Its the End again

Its another lazy afternoon for me. The usual Mandarin Tuition class in the morning has come and passed. Nothing planned for the afternoon so I guess I'm all out of stuff to do except clear my room for the work men to get busy fixing on Tuesday. Went out yesterday with Jim and Meryl to Times Square, got down to a lil' catching up. Later went across to Low Yat Plaza, mainly so that we could bump into James, who was down in KL on business of buying a new laptop.























Just to make a point that the holidays are gone here are 2 pictures. Notice the difference? Yeah, we all would be blind too if we couldn't notice the difference. Seasons changed.

A merry Christmas

A Merry Christmas to everyone!! Coming to you livc (or delayed) from Malaysia. Its Christmas in Malaysia!!! Ok...well it isn't a white Christmas here. And oh how I always wished for a White Christmas when I was a kid....ridiculous isn't it? So much for snow in tropical weather. But yes, it never snows here and we sure as heck don't have chimney's cause we don't need to have fireplaces. Its warm enough as it is.

Commercialism is in the air these days. The phrase "All I want for Christmas is an i (freaking) Pod". Gosh, how low can these Apple people go. Better watch my mouth before I buy one for myself one day. Darn out right expensive their products are.

In anycase, I'm flat out lazy to type something intelligent for people to read now. Its Christmas, I'm all itching to read my book. So thats all there is for now. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!!

The scariest place in One U

Fear. Its what keeps us humans in check. Without it, all sort of unnecessary risks would be taken. It is there to make sure that we know that with risks come consequences. Touch fire, and you get burnt. Do your final exam with your eyes closed, and you fail. Forgetting your gf's bday, and you'll.............you wouldn't want to know what happens.

I stared at fear for the first time, today. No, it wasn't looking up a humongous gorilla's butt. It was the Toy Section at Jusco, One U. Nothing beats being stuck there for half an hour with brats screaming left and right.....Normandy, eat your heart out!!! Its kinda ironic that my former favourite section in the departmental store, has now turned out to be the worse place on earth to be. Some how looking at all the strange new toys defy's my brand of logic. What odd stuff is on display, like Spiderman & Friends (Adventure in the Park). In it, there is, of course, Spiderman, Captain America and strangely, Wolverine (I have no idea what went through the designer's mind). It looks like a Lego set, but it feature Marvel characters (strange one's at that). Totally weird. What happened to normal action figures? We live in strange times.

I cannot begin to comprehend the many new play things that are out on the market. Their attraction is simply not there. Good thing I've grown out of it. I would have gone crazy if I was still at that age now.

What are the chances of this happening??

Its been a while since the last post. Seriously, the holidays have been rolling along slowly. Aside from the weekly dates and outtings, things have been on slow. Still its only recently that most of my overseas friends have come back to Malaysia. Most of the overseas people I have already met in church, at least those who are set to come back for this hols.

Yesterday was a full day out as most of my "date" days. Picked Kat up from the Paramount LRT station near my place. Was convinient to head to uni after that, as she had some stuff to check up on the comp and to pass her books over a friend of hers. Seems that most of her friends are uni doing summer course. Can say the same for some of my other friends, Felix and John were doing stuff in the comp lab while I checked my WES enrollment.

Headed for Midvalley shortly after that to spend the rest of the day. Notable things that happened during the outting was meeting Matthew in Carefour while shopping for something to drink with Kat. Said that he just got back from Korea and is to take a job today at a law firm. Pretty surprising indeed suddenly bumping into him in the middle of a date.

Well, it was surprising coming across so many people I've seen before in uni and church at MV, though I probably should lay off on mentioning it too often around Kat. Guess it tends to be annoying if someone keeps mentioning about people you don't know.

Another big surprise was during dinner time at Kim Gary, seeing Amber Chia dining at the next table. Certainly a day of meeting lots of people in a shopping mall. Guess anything is possible these days. The surprising thing was that no one batted an eye at her, like she was a regular dinner at the restaurant. Guess that means that Malaysia is a pretty safe place for celebs, nobody harresses them at all. Where were all the paparazi's? Probably picking on bigger targets elsewhere no doubts. But coming to think of it, Malaysian celebs don't receive much fanfare like those in the West. Thats the difference between here and there.

Chances are...

Holidays are going by fast, Christmas is coming even faster. I'm at a frantic panic thinking of gifts to buy and thinking of even better excuses to get out of the house. But its good to get out of the house to see Kat, considering I was technically grounded last week until after my brother's exams. So now I am free to see her twice a week.

Went to MV to go shopping. Pure shopping experience unlike the previous outtings which were movie orientated. First thing we did was to look for gifts for her aunt. So went to several shops before deciding to go for lunch. Funny thing was that while looking for food to eat, we bumped into Yong Ting, who was having lunch with her family.

Finally got my chance to have Mango Loh after a long period of cold turkey. Never tasted better but I know I've got to excercise it off. Man...all this walking around has made me really tired...don't know how I'm going to....continue....ty...pp...ing........

Understanding Rap/R&B/Hip-Hop 101.....I don't get it!!

Its hard to come up with something to talk about in your daily life especially since most of my days are spent at home. Either playing games of reading comic book scans. So hey, add some variety to my life. Take up classes for something. Infact thats what I did. Just sat for my first Mandarin class today. A lil' difficult in meeting the teacher's expectations, but I believe this time I should be able to pull it off. Enough that I don't look like a damn fool infront of all the Chinese-speaking people I will meet in years to come. Its never a good impression if you don't speak their language. So much for using Hakka.

The title of today's rant was inspired by an article that I read in the local papers. What is it with the music industry these days? Tune into radio, chances are there will be a hip hop song playing, or an artist that has changed their style to suit the desire of the masses. E.g. Mariah Carey, if any of us remember the songs she sung in the late 90s, and now, its totally different. Her style has moved to predominately hip hop/ R&B. Honestly speaking, I cannot differentiate between the 2. I cannot help but feel that some artists are conforming to the most prominent style.

