Much ado about nothing

One morning I got up and this was what I saw…

Mind you, it was already past 7 at that time, and yet still so misty. Kinda surreal. But it also reminds me that I would be experiencing lots of this two years from now each winter for at least two years? Sigh…

Anyway, one thing’s for sure, weather in Kuching is getting a bit out of sorts. Just the other day, there was a hailstorm! For real, I’m not kidding this time, unlike my other post when I said it snowed in Kuching. It was a Saturday, there was heavy downpour, thunderstorm and very strong winds. And somehow I slept through it all. So I only found out after I got up and my family told me what happened, and the news article the next day proved it too.

Okay, so it wasn’t really like gigantic blocks of ice falling from the sky and the hailstorm was probably only for a while, but very unusual. The last time I remembered this happening was about 5 years ago? I was sitting for exams then and I remembered that about a third of the class had to fill in their MCQ answer sheets again since it got wet. And as I was sitting in the class, very much distracted, I noticed that small shards of ice were being carried by the strong wind into the corridor of the classroom block. Talk about unusual.

And yes, you know that either Wandkey is lazy or has run out of things to blog about when she blogs about the weather of all things.

Surprise!!!

Surprise!! I'm back for a week so who's taking me out? Ced? =)

Secret Recipe's sweet delights

It's Sunday night, and I'm here to blog about food. Yes, evil evil Wandkey.

Okay, I promise I will not make this sound too tempting, oh I will try my best. Haha.

Photo please.. Ah here we go.....

Do you know what this is? Yes, this is the full selection of cakes available at Secret Recipe. All the names of the cakes, its' descriptions, the prices, weight of the whole cake, everything. 24 cakes in all. Six of which I have sampled a bit of in this month. Yes, 6! In fact, I am very very angry at myself when I counted back to how much I've had. How is it possible to eat that much in a month?! Although, it was just a little nibble here, a bit more there..

Okay, back to my point. Here's a close up of the cakes available...

From left to right, top row first: Mango Delight, Moist Chocolate Cake, Classic Cheese, Espresso Cheese, Cheeze Choc, Chocolate Cheese, New York Cheese Cake, Oreo Cheese, Tiramisu, Marble Cheese, Black Forest, White Chocolate Macadamia.
Whew, I'm getting a little heady typing all those tempting tempting cake names out.


And the other 12...

Almond Coffee, Chocolate Banana, Blueberry Cheese, Cappucino Cheese, Americano, Baked Cheese, Chocolate Indulgence, Cocoa Mocha, Chocolate Chip Walnut, Chocolate Fudge, Caramel Cream Cheese, Carrot Cheese Cake.
And that's it. Yes, lots of cheese cakes, which I don't quite fancy anymore.


Actually, my favourite so far is this...


In real life, it looks like this..
Somehow the photo in the brochure, hmm.. I think it looks better in real life. This is the White Chocolate Macadamia, slightly more expensive than the others. This is Rm6.30, while most of the others are RM6 per slice.



Are you hungry yet? If not, you're either not one with a sweet tooth, or you have great willpower!

And now I shall leave to isolate myself from all this food photos, stick it into my head that I've had too much for this month, and perhaps wait a few months or so till my next Secret Recipe visit. Okay, maybe few weeks..

UGS 5th mini-gathering: Pirates of the Carribean 3, McD

As I sit here typing away, yet again trying to write in my blog posts before the deadline, which is the end of the week, I can only hope for the best for this post.

Okay okay, so on Friday, a few of us UGSers went to watch Pirates of the Carribeans: At World’s End at Star Cineplex. (Yes, try to include more specific names so that they will end up in Google searches. Haha!) So, who was there? Admin Cedric, Tay, Andrew, Andrew’s friends, me and my sister. Yes, not all of us were UGSers. Anyway, special thanks goes out to Andrew for planning and organising this time’s mini-gathering, and getting the tickets. And thanks goes to Tay for helping too, I think. So there you go Cedric, you thanked the wrong person, the person to thank this time was not me.

Well, I went into the theatre 10 minutes late (Sorry!), and not expecting much. What I got was a pleasant surprise, the movie was much funnier than the first. I wouldn’t know if the second one was funny, since I didn’t watch it. Yea, I didn’t watch Spiderman 2 before watching Spiderman 3 either!

Ok, no spoilers, since that would ruin everybody’s movie going experience. But really, there were so many funny parts in the movie, such as the time Jack Sparrow was in a dinghy, map in front of him and a special compass in hand that points the way to thing he desires the most. At first, the compass pointed towards his back, he reached to the back and pulled out a bottle of rum. Then after taking a swig, the compass pointed to where he wanted to go in the map. Hilarious.

Undoubtedly, it was a loooong movie, almost 3 hours I think. Thankfully, the E row seats weren’t too bad, I thought we would really have neck sprain after that, but nope.

So after the movie ended at 10 something, it was just a short walk through the park along the meandering river, okay, the Waterfront and we were at McD. Gosh, the place was packed and the lines were long. Even at that time. There must really be a lot of hungry people in Kuching.

And I pointed out to Cedric that there was so much green food, since they were having a Shrek 3 promotion. There was green ice-cream, green soda, green stuff on chips, and of course green Happy Meal toys. The night was going along well, what with conversation and teasing, on part of Andrew. When it was abruptly cut short when Andrew’s car arrived and Tay and Cedric also left in his car. Leaving just me and my sister behind. Why do I always seem to be the last to leave gatherings? Or close to last?

Well well, next week’s UGS 2^nd anniversary on the 3^rd of June. Look out for updates here.

Are children safe anymore?

Y'know, there are times when the lamentations of the older generation, describing safe neighbourhoods where kids do not vanish due to sinister hooded figures, are really appealing. All who think that encouraging kids to "Go outside and play!" is a stupid and irresponsible thing to do, say 'aye'!

Well, Longford Place is still alright... my neighbours are out on the road all the time, playing cricket, footy, and other things that boys do, without their parents worrying about abduction. But then, kids like Madeleine McCann aren't as fortunate. What are we to do...?

What are you supposed to think when come home, expecting your brother to be glued to the TV, but are instead greeted by an empty, eerily quiet house? Trying to convince my friend that her brother was safe didn't work when I wasn't convinced myself. :-/ The fact that both of us were familiar with the way horror movies worked was of no help either. Mental images of bloodied bodies stuffed under beds or limp corpses plopping out of cupboards suddenly became scarily realistic.

