.

Durian Season

2011-07-12T21:26:00.003+08:00

I was in Muar a while back and on the way I saw durians being sold at the roadside. The first stall said RM4 per kg. A few hundred meters down the road, RM2. Good deal. It'd be great if the reductions continued, I thought. And it did. The last one was selling them at RM1 per kg. I find it hard to believe that they were going for that cheap. But in the end, we did not bring back any because of a lack of space in the trunk. Damn... The next time we go there, we'd better use the four wheeler and bring back a huge-ass bounty. At least 20 Kg's or as much as we can stuff into the back.

Fortunately, today near my place, we saw this dude selling 8 durians for 10 bucks. Which was quite a deal too. My durian cravings can finally be satisfied. We ended up buying 8 pieces just to try it out and boy was it good. Probably gonna get some more in the coming days.

I can recall many childhood memories involving durians. We'd be having a big bunch of people sitting around the kitchen floor with durians scattered all over. Having durians was always a happy moment. The best bit is that the magic still works up to today.

My uncle used to bring back durians from the orang asli village in Tanjung Malim. Apparently, it was sort of free because they fell from trees near the roadside and he picked them up from there. Hmmm... I guess it's how these things work up there in the kampungs. LOL.

There also used to be this truck that would stop somewhere down the street loaded with durians. The dude would give you a big plastic bag for RM10 and all the durians you can stuff into that would be yours. It drove the neighbourhood crazy with all the aunties crowding around the truck. We hardly get to see that kind of stuff nowadays.

Anyway, the holidays have been awesome although a tad bit short. 2 more weeks and I'll be back in uni again. But, I'm not complaining. Med school is fun in its own way too.

Sick

2011-07-05T15:45:00.002+08:00

This must be the worst flu I've had in a few years. I feel really crappy at the moment.

Isn't it a bit weird that you only appreciate being in health during times of sickness? On other days, you simply don't give a shit about it.

Time Flies

2011-07-01T19:42:00.002+08:00

I went back to Sunway today to collect my ISAT refund cheque (Awesomesauce !) and I noticed that it happens to be the briefing day for the new batch of JPA students in Sunway Uni. I could relate to them and how they feel because I was in their shoes exactly 2 years before, doing the exact same thing. Being there all alone with no one I knew was really scary at first. But then, eventually I made some awesome friends which I would cherish for the rest of my life. Nothing stays constant, I soon found out. Everything is always changing. Eventually we all moved on to university, some parting ways to different courses. It's all part of the phases of life that we all go through. I find it really hard to believe that 2 years could pass by so quickly. And now, I'm simply in another phase on this journey. Where it's going to lead me or how its going to turn out? I don't know. What I know is that it's probably going to be awesome. Cheers peeps.

Boys and Their Toys

2011-06-26T15:10:00.006+08:00

After every semester, I always made it a point to buy myself something as a reward for the hard work using whatever that is left over from my allowance. This becomes like a motivating factor to push through the mess of work and exams that has become the norm these days. Well, at least this is what I tell myself to justify the amount of money spent. Hahaha. I'd have to admit that I do buy on impulse sometimes. And this was sort of a spur of the moment thing.

Ooh~la~la

So, this semester I bought myself an Eee Pad Transformer. I was wanting a tablet for quite some time now ever since I used the Ipad in the uni's library. And throughout the semester, I was contemplating which tablet to purchase. Like a bunny with its ass on fire, I was jumping from choice to choice. I just couldn't put my finger on one particular brand and model because they all looked so good. And then came the dilemma of whether or not to spend that amount of money. This time it's quite a big purchase of nearly 2K. To me it's quite a large sum. I was quite undecided over the whole matter.

Tablet or netbook? Why not both?

One morning last week, I woke up and told myself that I'm getting a tablet on that day itself. So, I there I was in Lowyat walking around, ready to make a purchase. By then I have narrowed down my choices to either the Eee Pad, Iconia Tab, or Ipad 2. In the end, I settled for the Eee Pad. Ipad's are too common and the Iconia did not look appealing. Sadly, there was no stock. Bummer. So much for being a spur of the moment. I placed a deposit and waited for a week for the unit to arrive.

Eee Pad, transform !

Finally, it came as you can see from the pictures above. Weeee~~ Quite well built if you ask me. I love the screen a LOT. It's like honey for your eyes. Superbly sharp and vibrant as expected from an IPS screen. However, the OS could be a little bit more polished.

Ready to enter aural heaven?

I was not completely honest with myself, though because I ended up making an extra purchase of 3 In Ear Monitors (IEM's). Oops. It was too good of an offer to resist. They came in a set with each having its own distinct sound. If you were wondering, they sound great but are sensitive to what you power them with.

So, as you can see, I am a very very happy boy for the moment. I can't say the same for my bank account though. Hahaha. Two awesome things in being purchased in one day. I am content. I think my life is now complete. Hahahahaha. That is, until I have something else on my mind to buy again. Come to think of it, I do. Next semester, it would probably be a studio monitor, car monoblock amplifier, or a new camera. Obviously I can't have all of them at once or my bank account would self destruct. At least I have my "motivation" set for the next semester. Let's do this.

Sexism

2011-06-23T11:57:00.003+08:00

I just found out that Ministry of Sound is a bit sexist towards the males. They won't allow guys to dance on the stage in the middle of the dance floor. The rule is that you have to be accompanied by a girl. LOL. But, the ladies can dance on it anytime. Bummer. Hahahaha.

Anyway, it was an awesome night out.