With that said, I cannot understand the pull of Rap/ Hip-Hop. Much of the lyrics focuses on bling-bling (whatever that means), money, success, fame and getting laid with as many girls as possible. Oh, lets not forget sport cars and fancy mansions. If you've watched one generic Rap music video, chances are, you've seen them all. They prominently display women strutting their "assets" around, while acting as slutty as possible around the rapper. Putting their hands all over him, worshipping him even. Gosh, its no wonder nut jobs, like a certain former drug dealer turned rapper, can get away with success. Hey, their lives are so full of shit, why not make it into a movie? Whats that show again? Something about getting rich or dying? If not for the fact that I don't get any of the lyrics at all, I'm utterly turned off by the focus on materialism of this particular music genre.

Now, thats not to say that other genre's are spared. They are not sparkling clean and white that you can't spot a black dot in any of their lyrics, but at least they are not promoting it all out like the aforementioned genre.

Judging this, its probably best to listen to music by itself. Without the cumbersome lyrics getting in the way. Appreciate the score, tones, whatever that makes a certain tune good. When I get tired of listening to lyrics, I listen to game music. Now, thats totally unheard off. Most people are unlikely to come across this rather rare and unheard of genre if they have not played any games or have been exposed to it (again depending on whether they've played a game). They are blops, and blips as most people think of. Many sites point out that this genre has moved way beyond the common misconception that people have in their minds. The genre often takes up full orchestras to make up the soundtrack of a game. Take into account the mood swings: peaceful, suspenseful, battle sequences and there's plenty of variety there itself.

Woah, looks like I have worned out my keyboard. Haven't typed this much since.....last week I guess. Here's to more pointless topics and a more active blog!!

Zathura, Spatula? Whats the relation?

First of all, a very happy bday to Jim. Today's his bday, though its already late in the day. Better late than never, as I would say. In anycase, I went to One U today to meet up with him and whoever else was present. Yong Ting, definitely a permanent fixture in most meetings with him. Sad to hear that she would have to leave for Australia as early as January. Never the less, I was no less amused to see her around this often. I mean, 3 times in 3 weeks at one U? Heh, their frequency of outings never fails to surprise me.

Played a game of pool at next to the bowling alley on the top floor. This time there was no smoke to get in the way of our game, just my messy shots and lousy aim. Either way, score one, lose one. Lost in a rather sucky manner. The worse way to lose in a game of pool....sinking the 8 ball prematurely.

Watched Zathura at GSC. For the first time, we were brought to one of the cinema's on the upper deck. Technically though, the upper deck was more of an extension to allow people to get in from the top and make their way to their respective seats downwards...think lecture theater and you can't go wrong. Remember all those late classes and sneaking in from the back? Its kinda the same.

Anyways, Zathura....from the makers of Jumanji, does not stray very far from the formula presented by the said movie. The aforementioned formula goes like this, picture some squabling siblings ready to tear each other apart. One stumbles across a mysterious magical board game. Out of curiosity, they start the, seemingly, harmless game. Now....when the last time any of us played a board game? I can't remember seriously....been playing videogames mostly....Heck! That's an idea!! An enchanted videogame!!Oh wait...could have been taken up by those cheesy cartoons of the 1980s....sheesh...think there was one about Nintendo games...one with a giant Gameboy if I remember correctly....

Oh my, that change in thought is certainly more interesthing than the movie itself.... Thus, demonstrating tha family orientated direction of the movie. Relatively "clean" stuff...no violence (save for domestic violence), some mild foul language (like "shut up" and most recent edition, "you dick!"). But yes, all seems relatively clean for the kids, with some frowns on the negative points mentioned.

That being said, Zathura seems to tie in very loose story...too loose for my taste...The most annoying thing is Danny the "screaming kid". He is way too whiny and "screamy" for my liking. In trying to potray the innocent lil' brother who only wants recognition, he often comes off as annoying. There are cute points in his books, since the audience was mildly entertained by some his antics.

Wow, ok that seems quite enough for a review. Seems like a large part is focused on the movie...bleh...oh well. Can't find other stuff to talk about. Thats it for tonight.

Days go by

Woah, it was a friday and I didn't even know it. Yeah, its been a week since the exams ended. Its the season of boring yourself to death or otherwise start doing something useful. Sigh, the week passes over so fast.

First I was enjoying the sun, the ocean breeze at the beach. Then I'm back on Monday. A few days later, I'm out with Kat at One U shopping around and the next day I'm there again with Jim, James, G & MY and Phillip.

It really feels too short to be a week. Plus I got most of next week lined up. Just finish clearing my room too, or more like sweeping dirt under my carpet. I've got massive mounds of paper around my room that was used throughout the sem. Time to get them cleared so I no longer have to swim to my door.

In any case here are a few random pictures taken over the course of the past few days.

Penang Roadtrip!!

I seem to have acquired a writer's block upon starting this blog entry. The recent trip to Penang is certainly hard to describe. So many things had happened over the course of the 3 days spent there. Honestly though, the trip was planned on short notice. Given that, there were bumps in the program such as improper allocation of time and lack of site seeing activities. But what is a trip without imperfections? Still, there were sufficient positive points about the trip that overshadowed some of the negative ones.

In any case this is an account of the whole trip, bear with me if some of you fall asleep halfway through this post.

Day One:

Started the day early at around 7.30. A quick breakfast and I was set to go to the Perhentian Duta bus terminal at 8.20am. Reached there at about 8.45, first bunch of people I came across at the terminal was Grace, Kai Fung, Mun Yin and Yuan Chuan. Kat was there too with her dad and sis, but there were a little further down the terminal cafeteria that I didn't see them.

Sue Ann and Ivy were the last to arrive. Good thing they came in the nick of time, as they were holding on to some very important tickets. We boarded the bus a little later than the intended 9.15 time frame stipulated on our tickets, but we got off to a slow start none the less.



We spent most of the journey sleeping as any would be traveler would do. Its an awfully boring ride save for the few moments when we passed through these gigantic mountains and under a tunnel. But even those weren't enough to fuel my attention. There was just one sole rest stop during the course of the trip, couldn't have come a moment sooner as my bladder was waiting to burst. Was there for about half an hour so some of us took the opportunity to grab some treats to eat.

We only got to Penang at around 2pm at best, crossing the famous Penang bridge. As we approached Penang, rain drops grew heavier as we closed in. It was raining heavily when we got to the bus terminal. We retreated to the shelter of the terminal's resident mamak stall, which did not provide us with options of lunch. So we settled for some junk food and drinks.