Anyone ever felt helpless panic? Or hysterical relief? I think both of us did today. The latter came when a father's reprimanding voice was heard in the background, demanding to know where his son had been hiding. It soon became harder to continue our phone conversation as the air was filled with the sounds of a blissfully-ignorant boy banging away on the drum set.

Little brothers.

Gah.

Gay

My first post. I am very excited.

Its incredibly easy how I got to join the UGS blog in the first place- a few questions, a visit to the UGS forum, buttering up Cedric in the right way, prompting Sam about it- and voila! I am now a full fledge member of the frat club.

First things first:
1. I am not from St Thomas.
Hence, I am not horny or gay.

2. I am from Batu Lintang.
Hence, I am a geek.

3. This post is deliberate attempt to flourish my majestic image in the eyes of the public, that one can only afford to look obliquely at my glorious being.

4. But since I have to study (read no. 2), I can only put up pictures:
See? Now that I have satisfied your curiosity as to what gays really do (but I wouldn't know would I?), go to this link. Its more of a video summary as to the scientific reasons on why homosexuality is on the rise in our world today. Interesting.

60 Minutes: Gay or Straight?

I did not draw the pictures. Kubuk did.
No actually Kubuk did not. Joking only. Just wanna see how many people highlight their text when reading. Haha....The last picture was done out of... boredome. EST paper ma.
And before you start asking questions: NO, I AM NOT. =P

Sunnyhill Ice-Cream

Kuching is famous for its food. That is a fact! If it isn't a fact. Well never mind. It's a fact by me!

Kuching has great kolo-mee. Great Laksa. Great 3 layer tea!

What Kuching also has, is Sunnyhill Ice-Cream.

If you're from Kuching, the chances of you never indulging in Sunnyhill Ice-cream before is pretty slim. One in a hundred peas actually.


Normally when people go to Sunnyhill, the first thing they look at is the wonderful red board that displays the flavors available for the day. Then they (normally) look out for the popcorn that normally lies resting on the shelf. On some days, the shelf is empty due to the gluttonous rapid sales of the yummy salted popcorn. On other days, the yummy salted popcorn is yours for buying!


After that, they choose the ice-cream they want, how they want it and how many they want! And that indulgence is pumped out from the glorious ice-cream maker. Nuts and Sauce are optional. So are the bananas. And the bread. And the cone. And the yummy salted popcorn which rocks when covered in yummy sweet ice-cream!




Sunnyhill bread is really coarse. And it somehow manages to fit the ice-cream really nicely. Almost like they were made for each other.

But the best thing of all, is still the delicious, cold, soft, creamy, yummy orgasmic ice-cream.

Perfect patterns

If you aren't hungry by now...Well, I am!!! *Can't wait to get that ice-cream!*

I was here promoting pleasure foods. Ice-Cream.

Workout am to pm

One thing good that came out of Form 6 was losing a bit of weight. And it’s no wonder, what with all the walking I had to do around school, especially while being a prefect.

Well, now at work, I’m getting significantly less exercise. My workout is pretty much like this…

Powerwalking/Running: Up two flight of stairs before it’s 8am. Or at least before the senior staff gets to work.

Stretching exercises: To reach things on the other end of the table when I’m too lazy to stand up and get it.

Weight-lifting: Of papers to be loaded into the photocopier machine or carrying of brouchures and heavy files.

Brisk walking: To get to lunch with a growling stomach

Leisurely walking: To walk back to office after lunch.

Facial exercises: aka Yawning, repeat as many times as necessary throughout day.

Leg squats: In the lavatory.

Full-body Stretches: To hear and feel the satisfying crack of joints after being stuck in front of computer almost the whole day

Finger exercises: Lots of this done on the keyboard, my fingers are very fit now!

Eye exercises: Look back.. Look in front .. Look left.. Look.. Uhoh, Boss coming this way *Type type type*

And my favourite part, the walk back down the stairs at 5pm.

It's a blogging world

In the past, it could be said that a person can be judged by the books he or she reads. Now, the same can be said for blogs. As in, you can roughly tell a person by the blogs he or she reads.

Are blogs like Kennysia, Smashpop, Xiaxue in your RSS feeds? Then most likely you are an average Malaysian blog-reader, and probably in your teens or twenties?

Read blogs like Pink Is The New Blog, PerezHilton? You’re one who keeps up with celebrity gossip of the West and probably quite.. “Westernised”.

Frequent Cheeserland, Fireangel, Clapbangkiss? Hmm… you do love eyecandy, don’t you?

Keep to up to date with posts from Malik Imtiaz, Jeff Ooi? Ooh.. serious stuff.

Always end up at kyspeaks, food lover or similar foodie blogs? Why do you tempt yourself so? Haha. We eat to live, not live to eat. *Hypocrite*

Read Boing boing, Techcrunch, Wired? You’re probably a techie lover like many of the people here at BUGS.

Are your bookmarks filled with feeds to your friend’s blogs? Aaaww.. You really do care about what’s going on with your friends’ life, don’t you? Either that, or potential stalker alert!

Read all sorts of blogs, anything, by anyone, of any genre? Wow, you really are well read and not picky. Truly amazing.

Ah, only Wandkey could come up with a post as wuliao as this and manage to turn it into a blog plug of sorts. Haha. Well, there are lots of other good blogs out there to read but can’t really be categorised and I don't know how to include them. And then there are really good blogs of the genres mentioned that I do not know of yet. So, go ahead, there is a world full of blogs out there for you to discover!

Interesting Stuff, this Jung

Fun at work, who would have thought that’s possible? But that’s what happened today. See, the thing was that several UNIMAS students had came to the company where I work at for industrial training. And so, the company has several short programmes specially held for them and a few of us newly hired clerks get to join too. This week, we got to do the Jung’s personality test. Yep, that’s the same one that Boss Cedric featured in his personal blog.

Then today was when we got our results explained to us, and had a few activities in the process. So according to the test, you can either be more Introvert or Extrovert, iNtuitive or Sensing, Feeling or Thinking, Perceiving or Judging. Up till today, I never really bothered to read up on what all that means. But since we were given a handout with everything explained, I begin to see how interesting this can really be. Heh. Well, shouldn’t explain any further on that, you can easily view the links to find out more.