The van finally arrived at 3pm, made our way to a drier part of town to grab some choy at a coffee shop. I later learned by my parents that there was a supposed famous char keow teow (CKT) stall manned by 2 old sisters. I guessing that we ate there as there were 2 sisters cooking and by the fact that we were charged RM5 for one plate of normal CKT. Worse still, we waited for a long while not realising that we were suppose to line up to get the food. What a rip and even worse, stuck up way of running a shop!

Once lunch was taken care of, we checked in at the hotel (Bayview Beach Resort) which was located rather far from the city. After trashing the room, some of us went out for a short excursion to a near by portion of the beach. Ivy, Kat and myself managed to climb up a rock to get a better view of the place, though I got my pants abit wet during the course of the journey.


In the evening we drove into town to sample of taste of Gurney Drive. I must say though, I was worried that I might contract some stomach problems over the course of the trip due to the cleanliness of the restaurants and Gurney Drive was reported to have a reputation among rodents. But in any case, the food was good. Fried oysters, noodles and fried rice all were good. Must have the been the zhi yuk oil. A little bit too much though.


As we were driving back to the hotel we decided to pay the local pasar malam a visit, it was a little too late as by 11pm the stalls started closing. Never the less the girls did managed to find some things to buy admist the rush.

Upon returning to the hotel, it seemed only Kat and myself had intentions of turning in for the night. The rest were more intent on spending the whole night awake. And so closed the first day of the trip.

Day Two:

Woke up rather early, seemed that the crazy lunatics last night had left for some other place while we were sleeping. Kat and myself were just about to have some cup noodles for breakfast when Carmen called in to let us know that we were entitled to have the complimentary buffet breakfast downstairs along with Ivy and Sue Ann. The buffet was good, with plenty of stuff to choose from. Surprisingly I managed to control my intake so I wasn't too full for the beach activities later that morning.

The beach was full of activity by 10am. Lots of people with a bunch of tourist leaving for a scuba diving excursion. Horses with riders offering rides to ppl on the beach. Wave riders and boats looking for passengers. Ivy, Sue Ann, Kat and myself were mostly content with writing/drawing stuff in the sand and taking pictures at the beach.



Funny thing happened on the beach, as we were taking photos in the beach, Wan Jin appeared out of nowhere, riding a horse. It was only then that we started taking up stuff like horse riding and riding a banana boat.

Was really a fun filled morning at the beach, never would have partaken in any of the stuff that was set out on the beach had we not met Wan Jin at the beach. Stayed until 12pm before we decided to call it quits for the morning.

Originally, the group had decided to head over to some famous temple in Penang while savouring some Penang Laksa. We savoured the laksa but didn't go to the temple. Instead, we bought some Heong Peng to take back home. Wonder how they taste.......

Ending up back at the hotel, most of us decided to laze around not doing much. It was only later that we set out for the beach once again. This time we walked along the shore beyond the bounds of the hotel, collecting sea shells along the way. At first it was just Kat and myself, later the rest joined up. The only unfortunate event during this outing was that Kat had lost her glasses while we were at the beach....we couldn't find it in the end as the sun was setting by then.


Dinner was later at a place called Tai Tong sea food restaurant, the major complaint (and I'm sure everyone on the trip would recall) was that the crab wasn't fresh. So ppl, don't go to Tai Tong in Penang!!

Day Three:

Woke up early in the morning to search for Kat's glasses, hoping that we could find it washed ashore. Unfortunately our search turned up fruitless. At least I managed to snap some good pics along the beach side while we were at it. Explored more of the beach too.

Pretty soon it was time to pack up and head over to the bus terminal. Most of us were tired and probably hungry from the lack of a proper breakfast.

Waited at the bus terminal for an agonizing 3 hours. Playing Cho Tai Tee all the way and eating. We were complete slobs really... On top of that we almost got on the wrong bus to KL!! Haha...good thing Yuan Chuan pointed that out to us and we made our way to the same bus that brought us to Penang. The journey back was shorter than the one up to Penang. Before we knew it, we were back in KL by 8pm. Sent Kat back to her place later (finally know how to get to her place!).

Well thats the whole trip in a nut shell. I hope the pics speak better than my accounts of the trip. Overall, the trip was fun albiet some minor, some major events that caused it to be less enjoyable. But nonetheless, it was good to get to see the beach with friends!!

First day of freedom

Well, well. The finals are finally over. That doesn't sound right....but right now it doesn't matter, its over and I'm glad I don't have to go through the stress that runs through my head during the exam season. It alls seems so weird, one moment you are exious to get the exams over, then they are over. The sudden rush of euphoria is great while it lasts. But thats all it is, a short period of emotional joy. It never lasts long, but I guess after all the pressure and repression you put yourself through, one cannot help but feel relieved.

Of course that was yesterday. Wasn't too bad, save for the fact that I soooo wanted to get out of the exam all. I so wanted to be done with it. Finally got out of the exam hall about 25 minutes early. Met Kat at the foyer doing her last minute revision. Was starting to feel worried about being the first one going out of the exam hall, fotunately Phillip came along. Chatted and hung around for about half and hour before heading back. Later returned to fetch Kat and take her out to Pyramid to watch Corpse Bride.

Today went to uni at 11, was late because of the stupid jam. Can you believe that the highway is still jam at 10.30 in the morning. Where the heck are all these people going? Nevertheless, got there and waited for my charges (Shooks, Kat and Shermaine) to arrive. Once everyone was together, we made our way to One U. Managed to get parking without much difficulty. Went to GSC in the new wing, Sabs and Yuan Kuan were already there. Funny thing happened, met Jim and Yong Ting there. Hahaah, both of them had just watched Exorcism of Emily Rose, and both of them wore blue. Quite a matching shade of blue I must say. Later most of the group had already assembeled at GSC and we were face with a very difficult question......where to have lunch. Though Sabrina so graciously brought list of all the restaurants in One U, we had made our mind to go for something simple..........Burger King. Yeah, it all boils down to fast food.

On the way down we met Phillip and Ronson, who were equally surprised to see us. Seems that One U were teeming with alot Monash people. And as if to justify that statement, Jaimee, Lydia and Ju Lee were present too later after the movie. Jac and Aaron weren't left out of the action and even Danny popped into the pic as the girls looked through ear rings at the end of the excursion.

Oh and before all this boils down to "Spot the Monash Student @ One U" , we watched Chicken Little at GSC. Pretty funny movie. Lots of action and crazy stuff happening on the screen all at once. But one too many references to old songs. Heck, even the song by the Spice Girls is considered old....man I'm starting to feel old now.

Looks like it getting late, got to sleep early for the trip I've got coming up tomorrow. Trip to Penang. Pretty rushed for a road trip, but its sort of a now or never thing, best not to think about the costs and just do it. Whee...

One down 3 to go

Wheee...I've finally sat for my first exam today. I thought I'd never sit for it....not that I look forward to sitting for it. But I just want to get over with it. Surprisingly enough I wasn't too nervous about it today. Was eager to go in the hall, sit down, twiddle with my pen for 2 hours and produce a reasonably readable answer.

Got to uni early today. Considering it is the Hari Raya season, traffic was at its best behaviour, save for the one incident when I was trying to over take a bus to head to Sunway. Signal soooo long.....yet the fella was still travling at full speed. Almost missed the turning to Sunway.

Well, in a matter of days, the finals will end. And liberation will come again. Though for the last time, as by this time next I should (ideally) get a job. Can't believe it, life is moving so fast. Can't imagine the following stage. Hopefully not exchanging old stories with other people.

E-Day has finally arrived...its official

The smell in the air is familiar. I smell it at least twice in a year. Fear, anxiety, tiredness from 2 or 3 hours of sleep. Yeah, exams can do that to you. Its the first day of exams in Monash, I could tell that from the early morning atmosphere. Not only was it harder to get parking, it was also harder to find a place to park one's bottom. Accountants around every corner because the first paper was Accounting Theory. No surprise there. Met Yong Ting and Tze Lin, no doubt all ready to put the examiners, who's lack of imagination in setting questions, to shame.

By 8.30, all was quite for the moment as the brave test-sitters marched off into the exam halls. The peaceful scene in the foyer would not last for long as the next wave would arrive for the afternoon paper. Kat arived at 9.30. Rather early I must say considering that she mentioned that she would only come by 12. Better early than late. Had to help her unload her books while she drove her car to Elephant Walk.




Studied at the foyer until around 11.15 to grab a meal from the cafeteria. It wasn't long before the rest of Kat's gang showed up. Overcrowding the small table. Clearly, everybody was very caught with their work. Blasting out accounting terms left and right. Though very out of place, I remained glue to my seat in amazement. I've never heard any of them really talk about their work until today. Guess its as good as any day to blurt out all you know.



Of course, with time ticking away, it was only a matter of time before their time was up. Some have unfortunately, cracked under the pressure.




Spent 3 whole hours trying to study as much as I can. With some measure of succes I managed to get some info into my head. Met an old friend, Irwan, today as I went down to grab a bite. Seems that he's at KPMG working as an auditor. He was apparently back in uni to savour the study environment. He's got a CPA exam on Thursday. All the best of luck to him. He was relating his experiences in the working world. None were too encouraging in describing what awaits me next year.

Sigh, looks like its time to get back to work. Study study...

Chaos and Life in University coming to an end?

Its a public holiday here in Malaysia, Selangor Darul Ehsan, PJ in particular....people are going about their lives without the need to worry about work. No sitting through jams and such. That much I am thankful...because despite it being a public holiday I still went to uni today.

For some of us, their last day of uni life ended yesterday. A rather melodramatic end to what was 3 years of life slogging through the various occupational hazards in uni. Assignments, Exams, Slightly less than helpful lecturers, Presentations...you name it we have done it by now. At least we have done it in Monash University MALAYSIA mind you.

I went to uni expecting to have one final class in Project Management for Electronic Commerce....(desperately because the lecture notes are of no help). But lo and behold, out lecturer needed class in time management himself....as he did not turn up....at all. Ok, so going to uni would be a complete waste of time had it not been for the fact that uni is a place to study. Sure, James came along (surprisingly), even Grace and Mun Yin joined in. Felix came alot later. The fact remained that uni was a very packed place despite it being a public holiday.

(A full view of the foyer area. Notice how crowded it is. Don't mind the girl in the yellow shirt...she moved while I taking the connecting shot...)

(Even more crazy people studying!! The maddness never ends here in Monash University!)

Good luck to all for their finals!

A day for Last times

The day couldn't start early enough, but I chose to start it on an early note as I'd rather be up in uni early to study than laze around at home. Reached uni to an unusual scence, Kai Fung being the first in the foyer. Ju-Lien soon turned up as she had the same class as Kai Fung. Soon I was left to my own devices as I studied the morning away..

Had lunch with Kat later at medan as usual. Nothing much to do save to wait for the lecture to start at 2. The last IB lecture, yay. Longest of the last lectures, but I'm sure Thomas O'Daniel can top this one without fail on Friday. Going back to uni on a public holiday, yay.

Came out of lecture to be greeted by the sound of rain. Seemed like the dark impending sky earlier had given birth to a full fledge rain storm. The monsoon season is, hence it is not surprising that the evenings are a regular scence of gloom and despair. Perfect mood for the a season for the finals.

Stayed on to 6pm to wait out the rain and also to get Kat to give me a lift to my car. To my surprise there was damp puddle....in my car....of all places. Odd thing as there is no leakage anywhere....told dad and he said it had occured before...


Sigh, looks like I will driving the Kelisa.



One last pic that I failed to put up the night before. I leave it for anyone to guess who it is. I'm just too lazy to say it now. Yawn...need sleep....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Drawings of the Lunatic

Here are some pics that I came up with over the course of the last few days. A combination of boredom and constant craving to copy stuff...

Ok, no prize money as to guessing who this bloke is. Yeah, his name is written right there for you to see. So who the heck is he, if you are still puzzled from this point onward. Well, considering how good/bad my copy of his face is....this is Daniel Craig (Duh'), the newly selected James Blond....uhh I mean Bond. Yeah, like him or hate him, we got a Blond Bond running around the world in the next few years.


This is some little sketch that i drew on a scrap of paper on the table. A woman (if you actually think it is a woman :p) drinking water....source was from the R.A.G.E. section on the Stars Newspaper, 18 October 2005....there.... HAH! You can't pin me for plagerism now!! Bwahahah....Koff Koff...