One interesting part of the afternoon was when my colleagues and I were divided into two groups, one with the Thinking people, and the other with the Feeing people. We were both given the same problem to solve. The problem goes like this: Supposedly, your team has worked very hard and successfully completed a project. As a reward, your boss has bought 6 tickets to Los Angeles, problem is there are 10 members in your team. How do you go about it? The moment I read through the question, the answer was already in my head. We Thinking group then unanimously agreed that the tickets should be sold, and the money evenly divided among the team members. Then, we proceeded to wait and wait as the Feeling group tried to come to a decision.

That was when I started laughing at how differences between the two groups. There was us, who were so quick to make up our minds. Then, there was them, who carefully and slowly tried to come to a best solution. Unsurprisngly, there were more Feelers than Thinkers among us lot, since we are all female except for one guy.

Then, came the battle of sorts, okay, really toned down battle. There was us, fighting for our stand, saying that different people have different ways of enjoying themselves, and why should I go on holiday with people I do not really want to go with and all that.

Then the Feelers said it would be better if everyone chip in a little bit so that everyone could go on holiday. Them saying we the boss bought those tickets for us and that we shouldn’t have just sold them.

Oh yea, and I found out I’m the only INTJ among the 9 people in the group. The other 3 Thinkers were all ENTJs. And 4 of them were ESFJs. And 1 more was ISFJ. How.. not particularly varied. Heh.

Later on, we had one more activity. The problem this time was to pass one tennis ball sized ball among all the members in the group in the shortest time possible. The rule was that the ball had to touch everybody’s two hands. So we tried and tried, first we tried just passing from one to another, way too slow. Our instructor told us that they tried to do this one at a training program and 20 of them did in less than a second. So, we tried putting our hands in a circle and one person rolling the ball around. Still not fast enough. Then we brainstormed. At one point, I mentioned forming a slide with our hands and letting the ball roll down. Then the others thought that would take too long. Wasn’t until later that the instructor pointed out that I was actually on the right track. Hehe. Just that an Introvert like me was shut out by the other Extroverts. Ah, I think my face went slightly red at that point, the combination of praise and spotlight was a bit too much.

Overall, the whole thing really opened my eyes to all the possibilities of gaining understanding of people, and the whole thing just fascinated me. I wouldn’t say that I agree 100% with this method of testing and “stereotyping”, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

Now so far, I only know among us UGSers that Cedric is an ENFJ, the “Pedagogue” and a natural born leader type. Ah now we know why he’s Boss. Haha.
Paul and I are INTJs, the “Scientists”.
Zhe Rong is an INTP.
Tay is an INFP, supposedly caring and selfless people. Hmmm….

And the rest, well go do that test already! Haha. I’m curious to know the outcome.

Succesion of Events 2

Reconnoitering possible targets.....

almaddia (#2960)
3012 acres
Troops 63
Jets 0
Turrets 0
Tanks 0

FreeLandGrab (#1287)
4889 acres
Troops 0
Jets 0
Turrets 0
Tanks 0

Checking military status...

wootsletsmakeeirccry (#4079)
1247 acres
Troops 65393
Jets 84,755
Turrets 234,869
Tanks 15098
Spies 25667

Inference: Victory may be possible.

News for May 15th 8:00 AM through May 15th 12:00 PM

Attack Attacker
SS wootsletsmakeeirccry (#4079)
SS wootsletsmakeeirccry (#4079)
SS wootsletsmakeeirccry (#4079)
SS wootsletsmakeeirccry (#4079)
SS wootsletsmakeeirccry (#4079)
SS wootsletsmakeeirccry (#4079)
BR wootsletsmakeeirccry (#4079)
SS wootsletsmakeeirccry (#4079)
SS wootsletsmakeeirccry (#4079)
SS wootsletsmakeeirccry (#4079)
SS wootsletsmakeeirccry (#4079)
SS wootsletsmakeeirccry (#4079)
SS wootsletsmakeeirccry (#4079)
SS wootsletsmakeeirccry (#4079)

Defender Losses
almaddia (#2960) 211 Acres
almaddia (#2960) 167 Acres
almaddia (#2960) 137 Acres
almaddia (#2960) 94 Acres
almaddia (#2960) Defense Held (ooo my bad...sent 25 jets instead of 29)
almaddia (#2960) 52 Acres
almaddia (#2960) 398 Civilians 11 Buildings
almaddia (#2960) 36 Acres
almaddia (#2960) 35 Acres
FreeLandGrab (#1287) 58 Acres
FreeLandGrab (#1287) 50 Acres
FreeLandGrab (#1287) 43 Acres
FreeLandGrab (#1287) 41 Acres
FreeLandGrab (#1287) 40 Acres

Side event of the day....

News for you country:

0.0 Hours Ago
I Want Nasi Babi (#3659) has declared war on your country!

THE END

Succesion of Events

Paul: Hey Eric, u play earth 2025 right?
Eric: yeah, in the primary server, no idea how to play.
Paul: How much is your networth?
Eric: Hmm…I think around 130k liddat lah. Eh, you play or not?
Paul: I just made one today, 29k networth. Haven't logged in yet. What's your country name?
Eric: nopork
*grins*
Paul: what!? All small letter or capital?
Eric: Small letter and sticked together. Eh wait! They ban that one…that's my username.
Paul: What? Oh, they banned it? Cool.
Eric: Yah..my country's name is I Want Nasi Babi.
Paul: ah. Capital letters for every word?
Eric: Yep. So..urm what's yours?
Paul: ha…woots something something. Can't remember. You'll find out, in time.
Eric: ok.

Your brigade returns from battle, having defeated I Want Nasi Babi
(#3659)!Your army lost 1600 Jets, and your enemy lost 329 Troops, 308
Turrets, and 111 Tanks.Your forces also captured 36 acres, 6 buildings, 2
technology points, 46,623 dollars, and 547 food bushels!

Your brigade returns from
battle, having defeated I Want Nasi Babi (#3659)!Your army lost 1600 Jets, and
your enemy lost 309 Troops, 289 Turrets, and 105 Tanks.Your forces also captured
33 acres, 6 buildings, 2 technology points, 42,260 dollars, and 487 food
bushels!

Your army returns from I Want Nasi Babi (#3659) victorious!Your army lost
1600 Jets, and your enemy lost 291 Troops, 272 Turrets, and 99 Tanks.Your
forces also captured 31 acres, 4 buildings, 2 technology points, 38,528
dollars, and 437 food bushels!