Alright, this is the last pic of the night. All those Canto Pop/ Movie fans might or might not recognise him.....Actually it doesn't really look like him....but this is suppose to be Andy Lau....Right...I can see your eyes rolling now!....Bleh...thats all from me.

Watermelon and Milkshakes

I have no idea what came over me to give such a weird sounding title to a Tuesday blog update. Possibly because I just shout out the first 2 words that poped into my head. Now if only I can come up with a list of interesthingly weird names/titles.....

I'm so bored now...all I can do is spend the day studying...It does not matter where I go. The books follow me like rabid hounds chasing after their prey and tearing me a part. Once you see me at the end of 2 hours of studying, you probably will find an empty shell of me...my mind probably wondering some where else.....

Got back my Business in Asia assignment results today....24/35....not bad some would say. But there are a few fellas socring 27/35 (again another work of art under the Monash formula for success as I had described a few days ago). The wonders that less work, less time equals marks.... I seem to be doing things the wrong way round so it seems. Oh...if only I had realise this sooner...

This brings me to an interesthing thing point. Does spending the last week/days of assignment actually help you score higher than people who start on it weeks ahead? Seems the answer is yes. Do your assignments when they come knocking. A few hours of work before the deadline gets a distinction? While my 1 week of work ends up with a credit. Oh better still, Copy and Pasting....ahh the prime example. Copy journals and dump them in your assignment, horay....let the distinctions roll in.....

Right thats all I can think of now...I'm just dying for a bath..and a chance to sketch some stuff...

Last Monday of the Sem

Ah...Monday has come...this week should be free of any assignment and allow me to give my attention to studies. Unfortunately for me, some subjects are too boring to the point of driving me to seek blogging as a form of thearpy. In any case, that isn't too good for me.

Spent a good part of the morning studying business in Asia readings. Some are more interesthing than others, but there are those few that puzzle me as to why am I required to read them. Kat came over early this morning, said that she had discussion at 12. Stayed on until 1, had lunch and retreated back to uni to spend another 3 fun filled hours of studying.....

This has really boiled down to go in out and all we do is study.....wonder which is worse...assignments or studies.

Study days are here!!

Ok I think I'll put off the usual titles that include the day of the week in which it was written. I've finally run aground with the number of titles i can come up with. With that, today marks the first day of serious preperation for the finals. It was not a strong start, still lazy and earning to relax after the 2 weeks of gruelling assignments.

At least I had my share of fun yesterday. Went to bowl with Kat's gang of friends at Sunway Pyramid. I superbly sucked at the game...a measely score of 57.....I guess I was so shaken up by the strikes everyone was getting that I lost concerntrated and continued sucking from then on.....

After bowling we proceeded to walk around to follow Shermaine in her quest for new ear rings. In the process, the other girls bought a set of ears for themselves.

Once all the girls were happy with their purchases, some took longer than others, we headed over to Cable Car for the MBC Appreciation dinner. Well, orignially it was suppose to be at the Thai steamboat restaurant Suki Thai.....ahh the fond memories I've had of that place....I had steamboat there once, it was before my programming exam....and I remember getting a bad case of stomach discomfort right before the exam......

Oh but enough with that place...it would have been nice to test to see how well trained by stomach (and how tolerant it is Tom Yam soup now)....but in any case Suki Thai has unfortunately (or fortunately) been closed down....The amazing thing was that the MBC members were only told of its closure on Friday morning...I know actually even I'm also at fault for not paying attention to the shops in Pyramid (have been there more times this year than any other year I was at Monash)....

The dinner was to start at 6.30pm yesterday but as usual it started late instead. We only got our food served (all of us had the same dish save for the vegetarian members) at 7.30pm....Now comes the weird part......we had what I believed to be Chicken Maryland. Notice how I've placed emphasis on the word Chicken.....now, some people at the table commented that the dish tasted like Fish....which is weird cause now I'm confused as to what did we actually eat....

Once dinner was stored and cleared away, there was a surprising amount of photos shot.....abit too many for my taste and the constant reference to the MM Shop Committee as a family...Grace taking the head as great great great great great.....(inhales)....grandmother, Kai Fung as the dad, Yuan Chuan (the current director) as the mother. I simply was lost with the rest as I cannot understand what the other family members are (note: I don't know Cantonese enough to translate them, let alone understand them....which led to me being lost for a good portion of the time). All I remember vividly was being called Son-in-Law, with reference to me being with Kat....yeah, seems that people have established unofficial family bonds.

Phew, thats about it for the description of yesterday's events.

Today went to uni to study. Saw Jim there surprisingly enough. Later even Kai Fung turned up for a short while. Yong Ting came by later after her extra class. Since she was there that can only mean that the other accounting students were around. Ah Mun and Ivy were to be found at the corner shop having lunch. Soon I found myself joining them for lunch. Thats pretty much what had happened today. Melodramatic end to a week as usual.

Last Assignment Done on Friday!!

There's an air of sudden liberation as the last scrap of paper from my hand leaves it for the warm comforting embrace of the lecturer.....koff koff...ok maybe not that is not the best way of describing handing in my last assignment, but the fact remains that I'm finally free of assignments at long last!!!...Phew....but even as I type down here in the foyer of Monash University....6 of my friends, 3 to a group doing different subjects are now feverishly typing out their assignments to meet their 5 pm deadline today.

Hopefully, all goes well on their part today. Rather last minute work, but hey. Last minute work always seems to score better than my usual quality of work. The equation seems to go like:

High level of Stress + 5 hours before deadline + Late night hangover + Copy & Paste job + 10 cups of coffee = High Assignment Marks

That's no psyhic or chem formula....I suck at both in any case....but thats pretty much how to sum up how people do their work in Monash.

Exam period is coming soon...wheee...its everybody's favourite time of the year. For some of us, it is the last set of exams of our lives. But for others, like myself, its just another exam that just needs completing. hmm..3.10 now...another 50 minutes till the others finish and I'm off to Pyramid for one last outing before the real grueling task of studying comes crashing down on me....

Oh well, savour the moment as they come...

Running away from Project Management Tuesday

Project management is the name of my new found bane....I cannot describe the dread of thinking about it....there's a sense that there is something you have to do....but at the same time....you have no idea what to do....

Alright I hate to open up a blog entry with a gripe...pretty soon my style will emulate some other people's blogs. In any case, I was suppose to sit for 2 classes today. Skipped one in favour of spending time on project management and to catch of glimpse of Kat before she went for her class. Though it was unexpected that she reached uni late. She's been under the weather since Sunday, a case of cough and cold on Monday and a mild fever later in the day. Thankfully she is fine now after much medication.



The one day Sea World mini-attraction at Monash today featured the ever prominent Dugon, a creature capable of spitting out economic facts on how business is conducted in Asia. However, despite its amazing ability to read out points found in Powerpoint slides, it is has no ability in giving exam tips. In order to protect itself from predators, it reads the aforementioned slides in a very deep dronning tones. This natural protection mechanism puts most predators (and students too) to sleep, thereby allowing it to escape to its lair, on the 3rd floor of the Monash building.

That concludes today's documentary on the Dugong. Tune in again next sem for more exciting stories. Next up Jim Niwer, 'Dugong Hunter'. Watch as Jim explores the wild outback of Sunway Lagoon searching for the legendary Dugong.

"Bloody Hell, this one's a whooper!!", Jim Niwer.

Postery Pic Sunday

Not much happened this Sunday. Just did my last bit of P.A. duty for church. Gonna take a nice long break from it now....unsure when I will restart my service if ever at all....but in all likelihood, I would probably restart in January.

I'm so gonna screw myself over with the project management assignment. Not a single bit done and its due on Friday....strangely i don't feel the pressure...yet i see the impending doom approaching....Weeheee....

Guess I got nothing better to do than post up pics that are long over due. Like this pic of me in the papers some 2 weeks ago...bleh...super old....but i gotta put it up.



Not sure if the article is readable if you zoom in on it. But yeah, thats me in the papers. My one and only time in the lime light.

This pic goes especially out to Jim who so fondly likes Dugongs ( a certain lecturer who has brought pain unpon all econs students by the name of Ergun Dugan, has the honours of being his subject of ridicule)

Some random sketches (more like copies). I really suck at drawing my own pics...hence i have resorted to mostly copying pics that I see and like...Al is sure to frown upon this, but yeah, I need something to fill in my time while the exams roll in.

Ok, this is my first lame attempt at trying to copy/draw real life people. 10 bucks to who can guess who this is in one sec.....no takers? Good, cause i ain't got 10 bucks on me now... Its Anwar Ibrahim, our sadly mistunderstood sodomizer of a Deputy Prime Minister (1998). Yeah, he's free and he had an interview in the Star. Thought he'd be a good "victim" to test my lousy skills on....hahahah looks like i've done it now...

2 Birthdays on a Friday

Ok firstly,though it is the end of the day, I would like to wish a happy birthday to both Jinn Lik (my youngest bro) and Sue Ann. So happens that both their bdays fall on the same day. Its been a long day actually. Bit of a cold and cough combined with early morning migrane has speeded up the day. Don't know why I keep getting these migranes... had to run down to the Cafeteria bookstore earlier this morning with Kat to get some asprin. Tried Penadol Acti-fast....good. It works fine. Though it was slightly more expensive than regular Penadol, I guess the thing works faster. Still, can't take too many....might get addicted.........Oh? Was that me? It was nothing....

Ohhh....only sat for 2 hours of lecture today. Seems that project management tutorial was cancled...saves me from the boredom....but sadly the assignment is due next week. Not close to getting half way sadly.....So screwed.

On other stuff, just got back from shopping around with parents after having Jinn Lik's bday dinner at One U. Ended up buying pants to restock my wardrobe. Seems that I've got many ill-fitting ones that just need to go.

Due to the lack of pics, I feel inclined to add some that I've accumulated today and previous days.


(Taken last Wednesday, a stunning contrast of weather patterns. I'm not fooling anyone with this pic. The sky was really spilt in 2. One half bright and the other dark and forbiding. Kinda like one of those cover art on fantasy books)

(Another one of my favourite sky shots from my room. This was also taken on Wednesday, but the dark clouds had all but disappeared. Truly amazing horizon if I ever saw one.)


(Jinn Lik eyeing his Birthday cake wearily....not being able to contain his urge to sink in his teeth on the delicious ice cream below the layers of icing.)

(Ahh...Spotted dick....anyone would like to try some? The first time I encountered this strange sounding and sadly misunderstood dish was in U.K. From then on I have taken the liberty to promote it widely. It's actually sort of pudding with fruit and raisins in it. Nothing to do with a certain "part", I assure you.....)

Right, as you can tell from the title....I'm all out. No ideas now....poof....bye bye....There she goes checking out on the last express monorail to KLIA. I'm empty and full of crap.....Got a stinking cough, that could potentially ruin my week, once I start sounding like Barry White, Rebecca is going to ask me to keep my voice like that. I don't think deep rasppy voices make me sound romantic in any sense.

As if a tapau pack of chap fan is not enough, I've been recently trying to copy my way back into drawing. Copy Copy copy....I take it 3 years of uni life can help me out in that section. Some of you out there must be copy masters. Open up your own photostat shops. Hey, thats not a bad idea. If all of us can get together, and set up a shop infront of every major college/uni. we'd be set for life I tell ya!! Ohhh big idea!!Yeah right. I've definitely flipped today.....must be the cough...

Sniffy Monday

Man, its uni once again. For some of us, it will be the last time we have to face the dread of the last few weeks of uni before the finals. The familiar gut wrenching feeling of being screwed inside out, as you realise that you lack sufficient time to study, will finally be over. I can see that some of you are already doing your little dances. Yeah, celebration is only 2 months away. Horay for those of you included.

Today is assignment day, or as much as I want to be. There wasn't much work done, save for the bit I did before putting in this entry. Recounting words is not fun.....meeting the stingy word count is not fun.....

Polling starts in uni today for the MUSA Elections. I can safely say that all teams save for Semi-Gifted look in good form. Some resorted to various forms of attention grabbing acts. For SOAR, it meant singing badly and doing bad rederations of STOMP to grab/detract our votes. Semi-gifted looks to be the least organized of the lot. With a stall isolated from the rest of the activities, their resort to using a PS2 to draw the masses, just is not working. I can't say much for the 2 remaining parties as I my attention was driven elsewhere. Some of you may start grinning here.