Your brigade overruns the defenses of I Want Nasi Babi (#3659)!Your army lost
1600 Jets, and your enemy lost 145 Troops, 136 Turrets, and 49 Tanks.Your
forces also captured 25 acres, 2 buildings, 2 technology points, 28,228
dollars, and 315 food bushels!


News for May 12th 8:00 AM through May 12th 8:00 PM

Attack---- Attacker
SS wootsletsmakeeirccry (#4079)

SS wootsletsmakeeirccry (#4079)

SS wootsletsmakeeirccry (#4079)

SS wootsletsmakeeirccry (#4079)

Defender --------------Losses-

I Want Nasi Babi (#3659) 36 Acres

I Want Nasi Babi (#3659) 33 Acres

I Want Nasi Babi (#3659) 31 Acres

I Want Nasi Babi (#3659) 25 Acres

Photo caption: Episode 4

I think we could all do with a laugh after the last few posts in BUGS here. So, here’s the much awaited (I wished!) photo captions post. Been some time since the last one…

Now what do you make of this photo? Haha.

Lil Tim: What’s that smell?

Fr3ech: Wasn’t me. *Continues busy smsing*

Lil Tim: I didn’t even say it was you…

OR

Lil Tim: When I put up my hand to adjust my specs, you will kick Wandkey under the table ok?

Fr3ech: Ohh.. *Offhandedly answers and continues being busy on his N80*

Lil Tim: *Puts hand up*

*No response*

Lil Tim: Wei. *Nudges Fr3ech*

Fr3ech: What?

Lil Tim: Oh cannot liao, she’s taking photo of us.

Ah okay, not that funny. I’m sure you creative lot would come up with something better. As usual, captions in the comments please.

He's Back!

I seem to be only blogging about badminton lately...Must not be so single track minded. (Is that an actual word?)

Anyway!!! It's 3.32p.m, my semester exams start tomorrow, I'm not prepared but WAIT!

His signature preparation position

LEE CHONG WEI WON THE INDONESIAN OPEN!!! *insert huge applause, a few faintings, shortness of breath emphysema, spontaneous combustion* I got home just in time for the second set *Have to watch the first set later. Love Astro Max*

It was...Incredible. Let's bear in mind, Chong Wei lost to Hafiz in the FIRST round of the Singapore Open last month. He crashed out in all super series events without making a Single Final ever since the Super Series was introduced!

China's resident Pretty boy. He's the prettiest in the whole badminton squad.

AND that Bao was the one whom surprisingly beat Chong Wei in the World Championships Quarterfinals in Madrid last year which led to Chong Wei's BIG PMS episode. (Lack of confidence, sluggish performances and losing his number 1 spot in badminton rankings)

He wore this too today.

So, the second set was...absolutely dominated by Chong Wei. Bao hit many shuttles out of the left top side of the court and Chong Wei delivered deadly cross-court smashes to the right side of the court about 3-4 times too! From the first second to the end, Bao was unsure of how to play. It's like they switched personalities.

Lcw Dive's, Smashes, Net's, Tap's, Backhand's, Cross-court's, Lift's, Rallies...WINS!

I loved the match. So, Lee Chong Wei, the second Malaysian to win the Indonesian Open, his First Super Series title, IS BACK!!! (Yeah!)

Let's hope he stays this way

Can't wait for Mens Doubles.

Is it truth and I have no choice but to submit?Where were all the dreams and hope that does not dissapoint? Is it truth? Or is it just Malaysian....

*naf Dienasty is Eli James and also Cedric Chin
Ah Zhou is Me.


I have to tell you all that Ced and Me are still friends, anyway the comments for this post is interesting. And I have to tell everyone that I have decided to take science, that is unchangeable. Say something that inspire me please. If you guys want to keep on with the 'Science is Si beh hard, haiyooooooo, go Arts lah', well, I have to say please don't comment, who on earth donno that STPM Science is tough? Need people to remind me that meh, use your brain lah tolong. Find something more creative to say please. (I don't take any of the comments seriously, if I have to live my life and make decisons base on comments in a blog, I am not myself. I will be a pathetic undecisive worm that is not at all attractive to beautiful women. They say women likes decisive and stable solid man, that true or not, I don't know. I still always think that you only need to be pretty and cute to get laid.....

8:44 PM) *naf Dienasty:	if you enter science
(8:44 PM) *naf Dienasty:	you'll NOT get a 4.0
(8:44 PM) *naf Dienasty:	guaranteed
(8:44 PM) *naf Dienasty:	spoken to a few of my teachers today
(8:44 PM) *naf Dienasty:	coz i was thinking about the possibility
(8:44 PM) *naf Dienasty:	of cheering you on
(8:44 PM) *naf Dienasty:	but they told me
(8:44 PM) *naf Dienasty:	impossible
(8:44 PM) *naf Dienasty:	no way
(8:45 PM) *naf Dienasty:	better go to arts like that - it's a smarter decision
(8:45 PM) ah zhou:	do u think i am stupid?
(8:45 PM) *naf Dienasty:	no
(8:45 PM) *naf Dienasty:	but if you pit my science against your science
(8:45 PM) *naf Dienasty:	i win
(8:45 PM) *naf Dienasty:	becoz the basics is there for me
(8:46 PM) *naf Dienasty:	if you pit your arts, your moral, your linguistics against me
(8:46 PM) *naf Dienasty:	i lose
(8:46 PM) ah zhou:	do u think i do not know the chances of me getting a straight As if i go to science stream?
(8:46 PM) *naf Dienasty:	well
(8:46 PM) *naf Dienasty:	if you know the chances
(8:46 PM) *naf Dienasty:	and you want to do it anyway
(8:46 PM) *naf Dienasty:	then yes
(8:46 PM) *naf Dienasty:	you are stupid

(9:04 PM) ah zhou:	so i hav no chance at all?
(9:04 PM) ah zhou:	not even a slight chance to get a good result?
	I have no chance? (9:04 PM) ah zhou: that's it??????????
(9:04 PM) *naf Dienasty:	a slight
(9:04 PM) *naf Dienasty:	well
(9:04 PM) *naf Dienasty:	i have a slight chance to win 4d 2moro
(9:04 PM) *naf Dienasty:	but frankly it is not the best use of my energy
(9:04 PM) *naf Dienasty:	nor does it guarantee a future
(9:04 PM) *naf Dienasty:	if you get mediocre results in science
(9:05 PM) *naf Dienasty:	you have no chance in ipta
(9:05 PM) *naf Dienasty:	but you have more than a chance at stellar results in arts
(9:05 PM) *naf Dienasty:	and that will get you in
(9:06 PM) ah zhou:	u always think u r right,and you can just put people down like that, being supportive isn't analysing the truth , being supportive is just giving a word of encouragement

Back In Black

(Spoiler alert! Do not read this before watching the movie!)


Spiderman 3 was a disappointment.

As a self professed writer (and nerd *stares at Vivian*) my spider sense was tingling throughout the entire movie. And I can only blame one person.

No, not Tay

Venom.

Yeah, Venom was cool, the whole Spiderman in black thing was cool, but it was the one plot element that destroyed the film's possible claim to greatness.

Why? We'll get to that in a minute.

What Rocked

Sandman was a great character - I loved the scene between him and his daughter, and the connection he had with Parker and with the audience was nothing short of brilliant. He grew on me, and by the end of the film I found myself understanding and liking Flint Marko. I'd say he was a worthy villian on his own - he was on par with Doc Ock and the Goblin - both had a relationship with Parker, and both were embittered, torn souls that had to fight against him.

The friendship between Peter and Harry was another highlight. Green Goblin junior losing his memory and starting anew was nice to see on the screen, as was him regaining it and plotting revenge. If the film had left just Sandman and Harry as villians it would've been rock solid, as well as allowing the more hyperactive of us to get out of the cinema and into the toilet.

But of course the studios had to bring Venom in.

What Didn't

I've always regarded Venom with a kind of respect. Pit Venom against Spidey and it'll be a nail-biting experience to watch - Venom is really Spidey x 2, plus a really cool look to boot. And add in Carnage and you've got a movie to beat all movies.

But it was ultimately unwise to add in the symbiote factor. There wasn't enough exposition on the black goo and there wasn't a significant emotional connection between Brock and Parker. So what if the two of them were rival photographers? Do you expect me to care? Do you really expect me to believe a meteor hit a park where Parker and MJ just happened to be smooching? I didn't give a bliddy damn about Brock, nor his conscience (which develops later on in the comics, but never the film) nor his hate for Spiderman.

Oh, and by the way, Venom only appears 3/4 into the movie. To encapsulate it in a word: lame.

Another thing that irked the storyteller in me (hey, we all have one, don't we?) was the frequent taking off of the mask. In the first movie this was almost never done - Peter Parker was this dork, this nerd who was only liberated when he put a facade and turned into this confident persona called Spiderman. The third movie tries to merge Spidey and Parker as one, but it doesn't quite pull it off. Instead it serves to lose whatever charm Parker's insecurities as himself gave in the first two movies.

Spiderman 3 has its great moments, that I'd admit. But like a book riddled with silverfish a movie having some great moments just isn't enough. Take away Gwen, Venom and dark Peter and we'd have ourselves an epic - a conclusion to an amazing series. Throw them in and we have ourselves another Xmen 3: overblown commercial fare with stilted emotional impact.

Black isn't always the new black. Green should be brought into the fray once in awhile, to throw everything into a life less orderly.

Hrmmph. Now that you've mentioned it I fear bodily for Shrek 3.

Let's begin praying.

Postscript

Black in black has another meaning: I'm now with a spanking new buzzcut. Gone with the green hair! In with prisonbreak the soldier!


*mumbles* Boy I can't wait for it to grow back. *mumbles*

4th UGS mini-gathering, Green Hill Corner

Just had UGS mini-gathering number 4, in case you were wondering when was the third one, which I doubt anybody would, that was only attended by Cedric, Tay and Paul and neither of them has yet to blog about it. In fact, I wasn’t aware that there was such a gathering till Cedric mentioned it just now.

Anyway, just now’s gathering was held mainly because Kenny had came back from KL for a short while, and Zhe Rong and I had to pass form 6 books to Cedric. Initial plan was to meet at Green Hill Corner at 11am. Unsurprisingly, everybody was late. The first to reach there was actually Tay. Got a call from him and he was asking where everybody was. Haha. Did I sense a slight feeling of desperation?

Then, when I got there at 11.15am, there was no one in sight, Tay had went of for a walk. But not to fear, Zhe Rong arrived moments after I reached there. The coffee shop was surprisingly quite packed, and there was only one big table free. Zhe Rong and I were quite a sight, each carrying a plastic bag of very heavy form 6 books and dumping them on the table as we took our seats.

After some time, Paul and later Cedric arrived. Tay, Paul and Cedric, the Milo Peng (Iced Milo) drinkers group for the day, all three of them ordered the same drink. Conversation ensued, ranging from talking about impending form 6 to… Pungalungas. Heh. Intelligent conversations indeed.

Then finally, Kenny the VIP arrived, was it 40 minutes after the appointed time? And the first thing he did after sitting down was….

Yes, busy busy guy. His N80 made frequent appearances throughout the gathering.

We were all at the same table, but I felt at times that there was a segregation of sorts. There was Cedric, Paul, Zhe Rong and me on one side of the table, talking away in English. Then, there was Kenny, Tay and Wong (a friend of theirs who happened to be there), talking rather animatedly in Hokkien. Then there was all the laughing from their side, sometimes for reasons unknown, my understanding of Hokkien is rather basic you see.

And all throughout, the heat was rather unbearable. Goodness, the kopitiam had fans but surrounded by food stalls which generated lots of heat and it was hot day too. Okay, my memory is apparently deteriorating, it has only been three hours since gathering and I have forgotten half of what was said, perhaps more.

Let’s rely on some photos to tell the story, shall we..

Here’s a photo of Cedric and Tay, not seeing eye to eye. Interesting photo to me in a way. And you can see that Cedric’s hair has really gone golden. Looks like ah beng or something. Oh well, looks can be deceiving.

And that’s Paul, and Zhe Rong is clutching tightly onto a green bag containing his precious three chemistry books. Must have been hard saying goodbye. Haha.

We discovered new things! Like how Cedric does not know how to use chopsticks in the proper way. How can we not know that until now?! Okay, take a look and try to see what is wrong. Apart from taking such a big serving of noodles in one go that is…

I was first to leave this time for the gathering, since parent was in town to fetch my sister after school so might as well fetch me too. So, to know what else happened during gathering, go bug one of the BUGGERs to blog about it.