In anycase, there was another event going on. One where brains were flowing freely. Literally, in the weirdest display of publicity grabbing stunts. People from the were gaining all the attention by giving out free brain shaped stress ball. Now that's using your brain!!Yeah, enough with lame puns. So yes, we were all "brainless" (haha) fools attracted by the prospect of getting free "brains" (ok, last bad pun of the post).

A little disappointed and sad today at the fact that Kat had to leave for home early...not that I blame her. The whole place was noisy and definitely not condusive for study. Especially so for those of us with short attention spans....Sigh.....

Over here I will pulling out some long over due pics. Some from as late as last week.

Gasp! I swear it wasn't me who ate the roast lambs!!! Please don't eat me!!!! Over here we see Ronson displaying glee at roasting lamb during the MBC BBQ Party 2005 last Friday.

Here's Ivy pouring over some notes back in uni last Thursday after her Bday Karaoke session.

This pic makes no sense except for the fact that it displays the word Marilyn (wink).

A long delayed pic from the prom...probably the last I will put up the subject. Its taken from a different angle hence, the girls are not facing in my direction. My compliments to the girl in black standing at behind Grace.

Just how did I get myself here Saturday?

I woke with a bad feeling this morning....maybe it was the fatigue carried on by yesterday....or maybe its the feeling that I've got to do work for the next coming month and a half until the finals are over. Whichever of these feelings it is, it doesn't matter. Work calls. I've already spent 4 days of my break going out....I'm so gonna die.....

Yesterday was a fun, came to uni early as usual to get some work done before going out with Kat for the afternoon. Grace and Mun Yin were the only ones in uni at the time, not much to keep me occupied save for the computer.

Went out to One U at around 11am. Was easy finding a parking space as compared to the Sunday. Walked around abit before having lunch at a place called Charms. Pretty good Thai Fried Rice there, gotta try it again some other time. Basically walked around the entire of One U for the remainder of the time.

By 4.30 it was time to make our way back to uni to pick up Sabrina before heading over to Danny's place for the MBC BBQ. Funny enough, it rained again so we were stuck in the car again. Waited until the rain stopped before heading in. Went back into uni, saw Mun Yin still diligently studying admist the noise in the upper foyer. Before we could get out, Quan Yi requested for us to help give Yee Kheng a lift to Danny's.

The journey to Danny's wasn't too difficult. A small jam here and there, but nothing major. Looking at the map provided by Danny was like trying to dechiper Egpytian hyroglyphs.....but fortunately the signs were big enough and the description sufficient to get us to our destination. I was slightly perplexed as whether to park inside the condominium compound, but the guards just waved me on in to the condo.

As any other BBQ party would have it, the party was held at the pool side. A small roofed shelter was our only defense against the elements. Had it rained heavily, the event was sure to be a wash out.A little unimpressive set up and jumble of food lay before us at the table. It was only would the raw food be cooked/ half-cooked. A few comments of uncooked chicken came from Sabrina on several occasions. We thus resorted to cooking our own portion after a while, a little bit of french bread here, some sausages there and a good serving of squid made up most of what we ate.

Bad Singing, Heavy Rain how good can a Thursday get?

Man oh man....its raining cats and dogs out here. The sky is dark and rain is falling and Ivy was just asking questions about Anastasia. Yes, its the perfect day to be stuck in uni. After a long karaoke session at Red Box Pyramid, its now 5 minutes to 5pm in Monash University. Just how did I land myself in this situation?

First we had ended our Red Box session at around 2.10pm. Our ears are so strained from the bad voices resonating around the room. Think some of us felt a bit tipsy. Now that would have been normal....the problem was that there was no alchohol present......possibly bad singing affects the brain? Maybe they will conduct a study on the effects of bad singing on the general population after a few of us succomb to mysterious ailments/"conditions".

It is common knowledge that karaoke food sucks....hence, Kat and myself decided to grab a bite at Mc D's in Pyramid. Saw Basil, our ever so great guitarist, there too. We were nicely sipping down the last drop of Coke Cola when Shermaine called to inform of us of the cake cutting ceremony for Ivy's Bday. Oh and Happy Birthday Ivy.

I guess it is kinda funny that as we were rushing back to uni some drops of rains dropped menacingly on the car. Kat assured me that we would make it before the big drops came down.....Just as I had parked the car at a vacant spot outside the university, it started pouring. Out goes the umbrella and we were slightly soaked making our way to university. I must say that Ivy has had it easy for a birthday girl. We didn't even sing her the birthday song. I guess thats a good birthday present, saving one the embaressment of being the centre of attention.

Oh on a side note, I got my picture printed out on the paper today. Shall post up the picture latter.

A Katty Kat Wednesday

Though its almost half the day over, I would like to wish Kat a very happy birthday!Yup, its Kat bday today alright. I almost forgot to wish her today, quite pathetic, me of all people. But I will have to learn to be more attentive and not be too complacent.

Well, at the very least I had remembered to bring the present I meant to give to her without fail, though I did forget the camera today. In any case, I was at uni early in the morning. No one was around for a good part of the morning until 9.30am or so. Plenty of people started crowding around the foyer area for various assortment of discussions. Kat and the rest had to go for a class at 10 so I had 2 hours to myself or so I thought. Ended up looking at various prom pictures and looking at Adrain, James and Jim ogle at Google Earth. Yeah, that so happens to ryheme. The Ogle Googlers I shall call them from this day forth.

It wasn't until 12pm that the whole assembly had been released from their lecture hall. Gave Kat a lift and went straight to Pyramid for lunch with her gang. Reached there early though, so decided to take a short stroll until it was time. Lunch was at Pizza Hut, with 12 people at the table. Two out of the twele were Kat's MUFY (Monash University Foundation Year) former classmates. There were pictures snapped at this time, however Shermaine will have to do the honours of passing the photos to me before they can be posted....how sad....

Later we went up for a game of bowling. having over 9 people play bowling at once really strecthes out the game. Kept missing too often....must be out of form, but then again I wasn't a frequent bowler in any case. Final score was 79....the worst was missing the final extra spare I had so rightly should have scored.....

Oh well, a game is a game and there will be other times to prove how bad a bowler I can be. Here's to hoping Kat likes the presents I got her..