Kan lu lao bu

The Pungalunga And The Bull

There is this parable in the land of the Pungalungas, which mothers tell their young 'uns. It revolves around a sporting contest held every once a century, called "Killing The Bull".

Now, beloved reader, around this time there were only two Pungalangas that dared to enter the competition.

One was Wind-in-the-East, and the other was Small-Man-Eats-No-Meat. Wind was a huge Pungalunga, rippling with muscle and 'man of many men'. He entered the competition because he thought he owed it to all his supporters, who whistled and screamed in delight at the sight of him.

SmallMan, on the other hand, was nothing special. He entered the competition because he thought it would be an interesting challenge.

Just after registration day Wind brought his gang of friends to local bar, giving out drinks for everyone. Of these group, two were particularly reknowned for their understanding. One was Midnight-Is-Too-Harsh, and the other was Twilight-Is-For-Cows. When asked how he was going to kill the bull Wind roared: "I will tackle it head on!"

The crowd roared in appreciation. Midnight and Twilight, however, kept quiet. They had seen the bull: it was the finest in all of Pungaland, and it was ferocious. It had already flattened half the village that brought it up, and it took an entire army division to restrain and bring it back in.

"Wind," Midnight said, quietly, "I think it is unlikely you can beat this bull head on. It is unlike any we have seen before. Why not use a gun?"

Wind closed one eye. Then closed the other. His brain was churning, realizing he was in front of everyone who supported him. "Nonsense! I've heard of guns - they're highly untested! You'll NEVER see me holding a gun!"

Guns, were, at that moment, looked down upon by the Pungalungas.

"But Wind!" Midnight protested, "It would be impossible for you to defeat the bull that way, even at your current strength!"

Wind snorted beer down his nose in his indignation. "How dare you question my strength!"

He flexed a bicep in front of Midnight. "There is ALWAYS a chance for me to defeat the bull! Don't you read Norman Vincent Peale?" - the Pungalungas loved reading human material - "NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!"

"But the odds of you beating the bull is a billion to 1!"

Wind laughed! "Do you think me a fool that I don't know the odds?! I DO!! As long as there is a chance I WILL prove you wrong! I am the strongest amongst all you Pungalungas! I WILL SHOW YOU THAT SUCCESS IS HARD WORK AND I WILL BE FIRST TO DEFEAT THE BULL HEAD ON!"

Twilight spoke up now. He and Midnight had both seen the bull, but for fear of breaking his friendship to Wind he spoke up: "I believe you can do it, sir. I will support you 100%, and I will pray for you day and night to Madya the All Seeing One!"

Wind smiled. This was what he wanted to hear. "Good, Twilight! You are loyal! I will go up against the bull next week and we shall drink to our glory!"

A cheer in the bar; Midnight looked uncomfortable. He couldn't stand it any longer, so he spat out the words:

"If you go up against the bull next week you'll be killed!"

Wind was furious. He swept his tankard aside and grabbed Midnight by the throat. Then he beat him up, leaving Midnight's broken body to the Pungalunga Medical Squad to deal with.

The next day Midnight called for SmallMan. He was wrapped in Pungalunga cotton, in bad shape, but he still called SmallMan up.

"I fear, SmallMan, that you will fall into the same trap as Wind. How are you going to tackle the bull?"

"I am going to ram it head on."

Midnight sighed. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Because Wind believes it can be done, so it must be possible."

"Oh, SmallMan," Midnight said, "It is possible, but 1 week is not enough for you to prepare your face off with the bull! I hear it takes at least a year or two with the bullmasters of Texas to even learn the basics of their craft, and even after 2 years they might fail and die! Novice bullmasters never marry, you know."

"Then what do you want me to do?" SmallMan asked, thinking.

"Oh, call my cousin, Marish, and ask for a gun. It accomplishes the same thing, and you might very well die, but at least now the risk is justified."

And with that Midnight's eyes fluttered, and he passed away.

So it came to be that Wind worked out and learned the basics of bullfighting, and SmallMan took up marksmenship. They trained hard for a week, totally dedicated to their cause, and, alas! It was time.

Wind entered the arena, flexed his muscles, and roared. The crowd cheered, they waved flags and pointed and bought popcorn. They were in for a show! The great beast was about to be brought down by the strongest Pungalunga ever!

"You go and beat the odds, Wind!" shouted Twilight.

The bull entered the arena. It was a horrible sight - eyes red, hoofs the size of dinnerplates and a body worthy of four wedding dinners. It snorted, and a cloud of dust rose in front of it.

The bull charged. Wind flexed his muscles.

A dull thud as he was thrown into the air and flattened by dinner-plate sized hoofs.

They dragged Wind's body out of the arena, torn and bloodied and mangled. The crowd then started booing at SmallMan, who stood alone with a gun in Wind's place.

Again, the bull was released. Again, the bull charged.

A sharp crack and a sidestep ...

The bull was dead, a clean hole in its head.

*

Everyone attended Wind's funeral service, where beef was served in copious amounts.

"He was a good man." they said, "He gave his best against all odds."

Nobody mentioned that he was given a choice, nobody mentioned that it was at best a dream, charging head on with a bull without the basics in Bull fighting. Twilight sipped his drink and ate his fourth plate of beef stew, and said to a Pungalunga next to him: "Next function, SmallMan's victory dinner."

3 lessons can be taken from this parable:

1. Given a choice, a smart general stages battles on his own ground. Fighting to the death is for the army with no other options left.

2. "There is a thin line between self confidence and self delusion" - Tash Aw

3. “One may understand the cosmos, but never the ego; the self is more distant than any star.” - G.K. Chesterton.

Two Days To Go...And Oops!

I still have two more days to go before I leave Kuching for matriculation. The last week has been packed with stuff to do, mainly people wanting to spend time with me since I won't be back for a while. eg: football, dinner, sleep overs, go watch a movie, another dinner and etc. Lo and behold, I sprained my left ankle yesterday while playing futsal. The result of a badly attempted slide to save a goal. This morning, my right ankle and neck decided to join the club and now I can't walk right, turn my head right and drive right. My biggest worry is that I won't heal in time before I leave. How to survive orientation week like this!?!? Si lo...

Which BUGGER would you most like to read more posts from?

Thought I'd like to try out a poll in BUGS.

It's in the sidebar by the way, beneath the Recent Comments section.

So, please do comment and answer the poll. Who knows, we may just be able to get those dormant BUGGERs back into action, by showing how demand they are perhaps.