Squishy Fish Monday

Man, its the start of the break. But it doesn't feel like a break...there's an assignment looming around the corner next week. Still at least I got my week lined up for me. Out sometime to meet friends and such, so at least thats good.

When not uni I will be at home running errands, today was one day I would probably have experienced over and over again on Mondays have I not decided to go to unis on Mondays regardless that I have no class on Monday. Guess I get more work done in uni...actually I definitely get more work done in uni period...not so much running around and out of the room. At least in uni I will sit down for longer periods of time, to the point my butt hurts.

This evening....my mom wanted to try making a new dish...fish paste stuffed into yao char kuey ( fried devil). Had to take her to the SS2 morning market to buy the yao char kueys. Things seemed to have gone fine until the point the stupid maid poured the new dish into the pot together with the taufoo pok ......stupid as hell.....what common sense man. You have fried a dish and you dump into the pot with a soup based dish....I'm assure you can guess the results. As a rude Italian chef in Edinburgh would say, "The results were.....disasterous". Actually, disasterous would be giving too much credit to her. Its an understatement.

What happened was a masacre of perpectually good food....soggy slimy yao char kuey that was once golden brown....reduced to a lump of wet slime....what a big waste....As you can imagine, my mom was really pissed at her and I don't blame her. I would really have wanted to try the dish, but man oh man....the maid sure likes her fish soft and squishy...

On other matters aside from masacred food....my cousin come over earlier tonight to interview me. The topic was on the effects of violent videogames. I guess I've been reknown to play alot of games to the point that I may be slightly mentally unstable....Well I did give him my opinions and he took a pic of me playing (a rather disturbing pic of me playing while blasting somebody). If all goes well, my name will be in the InTech section of the Star on Thursday....I sure hope the photo does not come out.....

Post Prom Saturday

Well the Monash Ball (Flame & Frost) has come and gone. Lot said and done, plenty of photos snapped, performances seen, hidden talents shown (for better or for worse). Here are the events that followed the last entry yesterday.

Shortly after finishing the last entry of Friday, Kat called to tell that she, Shermaine and Shooks had finish their session at the saloon. I was unprepared for it and had to rush over to uni to pick them up. Though I had receached uni on time they were still doing stuff in the lab. Waited abit until finally they came out, loaded up their stuff in my car and off we went to Marriot Putrajaya. Saw Rebecca on the way out, honked her to get her attention (apparently she only slept an hour the previous night to finish up an assignment).

Its funny how things start off on a right note, until you run into a problem. The journey there was smooth at first, that was until I totally missed the turning to the highway to the Marriot....missed it by a mile (literally). The next moment, I was stuck on a strecth of highway (unfamiliar to me) with 3 girls in tow in my car. A pretty scary situation, just consider the claw marks from their nails.....Anyway, I was nicely heading down the wrong way, made a detour to Putrajaya itself, passed the Government offices (possibly the Prime Minister's office), even went over that fancy bridge in Putrajaya. As if things couldn't get worse, the sky grew dark...and it was only 5pm. Fortunately, we received some instructions from a policeman (he was busy issuing a summon, but took time to point us in the right direction nonetheless). A not so short drive under his guidance led me to another unfamiliar highway that finally led me to the sole sign that pointed to the Marriot Putrajaya. Thank God!! We only wasted 20 minutes being hopelessly lost in the nations premium IT capital (funds must be allocated to virtual road signs because proper road signs were absent), and arrived at the Marriot.

Thats a mouth full and the night had not even started. There was the matter of checking into the room. The girls had to get their make up done and such. So even though we were there at 5.20pm or so....we only got out of the room by 7.30 latest...


(Arrival at the hotel room. Chaos will soon errupt as this peaceful transforms onto...)

(This....constant shouting for various cosmetic items...more than I can remember in a day. Believe me this picture does no justice to the chaos that was Room 718, Marriot Putrajaya on the 23rd Sept 2005)
















(The final product was 3 absolutely stunning ladies all ready for Monash Ball 2005)

We soon made our way down to the main lobby where a vast away of colourfully dressed people awaited us. It didn't take long to find the rest of the gang, though it was hard to believe that the persons I saw before me where the same people I have been seeing in uni for 3 years of my life.

The ball started rolling, at around 7.45pm. The one thing I thought was really unnerving about the ball was that there was no clear indication of where was the action focused. The opening act was a fine example. The MCs of the night Nigesh and Chi Ho were to appear and make a grand entrance. However, since the ball room was arranged such that the main doors were not in plain sight, I found it difficult to focus. Thinking they would appear at the stage, they had come from behind me instead.

The opening act was a dance routine, the brainchild of Adrian. He, James and several other people were involved for the act, dancing to the tune of Britney Spears in true fashion. The only thing missing was Britney herself.

(Behold, the opening act of Monash Ball 2005, James there taking centre stage with a fellow dancer)

The first meal made a dramatic entrance, though I wish the food was as majestic as the entrance was. What soon followed was a blur of performances by various students. There were notable performances. I liked the performance by 2 biotec girls who sang songs by the Cranberries and Saliva. The song by Saliva was done exceptionally well, an accoustic version of the original song.

Other good performances were performed by Amy Yeoh, who sang 2 songs and the final performance by Basil Foo. I must comment on Basil's extremely good playing of the song "You and Me" by Lifehouse, it was certainly a good song to convince Kat to dance. Well, we didn't really dance, mostly imitating what other people did. But it was good nonetheless. It was the first time I had ever danced with anyone, I guess there's no one better to dance with than your girlfriend.

Sher and Shooks joined the dance floor just when the music was pumped up. I took my leave as I knew I definitely could not handle the dance floor by then. Once we had our fill of dancing, it was out to the lobby where there were still a multitude of people hanging out taking last minute photos before the make up and suits were taken down for the year. So draws a close to ball for this year.

The following is a collection of pics taken during and after the ball.

(Here's Amy during the performance at the ball)


(Ju-Lien, Grace, Jordan and myself posing for the camera)


(A line up of the night's smashing look young ladies)

(It looks like black was the colour to go for the night as demonstrated by Shermaine, Shooks, Kat and Theresa)


(And for a change this a pic with all the guys)

(Here's Kat and myself at the end of the ball)