Just don't vote for me, I've posted more than enough here. Haha.

Alliance war concludes

A few days ago, a bitter war between The Empire Covenant and SEMI alliance came to an end with SEMI withdrawing.

Earlier several sneak attacks by SEMI regional forces prompted a full scale retal by Covenant. Its leadership vowed to stand a fair fight although faced with SEMI's superior numbers. Thus war was declared.

SEMI started a full wave into Covenant's top warring region-Prayrsong, with the one goal to eliminate their greatest threat. Three forces of SEMI, ∑F=0, FMA and FND69 were assigned to Prayrsong, unleashing all their firepower simultaneously, forcing a withdrawal and hasty retreat to lessen the already severe casualties.

Knowing Prayrsong was the key to victory or defeat, other powerful regions of Covenant such as RIsen and W Ar Cr Y attempted a rush to Prayrsong's aid only to be cut off by OCP, RFAP, and Inteh.
OCP launched a one vs one battle with W Ar Cr Y while RFAP and Inteh both took on the flagship.

Meanwhile the only aid near Prayrsong was the green, inexperienced region of OfFering Covenant. Would it be tested so severely-plunged into the savage midst of three hostile forces?

Nevertheless, OfFering took the challenge. With the advantage of having fresh troops, OfFering gleaned it forces and set for all SEMI, ∑F=0, FMA and FND69.

W Ar Cr Y had since exit the battle with OCP. RIsen however was almost mortally crushed and too weak to even limp towards Prayrsong. The weary flagship rested.

With W Ar Cr Y at the scene, the war raged fiercer, this time with Covenant's forces gaining the upper hand. SEMI decided that the internecine war had nothing worth while any longer and began a full withdrawal.

The war had lasted over a week.

Prayrsong commented:

Good job Covenant on the war effort, even without Sol and SPI. In other matters, however, this is not a time for hypocrisy.

W Ar Cr Y commented:

Die or kill for the empire.

RIsen commented:

Keep up the spirit! Burn!

OfFering commented:

It hurt a lot. Are wars always like this?

SoL leadership commented:

We at Sol apologize for not being involved in this crucial war. But now we have gone into a recovery stage that perhaps would allow us to start small battles again. Of course, we are no call for the apocalypse last age at our present state-but we are recovering.

OpPosition has declined to comment.

Intellectually challenging convo

tim says:X.X
Prayrsong Covenant says:H.H
tim says:T.T
Prayrsong Covenant says:W.W
tim says:O.O
tim says:O.o
Prayrsong Covenant says:Q.Q
Prayrsong Covenant says:Q.q
tim says:U.U
Prayrsong Covenant says:!.!
tim says:( . ) ( . )
tim says:
Prayrsong Covenant says:ماذا على الارض؟
tim says:ﾍｳ､ﾈ､ｷ
Prayrsong Covenant says:¿Qué en la tierra
tim says:
Prayrsong Covenant says:Que na terra
tim says:я люблю вас
Prayrsong Covenant says:Che cosa su terra
tim says:te quiero adiós
Prayrsong Covenant says:ｽｩ
tim says:ti amo arrivederci
Prayrsong Covenant says:
tim says:σας αγαπώ αντίοtim
tim says:so free?
tim says:holiday so long?
tim says:go watch spiderman
Prayrsong Covenant says:yaya
Prayrsong Covenant says:Are u going to watch
tim says:i edi watch
tim says:but i wan to watch again
Prayrsong Covenant says:cool! when
tim says:when u free?
tim says:i haven ask anybody else wor...
Prayrsong Covenant says:everytime(just that no transport)
Prayrsong Covenant says:ask around lo
Prayrsong Covenant says:Ask ced
Prayrsong Covenant says:one of my frens going on wednesday
tim says:ooo
tim says:wed
tim says:cheaper
tim says:wad time?
Prayrsong Covenant says:dunno
tim says:when u see ced online
tim says:u help ask can?
Prayrsong Covenant says:kk
tim says:ill ask when i see him too
Prayrsong Covenant says:Mebbe we ask the UGSers
tim says:er.....
tim says:some of dem edi watch
Prayrsong Covenant says:oooo
Prayrsong Covenant says:...see who not yet
tim says:wah shit
tim says:u know what time i woke up today?
Prayrsong Covenant says:nop
Prayrsong Covenant says:now
tim says:12.30
Prayrsong Covenant says:LOL
tim says:de weather so cold lar
tim says:so nice to sleep
Prayrsong Covenant says:u haven't broke garrick's record. 1:30 wake up. 2 go to scouts and i made him do 40 push ups
tim says:eh
tim says:that easy lar
tim says:after wake up more power
tim says:do push push
tim says:eh...
tim says:weds better be afternoon wor
tim says:i got driving exam morning
Prayrsong Covenant says:oooo
Prayrsong Covenant says:after that can u drive
Prayrsong Covenant says:coz I've no transport
tim says:er...
tim says:if pass la
Prayrsong Covenant says:kk, so if pass can come and pick me
tim says:oi
tim says:u gila ar
tim says:straight away get licence de meh
Prayrsong Covenant says:ooo
Prayrsong Covenant says:how hor
Prayrsong Covenant says:must ask someone that can drive
tim says:tonight i ask my mom lor
Prayrsong Covenant says:kk
tim says:ooo
tim says:den we makan first?
Prayrsong Covenant says:yea, but when is ur test over
tim says:donno wor
tim says:but the instructor say he coming to pick me up at 7
tim says:takkan take so long
tim says:how long does it take?
Prayrsong Covenant says:u may have to wait till 8
tim says:wah stomach rumbling
tim says:u edi eaten?
Prayrsong Covenant says:nop
tim says:why u don get licence yet?
Prayrsong Covenant says:My fren said 10:30 shud be done
Prayrsong Covenant says:I plan to this hols
tim says:wah..i go toilet now brb
Prayrsong Covenant says:kk
Prayrsong Covenant says:I'll go eat now

So who want's to come?^^

Malaysia Hampir Boleh

Zhang Ning wore this. That's why she won

The Aviva Singapore Open 2007 just ended with a big showdown. Zhang Ning (in purple) beat Xie Xing Fang in the Womens singles and Zhang Ya Wen partnered Wei Yi Li to win the Womens doubles. In Mix Doubles, Marissa and Limpele of Indonesia beat the surprise Thai pair in straight sets.

Mens Singles was a BIG affair. On one side was Chen Yu who waded through a sea of Malaysians and Gade to get there while Boonsak Ponsana beat Hafiz, Lin Dan (insert big gasp) and Ronald Susilo to get to the finals. I never knew he was that Good looking!!!!!

Boonsak Ponsana

From the start of the match until the end, I was AWED by Boonsak. Why isn't he in the top ten?! Why hasn't he won anything major other than some Smiling Fish satellite in 2003 (Which sounds totally gay)?! He's AMAZING. It was during the match that I understood how was he the runner up to ABC (Asian Badminton Championships) last year. Boonsak won anyway. He beat Chen Yu. Chen Yu gave up towards the last few points and Boonsak is very VERY cute

TFWW. Veterans.

The thriller of the day. Mens Doubles. Chong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah against Fu Hai Feng and Cai Yun. I was looking forward to this since yesterday some idiot guy who was in charge of broadcasting messed up the timing and the semi-finals got cut off the list.

It started off great. TFWW were crushing the chinese. The second set start off great too! Then they started slipping. After a TIGHT Deuce, it was brought to the third match. TFWW ROCKED the third match with seven points in between them and Cai/Fu even thought they started off four points behind.

Cai and Fu somehow managed a MIRACLE and climbed 8 points up win the third match.

How do I describe a match like that?

I sent a total of 168 text messages during the entire Finals. I screamed, I shouted, I banged, I teared when the last shuttle was sent backwards.

Why do Malaysians have this habit of "Malaysia Hampir Boleh" in sports? Except for Nicol David, nobody seems to be consistent. We have Chong Wei whom I cannot even begin to describe, Esther Cheah who wins sometimes, loses sometimes...

He fell

It's hard I guess, to be a consistent sportsman. Even Lin Dan fell! To Boonsak!

She's tall

Hopefully the Indonesian Open which begins next week will yield better results. The draw is...terrible. Wong Mew Choo is against Xie Xing Fang in the first round.

I was here frustrated with such a frustrating Final.

Some Funny Photos from UGS Gatherings

I was browsing through my photo albums in the computer, trying to get inspiration for a blog post here when I came across some photos that illicit some laughs. Come and have a look…

This is the kind of look of intense attention and focusing you can only get from guys when they are engrossed in something they really enjoy, like gaming or watching sports. Haha.

And this candid photo taken by my brother just somehow looks kinda funny. I have no idea what Kenny was doing with his hand action. And somehow Cedric’s pose just looks cool, as if he’s advertising for Pepsi Twist. This was back in his “pre-green hair” days.

But this photo is the funniest of the lot in my opinion. I do wonder what Cedric was doing with his hands in that position… Ahem. And Danny is just serenely observing. Haha.

I'm sure the other BUGGERs here would have more funny photos than this. Yea, and it’s no coincidence that all the photos above have Cedric in them. And no coincidence that all of the photo caption posts photos have him in them too. Somehow, he just injects humour into photos. Don’t you, Boss? Haha. *Jumps into portal to another world to escape the fury of the green-haired monster*

Kuching Makan Places Episode 4: Secret Recipe

Seems like the buzz around town lately has been, “Have you been to Secret Recipe yet?”. Such is the size of Kuching that the opening of such a place would garner so much hype. Everytime I pass by the place, it’s so packed. So much so that I’m surprised I managed to go at last on Wednesday. Well, it wasn’t a planned thing and I’m glad I decided to bring my camera out afterall, or else this would be a photo-less post. After parking the car, my family and I thought we would just take a look at the menu and prices. One thing led to another, we went in to have a look at the cakes. And then we got lucky, a table of people just left, so we somehow found ourselves sitting and ordering food. Heh.

I must admit, we had a hard time deciding what cake to order. There were just so many kinds there! Most of them were priced at RM6 per piece, excluding taxes. Which isn’t too bad compared to the prices you get at Coffee Bean or other places like that. Okay, off the top of my head I remember there was Marble Cheese Cake, Baked Cheesecake, Oreo Cheesecake, Blueberry Cheesecake, various kinds of cheesecakes, Banana Chocolate Cake, Rich Chocolate Cake, White Chocolate Macadamia Cake and brownies, carrot slice and so many other kinds of desserts I can’t remember them all. Bad judgement on my part to not take a photo of the menu which listed all the cakes they had.

Here’s a photo of the aforementioned cakes. Mmmm…

Took a look at the counter area and there’s this big sign saying that Secret Recipe was named the Homegrown Franchisor of the Year in Malaysia, which year I’m not sure. And apparently, they have branches overseas too. Got Best Restaurant Award in Indonesia. And Excellent Food Award in Singapore. Not bad for a local franchise..

Anyway, what I ordered is as follows.

First came the White Chocolate Macadamia cake, RM6.30. Excuse the slightly ruined cake in this photo, my brother just couldn’t wait to have a taste of it. And I had to take this photo in a jiffy, it could have been better I know. Well, this cake is just unlike anything I have ever tasted before. The white chocolate is creamily soft, and sandwiched between layers of cake, with nutty bits of Macadamia in it.

Next up came my brother’s serving of kid’s size Spaghetti Bolognese, RM11. Nothing really that fabulous about it.

Later came the Carrot Slice, RM4.40. This was warmed up, and had cream cheese on top, sweet raisins at the bottom. Not bad, but I think I preferred the other cake.

Then came the Chicken Mushroom with Rice, RM13, that I failed to take a photo of because was too hungry by that time. It’s basically a hefty portion of chicken topped with mushroom sauce and served with buttered, herb rice and salad.

Finally came the Chicken Kebab, RM13. This was also served with rice and salad. It had pieces of yellow pepper and mushroom skewered with chunky pieces of chicken.

Well, took a look at the receipt later and realised something. Secret Recipe’s tagline is: “Great Cakes, Good Food, the Place to Be” And it’s no wonder. The food itself is not much to rave about, or perhaps I didn’t get to order their specialty Irish Lamb Stew or their better dishes. However, the cakes are really quite something. So, anybody want to join me for more cake sampling?

Note: All prices quoted are excluding 5% GST and 10% service tax.

Summer is near...

So orange is here too! Or so they say. I came across a site which did a review on the Top 30 Orange websites. Specifically orange. How cool is that?!

These are some samples which were listed in the site:







See how nice orange can be? ^.^

For the full list, go here.